rose water,

i am the progeny of pebble trails and the rabbit-hearted, of sylph bones and olive oil; honeysuckles drown in me. in my coat of a thousand furs, i ask you — when is the pilgrim like the night?    when he burns.  

rosado of    fire emblem: engage    as written by rai , affiliated with    the officers academy  

  full stats tracker   can be found here

your    differences    are what make you unique. what make you... you!

what better way to get to know a new place full of people, places, sights, and sounds he'd never seen before than to experience it, full immersion! a huge step up from sitting in a formal, dust-stuffy office any day. he's glad that the pastor or priest or cleric — whichever the man was — had seen it his way, though it hadn't taken much more than his usual dazzling smile and some well-timed puppy eyes to seal the deal. not even the church-goers back in elusia had been able to say no to that, blood and fell dragons and all.into town — seize the day!"so, where to first? you mentioned the academy town has a market to die for — why don't we start there!" the colorful boy, a head-turner in layered miniskirt and pastel ribbons, all but flounces down the cathedral steps, light as air, then swivels with hands clasped before him in anticipation, swaying as he smiles up at the older man who descends behind with noticeably less enthusiasm."i don't know about ' to die for '. i just said there is one."rosado ignores the correction — where's the excitement? — and continues, making sure not to rush too far ahead, just in case the priest tripped or needed help getting down the rest of the way or anything. "thanks for agreeing to show me around, anyway. i bet i'm going to love it here. well, you said you had questions for me? fire away. i've got all day, and i can handle anything and everything you throw at me." a confident toss of his hair in punctuation.

what has led you to where you are today,

"that's an easy one. i left my village back in elusia when i was younger, found my way to the country's academy, and studied there for a few years where i met princess hortensia and goldmary. then when the war started, hortensia needed to go back to the castle, so i decided to follow her there. became one of her retainers, met the divine dragon, saved a continent, and everything went back to being cute again!"no point going into all the uncute details about it. like when hortensia'd lost her father, which had hurt her enough she'd pushed away even goldmary and him and set out for solm on her own. he'd later heard about how she'd threatened the queen's life, and nearly ended up killing her too, making an enemy of timerra and fogado forever.none of it had been the hortensia he knew. smart, adorable, surrounded by friends and best grades in the class. why take someone else's parents from them if you knew what it was like to lose your own?he didn't really get it.just like he didn't really get why that smiling, mischievous hortensia wasn't anywhere to be found anymore either. maybe if he stuck around long enough though, he'd get to see her again. being a princess wasn't so important, was it? not compared to them as friends."sounds like quite a story. it sounds like you really admire your princess, if you followed her through all that.""mmhm, hortensia's just great," he confirms soundly with hands poised on hips and a tilt of his head like ' well, duh '. "and she's not just some princess of elusia, but one of my best friends. if we hadn't met at the academy, who knows where i'd be." probably where he'd been back then, thinking about not a whole lot and with nothing in mind for himself. talking about it aloud now puts a smile back on his face — radiant, warm to outshine the winter sun. it's no secret or exaggeration to say that he owes her so much,which is exactly why he's not planning to up and leave anytime soon!( not even when the fae wilds do call. )"so would you say she's what has led you here today?" circling back to the question — right, he'd almost lost track of it completely. they've reached the bottom of the entrance hall now, and rosado's returned his attention to the colorful tarps of stalls peeking just past the gate ahead, the milling of midday crowds.a skip in his step doesn't deny it, at least. "yep. at least a good part of it, anyway. i definitely wouldn't be as interested in going back to school if it wasn't for her."

what do you believe are your greatest strengths. your greatest weaknesses,

"oh," rosado's quick again with an answer and a bashful look, "sorry, you're not going to love this." arms return to clasping in front of him with a self-minimizing little sway of hips from side to side. "to be honest... i've never been the best at my studies. i had to get a lot of help even back in elusia just to pass some of the tougher classes. but—" here's where it got better though; here's where he'd wipe away the doubts they had in mind about him! ( anyway, he'd heard that the officers academy wasn't all that picky about its exchange students as long as they wanted to be here; this interview was really just mostly for show, wasn't it? ) "—i've completely changed since then! i know how important it is to work hard now, and i've learned my lesson. so: i'm going to take my classes seriously this time, really."it's actually hard to tell if he's convinced the cleric or not. huh. well, he doesn't look like he's doubting him."that's not a problem. the officers academy is open to students of all kinds, as long as they're willing to learn." aha. he'd knew he'd had that part right."i wasn't just asking about your scholastic weaknesses, however. but about you as a person. can you tell me more about that?"uhh, come again? "me as a person?" sky blue eyes blink wide and uncomprehending. what kind of entrance interview was this? "hmmm..."he had to answer seriously, didn't he.in another few steps, the gate to the market passes over and then behind them, and the wyvern knight's eyes drift away to scan the first welcoming row of merchant stalls as if seeing if they might clue him in to what he should say — and, admittedly, because he'd rather be distracted by them entirely instead. what had hortensia said to a question like this? goldmary? ( no offense to his good friends, but he can't really see either of them offering up much about flaws or weaknesses. ) "i... guess i can be kind of stubborn sometimes?" but everyone was from time to time, right? nothing so bad. the priest nods neutrally, apparently fine with accepting the answer for what it was."and strengths?"phew, the tough one was over. "glad you asked! definitely my cuteness, for starters. and i like to think i'm fun to be around, optimistic, energetic. i know how to tie the best ribbons, and if you need any suggestions on what to wear or how to upgrade your look, go no farther! the cuteness-guarantee extraordinaire's got your back. speaking of which, i never knew fódlan had such style! where do the patterns over there come from? they're so unique!"

if a story were to be written about your life, what role would you play,

finally having landed on a suitably adorable purchase and fixing it into his hair, rosado whirls around with a wide-eyed look. "ooooh, that's an amazing question. do you really ask everyone these when they apply here?"now, did he have an answer? that was something else completely. he should though; it really was such a good question. overhead, the sunlight elongates as he thinks it over, the long slant of later aftenoon already beginning to darken the brilliance of the day. a beautiful view, no less captivating for its somberer notes, and on the far side of the market lane they had strolled through, back the way they'd come, the tall tower of the academy's main entrance stands backlit against the clouds, flanked by the dwindling bustle of merchants making the last of their sales. at the top of this column of austere grey, shadows cast by the western wall towers dim the central stained glass window in a shy half-curtain, drawing his eye — where it lingers appreciatively.unsure hearts, and budding stories. all waiting to come out from behind their curtains, right here in garreg mach.there's a painting in there somewhere, he's sure."i think, i'd just like to be a witness. maybe a chronicler, of all the things worth seeing in the world," he lands on softly, not taking his eyes from the window hanging high above."a chronicler? like a writer?""maybe. or an artist. or just being able to see it is fine too. there's just so much out there, don't you think? and most people only get to see a tiny little bit of it."he's turned to the priest again by now, who considers his perspective with a vague, tentatively appreciative nod, maybe just because of the stars rosado knows have come into his own eyes as he talks about it: a sparkling array where he imagines all the known places and worlds he's seen and heard about and even more he doesn't know: a constellation spelling out promise.