Ike waited near the dock in the sunset, a satchel tied to his back. Today was the day that he left Tellius to explore other lands. Why he was doing this was a mystery even to him, but all he knew was that he needed to do it. As the captain bellowed for the people to begin docking, a voice yelled out his name.
"Ike!"
The vanguard turned around and saw Boyd running towards him. When the reaver reached the man, he came to a screeching halt. Boyd began panting for breath afterwards. He was known for his strength, but not much for his agility.
"Boyd," said Ike. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm here . . . to come with you . . ." said Boyd in between breaths. Ike then noticed that he had a satchel on the reaver's back, along with his father's axe.
"No," Ike answered. "I'm not going to. The Greil Mercenaries need you, and-"
"Like they need you any less?" interrupted Boyd. "You're our commander, and I'll follow our commander no matter where he may go." Boyd then walked a little closer to Ike and grabbed one of his hands. "Also . . . I . . . I'll miss you," he said softly.
Ike looked down at the hand that was interlaced with Boyd's. The two of them had been in a relationship during the past three years, and even during Ashera's war. The mercenaries knew of this, but none of them minded. However, he knew that the public wouldn't accept their relationship any time soon.
After a few minutes of silence, Ike looked up at Boyd's face, an expression of love and sadness painted on. He took a breath and wrapped his arms around him. The reaver returned the embrace.
"I'll miss you too," he whispered; he released his hold on the reaver. "But please, you have to stay. The mercenaries can't lose someone like you." The reaver looked down in sadness and turned around to head back.
"Don't worry," Ike said. "I'll return, sooner than you think." Boyd, although Ike couldn't see it, gave a slight smile. He turned around to face his former commander and lover.
"You better," he said. "And when you do, I expect you to come back much stronger, you hear?" Ike nodded and turned to board the boat. After a few minutes, the boat sailed away from the dock. Boyd headed back to the mercenary fort.
Five years had passed since Ike left Tellius. Since then, the mercenaries hadn't been getting that much work except for the usual bandit clean-up. Other than that, however, not much had changed. It was as if Ike's leaving didn't make much of a difference.
Boyd lied under a tree in one of Gallia's forests. Recently, he decided to travel around the continent, helping out others with their troubles, but mostly to look for a good fight to match up to his former commander. Boyd won most of his fights, but lost a good lot of them as well. His main goal, however, was to get stronger and be of better use to the mercenaries, despite his comrades saying that he was good as is.
Since his exploration, Boyd had gotten a lot stronger. His build had gotten bigger, especially in his arms. In addition, he had gotten a lot faster to where his speed would even rival that of the most experienced of trueblades. Now, the reaver was resting up after a long day's work.
After a few minutes of rest, a rustle sounded in a nearby thicket. Boyd jumped onto his feet and grabbed the axe that was resting next to him and assumed an offensive pose.
"Show yourself!" he yelled. After a few seconds a figure emerged from the thicket. It was a bandit with an iron axe.
"Heh heh heh. Well, look what we 'ave 'ere!" he said. "Ye should 'ave been careful to be wanderin' alone."
"You think you can take me alone, scumbag?" insulted Boyd. The bandit just laughed at his comment.
"Who say I came by meself?" said the bandit. At his command, a group of various robbers surrounded Boyd. "Think you can take us on?" Boyd didn't respond and held his pose. "Ha, he's too scared fer words. Attack!"
The bandits charged at Boyd at various places. The reaver, however, quickly and easily dodged their attacks and countered with his own hits. He single-handedly took down a whole brigade of bandits without even moving from his spot. Soon, there was only himself and the leader.
"Does it look like I'm scared?" said Boyd confidently. The bandit leader smiled.
"Don't get confident, lad," he said. Shortly, a poison arrow shot through Boyd's shoulder. The reaver screamed in pain and fell down onto one knee, dropping his axe as he did. The bandit leader just laughed and strolled over to him.
"Heh heh heh," said the bandit, as he stood over an injured Boyd. "Ye should pay more attention next time!"
Boyd tried to get up, but fell over due to the poison. The bandit leader raised his axe and was about to cleave the reaver's head from his body. However, before he could, the bandit fell to the floor. Boyd looked up just in time to see a golden blade being retracted from the bandit's body. The reaver's eyes widened and looked up, ignoring the pain.
"I-Ike . . ." he said silently. The swordsman knelt down, but was cut short when an arrow flew by him. The swordsman caught the arrow before it pierced his flesh and let loose a wave of energy from his sword. The archer fell from his spot in a nearby tree and fell to the ground, breaking his neck in the process.
"Ike . . . it really is you . . ." the reaver said weakly. Ike knelt down and helped Boyd up to his feet, placing one of the reaver's arms around his own neck for support.
"Boyd, please hang on," said the vanguard. With that, he walked Boyd out of the forest.
"This isn't . . . an illusion . . . is it?" said Boyd weakly. Just then, his eyes closed, and he collapsed onto the ground.
"Boyd!" yelled Ike in a panic. The vanguard turned the reaver onto his back and quickly took out medicine from his satchel. He was going to heal the reaver's wound when he reached the castle he was staying at, but it seemed like he was pressed to do it now.
Immediately, Ike removed the arrow from Boyd's shoulder and began applying the medicine to the wound. After a few minutes, the vanguard sealed the wound with a vulnerary (Boyd was unconscious to scream out in pain) and wrapped it in a cloth. Afterwards, Ike carried Boyd to his feet and continued his trek.