Hey, welcome to the second chapter of "Idiots for Heroes", named "Why didn't I see this coming?". Honestly, how do you NOT see the things in video games coming? Oh well. Read and Review, and if you see any mistakes or have any suggestions for story ideas or to improve my writing, tell me in a review. Anyways, on to the show!

-!-O-!-

"Ya know, this life isn't so bad." I yawned as I rested in a tree branch. It was early morning two days after that huge dinner of what looked like roasted boar and chicken, but I really didn't question it since it tasted so friggin' good. Greil had decided to work me off my skull after the mission in Port Talma. A few boxes that needed moving, grabbing supplies at the nearest town with Boyd, it was an interesting life for sure. I hadn't actually gone on a fighting mission since Talma, but all in all I was never bored around here.

"Ike! Ike! I've got to tell you something!" I looked off to my left and spotted a tired looking Mist running towards me. Her yelling only grew louder as she neared me, and it was starting to hurt my head. When she got to a position below the tree, she took a second to compose herself before beginning again. "Whew, glad I found you Ike. Listen to this!"

"Settle down, Mist. It's way too early for you to be yelling like that. Now, what's going on?" I smirked and threw myself down to the ground. Landing on my feet, I brushed some leaves off my clothes and looked back at Mist. She continued. "Soren's back! He just arrived!"

Now, I didn't know who Soren was. I was assuming that he was another mercenary out on a trip or something, so I played along. "Really? That's odd. He wasn't supposed to return for a while yet."

"I know! I wonder what he's doing back so soon..." Bingo. My heart returned back to normal beating and decided I might as well go see him. "It's probably nothing to worry about. Tell ya what, I'll go and talk to him. Where is he?"

"In the mess hall. I think he wanted to talk to father." Good. The mess hall is the only building I knew for sure where it was. "Right. I'll go check there."

"Make sure to tell me what he's doing back so early, brother!" Mist waved and yelled at me as I walked down the path back to the Mercenary Fort. Turning around and giving her a thumbs up, I resumed my trek back to the fort.

-!-O-!-

When I got to the Mess Hall, I caught the end of a conversation between Greil and Soren. They were in agreement about something, and had decided to gather everyone to the briefing room. He left, and I took this time to talk to Soren. "Hey! What's going on around here?"

Soren turned around and nodded at me in acknowledgement. "Bad news. Something big is happening, and we need to formulate a plan. You're probably wondering why I'm back so early. Come on, let's get over to the breifing room, I'll explain everything there."

He read my mind like a book.This guy kind of scared me, but he must be pretty smart to be able to read my emotions like that. 'Oh well...might as well get over there.' I followed him into the briefing room. Everyone was already there, and Greil was waiting impatiently for me and Soren. When we sat down, he began his breifing.

"You all probably remember that Soren's been training with another mercenary group. Well, he's back now. And he has some unbelievable news." Oh boy, unbelievable news. Soren stood up and cleared his throat. "It's Crimea and Daein. They've gone to war."

Everyone else gasped, while I faked one. I remember reading about Crimea and Daein in a book I found in my spare time here, and I had asked Titania about it. She thought I was crazy for not knowing, but she filled me in nonetheless. From what I gathered, we were in Crimea, and Daein was our neighbor to the east. Daein's strength was their military might and wyvern riders, while Crimea's was scholarly knowledge and political might. If these two went to war, it wasn't hard to figure out who would win. After everyone calmed down, Greil spoke again. "That's why I've called everyone here. Soren has some more information. Go ahead, Soren."

"All right." Soren then laid out a map of the land. This is the first time I saw a map of this world, let alone one so detailed as this. I was fascinated. "Take a look at this map."

Everyone crowded around Soren and the map. "This is Melior, Crimea's capital. Our base of operations is...somewhere around here." He pointed to a spot somewhat in the western Crimea border. "Everything started three days ago. I needed to do some research, so I went to the archives of Melior's royal library. Without warning, the scream of a terrible beast-- a wyvern, perhaps-- rent the air, and the building was rocked by a tremor. I rushed outside and saw wave after wave of knights, cavalry, and wyvern riders, each clad in glistening ebon armor, black as night."

"The Daein army?" Greil pitched in. Soren nodded. "Was there any provocation?"

"Well, as you know, relations between Crimea and Daein have never been... friendly. However, the past centuries have seen only minor skirmishes, nothing that has ever approached the scale of this attack. It was brutal and without warning. Daein laid the capital to waste, I've never seen destruction on this scale before." I shook my head. This definitly was bad. I couldn't help but shake the feeling that this was part of some bigger plot that Daein was planning, like some ressurection of a dark god or something. Or maybe that was just the chili that Rolf made for lunch comming out the wrong end of my body. Honestly, I couldn't tell.

"A swift attack, devastating and brutal... A daring gambit, indeed." Titania pitched in with her own comment. "But if it succeeds, a very well-chosen one at that. Yes, the king of Daein would not hesitate to employ such treacherous tactics. What happened next?" We all looked to Soren for input.

"King Crimea's brother deployed the Crimean army to meet the attack. The king ordered his people to flee the city before the battle reached them. Fearing the worst, I also fled and made my way here." I shook my head. "So we don't know who's winning, do we?" Soren shook his head. "No, Ike, we don't...from the size of the invading army, I would doubt that the Crimean Army stood much of a chance."

Soren rolled up the map and inserted back into his pack. Titania laid her hand on her forehead and sighed. "Daein has invaded Crimea... We may be mercenaries, but this still affects us." Everyone agreed, and I set out the question of the day. "What are we going to do?" Looks like Greil agreed in my question of the day remark. "That's the question of the day. How do you see it, Titania?"

"Crimea is the closest thing our company has to a homeland. The Crimean royal family and noble houses have been generous, providing us with many lucrative jobs. From a moral standpoint, as well as a business one, it's in our best interest to help Crimea." Greil nodded, then turned to Soren. "And you, Soren? What's your input?"

"I agree on one point: we are mercenaries. We're not Crimea's private militia. No coin has crossed out palms, so I think we should stay out of it." Greil raised an eyebrow at this. "So you would have us sit and watch as Crimea is overrun?"

"I would. Daein's troops are superior in both numbers and morale. The chances of a Crimean victory are slim indeed." Titania cut in at this statement. "But Crimea is ruled by King Ramon, who is known for his wisdom. And his brother, Duke Renning, is said to possess peerless valor and courage. Daein may not find victory so easily."

"Valor and courage are for children's tales. In terms of military prowess, Daein's King Ashnard is every bit Lord Renning's equal. Victory will hinge in troop numbers and supplies, and Daein is superior in both. I think the outcome is painfully obvious." I hated to say it, but I found myself leaning towards Soren's way of thinking. I wasn't exactly a firm believer of the 'we'll win because we think we can win.' mindset. Titania slammed her fist on the table, making everyone jump slightly. "Curse you, Soren! Crimea is not doomed! If they can turn aside Daein's initial thrust and turn it into a test of endurance..."

Greil cut in between the two. "All right, that's enough. Both of you, I hear what you say. However, we must ascertain the current situation before we decide on any action. We'll send a scouting party to et a closer look at Melior. Ike, I want you in charge of this. Assemble your men and get going." I blinked. Me? In charge? Oh god, we're all doomed. "Uh..me, sir?"

"Titania will accompany you as an advisor." At this, Shinon jumped in angrily. "Commander, you must be joking! HE's just a boy, and he's had barely more than a taste of battle. What do you expect a whelp like him to accomplish?!"

"Ah, Shinon. Since you're so concerned, you can go as well." Shinon blinked. "Wait, that's not what I-"

"Let's see...who else...Gatrie, Rhys, and Soren. That should do." I decided to voice my concern here. "Father, wait, why do you want me--"

"That was an order. Get moving. No time to waste!" He slightly growled at me. I decided to drop it. "Yes, sir! Let's go, guys!" I promptly turned around towards the door and went out. Now, let's see, where was the armory again...?

-!-O-!-

The mission didn't really go as planned. We got about halfway to Melior when we stopped at what appeared to be a battlefield. While we inspected the corpses and attempted to figure out what happened, a Daein patrol decided to rear its ugly head. We tried to negotiate with them, but it only ended in a battle where I once again amazed myself because of not only my fighting, but my battle strategy. The only injuries we had was Gatrie slipping over himself and falling on Rhys after the battle was over and we were on the way home. Titania was singing praises of my great leadership skills untill Soren spotted something moving in a thicket nearby. Rhys spotted it too, so we investigated.

It turned out to be a girl. We didn't give a second thought as to why she was on a battlefield of dead soldiers, and ended up taking her back with us. We gave her a room in the fort and took some time off for some R&R. I personally was taking a nap in a tree at the southern gate when Mist's yelling voice woke me up. She did that a lot, didn't she?

"Father! Brother! It's that lady Ike rescued... She's awake!" I blinked. "Oh really? Come on, let's go see her."

It turned out that the girl was Princess Elincia of Crimea. During the entire conversation, I couldn't help but think, "Why didn't I see this comming?". She wanted to get to Gallia, which Titania explained was our southern neighboring country. Upon further investigation after the incident, I learned that Gallia was home of the Laguz, or Sub-Humans as Shinon so gracefully called them. She requested that we take her there, and were in the middle of discussing whether or not to take her up on the offer, when Greil shushed us up and told us to listen.

"...I can't hear anything." I was listening pretty hard, but I couldn't hear a thing. Shinon smacked me across the back of the head. "Idiot! That's the problem! Don't you think it's a bit odd? Complete silence, in all four directions. Not only are the animals quiet, but the bugs too. It's unnatural. Which means..."

"We're surrounded. They aren't waiting for an answer, they're going to attack and kill us anyways." I growled as this sentence left my mouth. This wasn't going to be fun. "Well then, we should give them a warm welcome. Greil Mercenaries, take defensive positions! Let's settle this right now!"

-!-O-!-

We all took up positions outside of the base. Greil took it upon himself to defend the east entrance of the base all by himself. I honsetly couldn't fathom why he would want to do that, but it was his life, I couldn't stop him. Gatrie and Shinon took the western entrance, and the rest of us were at the southern entrance. Me, Titania and Oscar took the front lines, Boyd rode along with Oscar on his horse, and Soren took up a position behind us. Rhys stayed behind to heal both Gatrie's team and mine.

The enemy was bunched up on the ramp leading up towards the entrance, which made them easy pickings for us to take out. The foot soldiers were knocked off their feet by Titania and Oscar's horses, only to be finished off by me or Boyd. Soren made short work of the mounted units, and the archers and mages were just easy pickings with the rest of the ground forces in chaos.

During the fight, a soldier had oh so gratiously given me a stab wound from a lance into my shoulder. I broke off from the fight to lick my wounds. Rubbing some of this "Vulnerary" stuff on the wound, I was amazed at how fast the wound closed up. I didn't have time to sit around, though, because after the wound completely closed, I had but a few seconds to jump to the side before a horse ran me over. Doing just so, I unsheathed my blade and faced my opponent. This was in itself a bad idea, because a faced a paladin in full body armor, including his freaking horse. A lance was pointed at me threateningly.

"I am General Dakova! You are a lucky one, you get to die by my own hand!" He charged at me again. Not only did I have to avoid the horse, but I also had to avoid the lance that he was swinging around. Not exactly an ideal situation by my book. Barely dodging another charge, the paladin turned around and promptly charged at me again. Now, I was desperate at this point, and I usually wouldn't attempt this move otherwise, but I had no choice at this point.

I timed it just right, and jumped, landing right in front of him on his horse. I knocked him once upside the head with my sword, effectivily knocking him off his horse. Jumping off myself, I quickly gained back my balance and turned around, very closely avoiding his lance. I stomped on it, breaking the frail wood it was made of. Doing a spin type move, I shoved the sword into a less armored part of his neck armor. He roared in pain, reeled back, and did a double take of his situation.

"Yes, you are bleeding. Yes, I just stabbed you in the neck. Yes, you are going to die. I'll give you some advice though...get a better weapon in the next life, eh?" The bleeding man could only gargle non-understandable words as he dropped to the ground, a cold dead corpse. Making my way back to the others, I kicked a few armored corpses for good measure, however if there was one thing I never thought I would find out in my lifetime, it was that plate armor really hurts your toes...