[Fire Emblem 9] Invisible Sun
May. 20th, 2009 12:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
runicloreInvisible Sun
By: Amber Michelle
Prompt: munificent
Character(s): Zelgius, Sephiran
Words: 780
For:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
measuringlife (original request post is here)
......................................................
When his master neglected to meet him at the appointed time and place, Zelgius donned the armor of the Black Knight and searched the Crimean outposts overtaken by Daein. Their prison lists were brief, thick bars of black ink blotting out intervals of names, times of capture and then death recorded in the margins. He reached Canteus with a knot in his throat to make speaking difficult, and convinced the jailer to remain in the guard room and took the keys into the prison corridors alone. They clinked in his loose-fingered grip, bronze and hollow steel.
The nameless priest on their roll sheet was at at the end of the last turn, near a passage ruined during the siege. He heard breathing behind the doors he passed, whispers above the snap of the torch flames. The pressure in Zelgius's chest eased when he recognized the faint summer scent his master carried with him wherever he went - pine, grass, and sage losing a battle against the acrid smell of burning pitch and wood.
Sephiran's dim shape stood up when Zelgius unlocked the door and stepped inside. The last torch was ten paces to the right down the hall, barely enough to illuminate the keyhole. There were no windows, not even a cot.
His master pressed his fingers into his ears when the door clanged closed. The sound echoed, and the ambient noise outside fell silent. "Why are you--"
Zelgius lifted his hand and gestured; he might have been followed, though he'd only heard his own footsteps. He removed his helmet, anchored it under one arm, and pitched his voice low. "I was worried."
Sephiran was lost in shadow. The glint of his eyes moved aside; then he stepped closer, and his breath warmed Zelgius's chin as the seconds passed for a count of twenty. "I don't hear anyone," his master said, clearing his throat. "I bribed a guard with my rings when he came to put me to questioning, and he said I will be pressed into service if they need a healer."
Zelgius glanced aside, looking for a cistern, a bucket, a glimmer to indicate standing water, but found nothing. He didn't carry water with him - what was the use, when he wasn't supposed to remove the helmet? But he wished he'd thought to bring some. "I'll have you out by midnight. They aren't even watching - I can walk in and take care of them, free the others. The danger is negligible."
"No..." A count of ten. Zelgius waited, feeling the muscles in his throat tense. His arm jerked when Sephiran curled his fingers into the black padding of his sleeve, under a strap - as if to keep him from moving, though he had no intention of leaving. "Where is the Crimean princess? Her party should pass through this area soon. They will wish to free as many of her retainers as they are able if they intend to put her back on the throne, don't you agree? I've heard their strategist is quite capable."
He looked at the thin gray halo ringing his master's hair. The heat and shape of his body implied against the blackness made Zelgius wish he could discard his armor. "You would gamble your life on that?"
He could imagine Sephiran's lips curving by the sound he made, something between a laugh and a sigh. "They'll do it. Motivate them - provide their agents with more information if you're worried."
Zelgius flexed his fingers closed when his master released his arm. "I won't leave this area until you're free."
"Don't be silly. If you neglect Daein, you will endanger--"
"I don't care."
Another count of ten. "Zelgius."
He found Sephiran's mouth in the dark and silenced him with a finger. "How did you end up in here?"
His master breathed a nearly silent hmmm. "I was healing soldiers." Sephiran pushed a hand through his hair. It smelled like dust, and the remnant of incense he burned at home, at camp - everywhere he went. "Of both persuasions."
Of course. Zelgius didn't even shake his head. "You are too generous."
"Not at all." Sephiran's hand ghosted over his cheek, and then Zelgius heard him turn around. The gray oval of his face disappeared. "I'll tell them you questioned me. Now go."
Zelgius waited another few seconds, waited for his master to turn back - but he didn't. He pulled his helmet on and left the door unlocked - just in case.
.
By: Amber Michelle
Prompt: munificent
Character(s): Zelgius, Sephiran
Words: 780
For:
measuringlife (original request post is here)......................................................
When his master neglected to meet him at the appointed time and place, Zelgius donned the armor of the Black Knight and searched the Crimean outposts overtaken by Daein. Their prison lists were brief, thick bars of black ink blotting out intervals of names, times of capture and then death recorded in the margins. He reached Canteus with a knot in his throat to make speaking difficult, and convinced the jailer to remain in the guard room and took the keys into the prison corridors alone. They clinked in his loose-fingered grip, bronze and hollow steel.
The nameless priest on their roll sheet was at at the end of the last turn, near a passage ruined during the siege. He heard breathing behind the doors he passed, whispers above the snap of the torch flames. The pressure in Zelgius's chest eased when he recognized the faint summer scent his master carried with him wherever he went - pine, grass, and sage losing a battle against the acrid smell of burning pitch and wood.
Sephiran's dim shape stood up when Zelgius unlocked the door and stepped inside. The last torch was ten paces to the right down the hall, barely enough to illuminate the keyhole. There were no windows, not even a cot.
His master pressed his fingers into his ears when the door clanged closed. The sound echoed, and the ambient noise outside fell silent. "Why are you--"
Zelgius lifted his hand and gestured; he might have been followed, though he'd only heard his own footsteps. He removed his helmet, anchored it under one arm, and pitched his voice low. "I was worried."
Sephiran was lost in shadow. The glint of his eyes moved aside; then he stepped closer, and his breath warmed Zelgius's chin as the seconds passed for a count of twenty. "I don't hear anyone," his master said, clearing his throat. "I bribed a guard with my rings when he came to put me to questioning, and he said I will be pressed into service if they need a healer."
Zelgius glanced aside, looking for a cistern, a bucket, a glimmer to indicate standing water, but found nothing. He didn't carry water with him - what was the use, when he wasn't supposed to remove the helmet? But he wished he'd thought to bring some. "I'll have you out by midnight. They aren't even watching - I can walk in and take care of them, free the others. The danger is negligible."
"No..." A count of ten. Zelgius waited, feeling the muscles in his throat tense. His arm jerked when Sephiran curled his fingers into the black padding of his sleeve, under a strap - as if to keep him from moving, though he had no intention of leaving. "Where is the Crimean princess? Her party should pass through this area soon. They will wish to free as many of her retainers as they are able if they intend to put her back on the throne, don't you agree? I've heard their strategist is quite capable."
He looked at the thin gray halo ringing his master's hair. The heat and shape of his body implied against the blackness made Zelgius wish he could discard his armor. "You would gamble your life on that?"
He could imagine Sephiran's lips curving by the sound he made, something between a laugh and a sigh. "They'll do it. Motivate them - provide their agents with more information if you're worried."
Zelgius flexed his fingers closed when his master released his arm. "I won't leave this area until you're free."
"Don't be silly. If you neglect Daein, you will endanger--"
"I don't care."
Another count of ten. "Zelgius."
He found Sephiran's mouth in the dark and silenced him with a finger. "How did you end up in here?"
His master breathed a nearly silent hmmm. "I was healing soldiers." Sephiran pushed a hand through his hair. It smelled like dust, and the remnant of incense he burned at home, at camp - everywhere he went. "Of both persuasions."
Of course. Zelgius didn't even shake his head. "You are too generous."
"Not at all." Sephiran's hand ghosted over his cheek, and then Zelgius heard him turn around. The gray oval of his face disappeared. "I'll tell them you questioned me. Now go."
Zelgius waited another few seconds, waited for his master to turn back - but he didn't. He pulled his helmet on and left the door unlocked - just in case.
.