Chapter 1: The First Duel
Darkness greeted Mia's eyes as she pulled back the flap of her tent, the earliest hints of the sunrise barely shining in the distance. A yawn escaped her lips as she stretched and groaned away the early morning fatigue. She had quickly learned that she was the earliest riser of the group, and the soldiers they saved from the prison yesterday didn't seem to change that fact.
As she began to walk through camp the cool breeze of the early morning sent a chill down her spine. She passed by the tents and mentally listed off those she knew: Rhys, Soren, Titania, Oscar, Boyd, Rolf, Mist and finally, the boss himself. She stopped for a moment outside his tent, reflecting on the short time she had been with them.
The Greil Mercenaries had lost their leader, but worse than that the new boss had lost his father. The boss had done a commendable job since then, especially for someone so young. Even when their situation seemed hopeless he managed to pull all of them through it. She knew he would make an excellent leader one day, but more importantly to her, he would make for a remarkable swordsmen.
She looked forward to the duels she knew they would share.
After a few more moments she moved on, passing by the tent of the wandering merchant group. It was amazing how the boss had managed to recruit all these people, especially after everything that had happened. The twins seem pretty handy around the forge, and Mia was going to need a new blade soon. She had enough coin for one of their custom swords, and she fully intended to see just how good they really were.
She finally reached the edge of camp, taking a moment to look at the small army behind her. They would be marching today, and it wouldn't be long until everyone was up and packing. She needed to get her training in before they started, or she probably wouldn't have a chance until the end of the day.
As she was about to turn around, one of the nearby tents opened. A female soldier emerged, cringing slightly as her long emerald hair swayed in the wind. The young woman fastened a blue helmet to her head before retrieving a lance from the nearby weapon rack. She twirled it around several times in what Mia guessed was an attempt to test its weight.
So she's a lance user, huh... I knew I was feeling lucky today.
The soldier continued for several moments before turning towards Mia. Her face flushed with color as her eyes went wide. After a few seconds of stunned silence she turned away and pulled her helmet down in what Mia guessed was an attempt to hide her embarrassment.
"Heya! I didn't expect anyone else to be up so early!" Mia shouted, forgetting that there was an army around her trying to sleep.
"H-howdy," the girl stammered, still avoiding eye contact.
"The name's Mia! What's yours?"
"N-N-Nephenee," the girl finally managed, her face a dark shade of red.
"You look like you're pretty handy with that lance. Hey, I've got a great idea! We should have a duel!"
"A d-duel?"
"Yeah!" Mia shouted, her excitement raising her voice louder than it probably should have been.
"I-I don't know..."
"Well, I've got some wooden weapons we can use if it makes you feel better. Come on, it'll be fun!" Mia grabbed Nephenee's hand and began dragging her towards the edge of camp.
"W-what have I got m'self into..." Nephenee whispered under her breath.
-o-
The once silent morning was now filled with the hollow clanks of wooden weapons colliding. The sweat on Nephenee's palms was causing her weapon to slip, which had already resulted in two missed blocks.
Not that she had been doing that great to begin with.
This girl, Mia, was like a graceful whirlwind with a blade. It took all of Nephenee's energy just to keep up with her relentless barrage. She had already accumulated a good number of welts where Mia had already manged to land hits.
Her body ached with every movement she made and her exhausted muscles begged for relief. Her throat was dry and sore which only made her coarse, ragged breathing even more painful. She was parched, exhausted and she didn't even want to think about how sore she'd be after this was all over.
But something kept pushing her onward.
Beads of sweat rolled down her forehead as she continued breathing heavily. The two slowly began circling each other, allowing Nephenee a precious moment to catch her breath.
Mia was a fierce fighter, but at the same time there was something different about her. Something Nephenee couldn't quite put her finger on. She hadn't been sure about this duel at first, but after it started it was almost as if she had been absorbed into it. It had been an adrenaline rush unlike any she had felt in the militia, and much to her surprise, it was actually kind of fun.
"Engardé!" Mia suddenly shouted, rushing forward and unleashing a sweeping horizontal strike.
Nephenee's body seemed to move on its own as she whirled her lance around, the back end of her weapon barely catching Mia's strike. She pivoted her foot and pushed forward in an attempt to parry, but it only gave Mia an opening.
Mia quickly back stepped and thrust forward with incredible speed, jabbing her sword into Nephenee's side. She grit her teeth and twirled her lance to try and counterattack, but Mia had already sidestepped and was out of reach. By the time Nephenee had pivoted back around, Mia was already in mid-swing, and her sword collided with Nephenee's arm, causing her to grunt in pain.
She quickly retaliated with a thrust of her own, but Mia managed to roll to the side and dodge it. Before she could even move, Mia was already jumping forward with her counterattack. Nephenee twirled her lance around and parried the first jab, which was quickly followed by a downward slash that she barely managed to block with a quick turn of her heel.
Her body was so tired that every movement felt sluggish. Still, she was managing to block Mia's attacks more frequently now. She wasn't sure if that meant she was improving or if Mia was growing tired as well. Mia thrust forward with a large step, and Nephenee managed to sidestep just in time. She quickly pivoted on her foot and slammed her weapon down, landing a blow on Mia's back. Nephenee's eyes went wide as the realization hit her.
She finally managed to land a hit.
Mia inhaled sharply and stepped forward before relaxing her stance and turning around with a grin on her face. Nephenee didn't expect what happened next.
Mia started laughing.
Nephenee felt the warmth rush to her cheeks, and she couldn't help but glance at the ground. She brought her arm across her waist and massaged a particularly large welt on her arm.
"I guess I misjudged you. You're new to fighting, aren't you?"
Nephenee could still feel herself blushing fiercely. "L-like ah said, I'm not that good. O-our trainin' in the m-militia wasn't great."
"Well then, I'm just going to have to train you," Mia said with a confident smirk.
"T-train me?"
"Sure! You are going to fight alongside us, right?" Mia asked, eyeing Nephenee expectantly.
"W-well... if C-Commander I-Ike thinks ah can manage..."
"If that's the case, wouldn't it be better if you had someone to spar with? I can watch your back until you get some more experience, and it'd be good for me too since I seem to have trouble with lance users."
"I...I..." Nephenee stammered, her voice barely a whisper, "guess that'd be alright..."
She still hasn't said anythin' 'bout ma accent. It's probably cause she hasn't noticed yet.
Mia grinned. "Alright, it's settled then! Who knows, you may even end up being my archrival!"
"A-archrival? B-but..." she started, but Mia was already making her way back to camp.
The only reason I was up so early was cause ah was tryin' to get used to the weight of mah lance. How is someone like that supposed to be an archrival?
"Come on, Nephenee!" Mia called out, drawing her from thoughts.
Nephenee could feel the warmth in her cheeks growing. She lowered her helmet and fixated her gaze on the ground, desperately trying to hide her embarrassment.
I could certainly use that trainin', and ah reckon she seems nice enough, but... I don't want her to end up shunnin' me cause a mah background.
"Come on!" Mia urged again.
Nephenee sighed quietly before making her way over to Mia.
-o-
A/N: Hey all! I hope you guys enjoyed this short little dabble of a first chapter. Constructive criticism or any thoughts you guys may have are greatly appreciated. This story is going to follow this general pattern, ie, small 2000 word or less vignettes taking place between every few chapters of Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn which gives support-like conversations and interactions between three of my all time favorite Fire Emblem characters: Mia, Nephenee, and Ilyana.
Some of you who've been around for a while may recognize this story. To those of you who do, I say hello, and offer my condolences that I suddenly left the site like I did. Circumstances outside my control directed my attention to things besides writing and fanfiction. I'm back now with a new account (not sure what happened to my old one, Firefly567, but I can't access it and it seems to be gone), and hopefully a new drive to get this story beyond the first four chapters.
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the awesome beta that worked on this story with me, barefootbean. This story would not be the same without her invaluable aid.
Anywho, that's all I've got for now. Tune back next week for the next chapter: Seasick.