I'm so sorry this took forever… I even said in the last chapter that I would publish this soon afterwards w I won't go into why it took all summer to publish a new chapter; stuff just happens :P

Anyhoo, I also realized that this is the second time I've had a cliffhanger ending involving bandits attacking. I'll try to change that :D

Ok, here's the chapter! Because I took forever, I'll make it double length!


"Someone in this here town killed some of me mates last night!" roared a large axeman, even bigger than the last bandit leader had been. "We was gonna sack this town anyway, but now we has a reason so we's doin' it early!" he waved his dangerous killer axe menacingly. "So get ready to die!"

The other bandits surrounding the leader laughed brutishly, as he pointed his axe forward. At his signal, the bandit force's archers and mages began launching fire arrows and spells at the various town buildings, causing the townsfolk to come running out, clutching valuables. Marth winced as a few were cut down, and Senna looked at the verge of tears.

A few arrows hit the jail and set it ablaze, and the fat jailer blundered out, followed by absolutely none of the prisoners. "He's just going to let them burn!?" Marth yelled, and he and Senna raced back inside in the midst of the fire.

Marth rummaged around on the jailer's desk in panic, as the flames grew higher and smoke filled the air, until he grabbed a key ring and ran over to the cells, where Senna was attempting to console the frightened prisoners (thankfully, there were only three: two emaciated-looking older drunkards, and Cail). He frantically unlocked the cell doors, and the two first two prisoners rushed out, yelling "thank you!" over the blaze and making a beeline to the door. Cail just nodded.

A strangled scream came from the doorway- the first prisoner had met with a bandit coming to investigate the building, and gotten sliced across the neck by a sword. The bandit methodically dispatched the second freed prisoner with a thrust through the body, but before he could reach frightened Senna, Marth leapt and slashed his blade horizontally, catching the brigand's neck and beheading him.

Behind him, Senna almost puked and Cail simply closed his eyes for a few seconds.

By now, the smoke, heat, and flames were getting to be unbearable so Marth tried to hurry them out of the building, but the cleric refused to move over the three bodies and one head in the doorway, instead shaking her head and clutching her staff. In the end Cail just slung her over one shoulder and they ran out the door, into pure chaos.

Buildings on fire lined the streets as townspeople and bandits ran every which way, screaming and yelling and looting. Some of the town's guards had arrived, but were in disarray and were no match for the marauding attackers. Thankfully most of the villagers had retreated farther into town, as the bandits were still only around the entrance area and first few streets.

Marth steeled himself. He knew he would have to fight; either to protect Southtown or just to escape alive- the amount of bandits was immense, more like an army than a common raiding party. It was unusual. Marth turned around to regard Senna and Cail, the former of which was sitting on the ground with her face in her palms, saying, "This is not happening… it can't happen… there have been no bandit attacks in over one hundred years here… it's a dream… it's all a dream…"

Marth gasped. No bandit attacks in one hundred years in a small, out-of-the-way place like Southtown? The world has really changed. However, that did explain the confusion and sloppiness demonstrated by most of the town guards. Southtown really has no chance if that's the best they can do to defend themselves.

Marth heard the clip-clop of horses' hooves and turned to see Muleeta riding toward them on her pony, Mend staff at the ready. "Marth! Senna!"

"Muleeta," said Marth in response as her horse slowed to a halt next to him.

"What are we going to do?" Muleeta asked him, blue eyes wide.

"I don't really know," said Marth, and Muleeta's eyes widened even more. She was looking to him for guidance because he seemed like the calm, capable type; but this time he was at a loss. There were just too many of them. "I guess we'll have to fight our way out of Southtown."

"But what about Kouei and Nia? And the rest of the villagers?" she asked.

"No," said a voice. The two turned to see Senna standing up slowly with her back to them. "No. We are going to protect this town. I am going to protect it. It's my job to protect it. And you are going to help me." She spun around, turquoise eyes blazing as bright as the fire surrounding her. "Let's go."

She walked over to Muleeta and swung herself up behind her on the white pony. "We need to ride around and heal people with our staves," she told the blonde-haired girl imperiously. "Marth and Cail- you bring the fight to the bandits. They're probably not expecting any kind of serious resistance after the guards' failed attempts so you can take them by surprise."

Cail looked at Marth for confirmation. With a start, Marth realized that the former prisoner hadn't ran off to rejoin the bandits attacking the town- instead he'd been helping Marth and Senna. Maybe his story is true.

The swordsman in blue thought for a couple seconds, than nodded quickly. "Alright- but if we start to get beaten by their sheer numbers; we will retreat."

"Are you sure?" asked Muleeta.

"Yes," said Marth. "Judging by their attacks yesterday when I fought them, most are just brutes without much skill at true fighting. We can quickly attack them in side streets and buildings so as not to get overwhelmed by their greater numbers."

During this conversation, the group had retreated behind the burning prison, which is why they weren't being attacked at that point. "Let's go," said the masked man, and the rest nodded and split up.

Marth and Cail (who had picked up the beheaded thug's discarded sword) snuck through the side streets, and could easily overpower the various single bandits roaming the town with their combined strength. This was the first time Marth had paired up with anyone in battle since coming to this time- it felt good to having someone watch your back, and Cail appeared to be an expert at it. While fighting for the bandits, the mute swordsman didn't have any true purpose to desire to fight; but now that he was getting a bit of revenge and fighting on his own free will, his swordplay began to shine. Also, because he was mute and couldn't communicate with his partner in battle, he seemed to have developed a style that played off his partner's strengths and didn't need any form of communication.

After defeating some lone wandering bandits and helping any lost townsfolk, Marth and Cail began encountering larger groups of enemies. By now, the two had gotten the hang of fighting with each other and were cutting through the raiders with ease. During the ordeal, Marth realized he was trusting the mysterious mercenary with his life. I trust him completely now.

Suddenly they found themselves back on the main street, looking at the angry face of the bandit leader and surrounded on all sides by his forces. With a start, Marth realized they had fought through all of the side streets on the right of the main one and had wound up back where they started. It had gone so fast that he hadn't even noticed. "I guess we'll have to fight a bit more," he said, leveling Falchion and nodding at his mute partner, who did the same with his blade.

Than the scene exploded as all participants launched themselves forward, weapons prepared to strike. A wordless battlecry sounded from the leader, as a sea of his minions closed off the duo's path to him.

The pair developed a good technique- Cail swung his bigger sword in wide arcs, keeping the bandits at bay, while Marth used his smaller rapier-like blade to speedily dispatch the enemies one by one as they were thrown off-balance by Cail's slashes.

The bandits were encircling from all sides, however, and it wasn't long before they began finding holes in the duo's defenses. Cail took an axe to the leg, causing him to stumble a bit, and a few slashes had grazed Marth's arm and shoulder. Soon, they were back to back, feverishly turning and blocking any attacks launched on them and not managing to deal any damage themselves.

By this time, they were also very tired- battles this long take a toll. The burly bandit leader had seen their ferocity fading and had strode up nearby, smiling wickedly as his underlings heaped attack upon attack onto Marth and Cail, earning the pair even more minor cuts.

Slowly, the leader leveled his massive axe, towering over the other bandits, and prepared to charge as he continued smiling broadly. By now, Marth and Cail were backed up against a nearby stone building, and could only grimace in the leader's direction. He slowly readied his feet in an over-exaggerated charging stance, knowing they wouldn't be able to block his colossal attack. He took two running steps before a knife sprouted from his forehead.

The big man stopped, confused, as blood dribbled down his face. Than he collapsed, like a tree cut by a lumberjack, with a massive crash. Surprised, the remaining bandits scattered for a minute, giving a pair of girls on a single horse (a lot farther down the street) the visibility they needed to launch a few bolts of magic from the pink-haired one's Physic staff. Without the wall of men blocking their her line of sight, Senna's Physics landed on their targets: Marth and Cail, who immediately felt their pain and fatigue dwindling away as healing mists swirled around their bodies and mended their wounds. They smiled, ready for another round.

Two acrobatic figures landed next to them, having leapt from off of the stone building behind them. It was Kouei and Nia, making their late arrival. Kouei had another throwing knife in his hand.

"Sorry we're late!" giggled the Manakete. "It was hard to find you in the midst of all those stupid banditys. So Mr. Bandit is helping us?" she asked, indicating Cail.

"I'll tell you about it later," Marth answered. "Right now we've got bigger things to worry about." He pointed Falchion at the brigands who were now regrouping.

"Can I go dragon now and eat them?" asked Nia.

"I don't think you should," Marth said. "We don't want to freak out the villagers after rescuing them by having a giant dragon flying around. Make do with something else."

"Ick, all these weapons are all big and ugly," she said, looking at the discarded axes and other bandit weaponry in disgust. Without turning to face the thief, she asked, "Koko-kins? Can I use one of your daggers?"

"Sure," he answered, flipping his over and extending the hilt to her. But she wasn't even looking; instead, she cartwheeled over the ground and the dead bandit leader's body, retrieving the knife lodged in his skull with one yank, mid-cartwheel. She landed in front of the corpse, looking at the other bandits, and waved her newfound knife. "Let's go, bozos!"

Kouei was still holding his knife out. "Umm…" and even though Cail was mute, Marth could tell by his face that he was thinking something along the lines of "that girl is freaky." The bandits, also, were not too happy about the little girl jumping and sticking her tongue out at them. They began yelling insults and charged.

However, they appeared to change their minds as they neared Nia, and only swung half-heartedly in an effort to scare the supposed eight-year-old away. It's hard to hit something that adorable. Nia, of course, didn't scare that easily. As the first axe swung toward her, overhand, she flipped back to land in a handstand so it missed and lodged in the ground where she had been standing. Next, the green-haired girl pushed off the ground with her hands and kicked the unfortunate bandit square in the jaw, knocking him backwards.

Landing and leaping again, she pirouetted in midair, her long ponytails spinning, and promptly did a split, kicking two other thugs. Now they were angry. But Nia's small, quick body easily out-maneuvered the bigger men in the crowded battlefield. Her punches and kicks were not enough to fell them and her dagger left no more than little cuts and scratches, only infuriating the crowd of bandits.

Marth, Kouei, and Cail soon joined in the fray. Whereas Nia was fast and annoying but did little damage, like a mosquito, the other three's bigger swords caused a lot more pain. Nia was bouncing all over the bandit throng but Marth, Kouei, and Cail stayed together to defend each other.

"You know, we can't win," said Kouei pessimistically as he blocked a bandit axe. "There's just too many."

Marth inserted Falchion in the stumbling man's defense, opening a rose-colored wound. He growled and withdrew, only to be replaced with more bandits. Kouei was right- the sheer amount of bandits made them essentially an army- they would probably be capable enough to lay siege to a castle. Marth hadn't wondered where and how so many bandits had joined together earlier, due to the surprise of the attack, but now he began to.

"Yes," he answered the thief. "We can't. But we can keep this group busy a bit longer before escaping. And besides, we have a secret weapon- our very own dragon." Cail looked mildly surprised at this, but kept fighting. That's right- he was unconscious before Nia turned into a dragon yesterday.

They continued battling for another couple minutes. Nia was having a great time- dodging under bandit's feet, smacking their faces with well-placed kicks, jumping across their heads like so many stepping-stones. Yet she remained completely clean, free of injury, and full of energy.

And than-just like that, the tide of battle changed. A puff of smoke appeared in front of Marth, Kouei, and Cail; and out stepped two men as if by teleportation.

The first was small and thin and wearing a strange-looking armor that seemed to be crackling with red lightning or some form of magic. He wore a cowl and wielded a killing edge. His back was turned.

As the second man stepped out of the magic plume of smoke, it vanished. This man cut off the view of the first man- he was positively massive. Colossal. Gargantuan. He was so big he put the dead bandit leader to shame. He was shirtless, revealing huge bulging muscles, and wore a thin headband. He also had short brown-grey hair, big eyebrows, and a beard. As Nia aptly put it later, he looked like a killer lumberjack.

"What in the-" Kouei gasped, as the smaller of the two men leapt onto the nearby stone building in an amazing act of acrobatics, complete with a couple midair flips. Now that Marth and his battle partners could see his face underneath the cowl, it was revealed to be covered by a stylized red-and-white fox mask. The mysterious man set his hands into fists and pushed them together; and as he did so, the crackling red energy enveloping his armor heightened in intensity, creating a shrill noise that attracted the attention of all people in its vicinity.

"Ahem," the armored man cleared his throat, than announced, "Red Wyvern Bandits! This town is now under the protection of the Nightfall Pack. I am going to slowly count to five in an exaggerated manner, and whoever isn't running by then… is probably going to die." It was easy to imagine him grinning cheekily under the mask. The armor energy's noise had died down.

The fox man's declaration was able to produce multiple responses from the bandit assembly. Some waved their weapons and jeered. Others' eyes widened in recognition, and they dashed off either alone or trying to drag their buddies along. Fox-mask held up one finger, than another. "Ooooonnnneeeeee…. Twwwwoooooooo…" Marth and his friends watched in fascination.

Unfortunately, not everyone seemed be happy about the armored man's remarkable performance. A few archers and mages (who had been rendered relatively useless in the ground battle earlier, and thus hadn't participated) now loosed missiles at him as he was starting on four.

"Foooouuu- oh." He tilted his head to one side, still holding out four fingers, than vanished in a puff of smoke. The arrows and magic hit the roof instead. A few more bandits realized what they were up against and took off, as the man reappeared in a second cloud. "Fiiiiiiiiiivvvvvvvvveeeeeeee." He looked around, at the surrounding bandits and incoming projectiles, and said, "Well then, let's get started." Than he was gone.

At this time, three things happened at once.

The largely forgotten "killer lumberjack" let out a wordless roar that almost seemed to move the very earth under his feet. He charged forward with his insanely large Imposing Axe and began cutting through the remaining bandits like a knife through butter (mainly because they were all running away from the screaming berserker).

In the same instant, Fox-face appeared in midair above a clump of bandits and drew his killing edge before vanishing again and emerged right in the center of them. They didn't even know what hit them before he had vanished again, materializing above an oblivious archer, flipping, kicking the unfortunate bowman in the back of the neck with a crack, and disappearing as the archer's compatriots shot arrows into nothingness. Each disappearing act was accompanied by a plume of smoke.

The last thing that happened was groups of men that slipped out of shadows of the side streets and engaged the bandits nearest to them. Marth was able to recognize some members of the town guard by their uniforms. Other fighters appeared to be villagers taking up arms or members of the so-called Nightfall Pack.

An army of bandits attacking a near-defenseless village had changed to a mass surrender and/or retreat in under a minute. Marth wasn't exactly sure what to think of this mysterious man who also wore a mask.


After the battle, Marth and his friends were very tired. They withdrew to the inn, where they got a free hot meal and beds to sleep in for their bravery defending the village. During dinner, Marth introduced Muleeta, Nia, and Kouei to Cail; who smiled at each one but didn't say a word. Marth had come to like and respect the mute mercenary in their short time fighting together. He proposed to Cail, "Why don't you come with us? We could always use an extra sword hand, and I doubt the people of Southtown would keep you incarcerated any longer after what you did to help the town."

This was answered by a small paper on which was quickly scribbled, "I would be honored!"

The swordsman in blue held up a hand. "On one condition." Cail looked at him quizzically, and he continued, "No more talk about life debts. You don't owe me one, or anyone else for that matter. I'm freeing you from it. You're not a slave to anyone anymore; not those bandits and definitely not me."

Cail smiled back (this seemed to be his de facto response to anything he agreed with) and quickly wrote on the nearby napkin, "Ok. Agreed."

Nia jumped up and hugged Cail, who looked down at her, surprised. "We have a new friend, Caily! Caily!" she sang. Well, at least he's getting along with the others.

Over dinner, they talked about what they'd done that day, when they were separated during the battle. Kouei and Nia talked about how they had both gone to the market district, and Kouei showed them a bag of supplies and his new steel sword, which he seemed very happy about. Marth told Nia to talk about the information she had gotten later, when they set out on their journey. After the battle, they were now a night behind.

Muleeta spoke of how she and Senna had rode all over town, rescuing villagers and healing the wounded. After the arrival of the Nightfall Pack, they had helped rally the villagers. By late afternoon, the dead were buried and being mourned and the bandits had been led away in chains by a large group of guardsmen and Pack members to the next town, which had a much larger jail. The villagers had even started rebuilding. It was like the giant battle had never happened- as soon as the Pack had arrived, it was over.

Kouei had questioned some villagers about the Nightfall Pack after the battle (they were all very curious about the fox-masked man and his little army), and learned that they were a mysterious group of vigilantes that protected the towns of Ylisse. Their leader was known as the Midnight Fox, and no one knew his real name. They were wanted by the Queen because of their "interference with the guards' duties," but the villagers didn't care. The Midnight Fox himself had an incredibly high bounty on his head, worth at least five large bullions.

Suddenly, with a poof, the Midnight Fox was there. He popped into existence right between Kouei and Muleeta, and even brought his own chair. Kouei dropped his chicken leg.

"Hey, guys," said the Fox, putting his feet up on the table in a lounging position. "I just wanted to thank you for keeping the bandits busy until we arrived."

"You're welcome," mumbled Marth with a mouthful of mashed potatoes, eying the Fox's feet on the table with a twinge of disdain.

"Oh, look!" the Fox yelped, jumping up and pointing at Marth's mask. "This guy's got a mask! Like me! It's like we're brothers now!" He teleported over next to the other masked man and put his arm around him. "We are, like, best friends now."

"No," said Marth, trying to push the other man off. The others couldn't see it under his mask, but it was easy to imagine that the Fox had a large, over-exaggerated pout on his face, as he answered, "Aw you don't wanna be best friends? Masked guys should unite! Lets make a club or something; c'mon!"

Marth continued pushing on his arm, irritated, as the Fox continued talking about masks and gave him a noogie. "Come on, we're so alike! It's like when two guys with big beards meet each other: they're instant friends! Except we've got masks. That's even better! Let's have a Mask Club secret handshake!"

At that moment Senna decided to run in, looking tense. "Marth! Fox!" The Midnight Fox disappeared and materialized on his chair between Kouei and Muleeta, instantly serious. "What is it, Cleric Senna?" Senna looked at Marth curiously, as he still was in the pose of trying to push Fox off. He quickly returned to eating his food and cleared his throat, as if nothing had happened.

"Well," Senna said to the Fox. "Shaimiel should tell you." She turned around as two villagers where helping a muscular man in white robes to the table. He was bruised and battered from head to toe, and looked incredibly fatigued. On his back, a steel axe and Fortify staff were strapped.

"This is Shaimiel," said Senna, pulling up a chair for him. "He's a priest from the Temple of Naga, and my superior." A villager brought him a glass of water, and he took a huge swig of it, draining it completely before placing it back on the table. He took a few deep breaths before speaking. "The Midnight Fox is here! That's great news. I've come to ask for help. You see, a large gang of bandits has taken the Temple. More like an army, really. They're holding all the Brothers and Sisters captive, and their leader is posing as a Priest to swindle passing travelers out of their money. I managed to escape and ran all the way here- but I wasn't able to arrive before they sent the majority of their number to attack the village." He smiled slightly. "It seems you showed them. "

"That we did," said the Midnight Fox, standing up. "Let's get you rested up tonight, my good priest, and tomorrow I'll join you in making for the Temple."

"I'll come too," said Senna, clutching her staff. "The Temple of Naga is in the Southtown vicinity, and is therefore under my protection."

"Okay!" said the Fox, and he spun around to face Marth. "What about you, my fellow masked man? Will you join us? You helped defend the village, after all."

"Unfortunately, we need to leave tomorrow," Marth answered politely. "Our trip is already delayed."

"Nuh-uh!" interjected Nia before the Fox could voice his disappointment over the fact that his fellow masked man would be leaving. "Linskar, descendant of the Swordmaster Lina, should be at the Temple of Naga as we speak! He's one of the people we need to find, Marthy-marth-kins. And he's at the Temple. We're gonna have to go with them if we want to find him!"

"Are you sure?" asked Marth apprehensively. "You could be mistaken-"

"No, It's for reals!" squealed the Manakete. "He's been living in this town all his life and decided to become a master swordsman like his ancestor. He just started his journey the other day, and went to the Temple of Naga to get blessed before going!"

I don't want to travel anywhere with this guy, thought Marth, as the Fox did a fist-pump and exclaimed, "Yay! Masks for the win! It's settled then- I'll see you all tomorrow!" Than he vanished.

Senna left with Shaimiel to find him a bedroom at the inn, and the five friends went up to their beds as well. They had a long (and irritating, in Marth's opinion) day ahead of them tomorrow.


Yeah, I sort of went overboard with the Dread Fighter (Midnight Fox's class)'s powers. But it's cool so whatever.

Also! This is important! Anyone who reads my fic- please vote on two support conversations! PM me or say it in a review, I don't care. But any time the group is traveling, there will be support conversations for a bit of character defining (and effect the story later). But who supports with who is determined by you, the readers!

This is the first Support chapter, so it's going to be small, with only two Supports. So everyone can vote twice! If you want, vote for the same Support twice.

Both Supports this time will be Friendship Supports. That means no male x female, because I'm going to wait for later chapters and more characters for that.

So the possible combinations are: Kouei and Cail, Muleeta and Nia, or Marth/Lucina and any of the four (she can't S-rank Support with anyone because she already has a hubbie back in her own time- who do you think that should be?).

Anyways, have a happy day :D