A new friend
Note: okay to avoid confusion this is one year after the battle against the demon king. I had to add this because people were thinking this is still during the demon king quest. Well anyway let's begin.
Chapter 1: The Crimson Flame
"Charge!" yelled out a soldier. The soldiers charged towards the enemy and the battle grew. The sound of swords clanging and spears breaking is all the princess could hear. She stabbed an enemy down and ran to help her comrades.
"Princess, the forces are too much, you must get out of here!" yelled out the commander. "But what about you?" she asked. "We'll do all we can to hold them off, you have to hurry!" he replied. "No I will not stand by and watch you die" she replied as she struck an enemy that was charging towards her. "Please just go, go now!" he ordered.
She realized that they were out numbered and decided to do as the commander ordered. "I'm sorry" she apologized. "It's alright my lord now go" and with that the princess fled to hills. "Come on knights of Renais lets show them what we got" the commander said as they charged to the enemy forces.
She looked back to see the knights falling and a tear dripped from her eye. She wiped it away and kept running. She ran as fast as she could until she couldn't see the enemy anymore.
She had been running for an hour and decided to take a rest near the rocks. She sat down and sighed. "Where did she go?" asked a voice. The princess covered her mouth and hid closely to the rock. "Come on" said the other voice as they ran in a different direction. Soon she couldn't hear them any more and decided to get up.
The mountains here were tiring to climb and constantly having to take breaks every now and then didn't help. She was tired and needed to rest as she was about to collapse. She sat down and was her legs were relieved.
"Well now what do we have here?" said a voice. Three bandits came out of nowhere and appeared in before the princess. "Hey there little missy you best be careful around these parts" said one of the bandits. "Hey boss look, she's loaded with gold" one of the bandits pointed out. "Well let's take her and her gold" he said as he picked up his axe with delight. The princess got to her feet but had trouble standing since she was tired. She took her blade out but had trouble holding it.
"This doesn't look good" she said to herself. "Well what are you waiting for, get her!" the leader ordered. The bandit charged towards her and lifted his axe high. "Help me!" the princess cried out as she closed her eyes. "Guuuaghhhh!" the bandit cried out as he fell. The princess opened her eyes to the bandit on the ground dead. She looked up to see a swordsman taking the blade from the bandits back.
"It…It's the Crimson Flame" yelled out one of the bandits. "Were doomed if we stay here, lets get out of here!" the other said as he turned and ran off. The swordsman took the blade and swung it at the bandits and a flaming slash immerged from the blade and struck the bandit down. The other watched as his buddy fell to the ground and saw that the blade was at his chin. "Uh oh" and with that the blade was pushed through his throat.
Eirika watched as the swordsman put the blade it his scabbard. She couldn't see the face of the swordsman since he wore a robe that covered his face but his eyes. She tried to get up but fell over and faded out in exhaustion. The swordsman walked over to the princess and picked her up and carried her like a bridal position.
The swordsman carried her till they reached a house. The swordsman opened the door and entered the room. He walked over to a bed and laid the princess down. He took his glove and placed the back of his hand against her forehead to check her temperature.
"She's getting cold, I better get a blanket" he walked over to a closet and looked around for a blanket. He found a blanket and took some clothes out and placed it at the end of the bed. He sat down and took the princess clothes of and changed her into some new clothes and tucked her in. he laid the blanket over her and walked over to the fireplace.
He threw some pieces of wood into the fireplace and some paper as well. He took out his blade and pointed it at the wood. A small ball of fire came from the sword and a fire engulfed the paper and was burning on the wood. He placed the blade back in it's scabbard and placed it on the table.
Two hours later
Her eyes flickered as she slowly opened them up. She looked to see a wooden ceiling. She sat up to find herself in room.
"Where am I? Whose place is this?" she asked herself. She looked to find her clothes on a chair at the end of the bed.
"Wait if my clothes are there then…" she looked down to find she was wearing a shirt and long pants that fit her pretty well she had to admit. The window blew open and a cold breeze came through. She shivered as it hit her body. She leaned over to try to close the window.
"You shouldn't get up, you need to rest" she looked to see a man standing at the entrance to the room. He walked to the window and closed it so it wouldn't blow open again. "Who are you?" she asked.
The swordsman turned around and took his robe off. The princess's eyes widened to what she saw. "You… your name's Marisa right?" Eirika asked. "Hm I see you remember me, how fares you Princess?" Marisa said as she sat on the side of the bed.
"Well I'll was on my way to Jehanna when…" she paused and realized that they were under attack. "My troops there gone" she said quietly. "I beg your pardon?" Eirika looked at the swordswoman and a tear slid down her face. "I, no we were attack by some bandits and I ran" she started crying as she placed her hands on face.
"I'm sorry to hear that" she placed her hand on Eirika's shoulder to comfort her. "Don't worry I promise that they will pay for they done" Eirika wiped away a tear looked up at Marisa.
"Thank you" she tried to move her left arm but felt a shock of pain. She gritted her teeth together in pain. "Take it easy, you'll need to wait a couple of days till the pains gone okay?" Eirika just nodded. "Now get some sleep, we'll talk more later after you've got some rest and if you need anything just let me know okay?"
"Um Marisa, why are you doing all of this for me?" Eirika asked. Marisa paused as she looked at Eirika. "That's what friends to for each other" she smiled and left the room. Eirika lied back down and closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Next day
Eirika woke up and noticed that it was snowing. "Wow" she pulled the blanket off her and got out of bed. She walked over to the window and pressed her hand against it. She quickly took it off as the window was called. She looked as little snow flakes fell from the sky onto the ground. It looked beautiful.
"Good morning princess" Eirika turned to see Marisa at the door smiling. "Good morning" she replied back with a smile. "Like the snow huh?" Eirika looked at the snow and closed her eyes. "I've never seen snow before; I've heard about it since I was little and have always wanted to play in it"
"Well you get lots of snow up here in these parts" Eirika turned around and faced Marisa with a confused look. "So where are we exactly?" "Were in the mountains of Caer Pelyn" she replied. "The mountains of Caer Pelyn, wow" Eirika was amazed on where she was but was focused mainly on the snow.
"Do you want something to eat?" Marisa asked. "Sure I guess I could use some food" Eirika's stomach agreed with a growl. Marisa giggled at the growl and walked off to the kitchen.
Eirika followed her out of the room and took a seat near the fire place. She moved her hands close enough so they were getting warm. "You up for some meat and eggs?" Marisa asked as she turned to Eirika. "Sure, I'll just eat anything" she replied. Marisa giggled at the reply and went back to cooking.
Ten minutes or so Marisa came out with two plates and food that made Eirika just stuff the lot in her mouth. But she remembered how a lady should eat. 'Screw that' she thought to herself as she ate the food but ate it properly and not like a pig.
"So Marisa, what are you doing all the way up here?" Eirika stopped and took a sip of water. "Well I came up here to train so I can become a sword master like my father" she replied.
"Your father, was he a sword master?" Eirika asked. "Yes he was, he was one of the greatest swordsman in Jehanna" Marisa replied. "So what happened?" Marisa face turned sad as Eirika realized what was going on and felt a bit shamed.
Silence was heard in the. "He went out into the desert one day to train but never came back" she said as she broke the silence.
"I'm sorry" Eirika apologized. "No need to apologize, it's not your fault" Marisa said as a smile emerged from her face. "Come on let's finish up and I'll show you around" Marisa and Eirika went back to eating but Marisa couldn't help but remember what happened that day.
After they finished Marisa got some warm clothes out for Eirika and they walked outside. As she opened the door, Eirika's eyes lit up as though she was a child getting her first pet.
She ran out and dived into the snow. It felt cold but nice. She took a glove off and picked up a bit of snow and scrunched it up. It felt amazing as she put the glove back on and made a snow ball.
She threw it at Marisa and Marisa was caught off guard by this attack that she fell over by the impact. "That's it, now you're going get it!" Marisa rolled a snowball and threw it back at Eirika. They played around in the snow like school kids until they had enough.
"You don't mind going for a walk do you?" Marisa asked. "Sure I'll come" she followed Marisa and off they went. They climbed a few rocks, walked a kilometer or two but finally Marisa stopped. "Are…we…there…yet?" Eirika asked as she was exhausted from walking. "Were here" Eirika found a rock and sat down and looked around.
Sure enough it was beautiful. There were a few trees with some plants inhabiting them but the scene was amazing. The snow had melted a bit and the sun shined in the water from the melted snow and shined off a beautiful sight. "This is where I come when I need to empty my thoughts" Marisa said as she broke the silence. "It's beautiful, looking at this reminds me of back ho-" Eirika paused for a moment and realized that she needed to go home.
"What's wrong Eirika?" Marisa asked as she looked at Eirika. "I need to get home and tell my brother that I'm okay" Eirika said as she stood up. "Hm I see well we better head back and… wait" Marisa paused as she looked around. "We are not alone, get back" Eirika walked behind Marisa and sure enough four men came out from the rocks.
"Hehe look there's the princess; if we get her the knights will surely give us a hefty amount for her capture" one of the men said. "Hmph bandits I should've known, prepare yourself you low life's" Marisa took out a sword she concealed. "Hey wait a minute, that's the Crimson Flame, boss if we capture her too we can fill our pockets with gold" one of the bandits looked over at the other. "Very well get them both!" the bandits charged towards Marisa and Eirika with their axes above there heads.
Marisa just watched as the bandits got closer and closer and then… she disappeared. The bandits stopped and looked around as since both the Eirika and Marisa were gone. "Where did tey's go?" asked one of the bandits. "Maybe they auuuuggghhh!!" one of them cried out as the felt a sharp pain come from there back. He fell to the ground dead of his wound. The other three look around but no one was in sight. "Auuuuggghhh!!" another guy cried out as he fell to the ground. The other two turned and saw that there buddy had met his end. "What the-" one of the bandits said but it went silent. The boss looked to see the guy's throat slit and his eyes looking at him. "Grrrr show yourself coward!" he yelled out. "Here I am" as the bandit turned around a sword dug deep into his chest and he fell back dead.
Marisa pulled the sword out and cleaned the blood off with a towel. "Are you alright Eirika?" Marisa called out. Eirika came walking out from behind a rock and was looking a bit scarred. "Y-yeah I'm fine" she walked nervously over to Marisa.
"Bandits, they are no match for me" Marisa took the sword and placed it back in its scabbard. Marisa looked over and saw Eirika crying. "What's wrong?" she said as she walked up to Eirika. "It's just I was afraid, I couldn't do anything to help and someone is looking for me and probably wants me dead" she replied as she was wiping away a tear.
"Eirika it's going to be alright you'll see" Marisa wrapped her arms around Eirika to comfort her. Eirika just laid her head on Marisa's shoulder. "Come on we best be going if more of them show up" Marisa said as she walked with Eirika back to her house.
Meanwhile at the Renais castle
"Seth, what news do you bring me?" asked a voice. "King Ephraim, we have word that the soldiers of Renais that were accompanying Eirika had fallen to a band of mercenaries" Replied Seth. "What about Eirika is she alright?" Ephraim stood up looking worried. "We have heard nothing, her body was not found at where the soldiers had fallen, she probably had escaped but that's all we know I'm sorry" Seth replied as he knelt his head down. "Seth gather your best knights and search for Eirika" Ephraim said as he sat down. "Yes my lord" Seth walked out of the room and closed the door. "Eirika please be safe…"
End of chapter one, I hope you guys enjoyed it and please leave me a review on what you thought about it.