#brief mentions of Geoffrey and Elincia

[bigbluetiger]

Mordemun makes a nagamas fic

I’m a bit late thanks to Tumblr issues and some snags on my end, but I got it done and to my liking. Hope you enjoy, @housemenidy!

         It wasn’t every day that one got to visit Castle Crimea - especially as a laguz vassal. But as his queen would have it, she was taking her sweet time getting to Gallia, taking in all the sights, sounds, tastes, and smells that this vast continent of Tellius, west of the harsh Desert of Death, had to offer. To prevent too much stress on the kingdoms, Queen Nailah did multiple small migrations between Hatari and Gallia, each taking about a month – two weeks from, two weeks to. Many would find new homes in the forests of their fanged cousins, but some actually would stay in pockets of Crimea.

        After a while, Volug began liking these nomadic trips – the Modern tongue still gave him trouble, but the Old clung well to his canine lips, allowing him to explain some things to the more naïve members of the pack. It felt nice being on the giving end of information and orders for a change.

        But if there was one thing he could make out from all this migrating, it was that some things these Tellians did were outright baffling. Sure, there were more heinous things like blood pacts and branded prejudice, but there were a certain few other things too.

        First were the Daeinese – his first impression of the continent. Warm and inviting they seemed, until you let people see you’re a laguz, he was told. Tellius had vicious warring between beorc and laguz, with hunts on the branded – a far cry from Hatari. But that wasn’t the only thing he found odd – various small animals were given outfits in the winter in Daein, presumably as a guard for the cold. Some of them looked strained and ridiculous, but overall they seemed to bear it well in the harsh weather, and in a way, he liked it.

        Until he got some of his own, that is.

        Courtesy of… Laurie? Lona? …Laura – that was her name. The small yellow-clad priest girl, innocent as a saint – and was one by the time they fought Ashera. Perhaps it was just the clergy doing it as good will, but if anything, more fur was not something he needed – not that it’d stop the little beorc though.

        His first gift was a hat – a dark green doggie hat with bon-bons in the middle of summer. He so desperately wanted to take it off, but try as he might, regular pawing at it was useless, and he imagined she would make the most pitiful of faces to see a single bite mark from him yanking it.

        Then she showed Micaiah. Then Fiona. THEN MEG. Then came the scarf, the sweater, the doggie mitts, the booties, the rain cloak, the earmuffs, AND a bow-tie. ‘...At least it's autumn by now,’‘ he had sighed as that last ridiculous piece of the outfit was tied around his neck, just under his collar.

         Then came the Gallians, whose warrior ways he could agree with… to an extent. Competitions were an excellent way to forge bonds among laguz and to test one’s limits, but that agreement was thrown out the window when they challenged him twenty seven separate times to an eating competition in the span of a week. Wanting to see if ‘wolfing down a meal’ was really what they thought it meant,  he guessed.

        Now, normally Volug wasn’t one to back down, and he beat a few of the cats, but seven of these came from Skrimir - he wasn’t interested in risking his life on some Gallian peacockery. At least there was one thing he and his long-distanced cousins had in common wholesale though – napping in the shade. That he could get behind.

        But then, stuck in the middle, were Crimeans. They were an interesting bunch, indeed – Meg was one of them, and by herself, she wasn’t half-bad, he thought – especially after she made a ham biscuit with gravy on her turn for cooking duty, just for him. Hospitality was certainly associated with them, but so was…

        “Mama! Look, look!” “It’s Mister Woof-Woof!” a couple of small children cried, as their mother shooed them into the halls of the castle.

         …The silliest nicknames he ever heard. ‘Probably saw me bark at the mutt that made off with my ham shank last month,’ he thought. Rafiel pleasantly translated it for him, which… arguably made it worse – Nailah caught wind of it, warranting a small chuckle from her.

        “Still as popular as ever, aren’t you, Volug,” she teased, taking a small break in her usual composure. She turned back to the castle attendant, who by now expected such esteemed company, and beckoned them into the throne room to be received by Queen Elincia and the newly-crowned King Geoffrey.

        “My friends – how good of you to come!” Queen Elincia called. “Have you had any trouble in your travels?”

        “None so far – it’s been an easy trip. A few of this pack have wanted to stay in Crimea, near the southern border…” Nailah conversed for a while, giving her a detailed briefing of all they had seen, and for some relocation assistance. As quick as they were, their trips were also invaluable to the other royals, as they would bear some of the freshest information from various towns, especially with Nailah’s vigilance to detail.

        Out from behind a pillar, Volug could see the same two tots, with the same wonder-filled eyes as before. It wasn’t every day one saw someone as stunning as him – ahem, or his queen. He gave a small snort to them, causing them to gasp and hide behind the pillar, turning the young royals to their attention.

         “Come on out, you two. It’s all right – they are our friends.” King Geoffrey signaled with his hand to come closer, giving them a small smile. A closer look at the two of the younger noble children showed the girl’s tightly-bound violet curls and the boy’s emerald green eyes, clear evidence of their heritage. “Queen Nailah, I’d like you to meet Erig and Sinika. Their father is Marquis Mitnala, who helped us greatly in our Queen’s absence during the Mad King’s War.”

        They gave a small bow and curtsy, with Sinika speaking up first. “W-we hope you enjoy your stay here!” she said, a little nervous about her first meeting with very different royalty. To Volug, it was an odd, yet charming little gesture – reminiscent of some of the Hatarian beorc nobility’s porcelain figurines that would, depending on make, move in a certain way.

           “Oh, we will.” Nailah gave a small chuckle to reassure her. “In fact, some of us enjoy it so much, they'll be staying quite a while.” She then turned to the Crimean royals again, her face still marked with bemusement. “If it wouldn’t be too much to ask, I have some other news to impart, but it might not be good for their ears to hear. Would it be all right for Volug to play with them a bit? He looks fierce, as a warrior should, but he’s also quite the uncle figure, so they should be fine under his care.”

         Volug’s ears flattened at the suggestion, and gave her a look. ‘Hey, I’m not that old…’

         ‘Want me to call you ‘gramps’ then?’ She eyed back. All he could do was grumble to himself, sniffling at the satchel he placed around his neck for travel.

        ‘Uncle it is.’

         He knew enough Modern to talk to a child, at least. Trotting over to the children, he snorted at them to follow him, then trotted off to a nearby courtyard. The children gave chase, stopping at the tree Volug sat under.

        Shifting back into his beorclike form, startling the children a bit, he dug into his satchel’s pockets past the travel money and jerky to a small set of candies he saved for any children he acquainted. It was Rafiel’s idea – besides, he was good at making them, particularly ones made from nuts and honey.

        The children eyed them with curiosity. “What are these, Mister... uh… V-Vol…” Erig trailed, forgetting how Queen Nailah made that last syllable.

         “Volug,” he replied. “These... are Hatari snacks. Churchkhela.” He said, pointing to the nuts along the candle-shaped confection, sealed together with grapes and flour from the southeastern regions. “These are pistachios. Green, sweet nuts. Try them.”

        “Ch-Church-k-k… That’s hard…” Sinika whined. “What does it mean?”

        “They are... candle candy. Grapes, nuts, and flour make this.” He explained as best he could to them.

        “Candle candy, heehee!” Erig laughed at the bit of rhyme.

        “It’s yummy! …Oh, that’s right! Miss Marina!” Sinika called to one of her father’s servants to retrieve something Volug couldn’t make out.

        “… Sinika? Are you sure he’d like it?” her brother asked.

        “Sure I’m sure! We can play with him with it!” she said, violet curls bouncing as she came running back. Soon after, the attendant came back with a large wooden disc. “This! A discus!”

        Volug was sure he saw a couple kids playing with their dogs with them. Sure, he didn’t like being treated like one all that much, but hey, it’d make the kids happy. He could stand it for a few hours.

        And so they threw it to him and back for a while, then threw it high into the air, marveling at how high Volug could jump for the discus. It was all going well until another set of jaws grabbed it.

        And ran with it.

        ‘Hey! That’s the mutt that got my ham shank!’ he growled, running quickly and tackling the dog, causing the kids to gasp. He quickly dodged the playful hound as he and the dog scrambled for the toy disc. Barely grasping it from the mutt as it turned, he raced just out of reach of the mutt as it was called back to its owner, off back to the courtyard, where his reappearance was met with cheering.

         “That was so fast! Thanks for getting it back!” Sinika giggled in joy from their toy’s retrieval, quickly being interrupted by Erig’s yawning.

         “I’m tired… that was fun, Mister Vol-luk…Volug.” His face brightened on getting it right.

        Volug was relieved – Erig got his name right, he could finally get that nap in he wanted. He nestled himself under the tree, and stretched himself out comfortably. “It’s all right. …You can nap on me.” He said, beckoning them to Tuckered out from all the excitement, they took up his offer, and slept softly on his ebony fur.

         While he knew it wouldn’t last long, he was content with the small reprieve. Peaceful and quiet, nothing to interrupt his slumber. ‘Maybe the things these Tellians do is baffling to me. But well... it’s kinda fun.’ He thought, a small smirk gracing him. Who knows, he might even share some Tellian things with Nailah.

         “Volug… what the hell are you wearing?”

[canoncompanions]

The Best of Canon Companions Tracks 210-220

[Warning: This post contains major spoilers for Fire Emblem Tellius Series, Zootopia, and Harry Potter] 1. "Lovers in a Dangerous Time" by Barenaked Ladies Works represented: Fire Emblem Tellius Series Characters represented: Ena and Rajaion This song represents Ena and Rajaion's final reunion, which ends with Rajaion dying.  This song is mostly relevant to their situation as well as being a really good song, plot-important, and about my favorite game/work. 2. "One of Us" from The Lion King II: Simba's Pride Works represented: Zootopia Characters represented: Nick Wilde This is a wonderful song that is apt to describe Nick's feelings during Judy's press conference, namely, the flashbacks to being ostracized for being a predator.  It's also about my favorite animated movie along with being plot-important. 3. "Don't Tell Me" by Hoobastank Works represented: Fire Emblem Tellius Series; Harry Potter Characters represented: Reyson to Naesala; Lily to Snape In both cases, the song represents a character reacting to another who ostensibly cares about them but has done things to hurt them.  "What you say" being that they care about them and "what you do" being doing things to hurt them.  It's also a great song, plot-important in both cases, and about my favorite game/work. 4. "Mama Couldn't Be Persuaded" by Warren Zevon Works represented: Fire Emblem Tellius Series Characters represented: Astrid and Makalov If this song didn't contain some unconfirmed details, it would be a lot higher on the list, because it's awesome that I have as song about a girl who stubbornly decided to marry a gambling man in spite of everyone else's advice.  It's also a great song about my favorite game/work. 5. "It Doesn't Matter" by Tony Harnell (the Sonic Adventure verison) Works represented: Sonic the Hedgehog; Firefly Characters represented: Sonic; Mal This song doesn't just do a good job of recognizing Sonic's attitude as a hero but also Mal Reynolds'.  It's a really good song and it's plot-important in both cases as a protagonist theme, as well as being about one of my favorite games. 6. "Raconteur Troubadour" by Gentle Giant Works represented: Fire Emblem Tellius Series Characters represented: Bastian Okay, technically, Bastian is a bard not a troubadour, but the gist of the song is mostly apt anyway, especially considering the baroque-inspired sound.  I also really love Bastian and the Fire Emblem Tellius Series even more, as well as the song itself. 7. "Her Majesty" by the Beatles Works represented: Fire Emblem Tellius Series Characters represented: Geoffrey about Elincia It's a short one but a good one, since the fact that I have a song about a character who's in love with a queen (although, technically, she was still a princess at the time of the song) is really apt.  The fact that Geoffrey is one of my favoirte characters in my favorite game/work--as well as the relative plot-importance from the equally relevant honorable mention "Yes It Is"--made sure that this got its slot on Canon Companions. 8. "Runaway" by 3 Doors Down Works represented: Fire Emblem Tellius Series; Penny and Aggie/QUILTBAG Characters represented: Ike to Soren; Rich to Penny In both cases, this song comes from one person telling the other to run away with him, with the implications of being together forever.  However, in the former case it's more relevant than the latter for that reason, but does contain a brief anachronism.  It's a really good song and about my favorite characters (and couple) from my favorite game/work. 9. "All These Lives" by Daughtry Works represented: Fire Emblem Tellius Series; Harry Potter Characters represented: Izuka; Voldemort I'm not sure if this song is supposed to be a metaphor or an apostrophe (and honestly am leaning towards the latter), but I'm using the former interpretation for the two situations here where it refers to two people who are so evil and so destructive, they might as well be considered "a disease".  Here, the characters aren't very good, but the song is one of my favorites as is at least one of the works. 10. "The Rest of My Life" by Less than Jake Works represented: Harry Potter; Zootopia Characters represented: Snape about Lily; Judy Hopps about Nick Wilde Here this song is about a character who made a horrible mistake and lost a best friend because of it--though in the Harry Potter case it's permanent and only temporary in the Zootopia case--but it's very relevant, plot-important in both cases, about one of my favorite works in one and my favorite character within the work in the other, and a great song. 11. "Hallowed Be Thy Name" by Iron Maiden Works represented: Fire Emblem Tellius Series Characters represented: Lucia This song represents Lucia's feeling when she's about to be hanged--which is the exact method described in the song--but, unlike some other song, is rather vague about guilt or innocence making it a great match for a political prisoner about to be executed.  It's also a really good song, and its length adds the tension to a climactic plot point.  It's also about my favorite game/work.