OK, So i kinda lied... There isn't technically a battle in this chapter, but still some interesting stuff! Get ready for a wild ride!

Even Daniel, who had gone on many long and tiring walks before, was struggling to keep up with Frederick's current brisk pace. If we had to move so fast, why couldn't we have just rented horses again?

It was during the second hour of the walk, when the sun began to dip behind the tall hills, when Daniel decided to try to break the tense silence. "So... Why is this so important?"

Frederick stopped dead and fixed Daniel with a icy glare. Daniel backtracked quickly.

"No, I get WHY it's so important to get the Shepherds quickly. It's just... What's the big deal with Gangrel? Why is the kidnapping so bad?"

Frederick's glare, if possible, sharpened. "Would you prefer to leave her to die?"

"What?! No! Gods, this coming out all wrong..." Daniel took a deep breath. "I don't doubt that her life is in danger, and we have to save her. But how do we know that what we are going to do is right?"

Frederick arched an eyebrow.

"I mean, I know that they took her, but they seemed to have a somewhat legitimate reason. They said she trespassed the border. I'm not saying that I approve the kidnapping!" He added hastily, as Frederick took a step towards him. "But... How do we KNOW they're really overreacting?"

"Because." Frederick answered swiftly and without hesitation. "Grangrel is a madman. He did not earn his title for no reason. One simple trespass, especially when THEIR laws don't specify punishments for doing so, is no reason to kidnap a woman. What's more disturbing," He continued, "Is that they kidnapped her just for the sake of chaos. They are asking nothing in return: No ransom, no agreement, nothing; they only took her to provoke us."

Daniel furrowed his brow. "But then... what was Maribelle doing there? I thought we left all the Shepherds near the edge of the wood."

Frederick sighed. "She was going to town. We have to assume that the town that was invaded was the town she decided to visit."

"Do you think that it's truly wise to..."

"Enough chatter!" Frederick snapped. "We need to keep moving if we want any chance of being able to rendezvous with the others in time." He turned and began striding back up the hill."

Daniel shrugged. He didn't know if Frederick was serious or if he knew what he was going to ask and was trying to avoid it. But either way, it amounted to the same thing at this point.

It was in the middle of the night when they finally were able to stumble across the camp they had left. Luckily, most of them were prepared. Maribelle's extended absence had not gone unnoticed in the Shepherds, and they had been preparing search parties. Frederick wasted little time in rallying the Shepherds and breaking down the camp, with Frederick constantly pushing them to move faster.

It was in the middle of the chaos, when Daniel was packing medical supplies, that Stahl stumbled up to him. "What is going on?"

Daniel stopped. "You didn't hear?"

"No I was sleeping."

Daniel rolled his eyes. Really? Well, he could have been on watch duty... "Well, apparently the King of Plegia decided to kidnap Maribelle."

"Wait, WHAT?"

"Yup. and Chrom and the others decided to go with the exalt in an attempt to forge a peace. Foolish idea if you ask me." Daniel grumbled.

Stahl stared at him. "The KING did this?"

"Apparently." Daniel shrugged. "For trespassing on his territory."

"But... how did you find this out?"

"Gangrel presumably delivered the message. Not in person - we found it out while we are still in Ylisse."

Stahl massaged his temple. "So... the exalt went alone?"

Daniel shook his head. "Not quite. Robin, Chrom, Lissa, and some captain and her knights went with her. And now we're supposed to be there too."

"To the plegian border!? Gods..." Stahl exhaled deeply. "May Naga help them all."

Daniel glanced up at him. "I'm sorry, who?"

Stahl stared back. "Y'know... Naga, the goddesss...?"

Daniel looked back blankly.

"Well, I guess you wouldn't have heard of her so soon." Stahl sighed. He sat down on a crate. "Naga. The leader of the divine dragons, who once ruled this continent. We worship her for her sympathy for humanity, and passing down her knowledge to us."

"The divine dragons?" Daniel questioned.

"The most powerful of ancient dragons. The ones who fought to protect humanity while others tried to tear us apart. We owe them our very existence." Stahl's eyes wandered up to the skies. "Most of them are gone, but there is belief that Naga is still out there, waiting to be found.

Daniel nodded slowly. "Oh... So you worship this Naga as a god, per se?"

"I mean... that's kind of a crude way of putting it, but yeah, sort of." Stahl stared at him curiously. "You sure you haven't heard of her? Even if you were from a different world, her name might have at least existed..."

Daniel shrugged. "Nope. Wouldn't consider her a god anyway in the first place."

Stahl nodded slowly. "I see. So you... worship another god in your land?"

Daniel nodded. "Some do. Not me though."

Stahl chuckled. "I mean, I can understand if you don't want to reveal it, but-"

"Stahl." Daniel stood up and fixed him with a hard stare. "I'm not joking. I don't worship anything. Not ever."

"Wait... So you... you don't worship any deity? None at all?" Stahl stared at him.

"Isn't that what I'm trying to tell you?" Daniel sighed, exasperated. He glanced up and saw Stahl's shocked expression. "Well, is that wrong?" He snapped, a little irritated.

"It's just... you've never worshiped any god? Then how do you live with yourself?"

Daniel snorted. "Looks like I've managed well so far."

Stahl sidestepped in front of him before he could walk away. "But belief in deities is what gives you strength! Without it, we might as well be the ones who cause chaos and havoc because they have nothing! Without belief-"

"I didn't say I didn't belief, Stahl," Daniel growled. "I do have belief. Do I believe that gods and deities exist? Yes I do. Believe me, I've seen it firsthand. But do I WORSHIP them? No. Never have, never will."

"I still don't understand. What made you against this so much?"

Daniel fixed Stahl with a hard glare. "When you're like me," He spoke slowly, "When you've seen the things a I've seen and done the things I do, you learn soon enough that there is a difference between belief and worship. Belief is what acknowledges that there are powerful beings in this universe. I've done plenty of that. But worship belongs to fools who waste their life away chasing after people simply because they are more powerful than them. In the end, they fulfill nothing in their lives. I vowed not to let myself become that way."

"So why did you join us?" Stahl challenged. "Is that how you see us? As some people chasing after nothing? What do you think you would gain?'

Daniel turned away. "This job gave me a family." He swallowed before continuing. "But it didn't give me a purpose. It's been a long time before I could say without hesitation I had found what I wanted in life. And it pains me to admit that I still can't. But I wish I could Stahl. I wish I could."

"You keep telling yourself that." Stahl glared at him a few more moments before stomping away.

Daniel sighed as he watched him disappear. He had known all along that this conversation would not end well, but it still hurt his heart to see Stahl storm away.

Just when I thought we were becoming close. After all... What's the point of even having a job if you can't have a family to go with it?

Despite Frederick's pushing on everyone to work faster, it still took the Shepherds nearly an hour to finally get moving. They continued their sluggish pace as they traveled towards the northwestern border. Every minute that passed was excruciating for Daniel, as the others could be fighting at that very moment. Who knew if they needed help? But to be fair, they had called upon the Shepherds at the most inconvenient time. Most looked exhausted.

And we haven't even gotten to the mountainous part yet...

Luckily, for Daniel however, No one really paid him much attention. If anything positive could be drawn from his conversation with Stahl, it was apparently that he had not shared it. Daniel was relieved, for the last thing that he needed right now was more whispers and rumors about him, with his nerves already on the edge.

In fact, Daniel noticed that there were now very few whispers about him in general now. All the heat against him that had happened yesterday had appeared to have died down. The sword-man, Lon'qu, still threw him hostile glares his way whenever he was within line of sight, but Daniel carefully worked to keep his temper down.

The last thing I need to do is start more infighting

After what seemed to be an eternity of toil, mountain trails, and difficulties, the group finally reached the border by mid-afternoon - only to find an exhausted looking group of Chrom, Robin, Maribelle, Phila, and Lissa standing among a smoking battlefield filled with nothing but broken weapons and corpses.

Daniel was good at reading emotions. Even though it was clear from the area alone that Chrom had apparently won, the deep line of worry in his eyes and face, plus the defeated look on Lissa's suggested that something else had happened.

Chrom immediately called a council with Frederick and Phila and sent the others to be treated. Robin was among them. Daniel instantly went towards here, craving information.

"Well on a scale of bad to good, that went absolutely horridly." Robin sighed as she plopped down next to him.

Daniel kneeled down next to her to clean the graze on her arm. "Robin, what happened? Did Emm - I mean the Exalt - get out-?"

"She's fine." Robin sighed as she rolled up her sleeve. "She just went back to the Castle. She needs to make preparations."

Daniel was relieved to know Emm was alright, but he still had questions. "Preparations? For what?"

Robin turned towards him. "Well, Daniel, Plegia has officially declared war on Ylisse."

Daniel halted in the middle of his healing spell. "Wait, what? How?"

Robin took a deep breath. "We got to the border." She explained. "And Gangrel was waiting there. Maribelle was there as a captive, apparently she was only trying to help a village from Plegian bandits. Well Gangrel demanded a trade for the Fire Emblem-"

"The Fire Emblem?"

"An ancient treasure of Ylisse with tremendous power." Robin said dismissively. "Anyway, when we refused, he sent his goons in on us, and we naturally had to defend Emmeryn, but that bastard used our actions as an 'opportunity' to declare war on us!"

"Oh..." Daniel couldn't think of what to say. "Is Maribelle alright?"

Robin sighed again and rubbed her eyes. "Yes, she's fine, thank the Gods. Just a little shaken."

"And Emmeryn's alright?"

Robin nodded. "The fight was a little hard for her take though."

Daniel looked down guiltily. "I'm sorry, Robin. We came as fast as we could-"

"Don't blame yourself!" Robin exclaimed hurriedly. "You couldn't do anything. The whole situation just spiraled out of control before we could realize."

Daniel still felt guilty. "But... If the King himself fought, then you would have needed help-"

"HIM!? No, that coward fled away and left his goons to deal with us." Robin snorted. "He even promised Orton that he would receive reinforcements. What a liar. How can-"

She yelped as Daniel, with a sudden, swift movement, suddenly grabbed her, pulled her up, and pressed her back against a tree.

Daniel looked straight into Robin's eyes. "What did you just say?"

"D-Daniel! What are you-?"

Daniel shook her. "The name! What was the name you just said!?"

"G-Gangrel?"

Daniel growled in frustration and leaned in closer. "No! The other one!"

"U-uh, Orton, right?"

Daniel still looked intensely at her. "Did he have a last name? Any last name? No, answer the question!" He snarled, as Robin showed all signs of asking questions.

"I-I think it might have been, um... Urnhow? G-Gangrel may have mentioned it w-when-"

Daniel slowly let go of his hold on, his eyes staring into the distance, causing Robin to slide down the tree. She immediately recoiled. "D-Daniel, what was that all about?! Why would you-"

"I... I'm sorry, Robin." Daniel stuttered slowly, massaging his temple. "I shouldn't have grabbed you like that. It's just... I'm sorry." He buried his face into his hands.

"Are you... alright?"

"I'm fine." Daniel managed through gritted teeth. "It's just that name. It's certainly familiar."

Robin still looked frightened. "I don't understand... What happened? Wait, Daniel..." She took a tentative step forward. "Do you know this person? How is that possible?"

Daniel froze. He was screwed now. Why had he reacted? How could he have been so foolish? Well, now that he thought about it, he knew the answer to that. But she didn't...

He took a deep breath. "Well... It's a long story... but one thing's for sure is that I don't know him..." He felt his fists clench as the familiar memories entered his mind "But I also know that something will happen-"

However, thankfully, he was broken off by the sound of Chrom jogging towards him. "Daniel! Robin! There you are. Glad to see you're ok. Listen, I was hoping to have a meeting with you both about - is something the matter?" He broke off, glancing at their expressions.

Robin still looked stunned, so Daniel thought quickly. "Um, we're fine Chrom. Just a bit shaken form what's happened. Listen, D'you mind holding that meeting till tomorrow morning? A fresh day, a fresh mind, to say?"

"...Alright." Chrom still looked curiously at the two of them, but, to Daniel's relief, didn't pry any further. "Tomorrow morning it is, then." He slowly walked away.

As soon as he was out of sight, turned back to him. "Daniel-"

"Listen to me Robin." Daniel growled. "Tell no one of this. Ok? Not even Chrom. Everything's alright, I promise. All will be revealed in due time."

Robin looked at him for a long time. She finally nodded. "Alright." She breathed. "I'll hold you to that."

"Thank you." He tried to pour as much gratitude as he could into those two words.

She walked away, leaving Daniel alone, with nothing...

...Except the mounting dread of what he knew would happen.

The morning seemed to come quickly the next day. Daniel was still busy at first with the wounds of others from the previous day. Thankfully, no one had gotten anything particularly serious, save for a large gash on Maribelle's leg that would need some daily attention.

"There." Daniel said as he wrapped the bandage around her leg. "Come see me again if it hurts. I'll put some more salve on it."

Maribelle sniffed. "Hmph! So long as it doesn't scar. I can't bear the thought of giving those Plegian scum any satisfaction of knowing they wounded me!"

Daniel rolled his eyes. "Just keep an eye on it, alright?"

"I'll do that." Maribelle looked at him closely. "You look tired."

Daniel sighed and dig at his eyes. "Sorry. Just a long night, Y'know?"

Maribelle nodded. "I see. Bad dreams?"

Daniel shot her a weary smile. "I guess you could say that, yeah."

After seeing her off, Daniel slowly got to his feet and made his way over to the main tent. They had hastily pitched camp in this area after the battle, so the tents resembled some sort of order. He stepped inside to find Robin, Chrom, Lissa, Frederick, and Philla inside. Several maps were spread out on the table in front of him.

Daniel felt so out of place among him. Why had Chrom let him into such a important meeting? But he had no time to ponder these thoughts before Chrom addressed him.

"Ah there you are Daniel." Chrom said. "Take a seat and we can begin."

Daniel slowly made his way to a seat and sat down. Once he had done so. Chrom sighed deeply and spoke: "Obviously we know what has happened. Plegia has declared war on Yssitol. Emm is now back at the castle." He pulled up a map. "This means we must assess our situation. While she is making fortifications and preperations, we will be the first line of defense should Plegia invade." He rubbed his forehead. "We know that-"

But he was cut off by a sudden commotion outside the tent. Soon, a young man burst through the tent. He was shirtless and had spikey blonde hair, and was panting for breath. "Cap'n! Sorry to interrupt, but you GOTTA see this!"

Chrom was instantly on his feet, with Falchion drawn. "Vaike, what is it? Is it an attack?"

"No, not that - just c'mon!" Vaike vanished in a hurry. Chrom disappeared after him. Robin shot Daniel a curious look, than followed with the others filing out behind her. Daniel followed, even though with a sinking feeling.

Vaike led them all the way through camp, out of the edge of it, and into the fields of the battle the day before. A small crowd of the other Shepherds had formed around an area, talking among themselves. Chrom and his company pushed their way through to see, only to stop dead.

Chrom gasped. Lissa let out a small shriek and buried her face into Chrom's shoulder. Frederick turned pale. Robin let out a low groan. Daniel's heart dropped to the pit of his stomach, even though he knew that it was bound to happen. And here it was.

In the dead center of the field, a long lance was planted tip-side up into the ground so it stood upright. Skewered through it, so the tip of the lance could be seen cleary, was the severed head of Orton Urnhow. A breast plate and pair of gloves lay on the ground before it. Propped up against the blood-soaked shaft was silver shield. Painted on it were letters of red that could only logically be formed by one substance, which read:

TO YOU, I PRESENT YOU THE END,

FOR THOSE OF THE ARCHIVE OF SIN.

A GIFT FROM YOUR SPECIAL FRIEND,

BUT I JUST ALLOW IT IN.

...So, let's add some suspense shall we?

I'm sure you all have questions, and don't worry, they will be answered... all in due time... *Evil laugh*

Special thanks to Stormtide_Leviathan for the extra-long review! I appreciate all your advice, but about your disappointments with chapter 10: While I admit it was a bit rushed, don't think that this is the last heart-to-heart talk Daniel will have. He still will have his moments.

As always, plz fav, follow, and most importantly, review! Bye!