ARGH. Stupid school internet, farting while I'm trying to post things. I'm not going to bother editing this one, it was painful enough to write. 10,000 words! SUCK IT G2G, YOU CAN'T EVER HAVE THAT AWESOME OF A WORDCOUNT. Yeah, this one's a beast.

Enjoy it, as always!

Welp, I've gathered everyone in Shio's tent... This is pretty important business. Everyone's leaning in, wanting to know how this meeting's gonna go, particularly Storm, since he looks pretty confused.

Someone has got to keep him in the loop, I swear. I'll get Shio to do it if I have to... Then again, Shio's pretty forgetful. Probably going to end up being me, he is my, um... self?

Damn, Storm is a hell of a puzzle. And he's me.

"Okay," I figure I should stop with the reflecting and get this crap under way. "We all know what's going down tomorrow, and exactly how it goes down without our interference." This is calm and businesslike.

"Wait." Comprehension rises into Storm's face, causing his posture to improve a little. "It's already time for Emmeryn's execution?"

I try not to sigh; I'm definitely going to end up being the one to keep him in the loop. "Yes. Anyways, we're left with a question: Should we interfere to save her, or just do as we're told?" I glance around at my fellow dreamers. "Each of you, weigh in."

It's a hell of a question. It's not just logic and tactics that are involved here, it's also a huge question of morality and philosophy. You'd thank that'd be right up my alley, but I'm nulling my vote so we don't have a chance of ending up with an even split. And let's face it, the whole philosophy business is a headache. Yeah, I'm good at it, but it's stolen way too many hours of sleep from me in the past.

It's also stolen way too many hours of daylight recently. I've been trying to put this one off on purpose.

Anyways, the silence that follows my question is appropriately short, because everyone else already worked it out. Eldrad responds first, from the logic-tactical point of view:

"I'd love to save her, but if we do, we end up extending the Ylisse-Plegia war." Yup. Eyes floating up in thought, he continues. "And later, when the Valm invasion happens, she's try to diplomacy friggin' Walhart, which we know is a bad idea."

Uh, correction, Welsh isn't aware that it's a dumb idea, because he never played too far and he's still fuzzy. (He doesn't question it, however, for which I'm grateful.) Nin's been taking notes on her game, so she's up to speed. ... Enough.

"Hm," Shio hums. She decides to take the view of morale (not morality). "On the other hand, wouldn't it be better for Ylisse to save Emmeryn? She knows more about ruling a country than Chrom. I vote we save her."

Yeah, except Ylisse loses more soldiers because the war len– no, Ferox loses soldiers. Ylisse has no military, barring the Shepherds and pegasus knights. But that fucks things over even more when Valm invades. Hm.

"I don't really care," yawns Welsh, as though he's trying to be as nonchalant as possible.

Little cheater. Great way to get out of having to think, and also a great way to screw us over in the event of an even split. THANKS, WELSH.

My next comment reflects this in tone alone: "You should, because if we extend the war, that means more opportunities for you to die." You know, if you take out my selection of stressed words and ignore the sharp irritation with which I said that, that almost sound innocuous. Almost.

He shrugs at me, assuming the "T" face. "I have another life, I'm not complaining."

Auuggghh. Getting him to feel any strong emotion (that cannot be described with a simple "NOPE") is almost impossible. That, or he just doesn't like me and tries to shove me away.

That hurts. I really hope that isn't so, he's one of my most valued friends. I really missed him in middle school... Back on topic.

"Welsh," I glance at Eldrad in surprise; I hadn't seen this coming, "we all know what you want to keep in this life." Huh? Wait, I don't get it, how is fighting for your life every few days better than going to school or working a job? What does Welsh have here that he'd want to keep?

Wait, is it that–

"Shut up!"

Aaaand my thought process is interrupted by his indignant squawk. Hah, just kidding; sound doesn't bother me that much. I just didn't want to fin... Aw, hell. Here's my conclusion: He has a giiiiirrrlfriend.

I will kindly refrain from the gratuitous teasing.

"Um." Oh, Nin. Right, if it wasn't for that timid squeak, I nearly would've forgotten about her. Yes, she is that shy sometimes... Given that we're all friends, though, she shouldn't be. "Is it my turn?"

I whistle at the boys. "HUSH!" They finally quiet down with the embarrassed squawking– I swear we have a bunch of griffons in here– and I invite Ninny to continue.

She clears her throat. "We let Emmeryn die. I'm sorry about Chrom and Lissa, but too many good things happen as a result of it. What made all the difference is the manner of her death; it's better than letting someone kill her further down the road."

Oh, yeah. That was another good part of it, you didn't have everyone trying to friggin' kill her.

"Gods, that's cold." Storm's taking his turn, now, being last (as always). "Um... Well," I swear to god he's making this up as he's going, "if there was a middle-of-the-road approach, I'd take that. Like, let everyone think she's dead, then reveal later, OH YEAH SHE'S ALIVE, BITCHES!"

While that would achieve the perfect outcome, I have to burst his bubble. "Storm, we're not in a position to pull that." I can't think of any means to save her, and I'm pretty damn creative. I mean, Elincia's fast, but I can't just fly by and swipe her; we already have a bazillion archers there and I'm not crazy enough to think my luck is that good. I mean, I'm a friggin' lucky bitch, but I don't want to bet my life on something that risky.

... Wow, how selfish, I'm putting my life above Emm's? No, this whole scenario is dumb, we're debating whether she should live or die, as if we're some sort of all-knowing arbiters. How... Arrogant. It's not the word I'm looking for, though.

Storm scratches the back of his head, sighing. "Yeah, I know. I sure wish we were. Um... yeah," he appears to be racking his brains, "we're best off letting her die. I don't think we could save her, anyhow."

We probably should have debated that question first, whether or not we could. But it's obvious that with what we have, we can't. We'd have to wipe out all those archers in one fell swoop, or otherwise catch Emm mid-fall with a faster mount, or just snipe Gangrel. And none of us are snipers or have mounts that fast. And arcthunder is sadly only meant for use on single individuals or pairs, perhaps even trios, but certainly not huge groups like that. No, we'd have to have Iote's Shield or something.

We're not even high enough of a level to grab it, anyways. And there hasn't been a single chance to visit the Outrealms.

"Well, it's settled, then. We just follow orders tomorrow," I conclude. A dreading silence descends upon the occupants of the tent... Probably as we force ourselves to come to terms with our decision.

"Okay," Shio sighs, almost hiccuping.

"I'm not going to enjoy the aftermath," Storm mumbles.

Oh dear shit, that's right. Gotta bear in mind Chrom's roaring rampage of revenge. And out of the six of us, I'm the most likely to bumble into his path like an idiot. Why? Because shut up. Shut up is why. More seriously, who was it he went after when Sumia died? Yeah. Me.

This ain't gonna be fun.

"Suck it up." If Storm wasn't me, I would brand him psychic. He probably figured out what I was thinking from my face.

Sooo, "I know."

Now I hear a bunch of whispers. "I almost ship them now."

"There's one question I'm trying to figure out– is it self-cest or incest?"

Okay, there's only one response to that, and it's this: "WILL YOU SHUT UP?"

In perfect unison, of course!

Welsh laughs and walks out. "Ima go train."

I hold a blank face and try to invent an excuse to get the heck out. "I'd better go find Robin and concoct an excuse that'll justify us not doing anything to save Emm."

"Want some help?" Storm offers, a dumb smile on his face.

"Um, no." Idiot, we're trying to sink this ship, not make it shippable. Gods.

"Okay." Storm sees my face and wonders what the hell he's doing wrong.

I can be so dense sometimes.

Seriously, back before I actually worked on developing insight, I was the most dense little idiot you ever met. What actually started it was when–

Actually, that's a secret, and it's not my own. Gotta hitch a different train of though. Ummmm... What manner of excuse am I to concoct?

Bump. Whoops, sorry, Nowi.

"Sorry, Shanzy! Nowi has to go help Gaius get candy!" Aaaaand she's gone, just like that.

... Huh. Even Nowi's been put to some kind of work. She's pretty damn busy with keeping morale up, huh? Now that I look around, everyone seems tense. Everyone's putting on fake smiles for Nowi so she her imagined world of bubbles isn't destroyed. The moment she's out of sight, they go back to their exhausted hunches.

I can't really fix their morale problems, sadly, not with so great an event looming over them. It's not my business, anyways. I just have to worry about myself and hope to whatever gods exist that we survive this. We don't need another Sumia.

Gods, we don't need another Sumia. It's bad enough that Emmeryn's going to die, we're going to have a damn tough job of fixing Chrom up after this.

Anyways, all I can really do is my part. That is, I can keep putting on the usual brave face, the mask I always wear. I've never known myself to go anywhere without acting in some form, though that probably isn't healthy.

It's all just a performance, really, and if I think of it as that, I ought to be fine. I'm one of those weirdos who never gets test anxiety, I look forward to showing off my skills. This is but one more challenge to me.

And that is what sets me apart... and will make me a Pokemon master.

Good lord, I don't even know how long it's been since I saw that movie, and I'm still quoting it. "I could use pants" was also great, my family actually remembers that line.

But in all seriousness, don't I have preparations to make as well? Gotta make myself useless, to give myself some excuse to fail. So... I'm going to Frederick's Fanatical Fitness Hour.

So many crunches... push ups... I don't care who you are, no trainer on Earth can push you harder than Frederick does.

I take my rest, and I'm too damn tired to remember shit.

Sweet Naga, I'm so sore. It's astounding that Frederick can dish out so much torture in one measly hour. The Twilight Knights would take five hours to do this, and we never train that long.

Naturally, it's quite a while before I roll out of bed, but after a while the smell of cinnamon rolls and my growling stomach forces me to it.

And I remember when it was my upset stomach that forced me out of bed. So many mornings I wake up and shudder at the thought of those days, when I couldn't eat breakfast for fear of vomiting. I lost quite a bit of weight while I was depressed.

Didn't I mention? One of the symptoms of clinical depression is that your digestive system gets out of whack. Believe me, it did... Horribly. My sleep schedule also got destroyed, too. Was a wonder I could keep working...

Then meds and therapy kicked in. It's wonderful to be free of it.

Mm, cinnamon rolls. "Thanks, mom." I get myself a plate and load it with three of those suckers, because I'm getting some muscle. I can actually feel my own muscle tone if I flex and run a couple of fingers along my skin. I bet I did enough crunches last night to make me some abs.

Mom smiles mischievously. "When I went to wake you up, you stayed asleep. So I made breakfast instead." She points to the middle roll– the best roll by far– which is sitting on her plate.

Meh, I can handle the border stuffs.

I just yawn, set my plate on the counter, and hug her weakly. "Thanks. I'm so sore I don't think I could do much right now..."

"Does that mean you won't be able to help with yardwork?" She starts to cut her rolls up with a fork.

Oh, I know and hate that tone. "I'll try, I promise. Just let me eat." Om nom nom...

A little later, she's wondering what the hell I did to get so sore. Ladies and gentlemen, this is what Frederick is useful for. Pain. He's really, really good at inflicting that.

After Nin has to pull me to my feet for the second time, I throw myself in bed to rest, and listen to some music. Fittingly, it's some serious "oh shit it's go time" music that plays... Examples: Descend, Cascade, Don't Speak Her Name, Dialga battle, and Clock Town Day Three.

Descend is probably the most fitting for tomorrow. It's going to be a hefty loss and we're going to have to deal with all the fallout... Because Emm's dying and we couldn't change it if we tried.

... Could we? Knowledge may be power, but it's not enough to reverse the odds.

Damn.

"Robin, up! Get the hell up, we need you!"

Lissa's holding onto my shoulder, trying to make me go less apeshit on our snoozing tactician. I'd punch her in the gut if it'd wake her, but I know more about refusing to wake up than anyone here. "Maybe you shouldn't be so rough," Lissa murmurs gingerly.

I look at her briefly, and note her shiny eyes which can only be described with a weaboo "kawaii desu". Holy shit, this girl is just... wow. I never saw anyone so anime in my life. "She's not waking rough, so Ima be up." Saying anything while being distracted by how adorabubble this girl is is pretty hard, so whatever I just said made any sense, it's a miracle.

Meanwhile, Robin turns over, mumbling. "Muh... mm..." I make to kick her, then she screams, forcing me to cover my ears and lose my balance.

As I'm getting the hell back up, I sing (despite my "did that really just happen" face) out, "Wakey wakey, sunshine!"

When I say I sang it, I don't mean I threw in a tune. I mean I used my singing voice, because holy damn that is the most audible tone I have. It rings, it really does. You can hear me across my high school campus when I'm using that.

Lissa's squatting down and helping up a disgruntled Robin. "Gods, I... Thank you two." She stands and rubs her head.

I raise an eyebrow. "Nightmare?"

Robin nods, her face still screwed up in discomfort, maybe even pain. "Yeah. I... Ow." Looks like there's a headache with it. Great.

I pat her shoulder– which is really the only comfort I can give right now– and open the tent flap to let everyone out. "C'mon, we got shit to do."

Normally I'm the one who sleeps in. When Robin can't wake due to a nightmare, you know shit's about to go south. Here's hoping we don't hit Antarctica.

I turn right back around and dig in my stuff. Today's a hell of a battle, right? To raise my morale, I should wear something that looks fucking badass. Sadly, we don't have a Bride's Bouquet lying around, so that option's out (seriously, that is the best class ever. The internet was so wrong to explode at its reveal.) I suppose I could slip a bit of armor on... I'd better go snatch me some mail. Plates are way too heavy, so I'm sticking with chains. Stuff's wonderfully flexible.

On the other hand, some plates for my thighs would be a good idea; one decent hit there and I bleed out. Same with shoulders. Okay, so I'm going to grab some light hauberk for those. And over it, I'll put the coat, just so people think I'm ill defended.

I'm all about surprising people. Besides, I can always fix the coat later. What else can I do? Oh, I should swap out my weaponry; my arcthunder's nearly out of magic. I should turn it into a sketchbook, like Noel does. I also handed Storm my steel lance– I'm surprised he can use that thing! Weapon levels are a bitch in this ga– wait, there's the flaw in my logic, this isn't a game. Derp.

Okay. There's the convoy– I just remembered, I gotta finish that artwork I promised Chrom. Maybe might help him out of his rut later. There's a mail shirt, some shoulder plates, and thigh guards. Excellent. Now, weapons? Ooh, a short spear and another arcthunder. Sweet.

Better go and put this on, then. I bump into Robin in our tent, and it looks like she's stressing over something. "Something wrong?" I dump my loot on my bedroll.

She scratches her head, almost frantic. "What if they have more archers than our intel says? What if we can't defeat their wyvern riders? What if–"

I lightly tap her with my shiny new short spear. "You've already made the plans, Robin. Live with it. If we fail, we'll know that you gave it your best crack, and that it wasn't your fault." My point made, I put the mail on and don my shirt over it. Next, the pauldrons...

Robin sighs, shivering as she does so. "I... I have a bad feeling about this."

I snap the plates on, then strap on my thigh guards. "You have six dreamers on your side. Honestly, if anyone's fucked, it's Gangrel."

She chuckles. "Thank you, Shanzira. But..."

I toss my coat on, then look back at Robin. "But what?"

She looks me in the eye. "Are we supposed to succeed, Shanzira?"

Oh dear gods, please don't tell me she knows. "I'm sorry, Robin, but I can't tell you that yet. If what I say differs from the outcome, we're damn fucked. Things can still change. We might fail when we're supposed to succeed, or the other way around. For the love of Naga, I'm just trying to make sure things go as they do, because it's really the best outcome I can hope for."

"So we succeed," she concludes.

Fold arms. "If you go on the battlefield with that knowledge, you might get complacent and fuck up. If you go thinking you're going to fail, the kick to your morale might just cause you to fail. Or worse, you might abandon the plan altogether and fuck it up even more by winging it."

I really, really hate this probability shit, it's a headache. Robin seems to think the same, because she holds her head. "Okay... you've made your point. I'll just give it the best effort I've got, then."

She gets a nod from me. "I wouldn't expect anything less." I glance around her desk, then look at my stuff. "Are we ready?"

Almost as if waking from a reverie, Robin jumps. "Oh. Yes, of course. I'll see you on the front."

We both exit, and just before we go our separate ways, I salute her. "Good luck, Robin!"

"We'll all need it!" She shouts back before running to Chrom.

I go the other way. My destination's the stables; I need to make sure Elincia's ready for the shenanigans that are about to go down. The makeshift door creaks as I push it open, and Elincia snorts happily upon seeing me. I grab a brush and pat her head. "Hey, girl."

She blows her lips right in my face. Rude, mischievous, but she meant it as "yay! You're back! I'm so happy!" At least, I think that's what she meant.

"You sweetie." Still going off of my estimated translation. "Ima clean you carefully, because–" I step into her... pen? Stable? I think stable's right. I step into there and start with the brush. "–we gotta huge mess to endure later today."

She swings her head around with a curious "uwhee?" I think that was a neigh, I honestly can't tell one horse sound from another.

Better answer her inquiry, though. "We're gonna be tryin' to save Emmeryn. I figure we should both look our best so that we feel our best." Bruuuusssh... Wow, that's a lot of dirt. I got my work cut out.

Her answer is to snicker at me. I ruffle her mane a little and keep brushing. "Shush. Might sound silly, but it's true. Anyways, I need you to help me, because I did something stupid yesterday and I'm too sore to do things properly. I'll need you to help me survive, ok?"

I quite like her response: A stubborn snort and a pawing at the ground. I translate that as "of course I'll keep you safe!"

I love my pegasus, she's awesome. "You're the best pegasus, you know? You always have a really good answer." Bruussshhh, brush brush.

... Well, the idea was the finish the conversation as I finished brushing her, but it looks like this'll take a while yet...

Elincia touches down right next to Robin, messing up her hair and blowing her cloak around with the resulting fwump. God, I love that effect. Robin turns around to face me, her annoyed face turning to a smile. And that is the power of a good bond.

I hop down and pat Elincia while Robin brushes a bit of dust off my coat. "Excellent, you're here now."

"Are we gonna raise hell yet," Storm whines. Lordy, I can be impatient. I thought I'd outgrown whining, yet here we are– Oh, wait, I just remembered, guys mature more slowly than girls. Yep, that'd explain it.

Robin rolls her eyes– and again I didn't see rudeness coming from her. "Give the others some time to prepare. I need to set our formation..." She climbs atop Elincia– wow, what a derp, she didn't even ask– and looks over the assembled troops.

"Awwww." You know, if Storm hadn't whined, I wouldn't have noticed the clear, flat bottle of brown fizzy liquid he's pulling out.

"Is that what I think it is?" I ask, eyes and mouth round.

He looks from the bottle to me, then hides it behind himself. "No."

I know what I saw. That was soda, and the shape of the bottle is what gives it away– "Sarsaparilla?"

"Shit!" Storm immediately turns and begins to try and crawl away, probably to put it somewhere safe.

Too late, sucker! I pounce on him, careful to not smash the bottle. That's the only caffeinated drink in this world; I'm not squandering it. I reach for it desperately, and with similar urgency, he tries to keep it from my grasp. "Share!"

"Like hell I'll share!" Comes the squawk. "This is the only bottle I got!"

I reach over his shoulder; he tucks it into his sternum. "Gimme some sasp, I need the caffeine!"

He tries to buck me off with a kick. "Fuck no!"

"What in gods' name are you two doing?!" Oh, hi Chrom. Don't mind us, we just want sweet, fizzy soda.

Storm takes advantage of my distraction and TOSSES THE BOTTLE FUCK FUCK! "Chrom, catch! Don't let Shanz get it!"

"YOU BASTARD!" I bring my elbow down hard into his back, he cries out because that was a hard one.

Chrom catches the bottle– so I assume, I don't hear breaking glass. "What the... Storm, what the hell is this?"

Storm twists around and screams, "MY PRECIOUS!"

You don't make a Lord of the Rings reference in Ylisse! "My ASS!" I try to pin him again but he's a bit stronger than me, so he just flips me over and this just got really awkward.

"That's my soda, and if you swipe it I swear to gods–"

I interrupt him with a good ol' kick in the gut; while he's grunting in pain, I shout, "yes, because I'm soooo terrified of you!"

I hear Chrom murmur something like "ridiculous," then he raises his voice OH GODS HE'S LOUD: "BOTH OF YOU, STOP FIGHTING!"

We pause to protest. "But it's fun!"

"I haven't been able to grapple with a sibling in years!" Seriously, I sort of miss my play-fights with my sister. Well, except for the fact that she always won and I couldn't get out once she pinned me.

"We're about to start the battle," Chrom growls, "and you're acting like children. Now, get up or I'm drinking this entire bottle down." As if to punctuate his point, light glints off the bottle, and I can just see the sasp sloshing around, fizzing.

"Nuh-no..." In one despairing gasp, I've summed up our thoughts.

Storm gulps (quite audibly, too). "Yes, sir. C'mon, Shanz." He flips me over, again this feels extremely awkward, and helps me up. We face Chrom, both of us desperate to get the bottle back.

"So," Chrom holds it up to examine it closely, "what is this, anyways?" And he uncorks it– it took me so long to figure out how, and he just does it like that!– and takes a swig.

"My sasp," Storm whispers. His eyes are so shiny, there could be tears in them.

"The only carbonated drink in the world," I murmur. And Chrom's just drinking it down and there's that much less for us.

He lowers the bottle, surprise plain on his face. "That's a strange taste. I thought it was beer from the color, but it's definitely not." At Robin's curious expression, he continues. "It has a sort of bite to it, and it bubbles in your mouth, but it's also creamy."

"May I try some?" Chrom hands her the bottle and there goes another mouthful. "Whoa. That is a strange drink. But good."

Storm finally squeaks out a question. "May I have the bottle back?"

Robin considers, and turns to Chrom, gesticulating with the hand holding the bottle. Sarsaparilla splashes dangerously close to the mouth of the bottle as she does so. "I think we should share this with Frederick."

And this is where I put my foot down and step up to them. "You are not sharing my brother's sarsaparilla with Frederick. No way in hell."

Robin looks at me with this "oh really" face. "Then perhaps you two should grow up and stop fighting."

We've already stopped, what more do you want? While my brain fizzles out due to frustration, Storm asks the polite question. "Robin, may I please have my drink back?"

There's a glance from him, to the bottle, to him again. She pauses– as if wondering what else she can get us to do, gods, my dad does this to me! He promises the reward of something if we do a job, then withholds it until we do a whole damn list of things, in addition to his first request. "Only if you tell me what it is."

Oh thank Naga, that's easy. "It's a specially treated drink," I begin, preempting Storm. "pumped with gas– it's not bad for you in small amounts, it's not really poisonous– to give it a bite. That particular variety is sarsaparilla. It's particularly hard to get, even back home." Back home where carbonated drinks exist. Seriously, I only know of one place that makes sasp, and it comes around at a renfair once a year.

Storm stammers, probably expecting the "ventriloquist-dummy" response. Robin looks to me, and hands me the bottle. "You explained it, you take it."

Cool! I take a healthy swig and hand the bottle back to Storm, now half-empty. "Yum. All yours."

Storm looks at it sadly and sighs, quietly stowing it into his bag. I'm reminded of my first time having sarsaparilla; it was flat so I had to get help finishing it. Birch beer is better anyways, in my opinion.

"Now, you two need to get into posi–" Robin's orders are interrupted by a small belch. Ahaha! Yup, carbonated drinks do that to you. "Er, excuse me. As I was saying, get into position. You'll both be on the right flank, flying over the sand. Storm, you're with Cordelia so you won't nee to worry about hitching a ride."

At the exact same time Storm affirms this, Chrom burps loudly. Jeebus priest, he didn't even have that much soda. I think he's just good at being loud. I snicker, straighten my face, then salute. "Arright, Storm, let's get. I'll haul you to Cordy."

"Wait." What? Why are you looking so confused? "I'm with Cordelia?"

Wow, what a derp moment, Storm. "Yeah. Robin just said that. You weren't paying attention?"

Storm's quiet for a moment as he thinks, then he facepalms. "No, I wasn't. Sorry, it's just, uh..."

I raise an eyebrow; he just keeps stammering. After about... thirty seconds of this, I grab him by the hood and haul him atop Elincia's rear. "You're embarrassing the family name." I kick my heels into Elincia's sides; she spreads her wings and moves trots into the sky.

Yes, trots. Pegasi are awesome, okay?

"Family name?" Storm asks. "We have one? Other than–"

"Yes," I interrupt. We do not bring our true names into the world, that is my rule. "You never made a fake last name? I just played around with a few letters and came up with "Dinrel"."

He counts on his fingers for a bit, then his face lifts in comprehension. "Ahh, I see how you came up with that. You sw–"

I shut him up yet again. "Yes. I did that. Anyways, since you never bothered to make one up, your last name is now Dinrel. Stop embarrassing it."

"You're a really pushy little sister," he says with a smirk and folded arms.

"And you're a spineless little bro. Why'd you stammer earlier?"

Armor-piercing question? Must be, because he froze right up. "Uh." And it's right back to stammering, wow. "I, uh..."

I'd look back at him to comfort him, but sadly, I have to mind where I'm flying. "I'm you, okay? You can tell me anything, I can keep a damn secret. If it's that embarrassing, I won't even tease you."

"You won't?" Ah, the usual paranoia. Good, he learned to not be a shmuck.

"I won't."

"I, uh... She– I should start at the beginning..." Wow, he's... Wait a minute. "From the first time I saw her artwork, I fell in love with Cordelia."

Good gods, he's just like me, down to the crushes on video game characters. I shoulda seen that coming, and I didn't. Derp! But wow, Storm and Cordelia...

I look back at him briefly, with an attempt at a warm smile. "Good luck, then. You've got good taste; when I first saw her, my thoughts were "if I were I guy, I'd date her.""

I turn my head back round to look front, and as I do so, I catch Storm slumping over in relief. He wraps his arms around my torso in a tight hug, tight enough that I can't breathe. "Thank you."

I pry his hands off. "I need to breathe, Storm. But thanks. I do appreciate a good hug." Aaand there he goes again with another glomp. At least he's not choking me. I let him hold his grip until I see the other two fliers– Cordelia and Nineeyena– and relax the reins to signal Elincia to pull down.

I don't even tell him we're about to land, I just let the jarring shock of touching down shake him out of it. While he's crying out in surprise, I'm smirking and bouncing along. "Okay, your fare expires now, geddoff."

He tumbles right off, stumbling around dizzily. I look to Nin. "So who's riding with me?"

I note with amusement Lon'qu sharing her pegasus, doing his best to ignore the women around him. "You're riding with Donny," and she points at the only pot-headed man in the army.

I briefly catch Lon'qu catching Storm's eyes and silently begging for help; Storm just shakes his head, waves, and walks up to a mounted Cordelia. He proceeds to stammer his way through an explanation that they're paired. Now that's what I call revenge... So I'm with Donnel?

He's improved his look; I can identify some mail underneath his tunic, he's got metal gauntlets and boots, and he's got some serious weaponry– a steel lance and a whole bunch of javelins. Excellent, he's outfitted for fighting from atop a pegasus he's not driving, and yet he can still survive if I decide to dump him somewhere (which I probably won't; his accent makes me feel at home).

"Heya, lady Shanzira!" He's grinning excitedly, and he looks plain happy to be traveling and going to exotic places. My, would that everyone could share his optimism. "Ready to save the Exalt?"

I smile, reflecting his attitude. "Heya, Donny. I'm ready as I can be. Need a lift?" I offer a hand so he might climb onto Elincia; he takes it and I yoink him up with an "Upsy!"

"Wow!" He takes a big, sweeping view of the desert and nearby castle. "You can see a whole lotta stuff from here!"

I nod. "Yup." Looking back to the other four here, I ask, "How're you guys doing?"

Nin waves, answering without words; I take it she's fine. Lon'qu makes me smile; he's gritting his teeth, redfaced, and trying to hold his fear gynophobia back.

"I'm all right," answers Cordelia, drawing my attention away from him. "Are you, Storm?"

Wow. My brother's more comic relief than I am; he's also really red in the face. "A... A hundred per-percent."

That was a damn fine stammer. Far too legit to be acting. "Storm, on a scale of one to tent, how scared were you in that last fight?"

He's so nervous, I can see him clutching Cordelia's tunic. ... Ohhh myyy. "Uh, eight."

Eyebrows, arise! "Then thank your lucky stars you're with Cordelia, or you'd die in this fight." I trust his judgement when it comes to being in over his head. I only get nervous when I know I'm screwed, and Storm should be the same.

His face blanches, and he just hugs Cordelia tightly as a comfort toy. "Oh gods," he squeaks.

I just finessed him into nearly feeling Cordelia up, I mark this as an achievement. Well done, Storm. Well done. I smirk for just a moment, hearing Cordelia stutter because of Storm wussing out. Then I hear a voice shaking with embarrassment, but still yelling at me: "Shanzira! You could be nicer to him. He hasn't been with us long!" Oh, she doesn't even mention that there's a strange guy squishing her. Then again, it's probably that he's desperately begging for comfort that makes her not attack him.

I draw myself up. "He's my brother, and if he doesn't toughen up, it's my fault." How do I figure this? There's no other member of the family to look after him. "I don't want to see his guts splattered on sand, I'd rather he lived. So, Storm?" I look to him, still clinging to Cordelia. "Suck it up."

"Ouch." That was Donnel, you can hear the sympathy in his voice. "Talk about tough love..."

Storm screws his face up in concentration, then lets go, straightens his spine, and sits at attention, both hands on the spear as they should be. "Yes, sir!"

There we go. That is a properly trained Twilight Knight. I look at Cordelia, who just swung herself around to confirm his transformation with her own eyes. "You see? He'll be fine as long as you're watching him, Cordelia."

Satisfied that he's recovered, Cordelia looks back at me. "I hope so, for his sake." Whoa, she's legitimately worried. That's... really sweet.

Eldrad would be squeeing right now over a new pairing, if he had witnessed this.

"Shepherds, Ylisseans, and our Feroxi allies!" Whoa holy shit, that's Chrom. I look over to the center of the van– that's where he is, Chrom put himself on the front lines– and see him turned around, addressing the army. "Today is the day we save the exalt! Today is the day we rescue Emmeryn from Mad King Gangrel! You have lent my your help so far, for which I cannot thank you enough. I need you for just a little bit longer, so we can bring Emmeryn home and bring Plegia peace from its insane king. For peace itself, I ask that you stay by my side and fight! Today is the day we return peace to Ylisse!"

Okay, that was an impressive speech; it raises my eyebrows. There's no way in hell Chrom wrote that, he's not really that good at princely things. I mean, he's a good leader, but...

... Actually, I could be wrong. "Pretty speech," I comment.

Nin's voice replies. "I wrote it." That explains it. "Robin suggested something to raise morale, and asked me to write something for Chrom to say." Well, that's Nin's talent: She's a better writer than anyone here, and with Eldrad, Shio, and I around, that's a hard title to claim. I don't know about Storm, he hasn't displayed it yet.

I smile at this. "Thanks, Ninny. Well, all..." I inhale to project–

And then the signal elthunder shoots into the sky–

"LET'S GET!"

On that command, everyone– not just us, the entire vanguard– lurches forth. We, the pegasus troop, are separated from them in but seconds, while the mages fill in the blank we left. We're kicking up sand, but we'd have to turn one-eighty degrees to see even a hint of it; it's pretty far back. And rapidly approaching are Plegians, just sitting there, so much slower than us.

I target the third archer I see– Nin and Cordelia have the first and second– and fire. Seconds later, I pass over his smoking, fried corpse. Most of Donnel's "hooey!" is swallowed in the wind. I pull up and hover, glancing around for anything else to kill, and point out one (un)lucky soul not too far– actually within javelin range. I point him out to Donny, and one small swoosh later, the soldier falls in a puff of sand, a bloodied javelin sticking out of his neck.

Huh. Blood really does spurt out fountain-style when you hit that vein. Damn. Who else is there? Who will volunteer to be kill number three?

My eyes drift back down to the soldier Donnel impaled. He actually fell backward; his eyes are open to the sky. I can see his face and make out an expression of panic, like he briefly attempted to save himself before being thrown unceremoniously into the abyss of death.

In some primal, inexplicable way, I feel a terrible pit of guilt in my stomach, and no matter how much I remind myself that he had to die, it won't go away.

"Shanz, are ya all right? We got a few archers comin' in."

I have to mangle more of these poor people?

Separately from my consciousness, my hand moves of its own accord and my mouth forms a few chants, preparing to shoot a spread of arcthunder at them. I can see the dismay on their faces just before the chant is finished and the lightning shoots out at them, engulfs them, and leaves them as steaming corpses.

All of this... For nothing. So many people will die, just so we can fail to save Emm...

I feel something hard poking into my side. It would tickle if it didn't hurt. I look to the side and see the butt of a lance; Donny's poking me. "Lookie, Shanz! She looks like she's from Ylisse!"

I turn my head. Libra. ... If Libra can find the strength to cut these people down, so can I, damn the consequences. "Come on, Elincia!" Heels dig into haunches, and we zoom at him. "Hey!"

He hears my voice, looks up, and sees my wave. His face looks as though he doesn't dare hope that I'm an ally. "Who are you? An Ylissean pegasus knight?"

Elincia drifts downwards per my instruction. "I'm a Shepherd. I'm here with the Prince! You're fighting to save Emm, right? Lemme take you to Chrom, then!"

His entire face lifts in new hope; I remember that the rest of his allies had died on the way. "Truly? Oh, thank merciful Naga... Let us go!"

Wait a minute, problem. I can't carry two people plus myself. Uh... Libra will have to follow on foot. "Can ya follow? I can't lift more than two people!"

He nods urgently. "Of course, madam!"

One quick escort mission later– which consisted of one wyvern rider seeing me and getting shot down because of his nosiness– I have Libra talking to Chrom, and I amscray before the awkward happens.

Oh, wait, shit, I nearly forgot. I turn back around, ignoring Donnel's shouts about what the hell I'm doing. Elincia touches down just as Chrom tries to physically wipe the embarrassment off his face. "Sir, I almost forgot: To the southeast, I saw a plegian woman, a dark mage, who looks reluctant to fight. Dark hair, curvy body. Maybe we can convince her to defect?"

Chrom looks both surprised and impressed. "Really? Thank you. I'd like you to rejoin Nin and Cordelia; Robin's about to have the enemy archers taken o–"

Aaaand right in the middle of this is a pretty loud BANG in the distance. I'd say that was Robin. Chrom turns back around and points to the other two fliers. "Go!"

He gets a salute before I leave, then we fwump up some sand in his face and find my buddies. "Donnel, help me find 'em, they seem to have gone poof."

He scans the skies briefly, then points. "There!"

Oh dear shit, they're fighting a bunch of wyvern riders, who seem to have decided to go after Cordelia, leaving Nin to try and fail to snipe then with Arcthunder. Seriously? "The shit are they doing?!" (of course I had to say that like it was their fault. Wow.) Another fwump and few seconds later, I've stabbed a rider out of the way. "Nin, 'Delia, the fuck's going on?!"

Storm shoots a bit of elthunder before replying. "Some idiot by the name of Robin ordered us to go after these guys." Dear gods, Robin, really? You're gonna get us killed. "I sure hope you have some wind in your sleeves!"

Arrgghh. Noel. Noel, why the fuck did you give me a sketchbook instead of an arcwind? When was the last time I had a legit wind tome, anyways? Sigh. "Grr. All I got is thunder," I tell Storm. Turning back to the wyvern riders, I shout, "EAT SPARKS, SCALEBAGS!"

ZZZZAP!

Riders fall off their wyverns as the reptiles descend, having lost control of their wings. There are shrieks and screams of panic– instantly silenced by the inescapable ground. Blood soaks the sand, only to be absorbed quickly by its thirst.

"I-is there anything I can do to help, Miss Shanzira?" Oh, right. If Donny and his quivering voice hadn't snapped me back, I... best not think about that.

I look back to him. "You have javelins, right?"

His blank face turns into a smile and a nod. "Yes, ma'am!" He waves one around, I put it back down with one hand.

After that, I point to the ground. "Toss 'em at the infantry below, provided they're Plegian, of course." I turn back to my front and go back to dealing with the wyvern riders.

A few seconds later, I catch a wink of sparks down below, and I have to yank the reins HARD in order to not get zapped by the resulting Elthunder. "What the..." Donnel's around, can't swear. "What the heck was that?"

"Uhhh, I think I mighta gone after that lady you mentioned–" Donny begins–

Oh dear shit no. We have Tharja trying to kill us, we're so screwed. "Time to amscray!" Heels, flanks, fwump, go! There are few enough wyvern riders that Nin and Cordy can finish them off. Let's see, how can I make myself useful... Ima kill the boss, whatever the hell his name was. "That guy looks like the enemy commander, let's fry him real quick." Ignoring Donnel's loud whoaaaa, we touch down in front of the general in seconds. "Hello, ya old fart!"

He prepares his lance with a snarl, and right at that moment I hear Robin squawk: "SHANZIRA, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" Oh good Naga, what now? "We have a situation over here, we need you!"

"Aw, shit." Crack crack, that was my neck rolling. "Welp." Elincia turns at one rightward yank of the reins, and I catch a sneer I wish I could miss:

"Running away like a little girl?"

Snort. "If I weren't following orders, you'd be dead a few minutes sooner than you will be now." Fwump. A few seconds pass, then I shut my eyes to keep the flying sand from getting in them. We just landed in front of Robin. "What the hell is it?"

She points to the Tharja mess. "You pissed someone off."

Oh, shit, okay, I did. Please tell me she's still recruitable. "Um, just get Chrom to talk to her? That's the only course of action I got for ya–"

Thunk. I twist my head to see what that was... Tharja's down, but not dead? Who– Oh. Kellam. I... suppose that's convenient. I look back to Robin. "I don't even know what's going on anymore. She'll be useful, keep her around."

Robin gives me a slow nod. "All... right." She's trying to wrap her head around what's going on in mine, and honestly, I'm still trying to do the same.

Nod. ... Is it just me, or is everything suddenly quiet? Oh hey, Nin and Cordy finished off the wyvern riders. Innnhale... "BOSS! THE SKIES ARE CLEAR!"

"ROBIN, I'M GIVING THE SIGNAL!" Holy shit Chrom can be loud when he wants to be. Damn. My ears don't get a respite just yet; there's a series of fwumps as Phila's pegasus knights rush in. ... Oh gods. Phila.

"Robin, do we have anyone with a physic staff?" I just had to avert my eyes because right now, Phila is not a pretty sight. Euuuggh. Okay, this is a really important part of my personality, so remember it: If I see someone hurt, I cringe because I imagine those same hurts on me. I have no clue how I've been able to fight up 'till now. It's just sort of been... I'll actually suffer those hurts myself if I don't fight. Selfishness.

... Who the hell am I even monologuing to?

"Lissa has one, why?" Robin, thank you for snapping me out of it. Seriously. Sometimes I gotta pull my head out of my head.

I point up at the single falcon knight in the formation. "Phila looks like she needs it."

I can just see Robin's eyes growing round. "Gods, what did they do to her?"

It's simple logic, so... "She leads the pegasus knight troop, right? I'd bet anything they tortured her for information."

At this, she just turns around and screams for the best healer we got. "LISSA! We need you!"

... And too late. The risen archers just appeared. Fuck. No chance of saving Phila, oh well... I let Elincia relax herself while Robin and Chrom freak out. I know what's going to happen, I don't need to pay attentio–

"BWAHAHA! Oh, did an army of living corpses just appear out of the blue?" So much for ignoring– "Truly, the heavens smile upon mighty King Gangrel today!"

... The urge to kill him, or just wreck his day, is extremely overpowering. I'm having a hell of a tough time restraining myself. It's like trying not to sketch down ideas in the middle of art class because you have to watch a presentation.

Except this is far more violent and deserves no comparison to the sacred idea of art.

"What do you do," I pant, "when your mind tells you one thing, but your heart screams another?"

"Shanzira, don't..."

Arrows fly. One by one, even as Gangrel says, the pegasus knights fall, screaming and flailing, until suddenly silenced in the sand.

"And that's the worst part, ain't it?" I reflect. "I can't move or I'm dead."

"Miss Shanzira, what're you thinkin?"

"No... no no no..."

"It can't... we've lost..."

Silence... nothing but silence... Until broken by the one thing which makes my temper boil:

"I believe this is what they call a reversal of fortunes. Now... Grovel before me! Plead! Beg for your worthless lives!"

I twist around, take two hands, and deposit Donnel on the ground. I turn back around, aligning my spine again, and lightly touch my feet to Elincia's sides, prompting a walk. I can't control myself at this point; my eyes are half open and my will is no longer mine.

Shit, I've gone and lost my temper.

"Hey Gangrel!" Those are the first words my mouth forms; I don't know what's coming out next. "I have a message from your mother! She asked us to deck you in the schnoz!"

Oh, a reference to DBZ abridged. How nice.

"What?" That was Robin. I think.

"Isn't this precious?" Comes the laugh, fueling my temper more (just when I was about to regain control!). "One more pegasus knight to shoot down! Archers!"

Oh dear Naga what the hell am I doing whatever I'm doing it is going to suck– HEELS. SIDES. KNEES. SQUISH. Fwump, fwump, fwump, FWUMP!

Okay, I got Elincia into the sky, I'm fucked even more, what the hell is my temper thinking?!

"Oopsie!" The pitch of that– annoyingly high, like he's imitating a little girl– pushes me over the precipice of insanity yet again. "Wait a minute, I remember you! You were the pup who ran across the border and invaded Plegia!"

"JUST LIKE MY SPEAR'S GOING TO INVADE YOUR ASS!"

Ohhhh myyyy.

I'm commentating even though I can't control myself. I'm trying to make myself laugh even when I'm too angry to control my own body. I... I don't even know.

All I know is that I just pushed Elincia into the fastest pace possible in the direction of the precipice Emmeryn's on.

And about halfway there, my attention snaps back. There are arrows flying at me, almost in slow motion– I can see the light glinting off their heads, the sand sparkling like a sea of glass, contrasting to the snowy appearance of Elincia's hair and feathers. I'm five yards or so away from saving her, and there's one arrow in particular coming at me. It's going for my shoulder... I have just enough time to dodge.

But I remember that this is supposed to fail.

Thunk.

Pain blossoms in my shoulder, the head having pierced the armor I put on earlier. The resultant hunching cringe causes Elincia to veer downwards, towards the sand, and I pull myself back just in time to prevent a fatal crash-landing.

We still crashed, but we're alive... right...? The darkness makes it hard to tell...

I sit up with a gasp, my heart pounding. It's dark, but my eyes begin to adjust and show me the green paint and poster-plastered walls of my room on Earth. My heart is still pounding... Though I'm in no danger. My left shoulder hurts like hell, like I got shot with a huge needle there. ... More like shot with an arrow, I realize, as it comes back. I reach for my favorite plush doll– a unicorn who I named Rapidash years ago– and hug her tightly. I apologize without words for the tears which stain her fur moments later. It takes a lot of self-control not to wail.

I'm twenty years old, and yet one little event has reduced me to a mewling pre-teen. This is– with no exaggeration– what I was like in middle school. I've lost my temper like that twice that I can remember, but never for so long a time. Normally I regained control before someone could get hurt. This time, someone kept egging me on, and...

I suppose Wrath might just be my sin, after all. It's either Wrath or Lust...

I want... I want it to end. I don't want to suffer those nightmares again, Mommy...

Warmth and heat. Red light filters through my closed eyelids, hinting that it's bright as hell around me. Am I... Am I back in Plegia? I had hoped, briefly, that I was dead, and it would end... That's right, I woke up in California again, for a short time.

I lift my head and open my eyes. There's a wet nudging at my side– Elincia, trying to stir me. Her head next nuzzles the side of my face, and she nickers softly.

I know, I know... I'm getting up. Hold your pegasi.

Gods, my shoulder! ... I got shot. Right. Sleep always throws everything off. Okay, put one foot in the sand, get the knee out of it.

"ENOUGH!"

That's Emm, right? So... I gave it my best shot... No one can blame me for failing.

"SILENCE!" Gangrel screams. My eyes drift downwards again, and I force a shudder through my body to dispel my temper. I look to my still-throbbing shoulder, and find my coat being stained red with the obvious.

"Elincia, can you help me?" I look to her, see the determination in her eyes... and ears, which are folded back angrily. She nudges me again, and I wrap my good arm around her neck. Uuuupsy-daisy... And I swing one leg over her back. "Don't fly yet." Snort, she answers.

"Gangrel, is there no hope you will listen to reason?"

I reach back and sort out my coat; it's gotten caught on my boots. "You mean more of your sanctimonious babble?"

Wait a shit, she has him distracted. I kick my heels into Elincia, quickly! FWUMP! Hurry, hurry! There's Chrom and Robin, there, there! Yes! Touchdown!

"Prepare to meet the ground, and your maker! That is, unless someone were to give me the Fire Emblem... Now!"

Robin rushes over to me and I renew my grip on my kind mount's mane. "Shanzira! You're alive?!"

One little sway, and I damn near fell off. "Not if I don't get healed quickly."

"Sis..." Oh... Storm's in the distance, staring at me. Yes, I know. I'm an idiot. I'm a really big idiot. I am dumber than the cat who tried to bait our dog statuette into chasing him.

"ALL RIGHT!" I flinch. Chrom is very loud. "Emm, I know you won't approve, but..." He pauses, thinking of what next to say. "Maybe someday we'll face a crisis where maybe the Fire Emblem may have helped, but what Ylisse needs now is you! I need my sister, and Ylisse needs its Exalt. If those dark days should come, we'll face them together."

I finally see all the errors in his reasoning. There's the obvious "you're definitely going to need it soon you idiot," but he's also assuming that Emmeryn is the one true Exalt of Ylisse, that she'll be the Exalt forever. That's a hell of a fallacy... He needs to grow up.

"There's nothing more we can do," I sigh.

True to these words, Emmeryn begins. "Thank you, Chrom. I now know what I must do."

I want to look away. I want to look away, but that would be cowardly, and Shanzira Dinrel is many things, but not a coward.

"Plegians! I ask that you hear the truth of my words. War will win you nothing but sadness and pain, both inside your borders and out. Free yourselves from this hatred, from this cycle of pain and vengeance. Do what you must..." She looks down briefly, closing her eyes, then a resolute forward. "... As will I. See now that one selfless act has the power to change the world!"

"Emm, no! NO!"

Don't look away. Emmeryn takes a step forward while Chrom immediately sprints for her. This is what I chose. She looks around, reflecting upon the land in her final moments, then lowers her head as if in prayer. If I regret it... She looks up once more, folds her hands at her chest, and steps forth. ... That's my fault.

She descends.

Chrom cries out, Lissa screams, Robin gasps. Time itself seems to slow; I can see light reflecting off Emmeryn's crown. The dust kicked up as Chrom runs seems to meet the ground minutes after rising up, while Lissa's scream draws out, highlighting every crest and valley in the wavelength. All seems to glow as though ethereal... I notice now Emmeryn's robe flapping frantically in the air rushing by. I can even make out dozens of little talismans... That's right. Noel gave her that cloak, in the hopes it might help preserve her life. Noel, you idiot... Idiot, idiot, idiot... Did I not teach you?

Red droplets fly everywhere as Emmeryn finally collides with the sandy pavement below the precipice, a crunch ringing in my ears. Only now does Chrom slow to a stop, fall to his knees, and do his best not to weep.

"BWA HA HA HA!" How I can hear Gangrel over Chrom and Lissa screaming, I don't know. "And here I thought death to be an ugly–" He's cut off by a flash of green and a sharpened gale.

"Yours will be." Now that is the honest-to-Naga soprano which is my future progeny. That is Noel, approaching in what seems to be the very same rage I was in earlier.

She's late.

While Gangrel's still processing what the hell happened, Noel faces us. "Shepherds, run now! I will hold him off as long as I can! Go!" And a stab of lightning to the of her head pushes her onto her face, her hood and mask cut cleanly in two.

Wait.

"The girl's right!" Basilio yells in the distance. "I secured an escape route! We have to go NOW!"

"B-but her body," Chrom blubbers. "I have to..."

Curly red hair soars into the sky and descends back down in an arc as Noel looks up. "I can handle this! Just get out of here!"

I've never seen such determination in anyone's eyes... Least of all the brown orbs possessed by my own daughter. She's my spitting image– curved eyebrows, faint freckles dotting a ramp nose, carefully curved lips, and dimples as plain as her snarl. But most of all, she has the one trait I've treasured for many years– my copper-like red hair, curling everywhere in all the frizziest yet elegant ways.

My spitting image, a complete badass...

"Noel! What did you do?!" That would be Marth in the distance...

Noel looks to her, an elwind clutched in her fingers– the same Elwind I gave her over a month ago. "Marth, help!" She flicks a wrist, beckoning her.

"Of course!" Lucina joins in just as Gangrel prepares his next attack. Then Elincia fwumps off for me, realizing that I'm too out of it to steer.

She probably tried to hide her face because of just how much she looks like me. I mean, we already have Storm... Hard to justify yet another mysterious relative.

How is it she's such a badass at her age? I was a sniveling wuss back then.

"You have an arrow in your shoulder."

Oh, Storm, shut up. ... Yeah, I'd better get it healed. I look to my right, seeing my clone and Cordelia, of course in the air like me. "Where's Anna?"

He blinks. "Anna? Why?"

I try not to droop. "Lissa and Maribelle probably aren't feeling up to much right now." I don't even want to think about it. I just want to forget this whole episode happened.

Storm nods, understanding. "Cordelia, can we try to find her?"

She nods wearily. "Of course. She should be by the convoy... Down there."

I drift downwards, not entirely conscious of my destination, not entirely conscious of Eldrad freaking out over my shoulder, of Anna yanking the arrow out and healing it, of being placed in the convoy to rest...

I just... want the pain to end...

Hooey. Feeels. We now know what Noel looks like; renew your guesses about her dad. She was intentionally designed to be a pain to guess.

Anyways! To celebrate 100 followers, I'm going to write you guys a drabble. There will soon be a poll on my profile page on what the prompt for it will be– Yes, you guys can pick. Yes, I'm ripping off G2G, but I'm actually going to write this. (I hope you have BURN HEAL!)

I hope you guys enjoyed this monster of a chapter... -faceplants- I'm sort of dead.