AUTHOR'S NOTE: And here we reach the game's 2nd chapter. One of the goals of this fic is to flesh out the other characters as well instead of just making it revolve around Corrin/Kamui,and so we'll be seeing things from different perspectives from time to time. Similarly, in attempts to continue keeping a fairly even balance between Hoshido and Nohr, we'll get to see more of their reactions to these events in Nohr as the time comes. The chapter's title is a reference to some of the characters seen in the chapter, but I'll let you use your imagination as to whom. As always, I both enjoy and encourage feedback, and so I'd love to hear what those who have favorited and/or followed the story have to say about the story's progress so far.
Happy Reading!
CHAPTER 10: Demons of Flame and Shadow
Sing with me a song of Shadows and Flames...
Kamui knew that Windmire was a foreboding place, just like most of Nohr, but it was just as black as she had envisioned it. It was lit up as if in a perpetual night, with the daunting but magnificent Castle Krakenburg looming over the capital city.
The face of the Nohrian King Garon was impossible to forget. Grey and aged, there wasn't even a shadow of a doubt that he was a stern man. She was somewhat skeptical considering that for as long as she had known the man, he had also had a rather cruel streak, but the other siblings, particularly Xander and Camilla, both also recalled a time when Garon was a lot kinder; still stern and somewhat strict, but also very fatherly. They as well as Kamui wondered what happened, but knew better than to question it.
She was silent as Garon spoke, his voice as authoritative and commanding as Kamui remembered it being.
"I see you made it here safely, Kamui." The king nodded his approval.
"I've longed for this day, Father," Kamui gave a respectful bow, "I have not seen much outside that unforgiving fortress in years."
"And yet you are experienced, and it is thanks to your diligence that you are here." Garon reminded her, "I am told you are a powerful warrior strong enough to not only hold her own against Prince Xander, but also against Princess Camilla as well. You finally possess the skill to be an instrument in Nohr's power in the world."
Kamui nodded to acknowledge that she was still listening, but otherwise it seemed that Garon was not through speaking.
"As you know," Garon continued, "Nohr is at war with the eastern kingdom of Hoshido. They care nothing for the plights of our citizens. They bask in their wealth and well-being that they see no reason to give care or even give trade for those outside their protection. If we cannot win them over with reasoning, we have now turned to war."
"I understand," Kamui nodded, "And I pledge service to the glorious Kingdom of Nohr as long as I still draw breath."
"As you should," Garon nodded, "We of the royal family are descended from the First Dragons. As inheritors of that power we conquer those who oppose us with ease if we learn to properly wield that strength. Those gifted with these abilities and who use them appropriately can decimate legions of common soldiers with ease. I expect no less from one who very well could be the Dusk Dragon Incarnate."
"THE Dusk Dragon?" Kamui gawked, "but Father, doesn't that insinuate me as a god?"
"It means you have far greater power than you realize, child. Do not disappoint me."
"I will do my best to remain in your good graces."
"Good. Xander, Camilla, Leo, and even Elise have all demonstrated possession of this ability, ranging from Elise's awareness, to Leo's proficiency, to Camilla's expertise, to Xander's near-mastery. You hold this same power."
"I am aware of your expectations, father," Kamui promised, "And I have not only trained every day to become as powerful as them, but I've also trained to surpass them, and that's what I aim to do. I will stop at nothing until I have unlocked my full potential."
"Mmm…" Garon muttered, "you show great promise, child. Now you but need a suitable weapon in order to serve Nohr."
Garon raised his hand, and black magic began materializing around it, as if he was summoning something from the black. A dark purple, demonic-looking sword appeared after a few seconds, a sinister eye glowing between the handle of the hilt and the jagged blade itself. Kamui could almost feel the malevolence emanating from this weapon.
"...whoa." was all that Kamui would manage to say.
"This is Ganglari, a sword infused with magic from another world," Garon explained, "With this stord at your side, you will embrace the dark, and crush the light from the Hoshidans with effortless ease."
"Th-thank you for your generous gift, Father." Kamui stammered briefly. She took the sword in her hands, gazing at the material. It almost appeared to be obsidian in make, with some powerful magic holding the blade together. She foolishly ran her hand along the blade, wincing as it cut through the glove of her armor and slit her right palm open.
"I gave you a blade worthy of felling our strongest enemies." Garon reminded her, although almost seemed to find Kamui's injury amusing. "Do not treat it carelessly, or you might find your hand missing next time rather than merely bleeding."
"I apologize, father," Kamui was visibly embarrassed for her sophomoric mistake.
"It is of no concern to me," Garon admitted, "Now, let us see you put this sword to a more proper use. Bring forth the prisoners!"
"Prisoners…" Kamui whispered under her breath, wondering how they had captured Hoshidans so soon, if the war was apparently not even in full force yet…
=Krakenburg Dungeons, around the same time…=
Kaze and Rinkah were surprised when guards unlocked the prison cells. They held their weapons close to ensure that Rinkah in particular did not try to attack them and make a run for it, because that was exactly what they did. She was struck across her dominant arm with a forceful blow of a club before it was harshly tossed towards her.
"No games, girl." the guard warned as Rinkah held her injured arm with her good one. Her wrist was searing and she was pretty sure her arm was fractured. "You can probably kill a few dozen of us if you're really lucky, but you and your ninja friend aren't going to take more than that down before we get you. Is that how you want to be remembered by your kinsmen?"
"I'd rather die than rot in here," Rinkah growled. Kaze remained silent and fairly cooperative, if only to keep from getting assaulted like Rinkha.
"Tell you what… you beat your competitors, and we'll let you walk out of here a free woman."
"And what of me?" Kaze spoke up, wanting to be by Rinkah's side if nothing else to prevent the fiery woman from rushing in and killing herself.
"Same rules apply," the guards shrugged, "now come on, we've got a fight to initiate…"
Rinkah grudgingly followed them, nursing her broken arm as they were led to a small square arena-like location with King Garon and the royal family as part of the audience.
"These are prisoners from our most recent skirmish with Hoshido," Garon began, "I want to see the power you demonstrated against Xander and Camilla with my own eyes. Use that same ferocity and strike them down until they are nothing but bloodied corpses against the floor."
Kamui glanced out at the fiery woman clutching her arm and at the stoic ninja who was awaiting the chance for combat. Both of them had a seething hatred in their eyes burning towards the royal family, particularly the girl, but both of them were either being restrained by some sort of mind-magic, or simply knew that they wouldn't be able to assassinate the royal family from their position and in their ragged condition. The magical barriers keeping them from moving for the moment might have also helped. Kamui's focus was only disrupted by Gunter speaking.
"I shall join you, milady." he offered, "my lance arm is a little rusty but still serviceable."
"No need to be so modest, Gunter," Kamui nudged him, "I've hardly forgotten your training or how strong you were against me."
"Then perhaps it's best you never met me in my prime!" A smile crept onto Gunter's old face as if remembering better times. "Jakob, would you accompany us as well?"
"Naturally," Jakob stepped forward as if he had always been there, "I cannot allow someone of your advanced years to bear this burden alone. Lady Kamui, there will be no need to soil your hands with this filth. Please just relax and leave the fighting to us. I will prepare us some tea afterwards."
"I can't just sit on the sidelines after Father gave me a task," Kamui indicated, although Garon seemed to have no qualms with how the prisoners were killed; just as long as they were killed. "Besides…" her toes curled for a moment. "I think I sense a Dragon Vein."
The three Nohrians stepped into the 'ring' with the red and green fighters they were facing. For as okay as Kamui usually was with fighting and inflicting injury, she was a little skeptical about fighting a woman whose arm was clearly not functioning normally. Rinkah, however, seemed unfazed by her injury and more interested in why she was being stared at.
"I'm Rinkah, princess of the Flame Tribe and daughter of its honorable Chieftain!" She called out, brandishing flames around her left hand as her right arm stayed close to her chest, "what do they call you, Nohrian Princess?"
"Kamui," Kamui had no qualms with giving this girl her name, especially since they were about to kill each other in a battle for the death. The ninja's face changed only slightly at this revelation.
"Kamui…" he whispered, "can it be…?"
"You've heard of me, ninja?" Kamui's head cocked towards the man immediately.
"...I am Kaze, a ninja of Hoshido," he shifted the subject, introducing himself just as Rinkah had. "Let us see what you can do."
"Kill them all!" Garon shouted, and the magical barriers surrounding Kaze and Rinkah vanished, causing them to start moving swiftly but cautiously towards the three Nohrians that stood before them. Kaze engaged Jakob, while Kamui and Gunter took towards Rinkah, figuring they would dispose of her fairly quickly due to her handicap. They were mistaken, and Kamui nearly got cooked by a blast of Rinkah's flames. Kamui retreated, her foot detecting the Dragon Vein she had sensed earlier. She shifted her feet and her eyes flashed briefly, before a pile of rubble in front of them reassembled above them, revealing more of those magical floor tiles. Jakob noticed what was going on and joined Gunter and Kamui inside the radius of the healing aura, and then the three of them took a defensive, whittling down Kaze and Rinkah's strength while keeping their own up, and being careful not to toe the line. Jakob and Kamui were both swift enough to prevent their Hoshidan assailants from entering the vantage zone, and soon it became clear even to Rinkah that she was fighting a losing battle.
Gunter was the one to land a knockout blow against Kaze, whose gaze fell on Kamui one last time before he lost consciousness.
"I… regret… nothing…" he groaned. Almost as if this was a trigger switch of some sort, Rinkah threw her club with ferocious accuracy, and had Jakob not ducked to avoid it, he might have been struck hard enough to cut him in two.
"Do you know why they call us Scions of Flame?" she growled, "lemme demonstrate. BEHOLD the might of the Flame Tribe!" Taking a deep breath, Rinkah spun around and kicked balls of fire towards the defensive Nohrians before facing them head on and barraging them with a steady but massive stream of flame from her mouth like a dragon. Kamui actually recoiled, while the armor on Gunter and his horse kept him mostly safe. Jakob, who had been behind the two of them, was the one to land the final blow on her, causing her to stagger back as she realized that her other arm just became useless.
"N-Nohrian bastards…" she gritted her teeth as she fell to one knee in defeat. Kaze's unconsciousness was brief, but when he woke up to see Rinkah defeated, he sighed.
"So this is how it ends then…" hardly a few days ago he was fighting at Corrin and Hinoka's side, defending their country from Faceless, and now he and one of his friends were doomed to die at the hands of Nohrians-including the one that so many in the Hoshidan Royal Family hoped to see again.
Kamui brought her sword up to eliminate the Flame Tribe girl first, although what she was muttering made her stay her hand a moment.
"Dying like this… 16 years and my journey stopped before it even began… Father was right about me being a reckless fool…"
"You're only 16?" Kamui looked at the muscular girl almost in disbelief. She looked much older and despite her fiery personality, her general behaviour and voice would have suggested to Kamui that she was much older.
"What does it matter?" she growled, holding both her arms to her chest now, "kill me. You won."
"From her own lips," Garon commanded, "why do you idle, idiot girl? Kill her! Kill them both!"
Had Garon always been this bloodthirsty? Had everything Xander ever told her about this man been from a deluded mind, or had something else consumed him while she had been away for so long? She could not be sure.
Luckily, it seemed Leo had a plan and jumped in as if to show it off, before the situation could escalate. Brandishing his divine Brynhildr Tome, he focused his energy on Rinkah and Kaze who braced for the worst. With a powerful blast of fire and light, he fired his magic towards them, the burst from the impact clouding the view. By the time it had subsided, there was nothing left of Rinkah or Kaze to be seen...