Chapter 2: Scenery
Ephraim and Myrrh, along with their companions, are now on a ship to Grado. But right now, it's just the two of them on the deck.
"I've... never seen the ocean before." Her inquisitive eyes scan the horizon. "It's... a lot to take in."
Ephraim laughs. "It is, isn't it? The truth is, I've never been on the ocean either."
She turns to face him. "Really? But you look like you've been at sea many times before!" She starts looking a little woozy, and she folds up her wings. "Ooh... I don't feel so good..."
"I have to keep strong and confident in front of everybody... are you starting to get seasick?" He starts rubbing her back.
Her wings start to open up again. "T-thanks, I guess I am."
"I'm curious Myrrh; why do your wings do that?" he asks, as he still rubs her back. "Why do they open and close almost unconsciously sometimes?"
She thinks for a moment. "Well... my father said I seem to fold up my wings when I feeling sad, nervous, or sick. But if I'm feeling happy, or if I'm feeling... comfortable with someone, they seem to unfold themselves again."
He smiles at her. "Is that why they closed up when you thought they looked out of place on you?" She nods lightly. "Like I said Myrrh, you don't need to hide them. They're part of who you are. You should be proud of them." She blushes, and her wings open up even more, causing Ephraim to laugh.
"Well, Ephraim... I've never thought of it that way before. Thank you..."
Suddenly, out of nowhere, it starts to get dark, and fog surrounds the outside of the ship. After the fog completely cuts off the outside world, an old man with sinister eyes and an almost inhuman appearance teleports onto the ship.
"Ha ha ha! You're just trying to delay the inevitable aren't you?"
"Ephraim! This was the man I was telling you about!" Myrrh exclaims, hiding behind Ephraim. He confronts the intruder.
"Who are you?"
The old man merely laughs. "I am simply the messenger; the instigator, if you will, of what is to come." He raises an eyebrow when he notices Myrrh hiding behind Ephraim. "Wait a minute; you're the dragon girl that was supposed to be taken to Grado. I guess those useless soldiers couldn't get the job done. I'll have to do it myself."
He starts walking towards them and casting a light magic spell, when Ephraim pulls out his lance out of nowhere and holds it up to the man's throat.
"Get away from her. NOW!" He yells, the anger evident in his voice.
The man grunts. "You're not going to make this easy, are you? A lesser man would have backed down." He stops his advance and cancels the spell. "Fair enough. Don't worry; I'll get her soon enough. Heh heh heh!"
Laughing, he teleports away, and then some incomprehensible shouting is heard in the distance.
With the mysterious man gone, Ephraim bends down so that he's eye level with Myrrh. She starts to tear up a little bit.
"Myrrh... are you okay? That man was trying to capture you again!"
"Y-yeah, I'm okay," she says, hugging him. "Thanks again for protecting me."
"I said I'd protect you, and protect you I shall." He smiles. "I still have to get you home!"
She starts to look around her with worry in her eyes. "What do you think this... fog is all about?"
As if to answer her question, the boat rocks, and in a minute, ominous shadows start to loom close to the boat.
"Myrrh, go to the brig. Call everyone up here, and tell them to retrieve their weapons. You stay in there until the trouble has past." She just stands there in fear. "Quickly, Myrrh! There's not much time."
She nods, and runs inside the ship to get the other soldiers.
The next morning, after the intruders are cleared out from last night, it's just Myrrh and Ephraim on the deck again; him on the left and her on the right, and as they lean on the edge of the ship, they're admiring the beauty of the horizon. The sun is just rising, and the water and sky are a brilliant orange.
"It's... it's beautiful. I've never seen such an amazing sight before," she says, her crimson eyes beaming through the light. "I've lived in Darkling Woods my whole life, and so I never got to see the beauty of the world around me..."
"You know, it's not too often that I take the time to see the sights." He smiles at her. "But when you're around, I feel like I should take a better look; to appreciate what I have been missing."
She blushes, and they continue to stare out at the ocean.
Forde now enters the deck, carrying some painting supplies with him.
"Hmm... this sunrise would be quite the painting, that's for sure." He turns his head, and then he notices Myrrh and Ephraim watching the waves dance along the ocean during the sunrise; apparently, they don't know that Forde is on the deck, because they would have acknowledged his presence.
Forde smiles to himself. "Oh yes, a great painting... although, they won't be sitting like that forever..."
He instead pulls out his sketch book and begins to draw.
As they continue to watch the peaceful scene before them, Myrrh sees a big splash of water in the distance.
"Ephraim, what's that?" she asks, as she instinctively grabs his hand with hers and then points with the other. "It was quite large."
Ephraim notices Myrrh grab his hand, and he interlocks his fingers with hers. "That's a whale. It's a very large sea creature. It's not too often that they show themselves, especially during this time of year. Perhaps we'll see more in a minute."
They search the ocean before them to see if they can spot any more of the majestic creatures.
She doesn't let go of his hand.
Forde is frantically scribbling the scene before him, and then he notices Myrrh grab Ephraim's hand and keep it there. The already huge smile on Forde's face grows even bigger.
"Hee hee, Ephraim's going to kill me for doing this, but I can't resist! I think she's got a little crush on him!"
"Ephraim... thanks for watching this with me."
"You're welcome, Myrrh." He smiles at her. "Like I said before, it's not too often I take the time to watch the scenery, and besides, we got interrupted in our conversation yesterday, so I figured I should make it up to you."
He suddenly feels some heat radiating from Myrrh. "Hey Myrrh, you're starting to feel a little warm... are you feeling alright?" Myrrh looks down and sees that she's still holding his hand, and she lets go of him very quickly, her face blushing profusely. "O-oh, yes, I'm fine," she says, trying to hide the blush.
"Ha ha, okay then!" he replies, and he looks behind him. He notices Forde scribbling something, and his art supplies are behind him. Ephraim does a double take, and instead of seeing Forde and his stuff, he sees a slight puff of smoke where Forde and his stuff used to be. Ephraim scratches his head in confusion.
Author's Notes
Ah, shipping on a ship... although, if you don't know what the fandom term "shipping" means, that lame pun would make no sense at all.
Rubbing the back of the captain in Pokemon Red, Blue, and Yellow seemed to be an effective cure for seasickness. It should work in Fire Emblem as well. Video game logic works everywhere. :p
While I couldn't see Ephraim acting like this in general, I can definitely see him acting this way for Eirika or Myrrh initially, or another of his possible love interests if they got to their A support.