"Hey, Peri!" Ananias cried, quickly shuffling away from an incoming attack and stabbing his sword forward in response, causing his attacker to let out a yelp of pain as he clutched his side and slowly slumped down to the ground. "Be careful! There's a fair amount of them this time! Don't get too carried away, or they'll get you!"
"Aw, that's so sweet of you, Ananias!" Peri replied with an innocent-looking grin on her face. "But don't you worry!" She then casually slit one of the bandit's throats, causing him to let out a horrified scream as blood began to gush out of his neck like a geyser, coating itself onto the colorful retainer, who only giggled gleefully as it did. "Peri's got it all under control! And besides," she winked and wagged her sword playfully at him, "last time I checked, you've been falling behind on your body count! You'd better start getting serious, or else it's going to be another win for Peri!"
Ananias grimaced at the horrifying and disgusting sight for a moment before nodding his head weakly and unenthusiastically saying, "Yeah, sure, I'll… t-thanks for reminding me. I'll make sure to… to up my game a little bit." He heaved out a weary sigh once Peri had taken her eyes off of him and focused her attention back to killing as many bandits as she could. Despite this being the fourth hunting spree he had attended with her, he still couldn't seem to get used to all of the bloodshed, and considering his past fighting against Grima in an apocalyptic future and his history with the Shepherds, that was definitely saying something. Then again, Peri was like no one he had ever met before, so maybe he should've seen that coming.
Meanwhile, Peri was having the time of her life, slicing down bandit after bandit seemingly with the slightest of ease, practically skipping through them and swinging her sword without a care in the world. "La la la," she sang to herself as she masterfully crossed swords with one and entertained herself with him for a bit before masterfully lodging her sword into one of his eyes, before quickly pulling out and stabbing him in the chest as well. As the bandit let out a horrified scream for both attacks, he let out an absolutely bloodcurdling one once Peri began to carve her sword from his heart to his armpit, not that this seemed to bother her all that much. "Oh, look at all that blood!" Peri gushed as her victim was quickly turning white and bleeding out from his injuries. "It's so red, and shiny, and -"
"Curse you!" a bandit cried from behind her, fully intent on striking the seemingly unsuspecting Peri down from behind.
"Peri!" Ananias cried, shoulder tackling and knocking him over to the side, successfully interrupting his sneak attack… and taking the full blunt of Peri's dagger digging into his chest. "Urk!" Ananias said, eyes widening in shock and horror as he looked down at the dagger lodged into him as he tried his best not to throw up or gag at the sight of it.
Peri gasped. "A-Ananias?!"
The bandit who Ananias had shoved to the side took one look at the scene before him and laughed. "Ha! Now that's funny! He saves you, and you thank him by impaling him in the chest!"
"No," Peri murmured to herself as she shook her head. "No!" She looked up at Ananias. "That wasn't meant for you!" She pointed at the bandit who was currently still laughing at them. "That was meant for him, I swear!" Unshed and angry tears quickly began to form at the corners of Peri's eyes. "Ananias, you've gotta believe me! Peri would never stab Ananias on purpose! Ananias knows that, right?"
Ananias gulped and slowly nodded his head. "D-Don't worry, Peri. I… I believe you."
"It doesn't matter if he believe you or not!" the bandit said. "He's going to die… and it's going to be all your fault!"
"Shut up!" Peri screamed, running up to the bandit and slashing at him relentlessly in her rage. "Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up!" She raised her sword over her head. "Shut!" She brought her sword down, cleaving the bandit's head in two. "UP!" As the bandit's body slowly slumped down to the ground as Peri took a moment to catch her breath from the little temper tantrum she had just had, hot tears running down her face and running her mascara as she did. "It's not my fault," she murmured sadly to herself. "It's not my fault. It's not my fault!" She angrily looked down angrily at the butchered bandit. "Do you hear me?! It's not Peri's fault! It isn't!"
"Peri?" Ananias choked.
Peri gasped. "Ananias?" She ran up to her friend, who was quickly losing lots of blood, both from his chest and through his mouth from the injury. "What?" Peri gently placed a hand onto one of Ananias' cheeks and looked at him tenderly. "What is it?"
Ananias slowly looked into her eyes and muttered, "M-Medic. I need… a medic." It was then that his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fell down to the ground, causing Peri to let out another horrified gasp.
"Ananias? Ananias! Oh gods! What have I done?"
"Ugh," Ananias groaned as he slowly opened his eyes, the pain in his chest just as prevalent as it had been before. He slowly tried to sit himself upright. "Am I still alive?" he asked, to no one in particular.
"Oh my gosh!" Peri cried, rushing over to him and giving him the most relieved hug she had ever given in a long time. "Ananias! You're alive! You're alive! You've alive!"
Ananias grimaced through the pain Peri's well-meaning hug was unintentionally giving him and slowly did his best to hug her back. "Yeah, that seems to be the case."
"I was so worried," Peri said. "Peri thought that she had lost you forever, and all because of Peri too."
"Yeah, well, Peri's saved my life a lot more times than she's accidentally ended it, so there're no hard feelings."
Peri quickly released Ananias from her hug and shook her head. "No! That's not good enough! Peri won't allow it!"
Ananias clutched his chest for a moment before aiming a questionably curious glance her way. "Huh?"
Peri clenched her fists and declared, "Peri doesn't want to lose any more people in her life, especially one of her bestest friends in the whole wide world! Which is why, from now on, Peri has decided to be extra more careful not hurt her friends in battle ever again!" She nodded in determination towards him. "That's a promise!"
"Well, that's fine and all," Ananias said, "but what about hostages and stuff? Are you still going to be treating them like you usually do, or have your feelings changed towards that too?"
"Hmm?" Peri asked, curiously tilting her head to the side. "Why would it? Peri didn't hurt a hostage. Peri hurt her friend."
"Well, yeah, but what if a hostage was someone else's friend? How do you think they'd feel if once we told them that you accidentally killed them while we were trying to save them? Don't you think they'd feel about the same way you felt today?"
Peri's head and face fell upon hearing this. "Wow. I guess Peri's never really thought about it like that before."
"Maybe, I don't know, you could extend that extra carefulness to them too?" Ananias shrugged. "It's just a thought."
Peri thought about it long and hard for a moment before nodding her head and smiling at him. "Sure! Why not?" Peri clenched her fists and raised them up in determination. "From now on, Peri will make extra sure that no one else feels the same way Peri did today! That's a promise!"
Ananias chuckled. "I'll hold you to that, alright?"
Peri giggled and nodded. "Don't you worry! When Peri makes a promise, Peri keeps it! One hundred percent!"
Ananias smiled. "That's good to hear."
Author's Note: S-Support next time! Next supports after Peri will be Felicia, Jakob, Lana, Kaze, Nyx, Charlotte, Niles, Effie, Female Corrin, Benny, Anna, Ophelia, Camilla, Gunther, Setsuna, Kanna, Selena, Beruka, Xander, Azura, Flora, and Odin. Got someone you want to support with Ananias? Request it. Remember, all Nohr first generation characters, Soliel, Ophelia, Anna, Kanna, Rinkah, Subaki, and Setsuna are allowed to support with him as well and it is a first come, first serve system.
