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There were so many women he needed to avoid, and Chrom just kept letting more and more people join the shepherds. It was getting out of hand. Lon’qu was used to avoiding most of them, like Maribelle and Lissa, who were usually busy drinking tea or others, like Sully or Cherche , who would spend most of their days training. Of course, that was rather annoying, as it left Lon’qu to train within the limitations of his small and hastily built tent. Oh well, he thought, as he swung his sword at the dummy that he always made sure to put up in the middle of the tent. Yet, things were getting tougher for the swordsman. Recently, Chrom had recruited a tall, strong, and blonde saint. She terrified Lon’qu so much that he hadn’t even introduced himself or gotten close, and now it was days later and Lon’qu had barely left his tent in fears of running into her. Apparently, her name was Libra. Lon’qu continued striking the dummy, trying not to think about the problem at hand. Yet he knew the rest of his teammates may be worrying about him, since he hadn’t even bothered to leave his tent to get food. This thought was proved as someone coughed outside of his tent.
Trying to ignore the fact that his heart was racing a thousand beats per minute, Lon’qu dared to turn around and step outside of his tent. Thankfully, it was just Chrom.
“You need to eat.” Chrom said matter of factly. “It isn’t healthy to stay in there and practice 24/7. The others are worried about you, and it’s hard for all of us after what happened to Emmeryn.”
Lon’qu sighed. The lord was right, everyone had spent the last days grieving over the loss of Emmeryn. The exalt’s death was a difficult one to face head on, but for Chrom and Lissa, they had no choice but to step forward without their sister. Lon’qu’s problem was petty in comparison to the reality of what was happening with this war. Lon’qu simply nodded at Chrom, and followed him to the campfire where Donnel was cooking freshly cooked fish. Dinners were always good if Donnel was the one cooking, and everyone around the campfire seemed eager to eat despite the grieving atmosphere. Chrom walked back to where his sister sat, and that left Lon’qu on his own, his stomach growling in realization that hiding in one’s tent had made him very hungry.
“Eat,” Stahl walked up to Lon’qu, handing him a plate, “It’s important you get your grub before I get my fifth plate!”
Lon’qu thanked him and grabbed a piece of fish from Donnel. Hopefully there weren’t any hairs in the fish this time, thought Lon’qu. The boy always wore his cooking ware on his head as a hat. It was pretty weird, in Lon’qu’s opinion.
Lon’qu glanced around the campsite, struggling to find a place to sit that didn’t already have someone, namely females, sitting. He also didn’t want to sit too close to the fire, where he often found that it got too warm for his liking. Lucky for him, there was one unoccupied bench that was closer to the forest than to the fire, and the best part, no one else was sitting there. He happily took a seat, his stomach growling louder than ever. Before he could take the first bite of the fish, a quiet feminine voice appeared out of nowhere.
“May I sit here?” the voice said, and Lon’qu looked up, hoping he was wrong- but no, it was, in fact, Libra. Lon’qu didn’t know what to say, so he looked away in hopes that Libra wouldn’t see him blushing. Apparently Libra took the silence as a yes, because she decided to sit next to him anyway, quietly praying to Naga before starting to eat. Lon’qu did his best to try and ignore her, which was proving to be incredibly difficult. She was practically radiating with holiness. Before long, she spoke again.
“I heard you’re a swordsman,” she said, glancing up to give a small smile, her eyes squinting together as she did so. “I wield an axe, but perhaps tomorrow morning we could practice together?”
“Eh, uh, sure.” Lon’qu stammered, without realizing what he was really agreeing to.
Libra smiled again, finishing the rest of her food. Lon’qu noted that for a woman, Libra smelled sort of...musky. Lon’qu quickly pushed any thoughts of how Libra smelled out of his mind, trying his hardest to focus on eating his food without throwing up or glancing at Libra’s daffodil colored hair too often. The two ate their meals in a bit of an awkward silence, and finally Lon’qu was able to retire back to his tent without talking to anyone else. He wasn’t very eager of sleeping, however, remembering that he had for some reason agreed to practicing with Libra in the morning. The worrying would surely give him nightmares of that fateful day, so many years ago.
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Morning came all too soon for Lon’qu. He awoke before the sun had a chance to rise, because the last thing he needed was Libra waking him up. That, he thought, would be the most embarassing. Surely the only other person awake was Virion, who Lon’qu could just barely hear in a nearby tent, praising himself in the mirror as he did every morning. Lon’qu decided he would take a walk in the fresh air, in order to calm himself and hopefully find some breakfast.
The trees were really beautiful in the brisk summer morning, and there were deer beginning to graze on the dew-covered grass before the heat of the sun came out. Within the forest was a small temple dedicated to Naga, where the shepherds had done a very brief funeral for Emmeryn. Lon’qu went there today, to not only pay his respects to Emmeryn but to Ke’ri as well. No matter what, he was never strong enough to protect anyone. He didn’t want to kneel before the temple, as he wasn’t actually very religious, but instead just nodded his head and apologized for his weakness. He needed to do better, and he ignored the quiet breaking of branches from the distances, thinking it was just an animal walking by. Little did he know, Libra was also visiting the temple for morning prayer; coming and going before Lon’qu opened his eyes.
Back at the camp, Lon’qu found Libra already waiting for him in the small arena that the shepherds always set up when they were staying at a place for more than a couple of days. She was warming up and doing a few basic drills that Lon’qu recognized. As he walked into the small arena, he tried not to pay much attention to her, and instead decided on just focusing on him and his own sword.
“Shall we get started?” Libra said after Lon’qu had finished warming up.
“Yes.”
As they sparred, Lon’qu realized that Libra was an extremely good fighter, someone who could keep their own on the battlefield. An axe was a difficult weapon to fight against using only a sword, and Libra surprisingly had a lot of strength behind each swing. They sparred in silence until both were soaking with sweat.
“You’re an extremely skilled swordsman. Chrom wasn’t lying!” Libra commented after their practice.
“I could, no, need to be better.” Lon’qu said, his feelings of guilt beginning to come back.
Libra moved to pat him on the back, as is so common after a sparring match, but stopped after noticing Lon’qu jump a good few feet away. After a brief moment, Libra began to laugh while Lon’qu stood there, eyebrows scrunched in a knot.
“What’s funny?!” Lon’qu shouted, starting to walk away. This situation was becoming too awkward for him to handle. Everyone knew that females made him nervous, but most people had the courtesy not to laugh at him!
“Ahahaha! My fighting wasn’t enough to prove my masculinity?” Libra continued laughing silently, though the laughter seemed a little bit forced. And suddenly, Lon’qu understood. Of course, it was obvious once you get past the long golden hair and the slightly higher voice….
“Ah, crap. I’m sorry!” Lon’qu said, his face surely redder than a cherry.
“You’re not the first, I assure you,” Libra said, wiping a tear with his hand, “but it does explain your behavior towards me clearly!”
“Tch..” Lon’qu muttered. Even newcomers knew all about his problem with females, then.
“Have no worries. It’s already a thing of the past. It could have definitely been more awkward, I promise.”
“Let’s just clean up and head back to the camp.” Lon’qu was beyond done with the conversation.
Libra smiled, and nodded, leaving Lon’qu wondering as to why he wasn’t more offended by being misgendered for so long.
As the two walked back in the direction of camp, Libra suddenly stopped and turned to look at Lon’qu.
“May I ask you a question?” he spoke seriously.
“Sure.” Lon’qu was less nervous, but a little wary of what Libra would ask him. He only hoped it wasn’t about the gender situation…
“What were you doing at the temple this morning? I saw you while I was doing my morning prayer. Ah, but do not feel obliged to answer. I am merely curious; are you also a follower of Naga?”
“Hm…,” Lon’qu began, scratching his head. He felt that he could trust with confiding in Libra, suddenly. “I was asking for forgiveness from Emmeryn...and to an old friend of mine. I couldn’t protect either of them when it came down to life or death.”
“I see.” Libra stated, looking a little quizzical. “Then perhaps you and I have more in common than I so previously thought. I, too, ask for forgiveness each day. I was unable to protect Emmeryn as well, nor my fellow clergymen. I’m the only survivor among them.”
“I see.” Lon’qu didn’t know what else to say. He had no advice, just mountains of shame for being so weak.
“I know,” Libra began to walk again, looking towards the sun in the East, his long hair blowing gently in the breeze, “that no matter what, there will always be a light to guide us through the darkest of times. I would be honored if you would fight beside me.” As he finished speaking, he looked at Lon’qu with a genuine smile- the smile friends share between each other. A smile, that Lon’qu remembered, Ke’ri and he would often share.
“Of course. I’d be happy to fight with someone as strong as you.” Lon’qu agreed, realizing that they were now nearing his tent.
“Tomorrow morning? Practice again? If you don’t mind?”
“Sure thing!”
The two bid their farewells to each other, and soon Lon’qu was standing outside of his tent.
As he entered his tent, he was left feeling calm, but also feeling very confused as to his feelings for Libra. But, all confusion aside, he thought, for now it was nice to have a friend who could understand and share some of his pain.