BloodyCrystal: Hey, all! Here's the first chapter of the multi-chappy fic that is the sequel to Misconceptions, Void, Scream, and Nightmare.
This takes place several weeks after Misconceptions, so there probably won't be much of a time gap.
As always, I only own Lani, the plot, the bad guy, and his evil henchmen—unless otherwise stated, of course.
Enjoy the first chapter!
Lani yawned and rubbed at her eyes. She just couldn't get the feeling of immense tiredness out of her system. At this rate, she would be no use as tactician, and where would she-and the others-be then?
The limber eighteen-year-old stretched, looking much like a cat, then went back to the hunched over position her body had been in for the past several hours as she poured over reports and maps. The situation was grim, and her companions needed her at full alert. That meant no tiredness, no mistakes, no second-guessing, and no assumptions; she was only succeeding-so far-with one.
Lani groaned as unbidden memories rose in her mind. Thoroughly irritated, she ignored them, telling herself again and again that events had occurred the way that they should have. She couldn't stop second-guessing the last campaign she had been on with Lord Hector, Lord Eliwood, and Lady Lyndis. That was bad enough when she wasn't on campaign; it was far worse when she was.
Two faces rose to mind; the first a nice one that was easy on the eyes, the second a hardier face that radiated a protective air. Sandy blonde hair, slightly spiked, but almost never styled adorned the first. An almost unparalleled sword master, he had a strong sense of loyalty; especially to his brother. The second had browner hair that looked slicked on, like a hard shell. A ferocious fighter and passionate ally, his honor-and pride-was second to none. If only we hadn't been on opposing sides. If only I had convinced even one of them…
Lani shook her head to clear it of such thoughts; they hadn't helped then and they sure as hellfire didn't help the young tactician now.
But, gods, how she missed them with all of her heart…
Heath growled under his breath. He absolutely loathed flying Hyperion in the rain. It was-to him-a horrendous activity.
Worse, he had to deal with smelling wet wyvern, which was even a remotely pleasant odor. He'd prefer to be back at camp copying maps or sitting in on meetings to scout duty in the rain. Scout duty was fine, provided the sky wasn't crying rain, snow, sleet, or hail; he'd even choose scout duty over anything else provided it wasn't drenching buckets.
But, being one of only five flyers in the "army", he didn't have much choice. So, he attempted to ignore his sodden state and looked for the landmark that meant he could return to base camp-and warm, dry settings.
So far, there had been no sign of the odd-shaped rock he had been ordered to scout to, but that didn't mean much with such limited sight.
Heath contemplated-briefly-complaining to HQ when he got back, but that would upset Lani, and she was already in pretty bad condition. She would take the brunt of the complaints, feel bad, and not show up for the comfort the two provided each other with. He resolved to keep his mouth shut about conditions and simply report on his findings. No more, no less.
But, gods, how he wished that he was dry…
Hector wished to high heavens that the last of the scouting party would hurry the hell up; he was sick and tired of waiting up night after night for the last of them to get in. But he knew that he wasn't in the worst of conditions this particular night, if only because the last scout still out there was Heath. Lani couldn't go to sleep without him, and the tactician was already bone weary and half-dead from lack of sleep; she had been up before dawn when Heath rose to go with the scouting party, because neither of the two could peacefully sleep when the other was gone.
Hector planned on giving the Wyvern Lord a stern tongue lashing for staying out for all hours when Lani wasn't with him. The cooler part of his mind reminded him that Heath was probably exhausted as well, but the Great Lord was far more concerned with their only tactician; Heath was replaceable, Lani was not. But then, maybe Heath wasn't replaceable, if he was the only one who could let Lani get some sleep.
He saw Lyndis glaring at him, as if she had guessed his mind. The Blade Lord shook her head at him quite fiercely, as though warning him off being rude to the tardy Heath.
Hector decided to not yell at the Wyvern Lord simply to take the strain off. He'd ask Lani-or, better yet, Pent and Louise-if there was an arena in the area; that would probably cheer him up, and prevent him from yelling at anyone. He'd ask the two of them as soon as Heath got back.
Speaking of, where was he? It had been a full two hours since the last of the other scouts came in, so where was he? Just be safe, and hurry up, and there'll be no complaints…
Gods, how he wished Heath would hurry up…
BloodyCrystal: Well? Did ya like it? I hope so; I spent a lot of hard work on this one. Now, about my updating schedule: I can probably do it about once a week-most likely Sunday or Monday-, but I'm not promising anything; I've got a hectic schedule right now. Oh, bonus points-and a preview of the next chapter-to whoever can guess who Lani was thinking about. You have to guess both of them for the preview, but one is good enough for a special shout-out. If you can guess why she was thinking about those two in particular, then I'll give you previews of the next three chapters. The previews are more like teasers, but whatever.
Your only hint: both characters are from the game, and they die in the game.
A special shout-out to Fire Fanatic for the help with pairings!