Okay! Chapter 3 is finally up! It only took me like a week haha! I really hope this chapter doesn't disappoint! I worked really hard on it, and it's pretty long! I kept getting distracted while I was writing so that's why it took a while. I might be taking a short break from this story for a while now though to focus on my other two that desperately need to be updated. Holy crap. This is a lot of work. Never let it be said that I didn't suffer for my art! (Guess that's what I get for attempting to write three stories all at once! :P) Anyway, hope you all enjoy this chapter! Not sure when chapter 4 will be up, but hopefully not too long from now. As usual, follow, favorite, and review! :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem. All characters you recognize belong to Nintendo/Intelligent Systems.
The nighttime air was very calm and relaxing, and the now smoldering fire still allowed the tactician enough light to read. He figured it would probably be best to brush up on his wind magic again, since he hadn't actually performed a spell in months. Titania had tried to get him to come inside the fort, but he'd simply shaken his head. She knew it was probably smarter to leave him alone after that. He read through his tome diligently, but he kept getting distracted by something. Or rather, someone. Eventually, he became frustrated, and threw the book on the ground. "Damn it!" he cursed softly to himself. "Why did she have to do that?" He stood from the log he was sitting on and began to pace nonchalantly back and forth.
"Troubles, Soren?" Soren's eyes darted towards the voice. Mist was standing before him on the opposite side of the fire. She was wearing a white floor length nightgown, and her reddish-brown hair was a little messy.
"No. What about you? Couldn't sleep?" Soren casually bent over to pick up his book and sat back down on the log.
"Right," Mist answered, walking around the fire towards him. "You're still dressed, Soren," she pointed out, taking a seat next to him. "Haven't you even been inside yet?"
"I'm not tired," Soren replied simply, opening the book again. This time, however, he was only pretending to read, scanning the pages entirely too fast for anyone to believe he was actually contemplating the words.
"So, you've just been sitting out here all by yourself?" Mist asked. Then she looked down at his book. "How can you even read in this horrible light?"
"I have well-trained eyes," Soren answered dully. An awkward silence followed after that, and he sighed. "Mist, you don't have to sit out here and keep me company."
Mist frowned. "I'm sorry. I just saw you from my window and thought you might be lonely." She bowed her head and twiddled her thumbs. Then she turned to face Soren. "Doesn't all this alone time ever get to you?" she asked.
"Actually, I find that this 'alone time' is my greatest solace in the world," Soren told her, his head still in the book.
Mist scoffed at this. "Soren, why are you always so-"
"Rude?" Soren interrupted her. He set his book off to the side and stared at the fire, which was now only embers.
"I was going to say mysterious, but that works too," Mist smirked. "The truth is, there's much I don't know about you."
"And you won't ever need to know!" Soren concluded, getting a bit angry. Then he calmed himself down, inhaling a deep breath of air. "I don't share with just anyone."
Mist found that her feelings were immensely hurt by this comment. "But, we've known each other for a long time, Soren."
Soren sighed painfully. "Isn't it enough that you know one major trait of mine already?" He turned to Mist and looked her in the eyes. Those amazing, spellbinding, blue eyes.
"No," Mist said. "And if it makes you feel better, I never thought you being a Branded was so bad." She continued on. "Ike says that we're all people, no matter the color of our hair, or if we have wings or tails, or even mixed blood. We're all one family." She gently put her hand on Soren's leg, and he flinched a little at the touch. "I know you've had a rough past, and I don't pretend to know why. But I can promise you that I'll always be here for you. No matter what."
Soren was lost in her eyes then, truly thinking about what she had said. I did promise Ike I would be more open. He thought to himself. "Mist," he spoke softly, now facing the fire. "I've been betrayed many times in my life. I do trust you, more than you'll ever know. But I need you to promise me you'll never hurt me. Never."
"Of course, Soren," she promised. "I would never want to hurt you. You're too special." She smiled and moved her hand up to his face, caressing his cheek. Soren moved his hand there as well, initially to pull hers away. But something stopped him from doing so, and his hand just rested there on top of hers. "You should come inside now. It's getting cold." As if on cue, the fire had completely gone out with a sudden gust of wind. Mist stood and held her hand out to Soren. He slowly grabbed it, and Mist latched on tight. So tight, it almost hurt. But Soren found that he didn't mind at all. The two of them walked hand in hand back to the fort, and Soren realized that his face felt very hot for the first time in his life.
"Is that all you got, Boyd?" Nephenee asked playfully as the two of them sparred. "Y'all are a bit slow today, aren't you?" she laughed, twirling her practice lance in her hand.
A very surprised Boyd had been knocked onto the ground, and he slowly propped himself up on his elbows. "I must be having an off day," he insisted. "You never beat me!" He picked himself up off the ground and swung his wooden axe at her, but she simply moved out of the way, and his axe slammed hard into the grass.
"Forget it, Boyd!" she teased. "You ain't got nothin on me!" She took another stab at him, causing him to once again fall backwards onto the ground. "That's three times in a row now," she boasted, smiling proudly.
"Hey, Neph!" Mia's cheery voice called out to her, as she ran towards the two of them. "How about you spar with me now?" Mia received a 'you're kidding' look from Nephenee. Boyd also stared at her like she had completely lost her mind.
"Mia, y'all haven't picked up a sword since that little one of yours was born," Nephenee pointed out. "Don't you think you're a bit rusty?"
Mia smiled at her. "Maybe, but that doesn't mean I can't kick your butt!" She untied her practice sword from her belt and readied her stance.
"Oh, it's on now!" Nephenee jeered. "I'm gonna be all over you like locusts in a wheat field!" Nephenee raised her lance and ran towards her opponent head on. Mia saw this coming, however, and dove out of the way. She then proceeded to attack Nephenee from behind, prodding her in the back with her blunt, wooden sword. Nephenee turned and attempted another attack, but Mia blocked her. Nephenee pushed harder against Mia's sword, trying to make her lose her grip on it. Mia had to use all the strength she had in her, but she was finally able to push Nephenee back. The force caused Nephenee to faulter a bit, but she didn't lose her balance completely. "Wow, Mia," Nephenee laughed. "Seems I've underestimated you."
"To be quite honest, Neph," Mia began, "I'm not sure how I did that!" The two laughed momentarily, then the fight was back on. Nephenee continued to thrust her lance at Mia, who kept blocking her attacks. Their sparring session continued for almost a half hour, and they had both been knocked down twice. The two women were breathing heavily, and their strength was beginning to die down.
"I ain't gonna let you win, Mia," Nephenee said, the expression on her face seeming like she actually wanted to hurt her.
"We'll see about that!" Mia replied. Then they both raised their weapons at the same time, once again colliding with each other. Nephenee pushed hard, determined not to let Mia defeat her. Mia pushed slightly harder though, and eventually, the unsuspecting Nephenee was thrown onto the ground. Mia jumped up and down happily. "I won! I told you I'd kick your butt!" She then extended a hands towards Nephenee, and the sentinel grabbed it gratefully.
Once Nephenee was back on her feet, she shook Mia's hand. "That was some mighty fine swordplay, Mia," she congratulated. "You're not rusty at all!"
Mia smiled. "Thanks, Neph. It's good to know that I've still got it after all this time." They both laughed then, and Nephenee looked up at the bright sun.
"Think it's dinner time?" she asked, placing a hand above her eyes to shield them from the light.
Mia nodded. "Yeah, I think so." They both walked back to the fort then, joking and laughing about the fight.
The mercenaries all ate their lunch ravenously. They'd been training extremely hard that morning, as Titania had forewarned them. Despite their exhaustion, they were all chatting happily with each other. Oscar, Boyd, and Rolf were teasing each other, arguing about which one of them was the best brother. Mia and Nephenee were telling Titania and Ilyana of their spar. Titania seemed very interested, but Ilyana was paying them no attention, rather she was scarfing down her food voraciously.
Ike and Soren sat beside Zihark and Gatrie, who were each telling humorous stories of things that had occurred while they were gone. Soren tried to be engaged in the conversation, but his eyelids were heavy and his head kept drooping down to his chest. He had gotten absolutely no sleep last night, and he knew it was no one's fault but his own. After Mist had shown him to his room, he lied down on the bed and tried to fall asleep, but it wasn't working out for him. Instead, he'd decided to stay awake all night and sketch something on his note pad. He remembered how Mist had looked when she stood before him in her nightgown, so that was what he drew. The picture turned out breathtaking, of course, as his drawings always did. He tuned out Zihark's story, and began to think about Mist. What she had told him last night was true. She was such a free spirit, never really thinking about all the bad things that could happen to a person. He had actually debated giving the drawing to Mist, but decided against it.
"So, Ike, what's it like being a father?" Zihark asked, his story now over. Soren managed to pull himself out of his trance and join the conversation again.
"It's different," Ike said. Then he laughed. "Erin was up half the night crying." Ike wanted to take responsibility as her father, and he told Mia that he would attend to every cry.
Gatrie chuckled. "Yeah, Mia's been pretty exhausted lately. But she seems like her old self today," he said, glancing over at the women. They were laughing loudly at something Nephenee had said.
Mist walked down the stairs and into the mess hall then, holding baby Erin in her arms. Mia saw her and got up from the table. "Thank you so much for watching her this morning, Mist," she said graciously.
"It wasn't a problem, Mia," Mist replied. "She is my niece, after all." She looked down at the baby and smiled. Mia held out her arms and Mist gently placed the child in them.
"She's so precious!" Titania beamed as Mia sat back down at the table. The women all immediately began to giggle over the baby, talking to her in high-pitched voices. The men looked at them and began shaking their heads, though they couldn't hide their smiles.
"Look at her! She's cute enough to eat!" Ilyana trilled, causing everyone to stare at her uneasily. Mia slowly moved the baby in closer to her chest. "Um, sorry," Ilyana apologized, smiling guiltily.
Mia rose from her seat and brought the baby over to Ike. "I don 't want to hog her," she said, laughing. Ike smiled and held out his arms for Mia to place Erin in them. The baby began to cry a bit, but stopped and giggled upon seeing someone's pale face. Her green eyes sparkled and her smile was vivid.
"Hey Soren," Ike said to the sage sitting next to him. "I think she likes you."
Soren could do nothing but give Ike a bewildered look. "Ike, she's obviously smiling at that tapestry on the wall over there." He pointed over to the fabric scroll behind him, but Erin's eyes never left his face. She just kept on giggling. Blast. That didn't work.
Ike looked down at his child. "No, I think she's looking at you," he snickered. "I think she wants you to hold her."
Before Soren could do any form of protesting, Ike had positioned Erin in his arms. The little child smiled up at him, still laughing in the cutest way possible. She reached out with one of her tiny hands and began tugging and pulling at Soren's robes. Before he even realized it, a broad smile had plastered itself onto his face. Soren was filled with a happiness that he'd never experienced before. He held out his hand to Erin, and she gripped one of his fingers tightly. Soren had been unsure about the child just last night, but now, he was wondering why he ever was in the first place. She was so beautiful in every way. Amidst all this joy, however, Soren couldn't help but feel a small pang of jealousy towards Ike. He had a family and they were immensely happy together. But Soren still had nothing. He handed Erin back to Ike a few moments later, wishing he were blessed with such fortune.
After lunch, the mercenaries all went back outside to resume training. Nephenee had challenged Mia to a rematch, which she gladly agreed to. Oscar and Zihark also decided to spar, leaving Boyd paired with Gatrie. Ike went up to his and Mia's room to put Erin down for her nap. When he came back downstairs, he was stopped by Titania.
"Ike," she began, still mulling over what she was going to say. "Your father put you in charge of these mercenaries after he died." Her voice was a little soft and she looked down at the floor. "I think it's only right that you take that authority back."
"Are you sure, Titania?" Ike asked, a little confused. "You really want to do this?"
Titania nodded confidently. "Yes, Ike. I've had my fun." She chuckled a bit. "I'd much rather report to you, anyway."
Shinon happened to be walking around the corner just as Titania said this, and was furious with what he heard. "What?!" he burst out, causing both Ike and Titania to look at him. "Titania, you can't be serious! He left us! And you're willing to give him his job back, just like that?!"
"Shinon, please try to understand," Titania tried to calm him. "Ike's always been our commander and we respect him."
Shinon scoffed. "Well, I don't. This is such bullshit!" He turned away from them and briskly walked away. "I'm done here," he muttered under his breath.
"Shinon, wait!" Ike called after him, but Shinon didn't stop. He ran into Rolf on his way out the door and nearly knocked him off his feet.
"Hey Shinon!" the young archer chirped. "We should go practice!"
"Sorry, kid," Shinon said, though he wasn't sure his apology meant anything. "You won't be practicing with me anymore." He continued out the door.
"Why not, Uncle Shinon?" Rolf asked. He had always referred to Shinon as his uncle, ever since the older marksman agreed to take him under his wing. Rolf was actually one of the few people in the group Shinon was close to, besides Gatrie.
Shinon sighed but he kept walking. "I'm leaving, Rolf," he said. "Goodbye."
"But-but," Rolf stuttered. "No, wait, Uncle Shinon! Don't leave." Rolf's face was soon covered in tears, as he helplessly stared after his teacher, not knowing if he would ever see him again.
Yay! I hope people are more satisfied with this chapter! I tried to fix as much as I could. Cormag-Ravenstaff, this is directly aimed at you: I fixed Neph's accent. Are ya happy now? :P