I was inspired to write this a few days ago on my umpteenth playthrough of Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken. Its a very traditional Kent x Fiora fanfic, and i intend to keep it that way. I intend to cover their relationship throughout the conflict (assuming Hector's storyline), with a few "distractions" to their relationship thrown in. May write an epilogue, but thats a LONG way away.

Reviews and constructive criticism appreciated. Constructive criticism means no "Your story sucks" or "Your writing style sucks" without a detailed explanation as to WHY it is. Acutally, you can say whatever you like, so long as you give a reasonable explanation. And please do point out all the various grammatical error that may have escaped a sleep-deprived HSC student to remind me that im not that good at english...

Anyway, enough of my blabbering. Here's Chapter 1.

Expect updates to be reasonably frequent (4-6 weeks, maybe even more frequent) until completion.

Disclaimer: Just like everyone else (apart from Intelligent Systems) says, I don't own Fire Emblem.


Silence.

The fog surrounding the Dread Isle hid Fiora from the view of any remaining Black Fang, but it could not hide her from her own shame.

"I'm a failure… I'm a failure…" she repeated in her head.

Lord Pent, the Mage General of Eturia, had hired Fiora and her comrades on a scouting mission of the Dread Isle because there had been reports of strange activity on the island recently. But they had been ambushed. All of her wing… dead because she had miscalculated...

"I'm a failure…" she repeated.

She closed her eyes. What would she do now? She wouldn't, no, couldn't return to Ilia in her current state. Not only had she failed her mission, but she didn't think she would ever be able to face the loved ones of her subordinates. She would probably be demoted to an ordinary knight again, and reassigned to another wing.

She would go back and kill as many of those men as she could, she thought. After all, she had lost everything. Her reputation, the trust of her superiors, and most importantly, her friends. There was no real future for her, and even if there was, it was a bleak one. She turned her pegasus around, back toward the island. Yes, she would hunt down as many of those men as she could.

As she neared the island, she could make out the clash of metal on metal, and wondered who was causing the commotion. She didn't think that the Black Fang would fight among themselves; they were far too organised for that. And it definitely wasn't soldiers sent to reinforce her; Lord Pent had hired mercenaries because of a need for secrecy. She had been only provided with just enough details necessary for the completion of the mission.

As the island came into view, she gasped. There were a group of soldiers, no, mercenaries on the island, fighting the people that had ambushed her earlier. As she observed the battle from afar, she noticed that the attackers were not a regimented troop. They had all sorts of units, ranging from cavaliers and archers to magic users. Heck, they even had a pegasus knight! Who would put together such a group, and why of all places, would they come to the Dread Isle?

It didn't matter. She had come to avenge her comrades, and that was what she was going to do. Tightening the grip on her lance, she whispered, "I found them... These men are Black Fang... Look, everyone. Your sacrifices were not in vain. I'll fulfill our duty, even if I must do it myself. I am a true knight of Ilia!" hoping that her recently departed comrades would be able to hear her from heaven as they looked down at their failure of a commander.

She dived in from the sky skewering an unsuspecting shaman, and before any of his comrades had the chance to react she had darted back up into the safety of the skies. It was then that she noticed it. Another white blur, darting in and out of the battle, except there was a streak of pale violet among the white. She would recognise that colour anywhere.

There was no mistaking it. That was Florina, her youngest sister.

"Florina!" she screamed.

The younger girl had just come back again up after skewering a nomad that had escaped the notice of the other members when she turned around in her saddle and froze.

"Sister ?" she said uncertainly, and as she recognised the face, her expression of fear grew into one of elation. "Fiora!" she squeaked in delight.

Fiora's motherly instinct took over. "Florina! Why are you here?" she scolded her younger sister. Florina's smile dropped a little. Apparently, her older sister still saw her as a meek, timid pegasus knight-in-training.

"I'm here with Lady Lyndis. What are you doing here?"

"I was investigating the Dread Isle for someone," she replied vaguely.

"By yourself?" frowned her younger sister. The Fiora she knew would never have been that reckless.

She sighed. "No... There were others... a full unit of pegasus knights." She closed here eyes. "We were attacked..."

A look of horror spread across Florina's face. "You can't mean..." she trailed off as Fiora nodded.

"I misjudged our situation. ...All of my knights are dead because of me... They even sacrificed their lives just so that I could escape… I'm a failure."

"No!" cried her younger sister. "That's not true! You're a splendid pegasus knight! I chose this path because I admired you so! Please... don't do this to yourself!"

Fiora opened her eyes again, and saw the tears roll down her sister's cheeks. "Florina, please don't cry."

"I'm sorry," she whispered between sniffles.

"No, it's my fault. The pain of being the sole survivor... It had me trapped. ...Thank you, Florina. I can see clearly now."

The two sat in silence for a few seconds, almost oblivious to the battle raging on below. Eventually, Fiora sighed. "I must avenge the deaths of my comrades… that's why I came back. Even if it may cost me my life…" she trailed off sadly.

Florina shook her head. " No ! Fiora! Come and travel with us! It's better to travel with friends than to struggle alone."

She paused, and then breathed a sigh of resignation "You're right. I can't let my companions' sacrifices be in vain. Florina, please introduce me to your commander. I'll see if I can offer my services for a short while."

"Uh, you might want to speak to Ewan first. He's the tactician of our group, so yeah…"

Fiora nodded. "I see. That way I can co-ordinate my attacks with the rest of your group."

"Let's go, sister. He's over there, by Merlinus' tent."

Ewan sat there, cursing the piece of parchment he had been poring over for the last few minutes. While he couldn't see through the fog entirely, he could hear the sounds of battle getting further and further away, and was pretty sure his army, if it could be called that, was winning. He continued to study the map of the Dread Isle that had been retrieved when they ransacked Castle Laus.

"Master Ewan, Lady Florina's returning, and she seems to be bringing another pegasus knight with her," reported Marcus.

That caught Ewan's attention. They had all seen the abundance of pegasi feathers when they had landed on the island. As Florina and the stranger approached, he couldn't help but notice the resemblance between the two. The stranger, however, exuded an air of confidence and authority just from the way she walked.

Noticing the two, Fiora immediately assumed that the paladin was the master strategian and bowed politely. "Master Ewan, it is a pleasure to meet you. My sister Florina tells me that you have business on this island and…"

"Forgive me for interrupting, but I am not Master Ewan," Marcus cut in, "this young man is." He motioned to the teenager-bordering-on-adult sitting at the table, poring over the map.

Ewan held up a hand as Fiora began to stammer an apology. "Don't worry about it, I get that a lot. Anyway, yes we do have business here, and of course you're welcome to join our ranks. In fact, if you don't mind, you can begin your duties in assisting us in this battle right now. We can settle payment later."

"I am grateful for your generous offer," replied Fiora.

"Well then, Florina, I would like you to return to you previous position and continue to assist Lyn and Dart in seizing that little island in to the southwest. If they're done, head east a little and help out in the main battle," Florina nodded, and began to leave. "Fiora, I would like you to head directly west and rendezvous with Sain and Kent, a pair of cavaliers and continue to push down our flank. You can't miss them, one's clad in green armor and the other in red. Oh, and be careful of the green one. He's a self-confessed failure of a womaniser. If you feel threatened or distracted by his advances please don't hesitate to point it out to his friend, who will put him back into place. Any questions?"

"About my sister…" Fiora began.

"Oh, you mean Florina?" Fiora nodded. Ewan sighed. "Yes, I'm aware that she has a fear of men, but her fear of the opponents' males seems to outweigh her fear of her comrades so that hasn't been an issue… except with Sain… but I have told Kent to keep his companion in check, so its been alright so far. By the way, Lyn is just as protective of her as you seem to be, so she's been pretty well looked after. Satisfied?"

She nodded. "Then I shall take my leave, Master Ewan"

"One in green, one in red" Fiora repeated to herself as she scanned the ground below her. There were several corpses scattered around the area and Fiora noticed that there were two distinct causes of death. Some looked like they had been hacked to pieces via several brutish cuts, while the others had been killed a little more systematically and clinically, often with several thrusts and slashes.

As she drew near to the sounds of battle ahead, she immediately recognised the cavaliers. They were both engaged in fighting multiple opponents. The green one had just hacked the head off a pirate coming in from the shore, and rushed immediately to confront a pair of sword-wielding mercenaries without even bothering to switch to a lance. The red one was far more level headed than his green comrades and was currently confronting a myrmidon with his lance while dodging a mage who had set fire to several nearby trees in his attempt to kill the cavalier.

As she flew closer, she noticed that an archer was creeping up behind the red knight and was preparing to nock an arrow. Almost on instinct, she plunged from the sky and hurtled toward the archer. The archer looked and saw the danger but didn't have the time to get away as Fiora embedded her lance into his skull, pausing to wrench it out before darting back into the skies again.

The knight, having dealt with the myrmidon, proceeded to attack the mage, but was having difficulty in approaching him without getting burnt. Fiora saw the struggle and flew to his aid. Instead of hurtling down this time, she pulled out a javelin and flung it at the distracted mage. With a satisfying thud, the mage slumped over, no longer a threat.

Fiora flew down and landed near knight, who had begun speaking. "Many thanks, Sain, although I never knew you carried a…" He paused in mid-sentence and looked up. The woman before him was definitely not Sain, although she did look somewhat familiar.

After several seconds of awkward silence, Fiora finally mustered the courage to speak. "I was sent by Ewan to support a pair of cavaliers who were pushing back the enemy on the flank. I suppose that would be you and your friend over there."

"Yes, that would be correct," Kent replied stiffly. "I am Kent, a sworn knight of Caelin."

"Oh, so you're Kent? It's nice to meet you!" Fiora replied.

"Forgive my rudeness, but who are you?"

"Ah, forgive me. I am Fiora, a former pegasus knight commander." She paused. "You have been looking after my sister. Allow me to thank you."

Kent raised his eyebrows momentarily when he heard the words "former pegasus knight commander", but hid almost as quickly as it had appeared. "Ah, yes... When we were in Caelin, Florina spoke of you often. She said that you were a lot like me."

"Oh?" Fiora was surprised at this remark. Florina had actually managed to have meaningful conversation with him? This knight must be something, she thought. "Did she say in what regard?"

Kent shook his head. "I'm not really sure," he replied, "I just remember that she mentioned it several times." He paused. "Well, Fiora. It is an honor to meet you, and I thank you humbly for saving me from a difficult fight earlier. Truth be told, I wasn't entirely sure that I would win. Let us ride on to victory."

Fiora felt comfortable talking to the knight, but wasn't sure why. "Yes, let's. I think that, together, we can fulfill any duty."


And so ends the first chapter. Review and I'll be happy, even if its a scathing attack.