first 3 fics
1. Title: Burning Falcon
Fandom: Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 1
Rating: T (alcohol, mild slashy undertones)
Word Count: 389
Summary: Falcom/Noire. Noire doesn't remember Falcom ever not being there. Something about the red-haired adventurer fascinates her; maybe it's her singing voice.
Falcom claims to be a 'newbie adventurer' but Noire has never remembered not seeing her.
Usually she's at the guild, reporting in on a finished job or taking on a new assignment, or in the tavern, on her third or fourth ale. She can certainly hold her drink, always seeming like the cheerful, excitable drunk, except when an assignment goes bad and she turns maudlin. These incidents usually involve sea travel. Falcom has terrible luck with boats. Sometimes she reminisces about the old days, although she always adds that it doesn't mean her sun has set, she has plenty of life left in her, she just worries that she isn't the same person any more that she was when life was simpler. She takes on a lot of work, usually preferring to fly solo, although these days she sometimes leads small teams as there isn't as much work for just a solitary adventurer.
After the tavern closes and she's walking home, she sings, either humming under her breath or at the top of her voice depending on how much ale she managed to get through. Her voice is beautiful. She reminds Noire of a fire-haired angel, an unstoppable force of musical power. Noire has been following her for a while so that she has more time to listen to that repertoire of songs, many familiar but always something new.
Vert has also commented that the 'cute redhead with the big sword' always seemed to be there, that she'd been trying to get to know her a little better, chatting about their favourite games and the good old days. Falcom has some refined, old-school tastes in games as well as beer. Blanc had gotten along surprisingly well with her, sharing a long history. Even Neptune sort of remembers seeing her before, although it was a while ago, she was using a different name at the time and she was experimenting with different hairstyles, growing her hair out long and even once dying it blonde, a style that didn't suit her at all.
"Her singing was beautiful even then," sighed Neptune, "Even though the acoustics were kinda odd, in a way, it kinda sounded better."
Noire had met even older hands who remembered Falcom always being there. She hoped it was true. It might mean Noire would always see her again.
2.
Title: Annual Leave
Fandom: Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 1 / Climax Landers / Dark Savior
Rating: K+
Word Count: 518
Summary: Noire warns Neptune to go and visit Climax and find out what's wrong before she shuts herself off from the outside world forever.
Neptune looked up at the murals on the walls. They were all antique painted and lacquered wooden panels. Every single one of them depicted some kind of animal. A rodent, Neptune guessed, somewhere between a hamster and a chipmunk, although much larger than any of those animals she had ever seen. Then again, she had never seen a hamster wielding a sword and wearing a giant helmet. Most of the dioramas were of these rodents in some kind of battle scene or about to embark on an adventure, usually in the depths of a grand labyrinth. Neptune had thought at first that these were meant to be representations of people in general, possibly humorous, but she had seen her hosts gesture to them with what looked like formal indications of respect or even worship.
Noire had warned her how weird these Climaxlanders were.
The Climaxlandish people had always been insular and were gradually getting worse, speaking only through representatives, trading through third parties, refusing to learn the major languages of Gamindustri and only speaking Climaxlandish. These days the place was practically cut off from the outside world. Soon, Noire had told her with a frown, unless the Goddesses did something, the entire archipelago would be under the same lockdown as Climaxland's notorious escape-proof prison island.
The raven-haired Goddess had sworn that Climax herself was most likely to talk to Neptune. While she would deal with Noire and Blanc on rare occasions, she admired Neptune the most for the 'quirky uniqueness' that Climax felt the two of them shared. However, Climax had seemed angry with Neptune before she cut herself off from civilisation again, claiming that she was moving her temple somewhere else and was far too busy to talk to anyone. Noire wasn't sure if there had been some kind of argument or if Climax had been badly affected by Neptune's fall during that fateful battle.
Just watch out, Noire had warned her, Climax is very unpredictable and very dangerous on her home territory. If she offers you something called a 'Jogurt Ring', don't put it on your finger, and under no circumstances agree to go anywhere near that prison island.
The wait grew longer. Some sort of ritual was being performed involving a lot of chanting and gesturing towards the Jogurt icons. She had at least been served some delicious green tea. The music was nice, if a little experimental, and she found herself humming along to it as she desperately tried to remember the polite way to say 'I need to go pee' in Climaxlandish.
Nothing had gone too horribly wrong too far. Akthough she was annoyed at how few and far between the boats back home were.
3.
Title: Chaos in Emblia
Fandom: Fire Emblem Heroes / Super Smash Bros.
Rating: K+
Word Count: 450
Summary: As if being randomly summoned to a different world isn't bizarre enough, Team Fire Emblem keep meeting multiple identical instances of themselves. Except for Robin, who keeps meeting a male version of themself, and may or may not be dating them. The other Arena contenders try their best to help them out.
When Ike next reappeared, Captain Falcon was waiting for him with a cup of strong coffee. Resisting the urge to actually praise the energy-giving brew as though it were a gift from the Gods, the burly mercenary instead grabbed the mug from the pilot and drained the entire thing in one without bothering to wait for it to cool down to a reasonable temperature. After gasping, spluttering and swearing for a while, Ike remarked, "So, it's that predictable these days, right?"
"Robin's been using it to organise a regular chess match with another tactician," said the racer.
"Actually, it's another Robin," said Samus, helping to extract Marth from the cupboard he had accidentally teleported back into, "Possibly a male Robin. I'd watch those two if I were you. I'm not sure about your world, but back home, if two officers start arranging private games that aren't work related, it can mean something else."
"Two Robins is kinda a worrying thought on its own," Ike scratched his head, "How can there even be more than one of us? How can one of them be male and one female? I mean, that sort of thing happens to Marth all the time, but..."
"Not actual, identical copies of me, Ike," Marth sighed, straightening his tunic and quickly removing the pair of Robin's underpants that had fallen off the shelf in the cupboard and down his collar, "Our abilities aren't the same, though, so I suspect we were brought from different times. You should be asking yourself how any of this is possible."
"Maybe it's the same sort of thing that keeps this arena going?" suggested Samus, "I always did wonder how the hell that worked. It's far beyond even Chozo technology."
"I thought it was chaos magic," admitted Marth.
"It's probably Crazy Hand's fault," decided Ike. He yawned, stretched, then unslung his sword from across his back, "And if it isn't his fault, I've had a long day of those damn puppeteers making me go through the same trial exercises for hours on end. I need to work out my frustrations on someone, and that lunatic's always up for a fight."
"Good idea, I've been meaning to see if I'm ready to take him on yet," said Captain Falcon, readjusting the straps on his helmet.
Marth sighed, "You two don't want a break? Not even a cup of tea? Well, if you insist. Maybe we'll even get some answers out of him for once."
"I'll be your double if you'd like," said Samus, "I feel like going Zero Suit, I don't get enough practice at it."
As they left the Fire Emblem wing of the dormitories and headed to the Hands' personal suites, where they kept their own customised arenas as well as their conference rooms and private quarters, it occurred to Ike that Robin had been warped out at the same time as them, but still hadn't returned. The tactician was back later and later every day.
He tried not to think about what it might mean. She was clearly doing some more thorough intelligence gathering. Yeah, that was it.
Fandom: Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 1
Rating: T (alcohol, mild slashy undertones)
Word Count: 389
Summary: Falcom/Noire. Noire doesn't remember Falcom ever not being there. Something about the red-haired adventurer fascinates her; maybe it's her singing voice.
Falcom claims to be a 'newbie adventurer' but Noire has never remembered not seeing her.
Usually she's at the guild, reporting in on a finished job or taking on a new assignment, or in the tavern, on her third or fourth ale. She can certainly hold her drink, always seeming like the cheerful, excitable drunk, except when an assignment goes bad and she turns maudlin. These incidents usually involve sea travel. Falcom has terrible luck with boats. Sometimes she reminisces about the old days, although she always adds that it doesn't mean her sun has set, she has plenty of life left in her, she just worries that she isn't the same person any more that she was when life was simpler. She takes on a lot of work, usually preferring to fly solo, although these days she sometimes leads small teams as there isn't as much work for just a solitary adventurer.
After the tavern closes and she's walking home, she sings, either humming under her breath or at the top of her voice depending on how much ale she managed to get through. Her voice is beautiful. She reminds Noire of a fire-haired angel, an unstoppable force of musical power. Noire has been following her for a while so that she has more time to listen to that repertoire of songs, many familiar but always something new.
Vert has also commented that the 'cute redhead with the big sword' always seemed to be there, that she'd been trying to get to know her a little better, chatting about their favourite games and the good old days. Falcom has some refined, old-school tastes in games as well as beer. Blanc had gotten along surprisingly well with her, sharing a long history. Even Neptune sort of remembers seeing her before, although it was a while ago, she was using a different name at the time and she was experimenting with different hairstyles, growing her hair out long and even once dying it blonde, a style that didn't suit her at all.
"Her singing was beautiful even then," sighed Neptune, "Even though the acoustics were kinda odd, in a way, it kinda sounded better."
Noire had met even older hands who remembered Falcom always being there. She hoped it was true. It might mean Noire would always see her again.
2.
Title: Annual Leave
Fandom: Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 1 / Climax Landers / Dark Savior
Rating: K+
Word Count: 518
Summary: Noire warns Neptune to go and visit Climax and find out what's wrong before she shuts herself off from the outside world forever.
Neptune looked up at the murals on the walls. They were all antique painted and lacquered wooden panels. Every single one of them depicted some kind of animal. A rodent, Neptune guessed, somewhere between a hamster and a chipmunk, although much larger than any of those animals she had ever seen. Then again, she had never seen a hamster wielding a sword and wearing a giant helmet. Most of the dioramas were of these rodents in some kind of battle scene or about to embark on an adventure, usually in the depths of a grand labyrinth. Neptune had thought at first that these were meant to be representations of people in general, possibly humorous, but she had seen her hosts gesture to them with what looked like formal indications of respect or even worship.
Noire had warned her how weird these Climaxlanders were.
The Climaxlandish people had always been insular and were gradually getting worse, speaking only through representatives, trading through third parties, refusing to learn the major languages of Gamindustri and only speaking Climaxlandish. These days the place was practically cut off from the outside world. Soon, Noire had told her with a frown, unless the Goddesses did something, the entire archipelago would be under the same lockdown as Climaxland's notorious escape-proof prison island.
The raven-haired Goddess had sworn that Climax herself was most likely to talk to Neptune. While she would deal with Noire and Blanc on rare occasions, she admired Neptune the most for the 'quirky uniqueness' that Climax felt the two of them shared. However, Climax had seemed angry with Neptune before she cut herself off from civilisation again, claiming that she was moving her temple somewhere else and was far too busy to talk to anyone. Noire wasn't sure if there had been some kind of argument or if Climax had been badly affected by Neptune's fall during that fateful battle.
Just watch out, Noire had warned her, Climax is very unpredictable and very dangerous on her home territory. If she offers you something called a 'Jogurt Ring', don't put it on your finger, and under no circumstances agree to go anywhere near that prison island.
The wait grew longer. Some sort of ritual was being performed involving a lot of chanting and gesturing towards the Jogurt icons. She had at least been served some delicious green tea. The music was nice, if a little experimental, and she found herself humming along to it as she desperately tried to remember the polite way to say 'I need to go pee' in Climaxlandish.
Nothing had gone too horribly wrong too far. Akthough she was annoyed at how few and far between the boats back home were.
3.
Title: Chaos in Emblia
Fandom: Fire Emblem Heroes / Super Smash Bros.
Rating: K+
Word Count: 450
Summary: As if being randomly summoned to a different world isn't bizarre enough, Team Fire Emblem keep meeting multiple identical instances of themselves. Except for Robin, who keeps meeting a male version of themself, and may or may not be dating them. The other Arena contenders try their best to help them out.
When Ike next reappeared, Captain Falcon was waiting for him with a cup of strong coffee. Resisting the urge to actually praise the energy-giving brew as though it were a gift from the Gods, the burly mercenary instead grabbed the mug from the pilot and drained the entire thing in one without bothering to wait for it to cool down to a reasonable temperature. After gasping, spluttering and swearing for a while, Ike remarked, "So, it's that predictable these days, right?"
"Robin's been using it to organise a regular chess match with another tactician," said the racer.
"Actually, it's another Robin," said Samus, helping to extract Marth from the cupboard he had accidentally teleported back into, "Possibly a male Robin. I'd watch those two if I were you. I'm not sure about your world, but back home, if two officers start arranging private games that aren't work related, it can mean something else."
"Two Robins is kinda a worrying thought on its own," Ike scratched his head, "How can there even be more than one of us? How can one of them be male and one female? I mean, that sort of thing happens to Marth all the time, but..."
"Not actual, identical copies of me, Ike," Marth sighed, straightening his tunic and quickly removing the pair of Robin's underpants that had fallen off the shelf in the cupboard and down his collar, "Our abilities aren't the same, though, so I suspect we were brought from different times. You should be asking yourself how any of this is possible."
"Maybe it's the same sort of thing that keeps this arena going?" suggested Samus, "I always did wonder how the hell that worked. It's far beyond even Chozo technology."
"I thought it was chaos magic," admitted Marth.
"It's probably Crazy Hand's fault," decided Ike. He yawned, stretched, then unslung his sword from across his back, "And if it isn't his fault, I've had a long day of those damn puppeteers making me go through the same trial exercises for hours on end. I need to work out my frustrations on someone, and that lunatic's always up for a fight."
"Good idea, I've been meaning to see if I'm ready to take him on yet," said Captain Falcon, readjusting the straps on his helmet.
Marth sighed, "You two don't want a break? Not even a cup of tea? Well, if you insist. Maybe we'll even get some answers out of him for once."
"I'll be your double if you'd like," said Samus, "I feel like going Zero Suit, I don't get enough practice at it."
As they left the Fire Emblem wing of the dormitories and headed to the Hands' personal suites, where they kept their own customised arenas as well as their conference rooms and private quarters, it occurred to Ike that Robin had been warped out at the same time as them, but still hadn't returned. The tactician was back later and later every day.
He tried not to think about what it might mean. She was clearly doing some more thorough intelligence gathering. Yeah, that was it.