Hello, fellow writers! This is my first FanFic! Woohoo! :) I'm not really sure about this entire thing so far, so reviews would be GREATLY appreciated. This is going to be an Avatar/Ae'dyn x Cordelia story, though it may not be clear sometimes. But like the rest of you, I need help in writing this whole thing! So once again, please feel free to review! Thank you all for reading this! It really means a lot to me! Enjoy! :D

-Shadow

I do not own Fire Emblem or any of its worlds, places, items, or characters. Fire Emblem is a copyright of Nintendo and Intelligent Systems. Only original character is the name of the Avatar, Ae'dyn. All others I DO NOT OWN.

"... Come to me..." The raspy voice beckoned. "Don't resist..." The dark cloud before me swirled eerily, building with each passing second. The world was dark; pitch black save for a tinge of purple on the horizon.

"My... Son..." The voice rang out like a gong. The cloud burst with tremendous force, consuming me like a thick, deadly blanket. I gasped for air, feeling deprived of life. The heat escaped my body and I felt the thoughts being sucked out of my brain like a vacuum. Hyperventilating, I tried to open my eyes to see around me, but I saw nothing. Then the lurking high-pitched whine pierced my ears, ringing loudly like a high perpetual air-horn. I gasped at the air, unable to keep myself upright, and landed with a loud few bangs on the dark ground.

I sat up suddenly in bed, gasping for air as I heard my door being knocked upon. "Unnngh... C-Come in..." I winced, clutching at my chest. I looked up groggily, to see an extremely ashen Chrom standing at the door of my room. Panting, I collapsed back onto my pillow, never realizing the potentiality of its fluffy attributes.

"Ae'dyn! Are you o-okay?" Chrom cried, dashing to the side of my bed. Resting a hand on my forehead, he sighed deeply. "It's okay... *whew* ... Breathe..." He gasped, attempting to calm me down. By this point, I was pouring in sweat, literally having had the living guts pulled out of me. I still breathed rapidly, grabbing at whatever part of fabric my hand could find.

"O-Okay... Isn't... Exactly... The correct... Term..." I muttered between heavy breaths. By the look in Chrom's anguished face, I could tell I was as white as my bed sheets. "More... Or less... In a merely... Vexing condition... Ugh..." I added, flopping my arms tiredly on the mattress, trying to calm myself down a few levels.

"It's okay... It's okay... Relax." Chrom smiled warmly, trying to comfort me. "Heck of a nightmare, huh?" He stood straight, looking relieved at my recovery.

"Wasn't a... Nightmare. More like... A dark, creepy, life-defying whirlpool of despair... Heh. Ugh... And a nightmare." I tried to smile as I finally regained my sense of clarity. "Well then... Good morning, Chrom!"
"Well... I beg to differ for some of us. But yes, besides the nightmare, it is a good morning, Ae'dyn." Chrom again smiled, giving off another sigh of relief. "I had hoped that we could discuss strategy, but perhaps we could wait until lunch is over–"

"Wait! ... Lunch? Geez, Chrom! How late is it?!" I sat up in exasperation, reaching for my sword sheath.

Chrom sat down on a chair nearby as he spoke his answer. "Well it's almost 12:10, but I figured it best to–"

"12:10?! Chrom! I'm late for my training exercises!" I bolted from bed, grabbing my blue tunic as I sped to my closet.

Chrom sat up hurriedly, trying to explain the situation. "Y-Yes, but Frederick thought that you–"

"I've got my whole life planned every day! Now I'm late for training, meetings, now strategies–"

"Ae'dyn! STOP!" Chrom raised his voice, grabbing my shoulder firmly. I turned to meet his deep blue eyes. "There's no meeting for today as of the weather. Frederick thought it best to delay your sword-training now, so took initiative to notify Lon'qu near 6:00 this morning." Waiting for me to calm down, he continued slowly, "I thought it best to meet here to discuss strategy, as this is the day we will be taking a much needed break. Sound good?"

"... Yes. Thanks, Chrom." I smiled back, pulling my belt tight around my waist, and attaching to it, the sheath of my sword. I had found Ragnell lodged in a large tree, about as wide as a Wyvern was long. The blade showed significant signs of wear, but it was still almost as lethal as it had been in the legendary Crimean stories. The blade could only be wielded by few, and luckily I happened to be among those few. Sheathing the sword and sitting down on my bed in my Myrmidon attire, I took a deep breath to cool myself down. It was then that I noticed that it was snowing outside. "Ah. I see why the meeting was postponed." I stated, gazing out at the thick layer of white snow.

"Yes, I had Frederick take measurements. As of this morning, about five feet of snow fell last night. A few of us downhill were snowed in and were forced to dig ourselves out. ... Well, not me of course, but you get the point." Chrom smiled, turning back to me with a placid face.

"Oh good– wait, what?" I frowned, tapping the carbon-colored hilt of Ragnell. "Snowed in? Like who?"

"Oh just a few. Like Gaius, Stahl, aaaaaand... There was one more... Can't think of him..." Chrom contemplated, tapping his chin with his finger.

"Anyways, you wanted to discuss strategy?" I asked, gesturing to the table on the far side of my tent.

"Ah! Kellam! ... I think that's who it was!" Chrom lit up, raising his hand in the air, as if he hadn't heard me at all. "Yes, anyway, we had to dig them out using all our available shovels. Decided against fire magic. Found that one out the hard way... You see, the snow would then turn to ice and–"

"Chrom! Did you want to meet or what?!" I asked, breaking his runaway train of thought. A very startled Chrom looked up immediately, and began to walk over to the table, with a large, outstretched map of the lower mountain range to the north. Tomorrow we made our march up to Regna Ferox to escort the Exalt Emmeryn to safety from the currently attacking Plegia. The scouts had reported military movement of Plegia in the mountain ranges, but the Shepherds hadn't paid much attention to it. They didn't seem a threat, but then when suspicious movement by Plegia's eastern division began approaching the border, they couldn't take a chance, and were desperate to deliver Emmeryn up to the safety of Ferox.

"As we had heard yesterday, our scouts have reported Plegian activity up here in the mountain range." Chrom explained, gesturing to different parts of the map. "We should probably be ready for any sort of surprise attack. Any suggestions?"

"Hmm..." I thought deeply, bringing a gloved hand to my chin. Studying the map again, I began to think of the advantages we might have, versus the advantage of their surprise. "I think we should be able to march with a few horses guarding the front, maybe Stahl and Sully... You and I should probably take Lissa up with us just to be sure, and Lon'qu and Gaius can flank us. Frederick would protect the leeward side of the pass, and Sumia and Ricken should be able to provide anti-Mage defense. The others can follow up behind, but be sure to stock everybody up with weapons and vulneraries. In case of an attack, Stahl and Frederick would then easily be able to provide primary defense against any such Wyverns or Pegasus that come through the peaks."

Chrom nodded as he looked intently at the map, trying to visualize the plan. "I like it. I suppose it would also make it more practical to be able to march with. The formation could stay, while providing an emergency defense in case of an ambush." He smiled, looking up at me with a hint of pride. "Your plans never cease to fail, my good friend. I have faith that Emm will soon be delivered to the safety of Ferox."

"Just pray we'll never have to use this defending plan. I wouldn't like for anybody to be caught off guard." I sighed, gazing back down at the map. "If they came in from here, however... We might just need to provide extra defense for our fliers. I think Kellam and Virion had best station themselves at this end of the formation. Virion would then be able to shoot any enemy flier out of the sky. It's probably the safest way to go."

Chrom again nodded, turning back to the map and beginning to roll it up. "This March May succeed yet! I never doubted you, Ae'dyn. You are a fine tactician and friend. Now! If you'd excuse me, I have a meeting with Frederick about politics. Ugh... Well, I shall see you later Ae'dyn!" Chrom turned to leave, waving a hand up to say good bye.

"See you around, Chrom." I smiled, giving him a friendly pat on the back. He trudged into the foggy white landscape, his blue hair tossing in the gentle wind as he vanished from sight. "Ugh... Why can't we march through grass? I'm sure it'd be much quicker if it were spring already..." I muttered as I slumped down onto my bed once more, trying to think out my plans for the day again.

Out of boredom, I unsheathed Ragnell. Metal on metal sounded out sharply as I pulled the legendary sword from my sheath. The broad blade seemed to glisten in the low light, the gold of the edge smoothly reflecting the slightest bit of day. I held it up to my face, examining the soft cracks along its broad tip. The hilt was a dark steel, aged over thousands of years to where it had turned to a deep carbon black color. I began recalling the ancient stories of the Radiant Hero, Ike, from another world who wielded this same blade. The people called him the Hero of the Blue Flame for his burning passion and hunger for justice. It was said that Ike had strength like none other, able to defeat thousands of foes at once single-handedly. The blade was heavy, taking impressive amounts of strength to lift with one hand, but when it met the flesh of an enemy, there would be no stopping it's lethally sharp edge.

Breaking me out of my trance, I heard loud footsteps crunching in the white snow outside my tent. I looked up with a start to see Lon'qu standing by the entrance to my tent. "Oh! H-Hello, Lon'qu... I heard training's postponed?" I asked, still trying to pry my thoughts away from trying to envision the legendary tale.

Lon'qu smirked, looking dazedly at Ragnell in my hands. "You are correct." He muttered, taking his eyes off of the blade to look outside. "I like the snow. Reminds me of home."

"Where's home?" I asked, then mentally smacked myself for saying that. I already had heard the answer billions of times.

"Ferox." Lon'qu answered, looking almost astonished at my question. He shifted his gaze, and looked worriedly in my direction. "Tired?" He waited for an answer, but I was lost in thought. "Me too." He nodded, looking back outside.

"Yeah..." I replied, noticing that I had been zoned out for the past few seconds. I shook my head, trying to focus again. Standing up, I walked over to the brown haired swordsman. He heard my steps, and turned to meet me.

"I have taken the initiative to move our training to tomorrow after the battle. I hope you don't mind?" He asked, not taking his eyes from the deep white fog.

"Not at all. It's good to have a break every once in a while. I just hope nothing happens tomorrow..." I muttered, giving him a pat on the back. He turned to look weirdly at me, then leaned back on the tent. "It's almost lunch... Do you want to head over to the mess hall?" I asked, brushing aside a stray turquoise fringe from my forehead.

"Yes." He answered, and began his walk to the left.

"Uh... Lon'qu..." I mumbled, and watched as the swordsman turned quickly to correct his course.

"This way." He smiled, now headed to the right of me. I smiled back, and began walking too, the chill of the cold winter air finally stinging my face like frozen needles. I closed my tent, and joined Lon'qu's side as we began to wonder what kind of warm soup was for lunch.

The very next morning, the snow had disappeared. I awoke with ease, once again dressing into my Myrmidon attire. I grabbed Ragnell as I marched outside, feeling the embrace of the warm morning sun. Today we marched to Ferox to get Emmeryn to safety. "Please keep us safe..." I muttered towards the sky, continuing to walk forward towards the meeting tent. When I walked inside, Chrom was already sitting with Frederick and Lissa at the table standing inside.

Lissa turned quickly upon hearing the door open. "Good morning, Ae'dyn!" She smiled warmly, making me smile back. She turned to nod to Frederick who also muttered a soft greeting. Chrom then stood up, motioning for the other two to follow. Walking towards me, he laid a hand on my shoulder.

"Good morning, my friend. Glad the snow is gone." He smirked, walking to exit the tent behind me. We all walked outside the tent, now standing in a tranquil grass field. Lissa giggled at the breeze, letting it blow her pig-tails around softly.

As we rallied the troops for the march, I couldn't help but feel a sense of warning inside my mind. I turned back to Chrom, who was busy giving orders to Frederick, who turned and complied instantaneously. "Chrom, I have a bad feeling..." I muttered, meeting the deep blue eyes of the Ylissean prince.

"Don't worry. It'll all be fine. Very soon, we'll be in the safety of Ferox." He gave me a smile as we began to march away from our campsite. With the tents all packed up, it was once again just a quiet field, minus the clanking of armor and loud muttering of hundreds of Feroxi soldiers.

"I don't know... I can't quite put my finger on it. Something just feels amiss..." I looked upwards, as the wind seemed to shift quite suddenly. It was then that I spotted a lone Wyvern rider, gliding above our heads in circles as we traversed the rocky terrain. "Chrom...?" I tapped the prince's shoulder to get his attention. He looked up quickly, then spotting the Wyvern as well. He let out a slow mumble, watching it float like an eagle.

"Shepherds! Prepare for–" He began to yell, but was cut off by a large boulder tumbling down the mountainside. "Look out!" He yelled, motioning for everyone to get out of the way. The boulder landed with a loud smash, lodging itself between the base of the mountain and a large rock by the cliffs on the other side of us. We had been cut off from the Feroxi army, stuck only in our pre-planned defensive formation.

"Stahl! Frederick! Guard this mountain from fliers! Sully! Make sure nothing gets past them!" I yelled out orders, gesturing to the troops with rapid movements. I watched as the three knights charged to my left to follow my command. "Lon'qu! Gaius! Vaike! I need you to flank the knights, make sure nothing gets up behind them! I don't want any surprise attacks coming from those Plegians today!" The two swordsmen and the axeman ran to where I had commanded them to, poising themselves for the eminent battle. "Kellam! Sumia! Virion! Give me some air defense! Nothing flying gets past those cliffs! Lissa! Maribelle! Miriel! Ricken! Keep to the rear! Those Wyverns are weak to magic! Protect the healers! I don't want anyone to be left unassisted. Shepherds! Prepare for battle!" I shouted, bracing for the anticipated attack. This wasn't what I was hoping for, but it had to work to our advantage.

Loud war cries rose from the mountains as Plegian warriors began pouring down the side of the hill. As a raging Barbarian charged straight at me, I tried to look around to make sure we weren't in a tight spot. Swinging Ragnell in a wide arc, I leapt towards the marauder, plunging my sword deep into his torso. With a final cry, he fell limp on the rocky ground. Turning to my left, I saw Stahl being attacked from behind by a large Wyvern, rider swinging his axe wildly. I charged at the flying beast, slashing the side of the dragon with Ragnell. Jumping up in the air, I cut the rider in two, slashing at his armored ride.

"Thanks!" Stahl smiled, turning back to the mountain to rejoin Frederick.

Turning back to face Chrom, I realized that he was being attack on all sides by five mercenaries. I dashed at one, tackling him to the ground as Chrom's Falchion blade ripped through his shoulder. Quickly stumbling to my feet, I cut down another warrior, helping Chrom defeat the last few soldiers. With a slash to his right, Chrom caught the arm of another swordsman, who cried out in pain as he crumpled to the ground. I struck forward as I dodged an attack from the second Mercenary, slashing open his chest. Turning back to Chrom, I saw the last warrior cry out loud as he swung his axe in the air. I dove to cover Chrom, blocking the attack from the brigand with my blade, knocking his weapon from his hand. Chrom and I stabbed forward in unison, ending the Plegian's life with one swift stroke. I turned to nod to Chrom, who smiled back thankfully. We had gotten rid of the first wave, but more remained ahead, protecting an armed Wyvern rider General. I didn't hear a step, but out of nowhere I saw a lance strike towards me in the corner of my eye. "So this is how it ends then..." I thought to myself as the lance came rushing towards me. Then, a white blur ran across my sight, pushing me to the side. Red streaks flowed across the air like a crimson banner. As I hit the ground, I realized that the soldier who attacked me had a Javelin to the heart. I gasped as I tried to recall the assault. "S-Sumia?" I wondered, gazing up at the silhouette of a Pegasus above me.

Then I heard Phila, captain of the Pegasus knights in Ylisse utter a cry. She stood guarding Emmeryn, but her poise dropped when she saw the Pegasus. "I-Is that... My gosh... Cordelia?" She gasped in surprise.

"Cordelia?" I asked groggily, bewildered at what had just happened. Looking up again, I vaguely saw that the Pegasus was descending towards me. Laying back on the ground, I felt a searing pain shoot through my leg. I looked down to see an arrow protruding from my thigh.

Phila pretended not to notice my agony and answered my question. "Yes. She's one of my Pegasus knights. Young, yet capable... But if she's here... Oh no! Could it mean...?!" She cried in disbelief.

The Pegasus landed with a rush of air, touching down right next to me. Then a girl with long red hair, jumped down from the mount, running towards me. "A-Are you okay?!" She gasped as she stared, horrified, at the arrow in my leg.

I tried to utter an answer, but all that escaped my mouth was a muffled, "Ouch!"

The girl named Cordelia knelt down next to me, examining my leg quite awkwardly. "Okay... Hold on, I'm going to try to pull it out." She tensed up, straightening her back as she gently grabbed hold of the arrow.

"Nonononono!" I cried, stretching my arms out to try to stop her from moving it. "If you just wait just a–" PAAANG! The pain shot up my body, my mind screaming the whole time that I was for sure dead. I tried to reach for my leg, but grabbed onto whatever I could find. "OWWWWWWWW!" The cry rang out, echoing loudly through the pass. I winced as I tried to focus my sight from the white blur that doubled my vision through tears. I blinked a couple of times, trying to regain full control of my mind again. I groaned as the pain kept shooting throughout my body, surging violently up my spine. I looked incredulously up at the figure that had her hand on my quickly failing leg. "That... HURT..." I cried between clenched teeth. It was then that I realized that I had unconsciously grabbed hold of her arm. Quickly pulling my shaking hands away, I looked up into her face. She was smiling sympathetically, and was pressing a red towel up against my leg. I could tell that the towel was originally white however, as the corner was currently untouched.

"I'm sorry." She said gingerly, resting a hand on my shoulder. Then I heard footsteps scuffing the rocks behind me. I tilted my head to see, but began to feel nauseous. Then the footsteps stopped right beside me, and I saw Cordelia gaze up at the person. Whoever it was, he must've been pretty cute, because Cordelia blushed and became flustered as soon as she saw his face. Then I saw a flash of blue hair come towards me. At that moment I knew it was Chrom.

"Are you alright? What happened?" He asked incredulously, looking down at the wound in my leg.

"A-An arrow hit my leg... Went deep... Ugh..." I managed to mutter between surges of pain. Cordelia was now staring downward, as if avoiding eye contact, but I could still notice her crimson cheeks even though her red hair covered most of her face. I then began to wonder if the two had something going on that I didn't know about. Kind of upsetting, as I was clearly here first. ... What was I thinking? I asked myself as my thoughts began to randomly scatter from bouts of nausea.

"Looks seriously painful." Chrom sympathetically sighed. "Cordelia, take him to somewhere safe, I'll send Lissa over to care for him later. The battlefield isn't the place to safely mend him..."

"Y-Y-Yes, s-sir! I-I'll do that! Right a-away!" Cordelia stuttered, still staring dazedly at my leg. The footsteps faded off as Chrom returned to the battlefield.

"What was that all about?" I asked groggily. "It seems like he and you–" SMACK! My leg lit up in fire as Cordelia hit my wound to shut me up. "OWWW! .. What is wrong with you? ... Awwww..." I groaned, trying now to keep my eyes open.

"Never speak of that again! ... I need to get you back to safety. I hope you're not afraid of heights?" She smirked, trying to pull me to my feet. Carrying me in her arms, she climbed on her Pegasus, sitting me down behind her. "Hold on tight." She warned as she grabbed the reigns.

"I'll try..." I answered feebly. Hesitantly, I wrapped my arms around her waist, expecting a gentle lift off.

With a tug by Cordelia, the Pegasus took off, thrusting up in the air as we fled from the battlefield. I struggled to find my grip and clenched tighter onto her armored abdomen. Trying not to let out any signs of pain, I grimaced and my leg started pounding as the wind rushed up against it. I breathed quickly, trying to keep my eyes open. The pain kept surging up my whole body, and soon I heard a loud ringing. I tried to keep focused, but dark orbs started to cloud my vision. I finally let out a muffled groan, struggling to sense anything. THUMP! I hit my head on something painfully hard and I was out cold.

A/N: Well! That was a little bit... Sketchy... But hey! It's my first FanFic! Can't complain too much. I'll be updating this rather frequently, and I do apologize if the chapters start to get EXTREMELY long. I have a tendency to over-write. Like, a lot.

In case you didn't catch that, Ae'dyn is the name of the Avatar for this story. (Pronounced just like the name Aidan.) I'll try to make sure to keep this as Ae'dyn x CrimsonPegasusRider as I can... No guarantees what will spring up a bit later... Lol :D

Hey! Thanks for reading! Please make sure to review! Please, no hate. I hate hate. Thank you very much! :)

- Shadow