Disclaimer: Once again, I own nothing. Nothing!
Dread Isle
"Nnnh...five more minutes..." I mumble as I feel myself being shaken slightly.
"Hector, wake up." I'm shaken a little harder. "We're at Dread Isle."
"Alright..." I moan, forcing myself out of bed. I follow Eliwood onto the deck of the ship, only to realize that it's still dark out. Sigh...why so early?
"The sooner we leave, the better." He says, as though he can sense my thoughts. "The enemy won't be able to detect us so easily, or so Mark says." I don't reply, still trying to wake myself up. I join all the others, most of which seem just as displeased with the departure time. Actually, now that I think about it, Eliwood's really the only one that doesn't seem to mind being up...
I ignore Mark as he seems to spew out any battle tactics, hoping to prepare the army beforehand. Soon after, we depart, and I trudge after the others in silence. Eventually the sun began to rise, and I found myself blinded by its rays. I look towards Eliwood, whom, like always, is at the front of the group, taking his place beside Mark. I watch as the two converse for a while, probably more battle plans or some other political crap.
Soon after, he slows his pace, allowing some of the troops to pass him. Once I start to pass him though, he matches my pace, walking alongside me. He remains in silence for a moment, until he breaks it.
"So, did you have fun last night?" He smiles slyly, staring right into my eyes. Last night, what is he talking abou-!
"W-what are you talking about?" We were stuck on a ship!" Shit! How could he know…Gods…I shouldn't have rushed it, not with Eliwood.
"You know what I'm talking about…"
"Alright fine! I'm sorry! I couldn't resist seeing you that way! What was I supposed to do!"…
I did not just yell that out, did I? Luckily, no one else seems to have heard. They're either too tired to listen, or amidst conversations of their own.
I listen as he laughs, trying his best to stifle it. "You are so much fun to bug, Hector. It's nothing to worry about."
"Waitaminnit… How could you have known all of this if you were asleep?"
"Well, I was only asleep until you came into the room. You couldn't be quiet to save your life."
At least he's in a much better mood today.
"So you were pretending to be asleep through all that. Shame on you!" I scold him jokingly. I can think of nothing else to do, seeing as how I've been caught.
"Shame on you for taking advantage of a sleeping person."
"Hey! Not cool!" Damn, I walked right into that one.
"Did you like what you tasted?" He whispers almost seductively1. I find myself unable to respond, completely caught off guard by his question. He heads back up to the front, once again joining Mark. Same as before, they talk about gods know what. Their conversation is quickly shattered though, as an arrow imbeds itself in the ground right beside Eliwood..
Mark begins to quickly ramble off some new orders, as the group responds quickly, rushing to their respected areas. As I hear my name, I nod, joining with Kent and Erk. We are to engage the enemies to the west, providing support for the others already heading there.
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I pull my Wolf Beil out of the archer's shoulder, giving it a quick, forceful swipe to clear the fresh blood off of it. So far, everyone has managed to hold their own just fine, and we were slowly phasing out the enemies numbers. Noticing that my area was clear for the moment, I took a moment to think. I wonder how Eliwood is doing? It's mid afternoon now, and the last I saw him was during the beginning of the battle, when he was talking to that man, a bishop, I think.
I hope he's doing alright...
"Sain? what are you doing here?" Kent rides to meet his friend, who quickly made his way over.
"Enemy reinforcements have arrived! Mark wants everyone up to the front immediately!" He yells, before riding off. What a minute...isn't Eliwood at the front lines? Without another thought, I dash off, following after the cavalier.
Soon after, I arrive at the front lines, surprised at the sudden number of them. Damn...Sain wasn't exaggerating. Seeing a knight approach me, I forget all my previous thoughts, quickly joining in the fray. I hack left and right, carelessly swinging my axe at any that dare get too close.
I suddenly noticed a mage with his back to me, preparing to cast a spell. I smirked. Too easy. Charging at him full speed, I embedded my axe in his spine, ceasing his life before he could even finish chanting.
I continuously kept a close eye on my sides, never letting my guard down, even for a minute. I kept up a strong defense, attacking whenever the opportunity presented itself.
I found myself slowly making my way closer to the front line, where I finally caught a glimpse of Eliwood.
I watched him for a moment, amazed with the skill and finesse with which he fought. He had improved extremely quickly, especially considering that he's only had a few months of actual battle experience. Everything before that was sparring matches.
In fact, I can still remember our first match.
Flashback
"Eliwood, would you hurry up already?" I tap my foot impatiently, annoyed that he's taking so long to prepare. I would swear that he's stalling.
Not that I really blame him though. This will be his first spar ever, and I'm not exactly a pushover, being about five inches taller than him. At ten years, he was incredibly short.
"Almost got it." He says, trying to attach his sheath to his belt. "There." He walks towards me.
"Bout time," I grab my axe, as he readies his rapier, preparing for the first attack.
"Ok… now remember not to let your guard down," I sidestep to avoid the sword aiming for my right side. I swing my axe, only to be rewarded by the clash of metal.
He blocked it. Good. Wouldn't be any fun if he went down already. While this was supposed to be more of a training combat, I still wanted to enjoy myself.
I decide to wait for him to make the next move. He quickly lunges at me, and I find myself caught off guard by the sudden burst of speed.
I just barely managed to block with my axe, but the lack of time didn't give me time for my footing…
I stumble backwards, just barely able to keep my balance, almost falling flat on my ass.
"What was that about letting your guard down?" He smirks, sword raised in a defensive position.
"Don't worry, it won't happen again!" I rush forward, pushing the smaller boy back with the broad side of my weapon. I had to end this quickly, now. It's the only way to save my dignity.
He manages to catch himself quickly… Such surprising reflexes. Who would've thought?
We clash metal again, and I notice him fumble with his grasp on the hilt. Heh. Easy victory…
I rush him, constantly swinging like a madman. Barely giving him enough time to block, I keep swinging, slowly forcing him backwards.
With each hit I can feel his grip weakening. Until finally I watch as his sword clashes to the ground. Wasting no time, I move the edge of my axe to rest against the crook of his neck, allowing it to linger.
He sighs in defeat, and I pull away, a huge smile evident on my face.
"You'll have to do better than that to defeat me!" I proclaim, picking up Eliwood's blade and handing it back to him.
"I'll never be able to defeat you, Hector," He accepts his sword. "I did my best, and you still beat me so quickly.
"Don't worry about it. You're still not used to this kind of thing. Besides, your speed is unbelievable, and skill will come with practice.
"But you're so much stronger than I am-"
"You'll get stronger. Just keep training."
(End Flashback)
And how wrong I was. While he was always a fast one, and his skill had greatly improved, he was still lacking strength. Caring and weak…
Not a good combination. He was always getting himself into some kind of trouble because of his naivety. There was the time with Eric, Lloyd, Jaffar, Den-"2
"Watch out, milord!" I break my train of thoughts to see Oswin block an arrow from me. Before I can respond, he's off chasing the archer down.
Deciding to join the battle again, I quickly hurl a hand axe at a wyvern rider, lodging it in the wing, forcing it to come crashing down to the ground.
Once again, I have lost Eliwood, as he seems to have worked his way towards the fortress, must likely Nergal's, I can assume. I work my way up to the front best I can, slowly making progress towards our target.
I manage to come across Marcus, who is busy dealing with what appears to be a few generals. I rush over to help him, until I notice Eliwood off in the distance, heading towards the gate.
I bolt passed the enemies, wanting to join up with Eliwood. If he plans on heading over towards the entrance to Nergal's fortress, then I bet he's gonna need some help.
Finally getting close enough, I manage to make out the form of … crap, what's her name… Limstella? guarding the gate, chanting, obviously preparing a spell.
Ha! What a joke, she could never hit from this dis-?
I jump back as a bolt of lightning just misses hitting me.
"Hector! Are you okay?" Eliwood runs over, finally seeming to have noticed me. I join up with him, and we head over towards the sage.
"Yeah, wasn't expecting any spell to have that much of a distance."
"Hector, it's a bolting. A long range magic spell. Everyone knows about them. We learned about them in school even."
"Well, I can't remember everything!" I snap, feeling my pride on the line. So I don't pay attention! Big deal!
"Sure, sure. Let's just deal with her and get this over with!" We both charge, now within attacking distance of the morph.
I swipe down with my axe, and she quickly dodges, barely making an effort to do so. I continue swinging, noticing Eliwood coming up to her other side. Heh. She can't dodge both of us.
I swing again as she begins to chant, once again dodging, and knocking Eliwood down with an ice spell before he can even get his attack in.
"Useless little lords. Do you honestly think you have a chance against master Nergal?" She practically hisses at us, the venom clearing dripping from her voice.
"We will stop Nergal. He cannot be allowed to carry on his plan. I will stop him, for Elibe…for my father." Eliwood gets back up, quickly moving towards Limstella. He nods at me, and I catch on right away.
I hurl my last handaxe at her, and at the same time, run and start a barrage of attacks yet again. She just manages to dodge both of my axes, but in the process, forgot to watch her back.
Eliwood brings his blade up, slashing it down towards her. We are rewarded with the sound of her screaming, while attempting another spell. I slash across her shoulder, while Eliwood imbeds his sword through her stomach.
She slumps to the ground lifeless. Another obstacle out of our way. Now all that remains is Nergal himself.
"Come on, El. Let's regroup with the others."
1 Eliwood being kinky! Oo Who'd a thought it possible?
2 I know that most of those didn't actually happen, but it seemed to work, so I went with it.