"Boyd, Marcia, Nephenee, take the left side!" Ike barked, pointing at the cluster of soldiers stationed in the alleyway. "Titania, Oscar, Kieran, take out the mages and generals."

Ike had settled in well as the commander of their little group, commanding the new arrivals just as easily as he had been directing the Greil Mercenaries. Within the past few weeks, their entourage had grown as they added people from traveling merchants, to beast laguz, to a certain mysterious 'fireman' to their ranks. Still, the Daein army hounded at their heels, tearing apart the Crimean countryside to capture the elusive secret princess they guarded.

"Lethe, Mordecai, follow me, we'll need to warn the villagers across the bridge. The rest of you, take care of those soldiers at the gates behind us. Everyone, move -"

He was interrupted by the sharp hiss of a cat behind him. Lethe bristled, her hair on end, and blurted out -

"Hsss! You expect me to warn these foolish villagers? Let them be. They'd sooner try to kill me than accept the word of a 'sub-human'."

Ike sighed. His eyes fell towards the blade the townspeople had given him earlier; now, upon closer inspection, he recognized it as a laguzslayer, a blade specially designed for cutting down beast, bird, and dragon alike. "I just don't get it," he muttered, more to himself than in response to the cat's outburst. "How can the townspeople hate Ranulf so much, just because he has fur and a tail? Aren't we all people?"

"Hmph. I wouldn't expect a simple human to understand."

"Boss, I can take care of the villages. Just leave it to me!"

Ike turned at the voice. Sure enough, it was Mia, exuberant as always, one hand already reaching for her sword.

"You sure? ...Well, all right. Everyone, move out!"

Mist hated battles. The heavy stench of blood and metal stung her nose, and she could almost taste the death in the air as Boyd's axe slashed across a soldier's abdomen, the light leaving the soldier's eyes as he fell to the ground, scrambling to hold his guts in. Indistinct shouts stabbed at her ears from all directions, flashes of spears and arrows and the crackle of magic as she strained to filter through the noise, to hear if an ally nearby was bleeding and needed her help.

Noise. Violence. Chaos. All of it was anathema to someone as attuned to the forces of order as Mist was, yet her allies needed her, depended on her as one of the only two in the group who could use staves. She reached into her pocket, her fingers seeking the smooth, metallic ridges of the medallion and rubbing against the cool, well-worn copper. The gentle lullaby, once her mother's, came into her head, and just the thought of that old, familiar tune never failed to comfort her even as death and destruction surrounded them all.

Mist rushed towards Rolf just in time to see him nock an arrow into his bow, sending it cleanly into the throat of a thief. This side of the town was empty now, and as the cavalry rushed forward to deal with the enemy commander, Mist took a moment to look Rolf over, frowning at the long gash on his leg.

"Here, let me heal that." Mist reached forward with her staff.

"It's really nothing, Mist, I'm fine."

"Father always said, we have to make sure to take time to heal during a battle. Besides, I could use the practice." She smiled as the round orb on her staff glowed, sealing the wound together until only the faintest of scars was visible. She couldn't help but feel proud of herself, when she could help her allies with her trusty staves, and she much preferred it to the thought of standing at the front lines with a blade in her hand.

Rolf, on the other hand, had rushed off already, eager to catch up with his brothers fighting Mackoya's men near the ship, and she couldn't help but feel everyone she knew was growing up too fast.

Mia dashed out of the house and ran across the bridge, past Mordecai, who was engrossed in some sort of conversation with one of the town's vigilante swordsmen. The ship they were boarding to Begnion was just within sight, and the hook-nosed paladin guarding it fell, a blast of Elwind knocking him off his horse and leaving him crumpled and broken on the ground. The coast was clear, they just had to wait for Mordecai and perhaps, the swordsman, to make it over here as well.

It was too bad Rhys wasn't cut out to be that white-clad rival the fortune-teller had promised her. She could always use new sparring partners to train with, after all. Then again, the alleyway she'd ran through had been dark enough that she wasn't quite able to tell whether the mysterious swordsman had been wearing purple, or gray, or perhaps… white?

"You!" Ike bellowed, bringing her out of her thoughts as she turned towards where the shout had come from. He was charging, sword raised, at a tall man, clad head to toe in black armor. Oh, she'd heard the rumors about the Black Knight from the other Greil Mercenaries, even if she hadn't been around with them long enough to know much more than that. It was somehow fitting, she supposed. Her with her still unknown white-robed rival, Ike with his black-armored rival…

"You are not worthy of being my foe," the Black Knight stated simply, his resonant voice carrying across the otherwise quiet battlefield. "Flee, while you are able."

Of course Boss would never back down from a challenge, though. He would fight his rival, and seek his revenge against the black-clad man, and -

"Die!" Ike shouted, swinging at the Black Knight furiously. "Die now! Aaaaaaaarrrr!"

Mist let out a gasp. The Black Knight had sidestepped each of Ike's wild swings, and there was an air of nonchalance about him as he raised his own sword - was that the sword from all the pictures of the legendary warrior Altina? - and struck.

"Oh, Ike, you idiot," she muttered, her voice strained.

Hastily, Ike raised his sword to block the blow, but the sheer force of the Black Knight's strike knocked it from his hand and sent it spinning downwards and sticking into a nearby fence. The Alondite didn't stop there, though, and Mist could hear her own scream of horror as the blade carved through flesh and bone.

She was completely frozen, unwilling to tear her eyes away from the scene even as tears streamed down her young face, even as her hands clenched around her useless staff, as Titania prodded her and pushed her toward the boarding-plank of Nasir's boat. The Black Knight's posture didn't look triumphant, though, as Ike struggled to stem the flow of blood from the wound with his remaining hand. Anger, hatred, confusion flooded her; what in the Goddess' name was this man thinking? Was he supposed to seem so... regretful? Hesitant?

Salvation came, in that moment of hesitation, in the form of a large, blue tiger. Letting out a great roar, Mordecai had bounded up to them in two steps and simply shoved the knight into the wall of a nearby house before scooping Ike up in his arms and dashing towards the ship. The purple-clad man paused a few seconds before following, blending in with the remaining vigilantes as he wove through their ranks quietly and reached the deck.

Mist waited until everyone had boarded the ship before allowing herself to curl up in a dark corner and bury her face in her hands.

"B-brother…"