Mad King's War: Deliverer
Written by: Truth and Temper
Beta'd by: DarkEclipse45
Chapter Four: To Protect
Two people, one man and one child, sparred right outside a modest house that was nestled a fair distance away from Crimea's capitol of Melior. The boy sprinted toward the older man, swinging his practice sword wildly. The man parried with his own sword and then swung it horizontally, hitting the boy's chest. He fell to his knees, sweat dripping down his brow.
"Ha! Is that it?" the tall, brown-haired knight asked with a smile. He pointed his practice sword at his son and lightly chuckled. "You'll need much more than that to become a royal knight!"
His student and son, a child with the same hair, was still on his knees, breathing in gasps. "I'm so tired…"
The father, named Carrion, waited on his ten-year old son. "Look at me, son." The boy looked up to make eye contact. "You can never complain. That's not what I did when I trained to be a knight. I never complained, and I never gave up."
"Never complain… and never give up," the kid repeated.
Carrion nodded with a smile. "Do that, and you're sure to be a knight the bards will be singing about in generations to come." He kneeled down to his son. "Do you want to keep going?"
Malin nodded, adjusted the grip on his practice sword, and stood back up. I don't want to be a knight for the glory; I want to be a knight so I can be closer to you… the son thought to himself.
xxxx
Without realizing it, Malin let his mind drift to the past as he was still searching for his purple-haired companion in Castle Gallia. Before the archer could lose himself to memories both good and bad, Malin heard Mia's voice ring in his ears.
"Malin!" The myrmidon found him shortly after. "There you are! Did you get my note?"
Shaking his head to cease the thoughts, Malin spoke up in his usual tone, "…Of course I did. It would be hard not to getwhen you left the damn thing on my face."
"Just wanted to make sure, Malin," Mia replied with a smile. "You took your sweet time looking for the training grounds; were you trying to avoid me?"
"Oh, now why would I want to do that?" he asked with sarcasm. "Avoid sparring and getting my ass kicked by you? I wouldn't miss that for the world."
"You wake up on the wrong side of the bed or something?" asked the young woman, her smile finally lessening. "I know you like being sarcastic, but now you're just being a grump." Mia then rested her hands on her hips, tapping a foot on the stone floor, waiting for a response.
"…Sorry. It's just I've got something on my mind," answered the archer. He scratched the back of his head. "And someone."
Mia broke her stance not a second after and rested a hand on his shoulder. "You know I'm here for you to talk, buddy, anytime you need it."
"O-of course… thanks."
"On second thought, Malin… you feeling okay for sparring? Or are you still hurting from that injury you took?" Mia asked, her hand still lingering on Malin's shoulder.
Malin raised an eyebrow in some surprise. "What, you're giving me an option this time, Mia? That isn't like you!"
"Maybe I'm just being nice to you since you got hurt and all," she answered. The myrmidon then removed her hand from Malin's shoulder.
Malin started walking towards where he assumed were the training grounds. "H-hey! Where are you going?"
"To the training grounds," the young man answered without turning his back. "You coming?"
"Wrong way, silly!" Mia said with a humored smile and motioned for Malin to follow her, to which he wordlessly complied. "Gee, where would you be if I wasn't around, huh?"
Malin sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "…Yeah, I'm not going to answer that."
xxxx
Malin acted like he was ready for a sparring match with Mia, but, as usual, he failed to put up resistance against the myrmidon in the end. Still, Malin wanted some exercise to get his mind on something else, and he at least succeeded at that. It also pleased Mia that he decided to spar in the first place. Two birds with one stone.
Though Malin did poorly, he noticed he lasted longer than usual, as for once Mia decided they were finished. He did come close to landing a hit and dodging, but it didn't happen.
Malin felt like he still had some energy, oddly enough. Perhaps it was because he got to sleep much longer than usual. Whether or not that was the sole reason, Malin shrugged the thought away and decided to do some practicing with his preferred weapon of choice.
Malin went all the way back to his room to collect his bow and arrows. He was glad he was doing better with a larger bow than he was comfortable with, but there was always room for improvement. He made it back to the edge of the training grounds where no one was, set up a target, and got to practicing.
He felt proud of himself, as most arrows he shot would hit the bull's-eye or close. Malin even widened the distance between himself and the target, and still he fared pretty well. That was what the larger-scale bows were meant for, after all.
Malin didn't even notice that a certain member of the Greil Mercenaries was watching him and taking note of his movements. Little Rolf was the one examining the senior archer's work. Once Malin took a short break, Rolf walked up to his side.
"Umm… excuse me," Rolf said shyly.
Malin turned to see the green-haired child. He was loosely carrying a bow in his right hand and a quiver resting at his belt.
"You're Oscar and Boyd's brother… right?" Malin asked.
The kid nodded. "Y-yep, that's me! My name's Rolf."
"Uh-huh… Well, if you didn't know, I'm Malin."
"My brothers talked about you briefly once," Rolf confirmed. "And I've seen you in battle."
"I see, kid. Is there something you want?" Malin asked.
"Umm… well, yeah."
Malin said with little patience, "No one's keeping you. Now go ahead. What is it?"
Rolf gulped and asked a question first. "H-how long have you been an archer?"
Malin thought for a second. "Ehh, for a little while, I guess, though I never really feathered someone until about a year before this whole war," he answered and went back to shooting his target. Malin pulled back an arrow into his bow and was about to let it go.
"Oh. Well, I want to know if you'd help teach me," Rolf said.
Malin let the arrow go in surprise, it landing far from the target. "Wait, what?!"
Rolf muttered with a nervous voice, "Since my teach-… umm, I mean… I just started fighting with you guys and figured I could use a hand in getting used to this kind of thing."
"Get used to this whole war thing? You're a little kid who's now fighting and getting into killing?!" asked Malin incredulously. "For your brothers' and your own sake, you should do something else to help out, like cleaning or something."
"N-no," Rolf refused. "The reason I started fighting was to protect my brothers and friends. I… even took my first life the last battle…"
"Damn this war, getting kids so young to kill! Kids like you should just have fun, not shed blood!" Malin yelled out in anger. He took a brief moment to breathe in and out to calm down. "Sorry about that. So, you already killed…?"
"Y-yeah…" Rolf looked down in remembering the deed. He made eye contact again. "But it was to protect my brothers! I'm mad at myself for doing it, but I… I can't live with myself if something happens to Oscar and Boyd! So, please…"
Malin sighed once again. "I am not happy about this, not one bit. I'm sorry that this war managed to drag you of all people in. Just an innocent kid… Fine, I guess I'll do it. I just don't think I'll be able to help you all that much. I'm not a great archer or anything, but I can at least give you some pointers."
"You will?!" Rolf's guilty look was then replaced with a more excited one.
"Yeah, kid, you win," Malin said with a sad nod. "But if we're doing this, you have to tell me, no, guarantee me, that you won't take unnecessary risks in battle! Keep yourself safe so you can keep your family safe."
"Oh, thank you so much, Mister Malin!" Rolf hugged him. "You won't regret this!"
Malin shook in surprise at the embrace but awkwardly returned it with a quick pat on the youth's back. "Yeah, yeah, sure. Just don't call me 'mister.' And try to refrain from hugging; it's not my kinda thing."
"Sorry!" Rolf let go of him and looked up to him with a smile.
After a moment of returning to his practice, Malin raised an eyebrow at Rolf, who was still standing by. "Listen, I don't want to shoot your dreams down today, but do me a favor and go have fun. Hang out with Ike's sister, harass a laguz; I don't care what it is. We can start tomorrow."
"Y-yes, sir!" the youth saluted and retreated. Before Rolf was out of sight, Malin heard him yell out, "And thanks again!"
Malin shook his head. "What did I just sign up for…?"
The last thing Malin expected, and wanted, for that matter, was a response. "I'm not sure, you tell me." The archer stopped and turned around to see Titania standing in her riding armor.
I'm not getting any more training done today, am I? Malin thought to himself with a frown. "Deputy Commander?"
The red-tressed paladin grinned a little at the nod of respect. "Do you mind telling me what that was all about?"
Knowing better than to keep her waiting for an answer, Malin spoke up, "Apparently I agreed to teach a kid to become a killing machine. You and Ike know Rolf killed a man the last battle, right?"
"Of course, worry not, Malin," Titania answered with a nod. "The commander and I share your thoughts on finding new fighters in Rolf and Mist, but we'll be able to keep a closer eye on them this way."
The archer scratched the back of his head. "I guess, but I really don't like this… I-"
The Deputy Commander rested a hand on Malin's shoulder in an attempt to reassure him. "It will be okay. We will protect them, and they will learn to protect us in return should we ever be in need. I've the utmost confidence that Rolf found a good teacher in you."
The compliment only served to fluster the archer some. "Ahh… r-right. I guess I've no choice now." Malin desperately wanted to change the subject and did so. "I take it you've fully recovered? I saw you get your share of hits back at Gebal."
"I'm quite fine now, thanks," Titania confirmed. "I'm more than ready for anything."
"I can tell, with you wearing your armor despite Gallia's humidity."
The paladin held back a short chuckle. "One must be ready should something happen, right?"
"One must be ready should something happen, son…" Malin immediately recalled the words that were spoken by his father so long ago.
"Malin?" Titania shook his shoulder to get his attention.
The archer's mind drifted to the past. More words from Carrion: "One must never grant the possibility of getting thrown into dire straights."
"Malin!"
He answered with a brief shake of his head, his eyes fixed to the ground below him. "…Oh, sorry about that." He looked back to meet Titania's eyes.
"Are you feeling all right?" the paladin asked with some concern. "You zoned out there."
"Yeah, I'm fine."
Titania eyed him for a second and then simply shrugged. "I suppose I'll take your word for it. My apologies, but I must meet with the commander now." Titania then dismissed herself, but not before turning back to face Malin for another brief second. "Just try not to let that happen in battle."
"Yeah… right." One name came to the archer's mind as he was left to train once more. Carrion…
xxxx
Some marks later, the newest member of the Greil Mercenaries and lone pegasus knight, Marcia, was walking in Castle Gallia, looking for the convoy. The pink-haired young woman made a turn into another hall where some more guest rooms were, assuming she would find it there. Marcia looked around the hall, as some portraits were on the walls. Most of them she assumed depicted past kings of Gallia.
Malin was looking around at the portraits as well, on the other side of the hall. Both kept looking at them in pure curiosity and didn't bother to look where they were going. The two bumped into each other soon after.
"Oh, crackers! I'm so sorry!" Marcia apologized as she backed up to give Malin room. "You okay?"
The archer answered, "Yeah, yeah. Guess we should both watch where we're going."
Malin looked up and took a glance at the pegasus knight. She was his height, wore white, light riding attire with a red chest plate that covered her shoulders and chest, contrasting her piercing blue eyes.
"I'm afraid we haven't met. Of course, I just joined Ike's mercenaries last battle. I'm Marcia." She offered a hand to Malin.
He hesitantly took her hand and shook it. The archer remembered that he saw her face briefly in the last battle; she was atop a pegasus. "Name's Malin. So, what brings a pegasus knight to Gallia of all places?" he asked. "Don't you whitewings serve the officials in Begnion?"
Marcia corrected, "We serve the apostle. The dracoknights serve the monkeys in the senate." She sounded slightly vexed at the mention of the senate. Few in Begnion approved of the senate, as tales of overstepping in their political influence and power were commonly shared among the people.
"Close enough," offered the archer. "I only read a little about Begnion when I was a kid."
Marcia shrugged with a thin smile. "Anyway, I joined the mercenaries to return a favor for Ike. Just when I thought boat monkeys would overtake me, he and his company rushed into the scene and saved my carcass! That was some weeks ago."
"I see… what in the world were you doing with pirates, though?" Malin asked with slight condescend. "Surely the apostle would have better and more meaningful work for you ladies."
Marcia was unfazed by what the archer said. "Oh, I didn't do that under anyone's orders," answered the girl. Her smile turned into a small frown. "I was looking for my br-… someone very important to me. There was word this person was working with them until those idiots threw that idiot overboard. That's where his tracks ran cold."
"Oh." Malin felt a little curious as to why she would be so open to someone she just met. That was the Greil Mercenaries, though, it seemed. "Well, good luck finding your… person."
"Aww, shucks! That's nice of you to say! Thanks," Marcia said, her smile returning.
Malin raised an eyebrow. Nice of me to say? Shoot, is Mia getting to me? he asked himself in his head. "Umm… yeah. You're welcome." He really wanted to change the subject. "So, are you heading for the convoy, too?"
"Yep," she answered with a nod, "though I don't actually know where it is."
"I can help you with that." Malin rested a hand on a nearby door. "We bumped into each other right outside of it." He let out a small chuckle.
"Oh… thanks." Marcia sounded a little embarrassed, but Malin paid no mind. "Well, it was nice meeting you, Malin." The man opened the door for her. He saw she was approaching Aimee, presumably to purchase healing salve in case of an emergency in battle.
Malin remembered what he wanted to go to the convoy for as he walked up to Muston, who was seated behind a table. This time he was polishing the deadly sharp blade of an axe. Hearing the archer's footsteps, Muston looked up to Malin with a welcoming smile. "Hey there! I was hoping to see your face again!"
"I wasn't aware a certain bearded man had grown infatuated with me," Malin joked. "We've only known each other for so long, Muston."
Muston let out a hearty laugh, his eyes still focused on his work. "You could say the same for everyone who gets their weapons from yours truly."
Malin grinned. "I guess I understand from your perspective. But enough jesting!" he said. "I want to know if you have armor or something… I've been stupid and reckless for not having any for this long."
Muston lightly rested the axe onto the table in front of him as if it were a precious child and grabbed some light chain mail. "Best I have, I'm afraid."
"Better than nothing," said Malin whilst pulling out a small bag of gold coins.
xxxx
Two former mercenaries sat side by side in a tavern, each having a mug full of Begnion's cheapest ale. The drinks weren't the best the empire had by far, but Shinon and Gatrie weren't picky. This would be the last drink they'd share for some time, as the knight just took a job helping protect the daughter of a wealthy nobleman.
Said knight took a generous gulp from his mug. Once finished, he asked his friend, "So, this is the last…?"
"For now," Shinon said with a nod. He took a brief sip from his own mug.
Gatrie frowned. "You… you know I can put in a good word for you, right?"
The pony-tailed sniper nodded again. "Yeah, but if you ask me, I'm sick of helping royal brats when I wouldn't even be paid a pittance." His mind drifted to the short duration he and Gatrie were with the Greil Mercenaries when Crimea's unknown heiress contracted them. Shinon shook his head. "I need something more worth my time and skill. Something that'll reward me handsomely…"
The knight shrugged. "I understand. But I'm not even leaving for Begnion's port with Lady Astrid for a little while… in a week or so, I believe. Don't you want to stay for that much longer for old times?"
"As fun as that sounds," Shinon said with a shake of his head, "I'm going to say no. I can't stay still for much longer at this rate, Gatrie."
"Where will you go?" asked Gatrie.
"That I haven't really figured out myself yet, but I suppose I'll make up my mind on the way out." The sniper dropped a few silver coins on the bar in front of a balding man scrubbing a mug with a cloth.
Gatrie looked up at his friend when he heard the dull clinks of the coins bouncing once and then settling down on the surface. "You're already leaving?"
"Yeah. This was fun, but I'm out of here," said Shinon as he got out of his seat. "There's got to be more for me to do than just wasting time in a tavern."
Turning around to face his friend the last time for an unknown period, the knight smiled sadly and said, "You stay safe, Shinon. Hope to see you again soon!"
The sniper gave a confident smirk in return. "You know me, Gatrie. I'll manage just fine on my own." Shinon gave him a brief thumbs-up before stepping out of the door.
Once out of the tavern, Shinon took a deep breath in and out. He looked around, saying to himself, "There's got to be something for me here, 'cause I'm sure as hell not going back to Crimea or stinking sub-human country."
After a short period of what seemed to be aimless wandering, the sniper caught the sight of a large coliseum. Its rough construction only complimented the wild cheering booming from within.
"Hmm, why not?"
End of chapter.
xxxx
(Author's Notes): Greetings, readers, and welcome to the newest update. Short filler with not much else other than dialogue, but I hope you enjoyed it regardless. I apologize for the big delay; I'm back to my studies and all. Also got a job, so at times I've got my hands a bit tied more so than usual. I hope you understand. (Oh, and I go by a new pen name here, but feel free to call me whatever you want. Sorry if there's any confusion.)
A few references to older Fire Emblem titles here. "Whitewings" are originally the Medonian pegasus knights in Shadow Dragon and Malin's father's name is a reference to the social knight in Thracia 776. (What's funny is I never played any title before Blazing Sword; perhaps I should change that sometime.)
Special thanks go to my beta DarkEclipse45 and you all for reading. Feedback of any kind is always welcome and appreciated. Be back soon, hopefully.