#zenith verse

[wing-spear]

(starter for @mysticallities)

Caeda isn’t expecting her pegasus to suddenly buck beneath her, and the sudden motion almost throws her out of the saddle. “Whoa, whoa, easy there, Tempest!” she says, yanking on the reins and digging the spurs into his sides. “Easy, boy...”

The pegasus’s flight evens out again with only an aggravated whinny, but the reason for his unease quickly become apparent. In the distance, a sudden flash of lightning jumps down from the clouds. A few seconds later, it’s followed by the rumble of thunder.

Caeda groans. She’d been warned about the possibility of a storm when she left to go on patrol, but she hadn’t thought it would come on so quickly. At this rate, she wouldn’t be able to make it back without getting drenched, and flying a pegasus through a thunderstorm was really a bad idea.

Sighing, Caeda leans over to look down at the ground below. This far from the Askran Castle, the plains were only broken by small groves of trees and the occasional hill; the mountains were still a long way off. It shouldn’t be that hard to find a place to land...

Wait.

It’s hard to make out from this altitude, but she can just make out a splotch of color on the land below. A person...? What could someone be doing out here at a time like this? More importantly, do they know that a huge storm’s about to roll in?

Biting her lip, Caeda hastily steers Tempest down, and he gladly dives towards the ground. She lands him on a small, grassy knoll a short distance away from the blob--who, she can see now, is a person after all.

“Excuse me!” Caeda calls, hopping off of Tempest’s back and quickly walking towards the stranger. She takes only a moment to brush off her short riding tunic and straighten her stockings and gloves. “I’m sorry to disturb you, but may I ask what you’re doing here?”

She coughs awkwardly into her palm. “I guess it isn’t any of my business, but there’s a storm coming in, and I wouldn’t want you to get drenched.” She frowned. “Not to mention the fact that there’s a war going on, so it’s not safe to be out in the wilderness alone, anyway.”

To be fair, she was also out here alone, but... well, hopefully, the stranger wouldn’t call her on the hypocrisy. Besides, she had Tempest to get her to safety in a pinch.

[wing-spear]

What are your thoughts on the other blue haired lords, I must ask?

“Hmm…” She takes a moment to consider the question.

“Well, for starters, there’s Marth. He’s been a wonderful friend of mine since we met… about three years ago, I believe. He’s truly an admirable person–both kind and courageous… I wouldn’t be led into battle by anyone else.” She looks down slightly, blushing. “And… I couldn’t be more happy to be counted among his best friends.”

“Other than him, there are the heroes from other worlds to consider, as well. I haven’t had much interaction with Lord Sigurd, but he seems to be quite… serious. Not in a bad way, of course! It’s an enviable trait for a ruler to have. I haven’t talked to him enough to have much of an opinion on him, though. Judging by his son, though, he must have been a good father. I haven’t talked much to Lord Seliph, either, but, when I have, he’s always been a perfect gentleman. He’s very kind, if not very outspoken. He reminds me of Marth, in a way.”

“Oh! And then there’s Lord Hector and Lady Lilina! I admit that I was put off by Lord Hector’s brash nature, at first, but he’s really a huge sweetheart! Don’t tell him I said that, of course. Just… watch him interact with his daughter, and you’ll understand what I mean. Lady Lilina is a lot like her father, too. We’ve actually talked quite a bit, and we get along swimmingly. She’s very personable, but she doesn’t sugarcoat the truth either. It actually makes her an excellent training partner, even if mages and pegasus knights have trouble sparring together, haha.”

She has to stop and think for a while. “Let’s see… other than them… is Sir Ike a lord? He certainly carries himself with confidence. He’s not very approachable, so I haven’t talked to him much, but he’s very down-to-earth! Quite blunt, too. Come to think of it… I don’t think he is a lord, technically speaking.

“Ah, and then there’s always Lord Chrom and Lady Lucina. (Hm… strange, it seems as if a lot of blue-haired lords have children.) I’ve heard that they’re Marth’s distant ancestors, and I would believe it! Chrom clearly inherited his awkwardness, haha. Though… he also inherited Marth’s ability to draw people towards him. Oh, and Lucina is just the spitting image of Marth! She is much, much more serious than him, though–although I’ve seen her be even more awkward than him at times. She always greets Marth and me so formally, like legendary heroes or something.”

“But, other than Marth, the blue-haired Lord whom I like the most would probably be Lady Tana! Not just because she’s a pegasus rider like I am, mind you, though that certainly doesn’t hurt. She reminds me of myself when I was young–she has no real desire to rule, but big ideas about how her country should be ruled. Of course, in her case, not wanting to rule is acceptable, seeing as how her older brother is set to inherit the throne.”