Work Text:
A Warrior and His Mage
Written By: SteveFromTheBetween
The gradually setting sun hung ponderously over the tall peaks of the lofty mountains in the far distance, casting its soft, auburn blanket of eventide light over the kingdom of Cornelia and bathing it in a warm and tranquil titian glow. Frequent flurries of wispy winds whirled throughout the town and up and around the grandiose and majestic acropolis that was Castle Cornelia, swirling and twirling about the many battlements that made up the outer walls and ramparts as it passed.
Keska, a reposeful, yet still highly formidable, white mage and one of the four prominent crystal bearers of legend, stood near one of the many grey, stone merlons lining the wall walk of the castle. His soft, resplendent visage seemed almost seraphic as his long golden locks wisped about him featherly with each new burst of wind. He closed his shimmering, cerulean eyes and breathed in deeply as the billowing wind swished lissomly around him from the lower batters, forcing an intense shudder to erupt from deep within his core over the under anticipated sharp chill that hid within the breeze. He immediately enwrapped his arms tightly over his billowing, white robes and rubbed himself furiously as he managed to circumvent some heat in an attempt to warm himself. It was not enough for his own comfortability, however, and so he continued to endure another juddery ripple of a quiver that forced its way through him, leaving him totally oblivious to the sound of clicking and clacking boots behind him.
“Are you cold, Kesk?” came the assertive, yet reassuring voice of Jaster, the leader of their band of crystal bearers, from behind him. Keska staggered in surprise over the tall, crimson clad warrior’s sudden appearance and unfurled his arms from around himself, hastily turning to face him with startlement still prominently riddling his face. His heart began to flutter upon watching the towering and powerfully imposing warrior stand before him, brow furrowed into an expression of disconcertment as he looked upon the small mage with concerned, but inquisitive, eyes,”.....Keska?”
Keska, after realizing that he had been practically boring into Jaster’s very being with his dreamy and absentmindedly transfixed gaze, suddenly broke it and whisked his head around precipitately to face the mountainous backdrop of the kingdom once more. His robe swished around him as he desperately tried to hide the quickly pinkening blush that erupted onto his cheeks by pulling the sides of his hood around his face.
“I’m…I’m fine, I suppose….um….care to, uh….care to join me?” Keska offered as he removed one of his hands from the hem of his hood and waved it around beside him before hastily returning it. Jaster smiled warmly and gave an appreciative nod before bringing himself to be next to the discomposed little sorcerer. He rested his forearm against the edge of the stone merlon beside Keska and leaned forward, placing his other hand on his hip.
“....beautiful, isn’t it?” he asked Keska driftily as his eyes settled on his smaller, white donned companion. His broad grin dimmed to that of a small smile as his face emanated a more gentle countenance. Keska nodded in agreement, though he did not know to whom or to what his friend was referring to, which only helped to intensify his blush even further as the thoughts of the possible implications of Jaster’s statement carried within his mind a heaviness that was greater than he could have ever imagined. Rather than cast himself to meet his friend’s gaze more concisely to better gauge his expression, he reserved himself to stare out onto the brisk and frigidly cooling night sky with an air of seeming obliviousness about him as he continued to listen to Jaster’s inquisitive construal.
“...yeah….yeah, it is very beautiful….,” Jaster answered himself in a suppressed and subdued tone, though his voice still hid within it a hint of subtle rhapsodical and amatory intrigue, “...very beautiful indeed……..it’s just……....it’s amazing how we got here, isn’t it? One month at sea, far from our homes, far away from our comforts and our lives……..with all of it leading us to this….to this moment……….it’s as if destiny itself has brought us together……….to be here, I should say……….”
Jaster could feel a powerful trepidation surging within him and allowed his words to drift deterioratingly on to the coming windflaw that billowed behind them. He sighed deeply and commensurately, savoring the gentle calmativeness that pervaded about them with Keska following suit. Although the mage’s nerves were somewhat still intensified from his friend’s abrupt arrival, he found his own demeanor steadily begin to relax and mollify with every passing moment that he weathered with the warrior. He eventually felt himself lulled into an ensconced contentedness as he felt his stance soften into a more ample passivity as he finally released his hands’ now placid grip on his hood and tucked them relaxedly and comfortably under his arms.
“Kesk….I…I need to tell you something….something important,” Jaster stated suddenly, rousing the little white mage from his thoughts and forcing him to shake himself from his enraptured, mesmerised state. Keska turned hurriedly towards Jaster and beheld his friend’s once warm and gladsome smile droop slightly as his expression developed into aberrant anxiousness and timidity. It surprised Keska immensely as it was not a look he wore often, or at all really. He looked into the crystalline blue eyes of his leader with regardful tenderness as he patiently waited for him to continue. The red clad warrior breathed in deeply and lay his eyes closed, appearing to rally all the courage he needed to express his innermost sensibilities and, once he acquired enough, he opened his eyes rapidly and donned a more determined and resolute visage, which was something that Keska was much more accustomed to.
“Kesk…. . ,” he paused for a moment before turning completely to face the smaller spell caster, taking his arm off of the merlon he had been leaning on and repositioning himself to be nearer to Keska, “......I feel that, after all of our journeys and adventures together, you have become so much more than a team mate or battle companion to me….and…I….....I-I must confess that…. I’m….I’m quite fond of you…...far more than as a friend……..so much more…….to where you make me feel like….like I’m home, Kesk. Like my comforts, my warmth and love….it…..it feels to me that it’s all with you. It’s strange to say, I know, but…...I feel that, deep within my heart, that I….”
”…Jaster….I….I never thought that you felt that way about me….never in my life did I ever think that someone would be telling me any of this, let alone with such fullness and sincerity.….I….I-I-I just want to say that…….I do wish to be more than friends…….more than anything I wish to be more than friends……,” Keska said quiveringly as he felt his heart thumping thunderously in his chest ,” …but if…..if we are really going to commit ourselves to this…truly…..then I feel I must admit I….I’m not sure where to start, really. I’ve never done anything like this before….”
“....I understand, Kesk….I….I’ve never done this sort of thing either…..eheh……uhm, well….would you, uh….care to join me for a meal? Drink, maybe?” he asked magnanimously as he slowly turned towards his smaller, more numinous, companion with a gentle and affectious smile tugging at the corners of his lips,” ….we can start there, if you like.”
”….yes….I….I agree…,” Keska replied assuredly and anticipatively as he returned the enlivened warrior’s smile,”.........that would be a lovely place to start.”
A peaceful and slightly insouciant atmosphere soon fell upon them as they allowed themselves the simple pleasure of delighting in the amusement that came of their blitheful serenity. They turned to observe the oncoming gloaming darkness imbuing the once coppery laden evening sky with a now ebony demulgence that slowly disburdened and scattered a twinkling mottle of stars in its wake. They looked out on the empyreal magnificence of the night, their spirits resplendently lightened and their minds perfervidly enkindled with wonder and love, knowing deep within their hearts that their next big adventure was soon to begin.
End