Ananias wearily sighed as he absentmindedly walked throughout the castle grounds. "I'm so bored," he muttered dispassionately to himself. "What's a guy supposed to do after finishing all his chores and everyone else insisting that they don't need help with theirs?" He placed his hands disinterestedly behind his head. "I really need to get a life."

It was just then that he noticed something scurrying around in the bushes nearby. "Hmm? Is someone there?" He stopped and stared at said bushes for a while before awkwardly scratching the side of his head and murmuring, "Huh, maybe it was nothing." He then resumed his walk and spotted a fellow soldier who was about to pass him by. Ananias raised his hand and gave his best attempt at a friendly smile that he could muster (though, unfortunately, to no avail). "Hey," he greeted.

The soldier gave him a friendly smile and nodded his head in return. "Hello there. Pleasant day we're - ack!"

"Gah!" Ananias immediately froze as a dumbfounded and horrified expression plastered itself onto his face as he watched the soldier continue to gag and suffocate as he slowly crumpled to the floor as the knife that had been expertly thrown deep within his throat was slowly, but surely, killing him. "What the heck?!" In a state of panic, Ananias frantically looked around for anyone who could possibly help, but unfortunately, it was too little too late. The soldier's life ended right then and there, his body falling roughly forward, limp, wide-eyed, and bleeding on the floor. Ananias could hardly believe what had just transpired before him. "What just happened?!" Ananias cried in a terrified and hushed tone. As if on cue, Beruka quickly scurried from her hiding place from within the bushes towards her victim's lifeless body. "Beruka?!"

Beruka looked up and nonchalantly nodded towards him. "Ananias," she simply greeted before focusing back on her work, patting down the fallen soldier's body as if she were looking for something.

Ananias gaped at her for a moment before shaking his head, pointing towards the dead soldier before them, and whispering, "Did you just kill that guy?!"

Without even looking up, Beruka calmly nodded and answered, "Mmm-hmm."

An awkward moment of silence came between the two of them before Ananias frantically ran his hands through his hair and asked, "Why?!"

"Just a moment," Beruka instructed before finding what she was looking for. She then took another knife out and used it to rip through some of the dead soldier's clothes to reveal a hidden stash of beautiful jewelry. Beruka gave the stash a satisfied nod. "There it is." She then turned towards the shocked and bewildered Ananias and explained, "Lady Camilla was beginning to notice that some of her jewelry was starting to go missing, so she ordered me to get to the bottom of it."

Ananias took a deep breath as he attempted to gather his bearings before stiffly asking, "And... I assume that this guy was... the 'bottom of it'?"

Beruka nodded. "Yes." She turned back to the thief's body. "He went through all of the trouble of becoming a soldier... just so he could steal the royal jewelry from right under everybody's noses and sell them off in the black market."

"Man," Ananias breathed out in disbelief, "what a world, huh?"

Beruka simply shrugged. "I suppose." She then began to silently collect all of the stolen jewelry from out of the soldier's hidden stash.

"S-So wait," Ananias stuttered, as he continued to try and wrap his head around this entire thing. "How long have you been waiting for him to walk by here?"

"For a while," Beruka answered, not even bothering to look up from her task as she did. "After I found out that he was the culprit, I found out that he frequents here quite often, so I simply waited until he did."

"W-Well, you're certainly... committed."

"Thank you," Beruka simply said as she continued to collect the stolen goods from the man's lifeless body. "I suppose I should be thanking you for providing a decent distraction for me as well."

"Um... yeah... glad to... be of help."

"You don't sound too glad," Beruka said as she stood back up, having finally secured all of the stolen jewelry safely onto her person, and blankly glanced at him.

Ananias simply shrugged and gruffly replied, "Sorry, it's just... this all just sort of took me by surprise."

Beruka raised an eyebrow in mild surprise. "Really?"

Ananias nodded. "Yeah. It just happened all so quickly, so...," he indicated skittishly around his head, "you know."

Beruka simply shook her head. "Not really, no."

Ananias slowly nodded his head as his mouth hung agape upon realizing that Beruka probably genuinely didn't understand what he meant. "Ah, well," he murmured, racking his brain to find the best way to explain it to her. "I mean, well...," he let out a frustrated sigh, "ugh, I'm not good with words."

Beruka observed his movements for a moment and pondered more about what he said before suggesting, "Were you... shocked?"

"Ah!" Ananias snapped his fingers and pointed at her excitedly. "Yeah, yeah! That's it! Right. I was shocked!"

Beruka simply nodded understandingly. "I see. Well then, I apologize for shocking you."

Ananias sighed and scratched the back of his head. "It's alright. You were just doing your job. No harm, no foul, right?"

"If you say so," Beruka dully replied. "I must be off now. I must report to lady Camilla immediately."

"Yeah, sure, got it. Go." Beruka nodded her farewell before swiftly making her way back to her retainer. It was then, however, that Ananias looked down and realized that they had forgot something. "Hey, wait!" he cried, earning Beruka's attention. "What about the body?!"

"You were murmuring that you were bored a few moments ago, weren't you?" Beruka asked.

Ananias' eyes widened in disbelief. "You want me to take care of it?!"

Beruka simply shrugged. "Do you not want to?"

"I... well... I mean," Ananias ran a hand through his hair in aggravation before letting out an exasperated sigh, "okay, fine. I'll... take care of it."

Beruka nodded. "Sounds like a plan." She then went back on her way to informing Camilla of what had just transpired and returning back the stolen goods.

Ananias let out another exasperated sigh before leaning down to drag the still bleeding corpse away and bury it. "Really living the life, aren't I?" he sarcastically muttered.


Author's Note #1: And here begins the supports with Beruka. I hope you liked them! The next supports after Beruka, will be Xander, followed by Azura, Flora, Odin, Laslow, Rinkah, Arthur, Silas, Leo, Keaton, and Subaki. Kanna's supports will be like Ophelia's and Soleil's, with Kanna being Odin, Laslow, or Selena's kid and Ananias being an honorary uncle to them. The supports will also be written as if Kanna is a boy, but will be generic enough to fit both genders. Got someone else you want to support with Ananias that isn't on this list yet? 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.

Author's Note #2: The Fire Emblem Warriors poll is now officially up on my profile! Vote for which five characters you want for Ananias to support with from that game the most and, in the end, ten characters will be selected for Ananias to support with, so make your voices heard. Happy voting!