7:35 PM
Lyn emerged from the forest. It had been a nice walk. As Guy had said, the forest was a far cry from the plains of their birth, but it still felt good to get away from the cold stone of Feran and walk among living things once again. Still, it made her yearn to hear the dried grass of Sacae crunch under her feet as she ran, free, across the plains.
But that was neither here nor there, she reflected sadly, as she approached the gates of Feran. She would have to win the battle tomorrow if she ever wanted to see Sacae again—if she even wanted there to be a Sacae to return to. She was a commander now. She had troops, responsibilities, and a war to win.
One of her troops was approaching now, in fact. Kent's usually neutral face was especially somber tonight, but he still greeted Lyn with a bow. "Lady Lyndis," he said. "I trust you are well?"
"I'm fine," Lyn sighed in response. "Just needed to get outside for a bit." She continued toward the fort, Kent falling in beside her. "How are things here?"
"All right, so far," Kent replied. "Everyone's settling in well. There are actually enough rooms that we think everyone can sleep on their own tonight, if they so desire."
"I see," Lyn said passively. She paused for a moment. "Wait, do you expect anyone to desire otherwise?"
"Well, we've been sharing tents for most of this campaign, so people could share rooms with someone if they're comfortable doing so." He hesitated before going on. "...also, Lord Hector told me about a conversation he had with Lord Eliwood. Apparently, Eliwood asked Hector to keep the sexes on different sides of the fort, to discourage... untoward behavior."
Lyn gave him a surprised look. "Really? That's odd. I always figured Eliwood as more easygoing than that." She let a small smile cross her face. "That sounds more like something you would say."
Kent pursed his lips, but said nothing. Even so, Lyn saw the discomfort on his face, and sighed. "I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to pigeonhole you like that. Go on, please."
Kent straightened up a little, and his expression became less somber. "Hector disagreed with Eliwood. So it's entirely possible that people may choose to spend this night... together."
Lyn nodded. "I see."
Kent peered at her as they entered the front gates. "You disapprove?"
"No," Lyn said. "I think that all the rules are different tonight. Hector has the right idea. If we are to die tomorrow, we should let the units live on their last night."
"With all due respect, milady," Kent replied, grinning slightly "I'd much rather not die tomorrow."
Lyn had to smile at that. "As would I, Kent." She sighed. "Still, that is strange..."
"What?"
"Eliwood. He seems to be very caring and understanding, yet he argued with Hector on this? I can understand the rationale behind separating the sexes, yet it still seems... uncharacteristic of him."
Kent nodded. "Hector felt the same way," he said. "He spoke to Sain and I on the matter, and asked if we could find anything out." He coughed slightly. "I was... hoping that you could talk to him. If something is wrong, he might be willing to tell you."
Lyn hesitated for a second, then nodded. "All right. If Eliwood needs help, I'm willing to give it. Where is he?"
Kent hesitated. "Um."
"Um?"
"The thing is, milady..." he shifted uncomfortably. "We don't know where he is. After Hector spoke to us, Sain and I got Wil and searched the entire fortress. Eliwood was nowhere to be found."
7:04 PM
"Hey, boy," Florina sighed, patting her pegasus on the nose. "You all right in here?"
Huey responded with an affectionate snort as Florina rubbed his snout. The stables of Feran were relatively spacious, and Huey had enough room to move around a little without feeling constricted. Immediately to his left and right, Fiora and Farina's pegasi were already starting toward sleep. Huey himself was a little more energetic, however; Florina guessed it would be several more hours before he considered sleeping. He was currently looking at Florina imploringly.
She smiled. "All right, all right." She reached into her bag, took out a few extra oats, and spread them on the floor. Huey immediately bent down and began to nibble at them, casting a thankful look up at his rider first.
Florina took a step back to watch him eat, when she suddenly felt something poke her in the backside. She let out a yelp and spun around, only to find herself face-to-face with one of the wyverns. The great beast looked up at her innocently, as if it was pretending that it hadn't in fact been poking at her bag a moment before.
"Hyperion!" a voice came from a few stalls down. "No!"
Florina turned to see Heath hurrying towards them. He gave Hyperion a gentle but firm nudge. "Don't nose at her like that," he said sternly. "You wouldn't like oats anyway."
Florina hesitated for a moment before speaking. "I thought Hyperion would eat anything."
Heath looked at her, thinking. "Well... yeah, he would," he sighed. "But he wouldn't like it."
Florina giggled softly. "So, Heath... what are you doing here?"
Heath suddenly realized how close to her he was standing, and took a hurried step back. "Sorry, I was just thinking I'd check on Hyperion. If you want, I can go and..."
"No, it's OK," Florina replied. She patted Huey. "You go ahead."
Heath hesitated, but nodded after a while. "Well, if you're sure."
He turned to Hyperion's stall. As large as the stables of Feran were, they—like most any stables outside of Bern—were designed for horses, not wyverns. They had to take out the wall between two stalls to give Hyperion and Umbriel enough room, but once they did that, the wyverns were quite comfortable. Umbriel, whom Vaida had been pushing as hard as ever, was fast asleep. Hyperion had been sleeping too, but awoke when he heard Florina feeding her own mount.
Heath gave the wyvern a pat and spoke to him in soothing tones. "Come on, boy. You've had a long day. Better get some sleep while you can."
Watching the rider and his mount, Florina was reminded of the similarities between pegasi and wyverns. They were worlds apart in some ways, to be sure, but in they end, they were both mounts, and had to be treated with the same respect and care as a horse.
Heath let out a sigh. "All right, fine." He reached into his own bag and produced a piece of meat; he gave it to the wyvern, who immediately lay his head down, chewing appreciatively.
"That should keep him satisfied for a while," Heath said, stepping back from the stall. "Sorry about him poking you earlier."
"It's OK," Florina responded, smiling. "Huey's the same way sometimes." She looked up at him for a moment; when she spoke again, it was slowly and carefully. "Um... Heath?"
"Yeah?"
"It's... um, it's still... how are you feeling, right now?"
He shrugged, furrowing his brow slightly at her behavior. "OK, I guess. A little tired from marching all day, but not too much. Why do you ask?"
"Well... if you're n-not too tired, and... w-well, it's still light out, so I was..."
Heath tried not to roll his eyes as he realized they weren't in any danger of finishing their conversation soon. But it was odd; Florina was usually better at speaking than this, even to him.
"I w-was wondering," she continued, "i-if you'd like to... go on a walk... with me?"
That, he had not been expecting. "E-excuse me?" he asked, stammering himself now.
"I mean, i-if you..."
"Wait, wait, wait," Heath said, holding up his hand. "I... uh... aren't you... you know... don't you have trouble with... guys? Like me?"
She lowered her eyes and nodded. "Yeah... y-yeah, I do." She took a breath. "But... you're not like the others. I haven't known you as long as Sain, or Kent, or Wil... but you've been flying alongside Fiora and I for a while now... Farina too, since she joined... a-and I kind of..." She took a step closer. "I kind of feel... close to you. I mean, closer than other men..." She shook her head. "I-I'm sorry... I'm not making any sense, am I?"
Heath shook his head. "No... I mean, yes, you... you're making sense." He lowered his eyes. "Perfect sense."
She looked up at him hopefully. "So... would you like to...?"
Heath was silent for a long moment. She tried to look him in the eyes, to see what he was thinking, but he was a blank to her. At last, he looked up at her—and shook his head. "I'm sorry," he said, his voice slightly hoarse. "I can't. I have... things I need to do."
"Oh." Her face fell. "Well... maybe later...?"
"No," he said. "I'm sorry, Florina, I can't. I..." he took a step backward. "I need to go."
"Heath..."
He turned and left without another word, all but running from her. As soon as he was gone, she slumped against the wall and felt tears welling up into her eyes. The first time she had let herself get that close to a man, and she screwed it up so completely...
"Florina?"
She stopped instantly. Looking up, she found herself facing her older sister, peeking around the stable door. Fiora's eyes were wide in shock.
"Fiora!" Florina scrambled to get up. "I... I'm sorry. I didn't hear you... what are you..."
"You had been in here a while, so I came to check on you, and..." she shook her head. "Florina, did I just hear what I think I heard?"
Florina went rigid. "...what do you mean?"
"Florina..." Fiora pursed her lips and shut her eyes for a moment, then asked with determination, "Florina, do you love Heath?"
The younger pegasus knight's eyes widened. "I-I never said that!"
"But you were thinking it, weren't you?" Fiora responded, coming a bit closer. "Everything you said to him..."
"It's all true! He's... he's a good man, Fiora. He's flown with us all this time, and he's protected me, and..."
"Florina, you've only known him for a few months! You don't know everything about him. And you certainly don't know enough to care about him!'
"And why not?" Florina felt her shock giving way to anger. "What does it matter if I do care about him?!"
"Because he'll hurt you!"
"You don't know that!"
"And you know that he won't?!"
"I-! No! But that's not the point!" Florina was shouting now. "What difference does it make?! If I love Heath, that's none of your business!"
Fiora fell silent, her mouth hanging open. Florina instantly regretted saying that, and part of her wanted to take it back. Instead, however, she turned around and stormed out of the stable, leaving her speechless sister behind.
Before long, she heard people talking. "...west, and Sain can go east. Wil, search the area north of the fort; it's heavily wooded, so keep your eyes open. I'll go south."
She rounded the corner of the fort to see Lyn talking to Kent, Sain, and Wil. "We'll meet back here in one hour," she was saying. "If you find him, try and bring him back here. If you can't, call for one of the others. As long as he's not too far from the fort, someone should be able to hear."
"Why wouldn't we be able to bring him back?" Sain asked.
Lyn lowered her eyes. "Eliwood may very well not want to be found," she said. "But we'll worry about that later. Once we know where he is, we'll decide what to do."
"Eliwood's missing?"
The others gave a start at the sound of Florina's voice. Lyn looked up at her. "Florina! Er... yes. We can't find him."
"I'll help," Florina said immediately.
"It's all right," Lyn replied, shaking her head. "We should be able to..."
"I can look from the air," she said. "I'll cover more ground and make better time. If he's not visible from the air, one of you will spot him; if he is, we'll find him sooner if I help."
Lyn hesitated. "You sure? It's been a long day. If you want, you can rest."
Florina shook her head. "I'm no more tired than any one of you. And Huey's restless; it'll do him good to get some more exercise." She lowered her eyes. "And I... I'd like to get away from the fort for a while, if you don't mind, Lyn."
Lyn's gaze was confused, but understanding. "All right," she said. "We could use another pair of eyes, after all. Spiral out from the fort, and see if you can find him."
"I will." Florina turned, but hesitated as she realized she needed to go back to the stable. Nevertheless, she set her jaw and marched forward. It didn't matter, though; Fiora had already left by the time she got back.