"Lost and Found", Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance/Final Fantasy VII Title: Lost and Found Author: Aiko Namika Fandom: Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance/Final Fantasy VII Characters: Stephan, Sephiroth Rating: PG-13 (?) Warnings: Mentions and violence and death, but not too much detail. Unbetaed. Some spoilers for FE9. Prompt/challenge you're answering: Sephiroth and Stephan with the title, "Lost and Found." Author’s notes: Set in the FE9-universe, fusing FF7 into it as my brain demands. I’ve never played Radiant Dawn, so I haven’t taken that into account at all.
Most people couldn’t move easily in the desert; sand slowed soldiers down, cavalry had even more trouble convincing their mounts across the surface, and even the light archers had problems. There were only a few people who could move quickly and effortlessly across the shifting surface – magic users and the laguz; or those who had laguz blood.
A caravan was even now traveling across the desert, camels and other beasts moving with as much ease as they could, pulling wagons or simply piled down with supplies of all sorts. None of the people who walked amongst the animals seemed to have any trouble, though only a few of them were magic users, and all of them appeared to be beorc; that is, human.
Children ran through the traveling people, feet light as the wind across the sand, occasionally giving glimpse to a few feathers here and there, or patches of fur, even a few tails now and then. Beneath their encompassing robes, the adults all exhibited the same traits. And upon the forehead of every single person there was a brand which marked them as what they were: half-breeds. Half beorc, half laguz, an abomination in both worlds and hated by all except their own members. Why else live out in this god-forsaken desert, with only their own kind for company?
Stefan looked down at his people from atop a sand dune, vividly green hair blowing in the wind, and smiled. While the little dragon-blooded magic user hadn’t come with him when he’d returned to his home – he’d claimed he’d felt loyal to Ike, and maybe the Lord was one of the few people who would actually return that loyalty no matter what – he was still happy to come back. It was one thing to be amongst the Greil Mercenaries, or the Crimean Army as they’d become, where he was accepted as a sensational swordsmaster, and still another to be among people where he didn’t have to hold back even that little bit that would give away his heritage. He’d become concerned once or twice when any of the laguz in the army had come sniffing around him, but though Lethe in particular would never like him, neither did she like anyone else. Only Soren knew, but the little magic user wouldn’t dare tell anyone, for fear of revealing his own secret.
“Not that it really matters,” he said aloud. “As it stands, I’m well away from that mess, no matter how much fun it was.”
With that he leapt from the top of the dune, sliding down the other side, further into the desert. Just because few others wandered the desert didn’t mean that a regular patrol wasn’t necessary – the Branded in particular had to worry about discovery. They might be amazing fighters, but they could still be overwhelmed by enemies. …eventually.
His long purple jacket had been traded for something a bit more sensible in the sand – a tan robe that flowed about him, with a hood to pull over the brilliant green of his hair if he really needed to be stealthy. Not that he’d ever particularly practiced being stealthy, though; he was always the sort who had charged into battle at the forefront and taken on everyone who came his way, protecting all of those behind him. But if his people needed him to be quiet and stealthy…then quiet and stealthy he would be. There was no one else that would protect them.
--
Sephiroth ran. He wasn’t even sure where he was any longer, nor did he really care, as long as he got away from the lab and Hojo and the screams of all the rest captured there. It didn’t matter to the doctor if the specimen was human, sub-human, or one of the rare Branded that had the blood of both, as long as he could perform his experiments upon it.
And of all of them, Sephiroth had been the man’s favorite project, a Branded child that he had bred himself from multiple specimens in his lab – or at least, that was what he had been able to pick up.
He stumbled and nearly fell full-length into the sand around him, and only the quick contortion of his single black wing managed to give him enough power to stay on his feet. It wasn’t a balanced force, but he’d long ago learned to compensate for that; he didn’t really believe that Hojo would be able to make his second wing grow, or that he’d be able to graft one on from any unfortunate Raven.
Of course, it wasn’t like Sephiroth would ever give the man that chance again, now that he’d managed to escape. He’d kill himself – somehow – before he ever allowed himself to be dragged back into the labs.
Behind him, he could hear the ragged footsteps of the soldiers who were chasing after him, and he could only thank the surroundings for slowing them down. The sand wasn’t giving him too much trouble, but he thought he remembered Hojo saying something about the laguz blood enabling him to move fairly quickly through all sorts of environments. He wasn’t sure. Right now it just meant that he was at least maintaining his lead on his pursuers.
That luck didn’t last long – how could it? – as the shadow of wings passed overhead, and he glanced up to see a trio of Pegasus Knights, flanked by several warped Hawks and Ravens, circling around to cut him off from in front. In the air they weren’t given any problems at all by the environment, but he refused to give up just yet. As long as he could get one weapon from them, he could probably slit his throat before they managed to bind him too badly.
The lead Knight was skimming just over the sand, her spear at the ready, and he crouched down, ready to do whatever it was that he was going to have to do to get the weapon away from her. She came closer, and he held his ground, waiting even as her arm came back to throw…
An explosion of sand and movement blocked everything from his sight for a moment, and he reflexively threw his hands up to guard his sensitive eyes. Before he could open them far enough to see more than the smallest hint of a dead Pegasus sprawled across the ground, warm arms were around him, and he automatically struggled. The foot soldiers! They’d caught up! He wouldn’t go back, he wouldn’t!
“Calm down,” a voice he’d never heard before said. “I’m a friend. Just hang on, I’ll get us out of here.” Sephiroth froze unwillingly, looking up to what he could see of his cloaked-and-hooded rescuer. Grey eyes sparkled down at him, and underneath strangely green hair, was a mark identical to that on his own brow – a Branded. “I’m not leaving one of our own here to be dragged down by these guys.”
--
The kid in his arms barely weighed anything, though the fact that he had a wing threw things off a bit. Raven, who’d gotten a wing ripped off? No, he didn’t have a tail. Unless that had been lost too. Of course, the fact that he was Branded made things a lot clearer, though not too many Branded managed to retain much of the external non-human traits that marked their laguz heritage.
It didn’t matter. What mattered was using Vague Katti and slicing these fools into shreds that he left scattered across the sand. It didn’t matter that he only had one arm free, they died all the same. He’d seen the Pegasus Knights flying in formation with the Bird laguz and come to investigate just what it was they were hunting – especially after realizing that the Birds were corrupted, altered as he’d seen with Ike’s mercenaries when they found that lab.
He wouldn’t allow anyone who would hurt his family anywhere near them. If that meant slaughtering them all, then so be it. Most humans were disgusting creatures anyway.
When the sands were stained red with their blood, he finally looked back at the child in his arms, who looked like he was torn between trying to bolt, or clinging to him and never letting him go. Sheathing his sword, he gently brushed silver hair out of the boy’s eyes, and received another shock at the feline eyes. He had a Raven wing, how could he have anything of the Beast tribes? The different tribes couldn’t breed together, it didn’t work at all. But before him was living proof that maybe there was some way around it.
“Hey, kid,” he said gently, and wondered how old the boy was. With as much laguz blood as he was showing, he was probably in his mid-twenties at the youngest – still young for the laguz, and even for the long-lived Branded. “What’s your name?” Stefan slapped on his best charmer’s grin, the one that assured everyone that he knew damn well what he was doing, and that he knew how good he was at it, too.
“…Sephiroth,” the child said quietly, and he nodded.
“You got anywhere to go?” If the boy had some sort of safety in mind, he’d check it out first – there were still only a few safe places for the Branded in the world – and see if it was safe as it seemed. Otherwise, he was bringing the kid back with him.
“No.” It was still weird seeing the Beast eyes looking at him with a Raven wing on the same body. But he’d deal, and so would the rest of the caravan.
“My name’s Stefan. Come on, let’s head home. I think you’ll get along pretty well with my son, he should be about your age.” Sweeping the kid back into his arms to make faster time, he couldn’t keep his smile from turning a little bit gentler at the bewildered look he was receiving.
“Why are you helping me at all?” Sephiroth asked after a few long seconds. “You have no reason to extend me aid. I don’t have anything to offer you.” His heart ached at that, and he wished he could go back and kill all of those who had been chasing the boy again. As it was, he’d have to take a group of warriors back to try and find the place where Sephiroth had come from. Where there was one Branded, and laguz being experimented upon, then there might be more.
“You’re with others like you now, Sephiroth. We protect our own.” He threaded his fingers through the silver hair, and watched as exhaustion started its final stalk on the boy. “You’re home now.”
-fin-
Note: If you’re wondering who Stefan’s son is, he isn’t a FE9 character. In fact, he doesn’t look too much like his dad at all. Has the black, spiky hair from his mommy, oh yes.