Author's Note: Hey there, everybody; I'm back!
Last month was pretty crazy with a lot of things happening, both at work and personally. Because of those things, it was pretty difficult to find the time and focus to do any writing. But, now that things have settled down, I'm ready to get back to it! And boy, has this past month given me a LOT of material to work off of!
Now, at the risk of sounding presumptuous, some of you might be wondering when an entry around a certain summer unit (of whom I was fortunate to get 2 of~!) might be coming and I will say this: it WILL happen! How can it not? But that will quite literally be a story for another time. For now, I hope you all will enjoy this entry, and thanks for your patience and support! Have a great day!
FireEmblemMaster101: Just another day in the life of Fjorm (at least in this canon)! Yeah, I am not particularly informed about a lot of Norse mythology, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were tales of relations between mortals and the Norse gods. It would be interesting to look into though!
Half-beastdragonsoul2013: Yep, nothing like low-key pressuring your best friend with the possibility of souring international relations between kingdoms to get them to confess their dang feelings to their crush! Although, in Kiran's defense, how difficult would it be for a normal guy come to terms with the possibility that an actual princess is smitten with them, especially if the normal guy in question may still have a desire to return home to his world?
Purple Zero: Thank you! Yep, I may not know much about Norse mythology as a whole, but I am aware that Loki (and Thor) in particular get up to a lot of shenanigans. And don't worry about Kiran and Fjorm; surely they'll acknowledge and confess their feelings for each other someday...hopefully...probably...
PrinceDoebler: I'm so glad to hear that! And yes, totally agree that Fjorm's crush for the summoner is cute; can't wait to write an entry starring her (long-awaited) summer alt!
His Hero
"Ngh…huh…?"
Kiran grunted, his head throbbing with a dull pain at the back of his skull. While trying to blink the pain away, Kiran attempted to raise a hand to investigate his throbbing skull for injury…only to find that he couldn't move his arm. Or rather, something was preventing him from moving his arm. "Wha…what the…?"
"Well, look here, lads! Seems our guest has had enough beauty sleep!"
Eyes snapping open at the rough voice followed by equally course chortles, Kiran looked up and was greeted with the unseemly sight of three surly strangers. It didn't take a genius to figure out the three men leering viciously at him were brigands; their tattered clothing, unkempt appearances, and overall rank aura were a dead giveaway.
"Who…who are you? What's going on?!" Kiran questioned, a bit of panic unintentionally seeping into his voice as he began to struggle where he sat. "Where are-agh!" Before he could finish his question, Kiran felt a sharper pain in his right ankle, his teeth clenching in silent agony. This prompted another round of chuckles from the men surrounding him, with the individual Kiran supposed to be the leader slowly stalking toward him.
"Ah, ah, ah!" The man tutted with a mocking smirk as he stood a foot in front of Kiran. "Best not struggle. Wouldn't want our precious merchandise to be damaged. Well, any more damaged anyways, heheh!" Nudging Kiran's injured ankle and eliciting another grunt of pain from the summoner, the bandit leader chuckled, "Fortunate for us you had that nasty spill, or else we wouldn't have caught up to ya. Wouldn't that have been a shame, heh!"
The pain subsiding, Kiran ground his teeth as memories began coming back to him. He and some members of the Order had arrived at a rural village to address concerns of bandit activity in the area. While Alfonse, Sharena, and Anna talked things over with the town's mayor, Kiran had decided to investigate the village and speak with the locals, all of whom were amazed the Grand Summoner of Askr and the Askran royal heirs would visit their humble village. He remembered reaching the village outskirts, only to get ambushed by some shady individuals who emerged from a nearby grove, and then…
Shaking his head, Kiran looked up into the bandits gnarly face with what he hoped was a defiant glare. "So, that's your plan then? Gonna sell me off for some pocket change and call it a day?"
Grinning triumphantly, the bandit leader roughly grabbed Kiran's face as he replied, "Aren't you perceptive? Yeah, that's right, but that little head o' yours is gonna bring us more than some 'pocket change'!" Rapping the summoner's hooded head with his opposite hand, the bandit leader continued, "Word is, the Emblian Empire is offering quite the hefty sum for a certain summoner of Askr! And if they ain't interested anymore, that's no problem; I'm sure we could find some 'honest' slavers 'round these parts who could find some use for you. Ain't that right, boys?"
The two other bandits shouted in agreement as the bandit leader roughly let go of Kiran's face, eliciting a grunt from the summoner. With a snort, Kiran glared at the bandit leader's back as he began to walk away. "You think you're gonna get away with this?" Kiran spat rhetorically. "The Order of Heroes are going to notice I'm missing and come looking for me! And when they find you, you're gonna wish you all stayed in whatever scummy hole you crawled out of!"
To Kiran's surprise, the bandit leader chuckled as he turned around to address the summoner again. "Oh, I'm countin' on it." Smirking at Kiran's look of confusion, the bandit leader elaborated, "One of my boys sent a message to your little friends. If they want their precious summoner back – and in one, breathing piece – they'll send their royal brats here to negotiate your safe return." With a chuckle, the man added, "Course', by that time, you'll be long gone, and we'll have two new hostages to barter off for even more coin! Hehahaha!"
"Wait wait wait," Kiran interrupted the brigand's laughter, an incredulous look on his face. "You…told them where you were? You serious?" Shaking his head with a dry chuckle, Kiran said, "Wow, that's got to be the stupidest plan I've heard in a while."
Growling, the bandit leader stalked back toward the summoner before delivering a swift punch to Kiran's gut, forcing a wheeze out of the summoner. "That amusing to ya, is it?!" The man sneered as he loomed over the hunched over summoner. "Well, we'll see if you're still giggling when we nab your little friends! Who knows, maybe you'll all be together in the same dingy cell by the end of this!"
"B-B-Boss!"
All eyes turned toward the large pair of wooden doors that functioned as the only entrance and exit to the room they were in, through which another bandit burst into the room with a panicked expression. As he scrambled into the room towards the boss, everyone noticed what looked like…frost covering half of his clothing.
"You!" The bandit leader barked out before roughly grabbing the panicked grunt by the front of his tattered shirt. "Well? Did ya deliver that message to the royal brats like I told ya?"
"Y-Yes! I-I-I mean, no! I m-mean-!"
The bandit leader cut off the grunt's panicked rambling with a rough shake before snarling, "Out with it, you lout! Did ya or didn't ya?!"
The bandit gulped as he shakily responded, "W-Well, I did wh-what ya said: 'Give this message to the prince or princess of Askr; don't matter which'! S-So, I was makin' my way towards the village to do just that." With another nervous swallow, the grunt continued, "B-But I saw this blonde-haired lass with a fancy spear asking around about the s-summoner, so I figured she was with the royals. S-so I gave the message to her and she…she…!"
Before he could finish, faint shouts could suddenly be heard in the distance. Smirking, the bandit leader released the shivering grunt as he said, "Well, well, sounds like they're finally here! Lucky for you, otherwise I would've had yer head for screwing up such an easy task!" Beckoning to the two other bandits, the man barked, "Come on, lads! Let's bag us some royal brats!" Glancing briefly at the wide-eyed summoner, the bandit leader smiled wickedly as he said, "You just sit tight now, you hear? Once we finish with yer friends outside, we'll-"
Once again, the man was interrupted by the sound of the room's doors being flung open with a crash, this time from two other bandits. Both were older men, and both wore the same frightened expressions.
"B-Boss! We gotta get outta here!" One of the bandits cried frantically while his comrade quickly shut the door they burst through.
"What are you yappin' about?" The bandit leader snapped, his hand finding the handle to a lightly rusted yet still sharp axe. "Don't tell me those blue-blooded whelps are giving you lot a hard time?!"
The frightened bandit spoke again. "N-No! The r-r-royals…they ain't here! We're being attacked b-by some girl in heavy armor with some fancy magic axe!"
The bandit leader blinked once before slowly replying, "Now, hold on. Maybe my ears are deceivin' me." With a snarl, the burly man grabbed his fellow brigand by the throat and slammed him against the wooden door, causing them to buckle from the impact and sending the poor bandit's companion scurrying a few feet away in fear. Raising his axe threateningly, the bandit leader spat right in his underling's face as he said, "Not only are those royal brats not here, but ONE lass is sending you all runnin' like dogs?! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't gut you right now, you cowardly-!"
*CRACK*
"…e-eh?"
Whatever the bandit leader was going to say next was immediately cut off by what appeared to be a blade smashing its way through the wooden door, its edge a mere inch from the man's shocked face. With the sound of splintering wood, the blade withdrew from view. Poorly suppressing a gasp, the bandit leader all but tossed his visibly shaken subordinate as he quickly staggered backward; a wise decision it turned out, as the mysterious blade tore through the wooden door a second time with an ear rattling crack. Now fully visible, everyone present could see that the blade was in fact an axe blade, its sharpened edge a crystalline blue. From the blade's point of impact, veins of frost began to slowly spread outward, gradually freezing the doors into brittle ice.
As the bandit's watched dumbstruck, Kiran could only grin as he shook his head in mock pity "Ooh, hope you all are wearing your winter clothes, gentlemen."
"Wh-wh-wha…?" The bandit leader stuttered pitifully, his fellow bandits visibly quaking in fear as cracks began to spiderweb throughout the now completely frozen door. With a violent wrench, the axe blade tore through the brittle ice, shattering it effortlessly and revealing the unobstructed form of a young woman.
She was outfitted in bulky golden armor - the insignia of the kingdom of Nifl clearly visible in the center of the breastplate – with a golden tiara adorning her head of flowing blonde hair, the bangs of which cast a foreboding shadow over the young woman's upper face. This wasn't the case for long, however, as the armored woman lifted her head to glower at the bandits before her, her gaze alone seeming to be enough to freeze everyone in the room in absolute fear.
Well, almost everyone.
"Hey, Fjorm!" Kiran said casually with a grin. "Have to say, your entrance? Ten out of ten!"
"Kiran! Fjorm! Oh, I'm so happy you two are ok! S-So…happy…!"
Kiran chuckled at Sharena's tearful but joyous greeting as he replied, "Alright, alright, Sharena, that's enough. I'm alive and well!"
"Ahem!"
Cringing slightly, Kiran added sheepishly as he briefly glanced at his still injured ankle, "Er, mostly well, I guess."
Behind Sharena, Alfonse and Anna could be seen pushing past the gathering crowd of villagers to rush to Sharena's side as she busied herself with wiping her eyes. "Kiran!" Alfonse called out, relief evident in both his voice and facial expression. "I am so relieved to see you and Fjorm…unharmed…erm?"
The prince's sentence tapered off towards the end, his expression of relief slowly melting into a mix of concern and confusion as the reality of the sight before him finally registered in his mind. Standing in front of him was Kiran and an armor-clad Fjorm…or rather, Fjorm was standing in front of him. Kiran, on the other hand, was currently being held bridal style in Fjorm's arms, a sheepish look on his face as he noticed the change in Alfonse's expression.
"Um, Fjorm? Would you care to explain…this?" Alfonse managed to ask.
Fjorm sighed as she replied, "Unfortunately, Kiran was injured when he was kidnapped by those bandits." The way she spat that word at the end with such venom was not lost on anyone within earshot as the Nifl princess continued. "Specifically, his right ankle was injured. So, as not to exacerbate the injury, I have taken it upon myself to carry him until he can see a healer."
"You make it sound like I broke a leg," Kiran huffed in exasperation. "I told you I can walk just fine. I…just need some support-" Upon noticing the disapproving frown directed at him from Fjorm, Kiran sighed in defeat as he shook his head.
"Well," Anna spoke up, "It's good to hear you weren't seriously injured, Kiran. However!" A scowl crossing her face, the red-headed commander turned her irate visage towards a slightly surprised Fjorm. "What were you thinking, Fjorm?! Charging ahead without any support and little to no information? What would have happened if you got captured? Or worse, the bandits harmed Kiran out of desperation?!"
Feeling the Nifl princess' grip tighten around him, Kiran swallowed nervously as spoke up to diffuse the situation before it could escalate. "H-Hey, Anna? Come on, sure it was a bit reckless, but Fjorm was just-"
"And you!" Anna cut off Kiran's feeble retort as she glared disapprovingly at the summoner. "What were you thinking, wandering off on your own?" Not giving Kiran the opportunity to answer, Anna pressed on. "How many times are we going to have this conversation, huh? By this point, it almost feels like you've been captured like seventeen different times!"
Kiran blinked before giving a nonchalant shrug before cheekily replying, "Honestly, Anna? If anything, I feel like it's going to be at least eighteen times I'll be captured!"
While Anna stared dumbfounded at the audacity of Kiran's response, Sharena giggled lightheartedly, her earlier weepy mood completely gone. "Aw, lighten up, Anna! What matters now is that Kiran is safe." With a mischievous grin, Sharena added, "Not to mention, Fjorm got to be Kiran's knight in shining armor~!"
"Ah?! Sh-Sharena, now is hardly the time for your…"
As Fjorm attempted to refute Sharena's teasing, an idea popped into Kiran's head. Clearing his throat to gain everyone's attention, Kiran spoke in an exaggerated tone, "My Hero~! Thank you so much for saving me!" While everyone was stunned by his theatrics, Kiran lifted his torso upward so that his face was near Fjorm's and gave a chaste peck on the princess' cheek.
"K-K-Kiran! Wh-What are…y-you…?!" Fjorm squeaked in shock, blood coloring her cheeks as Kiran chuckled lightly at her reaction. It took all the Nifl princess' willpower to avoid reflexively covering her face in embarrassment (or to tenderly touch her cheek) so as not to drop the mischievous summoner currently in her grasp. It took even more willpower to ignore the barely contained squealing from Sharena as well as the smug grin on Anna's face, not to mention the exasperated (yet slightly amused) look from Alfonse.
"A-Anyways!" Fjorm announced, her voice wavering against her will. "I'm taking Kiran to the inn so his injuries can be treated!" Without waiting for a response, Fjorm stormed off, leaving the Askr siblings and Anna with various expressions of amusement behind as she made her way through the crowd. As she did, Kiran maneuvered himself so that he could throw a casual wave at the trio.
"See you three in a bit! Please tell the mayor that the village's bandit problem is solved, courtesy of my dashing Hero coming to my rescue!" The sound of the summoner's light-hearted laughter echoed in everyone's ears before being abruptly replaced with a startled yelp. "Gah! Cold! C'mon, Fjorm, it was a joke! Well, not really, you were my hero for real. You were so cool back there, and I just thought your heroics deserved a little reward-" Another yelp echoed as the duo gradually shrank out of eyesight.