“Be sure to listen to nature, and you’ll hear all sorts of voices. You’ll feel better after that. If you’re stressed all the time, you won’t be able to hear anything.”
a FEH style sue i did for my commissions post this summer, i wanted to post her with an attacking and damaged version but just havent had the time to get around to it. i mostly dont want them to drop her in game before i post this lol.
commission for sue and lilina!! i am ALWAYS desperate for more sue content, she is simply the best.
Ah, the littlest OTP. Well HERE WE GO:
I’m still trucking along. 1,513 words
It was the park they went to, and Sue’s happy intake of
breath at seeing such ‘wild’ greenery was enough to tell Lilina she had made
the right choice. Well, that and the fact that hardly anyone came here.
The park had been a hunting reserve at one point, but none
of the lords of late had cared much for the sport. At least as far as Lilina
had been told. Certainly much of the meat on her tables came from here, and
certainly there was a bit of poaching among the servants to help out family
members who didn’t have cushy castle jobs, but there were no more great hunting
parties, and hadn’t been in decades.
Instead, Lord Hector had given control of the park to Lady
Lyndis, who had turned it from a slightly wild ‘tame’ forest into something
hardier and more sustainable, and something a great deal prettier too.
Something that just felt right in a
way that cultivated land never did.
“You can come here whenever you want,” Lilina said. “It’s
safe to ride too, at least as safe as anywhere is.”
“I will,” Sue said. “I didn’t realize there was such a nice
place here.”
“Mother did it,” said Lilina. “She spent a lot of free time
here.” They meandered through the park side-by-side. There was plenty of space
to cover – the park was no mean, scraggly patch of trees. It was large enough
that it supported plenty of deer and boar, in addition to smaller forest
dwellers.
“It’s a good place to come listen,” Sue said. “Nature’s
voice is very strong here. To have a place to be close to mother earth and
father sky, well, any Sacaen would want that.”
“Even Lycians need it,” Lilina said. It did seem easier to
breath out here, for all that the trunks of oak, elm, and ash pushed just as
closely as the castle walls, and their interlacing branches formed a ceiling
nearly as solid as the castle roof. “I should have come out here before, to
clear my head. I’ve just been so angry lately.
I don’t like it but I can’t seem to make it go away.”
“Because of Roy?” Sue asked. She finally settled down on a
fallen tree trunk and Lilina fell into place beside her, not at all concerned
that it might ruin her dress.
“He started it, the other lords finished it.” Lilina could
not keep the bitterness out of her voice, and didn’t even try. Sue was safe to
talk to – she wasn’t involved in politics, had no strong ties to any other
region but Sacae. “They’re trying to turn Ostia into a dog – collared and
controlled and Etruria’s hand on the leash!” She dug her fingers into the trunk,
and bits of bark and moss crumbled under her grip. “And General Cecilia! As if
I should be batting my eyeslashes and saying ‘you’re my hero Lord Roy!’ like
some simpering moron. And she scolds me as if I’m a child throwing a tantrum.
Ha!” Lilina pulled her hands away from the trunk with difficulty and rested
them on her lap instead, tangling her fingers in her skirt. “Ostia won’t end
with me, I swear it by St Elimine, aye, and by mother earth and father sky too!
She’s my charge, my birthright, my legacy, and I’ll restore her to her place if
it kills me.”
“The arrow that does for rabbit won’t do for elk,” Sue said,
in Sacaen.
The proverb took Lilina by surprise even more than the shift
in tone, or language. “Ah…mother used to say that too,” she said.
“Yes, the people of Sacae are very wise.” Even Sue couldn’t
keep a straight face for that. First, she smiled – an expression just as
subdued as the rest of her, but no less nice. Then she laughed a little and
suddenly they were both laughing – a touch hysterically, but real laughter.
Lilina couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed like
that, laughed so much she was wiping tears from her eyes as she stopped. She felt
lighter, as if some invisible load had been lessened. “I won’t tangle with the
other lords without being prepared,” she promised. “And there’s still Bern and
Etruria to consider, before I can do much of anything at all.”
Sue was rubbing at her eyes as well. “Still, I admire you,
Lilina. If I was half the warrior you are…”
“What happened? In Sacae?” Lilina’s tragedy was plain
enough, she couldn’t have hidden her losses if she wanted to. But Sacae was far
away, and Sue was so private a person, and Lilina only had a faint idea of what
had transpired.
Sue stared at the ground as if willing it to talk for her,
and sighed. “The clans of Sacae took a stand against Bern, all but one. Those
traitors attacked us, along with Bernese troops they’d given access to the
plains.” She scowled. “A hunter I am but a warrior? I was sent with the other
women and children, only to find that we’d ridden into a trap. I did what I
could but in the end…all I could do was flee with nothing more but my horse and
my bow. Lord Orun gave me safe lodging, until he was murdered.”
Lilina did not want to give Sue an empty ‘I’m sorry’ like
the ones given to her, and she couldn’t say nothing. “Bern has a lot of lives
to answer for,” she said, instead. “Lives lost and lives ruined. But that kind
of greed can’t possibly stay locked up quietly behind those mountains. And the
next time they cause trouble…”
“I won’t run, this time,” Sue said. “Some of my people might
still be alive, or captured. Vengeance solves nothing and violence solves
little, but I’ll rebuild my home too, however I must.”
“I’ll help, if there’s anything I can do.”
Sue nodded, and silence fell between them, for once not
awkward but comfortable. It was nice to sit outside on a beautiful day and
listen to birdsong and watch the ever-changing patterns of sun and shadow as
the light changed. It was nice to do those things with a friend, and even that
thought thrilled Lilina just a little bit. She was not a girl with many
friends, perhaps none outside of Roy, and now Sue.
But the light was changing,
and it was nearly time for dinner. She stood up and shook her skirt to free it
from the bits of moss and wood she had scattered liberally around.
“We should get back. Until I find a new seneschal, I don’t
have much free time.” She offered Sue a hand, which was accepted, and pulled
the other girl to her feet.
“Seneschal?”
“A lord’s right hand, someone who takes care of the little
details. Father’s seneschal, Lady Marian, was a treasure, but Leygance saw to
her during his coup.” Lilina set off back towards the castle, but she couldn’t
help moving slowly still, unwilling for this brief respite to end. “I’ll need
to have one found and trained before I can think of joining forces with Roy
again.” She sighed. “And tomorrow I need to ride out and start making rounds of
the tenant farmers outside the city proper, and I need to check on Bors and his
new guard recruits, and talk with the housekeeper and the butler about filling
any servant positions that need filling.” She stopped there, even though the
list went on and on. Her father had tried to prepare her to rule, but the
amount of work still took her by surprise. Where, in this wave of minutiae,
would she find time to fight Bern or the other Lycian lords?
“Can I help?” Sue asked. “Leading here is more complicated
than doing so in Sacae, but if I need to regather my clan it’s something I must
continue to learn.”
Lilina paused as they neared the gated wall that separated
the park from the rest of the castle estate. The sun was setting behind the
park, throwing long, twisted shadows from the wall and gate across the
perfectly manicured lawn. A good representation of how she felt – as soon as
they crossed that threshold she was Lady Ostia again, with all the
responsibilities and problems of the country firmly on her shoulders once more.
Lilina had always known who she was, what she was destined
for, and she had wanted it. But she’d never wanted it like this. Never wanted
to claim it from death and despair. Even so Ostia was hers, and it needed care
and keeping. She pushed the gate open.
“I can’t refuse any offer of help right now,” she told Sue.
“I’m sure we can find something that will be useful for both of us. And…well,
we do have one of the best training arenas in all Lycia. Perhaps we can spar
together sometime? We have to keep up on that
as well.”
Sue smiled her elusive smile again, and closed the gate
behind her. “I’d like that, very much.”
Some older Lilina and Sue!
I tried some interesting things while coloring this. Some of it worked and some of it didn’t but I still think it turned out well enough!
I’m at it again. Lilina’s got some shit to work through and man, part 4 is gonna be so good. 1,271 words.
Ostia was large, as far as Lycian territories went, but even
so the shrine of Roland could be reached with only two days of easy riding. The
remnants of the Lycia Alliance Army were not taking an easy ride. They pushed
themselves to a frantic pace, turning what Lilina remembered to be a relatively
calm and scenic country road into a nightmare of anxiety. The bright sunshine
and warm weather was at odds with the snorting of the horses and the clink of
armor and weapons.
The faces of the villagers they passed were drawn and
frightened. Lilina wished she could stop and talk to them. Why were they
afraid? Was it Bern? Her father’s death? The coup, or the army now racing
through their land? All of the above? There were still so many things she didn’t
know about Ostia and her people, things she had to learn quickly. For one
moment Lilina felt the full crushing weights of despair and obligation. The
change in mood startled her horse, and the black palfrey dropped out of a
canter, mincing her hooves and shaking her head. It was enough to drag Lilina
back to the present and give her something to do as she regained control of her
delicate mount.
The remaining army streamed around the pair, except for Sue
who slowed. Next to the sleeker Lycian palfreys and coursers, Sue’s scruffy
brown Sacaen horse looked ridiculous. Next to the shining steel plate of the
Lycian armor, Sue’s own breastplate of bronze scales looked just as odd. But in
this case, the unusual came across as a breath of fresh air.
Lilina straightened from soothing her high-strung mare as Sue
approached.
“Lilina,” Sue said, “do you need to stop?”
“No, I’m alright,” Lilina replied. She sighed. “There’s just
a lot happening, isn’t here?”
Sue inclined her head, and her dark hair gleamed emerald in
the strong sunlight. She didn’t seem to want to say any more.
Lilina stopped herself from sighing again. Sue was always so
quiet, she’d never been able to understand the other girl and that hadn’t
changed in the years they’d been apart. “There’s not really time to stop, is
there? No time to enjoy all this.” She gestured around, to the open countryside
that the army had disturbed by their passing. “Certainly no time for weakness
on anyone’s part. I have to be stronger.” She kicked her mare firmly on the sides,
and the palfrey jumped into a startled canter, following after the army that
had passed them by.
Sue caught up quickly. The horses of Sacae possessed a
uniquely ground-eating gait that made them the equal of any of their larger,
Lycian kin. For a moment, the two rode side by side in silence. Then Sue said, “No
sense in pushing too hard either. Everything is harder and more dangerous when
you’re stressed.”
Lilina looked over at her, eyebrows raised. “With all that’s
happened, with everything I’ve lost and everything we could still lose, you
think I can just…not be stressed?” Her words came out with more anger than she
intended, but Sue seemed less upset by the anger than by any of Lilina’s
previous attempts to be polite and courteous.
“We need you,” Sue said bluntly. “We need every strong
person who is able and willing to fight. Everyone who is brave and true.”
Lilina flushed nearly as red as her mantle. No one had said
they needed her before this. Certainly, Roy had not been unhappy to have her
once she made her opinions known, but he never would have asked for her to
come. None of them would.
“I-”
“But I know,” Sue said, continuing as if Lilina had not started
to speak, “that sometimes being strong and brave means being able to ask for
what you need.”
There was no time to reply. They had caught up to their
comrades. The Lycia Alliance Army had arrived at the Shrine of Roland.
Roy moved back towards her, the army parting around his
white courser like water around a rock. In his brand new armor and mantle he
looked every bit like a war leader and nothing at all like the fifteen year old
boy Lilina knew he was. “Lilina,” he said. “I’m glad you caught up. This is the
cave right? What can we expect inside?”
Sue’s comments were forgotten as Lilina turned her attention
to the problem at hand. She followed Roy back through the ranks of the army and
to the entrance to the cave. “This is right. It’s a volcanic cave, so it’ll be
hot and difficult to traverse.” She paused. “There’s no point brining the
horses, or most of the army. Only take a few who can help.”
“I’ll go,” Sue volunteered, riding up behind them.
Roy looked at Lilina and she shrugged.
“That’ll be fine,” he said. “I’ll go pick out a few others.
Try to remember what you can about the Shrine.”
Lilina slid down from the saddle in a swirl of crimson and
maroon. She took off her mantle and rolled it up. She pulled a spell book out
of one of her saddlebags and stuffed the mantle into the empty spot. The fine
wool of her kirtle would be warm enough in a lava cave without adding a full
cloak to it.
“There’s not much to remember,” she said to Roy as he
rejoined her on foot, followed by a few of his knights and fighters. “The
Shrine is at the back of the cave. The route is narrow and the floor is
treacherous. We’ll need to be careful.”
One of the knights, a man named Alan, if Lilina remembered
correctly, spoke. “Please allow us to proceed ahead of you and clear the way my
lord, my lady.”
Roy nodded, and the chosen few streamed into the cave. Roy
walked more slowly, next to Lilina. Sue moved up just ahead of them, but kept
her bow held loosely in one hand.
“Are you alright, Lilina?” Roy asked. He, too, had noticed
her falling out of the army earlier.
Lilina shrugged again. With one hand she raised her skirts
to jump over a small crack in the floor. Small wisps of smoke rose up from it
and similar cracks all the way through to the shrine. Lilina had only come here
once before, and then her father had lifted her up over all the worst of the
dangerous parts. Lilina shook her head and blinked a few times to discourage
any tears. “I’d be lying if I said I was fine, but there isn’t time for
mourning. I have to be strong for the sake of Ostia.”
Roy offered her a small smile. “Good for you, Lilina.”
Lilina clearly heard Sue snort from her place ahead of them.
Roy heard it too, but misunderstood. “Is everything alright,
Sue?” he asked.
Sue turned around as if to reply, but the sudden clamor of
metal on metal interrupted her. She whipped back around and broke into a run,
pulling an arrow out of her quiver as she did so.
“It must be bandits!” Roy said, drawing his sword from its
scabbard. “Do you think they’ve taken Durandal?”
Lilina’s grip tightened on the spell book. “Only the worthy
can remove the sword from its rest. I think we should give these bandits the
bad news.”
“Lilina…” Roy said.
Lilina didn’t respond. She just started running to catch up
to their comrades, to reach a place where her actions would make a difference,
where, for a little while, she could forget everything but the moment right in
front of her.
Anyway Lilina marries Sue and they adopt Fae, definitely.
I went and looked up her ending to see how much Canon I have to disregard but it basically says she wasn’t heard from again SO kiddo got a “human” name probably, very sneaky, and had a totally great life not locked in a small bedroom in the middle of a hidden city in an inhospitable desert because that is the worst.
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