Fire Emblem: Path of Wyverns
Chapter 6
By the time we landed, the sun had already begun to rise. A large, frost covered clearing had turned into a huge campsite, though the tents were all rather small.
After spending a few minutes trying to work with Midnight, I finally managed to get her to land on the outskirts near a small stream. Hungry, tired, and half-froze, I'm ready to hit the hay or grass or whatever they had out here.
Daren approached as I fumble with these blasted restraints that seem determined to keep me from getting off. I am too tired for this. Once I got the straps undone, I tried to gently slide off Midnight, but my legs gave out from under me as soon as they hit the ground. You know, if it wasn't for the ground being so cold and hard, I would choose to just sleep here, even despite Daren's laughter.
With a groan, I slowly pull myself up. I am definitely going to be feeling all that riding soon. The worse part is knowing I'm going to have to do it tomorrow again.
"What's for breakfast?" I ask, taking a few experimental steps. Ow. Yeah, that is definitely going to hurt a lot real soon.
"There'll be some gruel served out soon, but let's get Terror, er, Midnight, situated first," Daren says. "Let's get that saddle off of her first."
Just the thought of more effort is exhausting, but I also know he's right. Besides, having a saddle on all the time is probably uncomfortable.
I turn to Midnight, but she's already curled up under a lone tree. She's almost as antisocial as me. She raises her head as I try to approach. "Let's get that saddle off of you, alright?" I say soothingly, as I continue forward. I freeze as she starts to growl. And this growl sounds like a tired, irritated one. Yeah, I'm not messing with a grumpy wyvern.
"Guess she's still not opening up fully to you, huh?" Daren comments.
"Guess not," I reply. Then again, Rome wasn't built in a day, so… "Do I have a tent?"
"You'll share one with me," Daren replies. "While we have several platoons of fighters, the less aggressive wyverns are tasked with carrying what supplies we need while on the march, such as tents for shelter and food. Wyverns eat a lot."
As if on cue, my stomach growls. "What about our food?" I ask hopefully. Their slop is bland, but hey, food is food at this point.
Laughing, Daren leads me to a temporary mess area. Though I felt a lot of stares and caught some wisps of conversation about me, the meal was relatively peaceful. The place was much more organized than I imagined a war camp to be, but then again, the General is in charge here, so it's probably a direct result of his strictness.
"So, what's the story behind Midnight?" I ask, distracting myself from the tasteless food.
Daren took a few moments to respond, gathering his thoughts. "Midnight did have a rider before. Commander Farlow, previous leader of the Black Platoon. Farlow was a dedicated wyvern instructor. He even taught both the General and Commander Haar. He was a model rider, and also the oldest living rider of his time.
"However, after leaving Begnion behind, he slowly began to change. At times he would space out, and other times he would just wonder about. While some thought it was old age, he still seemed to be as sharp and as quick as before.
"Then, a year ago, he left on a trip with Midnight somehow without explanation. When he returned, the General tried to talk to him, but he didn't give any explanation to his departure. It changed him though. He used to be kind and patient, even with the most stubborn riders. After that, he instead grew angry at ever smaller things.
"The worst part is that he began to take it out on Midnight. Though he couldn't hurt her too bad, he still punch and kick her to vent his anger. Even verbally abuse her. Midnight stayed faithful, but grew uneasy around others.
"One day, the General had enough and several reprimanded him right in the courtyard. The next day, Farlow left the fort on foot and didn't return. A scout party found his body halfway up a mountain to the southwest, frozen.
"Ever since he disappeared, Midnight has refused to be touched by anyone. The first two that tried to become her rider after that were…well, killed rather brutally. Since then, most people have referred to her as Terror."
It almost sounds as if I'm hearing only half a story here. Sounds like this Farlow guy's cheese slipped off his cracker. I don't really know what to say to all that.
"I hope you'll be able to help Midnight, though," Daren adds. "She needs someone to care for her again."
I simply nod, trying to focus on that previously bland food instead of the story I just heard. Too many questions were left that probably had no answers. It was too dark to dwell on, especially with how tired I am right now. I know I have a tendency toward darker thoughts when I'm not rested properly.
After the meal, we head back toward Midnight's landing area with a tent in tow, only to find a woman with a familiar red ponytail waiting for us. And she looks even more annoyed than normal.
"Do you need something, Jill?" Daren asks.
She mutters something I don't catch, then states, "I have been instructed by the General to supervise the spy until further notice."
Out of all the people here, he had to choose her. Really.
"Alright. We were just preparing to sleep," Daren replies. "All we need to do is set up the tent."
We set up the tent in awkward silence. The banter between Daren and me had completely died under the withering glares Jill kept sending my way. It got even more awkward, for me at least, when the three of us laid down inside the small tent. Daren was thankfully in the middle, but it didn't relieve the feeling that I was going to be shanked at any moment.
A tent didn't reduce the hardness of the ground at all, I found out. Nor does it make it any warmer, when the rising sun couldn't even reach us through the tent. And though this armor was comfortable to wear throughout the day, sleeping in it was another matter. Despite all this, Jill and Daren were soon fast asleep, leaving me to lay there forever before I finally dozed off.
-o-
When I awoke, it was still light outside, but the sun was now on the other side of the sky. The other two were still asleep, and it was relatively quiet outside. I never did sleep well near others, and Jill didn't make it any better.
Feeling rather stiff, I creep out of the tent and stretch. I stop when my legs decide to painfully protest such movement. This is actually the exact reason I never rode a horse. Reading about this sensation was enough for me. And yet another cold, uncomfortable night laid before me.
Midnight is still lounging under the tree, but is already awake as well. An empty bucket on the ground nearby reveals someone's attempt to feed her. To be honest, I didn't think she'd still be here. She had all day long to fly off without being chased down.
Daren's story comes back to me as I watch her. Abused and abandoned, she was almost like a shelter animal that didn't trust others anymore. And I have a weakness for shelter pets, too.
Taking a deep breath, I walk over to the black wyvern, slowing as she begins to growl. Getting as close as I dared, I reached out my right hand slowly. Midnight's eyes follow my every movement, but she doesn't pull back as I lay my palm on her head. She even stops growling. Victory.
I let out a shaky breath and start to gently rub head. After a minute or so, I start to laugh a little as the built up stress starts to release from my body. I've almost died several times, I'm stuck in another universe, and I've been enlisted in a war, but right now, I feel a sense of peace. I had always been most calm when around my pets at home, and now that Midnight isn't trying to kill me, this is a rather nostalgic moment.
Of course, as soon as I think that, I hear a muffled curse nearby, and Jill charges out of the tent. She seems to calm down a bit when she sees me, which is a first. She tries to approach, but stops as Midnight begins to growl once more. "You seem to be a much earlier rise than before," Jill comments.
"Even the stone cell at the fort is more comfortable than this frozen ground," I reply, still petting Midnight for the moment.
There are a few moments of silence between us before Jill suddenly says, "They really enjoy it when you rub the spot just under their jaw." With that, Jill walks off, apparently satisfied that I wasn't going to make a dash for it or something. I think that might be the most civil thing she's ever said to me.
While I focus on finding that sweet spot, Daren brings us a quick breakfast to scarf down. In less than an hour, we're back in the air and heading west toward the now setting sun. This group seems to ooze discipline.
While the other wyverns seem to be flying in preset formations, no one instructs me where to fly, so I simply follow along behind everyone. Daren and Jill tag along behind me, making our own little 'v' formation.
While the ride starts off nice enough, darkness soon envelopes us, along with a biting wind, that seems to penetrate right past my armor. Joy.
At least the trip was short. After only a couple hours, we suddenly land in another clearing. No one seems to be preparing for camp, though, as we just wait.
"What's going on?" I finally ask Daren.
"We're most likely preparing to take Riven Bridge," Daren explains. "Crimea holds a small garrison on the western side, so it will probably be our first target."
Battle so soon? I haven't even taken a practice swing with my sword yet!
Daren laughs, noticing my nervousness. "Don't worry, you probably won't be fighting in this battle."
But I will be fighting eventually, a thought that lodges into my stomach. I didn't think this through completely. Crimea might not have the best NPC's, but they are most likely a lot better than me.
A few moments later, a soldier runs up and hands Daren a message. He gives a small nervous chuckle as he reads it, so it's probably not good news.
"Well," he starts off, rolling the message up. "The Black Platoon is to lead in a stealth strike on the Crimean side of the bridge. No one is to be allowed to escape with news of the attack."
Though it is rather dark a the moment, I still think Jill sits up excitedly at the news. I'm guessing she's part of this Black Platoon, then.
Daren clears his throat before adding, "Jill is to remain with Midnight and her rider while the mission is undertaken with the rest of the forces."
A chill creeps up my spine, and I'm pretty sure it's from Jill vehement glare right now. "You can't be serious," she angrily growls, leaping off her wyvern's side.
Daren raises a hand to ward off any strike as he holds out the message. After reading it herself, she lets a stream of curses as she stomps back to her wyvern's side. I'm pretty sure the General hates me a lot right now.
"Well, I've got to meet up with the rest, so…" Daren takes off, leaving me with a very angry Jill.
Deciding that silence was probably the best for now, I slowly got off Midnight. Midnight laid down where she was. With nothing to do, I sat down against her side, which got her to turn to look at me incredulously. However, when she laid her head down once more without attacking, I took it as permission to stay.
After a few moments, a group of wyverns rose and took off, a group of black silhouettes against the night sky.
Jill had sat down against her wyvern, and when she wasn't muttering to herself, she was sending glares my way. Hey, I can't help that she was chosen for babysitting duty. I would rather anyone else do it as well.
Other than the crickets, everything was silent, which really started to get to me. I'm the type that likes to have noise in the background at all times, whether its city streets or music or whatever. Why couldn't this huge group of wyverns be a little more rowdy?
Finally, I decided to try and test the waters and speak. "So, what's your wyvern's name?"
Jill glared at me for breaking the silence. Or at least, I'm pretty sure she did. But then, after I was convinced she wouldn't answer, she simply said, "Windol."
Progress! Sure, even I noticed it was said with the intention of ending the conversation, but I got her to speak! Feeling good from that small victory, I tried to continue with something, anything. "Have you been with her long?"
Jill didn't respond for a while. Normally, any conversation that went this way would be nerve wrecking for little anti-social me. Maybe the fact that I can barely see her in this darkness is helping.
"Why are you talking to me?" Well. That was rather direct. Guess I will be, too.
"Mostly because I'm bored," I answer, picking at the grass beside me absently. "But also because I don't want to be your enemy."
"Why would a Branded care? Your very existence is an abomination." I think you're great, too, thanks.
"Would you like to hated by everyone around you for something you couldn't control?" I shoot back. Besides, it's not like I was born with this thing.
Jill went silent for a long while, to the point that I thought the conversation was over. Then, Jill muttered something quietly, though it seem directed at me.
"What?"
"Sorry."
…What? I was completely thrown at the sudden apology, but Jill turned away, ending the conversation there. Did she really just apologize? I wasn't about to ask her to repeat that, though. Maybe Jill wasn't as stubborn as I thought.
Silence ensued once more, but this time I simply leaned against Midnight and dozed a little. Before long, the silence was broken as a wyvern flew in. Jill didn't say anything as we mounted and took to the air.
After about ten minutes, we reached a huge chasm. It was difficult to see the true size in the dark, but it was a very long drop down to the river below. Spanning this huge gap was the famous Riven Bridge that so many players have cursed. This wasn't like the game, though. This bridge was huge. Even in the dark, it was a sight to behold. I don't know how it was able to support itself, as it appeared to be all stone. Using the only measurement I could accurately judge it with, I'd say it could support about six to eight lanes of traffic.
On either side of this bridge, small forts guarded the pass. While they could pass as a customs station, neither side seemed built to withstand a siege. Well, at least to my eye. Maybe the dawn would shine some new light on that.
I quietly chuckle at my own joke as I follow Jill to the western side. While one or two groups seem to heading there as well, the rest seem to be landing on the Daein side just behind the forest line. I realize why when we land in the cramped courtyard. Midnight growls at a few of the other wyverns that get too close, making sure no one enters her little bubble.
Daren is quick to find us and bring us up to speed. "The mission went without a hiccup, so the bridge is ours."
I nod, but get distracted by some people dragging stuff to a pile in the corner of the courtyard. After a moment, I realize it's a pile of corpses and quickly turn away. Yeah, I'm so thankful that it's so dark now.
"What's our orders for now?" Jill asks.
"We'll occupy until the rest of the army assembles here," Daren answers. Yes, no flying tomorrow. "Mainly, we'll make sure word doesn't get out about the bridge before then."
"So we're staying at this fort?" I ask, preparing to dismount.
"Well, the Black Platoon will be, which is you as well by extension, I guess," Daren replies. While I go through the slow process of trying to get off Midnight again, Daren turns to Jill. "Did something happen? You seem quiet."
"Our first real mission in years, and I'm left to babysit the newbie. What do you think happened?" It took me a moment to realize that one, she wasn't as mad as normal, and two, she didn't refer to me as 'the spy'. Is this progress I hear?
Dropping the inquiries, Daren led us into our new headquarters, where I immediately crashed on my assigned bunk in the barracks. I love mattresses.
-o-
AN: And I'm back. I didn't think I would pick up writing again, but I guess this works as a sort of therapy for me. Escaping for a moment in a different world is the best part of SI's.
Anyway, so a lot of personal stuff has happened to me. I love to read and write about drama, but I despise it when it happens in real life. Pushing life aside, I've finally picked this back up. Follow along or not, but I'm back for as long as life lets me, even though I'm now typing out the rest of this from my phone even (no more computer). My writing might be a bit rough as I start back in, but hopefully I'll get back into the groove. I even reread and edited the earlier chapters, but trying to stay present tense is a lot more difficult than I remember. Aggh.
As I have no more computer, or previous files, I won't be updating my other account on DeviantArt. All the precious stat development I had planned out along with prepared images went bye-bye, so...yeah.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I have a lot more of the plot prepared in my head now, so I'm trying to keep myself from rushing too quickly ahead. I'll simply be uploading as I finish chapters now, so no real planned updates anymore.