Disclaimer:
I don't own any of the characters from Fire Emblem, apart from Roy, who lives in a little cage at the foot of my bed. Nintendo can have Marth if they absolutely must.
Author's note:
This story is intended to become shonen-ai and possibly yaoi, depending on what I feel is the right level for our young heroes when they get there. :D
If you dislike this idea, I'd advise you to stay away from later chapters, as they'll most definitely contain 'boy love' (two young men in love), with fluff and things like that, and possibly more. The rating will, I'm sure, get higher with each chapter I post. If you want a high-quality Roy and Marth romance adventure, read on; I'll try to provide it for you. ^_^
Through the trees up ahead, he could see someone sitting by the lake he was heading for. He hadn't spoken to anyone in a long, long time; perhaps this was the moment to break his solitude, after what had happened not so many moons before.
Marth began to walk a little faster, the twigs beneath his feet cracking, until he emerged from the forest and saw the person staring straight at him a few metres away. It was a young man, shorter than himself, with a shock of red hair that seemed to glow in the sunset. A sword was set down by the log he had been resting on before he had heard Marth coming.
"I was wondering if I could perhaps join your camp tonight," Marth said softly, making sure the boy could see he wasn't armed. "It's been a long time since I had some company."
The young man considered this for a moment. "You may, if you tell me your name and where you have come from."
"I am Marth, from the Kingdom of Altea."
"Prince Marth?"
"I have nothing to be prince of. Altea was destroyed several months ago. I'm just Marth, now."
"You are still royalty, whatever the state of the kingdom." The boy bowed deeply, his hair flopping down over his face. Straightening, he announced himself to be Roy, son of the ruler of the Pharae Principality, where they currently were. He gestured to the log, inviting Marth to sit.
"I am sorry I didn't immediately welcome you," Roy said as he sat beside the prince. "I couldn't be sure of your intentions."
Marth smiled. "Don't trouble yourself; I would have asked the same of any stranger." He released the fastening of his cape and let it slide to the ground, doing the same with his breast plate but with more care. "What leads you to be travelling alone, Roy?"
The boy looked embarrassed. "I wanted to get away from things for a while, before I become General of our army permanently. Things have been… very stressful, until recently."
"An admirable motive," Marth said. "A journey to clear your head will refresh you for your duties to come." He now unbuckled his scabbard from his belt and laid it on the grass beside Roy's. "You must be very skilled indeed, to have become a General at such a young age."
"I had to. My father was ill, and there was no one else to do it. I learned quickly." After a small pause, Roy turned to the swordsman. "What of you? Why are you travelling alone so far from home?"
"I don't know." Marth fell silent, fixing his gaze on the waters of the lake, watching the sun melt into them. Roy shifted on the log, making himself more comfortable. Eventually, Marth spoke.
"Altea was completely destroyed, as you know. I saw it, and there was nothing left. Nothing at all, not even a single tree left standing. None of my people survived. So I just started to walk, and I kept on walking. I don't know what I'm doing, or where I'm going. I have no purpose. I'm just hoping that something to give me direction will present itself to me at some point on this journey."
"Do you plan to rebuild your kingdom?"
"From what?" Marth murmured. "All my people are gone. It could never be truly rebuilt."
Roy looked guilty. "I apologise, Marth. I shouldn't have brought this up."
"No, it is probably good for me to think about things such as this again. Like I said earlier, it has been a long time since I had some company."
They fell into silence for a while. Roy went to collect some wood from the forest before the sun set completely, and set a small fire going when he returned.
Marth opened his pack and presented the younger boy with a bag containing a rabbit he had caught earlier that day.
"I shall skin this for us, unless you have food you would rather have," Marth said, glad that he had something of worth to share.
"Rabbit!" A big smile lit up Roy's face. "I haven't had anything fresh for days!" He threw another branch onto the fire with a little flourish. "All I've had is dried meat and some old potatoes."
"Looks like I came at the right time, then," Marth said, pleased at how animated Roy had become because of a single rabbit. How could a boy this young be expected to run an army? He couldn't have been older than sixteen! Marth himself had not had such responsibility at that age. It was good, then, to see the young man smile.
After they had eaten and talked for a long while, Marth realised that Roy was no longer paying attention to the conversation. He looked at him to see the boy's chin resting on his chest and his eyes shut, asleep. He'd probably been that way for a while.
Marth lifted himself off the log and took Roy's bedroll from his pack, laying it out by the fire before carrying the boy over to it and covering him with his cape. Roy weighed very little and was shockingly lean without his armour on. Marth set out his own bed on the other side of the fire and sat on it, staring at the flickering flames for a while, until he too succumbed to sleep.