Chapter 1
Plink…plink…
Andraya sat at the edge of the pond, absently tossing stones into its glassy surface, pretending to marvel at the ripples that came after. Out of the corner of her eye, she was focusing all her attention on her fiery-haired companion on the other side of the small lake…and who he kept talking and laughing with. He seems to almost never laugh, and yet when he was with her, he somehow found it in him to laugh and actually, for once, forget about battle and enjoy himself.
I suppose I should be happy for him, Andraya thought, still gazing at the young lord. After all…it's not like I even have the courage to speak to him… She sighed. She had loved Eliwood for so, so long…all the while witnessing his growing attraction for that strange girl Ninian, and her own affection for him multiplying as well. It was almost getting too much to bear.
Whish- whish- plink!
Andraya snapped out of her daze to find Sain sitting next to her, skillfully skipping stones across almost the entire lake's surface.
"It's all in the wrist…see," he threw another with a perfect angle, watching it skip across the water. "And in finding the right stone. You have to get one that's real flat, and smooth…" He searched around in a pile of stones Andraya had absent mindedly gathered. "Here's one…you try!"
Andraya took the stone from Sain's outstretched hand, readily welcoming any distraction from her defeated thoughts of loving Lord Eliwood. She tossed it at the water, attempting to imitate how Sain had thrown it, but it just landed in the smooth gray lake with a single plink and sank to the bottom. "Argh…"
"Aww, c'mon 'Draya. It just takes practice…" He handed her another hand-picked stone from her pile.
This time, she managed to get it to bounce off the water twice before it fell through the surface, but unfortunately the stone's distance diverted her attention to the other side of the lake…
"Andraya?" Sain asked, catching a passing look of hurt through the mage's features. The he followed her gaze to the other side of the lake… "Oh, don't mind them…"
"…" Andraya couldn't speak. The love of her life and that weird looking girl…they were…kissing! Kissing! She tried in vain to rip her eyes away from the scene, but was too stunned to do anything but stare.
"That is so rude of them, 'Draya. Shoot ice crystals at them or something! Tell 'em to get a room!" Sain joked, attempting to divert the mage's gaze.
Instead of using her powers on them, Andraya grabbed a stone and, muttering a few incoherent words, coated it with ice. Standing, she threw it with all her might at the lake's surface, which turned to ice wherever the stone hit it, not bothering to watch it bounce across to the other side of the lake. Instead, she stormed off to the inn the group was staying at, not stopping until she was in her room. Slamming the door behind her, she leaned against it, and slumped to the floor. Images of Eliwood and Ninian kept flashing across her field of vison, no matter how hard she shook her head or tried to think of happier things.
Tears rolled down her pale face, but she didn't care. What did it matter now, they were together for sure now. There was no hope for her now…
A/N: R&R please!