DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fire Emblem Awakening, its characters, or ANY of the Fire Emblem franchise. I think the only thing I'd own would be Angel and Allen.
Reminder that Angel and Allen are twins and can communicate telepathically to each other.
If there was anything Angel was afraid of, aside from car accidents, it was her own band.
No, it wasn't for any trivial reason such as peer pressure or judgemental upperclassmen.
If anything, it was their desire to survive in the excruciating summer days of band camp.
She remembered one particular day, not too long after she rose to the position of assistant drum major…
It was late August.
The temperature was still high, in the nineties and hundreds range. The sun still bore down upon the poor, unfortunate souls of Ylisse.
And, of course, there was still band camp in progress.
This particular band camp session took place in the football stadium on Ylisse High School's campus, where one particular pair of drum majors were attempting to haul ass, one with a torn off sleeve and the other dressed in a hoodie and shorts.
"All right, everyone. We have to take a lap as a warm-up, then finish our stretches. After that, we'll go with the usual marching basics, 8 to 5's, and setting drill. Any objections?" Angel glanced up from her clipboard, scanning the crowd of band kids. She stood next to Chrom, who seemed to scowl at the sun with his cobalt eyes.
"Yeah, why exactly do we have to do this when it's 99 degrees outside?" A voice near the back whined.
"...Lissa, we don't get a choice. We have to do this. It's either this or bleachers." Angel sighed.
"But it's hot!"
"We've only been outside for five minutes."
"Five minutes, and I'm already getting a sunburn!"
"I told you to put on sunscreen before we left, Lissa." Chrom said, an impatient look on his face.
"Well I did, and I've already sweated it off by now!"
Gods save us, Angel thought, glancing at the sky.
Haaa. Not even the gods can save us now.
...Allen, no. Not this again, please.
It's true, isn't it?
"Look, let's just run this lap and get it over with. We HAVE to get work done today." Angel reminded, tapping a pencil to her clipboard. "I'll let you guys have a water break after."
"FINE." With that, Lissa seemed satisfied and prepared to run.
"Now, get into parade formation. We're running this on tempo, so don't lag behind."
"Kids with asthma can drop out and walk the rest of the lap if necessary. Make sure you have your inhaler with you." Chrom warned.
And with that, the entire band and color guard ran a lap around their stadium's track in the unforgiving summer heat.
Before Angel and Chrom knew it, the lap had ended and half of the band was sprawled on the turf, breathing heavily. Frederick descended on them, dutifully walking from one to the other with several bottles of water in tow.
Chrom watched him with awe as he sipped from his own mini-gallon of water.
"Water is a marching band's holy grail," he realized.
Angel laughed and sat beside him. She rubbed her forehead with her jacket sleeve.
"You've got that right."
"Frederick does seem to have his hands full, though."
"It's understandable. It's like what we signed up for, you know?" Angel murmured, watching the drumline section leader.
"Yeah, but he's the band council president. That takes a lot of dedication as it is."
"You're right."
After a while, the band members slowly picked themselves up off the ground and stretched. They began to talk with their friends, and it wasn't long before the whole band was lively again.
"...We should probably get them back together." Chrom muttered as he glanced at the sky.
"Yeah. Do you want to do whistle commands today? I did them yesterday."
"Sure. Then you can help them with step-offs."
"Got it. Well then, your move, Captain."
Chrom laughed under his breath and rose, whistling for the band.
The stadium went silent, and all eyes were on him.
"Everyone, get into parade formation on the field. We're going to begin with commands."
There were groans, but eventually everyone went into place.
Angel was standing on the podium next to Chrom when she heard a voice call from beneath her. It was from the pit section.
"AAAANGEL."
"Yes?"
"ANGEL. WATER YOU DOING."
"...Huh?" The assistant shot a confused look at her friend Mia.
"WATER. YOU. DOING."
"...Leading a band?"
"NO. WATER."
"..."
"WATER BREAK. PLEASE."
"I...Good gods, I didn't think you were going to resort to puns."
"IT'S NINETY DEGREES OUT HERE, ANGEL."
"You're in pit, Mia. You can take a water break whenever you can."
She only received a glare as the drumline member motioned to the field.
"WATER."
"Look, we can just get water after we get the drill done up to set nine. It's just two more sets."
"ANGEL."
"Mia, you can get water whenever you want. Why are you bugging me about this, exactly?"
At this, the pit member stiffened up.
"...Someone from the wind ensemble made you do it, huh?"
She nodded.
Angel sighed in response, glancing at the field. As expected, there was a group that was set near the pit that watched her.
She straightened up and blew her whistle.
"TWO MORE SETS BEFORE A WATER BREAK!" She called.
Collective groans were her response.
Why exactly is the sun so bright during summer? Angel heard.
Oh. Hey, Allen. I kind of expected you to be off with Mei by now.
Nah, she's busy with Frederick's oasis.
Hmm. Well, in regards to your question, wouldn't it be easier to ask Miriel? She takes plenty of AP science classes. She'd know.
Yeah, but her vocabulary is waaaay over college level. I need a dictionary for her. Plus, she's a clarinetist.
Well boo-hoo.
You're not funny.
Neither are you. Did you go over set nine with your section?
Yeah, we got it in the bag. Twelve steps to go five yards? No problemo.
Good. She took a swig from her mini-gallon, scanning her flock of band kids from her podium.
Oh no.
What is it?
Frederick ran out of water.
...Oh shit.
She stood, searching for Frederick.
Surely enough, the band council leader had run out of water bottles, and the giant gallon meant for football games had run dry.
Usually this wouldn't be a problem, seeing how there were two water fountains in the stadium. However, in the summertime, the water running through these fountains would get extremely warm, causing band kids to stay away from them.
Gods, how she wished she could send someone out for more water.
We're fucked. Oh gods. Do you realize how much TIME is left for this?
Yeah, we have two hours left.
PEOPLE ARE GOING TO GO APESHIT. You remember last year's all-day rehearsal?
Oh, how she remembered.
That was a day she would not mind forgetting.
Frederick has to go get more. While I'd prefer he didn't miss any sets, I have to. Ugh.
It's for the greater good. He'll get his sets down. He always does.
Alright, let me get him over here before people notice.
You were right, Allen. Not even the gods can save us now.
Angel stood with Chrom at the podium, with plenty of whining band kids begging for cold water to save them from the scorching sun.
Frederick had already left for water and wouldn't be back for another fifteen minutes.
See, this is why we aren't funded. People don't listen to me.
Yeah, yeah. If that's the case, why don't you actually SAY something. We can't listen if you don't say anything.
That's beside the point! What I'm trying to say is, actually PREPARE for a summer!
It's not that easy. Now get back on your dot. I see you, you know.
She saw Allen put his hands on his hips.
...You're really immature sometimes.
So are you.
She sighed. It wouldn't be long now before the pleas for water got out of hand, and she was on the wrong side of this fight.
"CHROM, IS FREDERICK HERE YET?!"
"EVEN IF HE WAS, HE WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO SAVE US FROM THIS!"
It got out of hand.
The band members couldn't take it anymore, and began to try to climb the podium for the water that the drum majors carried with them.
ALLEN HELP ME FOR THE LOVE OF THE GODS-
Nah. It's fun watching you squirm.
ALLEN. GO RUN A LAP.
...Nah.
"GUYS! JUST BRING YOUR OWN WATER! IT'S NOT THAT HARD-"
"ANGEL, NO! THEY'LL GET EVEN MORE AGITATED!"
"CHROM I CAN'T JUST TAKE THIS THIS MUST BE USED AS AN EXAMPLE-"
She screeched as Chrom picked her up, bridal-style. He shoved his mini-water gallon into her hands, and started to kick at some of the extremely close band kids. Nothing too forceful, but enough to make them back off.
This went on for about five minutes until Frederick appeared, with a cooler full of ice and water bottles.
In that instant, the band kids nearly tore him apart in their attempts to retrieve the holy grail.
"You know what? I'm officially afraid of our band."
The scorching sun had finally set when the drum majors called their band to the circle for their nightly talk, and after they had dismissed them and did their usual pep chants, Chrom and Angel found themselves helping Frederick with picking up all of the stray water bottles.
"Yeah, I know what you mean. They sure are energetic, huh?"
"...I'm pretty sure energetic isn't the right word for it. More like...dysfunctional?"
"Well, we ARE supposed to be a family, right?" Chrom laughed.
"I guess. Though, all those couples dating within the band make it seem like a giant incest area."
"True."
A hushed silence came over them as they placed the empty water bottles in the cooler. Frederick muttered a 'thanks', then resumed cleaning.
"...What a day, huh?"
"That was really something."
"I am never looking at water the same way again."
"Me neither."
Angel laughed, placing her hands behind her head.
"Water truly is the holy grail of the band, huh?"
A/N: AHH. Yeah, I lied about the Echo of Hope. I'm putting it on the backburner for now while I do things. I've got a week-long break and only so much time for drawings and stories. Bluhhh.
Anyways, this was inspired by a picture I saw where it described water as the holy grail for marching band. I was reminded of an all-day rehearsal we had once, and thus this story was born.
...Looking back on it, it seems REALLY comical.
The gods REALLY can't save us now. Aha.
See you guys in the next story!
~AT