We Both Start Over (Gunther/Nerr Drabbles)

We Both Start Over (Gunther/Nerr drabbles)

“Ninja Turtles”

–

Normally Nerr was very active in camp, going around and taking inventory, listening to grievances, or else, just offering a friendly hello to the soldiers under her command, but today, she had been acting rather... furtive. Gunther had noticed her eyes scanning the immediate area more often than usual. When he brought it up, she simply replied, “Assassins”. It was a reason that needed no further explanation, he knew, but nonetheless, it did not strike him as the whole truth. After all, if she were so concerned about Hoshidans getting the slip on her, why would she keep sneaking away and heading to dark, desolate corners of camp all by her lonesome? Gunther knew something was afoot, but he also knew his young wife would never tell him what it was. Since he returned from the hellish purgatory that had been his prison for three long months, he'd found his once transparent liege had become closed off and secretive. She wore layers upon layers of masks, to the point he where couldn't even be sure if she was being herself around him, of if it was simply another “act”, as she called it. Regardless of her true feelings, however, his love remained strong as ever, and with it, his concern for his mistress grew.

Whatever she was hellbent on keeping secret could be nothing good. So, as the Nohrian princess slipped away from the crowd of soldiers she had been conversing with for the fifth time, Gunther decided to follow her. He stayed just close enough to keep her in his line of sight, edging along the tents and supplies that littered the camp so that if she turned around and spotted him, it would appear that he was simply straightening the weapons that lay in disarray (which he did anyway, because the sight of askew lances made his skin crawl). As Nerr disappeared behind one of the storage tents, he frowned, carving the lines near his mouth deeper. What was that girl up to? As quietly as he could manage (no easy feat in a suit of armor), he crept up to where she had vanished. There in the shadows, the younger girl stooped over something, so engrossed with whatever she was doing that she didn't notice she was no longer alone until Gunther cleared his throat. At once, she turned, and he found the gilded point of her Yato leveled with his throat. Crimson eyes, wide with fear, slowly returned to their normal size, and Nerr let out a deep sigh, dropping her blade.

“Gods, Gunther- I nearly slit your throat! You know better than to sneak up on me!”

“Perhaps I would not have to sneak up on you if you didn't skulk around in dark corners, my lady.” He said, sounding far calmer than he felt. Her full lips pursed in annoyance, and she sheathed her sword with an irriatated sniff.

“I'm not 'skulking'. Perhaps I simply wanted a moment of privacy?”

“You could get privacy in our tent. Loitering in the shadows hardly inspires confidence.” The knight frowned slightly as he noticed something covered in a blanket behind her. “What have you got there, Nerr?”

“Nothing.” She said quickly. Far too quickly. Gently pushing her to one side and ignoring her protests, Gunther bent over and pulled the blanket away, revealing a basket. His stomach chruned slightly. Oh gods, what was this? Dozens of scenarios ran through his mind, starting with raw entrails and growing more macabre from there.

“Don't open that!” She cried out, but as was human nature, her warning only made him curiouser yet. Flipping over the the lid, his expression fell. Straightening, Gunther turned once more to face his wife, who was looking at her feet. He leveled her with a hard stare.

“...No. No. More. Pets.” At once, she raised her gaze to meet his, her face incredulous.

“I'm not an idiot, Gunther! I'm not going to keep turtles as pets in the midst of a war!”

“Then why do you have them?” Of all the things to discover... he was beginning to wish there had been body parts in the basket after all. At least that he could understand. Pouting, Nerr bent and retrieved her basket, her expression softening into a smile as she looked in at it's contents.

“They were in the middle of the trail when we were marching last night. I didn't want anyone's horse to trample the poor things, so I grabbed them. As soon as we come across a river or pond, I'm going to let them go.” Gunther felt his heart melt slightly. Of course she would make a conscious effort to save turtles. But...

“Then why keep this a secret? I thought you were slowly disposing of a body.”

Crimson eyes locked on his, hard and cold.

“If I were disposing of a body, I'd be done before you noticed anything was amiss.” Glancing back at the turtles, she smiled, every trace of a killer gone at once. “We're running low on rations. If anyone found out I had fresh meat, they'd insist we kill them for food. And while I can't very well begrudge my soldiers being hungry, I couldn't bear the thought of killing something so cute. Look at him!” She reached into the basket and pulled one of the reptiles out. It was about the size of an open hand, dark green and wrinkled. Gunther recoiled as he looked into it's beady eyes, his lip twisting. “Cute” was not the word he would use to describe such a thing, but Nerr's aesthetic sense was... skewed... to say the least (after all, she called him “adorable” on many occasions).

“Yes, that's very... yes.” The princess pulled the reptile back, cooing over it.

“He's almost the same shade of green as Kaze's hair. And look at this one!” She replaced one turtle and pulled out the other one. This one looked even uglier, with dark red streaks running along it's leathery hide, and a milky white eye. “This one has one eye, like Kaze's brother. They're turtle brothers- ninja brothers! They're turtle ninjas!” Gunther sighed quietly. It had already begun. Anytime Nerr found an animal, she gave it a name and then refused to part with it. It was an undue hassle, but that soft heart of hers was part of why he loved her so. He rested his hand atop her head.

“I want them gone tomorrow, Nerr. Or you're going to be having ninja turtle soup.”

“Turtle ninjas!”

000000000000

A/N- I imagine that between the death, and hunger, and fear and jomesickness and constant sense of soul-crushing misery that follows Nerr's battalion through Hoshido during the war, there are moments like this sprinkled around, like idividually wrapped cookies buried in the overflowing dirty litterbox of life. She really loves animals, to the point that even though she doesn't like bugs, she can't stand to let anyone kill them.

Also, I had a pet turtle growing up. They are horrifying, smelly monsters, but they're so cute when they're little!

We Both Start Over (Gunther/Nerr drabbles)

“A Fork in the Road” –

Nerr was supposed to be studying the map before her, but ten minutes of looking at the crosshatched landmarks had left her mind wandering. She currently sat slumped over her makeshift desk, resting her cheek on one had as the other lazily traced a figure eight on the map, starting at the Infinite Chasm, looping around Nohr, then crossing the chasm once more to loop around Hoshido, ad infinitum. Her eyes itched from strain and sleep deprevation, the dimmly flickering lamplight doing her no favors. She needed to sleep, but she knew the moment she put the map away, she would start thinking about it again. Large, stong arms wrapped around her stomach from behind as the weight of another's head rested atop her own.

“Do you ever think about fate, Nerr?” Her lips pulled into a smile of habit alone, a conditioned reflex as Gunther's low voice reverberated through her skull. His inquiry, however, was less appreciated.

“Fate is a stupid fairytale believed by stupid people, Gunther.”

“Is that how you think of me, then?” At once, the princess's smile slipped away, and she turned in her beloved's grasp to face him, and incredulous look on her face.

“You jest. You can't honestly believe that your life has been predetermined. I refuse to accept that.”

“Not every aspect of it, no.” The older man conceded. “But when I think of you- when I think of us... I cannot help but feel there is some greater force at play.” Nerr gave a scoffing laugh.

“That's ridiculous. It isn't the will of the gods that I love you.”

“Perhaps not, but so many other things could be.” Gunther said solemnly, his expression dark, the shadows cast by the lamp making the harsh planes of his face more severe. “If anything had gone differently... if King Garon had not kidnapped you that day, if he hadn't sent me to punish you... if you were a boy--” Nerr held her hand up, stopping him.

“I would still love you if I were a boy. Do you not feel the same?”

“I do, but what if--”

“What if the sky turns to fire and your nose falls off?” She reached up, tapping the tip of her index finger against his crooked septum for emphasis. “Random chance is not fate, Gunther. Do you really think the gods are up there, planning out the week and deciding if it should rain or snow each day? If Father had never kidnapped me, we would never have met, and we wouldn't know what we were missing- it's as simple as that. The only thing that shapes our lives are the choices we make.” Gunther remained silent for a long while, his jaw tight. When he finally spoke once more, his voice was quiet.

“And what if we had made different choices? What if you had taken a different path in life?” In truth, Nerr had often thought of that, too. What if, in a moment of madness, she had sided with Hoshido? What if their paths had never crossed again? Pensive, she glanced back at the map. They were nearly at the wall of Susano-O. The princess brushed her finger against their current position, trailing it back across the plains and over the chasm. She continued on through Nohr, through Windmire and off the map, dragging her finger over the contours of muscle she could feel through the thin shirt Gunther wore, and stopping at his sternum.

“All my paths lead here. Some might be longer, others shorter, but this is where they all stop.” A rough, calloused hand, much larger than her own, gently encased her fingers, lifting them up to surprisingly soft lips.

“Fate or not, I thank the gods everyday that my path is intertwined with yours.” His breath was warm on her fingers, and she smiled once more.

“As do I, my love.” She paused for a moment, then smiled wider, getting to her feet. “Let's go to sleep. Strategic thinking can wait until the morning.”

000000000000

A/N- All Nerr's paths lead back to Gunther... y'know, except for the ones where she doesn't side with Nohr. But I'm sure that'll never happen...

I *said* I was gonna do a better version. I still need to do a little more inking and then color it, but I'm quite happy with the way my bae turned out. I wanted to make a Gunther to go with my Heroes!Nerr and... I think this is gonna be him. I wanted him to be a scary black knight, but this is too perfect and I'm in love now. Like, I just KNOW he told Nerr that he used to dance when he was younger (and drunk) to get free drinks, and a week later she made this outfit, came back to him and demanded an exhibition. In my headcanon, Gunther is a swiss army knife of skills, including dressage, hunting, an encyclopedic knowledge of classical Nohrian poetry, and pole dancing to say the least.

https://youtu.be/_rzybECk15g

Fire Emblem Warriors. I'm not even going to say anything about the roster (it's horrible, just awful, and you all know it), but I can say, without any doubt, that this is one of the ugliest games I've ever seen. The pre rendered cutscenes for this 2017 Switch game look worse than shit from the Gamecube. There are barely any physics, the shading and lighting are negligible, everything is stiff and ugly... Indie games are more visually appealing than this hot dumpster fire. And while it looks flashy, honestly, this gameplay looks like it would get boring in a matter of minutes. Considering the disproportionate amount of sword users, I don't know why they even bothered adding the weapon triangle. There are TWO archers... I just... I can't even. I mean... the remixes of the music from the base games is the only thing that even appeals to me. I'm glad they're showing how bad the game looks. I might have accidentally felt hype after Lyn and Celica were revealed if the whole game didn't look like it was made with really rushed MMD models.

Gunther's never had much, so he finds it easy to live with the bare minimum, and prefers to keep his life free of clutter. Nerr's never has much either, which is why she desperately clings to every little scrap of cloth and piece of paper she's ever owned. Gunther lost everything- he knows that material things can be replaced. The thought of losing everything has always looms over Nerr's head, and she's determined to not let that happen.

When your otp move house/flat, who’s practical and throws out old belongings, who has an attachment to every inanimate object possible and vows to take everything with them. 

Damn, these are just good things to know about your characters in any case. Character depth!!

Major Arcana Inspired Character Asks

Leave a card in my inbox! 

The Fool: When has your character been excited to start a new journey? The Magician: How does your character unleash their creativity or resourcefulness? The High Priestess: When has trusting their instincts paid off for your character? The Empress: Who has been a positive female figure in your character’s life? The Emperor: Who has been a positive male figure in your character’s life? The Hierophant: Who has served as a mentor to your character? The Lovers: Which of your character’s relationships has been the most positive? (Romantic or otherwise) The Chariot: What goal is your character determined to reach? Strength: On what issue is your character persistent? The Hermit: Write about a time your character did some soul searching. What did they find? The Wheel of Fortune: What are your character’s proudest successes? Justice: When has your character felt satisfied with the conclusion to a major dispute or concern? The Hanged Man: When has your character needed to step back and look at things from a different perspective? Death: When has your character had to let go of something in their life? Temperance: How does your character balance their life? The Devil: Does your character ever neglect their wild side? The Tower: When has your character lost an ideal or relationship? The Star: When has your character been most hopeful? The Moon: When has your character’s path been unclear? The Sun: When does your character sit back and enjoy themselves? Judgment: Has your character ever been given a second chance? The World: When has one of your character’s dreams come true?

Bonus: Major Arcana in Reverse!

The Fool in Reverse: When has your character acted recklessly? The Magician in Reverse: When was your character manipulated? The High Priestess in Reverse: When has your character felt betrayed emotionally? The Empress in Reverse: When has your character felt dependent on another? The Emperor in Reverse: When is your character inflexible or stubborn? The Hierophant in Reverse: When has your character’s personal beliefs been challenged? The Lovers in Reverse:  When has your character experienced heartbreak? The Chariot in Reverse: When has your character’s pride or arrogance been their downfall? Strength in Reverse: What are your character’s doubts or insecurities? The Hermit in Reverse: When has your character felt the most alone? The Wheel of Fortune in Reverse: When has your character felt their life was no longer under their control? Justice in Reverse: When has your character been treated unfairly or cruelly? The Hanged Man in Reverse: When has your character tried to avoid making a major decision? Death in Reverse: When has your character tried to fight change? Temperance in Reverse: When has your character felt overwhelmed? The Devil in Reverse: When has your character suffered from refusing to break off an unhealthy relationship? The Tower in Reverse: When has your character’s actions led to disaster? The Star in Reverse: When has your character lost faith? The Moon in Reverse: When does your character mistrust their feelings or intuition? The Sun in Reverse: When does your character’s goal seem just out of reach? Judgment in Reverse: When has your character found it difficult to forgive themselves? The World in Reverse: What is your character holding back?