[oct 4] [odin sphere] synthesis

[annwyd.livejournal.com]

Title: Synthesis
Day/Theme: October 4, "where the wild things are"
Series: Odin Sphere
Character/Pairing: Gwendolyn/Oswald
Wordcount: 336
Rating: PG
Spoilers: For the end of the game.

Elrit Forest had once teemed with dangerous beasts of all persuasions. Now this weak manticore was the first real threat other than hunger that Gwendolyn had met there for weeks.

Weak it might be, but its own hunger had not left it alone these weeks, and its teeth were sharper than ever. It lunged for Oswald out of the trees; yet he did not see, as he knelt to clear the path for her.

Gwendolyn had not fought since the end of the world. The makeshift spear she had recreated had been of more use as a walking stick. But now it leapt into her hands as if commanded by her heart, and she soared forward.

Oswald looked up, his attention caught by her movement, and his eyes went wide, all the fear in them driven out by love. He understood in an instant that it was too late for him to handle the threat, and he trusted her to do so; wordlessly he promised her that he would destroy the next beast that set its sights on her, in turn.

The raw and fumbling spear pierced the manticore's heart with all of her strength behind it. The creature groaned and sank to the ground.

"If you truly wished to survive in this resurrected world," Gwendolyn told the fading light in its eyes, "you would have stayed your tooth and claw from my husband."

The tip of the spear was wet with blood. A part of Gwendolyn's heart recognized this and welcomed it. She had grown tired of the lack of battle, as terrible as that was; she stared at the bloodied and unshining stone, wondering how she could fare as the world's new mother if she could not quench the bloodlust that had once shaped her.

Then Oswald's eyes drew her gaze away from the gory sight, and his hand clasped hers. "Thank you," he said, "Gwendolyn."

And it no longer mattered whether she was warrior or mother. At his side, she would be both.