One day, I had a thought: what would happen if Katarina DIDN'T betray the group at the beginning of FE12...well, here's a story where I explore just that...PREPARE YOURSELVES!

Prologue: Live a Better Life

She ran...she couldn't take it anymore, so she ran. A little girl through the streets, being chased by 4 more individuals: a teenage girl with a bow and a group of 3 identical teenage boys with axes. As she fled, her pursuers tried to keep up with her. However, she was smaller, swifter, and pulling away from them.

However, her pursuers were relentless, she knew that, and they would not rest until they captured her.

'I...can't go back there...' the girl thought to herself, 'I...I don't want to be there anymore...' However, as she thought this, she didn't notice someone in her way, until she ran right into them. She looked up...and gasped upon seeing an old man, tall with a knightly air around him, accompanied by 2 children around her own age.

"Excuse me, but who might you be?" the old man asked.

"E-Eine...please...help me...don't let them get me!" she sputtered to the man.

"Hold on, child, what is it?" the man asked, kneeling down next to her.

"They...want to take me back...Lady Eremiah is mean: I don't want to go back!"

"Hold on child, hold on, just slow down...now, what is going o-"

"There you are!" Eine leapt in fright, and hid behind the man, at the voice, as the pursuers came back around. "We've been looking all over for you. Come out now...it's time to go home."

"No!" the girl cried, "I worked so hard to escape...I'm NOT going back...NEVER!"

"Come on, Eine...Lady Eremiah will not be happy if you arrive home late..."

"Excuse me, but who are you?" the old knight asked.

"I'm Kleine, and this is Roro...we live at the same orphanage as Eine there...now, we'll just take her out of your hair-"

"NO! I don't wanna go back: Lady Eremiah stuffs us in her dark basement, just telling us we're puppets and no one wants...I DON'T WANNA GO BACK!" Eine cried.

"She makes up stories, now, can we please just take her back now?" Kleine asked, getting impatient.

Eine looked up at the man, who looked back. They looked at each other, the man's eyes boring into Eine's...and, "You'll have to forgive me if I don't believe you," the man said, drawing a Master Sword. "Now, I'll respectfully ask that you run along now, and I'll warn you: I may be old and wounded, but if you insist on taking this girl against her will, I will show you this old warhorse still has some fight left in him."

Kleine and the Roro clones looked at the man, standing there ground...before relenting. "Don't think you've seen the last of us," Kleine hissed, and the 4 retreated.

Eine looked up at the man, and said, "Thank you for not sending me back..."

The man smiled. "Glad to help. My name is Maclir, a former knight of Altea, and these are my grandchildren, Phoebos and Daeimos. Those people...they said your name is Eine?"

Eine frowned. "That's the name Lady Eremiah gave me...I don't know my old name..."

Maclir frowned at that. "Well...I don't have room in my house, but I bet I can find someone back at the village who could take you in. Would that be alright?"

Eine smiled. "Yes, I'd like that..."

"Excellent," Maclir stated, smiling, "Now...let's get you to our village...before something happens..." Eine just came over and hugged the man, the 6-year-old unbearably happy to finally be free of the hellhole she lived in for years...

So, that's the prologue. Working on Chapter 1, which will take us to FE12's 'Chapter 1', as well as give a summary of the years in between...now...

Until next time, this is IceBite, with you at ...bringing you fanfics, no matter how bad it hurts me...