Training Days Chapter 10, a fire emblem fanfic

Chapter 10
As the classes started to begin up again, Matthew received a letter from Oswin, saying they needed to meet and discuss something of importance. The teen had a feeling that this was it, this was his one way ticket back to Caelin, and for that, he hid the letter. The last thing he wanted to do was have Cain worry about him as the day approached when Matthew was to meet with Oswin. Slowly, he made his way to the knight's office, lightly knocking on the door until he heard a faint 'come in.' Taking a deep breath before entering, the teen pushed open the door and let it close behind him until he was alone with the knight. "You... wanted to see me, sir?" He asked as he took a seat.

Oswin glanced up as he heard the knock on the door, and called for Matthew to enter. He wasn't looking forward to this... With a sigh, he gestured for the teen to have a seat. "Indeed, I did. I need to speak with you about your performance on the final physical examination." It was clear during the actual trial that Matthew struggled, but Oswin hadn't finished compiling his performance notes until recently. Before the next semester started... well, he didn't want anyone's time wasted.

"...Oh." A part of him had been hoping that that wasn't what this conversation would be about, and he felt a bit of fear prick up in his chest. Well, better to get it over with... "What about it, sir?" He knew he did awful on it, Oswin didn't even need to tell him.

"Well..." Oswin sighed. Time to get straight to the point. "Long story short, you failed. To be quite honest with you, I'm impressed by your determination, and I know you've put in the work. This life just isn't cut out for you, lad." He seemed disappointed; he knew Matthew worked hard, but somehow the knight training just wasn't proving a good fit. "I'm afraid we'll have to withdraw you from the course."

Ouch. Even though he was expecting it, it still hurt. Matthew frowned as Oswin continued speaking, and he couldn't help feeling at least a little bit of a failure; was all the time he spent training with both Oswin and Cain all for nothing? He slumped back a bit on his chair. Now what was he supposed to do? "...Yes, sir."

Oswin's usual stone-hard expression softened a bit as he saw Matthew recoil in his seat. "You'll have a week to pack your things and make arrangements to return home." He started to stand, and gestured for Matthew to do so as well. As he opened the door for the teen, he reached out and put a hand on Matthew's shoulder, then offered an incredibly rare smile. "If nothing else, be proud of yourself for pushing through to the end. You didn't quit, and that takes guts, kid."

Matthew slowly nodded his head. His arms felt like mush as he forced himself to stand up out of his seat and turn to exit the room. At Oswin's last words, Matthew returned the smile;he didn't want to say that the only reason he hadn't given up was because of Cain. "Thank you." He said with a nod of his head as he left the room. Taking a deep breath, Matthew hung his head as he walked through the hallways back to his room. Before getting there, he turned on his heels and walked past the weight room, searching for one specific person; if anyone needed an update, it was probably Cain. He felt a little relieved Cain was in there; he didn't feel like wandering the whole castle. "Hey." He greeted the other, though it was far from his usual cheery tone.

Unlike the previous time in the weight room the other day, Cain was having a normal workout instead of a frustration-fueled beatdown session on the punching bag. He was just about to stop for a break when Matthew wandered in, and Cain greeted the other teen with a smile. "Hey," he responded, pulling out a chair and sitting his tired body down in it. After a moment, he noticed the way Matthew seemed to be looking down and dragging his feet; his 'hello' hadn't been too cheery, either. "What's wrong?"

Matthew only offered him a sad-looking smile as the other sat down. How was he even supposed to tell Cain that he was being kicked out? Surely the other had though it was going to happen, but now that it actually was, it seemed odd. "Well..." He started speaking, letting out a breath. "I'm going to Caelin."

"What!? Why?" Cain's brow furrowed and he leaned forward in his chair. Even though he asked the question, he knew the answer; both of them had already talked about the possibility. He frowned, and shook his head. "Did you talk to Oswin?"

"Yeah, I just got done talking to Oswin. He said I have a week to pack and get a horse carriage." Matthew sighed. He hadn't really enjoyed the journey up here from Caelin. He had hoped he wouldn't make the jouthey back, but... "I guess this is it then, huh?"

"I see..." Cain murmured, trying to think of some way around this. "A week left, huh?" He lifted his gaze so his red eyes met with Matthew's brown ones. "That means we've got a week to figure out how to get you to stay. Maybe not as a knight, but anyone can see you've got talent, and definitely speed. Oswin won't let that just go to waste." Cain seemed to firmly believe that.

Despite how hopeless the situation seemed, Matthew couldn't help but smile as Cain praised him about his speed. "Thanks, but, haven't we already looked? It doesn't look like there's an opening for anything in the castle, and Oswin didn't give me any suggestions. He basically just told me to go home."

"We didn't look hard enough." Cain was determined, and he clenched his hand into a fist. "You just keep that cute smile on your face, snowbunny. We'll find something, I'm sure of it." If Cain had to go talk to Oswin himself, he would. Not just because he desperately wanted Matthew to stay for his own reasons, but because he knew the talent Matthew had; he'd seen it first hand.

"Heh... It's hard not to keep it when you keep saying stuff like that." It was true, Matthew did feel a little better. It felt like they had checked everywhere- and they probably did, but nothing needed the skills Matthew possessed. He could run kinda fast and subconsciously snuck around.. It wasn't like he could get paid for scaring people all day.

...
They only had three days left. Cain had searched and searched, asking questions to everyone he saw to try and help Matthew find a spot. None of the other lead knights had room in their classes for someone so far behind. It was starting to look like a lost cause after all, but Cain refused to give up; he'd never been one to quit easily. Today was supposed to be a day of rest so his worn muscles could recover, but he was feeling restless and decided to walk around the castle. He'd wandered out to the courtyard; it was an overcast and rather chilly day, so there wasn't another soul outside except for him. As he walked, he kicked a rock on the ground, but he accidentally kicked it too far and it sailed into the bushes. He groaned and knelt down to find it, but as he was digging through the shrubs, he heard a voice.
"Faster !" The voice demanded, so harshly that Cain popped his head over the bush in surprise to see who was talking. It was a man who he'd never seen before, training what looked like a class of one student.
"Y-yes sir!" A tired-sounding but determined female voice came next; Cain couldn't even tell where it was coming from, until she suddenly appeared from the shadows, startling him. He kept quiet, interested.
"Your skill is nothing without the speed to use it. Again!" Just like that, the girl seemed to practically vanish before Cain's eyes; he watched in awe, trying to track her movements.

A man, who seemed to be about the same age of Oswin, stood there as he carefully observed the young female's movements. Despite how quick she moved, he watched her with a careful eye, even smirking. "Atta girl," he said, taking a few steps forward in the snow. Behind him, a purple cloak gently moved with the cold breeze. As Cain's focus was on Leila, Legault moved silently over to him, yanking him up by the back of his shirt. "And what are you doing here? Ain't you one of Oswin's newbies?"

Cain was totally entranced by Leila's movements; he didn't even notice the disappearance of the man until he felt someone yanking him up by his shirt. He yelped in surprise and thrust backwards with his elbow harshly, much like he'd done when Matthew had startled him. The older man was much more trained, and easily bent to avoid it. Cain wrenched free of the grasp and huffed as he smoothed his shirt, trying to will away the redness of his face. "I'm not a newbie . I"m Oswin's top student," he boasted with a snarky lift of his chin. He turned around to look back at the courtyard where Leila had been a moment earlier. It wasn't surprising that he didn't know all the faculty, but he thought he knew every one of the students, so it was strange that Leila was unfamiliar to him. "But who is- Huh? Where'd she go?"

Legault only smirked once more. This type of training wasn't for the public, and especially not curious teenage eyes. The man nodded his head, and, almost on cue, Cain had another tap on his shoulder from the behind; it didn't look like his elbow jab would hit anything today.
Behind him ended up being the female, dressed in a similar outfit to Legault. She was panting slightly from the quick movements, her breath showing in the wind. She put one hand on her hip. "I'm me," she said.
Legault snickered. "Alright then, 'Oswin's Top Student,' meet my top student."

"Gah!" Cain lashed out again, but once more, the spy in training was too quick. He huffed and looked over his shoulder at the smirking female. "Your top student?" He turned back to Legault. "Looks like your only student. What kind of training is this, anyway?" He seemed suspicious.

"Yes. I quite prefer small classes; I'm not running a babysitting business. I'm not sure how Oswin does it," Legault replied back with a fold of his arms.
When Cain asked what they were doing, Leila only scoffed defensively. Spy training wasn't to be revealed to anyone. "It's none of your business. What are you doing here, anyway?"
Legault put up a hand. "Now, now. No need to be rude." He looked back down at Cain. "There's nothing for you to worry your little head about. It's all legal. Uther's a good friend of mine, see?" He offered a smile. "We're the type of people who are always saving your asses. Can't have an army without us.

"Hmph." Cain snorted, and he glanced over his shoulder to stick his tongue out at Leila. "Yeah? Well I think a front-line cavalier deserves to know what you're doing sneaking around out here, if it's so important to the army." As he tried to figure out what the two were doing, the beginnings of an idea were shaping in his head. Speed, stealth... He knew someone with those qualities. He was quite close to someone with excellence in those qualities.

"Ha!" Legault laughed out. "A front line cavalier? You're not even done with your training yet, and you're saying that to me?" His eyes flickered with amusement. "Don't worry, kid. When you're big and strong and out saving the world, then you get to know who I am. For now, go back to your training and continue growing." He waved Leila over towards him. "If you'll excuse us, we have work to do."

Cain scowled as Legault laughed at him. "Work doing what ?" It was clear he wasn't going to give up easy. "You've only got one student... What are you training for?" He eyed the instructor, as well as the younger girl. Cloaks and daggers... 'It's all legal', Legault had said, but was it? Was this girl training to be... an assassin of some sort? As much as Cain hated to admit it... that was actually pretty cool.

It was about this time Legault was becoming tired of Cain's questions. "I see you failed Oswin's lesson on respecting more experienced allies. Or did he not teach it? Are you training to be a knight or a detective?" He motioned for Leila to follow him, before turning away from the redhead.

"Now wait a minute," Cain insisted, following after the two as they started to walk away. "You didn't even tell me your name ." They walked quickly, but Cain had long strides that helped him keep up. "How do you plan to succeed with only one student? I know someone speedy." He'd heard Legault scolding Leila for not being fast enough, so clearly that was important.

Legault knew he could lose Cain quite easily, though he decided to put up with it a little longer before trying. He didn't particularly feel like making an attempt to lose the redhead. "Kid, I'm not Oswin. I don't need a hundred kids to take over my legacy," he replied back, not even looking back at Cain. He didn't even look back when Cain mentioned he knew someone. "Oh, you do? Good for you."

"I didn't say a hundred kids," Cain pointed out, still trailing behind the two. "Just one. Don't you even want to know who?" Maybe this could be Matthew's chance, Cain thought. He'd been startled by the teen multiple times, and he wasn't the only one; it seemed as though Matthew was stealthy without even trying, and Gods knew he was fast. This seemed perfect. "What are you guys, assassins or something? Trying to be all secretive?"

"No, not really. I couldn't care less," Legault said bluntly. He rounded a corner, picking up his speed a little bit. He wouldn't really have minded it as much if he weren't in the middle of a training session. "Sure. You can say we're assassins, if that'll get you to stop asking."

"It won't," Cain said stubbornly, rounding the corner as Legault did and keeping up with the increase in speed. "You're gonna turn someone down without even looking at them? Don't you wanna have someone to challenge your top student?

"No. One student is enough for me. I'm not looking for a talented kid. Trust me, if I took in every kid that ran a little fast in class, I'd have a class bigger than Oswin's." Legault kept his eyes ahead as he walked. He was patient. Of course he had worked with stubborn people in his life.
Leila, however, wasn't as patient, and seemed a bit frustrated some kid was ruining her training time. "Look," she said, being the one to turn away. "Can't you just go away? I don't interrupt your training to ask endless questions, so there's no reason you should with mine."

Cain huffed, irritated that he wasn't getting anywhere with Legault. When Leila turned around, however, he thought this might be his chance. "Yeah? I'll bet he could kick your butt halfway across the courtyard," Cain challenged Leila, narrowing his red eyes. "Unless you're too scared to find out."

This seemed to frustrate Leila a bit more. "Yeah? I'm sure I can take on you or any other of your knight buddies," she replied back, obviously ready for a fight.
"Alright, that's enough." Legault said with a sigh, turning to look back at the two. "You're not fighting anyone until I say so. And you," he narrowed his eyes at Cain "are to leave us immediately." It was no longer a question, it was an order.
"Ha! I could beat you with one hand behind my-" Cain was cut off by Legault's interference, and it was a good thing; it looked like the two were about to get into an actual scuffle. He lifted his chin to look up at Legault defiantly. "Hey, I'm just trying to help! You won't even give him a shot!?"

"No," Legault replied back again. "Your help isn't needed here." He had had enough of this. He looked at Leila and met her eyes, before he nodded his head. In the blink of an eye, they were both gone. Their speed overwhelming, and they took off in different directions. Because of how sudden it was, and their speed in the twisting and turning hallways, they both got away and were nowhere to be found.

"Hey, get back here-!" Cain reached out towards Leila, but she was gone before he could grab her. He turned in frustration towards Legault, but he was gone, too; Cain was alone in the hallway. He whirled around, trying to find where they'd gone, but neither were within his sight, and he had no clue which way they'd gone. "This isn't over!" He called to the empty hallway.