Bound by a Blade (PauPat)

Chapter Eleven - Instant Dreams/Support Break

"So, you're sure this will help me remember her?"

Pat nodded with some hesitation. "Yes, I believe so."

Pau sighed in response. "You... believe so?"

"Don't be so worried," the cleric reassured. "It's not like it'll hurt you if it doesn't go right."

"How do you know?"

"..."

Pau rolled his eyes. "That's what I thought."

"Oh, come on!" Pat shouted. "I'm just trying to help you remember her more!"

The mercenary blushed with embarrassment. "I know," he mumbled. "I'm sorry."

Pat huffed. "Now, can we get on with this?"

Pau nodded defeatedly.

"Good. Now, close your eyes..."

Pau immediately felt his head start to spin. The soft ground seemed to crumble beneath him, his mouth hanging open. He tried to speak, to tell the cleric to stop, but nothing came out.

Stop, he thought. Stop, please.

He could no longer hear Pat's muffled voice soothing him as he breathed heavily, trying to stop himself from gagging.

Please, I feel sick.

I'm going to be sick.

"Pau!"

His eyes shot open.

He wasn't in the medical tent anymore, but he didn't feel any different. He still felt sick, like the world was spinning. The only difference was that he was laying down in a wet, but warm pair of arms, and the area around him was dark. He heard rainfall and battle cries around him, and could only see a blurred silhouette of the person holding him. He couldn't even hear them clearly. It was like someone was covering his ears with their hands while the person was desperately trying to say something.

He could only make out a few phrases that they kept repeating.

"Wake up."

"Not like this."

"... the sword."

What sword? he thought. He wanted more than anything to ask, but he couldn't move his mouth. Every attempt to speak came out as a groan of agony.

The sudden, searing pain in his stomach was what brought him back to reality.

He stared at the cleric in front of him, taking a few moments to process what had just happened. As the ringing in his ears faded, he heard Pat's gentle voice.

"Just breathe, alright? I'm right here, you're okay."

Before he knew it, the mercenary had collapsed into his friend's arms. "Pat," he wheezed.

Pau was surprised he felt the healer's arms around his trembling body, with no hesitation. He closed his eyes again once his awareness had come back to him. "You don't have to talk," Pat whispered.

"Pat," the taller man repeated, his voice now steadier.

"Yes?"

"I didn't see the past."

"What did you see?"

Pau gripped onto Pat's arm. "Pat, I'm really scared."

"What did you see?!" the cleric repeated.

"Stop," Pau wheezed, starring to feel dizzy again. He leaned on Pat's shoulder to avoid falling onto his back. "Gods, what the hell did you do to me?"

"I'm sorry," Pat whispered. "I thought it wouldn't hurt you, it was just a bit of white magic."

"Well, it sent my head spinning!"

Pat apologized again, letting his friend lean on his shoulder.

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The loud battle cries rang throughout the camp, along with the crack of splintering wood. The swing of an axe was impressively loud as it cut through the thin air, and soon through the thick slab of wood.

With a loud "HYAH," Eriko sent his axe cleanly through the firewood before letting it rest against the sturdy tree stump. He wiped the sweat away from his forehead with a sigh of relief. As much as he loved the workout chopping firewood gave him, he was always relieved when it was over. He sat down on the soft grass, leaning back against the tree stump. He let his legs stretch out in front of him, his hands behind his head. His brown eyes slowly fluttered shut as his lips curled into a carefree smile.

"Eriko!"

And just like that, his relaxation was interrupted. His eyes shot open and his smile immediately fell.

"Eriko Van Ahlstrom!" the young woman screeched as she approached the axe fighter.

Eriko slowly stood up, his eyebrows furrowed. "Let me know when you're done shrieking so I can ask you what the hell you want, Tyra," he sneered, crossing his arms.

Tyra groaned in annoyance as she stopped in front of her friend. "What do I want?" she repeated, causing Eriko to roll his eyes. "I want to know why you insist on waking up everyone in camp with your obnoxious shouting!"

"Me? What about you?" the axe fighter retorted. "My 'obnoxious shouting' has woken up, at most, a few crows. Your ear splitting screeching, on the other hand, probably alerted every man and woman from the kingdom to Bazylien! Not to mention, you disturbed my rest."

Tyra cried out in frustration. "What were you even doing?!"

Eriko suppressed the urge to sigh. "I was cutting firewood."

"Well, you made it sound like you were fighting off a wolf!"

"I was just trying to have fun, okay?" he huffed. "Don't you have work to do or something? Leave me to my rest, and you can go suck up to Jaeger all you want."

Eriko smirked at Tyra's offended scoff. "Why, I never!" she shrilled. "I bet you're just jealous because I'm like Jaeger's other hand and you're just another soldier."

"Heh, yeah, that's what he tells you when he wants you to shut up."

"He does not, you incompetent fool!"

Eriko's face contorted with irritation. "Gods, just shut up! I'm sorry for trying to find fun in a chore, alright? No one asked you to come over here and bother me."

"Actually-"

"Sorry, I meant to say no one cares if you do. Leave me alone and let me rest!"

Tyra let out another cry of frustration before storming away.

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Lately, I've been noticing that this book is becoming more PauPat and less Fire Emblem, so I decided this chapter would be a good way to implement one of my favorite features in the games, support conversations! Basically, support conversations are scenes between two characters that you can view once they've reached a certain threshold of friendship, whether it be by fighting along side each other in battle, or chatting in the barracks! This does feel like a bit of a filler chapter, but I'm just glad I was finally able to publish it after so long. We'll be getting into the juicy story stuff in the next few chapters, and I'll try not to make y'all wait too long. Hope you all enjoyed!