"And then I flew in and whoosh, set them all on fire!" Nowi flapped her human arms into the air, then blew raspberries to emulate her breath in dragon form. She giggled wildly, and yelled out: "It was so awesome! You should have been there, Ricken!"
"I was busy recovering though," he told her. "Although by the sounds of it, you took care of those Risen without a problem!"
"Yeah, well it was easy. Plus, Robin was there, and so was Gregor, Panne, Vaike, and that one guy! Um, I forgot his name, but he was there!" She giggled at this thought, and turned on her heels to look as if that unknown ally would be there at any moment. "It was fun, though."
"Glad to hear it," Ricken agreed. He held a thick book to his chest, with another book floating in the air next to him. Its pages flipped on its own, and the sight of it made him smile.
He really had to thank Miriel for teaching him this spell. It was so much easier to multitask, now. He scribbled in the margins with a pen, and hummed contently to himself. "Hopefully things will be better up north. And it looks like you, me, and Henry have the first night watch when we stop for a break."
"Yay! Let's go hunting for ghosts!" Nowi's eyes sparkled at this prospect, and she bounded her way over to Henry, who had been lost in thought this entire time. His smile was still plastered on his face, though, and it didn't change even when his arm was nearly ripped out of its socket from the girl's hyper movements.
"Henry, Henry! You wanna go ghost hunting with us during tonight's patrol?"
"T-There's no such thing as ghosts!" Ricken interjected. "Nowi, don't say weird things!"
"Eeeeh? But ghosts are real!" She pouted, and looked between the sorcerer and the sage with a troubled look. "Right, Henry? Ghosts are so totally real!"
"She's right, Ricken!" Henry piped up, laughing at the sour expression that crossed the other boy's face. "I'm constantly being haunted by the souls of the dearly departed, so I know this for a fact!"
"You guys are the worst," Ricken muttered. "I knew I should have stayed with Miriel and Tharja in their convoy wagon…"
As he spoke, their pace came to a lurching halt as the marching soldiers ahead of them suddenly stopped. On the dirt roads that served as their guide to the relocation camp up north, it seemed that the space was wide enough for the wagons to pull over to the side. A break was in order, or so it seemed.
Frederick trotted down the road on his armored horse, shouting the orders into existence for all the Shepherds to hear: "We are setting up camp for the night! The first patrol may take their rounds within the first hour! Unless you are a healer, please do not loiter near the medical wagons! Thank you!" He left as soon as he came, kicking up tiny clouds of dirt in his wake as he did so.
Henry sighed, and stretched his arms out. He wasn't going to complain in the slightest. Moving camp was always such a long and cumbersome process, and it didn't help that infantry units like him were forced to make the trek on foot. He half-wished that he took up the path of becoming a dark knight, instead, because at the very least he would have a horse that could do all the walking for him.
But that wasn't the case, so he simply settled for taking a seat on a fallen log off the side of the road. He watched as the numerous wagons veered off the path, and a few campfires were kindled within minutes of the Shepherds settling into their break. It was always like this, though. Robin planned things out thoroughly, and this reprieve was surely a strategic move on their part.
After all, despite the numerous convoy wagons and dozens of soldiers marching, not all of the Shepherds were present. To put all their eggs in one basket—that is, to travel all at once—was not only silly, but impossible. So Robin scheduled their camp relocation cleverly, separating their forces into three different parties that would travel up north at three different times. Henry was lucky (or unlucky, he couldn't quite tell) to be part of the initial group, those that would make the first tracks into the journey and be the example for the other two groups to follow.
The last group was the one stationed at their southern base. They would be the ones to hold down the fort until the second group arrived at their destination ahead of them, and then they would pack up shop completely to join them, too. Some of the most tedious parts of warfare, Henry decided, were all the things it took to get moving from one location to another. He wished that he could permanently stay in one place, but a soldier was constantly stationed wherever they were most useful. In Henry's case, he supposed his use was being one little gear in the big Shepherd machine—even though a single page of his dark spellbook could bring all the rest of them to their knees.
He giggled to himself as things settled down, and watched as the night quickly grew on them, turning their world into a pitch blackness that was only remedied by the light of the campfires burning softly. He waited for Ricken and Nowi to join him, so the three of them may initiate the first night watch of many.
All the while, he didn't even try to mask his curiosity. Gaius, of course, also happened to be in this initial group, but he was assigned to another patrol with Tharja and Libra, who would be taking the night watch right after Nowi's group. Henry watched the three of them as they awkwardly convened around one of the fires, sitting on rocks and tree stumps as they muttered incomprehensible words to one another.
In that moment, Henry noticed Gaius' eyes wander, and land on Henry's own figure that was only a few mere yards away. While Gaius couldn't see Henry that well from where he was, Henry was lucky that the fire cast a warm glow on the assassin, and that he could ogle at him all he liked without the other knowing.
But that hard stare in Gaius' green eyes signified something. He knew he was being watched, and by Henry, no less. He knew.
Henry didn't say anything. He didn't even call out to Gaius as he normally would in a situation like this. He just kept his eyes affixed in his general direction, and let his lips curl up into one of those fake smiles he was known for giving out.
"Henry?"
The one to break him out of his temporary stupor was none other than Ricken, who was taller than Henry only because he was standing while the other was seated on the log.
But Ricken was getting taller these days, and so was Henry. Time flew when you were in the middle of a war campaign.
Nevertheless, he grinned widely at him, and practically sang in his face. "What's up, Ricken? Ready to start the boring patrol?"
"Yeah, I'm just waiting for Nowi," he said, picking at a stray thread in his sage robes. His hat was oddly askew, but Henry didn't have the desire to fix it, for once.
Ricken continued, anyway. "But, I wanted to ask something...are you alright, Henry?"
"Actually, I'm all left!" Henry stretched his left arm as high as it would go, and he laughed when the other groaned exasperatedly. "I'm fine, Ricken. Why are you so worried? The only thing we've been doing all day is marching on these dirt paths!"
"I know, but I was just worried because I care about you. You're my friend, y'know? And you can tell me anything, especially since you usually don't. So I have a right to worry about you!" His voice wasn't condescending in the least, but entirely annoyed as he reached down to poke Henry in the forehead. The sorcerer gasped dramatically, and fell backwards as he pretended to be dead from the mere touch.
Ricken yelped. "H-Henry! Don't do that!"
"Sorry," he said, not sounding apologetic in the least. "But you've found my weakness...now I have no choice but to die a swift, painless death…"
"Ugh," Ricken groaned again. "You're impossible, sometimes."
"Hey, you two!" Nowi yelled loudly, and skipped her way over to them with a gleeful step. "Sorry about that! I was asking Frederick something, but it's all good now."
"Good, then we can start the night watch patrol." Ricken nodded, and ushered Henry up from his seat on the log. The Plegian whined halfheartedly, but ultimately gave in as he sprung up to his feet without further complaint.
He whistled before asking: "Are we actually supposed to go around and check the area? Or can we stay here and sneak a nap in somewhere?"
"Sadly, I think they actually want us to check the area. We'll do a quick run through the woods and back, then guard the convoy wagons after that, okay?" Ricken turned his gaze to Nowi, who seemed to perk up at the mere sight of him. "That works for you, too, right?"
"Yup yup! No objections here!" She smiled widely, and swayed back and forth on her heels—although that did nothing to curb the endless enthusiasm that ran through her body in lieu of blood. "Okay, so let's head into the woods and come back here. And we'll get rid of any Risen or spies that we see along the way. I'll turn into a dragon and go on a rampage, hahaha!"
"M-Maybe don't go on that rampage," Ricken advised. "If you just fight normally, then that should be fine, though."
"Got it!" Nowi was the first of the trio to head into the nearby forest, walking clearly and easily without any fear of being ambushed. Ricken, worried about her headstrong attitude and apparent fearlessness, followed after her with a concerned shout or two.
Henry lagged behind the both of them, mind still straying from the task at hand. He really didn't like all these silly chores, even if they were numbingly easy to perform. Although he was loyal and diligent to a fault, there were some tasks in the world that he just had no desire to complete. Carrying out this night patrol with Ricken and Nowi was one of them, although the notion of "ghost-hunting" that Nowi brought up was more interesting than anything else that happened that day.
So, it wasn't surprising that Henry didn't exactly do his fair share of work. Rather, he walked into the nearby forest after the other two, only to take another path than theirs and start exploring the foliage by himself. In the morning, the Shepherds would be moving again, and he would have no time to check his surroundings for things that could prove themselves useful. A dead animal to be a curse's sacrifice, for one. A secret hot springs that Henry could indulge himself in privately, for another.
They were things that might not come to life if he didn't take this time in his patrol to be loitering around, in the first place. He crossed more paths, ran through the dirt, and stayed by the glittering stream of water that gave life to the forest's inhabitants. Henry spotted a deer, bent down to take a drink from the fast running current. At Henry's presence, however, the deer became alert and stared at him with a distant yet determined look in its eyes.
He barely moved his right arm when the animal ran away, prancing through the thickets without so much as a protest. He sighed, and accepted his fate as he plopped down by the river, and let his feet soak in the water for an indefinite amount of time.
He was tired, tired, tired. They had all been walking endlessly throughout the day, and when their progress halted at night, he could feel the repercussions of his continuous exercise. His chest rattled with each short breath he inhaled, and his eyes would have shut close if they were even open to begin with. There was a hesitance in his movements, and a groggy step in his feet that threatened to break into full slumber if he wasn't careful.
Henry laid down by the riverside, kicked his feet out of the water, and dried them off on a nearby rock. Then he let his arms spread out from his sides, and he allowed the cloak of his outfit fan out like wings below him. Slowly, but surely, he opened his eyes, and stared at the dark blue sky above him—that which sparkled with a small scatter of stars across the surface, and that which was partially blocked out by the treetops surrounding him.
It was a beautiful sight. He imagined that he could enjoy it alone, without the company of his fellow night patrol members, or any of the other Shepherds, for that matter. He could be lost in that dark yet colorful world above, admiring the burning stars for what they were, and the night sky and forested background all the same.
The illusion was broken when Gaius' voice pierced the air. "Shouldn't you be checking the perimeter right now?"
"Shouldn't you be sleeping until it's your guys' turn to take the night watch?"
"Yes, but there's no crime against me taking a stroll until that time comes. You probably shouldn't slack off work, Junior. Getting lazy's not an option for us."
"I'm not slacking off. I'm thinking about how to curse you," he said half-jokingly, the smile on his face bleeding into his voice. Only a few drops made their way in, but it was obvious to tell that there was some amusement present in Henry's antics just now. "I was thinking if I could master that one spell that lets me become a crow permanently, then I'd really like that."
"I wouldn't like that," Gaius countered. "If you become a crow, there's no way to tell you apart from the rest of them. You won't be unique anymore."
"Crows don't all look the same," Henry insisted. "And I don't think I'd lose my novelty if I turned into a crow. Y'know, I think I remember someone pulling that spell off before. So with enough practice—"
"You're exhausting, you know that?" The assassin sighed, and walked over to the sorcerer with a begrudging step. "Exhausting and downright creepy sometimes. There's something not right about shifting from one thing to another."
Henry glanced upward at Gaius, eyes fluttering open just enough to reveal slivers of purple beneath the lids. He smiled at him.
"Now you suddenly hate shape-shifters, huh? I thought you said you didn't mind the manaketes or the taguel. Were you lying, Honeybuns?"
"That's not what I meant and you know it," Gaius sneered, looking twice as annoyed as he did before. Despite his grievances, he still approached Henry, and even lied down on the grass beside him so they were both looking up at the same infinite space above.
For a short moment, everything was quiet. All they could hear were the insects chirping, and the rushing water of the river beside them. An occasional owl hooted, and a faraway howl of a wolf resounded, too. But other than that, there were no other distractions to this intimate moment of theirs.
It was such an intimate moment that it made Henry feel like he and Gaius were the only two people left in the world. It made him think that in this split second in time, nothing else in the universe existed except for the two of them. They were a clockwork mechanism, unknowingly, as their chests synchronized rise-and-fall breaths, and their eyes flickered over the view of the stars in the same awed movements. Even their limbs were spread out similarly, taking up space beside them as they enveloped the forest in all its natural beauty, becoming one with the earth and grass beneath them.
It was a nice feeling.
Henry liked the dim colors surrounding him. He didn't want to close his eyes, for once. And he knew Gaius couldn't really see him from the dim lighting, anyway, so he didn't feel self-conscious if the other tried to steal a glance now and then.
He liked it.
"So what did you mean, then?" Henry asked in an utterly calm voice. "You don't like things that shift from one to another? Hmm, that doesn't make too much sense, honestly!"
"I mean, I don't like the idea of hiding behind something else." Gaius stretched his left arm—effectively breaking apart their synchronized movements—high into the air, and clenched his fists open and closed as if he was trying to grasp one of the stars in the sky. He repeated this motion several times before speaking again.
"You should face things head on."
"That doesn't mean a lot, coming from you," Henry scolded. "Assassins and thieves always do things from the shadows, right? They're always hiding!"
"Sure, but that's considering work. When it comes to personal life, or downtime with friends, that's when stuff like that really matters." His voice was as distant and thin as the clouds above them, and he stared at the gray wisps for quite some time.
Gaius only spoke after watching a cloud dissipate into the night air. "I don't want you to disappear, Henry."
"That's silly," Henry insisted. "It's a war we're fighting in, Gaius. We're all disappearing bit by bit, or something like that. Either we get reduced to little fleshy bits, or we reduce other guys to little fleshy bits, or better yet—both! You're saying things that I don't really understand."
"..."
"Whoops, did I accidentally put a silencing curse on you? I swear I'll take it off by the morning!"
"Do you think about things before you say them? Or do you just say them without thinking?"
"I say whatever I want to, silly."
"Figures. I don't know if I'll ever be able to understand you, after all, Junior."
Silence passed by again, and this time a light breeze picked up where their conversation had dropped. The wind tousled Henry's hair, ruffled his clothes, and loosened the golden hair clip that was nestled on the side of his head. He reached his right hand upward to press it back down, then sunk even deeper into his robes and the ground below him.
He thought carefully about what he wanted to say, and his grin became wider when he found the right words, for once. "I was also thinking about some more magic earlier. I even know a curse that will let me switch bodies with someone."
Gaius became visibly interested as his body shifted slightly. His voice was quieter than usual, but not different otherwise. "No kidding?"
"Yeah, I used it on Sumia once because she wanted to be able to cast black magic. And it was good for me, too, because it let me ride on her pegasus!"
"Wouldn't that be tricky, though? What if you got stuck in her body, or something?"
"No, that would never happen because curses aren't permanent, you know. The body-switching one has a time limit at some point...and even then, if you get injured or killed during that time, it's the original body that will receive the pain! Haha!"
"...That's…"
"So, do you wanna switch bodies for a bit?"
"What?" To this proposition, Gaius sat just a bit further up, and stared down at Henry with the most incredulous expression possible. "Are you serious?"
"I mean, you always say things like you can't understand me or whatever, and you're always asking me why I am the way I am…" Henry sat up, as well, and looked back at Gaius with an open-eyed stare of his own.
He didn't falter in the slightest. "...So instead of asking questions, you could find out for yourself."
"By switching bodies with you?"
"Mmhmm! It's a quick and easy process, and surprisingly painless! You won't feel a thing, except you might be a bit confused at first~"
"No," Gaius quickly cut in. "I refuse."
"Oh? Why?" Henry tilted his head ever so slightly, letting the weight of it fall into his shoulder as he sighed out. "That would clear up all the confusion, right?"
"It might," Gaius agreed. "But that takes out all the fun of it."
"The fun of what?"
"It takes out all the fun in trying to get to know you. I mean, obviously there are things you don't wanna tell me, and that's fine because I ain't giving you my life story, either. Not all of it, at least."
"Then—"
"But if you just suddenly figure everything out, there'd be no point in trying anything, right? All the stuff we went through before would be for nothing. A clean slate isn't clean if nobody tries to get it dirty in the first place."
"..."
"Anyway, I should get going. Look at you, you've got me preaching. Padre ought to see me now..." He stood to his feet, and brushed the grass off from his clothes. His eyes remained locked on Henry's currently-violet eyes, though. And for some reason, the usual dark green gaze appeared ten times as more invasive, and Henry felt exposed all the while he stared.
His heart started beating faster, and he desperately hoped that Gaius couldn't hear it.
"Stop fooling around here and get back to Ricken and Nowi, already. I'll see you later, Junior."
Gaius walked away—another shadow in the endless night that appeared and disappeared before Henry in the same instant. And as his figure faded away entirely behind the trees up ahead, Henry couldn't help but feel strange. His hold on emotions (and his understanding of them, subsequently) was subpar at best, and he couldn't name the reasons why his body started acting out of order. His quickened heart rate, sweaty palms, and flushed face were certainly side effects of a curse placed on him by an enemy sorcerer, or the symptoms of a sickness that claimed him all the same.
If they were caused by something else, he wouldn't know what that something else was. In another life, at another time, he might call it love. But his current state said otherwise. The other words that came to mind in light of this situation were: desperation, obsession, confusion, manipulation, trickery, and anything but love. Although Henry had a basic understanding of some things, matters of the heart (his blackened heart, or his pure heart? Or a heart all the same) were lost on him. He didn't know why he constantly thought about Gaius, or why his head was full of repetitions of the man's name and repeated images of his face, but he would never expect the answer to be so simple and yet so complicated all at once.
The past seemed so far away, he couldn't even remember how he used to treat him. Their slate had been cleaned once more and everything started over, yet it felt like he was thrown right into the middle of a game without learning the rules first. It felt like he was halfway through a ritual or a summoning and now he had to carry out the rest of the ceremony on the spot. It felt strange, out of place, and unreasonable all at once.
And the worst part was that Henry couldn't tell if he liked that a lot, or not at all. But if the smile creeping on his face was any indication of it, then he definitely liked it. Whatever game Gaius just started, and whatever spell he unknowingly casted on him—Henry decided that he liked it a lot.
In fact, he even loved it.
And he felt almost no shame in admitting it.