Sothe stared up at Ike.
Ike, look at me. Ike. Ike.
The Commander's eyes were fixed upon the Soren as the mage dashed towards an axeman. With elegant motions of his hands, the mage brought forth the cutting edges of wind to slice into the axeman.
A smile flooded onto Ike's face, and he turned to Sothe.
Sothe's heart skipped a beat as Ike's pure blue eyes fell upon his face, and he straightened up. Nearby, Zihark's sword clanged against an axe blade, the noise ringing out like a bell off of the stone walls.
"Go, open up the chest, Sothe!" Ike motioned for the young rogue to move forward. "Quick, while the rest of us distract them."
"Yes, Commander!" Sothe obediently dashed into the fray, past the preoccupied axemen and swordsmen, with his knife in his hand. He was prepared to do anything for his Commander. He ducked between his warring comrades, hearing Ike's voice shouting orders to the other mercenaries. Sothe caught Tormod's name in a sentence with his own. Once again, he was paired up with that fire mage. Bah. ... Oh well, Commander Ike knew what he was doing. Sothe would care for Tormod if Ike felt it was necessary.
"Sothe, look out!" Sothe slid to a halt as a swordsman raised his blade in front of the small rogue. Fire exploded around the swordsman and Sothe raised his arm to shield his face from the heat. Tormod ran up beside Sothe, his arms raised to provide a second explosion of flame.
Sothe spared only a glance for Tormod's grinning face before barreling towards the chest again.
He dropped to his knees beside the chest and placed his hands on either side of the lock. The rogue fumbled as he tried to draw out his lock pick. He could hear the clanking of armor behind him. Sothe pushed the pick into the lock, trying to concentrate of the tell-tale click of the lock opening.
Tormod stood beside the chest, alert, and ready to attack anyone before they could injure the thieving rogue at work.
The young rogue flung the chest open, and grabbed what was inside--a Seraph Robe. He stuffed it into his pouch and spun around as he heard Ike's shout.
"SOREN!" An enemy fire mage was lifting his arms--in a similar fashion to how Tormod had minutes before--to cast a spell upon Ike's wind mage.
Soren took a step back, standing regally, prepared to take the hit.
Ike bounded forward, his red cape flowing out behind him as he bounded between the enemy mage and his own.
"Commander!" Sothe cried, running towards the two. Sothe could make out Soren's face--his red, half-laguz eyes wide in shock and cheeks stained a rose shade--before fire surrounded the two of them.
"Wait!" Tormod grabbed Sothe's shoulder.
"Let me go, Tormod!" Sothe fought to get away from the fire mage.
"Sothe, you're not strong enough; you'll get hurt!" Tormod wouldn't release the little rogue.
Sothe noticed a thin, shallow cut on Tormod's arm that made him pause for a moment.
The fire mage took the momentary lapse in struggling as Sothe's resignation, but kept a firm grip on the small rogue, "Stay here with m-mMPH-!"
Sothe elbowed Tormod in the ribs, and with a grunt from the fire mage, Sothe was released. He dashed forward, but stopped short as a javelin plunged in front of him, barring his way to Ike.
The rogue clenched his teeth and tugged out his kard as he faced his new opponent, trying to peer past his javelin-weilding foe to catch a glimpse of his commander beyond.
"You idiot!" Soren hissed, pulling away from Ike. Ike's charred red cape fell away from Soren's shoulders, to once again hang behind Ike. "Why did you do that..?!" his face was stained with soot, but the brunt of the fire had been absorbed by Ike and his tattered red cape.
Ike grinned at Soren's frown, "It's a good thing you're so skinny. I could wrap you right up." His eyes were filled with a soft, gentle warmth that Sothe had never seen before.
Sothe paid for his distraction, and a spire of pain speared through him as cold metal bit into his side; yet, he could still not tear his eyes away from his Commander and the halfblood wind mage.
The wind mage's claret eyes widened in a scandalized manner, "You bl-" Soren cut off, and thrust his hand outward. Thunder crashed down from above, striking the enemy fire mage before another attack could be cast upon the pair.
Sothe had not missed a moment of the exchange, even as his kard finally brought down his opponent. He held his hand over the wound in his side, and continued to gaze at the wind mage staring coldly at his Commander, the blush beneath the soot betraying his reproving glare. Sothe's golden eyes shifted to Ike, smiling happily at Soren, words of gratitude spilling from his mouth.
Soren's hand briefly touched Ike's arm, silencing the Commander as the wind mage motioned to the exit of the castle and Ike's other mercenaries hard at work. And there it was again, as Ike stopped speaking. That look. That special, tender gaze that was just for the wind mage.
Soren muttered something that sounded impateint and Ike gave Soren a nod. A moment later the pair plunged into battle once again, attacking in harmony and driving towards their escape.
Sothe did not speak. He limped forward, clinging to his kard, his expression blank.
The young rogue felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see the placid face of the swordsman Zihark. The empathetic expression the swordsman wore made Sothe pull away with an angry glower.
"Sothe, you need a vulnerary," Zihark's calm voice seemed to ease Sothe, even though he tried to keep his sullen expression as he stared at the ground.
"I don't need it," Sothe snapped, "Give it to Tormod. He was injured before I was."
"I don't have a hole in my side," Tormod's cheery voice made Sothe look up in surprise. Tormod stood in front of him, holding the vulnerary out for Sothe to take. "C'mon, take it and we'll get out of here."
"No," Sothe frowned, reaching forward and taking Tormod's other hand, "let's go now! We can't fall behind!" He dragged the fire mage behind him, dashing after Ike, Soren and the other mercenaries.
Tormod's cheeks darkened as he was pulled behind the small rogue. He smiled and quickened his pace to keep up behind Sothe, so the rogue was not driving him along more than Tormod's own two legs.
Sothe held onto the fire mage's hand tightly. He could not heal himself while Tormod was injured. If there was a vulnerary, it was Tormod's first. Ike had given him charge of the fire mage, and it was his job to keep Tormod safe and well, to follow Ike's orders, no matter what! He'd make his Commander proud! Ike would notice his skills and look at him that special way too...