Marquess

As long as I've got someone I can hit, I'll be fine. [ Part of the Outrealm Gates. ]

[pureandtruehope-deactivated2014]

"Oh, it's you! If I remember correctly, you traveled alongside Eliwood and I for a while there, didn't you?" Hector looked down on the girl as he stood in thought. What was her name again? He could have sworn it started with an N or an M... Something like that.

"Ah! Lord Hector! It’s been a while!" Nino said smiling. The young girl was excited to see a familiar face. "Yes, your group helped me protect the youg prince, too! How have you been?"

[hekutoru]

Ah, so it was as Hector thought! He was pleased to find he wasn't far off when he recognized the girl. Come to think of it, her name was starting to come back to him as well! It seemed to be his lucky day.

"It has been a while, hasn't it? It's nice to see a familiar face after so long."

Thinking about it even further, the lord seemed to recall that the young girl had gone through quite the time when they had met. She had lost quite a lot back then... To the point that Hector himself didn't feel he could properly sympathize with whatever pain she must have been feeling. Seeing her with such a genuine looking smile was a good sign in his eyes.

"Nino... That's your name, right?" he felt the need to double check just in case. "You seem like you're doing well. I'm glad to see that."

[hekutoru]

Let Your Silence Sing || Hector and Matthew

[serrasdeadgreat]

"As persistent as ever, are we Milord?"

Spotting a pebble nearby, he kicked it away with his foot. Matthew was trying to take the time to come up with an acceptable reply to give to the marquess. Having served under him for some time, he knew that Hector wasn’t the best with…subjects such as this.

"…I was merely trying to put myself at ease again, trying to talk…to Leila.." He replied slowly, averting his gaze from the bluenette. Matthew tugged at the red muffler around his neck, trying to relieve himself of any awkwardness. 

[hekutoru]

Hector about flinched as her name was spoken. Of course... How insensitive could he get? Normally he wouldn't care, but... "Leila..." He mumbled, his eyes shifting to the floor to avoid eye contact as well. 

They remained in that uncomfortable silence for a while, with Hector suspecting that neither were quite sure how to continue from there. He thought about how Matthew must have been feeling. It was a feeling Hector himself knew very well. Hell, it was a feeling many of them knew. They had all been in his spot.

Clearing his throat of all but his sound of uncertain awkwardness, Hector spoke again. "You know... Sometimes... I feel like talking with Uther helps me get through my harder times as well. But you didn't hear that from me, alright?"

[archery-and-hairties]

Lost and Irritated - Leonardo and Hector

[archery-and-hairties]

Hector’s disposition seemed to change as well, for the better, the blond assumed. It’s a god thing the man in front of him no longer looks like he wanted to chop him to bits. Anywho.

His grip on his bow loosened slightly as his tensed pose relaxed a little. He opened his mouth to speak, before closing it and tilting his head slightly. Ostia-? This place did not seem like Tellius at all. So then, where was he? Leonardo shrugged slightly at the suggestion of the nickname, one he was used to, when he realised the other wasn’t waiting for the reply. Hm.

"Actually, I haven’t even heard of this place. Would you possibly be able to tell me in which continent I am?"

To him, it seemed impossible that he had wandered into a completely different continent, therefore, the question was rather foolish in his eyes. Perhaps this was just an unknown part of land within Tellius. Yes, that seemed much more plausible.

"Oh, I still haven’t gotten your name, if you wouldn’t mind me asking."

[hekutoru]

"You- ...What!?" Hector's voice was raising yet again, this time with a tint more of confusion rather than annoyance though. He's never heard of Ostia...? The lord's head turned as he stood in thought. Of course! He had met someone just like this boy before.

"My name is Hector. I'm the man who leads the country of Ostia, here." he spoke with a bit more confidence than before, perhaps now that he felt he had a solid grasp of what was going on here. "As for the continent, you're in the land of Lycia."

"...But you've never heard of that either, have you? I can tell you're not from here. What is your continent called?" He waited, expecting the answer he'd heard multiple times before: Ylisse.

[hekutoru]

Wow guys, sorry for disappearing all of a sudden!! I bought a lot of new games recently and have been totally engulfed in trying to complete all of them. I'll be finishing replies on all of my blogs tonight for sure, and then will get to the masterlist update at around midnight or so--

I missed all of you and apologize again for keeping you all waiting!

[archery-and-hairties]

Lost and Irritated - Leonardo and Hector

[hekutoru]

archery-and-hairties:

He almost bit his tongue off in regret upon hearing what Hector said. Confident, wasn’t he-? Most likely for a reason— Those swings seemed rather precise. And the longer he stared at the man, the sharper his axe seemed to become. Calm down now, you’re getting delusional.

The blond had hardly noticed that the point of the notched arrow slowly lower to the point it was aiming somewhere entirely different. Namely the ground. Whoops. But it was a good thing, to be honest, since the- Lord?- in front of him seemed to be lowering his weapon as well.

Well, he was probably getting out of here alive. Maybe Leonardo wasn’t as screwed as he originally thought. He gulped, trying to regain his usual composture.

"Er, my name is Leonardo." He winced at the sound of his voice, lacking any sort of tone he used earlier. "As for the second part, one could say that I’m- uh, slightly disoriented at the moment." And by that, he meant lost. Really lost. And he never got lost. Usually.

Huh, that was odd. The look on Leonardo's face seemed to be completely different than the one he first saw on him. Hector wondered if he had imagined the previous hostility between the two, or if his large intimidating presence was what did the trick. That put behind him, he approached the archer.

"...Well it looks to me that you're not from around here, Leo. Can I call you Leo?" He didn't wait for an answer.

"If it helps you any, you seem to have wandered into my land; Ostia. Been here before?"

[hekutoru]

Let Your Silence Sing || Hector and Matthew

[serrasdeadgreat]

Matthew scanned Hector’s face. He could see that his lord didn’t quite understand what he was talking about. Instead of getting angry about it, he chose to laugh a little.

"Thank you, young master. But I’m sure you’ve got other things to worry about rather than having to listen to my petty problems." He crossed his arms over his chest, his lips curled upward in a smile. "Say, isn’t it quite late? You should get your rest, milord. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow." 

[hekutoru]

Oh. He thought I meant I'd listen if he wanted me to... It seemed it was a good thing that Matthew didn't start spilling his troubles to the lord. It wasn't until he thought about it that he figured it'd be the nice thing to do to listen to his friend.

No matter how much Hector doubted his ability to help him, that is.

"Who cares if it's late?" Hector scoffed, his eyes shifting away. "I'll rest when I feel I need it. Tell me what's going on with you and I'll consider it."

[hekutoru]

Who Reads? || Hector and Canas

[spectacledshaman]

"Oh. Well I’m not sure I would do the authors any true justice to their work, but I certainly could try if you were inclined to listen! I’d be happy sit down and retell anything you’d like to know! Oh or I could read some to you? Interesting segments or even whole books if you like! I don’t know how much you’d enjoy non-fiction works, although I’m sure I could find some about interesting topics to you..but if you don’t like non-fiction I’m sure I could tell some exciting fictional tales about great heroes or warriors that you’d probably like better!"

[hekutoru]

It definitely didn't take much to get Canas rambling it seemed. Hector watched, almost intimidated by the number of words the man could spout within a minute. He almost felt he'd regret asking him such a thing.

"Uh..."

Past the point of believing he could back out of this, the words great heroes or warriors caught his attention. "Wait, yeah! Tell me about those heroes. Think there were any like me?"

[hekutoru]

It's Just a Feeling || Hector and Eliwood

[eliwod]

"Have to admit that is true,” He said with a laugh, supposing he should be relieved in knowing now Hector would accept anything Eliwood would give him; however, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t spend hours in trying to figure out what Hector would like best, even if it wasn’t something to fuss over like chocolate.

Still Eliwood couldn’t help but smile at Hector accepting his gift. Watching him eat some in front of him gave him the reassurance. “There’s different kinds so you could have your pick, but if you like the caramels ones so much, I’ll have to remember to just get you those.”

He gladly took the remaining piece, eating the rest. It really did make no difference for Eliwood, knowing very well that they’ve shared food before. And besides, they were friends.

"Mm… I like it!" He said after he licked some of the caramel off of his fingers.

[hekutoru]

Hector picked another piece from the box before closing it and placing it aside, popping the whole piece into his mouth through a stifled laugh.

"Please, you'd make me feel guilty if you went out of your way to remember something pointless like that..." But touched, no less. "Well uh... What kind do you like? While we're at it, I mean. If you're going to try remembering something dumb like that, I might as well try too."

[archery-and-hairties]

Lost and Irritated - Leonardo and Hector

[archery-and-hairties]

The sight of the axe-wielding man emerging from the shrubbery was terrifying, to say the least. The blond had honestly hoped it were something that wasn’t potentially dangerous or lethal, like a bunny, but the RNG gods seemed to frown on him once more- Wait, what?

Either way, Leonardo shrank back at the sight of Hector, who looked intimidating even with the twigs and leaves and whatnot— Or did that just serve to make him look even more feral? The axe was still the worst part, though.

The boy took a step back, trying to keep his distance and increase the chance of him getting away unscathed. Lowering his bow ever so slightly, he swallowed. Probably also looking slightly pathetic in the process.

“It’s not my fault if you go cutting down the forest like that! One could mistake that racket for an entire army!" he snapped back, robbed of any other possible response. Which, in hindsight, probably wasn’t the wisest choice. Why is it that humans always respond to shouting by shouting back?

[hekutoru]

"Cutting down the forest!?" Hector shot back, raising his voice even further at Leonardo's reply. "I was only clearing a path! It's not like I cut down any trees!" Not many trees, he meant to say. Many. "Either way I couldn't care less! I have nothing to worry about be it a band of mercenaries or an army!"

But angered by the situation or not, Hector knew better by now than to continue. He was intimidating, he had to remember. It wasn't unusual for strangers to be threatened by his tone, or even appearance. Not only that, but this boy was an archer! What did he really have to worry about?

The lord lowered his axe to show he meant no harm, taking a deep breath.

"Bah, forget it! Who are you and what are you doing out here on your own? It's dangerous out here for someone like... Well, yourself."

[hekutoru]

Let Your Silence Sing || Hector and Matthew

[serrasdeadgreat]

Since Leila’s passing, Matthew had made it a habit to go to bed late. He used the time he spent awake to converse with her, in a way, by speaking quietly and out loud to himself. It would’ve seemed odd to a anyone else, but to the thief, it provided a form of comfort and closure for him. A lot of the time, it felt like she was listening to him, despite having already departed into another world.

"…I hope you’re watching Leila. I’m doing my best to take care of things here…" He murmured quietly. 

He slowly slid his eyes shut, his hands clasped together as he leaned forward to rest his forehead against them. His silence was soon broken by a familar voice.

Upon hearing Hector’s voice, he slowly turned towards the direction that the marquess came from, a smile smile on his lips.

"Good evening, young master. What brings you here?" Hector’s question made him a feel just a bit bashful. With anyone else, Matthew would’ve casually brushed aside the question as if it were nothing. But, having been around Hector for so long, he felt comfortable enough to tell him anything that was on his mind.

"Ah,..I was simply trying to get some things off my chest, milord. It helps me relieve stress, I suppose." 

[hekutoru]

A look of uncertainty remained on Hector's face, and after a few seconds of silence he ducked down and moved further into Matthew's tent without invitation. Before long he was kneeled down beside his spy.

"If you needed to get something off your chest don't you think it'd be better to talk to someone else about it? You already know your problems. Talking to yourself wont solve anything..."

Classic Hector; he had no idea what Matthew meant.

[archery-and-hairties]

Lost and Irritated - Leonardo and Hector

Well, great. Not only had he landed in a place he knew nothing about, he was also alone. And being an archer made him even more vulnerable to attacks or ambushes. He may be able to evade one, but multiple adversaries-?

Leonardo shook his head, narrowing his eyes in frustration. The blond could only hope the person to find him was semi-friendly. Either that or he had to find cover, quick. Just as he mulled over this, the greenery behind him rustled. Oh gods, just his luck. What did he ever do to them-?

He whirled around, notching an arrow and taking a defensive position.

"Who goes there?"

[hekutoru]

Walking through heavy greenery wasn't a simple task for someone of Hector's size. Frustrated after being hit in the face by one too many branches, the lord cut his way through trees and shrubs with his axe, swinging it violently all the way into the open.

It seemed as though it was not Leonardo's lucky day. Hector was far from a friendly individual, and the sight of an arrow pointed in his direction only threatened the axe wielder further.

Twigs stuck in his armor and hair, and leaves covering him, Hector raised his axe over his shoulder once more. His large threatening appearance and loud voice likely made him into a much more intimidating stranger.

"What's it to you!? I have no need to introduce myself in the line of fire!"

[hekutoru]

It's Just a Feeling || Hector and Eliwood

[eliwod]

He nodded happily. It was so nice to hear this from Hector! — And It seems the poor boy wouldn’t understand Hector’s true intentions any time soon.

"Like I’ve said, it wasn’t any trouble," He scratched the back of his head. "Honestly, my only concern was if you’d like what I picked for you, not traveling the distance." He then stifled a laugh and joked, "Looks like I know everything about you but your favorite kind of chocolate."

[hekutoru]

"Bah!" Hector snorted. "Like you had anything to worry about. I'm not exactly the pickiest guy around when it comes to gifts and things." 

Hector looked down at the box of chocolates as he opened them, picking one out of the assortment. "Well," he started, taking a bite of the piece and looking into it. He chewed as  he continued. "I like these ones." He answered, holding up the chocolate for Eliwood to see. The inside of the piece had caramel beginning to ooze from it.

"Here, try it." He held the remaining piece of the chocolate to his friend, fully expecting for him to take it. They had shared plenty of food in the midst of war. This was really no different, right?

It was a good way to distract himself from the previous subject, too.

[spectacledshaman]

Who Reads? || Hector and Canas

"Oh no its perfectly okay! I’m sure nobody expects you to have all of the tents memorized!" Canas looked over, catching Hector’s look at the books

"Were you interested in my books? If you see something you like you’re welcome to borrow it!"

[hekutoru]

Interested in his books? That was funny. Hector honestly couldn't remember the last time he had picked up a book out of interest... if ever.

"Uh... I'll pass. You can just tell me what they're about, if you want. That's all I really wanted to know."

[hekutoru]

Let Your Silence Sing || Hector and Matthew

The way Hector saw it, his servants were nothing if not capable. Capable and very annoying. The number of times that Matthew was pestering him in one day was outrageous and called for in the lord's eyes. He had long grown tired of being treated like a child by someone who was five years older than him at most!

As time passed though, Matthew pestered Hector less and less. What started as an assumption that the spy recognized his young master as a responsible adult would eventually fade to a certain realization. With the loss of Leila, Matthew lost a lot of who he was with her. She was the greatest joy in his life, and now she was gone.

Hector thought about this as he walked through camp after a hard day of training. He passed through tents, eventually coming to a stop outside of one as he heard that all too familiar voice talking. But to whom? 

Hector turned to listen, standing inconspicuously along the side of the tent. Matthew spoke so quietly, though, and Hector couldn't hear whoever it was in there with him. Was he talking to himself? Without much of a second thought the lord moved around and opened the flap of the tent's entrance. He looked inside at the spy curiously.

"Hey, Matthew..." he glanced around, confirming that it was in fact just the two of them. "Why are you talking to yourself? That's a little weird."

[hekutoru]

OH MY GOD IT IS LIKE LOOKING THROUGH A PORTAL TO TIME WHAT THE FUCK. HEY ME, HOW AM I? DOING WELL? GOOD, FUTURE IS ODD. I HAVE ADVICE, START DOING 200 PUSHUPS PER DAY, AS OF THREE YEARS AGO. WHEN YOU MEET FLORINA, MARRY HER. WORTH IT. ARMADS IS STILL AN AWESOME IDEA. HAND AXES ARE NOT. AAAAAAAAAAND... UUUUUGH. YES, RIGHT. LET YOUR SPIRIT BURNS WITH THE FIRE OF TWENTY SUNS. FROM FUTURE YOU.

Hahaha look at this bearded monkey telling me how to live my life

[convxntus--archived-blog]

"Eliwood sucks, pass it on."

[hekutoru]

It's Just a Feeling ll Hector and Eliwood

[eliwod]

"Right!" He was completely unaware of how uncomfortable he made his friend. "I like you too, Hector!"

He smiled sheepishly at him. “Is that why you came here, Hector?” Eliwood backtracked, now realizing that could be perceived as being rude. “I mean, I was going to make my way to Ostia and deliver the present I had for you myself but I’m happy you decided to come over instead.”

[hekutoru]

...He didn't catch it. Was Eliwood always this oblivious? Hector knew well that he had his moments, but he didn't expect this to turn into one of them.

Deciding to roll with it rather than embarrass himself further, Hector forced a smile and laughed uncomfortably. "Yeah... I know you like me too! We've been best friends for years, I mean." He held in a sigh.

His crush on his old friend may have flew right over the boy's red head, but Hector was at least happy to hear how far out of his way Eliwood was willing to go just to deliver a box of chocolates. Hector looked down at the box he still held in his hand. "That does sound just like you." He smiled faintly again. "Thanks for dealing with all the trouble I put you through."