SkyGirl5
Cadet
ok guys, i know this fic is kinda odd...but its written around this one scene i just love and its short too so just...enjoy :lol:
Title: Into the Setting Sun
Genre: S/V, AU
Summary: Sydney is a princess during medieval times. The man she loves, who just happens to be the captain of her army is about to go off to war. Will that finally influence her to reveal her true feelings to him?
8 Chapters (and yes i know how pathetically short that is)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 1 (below) Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 5 & 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 + Epilogue
Chapter 1
The view was magnificent. Gentle rolling hills covered in grass blowing in the breeze seemed to be never ending as they met the horizon in the far distance. Clusters of trees were sprinkled across the landscape with an occasional rock thrown in. Farmers plowing their fields or lone people walking across the ground made it all seem real. Up above, the sun was ever so slowly creeping its way down to the horizon, causing the sky itself to morph into a pinkish color, ever-growing darker with the sun’s movement.
With a light sigh, she leaned up against the stone wall in front of her, resting her elbows upon it. That view was perhaps her favorite part of her hilltop castle. She had watched the sun set nearly every night from that exact spot and in twenty-one years, it had never lost any of its beauty. That night, though, its beauty was more appreciated by her. It was one last glimpse serene calm before the war began.
“Your highness,” she heard a voice from behind her. Slowly, she turned to find one of her assistants who continued, “He’s waiting for you in the hall.”
She nodded and walked from her spot at the windowsill. ‘Your Highness’ was a title she had lived with since birth; it was an unavoidable curse of being royalty. The previous year, though, that title had gained greater meaning after the death of her father left her first in command.
She walked briskly into the great entrance hall to the castle, where her guest was waiting. At the sight of him, a smile broke across her face as it always did. Of all the people she came in close contact with on a regular basis (which wasn’t all that many people due to the secluded nature of the life of a princess), Captain Michael Vaughn was her favorite by far. Five years her senior, he led her army and was a great strategic planner, triumphing over many who dared to challenge him. In addition to being a great asset to her court, he was a good personal friend, at least in her eyes.
“Your highness,” he lowered his head in a respective bow the moment he caught sight of her.
“Michael, please,” she said, her tone revealing her exasperation with him. She wasn’t sure how many times she had asked him to address her more casually, hundreds probably, but he never listened.
“I am sorry, Princess, but I mean you no disrespect.”
“You could never disrespect me, and even if you did I’d let you keep your head. You’re too valuable,” she said, a soft smile playing on her lips.
He smiled as well, but only momentarily, for there was grave business at hand much more important than their subtle flirting. “My men are ready; we will be moving out within the hour,” he informed her.
She nodded. “Then I wish you luck on tomorrow’s battle, but I have on request,” she said to him. He looked at her, intrigued. “I wish to come with you.”
He stared at her for a moment, confused by her request and attempting to determine if she was joking. When he realized she was serious he said, “With all due respect Princess - no, of course not.”
Expecting this response, she was prepared with a defense. “My father led his men when-”
“Your father was a great leader.”
Her eyes narrowed as she folded her arms across her chest. “Are you implying I am not?”
“Of course not I am simply stating fact: the battlefield is no place for a woman.” She gave him a hard stare and he laughed, “Surely you do not mean this. You do not want to be on the battlefield. People die there, your highness, and you are needed here.”
“Fine,” she said, turning her back to him. “Leave.”
He growled slightly under his breath as he turned and left the castle. He hated her stubborn child-like tendencies, not matter how used to them he was.
She waited until she heard the large wooden door of the castle shut hard before putting her plan into action. If there was one thing that Sydney Bristow hated more than anything, it was being told what she could and couldn’t do. That only made her want to do it even more. Ever since she was a child she had had disobedient tendencies, starting with when her father told her not to walk along the top of the narrow stone walls surrounding the palace. Of course, she didn’t listen and nearly plummeted to her death – twice.
She had anticipated Michael telling her she couldn’t accompany him and the men to the battle, but she chalked it up to his overprotective nature, especially when it came to her. In her opinion, though, he didn’t know what he was talking about. She had to be there to support the men fighting on her behalf and therefore she was going, no questions about it.
She raced up to her room and turned the latch on the door so that it was locked. She knelt down beside the trunk at the foot of her bed and began rummaging for the clothes she had stashed. Over the years she had collected many things for ‘just incase of emergency’ situations. Included in these items were items of clothing normally worn by men that would fit her. Her purpose in collecting such items was that she could transform herself into a man for a disguise should the need for one ever arise.
A tomboy at heart, she had always felt trapped in her expected role as a proper little princess for not only was she a girl, and thus expected to be more put together and calm than a boy, but she was a princess, which tripled the expectation. She longed to ride with her father across their kingdom, greeting people and doing some labor to prove that, though royalty, they were in fact, one of them. She was never allowed to do this, though, which made her want to do it all the more.
Once dressed in her ‘man’ clothes, Sydney walked over to the mirror in her room to attempt to transform herself from princess to man as best as possible, so that her identity wouldn’t be in question. She cut her hair so that, instead of reaching her waist, it hung barely below her shoulders, which was similar to the way men wore their hair at that time. She used a thin piece of rope to tie part of it back and wrap it up like she had seen many men do. Then, to top it off she used a hat, which covered part of the womanly features of her face. With that her outfit was complete and she moved on to phase two of her plan: escaping the castle unnoticed.
Grabbing her father’s sword on the way, she crept down the back, unused stairs and made her way out to the stables behind the castle. She saddled her chestnut horse before creeping with her out of the stable and towards the rear end of the castle, where she knew Michael and his men were collecting. As she neared, she could see them up on the brow of a hill, already on their way. If she hurried she could catch up in only a few moments. With one last look back up at her castle, she mounted her horse with ease and dug her knees into his sides, causing him to gallop off towards the horizon.
Title: Into the Setting Sun
Genre: S/V, AU
Summary: Sydney is a princess during medieval times. The man she loves, who just happens to be the captain of her army is about to go off to war. Will that finally influence her to reveal her true feelings to him?
8 Chapters (and yes i know how pathetically short that is)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 1 (below) Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 5 & 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 + Epilogue
Chapter 1
The view was magnificent. Gentle rolling hills covered in grass blowing in the breeze seemed to be never ending as they met the horizon in the far distance. Clusters of trees were sprinkled across the landscape with an occasional rock thrown in. Farmers plowing their fields or lone people walking across the ground made it all seem real. Up above, the sun was ever so slowly creeping its way down to the horizon, causing the sky itself to morph into a pinkish color, ever-growing darker with the sun’s movement.
With a light sigh, she leaned up against the stone wall in front of her, resting her elbows upon it. That view was perhaps her favorite part of her hilltop castle. She had watched the sun set nearly every night from that exact spot and in twenty-one years, it had never lost any of its beauty. That night, though, its beauty was more appreciated by her. It was one last glimpse serene calm before the war began.
“Your highness,” she heard a voice from behind her. Slowly, she turned to find one of her assistants who continued, “He’s waiting for you in the hall.”
She nodded and walked from her spot at the windowsill. ‘Your Highness’ was a title she had lived with since birth; it was an unavoidable curse of being royalty. The previous year, though, that title had gained greater meaning after the death of her father left her first in command.
She walked briskly into the great entrance hall to the castle, where her guest was waiting. At the sight of him, a smile broke across her face as it always did. Of all the people she came in close contact with on a regular basis (which wasn’t all that many people due to the secluded nature of the life of a princess), Captain Michael Vaughn was her favorite by far. Five years her senior, he led her army and was a great strategic planner, triumphing over many who dared to challenge him. In addition to being a great asset to her court, he was a good personal friend, at least in her eyes.
“Your highness,” he lowered his head in a respective bow the moment he caught sight of her.
“Michael, please,” she said, her tone revealing her exasperation with him. She wasn’t sure how many times she had asked him to address her more casually, hundreds probably, but he never listened.
“I am sorry, Princess, but I mean you no disrespect.”
“You could never disrespect me, and even if you did I’d let you keep your head. You’re too valuable,” she said, a soft smile playing on her lips.
He smiled as well, but only momentarily, for there was grave business at hand much more important than their subtle flirting. “My men are ready; we will be moving out within the hour,” he informed her.
She nodded. “Then I wish you luck on tomorrow’s battle, but I have on request,” she said to him. He looked at her, intrigued. “I wish to come with you.”
He stared at her for a moment, confused by her request and attempting to determine if she was joking. When he realized she was serious he said, “With all due respect Princess - no, of course not.”
Expecting this response, she was prepared with a defense. “My father led his men when-”
“Your father was a great leader.”
Her eyes narrowed as she folded her arms across her chest. “Are you implying I am not?”
“Of course not I am simply stating fact: the battlefield is no place for a woman.” She gave him a hard stare and he laughed, “Surely you do not mean this. You do not want to be on the battlefield. People die there, your highness, and you are needed here.”
“Fine,” she said, turning her back to him. “Leave.”
He growled slightly under his breath as he turned and left the castle. He hated her stubborn child-like tendencies, not matter how used to them he was.
She waited until she heard the large wooden door of the castle shut hard before putting her plan into action. If there was one thing that Sydney Bristow hated more than anything, it was being told what she could and couldn’t do. That only made her want to do it even more. Ever since she was a child she had had disobedient tendencies, starting with when her father told her not to walk along the top of the narrow stone walls surrounding the palace. Of course, she didn’t listen and nearly plummeted to her death – twice.
She had anticipated Michael telling her she couldn’t accompany him and the men to the battle, but she chalked it up to his overprotective nature, especially when it came to her. In her opinion, though, he didn’t know what he was talking about. She had to be there to support the men fighting on her behalf and therefore she was going, no questions about it.
She raced up to her room and turned the latch on the door so that it was locked. She knelt down beside the trunk at the foot of her bed and began rummaging for the clothes she had stashed. Over the years she had collected many things for ‘just incase of emergency’ situations. Included in these items were items of clothing normally worn by men that would fit her. Her purpose in collecting such items was that she could transform herself into a man for a disguise should the need for one ever arise.
A tomboy at heart, she had always felt trapped in her expected role as a proper little princess for not only was she a girl, and thus expected to be more put together and calm than a boy, but she was a princess, which tripled the expectation. She longed to ride with her father across their kingdom, greeting people and doing some labor to prove that, though royalty, they were in fact, one of them. She was never allowed to do this, though, which made her want to do it all the more.
Once dressed in her ‘man’ clothes, Sydney walked over to the mirror in her room to attempt to transform herself from princess to man as best as possible, so that her identity wouldn’t be in question. She cut her hair so that, instead of reaching her waist, it hung barely below her shoulders, which was similar to the way men wore their hair at that time. She used a thin piece of rope to tie part of it back and wrap it up like she had seen many men do. Then, to top it off she used a hat, which covered part of the womanly features of her face. With that her outfit was complete and she moved on to phase two of her plan: escaping the castle unnoticed.
Grabbing her father’s sword on the way, she crept down the back, unused stairs and made her way out to the stables behind the castle. She saddled her chestnut horse before creeping with her out of the stable and towards the rear end of the castle, where she knew Michael and his men were collecting. As she neared, she could see them up on the brow of a hill, already on their way. If she hurried she could catch up in only a few moments. With one last look back up at her castle, she mounted her horse with ease and dug her knees into his sides, causing him to gallop off towards the horizon.
