Third chapter is up. I thank all my reviewers. ( I want to thank A-non-e-moose and Little Liger for their reviews here since I can't Pm them.) Again, for those of you who don't review, would it really kill you to take 40 seconds to review this if I could take 40 min. to write it? Seriously, you took the time to read to chapter 3. You must have something to say : )

"I want to thank you again for aiding us, General Ike." Lucia walked on his side opposite to Soren. Her half smile and saddened eyes offered her solemn gratitude.

"Call me Ike. Noble titles never suited me."

"All right…Ike then. I know that Princess Elincia feels much better knowing that you are leading us. She hasn't been able to relax since King Caineghis' message was delivered."

"The castle is within an hours distance… I hear sounds of battle, Ike? Should I devise a strategy or do attempt to go around it?"

"A battle? I hadn't noticed."

"Up ahead. I've heard it for some time now." Lucia looked upwards. "Smoke is even in the sky."

"We've been at war so much that it's becoming second nature. No, we have to intersect it. We may be able to get some answers"

"The battle appears to be over the hill. Smoke is heavy so there is undoubtedly fire. Armored units should stay behind to avoid burns due to overheated metal and archers should be well guarded. With the smoke so heavy it will be hard for them to see the enemy. If information is what we're after and information alone, we should not engaged them unless we are engaged first."

"All right, everyone! You heard him. Attack the enemy only if you are attacked first. Protect vulnerable units. Greil mercenaries, move out!"

The valley burned in the flames. What showed signs of once being an inhabited area fell victim to the conflagration as it spread from tree to tree. Laguz cats and tigers fled in every direction, their cries of despair, anger, and pain coveting the skies as much as the smoke. It paralleled with the great roar of the fire played a dirge, the perfect requiem for the warriors who attempted to fight in their weakened condition. They charged onward with no chance of victory or salvation, only to preserve their sense of honor and pride that burned with what they once called their home. They became silhouettes in the distance, who faded from dark outlines to shadows, and then to nothing at all.

A group of four beorc soldiers rode from the ashes towards the mercenaries. In the lead was a strong man with blue locks who wielded a lance in his right hand and a torch in his left. His three subordinates stayed right behind him in a perfect line. They traveled in the same formation, never once getting out of step. Their posture, their pace, their expression, all was in perfect conformity.

Lucia's eyes widened and her mouth gaped. She froze like a statue; the expression of shock etched beautifully on her face. "The man at their lead… it…its Geoffrey… Why is he…?"

"We'll find out soon enough. It looks like he's coming towards us."

The four horsemen stopped in perfect order in front of them, their faces expressionless, the chance of recognition absent from them. It almost appeared that they stopped systematically; like the mercenaries presence in their path was the only reason for their halting.

"Geoffrey… Princess Elincia has worried endlessly about you! How could you and your men stay missing so long without sending word?!" Lucia grew angrier at his blank stare. "Why won't you answer me?! This is a complete disregard for your rank!"

"Destroy all sub-humans…" He spoke in a low, monotone voice.

The Conflagration-

"Head for higher ground! The hills are primarily dirt! Fire won't catch to it as easily! Help the injured! Leave the dead. There's nothing that we can do for them now!…What a mess…What is going on?" Ranulf ran from the addled group of laguz that he had just instructed in order to help two others who pulled desperately at a comrade trapped beneath the fallen remnants of a burning tree.

"Ranulf!" The female shouted. "Please, help us! My husband!…"

Before she could finish her sentence, he had turned into his beast form. The blue cat tackled the enflamed tree tirelessly, ignoring the damage done to himself until the elder had been freed. He fell back into his human form, his left side singed from his efforts.

The woman immediately knelt down at her husband's side, coddling his head in her lap. Her son, the younger male, roared towards the sky in frustration. His lips lifted up to reveal white, sharp fangs. The tiger laguz glared at the top of the hill, a low growl developing again in the back of his throat. "Those humans! They set the entire field on fire! Graar! Cowards! They know that they would stand no chance against us so they would rather burn us alive!"

"The three of you need to get out of here." He winced from the pain of his side. "Fire is not something that us beast laguz are too fond of. At least I don't like it."

"Come on now! Help me carry your father! He is too heavy for me alone!" The woman pleaded.

"No! They're blood….it will be mine!"

"Wait! Tell me, who were these….humans?" The word fell forced from his mouth. "My orders from the king were to find who started the fires. I'll deal with them."

"Up on the hill. Graar! There was a blue haired one. It had the armor of a human general. And then there was one with fire red hair! It swung around an axe as it rode."

"It couldn't be… Ike? Titania?" He listened, attempting to remain expressionless as the tiger continued.

"The worst was the one with long, dark hair. It stayed hidden behind the others and attacked from afar and hit us when we couldn't attack back! Graah! They will pay!"

"Soren…" His face uncharacteristically darkened. "No. I'll take it from here. I need to find out why they attacked us. Get yourselves to safety. The only way we can defeat them is by making sure as few die as possible. Make sure the other survivors stay together in case there is a second wave. "

He ran up the hillside, the fire behind him still scourging the valley. "Crimea…could it really be Ike? No. There's something more to this. It wouldn't make sense for that to be it." He mused to himself as he approached the still group on the hilltop. "Damn it! I can hear Skrimir coming! That's the last thing this situation needs!"

He reached the top. The first thing he noticed was the torches carried by the four Crimean knights. The small flame atop them burned with the valley, their orange and red shades dancing with the giant conflagration. The hair on his neck stood up as his eyes widened.

"Was it really you, Ike?" He felt his cool composure begin to slip. "Did you betray us? The descriptions matched you..."

"Death to all sub-humans…" Astrid said in a chant tone as she readied her bow."

"Astrid, what're you…" Lucia could barely get out.

"Hsss!" He no longer hid his anger. "Then so be it! Gallia and Crimea can't co-exist after all. I'll report this back to Skrimir!" He barely said in time to dodge the arrow. He transformed back into his beast form, running due south to where he had heard Skrimir roaring in preparation for battle.

"Ranulf! Come back!" Ike called after him. There was no response.

Conversations

Lucia and Ike

"Ike! Geoffrey, Kieran, Astrid, and Makalov are missing! They escaped!"

"Blast it? Weren't they tied up and guarded like I ordered?"

"The guard was found unconscious. We don't know how they got free… Geoffrey, why are you doing this? When he looked at me before, it was like he had no idea who I was at all…"

"There's something strange about them, that's for sure. It doesn't even seem like they're them. Why would they attack Ranulf? Or the settlement? It looks like we may have a couple battles to prepare for. Ranulf speaking against us won't stand well for us. I don't think that we'll be able to avoid all the troops until we get to the castle."

"It's all so pointless…"

Ike and Gatrie

"Woo! Seems like we got ourselves into another predicament, eh boss?"

"It would seem so."

"Well, I got a chance to meet this real cute cat woman while we were rescuing some survivors from the settlement. She was something else!"

"…Did it go well for you?"

"Nah. I tried to carry her out of the fire but she hissed at me in some language I couldn't understand and scratched me across the nose. See this nice little mark? Love can hurt."

"Hm."

"Gee, you seem distracted."

"We could be going to war again. How could I not be?"

"I think Commander Ike has something else on his mind. You can tell Ol' Gatrie! Come on, what's the lass' name?"

"I guess it is refreshing to see that amidst all this you are still unaffected."

Soren and Gatrie

"Aw! Don't tell me that you're reading again."

"Is there something I can help you with?"

"Naw. Just bored. Figured we'd chat."

"Go find Shinon. I have work to do."

"That's not a very nice response! No wonder you're still alone. We really need to find you a lady friend."

"Love interests become obstacles in strategy and war, hence they serve no relevance to my work and would become nothing but a distraction. Now if you would kindly…"

"There has to be someone you would consider… Mia? Titania?…no, she's way too old. How about Mist?""…"

"Do you like that idea? You and Mist? That might be a little hard to work but with just enough…."

"Does your incessant rambling ever have an end? This book has more to offer me than anything you could possibly come up with."

"Sheesh. Sorry I tried to help."

Shinon and Mia

"Well, sorry. S.O.R.R.Y I didn't shoot you in the head when I got the chance. Are you happy now?"

"No! I don't want you to go easy on me. Its not training if I don't grow any from it!"

"Too bad. I don't feel like getting another cut in my pay because I feathered one of my allies. Why don't you go train with someone more on your level before you challenge me again?"

"What? Are you saying that you're better than me?"

"That's what it usually means when you beat someone. I got a new bow to make. Go play with someone else."

"You'll see! The next time we spar, you're going down!"

Ranulf and Skrimir

"I'm glad that you understand now, Ranulf. The humans are untrustworthy pests! They deserve to die for what they have put the laguz through.!"

"…."

"They were your former friends but still they were willing to attack you for their enjoyment. Graah! What right do they think they have?"

"…"

"Only idiotic little humans would think that they could enter the land of the proud and mighty beast tribe without consequence! We will crush them until they understand their insignificance!"

"…"

"Why are you so silent, Ranulf? You should be rejoicing. You now know the truth about humans. You should be proud with the thought that you will be one of the first to tear into their flesh and crush their bones!"

"That valley and those people…it was where I was born."

"…"

Support

Ike and Mia-C

"Hey, boss! Ready for another round?"

"Do you do anything but train?"

"Huh? Why would I do that? I gotta stay sharp for the battlefield. Can't let anyone else get the best of me, after all!"

"If you keep going like this they will."

"Huh?"

"By the time we battle you'll be too tired to do as much as lift your sword. Is that what you want to happen?"

"Well, no. You may have a point there. All right! I'll rest for a few minutes. Then its back to training, though!"

"Where do you get all this energy?"

That's the end of this chapter. It was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be to make the four Crimean knights sound like the Greil mercenaries. And there was a large number of conversations, I know. (But who doesn't love listening to the characters converse back and forth about topics quite often irrelevant to the plot?) As always, suggestions for conversations and support are always welcome and will be done at some point. I thank those who put this story under favorites. (I hope to hear from you.) Anonymous reviews are always appreciated and I hope that those of you who reviewed will continue to review! Sincere thanks!