Title: Second Patrol
Fandom: Age of Ishtaria
Rating: PG
Length: 940 Words
Content Notes: References to character death.
Author Notes: A hat tip to my one-star stalwart cards.
Summary: Did Javelin and Spear meet in a previous life?

* * * *

Midnight. All five bases secure – and the castle, too. Unlikely to be any action until the next day, and that suited Javelin. None of the Knights of Ishtaria – including the one who had summoned him, a young lady new to the position – involved in the contest of arms seemed to have the stomach for conducting a raid at night. He scoffed to himself at that. In the past, during his original life, a soldier had to take any opportunity the enemy presented, regardless of the dangers. Then again, that philosophy had most likely been the reason he had been turned from a flesh-and-blood soldier into a spirit.

"Are they not fools?" said Spear, standing next to him in the darkness, resting the weapon of her title on her shoulder as she looked across the river at the line of enemy bases. "Not a single hero on the walls. All enjoying wine and song in front of the hearth, no doubt." A shake of the head, causing the orange ribbon in her hair to rustle. "The Knights are, at least. I imagine the heroes they summoned are thinking the same things you and I are." She seemed to notice how deep in reflection he had become. "Hmm? Wondering if you can scale the base walls in a single jump up from the ground?"

"I have no doubt that I can," Javelin responded, "and there is the advantage of surprise to be had, but –" I have done this before. "– this feels a little too familiar to me. And I suspect that the heroes they have deployed are more than a match for a pair of scouts." Granted, there should have been three of them on the team, but ... Sarissa had preferred to sleep, as she normally did. I had two others serving alongside me then, too. Then? A pale memory from his original life, perhaps? Or only a memory from one of his other summonings? As ages passed, it became hard to separate the two.

"Or you, like me, feel that you have done this before." Spear had uncommon perception. "You and two others, striking a fortress at midnight? Does that sound familiar?" That it did. "I ... might have been there. Cannot recall the enemy, nor can I recall the other circumstances, but I am certain about the mission." She squinted at the base, seeming blue in the star-filled night, save for the fires of lamps at the windows. "And it did not end in success. That might have been where I ... died the first time." She turned to look at him again, a soft note entering her voice. "And you, Javelin?"

"Impossible to say," he admitted, "because I have died so many times since then, but ... this does feel like what might have been the first time. A little unsettling." But he pushed that cold feeling down into himself. "Maybe this is a chance to redeem ourselves, then? Granted, there are only two of us, this time." He could already see a spark in her eyes. "But it might be worth a go. Our Knight can always take a moment out of her busy schedule to summon us again if it does not go to plan." He took a second to stretch, the idea already set in his mind. "What say you, then, Spear? Shall we ... patrol?"

"Our orders are to patrol," Spear said, brandishing her weapon and tapping it against his as a sign of assent, "and our Knight chose not to be specific about what that entails, so you and I might as well have fun." A small laugh, then a big smile, both characteristic of her. "And, if the enemy is ready for us, then that is our poor fortune, but what can one do?" She assessed the distance between them and the base. "You can clear the river in one jump, then top the walls in a second, open the front door for me, and invite my charge. Simple." She took a deep breath. "Are you ready?" He nodded once.

But, before he started his run, she grasped him by his forearm, pulled him off his balance, then hauled him to her and pressed her lips to his for a long, heated second, saying, after she separated from him, "For the sake of times long gone, before you and I go rushing into the fray." Another small laugh. "Not saying that you and I used to be anything in the past. I have no idea. But it never hurts to have a little fire in your loins before putting them on the line, I say." A wink. "Whether or not that used to be my catchphrase is up to you. It might be new to this incarnation, for all I know."

Javelin had the grace to blush before turning to face his objective, offering a sound between a grunt and a laugh as he started his run, Spear immediately behind him. He cleared the river in a single jump, as she had estimated, and his second jump took him atop the walls – and not a single hero up there to stop him. She pressed her back to the wall by the door, and, before she could reach the count of ten, it opened for her, and she charged through it, shoulder to shoulder with him, as they might have done together during the unremembered mission that had cost them both their lives.

And, when their Knight of Ishtaria summoned them back into the world the next morning, they had a good, long laugh together about their daring raid at midnight.

END.