Just telling you now. With the direction they left in the previous chapter (to the north) I felt it necessary to turn this map on its side. If it was the same directions, they could have skipped over half of the map. So, West is now North, North is now East, ect.
Also, I'm making this a Christmas (or whatever holiday you celebrate) present, and dedicated to AquaticSilver, because that last review you gave me motivated me to write the last 2000 words of this!
Chapter 3 - Tears and Tears
As they made the fast trek to Santaruz, Mara couldn't keep her mind on the situation. No, she was too busy attempting to avoid the pink haired Cleric with daggers in her eyes. That lasted for all of about 5 minutes. The tactician walked stiffed backed, and straight kneed (rather awkwardly too), Matthew jogging ahead with a cackle hiding under his breath, with Serra beside her in an irate silence.
Mara turned a wide grin to the other girl and pointed to the head of the group. "Y'know, I'm just gonna-
"You left!" Serra snapped out in fury, making Mara flinch. "You left and didn't say your farewells to anyone. Not even Sain! Not even Matthew! Not even ME!"
"I've never been fond of goodbyes; too much-
"No excuses." She hissed venomously. Mara winced, never much liking fighting either. "You just up and left, without a care to whether or not we'd like to know if we'd ever see you again. You left everyone either sad, angry, or worried out of their minds about your safety."
"I wasn't!" Matthew called out from behind Hector, making Mara look up from the ground that had seemed so much more appealing to look at than Serra's red face. She flushed in embarrassment. Everyone but Marcus, Oswin, and Dorcas were glancing back; Eliwood with a look of curiosity and concern, Lowen, Bartre, and Rebeccah with confusion, and Hector and Matthew with very much amusement.
"Quiet you, you don't count." Serra ground out at the thief.
"Lady Lyndis wasn't either." Matthew looked far too gleeful contradicting Serra.
"I trusted our tactician to know what she was doing." Dorcas spoke against the girl, looking over his shoulder for a moment with a small bemused smile. Mara's face positively glowed at his statement.
"None of you count. The people who really matter-
"Are you saying Lyndis is insignificant?" Mara felt Matthew to be a heaven sent, even if he was really only making the girl angry.
Seeing the Cleric distracted, Mara attempted to escape from the beast and started to jog a little, hoping to make it to the lords and out of the pinkette's claws. "That's not what I meant and you know- Oh no you don't!" Dainty hands grabbed on to the bobbing brown hood of Mara's cloak and tugged, making her teeter and windmill her arms to keep balance. She heard Hector snort in laughter and her red face came back.
Thankfully, or not, Mara could now come up with a distraction of her own. "Oh, hey, look; it's the castle!" Green eyes narrowed, watching as a darkly armored - and severely balding - soldier approached her Lords. "Time to start." She grinned, already feeling the adrenalin that would come in just a few moments.
"Oh no you don't I'm not done with you-
"You can whine and complain all you want later." Mara snapped, eyes glazed over with ice. "Right now, we have jobs to do."
"What?" Blinking at the redhead, Serra turned her attention away in time to watch the green haired knight retreat laughing. Eliwood had to restrain Hector from pursuing.
Shaking off Serra's slack fingers, Mara sprinted to the head of the group. "Situation?"
Eliwood sighed wearily. "It looks as though we have another battle afoot."
Mara stared at the Lord for just a moment, absently noting Hector muttering 'I'll show him who's a wolf' for later amusement. How in the hells had this man survived all of the fighting they were in for?
"My Lord Eliwood, will you be alright?" She asked, eyes softening. He simply nodded, gripping his rapier in determination. Mara inclined her head in acknowledgement. Looking to Hector, she snorted at the thought of giving the man encouragement. He looked about ready to tear off some heads.
Striding to the river bank, she observed what little she could see and sagged with relief. It looked like there were still no mages at this point, and no enabled units either. In fact... there didn't look to be many enemy units at all. But there was too much hill and cliff side to be sure of anything just yet. Scanning the surrounding area, Mara recognised the familiar sight of rickety trees next by the water. She would be splitting the group then.
"Everyone!" Mara called out, striding to Rebeccah and Vanity's side to help the girl dismount. The stern expression on her face kept the new members attention. "It's time to get started. Dorcas, You see the trees by the shoreline to the east of us? On the farthest patch, can you recognise what I need from you?" Taking but a moment, Dorcas, who was familiar with many of the girl's tactics and strategies nodded, not taking his eyes off his next destination. "I want you to take Bartre, Lowen and Rebeccah that way, and meet us on the other side. You can fill them in on the way."
"Understood Mara." Without a word, he started the short way to the riverside, Bartre following in confusion.
Rebeccah and Lowen hesitated. "My Lady... There is nothing for us there..." It sounded more like a question than a statement, and Mara couldn't help but smile.
"Do not worry. Dorcas knows what he is doing. You will not be disappointed." Rebeccah seemed to take her word for it and bolted after the two axemen, and soon, so did Lowen, hesitation still clear on his face.
Mara turned back to her horse, shedding her bulky brown cloak and tying it to his saddle, something she had forgotten to do in the last battle. "It will take them a while to catch up to us, having more to do, so I suppose we have time for me to tell you what most of you are so confused about." She addressed to all but Matthew and Serra, who both held confidence in their smiles, though Serra much more aloof and strained. "The trees on the riverside are weak and easily broken. They are also still rather thick and quite long. Dorcas will use them as bridges across the river."
Realization dawned on Eliwood's face as he realised what exactly that would mean, but Hector still looked confused. "What is the point in that? Would we not hold a more powerful front if we simply struck all together? Why separate?" He questioned, only his curiosity keeping him from bellowing.
"They won't be expecting us on both sides, we're using divide and conquer, as well as using the element of surprise." She left the idea of ambush out if it, thinking the man would sour at the 'underhanded' tactic. Not waiting for a reply as she finished tying the last knot - she had to tie it down completely or someone would use it to their advantage or tear it - she turned to Marcus. "Marcus, just this one more time, you're our wildcard. I trust you to play by your own rules, so long as Your Lord doesn't get coddled, which I don't think you would do anyways."
Marcus seemed to accept this, but waited for the rest of the instructions to be handed out. It made Mara more than a little nervous. Having a veteran around - who wasn't as good humored as Wallace - watching her every move has made her quite self conscious. However, nothing could change Mara's mind on her battle plans once they were made, other than her own mind.
"Oswin, I'm leaving you in charge of protecting Serra. She's our only healer, and as much as I'm not looking forward to our future arguments, I'm not looking forward to her dying either." The girl turned even more sour than before. Hector and Matthew however, looked as though the world had been lifted from their shoulders. "You're a brick wall, she's a vase of holy water. Just make sure she follows behind the rest of the group." He nodded, serious expression unchanging other than the distinct tiredness underneath it.
"My Lord Eliwood and Lord Hector are to stick together. I must impress upon you to always have a partner in battle to watch your back. The both of you will be fighting with myself and Matthew until we are forced to split up. Seeing as-
"Wait, my appologies, but yourself?" Mara looked over to the knight, Oswin, and her iced eyes widened slightly in realization.
She smiled at the usual reaction. "Yes, Oswin, I will be fighting as well. I'm a little bit more conventional than your everyday tactician." She accentuated the statement by gripping the pommel of the sword strapped to her waist. "Now, as I was saying, and you can ask me questions after the battle men," She almost laughed at the audible clicking noise of teeth as everyone realized that, this wasn't the best time. "I can't sick Vanity on anyone due to the terrain. Before their was a straight path to follow; now he would just run and never come back."
"You're... horse?" Mara would have giggled if she wasn't already immersed in battle mode. Instead she simply raised an eyebrow at Oswin and started making her way towards the smallest of the hills. Eliwood and Matthew followed immediately, with Hector close behind, and Serra scurrying along as to not get left behind. Oswin and Marcus shared a skeptic glance, before looking over to the first group and watching in bafflement as they started crossing the river on a log, just as the girl said they could. How she had even seen that, they could only wonder in suspicion, though Oswin had the distinct feeling that she had been in this very location many times before.
He had been made aware by Lord Uther that the girl knew much more than any self taught tactician ever should, or even could. Matthew had been very little help in figuring out how she knew so much, just that she did and there was no logical way she could know all of what she carelessly revealed. He had disregarded the theory of spy work and other unjust means, but Oswin and Uther were not so quick to brush the idea aside.
Her left arm throbbed like hell. Mara swore under her breath to distract herself from it, but it was a little hard to ignore. Only the third battle into this entire section of the game, and she was already pathetic compared to everyone else.
Except maybe Serra.
But she couldn't exactly say that, not with this ridiculous wound on her bicep. No, she needed to go find the healer and maybe get the use of her arm back. She felt rather pathetic, getting distracted by Matthews excited shout and turning to see what happened, only to nearly lose her arm. She swore she could see bone before stole her cloak back and tied it around her arm. At least they were getting a new unit out of this.
She watched from the corner of her eye as a gleeful Matthew dragged the less than enthused swordsman behind him, while she tried to find the bright pink through her blurring eyesight. What was the Sacaen's name again? And why were all of the plains folk cursed with green hair?
"Hey, Mara! I'd like you to meet Guy- Are you alright?" Right, duh, Guy was his name.
"Not really." Mara answered honestly, swaying slightly on her feet. "Finding Serra would be nice. Took too long to wrap this thing." She looked at her arm, seeing the red color of her blood starting to seep through the thick material of her cloak. "Aw, man! I liked this thing!"
Matthew was shame faced. "This is why you told us not to go off alone. I knew that!" He strode over and took her sword out of her right hand, handing it over to Guy, who eyed it then Matthew like he wanted to shank the thief. Which he probably did. "I knew I would be okay, but I forgot it was for the safety of both people."
" 'll be fine, Matt, jus' need Serra and her magic tricks." She slurred slightly, trying to shake off the man who was trying to put her arm over his shoulders. "Don't need your - AHH!"
Fed up, worried, and in a hurry, Matthew quickly abandoned that route, and skipped straight to hooking an arm around the back of her knees and carrying her bridal style, her left arm left to dangle uselessly in front of them. He quickly located Serra standing near Hector and Eliwood, as the three of them moved forward, Oswin taking care of the last enemy behind them, and Marcus far ahead of anyone else. The other group was circling the side of the castle already.
"Serra!" Matthew called to the cleric, even sounding somewhat distressed.
When they came to a stop, Mara immediately pushed herself out of her friend's hold, staggering as her knees nearly gave out, but managing to stand on her own. "I. don't. need. coddling."She ground out, carefully pronouncing each word as to avoid slurring.
"Oh my!" Serra exclaimed, catching a glimpse of the blossoming wrap around the other girl's arm. "How bad is it?"
"Not as bad as it could be." Mara grinned wryly as the healer started to unwrap it, waving away Eliwood's concerned look. "Really, I was jus' careless, got distracted. It could 'ave been so much-
"IS THAT BONE!?"
Mara flinched. "I was hopin' I imagined that." She smiled when Hector whistled. "Oh, don' worry." She started sarcastically, raising an eyebrow at the grinning Lord. "I've started to lose feeling, so it's not too bad." He snorted, grinning when she cringed at the feel of Serra's staff pressing against it.
Mara looked at the wound and she felt like whistling too. The axe wound was wide, deep, and bright red, looking as though it severed over half of her arm with how it had inflamed so much. Slowly, the inflammation receded as the cool healing magic coated her injury, and she watched in fascination as the skin started to knit itself together, ever so slowly. "Get going boys. This is wasting time, and the sooner this is over, the sooner Eliwood can get away from watching this, and the sooner Hector can satisfy his morbid curiosity by poking at my scar."
Matthew choked back a laugh.
"But seriously, get going! I'll stay with Oswin and Serra... Uh, or you know what, I'm just gonna-
"Oh, no." Serra cut the girl off, smacking her shoulder with the staff. "You so much as lift that arm above shoulder height, and you'll bleed out! Magic can't do everything. You will stay here, under my supervision, until the fight is over." Mara sighed in defeat.
Waving off a hesitant, concerned Eliwood, the men left Mara to Serra's tender mercies. And Oswin's suspicous scrutiny.
When the group caught up to their Lords, they were met with a furious Hector, and a Eliwood leaning against the wall for support. Suddenly remembering what happens, Mara cursed herself for forgetting. The Lord of the castle, Eliwood's dear family friend, had died. Why didn't she remember something so heartbreaking for the young man?
Immediately after the initial realization, Mara abandoned her place next to Serra, who was momentarily placated with the yelling she had gotten in earlier. Mara would be silent around the girl for years to come.
Leaning against the wall by the young man, Mara gave him a strained smile, leaning forward to try and look under his bangs. He lifted his head, looked her in the eyes, and Mara could feel her heart stutter. Never had she seen such devastated, angry, and determined eyes, bloodshot, on the likes of any man in her life. neither had she thought she would or wanted to see them on this one person. This kind soul had been injured in a way he had never been before, and is Mara wanted to cry for him now, she dreaded the future of his father's demise. It would be all she could do to keep Ninian alive.
Her smile had been replaced with a sad frown, and she averted her eyes, unable to bear the intensity of his emotions. Instead she looked to Lord Hector, who, she thought with a wry smile, frown short lived, that he looked all the wolf he aimed to prove to be. He was easier, simpler to look at. Less painfully raw emotion, only anger, and a margin of pity as his rage calmed and his pacing slowed.
"We go to Laus." Mara's, as well as seemingly everyone else's, head snapped back to the other blue eyed lord, taking in his determined, yet dull expression. "We must speak to the Marquess of Laus, Lord Daren."
Mara nodded without question. All she asked for was a time.
"We leave at dawn."
The fire was burning still.
Guess who got a job! Guess who's going to college! Guess who doesn't have a life anymore!ME! :D
AquaticSilver - I love you. SO much. I'm really glad you like this so much~ I'll try my best to keep going!
Anon:Evil Grin. I am taking that as a vote!
Elemental Queen, Did you just vote for a reverse Harem, or should I just put all possible choiced onto the list?
Hyralc, I'm doing the voting more for fun right now than anything else. However, it's nice to have a good idea of what is wanted for future planning. I have a sequel in the works already, even if I don't have a lot of confidence in my ability to finish anything...
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 adding someone myself, because no one would know he'll be avoilable EVENTUALLY (like, sequel eventually)
Current Votes:
Lloyd - 0
Heath - 2
Matthew - 3
Guy - 1
Hector - 6
Wil - 1
Eliwood - 4
Raven - 1
Sain - 3
Kent – 1
Lyn - 1
Dart - 1 (though I do have other plans for him, so it's not likely to turn out)