I FOUND THE MISSING CHAPTER! Well…. That was much less climactic than I felt it would be. Nevertheless, I'm just putting this up for whoever wants to read it. Read, comment, review, etc. I'll do my best to balance this and my other story. Happy reading.
Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem.
The two took their plates to the campfire; they got to talking on a social level for the first time. It was great, Tate really got along with Alan, he introduced her to a couple of people in the army. They talked about their homelands, adventures they have had. They compared Pharae to Ilia and spoke about the life of a mercenary. Tate felt rather foolish, the man who she thought to be a foolish, meat headed cavalier actually turned out to be a very intelligent and nice guy. She was glad she met him. Then Klein walked by and Tate's eyes followed him, Alan noticed.
"You like him?"
Tate blushed, embarrassed.
"Wha-what do you mean."
Alan gave her a level stare, he raised an eyebrow and Tate gave in,
"Fine, yes I do."
Alan chuckled and did his best to assure her that telling him was alright,
"It's fine, I won't tell anyone or anything like that. I never was a fan of gossip. So does he know you like him?"
The blush creeped further across Tate's face. She was never one to reveal details on her personal life,
"I-I'm not so sure.. I do my best to let him know but, he sometimes seems so indifferent."
Tate gave a sad and lovesick sigh; Alan put a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey it's alright, I'm sure he just hasn't realized how you feel about him. Don't lose faith in yourself!"
Tate smiled at his warm and encouraging words,
"Thank you Alan, I appreciate it. See! Aren't you glad I tried to fix your fighting style, you've made a new friend." Alan rolled his eyes and Tate gave a small laugh.
The two talked a bit more but as the night wore on they had to part ways. Tate went to sleep in an excellent mood! It was very rarely she met such an enjoyable person to be around, Alan was a pretty cool guy and Tate was glad she made a new friend.
l******************
The next day another battle had to be fought, this time Alan and Tate seemed to be ordered near each other more often. They began to fight as a team.
"Tate behind you!"
Tate turned in her saddle upon hearing the shout from the ground, a dragon knight of Bern was flying towards her. Tate threw a javelin at it, bringing it down. Hm, Alan also appeared to be highly aware of his surroundings. However, he did not see the cavalier riding up behind him with its lance pointed to his back. Tate swooped down and stabbed the man with her silver lance.
"I thought you said you would stop being so rash Alan!"
Alan laughed over a swordfight on horseback.
"I promised to change my fighting style, and I actually have! I never promised to stop being rash."
Tate shrugged, he still did those infernal charges, but at least after Alan charged in he became a little more held back. So in a sense, he was making progress.
"I suppose that's why I'm here isn't it."
Alan cut another horseman down.
"To your right Tate."
How did he see that.. Tate simply acknowledged that Alan was an incredibly strange person with odd talents. She began a fight with a few more horsemen. Tate looked to the sky and saw her younger sister riding away from a few dragon knights. She seemed to be having the time of her life. Tate grumbled,
"Flying without a saddle again, this is becoming ridiculous. I need to have a word with that girl."
l***************
The battle didn't take long to end; Tate immediately went to talk with her younger sister.
"Thany, we need to talk."
"Oh what is it sister!? I haven't spoken to you since you joined us."
What was that Alan had said about being anti-social...
"It's about your pegasus riding Thany, you don't use a saddle."
Thany spoke in her cheerful tone, as oblivious a ever. Tate could feel the irritation beginning to tug at her.
"I like it! It makes riding feel so much more free! Like nothing is holding you back!"
Tate sighed, the childish ignorance that Thany still had could be annoying.
"Well that's all well and good, but what if you lose balance in a battle? What if you get hit?"
"I don't get hit! I'm fast! I am becoming a master pegasus knight sister!"
Tate just shook her head, why did everyone have to reject her criticism. All she wanted to do was help,
"Come on Thany, you need to use a saddle, or else you could get seriously hurt."
Thany just realized all of what Tate had been saying was criticism towards her riding style, she became defensive,
"No! I don't have to do whatever you tell me Tate!"
Tate, now frustrated, was reaching her limit with her younger sister,
"Fine, then I'll get your pegasus taken away when we get home!"
Thany shouted back to her sister,
"Why are you always so mean to me Tate! All you do is tell me how bad I am doing! You arnt always right you know!"
Tate shouted back now,
"I'm right about this! I can't have you screwing up and getting killed! You are too carefree Thany!"
Thany snapped back,
"This isn't about me Tate! You just want to look good as a flight leader! You don't care about me at all! You have hated me since I was born haven't you!"
Thany was doing the typical young child reaction, Tate realized that deep down, Thany was still a child..
"You know that's not true Thany.."
"No! Leave me alone! You just think I am embarrassing you, don't you! fine! I'll leave and go find Juno!"
Thany ran off towards camp, Tate called out,
"No Thany! Stop!"
Tate ran after her sister, but she wasn't fast enough. Tate tripped over a branch and tumbled to the dirt. The pegasus knight just laid on the ground for a minute in a hopeless state, trying to think of what to do next. Her sister would have taken off by now, flying straight into an area that was controlled by Bern.. Oh what had she done? Tate heard a branch crack and turned around to see Alan. He grasped her hand and helped Tate onto her feet.
"Are you okay? I heard what happened..."
Tate looked surprised.
"You-you did?"
Alan nodded; he decided it was probably best to not make any jokes about the situation.
"Alan... What do I do!? I was too hard on her! Now Thany is flying all the way to our sister in Ilia!"
"Ilia?!" exclaimed Alan, he knew it had been conquered by Bern. Not to mention Thany was a member of Roy's army, she would be ruthlessly hunted down. He seemed to think for a moment.
"Come on, let's go."
"Wha-What do you you mean?"
Spoke Tate, confused.
"We have to get her! Now let's go! Every minute we delay Thany gets further ahead of us!" Alan tried to pull Tate along, there was no time to delay.
Tate shook her head quickly and dug her heels into the ground. She couldn't involve her new friend in a potentially dangerous mission.
"No! I can't drag you into this Alan! This is my fault! I will fond Thany alone. Besides, you are Roy's knight. You need to follow him don't you?"
Alan put a finger over her mouth and shushed her.
"Tate, you know you can't do this alone... Besides, Roy's army is planning on heading to Ilia to obtain the spear Malte, we can pass this off as a scouting mission! Now let's go!"
Before she could protest, Alan pulled Tate towards camp. He asked her to get their mounts ready while he went to tell Marcus their plans. Marcus, upon hearing Alan's plan, looked at him strangely.
"You, Alan... Scouting? Forgive me if I find that hard to believe. I think you arnt telling me something."
Marcus glared at Alan, who in turn realized Marcus saw right through his lie. He decided to tell Marcus the truth; Marcus gave a hearty laugh,
"Now THAT I can believe." he grew serious, "Alan, Roy needs you alive. If you go there, you have to be careful. Do you understand?"
Alan's eyes popped out of his head,
"You are letting me go!?"
Marcus nodded,
"We should be fine these next few battles and this seems rather important. You can go if you are careful."
Alan nodded,
"Of course sir!"
He hurried out of the tent, Marcus called out,
"Try to bring back some scouting data while you are gone!"
Alan and Tate mounted up and began their chase, it was a long journey from the borders of Lycia to Ilia. The mountainous terrain didn't make things easier, and after that.. The snow. After many days the duo reached the Ilian border, they had successfully evaded all Bern soldiers up until this point. Alan gazed upon the snow covered frozen landscape. It looked hellish. He shivered,
"Home sweet home?"
Tate nodded, and spoke in a tone lined with sarcasm.
"Very hospitable isn't it? Well, this is Ilia. I hope you enjoy your stay."
Alan chuckled, the landscape wasn't exactly charming
"Certainly not very welcoming is it?"
Tate shrugged, she didn't expect Alan to understand some of the hidden beauties of the land,
"The areas around the castles are magnificent.. The frozen wasteland part.. Not so much." She looked into the sky, it was getting dark.
"Come on, we need to pitch a tent, it gets cold at night."
Alan looked to her in disbelief. His mouth was gaping,
"It gets COLDER?!"
"Yes, much, much colder."
The two quickly pitched a tent and set up a fire. They cooked a small meal and sat in silence. Even with a fire Alan was freezing, but Tate simply shrugged the cold off, Alan was dumbfounded. How on earth did she do that.
Finally it became night, and then worse, it began to snow. A lot. A blizzard had passed over them and the snow fell heavily. Tate brought some blankets into the tent and the two camped out. Alan was prompted to ask a question,
"Do you think your sister is alright? Out here like this?"
Tate nodded,
"If we know anything it's that the snows of Ilia are dangerous. Thany is no idiot, she would be prepared for them."
Alan nodded,
"Wait what about the horses? Will they be alright?"
Tate simply opened the front of the tent to let Alan see. Though he didn't really appreciate the cold air and snow, he looked out and noticed his horse seemed to be resting on the ground next to the pegasus. The pegasus had one wing draped over it like a blanket.
"Wow, that is truly a sight to see." muttered Alan.
Tate laughed in amusement,
"She must like your horse. I've never seen her do that before."
Alan chuckled,
"Really? I just assumed you trained them for this?"
"Nope."
Tate noticed Alan shivering and laughed. She made a joke to him.
"Do I have to put my arms around you to keep you warm Alan?"
Alan shrugged,
"Well..."
He got hit in the face with a blanket instead,
"There, use that instead." Tate practically fell over laughing.
Alan couldn't help but smile, at least she wasn't worrying about Thany.
"Fine! I'll just take all of the blankets then! Since you seem to be made of ice!" Alan was poking fun at how Tate simply shrugged off the cold, but she took it a different way. A tear fell down her cheek. Alan realized his mistake.
"I'm sorry Tate I didn't mean it like that!"
She sniffed; her rigid and controlling personality had caused her so much grief recently. The emotions were beginning to reveal themselves now,
"I know Alan... It's just..."
Tate cried into her hands and Alan quickly came over and put his arms around Tate to comfort her. Alan couldn't stand seeing Tate in such a sad and broken state. It ate away at him, he felt he needed to make it better,
"You arnt made of ice Tate! You're a genuinely nice person!"
She shook her head, not allowing him to console her.
"No, you said it yourself, I'm antisocial! I drove my sister into danger! All I see about people is what they do wrong! I'm horrible!"
Alan never noticed Tate had any self-confidence issues; he hugged her tighter and tried to soothe her.
"Enough of that Tate, none of it is true! You are a wonderful and amazing person! Just because you point out people's flaws doesn't mean you are a bad person! Why did you tell me I was too rash?"
Tate sniffed again; Alan was conveying his point to her now. She began to accept his consolation,
"Be-Because i didn't want you to get hurt..."
"Exactly! It's because you cared Tate! That dosnt make you cold! If anything it makes you compassionate!"
Tate stopped crying and gave Alan a weak smile.
"Thank you Alan."
She spun around and hugged him back tightly, burying her head into his shoulder. The two shared an embrace for a moment before Tate broke it, blushing red.
"We should probably get some sleep..." murmured Tate.
"Yeah.. We should.."
Tate took off her headband and let her hair fall down. Alan was almost surprised, Tate looked so odd without it. She noticed him staring.
"What is it Alan?"
He shook his head and snapped out of it, Tate looked confused like she had done something wrong,
"What's wrong?"
"Oh! I'm sorry; you just look so different without the headband."
Tate laughed; her appearance was the last thing on her mind right now. She could honestly care less if it looked bad,
"Is it that bad?"
Alan shook his head,
"No, you look nice! Stunning even it's just... My god, it changes your whole appearance!"
Tate laughed again and laid next to him. She pulled a blanket over herself, in the darkness she spoke.
"Goodnight Alan... And thanks for everything.. Especially coming all the way to Ilia with me.. I appreciate it."
"No problem Tate! I'm glad I could help!"
"Goodnight Alan..."
"Goodnight Tate..."
My note:
I really don't have time to write this out, so I'd just like to say I'll get the next chapter up soon, it's not really a priority for me though. Comment, read, favorite, like, etc.