Valkyrie Profile: Honor in All Things
Jun. 7th, 2007 11:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
runicloreHolycrap, real Valkyrie Profile fic! I'm as amazed as you are. This is a long overdue response to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
nyuna's request for fic about the Japanese einherjar. My trouble started (what, a year ago?) when I tried to include Suo in this, and stopped as soon as I decided to yank him out. :D
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The winds in Asgard were a soft breath, neither warm nor cold, nor laden with bits of pollen that should cling to one's robes and skin like feather down. The scent of apple blossom lingered when the air calmed, sweetening the pall of sun-warmed grass that hung around the Hall of Valhalla when the fields weren't rustling in time to the breeze. It was not warm, but smelled of summer as she knew it on the human plane.
Shiho's place in the Hall was small and open, and the stone floor left bare according to her wishes. Instead of windows in the walls there were arches too large for her to span with her hands, and a railing she could lean against to feel the caress of the wind on her face. The Aesir who guided her said the room was on the south-east corner of the palace, where the sun rose; her sense of direction insisted otherwise, yet it had also told her, upon arriving, that she was most certainly standing upside down. She grew accustomed to it, as one must. Valhalla was not the afterlife promised by the lore of the wise, but she had agreed to serve. Even Song Maidens were not without honor.
Her door opened and she heard the clink of tea utensils set carefully down. Her visitor made no sound as she approached, except for the rasp of fabric, her cool hand and short fingers being what gave her away, when they rested over Shiho's. "The sun is almost down," Nanami said softly. "Are you ready?"
She was guided to her mat, and Nanami dutifully arranged the edges of her robes, tugging them straight and smoothing wrinkles. It was kind of her to do so, though Shiho didn't know why she'd taken the task upon herself. Maybe she missed home. Her own heart ached at the thought of it sometimes, and longing for the sharp scents of pine and cypress, or the delicate aroma of aloeswood, could make her throat constrict painfully. Valhalla offered none of those things, and only a shadow of Yamato life. The tea placed in front of her smelled green, roasted and nutty. She smiled.
"I thought you would like it," Nanami said, settling down on the edge of the mat next to her. "They still haven't learned, but they are trying."
Would he be pleased? Shiho took a deep breath, curling her fingers over her sleeves. "I think I prefer this to apples." It was sweeter than grass, earthier. There were entire diciplines revolving around the minute differences in taste according to roasts, ingredients, and the age of the leaves. She hadn't been allowed to participate, though her senses were sharper than any warrior's, save one.
"Do you think Idun would plant tea?"
Shiho shook her head. "Will they stop plying us with apples?"
Nanami picked at her nails with a barely-audible click, click. "Do you think..."
She trailed off, and Shiho waited silently, reaching where she thought she heard the sound and covering her companion's hand to stop it. Her hands were still small, her fingers and palms rough from the work of maintaining the shrine, whatever that entailed. Sweeping, and cooking. Perhaps mixing tea, though she would never admit to having a hand in the blend they waited to drink. She made their robes of silk woven by Frigga, because Shiho could not.
Sometimes she wondered how much Nanami actually fought. The valkyrie had sent many female warriors, and all were on the field - some even outdoing the men. The women of Hai-Lan had not yet been called on that she was aware of.
"I don't want to fight," she murmured.
Nanami clasped her hand. "We won't."
She remembered a starburst of pain in her cheek, the strike of a gauntlet meeting her flesh, and lifted her free hand to brush the skin. "Does that make me a coward?"
A sigh. "There is as much honor in healing. More." An edge of defiance touched Nanami's voice. "Who keeps the battlefield populated with warriors - and who welcomes them home? I wonder."
How was it that Nanami took such an assertive stance, when she remembered her as soft and weak? "Has he returned?" Shiho asked, thinking of homes, and welcoming.
"The scouts said by sunset. He should be here soon."
She nodded, and clasped Nanami's hand more tightly when she moved as if to rise. It was only proper to have another woman present when meeting with a man, and the rustle of the wind through the grass outside was ghostly company. After a moment, her companion settled again and started preparing the tea.
Nanami never finished her question, but Shiho had heard it before, and wondered herself. Were their vows to the valkyrie eternal? They had spoken of spurning Idun's gift, and hadn't the courage to do so. She wondered if Suo knew, or if she would tell him. He wouldn't like the idea, and she was weak; it was a smile she wanted to feel on his lips, not the stern line of a lecture.
No, she would never tell him what she'd considered, before he came. Asgard was a different world, now that he was there.
nyuna's request for fic about the Japanese einherjar. My trouble started (what, a year ago?) when I tried to include Suo in this, and stopped as soon as I decided to yank him out. :D...............................................................
The winds in Asgard were a soft breath, neither warm nor cold, nor laden with bits of pollen that should cling to one's robes and skin like feather down. The scent of apple blossom lingered when the air calmed, sweetening the pall of sun-warmed grass that hung around the Hall of Valhalla when the fields weren't rustling in time to the breeze. It was not warm, but smelled of summer as she knew it on the human plane.
Shiho's place in the Hall was small and open, and the stone floor left bare according to her wishes. Instead of windows in the walls there were arches too large for her to span with her hands, and a railing she could lean against to feel the caress of the wind on her face. The Aesir who guided her said the room was on the south-east corner of the palace, where the sun rose; her sense of direction insisted otherwise, yet it had also told her, upon arriving, that she was most certainly standing upside down. She grew accustomed to it, as one must. Valhalla was not the afterlife promised by the lore of the wise, but she had agreed to serve. Even Song Maidens were not without honor.
Her door opened and she heard the clink of tea utensils set carefully down. Her visitor made no sound as she approached, except for the rasp of fabric, her cool hand and short fingers being what gave her away, when they rested over Shiho's. "The sun is almost down," Nanami said softly. "Are you ready?"
She was guided to her mat, and Nanami dutifully arranged the edges of her robes, tugging them straight and smoothing wrinkles. It was kind of her to do so, though Shiho didn't know why she'd taken the task upon herself. Maybe she missed home. Her own heart ached at the thought of it sometimes, and longing for the sharp scents of pine and cypress, or the delicate aroma of aloeswood, could make her throat constrict painfully. Valhalla offered none of those things, and only a shadow of Yamato life. The tea placed in front of her smelled green, roasted and nutty. She smiled.
"I thought you would like it," Nanami said, settling down on the edge of the mat next to her. "They still haven't learned, but they are trying."
Would he be pleased? Shiho took a deep breath, curling her fingers over her sleeves. "I think I prefer this to apples." It was sweeter than grass, earthier. There were entire diciplines revolving around the minute differences in taste according to roasts, ingredients, and the age of the leaves. She hadn't been allowed to participate, though her senses were sharper than any warrior's, save one.
"Do you think Idun would plant tea?"
Shiho shook her head. "Will they stop plying us with apples?"
Nanami picked at her nails with a barely-audible click, click. "Do you think..."
She trailed off, and Shiho waited silently, reaching where she thought she heard the sound and covering her companion's hand to stop it. Her hands were still small, her fingers and palms rough from the work of maintaining the shrine, whatever that entailed. Sweeping, and cooking. Perhaps mixing tea, though she would never admit to having a hand in the blend they waited to drink. She made their robes of silk woven by Frigga, because Shiho could not.
Sometimes she wondered how much Nanami actually fought. The valkyrie had sent many female warriors, and all were on the field - some even outdoing the men. The women of Hai-Lan had not yet been called on that she was aware of.
"I don't want to fight," she murmured.
Nanami clasped her hand. "We won't."
She remembered a starburst of pain in her cheek, the strike of a gauntlet meeting her flesh, and lifted her free hand to brush the skin. "Does that make me a coward?"
A sigh. "There is as much honor in healing. More." An edge of defiance touched Nanami's voice. "Who keeps the battlefield populated with warriors - and who welcomes them home? I wonder."
How was it that Nanami took such an assertive stance, when she remembered her as soft and weak? "Has he returned?" Shiho asked, thinking of homes, and welcoming.
"The scouts said by sunset. He should be here soon."
She nodded, and clasped Nanami's hand more tightly when she moved as if to rise. It was only proper to have another woman present when meeting with a man, and the rustle of the wind through the grass outside was ghostly company. After a moment, her companion settled again and started preparing the tea.
Nanami never finished her question, but Shiho had heard it before, and wondered herself. Were their vows to the valkyrie eternal? They had spoken of spurning Idun's gift, and hadn't the courage to do so. She wondered if Suo knew, or if she would tell him. He wouldn't like the idea, and she was weak; it was a smile she wanted to feel on his lips, not the stern line of a lecture.
No, she would never tell him what she'd considered, before he came. Asgard was a different world, now that he was there.
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no subject
Date: 2007-06-08 02:31 pm (UTC)I liked Shiho. By the end of the game my main party had ended up as Lenneth (of course), Shiho, Mystina, and Llewelyn (though he dealt absolutely no damage to Loki...)
no subject
Date: 2007-06-08 11:13 pm (UTC)I'm glad you liked it. <3 Shiho and Suo have been a kind of obsession with me, even though I haven't done much about it.
no subject
Date: 2007-06-22 09:18 am (UTC)I never use healers in any real RPG I'm playing, but still, it's a lovely sentiment. XD