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kalimarswriting · 6 years

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Playing by Ear: Chapter 8

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Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem.

Chapter 8: Th-th-the L-L-Longfort

Cold.

Gods it was cold.

As expected, the march to Ferox was absolutely miserable. Out of desperation I had taken the green fabric I had bought and used it as a scarf for extra warmth, but the shredded side of my shirt and jacket wasn't helping things. Damn that risen for actually getting a hit in. My hood was pulled up over my cap. Maybe it looked stupid, but I was always more about function than fashion so it was no matter to me. I was grateful to whomever had brought me here for bringing me here in my boots. I couldn't imagine having to slog through the snow in tennis shoes.

And slogging we were. The snow drifts were deep here, and every step was an effort. The cold slowed down my movements even more. I didn't understand how Vaike could stand it, not even having a shirt to fend off the cold.

I shuddered to think of fighting in these conditions.

I wished I had some gloves. The three areas of your body that you lose the most heat through are the palms of your hands, the bottoms of your feet and your scalp. I had my head and feet covered, but the best I could do for my hands was put them in my pockets.

My teeth were chattering.

I was somewhat used to being cold despite living in Texas because my mom always kept the AC absurdly low. Whenever I would complain she would say I needed more meat on my bones and to grab a blanket. It was the source of many an argument. But that was at home, where blankets were available, and even then it hardly compared. Sixty degrees to below freezing? I wasn't used to those temperatures at all. My mom was right that I needed more meat on my bones. I was pretty thin because I never remembered to eat anything because of my ADHD medicine, and I was definitely paying for it. I was shivering down to my very core.

I couldn't feel my my face. I pulled my makeshift scarf up over my nose with shaking hands so that my breath would warm it up. I could always wash the snot off later.

I was so focused on staying warm and putting one foot in front of the other, must not get left behind, that I didn't notice the footsteps behind me until someone put a hand on my shoulder. I must have jumped a mile in the air. Guess the cold didn't dull my reflexes.

"Do you want my coat?" It was Robin, looking taken aback by my reaction.

No. Nuh-uh. I was the one who offered my jacket to people, not the other way around! I never went anywhere without my jacket because I always needed the extra pockets, but since my ADHD medicine kept me warm as a side effect of being a stimulant, I would lend my jacket out to people who couldn't take cold AC back when I still went to school. It was something I was a little bit proud of, to be able to do that.

Aside from my own pride, Robin would be as bad off as I was now without his coat. He may not know it, but he was from the hot country of Plegia. He wouldn't last an hour out here.

That's not to say there wasn't a third option. It wouldn't be the first time I'd shared a garment meant for one, but could I really swallow down my embarrassment to do it?

I looked at Robin, who didn't look like he was shivering at all under his thick purple coat. Okay, yes. Yes, if I could be warm enough not to shiver, I was willing to swallow down my embarrassment.

"M-maybe we c-c-could sh-share?" My chattering teeth made it hard to get the short sentence out, but I managed. Robin looked surprised at the question, not expecting something other than a yes or no. He took a second to respond, probably trying to process the very out-there idea. I worried that I was asking too much.

A gust of wind threw a bunch of tiny ice crystals in our faces, which led him to his decision. "I guess it would be better than no coat at all, right?" He gave a shaky smile.

"Oh thank the gods, thank you." I scurried under his arm, hiding in the warms folds of dark fabric. Holy gods, it was warm under here. "How do you not burn up in this in normal weather?" The question was out before I really thought about it.

Another voice answered before the he could form a response. "Judging by the designs on his coat, he's likely plegian. It's a desert country, so whether he claims to remember it or not he's accustomed to such temperatures." Frederick rode up from behind us, looking awfully comfy on his horse instead of walking like we were. "You'd best speed up a bit, I'm the tail end of everyone. We wouldn't want to leave our new recruits behind, would we?"

"No," I quickly answered before trying to speed up, only to accidentally step out of the coat. The wall of cold air immediately sucked all the just-gained warmth from me and reached down to my bones. I hurriedly scooted back under the coat to recover. "Maybe we should work on syncing our steps?" I suggested.

"I think that's a wise idea," Robin replied. So, with some trial and error, we managed to sync our steps like we were running a three-legged race. We readjusted a little, so I had my arm in one sleeve and he had his in the other. It was a tight fit, but worth it. In this way we passed Frederick and started to catch up with the others.

We caught up to Lissa first, unfortunately. She spotted our awkwardly trudging form instantly and snickered. "L-looks like you t-t-two are g-getting awfully close," she commented shakily. She looked as cold as I was a few minutes ago.

I felt my face turning red and tried to hide, but only succeeded in scrunching closer to Robin. Warm, but proved exactly what she was saying. It was a no-win situation no matter what I did. Robin wisely said nothing, as nothing he could say would make things any better.

Virion sidled over to the giggling princess. "Would the lady like to f-follow their example?" He smoothly attempted to flirt. Ah, Virion, why do I always forget about you?

Lissa took one look at the archer and called out, "F-F-Freberick! I'm f-f-freebing!" DENIED.

"Stand beside my horse, milady. She'll protect you from the wind." Came the knight's prompt response. He closed the distance between us quickly and provided the princess with a wind blocker. Her shivering calmed down some.

Robin stopped walking and I almost fell out of his coat again. "So this is the fortress?"

What? I looked up and saw that yes, the Longfort was in sight. I could barely make out small forms on the wall if I strained my eyes. Damn, I was hoping by some miracle it would be unattended and we could go in without a fight. I really, really dreaded fighting in this weather. It would require leaving Robin's coat, for one thing, plus I was worried about how much the cold would slow down my movements. My biggest asset was nerfed, basically, and I didn't know how I was going to survive a battle without it.

I tuned back in to hear, "Remember, everyone, your actions here reflect upon Ylisse." Well then. I hoped I hadn't missed anything important.

In the brief amount of time we had before we were close enough to talk with Raimi, I voiced my concerns to Robin. "This cold is slowing me down. I'm not sure how effectively I'll be able to fight like this."

The tactician thought for a moment. "Miriel's a fire mage. Why don't you try pairing up with her? It might be warmer around her magic." He came up with the solution in no time at all.

"Worth a shot!" Maybe this fight wouldn't be so miserable after all. I finally wouldn't be fighting alone!

All too soon we had arrived right in front of the Longfort and it was time to watch things go down. The blurry forms on the wall had multiplied, and being closer I could now see them more clearly. Archers.

Statistically, in real life archers were one of the best things an army could have before modern weapons because they had the highest kills-per-person ratio. In Fire Emblem they were useful, but not exactly the most important units you could have. I personally preferred wind mages because they could attack from multiple ranges and still had an advantage over flying units. But this wasn't a game anymore, and I suspected that the game's rules were somewhat moot point.

"Trouble on the wind, milord: The Feroxi Guard are mobilizing." Frederick informed us.

"What?! Why?" Chrom's look of confusion almost made me laugh out loud.

"Who can say?" Frederick made to continue, but I interrupted.

"Ferox's politics are basically who wins what battle. They're going to fight us no matter what we say. I told you there were going to be two more battles before we could talk to the Khans, didn't I?" I paused to think for a moment, not used to talking so much to these people yet. "I uh, wouldn't advise charging straight in though. If we don't try to negotiate first they might think of us as actually hostile and call for reinforcements instead of letting us in." Plus then Sumia might not make it in time, but saying that would only lead to more questions. If nothing else thanks to Robin's marvelous coat, my feet were cold, and I wanted to get this over with.

"Halt! Who goes there?!" Raimi called down from the fortress wall.

"In the name of house Ylisse, I seek an audience with the khans!" Chrom called back.

While they argued I watched the skies, anxious to make sure Sumia got here in time. I wouldn't want a game over on my hands.

"I've heard quite enough!" Raimi finally lost her patience with us supposed brigands. "Attack!"

Not needing to be told twice, the lancers on the wall threw their lances at Chrom. Out of nowhere (and it really was, because I had seen hide nor hair of her in the skies) Sumia swept through on her new pegasus and Chrom was gone, just in time for the lances to converge where he had been.

While our fearless leader was having his little moment with Sumia, the rest of us prepared to fight.

"Alright, we need to split into two groups!" Robin took over, showing his aptitude to his role of our tactician. "Vaike, do you have your axe?"

Vaike shrugged. "It's not mine, but Teach took one off a risen earlier."

"Good. You'll go right with Chrom and Sumia. Sully, you go too."

"Roger that." Sully grabbed Vaike and pulled him up on her horse and rode off after Sumia's pegasus.

"Merra, you go left with Miriel as we discussed. Virion and Frederick, you follow them." Frederick didn't look happy with the arrangement, whether it was because he was separated from his lord or because he was taking orders from Robin in particular, but he did not argue.

"Lissa, you and Stahl made a pretty good team last time. You stay behind and heal whomever you see get hurt. You should be able to reach both groups from here." Robin went over a mental checklist. He didn't think he was missing anyone. "Alright, get going!"

"Right!" I regretfully left the warm confines of Robin's coat, face red (from the cold, I'd say) and jittery with nerves. I couldn't believe I'd done that. That had been really bold of me, and he had just gone along with it!

The sound of an arrow whizzing by brought me out of my thoughts and back to the present. Right, I had to fight people now. I took my hands out of my pockets and unsheathed my sword, the blade clearly shaking in my hands. I was already starting to shiver again. I'd have to get this over with quickly.

I charged ahead of Miriel (a mage should always be protected behind a close-range unit) at the nearest feroxi guard, who happened to be an archer. He saw me coming and nocked another arrow. I kept charging anyway, hoping that if I got close enough he'd be powerless against me like in the games. (Even though I suspected the game mechanics were moot point here anyway.) I could see the panic on his face as he saw I wasn't stopping, and he fumbled the bow and dropped the arrow. Poor guy.

I hit him upside the head with the flat of my (Robin's) blade, but that was only enough to daze him. I frowned. I was at a loss of how to take the guy down without fatally wounding him. I didn't want that on my conscience yet, not when I knew that this battle was not one of animosity but a simple misunderstanding. These people were supposed to become our allies in the near future.

Thuk! Pain blossomed in my shoulder and the force of an impact almost knocked me off my feet. I looked down to see an arrow protruding from my shoulder, and I was confused. Hadn't the archer dropped his arrow? I heard the thew! of another arrow releasing and dropped, but too slow. Before I hit the ground a second arrow lodged itself next to the first one. Goddamn shit that hurt!

The cold was slowing down my thinking. I needed to…what did I need to do? What was I doing?

The snow felt nice. It reminded me of the ski trips I'd gone on with my dad, when I'd lay down on top of the mountains and watch the snow fall. It was almost more fun than the skiing. But something wasn't right…

Blood colored the snow red. I heard Miriel shouting for Lissa and the roar of a fire spell. The flames brought with them warmth, though only a little reached me as they were directed at the enemy. The out-of-place heat brought back some clarity and I remembered that wowee, I was in the middle of a battle! The clarity also snapped me out of my numb feeling and I was rudely reminded of the arrows lodged in my shoulder.

I tried my best to ignore them and get up, but putting weight on that arm to rise was agonizing. Using my other limbs just reminded me of all the activity I'd already done today, and by the time I was standing my entire body was complaining about one thing or another.

More fire coming from Miriel's direction. I couldn't let her fight alone. Wounded or not, mages shouldn't be in direct line of fire. If it hadn't been me, it would have been her. I stood a little straighter. I had done my job, and it was time to continue.

I turned back to the fray and saw that there was not one, but two archers. The first one that I had dazed was burning on the ground. I hoped there were healers nearby. The second one must have been the one who had shot me, and now he set his sights on Miriel.

"Oh no you don't!" I stepped in front of the mage and then braced myself for yet another puncture wound because I really hadn't thought that one through, only to hear a clink! and feel nothing.

Wha…?

The archer looked confused too, and quickly tried again only to get the same result. The arrow seemingly hit an invisible wall and fell to the ground.

Oh. Oh my gosh this was amazing. I was almost doubled over laughing in the middle the battlefield, because I realized we had something Ferox didn't: a Kellam.

"Kellam? Is that you?" I asked the space in front of me. Now wasn't the time for a conversation, but if Chrom and Robin could have long conversations in one turn, why couldn't I?

"You can see me?" Came faintly in return. I saw a vague shadow now between us and the archers.

"Kind of?"

"How do you know my name? They forgot to introduce me yesterday."

"Um, Sumia told me?" She seemed like someone who'd try to keep track of everyone. But I could see the remaining archer redirecting his attention elsewhere; now really wasn't the time to chat. "Hey, could you cover Miriel while I have Lissa heal me up?"

"Sure! Go get those looked at." The shadow faded away again somehow and I was dismissed.

I could already see Lissa and Stahl on their way since Miriel had called them over earlier. I looked at the arrows still sticking out of my shoulder. I was amazingly lucky that they hadn't landed somewhere more vital—instead I just couldn't use my left arm. Joy. Was it just me, or were these injuries getting worse every battle?

Wanting to get this done quickly, I bit down on my green fabric "scarf" (I wasn't sure how much this was going to hurt) and used my sword to lop off the ends of the arrows. Just because Lissa could heal didn't mean I could just leave them in.

Ugh, time for the really painful part.

On the count of three, I grabbed the end of the first arrow sticking through my back and yanked. It…gods it hurt. But the arrow was out at least, and the wound was now free for healing. I grabbed the other one.

"Merra wait!" I saw Lissa peeking out from behind Stahl as they approached.

I looked at her and yanked out the second arrow. Wait for what?

"…Never mind. Here." She raised her staff and just like that, the pain was gone. But now there were new holes in my jacket and shirt. Wonderful.

"Thank you!"

"Uh-huh! Just be more careful!" She patted Stahl's arm and he turned back around, presumably to get back within shouting distance of the other group.

I turned back around to where I had left the others and saw that they were up on the wall now. As I watched, Frederick took care of the last swordsman on the ground. Alright, guess it was time to join everyone on the wall.

Eyeing the stairs and not liking what I saw, I slogged through the snow after the great knight. "Frederick! Could I have a lift?"

He eyed me with distaste before saying, "Fine," and pulling me up on his steed. Yes! Laziness rules!

Of course, once we were on the wall Frederick kicked me off, but it was completely worth it to not have to do all those stairs, yessir.

I took a second to get my bearings. Kellam was nowhere to be seen, which didn't necessarily mean anything, Virion was shooting at a heavily armored knight with little success, Miriel was casting fires at an axe-user and there was a feroxi soldier unconscious (I think) on the ground. I decided to help out Virion, since he was the one playing with metaphorical fire. He was fast enough to dodge most of the lance knight's attacks, but his arrows plinked off of the knight's armor uselessly.

"On your left!" I warned the archer, rushing past him to try to whack the knight. Oh, I whacked him, but honestly all that happened was a loud clang and the knight turned his attention to me and away from Virion. Okay. I'm bad at this, but it shouldn't be that bad. I've got people to back me up now. I tried to encourage myself as I jumped back out of the way of the knight's lance. Springing forward again, I tried for an upward swing into his armpit, (an area difficult to cover in armor if I remembered right) only to miss and clang against armor again. Virion understood what I was trying to do and landed a couple arrows in the gap. I had a few more moments to attack as the knight was knocked slightly off-balance by the arrows, but I still hit armor. I had to jump back again once he recovered and swung his lance at me.

The skirmish continued in this way, with Virion and I dancing around the knight but unable to damage him in return.

This was really frustrating. Was every opponent going to be this much hassle?

There was something glowing in my peripheral vision and I had the good sense to duck before the knight in front of me was roasted in his armor.

"Distraction kills." Miriel, everybody.

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#my writing #Playing by Ear #chapter 8 #fanfiction #fire emblem #fire emblem awakening #Robin x OC

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