#alfarid

[pastellig]

Arslan Senki 127

This chapter opens with the titular Legend of the Snake King. I was struck by the many parallels between Arslan and Kaykhusraw illuminated by this tale:

Kaykhusraw’s mission is to overturn Zahhak, an evil that terrorizes his people; Arslan’s mission is to dismantle slavery, an evil that terrorizes his people. They both move toward their goal with small numbers of supporters.

Kaykhusraw first allies himself with Zahhak’s cook — like Arslan, he sees the value of individuals outside of the nobility and military.

Early in his mission, Kaykhusraw faces the reality that he cannot save everyone and settles for saving one person from every pair to be slaughtered for Shoulder Snakes™️. Arslan routinely balks at “settling,” and with the assistance of his allies can generally — but not always — avoid it.

Kaykhusraw’s small army is comprised of 365 “stout youth” who were saved by his partnership with the cook. Arslan quite similarly collects allies by offering grace and mercy.

These points emphasize the most important parallel: Kaykhusraw was the “Hero King” who gained his throne by overturning an unfair and oppressive power — not through the usual succession. Arslan is on the path to do the same. Despite not sharing blood with Kaykhusraw, his mission makes him the true successor to the Hero King.

Alfarid was great in this chapter. I absolutely love who she’s become in Arakawa’s hands. Giggly and love struck? Yes. A skilled leader and warrior who prioritizes practical, immediate needs? Also yes. We see that after Zahhak’s retreat in 127 part 2:

The Zot clan have enormous respect for all dead, not just their own — remember that they will not rob the bodies of the dead, nor the sick and dying. To leave a comrade unburied weighs heavily on them all but imagine how difficult it is for the leader of the Zot to leave members of her clan, her family, unburied and without their final rites.

In many ways, this call is one only Alfarid has the authority to make, and she does so in a frank (but not disrespectful) way. As Arslan has grown in his skills and confidence, his need for advice has diminished. We’ve seen Narsus refuse to make recommendations, leaving the choice to Arslan. Alfarid is effectively Shāh of the Zot, a clan that does not recognize Parsian authority. In this moment she speaks to Arslan as his equal, and thus gives the group the time they need to create as much distance as possible between them and their slithery opponent with regenerative powers and acidic blood.

Alfarid also gives Etoile a fresh horse from one of the fallen Zot members. It’s another sign of Alfarid’s authority and also a lovely indicator that Alfarid sees her as a core part of the group.

They all survived this time… I wonder what the outcome of the final battle against Zahhak will be.

In the novels, the final battle against Zahhak takes place after Arslan’s ascension to the throne. I’ve wondered how Arakawa planned to either condense the time between these events or unify them (and I leaned towards unification, because it’s way more dramatic). The Shoulder Snakes™️ slithering towards Ecbatana with Kaykhusraw’s disintegrating body between them hints at one option — and it involves a new host.

I think Hilmes is about to find out how Zahhak’s devotees plan to put him on the throne.

#arslan senki #heroic legend of arslan #arslan #alfarid #hilmes

[tired-reader-writer]

OH, I realised I forgot to respond to the last part of your ask before, so... Ranfarid OTP! If you do have any thoughts about them to share I'm listening.

And also I was thinking about Winds of Wolfsong chapter 2 again and while at first I was floored by the shock of Kazai's arrival on the scene, now I've calmed down about it a bit I'm also a little worried about Areyan? Hopefully he didn't get too much water in his lungs and will recover okay, I worry there might be some ill effects (and I know that would make Isfan and Shapur feel even worse about what happened and will totally not help matters with Kazai either).

Ranfarīd! Such a lovely ship name! So much so that I'm now questioning my decision to rename Ranna, lol 😭

As for the feels... here's the gist/base of it:

Ranna saying something along the lines of “I've never once thought it was a good thing to be born. I mean, look around us. The world is a shit pit on fire and everyone's convinced it's just fine.” to Alfarīd one time and then much later, in a different context perhaps, Alfarīd calls back to it with a “One day I'll make you say ‘I'm glad I was born’, just you wait!”

Also something like: “I'm not Sherine. Sherine is dead. Sherine was unwanted. Sherine was hated. Sherine was abandoned. Nobody came looking for Sherine. But Ashaya has big sis and Areyan and everyone.” “And Ashaya has me.” (Ashaya being a name I'm contemplating making Ranna's permanent name in the fic!)

As for some less shippy Ranna things:

“Who am I, you ask?” the wily miscreant says with a mocking lilt. They push their hair back, and suddenly realization hits Hilmes like a sack of rocks.

They look exactly like—

“Well, it should be obvious with a glance, don't you think?”

:D

And as for poor Areyan at the end of chapter 2... boy will feel the effects of this incident for Quite A Bit™.

BUT. Not to spoil chapter 3 but. Grandmama Eihon makes an entry and so while he'll suffer a bit, it's nowhere near the level he would go through without Eihon, nor his life be in as dire of a danger.

Isfan will also start learning to heal.

Areyan here will be always frailer than canon Arslan though, their circumstances are just too different— he'll have bouts of being down bad, but he'll always have his family by his side.

As for the drama between Shapur and Kazai though... stay tuned!

#arslan senki #the heroic legend of arslan #heroic legend of arslan #wolfpack au #winds of wolfsong #arslan #areyan (arslan) #ranna (oc) #or should I say ashaya? #alfarīd #alfarid #alfreed #hilmes #eihon (oc) #isfan #shapur #kazai (oc) #a mess! and kinda revamping Ranna's backstory as well

[innerchorus]

As requested by @lavender-100, some details about Layla's physical appearance. Some novel spoilers in this post so be warned!

We first meet her in Book 10, where she is a trainee priestess at the Temple of Ashi in the Oxus region. She is initially described as tall, well-proportioned, and wearing women's clothing that is white with blue trim. She is even taller than Farangis (and Farangis herself is described as being taller than average for a woman and a little taller than the average Parsian man). For reference, Layla is about the same height as Narsus.

Layla's hair is short, though no hair colour is mentioned. Her clothing is also short, and her long, slender, tanned arms and legs are exposed to the sun. She has a broad frame and a muscular build, and owing to her strong physique she almost looks like a young boy.

I have some illustrations to share, too!

Book 10, Layla versus Namard, illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano.

Book 11, Layla versus Alfarid, Kermine in the background. Illustration by Shinobu Tanno. You can see the silver bracelet on Layla's left arm clearly here.

Incidentally, the design of these silver bracelets given to the three girls (Parizad, Fitna and Layla) is described as being engraved with a design of a young man on the back of a bull, stabbing the bull in the head with a short sword. I'm assuming Tanaka drew his inspiration for this from tauroctony scenes.

Anyway, as you can see, in Tanno's illustration Layla's hair is white. It's possible I missed a description of her hair colour somewhere in the novels, but it's definitely not mentioned in Books 10 or 11, so I'd say it's possible this is a stylistic choice by Tanno that is intended to show the effects of Zahhak's blood on her (a form of mind-control). Since Don Ricardo's hair turned completely white after his encounter with Zahhak, I can see why Tanno might have chosen to portray Layla with white hair here, but I'll keep an eye out for actual written descriptions of her hair colours later in the novels just in case it's mentioned.

Book 12, illustration by Shinobu Tanno, Tahamenay in the process of throwing herself in front of Gieve's sword in order to protect Layla. Gieve came very close to accidentally killing Tahamenay here but thankfully Isfan's quick reactions saved her life as he deflected Gieve's blade.

Book 13, another Shinobu Tanno illustration. Layla and Ilterish get to see Zahhak for the first time. The mage is Gazdaham.

The outfit Layla wears in Book 13 is described as completely unadorned, and she's dressed like a man, with only the silver bracelet appearing out of place with her warrior's attire. Even so, it's mentioned that Jalair thinks she is very beautiful.

(In terms of height, Ilterish is about average height for a man, so Layla's actually a bit taller than him.)

#arslan senki #the heroic legend of arslan #arslan senki novel spoilers #yoshitaka amano #shinobu tanno #layla #namard #alfarid #kermine #gieve #tahamenay #zahhak #gazdaham #ilterish

[la-femme-en-rouge]

أدر ذكر من اهْوى ولو بمَلامِ ‏فإن احاديث الحبيب مدامي ‏ليشهد سمعي من احب وان نأى ‏بطَيفِ مَلامٍ .. لا طيف مَنام ‏كأنّ عذولي بالوصال مبشّري ‏وإن كنت لم أطمع بردّ سلام

Remembrance of that whom I love, even if he is to blame The Beloved’s words are devastating Let my hearing bear witness to those I love, even if they are far away With the specter of blame…not the specter of a dream It was as if I was giving good tidings to my arrival Even if I did not hope for a return of greetings

عمر ابن الفارض —Al farid

#Alfarid #sufi poetry #ابن الفارض #La femme en rouge

[jdnemesis2]

Arslan senki characters

#the heroic legend of arslan #arslan #arslan senki #daryun #farangis #alfarid

[tales-of-avelia]

The voice of Bastet - Fatima al Alfarid

Official name: Fatima as Alfarid

Age : 129 years

Size : 6''9

Weight : 100 kg

Build : Muscular, Agile

Zodiac Sign : Phönix

Race : Raja Elf

Eye color : gold

Class : High Priestess/ Cleric

Member : High Priestess of the Bastet

Family : None

Adoptiv Family : Ameros al Alfarid

[anusharao96]

Finally, finally group Arslan is off to Gilan. I had been waiting for the story to reach this point in the manga since the anime ended and I am oh so happy :'-)

We get to see their new attire and Daryun's guns

And it was such a warm gesture from Arslan.

These little gestures mean a lot and sets apart Arslan from a typical king. It isn't for nothing that he's able to inspire such loyalty in his men, specifically Narsus of all people. Whenever I see someone calling him meek and emo or question as to what makes his vassals go gaga over him, I want to throw the cliched line to them -> Read the manga bro.

That's so soft :')

Now let's have a look at Lord Narsus. He had a terrible time.

They say true about Daryun. He is ruthless XD

Basically, it was "let us torture Narsus" day for team Arslan :'D

Also, Alfarid owned this chapter. I never disliked her but here onwards, I love her. She usually comes across as frivolous and one might easily find her annoying because of her unsolicited advances for Narsus. But here we are shown her other side which everyone in Arslan's party as well was surprised to see. She's not only the head of the Zot people but also it would seem she's taken as fearsome by them held in high regards by them. It reminded me of what Gieve said about her in the novels ( I read the translations provided by a generous fan ), that "...she looks like a flower bloomed in the wilderness..." something like that.

Taskmaster Alfarid

I like how she's all mature while commanding her men but keeps showing her true colours here and there XD

I love her :-)

#the heroic legend of arslan #arslan senki #manga #Daryun #Narsus #Arslan #Elam #Alfarid #Jaswant #Gieve #Farangis #The Zots

[fluffygreenkoala]

My ThloA/AS OTP

#the heroic legend of arslan #arslan senki #narsus #alfreed #alfarīd #narsus x alfreed #alfreed x narsus #narsus x alfarīd #alfarīd x narsus #alfarid

[lanonima]

I took so many screenshots of this b/c I couldn’t even figure out what part of the song was funniest thank you so much for an entire song of this

we start with this absolute classic “is this child hitting on me” “oh god she’s hitting on me what do” pair

followed by “what did I do to deserve this” and “is anyone there please someone help me”

unsuccessful escape attempt leading to more panic

successful escape attempt as he throws himself across the floor like a panicked animal running from the hunt

unsuccessful bargaining

more undignified running (I love Alfarid’s ability to turn the most talented man in all of Pars into a giant bumbling dweeb)

I didn’t catch it but he leans so far back he’s almost bent in half it’s hilarious

just every face he makes this entire time is pure gold and the song ends with him running off stage while she’s singing her final notes and her chasing after him

beautiful, flawless, thank you for this gift

#Arslan Senki #the musical experience #Narsus #Alfarid

[purpledragonsart]

Inktober 2019 Day 16: Wild

#inktober #inktober 2019 #arslan senki #the heroic legend of arslan #alfarid #fan art #this feels nostalgic. 100% ballpoint pen #a more successful sketchy piece

[floweryfandomnerd]

@thelazyfanartist Hey I finally got this done and I’m very happy with it despite it being a procrastination method from revision man am I gonna fail my exams at this rate.

Anyway here is the fourth drabble in the schoolboy!arslan au that you requested. I say drabble it’s 4k+ long... I hope you enjoy

*

Chapter Four

The room that Elam stands in the doorway to is a mess with old toys strewn about the wooden floor in almost a circle from the centre, he sighs at the thought of cleaning it up.

“Hey Elam, did you bring your old toys to go through for the beneficence day?” Arslan asks him, springing up from what could be described as the eye of the storm, if the storm were one of dolls and stuffed animals.

He lifts up the canvas bag in his right hand to show him, Arslan eyes the graphic print on it for a moment then holds out his hand expectantly. Elam loops the handles around Arslan’s wrist, he tugs the bag open and peers inside, wide grin forming on his face as he pulls out a spiderman action figure, “Cool! You have my favourite hero!”

Elam steps closer to him, digging around in the bag himself, he produces a Hawkeye figure and holds it up to eye level, “Yeah, but Hawkeye’s my favourite because he's skilled with a bow and that's pretty awesome. Even more awesome is that in the original comics he's deaf, that's pretty inspiring for disabled kids, y’know?” Elam tells him.

And even though his voice lacks the same obvious excitement as his, Arslan has long since learnt to read him by the way the corners of his eyes crinkle as he talks about it, by the way that he stands just a little bit straighter and holds the figure to his chest. Arslan smiles softly, he's more than fond of seeing his friend so happy.

“Yeah! It's great because it shows that even with a disability you can be anything - even a superhero!” Arslan agrees, enthusiastically nodding his head, “Hawkeye is Daryun’s third favourite, besides Thor and Captain America.”

‘Yeah, they're kinda cool too.” Elam glances back down at the figure sadly, he doesn't really want to give it away.

“He says Spiderman is lame though, says it's because he reminds him of a teenage Narsus, except Narsus didn't have a six pack and liked art too.” Arslan gently takes the figure out of Elam’s hand as he laughs, (he takes pride in drawing that laugh out of his friend, he's glad that he doesn't always feel the need to be so serious around him anymore.) Arslan sets the two action figures down carefully on his bed, kept apart from all of the unsorted toys, “Anyway, we can't get rid of these.”

“Wow. Was Narsus that much of a nerd?” Elam asks, still in stitches and clutching his arms around his sides.

“What do you mean was? He still is!” Arslan jokes, mumbling an afterthought, “Though he's more of an art nerd than a science nerd now, I guess.”

Elam carefully steps around the toys to sit in the middle of them, he drags Arslan with him by the sleeve. Picking up the nearest stuffed animal in front of him, Elam inspects it for any rips in the stitching or missing eyes. When he finds nothing wrong with it he holds it up to Arslan. Silently answering the question, Arslan nods his head to say that it can be donated; Elam sets the toy aside in a basket labelled “donations.”

They get into a rhythm of deciding whether the toys can stay or go, picking them up, checking them over for injury and then questioning whether they can be kept or not. Most of the toys wind up in the basket, too many for them to be of any emotional value. Occasionally though, Arslan shakes his head and tenderly takes the toy from Elam’s hand, placing them on the bed. It builds up an eclectic collection of old, tattered toys that he stares at fondly.

They’re special to him, each and every one, he doesn't want to get rid of them. Knowing they're safe, he quietly returns to helping Elam sort the rest of the toys, neither of them break the silence, though Elam wants to ask what makes each one so important. After all, every toy has a story to it when it means something.

Breaking the silence between them by means of a creaking door, Alfarid strides in, calling out, “Guys, I’m here!”

Taking another step into the room, Alfarid stands on one of the still unsorted toys, slipping and crashing into the basket. A few toys go flying out, one of them hitting Elam on the head; Alfarid sits slightly dazed in the basket, limbs splayed everywhere and giggles sheepishly, “So um, what were you guys doing?”

Elam scowls at her, rubbing the impact spot, “We were enjoying ourselves but I guess that’s over now.”

Long used to his sass, Alfarid simply sticks her tongue out at him. Despite Elam’s sourness towards her, Arslan laughs at her. She laughs along too, guessing herself just how ridiculous she must look. The three blink at an unexpected flash and the sound of a camera shutter, Etoile stands in the doorway, polaroid camera in hand and held up in front of her face. Lowering it, she tugs the photograph printing in the bottom out and fans it around. The photograph develops, ink drying and the image forming in blotches.

She looks at it and grins, chuckling just slightly, then she holds it out for the others to see. They smile and Alfarid takes the photo in her own hand.

“This one’s a keeper!” she beams. “It’s definitely going in my memory box.”

Etoile points to the window where opened light blue and white curtains let the sunlight filter in through the glass, “Yeah, the lighting in here made sure it came out great. But that should be going in my memory box, I took the picture.”

Pouting, she holds it out for the other girl, but Elam quickly snatches it away and squints at it. He cracks a smile and shoves it into Arslan's face.

“It’s cute, we look cute in this photo don't we Denka?” he pauses, considering thoughtfully for a moment, then adds, “Alfarid doesn't.”

She gasps in outrage, insulted and ready to fire expletives back at him, Etoile speaks over the top of her, vexed, “Wait, why did you call him ‘Denka’?”

Alfarid resorts to crossing her eyes and arms and sticking her tongue out at Elam in a huff, he pays her no mind and gestures towards the bed in the corner of the room, “Because he has a king sized bed, in like every room, but we're still kids, so Denka.”

She glances to Arslan, ‘Denka’, questioningly but to her surprise he doesn't seem to mind the nickname. She turns her head away rapidly when she realises that she's caught his eye with her own. He jumps up, excitedly putting a hand on her shoulder.

“You should take another one,” he tells her, voice as warm as a sunny day, “but this time you should get in too!”

She nods, still a little surprised, then finds her voice to reply, “Of course, it wouldn't be the perfect photo if I weren't in it.”

He laughs happily and bounces off to the pile of toys on the bed.

“Before you take it,” he says, waving Alfarid over to his side, “we need to organise the toys on here for the background.”

They align them against the wall, organising them by size with the largest teddy bears at the back and action figures sitting in the front. Arslan grabs Elam’s arm and drags him over to sit in front of the bed with him and Alfarid. Etoile sets a fifteen second timer and places the camera on the bed side table, seating herself next to Arslan. Seconds later the camera flashes and she fights the urge to blink. She’d set it to go off three times, one photo for each of them.

The polaroid deposits the photographs in front of it, she idly goes through them, pausing and deciding which she likes best, Alfarid making the peace sign whilst Elam glares at her, Arslan and herself making silly faces; maybe the one when all four of them are smiling and Elam and Alfarid have given up their bickering. She decides on the one where, for some strange reason, Arslan's smile is directed at her instead of the camera. She pockets that one carefully and leaves the other three open to the others’ choice.

Turning to Elam, she picks up a stuffed horse off of the wooden floor, dangling it in the air by the tail. She scrutinises the toy, swinging it from side to side, “So Elam, why all the toys? We helping a tragic case of hoarding or? I mean, if so I guess it's a productive use of a Thursday afternoon… ”

Elam laughs, “No, our school is having a beneficence day so we're going through all of Arslan's old stuff to sell some and raise money.”

“You can donate that horse by the way,” Arslan chimes in.

Etoile nods, dumping it amongst the other sacrificed toys. “What about this ratty old bear? Are you sure you want to keep it?” she asks just a little brashly. Its fur is worn and discoloured, one of the eyes is missing and some of the stitching is coming away, letting the stuffing spill out in small patches. They couldn't even donate it if they had wanted to.

Still, Arslan nods almost shyly, softly replying, “Yes… I want to keep it.”

She carefully passes it to him, gazing thoughtfully in his direction, head cocked slightly to the side, “That’s important to you, isn’t it?” she says slowly.

“Yes, it’s the only thing I have left of my birth parents. They gave it to me when I was five.”

Alfarid’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise, “Your birth parents?”

Smiling almost sadly at her, Arslan sighs quietly, ‘Yeah, they died in a car accident when I was eight.” He brightens up then - Etoile can't help but think the expression reads as fake - adding, “I'm okay with donating almost anything, just not this, okay?”

Elam silently pats his arm, glancing at him out of the corner of his eye, Arslan briefly taps Elam's hand with his own in acknowledgement.

Clapping a hand gently on his shoulder, Etoile reassures him, “Well that's fine, isn't it? You don't have to give up everything of yourself to make a difference to others.” She grins broadly at him then, firmly stating, “Giving to charity is a good thing Arslan, you just need to make sure you keep something for yourself too.”

When he beams at her in response, agreeing resolutely, she thinks she might just have to change her opinion of him as a spoiled rich boy. “Why don't I take that and fix it for you?” she asks, pointing at the stuffing spilling out like Winnie the Pooh’s, “I know how to sew.”

This time it's Elam's turn to be surprised, “Really?” he enquires almost incredulously.

“Yup.”

“Do you think you could teach me then? I'm no good at it past stitching up holes.” Elam points to the dark brown fabric patches on the elbows of his deep green jumper as if they were evidence of his lack of skills.

Etoile laughs then, quickly obliging herself, “Yeah, I think that would be fun. I could even teach you how to make clothes, if you want me to,” she says, closely scrutinising his work and mumbling, “though I think you're plenty good already.”

She doesn't notice the camera go off again, snapping a shot of her intensely staring at Elam's elbow whilst he looks to be concentrating equally as hard. Giggles escape Alfarid, betraying her mischief as she shows off the picture to Arslan who giggles along with her.

Cutting off the giggling, she turns to Arslan again, “Well do you?” she almost demands the answer of him, “I promise no harm will come to it whilst in my care. Just good old stuffing surgery.”

Easily agreeing, he hands the toy over to her, “Yes, I trust you'll do a great job.”

Daryun interrupts them, knocking loudly and pushing open the door to the room. “Dinner's ready kids. Come down and eat.”

“You didn't cook it now, did you?” Elam worries at him, Daryun isn't someone he would trust to make food. Responsible, usually, but he's just as much of a disaster in the kitchen as Narsus is, if his attempt at a cake is anything to go by.

Daryun's expression morphs into one of offense, arms crossed, eyes narrowed, and his mouth set in an annoyed line, “Yes I did, I don't really think there's anywhere to go wrong with spaghetti bolognaise, Elam.”

Holding his glare a moment, Elam eventually relents, accepting that Daryun perhaps might not be as useless a cook as he is a baker. Though he does question why Daryun decided to make it himself, if he remembers correctly, Elam believes that Arslan's household employed a cook already, and that it certainly wasn't Daryun.

Daryun smiles in response, “Okay then, I'll drop you lot off at home after you've finished dinner then.”.

Etoile takes the bear home with her.

*

After her Tuesday afternoon shift in the shop, Etoile wanders around the town centre a little bit, gazing in shop windows without entering, pressing her hands against the glass when she takes interest in something and peering in curiously only to pull herself away a moment later. Eventually she arrives in front of the store she actually intends to enter and pushes open the door. It's a small shop with little room and fewer regular customers, but the products are good quality and inexpensive, so it's her chosen place to shop.

They have pretty fabrics hung on spools all across the far wall, Etoile likes looking at them, running her fingers across each one as she tries to decide which one she needs to buy. Pausing, she takes the bear from the plain brown satchel at her hip and studies it, tapping a finger against her lips in thought. A patchwork job would probably last longer, she thinks, than just sewing up the bear. As long as she finds the right fabric and colour.

This one, she thinks, feeling a soft and velvet-like deep brown fabric. She buys half a meter, some brown thread and a button that matches the eye of the bear. She pays for the items and is almost out of the door before she remembers that some stuffing might be useful. Purchasing the stuffing, she leaves and makes her way home.

Her apartment is empty when she arrives, Barcacion - the great uncle that she lives with and is rather fond of - isn't home, leaving Etoile to quietly sit in the arm chair by the window as she repairs the bear. It doesn't take long to fix, but as her needle dips in and out of the fabric, sewing the toy's wound shut, Etoile considers why Arslan, with all his money, didn't just pay for the bear to be sewn back up. At first she can't think of any real reason, eventually however, she thinks that maybe it was because he was scared it would be changed beyond recognition and he wouldn't have anything left of the people who formed his early life. After that, she's careful to make sure the bear remains recognisable.

Her chance to return the bear doesn't come until the Beneficence Day three days later. She wanders through the gate idly, taking her time to enjoy the afternoon sun that spills over the buildings around her, casting shadows and golden rays alike. The school grounds are unusually busy, but that's hardly surprising given the day's event, still, the crowd is so thick that she struggles to see where she can find Arslan, Elam or Alfarid. What gives it away is the circle of young children and their parents circling around one particular covered table, she figures that nothing other than a ridiculous amount of toys would draw that kind of attention and starts weaving her way through the throng of people to get there.

When Arslan catches sight of her amongst the crowd he beams at her brightly and waves to her to catch her attention, she smiles gently and holds up the bear, moving one of its arms from side to side to wave back at him. He laughs cutely, clutching his sides with one arm, Etoile quite likes the look of his laughing face. Quietly, and to herself, Etoile giggles along with him, holding one hand up to her mouth to hide it. Upon arrival in Arslan's little covered stall she deposits the bear in the front pocket of his apron, situating it with its arms hanging out over the top as Arslan's face begins to flame whenever her hands accidentally brush at his chest. She steps back, peers at him critically and smiles, satisfied with how it looks.

“Now you look like a toy maker, one who likes giving gifts to little children.” She tells him, patting his shoulder momentarily.

“That doesn't sound like such a bad job, actually.” He says thoughtfully, turning from her and serving a bright eyed little girl who eagerly buys the cutest stuffed rabbit Etoile has ever seen. Arslan holds a finger to his lips and leans down to whisper conspiratorially to her, “I'll tell you a secret about that rabbit, but you have to promise to take good care of her.”

The little girl nods her head, wearing a serious expression and crossing her heart, “I promise!” She says gravely in a hushed whisper.

Arslan looks pensively at her for a moment, “Okay,” he tells the girl, “That rabbit is the princess of the rabbit kingdom, but no one can know or the foxes will find her and plunge the kingdom into turmoil.”

She gasps and glances astonished down at the bunny in her arms.

“So you need to protect her, you see, brave lady knight, I wish you good luck.”

“Thank you, I'll look after her well.” The little girl declares, leaving and going back to her mother.

Etoile watches fondly and just slightly awed, she never realised just how good Arslan was with children, she doesn't quite know what to say, it reminds her of a game she used to play as a child. “That was adorable,” slips past her lips as he turns back to face her.

“I used to play a similar game when I was a kid, my bear used to be the prince of a fallen kingdom,” Arslan tells her wistfully, “Sometimes - as often as I could, actually - I used to get Daryun to play it with me, he was always this brave warrior, see.”

Etoile’s own memories are somewhat the same, it’s a rather nostalgic feeling, “Ah, me too, I was a valiant knight, fighting for my kingdom in the name of God, well, a made up one that I called Yaldaboath. It was fun.”

He smiles softly at her, probably imagining when she was ten years old, running around and swinging a foam sword. At least she can imagine him playing with teddy bears straight back.

“Arslan, you can switch out with me now. Go enjoy the rest of the event,” Elam says from behind her, appearing out of nowhere and startling Etoile just slightly.

Arslan nods, gently grabbing Etoile's hand and tugging her along with him, a mischievous sparkle shining in his eyes. He doesn't say much, concentrating on navigating through the crowd of people, stopping at a table with a crudely set up game of ring toss that offers prizes in the form of toys, money and cupcakes.

“Do you want to play?” Arslan asks her, pulling his hand away and reaching in his pocket for change to pay with.

Ignoring the emptiness of her hand, Etoile agrees, reaching for the rings, “Sure, but pay for two games I want to know who's better at this game.” She says, challenging him to test his aim.

He has fairly good aim, actually, which shouldn't surprise Etoile given his school has beaten hers at mixed baseball before. His first two throws go well, the rings hang on the necks of the bottles but he overshoots the last one just slightly and misses. He shrugs somewhat disappointedly, staring longingly at a giant chocolate cupcake offered as a prize. “Guess I'm not getting that cake then,” he says and Etoile swears she can hear genuine sadness in his voice.

Grabbing the second set of three rings, Etoile aims carefully, flinging them with just the right amount of force that they land on the bottlenecks, spinning noisily around them like a hula hoop. She doesn't even have to say what prize she wants, the bored student hands over the chocolate cupcake immediately. Etoile shoves it towards Arslan, offering it to him.

“You look hungry, so take it.” She half commands him.

Instead of eating it all himself, Arslan splits it in half and gives the bigger piece back to her, “Thanks,” he tells her with an impish grin.

There's not really much else to do at the beneficence day, having come so late and working on the teddy bear stall, they've missed all the events like races and talent shows. Etoile quickly finds herself growing bored despite her company and the different little games they play - actually, the one with the water guns is fun since she gets to soak him and he gapes at her in open shock - though she holds it in and doesn't say anything, at least she has time to think for once.

The crowd has thinned by the time he turns to her, still damp from her earlier attacks, “There’s not really anything left to do here, is there?”

Etoile shakes her head, “Not really, I think we missed all the good stuff, unfortunately.”

Arslan hums in agreement, making a little noise and obviously thinking about something else , what exactly, Etoile isn’t sure. He holds his hand out expectantly, waiting for her to take it again, “Let’s go then, I know somewhere nice.”

Hesitantly, Etoile takes his hand, following him through the grounds and avoiding the last few stragglers there, her cheeks feel decidedly warm.

“Where are we going?” She asks as they leave the gates, heading away from the school and in the opposite direction from his house, moving farther from the town centre with every step.

“You'll see,” he tells her cryptically, staring up at the top of a grassy hill from the base of it.

A small playpark sits on the summit of the hill, surrounded by a bright coloured fence and trees dotted around behind it with swings and slides and a giant climbing frame among the things to do there. Arslan tugs her hand and starts climbing it, bringing Etoile to realise that he wanted to take her to the park. Sometimes, she thinks, he’s a little bit of a kid and a little cliché but she doesn’t mind it so much. Silently challenging Arslan to a race, Etoile removes her hand from his, sprinting up the hill ahead of him. She sees him break into a run as she glances behind her, the corners of his lips curved up into a wide smile.

Etoile wins the race, sitting in the grass and panting at the top of the hill as she waits for him to struggle his way up.

“You’re many times fitter than I am, Etoile, I don’t know how you managed to run the whole way up,” He tells her, bent over with his hands on his thighs and wheezing to catch his breath.

Etoile shrugs casually, “I cycle to school.”

Pushing herself up from the grass, Etoile waits for him to stop wheezing and takes herself to the swings; she’s always been fond of swings, something about them is relaxing and they always seem to have the amazing power of clearing her mind. Arslan sits on the one next to her, swinging quietly aside from the creaking of the chains that attach the seat to the bar and the scuffing sound of his feet when he kicks off the ground. It’s peaceful.

“You know, I always used to come to this park as a kid, you know, before I was taken to Castle Andragoras.” He says softly, breaking their comfortable silence with a mournful tone of regret, “I don’t really remember it.”

“Was it fun?” Etoile asks in an almost-whisper.

“Yes.” Arslan abruptly stops swinging, getting up and holding out his hand for her again.

She lets the swing stop naturally before she stands, though she doesn’t take his hand this time, there’s no way for her to get lost in the little play park. After a confused moment, he lets his hand drop and begins climbing the giant climbing frame that she noticed earlier.

“Come up here, Etoile, this is what I wanted to show you.” He calls down to her, already a short distance from the ground.

She obeys, scaling her way up through the organised mess of cold metal bars until she reaches just below the top, where Arslan sits on one of the bars, distractedly swinging his legs as he gazes over the city. As she sits beside him, watching the same view as him, Etoile thinks she knows why he brought her there. The sunset is beautiful, pinks, purples, oranges and reds taking over from the sunny blue bathe every tree and building in their hues. If she remembers correctly, it’s the start of magic hour, or twilight.

“It’s so pretty, I’m glad you brought me to see it,” she voices with some awe.

“Yeah, I’ve always thought so,” he whispers on an exhaled breath, glancing at her from the corner of his eye with a fond smile.

Etoile sways slightly and Arslan places his hand on hers to help her keep her balance.

“Do you remember this?” She asks quietly.

“Yes.”

*

If you enjoyed this please think about a reblog so that more people can read it!

@inokinako You would probably like to read, no? 

#arslan senki #the heroic legend of arslan #arstoile #arslan #elam #alfarid #etoile #schoolboy!arslan au #flings this into the abyss and hides #Man I feel like I'm slow burning arslan and etoile but am I? #Pretty sure I've read much more slowburn fic than this drabble series tbh #enjoy though

[pastellig]

#this needed its own post #arslan senki #heroic legend of arslan #arslan #alfarid

[tired-reader-writer]

Arslan Senki Reread

Arslan is such a good bean. If he did have the raw power backing him to railroad the conflict into a mediation, I wonder what the result would've been.

I think it's more than just Arslan lacking the power, I don't see Andragoras and Hilmes accepting to lay their hands away from each other. Worst case scenario, Arslan dies in the middle anyways bc Assassination™. Both Narsus and Daryun are right here, Arslan himself lacks power, but also at this point neither Hilmes nor Andragoras are capable of backing off.

Farangis' dialogue here is making me feel things, dammit. Do what you can. Do what's in your power. (It's very relevant to my Wolfpack AU.)

Farangis comforting/gently advising Arslan, and then steps up to keep the project on track. She makes for a good sister-mentor figure. I love Narsus and Farangis' dynamic, her atrocious love advice aside.

I see Alfarīd as someone who ultimately values life, who fights for life even as she is a bandit. Perhaps even because she is a bandit. Rather than having your life be snuffed out for/by an ungrateful liege or king (the Zott laugh at both country and king, they answer to no one but their own, as Merlaine said) so Estelle's stubborn loyalty must baffle her a lot. It's alien to her. (Arslan is different, he's a friend, as she says.) Rather than dying for the convenience of the ruling class who would never appreciate them, perhaps to her, staying alive in spite of their best efforts to snuff them out is a form of resistance. So she doesn't understand why, why Estelle is so willing to lay their life down for a tyrannical, genocidal maniac.

The head jars.

Why yes, I cropped out the Bastard's face because I'm petty if nothing else.

The sorcerers evading death from a blow that would've, should've, killed a human being.

Saam is shaken. This is the first he's hearing of it, and he fears what this implies. What this implies for Hilmes. What's going on? What does he mean by benefactor? How is his prince tied to these unnatural beings? This can mean nothing good.

Saam's speech bubble trembles with fear for Hilmes. And Hilmes, oh Hilmes, the red flags are so vivid they're a sea of blaring neon signs now. Nay, they're neon billboards. You say so yourself, the sorcerer here is doing something morally repugnant. Open your fucking eyes, this ain't good!

Also, does Hilmes' hair seem quite long here?

Ohhh fuck you. Fuck you fuck you all the way to hell and never back. Saam was trying to protect Hilmes. And there's just something that hits so hard about that last panel. “Please believe me.” We know it wasn't Saam who said it out loud, of course, but the backdrop being a pitch black with no speaker, taken out of context it sounds like a plea and y'know, I'll bet Saam was pleading for Hilmes' faith in the deeps of his mind even if he doesn't speak it aloud. A tug-o-war, each needing Hilmes to believe in him.

I want to punt Hilmes in the sun for which side he chooses here.

#arslan senki reread #arslan senki #the heroic legend of arslan #heroic legend of arslan #arslan #narsus #farangis #daryun #estelle #etoile #alfarīd #alfarid #alfreed #I'm not tagging The Bastard #saam #sam #hilmes #team zahhak

[innerchorus]

I know I said before that Nakamura’s manga version seems to follow novel canon pretty closely, but I take it back now that I’m looking in more detail at the section that Arakawa’s version has just covered!

Two children versus a man with a death wish 😧

Yes, that is Alfarid and Elam, inside Ecbatana after Hilmes has taken it and holding Sam at swordpoint

#arslan senki #the heroic legend of arslan #chisato nakamura #sam #elam #alfarid #honestly this is so wild #it's blowing my mind #and not only that #there's been some extra hilmes/irina content too?

[tiolearguile]

Setop Al Farid ___________ ATENÇÃO* Loja Física Aberta das 11:00 às 15:00 Após esse horário, o atendimento será feito pelo Whatsapp e Instagram para dúvidas, agendamento de entregas (delivery) ou Retirada. (É OBRIGATÓRIO O USO DE MÁSCARA PARA PERMANECER DENTRO DO ESTABELECIMENTO) O horário de funcionamento de portas abertas, segue o protocolo exigido pelo governo de São Paulo. A Equipe T.L.A agradece a compreensão 😷 #seda #tabacaria #montekemel #dz7 #vilasonia #tiolearguile #hookah #setup #setop #alfarid https://www.instagram.com/p/CDjrQShh271/?igshid=1dbukpew0a2dv

#seda #tabacaria #montekemel #dz7 #vilasonia #tiolearguile #hookah #setup #setop #alfarid

[hekla-chan]

Inktober day 19 - Clouds An excuse to draw her

#<33333 #alfarid #alfreed #alfrid #arslan senki #the heroic legend of arslan #art #inktober #inktober2017 #heklachanart #artists on tumblr #illustration