Chapter two: Sibling Rivalry
CHROM
The daylight was turning pale as Chrom and company walked along through the trees. He had hoped to have cleared the forest by now, but there had been some setbacks.
It had been around midday yesterday when they had finished helping that village get things under control. The townspeople were truly grateful for their help and had insisted they stay at least for the night. Lissa had been eager to take them up on the offer however Frederick and Chrom both agreed that they should return home quickly. That plan had fallen short, however, when Silica had knocked Rolan out while the rest of them weren't looking, saying that her brother had pushed himself to hard in the fight beforehand. Chrom and Fredrick had been annoyed at the time, but it was nowhere near the fury that Rolan possessed when he woke up. He hadn't raised his voice, but his eyes almost shone with rage as he swore revenge on his sister. In the end they had ended up staying in the village for the night.
They had set out early the next morning with all the men feeling disgruntled and the ladies relaxed and cheerful. Chrom and Fredrick kept themselves busy by discussing the state of things in Ylisse, what with the constant provocations from Plegia. Lissa and Silica talked with each other for hours about all kinds of things, Chrom wasn't listening but assumed most of it to be small things like what constitutes a perfect meal or wether there were any decent men around. He did notice once or twice they asked each other more personal type questions and while Lissa had no trouble answering, Silica was unable to answer many things about herself due to her fragmented memory. She had attempted to ask Rolan if he had any answers for her, but he had remained silent the whole time. The red-haired man had trudged along at the back of the group with his eyes locked to the ground a few feet in front of him.
"He hasn't said anything for hours now." said Lissa, "Is he really okay?"
"Don't worry about him," replied Silica with a grin, "He's just pouting. He never could take a joke." She laughed a bit and turned back ahead. She then stretched her arms high above her head and gave a big yawn.
"I'm starving." she complained, "why didn't we bring food with us?"
Chrom gave a small smile has he continued on. A few minutes passed before Silica gave a small shout of pleasure. Chrom turned around to see Silica running towards a tree a little ways off the path, where a beehive hung from a branch a few feet above head hight.
"Yes! That honey is mine now!" Exclaimed the red haired woman happily as she stood right underneath the hive, "Now, how to get you down..."
"I'd be careful if I were you, Sis." said Rolan, making everyone jump since it was the first time he'd spoken all day. The red haired man stooped and picked up a fist-sized rock. As he stood up again, he looked right at his sister, and Chrom saw a glint in his eyes.
"Remember? You're allergic to bees."
It took Chrom all he had to process the next series of events. As soon as the words had left Rolan's mouth, Silica's eyes widened in horror as she just remembered that fact about herself, and for a moment she froze. In that same moment, Rolan threw the rock in his hand, striking the beehive with deadly precision. The large dwelling fell from the tree and smashed into the ground right in front of Silica, splitting open like an egg.
The next few minutes involved Silica running around screaming while being chased by an angry cloud of (to her) deadly insects and Rolan rolling on the ground, blue in the face from laughing. Chrom and Lissa both attempted to contain their own laughter while Fredrick rubbed his eyes with his fingers, looking tired.
After the bees finally calmed down and left, Silica frantically pulled her cloak off and grabbed a dagger, which Chrom realized was his own, and began digging stingers out of her arms. She only got stung two or three times, and from the way she wasn't seizing up Chrom guessed that her allergy wasn't life threatening. Still, Lissa gave Silica a vulnerary to close her wounds after she'd removed most of the venom from her system, though the places she'd been stung were still red and looked irritant.
"Thanks for the save there." said Silica as she pulled her cloak back on while Chrom put away his dagger (trying to make it more concealed and checking to make sure he wasn't missing anything else), "Those things make me swell up something fierce, and I'd rather not have to deal with that." she smiled at Lissa warmly, then her face contorted to a look of rage as he turned to her brother, who was sitting on the ground trying to regain control of himself from laughing so much.
Silica marched right over to Rolan, grabbed him by the collar of his cloak and pulled him up so he was eye-level with her, which left his feet dangling a few inches off the ground.
"So you think you're something clever, don't you Shortstack?" she asked menacingly.
"What? You dish it out but can't take it?" retorted Rolan, trying to match his sisters tone, despite having both her fist clenched at his throat and his feet dangling in the air, "Besides, I'm actually above average height. You're just freakishly huge."
"You trying to start something?!"
"You already started it!"
Fredrick took a step towards the siblings, but Chrom raised his hand.
"It would probably be best if we let those two sort things out themselves." he said, putting his hand on Lissa's shoulder and backing away from the two. In reality he didn't want anyone getting close to them at the moment, due to the fact that he could practically SEE sparks flying between the two of them as they growled at each other.
"I assume you know what comes next?" asked Silica.
"Two minutes prep?" asked Rolan in return.
Silica nodded in agreement. She then set Rolan down again, turned around and walked off towards a tree, Rolan doing the same in the opposite direction. After two minutes they both returned holding sturdy looking tree branches, roughly shaped to look like swords. Silica took her bronze sword off her belt and tossed it away.
"No holds barred?" suggested Rolan.
"Agreed."
And with that the two leapt at each other, swords swinging. Chrom watched them in partial concern and partial awe. This no longer looked like a game between siblings, but an actual duel between sworn enemies. Both Rolan's and Silica's eyes were narrowed and focused with no a hint of humor in them. He also noticed that Rolan had his left eye closed, and despite The fact that Silica's right eye was concealed by her hair, he could tell it was closed as well.
'They must be cutting off their abilities to see the entire surrounding area and focusing entirely on the opponent in front of them. Both of them are completely serious and fighting with the intent to kill.'
Chrom felt like he should do something but at the same time he couldn't take his eyes away. He began to see how the two siblings styles of fighting differed from each other.
Their swordsmanship seemed to consist of quick slashes and jabs that always transitioned into their next move, wasting little movement and time. It sacrificed power but made up for it with movements that were difficult to follow. Both siblings forms looked similar and both possessed impressive skill, but Silica seemed to have a bit more of an edge. Not to say Rolan's moves were lacking in fluidity but Silica's was phenomenal, like she'd been carrying on the same movement from the beginning. Additionally, her greater hight and reach also played to her favor, and she wasn't afraid to throw in kicks or punches if she saw an opening.
Despite all of this, Rolan wouldn't back down. The red-haired man fought back with just as much tenacity as his sister and had a few tricks of his own. He seemed constantly aware of his surroundings, and often would force Silica to end up striking a tree or rock in an attempt to break her flow. He also created diversions and openings by kicking sand into Silica's face or tripping her up on her cloak. Once he even bundled his own cloak tail into his off hand and used it to block a strike from his sister's sword.
Well into the fight Silica shed her cloak so Rolan could no longer use it against her and charged him with it. Her sword came down from above, which Rolan easily parried, and she swung her leg out to try and sweep Rolan of his feet. Rolan lurched back to avoid it but lost his balance for a split second, which Silica used to throw her cloak over his head. With Rolan temporarily disoriented Silica grabbed him, spun him around and delivered a sharp kick to his back, sending him to the ground. Rolan recovered quickly to find that Silica and stolen his sword as it now hung at her belt. Without missing a beat she charged him again.
Rolan leapt out of the way and rolled into a crouching position as he reached into his robes and withdrew a green book. Silica was already baring down on him when magic runes began to materialize all around him. He flourished his tome and Silica was flung back by a powerful blast of wind. She landed on her feet and attacked again and again, trying for an opening, and each time Rolan knocked her back
Now it was Rolan's turn to go on the offensive. He charged at Silica, using his body to strike at her while using his wind magic to alter the paths of her attacks so they would just miss him. She tried for a cut right at his neck, but a gust of wind pushed to sword so that it swung just above his head as he jabbed his elbow into her rib cage.
Soon the two disengaged again, both of them panting and bruised. Rolan had a cut on his cheek from a miscalculated attempt to use his wind to block an attack, and he could barely move his left arm. Silica looked like it hurt to breath, likely due to a cracked rib.
With a yell, Silica threw her sword at Rolan, the wooden branch spinning towards his head. Rolan shot it down with his magic but failed to notice Silica charging right up to him, and he couldn't move his arm to stop her. She punched him right in the jaw and ripped the wind tome out of his hands. Rolan scrambled away as she cast the spell herself, getting clipped in the side by a blast of wind. Silica brandished the stolen wind tome in her left hand and drew Rolan's sword from her belt, and Rolan pulled his thunder tome from his robes.
Silica shot a blast of wind at Rolan, who returned fire with his lightning, striking the wind magic with deadly accuracy. When both magic attacks came into contact with each other, it caused a small explosion that kicked up a large cloud of dust. Silica began advancing on Rolan while firing blasts of wind in quick succession. Rolan stood his ground, striking each magic attack with his own, as well as forcing Silica to alter course every so often. When Silica was but a few feet from Rolan the next explosion engulfed them both.
As the dust settled the two came into view again. Both of them where standing in front of each other, eyes locked. Silica's tome was gone, blasted from her hands, and her wooden sword had been partially destroyed. The tip was now a jagged spike and was resting overtop of Rolan's heart. Rolan had one hand holding his tome and one hand pressed to his sister's forehead. Magic runes circled around his body, indicating that the spell had already been cast, it just needed to be activated with a thought.
The two stood there for what seemed like an eternity, then they both let out big, exasperated sighs and lowered their weapons.
"Well that's that, I guess." said Silica, out of breath.
"I guess so." replied Rolan as the two turned and walked back towards Chrom and the others.
"Sorry we made you wait on us." said Rolan, massaging his wounded shoulder.
Chrom stared, dumbfounded, at the siblings. He tried to formulate a sentence about what he just saw, but was unable to find the words. It was Lissa, peeking out from behind Fredrick, that finally spoke first.
"Umm...Not to be overstepping any boundaries here, but what the heck was that?"
Rolan and Silica looked at each other, looking confused, then turned back to the other three.
"What?" asked Silica, her visible eyebrow raised in question, "We had a disagreement. So we were deciding who was in the right."
Chrom finally found his voice after that statement.
"A disagreement? You two looked like you were ready to kill each other."
This time Rolan answered.
"Well, yeah. Whoever dies is in the wrong, the winner of the argument being the one who lives." he stated matter-of-factly.
"Oh! You must be wondering why we're both still alive. Well that's because each time we've had an argument it's come down to where the last move would result in us killing each other, so we end up calling it a draw and leave it undecided"
The red haired man then yawned, wincing a bit when his bad shoulder moved.
Beside Chrom, Fredrick was struggling to find words as well.
"You- Are- Are you two completely mad!?" he stammered.
Rolan and Silica both cocked their heads to the side, puzzled.
"We don't think so." said Silica "Isn't that how you solve arguments?"
"Absolutely not!" exclaimed Chrom.
"Who could have taught you that such a thing was normal?!"
The siblings exchanged glances again, consulting.
"We don't know who or where we were taught this, or anything really. I just know that we have been doing this since we were little."
Chrom felt like falling over. For as powerful as these two were, they sometimes acted incredibly childish. Beside him, Fredrick approached the two and gave each of them sharp raps on the head with his gauntleted hands, causing both redheads to yelp and clutch at their heads, then cry out again as their sore bodies protested the movement.
Fredrick cleared his throat.
"Ahem! Well for your information, normal people don't solve their disputes by killing each other, so I don't want to see you two doing that ever again! Understood?!" her ordered.
"Yes, Sir." they both groaned.
LISSA
Thanks to Rolan and Silica's antics, they were still deep within the forest by the time the sun dipped below the horizon.
"Uuugh! It's getting dark already!" pouted Lissa, noticing a high pitch buzzing around her head, "...Ech! And now the bugs are out! Noisy, disgusting bugs that buzz around and crawl all over and bite you when- Agh!" She began spitting and spluttering as she felt a bug enter her mouth.
Off to her right she could hear Chrom snickering.
"Aw, come on now, Lissa. Hardships builds character. Want to help me gather firewood?"
Lissa gagged a bit as her throat cleared.
"Tpht! Tpht! Yeeeeeuck! I think I swallowed it." she complained, "I'll pass on finding firewood, thanks. I think I've built QUITE enough character for the past couple days!"
On her other side, Lissa noticed both Rolan and Silica scratching at their stomachs.
"We should probably think about food." said Rolan, "I don't know about you, but I'm starving."
"I second that opinion." added Silica.
Fredrick returned to the circle from tying his horse's reins to a nearby tree.
"Yes, I should think a little hunting and gathering is in order. Now, who wants to clear a campsite?"
Rolan raised his hand slightly.
"I still can't move my arm so well yet, so Lissa and I can stay back here and set everything up while you three go out." he proposed.
"Sounds good to me." said Chrom, "We'll return soon."
With that her brother turned and left into the woods with Fredrick and Silica in tow. Lissa and Rolan then set to work, Lissa clearing an area of the forest floor for a campfire and Rolan gathering firewood and kindling. Just as he was finished arranging it, Lissa noticed something.
"Aw, drat!"
"What's wrong?" asked Rolan.
"I haven't got any flint. Chrom or Fredrick would have some but they're not here."
Rolan grinned.
"Well, not to worry." he said, pulling his thunder tome from his robes.
Lissa's eyes widened.
"Are you nuts?! That's not fire magic! You'll blast the wood to smithereens!"
"No, it's fine. Watch." He knelt down to the fire pile and opened his tome. As the runes appeared, he stretched out his free arm. A tiny ball of lighting appeared on the end of his index finger, which he touched to the wood. Instantly the kindling caught and soon the whole pile was ablaze.
"You see, fire and lightning aren't all that different, fundamentally. They're both methods of transferring energy while venting heat." explained the tactician.
Lissa gazed at the fire in awe.
"Cool. You're really good at this."
Rolan chuckled a bit.
"Well it's one of the few things I remember."
Lissa sat down on the ground.
"Umm...if you don't mind me asking..."
"Yes?"
"Err...When you and Silica had your 'dispute', you two really were going at it for real?"
"Yeah?"
"Then how come you were using wooden swords?"
"Oh, that's just a rule we both implemented. It'd be far to easy for Silica to kill me if we used blades. On the other hand there's another rule saying only basic magic is allowed"
"But isn't that just as bad? I also noticed that at one point you were attacking Silica with wind magic but you were mostly fighting hand-to-hand."
Rolan chuckled, withdrawing both his tones and setting them on the ground.
"So you noticed that, eh? The thing about my sister is that she has an incredible resistance to magic. Low level spells like these can barely leave a mark on her, that's why I only used my wind magic to push her away. With what I have right now, only a point-blank shot to her head or heart from my lightning tome could put her down for good. That's the other half of the deal. We use wooden swords, and only basic magic, so it's an impede for both of us."
"What about you? The one time Silica hit you with a magic attack, it looked like it did some damage."
"Oh it did. I'm not so fortunate to have such a resistance, so I learned how to counter magic attacks with my own."
"That's incredible!"
"It's really not that great. It does have some skill to it sure, but a lot of it is luck. We may have tied every fight we've had but in all honesty, my sister has come closer to killing me than I her. The only reason I'm still alive is because I'm a bit cleverer than her."
Lissa looked into Rolan's face. The firelight flicker across his face. His smile was friendly, but his mismatched eyes made her a bit uneasy.
"Do-...Do you want to kill your sister?"
Rolan's eyes widened and his smile disappeared.
"What!? No of course not! My sister means the whole world to me. Sure she can be a handful at times, but I love her more than anything in this world."
"Aww, your such a sap, Rolo." came a voice from outside the firelight.
Lissa and Rolan turned to see Silica and Chrom approaching, followed by a massive form. As it approached, it lurched and crashed to the ground. Lissa instantly recognized it as a bear. Rolan yelped and leapt to his feet, putting the fire between him and the bear.
"Whoa! Is- is that thing dead? Please tell me it's dead!"
"Yes, you craven, it's dead." replied Silica, nudging the beast's carcass with her boot."
From behind the bear's bulk appeared Fredrick.
"Well that was a success." he said contently.
"Wait," said Lissa, "We're EATING that?!"
That turned out to be the case when about an hour later the group dug in.
"Mmm..." hummed Chrom happily, "It's been too long since I last had bear meat. Delicious!"
Lissa poked at her hunk of charred flesh. Her brother must have noticed.
"... What's wrong, Lissa? Dig in."
"Pass!... Gods, couldn't you spear us an animal normal people people eat for once?" She gave the meat a sniff and wrinkled her nose. "I mean, come on! Who eats bear?! You're meddling with the food chain. Right Rolan?"
She turned to the redheaded man, looking for support. To her dismay, both he and Silica were tearing into their bear meat like ravenous wolves.
"Uhh, Rolan? Silica?"
The siblings either hadn't heard her, or were ignoring her. Both of them were tearing meat from bones as if it was going to vanish any second now.
Lissa sighed.
"You two must not have eaten for days before we found you..." she stated, recalling that the two had also eaten just as ravenously the pervious night in the town.
"Just eat it, Lissa." said Chrom, "meat is meat."
"Since when does meat smell like old boots?! Wait, I take it back-boots smell better!"
Fredrick turned more slabs of bear meat over the fire, trying to keep up with Rolan and Silica's appetites.
"Every experience makes us stronger, milady. Even those we don't enjoy."
Lissa raised an eyebrow.
"Really? Then why don't I see you eating, Fredrick?"
Fredrick tensed up for a split second before smiling.
"Me? Oh, well... I'm not hungry. I... I had a large breakfast... in town! Yes, quite."
Lissa rolled her eyes.
"Yeah right, Fredrick!"
After a while, everyone had finished eating (Rolan sand Silica nearly eating the entire bear themselves). The twins both yawned, stretched, fell over and just like that where sound asleep. Lissa laid down herself, trying to get as comfortable as she could get on a forest floor. As she lay there, she saw Chrom and Fredrick staring into the waning embers of the fire.
"I'm still unsure about them, milord." said Fredrick, "Yes, they have demonstrated that they are capable warriors and their strange abilities can be a great asset, but they lack restraint and are completely unpredictable. After today's display, I fear for the safety of anyone around them."
"I don't think that'll happen, Fredrick. Despite what they said and what they may think, I don't think they would have actually killed each other." replied Chrom, now looking at the sleeping forms of the siblings.
Lissa looked over to them as well, and smiled. Rolan was sound asleep, his head resting on his sister' chest, her arm wound around his shoulder.
'I agree.' Lissa thought, 'They may be odd, but at heart they're good. And they truly do care for each other.'
