A/N: Forgive the bad summary. This is my first attempt at fan fiction in… well, a really really long time. It's the first fic I've ever posted on here, though hopefully not the last. I noticed the severe lack of shounen ai on here lately, and after having read virtually every shounen ai fic on here about 10 times, I figured it's time I tried my hand at it. This definitely isn't my best work, and this is NOT a one-shot. I swear, it'll get more interesting as it goes. And forgive me for any errors I make, I'm only on my second time through the game. And typos. I'm the queen of bad proofreading.
As for pairings? Rath/Wil is obviously the main one, though there'll be a lot of other couples, mostly shounen ai, but also het and even possibly a shoujo ai one. Some couples are undecided, but that's only a small few. If you don't like the pairings, please don't complain. Or else.
Disclaimer: If I owned FE, this wouldn't be on now, I hope desperately that you enjoy my fic.
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Chapter 1: Valor
It was finally over.
After all that time, all the struggles, all the countless battles, all the allies, all the enemies, all the lives lost… It was finally over. Nergal was dead and gone, and Nils and Ninian had gone back home.
The shock of it all had taken quite a time to sink in. Everyone had wandered back to camp, bewildered and listless, like ghosts wandering aimlessly about the earth. Ninian was alive, but she was gone. As was Nils. It was as if they lost anyways.
People seemed almost afraid to celebrate. Everyone kept on stealing glances at Eliwood, who wasn't showing any kind of emotion at all. Hector and Lyn were constantly exchanging worried glances from behind him, wondering if he'd be okay. Mark looked like the walking dead. His face was white, and his head was drooping as he rode on his horse. He'd stayed up all night preparing for the battle.
Everyone else was tired and worn. Those lucky enough to have horses gave rides to those who had to walk on foot. Some slept as they rode towards the camp. It had been a long day, and a hard battle. But it was over.
It was the next morning when everyone arrived back, a panicky Merlinus greeting them all, prodding for information on what happened. Eliwood had simply held up a hand shook his head.
"You'll be informed once we've all had adequate rest," he told the merchant wearily. Merlinus nodded his understanding, though disappointed, and watched as everyone retreated to their respective tents, desperate for the sleep that they all deserved.
But the quietness of the morning had died away when the moon had risen, and everyone had their proper rest.
Wil was one of the last to rise.
He probably wouldn't have woken up at all, had someone not shrieked outside his tent. He awoke with a start and popped his head of the tent, only to see Florina hiding behind Lyn, and Kent giving a scolding to a rather drunken Sain. Kent's scolding didn't seem to affect Sain much, considering the man grabbed his younger comrade and kissed him full on the lips. Kent froze, Florina gasped, and Lyn broke into hysterical laughter. Wil couldn't help but follow suit with Lyn.
He ducked back into his tent and pulled on his overshirt and boots, and reached for his bow instinctively, but then remembered what all the celebrating was for. He laughed and stepped outside again.
People were everywhere, dancing, drinking and singing (or trying to), all celebrating their victory. Someone had started playing music somewhere, though who, Wil couldn't fathom, since their resident bard had left them.
Lord Eliwood and Lord Hector were sitting together, laughing by one of the fires. Wil smiled at the sight; he hated to see anyone sad or depressed, especially someone as kind as the red-haired lord. He'd lost quite a lot on the journey, but he looked happy enough. And when he said something to Hector that him shoot beer out of his nose, he looked even happier.
Wil trotted contentedly throughout the camp, looking around at the various couples that had formed. Serra was chatting merrily with Priscilla and Canas, her arm linked with Erk's, who was trying very hard to stay with their conversation, but always looked distracted and blushed when Serra turned to him and batted her eyelashes, or snuggled up close to him. Wil grinned; it was about time they got together.
Continuing on, he saw Nino sitting in Jaffar's lap, merrily humming a tune, though she still looked quite tired. Jaffar's arms were around the little mage, his head resting atop hers. Nino took one of his hands and linked her fingers with his, then smiled up at him. Wil could've sworn he saw the assassin smile back.
There were a number of people he didn't see anywhere, including Legault and Heath, and Raven and Lucius, though that wasn't really surprising. Anyone could guess what they were doing to 'celebrate.' Wil grinned wickedly.
It seemed as though any tensions between the camp members had melted away, at least for the night. Dart and Farina, who were usually arguing about money, or treasure, or something of the sort, had their arms around each other's shoulders, and were loudly singing the "99 bottles of beer on the wall" song, and rather off-key. But they could barely get past 90 before one of them made a mistake and they burst into drunken laughter, then started their slurred song over again.
Guy and Matthew were getting along quite well too, which, Wil thought, was the understatement of the century. Matthew's lips looked they were surgically attached to the squeaking myrmidon's neck. His arm was slung over Guy's shoulders, with a beer in that hand, and the other buried in Guy's loosed hair. Guy was stuttering incoherent protests, or was trying to, between the moans he accidentally let out, which made him blush even more than he already was.
Karla was sitting with Bartre, chuckling as he tried to impress her by slurring out 'big words' that Canas had taught him. Everytime the alluring swordmaster gave him a smile, he'd take another large swig of his ale.
Next he saw Lowen and Rebecca, busily making what looked like a feast fit for a lord; or rather, three lords and their entire army. Lowen said something to the young archer, and she smiled, then leaned over to him and gave him a peck on the cheek. Immediately, the cavalier's face flushed red, causing Rebecca to laugh. Wil caught her eye and waved happily. Rebecca returned the wave enthusiastically, and Lowen smiled. He'd loosened up a lot since he'd gotten together with Rebecca. Wil was happy for them, and nobody had any idea how relieved he'd been when he found out he wasn't the one Rebecca had fallen for. It's not that he didn't like her. He just didn't like her that way.
In fact, he didn't like any "hers" in that way at all. Which made Wil start to wonder, where exactly was…
"Wil!" The archer whirled at the sound of his name to see the ex-general Wallace lumbering towards him.
"Um, hello, sir!" Wil greeted uncertainly, now that his mind was elsewhere. "Is there something I can help you with or… something? Because I just remembered something I really need to do, and if you could ask someone else it'd be great, but if you really need my help and I'm the only person that could help you, then I guess—"
"For Elimine's sake, boy, stop talking for two seconds!" Wallace cried. "I just wanted to know which way the ale is! I've been walking around these tents for the past hour trying to find some more!"
"Oh!" Wil exclaimed cheerily, and pointed in a direction. "It's, um, that way. Yeah, past the reeeeally bad singing, next to Lord Eliwood and Lord Hector! Or at least it was the last time I went over that way, and I don't know how long it's been since I was over there, but it should be in that direction, and if it's not then I'm sorry!"
Wil had to yell the last part of his 'directions,' because Wallace had turned to leave in the middle of it.
Now Wil's mind wandered back to before he'd been interrupted. He thought of places he might find the man that occupied his thoughts, and the first place that came to mind was with the horses.
Wil happily made his way towards the resident beasts of the army, bouncing along to the music that echoed throughout the camp, taking note of the people spending time alone on this joyous occasion. He spotted Karel, who was sitting with his back to a tree, looking deep in thought. Wil shuddered to think at what was going through his mind. He also saw Dorcas, who he'd noticed looked depressed almost 100 of the time, probably because he'd spent so much time away from his wife.
After a short walk, Wil reached the 'stable,' which really wasn't really a stable, just the place where the horses, pegasi and wyverns were kept. Vaida was there attending to Umbriel, and even though she was one of the scariest people Wil had ever met, he still made the effort to ask. That is, made the effort, but the moment he opened his mouth, she gave him glare that said, "If you say even one word to me, I'll lop your head off."
Wil promptly closed his mouth.
He looked around to see all the animals were there. By this time, he could easily name off every beast kept there. The fact that he was nosy enough to go up to everyone and ask their names had nothing to do with it. Really. He looked up and down the line of horses, and nodded when he saw the grey mare.
"He couldn't have gone far…" he mumbled to himself. He was about to set off again when Fiora spotted him and ran over to him.
"Wil, have you seen Sir Kent?" she asked.
Wil bobbed his head up and down. "Yep, I saw him and Sain earlier! Except that Sain was chasing Florina and then Kent caught him and started scolding but Sain was drunk so he kissed Kent on the lips, can you believe it! I started laughing so hard when I saw it, the look on Kent's face was priceless."
Fiora's eyes got wider at each word of Wil's tale. She turned on her heel and stomped back towards the fires, yelling Sain's name. Wil snickered; already, tonight was the most fun he'd had in a while!
But, back to business. Where could he be? Wil crossed his arms and stared at the ground intensely, as if the answer he sought would pop out of the earth and smack him in the face. That didn't exactly happen, but he did get an idea.
"Mark!" he declared cheerily. "He always knows where everyone is!"
Wil made his way back to the fires and all his drunken comrades, and saw Fiora trying desperately to pulling Sain off of Kent, both of them yelling at him. Sain was laughing like an idiot.
Wil ducked into Mark's tent and looked first towards the bed to make sure the tactician wasn't sleeping. The bed was empty; so was the entire tent for that matter. He saw a piece of paper lying next to the stack of books that could rival even Canas', and picked it up to read it. He squinted at it in the darkness, then turned towards the opening of the tent so he could read it by firelight.
Gone for a walk. Be back before morning.
Wil raised a brow. It wasn't like Mark to take walks. Half the time he was lucky to even see the tactician off the battle field; he was always in his tent writing or reading or, on rare occasions, sleeping. But maybe he decided he needed some fresh air or something, Wil decided, so he opened the tent flap and left.
He was greeted with the scene of Sain, who this time was kissing Fiora, and Kent was trying to pry him off of her. Wil laughed under his breath. He couldn't wait to see what would breakfast would be like tomorrow morning.
"Are you looking for Mark, Wil?" Lyn asked, who was sitting nearby with a giggling Florina at her side, both of them enjoying the theatrics.
Wil shook his head. "Nope, I was just gonna ask him if he knew where someone was."
Lyn grinned at him. "I bet I can guess who that someone is."
Wil's felt his face turn red. "A-Am I really that obvious?"
Lyn and Florina nodded in unison. Wil's face turned even redder.
"Well… have you seen him, by any chance?"
"I saw him leave camp a little while ago. He was headed towards the hills to the south," Lyn directed him.
"Oh! Thanks a lot, Lyn! I mean, Lady Lyndis! Sorry I keep forgetting to use your full name, it's just a force of ha—"
Lyn laughed. "Just go, Wil!"
"Oh, right! Thanks again! And um, let me know how the… uh…" Wil looked back at the still-squabbling knights, "skirmish ends up, okay?"
Lyn gave him a thumbs up, and Wil chuckled as he left, heading towards the hilly landscape south of their camp. He noticed Lord Pent and Lady Louise dancing – she really wasn't kidding when she said she didn't excel in the arts – and Marcus, Oswin and Merlinus sitting outside of the supply tent, laughing. As he reached the outskirts of the camp, he saw Isadora and Harken talking quietly. They stopped when they saw him, and he bowed politely before skittering off as fast as he could, feeling like he was imposing on their privacy. Curse Kent and his courtesy lessons.
Wil looked at the rolling hills in front of him, beautiful in the silver moonlight. He climbed the nearest one, figuring it was the only way he'd spot anyone, even in the bright moonlight. Sure enough, he saw a lone figure seated not too far off. He could tell just by the silhouette that it was the man he was looking for.
But now that he'd finally found him… could he actually talk to him?
It's not like they were strangers. They were actually quite close friends – or at least, he thought so. They'd known each other longer than a lot of people that were in the army. They'd even been tent mates for a good portion of their journey. But maybe that was part of the reason he had suddenly lost his nerve.
Wil bit his lip. He had been such an idiot the other night…
This was it. Tomorrow would be the battle with Nergal. Tension had been running thick throughout the entire camp all day, and now, even after the sun had set and everyone had gone to bed, Wil found he couldn't sleep.
There was something plaguing his mind, something he needed desperately to get out. He stared at the back of his tent mate, mentally debating whether or not he should tell him. Either one of them could die tomorrow. It was a miracle they'd even made it this far. But still… he didn't think he could stand it if something happened to either one of them, and he hadn't told him…
Wil sucked in a deep, shuddering breath. He was so nervous; his hands were cold and clammy, and he felt like he was quivering. He didn't think this would be so hard.
"Hey, um… Rath? Are you awake?" Wil whispered, surprised his voice didn't shake.
Wil tensed as Rath stirred and turned over so he was facing the younger archer. His bandana had been cast off with his battle gear before he'd gone to bed for the night, and Wil counted himself lucky to be one of the few who got to see him without it on. His hair was messy – it actually looked messy by nature, which would explain why Rath rarely ever took it off – and he looked tired and stressed out like everyone else, maybe even slightly annoyed, but he managed to keep his usual low, calm voice.
"Wil, you should be resting," he said, softly. "Tomorrow is… very important."
"Um, yeah, I know… But I've got something that I really need to tell you. I mean, it's sort of been bugging me for a while, and I've been meaning to tell you, but whenever I got the chance I would chicken out or loose my nerve… And, well, tomorrow is like… the end of it all, you know? And there's just something that I… um… I really want you to know…"
Rath blinked slowly across from him. "What is it?" he asked, his voice even and patient.
"Well, I, uh… I don't know if you'll be creeped out by this or something, or if you'll even care, and I really hope this doesn't hurt our friendship or anything, but I wanted to tell you that I… um…" Wil gripped his pillow tightly as he forced himself to look into Rath's forest green eyes, staring back at him, awaiting what he had to say.
This was it. Wil took a deep breath.
"Rath," he said, firmly. "I love you."
The nomad stared at him for a long time, their eyes locked; it was impossible to look anywhere else. Butterflies fluttered in Wil's stomach as he clenched his pillow tighter, waiting for Rath's response. He couldn't spot any emotion in his friend's eyes; he didn't see any kind of reaction at all, in fact.
After what felt like an eternity, Rath tore his gaze away and turned over.
All he said was, "Good night, Wil."
Wil bit his lip as the memory flooded his mind. He almost felt like crying, but shook his head; crying would solve nothing.
"I'm such an idiot…" Wil scolded, laughing a little in an attempt to cheer himself.
But what had made matters worse was that the next morning, Rath had acted as if nothing happened. He talked to Wil as he always had, and they ate breakfast together, as usual. Even during the battle, they fought side by side, protecting each other…
Wil plucked another arrow from his quiver and notched it, aiming at morph in the distance.
Stop moving, he thought desperately, as he tried to keep up with its movements. He squinted his eyes, trying to be as accurate as possible; his arrows were limited since there was no place to restock. He let loose his arrow and watched it fly true, striking the morph in the chest, and it fell to the ground.
Wil would've jumped up and down and cheered for his lesser victory, had he not heard the voice calling behind him.
"Wil! Behind you!"
Wil whirled around, only to be struck on his unprotected shoulder by a sharp, unforgiving blade. He cried out in pain and stumbled back, helpless with his arm injured and at such close range, and squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the second, and no doubt fatal strike.
Instead he heard the clash of metal.
Wil looked up just in time to see Rath, locking blades with the morph from atop his horse. There was a brief struggle in might, but with a great heave, Rath pushed the morph back, causing it to falter momentarily. But that one moment was all he needed; the nomad slashed through the puppet with a fierce intensity that nearly cut its body in half.
Wil watched him sheath his sword, stunned at the ferocity his usually calm, collected friend. By the time he'd regained his senses enough to say something, he found himself being pulled onto Rath's horse, and seated in front of the Sacaen.
Rath urged the horse away from the battle front, rummaging in the saddle bags at as quick a pace as he could. Wil was beginning to feel dizzy from loss of blood, and felt himself beginning to go lax. He felt an arm snake around his waist to keep him from falling off, and then, calloused fingers gently rubbing salve on his shoulder wound. Wil groaned at the mix between the pain of his wound and the pleasure of the warm touch. He leaned back against the comforting heat of the nomad's chest, until he realized what he was doing.
"Rath! I'm so sorry!" he apologized, snapping out of his daze and sitting up straight. "I just felt dizzy and I couldn't help it, I was about to fall off, and then you—"
"It's fine," Rath responded, as he removed his hand from Wil's shoulder. "How does it feel?"
"It… It feels a lot better!" Wil exclaimed, realizing now that it did. "Thanks a lot Rath, I don't know what I'd do without you. Well, actually, I probably wouldn't do anything, I'd probably be dead!" He laughed nervously.
"… Can you fight?"
"What? Uh… Yeah! I think so. Unless my arm starts acting up. Then I might have some problems…"
"Stay close to me," Rath said. He stopped and thought for a moment, then corrected himself, "No. Stay with me. You can fight from horseback now."
Wil looked up at him in surprise. "Are you… are you sure? I'm not that good at shooting from horseback yet, and I might fall off… And you won't be able to move as fast, and I'll probably just get in the way…"
"I'm sure," Rath said firmly. "I don't want to lose you."
It was then Wil realized Rath's arm was still around his waist.
Wil ran a hand through his hair and sighed in frustration. Had he not told Rath how he felt, that incident would've made him practically burst with joy. He probably would've skipped up to Nergal and danced around in circles with him, he would've been so happy. But he had told Rath. And Rath stilljust saw him as a friend, didn't he?
Didn't he?
Rath certainly wasn't the type to lead him on. And technically, he hadn't said he didn't feel the same way…
"Alright!" Wil whispered to himself, a sudden determination building up within him. "I'll go talk to him…"
The young archer began the descent down his hill, and the climb up the next, tripping over loose rocks and cracking stray twigs on his way. The noise caught the attention of the nomad, and he turned to watch the stumbling Wil climb up towards him with calm, even gaze.
"Hey, Rath!" Wil called, forcing a smile. Rath nodded his head in acknowledgement and held his hand out to offer his friend a seat. Wil plopped down next to him as Rath took a swig of his drink – ale, no doubt, considering that was virtually the only thing available on this night.
"So… we won," Wil stated, stupidly. He grinned at Rath, earning a small trace of a smile and a nod of the head.
"I can't believe it's all over though, you know?" Wil continued. "We've been traveling for so long, and now, once we get to back to the mainland, we'll all be going our separate ways and we might never see each other again! It's kind of sad once you think about it… I really should go home to Pherae and see my parents, but I'll probably just end up going back to Caelin…" Rath offered his bottle to Wil, who took it with a smile. "Where do you think you'll go?" he asked, and took a drink.
"… I am going to Caelin as well."
Wil spit his ale out, mid-drink.
"You are!" Wil beamed. "That's so great! That was like, the last place I expected you to go after this! I can't believe it. Are you going to enlist in the army? That'd make us unstoppable if you were. I wouldn't doubt you'd be made captain of the archery division just by showing up!"
"I won't be staying there."
"What? Then why are you going?"
"You know of Lyn's plans to relinquish Caelin's rule to Ostia, correct?" Rath asked.
Wil nodded his head.
"Lyn wishes to return to Sacae once that is done. I am going there as well, so I offered to travel with her."
"Oh… So… you're going alone with Lyn – I mean, Lady Lyndis…" Wil trailed off, his voice heavy. Did that mean that… Maybe… Maybe she and Rath were…
"Not alone," Rath said. "A number of others will be going with us."
"Really?" Wil asked, perking up. He took another sip from the bottle. "Who else is gonna go?"
"Guy, Florina, Heath and Legault," Rath told him.
Wil made a sour face that he hoped Rath didn't see. He and Guy hadn't been on the best of terms when Wil overheard him tell Serra – more like confess to her, since conversations with Serra often ended up like an interrogation – that he had a crush on Rath. It was obvious, once Wil looked back on it; the way Guy talked to him or about him, always smiling when around him, declaring he'd protect his fellow tribesman… Wil had to admit he felt a little jealous about that. Rath and Guy were both Sacaen, and from the same tribe, no less. They had something in common that Wil just couldn't have. He'd never be a Sacaen. Maybe that's why he almost wanted to rub it in Guy's face when Rath agreed to give him horseback riding lessons.
Of course, considering the condition Wil last saw the young swordsman in, he wasn't so sure that Guy would be a 'threat' anymore. But if he wasn't going to Ostia with Matthew, maybe it was just a one-night thing…
"Rath, do you like Guy?" Wil asked, impulse taking over. He immediately regretted asking.
"… What do you mean?" the nomad questioned, carefully.
"You know what I mean! Like, like like. More than a friend… Better than a buddy…" Wil felt as if he was about Nino's age after he said that.
"… No."
"Oh… well… um, is there anyone that you do like?" Wil asked, shyly. "I've got ties with Serra, and she knows just about everything that happens around here – I swear, she can read minds – and I bet I could hook you up, at least for one night..."
Rath was silent. He stared up at the clear, starry sky above him, and inhaled the crisp, cool air before letting it out in a long sigh. Wil noticed how much prettier the stars looked when reflected in those emerald eyes.
"Aye," he replied, finally. "There is."
"Weeeell?" Wil said, expectantly. Rath turned and stared into his eyes, his gaze piercing. Wil blinked in surprised.
"Wil," he started. "About the other night…"
"Ack!" Wil spat out. "Please, forget about that completely! It was so stupid of me to say that, and I'm really really sorry, I probably made you feel really uncomfortable, and I've been meaning to apologize, I just haven't had the time until now. Well, actually I have, but I haven't really had the guts to until now, and I—"
Rath inwardly sighed. He figured there was only one way to shut him up now.
Wil was cut off when the distance between them was suddenly closed, and lips were planted firmly onto his mouth.
Rath had…he had… kissed him!
He pulled away a second later, but Wil was left staring at him, dumbfounded, his mouth hanging open. A long silence ensued, the archer staring incredulously at the expressionless nomad.
"R… R…Rath!" he cried out, not able to say much else. Rath let out a soft laugh at the response.
"… I… wanted to tell you," he said, hesitantly. He shook his head. "But… It would've hurt too much to have told you, to have had you, and then to have lost you."
Wil was still staring, his mouth was still agape.
"… After you told me how you felt…" Rath continued, feeling a little awkward at the other's stare, "… I promised myself we would both live, so I could tell you I felt the same."
Wil continued to stare, until his face broke into a smile, and he pounced on the older man, knocking him backward onto the ground. He buried his face in the crook of Rath's neck, reveling in the warmth of their touching skin. Rath laughed as he slid an arm around the younger archer, and ran his fingers through auburn hair with his other hand. Wil sighed blissfully.
"You have no idea how many times I've dreamed of this!" Wil exclaimed, practically squealing. "This is too good to be true… I mean, I don't think I've ever wanted anything more than this! Well, maybe I have, but not in a while, and you're really important to me and I just…" Wil sighed again, dreamily. "… I just love you."
Rath smiled and kissed the other's forehead.
"I love you too."
A/N: Sappy start, eh? Sorry it was kind of choppy and incoherent. I'm still quite new to this. I have a tendency to ramble on the semi-unimportant parts, and then skid over the kinda-important parts, if that made any sense at all. Um… reviews are appreciated; let me know what I'm doing right or wrong. I'm kind of slow with updates, but if anyone actually enjoyed this, I could try and speed it along. And once again, thank you for wasting your time.
Random: Am I the only one that squeals whenever Rath says 'aye'?