Wow. It's about time I started writing this. Yes, it is a Hector/Florina. I will not change it, so if you don't like that couple, leave now please. If you're willing to deal with it, or you just love Hector/Florina, stick around and I'll try not to let you down.
Chapter One: The Wish
For as long as Florina could remember, she had dreamed of becoming a Pegasus knight. A Pegasus knight had to be strong, agile and courageous. Florina had the agile part down packed, her strength was improving, however, she lacked in the courage area. People intimidated her, men especially.
Her attitude had changed slightly since meeting Lyndis and helping her claim her rightful position in the House of Caelin. She had become Lyndis' vassal and worked along side men quite often. Florina's fears had certainly lessened…
But they certainly weren't gone either. Florina was determined to get over this fear somehow. If only there was something she could do to prove her worth…
That something came. Castle Caelin was under attack, and Wil was scouting the area. Florina was at her lady's side watching as she paced back and forth.
"I should have never left the castle!" Lyndis said to herself, "I should have never left grandfather..."
"Lyn, it's all right," Florina said to her, "We'll save him somehow."
The taller girl sighed, "I'm just worried Florina. What if they..."
"Lyn!" a male voice called. Wil was back from scouting, "The defenses around the castle are pretty tight. But I'm hearing rumors that Lord Eliwood and his men are in Laus."
"Really? That could be to our advantage!" Lyndis remarked, "If only we could contact him..."
"I could go," Wil offered.
"Yes, you could. It'd be difficult for Kent and Sain, what with their horses and all. Travel lightly now," Lyndis instructed. Florina saw her opportunity. It was now or never.
"I-I could go Lyn!" she said working up her nerve. Lyndis and Wil turned to the Pegasus knight and blinked.
"You?" Lyndis began, "But Florina—"
"I can get there faster than anybody," the lavender haired girl continued, "and I can handle talking with Lord Eliwood. I've met him before."
"You've convinced me, Florina, the job is yours," The young noble said.
"I won't let you down, Lyn," Florina said taking off. Lyndis waved after her almost wistfully. Sain and Kent rode up to beside her.
"Florina spoke most forcefully on your behalf," Sain remarked, "Beautiful!"
Kent rolled his eyes in annoyance, "Every woman is beautiful to you, why should now be any different?"
Sain pretended to be offended by Kent's last statement, but in all actuality, he had grown immune to his companions slighting words. Lyndis sighed reflectively.
"I used to protect her all the time on the plains, it's hard to let go of those days," she said softly. Wil let out a long sigh.
"They grow up so fast, don't they?" he said jokingly to the young Sacean girl. The joke had completely escaped her notice, for she nodded in reply.
"Yeah. I hope I didn't put her in too much danger..."
-
Florina was now a few miles above the ground, flying as fast as she could. Laus was west some, and then a bit north. Florina grasped her reigns and took a deep breath. Getting there wasn't even half the battle for her. It was talking to Lord Eliwood that would pose a real challenge.
Florina sighed and patted Huey, and took several more deep breathes.
"Come on! Just once, I want my fears to go away! I want something good to happen to me!" she said out loud. Just as she turned her attention to the ground she saw a band of ragtag soldiers. At the head was a familiar face, framed by red hair.
Florina gasped in surprise, "Lord Eliwood!" With that she flew in closer. He seemed to notice her.
"Florina, is that you?" he called.
"Yes!" she cried back, "I'm Lady Lyn's—"
"Florina! Look out!" Eliwood called frantically. Florina was confused.
"What?" she questioned. She yelped as an arrow came whizzing past her face. She dodged most of the arrows with considerable skill, but she was not so successful during the next one. She felt a sharp pain in her shoulder as an arrow stuck her dead on. Without warning she slid off from Huey's back and was plummeting for the ground.
She shut her eyes. This was it, there was no escaping this.
"Someone please help me..."
-
Hector had one uncanny ability, which he preferred to keep secret. He could see the future in his dreams. It all started when he was young, he dreamt he would go to school and meet this kid with red hair and they would be best friends. This came true of course, he had met Eliwood, and the two had been inseparable ever since.
Later on when he was about twelve, he dreamt that both their parents died and Uther became Marquees of Ostia. No doubt this had come true, although he rather wished it hadn't.
His dreams so far, were never wrong. When he was around fourteen, he dreamt that a Pegasus would fall from the sky and crush him. Ever since then, he worked up his strength and defenses, saying, "If that Pegasus does fall from the sky, I'll be ready one way or another!"
However, that Pegasus was the last thing on his mind, even though one was flying toward him and Eliwood at that very moment. She seemed to have some message from this Lyndis girl Eliwood wouldn't stop talking about.
Hector vaguely wondered if this Lyndis was pretty. His absent minded musings were rudely interrupted as he noticed the first volley of arrows aimed straight at the young Pegasus knight.
"Florina, watch out!" Eliwood cried. Hector watched the girl dodge the first volley easily. His companion let out a sigh of relief. Hector's sharp eyes caught the archers preparing a second volley.
"Will she make it?" he whispered. He looked up toward where he last saw her. She wasn't on her mount and it was circling aimlessly.
"They must have gotten her..." the young noble said a bit sadly. He hated to lose people in battle...He hoped Saint Emiline would grant her a nice place in heaven. Yes...maybe she'd be a pretty angel who would bless their battles from now on...
'Why on earth am I so spacey today?' Hector thought, 'Angels, heaven and whatnot...what am I a monk?'
With that, he threw up his hands in defeat, only to have a girl fall perfectly into his arms.
"What on Earth?" he said in shock. She herself was in shock, so much so that she fainted. Hector, still confused could do nothing more than gaze down at the girl in his arms. She certainly was cute...
"Hector!" Oswin cried. Hector turned to respond, but before he could he felt something heavy force him to the ground. A Pegasus.
As Oswin and the others pulled the Pegsus off of him, the young lord had the painful feeling of déjà vu. Sometimes it hurts to be right.
-
Florina opened her eyes slowly. She should be dead now with Saint Emiline in heaven blessing Lyndis in her battles to come...
"Florina? I'm glad you're all right, you had quite a fall there!" Eliwood said kindly.
"I'm alive?" the lavender haired Pegasus knight asked. Eliwood nodded.
"You're lucky," he continued, "If you had fallen on me, I wouldn't have caught you."
"If it wasn't you who caught me," Florina began, "then who did I—"
"I caught you, and your flying horse too," a loud male voice interjected. Florina yelped and rushed behind Eliwood.
"Come on Hector, stop being so sarcastic, you saved her!" Eliwood said.
"I merely gave her a soft place to land, a bale of hay would have been better," Hector replied.
"I'm so..." Florina began, "I'm very...I don't know what to say!"
"You could deliver that message you had for us," Hector suggested. Florina snapped to attention.
"Right!" she said, "Lord Eliwood, Lady Lyn is on the other side of the forest. She is looking for a way to get into the Castle and rescue the marquees. Your assistance in this endeavor is greatly appreciated."
"Yes, I think we shall help you," Eliwood said taking out his rapier, "What do you think Hector?"
"Yes, let's get going," the taller boy replied, "Mark!"
Florina turned to see who responded to that name. Could it be...?
"Yes, Lord Hector?" a green robed figure said. Those robes could belong to no one other than the tactician Mark, who had helped Lyndis one year earlier.
"Will you stop calling me that," the blue haired Ostian said, "Just Hector will do fine. Suit everybody up, we're going to battle."
"Will do," Mark said. He put on what Lyndis called, his "battle" face, "All right everyone, you heard Hector, we're going to battle! Let's move!"
He positioned everyone as he saw fit, but he saved Florina for last. Florina wasn't as afraid of Mark as she was of everyone else. Whether Mark liked it or not, he had a fairly effeminate face, and a soft voice when he was outside of battle. While he was not as androgynous as say, Lucius, he had a very gentile look about him. She never feared to listen to Mark's orders.
"M-mark?" she said softly.
"Yes, Florina?" he replied.
"I-I'm right here if you need me..." the Pegasus knight said. Mark smiled knowingly.
"Gotcha," he said.
-
And so the battle began. Florina was a little uneasy. She had never fought with these people before. She had to keep a strong face. Don't get scared...
"Hector, watch those Pegasus knights to your right," Mark warned the axe-wielding lord. Hector gripped his weapon. Florina had her eyes fixed on him suddenly, waiting to see what he would do.
The enemy Pegasus knight tried to strike first, but missed. Hector, wasn't nearly as cumbersome, for in one fatal sweep, he cleaved the Pegasus' wing off and left both the flying horse and its rider to bleed to death.
Florina felt her blood run cold and her face blanched considerably. She buried her face in her Pegasus' mane.
"L-lord Hector is not s-scary. H-he was just trying t-to destroy the enemy. H-he wouldn't attack one of his o-own soldiers..." the lavender haired girl mumbled to herself. Mark saw Florina's reaction to Hector's attack and he could see Florina's "condition" hadn't improved much.
"Dorcas, stay near Florina, she's a bit shaken," he said to the older man, "And she needs to see a familiar face."
Dorcas nodded and took his place beside the wisp of a girl. Florina had finally lifted her paling face from Huey's mane.
"D-Dorcas?" Florina said. The red haired man smiled slightly and nodded.
"We'll be fighting together again it seems," he said. Florina's expression brightened.
"G-good," she said almost like a sigh of relief. She remembered his wife and how gentle he was with her. Dorcas wouldn't let anything happen to her if he could help it.
Florina was lucky. Dorcas was a man of few words, so it didn't matter if she didn't say anything to him. At least someone was there that she recognized, even if it was a man.
-
Lyndis and her soldiers met up with Hector's small army in a short time. Hector tore through enemies easily, but almost wildly. Lyndis almost got her head chopped off by Hector's axe. Luckily she dodged just in time.
"Hector!" a familiar voice called, "Trade places with Dorcas!"
Lyndis smirked, "Mark."
But as she saw Hector move near Florina, one thing worried her. She feared for Florina's safety with him. He was not always aware of the location of his allies, he might hurt the small Pegasus knight by accident.
"Is something the matter, Lady Lyndis?" Kent said as he rode up beside her.
"Florina is fighting next to that Lord Hector," the Sacaean girl told the cavalier, "His fighting style is not very controlled. I'm worried he might hurt her."
"That is the least of my worries," Kent said, "The tactician has every intent of sending Florina and Lord Hector into full fledged battle with the general guarding the gate. In fact, he instructed me to bring my heavy spear to her."
"What is he thinking!" Lyndis cried. Kent winced at her sudden outburst.
"I'm sorry my lady, I will do as I was instructed, I trust this tactician," the red haired man said.
"Yeah, I trust Mark too," she replied. Kent smiled.
"Then I trust you saw him?" he said. Lyndis nodded.
Kent sighed, "I hope he knows what he's doing."
He bid his lady good bye as he rode away to trade with Florina. Lyndis hoped Mark wasn't going completely mad.
As Kent caught up with Florina, he could see the brown haired boy talking with her. Kent also noticed Florina's change in pallor as Lord Hector joined them.
"Ah, here he is!" Mark said to the cavalier rode to his side. Kent handed Florina his heavy spear. It looked too big and clumsy in her small hands and she was visibly shaking. Kent smiled at her kindly.
"Have courage, Florina," he said. The Pegasus knight nodded dumbly. Hector tapped his foot impatiently.
"I can do this myself if she's too scared," he said gruffly.
"She's going with you," Mark replied firmly.
Hector sighed, "Let's go."
-
Florina noticed that Huey was getting a little worn out after flying so far, and fighting for so long. She patted the Pegasus.
"I know you're tired, I am too," the girl said softly, "When we get through I'll give you a nice bunch of carrots. And I'll brush you too."
"Get out of the way, will you!" a Hector cried. Florina almost jumped out of her skin. He was angry with her...images of the other Pegasus knight flashed before her eyes. Would he hurt her too? No, she was his ally...but still...
"This isn't a stable, you'll either fight, or I'll have to take drastic measures!" the heavily armored boy continued.
'Defend yourself!' her mind screamed. Florina's mouth opened, but no words of anger and determination came out. Just a typical stammered apology. Florina collapsed like a house of cards as he continued on muttering to himself. He scared the living daylights out of her. There was no way she could verbally defend herself. She couldn't do it.
"I can't do anything right..." she said softly, so the fuming lord in front of her could not hear. "I wish...I wish I could make someone like him understand what I'm thinking, why I can't do things the way he can. If I can do that, I'll be one step closer to overcoming my fear. All I want is strength to defend those I care about."
A simple and pure wish, to be sure. And as the general was coming into focus, Florina could feel her courage wane. She couldn't do this.
Little did she know that this battle was the first of many she would fight alongside Lord Hector, and how he would change her, and how she, in turn would change him.
Uh...That's the first chapter. Yep.
Next Chapter: Flare