Fan Fiction / Fire Emblem Fan Fiction / Fire Emblem Fan Fiction / Pokemon Fan Fiction / Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ Empty Hand Loser ❯ beginnings ( Chapter 2 )

Status: Uncertain. Revised draft.

Disclaimer: The following contains characters and concepts that are NOT the property of the author. They are the intellectual property of Nintendo, HAL Laboratories and their associates. The author has received NO monetary benefit from this piece of shit.

Chapter synopsis: Zelda pays tribute to the full moon, while Master Hand recounts past mistakes involving Marth and Roy.

Warnings: mature themes, offensive language, implied homosexuality, minor bigotry, darkfic (yuri//anti-yuri, yaoi//anti-yaoi).

A/N: Thanks for reading. Feedback by review or email appreciated.

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Chapter 1 [revised]

The Hylian princess knew that sleepless nights were to be expected. Yet she knew, too, that such nightly vigils did nothing to calm her restlessness. Her insomnia could not help the return of the one she wanted most to see. It would grant her peace, if fate decided allow her that one indulgence. To see him. Just once more.

Zelda waited for the sounds in the house to die down. The old mansion's walls were not thick. The young ones liked to run around at night, protesting their own weariness. Light shuffling steps indicated that Princess Toadstool was madly giving chase, half laughing and half scolding.

When all seemed quiet, Zelda turned off the light in her room and stepped out into the dark hall. Moonlight crept in from the windows as she glided past them, every step a dedication. She let the edge of her dress slide along the bare dusty floor. The soft noise it made concealed her footfalls.

The house was not as old as it seemed. Neglect had caused it to age beyond its years. If Zelda had not been as light as she was, the floorboards would have creaked. But even so, despondency clung to the air with a life of its own. Heavy. The princess could feel it. It added its weight to hers.

Burden. Burden on the caretaker of a house falling.

At the end of the hall, she opened the door to the balcony. She considered the night for a moment, breathing in the slight chill, waiting to become lighter. Then, the princess sprung, her feet in black slippers leaving the floor to carry her body into the air. Her toes tapped against the railing. Arms raised above her head, twirling, she disappeared in green light and reappeared on the rooftop above.

It was good to fly. Zelda almost smiled, finding herself with head tilted, eyes roaming the shape of the moon. It was good to feel light and float as if nothing mattered.

She knelt down on the flat portion of the mansion roof, her dress fanning out around her. With the full moon for company, she pulled the ocarina from the velvet sack at her hip. Clear, somber notes drifted into the night sky. She played. She waited for the bounty hunter to come with news of her beloved.

* * *

I would never understand why he chose to hang on to that mistake for so long. It had cost us all that was left of his honor and mine. I didn't think he knew just how much I had lost because of his error. Marth wasn't a fool, so I thought he was beyond these things. I had expected more of him.

It made no fucking sense.

Roy showed up of his own free will one day in the fall. The house was busy training for the next season. Too caught up in the planning and supervising, I nearly forgot that I had sent out a general post, advertising for new recruits. Of those who answered initially, all had been turned away. I didn't expect any more to show.

By the time Roy came, I was finalizing the team arrangements. I considered turning him away because it seemed too late in the training season to take in a new fighter. But he was resolved, steadfast and confident. Young too, but not younger than some of the others. Around the same age as Marth.

There was energy in the way Roy had carried himself. I decided that it deserved a chance. I arranged a trial match with Marth, the preliminary test for all potential recruits. No items, no stage. It was held in the practice dojo.

In attendance with me were the Princess Zelda, Ganondorf, and Mario. The others were occupied in training routines, but I saw a Ness and Kirby peeking in from the doorway, curious about the new contestant. They stayed only until I shot them a look, then they vanished behind the wall.

His offensiveness caught Marth off guard. But the recovery was quick, and Roy's directness left him open to throws and counterattacks. Roy refused to go down easily though. He wasn't as agile or fast as Marth, but he had a strong sword arm. Picking up on Marth's preferred distancing, he pushed in closer than what his opponent was comfortable with. Marth had trouble keeping him back.

Ganondorf raised an eyebrow. Mario blinked. Zelda remained expressionless.

Marth won the match, but he'd had to work for it. After the fighters bowed to each other and took their places on the mat, I glanced toward the other three gathered at the head of the room with me. Gannon offered a careless shrug. Mario smiled and winked. I turned to Zelda, who merely nodded without looking at me.

Their opinions didn't matter. Only my decisions counted.

"You're in."

I decided to team him up with Marth, who usually only fought solo. Since Roy was new, I wanted him to learn from my best. I told him that whether or not I entered him into solo competition would depend on how well he impressed me in team battles. He accepted my terms. He signed the contract and sold his life to me in exchange for fame and glory.

Over the next few weeks, Roy placed in the upper-mid tier. I set him to spar with Marth on a weekly basis. Outside of this and basic training, they were to practice as a team.

Working closely together, their maneuvers eventually began to mirror each other. Even though this wasn't ideal in team battle and I wanted to diversify the techniques within each team, I let this situation stand because when they fought as one, it was golden. Marth dominated the air, and Roy took care of grounded opponents. I was satisfied overall with their team battles.

But in their sparring matches against one another, Marth continually won. I couldn't deny it. Roy was one notch below him in one-on-one fights. He wasn't fit for solo competition.

But he had wanted the chance. He wanted entry into my top tier. Only the fighters in that class were allowed in one-on-one tournament competitions. So I arranged for him to train with Zelda, who marked the threshold between my mid and upper tiers. I told him if he could win two out of three in stock-two battles against Marth, I would consider him for higher ranking.

But against Marth, Roy only won one out of three consistently. He was close every time, but not good enough.

It frustrated him, and I saw that. He never tried to conceal it. Rules were rules, I told him. The success of the house depended on an equal dose of kindness and cruelty. I denied his entry into the top tier.

At this point, I suspected, Roy had begun to hate Marth. I saw the evidence in the way he acted around his partner, but I left it alone. He would have to learn how to deal with his emotions if he wanted to succeed in this business.

Other than that, Roy got along well with the others. He could talk to the Mario Brothers, play with the Pokemon and the kids, and he even managed conversations with the usually cold Zelda. He convinced Fox to teach him how to pilot the Arwing, and he could stand up to Ganondorf's occasional bullying. But he grew tense around Marth, who remained slightly withdrawn and aloof.

The breaking point came while I was gone for a week. I came back to find that the atmosphere in the house was tense. No broken furniture or anything, but I knew from the way Marth refused to look me in the eye that something was wrong.

I told him to spar with Roy. Then I stood to the side and watched as they faced off in the ring.

From the first offensive move, Roy managed to overrun Marth's balance. And Marth never seemed to regain it. He continued to make one mistake after another. His counter-hits missed; he forgot to guard and left himself open. He lost his sword three times, and each time, Roy would back off just enough so Marth could pick it up again, before launching another offensive. Roy hit him with attacks that I had seen him dodge with ease before. The knock-back threw Marth to the floor more than once, and he was slow to recover each time.

I finally called game. Roy bowed, and Marth still couldn't meet my eyes. I left the room, seething.

Yes, I knew exactly what had happened between them. "So that's it," I murmured bitterly to myself. "Who would have thought?"