Dark Forests and Broken Bows
Claude must say he wasn't really impressed with the missions the Golden Deer had been assigned recently. Don't get him wrong; taking out thieves and Bandits wasn't bad, per se; after all, it minimized the chance of anybody dying. But hearing what the Blue Lions went through almost always made him feel… a little jealous, at least on his Almyran side.
Especially since they also won the Battle of the Eagle and Lion just last month, Claude wouldn't say he was still sore about the loss… but he was, sue him. And on top of that, the Blue Lions also always seemed to get the more exciting assignments, clearing out Bandits in the Red Canyon of all places? Repressing a rebellion? Stopping the stealing of an ancient Relic in the goddess's tomb?... it seemed very different from the mundane quests the Golden Deer and Black Eagles were sent on every month… even Edelgarde seemed a bit touchy about the subject.
And heck, he wished he could be mad at his Kinglieness for it, but the guy was as innocent as a cat… at least on the surface, but Claude liked to pretend he didn't notice the underlying shadow creeping behind the prince wherever he went.
It was abundantly clear that Rhea had a favourite professor, and it was clear that it was Byleth, she didn't even try to hide it. After all, even Seteth has raised more than a few eyebrows at some of her decisions regarding the woman and her class, but he never dared more than question the Archbishop… It left Claude wondering what she hid behind the facade she always wore as well as he wore his own, and he knew it wasn't pretty… after all, he had more than enough secrets of his own.
Claude was snapped out of his internal monologue as Hilda shook his shoulder, she gave him an annoyed look “Earth to Claude? I can't weasel my way out of work if you do not put in any, so get moving, we have arrived, the others are already waiting for Hanneman to start his useless babbling about yet another useless mission”
Claude chuckled as he gave Hilda a wink, she only rolled her eyes at his antics, “Sorry, sorry, I'll make sure you don't have to do too much work” With that he walked towards where the other Members of the Deer where the annoyed face of Lorenz getting right in his face, ah, what a sight to see, Claude missed it… actually, that was a lie.
“Claude, would you stop daydreaming and actually do something useful for once? Or do I need to take over your leadership too? Not that, that would be a challenge.” Lorenz huffed in annoyance, Claude could practically see the smoke coming out of the guy's ears, Claude was almost touched, almost.
“Ah, you know me Lorenz, never leaving out anything to criticise huh? It's almost like you care about me, how nice of you~” Claude said, a s grin spreading over his face, eyebrows practically wiggling. Lorenz looked enraged as he made a sound of disgust, walking off without another word, Lysithea groaned slightly at their antics. “Can we focus? We are here to take care of a group of bandits that stole some scriptures from the Chruch, not fighting like a bunch of spoiled little children” she said, seeming unamused by the display.
Everybody chucked to themselves nervously, nobody wanting to enrage the dangerous dark mage further, Ignatz and Claude checked on their bows and arrows in silence, Claude frowned as he took a look at the string off his steel Bow, it was pretty worn out, probably only a matter of time until it snapped, he brushed the string with his finger, grimacing slightly at the feeling off unusually rough string… it would work for today at least, but he would have to invest in a new one once they returned to the monastery, lest he gets hit in the face by something unexpected.
He turned around once he made sure his quiver and other items were secured tightly, seeing everybody else already done with their own preparations, Hanneman gave them instructions as the few Knights of Serios spread out. The Students following behind at a distance, spreading into three groups. Claude got put in a group with Hilda and Lysithea… as long as it wasn't Lorenz, Claude was fine with it.
The three were walking through the forest, Claude and Lysithea scanning the surroundings while Hilda stretched, a bored whine leaving her throat “Ugh, what a bother… and I bought this axe only recently, it cost a fortune too, do I really have to fight? you two are more than capable of dealing with anybody near us-” Hilda whined.
Claude chuckled, finding her whining more amusing than anything. Meanwhile, Lysithea groaned at Hilda’s usual display, giving her a dirty look “Please focus Hilda, we have no idea where the Bandits are located, if we get attacked and you aren't on your guard then we could be in a world of trouble you know? this isn't a game or mock battle anymore, and you know that.” Hilda rolled her eyes at Lysithea’s words but did seem to fix her posture at least somewhat.
They heard a twig snapping in a bush next to them, Claude didn't waste a second as he pulled an arrow out of his quiver and shot it at the source of the source with practical ease, the body of a Bandit with an axe raised over his head fell to the ground, the arrow burrowed deep in the man's chest, blood colouring the clothes the bandit wore read.
Hilda made a sound of disgust as Claude whistled “Good shot, I'm even better than usual today” Lysithea just gave him a dry look as he praised himself so shamelessly. Hilda groaned after looking away from the body, seeming more displeased now. “... ugh, let's just get this over with, I want to go shopping later!” with that she moved, Lysithea and Claude giving her cover as they advanced on the right side of the Bandit camp, they briefly saw Leonie and Lorenz on the other side, taking care of their own group of Bandits, Raphael, Ignatz and Marriane went in from the back, while the knights of Serios moved in from the front, the Bandits were completely surrounded in a matter of minutes.
Hilda drove her axe into an archer, complaining about her axe already being drenched in blood, Lyithea attacked a barbarian with a spell after Claude’s arrow didn't manage to take the man out alone.
Claude wasn't surprised that they were dealing with the Bandits at top speed, bow pulled as he shot a swordfighter wanting to slash at Raphael from behind, Raphael only gave Claude a thumbs up as he searched for the commotion behind himself, Claude returned it with a cheeky grin and lazy salute before returning to fighting with his own group.
At this point it was only a matter of time until the Bandits were suppressed, the few still living ones giving up without much more than a fuss. It was only by pure coincidence that Claude saw one straggler run into the forest, Claude debated with himself for a moment before deciding to pursue the Bandit, Hilda shouted after him “Claude?! Where are you going?!” She shouted, Claude looked back, giving her a grin and wink as he walked towards the forest.
“I'm just catching one trying to make like a leaf, I’ll be back in a second!” He only heard Hilda groan as he followed the Bandit into the forest, pulling an arrow out of his quiver and putting it on his bowstring, he held it up and pointed it at the Bandit, he didn'to… and the string snapped, The arrow lodging itself into the ground in a very sloppy manner.
Claude cursed as the force of the snapped string cut his finger… course the bow would break now, and not when he was with Hilda and Lysithea… just his luck. The Bandit was gone when Claude looked back around… Claude sighed, whelp, he was already very over the one-hour talk Lorenz would be having about his ‘unfit behaviour for the future duke and why he would be miles better in everything’ the joy he could already feel radiating from the purple-haired man… great.
Claude waited for a bit, making sure the Bandit wasn't trying to sneak up on him now that his main weapon broke before he turned around… was it just him… or did the forest look a bit different, darker somehow?
Claude shook the thought off, moving backwards, he ran for more than a few minutes… so why wasn't he back in the Bandit camp again?… maybe he shouldn't have run off alone after all. Claude felt the presence before it appeared, he jumped to the side as a spell of dark magic was thrown at him.
Claude flashed the masked mage a grin… they had a plague doctor mask on, so he couldn't see who it was, but the person gave him the creeps, something about them was seriously off. “A trap? How unoriginal, maybe you guys should come up with something better to catch a Riegan” Claude said as he pulled out the dagger from his boot, he really should have packed a backup bow when he noticed how poor his now broken one had been doing, great thinking Claude!
The masked mage stayed silent, their masked face not betraying a single thought, it sobered Claude slightly… he never was a big fan of magic, dark magic specifically, that was more Lysithea’s calling, it unnerved him in ways that not many things did…
Claude's eyes trailed around, the mage wasn't attacking… it worried Claude more than it should. Claude stepped back, his best chance was reconnecting with Hilda and the others, strength in numbers after all, especially for somebody without a serious weapon.
what he didn't expect was a swordfighter to appear out of nowhere, Claude barely managed to dodge the slash of the guy’s sword, a small cut appearing on his forearm still, but he lost the grip on his dagger, the weapon sliding out of his reach, he glanced at them, eyes widening as he saw the person, he didn't even try to regain his only weapon as he stared at the person.
The man, if it even was a man, had light skin, no, bleached was more accurate, skin as white as snow, it looked unhealthy and sick, like the man had never seen the sun before, or was gravely ill, their clothes were an unusual black and dark red, an unfamiliar symbol on it… the man's eyes were empty… Claude hated to admit it… but those eyes sent a shiver down his spine, he hadn't seen eyes like those before, even from people who despised him.
Claude grimaced as he pressed his hand on the cut, eyes glancing at his dagger, the Swordsman stepping on it… he wouldn't be able to get it back easily… if at all, dammit! “How rude to team up on somebody without a weapon, did your parents never teach you guys any manners?” Claude tried to give one of his usual quips, but it fell flat, not only because Claude was, as hard as it was to admit, scared shitless right now, but also because they didn't so much as twitch, faces set in stone like puppets without the function to display any emotion.
Claude groaned as he felt a wave of dizziness hit him, he blinked through the spell, trying to regain his focus, his eyes narrowed at the swordfighter, the sword to be exact… it was unfamiliar, blade curved and black, dripping a green liquid, and Claude felt his bad feeling increase exponentially.
Poison… he knew enough about it to know people didn't coat their weapons in unfamiliar liquids to look cool, and that sword cut him, no wonder he felt like collapsing more with every second that passed. Claude wanted to hit himself for his foolishness, but it was too late for that… he would get an earful from Hilda now too… if he made it out alive… he would seriously take a lecture by Lorenz over this, and for once he wasn't being sarcastic.
But they didn't move, even now, were they waiting for the poison to take him out?... or did they… Claude shivered again, and he didn't know if that was from the poison in his system or the new thought that invaded his mind.
Why go through the trouble of Poisoning him if they just wanted to kill him, they didn't bother wounding him either, they just watched… almost as if making sure he couldn't flee… were they not interested in killing him at all?
Claude wanted to dismiss the thought of them being after him specifically, but it seemed like the most logical explanation, at least in this drugged state, he couldn't tell if it actually was a logical thought or not, Claude turned around, trying his best to run away, even as the world spun around him and he felt like puking his guts out, he knew with every second wasted the poison in his system would weaken him further.
But he realized that he was completely backed into a corner when his feet gave up under him, how fast did the poison, drug, or whatever they cut him with work?! If he had been more lucid he would have been curious about it, but currently, he just felt dread in every fiber of his body.
He pushed, or rather tried pushing himself up, but he could barely get his head up when a boot was roughly pressed on his head, making his headache worse, as he was slammed back into the ground. He saw a familiar silhouette walk towards Claude.
“...Thomas?” Claude muttered as he narrowed his eyes… no, the person looked like the man, but much more ugly, almost monstrous, a pair of black eyes with yellow irises stared back, one forced open.
The man, or whatever he was chuckled “Ah… even in such a sorry state, you're still sharper than most of the church, but I am afraid Thomas isn't my name, and never was… but oh well, getting you after the failure in Remire village was a pleasant surprise if nothing else…” Claude would have given some quirky remark if his head hadn't been pounding so massively, that the words didn't even register completely, that… thing was Thomas after all? and Remire village? Wasn't that where the Blue Lions were sent to?
Claude would be worried about them if he hadn't been in a much worse position than them, considering the guy spoke about a failure, that meant they probably were fine, hopefully… but he was in no position to think about others being safe, and he felt his dread increase tenfold, even as his mind was lagging behind, eyes half-lidded as he used all his willpower to keep them open, he knew he was in deep trouble, and he had no way out of it.
Thomas, or whoever he was, grinned, it was ugly, and that's the only thing Claude could register by now. “Ah… nothing to say, do we?... Well it doesn't matter, you will make a fine subject for our newest… and most ambitious experiment, yet… take him away, and be gentle, people with Crests are getting rarer by the decade, more so now than ever, and we don't want to lose our next subject too quickly, now do we?” with that the man turned around, vanishing in what Claude vaguely thought to be a portal.
But what made him much more aware was the man's words, ‘experiment’ echoed in his mind, and it terrified him. Even as the people, all of them like the swordfighter, white as a sheet, dragged him off the ground roughly, the pain barely registering in his drugged state.
He could do nothing but pray, to whoever might hear him that they would not succeed in their plans with him, even if he didn't believe in the divine, what else could he do, unless... With the last of his power, he loosened the clip on his braid, the piece of metal falling to the ground, as expected, the soldiers didn't care, to his luck… but he couldn't do more as his mind turned a blank, consciousness fading completely.
—
Hilda sighed deeply as she leaned against her axe, Claude had been gone for nearly half an hour now… she really should have gone with him, but that seemed like too much work, she was just a poor little girl after all.
She glanced at her new axe… okay, perhaps not a poor girl, but her point still stood! with a sigh, she stood up as Lysithea walked over to her “...Where is Claude? I know you said he was taking care of a straggler… but he wouldn't be gone for this long…” She said, an ounce of worry creeping into her voice against her will.
Hilda looked over, a frown falling over her face, she eventually groaned “Fine, fine… I'll go after him, ugh, I'm going to give him an earful for putting this on me once I drag him out of that forest” with that she stood up, grabbing her axe and walking in the direction Claude had run off too, Lysithea scrambling after her.
“Hey! You can't just go in there alone! seriously, did neither you nor Claude listen to any lecture regarding strategy and ambushes?!” Lysithea huffed as she caught up to Hilda, looking around the forest in caution, while Hilda stared ahead in disinterest, she just wanted to get home, take a long bath and go shopping with Marianne like they had planned.
They walked for a few minutes until Hilda noticed an arrow stuck in the ground… in a position Claude would probably call extremely Sloppy. Lysithea walked over, pulling the arrow out of the ground and looking it over… noticing a small yellow marking on the wood “This is one of Claude’s ones” She said, seeming a bit more worried.
Hilda raised an eyebrow, her bored demeanour fading quickly as she walked over, looking at the arrow herself, it was infact one of Claude’s arrows, so either an enemy got their hands on it… or Claude shot an arrow, but this Sloppy? Hilda couldnt really believe it as she turned the arrow around in her hand. “Seriously? Claude would never miss a shot this badly… he's way too good for that.” Hilda said as she looked around, growing slightly more uneasy.
The two continued, Hilda’s foot knocking against something in a bush on the side, she went down and picked it up, it was a Steel Bow, the string snapped in half, Lysithea voiced Hilda’s thoughts before she could.
“Didn't Claude use a Steel Bow today?” She said, looking the bow over, Hilda frowned “... I also recall him saying the string on his current Bow was worse for wear… you think this is…” Lysithea shook her head almost too quickly.
“Let's not think about it, Claude is more than capable enough in close combat, we should find him, quickly” Hilda nodded as Lysithea hurried along, a bit too fast, but Hilda herself was starting to feel a bit skittish.
It wasn't that she didn't trust Claude to be able to defend himself… but he was also an idiot more often than not, even if he was a Genius… she just had to hope Claude didn't do anything too stupid…
they eventually came across a small clearing, a few things were present, none of them good. one of the trees had a marking of Black Magic that Lysithea recognized instantly, the second one was a Dagger Hilda had seen just all too often.
She picked it up slowly, eyes trailing over the edge “This… it's Claude’s, he always keeps it in his boot for emergencies…” She muttered, Lysithea frowning deeply as she looked around, eyes widening as she found a few splotches of still-wet blood… but Claude’s dagger was clean, so if Claude hadn't wounded the enemy…
Lysithea growled slightly “that stupid fool…” She said as she walked around, eyes eventually falling onto something small, she only saw it because it reflected a bit of light. it was a small Golden clip.
Hilda gasped, almost dropping the dagger as she rushed forward. She took the clip and handed it to Lysithea. " This… it's Claude’s Hair clip! He always uses it to keep his braid together. I never saw him without it…” she said, her voice hitching slightly as a very worrying picture formed in her mind.
Lysithea looked around again “...the evidence… Hilda, I think…” Hilda growled, it was unusual for her, and made Lysithea jump slightly “They took him… somebody took Claude” Hilda's face was dark, angry even, the grip on her axe tightening almost painfully.
She felt a sudden rush of anger, and wanted nothing more than to shove her new axe down the throat of whoever took her house leader, Lysithea felt similar, but kept herself a bit more together “We need to get back to the others, the Church and Hanneman need to be informed of this right away!” Hilda didn't object as she clutched the little clip in her hand walking back with Lysithea, who held Claude’s dagger in her hand, clutching the hilt with slightly shaking hands, she didnt want to seem weak, but she was terrified, for her house leader that was.
Hilda would make sure whoever took Claude would be one head shorter when she was done with them, and she was sure Lysithea would also be more than happy to blast some of those bastads into space.