[Fire Emblem 10] False Alarm

[runiclore]

False Alarm
By: Amber Michelle
Prompt: KILL IT
Character(s): Sanaki, Sigrun, Tanith
Words: 819

For: starlitlady (original request post is here), and I'm SO putting a stop to these long replies. BACK TO DRABBLES.



......................................................


Sanaki was accustomed to mild winters, the sort involving rainstorms and, if one was lucky, ice crackling on the grass in the early morning. Daein went out of its way to contradict her expectations. The sun set before five o'clock, and the water in her stone washbasin was frozen solid every morning. Ice prickled her toes between the blankets, and she wore three layers of hand-me-down dresses, stockings and gloves, and cloaks, her red mantle of office packed away. The countryside was brown and white, only the mountainous backdrop changing - either rising or falling, and always a gray shadow at the edge of her vision.

Though it was impossible to be alone in a military camp, the ambient noise was dim and beyond their circle of tents; the mercenaries didn't bother her. When Sanaki padded into her tent to sleep after a late meeting, therefore, she did the reasonable thing when she turned her blankets aside and found an intruder: she screamed and leaped back.

A dozen swords flew from their scabbards outside. Sigrun punched the tent flap aside and rushed in, followed by Tanith. Sanaki's heart slammed against her ribcage. Sigrun dashed behind the screen concealing her cot. Tanith stepped in front of her, and she held onto her knight by the belt.

The glint of Sigrun's sword, cast on the tent wall, shifted as the shadow on the screen lowered her weapon. "Your majesty, there's nothing here."

Sanaki hiked her skirts up with one hand, twisted the wool into a big knot, so the hem would hang above the rug. "It's there."

Tanith snorted. "A bug?"

"I am not afraid of bugs, thank you."

"Of course not, your majesty."

Sanaki stamped her foot, yanked the knight's belt until her back went ramrod straight, and dust tickled her nose, tinged with the smell of mold. She tried not to think of what they were breathing. "Sigrun. Under the covers!" There were no chairs in this godforsaken place. "Use your sword."

Sigrun's shadow, cast by her tiny glass oil lamp, shook her head and prodded at the cot with her sword. "Whatever it was is probably gone now, your majesty. Bugs are cowardly creatures for the most part."

Sanaki's skin pricked, like spindled legs were crawling over her arms. "Find it. Kill it."

"What is it we're supposed to--"

"A spider!" Sanaki's teeth clicked shut, and she narrowed her eyes at Tanith, who merely glanced over her shoulder before jerking her face forward again. "Yes, that's right," she said, letting go of her belt and moving around to face her. "You know I hate them, and this thing was--" She spread her hands a dozen centimeters apart.

Tanith sheathed her sword, scratched the side of her cheek. Her buckles glinted, the hilt of her sword gleaming silver and bronze. "We won't run into spiders like that until Grann Desert. Are you sure the light didn't exaggerate its size?"

Sanaki took a deep breath. Behind her she heard Sigrun sheath her sword as well, and her leather coat crease as she bent over the cot to pull the sheets loose. "Of course I'm sure." She dropped her skirts, fisted her hands on her hips. Gauging distances and relative size were a necessary part of long-distance spell-casting. She knew how to judge a thing's size by its shadow. Sanaki opened her mouth, eyes narrowing, and breathed another mouthful of dust before she truly heard what her knight said. "Grann Desert?"

"It's where we're headed, correct? The insects are freakishly--"

The bedding snapped against the screen, and Sigrun's voice came: "Tanith."

Tanith's teeth snapped shut. "Ah--"

Sanaki rubbed her arms. "Freakishly-- what, Tanith?"

"Nothing." She adjusted her sword belt for at least ten full seconds. "They're not that bad. Don't worry."

Sigrun came around the screen, her shadow diffusing, and shrugged, spread her hands. Tanith glanced at her, looked immediately away, and cleared her throat. "Well then. I'll be outside if you need me, your majesty."

Sanaki watched her disappear past the tent flap. Cold air wafted in when it dropped. "Sigrun--"

"Tanith let a spider chase her all the way across camp during her training days," Sigrun said, folding her arms. She looked at the flap, perhaps at the sliver of torchlight past it. "But I've never seen another one like it. Don't let her intimidate you."

Sanaki couldn't imagine Tanith running from anything. "Really?"

"Really."

"You didn't find anything?"

"No, your majesty."

Sanaki let the knight leave and glanced at the screen. The light bobbed, brightening, then dimming again. Sleep was going to be impossible. She only hoped the incident had escaped the attention of her neighbors.

*

The story was, of course, all over camp the next morning.


.

Comments

[starlitlady.livejournal.com]

Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. I love you~

Freaking-out!Sanaki is too cute. XD Poor Sigrun and Tanith. XD Loooooved it. ^^ *dies of laughter*

[runiclore.livejournal.com]

Your prompt was the perfect excuse to write something I knew I'd have to cut from the Chronicle. XD Glad you liked it~