Disclaimer: nuu I still don't own Fire Emblem
... Sorry that I keep disappearing :'D I don't mean to, I swear.
Also, this is what Zihark deserves for the utter blasphemy he committed in FE10. Twice. It's unforgiveable! .. I'm sorry, Zihark. You know I loves you.
'o'o'
Story Number Eleven- A Terrible Burden
'o'o'
The air of the Ribahn was murky and horribly unwelcome for so many. The excruciating tension in the atmosphere made it worse than it was; it was so thick, some could've sworn it made the swampy air that much harder to breathe in. Facing old friends was hard. Micaiah pressed everyone forward, as much as they hadn't wanted to do it. Her troops were confused. It was less extreme for her long-time comrades of the Dawn Brigade who'd never known Commander Ike of the Greil Mercenaries in their whole lives, except for Sothe.
Sothe himself could've sworn some soldiers were showing signs of discomfort and somewhat anger towards their own Maiden of Dawn, and had tried everything in his power to hide it. It was in vain, anyway, to no avail. He knew Micaiah wasn't stupid. He knew she had known it anyway, known about the whisperings and stories going on between the men, of her blind faith in Daein's new king. "What is she thinking?" and "I thought we were fighting for Daein!" and "What are His Majesty intentions? What is going on?" She hadn't wanted this; she was just following King Pelleas' orders, after all. And yet, she was still frequently questioned with such ardent passion that she began to wonder herself if this really was the right thing.
-o-
And then there was Zihark.
The man was positioned with several other swordmasters in the center of a small strip of land amidst water reeds in the middle of the river. A smaller unit of troops stood in front, awaiting for the enemy to come. Most of the land-dwelling soldiers lingered on or near land while the wyvern units were given their own posts all about the edges. This is how they would corner the Laguz Alliance- for good. This is where the filthy sub-humans would die. Zihark resented the very idea of it.
He hadn't had the heart to tell the revered Maidan of Miracles either. The man fought for the laguz, not against them; not to mention he had been on Ike's side in the Mad King's War. He recalled Mordecai's kindness and Lethe's stubborn pride, Ilyana's endless hunger and Brom's stories of his children back in his small farm at home.
And, most especially, he remembered his two rather unexpected friends he had made- the excitable mercenary, Mia, and the eccentric desert hermit, Stefan. The three banded together had endured so many obstacles, escaped death on numerous occasions (being swordmasters, these instances had been frequent), and soon became widely known as the undefeatable swordmaster trio. Zihark could play back close to every memory from the three years ago in such vivid accuracy. The sorrow he still felt from his broken heart in the past was dulled after spending so much time with them, and he could tell Stefan's loneliness had been eased as well. The Branded took too many hardships, in his opinion. Why did having a touch of laguz blood have to matter for anything?
-o-
The man's nervousness overtook him so extremely that he could barely keep the grip on his own sword. He had to say something, he knew he just had to. Would anyone listen? He sighed and decided to just bear it, for now. Maybe they wouldn't get this far. Maybe they'd retreat in time. Anything but this.
The men in front of him charged forward; Ike and his mercenaries had arrived, and weren't leaving. They were advancing forward, closer, closer. Zihark had taken a few steps back, beads of sweat beginning to show themselves on his face. His discomfort was visible. He was asked once if he had been all right, and he had responded with a half-nod. He wiped his forehead; the Laguz Alliance had been making their way across the strip of land, and the Daein soldiers surrounding Zihark had already took up their turns for an attack. Just go with them, his mind kept repeating, perhaps nothing will happen, just go, you can't look suspicious! He had almost wanted to look that way this one time, just this one time. But he couldn't. He readied his blade and sprinted forward with the rest of the group for the head-on attack, his own thoughts inaudible in the shouts and battle cries, and hadn't realized anything in his complete and temporary absence of mind.
So suddenly, before his thoughts could reach him in the chaos, he could've sworn he heard a voice. It had belonged to someone, it sounded so familiar, yet it had been vague. He continued with his attack albeit the sharp change of feeling deep in his gut, until it was too late. His body came to a rough and abrupt halt, and a sharp gasp of pain sounded from the sorce of the voice straight in front of him. Zihark's consious had returned then, along with a terrifying feeling that kept his eyes glued shut. Time had paralyzed, everything had ceased their activities, the very nature of the world had gone silent. When everything continued it's normal momentum once again, the silver-haired man opened his eyes to see frightened green ones staring back into his. The feeling in his legs had gone numb.
"... Z-Zihark? Is.. that you.. ?" The girl in front of him had managed to ask, her purple hair and orange outfit instantly recognizable in Zihark's defogging thoughts. The white headband had confirmed what he feared the most. His thoughts screamed at him.
What have I done?
"... Mia..." He whispered shakily.
What have I done?
The duo had been locked in a deadly embrace, Zihark's killing edge having successfully struck it's mark. Mia had dropped her own weapon moments ago; she had been incapable of a counterattack to her friend, even as he had been ignoring her cries for him to calm himself.
Mia risked another hurting gasp before the impaled sword was drawn from her chest, and she slumped forward into the fellow trio member's arms as she heard Zihark's blade join hers on the marshy ground in a noisy clatter. The trembling arms of her former comrade wound around her tightly. "Mia... I..." he faltered, and would've continued, but was interrupted before he could.
".. You didn't mean that... right?" Mia asked weakly, faint desperation in her tone.
Zihark held Mia tighter as he had replied with a slight quaver in his voice, ".. No, Mia... I didn't." Memories were flashing back as someone nearby had shouted, "someone, get a healer! This doesn't look good!" but it wasn't to any use; Mia's life had already been fading away, and Zihark could feel it leaving her as he kept her close and didn't leave that spot for a long time, even with the turmoil surrounding them; and even with a severely mortified Mordecai standing a distance away whom had watched the whole scene unveil before his own tiger eyes, yet simply responded to it with a loud, mournful roar that rang across the river's landscape...
-o-
When Yune assigned Zihark to the Silver Army, he could've sworn she had been plotting something in that mind of hers; she was a goddess, after all. Hearing that the divided group led by Micaiah and Sothe were traveling a route through the Grann Desert uneased him fervently.
And it hadn't been for naught- he was eventually confronted by the desert swordsman, the seven colors practically haunting him as Stefan approached in a slow stride. Zihark felt almost taunted by his presence and thus didn't look him in the eye, even as he said, "So, a little bird told me about what happened to Mia."
But Zihark responded with nothing but a sigh. The burden of it all had gotten worse with every passing day, and even though he was accepted back into Ike's group before, he hadn't been fully accepted. He had taken Mia away, and Rhys had felt almost like a failure, for reasons often obvious for healers. It had been his fault. It had been his fault. This repeated over and over in his mind, louder and louder as time crawled slowly by. Mordecai had always been so kind, always tried to bring comfort to those who needed it. Zihark felt like he hadn't deserved it. The burly tiger laguz should've killed him, but he had refused.
"Ah. I see. So, it's true then," Stefan replied, his voice solumn. The other man heard the sound of a blade slowly being drawn. "Well, I don't hold anything against you personally, but it seems we'll have to settle this."
"What?"
"In Mia's honor." Stefan's Vague Katti glinted in the hot desert sun.
"... Very well, then," Zihark agreed, unsheathing his own sword.
"At your ready."
-o-
Those in the Silver Army who had witnessed the duel between the Blade of Unity and the Blade of the Desert were thus reminded of what war could do to anyone, even tear once-friends apart. It was to the death. Zihark had, rather, fought half-heartedly the whole time; the battle had been over before it even started, as the old saying goes. Stefan correctly surmised Zihark's fervid desire to die, as much as he hadn't wanted to admit it. When he asked his friend if he had any last words, the Vague Katti's tip to his throat, he replied with the remnants of a smile on his face,
"Thank you."
-/-
For anyone who's wondering, 'Blade of Unity' is actually Zihark's title in FE10 8D
Story 12 is coming soon
