"I would lay down my life for you, commander. This world needs you. You can't die here..." FE9 Ike/Soren.

An action oneshot with hints of romance~

Ike was a good fighter, an incredibly skilled fighter at that. But once in a great while, he found himself in over his head. This was one of those times.

He had unwisely charged into a group of four men, a swordsman, two lancemen and a spear-wielding paladin on horseback. He had thought he could take them. He took the swordsman down easily with one clean spike, got behind the defenses of the lancemen quite easily and massacred them before they could even land a hit. But just as he blocked a blow from the soldier on horseback, he felt a hot flame lick at his back. A mage. He turned his head for a second to see if he could spot his second attacker, but it was a bad mistake. The paladin, though wounded, took advantage of his lost state and flung the lance at him. Ike managed to dodge so it hit his shoulder guard, but it still bruised his arm and knocked him back. Now the poor soldier was completely unarmed, and Ike took the next opportunity to do away with him in one clean swipe. The man fell off his horse in a bloody thud, and his horse, spooked out of its mind, reared back and galloped away.

Ike had no time to be satisfied with his kill, however, because another flame flashed in front of his face; the mage was still there, but where? Panting, he scanned his surroundings but still found no one. But then, to his displeasure, he saw a general and more two swordsmen advancing towards him. He realized in horror that he had broken his Armorslayer and had no vulneraries.

The swordsmen surrounded him within seconds and attacked at the same moment. Ike was able to slash both their stomachs in one swing, but he did not avoid one of the swords. He felt warm blood seep out from a deep cut under his left arm, and immediately drench his clothes. It hurt to handle his sword. Not good.

And now the general was in front of him. He had him backed up against the side of a shallow ravine; one misstep and he would fall to the bottom of the pit. The general was slow, and Ike had little hope of piercing his armor. The general, however, would have a much easier time impaling him on his lance if Ike slowed down in the slightest. Ike swung his hardest, blinking back tears of pain as he felt his wound stretch with every hit, but he had to ignore it...

Then again came the fire, and this time, it engulfed his sword arm; he screamed with pain and flung his sword, as the hilt became so hot it burned his hand. Now the general had a clean opening. He stabbed Ike through the chest, a swift insertion, and pulled it out just as rapidly.

Ike gasped for air but choked down nothing but his own blood. The next thing he knew he was tumbling down the side of the ravine. Sticks and pebbles scratched at his face but he could hardly feel them, until he was rocked by a nasty thud, signaling that he had reached the bottom. His vision was clouded and fuzzy. His head ached. He couldn't breathe. He felt like shit...

Suddenly he heard a voice, sounds of more pebbles crumbling into the pit. Some bounced off of him. Someone was sliding down into the ravine. Dust kicked up into his face; he tried to cough, but only got more blood. He couldn't move, couldn't speak... Was this... the end...?

"Ike! Ike!"

The voice... the voice was Soren's.

"Ike! Please hang in there. Please don't die here." Ike tried to open his eyes, but it was impossible. If he had been able to see, he would have seen the terror in Soren's eyes, the tears that streamed down his face. Ike had never heard him sound so distressed; and if Soren was begging him not to die, he must look pretty bad. And he did. His head was battered and bloody from his fall, covered in countless scrapes. His right arm was charred, blood oozed from the deep cut under his arm, and the hole in his chest. He did not look good.

"I'm going to heal you. You're going to get better. Please. Just let me prepare this spell..." Soren's hands were shaking as he touched a staff to Ike's chest, now completely soaked with blood. He choked back a sob and he muttered some chant through his tears. "Please live," he whispered, when he finished.

In moments, Ike felt the warm glow of a heal spell begin to mend the fibres of his body. The bleeding began to slow, and his head began to clear. With a final cough he spat out the last of the blood gurgling up from his stomach; he could breathe again. He felt as if he had just been saved from drowning.

Slowly he raised himself up and looked at Soren, who gazed back at him, still too shaken by his friend's injuries to show relief.

"Oh Ike," he breathed, "I'm so glad... I'm so glad you're..." His voice cracked. Then he threw himself at Ike. "I really thought you were going to die," he cried, wrapping him in a full embrace and burying his head in his blood-soaked scarf. "Please never do that to me again. Promise me." He was trembling, to keep back his sobs. "I don't know what I'd do without you..."

"But thanks to you, I'm alive now," Ike reminded him.

Ike didn't have time to finish comforting him, however, because he caught sight of the general leaping down into the ravine over Soren's head.

"Watch out!" he cried, using his restored strength to grab another sword from his belt and block the general's lance. Soren covered his head. The general stumbled backwards, crashing into the opposite side of the pit with the force of the blow, combined with the heaviness of his armor. It gave Ike the chance to get to his feet and launch an assault on the general.

"Soren! Attack him while he's vulnerable!"

"Understood!" the mage replied. Forgetting his tears, he unleashed a nasty lightning bolt at the general within moments.

The general screamed, paralyzed by the blast. Ike took the opportunity to thrust his sword through an opening in his armor. It was a hit. No sooner did Ike feel the sword sink into soft skin and muscle than he pulled it out again. One more blast from Soren, and the general dropped to his knees, landed face-first into the dust.

"He's dead," Ike declared, after a moment. "Good work, Soren."

The response had been automatic. "No." He turned around, and placed a hand on Soren's shoulders. He looked straight into his eyes. "Thank you. Thank you for saving my life..."

The look Soren gave him was completely serious. "I would lay down my life for you, commander..." He swallowed. "This world needs you. You can't die here..."

"I appreciate it," it said lowly. "Now, I'm sure everyone else needs our help back up there. What's say you we get out of this pit..."

A/N: I bet Ike only had 1 HP left!