Fire Emblem Fan Fiction ❯ Fire Emblem: Inbetween Their Lines ❯ The past and present ( Naesala's story) ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

It was pitch black, nothing could be seen, yet the setting of the area showed itself another way; there was not a single animal cry, breath, or growl.
Nothing but a sound similar to the sound one hears when placing one's ear to a shell, the area was hollow. The sound of the wind made it seem like it
passed straight through the forest and out. In fact, if one strained their ears hard enough, he may be able to hear the chatter of the town nearby. The forest
was dead, a nature's grave. Not even the music of ruffled leaves existed here. It was as if some type of hell had been taken, and thrown upon this land. For
what was once the most beautiful forest on the planet, was now the most ugliest, surprising sight one could see. It was clear proof of what
misunderstanding could bring, and what a town of people could do in a moment of fear.

It was silent until a harmonious voice broke through the quiet grave, " This is horrible, " a laguz' voice whispered out of shock, his voice shakey, " This is
what those humans did to my home? " The heron laguz came to a stop, yet remained flying in the air as if touching the empty ground would burn him. His
expression was that of horror, and he couldn't seem to believe what he was seeing. It was the first time that he'd actually seen what happened to the forest
he once lived in; when the forest had been caught on fire, Naesala had quickly flew him as far away from the place as he could. And since the boy had been
asleep when it happened, well, it was just a bit too much for him to take in at once.

" Isn't it? " the second voice replied in the same way, yet with more of a calm understanding, considering he'd already experienced the horror. Unlike the
heron, whom had pure white wings, this laguz had pure black wings. And as the heron was bright and innocent in compextion, the crow was dark and
narrower in complextion. Their looks, their reactions, their attitudes, they were complete polar opposites of eachother. Yet they had been childhood friends
since god knows how long back.
Naesala waited with a grim look on his face for his friend to take in the shock of the forest. It was not fair that the heron-kind had to suffer from this loss.
Heron were and always would be the most passive, most kind beings when it came to fighting and commiting crime; Meaning when their forest had been
destroyed, the heron that remained could not do a thing about it. Despite that fact, the heron nobles had friends from both the pride hawks and the
devious crows; the hawk king had made sure to it that the human recieved their just punishment, then that king had also taken in his heron friends and took
care of them. Unfortunately, unlike the hawk king, Naesala could not do the same for his heron friends, for he had to focus on his country that had been
in a horrible poverty at the time, and still was to the hour.

As the two continued to fly, they soon approached a large building, elegant, but in the most inconvinent place, right in the middle of the forest. Naesala looked
back at the heron, " Reyson, it is getting dark, " he pointed out, " Heron's can't see well in the dark, and unfortunately, the fog's kind of giving me trouble, "
he then explained to his friend, " We should stay here for tonight. " He immediately noticed the frown on his heron friend's face, and sighed.

" I should tell Tibarn where I am though, he worries too much. If I'm gone for a day without explanation, he'll send out a search party, " the heron half
complained. But it was absolutely true, it'd happened many times before, and since Naesala knew Tibarn well he knew what Reyson said as the truth.
Though, Naesala had never been on good terms with Tibarn; Tibarn always labeled him as a lying, deceitful crow. Yet even still, that king had let Naesala
hang out with Reyson, it was weird.

" It's too dark, " Naesala explained back, shooting down Reyson's worry, " I think he'd be more glad to see that you're alive tomorrow, than us going out
now and you getting hurt. " His reasoning had gotten through to the heron and they both approached the building. When he turned the door-knob, it was
unlocked and so they let themselves right in. They entered into a large room, with many paintings, sculptures, and basically every useless lay-around thing
you could think of.

" Wow, this is pretty big, " Reyson said, and his voice seemed to boom and echo through the room, " Are you sure someone doesn't live here? "

Naesala shrugged, " I don't know. But maybe it'll be some nice beorc with a big warm heart that'll feel sorry for us and let us stay, " there was humor in that
statement, but neither of them laughed. Because suddenly a soldier burst out the left door and approached them with a lance pointed toward them.

" What are you doing in here?! " The soldier demanded, and the warning and threat seemed to literally bounce off of him. In response, Naesala grabbed
Reyson's arm tightly and pulled the heron up the stairs quickly. When they ran up the stairs, they soon reached a grand, round door; Without a seconds
thought, he opened that door and shoved Reyson inside before closing the door. The heron gave a questioning cry at the quick shove.

It was then that he gave up the protective act, and the soldier below gave a mocking laugh. But Naesala's eyes pierced down at him seriously, " I did it... Now where's my pay? " His
eyes were extrememly narrow, so much so that the soldier immediately stopped laughing. From the grand door behind him appeared a plump, fat man
with a white mustache and a balding head, " Thank you sooooo much! I didn't think you would do it~! Since crows are known for lies after all!! " there was joy in the twisted noble's eyes, " Take the
money! Actually, just take my whole wallet~!! Wonderful job! " He then threw a wallet to the ground, and Naesala picked it up silently.

The man was completely crazy... But it was a lot of money, this would definitely do, " You got what you want. Now leave me alone, I don't want to see your face again," he looked upset. Clear
anger, sadness, and defeat was in his expression. This wasn't the way he wanted to get money, but there was little choice in the matter.

It wasn't long until the heron understood the situation, " Naesalla!! You traitor!! " Reyson yelled out at him through the door. The crow simply turned away in response, wallet in his pocket
as he headed down the stairs in an emotional defeat. The fat beorc disappeared back into the grand door, and Reyson's yelling stopped as if he was in a
shock at whom he'd gotten sold too. He'd abandoned his friend, betrayed his trust, sold him away. If only there was a different way he could have done this,
though Naesala still planned to steal Reyson back once things calmed down. The deal was done, in two different ways; His trickery and his loss of trust from his
closest friend, and the money he'd gained from doing it.