Disclaimer: I do not own any of the following characters. All characters and assets belong to their respective owners

It had been a few hours since both Marth and Copper had set off from the forest, it was dark but the moon provided some light. The air was cool and there was a gentle breeze, a welcomed relief from the burning air of the forest. The burning landscape was far behind them as the duo now found themselves in a field with a few trees marking the edge of the forest.

As they walked, Copper noticed that Marth was continuously stopping to look around. 'Marth must be looking for something… I wonder what it could be? It must be important. Maybe I could try and make some conversation… let's start by translating some basic words.' After taking a deep breath, Copper hesitantly called out "Marth."

Marth had been looking around and wasn't expecting Copper to suddenly call out. Quickly turning around and reaching for her sword, Marth faced Copper, who immediately threw his arms up in the air. 'What on earth does he want?' Seeing no imminent threat, Marth grimaced and stared him down waiting for him to do something.

Seeing that Marth wasn't too pleased, Copper let his arms fall back down to his side. He began to look around, pointed to a tree, and in a calm voice said, "Reyth".

Marth looked at what Copper was pointing at and thought, 'What was that? Is he talking about the tree? His language is so…strange. It's intimidating and powerful yet has a sense of peace around it. Perhaps he wants to teach me his language or he wants to learn mine. It would also be helpful if we could understand one another, but I don't necessarily have time for this right now. I can't find the others, and I need to catch up to Chrom. If he's going to stick around then I might as well help him learn.' Raising her arm, Marth pointed at the same tree and in a calm voice replied "tree."

'So the word is tree, doesn't exactly roll of the tongue but I'll get used to it. Now that I know that we can teach each other basic words, in our respective languages, I'll have to make use of it. Anything that will help us communicate without the use of swords is going to be welcomed.

After both of them repeated their new word several times, they both nodded in approval of each other's newfound words. For the next hour, they continued this process of teaching each other new words.

Marth took this time to examine her newly found companion. 'Alright let's see what I know about this person. Judging from his voice, I would say that he is a man, I doubt his helmet would modify his voice that much. I'm not sure what it is about his voice, but it's menacing. As if he's trying to make me command me. I haven't heard that much of his language, but what I have heard… It seems to be more than just words. Let me see, what else is there to note about him? He is tall, well built, and he seems to be a skilled fighter. That brings me to another point his armor is unique. I'm not sure what kind of metal it's made out of, but it looks like silver. I thought silver was reserved for weapons since it can cut through other metals at the expense of the blade wearing down quickly. Whatever kind of metal the armor is made out of, it's covering his entire body. I don't think there is any part of him that isn't covered. The only place where there is no armor plating is over his arm and leg joints, but those are protected by scale plating. His armor must be extremely heavy. This metal must be versatile since even his shield is made out of it. I don't know where he came from, but judging by the designs on his armor and the large fin on his helmet he must have been or must be a high-ranking soldier. Maybe in time, I can learn more about him, but for now we should set up camp so that we can get some rest, it'll be dawn in a few hours.'

Looking around Marth spotted a small flat area that would provide a decent place to camp. It didn't take long for the duo to reach the area and even less time for Marth to explain to Copper that they were setting up camp, which took no time at all, since neither of them had any gear to camp with.

With what little wood that Marth found, they built a small fire, which was more than enough to provide some warmth and light. With the duo now settled, Marth retrieved some jerky from a pouch under her belt. 'This isn't enough for two people but it's all I have and I won't let anyone go hungry, if I can help it.'

Copper saw Marth pulling out what appeared to be the last of her food, so when a few strips of jerky were offered, it was enough to cause a small laugh to escape him. 'Hah, she must be one of the kindest people I have ever met. To think that she would offer someone she doesn't even know the last of her food. I don't need it, and I don't want her going hungry, for my sake.' Pushing Marth's hand away with the jerky, Copper shook his head from side to side. Marth seemed perplexed for a moment and re-offered the food in which Copper pushed it away again. This went on for a while until Marth gave in and quickly ate it. While Marth was eating, Copper walked to the edge of camp, he turned around and pointed at Marth, he used his hands to mimic, going to sleep, along with a few snoring sounds, just to get the point across. Once Marth acknowledged and understood what Copper was trying to say. Copper then turned around once more and stood guard. Marth was a little concerned, about Coppers actions, 'I think he means he will stand watch, while I rest first. However, I don't really trust him just yet, even if he is trying to gain my trust… I guess I need to put some blind faith into his good will. After all, I've been through, I'm used to staying on guard. If I hear him draw his sword, I'll be ready.' Settling down Marth made sure to keep her hand on her sword, just in case.

It took a while, but eventually Marth's breathing slowly evened out and seizing the opportunity Copper looked over his latest acquaintance, studying her very carefully.

'Marth is pretty short… Well compared to a Bosmer I guess she's fairly tall, could be about 5" 9'. Her body is thin so either her muscles are lean or she doesn't eat enough. It could be the lack of light, but it looks like Marth's hair is blue…I wonder if it's mixed with war paint? If it's war paint then she certainly doesn't look prepared for combat. Her clothing seems to be made of cotton, with a few leather bracings. The pauldrons look fragile, as if they would break if the wind blew too hard. Wait no… A cape? What protection does that offer? From what I know all it offers is nothing but something for the enemy to use to their advantage. I know it looks cool but I've learned my lesson. Well, what else does she have for protection? She is wearing a mask… it doesn't appear to offer any protection either. It looks like it's made out of wood. Perhaps it stops sun light or dust from getting into her eyes, but not much else… Heh the more I look the more it looks like a butterfly. Ah Hah! I'm going to call her butterfly and she'll have no idea. Wait… why is she still wearing her mask? And I swear she's trying to make her voice sound deeper? Is she trying to hide something? It's really none of my concern. After all, we all have our reasons for hiding. What else do I know about my new acquaintance, she has no armor, a pointless cape, blue looking hair, an oddly shaped mask, some sort of gold headband, and a strange looking sword. Wait… This is quite intriguing, what kind of sword is that? It has a red handle with a gold trim. That isn't a practical choice for an average sword, so it must be important. Could it be a symbol of status or a family weapon? Maybe it's just how swords are made here. Perhaps my sword is the odd one. How strange this land must be… How did I get here anyway? Aw well right now I just need to focus on Marth and surviving.'

With that thought, Copper returned his attention back to standing guard. The world was quiet and the small fire began to dwindle. Copper was bored as he reminisced about his day spent with Marth and practiced the new words he had learnt. Copper was deep in thought and tried to theorize as to why Marth had not removed her mask. The best explanation he had come up with was that she didn't want to be recognized because she was a master criminal and her mask was something like the Cowl of the Grey Fox. 'I certainly hope it's not like the Fox's Cowl. I would like to be able to recognize her whenever she does remove it. I wonder if that's how people felt about me.'

A small noise snapped Copper out of his musings. After quickly surveying the field, Copper found the source was none other than Marth. 'By the look of it, she's having a bad dream. Should I wake her? She might get mad if I woke her, and she has already threatened me enough for one day. What else can I do? Maybe I could sing her a lullaby? I only know one and it is in the Dova's language, but it shouldn't matter much. The words should still carry their power. ' Clearing his throat Copper sang to the best of his abilities.

"Hush mal kiir, Kos ni zofaas, Til los nid praag wah faas vulon, lein los enlaag ahrk saraan fah, Ful gir wah dii zul, Ahrk vos nii brud hi, Kotin hahnu gejahrii do hind ahrk drem, Zu'u fen kos het, Fod hi vopraan, Ful laag mal gein, Ahrk mindok tol Zu'u los het. Nid fent aax hi, Ful lingrah ol Zu'u los het, Dova's nuv kodaav, Fent ni rahn zey naal, Zu'u fen krif niin pah wah dein hi tahriik, Ful hush mal gein ahrk laag daar vulon hond, Til los nid dahrin wah faas fos fen ni bo, Ful vos hin faas wah feim kotin hahnu, Ahrk laag mal gein, Ahrk kos ni zofaas, Fah feyl fen kos het das, Ahrk I'll kos til ahk, Ful hahnu genazaal hahnu, Zu'u fen koraav hi ko feyl."

Taking a deep breath Copper looked back at Marth who seemed to have settled back down. 'Well… seems my time at the Bards College wasn't wasted. But for now, I should keep watch.' The remainder of the night passed without any further disturbance. Well at least not until Marth woke up.

Author notes:

So this came out later than I was hoping but school is back in session and I'm being picky about how I word these events. And yes as you all can see this chapter was mainly about building characters so with that done I'm going to try my hand at actually progressing the story in the next chapter. With school and work I'm not sure when I'll have it done but I would say it might take a week or two. I'll post updates on my tumbler, thenewbiewriter.