Under Sun And Sky

Wearing her green-and-gold outfit with Argent Gloves, Leona was in her office in Silver Wolf Guild Hall. She was reading reports from Desierto about the results of her latest adventure. The Red Sand Bandits had been finally defeated... their surviving members had went to the gallows along with their slaver benefactors. All of them had been publicly hanged until dead. It was finally over.

She was reading the reports again when a young adult female staff member entered the room with an envelope clutched in her left hand.

"I apologize, Guild Master, but we just received this letter from Nebdoui in Desierto. I brought it to you right away. It's from a... Joshua Hamlin." The blonde reported. She walked over to the desk and handed it to Leona. The staff member quickly excused herself and left Leona alone to read the letter.

"Dear Leona,

I'd like you to come to Nebdoui as soon as possible. There's something I'd like for us to discuss. It's a personal matter, so I'll tell you more when you get here."

It was short and to-the-point. Leona was curious as to what he meant by a personal matter. She would go find out what he meant.

Leona put the letter into her desk and walked to her room. She grabbed her backpack and Nightshade Machete. She also rummaged through her closet and grabbed her white t-shirt and desert camouflage shorts. It had been a long time since the blonde had worn that outfit. It was always good to have options.

"I'm going to Desierto. I'll be back as soon as I can." Leona said to an older staff member. He made the note to place on her door explaining where she had went. Leona walked out the front door and called her griffin.

"We're going to Nebdoui." Leona succinctly explained their destination while climbing onto its back.

"It will be done." The griffin answered. Leona settled in for the ride as the creature flapped its wings and took flight. Leona was on her way to Desierto.

-Desierto, six hours later-

Leona landed on the outskirts of Desierto and dispelled her griffin. She walked to the village entrance and was greeting by Whitney, Erica, Leonidas, and a red-haired woman with glasses she had never seen before.

"Hey Leona!" Whitney and Erica called out. Leona waved a gloved hand in greeting. Leonidas looked concerned. That was never a good thing. It only got worse when Leonidas walked over to her and put a hand behind her shoulder.

"We need to talk. Now." Leonidas said in a tone that would not brook argument. Unsure as to what was happening, Leona followed him without a word. They went into the family tent and closed the flaps.

[Word Count: 457]
[Total Word Count: 457/3,000]

-In the Jarnefeldt tent-

"I don't like this situation. I don't trust Joshua as far as I could throw him." Leonidas said plainly.

"Be careful. You might be the blacksmith's apprentice, but he's still the chief's son. He's got the power." Leona warned her brother.

"It doesn't matter. I don't trust him. He's had plenty of chances to speak to you, but he's avoided you like the plague. Why does he want to talk to you now?" He asked her.

"I don't know. That's why I'm here." Leona answered truthfully. Leonidas sighed. It was plain that he did not like this situation at all. Even the Guild Master thought that the timing of the letter was a bit too convenient.

"Do you think he's setting me up to be killed?" Leona asked bluntly. His eyes narrowed.

"I think he is. He's always been jealous of your success. He'd get mad and walk away every time someone told a story about your latest completed mission. He said that as the chief's son, he should be the one everyone looks up to." Leonidas revealed. Leona frowned.

"It wouldn't surprise me. Joshua's a good fighter, don't get me wrong. But he hasn't had to take on death cults, necromancers, zombies, dogs with candles in their bodies, pumpkin towers, skeletal warriors, zombie warriors, ghosts..." Leona started to list the adversaries she had fought and defeated before Leonidas raised a hand to cut her off. He had gotten her point. All Joshua had to deal with was bandits and slavers. As a mage, Leona had to deal with a wider range of threats on a daily basis.

"I'd be careful around him, Leona. A few months ago he had me forge a shortsword for him. He wouldn't tell me what it was for. It might be meant for you." Leonidas warned his sister.

"I'll be careful." Leona said just before Chief Elijah entered the tent. Both Jarnefeldt siblings were caught off guard. Had Chief Elijah overheard their conversation? Was this the end of the line for them?

"I understand that Joshua has called you here, Leona." Chief Elijah said to Leona.

"I got his letter earlier today. He said that he had a personal matter to discuss with me." Leona admitted.

"I would suggest that you go see him very soon." Chief Elijah said to her. Leona frowned. The chief was quick to pick up on that.

"I understand that you and Joshua haven't always gotten along. I don't approve of what happened. But he wants to speak to you. I think he's changed over the two years since you last met." Chief Elijah suggested. Leona took a deep breath. It was not like she had a choice at this point.

"All right. I'll go see him." Leona relented and left the tent to go see Joshua Hamlin. She was now confronting feelings that she had thought were buried. She hated Joshua for what he did to her. She also hated him for threatening her family. She hated him for being forced into exile for two long years.

[Word Count: 513]
[Total Word Count: 970/3,000]

-Inside Chief Hamlin's tent-

Leona walked inside the chief's tent and found a tall, dark-haired youth standing on the opposite end of the tent next to the map of Desierto. It was Joshua. His eyes met her own and did not leave them.

"It's been a long time, Leona." Joshua greeted her. His dark eyes stayed locked onto hers.

"Yes it has." Leona replied icily. Whatever the point was, she wanted him to get to it. She had better things to do with her time than listen to him beat around the bush. He picked up on that.

"I'll skip the pleasantries because I know you're a busy person." He continued. Finally.

"I... I want to apologize for what happened. Two years ago." He said to her in a softer tone of voice. Leona was caught by surprise. He, Joshua Hamlin, the chief's son, was apologizing to her?

"I apologize for what happened at that banquet. It never should have happened." Joshua continued. He walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Leona bristled.

"I know it doesn't make things right. It may never make things right. But I want to apologize. I want to apologize for thinking with what's between my legs than with my brain." He said to her with sincerity. Leona was conflicted. On one hand, he might be trying to talk his way out of trouble with the village's most famous resident. On the other hand, maybe he had changed his ways since they had last met. Leona's anger started to waver.

Part of her did not want to hold onto the anger at Joshua any more. It did not do anything for her other than tempt her to go down a dark path. Part of her still wanted to punch his face in for fondling her at the banquet two years ago.

Leona could easily kick Joshua's ass, but what would that solve? Nothing. She would only be exiled again, this time for good.

But could she let her anger go so easily? It would be like telling him he could get away with crass behavior as long as he had pretty words and a remorseful face for her afterwards.

Leona was not sure what to do. Should she let it go? Should she take a risk and trust the one who had her exiled and threatened to burn her family at the stake for refusing his advances?

"Tell me how you really feel, Leona. Titles don't matter here. I'm not the chief's son. You're not the Rising Star. Don't hold anything back." Joshua spoke up. Leona chose to take him at his word.

"To be honest, I don't trust you right now. Why do you want to talk now? Why not any of the other times you were here?" Leona pointedly asked him.

"First, you were busy dealing with other threats. Second, I wasn't ready to talk to you yet." Joshua answered candidly. Leona could not reasonably argue on the first point. The second point was another one that was hard to argue with. Part of her was not ready to talk to him either.

"Fair enough." Leona admitted. As much as she disliked him, his logic was good. She was interested enough to let him continue.

"Also, I had feelings for you." He confessed. Leona was floored. She had never spent any great length of time around him. Why did Joshua have feelings for her?

Joshua Hamlin:

[Word Count: 575]
[Total Word Count: 1,545/3,000]

"Why? Why do you have feelings for me?" Leona asked.

"I'll give it to you straight. I owe you that much." Joshua answered. Leona remained silent.

"My father wants me to get married soon. He wants me to marry someone who can provide him an heir, a grandchild, and a future chief of the village." He answered. Leona was genuinely surprised. Joshua wanted to marry her? Someone with no cooking skills, few domestic skills, and not many social skills?

"I wanted someone like you by my side, Leona. When a crisis happens, you're usually the first to jump in and try to solve it. You're especially handy in a fight. Prince Abdul told me that you knocked those slavers around like children's toys." Joshua said to her, again with sincerity. That reminded Leona of a sore point she had developed lately. All she was really good for was fighting. Spectral Kasim had told her so on Celestial Sanctum. Lately she had come to believe that statement about her.

"I wanted someone like that to help me, Leona. I don't know if I'm ready to become chief. I'm not ready for it." Joshua admitted. Gone was the self-assured youth who thought that the village belonged to him by birthright. Standing in front of her was someone who was very vulnerable and had doubts.

"I'm not even qualified to rule a village. I don't have the training or the skill. I also don't have the time to stay here and help you run it." Leona said to him softly. She could not be angry at someone who exposed their inner self with all its vulnerabilities. For someone who used to be so image-conscious, the veneer was gone. The blonde was facing the real Joshua.

"But you're a Guild Master! You run a guild full of mages! You have a guild hall to manage!" Joshua protested. He had a point. Part of a point.

"I'm learning as I go, Joshua. I'm no administrator. I'm learning how to manage the paperwork, but it's gonna take a long time for me to become a halfway competent administrator. I spend most of my time trying to catch up to other Guild Masters." Leona admitted to him. The Guild Masters of Fairy Tail and West Fiore Trading Company had well-oiled machines full of skilled administrators. Those two guilds also had the benefit of being around longer than Silver Wolf. Still, Leona was thankful to be a part of Silver Wolf and help keep it going after it had done so much for her. The best way to help the guild was to learn to file paperwork and negotiate with outside entities.

"I'm worried, Leona. I'm not sure if I have what it takes. I'm not sure that I can govern with knowing that hundreds of lives depend on my decision and my decision alone." Joshua confided.
It was Leona's turn to put a hand on his shoulder. It was time to talk, novice administrator to novice administrator.

"Then ask your father for help and learn from him. He's been chief for decades. Ask him to teach you what needs to be done. He knows what he's doing. He's the one who kept us going when the famine from six years ago threatened to wipe out the village." Leona told Joshua candidly.

"You've got to do this, Joshua. You've got to step up. No one else can. Only you." Leona said to her former enemy. She felt her animosity slowly draining away.

"You're right. I can't keep running from reality. I'm next in line to be chief of Nebdoui. I need to act the part." Joshua said to her with slowly growing confidence. He took a deep breath to focus.

"I want to end it. I want to end the animosity between us." Joshua said to her.

"So do I." Leona agreed. The future of Nebdoui depended on them setting aside the past. The village needed to present a united front against the bandits and slavers who preyed on its people. That united front could be attained only by Joshua and Leona making peace.

"What do we need to do?" Leona asked him.

"I have an idea. Do you remember the old ritual of burying the scimitars?" Joshua asked. Leona blinked.

"Huh?" She asked quizzically.

"It's an old ritual from my father's youth. Whenever two parties feuded in the village and wanted to end it, they'd stand in front of the village, clang scimitars together and then bury them deep in the sand. Then they'd say some words to mark the end of the feud once and for all." Joshua explained. Leona blinked. Leona had never heard of the ritual.

"C'mon. Your mother probably remembers. We'll go talk to her." Joshua suggested. Leona agreed. She was ready to move on and quit dwelling on the past.

[Word Count: 809]
[Total Word Count: 2,354/3,000]

-The next day, afternoon-

The entire village had gathered to watch a ritual that had not been performed in twenty years. After speaking with Sophia, Joshua and Leona had learned that the ritual was a real one but had not been used in a very long time. With Chief Elijah's approval, the two youths had decided to use this method as a means to settle the dispute once and for all. Such a public approach to a private matter was decided upon because everyone in the village would witness it. It would be foolish to renege on a vow made in front of the entire village.

"Here they are. Two newly made scimitars." Leonidas announced as he stood in between the two "combatants" and handed them the weapons.

"It seems to be a waste of time and material just to make something that's gonna go into the ground." Leona commented to her brother as she felt the weight of the blade in her hand. It was strange to pick up a sword without having to kill someone or something with it. It was a welcome change.

"That's because if we used just any beat-up old swords for the ritual, it wouldn't be sincere. We wouldn't have anything invested in it. Our words would be empty ones." Joshua explained as he picked up his scimitar. That reasoning made a fair bit of sense. Leona did not argue with it.

Leonidas stepped aside and the pair faced one another. They brandished their weapons and crossed them together around the middle. After a silent count of five, they broke the bladelock and whirled back to give each other space.

"Citizens of Nebdoui, we are gathered here today to witness something not seen in twenty years! This is the Crossing of the Blades, a ritual from my youth that was used to settle disputes once and for all!" Chief Elijah announced to the gathered villagers. Joshua and Leona faced each other with serious countenances. The eyes of Nebdoui were upon them.

"Now the combatants will cross blades again for the final time!" Chief Elijah decreed. Joshua and Leona whirled into range and crossed the scimitars. The chief's eyes turned to his son.

"Joshua Hamlin! Do you swear to renounce your grudge against Leona Jarnefeldt now and forever?" Chief Elijah asked Joshua.

"Under sun and sky, I, Joshua Hamlin, swear it!" Joshua said in a serious tone of voice. He then clanged his scimitar against Leona's own. The chief's eyes turned to Leona.

"Leona Jarnefeldt! Do you swear to renounce your grudge against Joshua Hamlin now and forever?" Chief Elijah asked Joshua.

"Under sun and sky, I, Leona Jarnefeldt, swear it!" Leona answered in a serious tone of voice. She then clanged her scimitar against Joshua's own. The chief then turned to the village.

"It is done! Before you all and before me, both combatants have sworn to renounce their grudges now and forever!" Chief Elijah announced. The silence swelled, then the villagers broke into cheering. Both Joshua and Leona were stunned. Was that cheering forced?

"Is it over?" Leona asked.

"It looks that way." A surprised Joshua answered. Leonidas walked over to the pair and placed a hand on their shoulders.

"Now I'll go bury them." Leonidas said while moving to take the weapons from them. Leona refused.

"No, Leonidas. Joshua and I will bury them." Leona insisted. Leonidas did not argue.

"OK." He calmly said before walking away to rejoin Sophia in celebrating. Leona and Joshua walked to the village outskirts to bury the swords.

-Village Outskirts, fifteen minutes later-

"It's over." Joshua said tersely as he dropped his scimitar into the hole they had dug. It fell to the sand with a soft THUD.

"It's over." Leona echoed as she dropped her scimitar on top of Joshua's. It fell on top of the first sword with a CLANG. Then the pair silently shoveled sand on top of the hole until it was completely filled in. Once the work was done, the pair faced each other again.

"I'm sorry about what happened, Leona." Joshua apologized.

"It's settled. I'm just glad we can both move on." Leona replied.

"There's going to be a lot of work ahead. For the both of us. It's too bad all of our problems can't be solved with a simple sword-clanging ritual." Joshua said irreverently.

"Maybe not. But we're already on the road to solving them. I appreciate you being honest with me. About everything." Leona said to him. The animosity was all but gone.

"And I'm glad that you were honest with me." Joshua said to her.

"It'll take a lot of work, but we'll keep this village going. I'll rise to the challenge." Joshua assured her.

"And I'll do my best to help you rise to the challenge." Leona assured him. Joshua smiled and extended his hand for a handshake. Leona took it.

"Now, let's get back to the village. There's a feast being held in your honor." Joshua informed her.

"No. Our honor." Leona replied. The future chief's facial expression indicated that he could live with that. The pair walked back to the village with hope for the future. Now that their grudge had been ended, they could present a united front against the forces that wanted to destroy Nebdoui. With any luck, Nebdoui would last long after Joshua Hamlin and Leona Jarnefeldt had passed on.

[Word Count: 900]
[Total Word Count: 3,254/3,000]