"Hah!" Rinkah cried, letting herself fall to the ground in exhausted satisfaction as, for the first time since she began participating in this war, she finally completed one of her many intense training regimens. It had been a while since she had felt so thoroughly worked out and she couldn't help but smile as she lay there, her chest heavily rising up and down from breathing so hard and her body glistening with sweat as her entire body ached in a way that only a proud warrior such as herself could love. It would have been impossible to complete such a workout with anybody else, but with Ananias, it was different. Once Ananias informed and lead her to the secluded place in which he was to work, he would silently allow her to train to her heart's content, and she appreciated him for that. Sure, she would still admit that he could be a bit strange at times, but even so, if it meant that she could finally have some time alone to herself, she would eagerly jump at the chance to go with him. And besides, when compared to the weirdness and eccentricities of everyone else, Ananias' were certainly the least offensive.
"You finished?" Ananias asked, stopping what he was doing at the moment to check if she was indeed okay after she had just fallen to the ground.
Rinkah nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay." She then sat up and wiped the sweat off of her brow with the back of one of her arms. "In fact, I feel better than okay! I feel great! Since coming here, I can't even remember the last time I worked out this hard!"
Ananias nodded his head and let out an understanding hum. "Must be a great feeling."
"It is a great feeling!" Rinkah insisted. "Maybe next time, instead of doing chores, you could join me for once! Finally put some more meat on those bones!"
Ananias raised an eyebrow in mild surprise. "Huh? I thought the Flame Tribe valued solitude."
"We do," Rinkah asserted. "But that doesn't mean that we're complete loners. We're capable of spending time with others. We would just appreciate it if others would allow us to spend some time with ourselves every once and a while."
"Oh," Ananias simply said.
"So, what do you say?" Rinkah asked, slowly getting herself back up to her feet before flexing her bicep at him with a daring grin on her face. "Want to push your body to the limit?"
"I hate to break it to you, but all I'd probably do is slow you down. And besides," he indicated towards what he was currently doing, "there's still a bunch of other stuff that I could be doing besides that."
"Humph," Rinkah scoffed. "Like what? Do more chores? I thought you were a messenger."
"I am."
"Then why do you act like some glorified butler? Heck, you don't even get paid! That makes you nothing more than a slave without a master!"
Ananias' eyes blinked in confusion. "Um, wait. Wouldn't that... not make me a slave then?"
"You know what I mean!" Rinkah hotly contended. "And besides, look at what you're doing! You're pulling weeds! Surely there must be something more worthy of your time than pulling weeds from out of the ground!"
"Well, I mean, technically there are a lot of things I could be doing besides pulling weeds..."
"That's not what I meant!" Rinkah cried. She let out an exasperated sigh before saying, "Look, as long as I have known you, all you've ever done was do things for other people. Surely there is something out there that YOU want to do, isn't there?"
Ananias thoughtfully lowered his head before shaking it and answering, "...Honestly, I don't really know. All my life, I've been trying to either meet others people's expectations of me or trying to do what I can to help them. I don't think I've ever wanted anything that."
Rinkah shook her head in a mixture of disappointment and disgust. "Humph. Pathetic. Even your career as a messenger is nothing more than doing what others tell you to do. Your entire life has been nothing but supporting and serving others. And yet, you told me once before that you tire of interacting with others. You live a pathetically miserable and confused existence. And here I thought we were kindred spirits, but in reality, we're nothing alike. I know who I am. MY flame burns brightly, no matter what other people think of me. But you? You're just a feeble flame searching desperately for something to kindle its own fire." She turned her back on him. "I can't respect a man who lives their life that way."
"Rinkah, I -"
"Enough. I have nothing more to say to you."
And with that, Rinkah left, leaving a dejected Ananias behind with nothing but his thoughts to keep him company, both the good and the bad.
Author's Note #1: The next supports will be Arthur, followed by Silas, Leo, Keaton, and Subaki.
Author's Note #2: The Fire Emblem Warriors poll is up on my profile! Vote for which five characters you want for Ananias to support with from that game the most and, in the end, ten characters will be selected for Ananias to support with, so make your voices heard. Happy voting!
Author's Note #3: As Ananias has no real connection to the Three Houses cast and has no real reason to be there anyway, there will be no Three Houses supports for him. I know that an Anna is in Three Houses, but if we went by that logic, Ananias would have to support with every Fire Emblem character that has ever existed, which would be unrealistic to do, at least for one person. If any of you want to do that yourselves, however, then you have my blessing, it's just that I won't be the one doing it. Sorry.