Sorry that I didn't update quickly. Gotta Algebra exam coming up and I've been stressing about it. I'm a little 8th grader that didn't take pre-algebra that skipped it completely and went straight to Algebra 1! T.T Oh well, I have a B in that class, so I'm good. By the way, I'm more comfortable writing in 1st person POV, so I'll write in Abby's POV. That okay? Well, I hope you enjoy this chapter! ^_^
(Abby's POV.)
I walked over to the green fields, the pine smell filling my nose. My sword held on my waist and my black hair falling in front of my face. I saw everyone already in the open area, training just in case we were called on another mission. Never know when those towns' folk will need us, right? Last week we had to get a little kids cat out of a tree and we thought someone was dying or something. At least we got the cat I guess. That's all that matters.
It's been about nine months since I joined up with the Greil Mercenaries. They've all treated me like family. Ike's been helping me master my ways with a sword. Rolf has been hanging out with me. He says that I'm like an older sister to him, him being a year or so younger than me. Mia loved to spar with me when she had the chance. Well, she likes to spar with just about everyone. Soren… he doesn't like me too much, but I've noticed that he's actually starting to have conversations with me about tactical strategies and all that good stuff. I think he's starting to warm up to me after all this time.
"Abby, you're here!" A girly voice called as it ran up to me. No one other than Mia could have a voice like that. Maybe Mist, but she doesn't like to train much with us. I usually find her working by herself behind her tent with her sword.
"Hey Mia. You seem more chipper than usual today, anything special going on?" I asked, following her to our usual stop for dueling. She took out her steel sword slowly, as if to intimidate me. I smirked and pulled mine out as well.
She shrugged. "Nope, not really! I guess I'm just really happy today! I have a feeling that we're going on an assignment soon, maybe that's why. The last one was really boring. We didn't get to kill any bandits, just rescuing a cat… well, it did make that kid happy," She muttered to herself. I chuckled and thrusted my blade at her. She dodged and pouted. "Hey, I wasn't ready!"
"At least you got out of the way in time!" I teased.
She smirked and gave me a look that said, "You are going down." I took that gaze as a challenge. We both clashed our weapons together, causing a loud clang to be sent out through the area. They hit each other repeatedly, no one landing a single blow. That is, until she looked to the other way and lost her focus. I parried her weapon, sending it flying out of her hand.
"Ha, I beat you this time!" I declared. Right as I said that, a burst of fire appeared in front of my foot, making me jump a little. I looked to where it had come from and saw Soren with his Fire Tomb. I glared at him, while he only smiled.
"Soren, was that really necessary?" Ike asked with a disapproving expression on his face.
"Yes it was. You have an announcement and she wasn't paying attention to you, so I cast a spell to get her attention. Doesn't that work?" The mage shot back. Ike sighed and shrugged his shoulders.
"Anyway," Ike began, "I've gotten a message… from the royal palace. It seems Lady Lucia has been taken captive by Duke Ludveck, the same man who is trying to start a full-blown civil war. One of the royal knights rode up to our base today and informed us that Ludveck and his army are going to be advancing on Fort Alpea, where the queen is hiding. He's told us that the royal knights headed out about five hours ago, which is probably enough time for Ludveck's army to get to the fort. We have reason to believe that Lucia is going to be held as a bartering item if Ludveck looses and is captured. Our mission is to rescue Lucia is it becomes necessary. Our main concern is to stay hidden and not make our move until the last possible second. Does everyone understand?"
We all nodded.
"Good. We head out in ten minutes. Meet me and Titania at the edge of the base so we can leave," He commanded. We all made our way to our tents to get our supplies. I walked into my small tent and took some herbs out of my stash that I keep under my bed. I figured that I wouldn't need much. I put my sword on my waist, making sure it was secure. I smirked in satisfaction and met everyone at the edge of camp.
"Am I the only one who doesn't want to go on this mission," Shinion muttered.
"Yes," The rest of us said in unison. He grunted and put his bow on his back, not saying a word. After that, we started making our way to the fort. The weird thing was… we didn't even think about the mission as we walked. It was as if we were all just taking a hike in the woods with nothing to worry about. As if no ones life was in danger. I guess it's so we aren't stressed and freaking out at the battle.
Ike slowed his pace down and stood next to me. "Sorry about earlier. Soren just has his… ways of getting peoples attention I guess. Fire is one of them," He apologized. I smiled and shrugged. "So, what's been going on with you lately?"
"Nothing much. Training, rescuing cats out of trees, all that fun stuff," I said sarcastically. He pushed me playfully in the shoulder and I pushed back. We both chuckled to ourselves and looked at each other for a split second. "What about you?"
"Same. But I don't think the cat liked me very much. It tried to claw my face out! And somehow, I get along with Laguz great," He mumbled. I laughed.
"Maybe that's because you helped about two hundred back at that camp! If it wasn't for you, then I would still be working in the fields and mines. You guys saved a lot of people and their families," I replied. He shook his head with a smirk placed on his lips.
"Are you ever going to let me forget that? I helped get you out of that hell hole, what's the big deal? Can't you just say 'thanks' and be done with it?" He joked. I shook my head like he had before. "Figures. You're one of the most stubborn people I have ever met."
"But that's why you keep me around," I teased. He didn't answer. I glanced over at him and I thought… I saw a pinkish blush touch his cheeks. His gaze moved over to me and I looked away quickly, my face becoming slightly flushed in embarrassment that he had seen me looking at him.
Boyd, who was in front of the group announced, "I can see the fort, we're almost there! Whoa… you guys gotta see this battle, it's intense!" Ike and I looked at each other in worry and ran to catch up with the green haired warrior.
He was right. People were shouting and you could hear soldiers screaming from their wounds on the battlefield. It almost made me cringe, but I'm a soldier myself, so I can't let it faze me too much. There were small fires spreading all across the grounds and the worst part was… all of these people were from the same country, fighting over something stupid.
"Boss, isn't that Queen Elincia leading the army?" Rolf questioned from behind us. Ike and I couldn't see much through the smoke, so it was hard to tell. I squinted my eyes and saw what looked like the outline of a Pegasus.
"Damn, she is commander. Elincia is heading the whole fleet. She's on the top of the fort seeing over the fight," I told him. He cursed under his breath.
"We have to keep moving! We don't stop until we get at least two hundred yards away from the gates of the castle! Besides, I have a feeling this fight is going to be over pretty soon," Ike directed. We followed his orders and made our way down the hill and toward the fort. As we got closer, we began to see what looked like a mob of people. There in the center was a stand with a rope… to hang someone. If their leader failed, they would hang Lucia to get her majesty to hand Ludveck over. At least, that's what I guessed they would do.
"Where do we go?" Rhys asked quietly, as if the shouting mob of people would hear him.
"Shinion, Rolf, you guys go into that tree. If they put Lucia's head into the rope, shoot it and brake the knot. Rhys, Mist, you guys go into the crowd so when we hand Lucia off to you, you can heal any wounds she may have. Soren, Mia, Abby, Gatrie, Boyd and I will spread around the whole group. Oscar and Titania, you guys wait in the woods. The signal will be Rolf's or Shinion's arrow cutting the rope. Once it flies, we go. After that… we improvise," Ike planned out. "Alright, go!"
The whole group dispersed and went to their areas that they had been assigned. My party ended up surrounding the large group from the woods. I could see Titania's horse slightly sticking out of the thick brush, while the others I couldn't see at all. We waited there for what seemed like forever before anything was heard of the ending of the battle.
"Duke Ludveck has been defeated! Bring out the girl!" One of the soldiers called to another. An unsettled murmur was spread throughout the crowd. I looked over to where the other guard had been and saw a woman with short blue hair being brought out. I took it that the person was in fact Lucia. She didn't show any signs of struggle when they put her onto the platform. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but it seemed to be addressed to someone on the fort.
It was Elincia.
My body tensed and I put a hand on the hilt of my sword. She turned away from the crowd and left. I wondered where she was going. The whole area was still and quiet. It made me want to just move in right now and save Lucia. But I was given orders to not move a muscle until an arrow flew through the air.
About ten minutes later, the queen returned with a sad expression on her face. I couldn't quite make out what she was saying, but it sounded something on the lines of not letting Ludveck go and making him stand trial. I bit my bottom lip and drew my sword.
Lucia stood proud on the platform, not seeming scared at all. I looked to where Rolf and Shinion were. Rolf had his bow pulled back, but he didn't fire. He let the string back down and looked at the older archer. Shinion sighed and pulled his bow back, letting the arrow fly. The arrow hit its mark perfectly, Lucia falling off of the stand. I saw Ike run out of his position and catch her. The crowd let out a gasp at his appearance. I chuckled and let Ike take the glory for a while. He pulled out Ettard, his best sword, and killed three soldiers at once, while keeping the girl on his shoulder. I figured that he had, had enough pride for this mission and ran out with all of the others.
The Greil Mercenaries fought the whole lot of soldiers. No one even got hurt. I looked over my shoulder and saw Ike hand Lucia off to Rhys and Mist. They both set her down on the ground and Rhys pulled out his mend staff. He began to say the spell or prayer or whatever it is… but there was five guards coming up on them quickly. I ran up to them, killing the first one with a single swipe of my steel blade. The other four took a step back and glared at me.
"Thanks Abby. We didn't see them coming," Mist said from behind me. I nodded with a smile on my face. I charged at the defense force with my weapon held high. Lets just say I took care of them with ease. The only wound I got was a small cut on my arm. I looked back at Rhys and Mist to find Lucia looking fine, but she was asleep.
"She'll wake up in a couple hours at most. We should get her back to her majesty. She's been though a lot, I bet she'll want to see her best friend," Rhys implied. "Commander, everything is done here!"
Ike responded to the call by jogging over to us. "Excellent. I'll carry her up to the main room. Abby, you can come with me if you want. Mist, Rhys, you both look really tired. Why don't you guys head on home with the others. Abby and I will catch up later."
They both smirked. "Thanks brother!" Mist yelled as she ran to get with the rest of the Greil Mercenaries. Rhys laughed and followed the red haired girl. I looked at Ike, who was smiling.
"Come on. The queen wants to talk to me. I wanted you to stay behind 'cause I wanted someone to back me up if I'm in any trouble," He joked. I pushed him in the shoulder and he pushed back. "Don't do that, I'm carrying a person!"
"Oh right, sorry."
If you've played Radiant Dawn, then you'll know what Elincia has to talk to Ike about. Did you like it better in first person or third person better? I like righting in first person for Fire Emblem stories, but third person for anything else… it's weird. Hope you liked this one and sorry that it was delayed! ^_^ Please review and be nice! Thanks!
