![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
outstretched posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
likealarkFraldarius has fallen. Long live Fraldarius.
(Rodrigue cameo, mentioned off screen canonical character death)
"You’re his Shield now," his father says, pressing his hands against Felix's own.
His father's hands lift, and left behind in his cupped palms is a tattered scrap of cloth. The Fraldarius crest is emblazoned on it in silver thread, stained rust red in places. Felix doesn't blink. He stares at it, unmoving.
"It falls to you," Rodrigue says. His voice sounds distant, emotionless—which is strange, Felix thinks, because even as a child he realizes that this moment will cleave his life in two. He will look back for the rest of his life and think, That is when everything changed.
His father hesitates over his long silence. "Do not be afraid," he says. "You have been training, and you will learn more now, faster. You will be prepared."
Felix's hands twitch, and the change in position makes different spots of light refract off of the shining silver thread. Makes the light catch on different pieces of stain.
"Yes, Father," he whispers.
--
Dimitri vanishes from view across the battlefield, and Felix cuts his way to him in seconds.
The king is down on one knee, his one eye wild and seeking out a target. Felix hurls himself forward to parry an enemy blow on Dimitri's blind side, the shock of it juddering through his body. "Get up," Felix roars, not turning. "Get up, boar!"
He sees Dimitri only in his periphery, a rising wave of fur and fury. Areadbhar flips in his hands and at the cue, Felix's body drops into a low crouch without thought, completing a pattern they've done hundreds of time before.
Atrocity makes Areadbhar lash out in a wide arc, taking out anyone above waist height. Screams and blood pollute the air. Dimitri's answering howl is guttural and raw, sending goosebumps across Felix's skin. He grits his teeth at the sound, eyes narrowing.
When the lance has passed overhead, he leaps back to his feet and feels Dimitri's back press against his like a bulwark. Felix lifts his sword, him and Dimitri lost together in a boundless sea of foes, and feels Dimitri echo the movement.
"My shield," Dimitri rasps.
"Here," Felix snarls, "until the end."
(Rodrigue cameo, mentioned off screen canonical character death)
"You’re his Shield now," his father says, pressing his hands against Felix's own.
His father's hands lift, and left behind in his cupped palms is a tattered scrap of cloth. The Fraldarius crest is emblazoned on it in silver thread, stained rust red in places. Felix doesn't blink. He stares at it, unmoving.
"It falls to you," Rodrigue says. His voice sounds distant, emotionless—which is strange, Felix thinks, because even as a child he realizes that this moment will cleave his life in two. He will look back for the rest of his life and think, That is when everything changed.
His father hesitates over his long silence. "Do not be afraid," he says. "You have been training, and you will learn more now, faster. You will be prepared."
Felix's hands twitch, and the change in position makes different spots of light refract off of the shining silver thread. Makes the light catch on different pieces of stain.
"Yes, Father," he whispers.
--
Dimitri vanishes from view across the battlefield, and Felix cuts his way to him in seconds.
The king is down on one knee, his one eye wild and seeking out a target. Felix hurls himself forward to parry an enemy blow on Dimitri's blind side, the shock of it juddering through his body. "Get up," Felix roars, not turning. "Get up, boar!"
He sees Dimitri only in his periphery, a rising wave of fur and fury. Areadbhar flips in his hands and at the cue, Felix's body drops into a low crouch without thought, completing a pattern they've done hundreds of time before.
Atrocity makes Areadbhar lash out in a wide arc, taking out anyone above waist height. Screams and blood pollute the air. Dimitri's answering howl is guttural and raw, sending goosebumps across Felix's skin. He grits his teeth at the sound, eyes narrowing.
When the lance has passed overhead, he leaps back to his feet and feels Dimitri's back press against his like a bulwark. Felix lifts his sword, him and Dimitri lost together in a boundless sea of foes, and feels Dimitri echo the movement.
"My shield," Dimitri rasps.
"Here," Felix snarls, "until the end."
