Third work for this site, and, if you saw my previous two, then you know this one was also made for the writing competition I am currently inscribed into. I hope you enjoy this fic, and if you do, then please, be so kind as to leave a review. It's good karma!

Of, yeah, time for the usual 10:00 AM disclaimer, right?

Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, nor any other Fire Emblem in particular. They are the property of Nintendo and Intelligent systems. If you want to sue anyone, sue Bill Gates; he has A LOT of money.

Of a Deck Unbecome

Hands moved rapidly across the table. Once, twice; three times did the hands wave from one place to the next in their enigmatic motion. And they were growing steadily faster, all the while carrying something red and flat underneath; a trio of face down cards.

In all of this, one pair of eyes carefully followed one of the three cards. At every movement was the piece of cardboard matched, two pupils following it's trail and guessing it's advance. The card was fast... but his eyes were faster; he would not lose that card from within his sight.

At length the hands that moved the card slowed down, and eventually came to a complete stop. Then the outstretched fingers lifted, leaving the playing utensils sit upon the table. The man to whose those hand's belonged put them back into his lap, before smiling the charming smile that almost always ornated his face. One of his eyes was hidden underneath his hat, albeit only slightly. The other, red in color, was fixed upon his contestant, who was sitting with crossed legs across from the small table the cards were sitting upon. He spoke "...well, Franz, which of these cards do you believe to hold the key of your good luck?"

Sitting without his helmet, Franz focused on the cards intensely. His green eyes looked at that card he knew was his, as if he could make certain by staring through it. Finally, and without letting his eyes leave the card, he answered, with a slight frown of concentration on his face. "It's the one in the center... I am sure of it."

The man who was hosting the game smiled a little wider, and asked him in a mockery voice "Are you sure...? I will give you the opportunity to choose again, if so you desire."

Franz looked up from the card at last, and into the man's face, determination and a small grin appearing on his own "Yes... I am completely sure, Joshua."

Joshua closed both of his eyes momentarily, as if thinking, before speaking once again "If you are so sure... how many gold would you be willing to put into that sureness?"

Franz swallowed. He had, of course, known this was coming. He hadn't come over to Joshua's tent to play cards and expect not to have to gamble anything... but it still worried him. He was a cavalier, and a young one at that. He didn't make much gold...

"1000 gold!" he declared, wondering what in the world was he doing. That was his pay for the entire week, and here he was, risking it away as easily as one might risk losing a butterfly!

Once again the red haired man's eyes closed for a second of thought, before he spoke once again. "Very well, son. If you believe in your luck that strongly, then who am I to discourage you? But, firstly, I want to see the gold. If you would be so kind..."

A hand reached down the right side of Franz's torso as his head looked down to guide in its path. There, hanging by a rope tied to his waist, was a small bag with hundreds of protuberances on the surface. From the metallic sound it made when it was lifted and put back on the table again, it was easy to guess what it contained... the exact quantity of 1000 gold he had received two days ago, as a payment for his service to the house of Renais.

He looked at Joshua again, as if asking for confirmation. The swordsman nodded, then looked down at the three cards laid in between the two. Franz did the same, and many seconds passed before either of them the stillness in the air broke. Then, with a sure hand, Joshua turned over the middle card... a 3 of clubs.

"No!" cried Franz, staring at it. It couldn't be. He had followed his 5 of hearts EVERY second since it had first begun moving until the moment Joshua laid it to rest... there was simply no way for this to be true...

Joshua let out a small chuckle, and he placed his swift hand in the bag of gold Franz had placed upon the table, drawing it towards him. "Today was not your lucky day, boy."

"But... but how?" the young cavalier asked, as all air left him in disbelief, leaving his voice at nothing but a faint whisper. His eyes were still fixed on the card which had spelled his loss, but no matter how he stared at it, it would not tell him the secret of Joshua's victory. After a few moments he hung his head in defeat. "Ugh... that was all of my money for the next 5 days..."

The swordsman that sat opposite to him had by now pocketed the gold, and was standing up, looking down with his chrisom eye at the discouraged soldier. "You should not have gambled it all, then. You should have saved some for another day, when your luck might be better." He had stood up by now, and then something else crossed his mind. "Say... what made you come over to my tent to risk your fortune, Franz? I never took you for the gambling type..."

Franz looked up. In all truth, it wasn't in his nature to gamble. But something, or, better said, someone, had made him come over here. "It was my brother, Forde. He said I looked far too tense, and that being serious all the time was an ill thing to do." Franz was speaking as he looked down slightly, his voice dropping somewhat. "Then he told me to come over to your tent, Joshua. He said I could learn something from you... the way you take life so easily. The way you believe whether you live or lose on the battlefield is not entirely up to you, and how luck was a big part in determining that."

Franz had looked up again, and by this point one might wonder whether he was merely repeating his brother's words, or whether they held any conviction of their own. Joshua was unsure what to make of this. It had never crossed his mind somebody could look at him like that. Still, he had a leather pouch full of gold coins. Smiling at the thought, he answered to his young companion. "So your brother believes that... it is interesting to know I am regarded in that way." He stood up from his seating position in front of the wooden table in between himself and Franz and, after looking at him for a few moments, went outside.

The nowimpoverished cavalier looked after him for several seconds before he too, without a word, stood up from the floor of dirt which compromised the bottom of the tent and followed the gambler. Then, suddenly, a thought stroke him. "Say, Joshua... how did you came by that deck?"

They were outside now, and in the bright light of the sun it was easy to see Joshua had been mildly surprised by the question. He rose his right hand, the one in which he carried his 52 red cards, and gave it a look. "This one? This deck was all I took when I left Jehanna... apart from the essentials, of course, such as gold, water, and my sword." He smiled at this last part, but the smile quickly evaporated as water does under the heat.

"You see, Franz, I left Jehanna several years ago. I was so tired of my life there..." Joshua's eyes flashed for a moment, as his gaze lifted towards the sun, and Franz could tell he was no longer there, standing outside the tent as he was, but was instead back in the desserts of Jehanna, with the same sun that looked down upon them looking down at him, albeit a thousand times stronger. "...always the same. I could see my entire life without having lived it." He sighed, and his head was lowered, no longer looking at the mighty sun, but now towards the soil. "I couldn't bear the thought. I was a person who lived for chance. I could not stand predictability..."

His eyes, which had so traveled from the heavens to the earth, now rested on the green cavalier with a sideways glance. "I stowed away from me home one night. I knew how to survive in the dessert; I could afford little in the way of baggage without a means of transportation as is a horse or a camel. Water was the essential, and I made sure to take as much of it as it was possible. The others were gold, which would become useful once I began traveling abroad, and my sword. The harsh conditions of Jehanna are known for creating great warriors... it would be foolish of me to travel without a means of self defense."

"However, not all I took with me were things I would need. I also took this deck with me. It had been what had introduced me to games of chance long before I knew what they were. When little, I would enjoy guessing what a card was before I flipped it over. I was wrong most of the time, of course, but the thrill I received from turning the card... the joy in the few occasions I was correct... it was a rush as I had never experienced. I fell in love with lady luck that day."

Franz was silent, listening to every word that poured forth from Joshua's mouth. "I think this deck was what helped me keep my sanity. I got lost, you see, during those first few days of my adventure. I might very well have died... I had planned on enough supplies only until I reached a certain port in the eastern part of Jehanna. Now, they ran shorter with every passing day... but that was not the worst. The worst was the incredibly hours of boredom and heat that were inflicted upon me."

"That is why, every time I had to rest, I propped this deck and began playing with it. It had been a while since I had tried to guess the card right, but I had some other games to play. They would restore my spirit after a day of hard walking and traveling. If not for that, I might just have laid down to die in the sands of Jehanna. As it was, I eventually found my way again, and reached the port town of Arameis."

He smiled grimly. "Of course, it wasn't so simple. Arameis was a busy trading town. Many merchants offered goods and services of all kinds. One of those was gambling... I lost all of my money against professionals, and I couldn't stop until the last of my coins was gone. Later I learned they were using tricks, which I learned for the purposes of not being fooled again, but by now was too late; I had no gold. That is how my mercenary career began... I had no other way of making money." Then Joshua fell silent. If Franz had expected him to go on, he didn't. He simply stood there, looking at Franz with his sly, red eyes.

The blonde soldier of Renais looked back at him, and in the end decided to break the silence with his own words. "You had a rough beginning, Joshua. It was also hard for me... I joined the Renais knights because I wanted to be like my brother, Forde. But... I never imagined life in the military could be so hard. Hours of training, hours of drilling... losing every shred of individuality I had. I was a unit with my companions, and no matter if I was the worst or the best of them, we were judged only as a whole."

Franz could see it clearly again. The barracks of the camp, the training armor of leather they were assigned, the riding lessons... all as if it had been yesterday. "Then, it happened. I was out, performing the duty of cleaning the barns, when a knight came to talk to me. His armor was silver, and his hair was red. I had no idea who he was, but he seemed sincere and kind. He spoke to me, told me he had noticed how I had always tried to stand above my peer trainees, and put a hand on my shoulder. He smiled, and silently wished that forever there would be young recruits like me, for if that was the case, Renais would forever be safe. Then, he left. It wasn't until I told my companions about him that one of them recognized him as General Seth."

"Needless to say, I was shocked beyond all words. After I finally became a knight and swore service to His Majesty King Fado, General Seth still came to see me often. He taught me several things, most of combat, but a few of general life. I still remember one particular talk... I had almost gotten killed while on a mission to put down a small bandit upraise in the southern part of Renais. He told me to always keep an eye on the foe, and to never let my fear interpose itself in fulfilling of my duty. Those had been basic lessons back in the days of my training, but to hear them from his mouth burned them into my brain far better than any hours of training ever did. Now I shall never fear defeat, and I shall always keep an eye on my enem..." however, at this point, Franz stopped talking.

Joshua's eyebrows raised until they were hidden by his hat, and he leaned closer, but Franz still didn't speak. He seemed to be in a trance, and his lips were whispering something, too softly to be heard even if he were next to him. Eventually, the mercenary ventured putting a hand on Franz's shoulder and shaking it. "Franz... Franz! Are you all right, boy?"

Franz shook his head, and looked somewhat bewildered. However, this look was immediately replaced by a smile. A smile which had soon spread all over his face. "Why, yes Joshua, so kind of you to ask. But I want to ask something... do you want to have another wager?"

If eyes had ever been the size of saucers, it was in this case. Joshua was so surprised by this sudden change, he was unable to speak for a whole minute. Finally, however, he replied. "Another bet... but you told me you had no more money to gamble. Do not try to trick me, boy."

"It's not a trick... let's have a different kind of wager," Franz said his smile becoming wider. "If you win, I will do anything you ask me to, until the end of this war."

Joshua stared at Franz, as if trying to make sure whether he was serious or not. However, there was no doubt of the seriousness in the look of his eyes. "...and if you win...?" he asked at last.

Franz was already re-entering the tent, obviously waiting for Joshua to follow. "If I win, I will get all of my money back. Does that not sound like a good deal to you?" he said, before disappearing into the tent completely.

Joshua blinked for a few seconds. Franz had had a complete attitude change. However, it might just be an ego boost he had suffered while remembering his times with what seemed to be a prominent military figure in his country... he would put it down. Smiling, he entered the tent as well, and sat down at the table where Franz was already waiting for him. Pulling out tree cards and placing them on the table face up, he smiled. "Very well, Franz. It seems you really trust your luck... perhaps one day you will become like me. Pick your card."

Franz looked at the three cards in front of him. There was a 6 of diamonds, an 8 of clubs, and an ace of spades. He put a finger in the later. "This one," he said simply, before Joshua flipped all of them face down and began practicing his art.

The ritual began again. The cards flied across the table, one after another, all with a little move on the part of the expert hands of Joshua. Eventually, however, they slowed down and came to rest within the table both men sat at. Then he looked at Franz, and suddenly his eyes widened, and he looked very, very pale. When he next spoke, his voice sounded slightly worried. "Say, Franz... are you sure you don't have any money left on you? I will let you gamble that against my own pile instead, to give you a handicap..."

Franz smiled at him, a very friendly and innocent smile. Not once did his eyes leave the sight of Joshua. "No, Joshua. All the money I had is now in your possession. Let's continue with the original bet.

At this point, Joshua panicked. Sweating what any observer could have guessed to be cold sweat, his eyes opened wildly and he started speaking in a fearful voice "But s-surely you must have something left! Some change? Can you at least look!" he pleaded.

Franz couldn't hold it any longer. Pointing at the panicked Joshua, he burst out laughing. "Hahaha! I knew it! I know how you won our last bet, Joshua! You waited until I reached into my side to pull out my bag of gold, and switched the cards while I was distracted! And you only realized that wouldn't work if I didn't offer anything I carried with me when it was too late!"

Joshua was at first simply too shocked to say a word, but eventually his color returned, his breathing calmed, and he relaxed while looking at the laughing cavalier. "...you are a sharp one, Franz. You are the first person I have ever met to have been able to discover that trick." He smiled at the young man in front of him, in pride, perhaps, and tossed him the bag of gold he had won from him earlier. "You deserve to keep this. Your wit has earned it for you."

Franz stopped laughing, although he was still grinning from ear to ear, and grabbed the gold. "Thanks, Joshua. I began to suspect you had tricked me when you said you had learned of tricks in the dessert, and later the words of General Seth reminded me to never let my sight off my foe... but I did, when I reached for my money, and I almost lost it because of that."

Joshua stood up, still looking down at Franz. "But you received it in the end. You are a smart lad, my friend. Perhaps I wasn't wrong when I said you might become like me one day..." he said, before exiting his tent, leaving Franz to be alone in it for as long as he wished.

But Franz did not remain much longer. He was soon traveling back to his own tent, eager to tell his brother Forde about what had chanced in Joshua's tent.