Story The Path Thereafter (Earlygame Fates spoilers)

[Tangerine]

The Path Thereafter

Hoshido had always been a land of peace and prosperity. But tonight, it was a country in the midst of recent devastation.

Everything is Kamui’s fault, Takumi thought viciously as he shot arrow after arrow into the trunk of a large tree – imagining it were the face of his former brother he was striking. It’s his fault that all of this is happening to Hoshido right now – this war, the capital, and Mother –

A fresh surge of anger ran through Takumi’s body as he gripped the Fuujin Yumi tighter, keeping the bow pointed at the tree but unable to muster the concentration to summon an arrow. If Kamui had never come to Hoshido, then Mother and all of the villagers would still be alive. Shirasagi would not be in ruins. His siblings would still be whole.

Ryouma-niisan, Hinoka-neesan, and Sakura had always wanted Kamui to return to them. They’d never forgotten him, had trained for the day when they could see him again. And Sakura, who had been too little to truly remember Kamui, had grown up hearing stories of a long-lost brother from everyone – from their siblings, from Mother, from Yukimura-san. Sakura had always wanted to meet the brother that she had never had the chance to know.

Takumi hadn’t felt the same as them. He was not, nor had he been, close to Kamui in the same way as Ryouma-niisan and Hinoka-neesan. Any of his recollections of Kamui were hazy and poor; too young to have formed meaningful memories. Rather, it was the loss of his father; the absence of his presence and the impact it’d had on his family that affected him more strongly.

His older siblings had been devastated by the assassination of their father, naturally, but then they’d learned that Kamui was possibly alive in Nohr. Hinoka-neesan had become obsessed with getting him back. She trained feverishly as a tenma warrior – she lived and breathed for the day she was strong enough to singlehandedly rescue Kamui from Nohr’s clutches.

Even though they’d never been very close, Takumi noticed her grow distant after that. No longer did she take the time to play with him – or Sakura – anymore. It were almost as if everything that didn’t involve Kamui or training had suddenly become a waste of time … as if he were too much of a useless weakling to be of use to her and for her to notice. And of course she’d remain close to Ryouma-niisan, the strong elder brother who was more than worth her time.

But his older brother had changed, too. Ryouma-niisan had seemed to grow up overnight after their father’s assassination. The fun-loving brother who had always made time for his younger siblings had suddenly been replaced with a more stoic, more adult version of his brother – one who hadn’t completely mastered his emotional, adolescent tendencies yet but seemed more “father” than “brother”. He had less time for idle activities and he spent more time helping Mother run the country, or training either his swordsmanship or his political knowledge.

Nohr hadn’t just killed his father and kidnapped his brother; in doing so, they’d taken the rest of his family too – Ryouma-niisan and Hinoka-neesan, Mother, Sakura, Hoshido’s sense of security … and Takumi could do nothing. In the end, he was helpless to make a difference. So he did the only thing that he could – he hated Nohr with everything that he was, for taking everything that was important.

And then, Kamui had come back to Hoshido – just walked back into their lives as if he hadn’t left everyone wondering for years. Mother had been so happy to see him again, as were the rest of his siblings. Had none of them considered that Kamui could be an enemy spy? That the time he had spent in Nohr could have turned him against the country of his birth, poisoned by lies the Nohrians had told him about Hoshido? It’d be a foolish move to accept him back with open arms so soon.

(He would never admit it, but there was a small part deep inside him that hated seeing everyone fawn over Kamui like he was the most precious child in the world – the same people who had always disregarded and overlooked him, no matter how hard he tried to be someone worthy of their approval. But he’d never admit it was there, and perhaps he wasn’t even aware of the true reasons for his resentment.)

In the end, their trust had cost them. That sword Kamui had been carrying on him, it had been a Nohrian trap and had exploded during his homecoming celebration – taking with it a good portion of the capital, the lives of innocent civilians who had done nothing wrong other than being in the wrong place that day, and their mother who had sacrificed herself to protect Kamui! The pain and grief had clouded his mind with a deep-seated hatred, but Ryouma-niisan and Hinoka-neesan were more upset with him for yelling at Kamui, with nary a word about Mother or the townspeople! That had only worsened his mood.

And yet, that hadn’t been the end of it. After the attack on Shirasagi, they had received word that the Nohrian army was assembling at the border, and so he and his siblings and Kamui had gone to confront the enemy – led by none other than the crown prince of Nohr himself, a man who called Kamui his brother. And when forced to make a decision, the traitor sided with Nohr! The country that had just killed his mother, and his father years ago, both of whom had died to protect him!

Kamui had, during his short return to Hoshido, indirectly caused the deaths of the queen and innocent civilians, the destruction of the capital, and had demoralized not only all of Hoshido but his siblings as well. Takumi had to wonder if it’d all been an elaborate ruse by Nohr to cripple Hoshido to begin with.

“Takumi.” The voice of his elder brother – his only elder brother – startled him out of his thoughts. Ryouma approached him, and from a distance he looked just as confident as he always was, even in the midst of hardship. But as he drew nearer, Takumi could see even in the darkness of the night the exhaustion in his brother’s face; a hint of sadness in his eyes. “You should be resting,” Ryouma said. “That wound won’t heal if you overexert yourself.”

A faint blush coloring his cheeks, Takumi slowly rubbed his lower arm. Thankfully, it wasn’t his dominant hand that had been injured, but during the skirmish earlier that day he had battled against one of the Nohrian princes. He had received the injury when his enemy had gotten too close. In his anger he’d barely noticed the pain, but now his arm protested the results of letting out his pent-up rage.

“Tomorrow morning we shall begin planning our next move from hereon in,” Ryouma went on. “Nohr’s actions are an act of war, and we cannot let them go unpunished.”

“Nohrian scum,” Hinoka hissed, from where she stood behind Ryouma – Takumi hadn’t even realized she was there until he heard her. “I’ll never forgive them for what they’ve done! They turned Kamui against us, his true family …”

“It is regrettable, but Kamui has sided with Nohr.” Ryouma closed his eyes, as if his next words physically pained him to say. “He is our enemy now, and the next time we meet on the battlefield we must fight.”

“Why … why is any of this happening? For so long, I’ve dreamed that Kamui would return to Hoshido … return to us. That we could all live happily in the castle together like we used to …”

“Neesan, what are you saying!” Takumi shouted at Hinoka, unable to bear listening to her mourning for any longer. “Kamui’s been lost to us for years! We don’t know who he is anymore! If it weren’t for him, Mother would still be alive!”

“Shut up, Takumi! You wouldn’t understand!” Hinoka snapped back at him, gripping her naginata so tight that it seemed to be on the verge of breaking. “Kamui has always been a kind-hearted child. He’s our family! How can you just cast him aside like he’s nothing?”

“How can I – neesan! He’s the one who turned his back on us! He chose Nohr over us – like Hoshido never meant anything to him! Like Mother hadn’t died to protect him!”

“Maybe he didn’t want to come back to Hoshido because of the way you’d been treating him this entire time! Maybe Kamui would be here with us if you hadn’t been so terrible to him for no reason!”

“P-please stop!”

The sound of Sakura raising her voice, especially at her older siblings, was enough to make them both stop and turn to her. At some point unbeknownst to them, Sakura had joined them in the courtyard, probably drawn out by the sound of Hinoka and Takumi’s arguing. She was standing beside Ryouma, wringing her staff in her hands as their elder brother held her in a supportive one-armed hug.

“Sakura …” Hinoka had the decency to look embarrassed – as did Takumi; upsetting Sakura was the last thing either of them wanted to do.

“I-I’m sorry, but I can’t stand to see you fight like this, not now.” Despite the tears that were pooling in her eyes, Sakura’s voice never wavered. “Mother and Kamui are gone, and we shouldn’t be fighting! We need to stay together, now more than ever.”

“She’s right,” Ryouma said, his commanding tone essentially shutting down any possible disagreements. “Today has been tiring for all of us, but we must not forget what is truly important in this venture. We must protect Hoshido and the peace that Father and Mother had died for. Now, let us all turn in for tonight. May tomorrow bring light on Hoshido.”

With softly muttered agreements, Hinoka and Sakura headed back into the castle while Ryouma followed them inside. But Takumi remained standing in the courtyard, mulling over his brother’s words. Something had struck a nerve.

It wasn’t for peace that Father and Mother had died. It had been for Kamui. Everything that they had done leading up to their deaths had been for that person – who had all but spit upon their sacrifice by choosing the country that had killed them.

He may have been right in his distrust, but he felt no satisfaction from it. And why should he? Mother was gone. Central Shirasagi was in a crater. They had lost many soldiers and civilians by the end of the day. And his siblings were broken. They were broken, and yet they still were in love with the idea of Kamui; their long-lost precious brother who would come back if they could bring him back to his senses and all would be as it should be.

Kamui had destroyed Hoshido’s morale, and he’d hurt his siblings in the worst way that he could. Takumi vowed to make him pay for it.

-

He’d had nothing but bad dreams that night.

The scene from earlier that day kept on replaying in his mind: the sword exploding, the buildings crumbling, Mother throwing herself in front of Kamui to her death –

Sometimes the scene would change. He would be at the border – or sometimes inside the castle. He and his siblings would be standing alone, against an army of faceless Nohrian soldiers – led by none other than Kamui. Ryouma-niisan was still as Kamui brought up his sword, the stolen Yato no Kami that had chosen a traitor, professing that he could not fight the younger brother that he had loved so dearly, even as the sword plunged into his body –

Other times, it was Hinoka-neesan instead of Ryouma-niisan. Or Kamui killing Sakura in cold blood even though she couldn’t fight back against him. Sometimes they would all be dead, and Kamui would be taunting him that Father and Mother had loved him best, that he was too weak to defend anything as he raised his sword over his head –

Takumi didn’t feel like sleeping for the rest of that night.

A soft knock on the door pulled him out of his racing thoughts, and Oboro stepped inside the room – her naginata at her side and a concerned expression on her face. “Milord, are you well?”

“Oh, Oboro …” Takumi felt the blood rushing to his cheeks, and he immediately went to look at anything other than her. He didn’t want her to see him like this – like a child that needed to be comforted after a nightmare. What would she think of him? “I’m all right. I apologize if I troubled you.”

“Not at all, milord.” She placed her naginata against the wall and sat down next to him, not looking at him but at some point directly ahead. “I understand what it’s like … to lose a parent. To lose your family to Nohr. I’ve hated them … for as long as I can remember. I understand how you feel, Takumi-sama. No matter what lies ahead of us, I will always be by your side and I will always protect you.”

Despite everything that had happened, Takumi couldn’t help but smile – just a little. She was right – if there was anyone who could understand how he felt, it was Oboro. And she had always been at his side ever since she pledged her service to him. Even if the rest of the world turned against him, Takumi felt that he could at least count on her to be there. Maybe, once they’d won the war, they could –

“Oboro, if it’s not too much trouble … could you stay with me tonight?”

“Yes! I-it’s no trouble at all, milord!” He could almost see the grin on her face. “I would be honored to!”

It wouldn’t make everything in the world right again, because Mother was still gone and Hoshido had still suffered a massive blow. But for now, it was enough to let him pretend that nothing had changed, that his family was still whole and the world wasn’t crumbling around them.

[Jedi]

A very somber look at the side you wouldn't see in the Nohr campaign, well done.

[Balcerzak]

I really appreciate the up close and personal look at the human aspect of war. Yes, of course, the grand end of the world evil dictator plots have their own charm, but as the saying goes "one death is a tragedy, millions a statistic".

I can't offer too much more, being almost wholly unfamiliar with the plot and characters of Fates, but I definitely like what you've started here. I have some minor quibbles, but I don't know that there's anything serious or prevalent enough to go into. Possibly honorifics, but given the setting...

[False Prophet]

The premise is simple, but if you put it in the context, it makes an impact for the story..