Prologue: A Girl from the Plains

Author's Notes: How this series will go is that all in-game dialogue will be used for a majority of the story. The only times dialogue for a character will not be from the game is if it is a filler chapter or that I think this is how a character would react to a given situation. As such, if a character ignores the Tactician, it is because of in-game dialogue not bothering to put in a opinion for a character and I want to keep as close to the source material as possible.

Fight scenes will also be detailed as how they can/will develop in-game. So if there are ten enemies for a single fight, there will be ten enemies in the chapter. Expect the Tactician to question this, especially when going against armies.

I DO NOT own Fire Emblem...even though I would love too.

Other than that, please enjoy reading and tell me how I can improve for future chapters. Thanks!

"Are you awake?"

Those were the first words to reach the young man's ears as he awoke from his slumber. As he carefully pulled himself up from the bedroll he had found himself in, his eyes immediately fell upon the spot where the voice had come from.

A girl, roughly sixteen years of age with a clay mug and bowl in hand met his gaze. She had thigh-long dark green hair maintained in a single ponytail, vibrant blue eyes, and a charming smile that excluded a feeling of peace and serenity. The dress she was wearing was a light blue, with yellow lining and was wrapped around her figure with a red sash. There were slits through both sides of the dress that allowed her legs to go by unhindered.

"I found you unconscious on the plains," the girl told him as he got up. "I am Lyn, of the Lorca tribe. You're safe now. Who are you? Can you remember your name?"

The young remained silent for a moment as he pulled his mind together. "Michael is my name" he told her.

"Your name is Michael?" Lyn said, "What an odd-sounding name…"

"Excuse me?" Michael asked, taken aback by the unintentional insult.

"But pay me no mind," Lyn responded, "It is a good name. I see by your attire that you are a traveler. What brings you to the Sacae Plains? Would you share your story with me?" Lyn asked, attempting to change the subject.

"Well-" Michael was about to explain, but he was quickly cut off by some yells from the outside.

"Hm?" Lyn said as she looked towards the closed entrance to her tent, "What was that noise?"

"It sounded like a yell to me" Michael told her.

"I'll go see what's happening," Lyn told Michael as she turned back to his direction. "Michael, wait here for me."

As soon as she was done speaking, Lyn quickly left the tent for but a moment before returning. She had a worried look in her eyes.

"Oh, no!" Lyn cried, "Bandits! They must have come down from the Bern Mountains! They must be planning on raiding the local villages. I…I have to stop them!" Lyn decided, her voice solidifying as she made her decision.

"If that's all of them, I think I can handle them on my own" Lyn said, more to herself than to Michael. "You'll be safe in here, Michael."

"No!" This time it was Michael's turn to shout. "I won't let you go on your own. Let me help you!"

"What?" Lyn asked, surprised by the prospect, "You want to help? Well, can you use a weapon?"

"Ah…no," Michael admitted. "I'm a strategist you see. I tell other people how to kill someone. When it comes to me doing it…well…it's easier giving orders than doing them." Michael gave himself a mental slap to himself with how he had chosen to word that explanation.

"Ah, I see… So you're a strategist by trade?" Lyn asked, though only to confirm it to herself, luckily not paying attention to whatever else Michael had said. "An odd profession, but…Very well. We'll go together!" Lyn decided. In a flash, Lyn ran over to the side of her tent and pulled out an iron sword.

As quickly as she grabbed the sword, Lyn ran outside, leaving Michael in the dust as he attempted to follow her out. As he ran outside after her, Lyn ducked under a nearby tree. "Over here!" she whispered to him.

As quickly as he could, Michael did the same.

"If you want to help, Michael," Lyn told him, "I could use your advice. I'll protect you, so stay close to me."

"You don't have to tell me twice" Michael assured her as he scanned the area.

In the small area of the plains, two bandits were raiding a small cluster of tents a few yards away. Aside from the tress where Lyn and Michael were hidden, everything else was flat and easy to see for quite some distance.

"Pretty small number of bandits for a raid…" Michael muttered to himself. "Alright, here's the plan." Michael spoke to Lyn as he ducked back down under the trees," One of the bandits is busy trying to raid the village. There's one other keeping watch. Go out and get his attention-but don't go too far in. He could call his friend for aid. We don't want you going two against one unless absolutely necessary."

Lyn nodded in agreement as she ran out into the open. Almost half-way through the stretch between Lyn and the one bandit keeping watch, she was spotted.

"Uh-oh!" Michael heard Lyn shout, "That bandit's spotted me! He's coming this way!" she warned.

The bandit quickly closed the gap between himself and Lyn, but Lyn was the faster of the two. As he was about to turn on her and attack with his axe, Lyn gracefully dove to the side and avoided his strike.

As he was busy removing his axe from the soil he had firmly slammed it into, Lyn quickly gave the bandit two gashes with her sword before he could react. The bandit quickly found himself recoiling from the sudden pain and blood loss.

'He's a goner…' Michael thought to himself.

In the frenzy the bandit found himself, he wildly flailed his axe, gaining a lucky strike on Lyn, who let out a cry of pain as she hit the ground. But just as quickly as she hit the ground, she bounced right off and delivered the finishing blow to the bandit, who collapsed in a bloody heap.

"Victory!" Lyn cried out in joy. "But I've been injured."

"Are you ok?!" Michael asked, worried over the blow she had just received.

"I have need of a vulnerary."

Vulnerary. A miracle medicine that instantly restored lesser wounds and cuts in an instant. In a mild panic Michael felt his pockets hoping to find a bottle. He cursed under his breath when his efforts were found fruitless.

"If it isn't serious, try to make your way over to the other bandit!" Michael shouted. "He should be dealt with before he does any damage to the hut!"

"Not a hut, a ger!" Lyn responded.

"…What?"

"You don't know what a ger is? It's a type of round hut. Many nomads live in huts like these."

"So it's a hut!" Michael cried in exasperation from Lyn using valuable time on such a useless lesson.

"I would do well to use this time to administer a little first aid," Lyn muttered to herself, ignoring Michael's annoyed outburst.

As Lyn made her way over to the ger, she put her hand into a pouch conveniently attached to her dress and pulled out a vulnerary and took a drink.

"You had one the whole time?!" Michael cried out once again.

Again, he was ignored. Lyn's wounds healed before he was even done yelling.

"Now let's go get that brigand over by the ger!" Lyn yelled out once again to Michael.

"You'd think he would have heard us by now…" Michael muttered to himself as Lyn closed the distance between herself and the ger.

As Lyn made her way over, she luckily caught the bandit by surprise, but unfortunately, not soon enough for her to begin an attack.

"Who do you think you are?" the bandit asked Lyn as she brandished her sword. "You think you can stand up to Batta the Beast?"

"Oh boy, he's trying to be intimidating," Michael laughed. "I give him two attacks from Lyn before he bites it."

Wielding her sword with lovely grace, Lyn quickly unleashed the first attack upon the bandit, cutting his chest and drawing out fresh, crimson blood.

With a roar of pain, the bandit returned her attack in kind with his own. Lyn screamed in pain as her dress was torn into and blood oozed out from right arm and her chest. Lyn quickly attacked him once again, but the pain from his attack greatly weakened her strike.

"He's tough…" Lyn said under her breath. "It all comes down to this next blow."

"Please, Lyn," Michael begged to himself, his hands burying into the bark of the tree, "Don't die. Please, no."

"Michael," Lyn cried out in hopes that he heard, "If I fall, I want you to flee. You must escape!"

"Lyn, don't say that!" Michael cried at the top of his lungs. "I want you to live! Don't you dare die on me!"

Michael hoped those words reached her, because the bandit had moved in for the killing blow.

The bandit leaped into the air, bringing his axe right down onto Lyn's head. But Lyn was able to doge the blow with nary a scratch. Capitalizing on the opening the bandit had made for himself, Lyn once again slashed at his chest, this time causing the bandit to step back from the pain of the hit. Summoning the last of her strength within her, Lyn took a stance that Michael could not recognize.

Slow but fast at the same time, Lyn disappeared, as if she was never there to begin with, only for the sound of a sword slicing through flesh to ring throughout the plains. As quickly as she had disappeared, Lyn returned, returning her sword to its sheath. With a look of confusion, the bandit stepped forward, only for all the deep cuts Lyn had just dealt him to spray blood at once.

"What?" the bandit uttered in shock, "How…how did you-" and then he fell over dead.

"Whew!" Lyn let out a sigh of relief. "That was close. I sorely underestimated him."

"Lyn!" Michael yelled as he ran for all that he was worth to her, "Are you ok?!" Michael's breath was haggard from his running.

Taking a generous drink from her vulnerary, Lyn wounds began to close once again. She gave a nod to Michael in order to appease any thoughts he had for her safety.

"Sorry if I worried you" she told him.

"Why are you apologizing?" Michael asked her.

"I'll need to be stronger if I'm going to survive…"Lyn said to herself. "Strong enough that no one can defeat me."

"Lyn?" Michael asked carefully.

In an instant, Lyn broke free from her reverie and turned her attention back towards Michael. "Good work, Michael! Let's go home."

Leaving him behind, Lyn ran back towards her tent, her ripped dress barely holding together as she ran.

"What was that about…?" Michael asked himself as her walked back after her, hoping by the time he was back she would have changed into some new clothes.

And so the day ended on a softer note compared to when it began.

No sooner the next morning as the birds were beginning to chirp, was Michael finding himself being awoken once again by Lyn.

"Good morning, Michael!" she greeted cheerfully. "Are you awake yet?"

"I am now…" Michael muttered groggily as he rose from his bedroll.

"That fight yesterday must have taken a lot out of you" Lyn guessed. "The sun's already half way up in the sky!"

Squinting his eyes, Michael peeked outside to see that the sun was in fact, only partway up in the sky. Early mornings were defiantly not his friends.

"Hey, Michael," Lyn said to get his attention, "I want to talk to you about something. You have some experience in the ways of war, I can see. Would you allow me to travel with you?"

A brief moment went by as weight of Lyn's question fell upon him. "Eh, Lyn…as much as I would love for you to travel with me, I think you should ask your parents about it first."

As much as Michael would love a traveling companion, and Lyn would make a great one, Michael wasn't so eager to drag someone out of their usual life to go traveling.

"What?" Lyn asked, flabbergasted. "You…want me to get permission from my parents?"

There was another moment of silence before Lyn spoke once again. "My mother and my father…died six months ago."

Once again, the weight of what Lyn said took a moment to register. "Dead…?" Michael muttered in shock.

"My people—the Lorca—they don't…I'm the last of my tribe" Lyn continued. "Bandit attacked, and…they killed so many people. The tribe was scattered. My father was our chieftain, and I wanted to protect our people. But I'm so young, and my people are so old-fashioned. They wouldn't follow a woman. No one would follow me." Lyn's voice gradually began to quicken and crack as she told her story. Michael had to fight back the urge to hug her. Tears began to fall down Lyn's face.

"Sniff…I'm sorry," Lyn said as she looked into Michael's eyes. "I've been alone for so long…"

As quickly as she started crying, Lyn dried her tears. "No. No more crying. I will shed no more tears" Lyn spoke to herself.

Another silence filled the air as she regained her composure.

"Thank you. I'm better now" Lyn announced. "Michael, I want—I must become stronger, so that I may avenge my father's death!" Lyn told him. "Yesterday's battle taught me something. I won't become stronger by sitting here alone."

"Michael," Lyn said with a tone full of conviction, "Tell me you'll train me that you'll let me travel with you!"

As she finished, Lyn's gaze locked onto Michael's. She appeared as if she had made up her mind. Michael felt as if she were trying to burrow herself into his mind.

Silently weighting the pros and cons in his mind, Michael quickly came to a decision.

"Alright!" he said. "I'll let you come along! It's the least I could do for you saving me yesterday."

"You will?" Lyn asked in astonishment. "That's wonderful! Thank you! Oh, thank you!" Lyn was so ecstatic that she wrapped Michael in a huge hug of thanks. Michael couldn't help but smile as he got caught up in her enthusiasm.

"We'll be better off working together, I know it. You'll be my master strategist and I'll be your peerless warrior!" Lyn said with a smile. "We can do it! Right?"

"Yeah!" Michael agreed, "Together no one can match us!"

On that day, the apprentice tactician Michael and young swordfighter Lyn- a strange pair on an even stranger journey joined together. In preparation for the long road ahead, they would find themselves in Bulgar, the commercial center of Sacae. Unbeknownst to Lyn, she will discover something that will alter her life forever and lead both of them down a path neither of the duo could ever imagine.