Chris: Ahem, this is an FE 9 fic, or, in other words, Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance for the Gamecube. Now, I'm pretty certain not a lot of you have this game yet. However, you will not have to know much about the game in this fic anyway, since it's a one-shot and basically one character's feelings about the events that are happening. So, enjoy! Oh, and fic-challenge at the end.

Disclaimer: There are no spoilers in this fic. Wait…You meant the copyright disclaimer? Ohh….I don't own Fire Emblem.

Hopeless

Soren watched as the mercenaries unloaded their supplies into the small base camp that they called home. The black-haired boy sighed dismally. He was the tactician of this small outfit. It was an honor he didn't feel he deserved, but he filled his post to the best of his abilities. Soren made sure that the mercenaries were paid, that they had no complaints, that there were enough provisions, that there were no casualties, that they didn't take any jobs out of their reach.

He snickered at himself. All of this work, yet things still managed to spiral out of his control. It was so stupid…the black-haired boy wouldn't have surprised if he suddenly found out that Daein army was at their doorsteps demanding all of their heads. Why? Because, apparently, they had a princess with them. Well, she said she was a princess, but he didn't believe her. He didn't believe a lot of people. But Ike, the blue-haired leader of the mercenaries, trusted her…Sheesh, Ike was going to get them all killed.

When they had first discovered her, Soren said they should give her over to Daein. It was the smart move. After all, her fight was not their fight. They were mercenaries, guided only by the glint of gold in their employer's closed fist. It wasn't their business that she was being chased or something. Not their problems. Like he said, they were mercenaries. No reason to help her…Yet Ike decided to take her cause as his own. God, it was so stupid. But Ike was their leader and the majority of the mercenaries trusted him…So he went along, praying that it wouldn't turn out to be a major disaster.

And as of now…It wasn't. Their mercenary band had grown, bolstered by the likes of the Mia, the two children of the group, and two sub-humans…Or laguz. Hmph…He still considered them sub-human. They had tails and animal ears…They were inferior in every way compared to them. But since he would be working with them, he'd have to curb that attitude and call them by their proper names, laguz.

As Soren looked from his little vantage point, he spotted some of the mercenaries talking. It was none of his business…But it might be interesting to see what was happening. Soren scrambled down from his perch and the mage ran to where the commotion was.

"Come on, Rhys! The gypsy said that my rival would be a man in white robes! You have white robes!" A girl with short, purple hair said. She wore a white headband and had on an orange shirt and leather armor. "You're destined to be my everlasting rival!" The girl tossed a sword to Rhys.

The orange-haired cleric fumbled with the weapon before dropping it to the ground. "N-Now…Mia, I've never used a sword before…I can't possibly be your rival." He lifted the weapon, but it hung awkwardly in his hands. "Please stop this nonsense!" Rhys fumbled with the weapon again, almost stabbing himself in the foot.

"Nonsense?" Mia looked innocently at the cleric. "My fortune-teller told me you were going to be my rival! And since you are here, she has to be right!"

"But Mia! I am a cleric! I cannot fight!" Rhys protested pleadingly, but Mia ignored him. "I don't know how to wield a weapon!"

"Well, if you don't know how…I will have to teach you! So that way, the fortune will come true!" Mia said, nodding sagely.

Soren smirked to himself and left the two to their own devices. Mia was just one of the new recruits that had joined the increasingly large amount of mercenaries. But even those two couldn't lift the pessimistic aura that surrounded him. He turned to head back to his charts and papers, but he was stopped by another sight, this time one of the two children in the party.

"Rolf? Do you think we really should be here?" Mist, the younger sister of Ike, sat on a wooden crate, swinging her legs back and forth. The light-brown haired girl looked questioningly at the bright-green haired archer. "The fights are always so scary…"

"Don't worry." Rolf said confidently. "I'll protect you." He notched an arrow to the homemade bow that he carried. Aiming at the paper target that he had erected some one-hundred yards away, he fired. The arrow flew from the bow and thudded into the center of the target.

"Thanks Rolf…" She smiled happily, but gloom still returned to her face. "But I don't know…Everything is so…scary. We're just kids…We shouldn't be out there."

"…" Rolf notched another arrow. "We have a right like everyone else. Weren't you the one who said that we should do our part to help the mercenaries along?" He fired the second arrow and smiled as he watched it thud into the target again.

"But these are real people! Not targets, Rolf! At our first sight of battle…We heard people screaming! There was blood everywhere…." Mist shivered.

"I know that, Mist." Rolf fired off another arrow. "But we already joined…And besides…They needed to die. They were going to kill us."

"Rolf!" Mist sounded scandalized. "How can you say that? They…They're just like you and me! Living, breathing people! They yell when they get hurt! They bleed when someone cuts into them! It's horrible!"

"…" Rolf lowered his bow. "…But Mist…" He shook his head and walked off angrily. Mist watched her friend walk off and leaped off her crate.

"Rolf!" Mist shouted pleadingly. She ran up to him and began tugging on his arm, but the archer ignored her. "Rolf…Why are you ignoring me?"

"…" Rolf wrenched his arm out of her grip and stomped off. Mist watched him go, tears brimming in her eyes.

Soren watched Mist run off somewhere else, tears falling from her face. He suppressed a humorless smile and continued his trek back into their headquarters, a small wooden building that had no business masquerading as a shack, much less the headquarters of a mercenary band. On the way, he was stopped again by another distraction.

"I've got you now, Oscar!" A man with red hair leaped out of the bushes and charged towards Soren, swinging a wooden practice axe in front of him.

"Shit!" Soren fell to the ground. "What the hell are you doing, Kieran!"

"Huh? Hey, you're not Oscar!" The red-haired cavalier looked down at Soren. "Sorry about that. I was just hoping to catch my lifelong rival off-guard!"

"I can see that…" Soren muttered scathingly and he accepted Kieran's hand. "Next time, remember than Oscar has green hair."

"Heh, oops." Kieran rubbed the back of his in embarrassment. He turned. "Ah! There he is! Oscar, you green-haired villain! Kieran, your eternal rival, is here to settle the score!" The redhead charged Oscar, swinging his practice axe again.

"Kieran, now is not a good time!" Oscar said as he grabbed a broken tree branch and used it to block Kieran's blow.

"It is always a good time to crush my rival!" Kieran said as his axe thudded against Oscar's branch.

Soren shook his head. Those two goofballs were going to be the doom of this army someday. Or at least one of those goofballs. Namely the one with the red hair that nearly took of his head. He walked to the headquarters again and finally arrived without any more distractions.

What he saw alarmed him. One of those filthy sub-humans that had joined the band was looking over his documents, his documents! It was the female one…Lethe, he believed. She was the one with the orange hair and those purple eyes. He glared at her. She was just another one of those savages! He still wondered why Ike ever let her join the army.

"What are you doing here?" Soren remarked, anger evident in his voice.

"Why do you care, human?" Lethe spat out the last word like a bad taste in her mouth.

"Because I'm the tactician of this army! And as the tactician, I would like it if any uncivilized beings would stay away from my things!" Soren's eyes narrowed and the words to a wind spell formed in his mind.

"Well then! It makes me wonder why you let yourself look that them! After all, you're the only uncivilized being here!" Lethe bared her fangs, hissing.

"Think your pathetic beast form is going to help you?" Soren sneered. "Only savages need to resort to that!"

"I could tear out your throat before you could even scream for help!"

"Try me!"

"What is going on in here?" Ike, the blue-haired leader of the mercenaries, burst into the room. "Hmph. I was worried that something like this would happen."

"…" Lethe looked away and spat on the ground.

"She started it…" Soren muttered under his breath.

"Started what, human? The slow, long trial to your death?" Lethe faced the mage again, her eyes flaring.

"Do you want to know how it feels like to be set on fire?" Soren returned.

"STOP IT!" Ike roared, effectively silencing them both. "Now! Soren, I told Lethe to retrieve some documents for me, okay? I don't think she was doing anything to offend you."

"Hmph…" Soren looked away while Lethe looked triumphant.

"And Lethe, please try to restrain yourself. I know that you still hate us for all that we've done to your race, but please, we're supposed to be friends here." Ike said reasonably.

"Very well…" Lethe folded her arms and glared at Soren one last time.

"Good!" Ike smiled. "Now that that's settled…" He turned to Lethe. "Did you find the forms?"

"Yes." She handed a small sheaf of papers to the blue-haired boy. "Now, if you'll excuse me…"

After Lethe had left the room, Soren threw one of his tomes onto the desk. "Dammit! Ike, how can you stand letting such a person fight with us? She's going to stab us in the back someday!"

"Listen, Soren. I know you don't like laguz that much…But they have as much reason to hate us. After all, we're the aggressors here. Not them." Ike placed a comforting hand on Soren's shoulder.

"Yes, yes…" Soren muttered and Ike removed his hand, laughing.

"Same old Soren." Ike left the room, holding the papers that Lethe had given him.

Soren watched the mercenary leader leave. Hmph, he was going to get them all killed with his idealistic notions. After all, the laguz were animals, literally and figuratively! They should have no part in this! Yet Ike still treated them like normal people. It was disgusting. And the way Ike was getting them all into trouble with Daein…Soren didn't know how long they would be able to last. It was so hopeless. Daein had better trained soldiers, they had more soldiers, and they also had more money. There was no way they could win…

'I should just leave…' Soren thought to himself. But he restrained himself. After all, Ike was his friend, idealistic or not. So he would have to stay by his side, and do his part of make sure it wasn't impossible. That it wasn't hopeless.

"Soren!" Ike rushed into the headquarters again. "We're under attack by Daein soldiers! We need you out here immediately!"

"Right away!" Soren grabbed whatever tomes were at hand and rushed out. What he saw disheartened him. The mercenaries that were assembled were outnumbered by at least two to one. They were losing in numbers, he looked around, and in weapons as well. He stifled another sigh. Well, they would just have to do their best.

"Daein soldiers! Charge!"

The attack came. Soren swung his arm out, directing a blast of air to collide with one of the soldiers, shredding his armor and knocking him back into another soldier. He quickly followed up with another blast of air. He had to keep on fighting…so it would not remain hopeless.

Chris: Well, I hope you enjoyed it! And I hope it wasn't too spoilerish, although I don't know if you can consider the name of some of the characters and the name of a country spoilerish…

Now, as for the fic-challenge…Last time I did this, I got 4 entrants. Which was totally pathetic. Made me so sad. Anyway…This time, it is your job (Meaning the reader, which is you.) to write a…hmm…short adventure fic. Most likely has to be multi-chaptered, unless you're making a really short adventure or a really long chapter.

It can be from any game that has been released in the US (FE, FE:SS, FE:PoR) and can occur during any timeline. However, it cannot be an AU fic. The deadline to finish the fic…Shall be end of November. That should be enough time to make a small 4-5 chapter fic. E-mail me if you think that's not enough time or if you want to request more.

So, I hope you participate, and good luck to you all! I expect to read some great adventures out there!

And as usual, the winner gets to request a one-shot from me. Or even a multi-chaptered one, if their story is good enough.