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31_days2018-06-17 04:30 pm
samuraiter) wrote in 31_days2018-06-17 04:30 pm
Entry tags:
[June 17] [Fire Emblem Heroes] Executioner
Title: Executioner
Day / Prompt: 17 / Hunting Season
Fandom: Fire Emblem Heroes
Character(s) / Pairing(s): Soldier of Embla (F), Virion
Rating / Warning(s): Mature / Violence, Character Death
Word Count: 870
The small house had not yet been reduced to ruins by the invaders, but it did not have any signs of life ... except for the fact that one of its side doors had been opened.
Virion approached from one of the fields behind the house, the tall grass swaying around him as he thought, I suppose this one does not intend to show her teeth until she is cornered. Troublesome. He sighed, putting up his bow and drawing his dagger instead. A good tactic, perhaps. I cannot shoot her if she is behind these walls.
He did not see his prey through the windows, and he analyzed the possibilities in front of him. If she attempts to flee through another door, I need only a single arrow, and that is the end. Her best chance is to ambush me inside the house. He narrowed his eyes. I suppose I could burn it down and flush her out, but that is ... excessive. I still have the advantage. He looked at the open door. Hmm. Obvious trap. No doubt she has her spear ready behind that entrance. One of the other doors, perhaps? At the back?
He disappeared back into the field, slipping from there into the weed-filled garden at the back of the house, seeing one unopened door there. Into the kitchen, no doubt. She has had long enough to prepare. He considered the option. Perhaps a stack of pots and pans in front of the door that will fall down and make a racket if I open it? Not unreasonable. Smart, in fact. He reached for the handle and gave the door a push. As expected, he immediately heard a series of crashes. There. Make her run for that door, and then – He hustled to the open door that he had noticed before, making no noise.
There, they came face-to-face, surrounding by furnishings that looked like they had only been abandoned days before. Silence as she tightened her white-knuckled grip on her spear and he held his dagger in place, unmoving, eyes watching her center of gravity.
A long moment passed before she spoke, her voice hoarse as she said, "You've already killed my Pegasus. Is it so important that you come here and finish me off?"
"Those are my orders," Virion replied, his voice neutral, "and I cannot refuse them. If your superiors have told you anything, they have no doubt told you how loyal heroes are to the Summoner." A hint of sympathy on his face. "I do not enjoy the killing."
"I suppose we're all numbers to you, then," she rasped, clenching her teeth as her hands trembled. "You think you'll win if you could just kill enough of us." He could glimpse her dark eyes under the rim of her helmet. "We all fear you, you know. To us, you're not 'heroes' at all. We call you the Deathless." She steadied herself. "If one of us dies, that's the end. There's no coming back. That's not so for you. Even if you feel the pain of it, you'll be back in the field like nothing's changed, and we'll just keep dying." A flash of anger. "It isn't fair! Whether our cause is just or not, we shouldn't have to —"
Virion took advantage of a lapse in her attention and slipped his dagger between her ribs – once, twice, thrice, all speed and efficiency. Her spear immediately clattered to the floor from nerveless fingers, and she held her side as she crumpled to her knees.
"It isn't fair," she repeated, blood pouring from her mouth. "Your ... legends will always be told, won't ... they?" She collapsed to her side, breathing hard as her helmet fell from her head, her white hair spilling forth from it. "But no one will remember ... any of us." The light started fading from her eyes. "No one will ... remember ... our sacrifices."
Virion dropped to one knee, wiping off his dagger and returning it to his belt before he lightly brushed her hair from her eyes, saying, "War erases the small people, child. For every hero you see from the Order, how many more unsung people died in the conflicts that birthed their legends?" He sighed. "I am a cold person. I do not feel the losses the way so many of the others do. But I still acknowledge them. Those people are —"
But she had already gone, her last breath whispering between her lips.
"No, it is not fair," he said, taking the time to wrap her in her cape and return her helmet to her head, "but that is the nature of warfare." He looked at her face one more time. "Not much more than a child. What would you have done if you had lived on?" He shook his head. Talking to myself. No one else here to listen any more, is there?
Virion took the time to bury the young Soldier of Embla in the garden behind the house before he reported back to the Summoner, and the walk back up the dirt road from that place seemed unusually quiet compared to when he had come there to kill.
END.
Day / Prompt: 17 / Hunting Season
Fandom: Fire Emblem Heroes
Character(s) / Pairing(s): Soldier of Embla (F), Virion
Rating / Warning(s): Mature / Violence, Character Death
Word Count: 870
The small house had not yet been reduced to ruins by the invaders, but it did not have any signs of life ... except for the fact that one of its side doors had been opened.
Virion approached from one of the fields behind the house, the tall grass swaying around him as he thought, I suppose this one does not intend to show her teeth until she is cornered. Troublesome. He sighed, putting up his bow and drawing his dagger instead. A good tactic, perhaps. I cannot shoot her if she is behind these walls.
He did not see his prey through the windows, and he analyzed the possibilities in front of him. If she attempts to flee through another door, I need only a single arrow, and that is the end. Her best chance is to ambush me inside the house. He narrowed his eyes. I suppose I could burn it down and flush her out, but that is ... excessive. I still have the advantage. He looked at the open door. Hmm. Obvious trap. No doubt she has her spear ready behind that entrance. One of the other doors, perhaps? At the back?
He disappeared back into the field, slipping from there into the weed-filled garden at the back of the house, seeing one unopened door there. Into the kitchen, no doubt. She has had long enough to prepare. He considered the option. Perhaps a stack of pots and pans in front of the door that will fall down and make a racket if I open it? Not unreasonable. Smart, in fact. He reached for the handle and gave the door a push. As expected, he immediately heard a series of crashes. There. Make her run for that door, and then – He hustled to the open door that he had noticed before, making no noise.
There, they came face-to-face, surrounding by furnishings that looked like they had only been abandoned days before. Silence as she tightened her white-knuckled grip on her spear and he held his dagger in place, unmoving, eyes watching her center of gravity.
A long moment passed before she spoke, her voice hoarse as she said, "You've already killed my Pegasus. Is it so important that you come here and finish me off?"
"Those are my orders," Virion replied, his voice neutral, "and I cannot refuse them. If your superiors have told you anything, they have no doubt told you how loyal heroes are to the Summoner." A hint of sympathy on his face. "I do not enjoy the killing."
"I suppose we're all numbers to you, then," she rasped, clenching her teeth as her hands trembled. "You think you'll win if you could just kill enough of us." He could glimpse her dark eyes under the rim of her helmet. "We all fear you, you know. To us, you're not 'heroes' at all. We call you the Deathless." She steadied herself. "If one of us dies, that's the end. There's no coming back. That's not so for you. Even if you feel the pain of it, you'll be back in the field like nothing's changed, and we'll just keep dying." A flash of anger. "It isn't fair! Whether our cause is just or not, we shouldn't have to —"
Virion took advantage of a lapse in her attention and slipped his dagger between her ribs – once, twice, thrice, all speed and efficiency. Her spear immediately clattered to the floor from nerveless fingers, and she held her side as she crumpled to her knees.
"It isn't fair," she repeated, blood pouring from her mouth. "Your ... legends will always be told, won't ... they?" She collapsed to her side, breathing hard as her helmet fell from her head, her white hair spilling forth from it. "But no one will remember ... any of us." The light started fading from her eyes. "No one will ... remember ... our sacrifices."
Virion dropped to one knee, wiping off his dagger and returning it to his belt before he lightly brushed her hair from her eyes, saying, "War erases the small people, child. For every hero you see from the Order, how many more unsung people died in the conflicts that birthed their legends?" He sighed. "I am a cold person. I do not feel the losses the way so many of the others do. But I still acknowledge them. Those people are —"
But she had already gone, her last breath whispering between her lips.
"No, it is not fair," he said, taking the time to wrap her in her cape and return her helmet to her head, "but that is the nature of warfare." He looked at her face one more time. "Not much more than a child. What would you have done if you had lived on?" He shook his head. Talking to myself. No one else here to listen any more, is there?
Virion took the time to bury the young Soldier of Embla in the garden behind the house before he reported back to the Summoner, and the walk back up the dirt road from that place seemed unusually quiet compared to when he had come there to kill.
END.