A/N

Terribly sorry it took me so long to get an update out. I had several huge essays to write after the last chapter was uploaded, and once that was done I was so tired of typing stuff that I took a week off from writing. In the past two weeks, though, I have finished both this chapter and another chapter of the RD portion, and I'll probably have a few more within the next month or so. The plan is that once I get around to finishing POR, I'll be able to update pretty frequently for a while. But that's still a long ways off.

The main purpose of this chapter is to give the other OCs some extra screen time and developed their personalities and relationships a bit. I've been busy laying out character arcs for them over the past month or so, at least for the POR segment, and they are all pretty important to the story.

Chapter 25

Bushwhacked!

Winter in Daein was every bit as harsh as I expected. White snow fell from a white sky to blanket the already white ground with yet more white, and biting winds blew the snow hard into our faces and froze exposed skin in minutes. Drifts formed across the road, slowing our progress to a crawl at times. The column was incredibly long, stretching for miles; those at the front had to struggle through the snow and try to clear the way, while where I was at the middle we were left slogging through treacherous muddy ground stirred up by the passage of thousands of feet.

For my part, it was not completely unbearable; I had seen far worse winters as a child, winters where the snow piled twice as high as it did here, and even a few winters so cold that it could not snow. With a warm, fur-lined cloak and layers of clothing under my armor I was getting along alright, and whenever I dismounted Bob to lead him through a particularly rough patch of road I had his bulk to shelter me from the wind. The soldiers from Begnion on the other hand, were accustomed to the comparatively mild winters of their home and suffered despite their warm winter gear. They laughed it off for the first few days of marching, but after the snowstorm rolled in on the third day they were utterly miserable. Nonetheless, maps showed that the highway we were following would run through a huge forest, so Ike chose to press on and break camp once we were in the shelter offered by the woods.

"Forest ahead!" came a call from farther down the column. I could not see it yet through all the snow, but took heart and called out to the men following me.

"Hear that? We'll be making camp soon!"

"Good," a nearby spearman replied through chattering teeth. "It'll be good to get out of this damned wind."

"Great!" Ilyana called from her perch on the supply wagon next to me. Zihark sat beside her, and every now and then slapped her hand away from the covered barrel of apples that she was 'guarding,' much to Ilyana's chagrin. "We'll be eating soon, then! A meal would be nice."

"You've already had three today!" Zihark objected.

"I know! At this rate, I'll waste away to nothing in a week! You wouldn't mind sharing, would you?" she asked, looking forlornly at the food stores behind her. Zihark and I both rolled our eyes, and I nudged Bob's flanks to catch up to the next wagon before Ilyana could try to mooch off me as well.

This wagon was one of the ones carrying the wounded, and the other three Earthlings were all there as well. Matt and Mist were keeping a diligent eye on Titania and Boyd, both of whom were unconscious, and talking with Astrid, who was conscious but in no condition to walk. Marcia had hardly spoken to anyone since her brother's death, but she was awake at least. I called a greeting to her, getting only a miserable grumble in response, then rode up to where Beth and Al were steering the wagon. It looked like Beth was trying to braid Al's hair... at great personal risk.

"Holy shit on a shingle! How many times do I have to tell you to back off!?" Al cursed as Beth successfully got one side finished.

"Oh, come on dude! It looks so nice," Beth protested, reaching around for the other side. Brave girl, that Beth.

"We're not here to look nice..." Al grumbled. "Adam, back me up here!"

"I see nothing wrong," I replied cheerfully, earning myself a death glare.

"Well can I ride Bob for a while, then? He likes me!" Al asked, looking for any way to escape. Bob snorted; he did indeed like Al, but that was because she spoiled him with carrots. Actually, so did Beth. The poor guy was going to be fat in no time.

"No! He's my buddy, not yours," I snickered, patting the palfrey's neck.

"Fine. I guess I won't steal your only friend," Al grumbled, but with no way to escape Beth's clutches she had to resign herself to her fate. Al's jab reminded me of my unconscious friend, so I turned back to look at the wounded.

"Hey Mist!" I called to get her attention. The girl turned my way, and I realized belatedly that she'd been in the middle of a quiet conversation with Matt and Astrid. Oops. "How's Boyd doing?"

"Good, I guess. His breathing and heartbeat are steady and his wounds are staying closed," she answered, seeming much more subdued than normal. She was so much more empathetic than most people, and all the death and suffering of the first battle really got to her. "Titania's the same. I'm sure they'll better soon," she added hopefully, looking forlornly at the unmoving forms of her friends.

"Soon, yeah," I echoed. My throat started to constrict, so I was grateful when the column suddenly ground to a halt and provided me with a distraction. I rode back to where Jarod and the rest of the unit was and dismounted to help them make sure the supplies in the nearby wagons were still securely tied down. Shortly after we'd finished checking the wagons, a rider came galloping back from the front of the column.

"General Ike requests volunteers to scout the woods before the main force moves in!" the messenger called. Judging by his tired and frustrated expression he'd been rather short on volunteers thus far, and he was immediately surprised by the reaction of our group.

"Scouting? I'll go!" Al cried, jumping down from the wagon to escape Beth's clutches. Beth hopped down after her.

"Sweet, I'll come too!" she added, drawing a frustrated growl from Al. Matt clambered out of the wagon, eager to contribute, and quietly offered his help as well.

"Count me in," I called, handing Bob's reins to Jarod. To the sergeant, I added "Make sure the supply wagons are secure. If the Daeins attack us, this will be a tempting target." Although with Ilyana protecting the food, I pitied any Daeins who came for our supplies.

"The General, Princess and all the officers riding at the front of the column will be even more tempting," he stated, passing the reins to one of the spearmen. "I'm coming with you."

"Good point." I addressed the unit of spearmen, dividing them into two groups of twenty. "You men, come with us. We'll make sure it's safe to camp. The rest of you, keep the supplies safe. We can't have Daein stealing our supper."

Our group slogged its way to the front of the column. From there, we could just see the edge of the forest; a dark wall of snow-laden branches sagging under the weight of winter's onslaught. Ike already had a small force ready to enter the eaves of the forest, including a large portion of the Greil Mercenaries and Kieran's sixty men-at-arms. Back in the halted column, soldiers were huddling together in the shelter provided by the wagons and horses, more concerned with staying warm than anything else.

"This is the last of the volunteers?" Ike asked when I approached the meager force. Morale was still low; we needed a victory, or at least some respite from the storm, to rebuild the army's faith in its leader.

"Yeah," I replied. "But at least we have an experienced group."

"It's fine if the cowards won't come, we don't need them," Soren, following the General around like a good little dog as always, scoffed with his typical tact... or utter lack thereof. "This storm gives us good cover, and a smaller force has a better chance of moving unseen."

"It makes it easier for Daein to sneak up on us as well," Ike quickly pointed out. "We're vulnerable if they have an ambush planned."

"Let's be honest; they do have an ambush planned, but at least the storm will make it difficult to coordinate an attack. I'm with Soren on this, a small force is our best bet," I said, the words leaving a foul taste in my mouth. Agreeing with him was not fun.

"If they are trying to ambush us, they will have to be split up, and in this weather they will be using messengers to deliver orders," Soren agreed. "Any kind of signal cannot be seen or heard in these conditions."

Ike looked thoughtful for a moment, then his scowl softened and he almost smiled. "That makes them vulnerable. We'll find their messengers and take them out; don't kill them if you don't have to, I want to know more about our enemy."

"Split into three groups and scour the forest, at least a score of soldiers in each," Ike ordered. "Kieran, you'll lead the first group west; Adam, head east. I'll lead the Greil Mercenaries in the center. Take the enemy by surprise when you find them, but do not under any circumstances let them escape. They will be split up for the ambush, so we can pick them apart one group at a time, but if any of you encounter a force too large for you, send for reinforcements. No heroics, am I clear?"

"Sir!" we all responded, before breaking off and returning to the troops.

"Alright, let's get ready to move! Leave any gear that will make too much noise here," I called when I approached. Al and Jarod both jogged over to meet me.

"So, what are our orders?" Al asked expectantly.

"We're going hunting."

The scenery changed rapidly when we slipped into the shelter of the forest. The howling wind gave way to a distant whistle, the stinging snow driving into our faces turned to a gentle fall as the dense canopy of branches collected the worst of the snowfall, and the drifts of snow were not piled as high as they were on the road. Our vision was now limited only by the rough terrain and trunks of bare trees, and while the wind still made it difficult to hear over any significant distance, compared to the open fields it felt as though a deathly silence had descended on the world.

Al took point, easily slipping from trunk to trunk as she looked for any sign of the enemy. I followed behind with Jarod, Matt and Beth, staying several meters apart so we would not be immediately visible to any wary Daeins. The score of spearmen stayed well back; they were there to take on the larger groups of Daeins, while the five of us going ahead would take on any scouts, messengers, or small groups.

"Hold up!" Al called softly as she peeked around the side of a tree, holding up a closed fist to signal the halt. Ever so slowly she dropped to her stomach and crawled forward through a cluster of barren bushes, disappearing from view. We waited in tense silence for a few minutes, then suddenly she was back, pulling herself up into a sitting position behind the same tree, and then scurrying over to where I waited.

"There's a trail through the snow ahead; fresh tracks, going both ways," she whispered.

"Good, looks like the messengers aren't changing their routes," I surmised. I waved Jarod over, risking the proximity so we could get organized quickly. "Jarod, tell our men to fall back and stay out of sight; the five of us will hide near the path and ambush the messengers when they come."

Together, we crept ahead to the tracks Al had indicated, settled into some dense brush and trees just next to the path, and waited. I found it strangely thrilling; even though nothing was happening, we were no longer living in fear of a Daein ambush or a volley of arrows. Now, we were the hunters.

Unfortunately, it seemed the Daeins were not too keen on being hunted, as no messengers showed up. After nearly fifteen minutes of waiting I heard a stifled burst of laughter from Beth, and I threw a warning look her way... or at least tried to; with her snow-encrusted cloak and pale complexion, Beth was nearly invisible. Matt was right next to her, though, and his large frame stuck out a bit more.

"Keep it down, guys," I hissed as loud as I dared.

"Sorry, I was just kinda teasing Matt; he and Astrid have been talking a lot lately!" Beth whispered. "Look at how red his face is!"

"It's not like that. She does most of the talking," Matt retorted so quietly I could hardly hear him. His cheeks were indeed flushed, and not just from the cold.

"Well that's because you won't fucking talk to girls at all! You need to grow a pair and talk with her! I mean, how intimidating can it be? She's almost as shy as you!" Beth exclaimed, drawing another impatient look from me. "Oops, sorry," she added, glancing at me. "I'll be quiet now."

I smiled and shook my head helplessly; Matt looked pretty embarrassed now. Of course, Al chose that moment to offer some encouragement, in typical Al fashion.

"You should give it a shot, Matt," she said, throwing a taunting look my way. "No matter what you do, you can't possibly do worse than Adam or Boyd has."

"Sir Adam!" I corrected her. "And I don't know what you're talking about."

"Really? Boyd is so nice, though," Beth commented, clearly confused. She still hadn't figured out that Boyd had been flirting with her practically nonstop.

"Hey!" Jarod hissed from further down the path. "Someone's coming!"

Instantly we were quiet as we listened intently for the sound of footsteps. I loosened my sword in its sheath, Matt and Beth crouched lower into the brush, Jarod readied his spear, and Al straightened up and nocked an arrow. There was movement in the trees to the east, three forms jogging along as fast as the rough terrain allowed. As they drew closer we could clearly hear their loud footsteps and labored breathing, and the messengers were so focused on their task that they drew right up next to us without noticing. I nodded to Jarod and Al, and we struck all at once.

Jarod swung his spear out across the path, clotheslining the first messenger, while I hooked one arm around a tree, swung myself out into the path and slammed the pommel of my sword into the temple of the second. Jarod's target landed on the back of his head, while mine held his feet until I grabbed his head and slammed it into a tree.

Al shot the last man in the leg and rushed him with her bow. He kept his wits about him and drew a sword, but Al ducked his swipe as she slipped past him and whipped her bow into the back of his wounded leg. He fell to one knee and tried to turn to face his opponent, but Al reversed her swing and hit him solidly in the face. He fell onto his back, and in an instant Al had another arrow nocked and trained on the messenger's chest.

"Don't even think of it," she said evenly, seeing the messenger reach for a knife. Matt and Beth came out and leveled weapons at the wounded messengers, and they quickly gave in and allowed themselves to be tied up. Jarod whistled, and the twenty spearmen moved up to join us.

Once the messengers were secured, I grabbed the most coherent of the prisoners - the man Al took down - and sat him down on a stump.

"How many soldiers are in the forest?" I asked him. We had little time to waste, but anything he could tell us would be helpful.

"You'll just kill me anyways. Do your worst, Crimean," the man growled.

"How many soldiers?" I asked again, ignoring him.

"Maybe you didn't hear me; FUCK YOU!" he snarled, spitting at my feet.

"If I wanted you dead, I'd have killed you in an honest fight," I snarled right back at him. He just glared at me and said nothing.

"We're not getting anything out of them," Jarod whispered to me. "Might as well send the poor buggers back to the column."

I nodded, and waved three strong spearmen over. "Take them to the column and hand them over to the soldiers there. Come back here once you're finished; we'll leave tracks for you to follow and catch up." The soldiers wasted no time hauling the prisoners to their feet.

As soon as they were gone, the rest of us followed the messengers' trail to the southwest, heading in the same direction the captured Daeins had been traveling. Whoever was at the end of that path would be expecting them, and we had to take them out before they could figure out that something was wrong. Only a few hundred meters or so from where we'd taken the messengers we found a small, hastily set camp. There were around twenty Daeins there; most of them huddled around a small fire. No doubt they had already been alerted to the presence of our army outside the forest, as these men were armed and alert. Fortunately, they were only expecting the enemy to be on the road, which ran through the forest a short distance past their camp, so the Daeins only posted sentries in that direction. Coming in behind the camp, our group was able to creep very close to the enemy without being seen. The spearmen carefully fanned out in a semi-circle around the camp, awaiting the signal to attack.

"Where are those messengers?" one of the soldiers - an officer, from the looks of his fine cloak - grumbled. I got Al's attention and pointed the man out to her. She nodded and eased out from behind a tree to take aim. On the other side of me, Jarod had a javelin ready in his hand. All I had to do was give the order and we would descend upon the unsuspecting enemies, but my voice caught in my throat and my arm would not rise.

My mind raced back, recalling the disaster that ensued the last time I ordered these men into battle. Sixty died because of me, and now here I was, about to do it again. A faint metallic rattle sounded from my scabbard, and I hastily withdrew my hand from the sword hilt before the noise gave us away. The hand was shaking.

A faint whisper reached my ears, and I glanced over at Jarod; he mouthed 'it will work,' and gave me an encouraging nod. Gathering my courage and resigning myself to my responsibility, I waved everyone forward. The jaws of our trap began to close rapidly on the Daein soldiers.

The officer was the first to see us, but Al's shot silenced him before he could rally his men to repel us. There was a split second where the Daeins in the camp froze, and in that second we all broke from cover and charged. There were no battle cries from our side - this attack was to be carried out in silence - and the Daeins were too surprised and disorganized to mount any defense. The first man I encountered swung a sword at my neck, but I parried it and kept charging, slamming my elbow into his neck then slashing my sword across his chest when he recoiled. Al was firing as she charged; most of her shots missed the mark, but the soldiers in front of her were so busy trying to avoid the arrows that they fell easy prey to the short archer and the spearmen around her. Jarod was even more deadly, easily tearing through two soldiers simultaneously while Matt and Beth teamed up beside him to bring down one particularly large Daein.

I cut a Daein's hamstring then slashed his throat when he fell, and as the corpse flopped to the ground I saw one of the sentries trying to run away. "Al, one's escaping!" I yelled, pointing to the retreating sentry. The archer dropped to one knee immediately, carefully lining up her shot.

A yell broke out to my left, and I turned to see a Daein rushing at Matt's back, sword raised high. Beth was there before I could even yell a warning, and her axe intercepted the swordsman; he fell back, blood flowing freely from a gaping wound in his gut. Boyd had trained her well in the short time they spent together.

Over to my right, Al loosed the arrow and the fleeing sentry fell. A pair of spearmen caught up to him an instant later, and wasted no time finishing him off. Barely thirty seconds after the attack began, silence descended once again on the forest.

I glanced around at the slaughter, and for a moment I was back at Tor Garen, looking at the scores of brave men - Daeins and Begnions - who died at my command, hearing the screams of the wounded and watching helplessly as they bled out on the frozen ground. I shook my head to bring myself back to the present.

"Gather up! Are we missing anyone?" I called hoarsely, terrified that I might have led these men into a massacre again. I glanced around as the force gathered, counting seventeen spearmen, Jarod, and the three Earthlings, all alive.

"All accounted for, sir," Jarod confirmed after a moment, lifting a huge weight from my shoulders. I gave an order, and it... it went alright.

"Any wounds?" I asked, still concerned for their well-being. A chorus of no's met my inquiry and I finally let out a relieved sigh. "Alright then, there's bound to be a second camp like this one at the other end of the messengers' trail. Let's go find it."

It took several hours, but we cleared the woods like that; isolating groups and overwhelming them before they knew what was happening. By the time the Daeins figured out that the ambushers had become the ambushed, our three forces had already cut through a dozen Daein groups and taken over fifty prisoners. We even caught a few more groups as they tried to retreat. In the end it amounted to nothing more than a minor skirmish, but hey - a win was a win.

Just before nightfall the main army moved into the forest and broke camp. Ike made a point of having the prisoners in plain sight, both to make sure they were not mistreated and to remind the soldiers that we'd won this round. It worked, too; once the tents were pitched and the campfires lit, soldiers were happily laughing, eating and joking. Daein may have given us a bloody nose, but we hit them right back and that gave the men hope. Talk of desertion all but vanished.

I spent the night sitting at one of the innermost campfires with Al, Matt and Beth, as well as many of the Greil Mercenaries and the men from my unit (we got a nice, safe spot in the camp since we volunteered for the dangerous job). Matt ate quietly, as he always did, but Beth was even more subdued than he was; odd, considering that ordinarily she was a very talkative person, but now she just sat there staring into the fire and biting her nails. An untouched bowl of stew sat in her lap. I finally excused myself from a conversation with Zihark and Ilyana and went to check on her.

"Hey dude, what's bothering you?" I asked as I took a seat next to her. She grunted in response, but offered no tangible response.

"She hadn't killed anyone before today," Matt explained quietly. "She's having a rough time."

"No!" Beth protested. "I-I'm fine, I just fucking hate winter is all. I can handle the war just fine, same as all of you!"

"Killing bothers us too," Al chimed in from across the campfire. "No shame in admitting it, but if you bottle things up you'll end up causing some serious problems for yourself."

"But that's just the thing; i-it doesn't bother me. I mean, I never wanted to kill someone, but that bastard was gonna kill you, Matt, and I stopped him, but... Ugh!" Beth exclaimed, her expression becoming confused and worried. "I don't feel anything. I mean I thought I'd be really sad or ashamed, but it doesn't bother me in the least. I'm a fucking terrible person, aren't I? What the hell's wrong with me?!"

"Nothing," Al replied, her tone uncommonly serious and caring. "It doesn't always hit you right away, but... it will. Just give yourself some time to process what's happened."

I nodded in agreement. "First time I killed a man, it took two days for it to really sink in."

"See?" Matt said comfortingly. "You're no more messed up than the rest of us. And we're all here for you when you're ready to talk about it, right?" he added, glancing at Al and I for confirmation.

"Yeah, you can talk to me if you want," Al said, before adding in a lighter tone; "Just don't try to braid my hair again, or I might have to knock you out!"

Beth's scowl finally disappeared, and a hint of a smile crept onto her face. "We'll see about that," she laughed; she was fairly strong and quite a bit taller than the sprightly archer. "Umm, thanks guys," she continued after a moment, serious again. "I, uh, think maybe I could use some time alone to, y'know, process." She got up to leave.

"Good idea," Matt agreed, getting up as well. Beth threw him a glare, thinking he meant to accompany her, but he quickly added. "I was gonna go check up on Astrid, maybe try talking to her like you said." His face turned a bright shade of red, but he looked a little confident for once.

Beth grinned as she left the campfire. "About fucking time! I'll leave you to it, then. See you guys tomorrow." And with that, she disappeared into her tent.

Barely two seconds after Beth left, Ilyana was right beside me, eyeing Beth's still untouched bowl of stew with intense focus.

"Hey, Adam, you don't think Meth would mind if I borrowed her food, do you?" the ravenous mage asked, batting her big, sad eyes at me.

"Ugh. First, her name is Beth with a 'B', and sec- gah, why do I even bother? Sure, go ahead! Not like I can stop you," I grumbled sarcastically, as Ilyana had already started eating before I could even finish correcting her.

"Oops, I forgot my food," Beth's voice suddenly called, and I looked up in horror to see her back out of her tent. "Where'd it go?"

Ilyana burped and tried to hide the empty bowl. Beth glared at her. "Adam said I could eat it," Ilyana said quickly, pointing at me while she swallowed the last of Beth's supper.

"That's not- ugh, here Beth, take mine," I sighed, handing her my bowl before she could get angry at me too. Beth took the offered bowl and disappeared back into her tent, and I glared at Ilyana. "I hate you so much right now."

A/N

As always, please feel free to leave a review and let me know what you think of the story so far. Predictions, criticism, questions; it's all great, and I am always delighted to hear from you guys.

Review Responses

Tom-Ato13: Still not telling who my OC will be paired with, if anyone, but pairings between OCs are definitely out. Only OC x Canon Character pairings for this story.

Mark-Kris-Robin: I'm a history buff, research comes with the territory. I'm actually one of those crazy people who thinks research is fun.