FE Fates Chapter 2
Kidnapped
"Your job is to infiltrate the Nohrian Castle and help get us back our Corrin, any questions?" My new employer, the Prince of Hoshido, Ryoma told me. I was just recently drafted from Nohr to break into their castle and retrieve his kidnapped brother Corrin. I was a ninja from the Kohga clan, until the neighboring Mokushu invaded and destroyed my homeland, where I was one of the only remaining survivors. I attempted to join Hoshido but was turned down so I had to settle for Nohr, which is probably why the Prince decided to pick me for the job, one of the only reliable Nohrians he could trust. I grabbed my trusty Killer Bow and went outside to prepare my ship.
Ryoma went back in the castle to tell his mother of his new plan to kidnap Corrin back, and headed for the throne room. He entered but did not expect to see the person inside; Hinoka. Her eyes were completely red from constant tears and her hair was all messed up and she was still in her clothes from the day where Takumi, Corrin and her were playing in the halls. Clearly, the loss of both father and Corrin impacted her on an emotional level. To be honest, it impacted everyone in Hoshidan royal family. Hinoka went into depression, Takumi went to the woods and hasn't come back yet, Sakura hasn't even left her room, forcing mother to comfort and cry with her, and even Ryoma, though he couldn't show it lest to show fear and weakness, felt like he was missing a huge piece of his life.
"Hinoka… What are you doing here?" Ryoma asked.
"Mother… told me that you were planning to retrieve… Corrin." She sniffled, "I want to go with."
"No, no, no, no. You can't Hinoka. Trust me when I say that you are much safer staying home. Remember that Corrin's arrogance is what got him in this situation, remember?" Ryoma replied. Hinoka, clearly offended that Ryoma called her little brother arrogant, responded,
"He was just trying to protect father, Ryoma! How dare you blame this on my little brother. The only people to blame are those Nohrians! Father was tricked into going there." Ryoma hugged his little sister and comforted her,
"I know, I know. I promise when I say that I will get Corrin back."
"No." Hinoka replied, taking Ryoma by surprise. "No. We will get Corrin back."
"But Hinoka, you're not even trained to battle. You need to be trained in combat before you experience a true battlefield." Ryoma said. Hinoka, disappointed she couldn't do anything to help Corrin, just got up and abruptly left Ryoma after thanking him for comforting her. As Hinoka was walking down the hall, she saw the training grounds, filled with a bunch of experienced soldiers sparring with each other. Hinoka caught the eye of one young blue- haired spear wielder.
" I think that's Takumi's retainer." She thought. Hinoka was taken back by how precise she moved her naginata, using the extra range her weapon of choice gave her to full advantage, her enemies not even able to come in range to lay a hit on her. Then she remembered what Corrin said to her when she was younger
"You would like using a naginata. I think it would compliment your long legs." Corrin was only joking at the time but now was not the time for jokes. Hinoka now determined to be trained in the naginata to take back Corrin, rushed downstairs to prepare herself for training
"Ugh, man I sure did not miss this place." The ninja Shura, who was just assigned a mission to take back Corrin, said as he arrived at what was technically his home. "No, Kohga is my home." It took him three days to reach the fort that he was supposedly held in, the Northern Fortress.
"Man this looks pretty intimidating." He thought, as he prepared to climb the wall. He got out his grapple hook and threw it to the top and let it latch onto the wall. As he prepared to escalate the wall, he put on his cloak to help as much as possible to conceal his identity. If he was stealing from Nohr but also living here, it wouldn't help very much to have his identity revealed. He got to the top and then hopped down, bow at hand, readying for Nohrian soldiers, but there were none. He warily walked down the town, surprised at the lack of Nohrian soldiers. "Maybe they're all inside?" He thought, and walked around the main castle to find a side door. Surely, he found one easily enough and kicked it open. A Nohrian soldier saw him and rushed at him; easy pickings. He walked throughout the castle, expecting to find an army waiting for him, but he only found a few lancers.
"Man, they must really not care for this guy if he's barely guarded." He thought
He got to the top floor, where it started to get chilly, and he was thankful he had his robe on. He got to one door where all of the cold temperature seemed to be emanating from, and kicked it open. To his surprise, the room was filled in ice, and there stood two women in the middle of the room, one with blue hair and one with a tannish orange hair, wearing maid's outfits.
"Listen here ladies, I will give you one chance to hand over…" He couldn't even finish his sentence as he was blasted by an ice beam. He tried to get back in the room, but they froze it too well. He tried everything he could think off to knock down the door but it was inevitable. When he finally admitted defeat, he walked down the stairs. He was upset, until he found a door creaked open. Curious, he stepped inside to find a beautiful blue haired maiden, dressed in a sexy black outfit, with a dangling to cover her face. She saw him come inside and asked him
"What are you doing here?" Her voice was gentle and sweet. Shura could not think of a proper reply and just said
"I'm from here. King Garon assigned me to protect a Corrin? Do you know perchance where I might find him?" He fibbed, hoping she would buy it. But she did not.
"You're here to take him back aren't you?" She responded and took the silence as a yes, which made her sad. "Yes, unfortunately I foresee a dark future, where Nohr and Hoshido tear each other apart. Forced to do dirty things in order to get what they think they want, and the people who suffer are people like you. Commoners drafted into the war and sent to battle, which is where one truly loses their own self. And from this chaos a great evil rises from the ashes, picking up what is left to build his own empire." Shura intrigued at the idea, asked.
"And who is this evil you speak of mistress."
She looked as if she was about to say, but quickly hesitated and closed her mouth, to Shura's disappointment.
"Who are you? Or must I simply call you Kohga ninja." The maiden said, with a small smile in her mouth, impressing Shura.
"You know of my people?" He asked, and she nodded.
"I may live a boxed- off life, but I know more about the world than one would initially believe." Shura, impressed that she knew of his kind, removed his cloak.
"Well, I am the ninja known as Shura, and as you know, from Kohga. And what about you, fair maiden, what is your name." Shura asked, curious.
"I am princess Azura of Nohr, daughter of Queen Arete and King Garon." She said, proudly. Shura was quickly taken aback by this and quickly remembered Ryoma's failsafe plan.
"If all else fails, if you could snatch up one of Garon's children in an attempt for a negotiation, it would be helpful." Shura did not think and punched the girl in the face, knocking her out. Shura, not believing he had just knocked out a girl who meant him no harm, all because she was Nohrian, was upset with himself, but simply decided to finish the mission. He picked up Azura and ran out of the castle and soon, the city. Again he was taken aback by how little the city was guarded. "Actually no. Those two maids were tough, ain't no regular soldier getting past them. It was Azura who was not guarded, which piqued his interest as to why.
He then thought about that premonition Azura was having: an invisible evil will take over the world. He quickly disbarred it as a Nohrian speaking madness, but it never left his mind completely. He got to his ship and tied up Azura to a pole and after feeling ashamed yet again for knocking her out, covered her head with a bag so she could not see who kidnapped her. He sailed back to Hoshido with the constant groans and mumbles as a reminder of what he had done. Shura always held himself in high honor, but this was pretty low for him. He then remembered her prophecy: 'Forced to do dirty things to achieve what they think they want.' When he arrived, he delivered Azura to Ryoma, on one exception, that she be looked after with care, and left.
One week later, Garon refused the deal to trade Corrin for Azura, regarding her as the 'runt of the litter'.
Hey, guys. Just wanted to warn you that after this story, I will probably hop into to the actual Fates story, not background and that I will also hop in at the time the game splits off, so Chapter 6. There was a lot of Hinoka, Azura and Shura backstory to this chapter which I enjoy doing, and may do more of in the future, but I think I need to give a proper balance between background and story. Also get pumped for Corrin's choice, also once we get further into the story, I may start putting up polls for potential ships for characters. Only one's I know won't get ships for polls will be Corrin, Ruby, and two anonymous characters for now.
Toodles!