------------------------------------Fire Emblem: Youth's Hope--------------------------------------

STORY INTRODUCTION:

Hello everyone. This is Fiery Diamond, greeting all people who may read this story. This is my first work that I would call fanfiction. Honestly, it was because of some of the quality work on this site that I considered fanfiction worthwhile! Congrats, guys and gals! Anyway, I think it's important for me to make a few things clear from the get go.

1) I always start long stories, but don't often finish. I'll try to update once a week or so, but if I don't get any sort of feedback for a long time, the story may die. Just warning you so it doesn't surprise anyone if it happens.

2) IMPORTANT: This story features entirely original characters and setting. However, the story is based on many Fire Emblem themes, including but not limited to A) the combat system (semi-loosely), B) the character class system, C) how a lot of stuff works (such as specific weaponry and items), D) the theme of there being a "fire emblem," E) hair colors and stuff, and F) chapter format (non-combat story=combat=non-combat story).

3) The chapters will vary in length. By a lot. Also, it may take a little while to get into the story. If you would, please refrain from making any negative reviews until I have at least 3 chapters up. I won't complain about being complimented though :).

4) I'll have some "extra" stuff at the beginning or end of each chapter.

5) The polishing will be minimal, at least to begin with, because I am lazy. I like to write, so I have a lot of practice with it, though, so it should be decent anyway. I'll probably go back and shine things up a bit later, but because I'm lazy, who knows?

6) Enjoy.

-----------------------------------------Part One: From the Ashes---------------------------------------

PART INTRODUCTION:

At some later point I'll probably have some kind of prologue here, but I haven't written it yet, so I don't. In any case, this is the first "part" of the story, divided similarly to the way some of the games were. My part and chapter titles are attempts to sound something like what actual Fire Emblem titles would sound like. Yes, the pun of Part One's title is really obvious – the main character, Asch, has his town burned and thus begins his adventure.

---------------------------------Chapter One: Escape from Milander----------------------------------------

Asch gripped the iron-bladed sword in his hands, sweating profusely as his feet pounded the ground. He had to escape from the axe-wielding bandits who had set fire to half the town. In his fifteen years, the brown-haired blacksmith's son had never felt such fear coursing through his body. His eyes were wide and his teeth held firmly together, locked in position by terror. His mother and father's yells for him to run as the wicked axes chopped into them still rang in his ears, as did the screams and the crackling of the flames which devoured all. He flew more swiftly than ever before, driven only by the terror of death and the drive for survival.

His shoe hit a rock jutting out of the ground as he tried to turn a corner to run around the shell of what had once been the main store and he crashed into the rubble at his feet, scraping through the cloth of his shirt and pants and tearing wounds into his arms and legs. Quickly rising to his feet, he heard the sounds of brigands laughing in delight as another nearby building burst into flame. Still holding onto the sword his father had crafted, he cast a terrified glance backwards before taking flight once again. If he made it to the edge of town he might have a chance to survive.

How many minutes passed in his terrified run for the gates he had no clue; time seemed to have no meaning in the face of the indescribable fear and burning yearning for life. Burnt and burning homes and fields flew past, and the corpses of friends and neighbors lay strewn across the horrid landscape. Sanity and reasonable thought had all but left Asch by the time he had reached the gate, where he stopped dead, paralyzed by the sight that met him.

Four tall and muscle-bound men with chipped and twisted axes stood scattered near the gate, laughing to each other as they sorted through possessions they had stolen from the inhabitants of the town. The largest one, a black-haired, shirtless monster with a scar that crossed from above his left eye to the right underside of his chin, noticed the frozen boy and pointed him out to his comrades.

"Well, lookie here, what do we got? If it ain't a kid tryin' to run away from us! Ain't that the best, guys?"

The four of them laughed uproariously at their leader's joke. One of them replied, "And he's got a liddle sword, too! Think he's gonna try to kill us, mate?" They all laughed again.

"Well then, why don't we see what the laddie can do, boys?" the leader answered, hefting his axe. The other three readied their axes, grinning. The one closest to Asch ran up to him and swung sideways at the boy.

Suddenly, Asch was no longer frozen in place. His consciousness snapped back into full functionality as his body moved on its own to dodge the blade, swinging his sword two-hand two knock the axe aside. On instinct, he followed it up with an attack, bring his weapon down toward his assailant's shoulder.

The bandit hopped back, cursing in surprise and pain, as the sword made a shallow cut into his muscle, rending his already tattered shirt. He glared at Asch with hatred and spat at the ground in front of him, readjusting his grip on his axe.

"You little brat, how dare you try to cut me! I'll carve you into mincemeat!"

The brigand stepped forward and swung again, bringing his axe down full-force from above. By some unknown reflex, the villager ducked to the side and simultaneously slashed sideways across the enemy's stomach, creating a huge gash and covering his sword in blood. The bandit screamed and tried once more to strike the youth, but a stab through the chest finished him, and he fell over backwards as Asch pulled out his weapon.

There was a period of stunned silence. The boy stared at his hands, which were covered with the blood of his enemy, numbed. He had practiced with swords before for enjoyment, since his father was a blacksmith who primarily worked with farm tools but also crafted swords for special customers, but he had never actually fought before, and he had certainly never killed. The other bandits also stared, mostly in surprise that such a slight boy had managed to take out one of them without getting so much as a scratch. Then the leader smiled.

"Well, well. It seems the kid can fight. Let's not give him a chance to do any more killin'!" The three of them circled around Asch as he looked up from his reverie. Then they attacked.

Survival was of the utmost importance in Asch's mind as he attempted to dodge or parry every blow from his assailants, striking back whenever the opportunity presented itself. Blow after blow, the fight continued for nearly a minute. Asch had several serious injuries, as well as many more minor ones. He had managed to cripple one of his opponents, but the leader and the remaining one had received little more than nicks from his sword. The blacksmith's son knew that he wasn't going to be able to escape from this battle, but he fought on nonetheless, determined in spite of everything to survive. The uninjured underling raised his axe for a death blow, and Asch brought his sword to defend. He was too slow.

Suddenly, the axe inches away from killing Asch, the bandit screamed and jerked to the side. As the brutish man fell to the ground and the axe slipped from his fingers, the villager noticed that an arrowhead was poking through the front of the man's throat. He glanced up towards the gate, from which the arrow must have come, and he saw a ray of hope. A well-built and beautiful girl wearing traveler's clothing stood atop the fence, arrow knocked to her bow as she aimed at the staggering man that had been injured earlier by Asch. Her short, deep blue hair was ruffled slightly by the wind and her startling green eyes were narrowed in concentration, one of them actually shut as she looked down her white-feathered shaft. She released the arrow, and the man fell to the ground with a grunt, the projectile sticking out of his side.

"Hurry, come this way!" she called out as she plucked another arrow from the quiver on her back. Asch didn't need to be told a second time. He slipped past another strike from the final bandit and hurtled toward the gate, leaving a large trail of blood. The enraged foe chased after him, swinging his axe wildly. Several arrows embedded themselves in the brigand's arms, slowing him down, but since Asch was already badly hurt, he was unable to place much ground between them. He stumbled, and the axe-wielder's weapon whooshed through the space where his head had been an instant before. In desperation, Asch turned and thrust his sword upward as he fell, impaling the thug in the chest.

"You…kid…grah!"

Asch cried out in pain as the bestial man's lifeless body fell on top of him, crushing him against the ground and pushing the air from his lungs. The girl leapt from the fence lightly and landed next to him, grabbing the man's shoulder and shoving him off, with no little difficulty. As Asch's vision blurred and his mind drifted, he saw his savior's face looking down at him with concern, saying something that he couldn't make out, and then he lost all consciousness.

CHAPTER ONE END