"Marth, there's a unit of knights just around the mountains! Send a couple mages and cavalrymen with armorslayers to kill them," I yelled down to the blue-haired prince.

He nodded and gave a thumbs-up sign. He then began shouting orders. I looked back to the knights, who seemed to notice that their cover had been blown since they began charging.

I twirled my Winged Lance and dived at one of them, effectively piercing my specially designed weapon right through the heavily armored man. I painfully witnessed the surprised look on his face as he fell to the ground with a deafening clump.

There was no time to mourn, or to feel sad, however. I knew that they were just normal men with families back home…fighting a noble's war. But they were in the way, and anybody in the way has to fall.

I jerked my Pegasus' reins and it flew to the side just in time to miss one of the javelins thrown at me. Yet, Luna's left wing must have been slightly clipped as she began shaking erratically. I directed it to land on the ground, and I turned to face my opponent.

Two of the knights had discharged themselves from the main group to face me. I was isolated. The bowmen were undoubtedly not so far behind me, as it was standard to keep them just slightly behind the armored units.

I could wait and be slaughtered by their flying arrows, or I could attack one of the knights and get pierced by the other.

I slid off Luna and turned to face my opponents. I noticedthat one of the two looked very guilty, and he was holding his lance in a way that did not look in any way threatening. The other guy was grinning madly telling his buddy (to mild reaction) a very thorough description of me.

I didn't like how this man treated females, as if we were only mannequins to stare at. I raised my lance threateningly and ran towards him. He parried it with his own, and proceeded with an attempt to knock my lance out of my hands.

I held onto them tightly, and pulled a dagger out of my cloak. With our two lances in a deadlock, I easily swung my dagger down and chopped his lance it half. This time, the knight was no longer grinning, but rather frowning.

He shook his head. "I got beaten by a girl."

"Excuse me?" I flared up. "Girls can be great soldiers as well." I pointed the tip of my lance at his chest. A single shove and my Winged Lance could easily sever the hardy armor.

He didn't seem to hear me. He continued to rant about how embarrassing it was to be killed by a girl that he began crying. I must say that I felt some sympathy towards him. He was on the ground, bumbling like an idiot. With an attitude like that, I'm not surprised that he chose the army as an alternative to real life – it was the only life that he could possibly lead.

Suddenly, I remembered that there was another knight. I cursed under my breath – an enemy could kill you at any moment if you show any sign of weakness. I instinctively jumped back a few feet and eyed the other knight.

He was leaning on the blunt side of the lance, staring amusedly. He had taken his helmet off.

"I apologize for my comrade's behavior. I never really liked him either – all he talks about are women…"

I smiled, but I did not lower my weapon. He could be trying to lower my guard, and I cannot let that happen. But in the back of my mind, I felt that he wasn't like the other Grust knights. He wouldn't kill me with such underhanded tactics.

"I noticed. The way he was eyeing me was plain creepy. I just had to charge him. Defend myself, you know?"

He nodded. "I understand. He frequented the army brothels so much that it was forced to close down. Anyway, I'm Roger. I don't know why I'm introducing myself, since I'm considered your enemy, but…"

"Oh, no, its fine," I found myself replying. I also found, to my horror that I was lowering my weapon. He didn't seem to notice as he continued staring at the pitiful figure of his weeping comrade. "I'm Shiida," I found myself completely lowering my weapon so that the tip was on the ground, and I was leaning on it, like Roger.

I began feeling a compassionate and warm heart within Roger, after a short conversation. But really, it was short. You can't learn anything about a man by exchanging a few words. But the feeling was very explicit and it felt very real.

"Why are you fighting in this war?" I asked him, maybe just to confirm that he wasn't anything like the wailing idiot next to him. "I-I mean, don't you have a loved one and a family to return to back home? Oh…what am I saying…of course you do…"

"Huh?" His head jerked in surprise. He obviously was not expecting a random question of that nature. "No…no…no loved one. No family. I'm just in the army because my father and grandfather and great-grandfather were all in it. My father died in a bandit raid just a few days ago."

"Oh, I'm sorry," I replied.

He waved a hand at me. "No, don't be. He actually wasn't a really nice father anyway. He made me sleep in the barn if I broke an egg or something, and I was beaten regularly. I never really got to know him either since he was usually off on military business. And he was the one who got me into the mess anyway…"

At this moment I began feeling sorry for him. A father who was usually gone, but when he was there, he would only dish out punishment and violence for the pettiest errors. Living as a princess and being treated as royalty kept her largely ignorant of these happenings throughout the land.

"Well, I should be going," I said, since I wasn't really sure how to respond to his statement. "It wouldn't be great if your comrades found you conversing with me. "What if they thought you were plotting with the enemy?"

He nodded, looking slightly sad.

"But, maybe you would like to join us?"

He shook his head vigorously. "I'm sorry, I can't. I might dislike my father, and I definitely dislike fighting and violence more, but I just can't. Grust is where I grew up, you know? I can't just abandon her…"

I nodded. I understood the feeling – I harbored the same feeling towards Talys. "Well, then, this is good-bye, I guess. Since I can't recruit you, I must leave." I jumped on Luna.

"W-wait!" Roger yelled. "How can you leave? You can't fly – the archers can't be far behind by now!"

I smiled, glad that he cared for me – an enemy. "I can't fly on Luna. Her wing got clipped. I'll be riding her on land – I'm fairly certain that Prince Marth cut through the rest of the knights easily. I'll join up with him. Just…please…don't die. Hide if you must, the Altean Knights are formidable."

"Watch out!" Roger yelled. He ran up and jumped behind me. How he did that with all that armor was beyond me. But he effectively used his body to shield Luna of a flying arrow. The offending stick lay useless on the ground.

"Roger?" The archer asked questioningly. "Our commander…deserting the army?"

"Yes," he said firmly. "I've no love for war or violence, so I'd rather fight on the side to end it."

The archer nodded, obviously thinking. "I must kill you for this, you know. It is treason to desert the army. But my arrows can't do a thing against you." He then pointed his bow towards me.

If he had meant to release or not, I would never know. Since at that moment, a sword sliced through his chest – the culprit revealed to be Marth as the archer slid to the ground dead.

"Marth!" I yelled. You guys got rid of the knights, I presume?

He nodded. "Who's this? I saw him protect you from the archer."

"Oh…" I proceeded to introduce him. Marth shook his hand, saying that new members were always welcome and to thank him for protecting Taly's princess. I looked the other way, quite embarrassed. I didn't want him to know I was a princess…what would he think of me now?

We were interrupted as the main horde of archers appeared. Cain, Frey, and Abel pounded past me, charging at the archers. Marth told me to stay back and followed suit. I looked back and saw Lena healing Luna's wings, and the sniveling embarrassment of a knight being taken prisoner.

Everything was going perfectly. When the battle ended, perhaps I'd head over to Port Warren's armory and fix up my Winged Lance. And for once, there would be proper nourishment and a place to sleep…

Oh, and I made a new friend – Roger. A friend that I can rely on to protect me from the scary archers.

That was a really odd fic that I just wrote. I don't know why I did it – when I should be updating "A Surprise Dursley", but I did. I'm not particularly proud of it, since I don't think the plot really developed much – but reviews make me happy. Please R&R!