Fire Emblem: Kamon

Part 1: To Return Home

A Fire Emblem Fanfic

By: Super Smasher

Disclaimer: All intellectual properties in this fanfiction are the sole property of their respective owners.

The forest was quiet. Unnatural silence pervaded the still air. The shroud of darkness seemed to seep into the plants and any other form of life. All was motionless, waiting for…something to happen. At one point, if someone listened closely, they might have been able to hear padded footsteps. The soft, almost undetectable pitter-patter of an experienced hunter's feet seemed like they came from miles and miles away.

The owner of the feet paused for a moment, examining their surroundings. A large clearing was visible through the sea of trees. Moonlight streamed down, illuminating a ruined stone building along the far side of the break in the canopy of woods. The figure's lips curled back in a smile, showing pointed teeth. She had found it.

Slinking reluctantly from the cover the trees offered, she moved into the light. The gray pallor of the natural incandescence offered by the moon highlighted her orange hair, cat ears standing tall and erect as she listened for anything around her. She knew there were beorc inside that ruin. Her tail twitched impatiently as she cautiously advanced, violet eyes scanning the area for any sign of movement.

"You are Lethe, correct?" The laguz sniffed as a large, leering man emerged from the building, blood red armor shining in the night. His scarred face, cast in shadow, was an ugly sight to behold. "You came alone. How…fortunate for us." With a small flick of his hand, twenty, no, thirty men emerged noiselessly from the shadows of the trees. They were a band of many different men. Thieves, Fighters, Clerics, Cavaliers. The assortment quickly advanced, leaving Lethe entrapped in a circle of beorc bodies. And she had known they were there.

"Sorry to disappoint." Lethe snarled, settling into a ready, yet relaxed fighting position. "King Skrimir told me to investigate bandits on our border with Begnion. I thought you might try a simple trick like this. It helps that you have all moved out into the open, where I can see you all clearly." The ugly man's eyes widened a bit at this realization, before reassuming his mask of indifference.

"Bandits? Oh, how precious. But you see, we don't want to steal goods from poor sub-humans." The member of the Beast Tribe snarled. Anyone who used that condescending attitude towards her was not only her enemy, but one of Gallia and all of the laguz nations as a whole. "What we want…is you." He snapped his fingers, and each and every man in the vicinity sprung into action.

Lethe immediately transformed into her cat form. Since her initial debut with the military, she had taken precautions to always keep energy in reserve to fight, unlike her previous subordinate, Mordecai.

The two Knights were the first to reach her, riding in on their brown steeds. She quickly jumped at one, who couldn't react in time. As she passed him, her powerful jaws reached out grasped around his neck. They both tumbled from the horse, and Lethe could feel bones crunching. She tossed the lifeless beorc body away and sliced at the legs of the other Knight's horse, causing it to rear back in pain and dump its rider onto the ground, where she quickly dispatched him in the same way.

A well-placed arrow embedded itself into her shoulder. Quickly, she used her teeth to pry the head out and spat it onto the ground before leaping at the offending archer, slashing his defenseless body to shreds with her razor-sharp claws. Even this early into the battle, she could feel her strength ebbing. She received a sizable gash from a Thief's dagger, before she was able to turn his knife hand into a mutilated mess. She was at about half of her normal energy, now.

Dodging the slow swing of a Fighter's axe, Lethe lowered her head and barreled headlong into the offender, knocking him into the Armored Lance behind him, both tumbling to the ground in a heap. A sword from a Myrmidon quickly found her other shoulder. She flipped the man head-over heels and went for the throat again. The blade worked itself loose and fell to the ground beside its dead owner.

She turned, and spotting the ugly-faced man, ran full tilt at him. He sneered in a very condescending manner as she closed the gap between them. Normally, an opponent would cower in fear at her approach. Lethe couldn't figure out why, until she realized she was running on only two legs. Her energy had run out, and she was back in her demibeorc form.

"Looks like your resistance is at an end, you foolish sub-human." She never noticed the blunt side of the axe headed for the back of her head. Suddenly, darkness exploded everywhere. The laguz warrior was unconscious before she hit the ground. The man smiled. He motioned to the remainder of his contingent, and they lifted her bodily, as a Mage came forward, bearing a small, silver ring clasped in his hands. After a nod from the scarred man, the ring opened, and clasped shut around Lethe's ankle.

The men left the scene. As he left, the ugly man chuckled quietly. "There will surely be people willing to pay mounds of gold for you, General Lethe."

Underground Laguz Trading Post

Sienne, Begnion

"Lethe? Are you in here?"

Her ears picked up the male's voice. Through the steel bars of her cage, she could make out a tall figure, cloaked in a brown robe, hood pulled over his face, standing in the doorway to her storeroom. "…You are?"

"Don't recognize me, huh? Not surprising." The man tossed back the hood of the robe, uncovering his face. His dark green hair fell to the sides of his head, revealing his pointed ears under his white bandanna.

"Muarim?! Are Tormod and Vika here, too? How did you get in?" She fired off question after question, prompting the tiger laguz to bring his hand up in a shushing gesture. She immediately complied, if with a grudging expression on her face.

"Yes, we're all here. Sanaki knows the slave trade is still active, and as one of her projects, she's given us money to buy the captives directly at auction to free them. That's what we're doing for you. And just so you know, I got in with my paperwork." Muarim brandished some official-looking paperwork in front of Lethe. "I am an official, after all. They probably thought I wanted to buy you or something."

"Please…just get me out of here. The last few weeks have been hell here." The cat began to uncharacteristically tear up. "I had to endure so many sub-humans and scum and other names I don't want to repeat…" She looked at him pleadingly.

"Patience. All will be fi-" Muarim was cut off as an explosion rocked the entire building. The shaking wore off after a second, but feet could be heard running around above the storeroom. Men were yelling, metal clashing.

"What…what's going on?!" Lethe yelled. She looked to the tiger for an answer, but he had turned his back to her.

"Little one…what has happened?" He quickly darted from the room. She watched him go with wide eyes of fear.

"Muarim? Come back…don't leave me…here…" She grasped the bars of the cage and looked to the straw bottom of her cage, as if it would suddenly provide her with the solution she needed. The sounds of fighting above intensified.

"Don't worry. You're leaving now." Another voice, this one different, but still male, emanated from the doorway. Looking up, Lethe expected to see Tormod, but the only person in the room was a lone Soldier, adorned in the standard red outfit of the Begnion Army.

She snarled as he approached, expecting other men to come in any second and bear her cage away on a wagon. However, the man reached over, and unfastened the lock on the cage, giving her the sweet satisfaction of freedom.

"Why…why are you doing this? You're a slaver, right? Why would you help me to escape?" The Soldier removed his standard-issue helmet, revealing a boyish face. He couldn't have been over seventeen beorc years. His black hair was slightly ruffled, his bangs slightly obscuring his bright blue eyes.

"My name is Kamon, and I'm an emancipationist. A Begnion patrol has stormed this hideout, and we're going to use the confusion to escape." Lethe growled, and looked at him angrily.

"And why should I trust you? Any reason you'd care to tell me?"

"The soldiers are bearing torches. I trust you can smell them?" After a few sniffs of the surrounding air, she assented. "I know you laguz don't do well with fire. One flame to the ground and this place goes up in smoke. Do you have a choice?"

"…I will come."

"Good." Brandishing an Iron Lance, Kamon quickly darted out the doorway. Lethe ran after him, up a flight of stairs, down a hallway, and into a large courtyard, filled to the brim with boxes and other supplies. She could smell the smoke, the building behind her was already beginning to burn. "Just across this and over to Dad, and…"

"What?" A man called from the other side of the cobbled area. "Hey, guys! Someone's trying to escape with the big one! Get in here!"

"Yes, Mr. Aruw!" At the man's behest, about five mercenaries filled the courtyard, brandishing their swords. Aruw pointed his lance at the two escapees.

"We'll make sure our prize doesn't get away!"

Kamon cursed a bit, spitting on the ground. "Looks like we'll have to fight. You ready?" Lethe nodded. "Alright. Let's blow this place!"

As the battle started, Kamon immediately charged at one of the Myrmidons, easily giving him a deep wound across the stomach. The man yelped in pain, but retaliated with a light slash across the Soldier's left shoulder. He attacked again, permanently dispatching the foe.

Lethe spotted another man approaching her, leering as he brandished his sword. He smiled as his blade cut into her arm. She backed a step away and delivered a few well-placed kicks to his face. He stumbled back a bit to regain his spirit. The laguz focused her transformational energy, and…

Nothing happened. She tried desperately again and again to transform, but it was impossible. "Kamon!" She yelled, as the boy stabbed back at another Myrmidon, who fell to the ground with a fatal gash to the chest. "I can't transform!"

"Great! Why don't you just call more bad buys in and make this melee even tougher! Just try to stay out of their attack range!" He shouted his advice quickly before dashing over to finish off the man who had charged at her.

"Jeez! Pity would be nice!" Lethe snarled as she quickly kicked another man in the groin, causing him to crouch in pain as Kamon lanced him. They turned their attention to the gate once again. Aruw was sweating heavily.

"G…get in there, you!" He said, shoving the last slaver roughly towards the two. He immediately raised his sword to attack Lethe, and the blade stung as it sunk into her shoulder. She used her retaliating kick to smash the side of his head in, before Kamon finished him off with a blow to the back of his head. They quickly stepped over his body and proceeded to Aruw.

"Give up and move aside, or your life will end here." Kamon said, pointing his lance at the enemy Soldier. The foe snorted, spitting in an attempt to act complacent, but the fear in his eyes was apparent.

"I will do no such thing. We captured that sub-human fairly. I will not let you make off with a gold mountain like her." Kamon just shook his head.

"Then..." The boy quickly grabbed a Vulnerary from his belt, and after chugging some of its contents, leapt forwards. "I shall make you!" Lance met lance in a shower of sparks. Aruw quickly recovered and jabbed the end of the stick into the meat of Kamon's side. He howled in pain, but continued to fight.

Charging again, the boy sunk his lance into his foe's arm, feeling the weapon strike, and break, bone. Aruw screamed, clutching his limb. Taking his lance by the other arm, the slaver attempted to strike his opponent, but weakly failed. Kamon unremorsefully summoned his strength and stuck Aruw through the stomach.

"Don't think you've won, boy…our leader will…make sure…you…return her…" The man vomited a hefty amount of blood, and collapsed onto the pavement. The victorious lad motioned to Lethe, who had been watching interestedly, and the two broke through the frail wooden door Aruw was guarding.

Emerging into the street, Kamon and Lethe looked back. The slaver's post was now alive with flames. Soldiers continued to fight both the enemies and the blaze. The boy looked around for a second, before spotting a small cart in a side alley. "There he is! Dad!"

The man inside the wagon turned, and relief was plastered across his face as he beheld the sight of the two walking to meet him. "Kamon! Thank goodness! What has happened in there?" The man's golden hair hung over the similar blue eyes, questioning his son's actions.

"No time. We have to leave, now!" He nodded, and cracked the reins as his son helped Lethe into the cart. The ancient horse in the lead snorted, and quickly sped away from the fire. However, a contingent of Begnion Soldiers saw them fleeing the scene.

"Look! Some of the slave traders are getting away! After them!" One of the men yelled. Soon, the squad was hot on the heels of the cart.

"This isn't good…" Kamon muttered. "If only…Look there!" Lethe followed his hand, and gazed back at the fire. Emerging from the blaze, a young man, cloaked in fire red, stepped from the burning building. Shortly after, a tiger and raven appeared, and they together fled in the opposite direction. The patrol quickly changed direction, and sped after them. The small cart rumbled alone outside Sienne's walls, and towards the northwest…

So, how was it? I'm trying to make it sound like one of the games as much as possible, so the flow of this chapter would be Cutscene – Prebattle – Battle – Postbattle. Just so you all understand. Reviews are appreciated, and I'm also looking for a Beta Reader! PM me if you're interested.