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#it's oscar ike shinon ranulf and soren and probably reyson!!!) but if i had to pick only one?
dimiclaudeblaigan · 3 months
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I know you all know by default how much I love this conversation, but in RD at least, a lot of characters fall out of relevancy after a certain point (whereas in PoR you could argue that having full supports prevents this). Shinon is one of the only side characters who doesn't really do this, having three base conversations throughout part three (which is pretty fucking good considering several of the chapters aren't even with the Greil Mercenaries).
Back in PoR, Shinon asks for praise/gratitude. Expects it. By this point he doesn't want it anymore. He didn't want it when he was selling bows for emergency income (which Rolf took up as well) and he doesn't want it here either. His personality has chilled out so much from being a hothead and he's much more expressive of his actual feelings (even if you compare his standard death quotes in both games, he's much more emotionally expressive in RD).
A lot of characters - most honestly, including even the GMs (barring Boyd if he A supports Mist which gives him more content and expresses a whole lot of maturity compared to PoR Boyd) tend to drop off in development. They might stick around (ex. PoR puts all the major groups in the spotlight until the next group shows up and goes through all of them), but the development eventually stagnates outside of supports (including in base conversations, which this one is such).
Since RD doesn't get supports with full conversations, you only get snippets of development/characterization through them, while the base conversations may offer insight into the characters and show you how they've changed over the years but don't truly develop them. Shinon is a very lucky situation for his character because he keeps returning in both games, and it helps develop him across both games with a full timeline (similar to Naesala, who has a fully fleshed out story and personality development over both games and never stops dead at any point in the pair of games).
In PoR Shinon was distant and selectively a bit cold (Greil, Rolf and Gatrie excluded from that, and Mist to an extent as well). RD gives the impression that he just... doesn't care about all that anymore. He's fine where he is and has learned he can live with these people and not have to expect betrayal. He doesn't have to anticipate being on his own ever again. There's no real reason for him to keep up the walls and barriers to protect himself, and he's not living just to survive anymore.
Most times when I end up loving a character it's because of the content given to me and what have I to work with, rather than loving a character and searching for things to love. I fully expect that that's why I finally, after years of being unable to decide who my Tellius favorite was because I loved several of them too dearly to decide, found myself able to settle on Shinon.
When I got older and gave it more thought, considering all the development and traits of each of them and how responsive I was to them, one day I asked myself, well okay, what if someone asked you who your favorite was? What if you still did love the same ones as your number one, all of them, but could only give one name quick and simple? Who would you pick? The first name that instantly hit me was Shinon. That was enough for me to decide okay, there's a reason he's the first person who instantly came to me if I had to truly settle on one. I hadn't quite figured it out yet, but I knew there was a reason that if I had to pick a single standout, it would be him.
A lot of it harkens back to this conversation. It is development in and of itself, and also very expressive of who he is. The fact that he also doesn't fall off in conversations and is more recurring than not also gives me more to examine about him and more to think about. It puts him in a more likely position to think about him and who he is than I would for characters the writers didn't really bother developing (including other recurring characters like Marcia, who keep coming back in both games similar to Shinon, but see no development as a person - unfortunately in her case, in either game).
He has a very rich, detailed and unforgotten-by-the-writers character and one whose story ends on a very high note. I say "ends" in the sense of main story/base content, but it technically continues if he's taken to the Tower and gains the ability to A support various other characters who he otherwise could not support or could only reach a B support with, such as Sanaki, Tibarn, etc. This conversation is like an accumulation of his growth between both games, including the subtle things you can only pick up on through actions/other character lines.
Ike says he (everyone, which includes Shinon) chose to stay with them when he told everyone who their next employer was/what they'd be doing/etc, and Ike gave him and Soren an out if they weren't comfortable with it. They weren't all forced to go. That says by itself that Shinon made that choice on his own. He chose to stay with them when he was not yet totally comfortable with laguz and was still working on that part of himself (the fact that he uses the term "laguz" at all is already a huge step up from where he leaves off on his A support with Janaff, which did not leave off poorly at all).
Last time Shinon was uncomfortable with something in the Greil Mercenaries, he made the choice to leave. When he did come back, he was not exclusively surrounded by only the GMs and otherwise, purely laguz (which prior to meeting Janaff I would argue he was not ready for at all at the time). Here, he was, and he still made the choice to stay with them knowing exactly what his situation would look like.
Another thing worth considering is how much of a hothead Shinon was in PoR, but he still took Rolf on as a student. While I'm not sure exactly how accurate Mist's statement is about "forcing" Rhys to teach her (it's possible she was pushy about it because he didn't want to, such as because it might mean she might end up on the battlefield), we do know Rolf wanted to learn and was accepted.
We can easily infer through their conversations that Shinon would rather teach him to survive and have a safety net rather than worry about him being on a battlefield. Shinon saw that he was motivated to learn and, regardless of the fact that he was still in survival mode himself and not of the mind of "I'll be with these people forever and want to help them", taught him while apparently having told him "things like this happen" with mercenaries (i.e. different employers, separation, etc). If they ended up on opposite sides but Rolf could wield a weapon, that could endanger him, but he does it anyway. His priority is always survival, but it's also the survival of children and anyone he cares about. He also dies begrudgingly in his PoR death quote, which is completely opposite of his death quote against Rolf.
Another thing for me: he's also very confident and aware of his capabilities as a marksman. He knows what he's worth and at this point, he no longer brags about it (he used to all the time in PoR). He sees no reason to have to prop himself up. There's no insecurity in him that makes him feel the need to try to be open about being better than anyone else. He knows and accepts what he's worth without feeling the need to tell people about it.
If someone asked him what he thought of himself/his own worth, yeah, he'd admit his skill and capability without being too humble, but he also wouldn't go overboard with it or say it during instances that don't really warrant it (basically, if absolutely nobody asked, he'd say it anyway in PoR. In RD he doesn't really seem to give a shit anymore about letting the whole world know how good he is). He's lost the whole pick me, look at me sort of attitude. Imo it's also due to a higher amount of respect he has for himself now, and a much healthier one. He doesn't care about being the best anymore (he'd be perfectly happy if Rolf was instead) and is just satisfied knowing his skill on his own. He's satisfied not being alive just to survive, but to be with this mercenary group and actually able to live.
As a side note, we never actually see him having drunk or in the middle of drinking in RD, so... it's also likely he's worked on his possible PoR drinking issue too!
All in all, he's just one of the few non-main characters who came a whole long way with a full story. He feels very different in RD, but not so much that he feels like a different character entirely. For me, I can feel the growth in who he is, and that to me is an excellent handling of a character. When I can feel how different they are from beginning to end, I can feel the intent of character growth behind it. I can't tell you with certainty that the writers took a liking to him and so biasly kept sticking in dialogue for him (and singlehandedly made him one of the solidly best units in RD, for that matter...), but he's definitely repeatedly present and has hefty, story/backstory littered implications.
His dialogue feels meaningful to his own personal story in all his conversations. In other words, he doesn't have a conversation that feels devoid of meaning. It comes across more as all of his content exists for a reason/has meaning behind it. There's no wasted dialogue with him. When he's there, it means something for his character (comparatively to other side characters who may have lengthy conversations but you walk away having gotten nothing out of it, be that in PoR and/or RD).
He has fewer supports than most of the cast in PoR, but every single one had some kind of direction to it. Even if you look at his C support with Janaff and go "well that's just classic early PoR Shinon", the point of that is exactly that: that he starts out who we recognize and develops from there. That support alone goes from that to a lot of growth in three conversations, and beneficially so on both sides.
Simply put, he has more content the average Tellius character (including all of his boss quotes in chapter 18), and everything leads up to who he is by this conversation. It's a full story for a side character, later including personalized support dialogue for A supports, and he just happens to exhibit a lot of growth and traits that I already lean toward (hence why he was in my top spot all along, just tied with others. Now he's not tied with others and has the top spot to himself!).
I think it's likely it's the fact that as mentioned, none of his conversations are throwaway conversations. You never walk away from his conversations having gotten nothing (I mean, I'm sure people who refuse to see it don't notice precisely because they are willing themselves to refuse to see it to find excuses to keep hating him). Even in his first RD base conversation, the fact that he acts as you'd expect but drops a "laguz" in there is already a hint for his growth direction on top of being there at all. It's really just up from there, as is the case with all his content.
I tend to lean toward characters with a whole fountain of insightful conversations and depth, and in FE games you often don't find those characters outside of the mains. While I'd argue Tellius is a lot less tropey than modern FE (there were some tropey types like Makalov and Ilyana whose characters are basically nothing without their tropes), a lot of its side characters are still reduced to very surface level characterization with no real growth.
Shinon was very lucky to get as much as he did, and I'd say he has just as much if not more personal depth and lore than even some of the mains themselves. Imo he's a very lucky and rare find in FE games, when there are so many goddamn characters that the writers can't flesh them all out (reasonably of course, but it makes it even more special when it happens for non mains). Even with the Fodlan games and all its content, a lot if not most of its characters are full on tropes with little to nothing in the way of anything else. Engage suffers from it too, with a few diamonds in the rough and not much else.
That's not to say I hate the games or their characters, because obviously I would not still be playing new titles to the franchise if I hated it. I'm saying it makes the ones with as much depth as Shinon a gold mine to be found amidst a very large cast of characters that don't usually get that treatment.
anyway i will always talk abt shinon more when able so this is Not The End but i will end this post here lest it turns into another 20+ paragraphs.
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fefuckability · 4 months
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It's the "oh boy I hope you can read the text on this" bracket!
NOTICE: For the sake of my sanity, I'm holding off on starting the women's bracket until next week. This post is just for round one of the men's bracket (though the women's bracket is included)
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ROUND 1 for the men's bracket will begin Saturday, January 6th at 3pm EST:
Sephiran vs Maijin
Volke vs Roark
Zihark vs Rikard
Tibarn vs Maraj
Zelgius vs Ulki
Soren vs Danved/Devdan*
Caineghis vs Nealuchi
Rafiel vs Lotz
Skrimir vs Lekain
Volug vs Edward
Ike vs Aran
Rajaion vs Largo
Mordecai vs Giffca
Sothe vs Tauroneo
Ranulf vs Gatrie
Haar vs Seeker
Nasir vs Boyd
Reyson vs Gareth
Rhys vs Renning
Naesala vs Ashnard
Greil vs Tormod
Stefan vs Shaeffer
Muarim vs Janaff
Kieran vs Dhgensea
Kezhda vs Daniel
Bryce vs Brom
Kurthnaga vs Homasa
Jorge vs Muston
Geoffrey vs Bastian
Shinon vs Leonardo
Pelleas vs Nolan
Levail vs Oscar
ROUND 1 for the WOMEN will begin next week, more information on that and more below the cut
EDIT: I realized there was a slight oversight in the qualifier and I forgot Altina. We're holding a vote about that here
So obviously the men's bracket, being a 64 bracket instead of the usual 16 or 32, is quite a bit larger than usual. A 32 women's bracket is also quite a bit larger than most FE games. I thought it might be a bit much to post 48 polls on the first day of the bracket (32 matchups for the men and then an additional 16 for the women). So I figured I had two options: either split the men's bracket into smaller chunks so it can run alongside the women's bracket (so round 1 part 1 for the men and then just round 2 for the women), or hold the women's bracket back for an extra week
I chose the latter, mostly because splitting the men's poll would have mostly served to extend the time spent on it even further. Plus I think it's a lot more fun to have our finale for the men and the women at the same time, as opposed to having the women finish a week early and have to wait for the men. So sorry Tellius lady lovers (believe me I'm suffering too). I will, of course, still be accepting propaganda for the ladies during this time. I'm posting the women's bracket here too so you can see the match ups ahead of time
Anyway, additional notes:
*So when I separated out Devdan/Danved for the qualifier I kind of expected one or neither of them to make the bracket. Turns out they both wound up on the bracket. So that's my bad, probably should have anticipated that. I couldn't justify taking a slot up twice for what is by all appearances exactly the same character, so I rolled them together.
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voidfishersong · 5 years
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Pirates of Tellius AU
I'm back at it again with another niche Tellius AU no one but me will ever read!
this is some sort of weird IkeSoren/IkeRanulf hybrid but like. better keep it open ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
basically it’s ‘what if I stuck Tellius characters in the Pirates of the Caribbean universe, smashed both the plots together, and made it slightly gayer (but only slightly because tellius is pretty gay)?
It starts out more following the plot of PotC but I assure you that is only superficial and also gets drowned pretty quickly
also you can see where this post started as brainstorming and eventually became actual fic so. please read it
Ike is obviously Will Turner - I mean, this is textbook, right down to his dad having Secrets™️. sword boi runs into trouble.
Soren is Elizabeth - but raised by Almedha (hence a background in dangerous things when he was young, but now very sheltered by his parent).
and Ranulf is the suave but kind-of-stupid pirate because I have no self control and JUST IMAGINE RANULF IN THE HAT. THE HAT, GUYS.
it gets gayer I swear I’m pushing a Soren/Ike/Ranulf agenda y’all
Ike and Soren, childhood friends, Almedha doesn't like Ike coming over, Soren’s got some sort of arranged marriage Ike has many swords but dreams of greater things than the smithy. the rest of the Greil Mercenaries are the people from Ike's area of town - Titania's the only one I struggle to think of a job for, but she lives next to the smithy and Mist has a bedroom at Titania's as well as above the forge (Ike has a bed there too, although he rarely uses it). Oscar and his brothers are a bakery/butchery hybrid, Rhys is the apothecary, etc., Shinon and Gatrie are probably still mercenaries lbr
the only thing Ike knows about his father's death is that he was killed by the pirate captain of the Black Night (haha I regret everything), a mythical ship that appears and disappears at will - but only at night.
Lethe stole Ranulf's ship, crew, and weapons (he'd be so proud if he didn't currently lack a ship), which I don't have a name for yet, anyway so Ranulf comes in to the port, people lose their shit, he escapes, but he really needs a forge to get these handcuffs off. oh, the Greil smithy! nice. duel! jail :(
Ike is kinda sad because Soren has to do Noble Things which currently just means "sucking up to the princess" Elincia - and he thinks his mother might be planning a marriage at this rate.
One night, one of the Mad King's fleet ransacks the town. Ranulf sighs, knowing enough of these beorc pirates by reputation, but hey, he's in jail.
The pirates kill the king and go after Elincia to throw Crimea into chaos. Unfortunately, she's not alone - but fortunately, Soren can talk his way into any situation and gets them a parley. bonus points if he pretends he's the princess and Elincia is a servant.
Ike's world is upside down - his town's burning, Soren's been taken, what does he do? Titania tells him he can go - she'll help rebuild, keep the town order, and Mist can run the forge. Just - you know that sword, Ike? the one your father hid under the floorboards and told you to never touch? take it. you might need it.
so he does - but might need some help, too. who better than a pirate who knows the way of the sea?
they steal a ship and go. Ike yells about pirates, Ranulf offers to throw him into the sea, but they resolve it quickly because Ike understands there's more to the world than he knew. Ranulf's got an uncanny sense of direction and he knew Ike's father, but there's something else he feels he's missing. Greil was a pirate, Ike learns, and one of the finest - Ranulf might've left Gallia if he'd asked.
but their ship isn't meant for two - they need a crew. Ike soon learns Ranulf has a reputation five miles long, lovers in nearly every man and woman on land, and can outdrink anyone when they stop at an Outpost to pick up everyone you recruit in PoR. and then they head for Nevassa Cove.
I'm throwing the plots of both stories out the window now. also, the laguz? they're staying - in a slightly different form...
Ike and Ranulf’s crew don't make it to Nevassa quickly, though, so who knows what Elincia and Soren are doing in the meantime. bonding, probably. Elincia's no idiot - she's heard the rumors about Lady Almedha, her mysterious background, her ever-present veil - and the Captain of the Mad King goes on about what lives in the water. She starts to question the fables of her childhood, full of sirens who would sing you to the depths and creatures that could topple flagships. Soren's planning, but he's got to keep up the Princess pretense - but he's noticing, too.
Ranulf's crew comes across some of their own myths when their ship is blown into a coral reef. Ranulf and his first mate (originally had this as Kyza but I want to save her for the eventual RD-inspired sequel, and Ike's role onboard is kinda undefined) know better than to go outside here, but Ike doesn't, and so he meets his first mermaid - oh, he didn't mean to offend, he didn't know they were called laguz. Kurthnaga is kind and offers the assistance of his friends to unmoor their ship, and Ike learns their form is not limited to the kind he saw in paintings of beautiful merwomen. Ike tells Ranulf, and Ranulf admits he knows more of the sea than he let on - there are different clans of laguz, all below the water, and the sea dragons are only one (although they are where landwalkers got their idea of the kraken).
the next tribe they find as they cross the canyons of Phonecis and Kilvas, known as a ship's graveyard. there's something about Ike, Ranulf muses as Ike speaks to King Tibarn about the Mad King's destruction and their explosives which threaten to ruin even the ocean floor. Tibarn listens, even with a siren at his side (one of few, Ranulf thought them all dead), and when Tibarn not only lets them pass but offers assistance, Ike welcomes them.
"I thought I was the captain around here!" he calls, earning a smile from Ike at the helm. He can feel Reyson about to speak, to ask why he is a captain of a beorc vessel at all, so Ranulf interrupts with a call to the crew and they depart, singing out of tune but merrily.
Tibarn's laguz follow in the water, save Tibarn himself and his white siren, who stand on deck and could almost pass for humans. Ike wonders about this - Kurthnaga and the dragons didn't have quite this human a form; are Tibarn and Reyson special, or is there even more to the laguz than meets the eye?
He asks Ranulf as much, when they're sitting below deck having a drink. "Laguz have three forms," Ranulf answers. "One for the water, one for the land, and one in-between." He fingers the brim of his hat, an item Ike wishes he'd take off when they're dining like this, away from the rowdy crew.
"How do you know so much about laguz?" Ike asks instead, ever focused on the mission. He doesn't get an answer, though, because the bell is ringing and the crew is clamoring and they see Nevassa Cove in the distance.
"Good find, Ike," Tibarn congratulates him with a slap on the back.
"Ranulf found it." That's Reyson, with something in his tone Ike can't quite place.
"Good find, Ranulf," Tibarn repeats, casting an amused smile to his companion.
They board smallboats and row to the cave under cover of darkness. The plan is cast aside, however, when Ike watches the Mad King's captain unsheath a rapier and advance on Soren. Ashnard won't tolerate their game of role-play any longer, but Elincia jumps in front, waving her arms wildly and yelling to get in the water, Soren!
Ike doesn't listen to whatever Ranulf is or isn't saying; he jumps from behind a cave wall, waving Ragnell and shouting hellfire on Ashnard.
"Well, well, little pirate boy," he mocks, and Ike realizes how massive this captain is in person. "Are you worthy to set foot in Nevassa?"
Ike raises his chin and Ragnell and meets Ashnard's eyes. "My father was Captain Gawain, who sailed that ship long before you destroyed her planks with blood, Ashnard," he says. "You aren't fit for the sea!"
They fight, slipping on sand-dusted rocks and breathing in blood and sweat and the dank smell of the cove, swords ringing like broken bells. Ranulf waves his hand and the crew - Ike's crew, really, if he's being honest - swarms Ashnard's, Tibarn's laguz fighting from the water and dragging pirates to the depths. He crosses to Soren and Elincia and motions them to an underwater tunnel. "Ike's ship is waiting for you," he tells them. "Go!"
"I'm no laguz, Sir Ranulf," the princess protests, but her eyes speak defiance rather than fear.
"It's Captain Lay, Princess," he says with a smile. Then he pushes her into the water, angled so she falls back on Soren and sends them both splashing. "Hold your breath!" And Ranulf dives in, relishing the feel of his shifting form only for a second before he pulls Elincia down, down, up, up through the tunnel and they emerge on the outside, Elincia sputtering and gasping and clinging to him like a lifeline.
"Swim to the ship. Reyson will be waiting."
She lets go but doesn't move. "Soren - he's still in there - you'll go back - please, Captain, return and -"
He cuts off her growing politeness when thrusts his hat at her chest and spins around. She's right, her companion didn't follow, and Ranulf has a sneaking suspicion why, if Ike's many stories of his friend are true.
"Damn," Ranulf says. He goes back.
Ike can feel his arms straining and he regrets never using Ragnell until a month ago. Ashnard is stronger, but at least Soren and Ranulf got away, he thinks. Of course, that's when a knife embeds itself in Ashnard's forearm. Ashnard turns. Ike turns. Soren is there, half in the water and hair dripping wet, holding another knife. Ashnard opens his mouth, and Ike strikes - brings Ragnell straight down and cleaves the Mad King's skull in two with a precision Ike didn't know swords could have.
Ike stands there, staring at the body and his blade, for a full minute, breathing heavily and shaking from adrenaline. When he moves, Soren is staring at him. Ike drops Ragnell and runs to the water, and Soren - Soren moves away, backing against the cove wall.
And I don't want to write Angst™️ but you know where this is going. (Half laguz have two forms, but that's still one more than a beorc.)
Ranulf interrupts the moment, because, hey, I'm glad you're safe but there's a battle on outside and I'm pretty sure the Royal Navy's here as well so let's go!
Ike is still holding Soren, whose face is curled into his neck and hair brushing across Ike's back like a blanket of seaweed. He looks at Ranulf, eyebrows high as he takes in Ranulf finally without that hat and decides his ears are cute. "Is every person I know gonna show up with a tail now, or is it just you two?"
"Just us, I think." Ranulf grins, then sobers. "Still a battle on, Ike," he chides. Ike nods and turns to Soren, who nods in affirmation. "Hold your breath, Ike," says Ranulf, and then they're streaming through the tunnel and Ike never, ever wants to go swimming again by the time they break the surface.
The Royal Navy is there, and they're impounding Ranulf's ship. Ike's ship. Whatever. They haul Ike out of the water, which he accepts because he isn't a laguz and he's more of a chance of surviving in prison than in the water. The guards bind him for piracy - unfair, because he hasn't actually stolen anything (Ranulf stole the ship, technically). Ike tells them as much - yells it, more like, along with a string of curses and proof that he just saved the Princess and killed the Mad King Ashnard - but when Elincia's voice rings out a call for silence he's just as affected as the Navy.
"Sir Ike," she begins, ignoring the whispers of her guards and one commander who tries to tell her he's a pirate and shouldn't be addressed personally, "you have saved me and my kingdom from destruction. For that, you have our gratitude. You will remain a free man, and all charges of piracy against you shall be dropped. I offer you a place in my Navy, Sir Ike, as it would be an honor to have you beside me."
His motley crew, hands tied behind their backs in the center of their ship, stares at him; Elincia's Navy stares at her; and no one moves for a moment.
"Thank you, your Majesty," Ike says, the title an honest mistake but he doesn't take it back because it's true now. "Thank you, Elincia," he continues, "but my place is on the sea. My father sailed these waters before me, and it's time I lived up to him. Besides," he offers her a crooked smile, water dripping into his eyes from his lashes, "I think the sea has companions to offer me."
"Of course," she says, a smile playing at her lips. She removes her arms from their position across her chest (Ike had thought it a ward against the seeping chill of night air on wet clothes) and lifts something up above Ike's head. In the moonlight, he catches a glimpse of a familiar hat, its wide brim decorated with strings of beads and feathers, before Elincia places it on his head, soaking his hair even more. "We shall leave you to your ship, Captain Ike," she says with eyes alight, and turns away with all the grace and poise of a royal.
After a great deal of spluttering and critiques from the Navy quickly aborted by a mere glance from Elincia, Ike's crew is released and the Navy returns to their ships with Elincia, who hands Ike an envelope and a hug before departure. Ike stares after them, adrenaline entirely spent and confused how he just got named a pirate captain by the Queen.
"Well, well, well, congratulations!" comes a familiar voice, its figure moving across the deck. "The hat suits you, Ike," Ranulf grins, clapping him on the shoulder. "Lethe might've stole my other ship, but you've earned this one well." He pauses, just for a second, winks, and then says: "Captain."
Ike smiles, but his attention is quickly caught by the shadows behind a mast. It's Soren, as he knew it would be. Ike puts an arm around him, a gesture he finds awkward for anyone else, and runs his fingers through Soren's damp black locks. "I think I've got a position open on this ship," he offers. "If you'd like."
Soren looks up, and Ike thinks his red eyes are beautiful in the moonlight. "I would." It's almost inaudible, but Ike hears it anyway. He holds him tighter.
They return home first, and his crew laughs through the streets and fills the inns and taverns with gold and merriment, undoubtedly spreading rumors of the battle with the Mad King that will grow into something ridiculous, but Ike doesn't stop them. When he knocks at Titania's door, Mist throws herself at him and she's crying and Mist's crying and Ike might be too.
When they've told each other all that matters between their family and Mist is asleep on Titania's lap from exhaustion, Ike makes tea for him and Titania and sits across from her. "Were you my dad's first mate?" he asks, unprompted except by the companionable silence of being home.
"I was," Titania replies, nostalgia twinging across her face.
Ike nods and sips his tea. He knows the rest of the story, and if Titania would like to spin her own tales he'd gladly listen, but he'll also listen to Mist's soft breathing and relax.
"Who is yours?" Titania asks instead.
Ike starts, almost dropping his tea. "I don't - I'm not sure. There's - well, there's Soren, and Ranulf, and I don't know..." he trails off.
Titania smiles, a glint in her green eyes. "You don't have to know. One day, you'll know, though. It might sneak up on you, so watch out." She knows something, Ike thinks, something about me but more than that, she knows something about the world and the sea and the captains that follow the wind and their hearts.
"Okay," says Ike, because he's home and he doesn't have to say any more. In a few days they'll head out again on that wind. Ike doesn't know where it'll take him, but he'll be ready.
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