Chapter 12

When we got back to the castle, it was nightfall and was getting colder by the second. We left Skrimir in the medic part of the large castle and then, all of us were called by Ranulf for an emergency meeting. We needed to discuss the battle and about our loss. I guess you could consider this a loss since Skrimir got hurt and we had to retreat. Soren kept glaring at me for some odd reason. Being the slightly immature person I was, I stuck my tongue out at him. He would always roll his eyes and shake his head. Sure, I was pushing it since he already hated me, but it was fun to tick him off, which made him hate me even more.

We all walk outside and enter the meeting tent. Tibarn, Ranulf, Ike and Titania were all standing around a table in silence. There was also someone I had never seen before in the camp. He was a heron judging by the white wings… I thought all of them were dead… just goes to show you what I know! He had long blonde hair and a white outfit on. His features seemed flawless and perfect. A true heron. But he also looked strong for someone of his clan. I thought herons were supposed to be frail and shy, not strong looking and have a hard glare. All of them looked to me and Soren, who had just walked in. Ranulf nodded once to us and we made our way into the circle of warriors.

Tibarn started the meeting off. "… Three days, huh? What will the beast tribe do, Ranulf? What will become of Gallia?"

Ranulf's eyes closed and he sighed in disappointment. "I'm sorry, Tibarn. Now that Skrimir has been incapacitated… Gallia can't go any further," He said with his arms crossed over his chest.

Tibarn sighed as well. "Right… that's too bad. I guess the Laguz Alliance has to take a break, then."

"What about you? Will Phoenicis agree to a peace talk?" Ike asked the hawk king. He answered with a shrug at first.

"I haven't decided. Our forces lack numbers and supplies. We can't possible take them on, but…" He began. "I imagine that a 'peace talk' would be far from pleasant."

"General Zelgius seems like a trustworthy Beorc… is he trustworthy, Abby? I mean, you spent a week under his command. You had to have learned something about his personality," Ranulf pointed out. Everyone looked toward me, waiting for some kind of answer. I kept staring at the floor, the question not reaching my train of thought.

Ike nudged my shoulder and my head shot up in surprise. He jerked his head toward Ranulf and narrowed his eyes slightly. "I um… sorry I wasn't paying much attention," I admitted shyly.

"Is Zelgius a trustworthy Beorc?" Ranulf asked again.

"Oh, uh… y-yeah, he is I guess. If he said he would do something, he would do it no matter what he had to put aside to do it," I answer truthfully. Ranulf gives a slight nod of recognition to my reply. Ike looks down at me as my head faces to floor again. The meeting with the raven haired general today… had me more thrown than I would have thought that it would have.

"I also know from the Mad King's War that even the apostle is not a bad person at heart," Ranulf said, returning to the main topic again. "But in reality, the senate controls Begnion right now. They were the ones who killed our messenger."

"I know that General Zelgius can't disobey orders from the senate, but what about the apostle?" Ike questioned. "She's Begnion's supreme leader, right? Can't we just contact her directly?"

"Trust me, we tried. All our efforts were in vain," The heron shot back. His voice matched his glare, semi deep and musical, like his galdr. It was an odd combination of sounds, but it sounded pretty none the less. "It's not just the Laguz, either. Tanith said the apostle won't even meet with the Holy Guards these days." My only question was: who was Tanith?

"Wait, she won't meet with Tanith? But Tanith has been by her side forever! There's something very wrong with all this…" Ranulf said quietly.

"What's happening in Begnion?" Ike said, getting back on the topic of Begnion instead of some person named Tanith.

Tibarn stepped up. "Well, we'll stick around and see what happens. The Laguz Alliance will disband temporarily. The problem is Gallia's retreat. You've got a lot of ground to cover before Begnion attacks in three days." That he had a point on. Begnion was at our backs already and we had to get out of here before they attacked the castle, it'd take forever to get far away enough before we would be safe.

Ranulf nodded in agreement, and then yawned. "Well, I guess that's all we can discuss tonight. Everyone needs to get some sleep so we can decide what we're going to do tomorrow. I say… everyone get up bright and early when the sun starts to rise." Everyone nodded and started to walk about of the room and having conversations. I soon followed, but I noticed Ranulf wasn't moving.

"Ranulf, aren't you coming?" I asked. The Laguz shook his head.

"I'm going to go to the medic tent and watch over Skrimir-," He answered. "I want to make sure he'll be alright through the night. Once morning hits, the healers will start treating him since they're already asleep."

"Can't you just wake them up to say that the commander of the whole army is really, really hurt? That'd make more sense rather than waiting," I point out. He shrugs.

"I don't want to disturb them this late at night. Speaking of late, you better go get as much sleep as you can, you look exhausted," He said with a smile as he walked out of the room, heading toward the medic tents on the far side of camp. I sighed and ran my hand through my black hair. Did I really look that bad? Sure, I was tired and my mind was a little off course, but it wasn't like I was dying. Shrugging just about everything that was weighing on me off my shoulders, I walked out of the room.

There was a slight breeze blowing through the night and I started to shiver, so I pulled the collar of my shirt closer to my face. Looking up, I saw thousands of little stars and a crescent moon shining in the black sky. I smiled and glanced to my tent, then to the path that led to the training field. Oh, who needs sleep during a beautiful night like this anyway? I made my way onto the path and entered the clear field, my gaze making its way to the sky once again. Laying down on the grass felt… nice and calming, I guess you could say. There was only me, the sky and whatever creatures of the night were out… hopefully no wolves though, because then I'd probably get killed since I don't have my weapon on me.

Sure, staring at the sky sounded dramatic and sort of stupid, but you try staring at stars for an hour, and then tell me what you're thinking afterward. It gives you the kind of time that you would use to think that I wouldn't even dream of using. Why did I zone out at the meeting? The answer was: I blame Zelgius. I hadn't realized it until now and I can't believe that I hadn't seen it until now. Maybe Ike was right; I was a little blind when it came to the obvious things.

Zelgius had me wrapped around his finger from the day I met the man.

I didn't love the guy, but there was just something about him that made me, not love, but attracted to him. Something that just made me feel bad for him about the Branded thing. He's lived his life in hiding for a really long time and telling by the look on his face when I saw the mark, I was one of the first soldiers to see it. Plus he was nice and caring. Maybe this guy had more of a grip on me than I originally thought he did. But, no matter how hard he was holding me, I'd never let the mercenary's hold break. I'd never really jump the fence… would I? No, I couldn't think like that. If I let my thoughts even just wonder to that thought, it may become a reality.

With the thoughts of who's side I'm truly on… I fall asleep in the field with my hands behind my head.

*Next morning.*

When I open my eyes, the sky's blue and clear with no clouds in sight. I go cross eyed and chuckle when I see that a butterfly had settled on my nose. That's what you get for falling asleep in a field, I guess. Soon it flew away after I sat up and looked around the area, as if it had changed from the last time I was in it. Standing up, I walked back into the camp grounds to see that it was deserted, and then I remembered that Ranulf wanted to talk to us this morning. Right as I was about to head out for the meeting room, people were already starting to file out of the building. Well, there's one important meeting I missed. How long did I over sleep again?

"Chick," A deep voice behind me said. I turned around and saw Shinon glaring at me. I've been a part of the company for about a year, yet he still insists on calling me chick. Was he ever just going to take the time to just learn my name? "Where were you this morning? The meeting is just now getting out."

"Then why weren't you in there, hm?" I shot back. He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"When have you ever known me to go to something as stupid as meetings? Besides, I already know what the army of sub-humans are going to do from Ike. He was the first one to get out, the rest of 'em are just stragglers that stayed behind to talk to each other," He explained. "In all truth, chick, they meeting's been out for about a half an hour."

"Are you serious?" I said, pinching the bridge of my nose in irritation. He chuckled and pushed me on the back as he walked away. I wanted to punch the pink haired drunk, but not as much as I wanted to hurt Soren or Boyd sometimes. I shook my head, mad at myself that I missed the gathering and walked toward my tent… but not before someone pulled on my shoulder and spun me around to them.

"Where the hell were you last night and this morning?" A strict voice yelled. I sighed and turned back around, but Ike just got back in front of me. "Are you going to answer your commander?"

I groaned. "I went into the training field, watched the stars and sky for a while and then fell asleep, and I just woke up a few minutes ago with a butterfly on my nose! I missed one meeting, big whoop! You're not going to die because of it. Can I get back in my tent now?" I said harshly. He narrowed his blue eyes at me, obviously annoyed with my bad attitude.

"Are you going to let me tell you what the army is going to do, or not since you missed the briefing?" He said, folding his arms over his chest. I nodded slightly, cursing in my mind that Shinion just had to get me out of my good mood. He tended to have that effect on everyone that he comes in contact with, except for Rolf for some odd reason. "We're retreating today. We need all the time we need to get out of here. So, get your things together and we leave in four hours, so get to working and see where you're needed." With that, he brushed past me and I heard him muttering something about waiting and hesitation. Who knows what that man is ever whispering about? I entered my tent and grabbed my bag that I kept all my belongings in and started packing.

*Ike's POV.*

Goddess, why does she get on my nerves so much? Sometimes I really question why I like her, but then I think about the times when she's actually in a good mood and remember why. It's funny, the only time she's angry is right after she talks to Soren or Shinon or after Boyd pulls a stupid prank on her. Other than that, she's usually as chipper as Mia. I walked through the halls of the castle and made sure that everyone was packing and preparing for our long journey back to Gallia. After that, I went outside and talked with Soren a bit to sort of calm my nerves about everything. Then, he had to leave in a hurry for who knows what. I turned around and saw Reyson, the heron of our little group, so I went over to talk with him instead.

He looked over at me, then back to the horizon. "Ranulf has started his retreat. Tibarn and his men are gathering information on Zelgius's forces," I informed. He didn't seem to react. "Before he left, Tibarn asked me to take you to Gallia, where you'll be safe. Are you ready to go?"

He merely shook his head. "No. I won't leave, Ike. I won't leave this place."

I sighed. Great, first Abby starts disobeying and defying me, now Reyson? "Reyson, please…" I begged.

"I lived with the hawk tribe for twenty years. They're my family. I'll… I'll stay here and fight," He answered back quickly.

"… Well then, since I can see I won't be changing your mind… you can join up with us. The Greil Mercenaries can stay here as long as we want. After all, we're not on anyone's payroll right now. We're free agents," I encouraged. Sure, that would mean that I would have to tell everyone in the company that we were staying to protect Reyson, but if it meant keeping him alive, then I guess I was going to have to hear some complaints from people.

The blonde prince seemed to be taken back by my offer at first, but then he smiled. "Ike… thank you." I nodded and smiled at him. It wasn't a problem for me to stay back and it probably wasn't for any of my company, but I couldn't help but to feel that something bad was going to happen.

After I tell everyone that we're staying behind, I get a few moans and groans of protest, but most are flexible and are willing to just go unpack their stuff. The one person that doesn't voice their opinion at all is Abby. She just shrugs and goes back to her new quarters that she had been assigned in the castle walls. Everyone was living inside the castle now, no tents outside anymore. A lot of people liked the change of scenery.

For now, I was just wondering around with nothing to do other than paper work Soren wanted me to be doing, but even he knew that I wasn't going to let myself be ten feet within paper work. Out of the blue, I heard the sound of running footsteps. Turning my head toward the sound, I saw Titania running down the corridor.

"Ike, come out here! Hurry! It's the Begnion army!" She announced. My eyes went wide and I followed her outside through the main gates. Soren and Reyson are already outside waiting for us. I survey the area and see troops from Begnion surrounding us.

"What are they doing here? It hasn't been three days yet, not even two!" I shout in frustration.

"It seems they couldn't care less. They are demanding the castle back. If we don't comply, they'll attack," Soren informed. And, our situation just got worse. If we give up the castle, we'll probably be captured and killed. I'd rather fight them than just give up though.

"They were probably waiting for both the Gallians and the hawk tribe to leave the castle," The blonde heron added.

"Oh, they think they can take us now that we're all alone, huh?" I said with a smirk. "They obviously don't know who they're up against. Let's make them remember the name of the Greil Mercenaries! Soren, go get the rest of the company that's still inside and get everyone get in position! Let's take them out!" Soren nodded and ran back inside to rally the others up. He was a good strategist, he would know who to bring out and who to keep inside just in case something were to go wrong.

When he got back, I glanced at who he brought out with him. He brought Mist, Abby, Rhys, Boyd, Shinon, Mia, Gatrie, Rolf, Oscar, Llyana (A/N: Sorry if it's Ilyana with an I, I can't really tell in the game. Please correct me if I'm wrong. =D), and one of our newer recruits, Haar. And with the ten of those, we already had me, Soren, Titania and Reyson on the field. So, that made fifteen of us.

"Alright, I want all of you that can use long range attacks to get on the ledges of the castle where the enemy could possibly climb up. So that leaves, Rolf, Shinon, Rhys, Llyana and myself. We'll need one more person so that all the main entries are impenetrable. Let's see… Abby, you can use a wind edge right?" Soren asked the younger student. She looked up and didn't say anything. "Great, Mia has one that you can borrow. So, you five and I will guard the ledges. Ike, you and the others will guard the steps and stairways that lead to the gates that lead into the interior castle."

"But shouldn't we have someone guarding the main entry gate on the top of the stairs just in case we all fail to protect the front lines?" I ask.

"Yes, good point. Mist, Reyson and Boyd, I want you three to stay up top. That leaves Ike, Titania, Mia, Gatrie, Oscar and Haar to defend the stairs. I think this plan will work," The small mage said, seeming to smile only slightly.

"Alright, you heard the man, get to your posts! We must hold this castle at all costs!" I declare. With that, everyone runs over to their positions, but Abby goes and stares at her Wind Edge that Mia had given her. I knew she didn't exactly know how to use it, but we were just going to have to hope for the best. Titania, Mia and I took the main staircase, which was also the widest, and made a line with me in the middle of the two of them. There was at least a hundred soldiers staring us down, sizing us up to see how strong our forces were. I nodded to Mia and Titania and they drew their weapons. I drew my sword and looked back to Oscar and Haar, who were at the other staircase and saw they were ready. Gatrie was standing by just in case anyone needed medical attention and had to take their place. Soren and Llyana were taking care of one ledge, Rolf and Shinon at another and Abby was left at the smallest one. Even from this far away, I could tell her hands were shaking. I've never seen her scared for a battle in my ten months of knowing her. I don't know, maybe it was because she's never used a Wind Edge before, but I didn't find that very likely.

"Can you see the commander from here?" I asked my small unit. They both shook their heads and I cursed under my breath. I figured that if one of us was able to take down their general, they would surrender and retreat. But if we couldn't even see him through the crowd of people, how would we get to him?

I thought I heard someone in the enemy crowd yell, "Charge!" And the soldiers started to come at us. The three of us ran down to the end of the steps and took our stances, ready for anything these guys had to throw at us. I just hope that we could hold our line and protect the castle.

*Abby's POV*

How in the world was I supposed to use this thing? I waved my blade around, trying to make it work, but nothing happened. Soren didn't even let me answer if I knew how to use one of these stupid things or not, which I don't! Wind Edges were just weapons that I've never used before, nor have I even been told how to work one. Mia and the other sword users in our party made it look so easy, but apparently it wasn't. I looked to the ledge and saw three Begnion soldiers trying to climb up the wall. I yelped in surprise and swung the Wind Edge down, sending a gust of wind down at the first guy. I did a double take and stared at the blade.

"It worked!" I shouted randomly. I swung downward once again and knocked the second guy on his feet. I smiled triumphantly. Somehow, someway, I figured out how to use this supposed to be simple weapon. Out of the blue, an arrow flew up at my position, but I moved just before it would have made contact with my head. Startled, I almost tumbled down the edge of the castle, but I got my balance back. What was wrong with me today? I seemed more off than usual.

"Keep your focus, soldier!" Soren yelled at me from the next ledge. He said another fire spell and killed an enemy soldier, sending him to the ground. "I thought you said you could use one of those!"

"You never gave me time to answer, short stack!" I scolded.

He groaned. "You are an idiot! If you didn't know how to use a Wind Edge of all things, you should have spoken up!"

"Kind of too late to do that now isn't it?" I knew that if we kept fighting that we'd soon be sending fire and wind at each other instead of the enemy… but what can I say? He's easy to yell at. "If you would just listen to people sometimes and let them answer your question before rambling again, situations like this would never come up!"

"You cannot pin all this on me! You've been dazed since you came back from… look out!" My head spun back toward the ledge and the first thing I saw was an arrow flying at me. Instead of dodging, I closed my eyes in the split second it took for the arrow to pierce my left shoulder, right above my heart. I cried out and fell backward, clutching the wound. I heard my sword clang with it hit the stone ground, then rushed footsteps and shouts from down below the ledge. The corners of my eyesight were starting to go black and my hand was already soaked in crimson blood.

"Hey, you okay?" A girly voice asked me. I looked up and saw Mist looming over me. I merely groan in response. "I'll get you healed up and back on your feet, okay?" I shake my head. "What's wrong?"

"Run Mist," I whisper. She shoots me a confused look then sees the band of Begnion soldiers climbing up the ledge. She screamed in fear and backed away slowly, dropping her staff. With shaky hands, she pulls out her sword and faces them. I try to get up, but the throbbing pain in my shoulder binds me to the ground.

In the not-so-far distance, I hear a voice yell, "Gatrie, take my spot!" Then hurried footsteps running in our direction. Blackness started covering all of my sight slowly, but hearing wasn't exactly a problem. "No one hurts my sister!" The sound of a cowering Mist, bodies suddenly hitting the ground and metal clanging against more metal filled my ears. I hoped and prayed that Mist wasn't dead. "Mist, get out of here, it's not safe!" The same voice yelled, then I felt strong arms pick me up, increasing the pain in my shoulder and making me wince.

The last thing on my mind before I blacked out was that I screwed up… badly. I had put Mist in danger and the whole mission. Besides hoping that Ike's sister wasn't dead, I hoped that I hadn't cost us the mission by leaving the ledge defenseless. After that, I was gone.

This actually did happen to me… getting shot in the shoulder is not fun, my friends! So, what was happening to Abby was exactly what happened to me. Who would have thought that a stupid arrow in the shoulder could make a person bleed that badly? XD I still hang that over my dad's head just to screw with him. (He was the one that shot me while we were practicing my aim in the backyard... apparently his own aim needed some work.) Anyway, hope you liked the chapter! Please review, you'll get a cookie if you do! *Holds out a plate of cookies*

P.S: You want the whole story about getting shot in the shoulder, PM me. ^_^