"Listen here you worthless lumps of meat! This is our first real attack on Lescallia, for once we're attacking them, instead of the other way around! You had better not screw this up! If I see any one of you men half-assing it out there, you can be sure that you'll not live past the next day." The commander spoke the last words of his speech in such a deadly calm that even the most battle hardened soldiers shuddered in fear. The commander began to relay the plans for the attack to each regiment, making sure that everyone knew where they were supposed to be at what time. New recruits were up first, taking the brunt of the enemy's retaliation so as to keep the veteran soldiers safe and ready to fight.
One of the younger recruits shifted the sword on his waist nervously as he heard his duties being shouted to the entire army. To him, rushing headfirst into an awaiting army didn't seem like the smartest of ideas, but then again, he was new at these kinds of things, maybe it was the best way to go. The thought of it still made his body tremble.
"What, you scared? C'mon, I wont let any of the big bad Lescallians hurt little ol' Ike." The larger boy next to the blue haired soldier teased.
"Shut up Boyd! No way am I scared…" The axe-wielder smirked in response and returned to attention. Swallowing his nervousness, Ike too snapped back to attention before the two of them were caught talking. Being seen not listening to the commander could cause serious problems for recruits like them. The punishment could range from having to clean the barns everyday with forks, to being kicked out of the army. It all depended on how sadistic the general felt that day.
Finally the call to begin the march was heard and the entire mass of the army, fully decked out in armor, began to lumber its way across the border between the two warring countries. The sound of their synchronized steps sounded like the beat of a heavy drum resounding through the land. Villagers living in the nearby towns came by to cheer them on, shouting good tidings and sending prayers that their sons would return to them safe and sound. The soldiers did not even send a sideways glance to the ever growing crowd. Their minds were completely on the approaching battle. Questions flew through their heads at amazing speeds. Would they live to see victory? Would the army even make it past the first enemy lines? Lescallian forces were notorious for their durability. It was rare that any of the first charge even made it to the enemy, for their archers were a force to be reckoned with all on their own.
The group marched for hours and hours before reaching their desired camping grounds. Tents were staked and a meal of stew was made from whatever could be found in the nearby woods and lake. Ike picked wearily at his food despite the gnawing hunger he felt in his abdomen. He was sure that he was too nervous about the following day's battle to actually keep anything down. Lost in thought, the young soldier barely registered his larger friend sit down heavily beside him and begin eating the so called stew. He didn't even notice when Boyd oh so quietly pulled the still full bowl of food away from the dazed boy and started eating it himself.
Spoon still in his mouth, the green haired warrior began poking his friend in hopes of bringing him back to reality. Ike came out of his daze with a jolt, whipping his head around to find the person causing that insufferable pain in his side. Boyd tried to say something around the spoon but it wound up coming out as a garbled mess of sounds.
"Mind repeating that, and must you poke so hard?!" The smaller soldier asked, exasperation thick in his voice.
"Geez sorry, don't get your panties in a knot Ikette." Boyd exclaimed raising his hands in submission and letting the spoon drop unceremoniously from his mouth back into his bowl. "I said, nervous for tomorrow?" Ike simply nodded, covering his face with both his hands. "Hey, don't worry about it, we'll stick together. I won't let anyone hurt you, and you had better not let anyone near me or I swear on my own axe that you will regret it." The other boy chuckled slightly before letting a troubled sigh escape his lips. "Look, why don't you just eat something and go to bed, it'll be a long day tomorrow, and I don't want you passin' out on me while we're marching or anything, alright?"
"You're right…" The blue haired swordsman sighed again and reached for the spot where his bowl had once sat. Raising an eyebrow, Ike slowly turned his head towards his warrior friend who shrugged while slyly sliding one of the empty bowls in front of him towards another of their companions.
"Guess someone else ate your food while you were spacing out huh. Good thing I saved you some bread right?" He said while grinning. Ike, having seen his bowl being moved to another area, just rolled his eyes and accepted the bread.
The next morning crept up on the two soldiers faster than they had expected. Weary from the days march, the friends had fallen into such a deep sleep that it hardly felt as though they had even closed their eyes. Before they knew it, one of the lower officers was outside their tent, yelling for them to be up and ready to go in a matter of minutes. Franticly throwing on clean clothes and strapping on their armor and weapons, they quickly wolfed down their morning meal and took apart their tent in record time. No use in being late to their first campaign. The army formed up into their lines faster than seemed humanly possible and Ike realized that the upcoming battle was nearer than it had ever seemed before. To him, the fight had always seemed years away, and now, in only a few hours he would be fighting for his life, for his fellow soldiers, and for his country; and he was scared. A reassuring hand landed on his shoulder, and he looked up to see Boyd smiling down at him. Offering his own smile, the two quickly snapped to attention when the first shout from the commander was heard.
The first set of information that was thrown at them was a repeat of the battle tactics. Then the call to march came loud and clear through trees, signaling them to move. According to the information they had managed to glean from some of the higher-ups the evening before, the army was only one or two hours away from the battle grounds.
No one spoke, and silence pressed in on them from all sides; the only reprieve from the deafening lack of noise was the sound of their armor plated boots on the cold hard ground. Ike's mind felt blank. Not a thought passed through his mind. He knew that he should be going over battle tactics or thinking about the upcoming skirmish, but for some reason he couldn't think. He felt mesmerized by the way the armor on the man in front of him scraped back and forth across itself with each step the soldier took. The continual beat of their shoes on the dirt floor seemed to leech all sense of coherency from him.
Boyd looked over at his blue haired friend worriedly. They boy had been really out of it all morning and had hardly touched his breakfast. Not to mention that Boyd himself had eaten his dinner the night before, and was feeling rather guilty about it now. Nudging his slight friend in the side seemed to bring the young swordsman to his senses. And along with his senses came a fear that penetrated Ike's entire being. Watching the younger boy's already pale face whiten even further he quickly mouthed, 'Don't worry', in hopes of calming him down. Ike took a deep breath and, with the knowledge that his best friend would always be near, attempted to calm his fraying nerves and prepare for the fight.
Finally the group broke the line of trees separating them from the field where the battle was going to take place. They were near a fort, one of Lescallia, and they could see that sentries had been placed at every possible point of entry, plus there were one or two watch towers. There was no way they would be able to get anywhere near the fort unnoticed.
The army was called to a halt just outside of the forest. It was only a matter of time now before the enemy troops would come pouring out of that building. Ike could feel his hands begin to shake as his nervousness was aroused anew. He gripped his sword tightly, when were they going to begin the attack? They weren't cowards, he realized. They were going to wait until the entirety of the other army was in formation in front of them before beginning the assault. Attacking an army that was still inside their quarters would be as bad as stabbing a person in their sleep. It was the coward's way of doing battle.
One of the sentries standing guard in front of the main entrance was the first to sound the alarm. Ike could only stare dumbly as what seemed like thousands of Lescallian soldiers filed out of the front gate and formed up into organized regiments. The recruit looked up to the heavens for support and saw the sun gleaming harshly down on the land. It didn't seem fitting to have such a beautiful day be the date of such a huge battle. Whenever he had heard stories of wars from ages past, Ike had always pictures the sky to be heavily overcast, maybe even raining, to represent how the gods were upset over the blood about to be shed. Now though, he felt like their deities were pushing them onwards, egging them towards their deaths.
Being the invaders, Escado was the first to attack. The commander shouted something incoherently, but everyone knew what it meant. Ike and Boyd rushed forward with the rest of the recruits, their weapons shining in the midday sun as they fell upon the enemy. The two forces met with a clash, swords falling on flesh and metal alike. A rain of arrows fell upon them and Ike could only watch in horror as a few of his allies were felled.
Hearing the sound of someone moving towards him, the blue haired soldier raised his sword to meet the axe that the man rushing towards him wielded. He gasped as the weight of the attack forced him to his knees. The next blow came at the side of his head, and once again he blocked, only to be sent sprawling on the grass that was already slick with the blood of others. Quickly rolling away from the blade that came down at him, Ike saw his opening. The man's axe had gotten stuck in the hard ground and he was left helpless as the boy he had been attacking rose from the ground and plunged his sword into the junction between his helmet and body armor. A terrible cry was rent from the soldier's torn throat as he slumped to the ground on top of his still buried axe.
Everything around him began to slow as Ike pulled his bloody blade from the corpse lying haphazardly in front of him. His breath caught in his lungs as he stared in horror at what he had done. All sound seemed to stop and the edges of his vision blurred. The only thing in focus was the body, and his blood soaked sword he held limply in his hand. Falling to his knees, the boy watched as another enemy soldier, lance at the ready, came at him. The thought that this could very well be the end of him didn't register, it didn't matter. Body numb, he stared ahead as Boyd cut down the approaching soldier. He shouted something to Ike, but the blue haired recruit didn't hear it, he just continued to stare at nothing.
Boyd couldn't believe what he was seeing. What was Ike doing, just sitting there? Could killing one man have really done this to him? The axe-wielder cursed to himself as he saw another enemy approach his friend, thinking that it would be an easy kill. He knew that he was too far away to reach Ike in time, so taking careful aim; he hurled his weapon at the unsuspecting soldier, catching him in the side of the head. Dashing over to his friend, he began to shake him in order to snap him out of his stupor. The only response he received was a pair of dulled eyes sliding up to stare through him. A slight shudder racked Boyd's form as he stared at those lifeless orbs.
"Ike! Ike, what the hell are you doing? We're in the middle of a battle for god's sake, get a hold of yourself!" He yelled over the racket. There still was no response from his friend. Cursing again, he quickly searched for his axe. "Alright fine, if you're gonna be like this, then I guess that I'll just have to protect you right? After all, I did promise." This seemed to catch Ike's attention.
"No, don't worry about me, I'll handle myself." He mumbled.
"No way, I said I'd make sure nothing hurt you, so you just sit back and relax, I'll take care of everything." With that he smirked and brought his axe up to his shoulder where he knew that if someone attacked him, he could move it quickly enough to parry the blow. If Boyd was good at anything, it was manipulating Ike. The two had a fierce rivalry going between them despite their obvious friendship and he knew that by saying that he would protect the younger man, that Ike would make sure to do as much fighting as possible to keep Boyd from getting all the glory. Not to mention the bragging rights that the larger boy would get.
Ike of course, played right into his friend's plans. Gripping his sword tightly he made sure to attack the person that just begun to fight the axe-wielder. Grinning at his success at getting the other recruit to get off the ground, Boyd continued to slash at his opponents.
Completely immersed in their own separate battles, the two didn't notice as they slowly became farther and farther apart. The younger recruit, having blocked another blow aimed at his face, found himself backing away from the soldier he was fighting. This man, Ike could tell, wasn't very skilled, but he attacked so quickly and harshly that the boy had no time to retaliate. All that he could do was block blow after blow. He felt his back hit something hard and, chancing a look behind him, saw that he had been backed into a tree at the edge of the forest. Another hit came flying down on him from above, and once again he was sent to his knees from the force of the impact. The man didn't back off however. Ike could feel his muscles straining as his opponent continued to push down on his sword. Pushing back with all his might, the blue haired soldier managed to put a few more inches of space between him and the clashing swords.
Suddenly, an immense pain shot through him, originating in his side and moving to consume the rest of him. Crying out in anguish, Ike lost his hold on his sword and fell on his uninjured side. Gasping for air, he glanced down at the source of the immeasurable hurt near his rib cage. The injured boy barely had time to register the arrow sticking painfully out of his abdomen before his opponent's sword came crashing down at him. Scrambling to his feet, he grabbed his sword out of reflex, and stumbled blindly out of the way of the soldier and into the woods.
The sounds of the battle began to fade as Ike made his way deeper into the forest. Clutching his wound tightly, he slowed his pace to a jagged limp and cast his eyes around him, looking for a good place to rest where the enemies wouldn't easily find him. The ground he trod upon was covered with stones and roots from the nearby trees and despite how carefully he was watching the ground, Ike still managed to get his foot caught on a branch and he wound up in a heap on the ground. The young soldier lay still for a minute, allowing his aching body to rest. Even though his limbs felt completely drained, his mind was so full of thoughts that it almost overwhelmed him. The most prominent idea floating through his head was, Am I going to die? The thought hadn't occurred to him when he had first joined the army. All that had mattered was getting money for his family back home. His thoughts began to wonder about what would happen to his family should he perish.
All he had wanted was to be was like his father; strong, dependable, and someone that his family could trust to keep them in their home with food on the table. While his father had been one of the higher-ups in the army, the rest of them had always lived a rather comfortable life, but he had been badly injured during a battle and they had had no idea what was going to happen to the family. They had thought that they were going to have to sell the house and move to the city, where it was difficult to find decent jobs. That was when Ike had enlisted. If his father could be so successful, why couldn't he? It had never occurred to him that he might get injured too. And now, he might even wind up dead.
Gritting his teeth, Ike promised to himself that, if for no one else, he was going to live for his family. Slowly, the blue haired soldier lifted himself off of the ground; the closest he got to standing was kneeling on his hands and knees. The boy panted fiercely from the effort and couldn't help but notice how his arms shook just from the simple task of getting up. Realizing that he couldn't get himself onto just his two feet, Ike began to crawl painstakingly slowly forward. Finally managing to get himself over to a tree, the recruit slumped down to the ground. Glancing back over to where he had been laying down, he saw, with slight revulsion, that a rather large puddle of his blood had begun to seep into the ground. The boy looked down to where he was holding the wound, the arrow still protruding from his abdomen. Gingerly poking at the area surrounding the arrow, Ike figured that the smartest thing to do right now would be to remove it from his side. After wiping his bloody hands on the grass surrounding him, Ike took hold of the arrow's shaft and gave it a tentative tug. His vision began to fog as pain engulfed his entire being. The injured boy had to bite down the scream that threatened to tear itself from his throat.
Panting, Ike waited for his sight to come back into focus. When it did, he found himself lying on his back, staring blindly at the canopy overhead. Looking down he saw that the amount of blood flowing from his wound had increased due to his tampering with it. He swore, trying futilely to remove his armor so that he could create a makeshift bandage from his already blood soaked shirt. His movements were lethargic from blood loss and for some reason, he found that his armor wouldn't move. The problem, he realized, was that the arrow had literally nailed his armor to his body. He took a deep breath to steady himself then once again gripped the end of the arrow. It was now or never, he decided, and pulled as hard as he could on it. This time, Ike could not stop the strangled cry that erupted. As the arrow finally came loose, his vision fogged completely, went dim, and then finally, black.
A/N: And there you have it! Sorry if the battle scene is a little sketchy, but alas, i've never been in battle before so i'm not exactly one to get everything right. By the way, if you read my other story On the Case, you'll hear a reference to this story, so you'll get an idea of where it's going. It's going to be kindof fairytale esque...i hope. we'll see how it goes. And I have one condition, i might not update until i get at least one review. So if you actually like the story, review! so you'll get more! thank you!