[Fire Emblem 11] Tribe of the Pegasus
Tribe of the Pegasus
Author: myaru
Fandom: Fire Emblem 11
Prompt: story
Word Count: 1228
Notes: I don't recall names for the pegusi or dragons being given, so I made them up where necessary. Also not in my recollection - how the riders get their mounts, except that apparently the dragons have to be tamed.
....................................................................................
If only the pegasus herds made their homes up in the mountains where the popular tales had them live, Est could have looked forward to the prospect of leaving the summer heat behind and running into the bracing wind after a pegasus. But Fort Drake was up north in the forests bordering the Dale, and the pegusi made their homes near a bunch of rocky hills that broke through the trees and pretended to be mountains, where it was still hot, and uncomfortable, and-- hot. She was glad her hair had been cropped short; when she went down to meet her sister in the basement where the baths were, Palla's hair seemed to hang wet and sopping from her head even after she'd wrung it out. The walls dripped and glistened. Est almost slipped twice.
"I brought it," she said, breathless in the damp, holding up their worn horn comb. "Let me do it, it'll be quicker that way. It's so hot..."
Palla smiled and tucked her towel closed. "Shouldn't you be studying your lore?" She twisted water out of her hair again; the other three tubs were empty. "I spent the night before my own test in the library. Didn't sleep a wink."
Est had studied until her head was full to overflowing. She looked down at her sister's pale feet. "Please? It'll only take a few minutes."
She thought Palla gave her a long look, but all she did was ask Est to bring her clothes, then, and they would go upstairs to her room after she dressed. The captain had given her sister a huge room all to herself, with a huge window that opened to the breezes from the forest. It also faced west, and when they went in the afternoon sun had already heated it like an oven. Think of it this way, Palla said, talking again about the test - Est would spend the next three days out in the wilderness, where the tree boughs would hide her from the sun at the very least.
But not dragons, she thought; a dragon would feel the tiny vibrations of her footsteps no matter how many trees she hid behind. And the pegasus she chose?
"Yes, they'll smell you," Palla said, throwing the window open. She pulled a trunk away from the wall and seated herself back to the window. "Convincing her - or him - to let you near is the point of the test. You've been trained just like the rest of us. I don't think you have to worry."
Easy for you to say, Est wanted to retort, but she knew her sister meant well. "How did you do it? I know you're not allowed to say what the secret is," she hurried to add when Palla opened her mouth with that stern look on her face that she always wore when she was about to lecture. Est walked around behind her and separated her hair into sections, while the sun started to warm her back. "I just mean... what happened? Did it take all three days? I bet you went out and came back in one. Athene loves you to bits, she must have come right to you."
Her sister laughed, and even started to shake her head before Est reminded her to stay still. "No, she gave me quite a chase," Palla said. "I can't believe I didn't tell you - are you sure? It must have been Catria."
And Catria figured it all out with lower marks than Est had. She should be confident.
"Truly," Palla began, her head tilting slightly when the comb pulled at a knot, "I thought I would fail. A bad fall down an escarpment to the west scattered my supplies, so I had to take the time to retrieve what I could and bind my injuries. By the time I resumed the hunt, noon had already passed. My time was shortened with almost no progress."
A squire came in with lukewarm wine and minted cucumber salad. Est wished she would leave faster so her sister would talk, but the other girl lingered to collect scraps from earlier, to ask if Palla wanted anything for herself or her mount, and by the time she finally left Est had a knot in her stomach. She hadn't expected to hear that her sister finished in one day as she jested earlier, but learning Palla had such an inauspicious start made her heart sink. She was so much clumsier than either of her sisters - and weaker, shorter, younger.
"I walked long into the night searching for a safe space to sleep and found Athene apart from her herd in what is called the Evergreen Glade. She glowed with the light of the half moon. I knew I wanted to touch her right away, but naturally, she pranced away the moment I tried to approach. My wintersweet was lost in the fall, so I couldn't lure her. My vulneraries had broken, so I carried the scent of herbs and alcohol, and you know how they feel about that.
"She circled back to her group, and I couldn't approach until they were scattered the next day. A dragon call," Palla elaborated when Est made a questioning sound. "Athene and several males stayed to guard the glade, or so I thought. But she let me approach again, let me chase. It was late on the second day I realized she'd lured me away - so far away from the glade I did not recognize any of the landmarks, and the trees that far into the Dale are impossibly tall. But in the clearing there was a spring the shape of her hoof, just like in the stories..."
Est lowered her comb, tangles all but conquered. "But you didn't change into a pegasus, so it isn't really like them. What happened?"
Her sister twisted around to look at her-- laugh at her. "I can't tell you. But she wouldn't let me touch her until the very end, and I almost didn't make it back by the deadline. Catria was much luckier, and the princess took to it like she had it in her blood. Maybe she does."
She let her hands hang at her sides when Palla got up to dig her headband out of her pack and swipe her hair back. Wet spots blotched her tunic where it dripped. Est wondered why the princess would let her pegasus go when dragons weren't nearly as sweet or wise.
Tomorrow. Tomorrow when the sun was one length above the horizon, she would be cast out of Fort Drake for her final test: the taming of her pegasus. And if she failed, there was no return.
Palla's hand stroked through her sweaty hair, and Est started when she realized her sister had appeared at her side. "Do you feel better?" Palla smelled like soap, and it made her want to cry. "Surely you will fare better than I did."
Est tried to smile. Of course she felt better. Why worry?
.
Author: myaru
Fandom: Fire Emblem 11
Prompt: story
Word Count: 1228
Notes: I don't recall names for the pegusi or dragons being given, so I made them up where necessary. Also not in my recollection - how the riders get their mounts, except that apparently the dragons have to be tamed.
....................................................................................
If only the pegasus herds made their homes up in the mountains where the popular tales had them live, Est could have looked forward to the prospect of leaving the summer heat behind and running into the bracing wind after a pegasus. But Fort Drake was up north in the forests bordering the Dale, and the pegusi made their homes near a bunch of rocky hills that broke through the trees and pretended to be mountains, where it was still hot, and uncomfortable, and-- hot. She was glad her hair had been cropped short; when she went down to meet her sister in the basement where the baths were, Palla's hair seemed to hang wet and sopping from her head even after she'd wrung it out. The walls dripped and glistened. Est almost slipped twice.
"I brought it," she said, breathless in the damp, holding up their worn horn comb. "Let me do it, it'll be quicker that way. It's so hot..."
Palla smiled and tucked her towel closed. "Shouldn't you be studying your lore?" She twisted water out of her hair again; the other three tubs were empty. "I spent the night before my own test in the library. Didn't sleep a wink."
Est had studied until her head was full to overflowing. She looked down at her sister's pale feet. "Please? It'll only take a few minutes."
She thought Palla gave her a long look, but all she did was ask Est to bring her clothes, then, and they would go upstairs to her room after she dressed. The captain had given her sister a huge room all to herself, with a huge window that opened to the breezes from the forest. It also faced west, and when they went in the afternoon sun had already heated it like an oven. Think of it this way, Palla said, talking again about the test - Est would spend the next three days out in the wilderness, where the tree boughs would hide her from the sun at the very least.
But not dragons, she thought; a dragon would feel the tiny vibrations of her footsteps no matter how many trees she hid behind. And the pegasus she chose?
"Yes, they'll smell you," Palla said, throwing the window open. She pulled a trunk away from the wall and seated herself back to the window. "Convincing her - or him - to let you near is the point of the test. You've been trained just like the rest of us. I don't think you have to worry."
Easy for you to say, Est wanted to retort, but she knew her sister meant well. "How did you do it? I know you're not allowed to say what the secret is," she hurried to add when Palla opened her mouth with that stern look on her face that she always wore when she was about to lecture. Est walked around behind her and separated her hair into sections, while the sun started to warm her back. "I just mean... what happened? Did it take all three days? I bet you went out and came back in one. Athene loves you to bits, she must have come right to you."
Her sister laughed, and even started to shake her head before Est reminded her to stay still. "No, she gave me quite a chase," Palla said. "I can't believe I didn't tell you - are you sure? It must have been Catria."
And Catria figured it all out with lower marks than Est had. She should be confident.
"Truly," Palla began, her head tilting slightly when the comb pulled at a knot, "I thought I would fail. A bad fall down an escarpment to the west scattered my supplies, so I had to take the time to retrieve what I could and bind my injuries. By the time I resumed the hunt, noon had already passed. My time was shortened with almost no progress."
A squire came in with lukewarm wine and minted cucumber salad. Est wished she would leave faster so her sister would talk, but the other girl lingered to collect scraps from earlier, to ask if Palla wanted anything for herself or her mount, and by the time she finally left Est had a knot in her stomach. She hadn't expected to hear that her sister finished in one day as she jested earlier, but learning Palla had such an inauspicious start made her heart sink. She was so much clumsier than either of her sisters - and weaker, shorter, younger.
"I walked long into the night searching for a safe space to sleep and found Athene apart from her herd in what is called the Evergreen Glade. She glowed with the light of the half moon. I knew I wanted to touch her right away, but naturally, she pranced away the moment I tried to approach. My wintersweet was lost in the fall, so I couldn't lure her. My vulneraries had broken, so I carried the scent of herbs and alcohol, and you know how they feel about that.
"She circled back to her group, and I couldn't approach until they were scattered the next day. A dragon call," Palla elaborated when Est made a questioning sound. "Athene and several males stayed to guard the glade, or so I thought. But she let me approach again, let me chase. It was late on the second day I realized she'd lured me away - so far away from the glade I did not recognize any of the landmarks, and the trees that far into the Dale are impossibly tall. But in the clearing there was a spring the shape of her hoof, just like in the stories..."
Est lowered her comb, tangles all but conquered. "But you didn't change into a pegasus, so it isn't really like them. What happened?"
Her sister twisted around to look at her-- laugh at her. "I can't tell you. But she wouldn't let me touch her until the very end, and I almost didn't make it back by the deadline. Catria was much luckier, and the princess took to it like she had it in her blood. Maybe she does."
She let her hands hang at her sides when Palla got up to dig her headband out of her pack and swipe her hair back. Wet spots blotched her tunic where it dripped. Est wondered why the princess would let her pegasus go when dragons weren't nearly as sweet or wise.
Tomorrow. Tomorrow when the sun was one length above the horizon, she would be cast out of Fort Drake for her final test: the taming of her pegasus. And if she failed, there was no return.
Palla's hand stroked through her sweaty hair, and Est started when she realized her sister had appeared at her side. "Do you feel better?" Palla smelled like soap, and it made her want to cry. "Surely you will fare better than I did."
Est tried to smile. Of course she felt better. Why worry?
.