This is my first - technically second - fanfic. Well, this is the correct format. I don't think it's very good, but here goes...
Disclamer: I don't own Fire Emblem
Hidden Love
Chapter 1
It was dark and cold, definitely no weather for a person wearing only thin shorts and a t-shirt. Their bare feet made no sound in the soft, white snow that drifted from the cold sky, and the person walked on. They had something important to do.
It's okay, the person thought, They'll never know I left.
The person was a young woman by the name of Serena. Her hair was flowing dark chocolate, smoothly ending right below her shoulders. She marched on at a brisk pace, trotting sometimes, walking sometimes. She wanted to see him for the last time so bad, for she loved him dearly, even if he did not love her back. She quickened her pace, walking into a wide, bluish abyss. The ocean…
"Oh uh… hi, Serena. Didn't expect you…" murmured a small voice.
"How glad I am to see you! I wanted to see you off, dear Geoffrey," Serena's voice sounded over the moaning wind.
She stared longingly at his light blue hair and bright green armor. They seemed to absorb the light from the bright moon. His piercing blue eyes were unusually cold, and Serena shivered.
"I need to go now, before I miss the ship," said Geoffrey, staring at the ground.
"I just wanted to say, before you go... I-I love you," said Serena, her voice barely a whisper.
In response, Geoffrey merely turned and trotted strait for the ship. Serena was heartbroken. She quickly ran back as fast as she could, for she knew if she wasn't fast enough she could freeze to death.
----------
"Serena, get UP!" A loud yell wracked her sleeping quarters, and finally she was forced to awaken.
"What? And will you please stop that obnoxious yelling?!" Serena bellowed.
"Serena, it's late! And Queen Elincia requests our help!!" bellowed the voice, even louder than Serena.
"Fine, but get out of here, Ike! I need to change!"
"Hurry up! We must help the queen!"
Serena waited for the steps to retreat before opening her eyes and sitting up in bed. The weather was beautiful outside of the stone-gray mercenary fort, despite the white snow. She sighed, and wished that she could sleep longer.
Of course, that's your fault, idiot, said a voice in Serena's head, You shouldn't have been such a fool to think Geoffrey would return your feelings.
"Shut up," Serena murmured to herself.
Serena quickly stripped down to her underclothes, and shivered in the cold. She found her golden breastplate and hurriedly put it on to keep herself warm. Next she put on the rest of her golden armor, absent-mindedly tightning straps and fitting in buckles. Finally, she was ready to leave her sleeping quarters.
Alright, let's go and greet the day, Serena, she thought.
As she walked out of her room, a blast of cool wind hit her in the face. She ignored it and lazily drifted off to the crowd that was gathering around Ike.
"...And just to warn you, this is terrible. Our queen... About time, Serena," Ike growled. He glowered at her as she made her way for the crowd.
"Not my--" Serena hardly finished her sentence before Ike interrupted again.
"As I was saying, the conditions are terrible. Queen Elincia was terrified to see such a crisis between human and laguz after the war. Caineghis is furious, and refuses to offer any aid, along with Naesala, and Tibarn. We are on our own," Ike finished.
As his words were met by silence, Ike's red cape fluttered high in the breeze . His eyes stared intently at Titania and Soren, while his short, blue hair blew gently like grass on a warm spring day.
"Soren, begin making a battle plan--" Ike began.
"Immediately, yes, I know," Soren finished. With a whirl of black robes, Soren turned around and went back to the mercenary fort. His black eyes were unusually dull, and his hair was a little disheveled.
"But what about the dragons?" suggested Mia, Ike's apprentice. Her purple hair, unlike Soren's and Ike's, was perfectly strait. She wore orange armor, and high black stockings from her thighs down. Her shoes were black, matching her stockings.
"I don't think the dragon King would approve," said Ike, frowning, "But it's an idea."
"What started this in the first place?" demanded Serena.
Ike glared at her, and said, "Had you come earlier, you would have known."
"Well, can't you repeat what you say? Or--" Serena cut herself short. She was quarreling with Ike - yet again. She didn't know why Ike seemed to anger her so easily. Usually she was tranquil and peaceful, but when it came to talking with, or even being near Ike, she suddenly got angry.
"Don't get angry, Serena. Here's what Ike thinks, because he doesn't know either," piped up Mist, Ike's younger sister, "Well, he thinks it's another overly ambitious war-loving freak who hates laguz, like Ashnard, except this time Ike thinks they may hate beorc as well, and wants them at war to see which is the more capable race. Just yesterday, some beorc that looked like Ike attacked Gallia. Naturally King Gallia wasn't fooled, but then soldiers that looked and smelled like Crimeans attacked Gallia. That got him mad, and the same happened to King Phoenicis and King Kilvas."
Mist smiled kindly, her short, brown hair flowing like a river in the wind. Her turquoise cape was short, and only reached down to the middle of her back.
"Thanks," Serena murmured, feeling ashamed. Why couldn't Ike be like Mist? Unlike Ike, Mist always expressed her feelings, and was kind to most everyone.
"So, what would our plan of action be?" asked a blond-haired knight.
"Well, Gatrie, I believe I just asked Soren to plan that," said Ike, a hint of impatience in his voice.
"I would personally cut him some slack. He's been working to and fro, making amazing plans and fighting at the same time. That's hard enough for him. Of course, if it were me, I could easily make take all that stress. Unfortunately, you don't trust me enough," said Gatrie.
"That's enough, Gatrie. It's not Ike's fault," said a green-tressed paladin, "You betrayed him a while back and if he hasn't forgiven you I don't blame him."
"Yeah, Oscar's right," agreed a spiky-green-haired warrior.
"Don't be so hard on him, Boyd," commented a red-haired paladin.
"I say we stop bickering, period, Titania," said Rolf. He had grown since the war, but, of course, his hair was still green, "I'm bored. Ike, er, Commander-General Ike, could I practice with my bow again?"
"Come on, Rolf, no need to show off like you did last time," snapped Boyd.
"Also known as completely kicked your butt at that accuracy-shooting contest?" asked Serena.
"What's taking Soren so long?" asked Ike, and it would probably be clear, even to a blind person, that Ike was now boiling over in impatience.
"Patience, Ike," said Mist.
After 30 more minutes of bickering, showing off, and complaining, Soren finally returned.
"Soren, are you okay? You took forever," said Serena, sounding concerned.
Soren then suddenly collapsed onto the floor.
"Eeek! Help him!" cried Serena.
"Serena, don't scream so loud!" bellowed Ike.
"Now who's screaming loud? Huh? Huh? HUH???" demanded Serena. By now, both Ike and Serena were impatiently making motions with their hands.
"STOP IT!!!" screamed Titania. Her long, red braids swayed, and her light silver armor reflected the sunlight. It ended up blinding both Ike and Serena for a fraction of a second.
"Alright, it looks like he's fainted from exhaustion," squeaked Mist, "The simple treatment for this is sleep, and a lot of it."
"But... what about our battle?" asked Mia. She seemed uncharacteristically jumpy and nervous.
"You lust for violence?" asked Serena. Though it was a rude question, there was wisdom in her eyes as she asked.
"No but... we fight for peace, right? For our countrypeople, and to please Queen Elincia."
"No time to bicker. I guess we'll have to find another way to fight this battle, but we need to leave now. The queen needs us," said Ike, "Everyone ready? Mist, Rolf, Gatrie, and Boyd will stay behind to make sure Soren is fine and to protect this nice fort Queen Elincia has provided for us."
"Alright, Ike, but... whatever. Nevermind," said Boyd, though it was obvious something was bothering him.
"What is it, Boyd?" asked Rolf.
"Well, uh... if we stay behind, won't the attacking force be weaker?"
"Duh. Ike is taking risks, but he knows what he is doing, I believe."
"Okay, peew--"
"Shut UP! I am NOT a peewee anymore!"
"Alright men... er, people. We move now! To Crimea!" shouted Ike.
"To Crimea!" shouted everyone.
Um... isn't it kind of late? Ike waited for a while for Soren. I hope the queen is fine, thought Serena. Concerned, she decided to express her thoughts.
"Ike! Hey Ike! HELLO?? IKE, LISTEN TO ME!" Serena yelled.
But Ike ignored her, and started talking to Boyd, "Alright, Boyd. I know. I need to take this risk."
"If you say so, boss," replied Boyd, frowning deeply.
"IKE, ISN'T IT KIND OF LATE?? I THOUGHT ELINCIA WOULD NEED OUR AID IMMEDIATELY!" yelled Serena.
"But, Ike, you're playing a dangerous risk here, you know. Without all of us, and without the laguz, you are much weaker. No offense," said a white-gowned priest.
"I know, Rhys, I know you want to play it safe. But... as I said, we need to take this gamble."
"Please, Ike, re-think this. Do you do this for glory, like your father, or... what?"
"Rhys... I'm sorry if I'm going to worry you by doing this but something tells me I have to."
"IKE, DID YOU HEAR WHAT I SAID??"
"Alright, move!"
"IKE, LISTEN TO ME!"
"WHAT?"
"About time!"
"That's all? What a waste!"
"NO! This is for Elincia! Why did you wait so long?"
But Ike ignored her, and marched on, followed by Gatrie, Titania, Mia, Oscar, Rhys, and a reluctant Serena holding the rear.
----------
Ike's small army marched along. Serena was bored and decided to examine the scenery. They walked on a soiled trail. There were deep, dark trees on both sides of the trail, and it looked like Gallia's Gebal Castle. Ike's mercenary group marched on, and eventually the number of trees began to thin. Eventually, Ike's mercenary group walked onto a clearing. It was almost like a desert, except there was grass, no trees, and a few bushes. One large, odd, rocky ramp led up to a plateau.
I wonder how that got there,thought Serena, Oh well, at least it's peaceful.
Ironically, right when Serena thought this they were ambushed. Men dressed in odd, bright pink armor charged at Ike's small mercenary group.
"ATTACK!" bellowed the biggest and fattest of them all. He appeared to be the leader.
Ike didn't even need to say anything before everyone charged.
"Ike, we're outnumbered!" cried Serena.
"Who cares! Fight! Take them down!" Ike yelled in response.
Swords, lances, and axes clashed while blood was spilled.
Serena saw a flash of pink armor on the plateau, ran up the rocky ramp she noticed earlier onto the smooth plateau and engaged with an odd looking man, who looked impossibly thin without bones showing. His pink armor flashed again. He was also wielding a heavy axe, and Serena wondered why he didn't collapse from the weight. She raised her sword, but was a second too slow. The man brought down his axe with surprising speed and Serena ended up taking a sharp blow to the side. Her scream of pain was bitten back as blood dripped slowly from her wounded hip. She angrily thrust her sword forward in retaliation, but the ultra-thin-axe-bearing man blocked her attack. Serena wanted to scream in frustration. She could see from her advantageous position that things were not going well. However, when Serena was drifting off the man snatched up the chance to give her a second blow. He raised his axe high over his head, ready to cleave Serena's head in half. Luckily, at the last second Serena jumped to the left. Unluckily, she jumped a decimeter too far and went plummeting strait off the side of the plateau. As she hit the ground, her breath was knocked out of her. She landed in the middle of a small circle of five trees, oddly placed to form a pentagon. At least these would serve as somewhat protection. Then she knew she would make an easy target and got up as fast as she could. By now, her hip was bleeding badly, and her whole left side hurt bad. She looked around for Rhys, and saw him healing Mia in a grove of trees and bushes, looking slightly panicked. She tried to move, but she was surprised that she couldn't.
Move or die!, she thought. It was meant to encourage herself, but she found herself feeling even worse.
"Help," she whispered, hearing footsteps approaching. Huge, pink feet were now in front of her face.
"Help," she said again, louder slightly. She squirmed and wriggled, but could not move from her pitiful position. It was then that she realized she was not lucky to have landed in this pentagon-shaped clearing of trees - it was a trap. She had fallen off the plateau and landed in a tangle of ropes. As if the weight of her body set off a trigger, they immediately wrapped around her and bound her tightly to the ground. In her attempt to get up, she had only spotted five trees. Now she still saw five trees - with ropes connected to each of them.
"We got one!" shouted a soldier gleefully, "HAHA! STUPID THINGS, THEY ARE!"
"No... let me go..." Serena said weakly.
"Oooh, a pretty one she is too."
"Too bad you won't be able to see any more of them," said a voice quite menacingly.
She heard a sickening crack as a sword slashed through a skull. Blood splattered her once-smooth hair (which was now a tangled mess), and she winced.
"Are you okay?" asked Ike.
"Yes, I'm fine Ike. It'd be nice if you could get me out of this mess," said Serena. Despite the fact that her face was staring at the ground, she recognized the voice.
A whoosh of air, and Serena was free.
"Thanks," she mumbled.
"Get yourself healed by Rhys; you're hurt," said Ike.
"I thought you wouldn't care."
"Of course I don't, it should be common sense to you."
But Serena, knowing that battle time was battle time and not argue time, obediently turned and walked off to Rhys.
"Ouch, that looks painful," murmured Rhys, sympathetically. His white robes were splattered with crimson blood.
"It is," replied Serena. A soft buzzing sound, a nondescript noise, and her wound was healed.
"Are you okay, Rhys? You're not in pain, are you--" but her sentence was cut off when she suddenly felt lightheaded.
"Serena, y-you've been hit by a poisonous axe," stammered Rhys, "And I don't have anything here to help you - Mist took the Restore staff."
Serena fell to the ground, feeling dizzy, and not able to stand up. However, she still heard Ike, and the word he said made her scared. Would she be able to follow his command?
"Augh, this won't work! Everyone--" said Ike.
"RETREAT!" bellowed the fat enemy.
"Huh?" said Serena.
She vaguely saw a blurry red cape, and knew that must be Ike's. But unfortunately, Ike had no answers for her, and did not turn. Then Serena saw why the enemy was forced to retreat - two huge wyverns had flown over, and then four more came to join them. Serena immediately recognized the pink-haired, green-wyvern rider, and the black-haired, eye-patched, black-wyvern rider.
"Don't retreat, on second thought! Fight!" yelled Ike.
"Rhys, what now?" asked Serena. He was shuffling in his bag.
"There. Drink this," said Rhys, "It's an antitoxin."
"Gotcha."
After taking a few gulps, Serena instantly felt refreshed.
"I'll try not to be as clumsy. Thanks, Rhys," said Serena.
Without waiting for an answer, she immediately charged into the remaining enemies in battle, and surprised a sword-wielding fat-person who was about to kill Mia. Serena slashed hard, and he was knocked off balance, but only teetered for a few seconds before recovering.
However, Serena suddenly felt energy surge through her body, and her arms were much stronger. She calmly swung her sword in a semi-circle around her head, and then, as if blocking an enemy attack, she held her arm sideways in a 90-degree angle, and forced the blade of her sword into the enemy's chest and went right through it. The man fell dead, blood erupting from both halves of the remains of his body like lava from a volcano.
"Uh, less violence Serena, but otherwise nicely done!" panted Mia.
The enemy, pink-armored men fled from the battle, and Ike met up with the same wyverns who saved their skins.
"Mia, let's get you healed up," said Serena.
She picked Mia up by the arm, then wrapped it around her neck, letting Mia relax slightly. They hobbled over to Rhys, who was already healing Oscar.
"Another one? Oh well," murmured Rhys. He looked quite tired, and Serena privately hoped that he would not faint either.
"Alright, I'll go listen in on what Ike's saying," said Serena. She gently set Mia on the ground and let her sit down.
Then she turned her back and walked across the soft, green grass and joined Ike.
"No problem, Ike," the pink-haired green wyvern rider had said quite cheerily.
"I can't thank you enough, but... how did you get here? How did you know we were under attack?" asked Ike.
"Jill," said the black-haired wyvern rider, gesturing towards the pink-haired one, "heard some loud shouts and clashes. And then she saw some blood. Also, we knew it was you because we knew you were near the eastern border between Crimea and Daein, and we were doing a border patrol there. Quite a coincidence, huh... yawn... zzzzzzzz."
"Well, it would appear Haar made some improvement," said Jill, "he didn't fall asleep as fast." She was slightly flustered and embarrassed seeing Haar just fall asleep talking to an important person.
"Thanks Jill and Haar," whispered Serena.
"Let's go... wait, not yet. Do you know who these mysterious attackers are?" asked Ike.
"No, I don't... it's really odd. They appeared to have been attacking from the general direction of Kilvas, but if they were there would have been ravens helping them," said Jill, frowning.
"So they don't appear to even have come from Tellius," concluded Serena.
"Well, thanks again, Jill. And Haar... if you're listening. We'll see you soon," said Ike, "Let's go, everyone!"
And so, Ike's mercenaries and Jill and Haar's patrol group went back their own ways, Ike's group to the west and Jill and Haar's group to the east.
Okay, there. I hope the ending didn't seem to hasty, I wanted to make sure no one else had the same title. Also, some important things:
The part about Serena and the energy-in-her-arm thing is supposed to be describing the critical attack of a myrmidon, but in case you didn't understand, now you do.
I decided to end this chapter because it seemed too long... I guess I'll keep writing more if I have time.
Please review and tell me if I need to improve!