Disclaimer: Characters aren't mine. Fire Emblem isn't mine. There ya go. Also, all four of the Black Eagle boys have little sisters around the same age. All of them are about 8. That aside, enjoy Chapter Three!
Caspar runs his hand through his short, spiky hair, thinking about what Dorothea had told him.
Flashback:
"Caspie! I have a question."
"Huh? Oh, sure. What's up?"
"Do you... " She got quieter. "Have a crush on Linha-"
"SHHHH SHH! BE QUIET...! " Caspar whisper yelled. "... yes... "
"I KNEW it! Ha! Wait.. I thought you two were childhood friends."
"Yeah...? So? "
"Don't you think it'd be... awkward? You know, dating your best friend? What would happen if you two broke up? it'd be... oh. Uh... Caspar, forget I said that.. " She adds the last part after seeing Caspar's face drop like a kicked puppy.
"You... you think? I guess I should just give it up... -"
"No! Don't! I'll help you! "
"... No... Bye Dorothea... "
"Caspar..."
Linhardt... could you ever love someone like me...?
He sighs.
"Um. Excuse me. Caspar?"
"Marianne? Hey. What's up?"
"I... was w-wondering... if... you'd w-want to h-hang out... "
"Huh.. " Should I just give up my crush on Linhardt? Yeah. I should. It'd be awkward... Dorothea was right... "Yeah, sure..!"
"That was a lot of fun, Mary! We should do it again! Next Wednesday?" He kisses her hand gently, making her blush.
"Y-yes.. we should.. Thank you for walking me back..."
"No problem! Goodnight, Mary!"
"... G-goodnight.. "
Caspar walks away when she shuts the door. Well, that happened fast. Marianne is my girlfriend now. Wasn't expecting that.
Caspar looks at the calendar. They were going to go out on Wednesday, but she couldn't make it, so they're doing it today. Hm... November 7th... am I forgetting something today? Nah. I don't think so. He gets ready for class quickly. He has half an hour to get ready for his date afterwards.
Caspar walks quickly, going by Linhardt, he didn't manage to say hi, he was in a hurry. Linhardt said it, but Caspar didn't hear.
What was that all about? Linhardt thinks to himself. He starts to get a sick feeling in his stomach. I wonder...
Ferdinand runs up to him, interrupting his thoughts. "Linhardt! Happy birthday!"
He smiles, trying to hide his sadness. "Thank you, Ferdinand. I appreciate.. I-it.."
"Are you alright?"
"Ye..n... YES! I've just got a f-frog in my throat."
"I see... if you say so." I should keep an eye on him. "Would you like to walk to class with me? Hubert the jerk left me behind." He laughs at the last comment, but frowns when Linhardt only gives him a forced smile. "Alright... what's got you so down? Who do I need to destroy?"
"Nothing, nobody. Ferdinand, I'm okay. Really."
"Okay fine... I'll give you some time... but know that I am here for you, alright? "
"Thanks, Ferdinand. I really appreciate it."
"Let's head to class for now, okay? "
"Okay. Who can tell me 5 of the crests of the ten elites?" Professor Lillie asks. "Anyone? C'mon guys this is the third week." She giggles and looks around. "No one?"
She looks over at Linhardt, who has his head down on his desk. "Linhardt? Do you know the answer? I thought you loved crests. "
He puts his head up, revealing puffy eyes. "Riegan, Gautier, Fraldarius, Gloucester, Lamine. There's five. " He slams his head back down without another word.
Lillie walks over to his desk. "Linhardt...? Did you not get enough sleep again? Are you okay? "
Ferdinand stands up. "Professor. Maybe you should speak to him outside. "
Lillie looks confused for a minute, but she still says, "Linhardt, come outside with me, please. You're not in trouble. " She adds, seeing him tense up.
He slowly stands and follows her out. Lillie leads him outside the academy and they sit on the ground. "Linhardt, " Lillie starts, "Usually when you're tired you take a nap. This isn't exhaustion, is it?"
He pauses, not wanting to answer. "No, i-it is... I just didn't want to fall asleep in class again. That's all. "
The professor doesn't seem convinced, however. "Are you sure nothing is wrong? Have you been crying?"
"No, I haven't been crying! " He snaps, unintentionally. Taking a deep breath, he corrects himself. "...Sorry...no. No, I haven't been crying. It's just... I don't... I don't know. "
Lillie stays quiet, listening to what he has to say. He continues, "I've always been upset on my birthday, I don't know why. " Well, that wasn't entirely a lie... " I guess I just don't like my birthday... especially when the one person who never forgot you forgets. " He blurts it out and slaps his mouth shut. "Damnit! "
"The one person... do you mean Caspar? "
"... No. Nobody. Professor, I'm sorry, but I don't feel well. At all. Count me absent." Without hesitating, he darts off towards his dorm, leaving Lillie stunned.
Lillie walks back in the classroom by herself. "He was.. sick." She lies. Pretty much everyone nods, a little unsure, but they continue anyway.
A little while into the lesson, Caspar randomly says, "Hey, wasn't Linhardt in here a second ago? " Everyone looks at him in surprise, but Hubert is the only one to answer his question. "Linhardt is sick. We established that 20 minutes ago. You, of all people, I thought would know that."
Now almost everyone looks confused, and Petra finally whispers, "That would not be good to be sick. Especially on your birthday... "
"Birthday...? " Caspar asks quietly, then Ferdinand shouts, nobility aside, "YOU FORGOT?! CASPAR, DO YOU EVEN REALIZE-"
Caspar interrupts him, "HOLY CRAP! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! Professor may I be excused?! I need to fix this...!"
Lillie nods, and Caspar darts out the door. I knew it! What the heck is wrong with me? His birthdays are always bad until I... I'm always there... this must feel horrible...He makes it to Linhardt's door, knocking quickly. No answer. Thinking of the worst, Caspar kicks the door down.
As the door hits the ground, Linhardt screams and falls off of his chair. Not even getting a chance to think, he feels someone squeezing him.
"Linhardt, I'm so sorry! Why are all of these bad things happening to you?! It's all my fault...!"
Linhardt slowly hugs back, still not knowing what's going on. "Caspar? "
"I'm so sorry, Lin... It's just, ever since Marianne and I started dating, it's been chaos and I lost track of the days, and-"
"Dating? "
"I didn't tell you? Frick! Yeah, Marianne is my girlfriend, but-"
"G-girlfriend...?"
"Yeah, I-"
He doesn't get to finish as Linhardt just falls to the ground, unconscious.
"D-did you just faint? Lin?? " He lays down on the ground next to him. Is it that surprising I got a girlfriend?
"Linhardt?" He feels his own forehead, then Linhardt's. He does feel warm... but...
Ferdinand comes around the corner, interrupting his thoughts. "The professor sent me to check... on... you.. WHAT DID YOU DO?!"
"I... I DON'T KNOW! HE JUST... he fainted...! "
"Fainted?! Caspar, " He runs in and props Linhardt's head up with a pillow. "What did you say to him?? "
"I just said sorry I was mixed up! I don't know what would have upset him so much that he would faint! Maybe it was just the sickness! "
"That can not be the case! You must have upset him somehow! What is the last thing you said to him?"
Caspar thinks for a minute. "I.. I don't know! Something about Marianne and the fact she's my girlfriend!"
"GIRLFRIEND?!"
"YES! WHY IS THAT SO SURPRISING?!"
"No, it's not that! It's just...sh! Never mind, he's waking up!"
As Linhardt opens his eyes, Ferdinand is the first to check if he's okay. "Linhardt, do you remember what happened?"
"Uh... no...?" He replies quietly, rubbing his head.
"Alright, that's okay. Just lie down for a while okay? I'll help you to your bed." He helps him stand up and sets him down on the bed. "Get some more rest, okay?"
When he falls asleep again, Ferdinand turns to Caspar. "What. did. you. do?! " He whisper yells.
"I told you...!"
"That's not what I meant..! You know what? Never mind. Go on your date. I'll make sure he's okay."
"But-"
"Go."
Caspar walks out angrily. Not like you were his best friend since age six. Well.. I guess I deserved that a little.
As Caspar shuts the door, Ferdinand looks around, then he gets a bottled water out of his bag. "I can't believe Caspar would forget. He was the one who said you had bad birthdays every year.. " He sighs and shakes him lightly. "Hey, I got you some water."
"Huh? Oh... no thanks... "
"Linhardt.. " Ferdinand says sternly, yet gently. "You know as well as I do that you still need to take care of yourself. I know you're sad. I've been there. But you must keep good health. It helps, I promise."
Suddenly, there's a knock at the door. Ferdinand feels the urge to shout, thinking it's Caspar, but they hear Edelgard's voice, "Linhardt...? May I come in? Uh... Hubert's here too."
Ferdinand looks at Linhardt, who sits up. "Yeah, come in.. "
Edelgard walks in slowly, with Hubert tailing behind. "We just wanted to check on you. We saw how upset you looked. As-"
"-As house leader, you need to know these kinds of things? " Linhardt and Ferdinand ask in unison.
"Uh... I wasn't going to say that, but I see why you thought I was... No. I was going to say as your friend, I want to know if you're doing okay and what can I do to help?"
The three boys turn to her in surprise. "What?" She asks. "Is that weird?"
"No... I appreciate it, really, but there's nothing wrong. Just a little upset Caspar got mixed up with the days, but it's not that big a deal."
"It's quite a big deal!" Ferdinand says boldly. "Why, if I could get my hands on... -"
"Ferdinand. It's okay.." Linhardt interrupts. "Please... just... give me some time alone... I need to think.. "
"A-are you sure? Maybe we should keep you company-" Edelgard starts, but Hubert shakes his head. "He needs to get his thoughts together first." He whispers in her ear, "Don't worry. He's not the type of person to do anything dumb."
"... If you say so... Hubert, Ferdinand, let's go outside."
Once they leave, Linhardt sighs sadly. Caspar... forgot about me... He wasn't sad that Caspar forgot his birthday, he was sad that he forgot to even say "hello" to him this morning. He just ran by.
He feels a tear roll down his cheek. I've been replaced... haven't I...? Maybe I should have tried harder to... No, it's not my fault... or is it? " ... is it...? " He whispers out loud.
He slowly reaches up and takes his hair down, staring at the hair tie. He gave this to me... and I gave him the grounding charm... if he still carries that around, then he didn't completely forget...
He stands up quickly, fills a backpack with water, food, clothes. Looking at a silver sword anxiously, he thinks about the time the professors spent working on his A sword skills, and how they helped him buy it. He sighs, grabs it, then walks out the door. Ignoring the weird looks he gets from having his hair down like a girl, he goes up the stairs of the dormitory. Looking through Caspar's open door, he sees the charm sitting under a pile of papers and books.
Feeling his heart shatter, he stumbles backwards a few times before throwing the ribbon on Caspar's desk. He forgot... he really forgot... I kept my promise for so long... so long, and he breaks his?! Not only does he not bring it, it's in the middle of an absolute mess...!
Linhardt takes off down the stairs and past everything until he reaches the gates to go out of the monastery. Should I...? No... just because of... You know what? Who cares? I packed a bag for a reason. Making up his mind, he tells the guard that his professor sent him outside the monastery to get supplies, and the guard let's him out.
He walks forward normally until it's mostly out of sight, then he just breaks down crying on the ground, repeating the same words over and over: "He forgot."
A few days pass, and the Black Eagles are in the middle of pure chaos. The three eagles who checked on Linhardt earlier went to see him the next morning, expecting him to be asleep, but they found the room completely empty. Then they heard Caspar scream from upstairs.
Running up, Ferdinand yells, "What happened?! What's wrong?!"
Caspar looks up in tears. "It's Linhardt! H-his hair tie... He left it here... on my desk...!"
They searched for him the entire day but never found a single clue.
Today, Lillie suspected something so she asks the guard. The guard looks perplexed. "He said you sent him out...?"
"I didn't! Oh no, where could he be?! Eagles, we have a mission! Sir, could you please let us out?"
The guard hesitates, but sees the genuine worry the usually emotionless professor has. He sighs, then opens the gate.
She thanks him and quickly leads her already prepared Eagles outside. Immediately, they split into groups. Edelgard, Hubert, Ferdinand, and Petra for group one. Lillie, Bernadetta, Caspar, and Dorothea for group two.
Hours later, Edelgard's group members each board a Pegasus, despite Hubert's trembling voice saying he can't. Edelgard sighs. "Hubert, you..." She looks at his terrified face. "Ugh... Ferdinand, is it okay if he tags along with you? You're the best rider here, believe it or not. "
Ferdinand brightens. "Sure! Come aboard, Hubert!"
Hubert sighs and walks over, staring at the Pegasus. Pausing for a second, he turns back around. "Nope. Nope. I can't."
"Hubert...!" Edelgard and Ferdinand say in unison.
"Fine!"
No matter how hard he tried, he still yelped when they took flight. He didn't even realize how tight he was holding on to Ferdinand's waist.
"Uh... Hubert, " Ferdinand laughs slightly, "That's starting to hurt. You may hold on, but try not to squeeze the life out of me."
Hubert let's go quickly, too embarrassed to even think, then he looks back down and clings to him all over again.
Ferdinand only chuckles and pats Hubert's hand. "There is no need to worry. I am quite a skilled rider. I will not let you fall."
"Uh... Thank you, I guess.. " I've never felt so humiliated... Hubert thinks to himself.
Petra laughs from behind them. "You two are looking like a couple!"
Edelgard nearly dies of laughter. "Petra!"
Hubert and Ferdinand look at both of them with the same look that says, "Seriously?" but it only makes the girls giggle even more.
With the other group on foot, things aren't so carefree. Lillie randomly turns to Caspar. "I'm sorry to ask, Caspar, but what is going on? What happened?"
Caspar looks down. "I... I uh... You already know what happened on his birthday... I guess he... I don't know, he must've been thinking about things too hard and... he got upset and left... "
Dorothea sighs from behind them. "This is... because of what I said... isn't it?"
"No! It's not! Dorothea, it's not what you said... I just-"
"Shortly after I had that conversation with you, " Dorothea interrupts, "You and Marianne started dating and this happens. It was what I said."
"I... not entirely... I shouldn't have just said that while he wasn't in his right mind... I feel awful... it should've been me, not him... "
"D-don't talk like that about yourself!" Bernadetta squeaks behind them. "You... you shouldn't blame yourself so much... it was his own decision to run away... he might have done it because he was upset, and I understand him, but it's not all your fault! "
Lillie claps. "Well said, Bernadetta. She's right, you two. Right now let's focus on finding and bringing him home safe. Then we can sort this out."
They nod and continue their search, calling for him.
The Black Eagles reunite at dinnertime with no luck.
Caspar buries his head in his hands after being scolded by Hubert and Ferdinand for refusing to eat. "What if he's gone for good? It would be my fault if he's dead... "
Bernadetta puts a small, trembling hand on his shoulder. "He's not dead, and it would not be your fault... remember?"
He sighs. "Thanks, Bernadetta, but... -"
"Sh...!" Professor Lillie interrupts. "Bandits... "
"B-b-b-bandits?! Here?! Now?!" Bernadetta squeaks.
Lillie draws her sword and stands up. She turns to Hubert and Ferdinand. She motions to herself and then to them. They nod and stand beside her, looking around. "They seem about half a mile or so away... " Hubert whispers. Lillie nods and motions for the class to ready their weapons, which they all do.
From his hiding place behind a rock, Linhardt continues to follow the group of bandits. There are about seven. Not that much, but against only him, that would be an army. He notices them looking at something in the distance, and, when he squints, he can see his classmates and the professor. "What the.. did they follow me out here? No, maybe it's just a mission."
He follows the bandits stealthily, then pauses when he sees them start attacking his class. They seem strong. After only a few short minutes, they're down Dorothea, Petra, and Bernadetta. Ferdinand and Hubert are incredibly weakened and Lillie and Edelgard's weapons are broken. Caspar is being surrounded.
Lillie curses and tries to tell Caspar to run, but he can't hear.
Linhardt moves quickly, jumping in front and slicing one with the sword. A bandit grabs him by the hair and tries to pull him down, but he uses a fire spell to knock them back. He looks at the three remaining bandits. "Three against one? You know as well as I do that that's not fair at all." He says sarcastically, then uses cutting gale to knock them all back. Far.
Sighing loudly, he turns to Caspar, waiting for the screaming, but it doesn't come.
"L... Linhardt... is it really you...?"
He nods slightly, shamefully. After not hearing anything else, he turns and starts to walk away, but is grabbed by the hand. "You're leaving? Where are you going?!" Caspar nearly yells. "How could you, Linhardt?! How could you?! You left without a sign, and when we finally find you, you try to leave me again?! I thought I could at least get an explanation or something! Not even one word! Not one! I thought we were close! We were inseparable, remember?! I can't believe you would-"
Linhardt slaps Caspar's hand away. "You don't even know me!" He shouts, scaring the living crap out of Caspar. "How could I? More like how could you?! "
"Linhardt, I know... Please, I'll never forget your birthday again, but-"
"This isn't about the birthday! It was never about my birthday!" He starts sobbing, "I never cared about getting a year older, the only thing I cared about was the fact that our birthdays were always just a day for us! I'm not upset about the fact that you forgot the day... days get mixed up... I'm just upset you forgot the promise we made to each other...!"
Caspar freezes. "The promise... "
Flashback:
Seven year old Caspar shook his best friend at exactly 11:55. "Lin! Lin! Wake up! It's almost your birthday! You're about to be Seven!"
Linhardt sighed and tried to swat Caspar's hand away. "... So..?"
"Aw, come on! You're even tired on your birthday?!"
"I'm always tired." He responded nonchalantly.
"Wait wait! Don't go back to sleep! Uh... let's make a deal!"
"... What kind of deal...? "
"Like a promise!"
" ... I meant what is it..?"
"Ohhhh! Uh... I don't know."
He sat up, rubbing his eyes. "Well, hurry up, I'm tired... "
"How about... on our birthdays, and the day before, we have to always... hang out... and... we... um..."
"... I'll wake up early on those mornings and you... "
"I'll give you a big hug and congratulate you and scream happy birthday the second I see you!"
"... Sure.. " Linhardt laughed slightly.
"Just don't suffocate me when you do it."
"I won't! "
"Oh, and one more thing?"
"Sure!"
"... Uh... wear your grounding charm around your neck on our birthdays.. and I'll wear the ribbon you gave me... then we can always remember that we're supposed to be best friends... uh... forever.. "
"Yeah! That was oddly deep, but I like it! Let's do it! "
End Flashback...
"The... the promise... my charm... I forgot to wear it...That's why you left the ribbon on my desk... Oh, Lin... I'm so sorry..." He reaches out, but Linhardt only takes a step back.
"Please, I'm so sorry... Just... "
Linhardt's voice quivers, "No! Please, leave me alone...!"
Caspar looks down. "Linhardt... I... listen, I know what I did was terrible, but... hear me out... I'll never do that to you again. Ever." He moves forward slowly, and eventually reaches Linhardt to hug him. He doesn't move away.
Caspar hugs him firmly. "Let's go home... "
Finallyyyyyy! Oh, they just completely put this behind them btw. Never happened apparently. The next chapter takes place in February. So... yeah. See you then.