Chapter 2 – The Family that Fights Together…

Elincia's hand flew instinctively to her sword hilt as the distant sound of clattering steel intensified, then dropped away with unexpected swiftness. "What was that?" she asked, trying to identify the strange noise she had just heard. It wasn't the normal sound of battle, it was more clustered, like a fight where everyone collectively slammed into one another at once, clashing their weapons together and then retreating.

But Ike, already darting back through the entrance, didn't hear her. "I think our search is over," he called out as he jostled his way through the undergrowth back towards the mercenary camp.

"What was that, Ike?" She repeated as she followed behind him. Already she could hear shouts from up ahead as flickering torches winked on, piercing the black canvas.

"Our other watchman."

"What?"

A little security system that Soren and I devised after we were ambushed by the Disciples of Order. Basically if anyone trips any part of it, a bag of old weapons and armor hanging from a tree will come crashing down, alerting us and perhaps causing a little confusion to the enemy."

"Ingenious."

"Yeah, but I'm afraid it may not have been an enemy that tripped it this time."

"You think it was Mist? But surely the others will notice before…" She went silent, unable to voice the rest of the unpleasant thought.

Ike only grunted as his pushed hurriedly ahead, finally tearing through the quivering shrubs and into the campsite, Elincia emerging right behind him. Ike quickly honed in on the noise at the far end of the clearing near the edge of the forest, where Greil Mercenaries had completely surrounded a small, hunched figure.

They were all there, from the towering form of the armored knight Gatrie to the lithe, deadly form of the swordswoman Mia. A few held torches, their radiant flames enveloping the scene in an oasis of light. Mist was cowed and frightened but seemed unharmed. Thank goodness, Ike thought to himself as he approached the gathering. He watched as a large, muscle-laden warrior moved forward out of the crowd and planted himself firmly before the trembling individual, fists on his hips. "Well, what do you have to say for yourself?" the deep, accusing voice of Boyd boomed out over the area.

"Let me through!", Ike bellowed as he pushed his way through the crowd, paying no attention to the looks of surprise and hushed muttering his sudden appearance caused. "Where have you bee— "Soren started to ask as Ike elbowed past him, but the question evaporated when he saw the gliding form of Elincia trailing Ike, the confusion giving way to a brooding scowl.

Ike finally broke through the crowd and into the center. "Boyd, stand aside", Ike commanded as he slapped the back of the hulking axman.

Boyd turned and looked at him as if he had just been ordered to put on a dress. But the moment soon passed as his anger once again flared. "Where were you man?" he cried out, flinging his arms wide, "You were supposed to be standing watch!"

Ike looked away from him as he shifted a little in place. "I…heard a noise in the woods and decided to investigate."

Boyd's gaze slid to Elincia, then back to Ike as a sly, white grin extended across his face. "I'll bet," he said. "I don't suppose you'll be writing an official report on the incident, will you? Because I'd sure love to read it."

Ike's jaw clenched. "Never mind that," he snapped as he made a waving motion with his hand. "Step aside, Boyd, I'm taking charge of this."

Boyd shook his head. "No way Ike. You may be the commander, but I'm just as much as part of this as you are."

Ike's face tightened. "This is a family matter."

Boyd didn't budge. "I know you consider our little group to be family, but he's my brother by blood. That means I'm staying."

"Your brother?" Ike stepped around the bulky mass that was Boyd to get a good look at the crouched person behind him. Instead of Mist, he saw a spindly youth with ruffled blonde hair whose nervous rocking and excessive swallowing indicated that he was at the moment fervently wishing that he had been more careful. He had stopped trembling, but was still clutching onto his bow as if he expected it to save him from his brother's wrath. "R..Rolf?" Ike sputtered, blinking wildly. "Rolf?" If Rolf was here, then that meant that Mist…. "Boyd, I think we have a problem," he whispered.

"Damn right we have a problem! This little twerp goes out causing trouble and almost gets himself killed!

"I wasn't causing trouble!" Rolf interjected as he righted himself and glanced hopefully at Ike, his trembling ceased.

"Then what were you doing? Fighting off a horde of bandits single handed?"

"Dammit, Boyd!" Ike cut in, "forget about this for now. Right now I need everyone to— "

"What is going on here?" The sudden outburst ripped through his train of thought, and he looked past Rolf as a lank teen with long chestnut hair shoved through the startled mercenaries directly in front of him and raced to Rolf's side.

Ike felt Elincia's warm breath on his back as she exhaled deeply upon seeing Mist appear. There she was, feet together, hand locking with Rolf's, meeting Boyd's hot gaze with brazen defiance. He just stood there, letting the soothing relief drown out the fear that had been mounting in him. He started to reach out his hand to touch her arm, just to make sure she was really there. However Boyd, taken momentarily aback by Mist's sudden appearance, soon retook the offensive. "Mist, what are you doing?"

"Stopping you from being a bully!"

"I'm not being a bully! I'm just trying to find out why this little dink was out wandering around in the woods and scaring everyone halfway to heaven!"

"Don't call him names, you stump-head!"

"It wasn't that bad," Rolf interjected, standing a little taller as he tightened his grip on Mist's hand.

Boyd ran his hand over his head, as if verifying that it wasn't a stump. "Like hell! We thought we were under attack! We could have killed you!"

"Boyd, please settle down," Oscar injected as he stepped forward out of the crowd, the reflection of the torch he was holding dancing flippantly over his green armor.

"Oscar! You should be as mad as I am. I mean, he's your brother too!"

If Oscar was angry, it was well hidden under a shroud of calm. "I know it was reckless, but maybe Rolf had a good reason for what he did."

Boyd turned back to Rolf. "Well, pipsqueak?"

Rolf blushed, shot a quick glance at Mist, then back to Boyd, and said nothing.

Standing there regarding Mist and Rolf deftly yet tenuously standing their ground, Ike was trying to make sense was going on. If that was Rolf in the woods, then where had Mist been? Had she been here in camp the whole time? Ike knew that she and Rolf were friends, but why was she so adamant in defending him when he had done something so blatantly reckless? And if she had been here, why did she wait until now to stick up for Rolf, only breaking through the onlookers to shield him when….

Ike paused for a minute, reconsidering the flow of his reasoning. Where had Mist appeared from?

From right in front of him, from the direction of the forest. Suddenly, it all came together like a suit of armor.

"Enough, Boyd," Ike muttered. "Let me handle this."

Boyd slapped his arms against his flanks, his features awash with incredulity. "But Ike! Oscar and I need to have a say in this!"

"Then you can deal with him later, as his brothers. But right now this is a company matter, and I am the leader, so it is up to me to deal with the situation."

"Yeah, for now," Mist muttered. Ike shot her a questioning glance.

Boyd was not yet ready to yield. "But Ike…"

Oscar clapped his hand on Boyd's shoulder. "Come on, let's get ready to depart. It's almost dawn, and we need to get an early start if we want to get back to Crimea as soon as possible."

Still grumbling, Boyd let himself be led off by Oscar towards the tents. The others shifted uneasily, before trickling off in silence to make their own preparations for departure. Soon, there was only Soren, Titania, and Elincia to stand with Ike against the unflinching duo before them.

Soren cast a searing glare in Elincia's direction. "What are you even doing here? This has nothing to do with you. Shouldn't you return to your camp and let us deal with our problem?"

Elincia stiffened slightly against this unexpected attack, shocked at the pointed reply that surprise and exhaustion almost pushed out of her lips. A few years ago she would never even have dreamed of such a reaction, but now… With trained efficiency she maintained her outer tranquility, a hard smile breaking through as she formulated what she hoped was a firm yet diplomatic response. "I am sorry, Sir Soren, but as queen it is my responsibility to protect the lives and well-being of all Crimeans," she answered as she considered him with an air of coolness, "regardless of personal safety or feelings."

Soren's eyes resembled those of someone who had opened a door expecting a kitten and instead found a tiger. But the impassive chill returned as his lips curved ever so slightly upward into the closest he had probably ever come to laughter. "I see that you've learned how to bite through your smile. I'm impressed. Just be careful you don't bite something bigger than you."

"Soren, enough!", Ike interjected. Elincia was helping me with Mist."

Soren's long dark mane whipped back as his head spun towards Ike. "What are you talking about?"

Ike hesitated a moment, considering the menacing look on Mist's face. "It seems Mist was out wandering in the woods as well."

"Ike!", Mist protested as she flung her hand out of Rolf's and took a step forward. Both Soren and Titania stared at Mist, as understanding settled over them.

Ike shrugged. "What's the big deal? We have nothing to hide from each other here."

"What a load of Pegasus plop!"

"Mist!" Ike admonished, "Watch your— "

"My lord Ike, I believe that perhaps I should get back to my camp and check on things," Elincia suddenly exclaimed.

Ike looked at her vacantly, as if he had forgotten she was there. "Of course. Thank you for your help with Mist."

"I was glad to do it, even though I didn't really do much."

"Do you ever?" Soren mumbled.

Elincia turned to Mist, beaming at her warmly. "I am glad that you are well."

"Thank you, Elincia!" She said, a wide grin displacing her earlier chagrin. "I'm sorry if I worried you."

Elincia went up to Mist and hugged her. "Think nothing of it, please. The important thing is that we won, and that we are safe." She released herself from Mist, her hands still on the young healer's shoulders. "Everything else is immaterial," she said as she focused a knowing look on a glowering Ike. "I hope that we may talk more later."

Ike nodded absently as a slight amount of tension drifted out of his expression. "Sure."

With that, she directed herself towards her camp and disappeared through the trees.

Ike focused his attention back to Mist. "So what was that all about?"

"What?", she asked, studying him with a blank look.

"That colorful language you were just using in front of Elincia. I thought I was the one in the family who was skimpy in the manner department."

"Speaking of that, it seems like you have something to tell me."

"Huh?"

"Come on, Ike. What were you doing out there with her?" She made kissing sounds with her lips.

"Enough!", Ike exclaimed, his tone rising along with his temperature. "This isn't about me; this is about what you two are up to."

She assumed an aura of innocence that even a saint would have a difficult time competing with. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Ike."

"Come on Mist! Both you and Rolf disappear into the woods at the exact same time? I don't need Soren to figure this one out."

Soren, whose boiling glare had been focused on the spot where Elincia had disappeared, suddenly snapped back to attention. "Huh? Oh yes, it is quite obvious what's going on here, and it is unacceptable to allow it to continue."

The courage Rolf had gathered fled from him, and he wobbled like a three-legged chair. "Oh, please, Ike, I mean commander, we weren't doing anything, we were just…"

"Oh Rolf," Mist punched her hips with her fists as she confronted her wavering comrade, "Will you grow up and be a man? We don't have to explain ourselves, even if this stubborn mule would take the time to listen!"

"Mist!" Titania gasped, her face whiter than her armor.

Ike rubbed his forehead. "What's wrong, Mist? You've never been so…"

"So…what?"

"Defensive. And this attitude, it's not like you at all. It's almost as if someone whacked the sense out of your brain."

"I'm not being defensive. I just don't see why I have to explain everything to you anymore, even if I do have a good reason."

"Dang it, Mist! You can't just disappear without a word to anyone!"

She looked down as she fiddled with the fabric of her shirt. "But she was crying…" she whispered softly.

"What did you say?"

Her arms dropped down and balled into fists as Mist looked back towards her brother with a tempestuous expression that he had never seen on her before, although he knew it, regretfully, all too well. It was the look of a soldier preparing himself to charge into what would probably be his last fight.

"What I said was," she continued in a voice that blazed through the air, "was why not? Why can't I just take off whenever I feel like it? That's what you're planning to do, isn't it?"

"What are you talking about?" He turned to Soren, eyes squinted into almonds. "Did you say anything?!", he asked, pointing an accusing finger at his sister.

Soren raised his hands. "Ike, I swear, I haven't said a word."

"Soren didn't tell me!" Mist swallowed hard, her small frame trembling. "Well, not directly. I overheard you two talking earlier. There was some meat left over from dinner, so I was bringing it to you because I know how much you…" she trailed off, as if someone were squeezing on her throat.

Ike jerked his gaze away, gritting his teeth. A punch from Skrimir in the gut would have felt better than having to hear those words. She wasn't supposed to find out like this. By the goddess…

"So is it true, then?"

Ike gathered all his courage and met her heartbreaking gaze head on. "Yes, I was talking to Soren about something along those lines."

For a moment it looked like the bulwarks were about to give way. But although she was shaking, Mist's face remained dry. "Why Ike, why are you gonna leave?"

Titania's gaze shot to Ike. "What's she talking about, commander?"

Ike hesitated a moment, caught between Mist's pointed interrogation and Titania's shocked stare. One battle at a time. "I don't know, Mist. I just feel like, I don't know, like I've done all I can do here."

"What are you talking about? There's still plenty for you to do here!"

"Like what?"

"Well," Mist replied, thinking. "We could go back to Melior. Elincia could always use your help."

Ike shook his head. "Elincia doesn't need me anymore, especially now that her uncle is back. Besides, after what happened last time I…just can't do it. I can't be humiliated again."

"So says you! You were so vague about the whole blasted thing! Did you even talk to Elincia about it before you stomped out of the castle, practically dragging us behind you? Because I find it very hard to believe that she— "

"Just drop it, okay? I told you that it's out of the question!"

"Well then, let's just go back to being mercenaries, like before!"

"That's impossible."

"Why?"

"Listen. What I did, with Ashera and all, I did because it had to be done, and I had plenty of help. But now all of the sudden I'm the Savior of Tellius."

Mist sputtered. "Wow, Ike, for someone who acts all humble you sure do think highly of yourself!"

"I'm just repeating what I overheard before I could get out of Sienne. How long do you think it'll take before this new title spreads all over the continent? Do you really think going back to being simple mercenaries is possible now?"

She slammed her foot down hard against the earth, as if the ground were somehow responsible for the situation. "But that's my point Ike! there's nowhere you can go on Tellius where people won't know you!"

"Exactly. That's why I'm leaving Tellius."

He could almost hear the thud of Mist's jaw slapping against the dirt. "That's so stupid Ike! There isn't anywhere else to go! Weren't you paying attention? All the other continents were buried by floods!"

"Well, considering that the source of that information has been proved to be somewhat unreliable, I would like to find out for myself," Ike retorted.

"Then I'm going with you!"

Ike shook his head. "It's a big risk, Mist, too big to risk your life. I promised dad I wouldn't let anything happen to you."

"So you think leaving me here, alone, is what dad had in mind?"

"You won't be alone!"

She stomped her foot again. "You know what I mean! And besides, you're taking Soren with you!"

Ike closed his eyes for a moment and sighed heavily, presaging the trouble his next words would bring. "Just because I was talking to him about it doesn't mean I've decided to take him along." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Soren go rigid.

"In any case, I'd be a better choice. I can fight better than Soren can."

Ike heard Soren scoff quietly but thankfully his tactician remained silent.

"Mist, this isn't about fighting, it's about exploration. After all this struggle and pain and death, I just have to know what else is out there."

Mist was hugging herself as she rocked back and forth on her heels. "But even exploring can be dangerous, and you'll need a healer. I have my staff, and Rhys has been teaching me about herbs. Please Ike, I can't bear the thought of you lying somewhere sick or wounded or…." The words died in a soft choking sound.

Ike contemplated the darkened forest, wishing for an enemy to jump out and distract him from this wrenching display. Heck, even an unhinged Ashunera would be a relief right now. He shook his head. "I'm sorry, Mist, but it's something I have to do by myself, and it's better for everyone if you stay here."

He felt something tugging at his shirt. He looked down to see Mist staring at him, clinging frantically to his tunic, eyes wide and wavering like an abandoned puppy on the edge of a deserted highway. "But I'm your sister, Ike! I'm your family. All of us", she said as she gestured her arm around wildly, her raised voice attracting the attention of everyone in the area. "All of us are your family!" Her grip on his tunic tightened until he thought it would tear away, taking the pinched skin underneath with it. Isn't that what you said? You can't just abandon your family!"

"You're strong, Mist. You're all strong. You can make it without me."

"That isn't the point and you know it! You're just trying to make excuses so that you won't feel bad about ditching us." She buried her head in his chest.

Unbeknownst to the mercenaries, a figure detached itself from a nearby tree and glided off silently, merging with the absorbing blackness of the night.

Ike was stunned. He had expected Mist to be upset, but he hadn't been counting on this. He wrapped his arms around Mist tightly.

"Mist, I'm so sorry. I didn't want you to find out like this."

"Please don't leave me. I don't want to lose you, too," she whispered in a cracked, broken voice.

So that's what this was about.

"Mist….," he started to say, when suddenly he became aware of something dull and hard pressing into his chest. His eye then caught sight of a familiar leather strap hanging around Mist's neck. But she hadn't worn that since…

Before Mist could react, Ike had seized the strand of leather and pulled it up over her head. Dangling from the end of it was a burnished medallion around which so much death and suffering had revolved like hungry wolves around an encircled prey. The small piece of ancient, mystic metal that had completely altered the course of his existence.

The Fire Emblem.

Ike pushed away from Mist and instinctively cast the relic to the ground, knowing Yune was no longer in it but unable to banish images of the chaotic power her presence had imbued it with that could turn good men into savage, unthinking murderers. Mist snatched it up hurriedly. "Where did you get that?" he asked, wiping his hands against his tunic as if they were covered with grime.

"I've had it ever since Yune awakened," she replied as she fondled it between her fingers. "It reminds me of mom. No one else seemed to have any interest in it, so I took it. Was there any reason I shouldn't have?"

In response, Ike tore some fabric off the edge of his cape and laid it over his palm. "We're going to make a detour on the way home and give it back to the herons," he announced with as much calm as he could muster at the moment. He held out the cloth covered hand. "Until then, I think it's best if I keep it."

She retreated a step, hands firmly clutched around the medallion. "Why? It can't hurt anyone anymore!"

Ike remembered the agitated form of Ashunera emanating an exhausted desperation, followed by the suffocating cloud. "We can't be sure about that. Just to be safe, I should be the one to hold on to it."

"So you can't even leave me with this?"

"I'm just trying to keep you safe!"

She shook her head vigorously, causing her long hair to flail wildly. "You sure have a funny way of showing it. You're going to abandon us, just when we need you!"

"What are you talking about?"

She looked towards the trees, whispering in a distracted voice. "I heard her, Ike. She's in pain. Something is wrong."

Ike felt his muscles clench as his mouth fell open in surprise. "Mist, is that why you were in the woods? Did you hear…?"

She gazed back at him, fists clenched. "Why do you care? We're obviously not enough for you, so why should you bother with our petty problems anymore?" Before he could respond, she had she flung the medallion at his feet, and flew past him towards her tent. Rolf followed her in silence.

Ike reached down and picked up the fire emblem, wrapping it in the cloth and fastening it to his belt as a whirlwind of emotions slammed around in his brain.

"Is it true?" Titania asked, breaking his reverie.

He sighed softly before straightening up to face her. "I don't know anymore. I wasn't expecting Mist to be so angry about it."

She threw her hands up. "Was it really that surprising? I mean you even caught me off guard, and I'm supposed to be your second in command!"

"I was planning to talk to you about it. Besides, it would give you the chance to finally be in charge. Don't you want that?"

"Not like this. I'm happy where I am, and I have always been proud to serve under you. But now…Ike, I…" she shook her head and walked off.

"What will you do now?", Soren asked as they watched her go.