Dragoncat's oneshots

[Dragoncat]

Oneshots are easier for me, I write more of them because they don't require as much planning. But if I ever do do a big story it will have its own topic.

Post feedback in this topic and make sure you tell me which one you're reviewing. Highest rating will be pg 13 ish, language and etc.

The Tattler

"What ya doing?" Kjelle looked up from the game of tic tac toe she was playing with Laurent just in time to see Morgan rip a branch off a tree. "What'd that tree ever do to you?"

"Dad won't let me use his swords. Says I have to wait until I'm thirteen. So I'm making my own." Morgan swished the branch through the air a couple times, grinning. "Who wants to spar? Pick your own stick!"

"No thanks. We're in the middle of a-" And then Kjelle took the paper and crumpled it up. "Hey!" Laurent snapped.

"His idea is more interesting." Kjelle explained. "And you were winning anyway."

"So?" Laurent whined. "At least tic tac toe isn't dangerous!"

"Don't come crying to me when you run into bandits and can't do squat to save yourself." Kjelle got up and grabbed a branch. Laurent stormed off. "Yeah, go ahead and be a chicken! Bawk bawk bawk!" Kjelle yelled after him.

"If he wants to be that way, let him." Morgan rolled his eyes. "His loss. Now...ENGARDE!"

Kjelle raised her stick and smacked Morgan in the chest. Morgan countered with a turn and a swipe toward Kjelle's backside. She dodged, a fierce look in her eyes. "You know why they say not to hit girls? Cause girls hit harder!"

"PUT THOSE STICKS DOWN!"

Laurent had returned...with Morgan's parents. The red haired boy was behind Rene and Lon'qu, looking quite pleased with himself.

Kjelle dropped her stick. "..Good luck." She then walked away without another word.

"You're too young to be hitting your friends with sharp sticks. We've been over this!" Lon'qu growled.

"But Dad-"

"No buts!" Rene's voice was laced with frustration. "If you want a sword when you're older, you have to show you're responsible, and right now you're anything but that!"

"THIS IS SO UNFAIR!" Morgan stomped the ground and threw the stick. Usually Lon'qu could evade attacks with ease...but that was on the battlefield, when he was prepared to dodge. He wasn't expecting that stick to come flying towards his groin. He buckled under the pain and landed on the ground.

"Oh gods, are you okay?" Rene was trying not to laugh. Of all the places it could've hit him...what were the odds?

"I think I'm fine." Lon'qu sputtered.

Morgan just stood there, mouth open, as his father staggered to his feet. "...How long am I grounded..."

"Don't know yet." Rene's tone was stern. "You'll know before the day is over."

"But the grounding starts now."

Morgan stopped in his tracks. He had been making his way over to where Owain and Inigo were kicking a ball back and forth, until he heard his father say he was already grounded. "...Bullshit." He muttered, retreating in the direction of his family's part of the camp.

"Did you hear that? Last time we let Vaike and Sully be sitters..."

Rene shrugged, chuckling softly. "Yeah. I'll talk to them later. I have a feeling Kjelle was just as much in on it as Morgan...we need to deal with one problem at a time."

Time of Peace

Rene's point of view
I think my son is going to be a morning person.

Granted, he's barely a day old...but he woke up at the crack of dawn and he wasn't hungry, nor did he need changed. He just...woke up and started making noise. How I heard him, I have no idea...usually I can sleep through alarms. I wonder where he got that? Certainly not from me, and certainly not from his father...speaking of which, Lon'qu wasn't in the tent with me anymore. Must've went back to his tent because he didn't want to be woken up for anything. Gee, thanks...he's gonna get an earful when I see him.

I figured Morgan would benefit from some fresh air. I picked him up and took him outside. The birds were chirping, gentle breeze...nice day. Morgan's little eyes were round and wide. He was taking in everything around him the best he could. If he could talk, he would be speechless. I had to smile and chuckle a bit. He has no idea how big the world really is.

Sol was sprawled out on the ground in the middle of camp. Usually I make him sleep in the stables with the horses and pegasi, but yesterday I was in labor for most of the evening, and by the time it was over, it was dark out and I just wanted to go to bed. He doesn't seem to like crowded stables anyway. I knew he would stick around...and now, it was time for the wyvern to meet the baby.

I tapped Sol's muzzle. "Wake up." He let out a yawn and shuffled slightly, then blinked, moved his head down close to Morgan, and started sniffing him. Morgan babbled and cooed. I'm glad he inherited my way with wyverns, instead of screaming his head off. That wouldn't be good...

It also wouldn't be good if I let Sol lick him. I frowned and pulled Morgan away slightly. "No." I addressed my wyvern sternly. Wyverns spit acid, and sometimes that acid gets on their tongues and around the inside of their mouths. If Morgan got that acid on him, he would definitively scream bloody murder and that would be pure chaos.

"What the hell are you doing with our son?!"

Well, it was obvious my husband was up and around... "Calm down!" I turned and blinked. "Sol won't hurt him. Oh, and tonight, do me a favor and NOT sneak out of the tent after I'm asleep. He's your kid too. I expect you to help out."

"He can't feed him. You know that, right?"

I gave Chrom a small nod and rolled my eyes. "I sure hope you don't know that from experience, milord. I meant, I expect him to help otherwise."

"Of course. Obviously." Chrom started to leave for the barracks and beckoned for me and Lon'qu to follow. "You guys both look like exhausted new parents, and I feel your pain. But do you think you can still work on strategies, Rene? I know it's been peaceful lately, but you never know."

"Pretty sure I can..."
--------------------
Sol's point of view
I should’ve known. All the signs were there...but I was still surprised when my human companion showed up all of a sudden with that little whelp. No wonder she’d been a bit heavier and rounder the past few months...

The whelp was tiny, and wrapped in some sort of hide material with only its head showing. It didn’t have all its head fur, but what was there was dark colored. Same color as its father’s fur. No doubt in my mind who he is. I’m not blind. I saw the courtship displays...I wonder if it’s common for female humans to pelt a male they’re interested in with fruit? Whether it is or not, it certainly worked.

Humans are strange. Not only do they drag their courtship on and on and end it with what looks like a ceremony, but it looks like they find a good hiding spot and mate there. For an animal at the top of the food chain, that’s kind of surprising. Well, they’re helpless without their sharp shiny stick looking things...but still. I knew they would mate eventually, but I had no idea their species is so secretive about it.

I could tell the little one was fresh out of the womb, mere hours old, because he or she smelled a bit like blood. The noises it made sounded neither male or female, and it was wrapped up...I’m not sure I’d be able to tell the difference even if it wasn’t though. No biggie. I can call it an it until it gets older.

My mistress was okay with me sniffing the whelp, but not licking it...she pulled it away when I tried. Right. Wyvern venom sometimes gets in the saliva. Probably wouldn’t be a good thing for a newborn human to have on its skin if it burns even adult ones.

I heard her mate yell behind me. He ran up with a startled look on his face. It’s good that he’s being a protective father...but did he honestly think I would hurt the little thing? This is why I would’ve preferred that she had chosen another wyvern rider to be her mate. This one tends to have panic attacks over flying. He was fine the first time until he looked down...flying just isn’t something he enjoys. He’s also a little...antisocial. When everyone else is sitting around the fire vocalizing, he’s by himself with his shiny stick cutting up random objects. I don’t think he’s much for wyverns either. What she sees in him is a mystery to me, but I guess I can’t complain.

The leader of the group approached, making laughing noises. He had recently sired a whelp himself, and there was a giant ceremony for that one...suppose that’s expected for leaders. My mistress made friendly noises back at him. Then they all left, leaving me free to go back to sleep.

Edited September 15, 2014 by Dragoncat

[Dragoncat]

Royal Strut

(My attempt to give Chrom a bit more of a personality. Hopefully done in a funny way.)

A golden scaled wyvern was curled up in the corner of the barracks, watching the scene in front of him. His rider's offspring was growing fast. Seemed like just yesterday, the whelp was barely the size of a sirloin steak. Now it was the size of a small dog, and he still couldn't tell whether it was male or female. He thought the oldest young human in the group was female, but he might be wrong...either way, that one was looking more like its alpha male father every day. His mistress' little one kind of was too. It had its father's fur color. But its eyes were the same color as its mother's.

"What are you doing?" Rene saw Lon'qu give Morgan a fork. "It's nowhere near dinner time."

"I'm starting his sword training early. Figured a fork would be the least dangerous."

"Have you lost your mind? He's not going to know what to do! And...ever heard of a butter knife?"

Morgan blinked at his parents, then thrust the fork into his mouth.

"There, see?" Rene rolled her eyes. "He knows what forks are for...gods, Lonky! Wait until he's out of diapers at least!"

The drool covered fork fell to the ground. "Nee! Nee!"

Rene and Lon’qu looked at each other. That was Morgan’s term for horse, but the only animal in the barracks was Sol. Sol wasn’t a horse...far from it.

Then Sumia came walking in. “Hi, guys. Have either of you seen Chrom or Lucina?” Breezy, Sumia’s pegasus, whinnied a greeting to Sol.

Morgan giggled and waved his arms. “Caw nee!”

“That translates to ‘bird horse’.” Rene explained. “I have a feeling he’s gonna be quite the genius.”

“Well he DOES have a genius tactician for a mother. I only hope he got some fierce warrior blood from me too.”

Rene laughed and cuffed Lon’qu over the head playfully. “I saw Chrom at lunch, but that was two hours ago. Lucina wasn’t with him. He said she was with you.”

“You might check the garden, I thought I saw both of them go there a little bit ago.” Lon’qu added.

----

“Daddy, what’s the royal strut Mommy keeps saying you have? Is it a pretty shiny thing? Can I take it for show and tell someday?”

Chrom almost snorted. “I don’t know about show and tell. But I can show you it.”

Lucina clapped and jumped up and down. “Where’s it at?”

“Right here.”

“But all I see is flowers and bushes and trees.”

“Watch this.” Chrom circled one of the hedges, shoulders squared, head held high, and with a distinct spring in his step. “THAT is the royal strut.”

Lucina stared for a moment. “Oh! So it’s a kind of dance? Like the hokey pokey?”

“...Almost. It’s more of a way of walking, a way for people to tell you’re royalty right away when they see you.”

“Then how come Mommy and Aunt Lissa never do it?” Lucina blinked, then gasped. “It’s not something girls can’t do, is it? That would be not fair!”

“No.” Chrom smiled. “You can do it if you want.”

“Yay!” Lucina attempted to copy what her father had done. She got the squared shoulders right, but was almost stomping instead of stepping lightly. When she was finished, she turned to her father and grinned. “How’d I do?”

“You need to try not to stomp around. More like...skipping or a horse walking. And if you see people, you can wave at them and say: 'sup, peasants!’”

“Chrom, what in the world...”

Lucina royal strutted right over to her mother. “Sup, peasants!” The little girl had a playful grin on her face, looking mighty proud of herself.

“Oh, but your mother’s not a...” Chrom gulped.

“You honestly can’t think of anything better to teach her?”

“What’s the matter, Mommy? Am I doing it wrong?”

“Lucina, go find me...one flower of each of the colors of the rainbow. If you can, I’ll make pie tonight.”

“Okay!” Lucina ran off toward the flower patches. Sumia turned her attention to Chrom. His face was beet red. “...You royal oaf. I can’t stay mad at you when you give me that look.”

“...Emmeryn would kick my rear.”

“She probably would. Just try to teach our little girl good things from now on, okay? We don’t want her growing up with a bloated ego.”

“Yeah, we don’t.” Chrom shook his head. “We want her to be as kind and sweet as Emmeryn was.”

Sumia chuckled. “Bingo.”

Lucina returned with the flowers. “I couldn’t find a green one...would a leaf work?”

“Absolutely. Now which kind of pie do you want?”

“Chocolate!”

“Chocolate it is...”

[Dragoncat]

Meeting the In Laws

(Longest one yet! For Rene's parents' names, I used behindthename.com. It's useful. Rayner comes from the old english words for "army" and "advice". Aria is an italian name meaning "song" or "melody" or "air".)

“I’ve been doing some soul searching...I think it’s time to let my parents back into my life.”

Lon’qu stared at Rene, his hazel eyes full of confusion. “Didn’t you say you left because of a big disagreement? Because they would make you be in the tournaments and you didn’t want to?”

“Yes. But they are still my parents. They must be worried sick about me, if they don’t think I’m dead.” Rene hung her head in shame. “I can’t continue living with this guilt. Plus...Morgan needs to get to know his grandparents.”

There was a brief silence. “You never told me anything about your parents...are they around? If you want we can go to them first.”

“No. My mom died giving birth to me. My dad...was never in the picture. I was brought up by my grandparents until Basilio took me in. Last I heard, they’re both senile in their old age. I don’t think they’ll even remember me.”

Rene blinked. “Oh. Well...that makes it even more important that we go to my parents then. I remember exactly where the house I grew up in is, I only hope they’re still there.”

There was no point in arguing. Once Rene got her mind set on something, it wasn’t easy to get her to change it. This was the right thing to do after all.

“Okay.” Lon’qu finally replied after a moment of thinking. “You’re right. It’ll be good for him. And...” He looked at Rene’s belly and smiled. “It’ll be good for...him or her.” Rene was only about two months pregnant with their second child, so she wasn’t showing yet. They would have to make that known to her parents as soon as possible.

“I just hope they approve of me.”

“Little late for them to not approve of you!” Rene smiled and laughed. “I’m sure they will...my dad likes to tease, fair warning. Don’t take it wrong. And Mom...I think she’ll just be glad to see me again. The grandkids will be the icing on the cake. They HAVE to accept you, you’re their son in law.”

He still looked unsure. She patted his shoulder and gave him a tender look. “It’ll be fine. Trust me. I’ll tell Chrom the plan. We don’t have to leave this merry band forever, you know. Pretty much everyone else exchanges letters with their folks on a monthly basis...while we’re still in Ferox, it’s a good idea.”

“So...you want me to go get Morgan?”

“That would be nice, yes.”

The tent flap opened, and Chrom walked in. “Just the man I was looking for.” Rene walked over and smiled. “I’m taking Lon’qu to meet my parents. We won’t be gone long. They live like...half a mile west of the longfort.”

“You just now decided to do that?” Chrom blinked. “I hope you’re taking Morgan with you. Sumia and I are tired of babysitting everyone else’s kids.”

“Yeah. Surprised me too. But yes, we are taking him with us.”

“And I see Kjelle pawned off on you more than any of the others.” Rene added. “I really don’t think that counts as everyone else’s kids.”

Chrom nodded. “True...last time I saw Morgan by the way, he was bugging Cherche. Over by the pond.”

The four year old boy ran up to his parents as soon as he spotted them. “Miss Cherche taught me how to spell my name and yours too!” He had a piece of paper with writing on it. “Daddy, do they really put these funny lines in names where you were from? All of them? How come they do that?”

“Yeah, why DO they do that?” Rene wondered out loud.

“I think it looks cool! I want my name to look like that!” Morgan grabbed the pen from Cherche, then squinted at the paper. “I dunno where to put the line though!”

“We don’t need to change his-” Lon’qu was already writing on the paper. “...Did you not hear me?” Rene sounded annoyed.

“Relax, this is just for fun.”

The “Morgan” on the paper was crossed out, with “Mo’gan” written underneath it. “There. If you were born in Chon’sin, that would be your name. But you weren’t, so...”

“You need to keep the name you were born with.”

Rene smiled. “Thanks, Cherche.”

“Any time.”

“Son, how would you like to...meet your grandma and grandpa?”

Morgan’s face lit up at his father’s question. “Oh, I have a grandma and grandpa too? Like Kjelle and Owain? Will they give me candy and cookies?”

“Everybody has a grandma and grandpa.” Cherche smiled. “Just...not everybody gets to know them.”

“Why?”

Rene patted Morgan’s head. “I can’t answer that. It’s just the way things are sometimes. And I think they probably will give you treats. But first...” She looked around, and saw Sol snoozing under a tree. She promptly walked over and pulled on the wyvern’s reins, forcing him to follow her. “We need to go to where they are.”

“Woah, are we all going to ride that beast?” Lon’qu stiffened.

“Unless you want me to tie a rope to him and have you hold it and put you in a cart. Which will be a bumpy ride...”

Cherche chuckled at that mental image. “Flying’s not that bad, actually.”

“And takes less time.”

Morgan was already climbing onto Sol’s back. “Daddy, come ON! It’ll be fun!”

The boy had never flown before. Of course he thought it would be fun...Lon’qu wasn’t liking this at all. Knowing his luck, his son wouldn’t have his dislike of heights. And then he’d want a wyvern of his own...and guess who would have to go buy one? How much did wyverns sell for? Some horses were just as expensive as silver swords! He wished Rene was further along in the pregnancy. Then he’d have a good excuse for wanting to walk. But she’d probably just tell him she’d be careful and insist on flying anyway.

They had to stop and land after a short while, because Morgan had to go to the bathroom. Lon’qu didn’t blame him. Flying generally scared the piss out of him. He was making an effort not to look down, but still. That was one thing he couldn’t see himself getting used to.

When the boy came back from behind the tree, he was shivering. “How much farther?”

“Not much at all. See that village up ahead? That’s it.”

“Can we walk now?”

Rene knew her husband wasn’t much for flying. Apparently her son was the same way. They were both looking at her with pleading expressions. She found that adorable. “Sure, we can walk the rest of the way.” Sol snorted and folded his wings smugly. Rene scratched his head. “Not everyone enjoys flying, boy...just stay above us. Or walk...the gods gave you legs too.”

Sol snorted again before launching himself into the air. He kept a close eye on the humans below him as they made their way to the village. The young one skipped and hopped along in front of his parents, occasionally stopping to look back, making sure he wasn’t leaving them behind. Sol could tell he would grow into a strong and agile male like his father.

The house was close to the edge of town. Rene breathed a sigh of relief when she saw movement through the window. “They’re still here, all right...I’d know the smell of Mom’s homemade cinnamon bread anywhere.” Sol landed and plopped his hindquarters on the ground, sending up a small cloud of dust. Rene hesitated, then knocked on the door.

“Aria! Go get the door, I’m on the pot!” A man‘s voice came from the back of the house.

“Okay dear!” There was the sound of footsteps. The door opened, revealing a woman who appeared to be in her mid fifties. Her eyes were like dinner plates. “Rene? Is it really you?”

“Yes Mom. It’s me...I’d like you to-”

“OH MY GODS!” Rene’s mother interrupted with a loud yell that made Lon’qu flinch. “Rayner! Our daughter has returned!”

Rene turned to Lon’qu and smiled awkwardly. “Well I kinda expected that...”

“I’ve never seen an old woman move that fast.”

A tall, grizzled man with a patch over his right eye appeared. His remaining eye was as wide as his wife’s. “Am I dreaming? It’s been six years...I had assumed something terrible had happened!”

“I TOLD you, those stories about the genius tactician with the wyvern, they had something to do with us! I never gave up hope. Never did!” Aria paused for a second. “But who’s this? He doesn’t look like a prince or a king. That IS who employed you, right?”

“Yes, Exalt Chrom of Ylisse was who I was traveling with. This isn’t him, you’re right.” Lon’qu didn’t look like he wanted to introduce himself. “...He does talk. Trust me...but anyway. This is Lon’qu. He’s...” Rene noticed Morgan was out of her parents’ line of sight, so she beckoned him over. “The father of your grandchildren. And this is your grandson, Morgan.”

Rayner and Aria were speechless. “We are married.” Rene continued. “Don’t worry about that...it wasn’t a very big elaborate ceremony, but it WAS official...”

“You always did prefer to do things the simple way.” Aria smiled. “But wait, you said grandchildren instead of grandchild.”

“We’ve got one on the way.”

“See? I told you he talks.” Rene elbowed Lon’qu in the ribs, chuckling.

Morgan slowly came out from behind his mother. “Are you making cookies, lady? Smells like it. And Mommy told me you would.”

“Oh gods, he’s adorable!” Aria squealed. “Not cookies, but something else I’m sure you’ll like. And please, call me Grandma! Come on in! All of you!”

Not much had changed in the house. Everything was how Rene remembered it, except for a glass and wooden case in the corner with weapons in it that hadn’t been there before. There was a steel lance and a staff of some sort, but Lon’qu was most interested in the killing edge that looked older than he was.

“I see you’ve found my old trusty blade.” Rayner said from behind him. “I used to be quite the swordsman back in the day...you look like you might be the warrior type. You better be. I ain’t accepting half hillbilly grandkids.”

“Dad!” Rene’s face reddened.

Lon’qu turned and puffed out his chest. “I’ll have you know, old man, that I am next in line for the position of West Khan! You want proof?”

“Knock it off!” Rene stepped between them. “Dad, that was rude. Lonky, remember I told you about the teasing? But he can go a little overboard at times...”

After a short awkward silence, Rayner spoke. “...Oh. So that rugrat from Chon’sin Khan Basilio adopted...that was you? Small world...”

“I was a teenager at the time, but yes.”

“That explains the foreign sounding name. What was it again? Ronku or...Lonky?”

“It’s Lon’qu. L-O-N-apostrophe-Q-U.” Rene said, smiling slightly. “Lonky is just what I call him sometimes. He doesn’t seem to mind.”

Morgan ran up with a sticky substance all over his face and hands, and hid behind his parents. “Little scamp!” Aria sounded a little annoyed, but she was smiling. “Now half the icing is gone!”

“Sorry Grandma! It just looked so yummy. And I’m hungry and I don’t want to wait for that bread to cool!”

Rene laughed. “I used to do the same thing when I was your size! That icing is the best, isn’t it?”

“YOU used to be MY size?” Morgan gave his mother a wide eyed, open mouthed stare.

“Oh, this is so nice! I LOVE having a family again!” Aria hugged her daughter, then turned to Lon’qu. “I knew my girl had good taste in men! You’ve given me the most adorable little grandson, and I bet he’ll be as handsome as you! Why, if I were twenty years younger and single...”

“Mom. Stop.”

“Okay fine. Stay for dinner! That cinnamon bread can be dessert!”

“Can we?” Morgan pleaded.

“I suppose we’ll have to go back tomorrow.” Rene shrugged. “I just hope Chrom doesn’t need any tactics before then...he’ll probably understand.”

“Yes, stay awhile. Tell me about your adventures.” Rayner smiled. “I’m happy to have the next West Khan for a son in law. But,” His single eye twinkled. “You will all have to sleep in the living room. Rene, your old room is now storage...” He lowered his voice so Morgan wouldn’t hear the next statement. “If you weren’t already pregnant...I would’ve had to give the boy his own room. Don’t act like you’d be any different from any other young couple.”

Lon’qu’s face turned red for a second. “With all due respect, sir...I don’t think I’d be comfortable...with THAT in my in laws’ house the day I meet them.” His voice was almost a whisper.

“Good to know.” Rayner led the way to the dining room. There was elk steak from a local meat vendor, potatoes and gravy, corn...and of course, the famous cinnamon bread. The next morning seemed to come too soon. Letters would have to be exchanged. Chrom didn’t say much upon their return, he did seem to understand. And they didn’t miss anything overly exciting or important, which was a good thing.

Edited September 25, 2014 by Dragoncat