There is a point of this chapter where a bit was inspired off my third inspiration, and author called Green Paladin and his Fire Emblem story.

Chapter 3: Band of Mercenaries

With the collection of the Mani Katti the four of us continued on our journey. I hadn't got a chance to confront Lyn yet about her singing, mostly because I had forgotten about it or there were the prying ears of Kent and Sain, especially Kent. About our…tenth I think? Tenth day on the journey we saw a village up ahead, at first I thought that we could restock for our journey and get some rest. But as we drew closer those hopes were dashed, the village was destroyed, or, mostly destroyed anyway. There was a house or two that didn't have holes or grave markers around it, the sight gave me a chill. But it was Lyn who was the most affected of us all, she stared at the area around her with pure horror and hatred.

"This place… it's…" Lyn began, but she found herself too choked up to continue.

"The entire area is in ruins!" Sain said, he was also disturbed by this sight, "Why doesn't the marquees do anything to help!?"

"Talvier Mountain is home to a gang of ruthless, vicious bandits. No marquee holds power here." Lyn explained.

"Does any marquee hold power over Sacae?" I wondered aloud, examining a ruined building.

"No, no one wants to rule over a bunch of 'Sacaen mongrels'," Lyn spat with disgust, looking around the village and over the mountain, "My village was near here, on the other side of the mountain. My people were… the Talvier bandits came at night, it only took one night. The survivors numbered less than ten, including me."

She paused as small tears of rage dripped down, "They're soulless beasts, I'll never forgive them. Never."

"Lyndis," Sain frowned, Kent didn't look to pleased either.

I looked at her as the tears of rage poured down, I walked over, lifted up a piece of cloth from my cloak and dabbed her tears. Lyn was surprised by such a movement she nearly stepped back.

"No more tears remember? You said you wanted to get stronger, strong enough to defeat them right?" I reminded, she paused before nodding.

"One day I will be back, someday. I will be stronger. I will break their swords like twigs under a stallion's hooves, I will avenge my people. I'll do everything in my power."

"When that time comes, bring me with you," Sain said.

"Sain…" Lyn turned to him.

"Don't forget me as well," Kent added.

"Kent…" Lyn turned to him as well, suddenly I also felt the need to join in.

"Hey, don't forget about me. I'll come back too."

"Nick…I…thank you," she nodded, she seemed to be a lot lighter than earlier.

I shrugged and the four of us walked onward, the occasional sounds of animal life around me made me jump a bit. Hey if you had the nightmares I had you wouldn't be so calm yourself, after walking some way into the village I had a loud bang and whirled around. Sain was standing there, his lance out and he was near a village wall.

"My friend, is there something troubling you?" Sain asked, suddenly I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach.

"No…why?"

"Because for the whole time we have been in here you have been jumping at every sound, are you sure you're okay?" Sain explained.

Clearly the game underestimated Sain's intelligence, the green knight was smarter than he looked…although he did flirt with the one old man's daughter.

"Nick, have you ever been in battle before?"

I turned around to see Kent standing right behind me, Lyn was with him too and the both of them had worried expressions.

"Um…yeah, I have," I lied, keeping my eyes downcast. "Lots of times."

"I don't think you have," Kent said bluntly, "You haven't seen what war really is. The nightmares that plague your sleep—,"

"I don't have any nightmares!" I yelped, causing Kent to stop.

"Funny… I didn't ask if you had nightmares," Kent folded his arms, causing me to flinch inwardly, crap.

Lyn stepped in front of me and looked me in the eyes…damn, her eyes, I couldn't look away. Her voice surprised me a bit, it was soft, so soft that it startled me out of looking in her eyes.

"Nick… is this what you won't talk to me about? Are you having nightmares?" she asked.

My mouth opened and shut a few times, trying to find an excuse. I debated about walking away, discarding it, or even yelling. I was near close to one of them either, I felt like a trapped person with these questions. Embarrassed and wishing to be let out. Ugh, this is just like that time where I met some girl at the park and flirted with her…she was only 13! Flinching at the bad memory I pushed it out and opened my mouth to answer, instead a loud voice echoed from behind the wall in front of us. We rounded the corner and saw a group of men in front a lone girl, she had purple hair and light blue armor, there was also a giant winged horse next to her.

"What's this?" Kent glared, "Be on your guard Lyndis, there is some commotion over there."

"That's… that's a Pegasus," Lyn murmured, "Could it be?"

She ran over to the girl, fearing for her safety I ran after her. She stopped in front of the purple haired girl and I nearly bumped into her, which would have been very embarrassing for me.

"Florina? Florina is that you?" Lyn called to the girl.

Florina turned around and gasped, "Lyn!?"

She ran up to Lyn and hugged her, now me, being a guy, a bunch of thoughts shot through my head. However they were ignored by the presence of bandits.

"Florina, what are you doing here?" Lyn asked, pulling herself away from the hug.

"Lyn is it really you? I…" the poor girl looked like she would cry.

"Come no, no tears," Lyn frowned.

"I'm sorry," Florina apologized, I started feeling sorry for the poor girl.

Kent and Sain rode up and rested their hands on the blades, just in case. I stood at Lyn's side, so she could protect— er, I mean, I would protect her.

…What? I mentioned I'm not brave right? I'm pretty sure I did, anyway, Kent was the first to speak.

"You are acquaintances?" Kent asked.

"She's my friend," Lyn nodded, "This is Florina, a Pegasus Knight in training. She's a little uncomfortable around men, but tell me Florina, what happened here?"

"Well… um… when I heard that you left I decided to follow you, then I saw this village and I flew down to ask if they had any news of you. I didn't see these two…and…well…" Florina broke off, but I could put together what happened, so could Lyn.

"Did your Pegasus land on them?" she asked.

"Well…a little…" she looked away.

"Aha!" a loud voice yelled, I whirled around and saw the bandits, nearly forgot about these chuckle heads.

"You heard her!" the bandit pointed dramatically, "She admitted it, she stepped on my friend and now she's got to pay!"

"Did you apologize Florina?" Lyn asked.

"Yes, I told them I was sorry many times over," Florina said, her voice sounded constricted, "But they just wouldn't listen…"

Suddenly my pity turned to déjà vu, I knew what Florina was going through. It was like that day in the bus, except I had no friends on that bus to help me, I was all alone. And these men…they had foul intentions, they weren't going to let her go, they would sell her, and her Pegasus. She was helpless alone, timid around men, no one to stick up for her… not until now. I didn't need to hear the rest, I knew what they were going to say and do, I took a step forward, pulled my fist back, the punched the lead bandit straight in the nose. The bandit yelled and reared back, and I only said one word.

"Ouch!" I rubbed my fist, his face was freaking hard.

"You punched me!" the bandit roared.

"Your nose hurt my hand!" I yelled back.

"Nick!" Lyn yelped, "Why did you—,"

"Come on Lyn!" I growled, "These men had no intentions on letting Florina go, a Pegasus is rare, they wouldn't pass on the opportunity to sell one. And…Florina is a woman…"

I looked back at the group, "I trust I don't need to explain further."

Lyn gave a silent 'oh', Kent narrowed his eyes, and Sain looked angry. The lead bandit, Migal I believe he was called, looked furious…at me.

"Men! Take positions! Kill that kid and take the girl!" Migal roared as his men spread out.

"Everyone!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, rage burning inside me and adrenaline taking over, "Get into battle formation! They're going down!"

"Nick…?" Lyn looked at me, shocked by my sudden rage.

"We can talk after the fight," I said, "They're not taking Florina!"

Lyn paused and nodded, she seemed to understand, she looked at Florina and asked her if she could fight. I knew she could, I began developing a strategy already, I was pissed. I felt anger replacing my blood, hate was my new weapon, these punks were going down.

(Play Nick's Strategist Theme: We Will Prevail – Advance Wars: Days of Ruin)

Alright, first things first, we need to secure the safety of the remaining villagers. I thought turning to Florina.

"Florina!" I called, she stepped back a bit in fright and I spoke more softly, "Can you fight? You and your Pegasus?"

"Y-yes," she nodded.

"Okay good," I pointed to beyond the wall, "Go and scout for any villagers, warn them about the bandits so they can lock up. Be careful of archers!"

She nodded and she and her Pegasus flew off, the wind from the wings kicked up a cloud of dust, making me cough a bit. Once I stopped coughing I turned to the other three.

"Lyn, go to that house and warn the people inside. Kent and Sain, draw your blades, we're going to meet the enemy around that bend there." I pointed to the path way where bandits were going to run through.

The two knights nodded and drew their blades, they rode toward the area I ordered them to and soon fighting filled the air. I was wondering where Lyn was so I turned and what I saw made me go pale, a bandit had climbed over the wall and was running for me, his sword drawn. I raised my arms to shield myself from harm when I heard something whistling through the air, then a sound best described as 'thunk', and the bandit fell on his stomach. Lyn was behind the bandit with a man with brown hair, a bow and quiver, he wore a green shirt and had a shoulder guard.

"Nick! Are you okay?!" Lyn asked, running to me.

"Yes, I'm fine," I assured. "Thanks to the bow man."

The archer nodded and walked over, "Glad to help, my name is Wil."

"Well Wil, we could use your help," I pointed over to the walls, "Hit any bandits trying to cross the wall and sneak attack us."

The brown haired archer nodded and ran off, which left Lyn to give orders to, "Go help Kent and Sain, we need to push our way into a better position."

Lyn ran off just as Florina returned, she looked a bit frightened as she landed on the ground and pointed over to the wall.

"Look out, there's an archer!"

"Huh?" I looked around wildly but I only saw Wil, "I only see Wil."

Florina looked confused and I mentally slapped myself, I forgot this conversation because it was with Lyn, not me. I walked over to her and pointed to Wil.

"He's on our side, he's not an enemy. I know you're afraid of archers, but you don't have to be afraid of him okay?"

"I'm sorry, but looking at a bow frightens me ever so much," she shuddered, I gave her a reassuring pat and she recoiled.

"Don't worry, he means well," I said, "Now come on, we need to drive the bandits off!"

Florina gave a small nod and flew off, I could see her over head as I ran to Lyn and the others. Kent and Sain were blade dueling some bandits, and Lyn, well, she was mowing them down. Moving like some graceful assassin, twirling around and striking when she could, I have to admit it was awesome. She turned to look at me and I felt warm and fuzzy, like all of my shyness and lack of confidence went away, I smiled and gave one of those goofy waves and she pointed behind me.

"Behind you!"

I turned around and saw a bandit running for me, suddenly warm and fuzzy became replaced with fear and panic. I tried to ran away but I didn't need to, Kent stabbed the bandit and he fell mere inches in front of me. Well, that was embarrassing, I quickly turned away so no one could see my face. I had to focus on the battle. Two bandits with blades ran up to us and narrowed my eyes, faced my foe and said.

"Go get them Sain!"

Oh yeah, very heroic. Sain rode up and pulled his lance out, swinging in strokes that remind me of paddling a canoe as he stabbed his foes. The rest of us ran through the village to find Migal, I looked around the sky and frowned, where was Florina? She should be back now… little did I know that soon my answer would be apparent. As we rounded the corner I saw Migal with two other bandits, they threw someone in the back of some cart and who it was made me gasp: it was Florina.

"We have what we came from, let's get out of here," Migal laughed.

No…this wasn't supposed to happen! The bad guy was going to win?! Hell no! I ran up and caught his attention.

"HEY! EUNICH!"

Okay, I admit, I love Pirates of the Caribbean. But it worked, Migal and his men whirled around and upon seeing me I could see murder in his eyes, he pulled his ax and suddenly I was getting a sinking feeling in my gut. Before I could react, before Lyn or anyone else could react, he threw his ax at me. I never thought what would happen would actually happen to me, the ax embedded itself into my right shoulder. I gasped and screamed, falling on my back and clutching my shoulder, blood poured through my fingertips and stained my tunic…my blood. My body screaming constantly, painhelpmepainhelpmepainhelpme! I saw Migal laughing at me, I saw the group's horrified expressions. I saw Florina waking up to see me laying on the ground, her face went a type of pale that I swear is unhealthy. Migal raised his ax to end my pain, permanently.

"NO!" Lyn shouted, running and standing in front of me, drawing her Mani Katti.

Migal laughed, "Wanting to protect this pup? Normally I don't harm women, but this time…I'll make an exception."

How I was able to keep conscious through this battle I'll never know, I knew I just had to make sure she would walk out alive. I had to…I promised right? Migal swung his ax vertically and Lyn leapt back, rushing forward and swinging the Mani Katti. She managed to slash a bit on his chest before he stepped back, he grabbed her sword arm and tried to break it. Bad mistake. Lyn used her free hand to pull out a small knife and stabbed Migal's arm, he roared and reared back, clutching his arm. Lyn raised her blade high above her head and the blade began to glow, she ran forward with the glowing blade and swung. When Migal raised his ax to defend himself the Mani Katti cut through the ax, splinters and fragments of iron scattered as Lyn cut into the bandit. My vision became blurry, so I couldn't focus right, I saw Migal fall, I saw the group yell in triumphant, I saw a green shape run to my and prop my head off the ground. I couldn't fight it, no matter how hard I tried, I let myself go and lost consciousness.

(End Nick's Strategist Theme: We Will Prevail)

I wasn't expecting to wake up, but when I did I was surprised. I was in a house, probably of the villagers who were taking care of Wil. I saw a familiar face resting on the edge of my bed, Lyn… I thought, she looked peaceful sleeping and I didn't want to disturb her. So I reached out to gently shake her awake when I noticed my wound was gone, it was sore yes, but it was gone. It was probably a vulenary that one of them applied to it.

"…Mhhm, Nick…" I heard Lyn mutter, feeling myself go red I proceeded with waking her up. "Hmm? Who…Nick!"

She shot up, her face had crease marks from the blanket and her hair was a bit messy, "You're awake! I was so worried!"

She embraced me and I felt my body shiver into goosebumps, I was about to wrap my arms around her and hug her back when she let me go. My arms were halfway toward hugging her when she pulled back, I flinched and my arms fell flat against the blankets.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Sore," I replied, "But fine, how are the others?"

"Worried about you," Lyn frowned, "Wil's family has been helping take care of you these past few days, but it looked like you would never wake up—,"

"Whoa!" I yelped, causing her to jump a bit, "Past few days?! How long was I out?"

"About three days," Lyn said, and my jaw dropped.

Th-three days?! It took me three days to wake up!? I felt myself go pale and examined the spot where my wound used to be, it looked like nothing had even happened, I looked to her and frowned.

"It took the vulenary that long to heal me?" Lyn bit her lower lip and I knew, something was wrong, "What…what are you not telling me?"

"Nick… we didn't use a vulenary to heal you," she said, "You healed on your own."

I felt my gut wrench, I healed by myself?! As far as I can remember, I don't have super healing, how did I heal, what was going on? So many questions shot through my head that I was feeling sick and dizzy, I groaned and lay down. Lyn patted my shoulder and was heading for the door. It was when she was walking when I was suddenly hit with a powerful wave of guilt, she probably was here, day by day, hoping I would wake up. The amount of worry I put her through…the amount of worry I am putting her through. I made a decision, against my better judgment.

"I have nightmares about the battles." I said, causing her to stop and turn. "I dream about people screaming, dying, blood… that's why I'm so jumpy."

Lyn stood there and listened, she had this impassive expression on her face. She walked over to me and sat back down, she had her hands on her slender legs that were showing from her dress.

"Why didn't you just tell me sooner?" she asked, "Why were you holding back?"

(Play Nick's Character theme: Result — Sonic the Hedgehog (2006))

"Because I was afraid," I answered.

"Afraid of what?" she asked, her eyes showed confusion.

I felt embarrassed saying this, and I knew I was going to regret saying this, but I said it anyway, "Because I was afraid of being teased. You see where I came from, I was teased, a lot. I didn't want…I didn't want to be teased again. Stupid right?"

"Yes, a little," Lyn frowned, making me flinch. "Nick, we would have understood, not teased you. Kent and Sain have probably had nightmares, I…I once had them, I still have them."

She looked down and I frowned, "The Talvier bandits attacking, right?"

She nodded and I didn't say anything else about it, I was regretting something alright, but I was regretting not telling her sooner. I should have known they would understand, ugh, I'm so stupid! Figures, I can't get anything right these days, I botch saving Florina, I worry Lyn about my stupid nightmares, and to top it off, there's a 95 percent chance that I'm a super healing freak! Oh yeah, yay me. But, I had no time to blame myself, that can be done later. I gently reached my hand and patted her shoulder, she looked up and I gave a small smile. It seemed to be enough for her because she looked happier, she yawned and I chuckled.

"Tired?"

"A little," she mumbled, lying her head back on the end of my bed and I heard familiar light breathing.

I sighed and laid back down, there was nothing else to do anyway, just me a Lyn. And somehow, I was okay with that.

(End Nick's Character Theme: Result)

When I woke up again I was fit enough to step outside, upon stepping out I learned some startling news. Wil and Florina wanted to join our little group, as Sain puts it: Lyndis's Legions. Okay, I wasn't surprised that they were going to join, but I was surprised that I missed that little conversation. Once Wil had everything packed we were going to go. I was with the others, Lyn, Kent, Sain, and Florina, we were waiting on the road. I was standing there, so distracted by the wildlife around me that I almost didn't hear someone speak.

"Um…Nick is it?"

I cocked my head over to the direction of the voice and saw Florina, she was next to Lyn (more like hiding behind her) and she had her usual worried look on her face.

"Yes Florina?"

"You…you remember my name?" she asked, when I nodded she continued, "Why did you…why did you punch that bandit?"

I paused, trying to best say why I did what I did. I was pretty sure Lyn didn't say anything about my nightmares to anyone yet, maybe she wanted me to (um, like that will happen). However, Florina deserved an answer, after all, we weren't too different.

"I know what it's like to feel alone sometimes, when there's nobody there to help you and you feel lost. I… I punched that bandit, because I saw how he was making you feel." I answered.

Kent and Sain exchanged glances and Florina didn't so anything for a moment, then she blushed and mumbled, "Thank you."

"No prob," I nodded, I turned when the archer was heading up the path.

"Sorry I'm late!" Wil said, "Shall we go?"

I nodded and the six of us walked down the path, I smiled a bit when I remembered a line Lyn said from the game after they started calling themselves 'Lyndis's Legions'. Yes, these are strange times indeed. I have a feeling, that if I find the answer to how I mysteriously healed from that wound… I'm going to wish I never did.

To be continued.

That's it. Nick's theme is the song that pops on the result screen for Sonic the Hedgehog for PS3 and 360. Check my profile page at the bottom, you'll find his theme and his Strategist theme there.