sranks | we are the cursed we came from fire and ice

[The Golden Deer always have the training grounds just before lunch, every day without fail. It's time for the students to spar against each other or Byleth, or have either Hanneman or Manuela check their progress with magic. It's practical training instead of staring at books all day or discussing theory and tactics, so that means it's Felix's favorite part of the day. Not that he usually sticks to sparring only during these hours, of course.

Felix arrives late today, already looking annoyed. Sylvain felt the need to stop him on his way to prattle on about something stupid and pointless, like Felix actually cares. But he's here now, and he immediately moves to grab a training sword. He can spar with Byleth any day, so instead he's got eyes out for only one person.

Camilla.

She'd returned recently, they said. She's still recovering, so don't be too hard on her, they said. So naturally, he's going to ignore all that and give her his best, because she'd be insulted at anything less.

He'd been told that her hair is white now, that her eyes are pink. He'd been told that he shouldn't ask about it either, which is probably the only unsolicited advice he's received from his fellow students that he'll actually take to heart. It doesn't really matter what happened to her. She's still Camilla, and she's still the best person to spar with because she won't hold back either.]

Good to see you're back. [And with the formalities out of the way—] Come at me.

[oh my god????]

[Camilla is always here for the training grounds. Sure, she's been exhausted as hell--a fact that Lord Lorenz has told her to try and cut back on, but it's honestly one of the few ways she's attempting to cope with everything that happened. Because thinking about it for too long is going to make her a wreck, so suppressing it entirely and only breaking when she's encouraged to is the only way she feels she can even try to tackle it.

When she's. You know. Not just trying to live a normal life after all of this and dealing with the fact that she can't sleep at all most nights, but she's fine. Camilla has to be fine, and she can at least take advantage of the training grounds when she can.

Camilla's practicing her drills when she hears the doors open, not really even paying attention at first until the person speaks up. Camilla turns so fast that she gets whiplash, honestly--]

Felix? What on earth are you--

[...You know what, no, he's already skipping the formalities and Camilla could use a good sparring opponent.]

Very well, then.

[And come at him she shall! Camilla isn't quite as violence happy as she once was, seeming far more serious than usual, but her strikes haven't gotten worse, at any rate--if anything, her crushing strength has gotten better. If Felix is eagle-eyed, he'll occasionally see the after-image of a crest that allows her strikes to be far more swift and numerous than before...

And yet, even with that newfound power, there's no doubt that Camilla is still recovering. She stumbles quite a bit due to her tired state, and it's not long before Felix has sent her training axe flying out of her hands and she winds up losing her footing shortly after, landing on the ground with a thud.

...Somehow, she's not surprised.]

As sharp as ever, Felix. [...] What on earth are you doing here in the first place? The Blue Lions do not typically come to the training grounds at this time of day.

[She's gotten stronger, that much is obvious. He does see the crest activate - it's not one he recognizes, but it isn't one he's ever seen from her before. That's... alarming. He can't imagine that's anything good?? There's no way she had a crest before and it never activated during any of their sparring sessions.

He doesn't think about it. He focuses instead on their fight, on disarming her instead of landing any potentially dangerous blows. It isn't that he's pulling his punches, because he's certainly not, but this is the quickest way to end the fight and if he's not careful, that crushing strength of hers may actually break him.

But he wins and he watches the training axe go flying as he catches his breath. Thankfully, it doesn't hit anyone, but the archers startle at the sudden incoming axe crashing near the targets.]

Hmph. [It's more of a placeholder than anything; it's not dismissive, at least. He reaches out to offer her a hand to pull her to her feet, if she'd like.] I'm not with them anymore.

[He stops to consider his words once they're out there, then his gaze darts sharply to the side and he sneers.]

It's the boar's fault. He's insufferable. I couldn't stand being in the same room as him any longer. So I switched classes, joined the Golden Deer.

[That's... not exactly the truth. It's part of it, sure, but he'd been planning on switching classes to further hone his skills. Given how often Byleth trains with the Golden Deer - and their swordplay - he figured this would be a better fit for him. It had nothing to do with Camilla. He'd put in the transfer request before she'd been taken away, and it was only approved shortly after the Golden Deer had returned from their wild adventure. He had been the only one who hadn't been given a ton of extra chores and made to write essays on why it was inappropriate for students to run out of the monastery and steal horses and wyverns.

But it had nothing to do with Camilla. She just happens to be a good sparring partner.]

[Camilla's...honestly not sure what to say at first, but it really is undeniably like Felix to say something like that. She does wind up taking his hand to pull herself up, dusting herself off and her face just kind of staying neutral rather than any sort of smile or anything.]

...I see. I suppose I can understand that much, and why you would wish to avoid him; I do hope that our house has been treating you well, in return. I hope they're providing you with good fights.

[It's...an attempt at being gentle. She winds up just kind of rubbing her hands a bit while she deals with her tiredness and the slightly bitter taste of defeat, but she's...fine, it's fine.]

...At any rate, I am glad to see you among our ranks. It did get a little boring from time to time, to have to practice on my own.

[That much is at least genuine.]

They have been. Most of them put up a good fight, but there aren't many who can compare to you.

[The compliment is... admittedly sort of awkward, but it's there. Felix shrugs a bit once she's back on her feet, resting a hand on his hip.]

You won't have to practice on your own now. I don't have any plans on leaving.

[That's possibly the most backwards way he could have worded "I want to look out for you" but it's... fine.... Felix is good at this...]

[...Were she in a better state, she would have teased him for such things. Camilla does look at him a bit when he says that, but smiling is...still not a thing that happens very easily for Camilla. Even if she does appreciate such words.]

...I'm honored, then, to be a good fight even in such a state.

[It's definitely a little self-depreciating; she looks like shit, and she's sure everyone in the monastery knows by now.]

I do appreciate it, Felix. I don't intend to let you go without a suitable sparring partner, and I certainly have no intention of holding back.

[...]

I am going to take a break for now, however. I imagine you've still got energy to spare for your drills, but if you do wish to join me, you may.

[Camilla can't help but feel mildly frustrated at being so tired, and it shows on her face, but she's going to go sit down with her stuff. She's more than content to watch him for the time being, really.

Maybe later, she'll feel worse about not being raring to go for another round, but today isn't that day.]

[Oh.

It's not that he thought everyone was wrong about Camilla's disappearance and whatever horrors she underwent, but somehow it hadn't really occurred to him that despite her boost in strength she'd still be worn out so easily.

She's been through a lot. She's been through a kind of hell he can't even begin to imagine.

He's got plenty of energy left, and it would be best used on training. But... Well, Sylvain does owe him for being a pain in the ass today, so he'll just drag Sylvain back here to spar this evening. He can spend some time with Camilla.

But first he goes to grab some of the training weapons in need of repairs and the supplies he needs to repair them, then joins Camilla. He sits nearby and gets to work immediately. His eyes remain on the weapons, and he doesn't speak, but he's here.

Maybe that means something. Maybe it doesn't. But it's what he's decided to do with himself.]

[In all honesty, Camilla wasn't actually expecting Felix to join her; he has more important things to worry about than her, who can provide a decent fight but can't even provide a round two so easily. Really, she's honestly expecting some sort of snarking or maybe something disparaging, but...

Well, Camilla sees him join her while she's drinking some water she's brought with her and blinks a little bit. She sees the weapons he's brought with him, and she has to admit, she was...not actually expecting him to join her--she jumps a bit in surprise before settling, and...

...It's nice, honestly. Her surprised expression neutralizes, but her eyes have softened some; she's pleased.]

...Thank you.

[It's pretty damn genuine. Camilla doesn't mind the silence, honestly. She's content to simply watch for now, letting the comfortable silence hang over the air. For a bit, at least.]

I'm afraid weapon repairs have never been my forte, but...it is a good skill to have, isn't it?

Don't mention it.

[It's not harsh, though. A little awkward, certainly, but not harsh.

Felix is content to sit in silence as he works, never looking up at Camilla. She speaks up again and he inclines his head a bit to indicate that he's listening, but he doesn't look up even then.]

It's important to be able to care for your weapons. We have the luxury of swapping them out when they're broken or damaged here, but on the battlefield you won't be so lucky. So it's best to know how to handle it, should it ever come up.

[He finishes adjusting the grip on the sword he's been working on, holding it out and giving a few swings to test it before frowning and moving to redo it.]

I'm still learning, though.

[...It wouldn't be Felix if any sort of positive emotion weren't an awkward mess. It almost makes Camilla chuckle, for once at something not terrible like the idea of killing her former brother...

It's nice. Normal, almost, and Camilla listens attentively as she watches him work. House Gloucester had plenty of servants around, and weapon repair is one of the few things Camilla never wound up learning in her time there. They had specific people for that, but that may simply be one of the many differences between the Kingdom and the Alliance.

...Really, she seems almost enraptured by it--]

I can understand that. House Gloucester has always had the luxury of being able to change our weapons about at a moment's notice as well, and anything that needed repairs had specific individuals trained for the task...

[No, really, this is fascinating.]

...Perhaps that is something I ought to add to my repertoire, then. [...] I must admit, it looks almost...relaxing, to be able to do such a thing. Simply from watching you, of course.

[...she's not sure if she should explicitly ask...]

It's something most of us are taught. We learn to swing a sword, and then we learn how to repair it. It isn't particularly easy, but it's rewarding.

[There we go, that should do it. He gives the sword a few more swings and nods, setting it aside. The next one requires some work on the blade...]

I guess you could call it relaxing. It's important work, and it keeps my hands busy.

[He doesn't like sitting around and doing nothing, unsurprisingly.

He chances a glance at her, studying her expression for a moment in silence before getting back to work.]

The most important thing to do first is assess the chips in the blade. If they look like this, they can be repaired. If it goes deeper, there's no point in fixing it. You can't send a blade back to the forge and hope to fix it up that way - it's too much work and results are inconsistent at best. You'd have to reforge the whole thing, which is way too much work.

[Felix continues as he works, explaining the best way to remove chips from blades and the proper way to determine when a blade isn't worth trying to fix. He sounds like he knows what he's talking about, at least.]

It certainly sounds as such...

[Camilla does wind up staying quiet while he continues, though; she's not surprised that he took so well to it, in hindsight. Camilla watches him work and listens with surprisingly rapt attention, watching him fix the blade and explain just how to remove those chips and how to determine if a blade is worth fixing. It's actually not bad to hear such things; Camilla's been learning much in the way of taking care of animals and she knows much of taking care of people, but weaponry and the like has always been beyond her.

Camilla's expression isn't soft, by any means, but...well, once he's done with the explanation, Camilla rises.]

I'll be back in a moment.

[If Felix decides to watch her, she's actually going over to get the training swords he didn't take and some supplies--she's got a decent memory, and she makes sure to grab everything that she saw with him, before setting everything down rejoining him.]

...I think I may be able to understand what to do, through watching you; allow me to see if I can't learn to do so even half as well as you.

[It's not competitive, or even teasing; it's a genuine interest on Camilla's part to learn from him.]

Though, I do supposed I am curious, if this is something you know...would a similar principle apply to other such weaponry? Or are there different ways depending on the weapon?

[Felix has no problems laying all this out for her; it's relatively easy, and even though he doesn't usually talk this much at any one time, get him started on something he enjoys and he can keep going for awhile.

He doesn't look up when Camilla starts speaking, only when she rises. He nods at her words and watches her, and then pretends he wasn't staring when she rejoins him. The slight flush is probably the only indication that he was nearly caught staring.

It's... nice to know that she's interested in this, okay.]

There are differences, yes. Your axes, for instance, would require you to look for different sorts of cracks. Given the way axes are structured, fatal ones will look different than those of swords. Admittedly, I haven't been taught much about repairing axes, so I'm not sure how much I can help you with that.

[His eyes stray to her hands as she works, and though he'll fervently deny it if she calls him on it, he is smiling.]

[Camilla will at least get started on attempting to care for one of the weapons in question--she gives it a thorough look over, as she's seen him do but his words do cause her to dart her eyes over to him to see...

...Oh.

Oh, that's...a cute smile--were Camilla perhaps feeling teasing, she'd call him on it, but that's...nice, actually. Perhaps for the first time in a bit, Camilla finds herself smiling very slightly as her eyes go back over the sword in her hands, looking it over and finding it satisfactory at least to start.]

Well, you have given me a good base to start from. [Camilla admits that much easily, and her eyes dart over to his hands really quickly to pick out what she needs to start.] I think that is something I'll look into, then. I would find that to be exceedingly useful knowledge to have on the field, and...I wouldn't mind passing that onto you. Though I know you don't use axes at all.

[Alright, let's just get this started--Felix might notice that while Camilla has a good idea of what to do, she might be applying a bit too much force while she tries to repair some of the chips. It's definitely not because she's angry, but she kinda...still doesn't know how to hold back her strength a lot...please help...]

[She sees, and he immediately steels his expression back into something more neutral. Thankfully, Camilla doesn't tease him, which gets the tension in his shoulders to slowly slip away. Maybe she realizes what he's trying to do and that's why she doesn't feel the need to call him on it.

It's... kind of nice, anyway.]

It'd be worth knowing. Even though I don't use them, having someone else around who knows how to take care of them will always be useful.

[She gets to work, and it doesn't take him long at all to notice that she's being entirely too forceful. His eyes narrow as he ponders whether that's because of the changes or if she's always been like this.]

Careful. If you're too hard on them, you could break them or cause even more cracks. Be gentle with it, it doesn't need very much force at all.

Then I shall do that.

[--Oh, whoops. Camilla stops herself and blinks a bit down at her hands, before shaking her head. No, there's no use in contemplating why this much is happening, even if she does seem briefly frustrated. She didn't expect this to actually become a problem at all...]

Oh my, of course. My apologies; I'm afraid I did not know my own strength. I shall endeavor to be more careful.

[Camilla dials back the force quite a bit and gets back to work, concentrating hard. She's doing better this time, though, at the very least.]

Just take it slow. There's no need to rush.

[Felix watches her as she works, primarily studying her efforts with the blade, but eventually drifting back up to her face. She really has changed a lot, huh...

He returns his attention to the sword he's working on and focuses on the task at hand.]

Come find me sometime. For sparring or for this sort of thing. It'd be better than putting up with Sylvain.

[...That is the most backwards way of asking to hang out with someone more...]

[Camilla nods her head in response to that; honestly, she wants to take it slow, if only because this is something that's definitely helping her get her mind off of everything that's happened, if only slightly.

...Of course, Felix's very backwards way to ask her to hang out does get her gaze to dart over to him, something slightly amused on her face, before she goes back to her work--]

I will; I'd be happy to, you know. When I'm not serving my lord, my time tends to be quite free, and I would be most happy to spend it with you.

[It's gentle, with no teasing behind it. Sparring with Felix is always fun, after all, and the distraction would be nice.]

I can imagine that dealing with Sylvain and his rather...debonair ways would have many a way to leave one irate. So, truly, it is no trouble at all.

[camilla doesn't even respect sylvain enough to call him lord, rip]

[it's what the fuckboy deserves!!!]

If he's been giving you trouble, I'll throttle him.

[He huffs at that; he's pretty damn sure Sylvain hasn't been, if only because the entire Blue Lions house has an unspoken agreement to suddenly pop up the second Sylvain so much as looks Camilla's way, but still.]

I've known him since we were kids; he's always been exactly like this.

[There's no fondness there, definitely not any exasperated fondness, okay!!]

[Ah--Camilla stops her work quickly and shakes her head.]

No, no, he hasn't been. I can assure you of that. He hasn't bothered me at all.

[...Still, Felix being so willing to fight him is kind of sweet. And funny at the same time...]

Believe me, he'd be talking about the lovely dip he had in the pond if he did...but I'd be certain to let you know if he did. Promise.

[Of course, Felix does say something interesting, and Camilla goes back to work with a smile.]

Has he? I must admit, I'm not surprised; he seems like the sort to have come into the world with a wink on his face and a rose in his hand...

[Camilla chuckles, though.]

Would you tell me more, if you're so inclined? I must admit, I am curious.

[It sounds like there's a storied history there, and maybe it won't be so sad!]

Good. He'd deserve it.

[And so much more!! Felix is content to let that drop for now, and at Camilla's question he sighs.

For a moment, it seems like he won't elaborate. He's focused solely on removing a chip from the blade and that seems to have captured his attention entirely. But then he starts, almost hesitantly.]

Sylvain, Ingrid, and I were all friends with the boar when we were kids. We didn't usually all get together, but I saw a fair amount of them growing up. The boar and I spent a lot of time together; our fathers were close. Ingrid and Sylvain spent a lot of time together too, and she has all sorts of crazy stories about the things he did around her. Mostly he tried to drag me into his stupid shenanigans.

[As he speaks, his expression softens a bit.]

It wasn't all that bad, I guess. I spent a lot of time with them, and a lot of time with my older brother. We... had fun.

[...]

That's all in the past now, though. Ingrid's fine, but Sylvain's a pain and the less I see of the boar, the better.

[...Oh, that's...

Camilla wasn't sure if Felix was going to speak of it at all, but when he hesitantly starts, she can imagine it at least slightly. Sure, she never really had friends in House Gloucester other than Lord Lorenz, but her experiences in House Krakenburg--the few good ones--at least give her an idea of what it was like. The four of them, playing together, doing silly things, having...well, a childhood together. It's sweet, really.

It makes it all the more sad, what happened with Felix's brother and thus most of their friendships, but...]

...Even if it was all in the past, it sounds like those memories were happy ones. Ones that you cherish...and certainly, I can imagine all of it well. You all must have been very happy together, even with such silly shenanigans and the like.

[It's gentle, at any rate, while Camilla works as well. She doesn't want to sound sympathetic at all, and she's trying to keep that out of her tone while she works.]

Such friendship does sound incredibly wonderful, after all.

[Camilla finishes her current sword, testing it out like she's seen Felix do it--everything seems all worked out, at least, but she's giving it one last check over just in case. She isn't looking at Felix, at any rate, and her look seems a little distant.]

[Felix doesn't respond verbally, but he does nod briefly after a moment. It was wonderful, but that was then. It doesn't matter what things were like in the past, what matters is here and now.

He realizes he's being entirely too harsh with the blade and clicks his tongue against his teeth before setting it aside. He's not going to risk adding more cracks or worse, breaking the blade. It's stupid how easily his emotions get the better of him, especially about something so pointless.]

That's all in the past, though. I've got more important things to focus on now.

...So you do.

[Camilla's look wanders over to Felix, wondering if she said too much. She studies how hard he's being on the blade and forces herself look back over to her own, setting it aside and picking out another to work on.

Maybe it'd be better to get off of this subject.]

...At any rate, I really do hope that you will be able to find the strength that you seek. And we shall all be here to help you hone it. We would be remiss not to, truly.

[It's definitely a bit of a sideways way to say she's looking forward to helping him get stronger, but it's there.]

And the Leicester Alliance's specialty is bows, you know. Have you been training with them while I've been gone?

[camilla oh my god]

Yeah. I know.

[The subject change gets a laugh out of him. It's short and sharp, but not very loud.]

I'd be lying if I said I transferred without thinking about how the Golden Deer house could help me with my marksmanship. I've improved considerably since I started with a bow. No thanks to Claude, of course.

[in this house we drag claude]

we are the cursed we came from fire and ice

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