Fire Emblem: Three Houses
The Hound of Siorus
Chapter 1: Konnor Faoladh Siorus
Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem Three Houses. All rights belong to Nintendo.
Author's Note: Hey, everyone! WinterWolf29 here! During the past several weeks, I've been discussing with FrenchMarioBros and NightShock99 about a Fire Emblem OC (whose name is in the title). After some thought, I've decided to make it into a fanfic. I will not be resuming my RWBY fanfics, unfortunately; I will only be working on the Hound of Siorus. Hope you enjoy!
My updates won't be as constant since I'm working full time, just so you know.
DAY 4 OF GREAT TREE MOON, IMPERIAL YEAR 1180
Two riders rode swiftly on the road to Garreg Mach from the north as the sun started to dip below the horizon. They hoped to cover as much ground as possible before finding a place to camp for the night since the Monastery was still half a day away. As banditry was still running rampant throughout the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, travelling at night was far too dangerous, even for a pair of capable warriors.
The first rider rode on a black horse named North Wind, a young man of 18 years named Konnor Faoladh Siorus, adopted son of Lord Taranis of House Siorus. He had short dark brown hair, brown eyes, and stood at 5'10 with a strong build with broad shoulders and a barrel chest. In his right hand was a lance, his primary weapon, and a broadsword was strapped onto his back with a customized scabbard that allowed for an easy draw.
The second rider rode on a white horse named Snow Star, whose name was Hanraoi Ultan Siothrun, the personal aide to Konnor. In contrast to the Siorus heir, Hanraoi had a slender build with shoulder-length dirty blonde hair and green eyes, but stood at Konnor's height. Instead of being clad in knightly armor like Konnor, Hanraoi wore mage robes and his weapons included a magical tome in his saddle bag and a sword on his belt.
Between the two riders was a large, brown greyhound named Bronze, who accompanied them from their home in Siorus territory, which lay north of Garreg Mach and west of House Charon. If there was any possible danger, Bronze was always the first one to notice it and would stop to sniff around, alerting the two young men to potential threats.
"Are you doing okay, Han?" Konnor asked his friend. "We still have a long ways ahead of us."
"It's getting dark," Hanraoi replied. "Perhaps it'd be wise to stop now and find a place to camp for the night. We still have half a day before we reach the Monastery."
Konnor hoped to cover a little more ground before stopping, but Han was right. It was getting dark and sooner or later, they'd have to find a safe spot to camp for the night. They'd have to get off the road since it'd be rife with bandits during the nighttime.
The two riders brought their steeds to a halt just as the sun dipped below the horizon and the moon rose to take its place in the sky, accompanied by thousands of stars. The two of them directed their horses off the road into the surrounding forest with Bronze following after them. They'd have to find an area and quick or else the chances of them being attacked would increase exponentially.
"Over there," Konnor called out, pointing a hill that would provide a great view of the forest, though there was nothing to offer cover them from unfriendly eyes. However, it'd have to do so they wouldn't be too far from the road in the morning. The warrior and the mage got off their horses and led them up the hill, which had enough room for the five of them.
While Hanraoi got a campfire ready, Konnor pulled out blankets for them to sleep and food to eat, including two apples and four pieces of meat that would be cooked over the fire. Bronze sat down next to Konnor and looked out into the distance, keeping his nose and ears open for anything he deemed unfriendly.
"If we leave at first light, Konnor, we should reach Garreg Mach by noon tomorrow," Han informed as Konnor place two skewers over the fire, each holding two pieces of meat. "So don't stay up too late."
"I won't," Konnor answered. "I'll make sure to be up at a decent time." After that, it was several moments of silence between the two of them. Han could sense something was wrong with Konnor, so he decided to speak up.
"What's bothering you?" he asked. Konnor let out a heavy sigh.
"It doesn't feel right that we're going to Garreg Mach during a time like this," he replied. "Ever since the Tragedy of Duscur, things have become very hard for Faerghus and they were hard before. I feel like we should be back home, helping Lord Siorus."
Han understood where Konnor was coming from. Banditry and poverty had grown worse ever since King Lambert was killed and Duscur was razed to the ground as they bore the blame for the King's murder. Faerghus had fallen into chaos and would've collapsed completely if not for the fact that Prince Dimitri, Lambert's son and heir, survived that terrible massacre.
Unfortunately, Dimitri was not old enough to take the throne at the time and still wasn't. During the past four years, Lambert's brother, Rufus, had become the de facto ruler of Faerghus, but he was too preoccupied with womanizing to properly rule the Kingdom and did nothing to provide security and stability.
"Konnor, your father sent you here so you'd be prepared to take leadership when your time comes," Han brought up. "You're helping our people by going to Garreg Mach. By the time you graduate, you'll be ready to do even more for Faerghus."
"Maybe in time, I'll see it that way," Konnor replied. "But for now, it just feels…" He didn't finish. Instead, he took one of the meat skewers and blew the steam from the cooked meat. Once he had let it cool, he started eating as Han picked up the other skewer and started eating as well.
"I can't believe we'll meet Prince Dimitri," Konnor spoke.
Though he had never met the Crown Prince in person, Konnor had heard much about Dimitri and had developed a great respect for him over the years. Even though his adoptive father, Lord Taranis Siorus, had often travelled to Fhirdiad in earlier years on official business, Konnor had never met either King Lambert or Prince Dimitri.
Konnor almost had a chance during the rebellion two years ago, but their armies fought separate battles. While Dimitri fought one rebel army, Konnor fought another that had planned to flank the Kingdom force from behind. That was the day that changed Konnor forever.
"Not only that, we'll be serving alongside him," Han brought up. "Though I'm also certain he'd like to make the acquaintance of the Hound of Siorus as well."
The Hound of Siorus, the name given to Konnor by his family and people. It was a name of honor and respect, one that that he had earned through his deeds in the past years. It was a light of hope for the people in Siorus territory and a name of dread to his enemies.
Konnor chuckled in response to Han. He'd certainly be happy if the Crown Prince of Faerghus was honored to meet him, though it'd undoubtedly be the other way around for the Hound of Siorus. He was merely the adopted son of a noble while Dimitri was the Crown Prince.
"With any luck, you may also find a noble bride while you're there," Hanraoi suggested, causing Konnor's smile to drop. Han immediately noticed the change in Konnor's expression, but before he could ask, the Hound of Siorus finished up his meat and placed the skewer back in the pack on North Wind's saddle.
"Let's get some sleep soon," Konnor suggested. "As you said, we have an early start tomorrow." He placed his sword and lance next to him and laid down, gazing up at the moon and stars.
"You're avoiding the topic," Han called out. Konnor let out an annoyed sigh before closing his eyes and pretending to go to sleep.
Seeing that his words would fall on deaf ears for now, Han resigned himself to lying down as well and closing his eyes to go to sleep. Meanwhile, Konnor still looked up at the sky, his mind filled with many thoughts that ran around his head. The one he was most focused on was the finding of a noble bride at Garreg Mach.
"I'm the adopted son of a noble who doesn't have a Crest," he thought to himself. "No noble house would even fathom of letting me marry into their families."
Bronze walked over to Konnor and plopped right down next to him and looked at him with his expressive brown eyes. Konnor smiled and petted Bronze's head before dozing off to sleep as well.
The morning came quicker than the two young men expected. Han was the first to get up as usual, followed quickly after by Konnor who was woken up by Bronze using his nose to get him up.
"Looks like we found a perfect spot," Konnor commented as he got up. He had half expected to be attacked during the night, which left him pleasant surprised that nothing had happened. However, he couldn't afford to let his guard down just yet as Faerghus was still very dangerous due to the rampant pillaging and looting.
The two young men started to pack up their belongings and had some apples for breakfast to tide them over until they reached Garreg Mach. Just as they were about to mount their horses and ride back to the road, they heard Bronze sniffing, his nose raised into the air.
"What is it, buddy?" Konnor asked.
"AAAAHHHH!" A feminine shriek cried out in the distance, coming from the road that Konnor and Hanraoi had just travelled on the other day.
"What was that?" Konnor gasped, quickly rising to his feet and putting his sword on his back.
"Someone must be in trouble," Han deduced. "Come on!" The two of them leapt onto their steeds and rode back to the road, hoping to discover what was going on.
Upon arriving back to the road, Konnor and Hanraoi saw exactly what they had suspected. Bandits had attacked a family of three, a young mother and two children, who were driving a horse-driven cart that carried bags of supplies. The two children were being tied to a tree with rope while the mother was being forced to the ground by the bandits.
"Back off NOW!" Konnor roared, brandishing his lance. "Leave now if you value your lives!" The bandits jeered in response. They found it amusing how two nobles and their dog stood any chance against them.
"How about you back off before we kill you?" the leader threatened, a large man wielding a mace. "Or better yet, why don't you be a good noble boy and give us what you got?" Neither Konnor nor Hanraoi budged and Bronze bared his fangs, growling lowly and threateningly. The banidts continued to mock and jeer at the two of them until one of the bandits saw the sigil on Konnor's armor.
"That's the sigil of House Siorus!" the bandit called out before his eyes widened in panic. "That's…that's the Hound of Siorus!" Four of the bandits quickly ran away, dropping their weapons and disappearing from sight.
"Hey, get back here!" the bandit leader called out. "There's only two of them!" There was no response and the cowardly bandits disappeared into the forest.
Now the bandit leader wasn't feeling so cocky with over half of his crew having run away. Konnor's iron gaze still focused on the remaining bandits, prepared to strike them down at a moment's notice.
"Die!" the bandit leader cried out. He swung his mace at Konnor, who deflected the attack and swung at the leader's head, nearly hitting him with his lance's blade. As for the two remaining bandits that charged, Hanraoi cast a lightning spell, electrocuting both of them in the blink of an eye.
The bandit leader and Konnor traded blows with each other until Konnor's lance tore through the leader's shoulder, causing him to drop his mace onto the ground. Before he could reach for the mace with his other hand, Bronze leapt on him and started biting his left arm. The greyhound buried his fangs deep into the bandit's arm, giving Konnor a perfect opportunity to skewer the bandit with his lance. He fell dead onto the ground along with his two other comrades.
"My Lords!" the mother cried out. "Thank you! I was certain those bandits would've killed my children and I!"
"You're safe now," Konnor assured her as he cleaned the blood from his lance. "Are you hurt?"
"No, I'm okay," she assured. "What about my children? Are they hurt?"
"They're shaken, but they're okay," Han assured. "They're alive, so that's what matters. Please, tell us what happened."
The mother then explained how she and her two children were travelling merchants that were on their way to the town in Garreg Mach. Their home village was too far from many Kingdom garrisons, making it too dangerous to reside. Unfortunately, they were then attacked by the bandits, who proceeded to steal most of their belongings and would've 'had fun' with her in the process while leaving her children to die.
"The Goddess was clearly looking out for you," Konnor commented. "I'm happy we were able to save you when we did."
"Please, may I ask your names?" the woman asked.
"I'm Konnor Siorus," the knight introduced. "The mage is my friend, Hanraoi Siothrun."
"Pleased to meet you," Han responded.
"Again, thank you for saving us," the mother replied. She then hurried on over to embrace her children, who were still visibly shaken by what had happened, both with tears running down their faces.
"You said you're going to Garreg Mach," Konnor brought up. "What if Han and I went with you? We're heading there ourselves."
"You'd do that for us?" she asked. "Thank you!" Konnor and Han smiled in response before calling their mounts over and leaping onto them. As for Bronze, the family of three allowed him to jump onto their cart since Garreg Mach was still half a day away for them.
"Why isn't your husband with you?" Konnor asked. The woman's grateful smile slowly changed to one of painful remembrance. She didn't have to say a word to make Konnor understand that her husband was most likely dead and he just reopened an old wound.
"I…I'm so sorry, ma'am," he apologized. "Let's head onto Garreg Mach. If Bronze starts sniffing, let me know." The five of them then started riding to the Monastery.
It was a long trip for everyone and the heat from the sun was starting to grow heavy as they travelled further from Faerghus territory. Luckily, there had been no sign of bandits and Bronze hadn't raised an alarm. Instead, he laid in the cart, letting himself be petted by the children.
Konnor looked back at the cart and chuckled at the way the children were petting his dog. Bronze was big and intimidating, but underneath, he was just a big puppy dog…unless he was fighting on the battlefield.
What was unknown to Konnor was the way the young mother kept looking at him, which caught Hanraoi's attention. It wasn't an expression of gratitude or safety, it was an amorous expression.
"Lord Siorus," the woman spoke up.
"Yes?" Konnor asked. "And please, just Konnor. Lord Siorus is back home."
"Yes…Konnor," she replied with some reluctance. "I don't meet a lot of nobles who are okay with being so casual around commoners."
"Honestly, I don't like being referred to as 'Lord Siorus' or being put on a pedestal simply because of my status," Konnor responded. "I've seen enough nobles who do that."
"Well…it's good to know that there's still decency among the nobility," the mother responded. She smiled at Konnor and he smiled back, nodding his head at the compliment.
As Han suspected, Konnor wasn't picking up on the woman's subtle cues. He saw her compliment and smile only as gestures of gratitude for saving her family from a grisly demise when in truth, she was showing more than that. A young widow saved by a noble heir of House Siorus…Han could see where it could lead. Konnor didn't.
It wasn't much longer until the two warriors and the family of three saw a large, castle-like building in the distance. Many white towers stood erect to be seen for miles. Four large walls stood guard, armed with armored soldiers and siege weapons. It stood atop a large green hill with a clear path leading up to it.
"Garreg Mach Monastery," Konnor spoke. "We've finally arrived."
"Indeed," Hanraoi replied. "After a week and a half of travelling, we made it here safely."
After escorting the family into the town of Garreg Mach, Konnor and Hanraoi continued the path to the Monastery. There, they'd enlist into the Officers' Academy in the Blue Lion House, where all students from the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus would join.
"Garreg Mach Monastery, home to the Officers' Academy and Central Church of Seiros," Konnor stated as he and Han dismounted, continuing onward by foot while guiding their horses by the reins. "It's been standing here for over a thousand years. There's so much history in these walls."
"Indeed," Han agreed. "You may not realize it now, Konnor, but you're truly helping our people and Faerghus by coming here. The next leaders of Faerghus are coming here to learn, to understand and to grow so that one day, we will lead Fódlan, hopefully for the better."
Han's words were filled with wisdom, but Konnor couldn't shake the feeling he had ever since he had departed from home. While he was here in the safety of Garreg Mach's walls, his people and family were still struggling to survive the Kingdom's instability, harsh climate and rise in violence. Perhaps in time, Han's words would feel true, but for now, it didn't.
"By the way, Konnor, you know that woman was trying to flirt with you, right?" Han brought up.
"What?" Konnor asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, she was trying to flirt with you," Han brought up. "I could see it in the way she was talking to you."
"We just saved her and her children's' lives," Konnor responded. "It struck me more as being grateful." Han sighed heavily and shook his head. Konnor himself groaned in frustration as yet again, he didn't pick up on a young woman having an attraction to him.
"Why am I so bad with women?" he groaned.
"You're not terrible with women, Konnor," Han corrected. "You simply don't know when they like you…which in the end, makes you terrible with women."
"Oh, shut up," Konnor shot back as the two continued their way to the entrance of Garreg Mach. "Once we're set up, I'll need to send a letter back to Lord and Lady Siorus to let them know we made it to the Monastery."
Unknown to Konnor, his companion had a rather disapproving expression on his face, but it seemed more sad than angry. The Lord and Lady of House Siorus were Konnor's adoptive parents, yet he seemed to address them more as a knight under their service rather than their son and heir.
The rest of the walk up to the Monastery was mostly quiet. A few words were traded between the two young men, mostly commenting on the ancient history of Garreg Mach and the part it's played in Fódlan's history. Mostly, the two young men were quiet as they silently admired the architecture of the Monastery and contemplated their futures here.
Despite being adopted and without a Crest, Konnor was the heir to House Siorus. When his adoptive father passed, the privilege and responsibility of leadership would pass to Konnor. As such, he'd need to be trained and prepared for such a role when the time came and it would be here at Garreg Mach.
Hanraoi was mostly here for one reason: to help Konnor prepare for his role as the future Lord Siorus and help him potentially find a noble bride. The second task was definitely more difficult since Konnor was neither of noble blood nor did he possess a Crest. Lord Siorus had made several marriage requests of Konnor, but in the eyes of the nobles he reached out to, none of them saw Konnor as a potential husband for their daughters.
By now, the Hound of Siorus had given up on the idea of marrying a noble. In their eyes, he was nothing but a Crestless orphan who had no qualities worthy of earning a noblewoman's hand in marriage.
"Konnor?" a male voiced asked, one Konnor recognized immediately. He looked back to see a shorter young man with messy gray hair, green eyes and wearing a hooded version of the Garreg Mach uniform with a quiver of arrows on his back and a bow in his left hand.
"Ashe?" Konnor responded, his eyes widening in surprise. The two laughed heartily before rushing up to each other and hugging.
"It's so good to see you," Konnor laughed as he pulled away from Ashe.
"You too," Ashe responded. "I haven't seen you for a long while."
"Unfortunately, I've been too busy back home to visit you and Lord Lonato," Konnor informed.
As Siorus territory was close to Gaspard lands, Konnor's family would sometimes visit Lord Lonato. When Konnor first met Ashe for the first time after being adopted, the two immediately became friends, so much so that the two always stayed in contact. Unfortunately, the last two years had put a major strain on it and Konnor had barely written to Ashe at all.
"I'm sorry I haven't contacted you lately," the Hound apologized. "Things have just been…chaotic back home."
"You don't need to apologize," Ashe assured. "Things have been hard back at Lonato's home as well. I can understand why you haven't been able to keep in contact lately." Ashe then looked past Konnor and saw another familiar face, though not one he had seen as often as Konnor's.
"Han!" Ashe exclaimed. He walked up to him and the two hugged.
"It's a pleasure to see you again, Ashe," Han responded. "How has your family been? I hope you are not too overwhelmed by everything going on."
"We're making it by," Ashe replied. "But it's great to see you two again."
With Ashe accompanying them, Konnor and Han continued towards the Monastery, which wasn't much further away. Konnor, Han and Ashe took this time to catch up and discuss what had been happening in their respective territories ever since the terrible Tragedy of Duscur.
"Was your journey from Gaspard lands safe?" Konnor asked Ashe.
"It was," Ashe assured. "I managed to avoid bandits on my way here. What about you two?"
"We had a few run-ins, but a good number of them ran after hearing that they were trying to rob the Hound of Siorus," Han informed. "Konnor's garnered quite the reputation back home."
The three of them finally arrived at the Monastery gates, waiting a moment for the Church soldiers to open them up. Upon entering, they walked into a small marketplace with several stalls. Despite its small size, it looked very lively and busy for all the merchants and customers around.
"I'll get the horses to the stables," Konnor offered to Han. "Could you go and get us checked in please, Han?"
"Will do," Han agreed. He handed Snow Star's reins to Konnor and left with Ashe to get checked in while the Siorus heir escorted the horses to the stables with Bronze following after him. Then it hit him: he had no idea where the stables were. He had never been to Garreg Mach before, but luckily, a soldier standing by the entrance hall gate was nearby.
"Excuse me," Konnor asked the soldier. "Where are the stables? I need to put the horses away."
The gatekeeper directed Konnor to where the stables were and so he went off to secure the horses. Bronze followed along, panting with his tongue out excitedly as he sniffed around the stone, grass and water of Garreg Mach.
It was beautiful to look at…and suddenly, a voice was heard singing. Konnor stopped immediately after hearing the almost heavenly singing, his eyes widened in surprise and shock. He almost completely forgot about having to take the horses to the stables, but he didn't want to miss who the singer was.
He quickly looked around for somewhere to tie the reins of the horses around before finding a tree with a low and sturdy branch. Konnor escorted North Wind and Snow Star over and tied their reins around the branch. Once they were secure, he quickly took off in the sound of the voice…and praying he wasn't doing anything stupid.
The voice was much closer than he thought…and it belonged to what he felt was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Long brown hair, emerald green eyes, and a beautiful smile on her face as she hummed a soft melody.
"By the Goddess," he whispered. "I could look across this continent for a thousand years and not find anyone so…so beautiful. Oh, please be available. PLEASE be available."
ARF! ARF! Bronze started barking at Konnor, snapping him out of his trance. The Hound of Siorus knelt down and pet his dog to let him know he was okay. As he was petting Bronze, Konnor realized that the singing had stopped. Bronze's barking must've startled the woman he had seen and perhaps she had left.
"Is he okay?" a female voice asked, taking Konnor by surprise. He got back onto his feet and looked to see the same woman who was singing.
"He's fine," he assured. "He's trained to bark if he thinks something's up. I didn't mean to startle you."
"Don't worry, I'm fine," she assured. "Are you new here? You're not in uniform."
"I just came here today," Konnor replied. "My name's Konnor, Konnor Siorus. May I ask yours?"
"That depends," she replied. Konnor raised an eyebrow, unsure of what she meant.
"Depending on what?" he asked.
"Are you going to ask?" she replied in a flirty tone. Konnor thought back to what he said and, after thinking it over, realized that he asked 'if he could ask'. He didn't directly ask her for her name.
"What's your name?" he asked again.
"Dorothea," she answered. "Are you here by yourself?"
"No," Konnor responded, not picking up on the subtle flirting. "I came here with a friend who's getting us checked in. Our uniforms, dorms…those kinds of things."
Suddenly, Bronze walked over to Dorothea and started sniffing her hand. She giggled before petting him and he started to lick her fingers. Konnor would've reprimanded Bronze, but Dorothea didn't seem to mind his dog's attention.
"Well, he clearly likes you," Konnor chuckled.
"I can tell," Dorothea replied.
As much as Konnor wanted to keep talking to Dorothea, he had to get Snow Star and North Wind to the stables. He gently pulled on Bronze's collar, gesturing for him to come back.
"I hope to talk to you again," Konnor told her. "I have to get the horses to the stables. See you later." He then started walking off with Bronze to stall the horses. All the while, Dorothea was on Konnor's mind.
She had to be the most beautiful woman he had ever met. If an angel fell from heaven and landed in Fódlan, that was her. Konnor prayed for two things: that she was available and that she'd be in the Blue Lions.
Author's Notes: I hope this was a good start to the Hound of Siorus Fanfic! If you have any constructive criticism to share, write a review or message me! I hope you enjoy this story!
Help with Pronunciation:
Hanraoi (Han-roy-ee)
Siorus (Ee-yor-us)
