This takes place about five years after the end of the canon, so about three years before my Oscar fic "Back in the Knights," since I felt a need to explain why Shinon is once more in the Greil Mercenaries (at the end of Akatsuki no Megami it says that he never rejoined). I'm planning on continuing it with... maybe... some stuff in Daein, with Ike and Soren?
Yes, it has a lame, abrupt ending: but then again, unlike most FE 100 Challenge fics, it's also more than five paragraphs long. *grins* I ran out of anti-Ike steam.
LOOK A NAESALA CAMEO HOW ORIGINAL
"Weddings! I love weddings! Drinks all around!"
#100 - Wedding Ceremony
It wasn't that Boyd didn't look good in dress clothes. It was just... Shinon squinted and tilted his head. Yep, that was it: it was just that he was so much like Ike, who had never really taken to his little lordling outfit. Both of them, with that messy hair, too many muscles, and no care for their looks, had the ability to make a doublet look crinkled and worn immediately after stepping into it. Boyd was clearly uncomfortable, fiddling with his tie and rolling his shoulders under the tight cut of the cloth. Shinon snorted, and flicked a bit of dust off his own jacket. What a charade this was going to be.
He looked away from the groom, who was anxiously buttoning and unbuttoning his cufflinks, and glanced over at the rest of the party. Several former mercenaries had come, even some who now worked in Daein and Begnion. The table of presents was piled high - what with their friendship to the Empress of Begnion and the Queens of Daein and Crimea, not to mention all those sub-humans who had worshipped Ike, anything marital the mercenaries did amongst themselves was certain to be rewarded richly. Besides that, Titania (having replaced Ike as commander of the mercenaries) had invited every practically every person in Crimea.
Shinon noticed that while most royalty had stayed away, more than a few of the sub-humans had shown up, obviously in hope of seeing Ike again, and wrinkled his nose. He'd gotten used to working with them just fine, with the understanding that they provide at least as much use to the mercenaries as he did, but it was still an effort to actually like many of them. Especially some of those sneaky birds: it was still impulse to reach for his bow (which he didn't have) when he saw the ravens flying in. That blue cat hadn't been too bad, and the hawk Janaff had been borderline likeable, but still...
The thought of reaching for his bow made him frown and look around, more intently this time. Where on earth could that little green-haired kid be? Shinon hadn't seen him for a few years now, but he knew Rolf had stuck around with the mercenaries, so he must be here somewhere. He wasn't the best man - that was his brother, standing over there with half a dozen other Royal Knights, smiling insipidly at something Titania was saying. They all looked desperately overdressed.
Shinon pushed away from the wall he'd been leaning against and began strolling out into the crowd, ignoring the young girls throwing looks in his direction; he recalled that Rolf had had a bit of a crush on Mist at one point. Maybe it was sheer jealousy of his brother that kept him away. Shinon couldn't help but feel a little sorry for the kid: Rolf had by far been his favorite of any of the mercenaries, after all, and Shinon had never liked seeing him miserable. If he were still in love with Mist...
"Shinon! Over here!" a voice called, and he looked over to see Gatrie, waving excitedly at him. A surge of warmth overcame him, and he immediately started striding in the direction of the blonde knight. It gave his stomach a turn to see that his old friend was still palling around with that sub-human cat girl, but it was overcome by the surprising realization that he really was happy to see Gatrie.
His friend threw his arms quite unabashedly around him, and Shinon, ribs crushed, croaked breathlessly, "Hello, Gatrie."
"Shinon! How are you doing?" Gatrie demanded, face beaming. "I haven't seen you for a couple of years now! Still taking mercenary work on the side, or just loafing about?"
Shinon straightened his tunic, brushing out the wrinkles, and answered, "Mostly lazing around, doing odd jobs. And you? Still with the Mercenaries, I hear?"
"Of course!" his friend answered, as obnoxiously cheerful as a sunflower in July, and looked behind him. "You, uh... you remember Lyre?" His expression suddenly dropped, and Shinon grinned, remembering what he'd said when finding out about Gatrie's sudden infatuation during the war on Begnion.
"Yeah. You married to her yet?" he asked, but not as sarcastically as he'd meant to, and Gatrie's face brightened.
He sighed in obvious relief, and called out, "Hey, Lyre!" The slim figure looked away from one of the other cats, and skipped over, tail flouncing. "No, we're not married yet. I dunno if we're going to, we don't see a lot of each other. Lyre, you remember Shinon?"
She looked him up and down in distaste with those giant green eyes, clearly remembering him all too well. "Yeah. Still relentlessly bigoting against laguz?"
"Lyre!" Gatrie exclaimed, and Shinon grinned.
"Not really. Still unendingly chasing after Skrimir's odd-eyed kitten aide?" She hissed at him, and Gatrie looked as if he were ready to cry. In deference to his friend, Shinon shrugged. "Hey, it's a wedding, I don't want to start any fights. Any news on when this shebang is going to start?"
"N- no..." Gatrie answered, warily looking back and forth between the two of them. "I think Rhys said whenever everybody gets here."
"Everybody including little Ikey and his mastermind?" Shinon asked sarcastically. It was common knowledge that Ike and Soren hadn't been seen or heard from in Tellius for a good five years, having gone somewhere out past the Grann Desert and never returned.
Gatrie shrugged now, looking unconcerned. "Mist said yesterday that if he didn't come it was his business. If he wants to be enough of a dunderhead to miss my wedding," he imitated a squeaky woman's voice, "he'll have a big surprise waiting when he gets back!"
Shinon choked on a laugh, and coughed to cover it. They'd sent out messengers, but unless they'd actually found the two (and the prospect seemed unlikely), Ike certainly would have a surprise: to get back from his travels and find his sister married to Boyd. Shinon had to admit that it really was kind of unexpected: Rolf had always been hanging around her when the Mercenaries were in their glory years, and to have Mist decide to marry his older brother seemed... awkward.
"I think we're going to start soon," said a gentle voice behind Shinon, and he turned to see Rhys, dressed very simply in a white robe. "Everyone who's expected to come is here, and Mist is ready." The priest turned to Shinon, and the archer noticed that Rhys looked older, but only a little more careworn. That was pleasantly surprising: life must be treating him well. "Hello, Shinon."
"Rhys," Shinon answered, feeling - what was this? - a little self-conscious. He'd never known the priest very well, but hadn't liked him simply because the younger man had been good friends with Ike: and Shinon had felt that somehow the dislike had always been reciprocal. For the first time in a while, he wondered what to say next. How are you? What've you been doing? Nothing seemed fitting, since he didn't really care and was almost certain that Rhys disapproved of his own current lifestyle.
Fortunately, the arrival of the bride saved him from having to think up anything meaningful. With a glance over at the beribboned young lady, Rhys said, "Excuse me," and moved off in that direction. Gatrie waved after him, and Shinon, feeling quite alone, wondered furiously where Rolf was.
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Rhys's emotions were clearly getting the better of him; he had to keep stopping to clear his throat during the ceremony, and Shinon could seen the tears standing in the priest's eyes. He sighed. This was a much longer ceremony than he'd counted on, and he stifled a yawn. Looking around, he didn't feel too bad about being bored; there were more than a few people looking uncomfortable. Except those damn male herons: both of them were staring rapturedly at Rhys and the soon-to-be-newlyweds, eyes dripping with sentimentality. Shinon found it most satisfying that both his hawk friend Janaff and the girl heron's husband were looking excruciatingly bored. As Shinon watched, the raven yawned cavernously, not bothering to hide it, and his wife surreptitiously whacked him in a most un-heron-like way. Shinon grinned, despite himself, suddenly liking them both. The two bird children had long since fallen asleep on their parents' laps; Shinon had to admit that they were no less cute than Greil's kids had been, even with those ridiculous miniature wings.
With a start, he realized that it was one of Greil's little kids who was up there getting hitched right now. That was kind of a sucker punch in the gonads, and Shinon wondered vaguely if Titania, sniffling happily amongst the Crimean knights, handkerchief up to catch the tears, was feeling anything similar.
Rhys was clearly making as much of a production out of this as he could, and Shinon had long since figured out that it was in the hope of giving Rolf, Ike, and Soren time to arrive. But it seemed as if the priest's efforts were in vain: none of the three were present in the crowd. (There had been a brief, surreptitious search of the base at the beginning of the wedding, to find Rolf, but clearly he had left.) And the audience was getting antsy.
Shinon watched as, with an almost indiscernible sigh of capitulation, Rhys flipped open a large book and finally started pronouncing the rites of marriage. "You come before the goddess Ashunera and these witnesses to proclaim your mutual love and devotion to one another. If there are any present who have reason and claim to oppose this union, speak now." His soft glance flickered amidst the crowd, and his clear voice hesitated only for a moment before continuing; but Shinon, accustomed to keen observation, had seen it, and turned. Rolf had finally arrived. By the goddess, he was tall now! Even though he was standing behind a pair of sub-humans, he was still clearly visible, face lean and bright, green hair cheerful in the sun.
"Then, if you have so chosen, declare your vows." As Boyd and Mist turned to one another, Shinon wondered at how calm Rolf was. The wedding suddenly seemed just wrong, as if it should be the younger brother standing before across from Mist (who, amazingly enough, was crying) instead of smiling and waiting in the wings. Shinon felt a sudden urge to jump up, run over to him, and shout, "Why aren't you up there?" What the hell was happening to him?
"You have stated your intentions, and your marriage is witnessed by the gathered. As a sign of your love, you may kiss-" Rhys jumped back in alarm and began laughing as Mist threw herself onto her new husband in a shower of kisses. The audience, startled by the fact that something had actually happened, burst into laughter and applause. Shinon, shocked, noticed that Rolf was among those who seemed the most excited, his cheeks shining red as he hooted something, clapping and laughing at Boyd's self-conscious grin. The female heron stood, holding her arms wide, and started singing: after a moment, her brothers joined her, and as the applause rolled on, Boyd swept his new bride into his arms and dashed into the base.
After the herons ended their song, and the general craziness died down, Shinon found himself rising and going straight to the back of the crowd. Rolf saw him, and his eyes lit up. "Uncle Shinon!" he cried, grinning wider than before, and flung himself into the older man's arms.
"You can just call me Shinon, you know," he said, startled and somewhat unnerved to hear that ridiculous title called out in such a deep voice. "You sure were late. How've you been?"
"Great. I've been great, how about you? Isn't this just a wonderful wedding?" Rolf was clearly overjoyed to see him, and babbled on happily. Shinon grinned: at least he still acted like a kid, even if he looked and sounded like an adult. "I can't believe all these people came, we were only expecting a few Royal Knights and maybe Ranulf, but almost everyone we invited showed up! I guess there's really nothing else going on this time of year."
"Almost everyone showed up," Shinon said.
The younger man looked at him, suddenly frowning. "Well, yeah, Ike and Soren didn't come in for the wedding ceremony. I wasn't going to, but..." Rolf shrugged. His hair was too long, much longer than his eldest brother's, and it reminded Shinon of that crazy swordsman Ike had trained with for a while. "I really just wanted to see the vows, mostly."
"It's always fun to watch Boyd get embarrassed by a girl," Shinon agreed, watching Rolf closely. After a moment he decided that it obviously didn't bother the young man that his brother had just married his former best friend. Rolf's eyes were clear, his expression simply happy.
Now Rolf grinned, and replied, "Especially if it's Mist. She looked so beautiful, right up to the point where she jumped on him and wrapped her legs around his waist. I can't believe she cried, though! After all those years making fun of me." He shook his head, chuckling. "I probably would have been just as embarrassed as my dumb brother." Then he leaned over to look past Shinon at the wedding party and bit his lip. "Hmm. Well, I told Ike I would find him when the ceremony was over, and take him into the base to find Mist before the final party starts. I suppose I should go do that now, before everyone here floods inside."
Shinon was struck momentarily speechless; finally, he asked, "Wait... so Ike is here?"
"Mmm-hmm," said Rolf, nodding. "He and Soren have been here for about half an hour. But they didn't want to interrupt the ceremony with a grand entrance. I mean, I could slip in easily enough, but General Ike, the hero of Tellius, walking in..."
Shinon made a face. "Oh, come on," Rolf said, forehead creasing. "You still don't like him? After everything he did for... well, for everyone?"
"I dunno," Shinon muttered, somewhat surprised to find Rolf knew of his dislike for their former commander. It wouldn't do any good to keep trying to think of Rolf as a kid anymore: he'd just end up embarrassing himself. "I can probably admit to respecting him without actually liking him personally. But you don't ever tell anyone I said that, kapiche?"
Rolf suddenly broke into a brilliant smile. "Yeah. Shinon, it's really good to see you again. I missed you. Nobody else around here is ever sarcastic." They embraced again, and Rolf turned back once more as he started walking towards the edge of the grove. "You staying?"
Shinon was tempted to answer that no, he'd only come for the romantic part, but finally he called back, "Yeah. I'll be sticking around until the cake runs out." Until the booze ran out, more likely, he thought to himself, trudging back to find Gatrie or someone else to distract himself with, but there was really no need to bring that up.
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Better stick to ale if he wanted to keep his wits about him, Shinon decided, and took a pull at an offered tankard. They'd spared no expense, that was for sure. It was an excellent brew, malty, bitter, and strong. From what it looked like, they'd gone all out with the food, too: but then, Mist had learned to finally cook, after all. Maybe she'd had something to do with that monstrosity of a wedding cake, or the gigantic... really? Shinon moved in for a closer look. It was a boar, all right: complete with the apple in its mouth. He wouldn't have been surprised if it were stuffed with something.
"Hey, Shinon!" said a familiar voice at his elbow, and he turned to see Janaff saluting him with a grin. "Still hanging in there, kid?"
"Yeah, yeah, you stupid old bird," Shinon answered, again feeling an unusual pleasure at getting to speak with the hawk again. He spent so much time alone nowadays that it shouldn't have been a surprise to relish conversation. It probably just went against his nature to like anybody. "Nice party, huh?"
"Definitely," Janaff agreed. "I hear tell the best man did most of the cooking. I'm looking forward to that."
Good news, indeed, Shinon had to admit. But when he went to say it, his voice failed. Two almost unfamiliar figures were heading straight toward the base. If Shinon hadn't already known who they were, he wouldn't have even recognized them.
Janaff, eyebrows raised at his sudden silence, followed his gaze and started. "Whoa! Ike's back! Wow, he's looking... older. Too bad Tibarn's not here, he's been trying to find Ike for months now."
Shinon couldn't tell from this far away, but silently he watched the two mismatched figures enter the base. "Well, wherever they've been, it's been rough," Janaff added. Even that much had been obvious to Shinon: their body language had been that of exhaustion, and Soren's robes had been utterly tattered at the hem. "Interesting, though, that they're back and no one else has noticed. I wonder if they saw the ceremony?"
Shaking his head, Shinon finally managed to say, "No, they didn't. Rolf said they'd just arrived and didn't want to interrupt it."
"Huh." Janaff squinted crossly at the base, as if trying to figure out a mystery. Then his expression took on a furtive cast, and he glanced sideways, looking sneaky. "I... I think I'll go find my pal Ulki. See what he can hear."
"Yeah," Shinon answered, distracted. After a moment, he realized what Janaff had meant, and drained his tankard, firmly setting it back on the table and moving off. Well, the hawks might have to sneak around to get information, but he knew his way around the old base. It was time to find some things out.
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An exultant scream of joy made Shinon pretty sure he was in the right room. The old dining hall had been outfitted as the banquet room for later (or if it started raining), but Mist and Boyd had obviously made off to a private room. "Ike! Brother! You stupid lughead - I thought you weren't going to come!"
A chuckle sounded down the corridor, and Shinon felt his knees turn to jelly. He leaned against the wall, feeling a little faint. The goddess... Ike sounded exactly like his father had when he laughed. "I'm sorry, Mist. We didn't hear the news until it was almost too late. We literally got here as fast as we could - had to call in a couple of favors from Aimee. Ugh."
Mist laughed at her brother's falsely disgusted tone. "I saw her here, too! Oh, Ike!"
Shinon felt himself getting more and more tempted to peek around the corner, but it wouldn't do. The door was cracked open just enough for him to hear, but the light from the hallway's sconces might give him away. Still... he could feel the sweat trickling down his back as Boyd started in on Ike, demanding to know news of Hatari, obviously dying to know where the two of them had been.
A surge of old hatred welled up inside him; it was all Shinon could do to quell it, and remain motionless. What a poser Ike was. The great General Ike, saving poor Crimea from the Mad King, and then abandoning the throne, so Elincia's rule fell into chaos. Then, after rescuing everyone yet again from Ashera, he insisted upon falling back into the shadows, instead of taking his rightful place as ruler of Crimea. The boy had had no guts whatsoever. Even when he'd had to come back out, to place the Mercenaries in the limelight again, Ike hadn't wanted to lead the army against Ashera. And now, after disappearing for so long, he was back... for what? To see his sister's wedding. The sister he'd abandoned without so much as a word of explanation.
"Ike... please just tell me," Mist said suddenly, her voice soft, and Shinon listened more carefully again. "Are you staying?"
There was a long silence. Then a sigh. "Mist..." came Ike's voice, and Shinon immediately knew the answer. Mist must have, too, because a half-sob wafted through the doorway. It may have just been the beer, but Shinon felt his hackles stand on edge, so to speak, and gritted his teeth in fury. The bastard wasn't staying! "Mist, we can't. Don't you understand?" As little as Shinon actually wanted Ike to return to the Greil Mercenaries, from what he'd heard they needed the help desperately.
"No!" she said, somewhat less upset and somewhat more enraged; Shinon approved. "No, I don't! I know you want to avoid... you know. Fame, and stuff... but why can't you just stay here and lead the group with Titania? It might be a time of peace, but we're still running all over helping people!"
"Yes!" Boyd suddenly butted in. Shinon had never much liked Boyd, except for the occasional amusement of watching him spar with Ike. But now, as Rolf's elder brother argued, Shinon realized how much he'd matured since the battle with Ashera. They all had. "Queen Elincia keeps asking us if we can possibly help with the situation in Daein, as well. Queen Micaiah and Sothe... they're having a hard time keeping the peace. Daeins don't forgive their royalty as easily as Crimeans, you know. They have a harder life."
"I know," said Ike slowly. "I know, Boyd. I really do. But... we can't go to Daein, either. That, I can't explain or even ask you to understand." There was a sigh. "Look, Mist... Boyd. I don't want you to be unhappy. We just came to wish both of you the best, to celebrate with you. And then we'll be gone."
There was another sob, and footsteps suddenly rushed towards the door. Adrenaline surged through Shinon: well, there wasn't much point in hiding. He braced himself outside the door, and when Mist crashed through it, she stumbled right into his arms.
"Whoa! It's the bride!" He attempted to make his words sound more slurred that they really were. "Hey, what's the matter? Get champagne on your veil?"
"No... no." Mist was already hurriedly wiping tears from her eyes, backing away from him. "Sorry, Shinon." Her lip trembled, and she whirled, dashing away down the hallway. He felt a momentary spasm of guilt: but even if he'd tried, he wouldn't have been able to comfort her.
Boyd emerged from the room, looking as if rage was brewing close to the surface. He glanced at Shinon, and for the first time the older man could remember, there was almost an element of misery to Boyd's features. "Shinon. What do you want?"
"Just to tell you your brother's here," Shinon answered, in as belligerent a voice as he could summon. "Little squirt showed up just as you two were kissing."
Boyd's face lightened in relief, if only momentarily. "Rolf? Ha. That's good." Shinon noticed that Ike and Soren were notably not coming out of the room; all was silent inside. As well it should be, he thought bitterly.
He realized further that he had absolutely no idea what he'd say if Ike came out of the room. It was taking all the effort he had not to go inside and take out his rage on Mist's older brother. She'd pretended so hard before the wedding that she didn't mind if her brother didn't come. "Oh, yes!" he'd heard her explaining to Titania, quite cheerfully. "He's got his own plan, you know." And that story Gatrie had told him, about her not being worried. What a charade. And all so the great Ike could maintain his image of being worthy.
"I'm gonna go..." Boyd suddenly said, awkwardly, and jabbed a thumb in the direction Mist ran. "We have to, you know. Dance and socialize and stuff. Would you tell Rolf to come find me, Shinon? I want to ask him something."
"Yeah, whatever," Shinon said, watching him go. The tense silence continued from inside the room, and he merely shook his head, turning back to go outside. Perhaps Janaff's other hawk friend would have heard Mist's conversation with her brother, too. Selfish bastard deserved to be given away by a friend, as well as someone who didn't like him.
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Moodily, Shinon returned to the drinks table outside, grabbing a bottle of mead. Going over to a fence at the edge of the yard, away from most of the other guests, he leaned over it, tossing back half of the bottle. "Are you around, Greil?" he muttered. "Watching your son hack up the rest of the family?"
There was no answer from the still woods leading to the commander's gravesite, and Shinon turned away, bitterly regretting having left the Mercenaries. He wondered if Titania would take him back, after the falling-out they'd had. Perhaps if he made it clear that he no longer gave a damn about sub-humans in their ranks...
The sight of Rolf's tousled head amongst the crowd reminded him of his promise to Boyd, and he tilted the bottle up again, setting out across the yard. "Rolf!" Shinon called, and the younger man's head turned. "Boyd wants to talk to you, when he gets back out here."
"Well, good. I want to talk to him, too!" Rolf said, grinning. His cheeks were flushed, probably with more than just excitement, too. Goddess, Shinon thought faintly, was he old enough to be drinking? "Did he ever find Ike and Soren? I was supposed to go do that, but then Oscar distracted me..."
"Yeah," Shinon said, feeling the word stick in his throat. "Yeah... he and Mist were talking to them before I got there."
Finally, Rolf made the face: the half-embarrassed, uncomfortable awkward face that Shinon had been waiting for since first seeing him. "Huh. Um… is he… are they staying, do you know?"
"No," Shinon answered flatly.
There was a short silence, and Rolf finally hid his face by burying it in a stein; when he reappeared, Shinon shrewdly noted that the younger man had carefully rearranged his features to appear neutral. Clearly he had no desire to start a conversation on that topic. "Hmm. Okay. Uh, Shinon!" Switching directions hastily, Rolf continued, "Want to see the new bow I got from a band of traders last week? It's kind of like a double bow, but with a way better range…"
With a mental sigh, Shinon allowed Rolf to lead him into the new conversation, and over to the weapons pile (snagging a new drink on the way). Generally weapons weren't permitted within the crowd a wedding ceremony, but since the recent upheaval near the Gallian border, most Crimeans had started carrying items to protect themselves with, so many of the wedding guests had been asked to dump their items onto a pile near the fort. Shinon's own favorite brave bow was at the bottom of the pile somewhere, probably smashed underneath someone's stupid axe, or a bag of tomes.
There was just enough drink in him, Shinon reflected, only half paying attention to Rolf's genuinely excited description of the bow, to start enjoying this party, despite himself. The crowd was moving back and forth in that pleasant way that dozens of people sometimes had, with an ebb and flow equivalent to waves on a seashore. You couldn't concentrate on one person long enough to annoy them (or be annoyed by them), so everyone had a good time except the bride and groom, who were forced to hang out with one another the entire time.
Speaking of whom… Mist and Boyd had finally reappeared from the fort, her face carefully touched to hide any trace of her tears. Shinon noticed that Boyd started when spoken to for the first time, but took a deep breath and did his best to look immensely happy. Everyone seemed to be getting happier, in fact, with the presence of the bride and groom.
"So, what do you think of it?" Rolf asked, drawing Shinon's attention back to the bow. He gazed at Rolf's face, grinning wildly even as his eyes were soft with love for the simple weapon.
"It's great, kid. Probably the bes' buy you coulda made," Shinon assured him, to Rolf's intense delight. "If you can even draw it, that is."
Rolf had enough kid left in him to make a face and put his hands on his hips, scoffing, "Of course I can draw it! You should come by some time and watch me at target practice. I'm as good as you ever were!"
Shinon laid a hand on the younger man's shoulder and shook his head solemnly. "Never in your life, kid."
Rolf laughed obligingly. "Okay. Fine, you're still the master. Still, you should come by some time." As he continued talking about the Greil Mercenaries, Shinon blinked: why had Rolf's face suddenly gone double? Oh, no. This mead must be stronger than he'd anticipated! Great, he thought distantly, feeling a little ill. I hope I don't blurt out anything stupid, like that time with Ike… ugh.
Resolving to keep his mouth shut for a while longer, Shinon merely grinned and nodded encouragingly at Rolf, barely noticing that the younger man had devolved into raptures about his eldest brother going back to the Royal Knights. Perhaps it was time to ditch this party for a more peaceful venue… one involving less people he could embarrass himself in front of.
His eye was caught again by Mist, but this time because she was waving her arms for attention. Even Rolf stopped speaking , looking over at his new sister-in-law. Oh, no: she and Boyd were standing by the wedding cake, grinning like idiots. It must be time for the traditional smash-cake-in-each-other's-faces event. Shinon felt nauseated just thinking about it: parties were fun, but mooshy-gooshy emotional things like this were jus stupid.
Rolf seemed excited about it, however: "Oh, no," he laughed. "Let's go see this, Shinon."
"You go 'head," Shinon said, careful to sound nonchalant. "I'll be over, I gotta do something first." Rolf gave him no more than a mildly curious glance, but apparently assumed Shinon meant something private in the bushes, and trotted off toward the happy couple.
Shinon turned immediately and strode off toward the woods, feeling more unsteady than ever. Recklessly, he took another swig from the bottle, knowing he would need it before the night was out.
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Greil's grave was peaceful as ever; someone, probably Mist, had planted some kind of perennial shrubs on either side of the stone that bore his name, and both were brightly in bloom. Feeling a brief, uncharacteristic surge of despair, Shinon slumped to his knees before the grave. There was nothing to say; he wasn't even sure if he believed in an afterlife, and beyond that, Shinon wasn't sure if Greil had ever known just how deep the archer's respect for him ran. It wasn't his way to ask, and it certainly wasn't Shinon's way to tell.
The moments passed by as he stared at the tombstone, turning into minutes. It was a testament to how much he'd actually had to drink that Shinon didn't, at first, notice the footsteps behind him. It was only when someone muttered, "Shit," that he whirled, wishing he had a bow.
It was Ike.
Shinon immediately bristled; but when he opened his mouth to sneer, the other man beat him to it. "Yeah, I know. What the hell am I doing here, I've been gone for too long, the great Ikey-wikey has returned to suck his glory. I know. I friggin' know, Shinon."
The bitterness in Ike's voice—and the closed, angry look on his face—was enough to keep Shinon from saying anything for the moment. He closed his mouth, opened it again, and finally just looked at Ike; this was something new. He wasn't sure how to deal with Ike when his criticisms weren't impassively accepted; the boy had never talked back to him like this, and he himself wasn't exactly at the top of his game right now.
The younger man was staring at his father's tombstone; now his expression looked like he was closer to tears than anything else. "I don't want to leave again," he said quietly. "I don't know why the hell you'd care, Shinon, but the last thing I want to do is leave. It's just… we can't stay. Soren can't stay, I know that much. And I'm not my father. No one understands."
Shinon snorted. "I sure as hell don't."
Ike looked up, glaring. "Well, I wouldn't expect you to. What the hell do you understand? Certainly not my father. You might as well have left Crimea, too, from the way you abandoned the Mercenaries. But that's okay. Because if you can't have command of the Greil Mercenaries, why should you help them?"
It took a moment for Ike's meaning to sink in, and a flush of outrage shot through Shinon. "That's not true!" he protested furiously, but floundered to find an alternate explanation. It wasn't true, but then he couldn't think of what was.
"Then what is?" Ike demanded. "I get that you never liked me because I wasn't as good as my father. And me leaving just proves further how unworthy I was. But you're no better. How do you think Rolf felt when you left? Or Gatrie? They trusted you, and how did you repay them? At least I've left to protect someone, even if no one knows it. You do whatever's good for you."
This conversation was getting entirely too deep (and going a little too fast) for Shinon, and he gaped a little, trying to think. Finally, he rose, as dignified as was possible in the situation. "I don't know what's your problem, kid, but stop taking it out on me. I have no idea what you're talking about anymore, and what's more, I don't care. I'm going back to get drunk until I pass out on a table somewhere. You have fun angsting over your own problems. Maybe your dad can help, seeing as how you listen to him better now that he's dead."
As if in slow motion, Shinon saw Ike's fist tighten at his side; but as he moved to brush past the younger man, Ike simply closed his eyes and exhaled deeply, face incomparably furious but controlled. Good, who cared if he was pissed off; Shinon had had enough of this abuse.
He was almost into the woods, and had just recovered from stumbling over a rock, when Ike's voice rang out from behind him, as steely as his father's had ever been. "Shinon. Stop." He paused, and waited just long enough before turning.
Ike's face was indescribable: proud, angry, and cool… but somehow full of need. Shinon felt a sudden, unnatural wish to achieve reconciliation; immediately he recoiled, but Ike's next words affected him. "You can't understand why I must leave. I don't ask you or anyone else to do so. But… can't you help protect Rolf and the others while I'm gone? They need you more than you think. I won't offend you by saying my father would have wanted you to, but can you raise yourself up for one moment and be better than me?"
It was almost a contemptuously pandering speech, and even half-intoxicated Shinon knew Ike was attempting to play up his own worthlessness, to make him more amenable. But somehow it worked, and grudgingly he had to admit that leaving the Mercenaries had been one of his less admirable life decisions.
After a moment, he shrugged. "Yeah. If you can't stick around, I might as well. Just…" A sudden surge of affection for Rolf struck him, and he pointed at Ike. "Tell them why you're leaving, ya little bastard. Your sister and the others. If I don't understand why I sure as hell can't explain it to them, and they deserve to know."
Ike hesitated for a moment, but then gave an infinitesimal nod. "All right."
And that was it. The younger man turned away, dropping to the ground in a swirl of cape, and Shinon rolled his eyes to turn away. Well, Ike might or he might not give up his secrets to the others; but Shinon knew that he himself would hold up his own end of the bargain.
Walking back through the trees, he caught a glimpse of a purple cloak, and the sunset's fading light shone eerily from a pair of red eyes, coolly regarding him. Soren, waiting for Ike at the edge of the path.
Ignoring the mage, Shinon walked on; there was literally nothing the two of them had to say to one another.
With a jolt he realized what Ike must have meant: for some reason it was Soren he was "protecting", by gallivanting off into the desert. Or perhaps he was protecting someone from Soren. Whatever the case, it must involve the strange boy that haunted Ike's every step.
Shinon shuddered. Well, the two of them were good for one another, and the further away from Crimea they were, the happier he would be.
X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
He returned to the party just in time; the bride and groom had already cut their slices of cake, had fed them to one another, and were proceeding to wipe the cake off their faces, everyone laughing maniacally and offering toasts to their future happiness. Gazing around, a sudden and rather unexpected feeling swelled his heart: hopefulness.
Perhaps it would work. He could rejoin the Mercenaries, and without Ike there it wouldn't matter who led the company. Titania was respectable enough, and she'd adored Greil as much as he, Shinon, had. It wouldn't be so bad.
Rolf ran up to him one last time, grinning madly. "That was so great, wasn't it?"
Shinon grinned; he might as well have been there the whole time. "Yeah, yeah. It was adorable. Look, I'm thinking of coming back to the Mercen-"
He didn't even manage to finish the word before Rolf yelped in glee and threw his arms around him. "Really? Oh, Uncle Shinon, that's great!"
"Ugh, don't call me that, Rolf!"
"Okay, okay," Rolf laughed. "I'm just so excited! What changed your mind?"
Shinon looked over at Mist and Boyd again. She looked so happy that he almost hoped Ike would tell her why she was leaving. The sunset had finally faded, and the torches set up around the party-site illumined everyone's faces, laguz and beorc alike, in a way that made them all look the same. Happy.
"I don't know," he said, somewhat truthfully. "I guess I figured you guys might need me eventually."