Chris: Yes, I am making a new fic. About Tellius, simply because there aren't enough stories about it at the moment. This occurs post-PoR, meaning Crimea had gotten nuked by Daein, Daein is nuked, and Begnion is just there with Sanaki. Yeah. I hope you enjoy!

Mission 1: A New Mercenary

"You guys will look after my mother, right?" A young, seventeen-year old boy with long, blond hair that was tied in a ponytail looked at a pair of older people, who nodded. "I don't want anything bad happening here."

"Don't worry, Isaac. Nothing bad will happen to your mother. We'll guarantee it." One of the two, a cocky, bearded man with squinty blue eyes and ragged clothes nodded. "You've defended our village for years, Isaac. It's only right that we help care for your only parent."

"…" Isaac nodded, blinking his green eyes. He hefted his spear in his hands and checked to make sure everything was still inside the leather satchel that he carried. "Good luck, guys."

"Luck? Your father never believed in anything as remote as luck." The second person spoke.

"And look where it got him. I bet he wished he was lucky when the arrow came out of nowhere and lodged into his throat." Isaac shook his head. Stifling a small sigh, he stamped the butt of his spear on the ground and walked off. "Farewell."

­---

'So this is Melior, huh? Hmph, looks better than I thought.' Isaac thought to himself as he walked through the crowded streets of the capital city of Crimea. Even after two years of rebuilding, there were still spots in the capital that spoke of Daein occupation and destruction. Still, the simple fact that most of the city was rebuilt spoke wonders of speed of the Crimean people. 'Now…Where do I go from here? There's got to be a mercenary's guild around here somewhere. Every city has one.'

He stumbled uncertainly throughout the cobblestone roads, apologizing quickly if he accidentally hit someone. Finally, after a few well-placed questions, he discovered the location of the Mercenaries Guild and entered. Frowning, Isaac looked around the place, uncertain of what to think of it. After all, this was his first time even trying out to be a mercenary and he wasn't that sure he would be able to do well, after all. I mean, what did he have, other than his father's old spear and some battle experience against local bandit gangs?

"Um, excuse me?" Isaac walked up to a dusty counter that was stationed near the opposite of the entrance. Looking at the back of some sort of bartender or something, he tapped the counter. "Excuse me?"

"Yeah? What is it?" The man turned around and frowned at the newcomer. "Sheesh, don't tell me. Another young hopeful trying out the romance of the mercenary life. Just get out of here before you get yourself killed."

Isaac flushed and tried to return the man's glare. "I'm sorry if you think that way, but I'm not one to get myself killed. True, this is my first try, but if I can't get a job from you, then I'll just get it from somewhere else. There have to be more mercenary guilds in other cities and I'm sure they would like to get the commission instead of you." He flipped back his ponytail and looked around at the other people in the building. People who were now taking an interest at the new kid in their presence.

"You think you can handle a mercenary's life?" One of the man's eyes rose. "Very well. You've got yourself a job with two conditions."

"…Fine, what are they?" Isaac muttered, already getting a bad feeling about these conditions. He looked out of the corner of his eyes at the other mercenaries. Already, some of them were smiling, as if enjoying some great joke. Isaac was certain the joke would be played on him.

"First is that you prove that you're strong enough in a one-on-one battle with one of the residents here. The other…" He knocked roughly on a door behind him. "Is that you take this little lass with you. She's been haranguing us for some experience and we finally decided to keep her locked up in there. You take her along with you and you're welcome to take any job you want from us."

"…" Isaac frowned. The first condition suited him just fine. If they wanted to fight, at least they would find out he was no pushover. The second one, however, was less than welcome. But if he wanted a job, he'd have to agree and he knew that it would take money to get to another town. More money than what he had at the moment. "Fine, where is she?"

"Right over here." The big man grinned and pulled open the door. Bounding out, a girl of around the same height as Isaac looked around in excitement. Her eyes focused on Isaac and she smiled slightly. Despite himself, he gave her a smile in return, but his spirit was sinking. Even just from looking at her, Isaac knew that they had barely anything in common in terms of personality.

"So you guys finally decided to let me out! You know it was really mean to keep me there anyway." She frowned and put her hands to her hips. "So, what're you doing now?"

"We've got a partner for you." The man pointed to Isaac. "He's looking for a job and we're looking for a way to get you out of our hair. So there you go. Introduce yourself, you little minx."

"Oh, hi!" She curtseyed to the blond teenager. "My name is Sarai Weldspar. Um…I hope I'm not too much of a burden and thank you for letting me come with you." She held out her hand to him.

Isaac looked at it for a while before taking it. 'Eh, might as well. If I'm going to be traveling with her, it wouldn't be good for us to start off on a bad note.' Isaac cleared his throat. "Isaac Tritheon. It's not a problem." He turned to look at the unknown man again. "So, who do I fight?"

The big man grinned. "Straight to the point. I like that. Boors Caaleon, at your service. And as for your fight…Who would like to fight this young lad?" He looked at the sea of hands that were raised. "Ah, Yaleus, you seem to be eager enough. Get up and show him the true strength of a mercenary."

"It would be my pleasure!" Yaleus stood up and smirked at Isaac. "I wouldn't want our fine and dandy visitor to get hurt, so let's just fight with practice weapon. I trust you've handled one of these?" He pulled a wooden lance from a rack on the wall and tossed it at Isaac, who caught it deftly. "I see you have." He slid out a training sword for himself. "Right this way, young sir."

"Hmph…" Isaac muttered to himself as he followed the taller man to an open clearing out at the back of the guild building. "Any rules I should be aware of?"

"Sure. Don't get killed. Simple enough?" Yaleus smiled at Isaac humorlessly, rotating the sword in his wrist. "Ready?"

"…" Isaac got down in a low crouch, holding his spear out in front of him. "Ready."

"Hi-yah-hah!" Yaleus made the first move, dashing towards Isaac with his sword held high above his head. Isaac thrust his spear out towards the green-haired man, who promptly sidestepped and laid a heavy blow at the back of Isaac's head. The blond spear-wielder staggered forward but quickly recovered to bring his spear back in line.

His opponent had no intention of gaining any momentum however and forced Isaac into a constant defense as his training sword flew in the air, seemingly striking from everywhere at once. After a couple of more blows, Isaac was blown back onto the dusty ground, his lance flying out of his hands. Yaleus stood over him, that all-too-familiar smirk on his face.

"Had enough?"

"…" Isaac sprinted for his lance and grabbed it with his hand. Spinning around, he brought his lance up to counter the expected blow. He was a little too late, however. Just as Isaac was bringing the lance up, Yaleus' sword slammed into his stomach, knocking all the wind out of him and causing him to lose his grip on his lance once again.

"Enough…" Isaac coughed and struggled upwards, trying not to throw up from the stomach blow. "Hmph…"

Yaleus carelessly slung his sword away and helped the younger man up. "Nice fight. Entertaining, but you don't move quickly enough." He walked back inside and nodded at Boors. Isaac staggered in after him and slumped on an empty chair, breathing heavily.

"Well, Yaleus apparently thinks you're good enough, so welcome to the guild." Boors clapped his hands and poured a small mug of ale for Isaac. The blond-haired mercenary shook his head and waved the mug away.

"I don't drink."

"Ah…That's unusual. Very well then." Boors emptied the mug in a couple of seconds and wiped the residue away with his hand. "Now, onto business." He pointed to a billboard tacked onto the wall. "First things first, you don't get through life as a single sword for hire. You'll need a band of people and with Sarai here, you've just started."

Isaac frowned slightly. It was all and good that he was on his way to becoming a full mercenary, but having other people join him wasn't in his prospects. Especially when they found out where he was from. "Okay…"

"First, we'll need a name for your team. Every good mercenary group has a name. It helps other people remember who you are. After all that's done, we can get around to giving you jobs. Well, at least jobs for a brand new mercenary band with no experience and members." Boors smiled briefly before pointing to the billboard again. "Speaking of members, hopefuls come in here all the time. If you post up a notice there, maybe somebody will want to join. You never know."

"Okay…I've got a name." Isaac muttered. "Fraction of Hope."

"Fraction of Hope, huh?" Boors raised one eye skeptically. "Not a very cheerful title."

"I'm not a very cheerful person." Isaac replied.

"Well, I think I might be able to change that!" Sarai sat down opposite of Isaac, smiling. She cocked her head to the side. "Where'd you come from?"

There it was. The question he didn't want to have to answer. "Somewhere." Isaac looked away, frowning.

"Somewhere isn't an answer!" Sarai said indignantly.

"Now, now. I'm sure he'll tell you when he's good and ready. Anyway…" Boors scratched at his chin. "I'd advise you to pick up a couple of new members. A mercenary band with two members is a mercenary band that gets no jobs, no money, no luck, and no fame."

"I'll do it…" Isaac looked around. "Is there any place I can stay or do I just sleep here or something? If you can't tell, I'm not on the best terms with my finances."

"Oh, that's no problem! I've got a small base nearby!" Sarai winked at Isaac. "Just bring your stuff over there. I'll show you after we finish with our first job. This is going to be great!"

Isaac sighed inwardly. He had been thinking the exact opposite of the blue-haired girl. This mercenary stuff, apparently, was going to suck. "So…Are there any jobs readily available, or are we going to have to wait?"

"Ah…" Boors' eyes glinted. "As a matter of fact, we do have something for you two. Are you willing to take it?"

"Might as well. I have nothing better to do other than sitting on my ass and hoping somebody joins." Isaac muttered. "So, what is it?"

"Can't give you any details. All I know is that this guy wants a group, preferably small, to go to this address. He said he'll give you the rest of the details later." Boors handed Isaac a small scrap of paper with a couple of words written on it.

"Thanks. And if anyone is looking…tell them that they're free to join my group if they want to." Isaac hefted his spear and walked out, Sarai quickly following him.

---

"Well, here we are." Isaac looked at the sheet one more time before looking at the building in front of him. There were no assumptions he could really make about it. It was a normal looking building, with the normal amount of windows and a normal looking door and a normal ceiling. Descriptions aside, it was normal. "Anyway, Sarai, what kind of weapon do you use?"

"Me? I just use this." Sarai drew a small weapon from her pack and showed it to Isaac. "Powerful, but it's kind of slow. It's mine, however, and that makes all the difference. She smiled as she slowly ran a hand over the wooden shelf of her crossbow.

"Crossbow, huh? That's unusual. Most people around here use a bow."

"Hmph, which is exactly why I use a crossbow. It doesn't get enough respect." Sarai frowned briefly before motioning to the door. "Aren't you going to open it?"

"Uh huh." Isaac knocked on the door and it creaked open. Holding his spear in front of him, he carefully entered the house, which appeared deserted. "…"

"Wow, this place sure is strange." Sarai said, not bothering to conceal her curiosity as she looked around the deserted place. "You sure this is the right place?"

"I know how to read…" Isaac retorted. "Hello, anyone here?"

"Ah! My mercenaries! You've finally arrived!" An energetic man who seemed to have this habit of rubbing his hands together jumped out of the shadows, effectively scaring a couple of years off of the mercenaries' lifetimes. "Good, good!"

"Um…Yes." Isaac took a small bow. "I'm Isaac and this is Sarai."

"Yes, yes." The man nodded impatiently. "Enough of that. Now, onto the reason as to why you're here. There's been a couple of thieves that have been bothering me. I want you to eliminate them."

"Eliminate…As in kill?" Isaac asked.

"Kill, main, neutralize, knock out, whatever. Just get them away or get them arrested, I don't care. I don't want those criminals bothering me anymore. Your payment is a thousand gold and a special trinket of mine." Their employer waved them away and looked at one of his windows. "They come at night, so I'd appreciate it if you were here on time."

"Don't worry, we'll be here." Isaac promised. "Good luck." He departed from the building with Sarai in tow. "So, what do you think of him?"

"He seems honest enough, but something bothers me about him. Ah, that's probably just because he kept rubbing his hands." Sarai shrugged. "Well, you have your stuff, right? Let's get to our base and drop all our equipment off."

"Might as well. Lead the way." Isaac nodded and followed Sarai to a modestly sized building near the outskirts of Melior. The blond-haired mercenary looked at it with a mixture of disdain and approval. Approval because it certainly suited their needs and it was most welcome since he was lacking in the gold department. Disdain because other than the basics, it seemed to have absolutely nothing else. No amenities or anything of the sort. And while he would be the last to admit that he liked creature comforts, not having any of them just made the mercenary life seem…harder.

"Here we are!" Sarai threw open the door and similarly threw her stuff into an unoccupied corner of the building. "Sure, it isn't much, but at least it's something!" She looked at Isaac for a while before yawning and heading for one of the rooms. "I'm going to sack out, so have fun looking around. Wake me in time for the mission."

"Fine." Isaac said, placing his things in a less haphazard style than Sarai's. The blue-haired girl intrigued him. Well, not exactly intrigued. Curious, maybe, interested, could be…But there was just something about her. Isaac shrugged mentally. 'What do I care? Just as long as she does her job well and doesn't get into trouble. Sigh…This seems to be more trouble than I reckoned.' He cast a disinterested glance out of the window and proceeded to see what he could do around his new base.

---

"When are they going to get here!" Sarai whispered furiously from her hiding spot in their employer's home. "I'm tired of waiting!"

"Be quiet!" Isaac snapped. "I'm uncomfortable too, but we need to keep quiet!" He cast a quick glare at Sarai before focusing his attention on trying not to yell and go insane. It would have been so much better if she wasn't here. Not only would it be a lot more quiet, he wouldn't have to worry that much about ethics. With his lance, he would be able to knock the thieves out with just his lance. With Sarai's crossbow, however, there weren't many options. There was whacking a thief on the head, most likely ruining the weapon or there was shooting the thief, which would at least cause some sort of disability.

Suddenly, one of the windows creaked open and a thin man motioned behind him. Isaac kept quiet as two other men joined the first person and watched as they slowly crept closer to their hiding spot. When the thieves were right in front of him, Isaac brought his lance out and immediately landed a good, solid thump right on the thief's head. Right afterwards, a blunt arrow flew out from Sarai's hiding spot and smacked into another thief's jaw.

Their hiding places spoiled, Isaac swung with the blunt end of spear at the thief who had gotten hit by the arrow. The thief made to block Isaac's attack but another arrow flew out and thudded against the thief's hand, causing him to drop the dagger he was holding. Isaac's spear caught him in the stomach, dropping the thief as well.

"Grr…So that idiot finally got guards…" The last thief muttered under his breath as he held his knife in front of himself cautiously. His eyes quickly roamed between Isaac and Sarai, who had risen from her hiding spot. "Good guards at that…Never even saw you two."

"Why thank you." Sarai curtseyed slightly before aiming her crossbow at the thief again. "Would you like to surrender now so I won't have to shoot this at you?"

"No, no." The thief shook his head. "To surrender would mean I go to jail and that isn't good. I prefer to keep my freedom."

In response, Sarai shot her arrow. However, the thief ducked into a roll that placed him behind Isaac and he quickly dashed for the door. Before he could do so, the door was swung wide open and Yaleus swung his sheathed sword right on top of the thief's head, knocking him out and most likely giving the criminal a huge, huge headache.

"What are you doing here!" Isaac said, frowning. "I thought this was my job!" He glowered at the green-haired man, who simply shrugged and smiled.

"I saw the address and thought you might want my help." He motioned at the fallen man in front him. "I think I was correct. Unless you wanted this guy to escape?"

"Hmph…No…So what do you want?" Isaac crossed his arms, looking distinctly unhappy that he had to have help.

"I came to offer my services. I got tired of being a run-of-the-mill hired sword and wanted to join up with you. You look like you're going places, kid." Yaleus hooked his sword back on his belt. "So, how about it?"

"Fine, fine…" Isaac muttered. "Come on, let's get these thieves to the local jail and come back tomorrow for our reward."

---

The next day, Isaac and his small band of heroes entered the Mercenary's Guild, where they found a small sack of gold waiting for them. Isaac gladly pocketed it and looked at Boors, who was wearing a mysterious smile.

"What's so funny?" Isaac grimaced as he plopped himself in his seat.

"Nothing, nothing. It was good work you did yesterday. And you got your pick of people who want to join this new up and coming group." Boors slid a mug of ale to Yaleus, who accepted it gratefully.

"Well, that's good." Isaac said, uncertain of how to react. Yes, it was good that more people wanted to join. Yes, it was good that people actually know his group now. No, it was not good for their base, which was already starting to seem cramped. "Where are they?"

"Outside." Boors pointed behind him. "Really your pick of people. A couple of thieves, some down on their luck soldiers…." He eyed Isaac shrewdly. "Some laguz…"

Isaac gave a small start and Boors nodded once. "It's interesting, isn't it?"

"What is?" Isaac returned, feeling angry for no apparently reason. "Where are you going with this?"

"I'm just wondering…After all, it's rare for a person to try to seek work at a place other than their home country…Especially when their home country was at odds with the country he's working for."

"So? What of it?" Isaac said, feeling vaguely uneasy. Sarai and Yaleus were looking on in interest, trying to figure out what was going on here.

"So…Tell me Isaac…How does our fair country of Crimea compare with your home of Daein?"

Chris: Yes, starting a new story is not smart when I have a bunch of others. However…I still want to and besides, mercenaries rock. Especially in PoR. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it and review please!

And yes, I'm accepting OCs from anyone who wants to be part of Isaac's mercenary group. If you don't wanna, that's perfectly fine with me. If you do, however, you can send it to me in an e-mail or PM or something. I'd be glad to see your characters and put them in the story.

And yes, the characters from PoR will be making appearances. So no, it's not a full OC fic.