The grind of steel. A familiar heat. The mix of blood and sweat. Nothing particularly new.
A long time ago—or maybe it just felt like it was ancient news now—Gaius would have been one of the first ones to take off, to get off the front lines, but he threw himself into this for a lot of reasons. More than a sack of candy anyway, even though he was fine with Chrom or any of the others believing that was the case. Maybe the reason didn't matter at the moment. That cocktail of battle had come with new perils, ones that left him wide awake on some nights.
Close scrapes were part of the job, no doubt about that; however, outright protecting someone so actively wasn't exactly good for his health. It didn't come out of being poor with a sword; Gaius always knew which end to stick folks with. Throwing himself into harm's way did wonders for giving him all kinds of new battle scars. He did fine at his self-assigned duty, but he'd be lying if he said it wasn't at least a little bit scary. He didn't have all the big, lumbering, brute strength Chrom had and it left him with few options besides poking guys pretty hard and fast with the sharp part of a blade. Being too light for serious armor didn't always make for good friends with situations involving deterring a blade or arrows from across the way.
Some protector I am.
The thought struck him usually about the same time a sharp point did; funny how things lined up in such sensible ways. It was about when a Risen spear tore into his arm on this field that the nagging thought sprung back up in his mind. Somewhere between burning pain and "Move" the thought had some space in his mind. Just a short distance up ahead he barely caught the gaze of the blonde seated up on her steed. At that moment, he realized he must have shouted out from the hit. He had to be getting slopping.
That instant of thought passed fast as the more immediate problem faced him down. If he didn't move he was going to get himself completely cut down. He hopped back and lost some ground in his tangle with the soldier, but it also saved his head. The solider misjudged his distance and the spear thrust forth into the air and nothing but. That solid second the spear remained in place was all the time he was going to get.
Gauis rushed forward and half-tackled the enemy with his blade; finishing him off quickly and stepping back after. It had to have been luck, actually getting him in one swoop like that. His thoughts felt frazzled as he threw together what his position and status was. Thinking fast he could do usually. Not so much so when the wound in his arm was making itself very obvious. This was the good cloak too, now it probably had a good spattering of blood in it.
Scatterbrained thoughts buzzed around in his head for a few seconds; a mess of nonsense cluttering his mind working out something sensible. Twinkles. He needed to make sure she was still doing alright.
He swore under his breath. The blonde must have rode have in the middle of the scuffle. Something else caught her attention maybe. That was what he told himself anyway. In the blur of pain he worked out that he needed to find her. Or find someone anyway. The wound didn't make him much use on the battlefield, especially if he built up a good pool of blood around his feet. Footsteps fell one after another and Gaius let numb, little thoughts run through his head as he kept up a certain pace. He could hold himself to that much.
If he were pressed and he absolutely had to say something about it, Gaius summed up a lot of old stories as "stupid things he did in the past." Something about this started to look like another stupid thing to him. He'd done some stupid things for buddies before, or at least he would write them off like that. Thinking too hard about anything got people stress and gray hair, two things he never needed in particular. Categorize the thing as a mistake and move the hell on. And maybe not do whatever it was again. Just maybe.
Don't get stabbed again. That'll help.
The thought didn't help much at the moment. He scanned the battlefield, peering over the plain that had mostly emptied out. They were on the tail end of this thing, everyone else must have moved ahead to finish it off. A short distance away stood a small fort, probably one fortifications that had already fallen, based on the lack of enemy soldiers milling around. Gaius pushed that direction with hopes that some of the other Shepards had stayed back there to hold that position.
Normally he would have approached with more care, but he rushed. It could have been from the scrape or that thoughts bumbling around in his skull like a bunch of wasted drunkards at the tavern. He didn't really know and didn't have time to work it out. He rounded in toward the gates and met with an arrow barely grazing his cheek as it shot by. His heart lept up out of his chest into this throat; the shock immobilizing him for a brief second. Everything tossed aside after that, Gaius sped at the shooter, a single archer holding the area for now. He had to be the only one; he couldn't really afford to take on anyone else.
More prepared than Gaius was, the archer notched another arrow and let it loose as Gaius charged. This one hit square into his upper thigh. The pain hit almost immediately after and a piece of his mind bolted off into panic. He knew he could force himself to finish this motion, but shouting from behind stopped it. If he got surrounded like this, there might not be any way out of it.
The footfalls from behind came close and passed by him in almost an instant, the attacker not laying a hand on him and instead falling on his enemy with a single, sure sweep of his blade. It wasn't until he turned around that Gaius realized who came to his rescue. Lon'qu straightened up and shot a glare worse than his usual scowl at Gaius.
"Were you looking to die today? You nearly did," he growled at him, looking a lot angrier than Gaius guessed he needed to be.
"I thought it was empty. My bad," Gaius answered flatly, not really finding the energy to argue it more than that. Lon'qu looked as though he had the energy for it, but Lissa jogged over from where she'd hidden by the gate and stood between the two of them.
"Fight later! Chrom's off taking on the leader, he needs our help," she insisted, meaning to push them both out of there; however, her eyes fell on the arrow in Gaius' leg. "Your leg! Hang on...I'll patch it up. Lon'qu, help."
"But I don't-"
"Do it!" she shouted before anymore fighting the issue could bubble up. She at least knew what she wanted to do. Lon'qu looked fairly uncomfortable with the three of them huddled around like this and Gaius had a pretty good feeling he was going to split any second.
"I can do it, Princess," Gauis mutters and reached out with his injured arm to grab the arrow and yank it out. It didn't really sink in that deep, but it hurt like hell. He probably should have just sheathed his sword and used that arm instead as the injured one didn't feel much better under that kind of strain. In the moment he pulled on the arrow, the original wound became exposed and Lissa let out another yelp.
"What do you think you're doing?! You're making it worse, a lot worse!" she blurted out at him in a mess, rushing to point her staff at his arm and focusing her healing there first. Lon'qu took that as a signal and a chance to step back, so he did.
A warm feeling sunk in and filled in around where it had been nothing but searing pain. It was a little startling at first; although, still a welcome sensation with what it was quickly replacing. Gaius didn't answer her at first; he assumed she wasn't really looking for an answer. In the middle of her work, she glanced up expectantly.
"I was looking for help," he explained as shortly as he could. Half-lies could fill in the holes as he needed.
"I thought you were closer to the formation on Maribelle's side. Why didn't you try to find her?" Lissa asked. The girl probably had no idea, but it felt like she stabbed right into the open wound.
"Lost sight of her when I got the sticking end of that spear."
Lissa grumbled something and kept healing, a sterner look of concentration on her face. Within a few moments Gaius was patched up well enough. It didn't take away the blood stains or some of the fatigue. Better bloody and fatigued than dead though. He stretched his arm out, curling his fingers into a fist and testing his strength with a short flex. It didn't feel that great, but he could manage.
A second later, he forced a smile Lissa's way. "Thanks for the fix, Princess. Sorry for holding you up and all that."
Lissa pointed the end of her staff at him accusingly, nearly knocking him on the nose with it. "You bet you're sorry, mister. You're gonna be extra sorry later, but right now helping my brother. Move it!"
There was some kind of threat veiled in there somewhere, but Lissa started jabbing him in the stomach with her staff before he could work out exactly how that would go down. He took the order and hurried out of the fort with Lissa and Lon'qu shortly behind. Lon'qu had something to grumble about—something that was best ignored, so Gaius did just that.
Over a hill a short way out Lissa called out and pointed to the now visible remaining troops. Just from a glance, Gaius felt the scuffle was over. No clamor, no battle-cries or anyone striking steel to steel. Things had calmed down; the commander must have fallen. As if sensing the question, one of the mounted Shepards approached at a gallop. Stahl held the reigns, which he pulled to stop the horse once he came in close. There sat a slight smile on his face; he looked relieved.
"The fight's over. Are you all okay?" Stahl asked with the concern clear in his tone.
Lissa looked between the three of them and finally answered for everyone. "We're okay. Is everyone else too?"
Stahl nodded, but then shook his head. "As far as I know anyway. I was going to ride through and check on everyone. Did you want to come along?" he offered kindly, his hand held out her way.
The princess thought it over for a moment before taking his hand. She realized pretty quickly she couldn't jump that high so she shot Lon'qu a look. The swordsman paled and waved a hand dismissively. That look turned on Gaius so fast it felt like a slap to the face. He really didn't feel up to it, but he still strode over to the horse and webbed his fingers together to give the girl a boost up. She stepped into his hands and with Stahl's pull sat up side-saddle next to him.
Sitting up higher now, Lissa looked down on the both of them with a stern face. "Both of you stay out of trouble, help get things into order," she said in a pushier way. There was a pause and Gaius thought for that brief moment he was off the hook, but she spoke up again. "I'm not going to forget either, Gaius. Later!" She tapped Stahl on the shoulder and the pair rode off.
Gaius swore under his breath and sheathed his blade. Lon'qu copied the motion, but remained silent for a bit longer. His eyes followed Lissa and Stahl taking off until they were out of sight. He clearly had words on the edge of his tongue, but he wasn't saying them. Gaius pretty quickly felt some pressure. He couldn't say he knew Lon'qu very well; even still, the man gave off every bit the aura of a warrior. A strong man who knew what he was doing until a lady showed up is how Gaius would have put it until that moment. It wasn't that he didn't like him, more that he felt it might be smart to steer clear of him for a bit.
Gaius took a single step toward base and that must have been a signal for Lon'qu because he finally spoke up. "Your swordsmanship...it's sloppy."
"Well Tough Stuff, not all of us can be Mr. Super Swordsman. Believe me. What I don't got in blade skills, I got in just about everything else you could imagine," Gaius snarked back, passing the man a grin over his shoulder.
Lon'qu's eyes narrowed. "You're aware then. So why run out into the frontlines like you do?" he asked firmly and to the point. Subtly was not one of his skills apparently.
"I'm not all that hot on having a heart to heart about the merits of saving Ylisse and all that crap," Gaius replied a bit slower. The last thing he needed was a lecture from this guy too.
Lon'qu shook his head, frowning deeper. Damn, that man could scowl. "You know your swordsmanship is lacking, but you're running out there half-cocked. You should be training."
"Yeah yeah, I'll start showing up to Frederick's Hell on Earth Sessions or something, okay? You pointing out my flab isn't all that great on my self-esteem, Tough Stuff."
It was then that Lon'qu stepped right in front of Gaius, getting up in his face. He seemed a hell of a lot taller when he projected all that aura right on top of him. It took every fiber of will Gaius had not to step back. He really, really wanted to step back.
"Listen, clown. You're joking about life and death here, considering you're almost getting yourself killed all the time now."
"You noticed? You really don't have to look out for me."
"It saved you this time, didn't it?"
It was hard to argue with that, considering it was the truth. He took this second to calm down, letting out a deep breath. "You should be keeping an eye on the Princess. I'm gonna be just fine. A little brushing up swordplay first, I get it."
Lon'qu's look worsened for a split second and in that moment, he stepped back into a stance. Gaius reacted as fast as he could, jumping back out of reach. The move was the right one as Lon'qu drew his blade and pointed the tip at Gaius' face. "I don't think you get it at all. You're talking big, but you don't have any idea what you're getting yourself into."
Gaius grinned even though he felt his breath quickening. He did not mean to pick a fight, especially not with this guy. "Maybe I don't. But I'm not stealing your glory fighting a little more. I'll stay out of your hair," he attempted, his hand on his blade, but not drawing just yet. Even the thought of defending himself against this guy left a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach.
The swordsman shook his head. "You misunderstand me. Draw your blade."
That sounded a lot more like an order and less like a friendly request. Gaius took another step back, the grip on the hilt of his sword a little tighter. "You're the one suddenly pointing that at me. I think you missed something here..." He didn't get to add anything else on that; Lon'qu moved fast, taking a small swipe at him. The blade buzzed by his nose, but didn't hit. Gaius drew his sword as he hopped back a short pace, just enough to give him a little distance to recover from. "You seriously...You're really gonna do this? Here? Now?"
The comment went right over Lon'qu's head as he stepped in for another swing of his blade, this one a little fuller. Gaius ducked low out of the way and rolled to the side to get back up on his feet. "You could try just saying what you want to say," he grumbled out, but that was met with another swing of steel at his face. Another duck back saved his skin for the moment. This dragging on didn't seem like a very sound plan, considering he was already worn out from the injuries prior.
His fingers gripped around his blade properly, flipping it into the right position for him to strike with. Boots remained planted for a split second longer before Gaius shot forward, attempting to swing the blade downward at Lon'qu's shoulder. The swordsman caught the blade on his own, holding them in place with a push Gaius' way. Gaius pushed back, doing his best to hold his ground.
"You want to give talking it out another shot yet?" Gaius got out between the struggle, finding himself losing his footing. He should have backed off at that first sign as Lon'qu threw his weight into his blade and threw Gaius' grip off entirely, leaving him stumbling back. He caught himself before it was too late, positioning his blade overhead to meet Lon'qu's steel crashing down on him.
His arms struggled to hold off the weight Lon'qu pressed down on him, his own blade grinding ever close to his face. It didn't take long to get too close, so much so Gaius seriously started to consider Lon'qu had every intention of making him a head shorter right then. Realizing his position, Gaius summoned up all the strength he had to push back all in one big burst; the suddenness of it all freeing up Lon'qu's pressure long enough for him to duck out and escape to a safer distance. Lon'qu lowered his blade, eyes narrowing and fixed on Gaius'. That guy was intimidating in just about every way possible.
"You need training," he said flatly.
"Yeah? I kinda got that the first time," Gaius answered once he caught a little breath back.
"I'm going to train you then." Lon'qu paused there to do something like smile, but it was terribly threatening for a smile. "You're making the rest of us look bad."
Gaius stood there, staring back at him with what was sure to be a confused expression. It seemed like a pretty spur of the moment decision. It wasn't as though they had never spoken, but Lon'qu didn't seem especially fond of him, not after all that anyway. He felt like he was talking around a bunch of pudding. "And if I refuse to train with you...?"
"You might get training when you're not expecting it again," was Lon'qu's answer, no change in his tone. That definitely had a threat in it.
"I don't get a choice then..."
"Not if you're going to take a spot on the front lines with the rest of us."
He couldn't work out it. Lon'qu kept an eye on him and almost right after tried to cut him down. Maybe it was some kind of weird swordsman ideal thing, but Gaius couldn't quite wrap his head around it. He had a feeling he was going to have to whether he liked it or not. "Fine, fine. 'Shape up, Gaius.' I hear you. Crivens, you're a downer when you show up."
"Except when I'm saving your life."
"Except then, I guess." It took a moment, but Gaius cracked a grin Lon'qu's way. "Tell me when and where later. I'm gonna sleep the rest of this off."
Lon'qu nodded in reply, turning to go about his business and carry on probably. Gaius couldn't say he cared what the man did at this point, as long as it wasn't pointing swords at him anymore. The red-head turned for camp, not really wanting to hang around and get anything else added to his plate. Questions he could ask later, maybe to someone who actually answered...
Robin set down his tea between a pair of precarious book piles. He had that look in his eye like he was mulling Gaius' story over so Gaius left him be.
"Lon'qu is a pretty good training partner. He's very...straightforward about swordsmanship. If you think you need to work on it too, then you should probably just take him up on it," Robin explained easily, leaning back in his seat.
"He sounds like he's gonna jump out and attack me in my sleep. You're not going to comment on that part at all?" Gaius asked back, honestly surprised.
Robin only laughed at first. "You could beat him if you took him on any other way, Gaius. I think he'd want to fight you in a proper fight, where he's particularly skilled. I don't think you have to worry too much about surprises. But...I think you should take his help. He's pretty astute about these kinds of things."
Gaius rolled his eyes. "Astute or nosy..."
"You have been getting yourself into more trouble than I seem to recall you getting into earlier on. I could see that and Lissa said something about it too. Cordelia was grumbling something about you setting a new record for blood stained clothes and you needing to wash-"
"Okay, okay. I got it, Bubbles. So it's everybody's business now. Great," Gaius interrupted so as to avoid the rest of that. "It's something I want to do, so I'm doing this. It's the best way I can think of..."
Robin fell quiet momentarily, his eyes narrowing and watching Gaius' form standing still in his tent carefully. Gaius didn't try to avoid being read this time; it wasn't much use with this guy.
"If this is something you care about Gaius, shouldn't you want to do it to the best of your abilities? I think you could take those a bit further with some more training," Robin suggested evenly.
Gaius took his turn to go silent, staring at the ground for a long awhile before raising his head again. "I need to do this better...You're probably right." He let out a long sigh. "I guess it's training time for me then."
"After you're rested up properly. Your injuries are alright?" Robin wasted no time in asking.
"Yeah, patched up just fine. I won't push anything I shouldn't though. How about that?"
Robin smiled widely at that, looking relieved. "You beat me to saying it. That'd be for the best."
Gaius smiled back, feeling a bit relieved himself. Something about talking with the company tactician really seemed to help with all this mess. There were a lot of new experiences all around. He probably owed him one by now. "I'll do that. You go ahead and keep yourself outta trouble," he said, waving and heading for the way out.
"That goes double for you, Gaius."
He chuckled and kept waving , letting himself out and looking the camp over. Things couldn't be put off for very long. They didn't always know when the next fight would be. Lon'qu left him short one set of "when" and "where." He would just have to find him and get it squared away.
Before he could start to hunt the man down, a familiar blonde stood between him and his first few steps. Parasol gripped tightly in her hands, she shot him a glare.
"What do you think you've been doing lately, hovering around me like a persistent fly?" Maribelle snapped at him.
It felt like he was sinking.