Disclaimer: I do not own fire emblem, or any of it's associated Trademarks, Characters, Fantasy Worlds, etc... The stories I write are intended to augment the main narrative with more substantial character interactions, and to create new narratives that fit within the scope of the main narrative. I do so for no profit, and I want nothing more than the opportunity to hone my writing skills, as I play around with the characters, lore, and backstory from my favorite games.


The light of the evening sun fell on an old fortress, just past the Gallian border. Within it's thick decaying stone walls, the throes of a small mercenary band had begun, their defenses were broken. They were all but defeated, like the pale mage who lay by the double doors of the inner keep. His pallid hand pressed firmly against his blood-soaked black robe, looking on dully with his crimson eyes, watching the scene unfolded before him. Powerless to stop it, unable even to aid his imperiled allies.

A tower of black Daein armor, lumbered over a young blue-haired mercenary the boy showed no fear. There was no hesitation as he lashed out at the Daein knight that towered over him. Despite being at a disadvantage in every way possible, the boy survived. His breath fell heavy, as he held his sword at the ready, pointed at the knight. His will to survive evident. The Daein knight's dark armor reflected the sun's fiery glow as he readied his spear.

He thrust his spear at the young mercenary, who knocked the spear's tip away. He began to run down its length, only to be sent from his feet moments later. He struck the ground, hard, and rolled onto his back, just soon enough to avoid a lethal blow. Already struggling to regain his feet as the spear struck stone inches from his chest. Before he knew what was happening, his arm was violently pinned to the ground..

"Commander, s-sub-humans!" A soldier burst out of the surrounding Daein soldiers. "Sa-sir, uh, what do we do!?"

"Calm down! What's our status?" The Daein commander asked.

"They caught our eastern flank off guard, sir! They're tearing us apart! We need-!" The soldier explained.

The commander cut the man off. "Blasted beasts, reinforce the lines! Don't let them get through!"

What the commander did not know was that the laguz had been systematically destroying his chain of command. That was the real source of the chaos, and it did not take long for a widespread panic to overtake the Daein troops, for with no one to lead the green troops, chaos and panic would be the Deains' guide.

As the Daein commander gave out desperate orders, the young mercenary struggled to free his arm from the armored foot of his foe. The Daein commander noticed this, and looked down at him.

"You took on the Daein army with meager numbers, and you've fought well. My compliments, however, it ends now. Prepare to die!" He raised his spear over the young mercenary's chest, ready to deliver the killing blow. Only to be swiftly denied by a gust of wind.

As the commander leveled his eyes on the mage from whence it came; a laguz burst into the courtyard. It tore through the Daein commander's personal guard so gracefully, it made the Daeins look like stick-wielding children, as they attempted, quite unsuccessfully, to bring it down. Seeing it come for him the Deain commander attempted to shift his position to intercept, his feet made it in time, but his spear didn't. The cat took him to the ground and tore viciously at the Deain's throat with its claws.

The large, light-orange furred cat, stepped away from the Daein commander's corpse. The young mercenary, now free of the steel boot, backed away from it.

"Commander…! You damn beast!" A Daein soldier yelled, as he charged the cat. The cat didn't move at all, it just looked at him as it licked it's paw.

"Look out!" A Daein yelled.

The warning came too late, the man was struck in the side of the neck with such force that his head nearly broke off. The soldiers around him stared in horror as he struck the ground; blood flowed freely from the gaping lacerations in his mangled neck.

His killer, a large blue laguz with a particularly muscular body, walked around to stand by the other laguz. The light-orange furred cat looked at the Daein soldiers and continued to lick at its blood soaked paws. It was as though the laguz were taunting the Daein soldiers.

The Daein soldiers did not linger long, they were quick to retreat after the laguz' display of strength, and the silence, that they interpreted as mercy, a sign that they could flee safely.

The mage looked at the cat distrustfully; humans were all the same to the sub-humans. His eyes widened in mild surprise when the light-orange furred cat reverted to human form, and walked towards them. The female laguz stopped, still a safe distance away, but clearly visible to the mage.

"Hide in the fortress and lick your wounds, humans. We will finish what you couldn't." The female cat gestured to her companion, transformed, and leapt down the stairway that lead to the fortresses courtyard.

The mage grimaced as he looked at his blue haired compatriot. He wanted to help his friend, but he knew that he was in no position to do so. So he turned his back to the young man and stumbled forward, into the fort. Where he rested against the cold stone wall just past the reinforced main gate. He watched the entrance expectantly, and before long he saw his friend.

He was held upright by a dignified woman with long, braided red hair. She led her horse and the rest of their front line forces inside. "Mist, would you go and stable our horses?" She asked a girl with light brown hair.

"Oh, of course Titania, right away!" Mist ran over and took the reins from the two riders.

With her horse handed off Titania turned her attention to the green haired horseman next to her. "Oscar, can you help me get this gate closed?"

"I don't know if I have the strength left… but I'll try." Oscar replied.

"Come on, brother! I can't use one of my arms and I could still close a big door." A boisterous axe fighter shouted. He was sitting against the wall having his arm healed.

"You really shouldn't… be moving around right now Boyd…" The healer told him.

"I'm in good hands, Rhys! I've seen you heal much worse." Boyd said, enthusiastically.

Rhys face went pale. "Oh dear, I really didn't want to remember that… or any of those other ones."

"Eh? Sorry…" Boyd apologized. "I forgot that you're bad with blood even though you're a healer."

"So you don't mind seeing your friends mangled and covered in blood?" Rhys shot back.

The mage shifted his attention back to the two riders, Titania and Oscar. They'd just managed to get the gate closed. Titania secured the gate and headed over to him. "Are you alright, Soren?"

"You're concern is unwarranted, vice-commander. I'm fine." He said.

She forcefully pulled his hand away from his wound. "No Soren, you're not fine, and that stubbornness is going to be the death of you! For Ashera's sake your injuries are far worse than Boyd's!"

Soren grimaced. "As I said, I'm fine… If you want me to feel better, see to it that Ike is treated first."

Titania scowled at him, and turned toward Rhys. "Rhys, get over here! You can finish with Boyd later. Take care of our obstinate quartermaster."

"Soren, Ike's injuries are minor, I can soothe them myself." Titania removed a vulnerably from a pouch on her belt. "This is all it will take."

She gave him a pat on the head, and waked over to Ike. Soren sat there staring at Ike in bitter silence, as Rhys worked on him.

Roughly an hour had passed as their healer, and people who were feeling well enough to help, commutatively mended wounds. No one was in danger anymore, and now that the danger had passed, the exhaustion had set in. Heads rose as the doors to the fort shook under the impatient striking of their visitors.

Soren looked at the rattling door. It was obvious that the laguz meant them no harm. Perhaps, they were merely putting a bit of effort into protecting the progress they had made in relations with the Crimean royalty, for all the good it would do them now. He did not believe that they would make for reliable allies, not yet anyway. There is little reason for them to throw their support behind the Crimean princess, with there being far too much for them to lose, and far too little to gain.

To his left, Ike stood up and headed for the door. Soren followed more or less in suit, standing a few feet behind Ike as he tossed aside the board the held the doors in place. With the board removed the double doors fell inward, revealing the laguz.

"So, uh… are you both from the palace? Did the king send you?" Ike asked.

"He did, I am Mordecai, a warrior of Gallia. Your hair is blue, you are Ike. Is this correct?" Mordecai replied.

"It is, I'm Ike and you really saved us back there, thanks." Ike said.

"Ranulf told me Ike is not a bad stranger. Mordecai and Ike… we will become friends." Mordecai said.

Lethe promptly butted into the conversation. "You don't know that, you don't know if we can trust him. It's too soon to tell, he's a Beorc and you know all humans have two faces!"

"Lethe!" Mordecai scolded in an effort to silence her.

Ike looked confused, he asked. "Beorc?"

"That's what you are, We with the power are Laguz. You soft, hairless things with no power at all, are the Beorc."

"What did you say I am?" Ike said, sounding agitated.

"Lethe, you are being bad. We cannot fight the Beorc." Mordecai begged.

"Most of you Beorc call us by hated names, look at us with eyes filled with scorn. Call us "sub-human" Hss! Is that how Beorc treat their friends? Is that how Beorc treat their allies?" Lethe hissed.

Ike was somewhat taken aback by the cat's sudden outburst, but ended up shaking his head. "You're right... Some of us use that name far too readily. I guess if we had thought about it, we'd have realized it's not a polite term, but we didn't know you by any other name. I'm sorry." He apologized.

"You know no other name for us? Are we really so little to you, human? You, who forced us into slavery, how easily you forget. But we Laguz! We remember. We remember how we have suffered at your hands. The king can say whatever he likes, I will not trust you. I warn you now...never speak to me in such a way!" Lethe spoke with

much anger; her last sentence was practically hissed out.

"Lethe…" Mordecai said, quietly.

The black robed mage then stepped forward "What's your point? Did you come all this way to complain to us?" He laughed. "How typical of you sub-humans."

"Scum! Those who that use that name are enemies of Gallia." Lethe hissed.

"Grrr, grraa, sub-human... Enemy... He is enemy..." Mordecai growled. He transformed into a tiger roared and got ready to attack. The mage looked at the tiger, blankly.

"Kill him! Mordecai!" Lethe yelled. The mage made no attempt at defending himself; he knew there was no , Ike jumped in front of the attack.

"Ike!" The mage shouted.

"What?" Lethe murmured, taken aback.

Her tiger subordinate reverted to human form. He looked regretful. "I-Ike… I'm sorry... I have hurt you... I did not intend to hurt you."

"This injury is nothing, I'm fine." Ike assured the tiger.

"You're nothing but a beast." Soren spat. The mage began to chant vehemently under his breath.

"Soren! Stand down!" Ike commanded.

"But… Ike, he hurt you, he could have killed you. We can't let him get away with this." Soren argued.

"This wouldn't have happened, if you didn't provoke him." Ike stated.

"I only wanted to…" The mage looked at his commander. "I'm sorry…"

Soren looked back at the laguz, he caught the orange haired cat's glare as she walked away, lips pursed. He had a strange feeling that he would be seeing her again soon.


A candle burned at the side of the mage as he went about his duties as a quartermaster. After the battle yesterday, there was plenty to keep him occupied, between the new weapons, healing supplies, and minuscule amounts of gold their dead foes had on them. There would be no time to look for more tomorrow, lingering any longer than necessary, would be inadvisable.

Soren fingered the gold pieces making a mark on a sheet of parchment every tenth coin, he'd made it two coins into his tenth set when he felt a disturbance in the stagnant air. Looking up, he saw the female laguz.

"Lethe was it? What do you want?" He asked.

She stepped into the lit area, and asked. "How did you know it was me?"

"I didn't, not until I saw you." Soren replied.

"Grr, you know what I meant human." She hissed. "How could you tell I was here? You noticed something, and looked right at me. You humans don't have senses that good."

Soren looked at her and said. "Perhaps, but maybe you're just not as sneaky as you think you are. Consider that."

"Why do you hate Laguz, so much!?" Lethe growled.

The mage smiled, darkly. "I have my reasons."

"And why do you hate Beorc so passionately?" Soren said, strongly emphasizing the word, Beorc.

"That's not an answer, human!" Lethe hissed.

"I never said I'd give you an answer." Soren stated.

They stared at each other for waiting to see if the other would speak. After five or so minutes of this, Soren stood up and began to gather his papers.

Lethe was indignant. "Where do you think you're going, human?!"

Soren yawned. "To bed, will you do me a favor, and not kill me while I sleep?"

"I'd never do something so cowardly! I'm not like you, human!" Lethe yelled. She turned around and walked off in a huff, her tail swishing back and forth, behind her.

He looked over at the cat, watching her leave. For some reason her tail caught his attention. He'd heard that laguz, beasts in particular, can have very expressive body language.