Images flashed through Jace's head, both a blur and crystal clear. He was atop some sort of flying beast. A wicked smirk of triumph upon his face. He continued to smile even as a hooded figure in a dark coat slowly made their way towards him. The figure reached into its coat and drew a long and beautifully crafted blade. Jace shook his head, and drew the same blade from within his coat. He brought it to bear against the figure, who kept their face hidden under their hood. However to Jace's horror, his blade was suddenly knocked out of his grasp. It arced high into the air, and Jace's eyes followed it. Never seeing the hooded figure plunge their own blade into his heart.
Jace's eyes snapped open, and he sat bolt upright. He was breathing hard, and shaking horribly as he always did when he had this recurring nightmare. He sighed into his hands, as his fingertips rubbed his eyelids. It was a moment after his eyes had adjusted to his surroundings, did he realize that he was in someplace completely unfamiliar to him.
"Ah, you're awake now." A woman's voice caught his attention. Jace turned his head to the right, to find a stunningly beautiful woman standing in the doorway to the small hut he had been placed in. She seemed to have been about nineteen years of age. Her light green eyes the same color as her long hair, that had been tied back into a ponytail. She wore a light blue tunic-skirt that had long slits on either side, to allow her better mobility.
"Where am I?" Jace asked, with his voice slightly groggy from sleep… If you could call it sleep.
"You're in my home on the Sacean plains." The girl replied with a kind smile. "I am Lyn of the Lorca Tribe. May I ask who you are?"
"Jace Ebonhart." He replied, as he got to his feet from the bedroll that Lyn must have placed him in. "I was raised in many places in Elibe. Lycia, Etrua, Bern, and Illia … I guess you can say I have had many homes. But the country of my birth is called Plegia."
Lyn tilted her head to the side, her brow knitted with confusion. "Plegia? I've never heard of such a place."
Jace smiled and shook his head, brushing a hand through his dark blond hair. "You wouldn't as it's not a country in Elibe."
Jace reached into a small pack by his bedroll, and pulled out a large map of the known world. He unrolled it, and pointed to where Elibe was located. "We're here obviously." He said with a kind smile, then drew his finger down past the Isle of Valor which was the last piece of land that was Elibian territory. His finger finally came to rest on a large continent. "This used to be called Akaneia in the time of the Hero King Marth. Now it's split into several new counties."
"And this Plegia is one of them?" Lyn asked.
"Yes." Jace nodded pointing to the section of what was once Akaneia, that took up the west and south-west portion of the continent. "This is Plegia. It's mostly desert, but you'd be surprised at how many people can live there. To the East is Ylisse, they're fairly friendly, yet from what I've heard Ylisse has been embroidered in a war with Plegia for many years now. And finally to the north is the largest of the three countries which is Regna Ferox. They have an odd combination of war and politics. Or rather war is their politics."
"But why were you raised all over Elibe instead of in Plegia?" Lyn asked, confusion evident in both her tone and her expression.
Jace sighed, and shook his head. "That I don't know. My mother has never told me the full story. She said that my father was a madman obsessed with the dark arts. When he decided to turn his dark studies towards his own son, my mother stole me from my crib and fled far away from my father's clutches."
"Yet you suspect that your mother is keeping the full truth from you?" Lyn asked to which Jace nodded.
All attempts at conversation were cut off, as a terrified scream was carried on the wind. Jace and Lyn shared a look of terrified confusion, then the two dashed out of the door of Lyn's hut. There were a small collection of huts just like Lyn's several hundred yards away, and three hulking figures were throwing things out of the huts unceremoneously.
"Bandits." Lyn said in a biting tone. "They must have come down from the Bern Mountains."
"We can't let this continue." Jace said reaching into his dark coat to grasp the hilt of his blade. "We need a plan. We're outnumbered two to one."
"You've studied tactics?" Lyn asked, her hand on her own blade.
"In every country in Elibe. Jace replied, as two of the bandits had gotten into an argument over one of their finds. That ended with the largest of the three swung his axe, and took the head off of one of his comrades. "Well that evens the odds."
"How should we proceed?" Lyn poised her question never taking her eyes off of the scene, nor her hand off of her blade.
"Think like a predator and pick off the weakest one of the herd." Jace said, nodding to the smaller of the now group of two.
Jace and Lyn drew their blades and very slowly advanced towards the smaller of the two. He roared and charged at the two. Lyn rolled to the side, and Jace brought his blade up to block the downward stroke of the axe. The ringing of blades clashing caught the attention of the larger of the two, who roared in anger when Jace and Lyn ran the smaller of the bandits through with their own blades.
"You think you're going to get away with attacking Batta's Bandits!?" The bandit leader Batta roared. His and Jace's weapons clashed violently in an exchange of strength vs skill. Jace was able to slice Batta's right leg, and the bandit dropped to one knee. Batta then struck out with his left fist, catching him in the chest, and sending him reeling back into the grass. Lyn then took over the fight with Batta, and she moved with unbelievable skill and speed, and Batta could not touch her.
Jace slowly made his way to his feet, and extended his left hand. A thunderclap echoed across the grassy plains, and a ball of thunder shot from the young man's outstretched hand, knocking the axe out of Batta's hand. At the same time as Jace disarmed Batta, Lyn brought her blade across the bandit's throat.
"It's over." Lyn said in that same biting tone sheathing her blade.
"It is indeed." Jace said dragging the bodies of the three bandits together.
"What are you doing?" Lyn asked confused.
"Funeral rites." Jace responded piling the remains of the bandits.
"They're bandits Jace." Lyn said said bitingly.
"They are still humans Lyn. Yes they made the choice to become vile murderers, yet they still deserve a proper funeral." Jace said, making a sign in the ground that Lyn was unfamiliar with.
"What sort of sign is that?" She asked.
"The sign of Naga. The Divine Dragon. She is worshiped in many regions of Plegia, and Ylisse like Elmine is worshiped within many regions of Elibe." Janus explained with a small smile, as he set fire to the bodies of the bandits with a small spell.
(A/N): Alright now lets get some things cleared up before I get crucified for this. Number one, I don't own Fire Emblem. That would be Nintendo.
Number two, ever since I first started playing Fire Emblem (and I got my start with Fire Emblem 7) I never paired up Lyn with anyone. I always thought she had a deeper bond with the tactician than any other of her support options.
Number three, this fic is going to go all the way through the Awakening story if you haven't figured that out already ... And I think we can say bye-bye to my mental stability with this fic.
Number four, I got the idea for this fic after reading The Fourth Tale by the author Alkeni. Never heard of him or his fic, go check it out. It's really good.