Hello everyone! I appologise for the absurdly long delay, but I really didn't expect so much feed back! 6 Reviews on one chapter! I don't even know how this came out of me, sense I havn't played the game in months, but somehow you have sparked this, and hopefully we can keep that spark going.
Please enjoy the beginning of Eliwood's story, in 'Tactician Mara'
(I might change the title, just warning)
Chapter 1- A Fire in your eyes
Mara shifted her eyes anxiously from side to side. The fingers of her right hand drummed in quick succession on the bar table, left hand curled lazily around her mug of watered down rum, and her line of sight always finding its way to the door.
She had been waiting for a whole week in this Pheraen town for the game she was familiar with to pick up the plot, but she was sad to say that there were no dates in her memory and that the rest of the memories of the game were slowly deteriorating. She didn't know when the young lord Eliwood would depart from Pherae, only that it had to be soon or she would return to her books.
Over the period of time between her departure from Caelin to her stay in Pherae, Mara had acknowledged that she wouldn't be able to rely on her game knowledge to get through this journey. She had gone to the only place she could think of; Lord Pent's library. She needed real knowledge on medieval warfare to make it here now, and though she was a master of chess - the reason she started playing Fire Emblem in the first place - that definitely wouldn't be enough.
She didn't know when, but she had completely abandoned any belief that she would be going home before the story ended, if at all. It wasn't hard to accept, sure she'd miss her parents, but that was it really. No boyfriend, no siblings, few real friends, no tests coming up; nothing to really miss.
Mara was about to give up and leave when her attentive ears picked up the muffled shouts from outside. It could have been anything, but the tactician was getting impatient.
Exiting the tavern, Mara saw the beginnings of a riot, as large, ragged men with marred axes entered the town with malice and glee filled grins and eyes following fleeing young women. Flipping up the hood of her cloak, the huge old green one abandoned for a chocolate brown one with sleeves, The thin girl dashed to the stables, avoiding anyone's sight as she dodged the people who were releasing the danger, and once she made it inside, headed straight for her horse.
The horse had been her first purchase after reaching Caelin, bought before she even left. The horse, a stallion, was a dark brown in color, nearly matching the color of her cloak, and had an even darker, almost black mane. The colors of the beautiful beast were solid, all for the right ear that appeared bleached white. His name was Vanity.
Quickly unlocking the stall, she mounted her horse, still uncomfortable with riding despite her time on Elibe, and made her way out as fast as she could. Sadly, before she could reach the door, a figure came through, and if the axe was any indication... Yet the man stepped fluidly to the side, completely calm as Vanity tried to run him over. Not typical bandit behavior.
Stopping the horse so she could look back at the man, Mara felt both stupid and elated. She had been waiting in the wrong town, and if the bandits were here already, then she was late to the fight.
Mara turned the horse back around to greet an old ally.
"Dorcas, could it be that we have met in such circumstances? Dare I say, again?" She giggled.
Dorcas neither laughed nor smiled, but the softening of his eyes let her know he recognized her. "I hope we find you well Mara?" She nodded enthusiastically. "Sadly now is not the time..." He trailed off, brown eyes drawing to the raucous laughter drawing closer, screams louder.
The woman nodded. "If you're already assisting..." He nodded for her to continue, "And by the sounds of it, another kind soul is fighting beside you..." another nod, "Then it would be both rude and faulty of me not to assist you." She laughed loudly.
As she urged her stallion into a gallop towards the bandits, Mara called over her shoulder. "Keep together with your other ally! Watch each other's backs!" before drawing the sword strapped securely to her thigh and charging headfirst into battle.
Dorcas could only shake his head before leaving to find Bartre. Mara hadn't changed, it seemed; more on the sane side, but still... Mara.
Leaving the few bandits at the town's entrance to Dorcas and Bartre, Mara rode out of the village, immediately spotting a young man in gold armor upon a brown mare a short distance away. The girl clicked her tongue in distaste. He was fighting alone, one of the few strategies Mara could still remember failing miserably in the past.
Her horse reared back, the appearance of a bandit she had failed to notice due to distraction frightening Vanity. Mara fought hard to contain her laughter when the man received a hoof to his face, momentarily stunning him. Not one to give up a cherry picking, Mara quickly trot forward, Flinching as her sword slashed at the man's face. As much as Mara loved the feel of a sword in her hand, she rather hated the feel of the blade as it pierced flesh and bone.
The bandit fell, shouting out in agony, not quite at the point of unconsciousness, but Mara ignored him, blocking out the sound. Sadly she couldn't block out the sickening crunch as Vanity's hooves met with his skull, in substitute of her blade.
Turning back to Lowen, Mara almost had a freak attack. "Cavalier, Archer at 6 o'clock!" She called out, charging toward said archer. The green haired man disarmed the bandit in front of him and looked behind him just in time to dodge an arrow send to his head. Shuddering and releasing a breath of relief, Mara stuck her boot out as she charged slightly past the distance unit, knocking his head hard.
She turned and suppressed a curse as she saw him up in a crouch, bow drawn and arrow already cocked. A javelin flew through the air and through the archer's stomach, both fatally wounding him, and throwing the arrow off course.
She felt like falling off her horse at this point. It wasn't even half an hour in yet and she was already exhausted. The one year break from violence, already seeming ages away, added to her realization in the last journey that it was all real, had very much re-sensitized her to the battles.
"Thank you..." Mara said, rather breathlessly, when Lowen came to retrieve his javelin.
He smiled hesitantly, nodding in acknowledgment, but wary of her hidden face. "Just returning the favor."
She smiled brightly, though he couldn't see it very well, and waved enthusiastically, before setting off to find the young lord in charge of the fight. He wasn't far, closer to the other village, and with a dark green braided haired girl, Rebeccah, by his side. That left Marcus on his own elsewhere. Paladins can handle measly bandits.
Mara noticed after a moment that, with no other bandits about this spot, Lowen was rather slowly and awkwardly following her, making the girl grin again and gesture him forward with her. If he needed new instruction, she wouldn't stand in his way.
When he came up beside her in their gallop, she, oddly enough, remained silent. He kept glancing at her warily, and Mara was quick to notice, but kept to herself, laughing inwardly.
"My Lord!" They both called out at once as they slowed to a stop before the red head, making Mara stifle a giggle. "My lord, if you can make use of me, please do!" Mara exclaimed, cutting in front of the Cavalier with a huge crazy grin visible from under the wide rim of her hood.
"I'd recognize that smile anywhere." Eliwood spoke, relief and amusement clear in his voice. "Is that you Lady Mara?"
Said girl giggled when she saw Lowen mouth her name confusedly. Throwing back her hood, the tactician greeted her young lord with a mock salute. "Salutations, my good man! Is it time to kick some arse?" Lowen only gaped at her silently while Rebeccah giggled.
Eliwood replied in good humor. "I suppose it is. If you would be so kind as to guide us?"
"Do you need to ask?" She asked in a light, laughing tone.
Lowen looked between the two and hesitantly asked, "You know this person, milord?"
"Yes," he smiled glancing up at the cavalier. "I met Mara during the trouble in Caelin last year. She is rather beyond our ways of thought, but a fantastic military advisor, if memory serves." Mara blushed at the praise and avoidance of outright calling her mad like seemingly everyone else. "If not for Mara, the marquess of Caelin and his Granddaughter, Lyn, might not have survived Lundgren's uprising."
"You flatter me, my lord." Mara replied, voice reverting to that of a five year old, squirming uncomfortably on her horse. "I'm not so awesome."
While Lowen looked at her weirdly, Rebeccah smiled bemusedly, but just Eliwood continued with a wider smile, making Mara remember little things from the game. "What brings you to Pherae, my friend?"
"Just traveling about. Came to Pherae on a whim; felt like I'd be needed." She shrugged. Leaning exaggeratedly to the side to see past Eliwood, the girl saw the lilac haired Marcus approaching. "A paladin, fabulous!"
"Ah, Marcus!" Eliwood exclaimed, turning on the spot to greet the approaching knight.
"Milord." He arrested respectfully, tipping his head.
The red haired young man, turned to Mara and nodded, gesturing her to begin.
"Alrighty. Paladin, 2 Cavaliers, Archer, swordsman Lord..." Mara looked down, stroking the neck of Vanity, hiding her eyes as they turned calculative. After studying and learning the real way to be a tactician, Mara stopped relying on memories, and her chess mind kicked in more than ever. She hated how cold her eyes would become whenever her intellect came into play.
"I have evaluated their strength and numbers, and to be honest, I do believe that a worthy paladin alone could take on these numbers. However, experience is highly important, so, Marcus was it." The elder man nodded sharply in the corner of her eye. "I ask that you move forward, bypass the field between towns, and assist the farther settlement in fending off these thugs. Cavalier, Archer, could I have your names?"
"My name is Rebeccah, lady tactician." The dark green haired girl replied promptly, smiling in what looked like feminine pride. The man with lighter green hair started slightly, but introduced himself with little pause.
"Rebeccah, Lowen, pleasure. Normally I would allow partners to socialize and learn to get along, however we have no time for that. I will have the two of you head into the field to pick off those that are meandering between settlements." They glanced at each other and nodded, confident that they wouldn't bring one another down. "My Lord." He looked up at Mara, a grim seriousness in his blue eyes as they met her green. "You and I will head for the nearest village. I do believe an old companion of mine will be nearly finished there, so we can find him and his friend, before bumping Lowen and Rebeccah forward to assist Marcus." The three younger fighters nodded in all seriousness, and Marcus soon followed, having missed the conversation beforehand and only following his lord's judgments.
After the admittedly short battle, Eliwood, and Marcus, stood by the village gates speaking with the mayor, Dorcas and Bartre missing from the crowd, while Lowen escorted a pouting archer home, and Mara stood out in the field with her Stallion, waiting for everyone to come back.
"I'm nervous!" She blurted out to the horse. "E gad, I'm so going to die, and I'm going to get everyone else killed, but that's only if Hector doesn't kill me when we meet up with him first!" The roan haired girl groaned. "Ah, I shouldn't have made such a bad impression! He's going to kill meeeeee~" She slumped against the horse's neck. Vanity snorted. "Oh don't get sarcastic with me mister! I'm serious!"
Straightening her back rigidly, Mara began pacing back and forth in a short line, fiddling with her sleeve. "What if no one likes me? Hector doesn't, and Serra kinda sorta hates me in a mutual sorta way, and I don't think Rath liked me at all, and, and ugh!" She slumped against her horse once more. "I'm seventeen~ I'm gonna go grey~ I'm gonna be a friendless, jobless, old before her time tactician with a million cats!" The girl cried.
Vanity stepped out of her way, and Mara stumbled for a moment before catching herself. "Ha! Take that Sin! I pown you noob!" He pushed her over with his muzzle, and just stared at him incredulously. "I-I can't believe you just did that." She eventually stuttered out, wide eyed and pouting.
"Lady... Lady Mara?"
The tactician swiveled in her spot on the ground and her face stretched into a cat-like smile when she found an amused party of 5 men behind her, though she noted that Marcus looked more than a little skeptical. "That's me!" She sang.
"I would like to thank you for your guidance, Lady Mara." Eliwood stepped forward, hand over his heart in a sign of sincerity.
"Your thanks is more than I could ask for, my lord." Mara grinned brightly, rising to her feet. "I still owe you for your assistance last year."
Marcus looked slightly inquisitive, so the tactician turned to look at him, tilting her head to the side in question. "As the tactician of an army, would it not be your employer that owes your favors?"
It was the first time he had spoken to her, and Mara knew she'd have to try hard to break through his knightly exterior... And interior. With a giggle, the girl leaned forward and placed a finger across her lips as though she was telling a secret. "Lady Lyndis wasn't my employer, but my friend. Besides, the mini-army was my responsibility, so I chose to be responsible for everything; favors included."
She saw Eliwood smile as Marcus and Lowen frowned in thought. "You're definitely the same woman I met before."
"Oh, My Lord, I'm so glad you think so! Though calling someone like me a woman might be a stretch of the imagination." Her grin turned cheeky. "The maturity of a woman eludes me yet."
"I don't think you give yourself enough credit." She just shrugged. "Where are you bound for next? You said you felt as though you would be needed here?"
"I have no known destinations, but I don't think I'm needed here specifically." She shrugged one shoulder awkwardly, grimacing as she eyed to road forward. There would be a lot of trouble in the future.
Eliwood seemed to brighten. "If you have no destination in mind, perhaps you could travel with us." Mara's eyes sparkled, but she couldn't get a word in as he continued, speaking as though he was warning her, yet reassuring her. "Ours is a small group, with a single purpose; to find my father." He looked down briefly, and the girl stayed silent solely out of respect, acknowledging the dreaded future. "I don't know where our road will lead, but we would be stronger with you in our company." There was a tense silence as Mara stared him in the eye, observing the silent fire that the game could never portray. The fire dimmed slightly. "I understand. I shouldn't have pushe-" Mara smiled bemusedly and he cut himself off, flushed as he realized she hadn't really replied yet.
"You have a fire in your eyes, my lord." She mused quietly. "I would be daft to turn down the opportunity to see you set fire to the rain."
His grin was young and nearly untainted, something Mara found to be quite rare both here, and back in her old home. "You will travel with us?" She nodded happily. "Splendid! I pray we give you no cause to regret you decision."
"I doubt anything could make me regret a journey of purpose, my lord Eliwood." She laughed.
As they turned to leave, Mara staying on the ground and leading her horse, the tactician looked about the company and observed the units that would be with her for a long time to come. Simply nodding to Dorcas, already knowing how he worked, and promising a conversation later, she started with his companion, Bartre.
The man was involved in a very one sided conversation with Natalie's red haired husband, talking in a loud, laughing voice that betrayed a laid back, and slightly careless nature. A good contrast to his calm, silent friend. Sadly, while their personalities worked in tandem, the weaponry and fighting style partnership left much to be desired. Two men wielding axes with so little armor left large holes in their defenses. He would need someone like Matthew, able to pick off those fighting through his defense, or perhaps a Mage to fill his gaps in power, though that also left defense as an issue; perhaps all three.
Next she observed Lowen. He was young, but he had a strong heart, though it did stutter at times. Nothing he couldn't work on. He appeared wary of his surroundings, glancing to the sides often as though expecting something to come out of the trees any moment. It was a miracle he didn't see that archer sooner. His only downfall was a lack of experience, so, Mara thought, best to put him beside someone on his level, or someone he can learn from, Marcus, or Rebeccah.
"Milord!" Speak of the devil and the devil shall appear. Or in this case think of the devil. Sprinting down the beaten path they had been walking was the green haired archer herself, waving the group down. "Milord Eliwood, please wait!"
Mara stopped walking and soon the men did as well. Immediately she started observing the archer. Among the party, she would be very welcome, as there were no mages and no long distance fighters unless they got their hands on some hand-axes, or Lowen used another javelin. She would need to be with someone who could protect her at close range. Marcus currently would only be brought down by a partner, so that would leave herself, or Lowen. She would probably put the two green haired young adults together until better options arrise.
Blinking rapidly, Mara snapped out of her thoughts and realized that someone was trying to get her attention. "I'm sorry, what was the question?" She asked lifting her head.
Eliwood's concerned face met her gaze. "Are you alright?"
She laughed his concerns away. "Yes, I'm just peachy. Sorry, thinking too hard on future tactics. Is lady Rebeccah joining us as well?" Said girl blushed.
Relieved, he nodded. "I was just asking if you would mind."
Mara laughed again. "Having her with us would be fabulous from a tactician's point of view! But my lord," She peered up at him foxily. "You needn't ask my permission on whether someone can join you. You ARE the leader, are you not? And I haven't been hired yet." At his look, Mara laughed a third time. "I'm kidding!"
Marcus was looking at her skeptically again, so she nodded to Rebeccah and turned her attention to him so she could properly introduce herself. First, of course, she passed up her rains to the young lord with a wink a gestured that he could get on with a tilt of her head. She skipped over to the side of his pure white stallion and started her old routine.
"Hi! I'm Mara, I'm a tactician who's been working with strategies sense I could think!" Chess, she told herself. "I worked with lady Lyndis when she first left Sacae, and fought beside her until the end! I'll do my best to see everyone through to the end! Now, may I have a proper introduction to the biggest unit of the party?" She asked like she hadn't hit puberty yet.
He simply stared at her before stating his name shortly and continuing forward.
Mara stopped in place and twitched in annoyance of herself. If she was going to keep acting like that, then of course people weren't going to like her. Of course her fears would come true! Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. It was all so much easier when she thought they weren't real.
A large, calloused hand engulfed her shoulder, and the teen looked up to find Dorcas's patient stare, and beyond him Lowen's worried frown. Mara flushed in shame. Of course not everyone would like her, no one can be lived by everyone, but there are people who would like her the way she is. She smiled reassuringly at them, kindly removing the fatherly man's hand. Turning forward to see Rebeccah and Eliwood with the same look Lowen gave her filled her with an odd euphoria she didn't recognize, and hit her with what felt like an adrenalin rush.
Radiating joy, making the other smile, Mara sprinted ahead of the group. "Ahaha! Once more I have a troop under my blue wing! We shall turn the sky red, the sea black, the grass shall stay green, and the wind shall turn purple! It's time to take Elibe by storm!" She laughed evilly.
"There's the Mara I know." Dorcas shook his head, smirking.
An: I accidentally removed this from the last chapter, so I'll put it down here.
Who should I pair Mara with? (You may choose more than one person. If you already voted, feel free to add more characters to the list)
I'm open to ideas, and will take count at the end of each chapter, but I can't guarentee that she will end up with the number one result in the end. She will be in more than one relationship (She's 17 for christ's sake, of couse she is) so even if your pairing isn't chosen in the end, she may have some time together with your choice.
Current votes:
Heath - 1
Matthew - 1