Thanks to those who reviewed! I can't tell if it's worth posting a story without any feedback. So school's back in and all that can mean is slower updates and tired writing. If you catch any major errors, please let me know. As always, please R&R!

Blood. The Begnion soldiers had no concern for the Daein people. Because they wouldn't give up what little they had, the tyrant army made blood spill into the once bustling streets. Men and women. Children and elderly. Everyone alike. They weren't willing to spare any. It never ceases to amaze me that people are selfish enough to kill for wealth and wealth alone.

The others didn't hesitate to rush to the aid of the villagers that fought to keep what they properly owned. I swore to myself after the last battle that I wouldn't, either. No matter what I did, I would be a murderer. The innocent. The unjust. Those were my options. Why should the innocent be the ones to suffer?

I fixed my bow so that I was ready to shoot an arrow once I had a decent target. My hands still shook and my heart pounded in unison with the step of my feet. This time… could I do it while conscious of my actions… This time…

"You're not going to break on us like last time, are you?" Nolan came up behind me, interrupting that voice in my head that recited my thoughts. I grinned at him solemnly and without a word shook my head. I refused to be a hindrance.

Battles move on in a massive blur in my mind. This one was no different than the last in that respect. Every target there was to shoot…no, maybe I was seeing no targets at all. I shot at all those images that my eyes saw as nothing but dancing shadows in the darkness, really not knowing if it was an enemy at all. My instinct knows how to do what I must. All I ever have to do is follow it, right?

The cries, the screams, the sound of people choking around me as they breathed their final breath. It all melted together into one horrendous cacophony. To distinguish one voice from another… it was a skill that I couldn't call upon by will.

Another arrow.

Another cry from somewhere around me.

Was it my arm that caused it?

Too many cries of sorrow. Was it all necessary? Too many…"

"Dang, I don't wanna die this way!" That yell. It was more than familiar to me. The sound of it pierced through the others.

I saw Edward grope at the ground in a desperate search for his sword through the thick blackness that enveloped the area. The Begnion soldier towered over him, ready to bring down his lance and finish the skirmish. This shot was clear. Everyone else still ran past me in blurs but that one man was as clear as I could hope for him to be.

Another arrow to the bow.

Another hit.

Another body that I watched fall to the ground, nobody from either side recognizing that anyone had fallen at all. Why did these people have to pick a profession that required their lives to end this way?

I saw his sword close to him, next to a bush. I picked it up and handed it to him. I could feel his shaking through the weapon as we both grasped it. The confidence he had going into battle, that style of his that I so admired? All because he had not yet come to terms with the fact that he himself was too, able to be defeated.

"Hey, you really just saved me." The quiver of his voice told of his fear without the help of his grip.

"Be more careful. We're not the ones that are suppose to get killed, remember?"

"Yeah…" He ran back into the fray. Battle was unforgiving. That was the first lesson I learned and I learned it very quickly. Were someone too weak to provide a good show, they were discarded. That was what entertained war and let it grow in ambition. I could only hope that he would be more cautious. I don't feel that I'm strong enough for him to rely on. Not yet.

I tried to walk past the man who lie bleeding alone but to not look…to not stop…to not acknowledge someone was dieing right in front of me…that's something I still can't do. He grabbed my ankle, looking up at me with pleading eyes. What could he want with me? The person who…I began to kneel next to him before I could know any better.

"Please…" His voice was hoarse and choked as blood splattered around his lips. I didn't mean to leave him with a wound that would only make his death longer. I had missed my mark… "Please… the satchel on my belt…. take it to…. My family…. The first cabin….in Begnion's border town….please."

There was no way I could properly react. This man was my enemy. Why would he address such a thing to me? Something clanged together as I picked it up. I didn't bother checking it before attaching it to my own belt. "Why would you give it to me? I'm the one who…" Its harder to say it to the face of your victim.

"No one… from my army… would do it. I don't…know if you will, but…." I cringed as he coughed. "This is the… only chance…they have at getting… this." What I heard in the satchel were coins… They must have been his earnings. "The senate… they force us… to fight. It is….the only way we can… support our families… They tax everything so high….this is the only occupation…that pays enough. Please…. I only….only wanted to…my family…" He never finished the statement.

To kill the innocent.

To kill the unjust.

Those were my options.

And there was a very thin line that separated them.

If there was one at all.

That's the end of chapter two. Now I need to grovel for reviews again, pathetic, huh? Please review. I tend to stop posting what I write if there isn't a large interest in it. Reviewing is easy. Anonymous reviews are fine, too. (For those who don't have an account.) Please don't tell me that I fail but constructive criticism is welcomed. The higher the interest the quicker I'll update, so…review.