July 2008 fic requests x5, multi-fandom

[runiclore]

My answers to the fic meme. I kept them short to make sure I finished everything. Pretty much all gen, with some slight romantic overtones; one-sided anything doesn't deserve the term 'pairing' in my opinion.


Title: Bear the Blame
Requested by: measuringlife
Word count: 450

Prompt: Fire Emblem - RD~ Micaiah & Pelleas interaction.


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"Pelleas." Micaiah's shadow was cast over his tent flap by torchlight. "May I come in?"

His fingers clenched around the corners of his tome. "Yes."

For once Sothe didn't follow her, though Pelleas watched the opening for a few seconds expecting him. They were alone - his tent didn't even have guards. He'd never gotten used to being shadowed. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"I wondered if it would be the other way around, actually." Micaiah folded an arm over her middle - the one with the brand. "I know you feel uncomfortable mingling with the others, but do you really want to stay in here, all alone?"

He turned his eyes down. The gold scrollwork was peeling from the cover of his tome in tiny slivers where his fingers had rubbed over the leather too much, or his nails had cut. Sometimes he wanted to throw it away - over a cliff, into a lake, it didn't matter as long as it was gone. His pact with the spirits was made long ago, before the war, but the book was his first since his country fell into ruin. A gift - a gift from Izuka. A tome fit for a king.

"It wouldn't feel right," he said. The long stares, the questioning gazes, would all dig under his skin. "I'm sorry. I've let you bear the blame all this time."

"Blame rarely falls where it should." Micaiah's fingers curled around his wrists and she crouched in front of him, forcing him to look at her. "Are you afraid?"

His lamp was turned up high so he could read, and against the background of the dull burlap floor her silver hair shined, edged with yellow and white light like a halo. Why couldn't she be plain? Why not dark, or or sickly, or courtly and elegant like his mother, so she wouldn't be so approachable? "I've never fought in a battle like the one we'll lead tomorrow," he said. Why must she have such unusual eyes, the sort that made him want to look? "I'm confident my skill will hold up. But--" Pelleas clutched her hands tightly. The tome slid from his lap and thumped onto the ground. "They're going to win, no matter how good I am. Aren't they."

Her grip in return was strong. "Maybe we'll die fighting," she said. "There are worse ways to go, right? I'll be by your side until the end, no matter what happens."

"There are." If only Sothe hadn't gotten to her first. "Thank you."


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Title: Right of Punishment
Requested by: misheard
Word count: 508

Prompt: Fire Emblem, Naesala + Sanaki, interaction between battles.


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Sanaki thought it a great irony Ashera's tower sought to confuse them at every turn, telling her up was down and trying to fool her into thinking something close was actually too far away to touch. When she tried to leave the rest of the party for a moment alone, it seemed she couldn't shake them no matter which way she turned. She thinks she's controlling it, exerting her power over all things order, and yet she's sowing chaos.

Trying - Ashera was trying, but it would only delay the inevitable. Ike would not be stopped, and if he were safe, Sephiran--

"Hey." The raven king's voice only gave her an instant of warning, and then his hand closed over her arm. "Don't wander off, Empress. This isn't the kind of place you want to be caught alone in."

She pulled her arm free and tried to calm her heartbeat. "I'm not wandering, Kilvas."

"Yeah, sure you aren't." He glanced over his shoulder. She wasn't surprised to look and see their companions aeons away across the platform, not at all as close as they'd seemed. "What is it - Zelgius?"

Sanaki started to tell him no, paused. "He--" She looked up. There was ambient light to guide them up the stairs, but some indeterminate distance upward that disappeared. Only shadow gathered where the goddess waited. "No. I already spoke to Ike about it..."

She heard his wings spread in a stretch. "Don't dwell too much on what's up there. We'll find out soon enough."

"But--" She reached out, curling her fingers into the leather of his sleeve, and looked at him. "What if he's up there? What if Ike is right, and Sephiran is-- is--"

He looked down at her, and she hated the difference in height that allowed him to do so. "You fight, just like you fought the others. What's the difference between him and the rest of the senate?"

For a moment she hated Kilvas for saying that. There was a world of difference between Sephiran and the others. Lekain could live a thousand lives and never match him. His heart was pure - even she recognized that. What would convince a pure heart to condone the judgement of the goddess as it stood then - the rendering of every man, woman, and child to stone?

"If he is up there," the raven king said, "my talons have an appointment with his throat, understand? Don't get in the way." He pulled her hand free and gave it a pat. "It'd be useless anyway, since he's the one who taught you how to cast."

"Idiot." Her voice came out thick, little more than a whisper. Sanaki clenched her teeth. "If he's betrayed me, punishment is my right."

"Hey, don't cry on me--"

"Shut up, Kilvas," Sanaki said, and rested her forehead on his chest. "I'll cry on you if I feel like it."


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Title: Not All Valkyries Are Created Equal
Requested by: karthur
Word count: 365

Prompt: Valkyrie Profile - Lezard lusting for Lenneth.


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Lezard was well aware - moreso than Odin himself, clearly - that each of the valkyries had their merits. The eldest hid a deep, abiding passion in her heart, the sort that burned across the continent and ravaged nations with war when she felt wronged. He was almost jealous of Brahms for captivating her so completely she would even abandon the All-Father's orders to meet him in battle.

Silmeria, too, had been netted by the vampire lord - literally. And she knew the entire time who Leone was and never thought to notify her host; he suspected she was well-aware of Dylan's true nature also, and as per Asgardian procedure, the valkyrie kept her mouth shut. Poor Alicia - Lezard would have pitied her, but she was in the way. He did pity the goddess, however; her confinement in a human body had worn away at her temper. She just didn't have the regal, commanding bearing possessed by her silver-haired sister and she was rather useless without it.

Ah, Lenneth. He'd considered abandoning his plan and searching for her human host. She wouldn't be as difficult if he caught her unawares. But it wasn't simply the goddess that he wanted, or her wandering soul; her beauty, while unparalleled, wasn't enough without the grim, determined expression she inevitably gave him when they met. Lezard wasn't afraid to admit the point of her sword at his throat was the spice of life.

If pressed, he might also admit he teased her into the air quite often just to see her surcoat flare to reveal a very nice pair of legs. Why should he not appreciate her assets?

What of her muscular frame, strong and yet womanly, toned to perfection?

Or her silvery tresses, like a tapestry woven of moonlight and stars.

And one certainly couldn't forget her aquamarine eyes, like jewels, only more precious.

Too bad they're closed. Lezard ran his fingers over a facet of her crystal and tapped lightly on the surface. If she tried, Lenneth might be able to open them, but she seemed determined to deny his existence. Alas. Her effort was doomed.


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Title: Warriors of Justice
Requested by: mura_arkaine
Word count: 311

Prompt: VP Silmeria - GO GO SCHOOL-GIRL SILMERIA :D~~~~~~~~~ (supplement to the school girl illustration from the VPS MC)


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Alicia sprang from her chair when the door to the principal's office opened. The secretary kept giving her strange looks and the chairs were hard plastic, an ugly green, and uncomfortable. "So?" she asked when the door closed behind Silmeria. "How much--?"

"A week of detention," Silmeria said. Her mouth was already set in a frown. "With them, to 'foster more respect toward my classmates.'"

Alicia bit her lip. "I'm sorry."

"This," Silmeria said, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her out into the hallway, "is why I told you not to run for Treasury. You can't even stand up to one stupid goon and you think you're going to give speeches and win?"

"But..." Alicia adjusted her school bag on her shoulder. The hall was mostly deserted, the rows of gray lockers uniform, closed, spotless. The principal was, among other unpleasant things, a neat freak, and cleaning campus was a mandatory extracurricular activity. She'd scrubbed the locker bay they were passing just last week. "Nobody cares about Treasury."

"Right, obviously." Silmeria kicked an empty cup into the wall. "Come on."

They left the building and were halfway across the empty parking lot before Alicia spoke again. "Somebody is messing with the treasury. We never get any of the funds for actual activities - it's all siphoned off to something obscure."

"So? What are we, warriors of justice?" Silmeria scowled. "Let them steal from student dues, what do I care?"

"Silmeria, that's our money going in--"

"Don't care!" Silmeria lengthened her stride until Alicia had to scramble to catch up. "Who the hell came up with this future, anyway - Lezard? God, this cycle sucks. I hope we die soon and get it over with."

Alicia sighed. "Yeah, um. Let's not talk about dying, okay?"


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Title: Just Another Twenty Miles
Requested by: thefurryone
Word count: 420

Prompt: Xenogears - The Elements are on an extended mission, and it's Shitan's night to cook.


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"Hyuga."

He looked up from his bowl. The broth hadn't turned out quite right; it looked like water, and tasted a bit like lighter fluid. At least the meat was done, if a bit charred. "Sigurd?"

His friend fished something out of his bowl with a plastic spoon and held it up. "There's a bullet in my soup."

Hyuga blinked. "Ah. I knew I forgot something."

.

Command assigned Hyuga and Sigurd to an undercover post in Aquavy which, Jesiah said, was about as cushy as assignments could get for elites. Their role was to infiltrate the Ethos Headquarters as refugees from a colony to the south, and they were assured that colony would be taken care of before their arrival to ensure secrecy. All you have to do is keep your eyes and ears open, Jesiah said. Find out who in the lower ranks is involved with the salvage crews, and which ones are siphoning profit and equipment for the traitors higher up.

The mission would be easy enough. Getting to Headquarters, however, proved to be more of an ordeal than they thought.

"We're out of rations," Sigurd said. He scrambled onto a rock with his handscanner. "'What you can carry will be more than enough' my ass."

"Nobody has ever accused Commander Schlach of intelligence." Hyuga said, arranging kindling in their circle of rocks. It lit readily. "How far?"

"Another twenty miles to Headquarters. The next island is a mile and a quarter northwest."

They'd reached one of the larger islands, but it was too rocky to be inhabited, and too late to risk crossing the channel to the next hunk of rock. Hyuga had set up a small campsite; their role as refugees limited what they carried, but at least their gear included basic household necessities: an iron pan, eating utensils, water bottles.

Hyuga sighed and pushed his glasses up. "See what you can find. I'll cook if you do the hunting."

"Fine." Sigurd folded his scanner and slid from the rock. "You're gutting it, whatever it is."

.

"Hyuga?"

He swirled the broth in his mouth. It didn't burn, so it wasn't acidic; he'd been fairly sure the flavor of fuel was due to the way he roasted the meat, rather than an accidental addition of the substance to the soup, but one had to make sure. "Yes?" he asked, swallowing.

Sigurd downed the last of his broth with a wince. "You're never doing the cooking again. Ever."


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Comments

[swish-swish.livejournal.com]

Oh. What the hell. Totally awesome world. Silmeria and the gang in school. And I see Silmeria still has that temper of hers and your Alicia! <3

[runiclore.livejournal.com]

Hahahaha, too bad I refuse to write a High School AU. XD I actually like that one best, and it was the hardest to come up with.