Pebblekit: Hello everyone! I'm sorry I didn't update sooner, but I haven't had much access to a computer. However, I have been able to play the new "Fire Emblem" game. For those that are wondering, my OC did NOT use "Sacrifice" in chapter seven. That being said, I apologize to all the people out there whom I need to read the stories of. My typing time has been snatched by minutes at a time. I don't really have any time to read, but as soon as I do, I'll get back to your work as quickly as I possibly can. Please understand that I'm not ignoring you. Anyway, here's chapter 14. Instead of writing two shorter chapters, I decided to write one really long one- one that had all the points of view I needed, so there won't be another chapter in this story for the chapter in the game. Good luck at school/ work!
Pairings for this Chapter: Maybe a little Mist/ Rolf reference. Semi-one sided Gatrie/ someone.
Disclaimer: I own "Fire Emblem". ……………………… Did anyone actually believe that?
Prisoner in Reality
Chapter 14: New Horizons
14 is Most People's First Year in High School
(--) Tear
Gatrie ambled on, to where? Not even he knew. He had left the forest that separated Gallia and Crimea and was now in the latter of the two countries. All that was in his mind was the fact that he couldn't go back. Daein would catch him, possibly kill him. Shinon and the other guy had suffered which ever fate, both of which sounded horrible. The knight had no idea what to do. Once or twice, he thought of going to a nearby town and asking someone to help him rescue his friends, but he didn't want to get anyone in trouble. Nor did he want to get caught himself. Right now, he was his friends' only hope of escape.
This thought embedded in his mind, Gatrie walked down the crowded path of a town. He had originally come here to collect information- perhaps about what Daein did to prisoners, or even better, discover a way to save his friends. However, his efforts became fruitless within two days. He had been to the inn, several small shops, and the local bar, but all he had found out was that anyone who was captured by Daein, soldier or not, never returned. This, obviously, did nothing to reduce the continuous qualms the knight was feeling.
Sighing heavily, feeling completely worn and defeated, Gatrie trudged back to the inn, where he was paying to stay in a small room. He didn't have much money- Shinon was the one who carried the bulk of it around, seeing as though the knight "couldn't be trusted with it"- but luckily, the inn was somewhat cheap.
He walked around in his armor, keeping his helmet under his arm and carrying his lance in the other. Odd stares and rude comments had no effect- he wasn't about to be captured by any Daeins that decided to invade the town. It wasn't very hot that day, yet he sweated, mostly from humidity.
Gatrie reached his destination and yanked open the door to the inn, quickly entering the cool, dimly lit room. Candles burned at every table in the lobby, as the place also served as a restaurant and bar, and there weren't very many windows, therefore, hardly any sunlight got in. Though it was a comfortable temperature now, the knight wondered about winter. Surly it would be very cold, as there wasn't a fireplace in sight.
Hopefully, I won't be here long enough to find out what it feels like, he thought grimly. The sun was starting to set outside, so orange light shone into the building. With another deep sigh, Gatrie started to ascend the stairs to the right, which led up to all the rooms. However, before he could even get halfway up them, he heard something from the lobby that sounded like a yelp, or perhaps a squeal. Curiosity pricked at the knight, and soon he was back at the bottom of the stairwell, his eyes glued to sight before him.
On the other side of the room, near the bar, was a young woman, looking to be no more than nineteen, maybe twenty. She had long, raven black hair, amber eyes and wore a long, white tunic shirt with matching shorts. Gatrie was struck by her beauty so profoundly that it took him a moment to realize why she looked so uncomfortable. There were two guys around her, another by the entrance. They all wore the matching armor of soldiers that bore the same crest, but because of the poor lighting, Gatrie couldn't tell what it portrayed.
One of the men seemed to be speaking quite roughly to the girl, who recoiled slightly, her eyes full of shyness. She looked rather meek, seeming to be slightly submissive to the words thrown at her. The look in her eyes was so sad, Gatrie's heart started to ache. Within a moment, the knight had put his obscenely heavy helmet on his head, took up his iron lance, and had slowly marched over to the trio by the bar. As soon as he had caught their attention (which didn't take long), he spoke, "Is there a problem here?"
It took a moment for any of them to answer, for the sudden arrival of a knight was almost unknown in a small town such as this one. However, as soon as one of them gained his composure, the response was sharp, as though Gatrie were an idiot for not knowing what was being said. "Of course not. We're just trying to escort Lady Astrid back to her home, that's all."
Gatrie glanced at the girl, presumably called Astrid, and noted the look of contempt that she shot the man who had spoke. "Excuse me, but I really don't want to go anywhere," she said, her voice somewhat hurt, as though the man's words had been a slap. "I'm still serving in the army. I must finish my term."
"We've already arranged for you to be discharged early," the other man answered with exasperation. "Now that we have that cleared up, can we PLEASE go? It's a long way back to Begnion, and I don't know about you, but I'd like to get it over with as soon as possible."
Astrid looked resigned to the fate she bore, whatever it was, and she didn't look too happy about it. Gatrie had the sudden urge to protect her. Sure, he usually felt that with girls, but for some reason, he had a feeling that Astrid needed him. That he needed her. Whether it was her or whatever would come out of meeting her, the knight had no clue. All he knew was that he needed to get her away from these guys, and as quickly as possible. "Can't you see she doesn't want to go? If she wants to fight, then heck, let her fight."
The third guy, whom hadn't spoken yet and was still standing by the entrance to the inn, sighed greatly. "We've already been through this with her," he said, sounding bored and slightly irritable. "In fact, we've been through it many times and the fact still remains that she's as stubborn as a mule. Some 'Lady' she is."
"Too true!" the first man chimed in, "Who would want a girl that defies everything you tell her?"
The second was the last to join the conversation. "Yeah! What Lord Raul sees in her, I could never guess!"
Astrid at this point had turned away, obviously trying to avoid the entire situation. Gatrie, however, felt anger rushing through him. How could these guys talk about a girl that way? What pigs! "Stop talking about her that way, especially when she's standing right here!" He angled his lance just right at this point, so that the weak sunlight that somehow managed to find its way into the room, hit and reflected off of the sharp blade.
One of the men took a step back, a hint of fear etched into his face. The other two shot worried glances at each other. Astrid backed as far back against the bar as she possibly could. After a moment of silence, in which all eyes in the small room fell on the group, the three men started heading for the door. "Fine then. You won today Lady Astrid, but tomorrow, we will FORCE you to come back to Begnion," the second man looked at Gatrie once more before redirecting his gaze to Astrid, "with or without your body guard." With that, the men left.
Gatrie stared after them a moment to ensure that they were really gone before turning to the girl behind him. "Are you okay, miss?" She nodded, clasping one hand in front of her chest, as though to build a mental barrier between the two of them. Gatrie, miraculously, noticed this and tilted his lance to the side, out of the sunlight, so it wasn't as apparent. He took off his helmet as well, so as not to appear as intimidating. "Your name is Astrid, right?"
Astrid lowered her hand and nodded. "Yes… Thank you for helping me. What is your name?"
"Gatrie."
She nodded again. "Gatrie… that's a very unique name…Gatrie…"
The knight looked at her in confusion. His head was starting to spin as he tried to read all of the emotions crossing her face at once. "Um…"
"I'm sorry. I got lost in thought there. Gatrie, would you like to accompany me outside? I want to thank you, but it's kind of hard to see you in here."
Gatrie opened his mouth only to find that he couldn't reply, so he hastily closed it and nodded. Astrid smiled and started walking towards the exit with the knight in tow right behind her. He found that for some reason, his vocal cord wasn't working. His throat felt like it was swelling up too. Not only that, but his face started to feel hot.
Once they were outside, Astrid turned to look at him. At once, worry crossed her face. "Oh dear, Sir Gatrie, your face is bright red! Do you feel okay? Do you have a fever?"
At this comment, Gatrie knew at once what was wrong. He quickly cleared his throat. "Oh… no… I'm fine. Are you?"
She nodded. "Yes." After that, a shadow drew across her face and she started to stare off into space. "Gatrie…"
"Yes?" the knight asked, but he received no answer. After a few moments of silence, he started to feel awkward, so Gatrie changed the subject. "Astrid is a very nice name. You must wear it with dignity."
"You really think so?"
"Yes. It's beautiful."
Astrid took a moment to answer. "I hate it."
It took Gatrie a moment to process what she said, and once he did, his brain filled up to the rim with confusion. "Why do you say that?"
The girl sighed. "Because it sounds so much like my siblings' names, it's not even amusing. I don't think my parents took much time at all to come up with it. Gatrie. Now THAT'S a good name. I don't think I've ever met anyone with that name. Your parents must have thought long and hard about it."
It took a moment for the man to answer. Come to think of it, Gatrie really wasn't that common of a name. Astrid wasn't either, but it did sound like a lot of other names he knew. After a moment of deep thinking, he began to understand what the girl was saying. "Well… yes but, if your parents like your name, then does it matter what the name is?"
Astrid seemed to think about this for a little while. "Well… it's not so much the fact that they named me a common name. It's more the fact that they named me something that's very similar to all of my other siblings. It makes me feel somewhat… down trodden. My sisters and brothers don't have names that are very much alike, but they are almost all, in some way, related to 'Astrid'. I'm the youngest, so I guess my mom and dad just ran out of ideas."
"Why does it matter so much to you?" Gatrie asked, before realizing how forward he sounded. "I mean… not to be rude or anything, but it's a rather odd thing to worry about, isn't it?"
Astrid nodded. "It is. My brother, Triddon (short 'i' sound), once told me that a name contains every emotion a parent feels when you are born, and every emotion they think they're going to feel as you grow up. If a mother or father gives a child a name, it's a sign of love, in many cases the first sign. That's why I think it's really sad when people abandon children, especially if they don't name the child first, because that usually means that they didn't care for the kid."
Gatrie thought about this for a moment. What Astrid said to him made perfect sense, and yet it made no sense at all. On one hand, he understood exactly what she meant. On the other, he wanted to object. How could a parent be able to show so much just by naming a child? Curious, he tried to imagine living his life without his name.
After a moment however, he realized that he wouldn't be able to do it. 'Gatrie' was a part of himself, part of his identity. However, if he had never been given his name, if he had never known it, would he be a different person? Would he have changed? It was a scary concept to him, one that he didn't want to think about. Astrid looked at him sadly.
"It took me awhile to understand what my brother said, but once I did, I wanted to cry," she said.
Gatrie suddenly thought of the man in the hood. The man that didn't remember his name. The knight started to wonder just how his former college got by without knowing what he was called, what his parents had named him. That must be really hard. I wouldn't be able to do it, he thought to himself.
At that moment, he felt tears well up in his eyes. Gatrie didn't want to cry in front of Astrid, so he quickly tried to change the subject. "Speaking of names, who is this 'Lord Raul' that those men were talking about?"
Astrid's face fell at this question, her expression growing dark. She turned away and looked out at the small shop across the road before answering. "Lord Raul is my future husband. My parents arranged me to marry him long ago, back before I can remember. He lives in Begnion, where I do, and is insisting that I go back home now to wed."
Gatrie didn't speak for awhile. Inside, his heart had torn. The bright orange blob that was the setting sun in the distance seemed to turn black and the world all around grew dark. "I… I see," he said, his voice nearly cracking. "So you're getting married. Congratulations."
Astrid whipped around and looked at him straight in the eyes at this. Gatrie silently prayed to Ashera that all of the tears in his eyes had gone. When the girl spoke, her voice was coarse, yet in a way, submissive. "It's not like I WANT to marry him; it's that I HAVE to marry him. I barely even know who he is, yet I've already seen signs of anger. He's the type of guy that no girl wants to be around except for the fact that he's really rich. That's probably the whole reason that my parents want me and him together. They basically sold me to him."
Gatrie suddenly felt angry. If Astrid didn't want to marry this man, why should she have to? He couldn't see any point in it. Sure, her family might get some money, but what about her happiness? What about her life? What kind of parents sold their child off to some guy just for his money?! "That's wrong." Astrid jumped at this because there was more rage in his voice than Gatrie had meant. "You shouldn't have to go through with this. Just say 'no'!"
Astrid sighed and looked at the ground. "But, you see, I already said I would. If I don't, then I condemn my sister to the very same fate that I want to avoid. If anything, I want her to be happy, for I know that, at the most, only one of us can be. That's why I signed up for the army. I knew that I would have to give in to my fate eventually, but I wanted to put it off for as long as possible. However, traveling here, learning to fight… it seems that all my efforts have been in vain. Those men were Lord Raul's servants so to speak. They do whatever he says, so they won't leave until they have me in their custody. No matter how much I fight, I'll have to go back soon."
"But…that's wrong…Is there anything I can do to help you?" Gatrie asked. He felt desperate. Never had he ever felt the desire to help somebody this strongly before.
"What can you do? No one can help me, because no one can do anything."
Both fell silent. Though they hardly knew each other, both already shared a common goal, one that neither wanted to give up on- Astrid's freedom. It seemed imperative that they become victorious in their efforts. "Maybe… I could go with you."
Astrid looked up and frowned, her expression completely void of hope. "Why? What good would that do? What would be the point?"
"Well, maybe I can talk to Lord Raul. It's possible that I may be able to convince him to let you and your sister go."
The girl sighed in response. "That's no good. He's got so many people and so much support that you'd probably get in big trouble if you said anything like that. I don't want to take you all the way to Begnion just to see you get imprisoned, or even worse."
"Then at least let me accompany you! I don't want those men to treat you roughly like they did today. I can keep them off your back!" Gatrie had no way to explain the fierce longing in the pit of his stomach, or why his face burned each time he thought about Astrid getting married.
Astrid smiled weakly, the faintest tint of pink adorning her features. Thankfully, the sun was about the same color, so Gatrie didn't notice. "That's very kind of you, but… wouldn't you regret leaving? Wouldn't you friends and family miss you?"
Gatrie thought of the man in the hood and Shinon, who were beyond his reach. "Well, you see, I just left the mercenary group I was part of, so they probably won't care. My family…Basically, the only people who would are my two friends, but they were caught by Daein a few days ago. They're probably dead by now."
"Oh…" Astrid closed her eyes. "I'm sorry. I wasn't meaning to be hurtful…"
"No, it's okay. I think it's about time that I embrace the fact that those two are gone." Gatrie thought of everything the three had been through, especially Shinon, and suddenly felt the urge to cry again.
His talk with Astrid had made him realize something- something that he had avoided thinking about for some time now. No matter how much he wanted to help, no matter how dearly he wanted to be with his friends again, he never would be able to. He couldn't face the might of Daein on his own, and what little help he would be able to find, if any, would be too weak to make much of a difference. Besides, it was probably too late anyway.
Right at that moment, the knight realized that everything had changed. Daein was destroying everything he cared about. If he could help Astrid, if he could make even the smallest difference, perhaps he would finally be able to reconcile with the past and move forward. Greil Mercenaries were out of the question, how would he be able to go back at this point? Commander Greil was dead. Shinon and the other guy- the man in the hood-… even they were gone.
Astrid looked at him sorrowfully. "Are you certain that you want to go to Begnion?"
Gatrie thought about it for a moment. "Yes. Then, I could watch over you, and I would be far away from this place. There are too many memories here. Besides, though I've just met you, I feel as though we're already friends."
Astrid nodded. "As do I."
"In that case, you would really be the only one I have left. I…I don't want to lose you too. So I'll watch over you. Is that okay?"
Astrid smiled widely. "Yes. If I can help you feel better, then I will, no matter what. However, my parents and Lord Raul will wonder who you are, and I can't expect you to go without gaining something. So, would it be all right if I hired you? Then I could tell Lord Raul's men, the ones you scared off, that you are my body guard and all you were doing was acting as your job says. It also wouldn't seem as odd as if you were just traveling with us."
Gatrie nodded. "I see no problem with that."
Astrid's smile, if at all possible, grew even wider. "That's great! Of course, I'll pay you, so you don't have to worry much about traveling expenses."
"Oh!" Gatrie turned bright red, so bright in fact, that not even a blind man could mistake it for a reflection of sun light. "You don't have to. I mean, we're friends and I'm doing this for your sake, so…"
"No. I would feel odd if I didn't. Besides, it wouldn't cause as much suspicion as if I didn't pay you."
Gatrie thought about it and realized that she was right. "That's true… Okay. But not too much, okay? I'm used to living very sparingly, so don't worry much about whether you're paying me enough or not. I can get along very well with very little."
Astrid nodded. "If you wish, I will not pay you as much as my parents would, but I will still set the price. No complaining, okay?"
"But-"
"My parents would get mad if I underpay you."
"…Okay."
"Good! Now, Raul's men will want to leave as soon as possible. What is the earliest time you can be ready?"
"I could go right now if you wanted me to. I just need to get my bag from my room," the knight pointed back at the inn.
Astrid looked relieved. "That's good. I don't know how much longer I can stall them. Are you sure that's all you need?"
"Yes."
"Okay then. I'm fairly certain that those men will want to leave tomorrow."
"All right. I might run one more sweep of the town tonight and get some last minute groceries, but I can do without them in a dire circumstance."
Astrid nodded again. Then, she bowed. "Thank you so much for all that you're doing. I'm sure that the two of us can be great friends. Now, we should go inside before it gets too dark."
Gatrie nodded and turned to follow Astrid into the inn. Though he had fallen for a great number of girls in his life, never in the memories he had could he think of anyone he felt so desperate to be around. As the two walked up the stairs and Astrid waved goodbye as she stepped into her room, Gatrie nearly melted when he saw her serene smile.
This must be what they call 'love at first sight'.
(Note: I'm not sure if Astrid's siblings' names are mentioned in a support conversation, so I'm sorry to all who are mad if I used the wrong name- this goes for the future too.)
Meanwhile, back in Gallia, Shinon sneezed.
The force of it was so great that the man in the hood woke up from his now-normal sleep cycle in which he rested during the day. "Are you okay? That sneeze was really loud."
Shinon glared at him. "Of course I'm okay. It's not as though I'm sick or anything!"
The man cocked his head to the side. "Are you sure?"
"Yes!"
Mr. Hood chuckled at this. "I see. You just won't let yourself get sick, will you?"
Shinon sneezed again. "What do you mean?"
"Come on. EVERYONE gets sick once and awhile!"
"Not me."
The man sighed. "See? That's what I'm talking about. You'll NEVER admit any weakness that you have. Why? I'll tell you in one word. And that word is: pride."
Shinon didn't say anything for a moment, completely taken aback by his college's bluntness. Then again, did he really expect anything different from Mr. Hood? "Stop saying stupid things."
"I'm only speaking the truth."
"Only what you believe it to be."
Neither spoke for a moment, and then Mr. Hood sneezed.
Shinon smiled slyly at him. "Now look at who's sick." Mr. Hood wiped his nose on his cloak, which completely grossed the sniper out. "THAT'S DISGUSTING! YOU SLEEP IN THAT!"
The man thought for a moment. "I wonder if someone's talking about us."
"What?" Shinon asked, sighing. There was no doubt in his mind that this was some new and weird superstition-type-thing that the man believed in.
"Haven't you heard the saying 'when you sneeze, it means someone is talking about you'?" The man asked in surprise.
"No. Who's the idiot that came up with that?"
The man thought for a moment. "Huh…I don't know…"
Shinon sighed. What did I do to deserve this?! Everyday, the two had petty squabbles such as this in which Mr. Hood said something weird and, most of the time, stupid and pointless. Shinon would then challenge it which would confuse the man and make him all sad because he couldn't remember things. That's how it had been for a few days now, and frankly, Shinon was sick of it.
The man seemed to be deep in thought for a few moments before he spoke again. When he did, it was almost the exact opposite of anything Shinon would have expected him to ask. "Hey… Mr. Guy?"
"My name's Shinon," the sniper answered exasperatedly. The two had been through this many times.
"Sorry. Shinon, did anyone back in Greil Mercenaries ever get sick?"
Shinon, up until this point, had been lying on his back lazily. At this, however, he sat bolt upright. "What did you say?!"
Mr. Hood gave him an odd look. "What? Did I scare you or something?"
"How did you know what mercenary group I worked with?!" Shinon quickly scanned his mind to try and remember if he had ever told Mr. Hood. However, it didn't really matter. Whether he had told his comrade about his past life or not, it was highly unlikely that the man ever would remember any of it.
Mr. Hood thought for a moment. "You know… I'm not exactly sure…I think you mentioned it to that girl earlier…I'm not positive though." The two sat in silence for a minute while both of them thought. Then, Mr. Hood spoke. "So did they?"
"Did who what?" Shinon was still puzzling over how the man would remember some things, but nothing else. He must remember me telling that girl. Yeah, that HAS to be it. It's not as though he can read minds or anything!
"Did anyone in Greil Mercenaries ever get sick?"
"Oh…" Shinon thought. It wasn't as if he ever really paid any attention to any of his old comrades, so it took him a little while to sort everything out. "Well… Rhys was almost always pretty sickly as far as I remember… I think Mist got sick once or twice… maybe… Oh yeah. Rolf. He would get sick every once in awhile, more than most people, but not nearly as much as Rhys." Shinon stopped. For some reason, he didn't want to talk about Rolf. Nor did he want to think about him. His head had started pounding when he brought the kid up. His chest also seemed to squeeze a little bit. But as to why, he couldn't say.
Mr. Hood surveyed him for a moment before responding. "Does it hurt to think about Rolf?"
"No." as soon as he said it, the sniper wished he hadn't. A knot, very much like the one he had had before, formed in the pit of his stomach. Dang it, not again!
"…you're lying. I can tell."
Shinon glared at him. "No I'm not. Why would I lie about something like that?"
The man looked right at him as he answered, his bright purple eyes meeting Shinon's grey. "Because you don't want to admit it. You say you don't want any friends, but that's only because you're afraid to get close to anyone. You don't want to think about Rolf, because he was the closest person you had at Greil Mercenaries except for maybe Commander Greil himself. You're afraid to get to close to anyone, because you don't want to lose anyone that's close to you, like the Commander. Am I right?"
Shinon sat there, not knowing what to say as the knot in his stomach grew tighter. Finally, he tore his gaze from his comrade's. "Shut up. I already told you. The only reason I don't want any friends is because they're a pain in the a-"
"Language, language. If there's one thing that bothers me, it's language."
"Oh, really? Well, you had better get used to it if you're going to stay in the same tent as me."
The man looked left and right. "It doesn't look like I have much of a choice, does it?"
"My exact thoughts," Shinon responded as he lay down.
"What are you doing?" the man in the hood asked.
"I'm getting ready to go to sleep. What does it look like?!"
"Sorry. I forgot that we have different sleep schedules now."
"What?! How could you forget? It was YOUR idea!" Shinon twisted his neck around so that he could see behind him. The man in the hood looked as though he was about to cry.
"I'm sorry. It's not like I meant to forget or anything."
"I didn't figure that you meant to! AARGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!! YOU SAY SUCH STUPID THINGS SOMETIMES!!!"
After that, Shinon turned his head back around and closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep. He had almost drifted off to dreamland when something happened. Something that ruptured his silent progression to relaxation.
He sneezed.
Hard.
No, seriously, I mean HARD.
A chuckle sounded from the other side of the tent. "Bless you."
Then, Mr. Hood sneezed too.
Shinon didn't answer for a minute. Then, when he did, it was exactly what Mr. Hood was expecting him not to say. "Bless you."
"T-thank you."
"Heh…I guess someone's talking about you too."
(0-) ahhhhh! MY EYE!
Rolf traipsed alongside Mist as the Greil Mercenaries headed on to Toha, a small port village. Apparently, the laguz, Ranulf, had a contact in the town that owned a ship. That friend had seemingly volunteered to escort the group to Begnion, where they could ask the Apostle for support in the war against Daein.
Lethe, Mordecai, and Ranulf himself were all walking alongside the beorc, their heads covered in hooded cloaks that concealed their ears and were long enough to conceal their tails too. It seemed that the three were afraid of causing trouble if they ran into any racist people that didn't like laguz.
Rolf couldn't blame them. He had gotten more than his fair share of people not liking him, particularly from Shinon, and he knew how much it could hurt. He also understood how it could make the people around you feel awkward, whether about being with you, or even defending you. All in all, the archer wouldn't wish that on anyone.
As the sun got higher and higher in the sky, everyone trudged on, trying to complete the long trek to their destination. It was probably around noon when Marcia saw the ending point of their journey in the distance. She flew overhead on her Pegasus and landed for a moment only to tell Ike that they would probably be arriving in Toha in about half an hour. No one else could see the town due to the large quantity of hills they were traversing over.
However, after a while, they reached the top of one particularly tall and steep mound and saw almost directly below them the ocean, with Toha situated right on the water's edge. Everyone was so happy that almost all of them ran down the final stretch of grass to the entry gate.
Rolf was not among them. He walked slowly on, lost in deep thought. Commander Greil, even after his death, had managed to scare him. The older man had told him to trust the boy in green and to look for repeating sights. Since then, the archer had kept his eyes open for either of them, but so far, the only 'repeating sight' he had seen was the hills the mercenaries had just crossed.
Not only that, but who the heck was the 'Volke' guy that Commander Greil had mentioned? Rolf knew no one by that name, nor had anyone else he had asked about it (those other people being Mist, Ilyana, Mordecai, Rhys, and Marcia, who were the only people that had bothered to listen to him during their continuous ascent and descent of hills).
However, all of Rolf's thoughts were lost as someone bumped into him from behind. Now, under normal circumstances, this wouldn't have been much of a problem. But, Rolf had been in a daze, and, not only that, he was standing on a slope, having only made it down about a forth of the hill. As a result, when the person barreled into him, both of them started tumbling down the slanted earth, as both of them couldn't stop themselves from falling. The other person grabbed Rolf's hand, as though that would help them stop, but all it served in doing was making them go faster, and start bumping into each other all the way down.
Rolf felt armor hit him several times as he rolled over and over, growing dizzier with each second. It took about half a minute to reach the bottom of the hill. When they did, Rolf roughly landed on his back and skidded a few feet before coming to a stop. The person that had run into him promptly landed right on top of him, forcing all the air out of his lungs.
When the archer opened his eyes, it was to see the world swirling around and around, and blue. From farther up the hill, he heard an array of hastened footsteps, clinking armor, and shouts. After a moment, in which the world continued to keep spinning, Rolf heard the gruff voice of a man.
"Nephenee! Oh… what am I goin' to do with ya? Watch where you're goin', and ya won' run into people as much."
At this, Rolf felt the person on top of him squirm a little. The weight bearing down on his chest was relieved as that person rolled off of him, groaning. They were obviously just as dizzy as he was. "Oi… sorry Brom…"
The man that had spoke ran down the hill, somehow managing to keep his balance in the heavy, black armor he wore. After a few seconds, he reached the two lying on the ground. "Don' apologize to me, apologize to him." With that, the man, presumably Brom, stuck out a hand and grabbed one of Nephenee's, who seemed to be the person that ran into Rolf.
"Right…" Nephenee, relying heavily on Brom's strength, was somehow eventually able to find herself in a standing position. Her center of gravity seemed to by way of course, for she kept stumbling, even though she was standing still.
Rolf lay there, not willing to move. His head was already aching beyond a level that he had felt in a long time. Not only that, but his stomach hurt too. After a minute, Brom grabbed his arm too and hauled him up. Once he was upright, Rolf felt slightly better, but he couldn't really see anything, all his eyes were registering at the moment was the color purple. "Sorry 'bought that," came Brom's voice, echoing through Rolf's head. "My friend here is sometimes rather clumsy when she isn' paying attention."
Rolf opened his mouth to answer, and immediately felt as though he was going to throw up. With difficulty, he was finally able to choke out, "It's…okay…" Now he saw why Nephenee didn't say much after the fall either.
After that, the archer felt his arm being lifted, and then he felt it being set on something rather hard. He looked over and saw after a moment the blurred shape of Mist's worried face. It took him awhile to realize that she had put his arm around her shoulder, bolstering much of his weight. "Are you okay, Rolf?" she asked.
"Y-yeah…" he managed, closing his mouth very shortly after. He really didn't want to lose his lunch all over his friend.
Meanwhile, Brom had done the same to Nephenee. "Are ya sure, kid?" the man asked. Rolf nodded, but quickly stopped because it made his head hurt.
"S-sorry…" Nephenee said, sounding as though she was struggling. Rolf understood why.
After a moment, the archer heard an unpleasantly familiar voice ring throughout the area. "Hey, peewee, you can't even keep your balance?"
"Boyd…" came a slightly deeper voice that sounded like Oscar.
"Shut up idiot! It wasn't Rolf's fault!" Mist practically shouted, sounding reproachful. The pitch of her voice made Rolf's ears ring, which in turn made his head hurt more.
By now, his eyesight had cleared up and he could see everything clearly, though some bright colors still had blurred edges. Rolf looked over at Nephenee. His stomach didn't hurt so much anymore. The urge to barf wasn't as strong either. "Are you…okay?"
"Y-yes…Ohhhhhh…I don' feel so good…"
"I know… what you mean…" he responded. The world around him was still tilting back and forth, as though was on a rather unsteady ship.
Just then, Soren walked up. "Come on, we should head to the town. Our ship escort is undoubtedly waiting for us. We don't have time for these childish games." With that, the mage strode right past everyone else assembled in the area, which included Ike, Boyd, Oscar, Mist, Rolf, Brom, Nephenee, and the thief they acquired in the last battle.
Boyd snorted as soon as Soren was out of earshot. "That pompous midget is way out of his league. He's almost as short as Rolf, and he thinks HE can boss all of US around? HA!"
Rolf turned his head groggily. Now that most of the pain had passed, his entire body was started to feel numb. He was still quite unbalanced in his mind, but his feet had at least found some sense of footing. He swayed back and forth now and then, but the movement was almost as unnoticed as a muffled sigh.
He was just in time to see Oscar sigh. "Boyd, whether or not you would like to admit it, Soren has been a mercenary longer than you. Technically, despite whatever his age is, he has the right to boss you around. And me, for that matter."
Boyd, however, didn't appear to be listening. Somewhere in the middle of his brother's speech, the fighter had seemed to have lost interest and was instead focusing on something else. It wasn't until Ike started to help Brom take Nephenee down the hill and was a good distance away, with the thief right behind them, when the younger man replied. "Come to think of it…How old exactly is Soren?"
Oscar shrugged as he turned to Mist and Rolf. "I don't know. He never said and I never asked. If he hasn't made it known yet, then he probably doesn't want to talk about it. Mist, can I help?"
Mist nodded and Oscar walked over to her other side to where he was standing next to his youngest brother. Rolf didn't turn his head, for fear of making it hurt again. Right now, he couldn't feel anything, save for a rather weak sensation mostly caused by the fact that he was still tripping every now and then. After a moment, the archer felt his other arm being lifted up and hefted onto Oscar's broad shoulders. The older man had to bend over slightly so that Rolf could reach.
Slowly, the three started the long trek to the town ahead, or at least what seemed to be long to Rolf in his fragile state. After a moment, some dense footsteps could be heard behind them as Boyd started to follow.
To put it bluntly, Rolf felt rather foolish. He was somewhat embarrassed to be dragged around everywhere like a stuffed rag doll, which with his unsteady footing, he could have probably been easily mistaken for one if someone was watching from a distance. By now, the boy's vision had cleared enough for him to tell where he was going. Not far ahead, he saw Nephenee, who, if at all possible, looked to be even dizzier than him. Then again, her head had probably been banged around in her helmet real good.
Finally, after about ten minutes of torture, in which many people in the village ahead had turned their attention to the ambling quartet of people making their way carefully down the hill, the small group made it to the outskirts of Toha. Rolf quickly spotted Nephenee leaning over a barrel of trash. He wasn't very envious of her at the moment.
"Um…Oscar? Mist?" he finally was able to manage after some clumsy maneuvering of his tongue. "You can let go now. I think I'll be okay in a minute."
"…Are you sure?" Oscar asked after a moment, his voice more serious than Rolf had anticipated. "I don't want you to fall. Anyone would have gotten really dizzy if they had rolled down that hill as far as you and Nephenee had."
Mist nodded vigorously. "Yeah, I agree with Oscar."
Rolf warily looked around and surveyed his surroundings, trying to process as much as he possibly could without revoking the evil spirit of pain and sending it to wreak havoc in his mind again. "I'm pretty sure. I mean, I've almost got my balance back, so…" this was true. Now that they were out of the plains, the ground under his feet was flatter, so it was much easier to balance on.
"…Okay…If you're sure." Rolf nodded slightly and raised his arm off of Oscar's shoulder, promptly bringing it down to his side. He then did the same to the arm that Mist was cradling with her soft touch. It took him a moment to take a step without fear of falling. The world was still swaying slightly whenever he moved, but he had already gotten the hang of steadying himself to start over.
Meanwhile, there was the horrible sound of liquid hitting wood. Brom's voice resonated through the small area soon after. "Nephenee? Ya' all righ'? I can go get ya' a glass o' water if ya' want me to."
Nephenee tried to say something, or at least it sounded like she did, before following her words up with another cascading waterfall. Something about all of the villagers gasps of disgust and pity told Rolf that he should be really happy that he wasn't looking at his comrade right now, for it didn't seem that she had made it to the bucket that time. Mist seemed to feel the same way as she said, "Well, that sounded…lovely, didn't it?"
Rolf opened his mouth to answer, but never got the chance to. At that precise moment, his thoughts were completely lost because of the appearance of a squadron of soldiers in black armor that had just appeared at the entrance to the town. One of them called out to the villagers, "Attention citizens! We've received repots of Crimean army stragglers hiding in this town! From this point forth, the Daein army will blockade all points of entry! No one comes or goes without our leave! The harbor is also closed! No ships will be allowed to sail!"
Mist and Rolf looked at each other, all feelings and thoughts of dizziness gone. Mist whispered, just loud enough to where Rolf didn't have to strain to hear her, "This isn't good. They're not going to let us leave, are they?"
"No, they aren't."
Right then, Ranulf came running up. He talked to Ike about something. Rolf, with his ultra-sensitive head at the moment, was able to pick out a few words. Something about a ship and hurrying to port as fast as possible. Ranulf also said that he would stay behind while the mercenaries boarded and sailed off. As Ike nodded, Rolf explained to Mist what he had heard, then the two started to walk over to the ranger, ready to receive orders.
However, at that very moment, a woman ran by, not seeing Ranulf until the two of them collided. The two stood up, and Rolf realized in horror that Ranulf's hood, which he had been using to hide his ears, had fallen to the laguz's shoulders. Mist seemed to notice too, for she grabbed her friend's hand and squeezed it tightly. "Oh no…" she said, just before the woman screamed.
"Ah! Eeeeeeek! Su-sub-human!!"
"Blast!" Ranulf cursed just loud enough for Rolf to hear. After that, everything became a nightmare. The villagers reported to the Daein soldiers that there was something odd going on. Then, they started bullying and hitting Ranulf, who made no effort to fight back. Ike eventually stepped in a helped the laguz. After that, Ike and Ranulf argued at great length about whether they should fight, which was Ike's idea, or whether they should run as fast as possible to the ship and leave without causing a ruckus and problems between Crimea and Gallia, which was Ranulf's plan, and was, in Rolf's opinion, the better of the two options. If the Daeins happened to get to the ship first because the mercenaries spent all their time fighting, then they would never be able to get to Begnion.
The archer sincerely hoped that Ike would keep his head and make good judgment. By the look on her face, it seemed that Mist was thinking the same thing. Brom and Nephenee, who looked extremely green, stood nearby, looking closely at Ike. Mentally, Rolf was reminded that this would be the newcomers' first battle with the Greil Mercenaries. The two were bound to be at least a little nervous, which was starting to show as Nephenee's knees started to buckle…or it could be that she was still feeling really sick. It was impossible to tell.
After a few minutes, in which all of the Greil Mercenaries flocked to their Commander after hearing what was happening, Ike finally decided to fight. Rolf inwardly groaned. His head was feeling much better now, but it still ached a little when ever he turned, causing his vision to blur slightly. Whatever was going on, he was definitely not in a suitable fighting condition. Not only that, but he didn't want the ship they were supposed to leave captured before they could get there- for that would be a very bad problem.
Meanwhile, Ike was choosing who he was going to take into battle. Everyone that wasn't chosen was going to hide out in the bushes at the edge of the town until most of the battlefield was clear. They were doing this way so as not to draw unwanted attention to a giant group running around.
Marcia was obviously chosen, as her Pegasus wouldn't make well for hiding in a couple of shrubs. Ike was going, along with Soren, who was busy reading his wind tome, preparing for the battle. Oscar and Boyd's names were called and Rolf involuntarily twitched. Whether or not he was out in the fray with them, he still was worried about his brothers. Not only that, there were a lot of Daein soldiers. This was probably going to be an arduous battle. Mia was going, and she seemed happy about it as she jumped up and down. Rhys was called, and he seemed to grip his heal staff more tightly as he glanced over at their enemies who were also preparing for battle. Ilyana seemed to be going as well. The mage nodded and pulled out her thunder tome. Nephenee and Brom were recruited after that, no doubt to see how they faired in battle. Both nodded and took their weapons, Nephenee slightly closer to her normal color. Lethe was also going, who was basically unfazed by the call to service. Last of all, Mist and Rolf were called.
Being honest with himself, Rolf realized that he wasn't sure whether he wanted to fight or not. He did want to help the people he cared about, but he wasn't sure whether he would be much of an asset to the team in the state he was in now…
No, he told himself, I can do this. I already feel a lot better, and my head hardly hurts anymore. I'll be able to fight just as well as I always do.
Not long after that, the battle started. It was chaos. Villagers were running around, frantically trying to find their loved ones amid the blades that were swinging. Tomes flashed every now and then. A house got set on fire, causing a young girl to run out, screaming for help. Oscar rode over to her as fast as his horse could carry him. Rolf was just close enough to hear the girl say that her little brother was stuck inside where she couldn't get to him. Oscar, without farther ado, dismounted his horse and ran into the blaze, which had by now grown twice in size.
Rolf saw this and almost shouted out, almost tried to stop the lance knight from throwing himself in mortal danger, but at the exact same moment, he heard a horrific screech. When he turned around to see what had caused it, he saw Mia fall to the ground, blood splashing all around her. There was another myrmidon behind her, who was raising his sword for the finishing blow. Rolf quickly knocked an arrow, the blood pulsing so hard through his body that he could hear his heart beat. The arrow landed in the enemy's stomach and the man collapsed next to Mia.
The archer darted over to his comrade, praying to Ashera that she was alright as his vision swam in and out of focus. Mist was right behind him, her heal staff ready. Both of them nearly lost their breath when they saw the long gash down Mia's back, bleeding freely. However, even more horrible was the bundle she was carrying. In her arms was a little girl. There was red all over her, but Rolf couldn't tell if the blood was hers or Mia's.
Mist had already kneeled over Mia, her staff glowing with a faint light, which grew stronger until it was nearly blinding. Next thing Rolf's eyes would process was Mia, her back completely sewn shut with a thin pink line running down it where her orange dress had been ripped. The myrmidon slowly sat up. When she spoke, her voice was cracking, "Mist…this little girl…she isn't dead, is she?"
Mist put her first to fingers to the girl's throat and felt for a pulse. After a few moments, her search became more desperate. After a little while, the cleric finally admitted defeat. "I-I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do…"
Mia sighed, looking like she was going to cry. "That myrmidon swung back and stabbed her without noticing while he was trying to hit Rhys…She fell…bleeding…I thought- I thought I could save her…"
Mist put her arm around Mia and hugged her while silent tears started to trace down the myrmidon's face. Rolf felt a tight squeeze in his stomach as the small girl in Mia's arms slowly turned pale. His headache had gone, but he suddenly felt the urge to throw up.
However, his thoughts were shattered when he heard a cry behind him. He whipped around, hoping to Ashera that it wasn't another villager getting hurt. Instead, his heart gave a leap of relief when he saw Oscar handing the girl from before a small boy, probably no older than nine or ten. The girl was grasping her brother tightly. "You…You saved him, even though you didn't know him…Thank you so much."
Oscar nodded. "I have two brothers of my own. I don't know what I'd do without either one of them."
The girl looked up at him with wide eyes. "You're with those sub-humans, right? Why are you helping us? I thought you were the bad guys."
Oscar frowned slightly. "These…sub-humans you speak of," he began, "are not as bad as you think. In fact, they've been nothing but kind to us all throughout this horrible ordeal. The real enemy is Daein, the ones dressed in black that invaded this country."
The girl nodded. "I'm sorry if I offended you're…friends. It's just; I was always taught that the sub-humans were evil beings that would eat you if you got too close."
Oscar shook his head. "No, in fact, they're far from it."
The girl nodded again as Lethe ran by in her beast form. On her back was perched a boy, probably around the same age as Rolf, that was bleeding profusely. It seemed that the cat-girl was taking him to a small house situated at the edge of the town. "I see that now," the village girl said, "never again will I speak ill of them."
Rolf, at this point walked over to the girl and Oscar. The light from Mist's staff had made been so bright that it had made his head stop hurting completely. His heart soared. His brother had just taught this person something that most people never figure out, for they are too blind and selfish to try and see past some fur and claws. "If you really feel that way," he began, the girl and Oscar turning to look at him in surprise, for they hadn't noticed him before, "Then why don't you try calling them by their real name?"
Oscar nodded. "That would be a good idea. If you do that, than any laguz that ever hears you will recognize you as a friend, not a foe."
The girl looked intently at the both of them. "Laguz…is that what they're really called?" Both brothers nodded. She smiled in return. "Okay, then laguz it is. Don't worry, I'll tell everyone in the village about it once all of this is over."
"That would be good." All three of them turned to see Mist and Mia, who was still holding the child, heading for them. Mist had been the one to speak. "Keep in mind that the Daeins apparently don't care what happens to you. It's our team, the one with laguz, that does."
The girl nodded, and then her eyes set on the crippled body Mia bore. At once, her eyes grew dark. "M-Mitsuki?! WHAT HAPPENED?!"
"She was killed by a Daein myrmidon," Mia said grimly. Then, all of them heard the wailing of yet another child. "Why is everyone getting hurt?" Mia proclaimed as she saw Marcia flying with a small boy over to Rhys, who was healing an old lady.
"It's because nothing like this has ever happened in our village before," the girl answered with terrified eyes, "we're not prepared for battle or anything else! The children always play outside, because it's always been safe! Almost everyone roams the town everyday! I'll bet that a lot of people are cut off from their houses because of all the fighting! They may not be able to get somewhere where it's safe!" She took the kid from Mia. "I'll tell Mitsuki's parents what happened. You guys…please! Go out there and help my family! Everyone in this town is very dear to me. This is all my fault…if I had only been watching where I was going, then I wouldn't have run into that laguz…"
Rolf looked at her and suddenly recognized her as the girl that had crashed into Ranulf. "It was you?!"
She nodded, looking ashamed. "I'm so sorry! I know it's selfish, asking for help, when I'm the one who caused this, but I don't know what else to do! I don't have the strength to fight!"
Oscar put his hand lightly on her head. "It's not your fault. You did what you were taught to do, and no one can blame you for that. If anything, we should take a leaf from your book. Your ability to overcome a life's worth of teachings is amazing."
"Yes, well, that's only because I witnessed the laguz's kindness firsthand. Though we all hit that man, not once did he strike back. Please, I beg of you! Don't let anyone else die like Mitsuki! Please, help them!"
Mia nodded, determination set in her face. "I SWEAR upon my life, I'll do my best to protect the villagers!"
"Me too!" Mist said, clutching her staff.
Rolf's heart pounded as he saw people running every which way, trying to get out of the way of the Daeins, who had the upper hand, and the mercenaries, who were having trouble attacking while trying to avoid hitting any innocent people. "I'll help," he said as he saw a mage attack Brom, not even paying attention to the old man the knight was trying to lead to a house.
Oscar nodded. As the quartet turned to leave, the girl called out to them, "I'll be sure to tell Mitsuki's family that it was a laguz's team that tried to save her!"
Rolf felt touched. He had just aided in changing someone's complete mindset towards a race of beings. However, that good feeling dissipated almost as fast as it came when Nephenee dodged an attack, some fifteen feet away. The Daein, in response, got angry and flailed around with his sword in aggravation. "Why don't you stay still?!"
Nephenee, who didn't seem to feel bad anymore, retorted, "I don't quite feel like dyin'!"
Then, the myrmidon swung even harder. "YOU STUPID CRIMEAN! YOU THINK YOU'RE SOOOOO GREAT, DON'T YOU?!" Rolf suddenly saw the little boy behind the Daein. He saw the sword heading for the soft flesh…
"Look out!" he yelled, but he was too late. Rolf turned away and ran to Mist, the insides of his stomach churning. "MIST! YOU'VE GOT TO HELP HIM! PLEASE HELP HIM MIST!"
The cleric turned to her friend. "What? Who?" she obviously hadn't seen the incident. Rolf pointed over to Nephenee, his arm trembling. He couldn't shape his mouth to form the words that he wanted to scream. Mist looked, and her eyes grew wide. "That's…Oh my-"
"THAT GUY CUT OFF HIS ARM!!! YOU'VE GOT TO DO SOMETHING!" the archer finally managed.
Mist ran past at full speed, grabbing Rolf's arm as she went.
Nephenee was ramming the guy continuously, trying to get to the bleeding boy. "Ya' think ya' can pick on innocent boys?! I'll teach ya'! I'll teach ya' real good!"
Mist and Rolf arrived just as the enemy fell down dead. The boy was screaming in pain, a river of red staining the ground and his shirt. Where his arm had been just a moment ago, there was just a bloody stub. Mist took her heal staff and started muttering frantically under her breath.
Rolf looked around, keeping his eye out for any more civilians. Rhys was healing a man hanging limply off his wife. Oscar rode by with a young woman on his horse behind him, heading for a house. Marcia flew every which way, trying to pull people from the middle of battle to ensure that they didn't get slaughtered every which way. Then, she'd let them dismount in a more quiet area, just to rescue them again as they ran into another battle, trying to get home. Lethe, now in human form, ran by, carrying a person on her back that was covered with so much blood that Rolf couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman. After Lethe ran a myrmidon with silver hair that was carrying a small baby, probably just past being a newborn.
Rolf looked after the man curiously. But he got distracted when a piece of parchment fell on his head. He took it and realized it was a note. What was weirder was that it was addressed to him. He quickly read, not willing to divert his attention from the battle for too long.
Rolf,
Don't worry. That man is on your side. His name is Zihark. Lethe recruited him.
P.S. Look up.
Feeling somewhat stupid, Rolf looked up…and nearly fell over in surprise. Sitting on top of the roof of the house close by was the boy in green. Except, today, his mouth wasn't covered by a piece of cloth. He waved merrily to the archer.
Rolf was so absorbed in the boy, he didn't see Boyd running at him until the fighter barreled into him, knocking all the air from his brother's lungs. "Gack! Boyd? What are you doing?!"
"Well, I've been trying to tell you to 'get down' you idiotic peewee! Maybe if you didn't spend all of your time staring at rooftops, you would hear people when they're trying to save your life!"
At this, Rolf looked back up to where the boy was sitting…or had been sitting. Now, the roof was empty. The boy had gone without a trace. "Uh…save my life? From what?"
Boyd looked at him in disbelief. And you call yourself an 'archer'?! Did you not see the wyvern riders by the entrance to the town?!" Rolf worriedly looked over to the indicated spot. Indeed, there were wyvern riders there. There were a couple of normal red ones and a curious black wyvern. Rolf had never heard of one that color before. Boyd continued, "You're small enough to where if one of those guys wanted to kidnap or target you, they wouldn't have a problem hauling you up to them!"
Rolf, with a great effort, pushed Boyd off of him. "Yeah, but they'd have to catch me first."
"Which would be an easy task if you weren't paying close attention! Stupid peewee, do I always have to look out for you?!"
By this point, Rolf had succeeded in rising to his feet. He saw a flash of black and looked up only to see a lance knight riding toward Boyd and him. With quick and careful precision, Rolf fired an arrow that wove it way between the guy's armor and helmet, killing him almost instantly. As its rider fell, the horse careened to the side and ran off. The archer looked to his brother. "Obviously not, as I'm the one that was just watching out for you."
Boyd scowled and stood. "Be quiet, peewee."
"Don't call me peewee."
Meanwhile, Mist had finished healing the kid and Nephenee picked him up and started running to where the boy said his house was. The cleric went over to the two brothers. "Are you two arguing again? ON THE BATTLEFIELD?!"
"He started it," they both said in unison, pointing at each other.
Mist sighed, turned and started walking off in the opposite direction. Rolf, his heart squeezing a bit, hustled off after her. "Mist, wait!"
Mist rounded a corner and literally ran right into another lance knight. Rolf was right behind her. For a moment, the three looked at one another, lost for words. The lance knight's squadron was behind him, and they all looked dumbfounded for a moment too.
Then, Mist and Rolf looked at each other. Each saw their own fear reflected in their friend's eyes, and they turned and ran as fast as they could. Soon, they heard hooves behind them. Rolf, thinking fast, grabbed Mist arm and jumped into a hedge, pulling his friend in after him. The branches snagged at his limbs, but not nearly as painfully as a lance would have.
A moment later, the two heard Boyd, and who sounded like Marcia and Nephenee, calling battle challenges. The two fought their way out of the hedge and saw their teammates fighting the lance knight and his squadron. Though the mercenaries were doing okay, they were outnumbered by one or two people.
Rolf knocked another arrow and took aim. Just as soon as he was about to release the bowstring that was slowly cutting into his callused fingers, his arm ripped under stress. The arrow flew array, managing to hit one of the men in the shoulder, disabling to him the ability to use his weapon. That left an opening for Ilyana, who had just run down from another road, to zap the guy with a fierce bolt of lightning.
By then, most of the Daeins had been killed or chased off. Ike, Soren, and Oscar ran by on a road behind some houses, Rolf just catching sight of the ranger's cape, and quickly dove into battle with some of the last enemies. Boyd shouted to the rest of the mercenaries on his side to round the corner where Mist and Rolf had run into the lance knight and his men and fight through to the ship they were supposed to board.
Rolf obliged, trying to hide his bleeding arm from Mist, who thus far hadn't noticed it. She would surly become very upset if it was still causing him trouble. More than once, Rhys had attempted to heal the wound, but since it was already scabbed over, the priest had been reluctant. Apparently, he hadn't wanted the skin to grow back over the scab, as that could cause massive pain and infection. Rolf didn't want Mist to know that he wouldn't be able to have his arm healed unless the scab fell off.
Mia joined the group as they wound through the narrow roads, trying to avoid all the people who were still stumbling back to their houses. As they finally, made it around the corner, Rolf pulled an arrow from his quiver and got a firmer grip on his bow, ready to fight if there were anymore enemies, which there ended up being.
Oscar charged one, a sword knight, and stabbed the guy's leg. Mia ran at another and slashed at the horse, sending the animal careening out of control, until the rider flew off to be promptly slashed in multiple places by a wind spell summoned by Soren. Ilyana attacked a knight that was standing on a plank by the ocean's edge. Apparently, this was where the port of the town was, and the ship that was tethered to the land was presumably the ship that the mercenaries were supposed to board.
The knight threw his javelin at Ilyana, who was saved when Lethe shoved her out of the attack's way at the last moment. The man with the silver hair, Zihark, accompanied by Nephenee, ran at another sword knight. Together, the two stabbed at the guy until he collapsed, dead. Ike ran at yet another sword knight and attacked with much more power and accuracy than when he had first started fighting. The ranger had definitely gotten stronger. The enemy backed up and got healed by a priest.
Rolf, his chance, aimed his arrow at the priest and shot, narrowly avoiding Mia's shoulder as his arm jerked at the last moment. Thankfully, the priest still got hit in the chest and slumped to the ground, the grass around him turning red. The archer looked at his arm and examined the long split that had formed where his scab had torn. The flesh all around it was pink. Rolf couldn't feel his fingers. His entire hand had gone numb.
He looked up to see Ilyana finally bring the knight down, and Boyd killing the last sword knight. Ike, Oscar, and Mia all worked together to knock a paladin, who was the leader of the soldiers, off his horse to the ground. Mia stabbed the guy with her sword as his horsed ambled away, nearly trampling on Zihark, who dove out of the way just in time. The paladin muttered some words that Rolf couldn't hear and died.
After that, everything started to flow much more smoothly. The Greil Mercenaries boarded the ship and set sail for open sea.
Rolf met the captain, an odd man by the name of Nasir, as he carefully walked up the plank to the deck. The man looked weathered, and he gave the impression that he had been through a lot, but he didn't seem very old. He gave Rolf a brisk shake, which was somewhat clumsy, as Rolf was using his right hand. The archer had maneuvered his body so that Mist, who was right behind him, wouldn't see his left arm. By then, his entire left side had lost feeling because the pain radiating from his arm was so great.
Rolf seriously didn't want to think about the affects this would have on him later, when he needed to use his bow.
However, that thought was quickly lost as another piece of parchment fell on his head. The archer hesitated before opening it, fearing the worst.
Oh please goddess, don't let HIM be here…
Sadly, it seemed that the goddess hated him, because the letter read:
Rolf,
Hey there! Guess who?
P.S. Look up.
P.P.S. I think you seriously need to fix that arm of yours.
Once again, Rolf looked up, already knowing what he was going to see. Above him, sitting upon one of the sail masts, was the boy in green, waving down at him, just as he had in Toha.
Author's Note: Sorry that was so long. After 6000 words, I couldn't find a place to divide it. Besides, I owed you guys for a late update anyway. I'm sorry! By the way, please don't be afraid to point out any typos or things like that to me. I kept forgetting to tell you this, but since chapter eight, Spottedtail has been too busy to edit my work. So, they quit until they had more time. Anyway, I had to look something up from an earlier chapter when I was writing this one, and I saw so many mistakes I wanted to strangle myself! (Not really, I just wanted to rewrite it about ten times). So, please tell me about any problems. Also, last thing, I withdrew the votes earlier for a reason, so don't be expecting any thing that was asked in them, though I might use one of them… Anyway, see you next chapter! Thanks to my humble supporters out there!