Fire Emblem: Knights of Lanchester

Anyone else, in his position, might have acted on that impulse and followed after Razor. But Lucius knew better, and his old training reasserted itself. His years in Daram had been spent in very different ways, other than learning the art of music and studying. Not even Garth knew the real reason Lucius's father had sent him to the Republic. In fact, it was only recently that Lucius himself had fully understood. His father's foresight had been uncanny.

Lying prone in the treeline, his sword next to him within easy reach, Lucius suddenly wished he had brought one of his tomes after all. Or a bow. A ranged weapon would make him feel a lot more at ease right now. His muscles ached and groaned with protest. He had an incessant urge to scratch his neck. But he ignored it, and continued to remain perfectly still. That was the most important part of stealth, he knew. Any sudden movement, no matter how small, would immediately give his position away to anyone who might be watching. He had to trust in his cloak to keep him concealed, and he had to trust that Razor would return soon. It was highly unlikely that someone as skilled as Razor had been captured- possible, but very unlikely.

His focus regained, Lucius allowed his senses to expand, until he was simply another part of the forest, until he could hear everything around him. If there was any abnormal sound in his vicinity, he would register the sound, and where it came from, immediately.

So, when a few minutes later he caught the sound of a twig breaking behind him, he knew it wasn't Razor. Acting almost solely on instinct, Lucius sprung from the forest floor like a wraith emerging from the shadows. In less than an instant, a split second of lightning-fast movement, Lucius was behind the newcomer, the flat of his sword pressed threateningly against her side, his arm around her neck, holding her flush against him. It took him a second longer to realize who it was.

Rhea's breath was fast and heavy as it fell against his arm, and Lucius lessened his grip immediately. To her credit, she remained perfectly still. "Quiet," Lucius whispered into her ear. "I'm going to lower us slowly down to the ground."

She moved her head in a subtle nod and, still holding her against him and taking care to move as slowly as possible, Lucius lowered them both to a kneeling position. He then set his sword carefully on the ground beside them, and told her to lay on her stomach. He released his grip and she dropped slowly to her stomach, and Lucius slid down right beside her. He carefully unclasped his cloak and gently pulled her closer to him, so he could drape the cloak over them both. Thankfully, it was large enough to mostly cover them both, and so they lay in the darkness beneath it.

"Are you alright?" He asked softly, turning slightly to whisper into her ear and so he could see her.

She bit her lip and whispered back, "Don't worry, you didn't hurt me. It's my fault. I didn't see you. Sorry. What happened? Where's Razor?"

Lucius softly shushed her, listened for a few minutes, then when he was sure no one had seen them and was moving to attack them, he quickly- and quietly- explained the situation, all the while being acutely aware of how close they were. Their faces were barely an inch apart. It was more than a little distracting. When he was done, she explained that Galik had sent her to check on them, and that she followed the little signs that Razor had left to mark their path. As it turned out, she was also a very good tracker- though not as good at stealth, Lucius thought with a wry smile.

They lay there for nearly another hour, peeking out from the folds of the cloak to watch the clearing. They were a few feet further back from the treeline now, though that was probably a good thing, since Rhea squirmed quite a bit at first. She certainly wasn't used to laying perfectly still for an extended period of time. Eventually, she settled down with resting her head on Lucius's arm like a pillow, and again, it was more than a little distracting. She turned slightly to grin at him. "This is fun. We should do this more often, Tiger."

Right... Fun. Razor, where the hell are you?