"Go," Lucina hissed to the couple behind her.

They didn't argue, and from the corner of her eye, Lucina watched as their blue robes disappeared into the thick foliage.

The bandits exchanged looks. "You're not getting away as easy as that!" the red bandit yelled. Behind him, the purple bandit reached over his back.

A glimmer of light shone against the edge of a blade. The purple bandit pulled his arm back, a throwing axe in hand.

He swung forward and the axe flew out of his grasp. It sailed through the air, but in a shower of sparks, it crashed back into the ground.

Lucina stood over it, her shoulders tensed. Her arm stung from the impact, but at least the two behind her were safe.

The same could hardly be said for her.

The two bandits fixed their gaze on her, as if noticing her for the first time. Their eyebrows raised, and something flashed in their faces. Lucina didn't think she liked what she saw, but it was gone before she could be sure.

In sync, their lips peeled back into matching smirks, their teeth behind rotting and yellow. It was an ugly sight. And that their lips stretched up at the exact same place, and that their eyebrows creased in the exact same manner; Lucina shuddered just looking at it

"What do you think we've got here, Vincent?" the red bandit said.

"What I think?" the purple bandit said. Vincent, the other had called him. "Oh, you know I ain't too good at thinking, Victor."

"Well, you think you could put a little effort? She looks like she deserves it, I say."

"Does she? With her fancy steel sword and all? You can't guess a man's worth by his weapons, we're examples that ain't true."

"Want to test that?" Lucina hissed, and she pointed the tip of her sword between the two of them.

Their grins only grew wider at the exact same time. They took a step away from each other. One step turned to two, and before she knew it, the bandits had begun to spread out.

"Oh, quite the thinker, aren't you?" Victor said. "Quite quick with that tongue of yours, aren't you?"

"Thinker or not, do we really care?" Vincent said. "As long as they fresh, they ought to sell well, don't you think, Victor?"

"I think she's quite the pretty thing, Vincent. She'll sell for a very good sum, and she'll be worth more if we sell those fancy clothes of hers."

"I don't know, Victor. I rather like the look of them. Can we keep the cape, at least?"

"If you can sever it from her."

"Pay attention, child. You're about to learn why no one ever stands in our way around here."

To her right, Victor stopped. To her left, Vincent stopped as well. They crouched down low, keeping their axes in front of them, and as Lucina realized she couldn't keep an eye on one without losing sight of the other, she cursed. From their smug faces, they knew it too.

It's a bad hand I've been dealt, she thought. Terrible odds haven't stopped us before. If fate won't take my side, I'll have to force it to.

There was only one thing to do.

Lucina gave a cry and charged.

Victor's eyes widened. Behind her, Vincent swore. Lucina closed the gap in seconds, and she thrust her sword forward.

Victor's axe batted her strike aside. Lucina's arm stung from the force, but she jumped back. As her back foot pressed against the earth, she pushed off and cut her blade across.

Victor backed away. Lucina's blade brushed against the animal skin draped over his shoulders. A few hairs fluttered to the ground. As Victor stopped himself, Lucina saw a flash of silver from the edge of her vision.

Lucina dove to the right, and almost a second too late. A dust cloud flew up into the air as Vincent's axe smashed into the dirt path. Lucina spun around, her tip poised to strike. A blur of red caught her eye. Taking her sword in both hands, she swung her blade up to block the oncoming axe.

Her guard almost instantly crumbled. Her arms buckled under the terrible weight of the axe. She poured every ounce of strength she had to keep her blade pressed against the axe. Victor pushed through with ease. To her horror, the blade inched closer and closer to her face.

She grunted, and her foot slipped back. The axe slowed to a halt, stopping just short of cutting into her mask.

A trickle of blood trickled down from the center of her nose.

Lucina pulled away, and her hand flew to her nose. She looked at the trail of blood slipping between her fingers, almost stunned.

"What's the matter?" Victor sneered. "You just learn how to count?"

Lucina saw the axe behind her almost a second too late. She dodged forward, as a strike that would have severed her neck brushed the air behind her. Lucina spun to face Vincent, his axe far-off balance, his guard wide open. Her blade darted out, aimed straight for the heart.

A flicker of movement came in from her right. Lucina's blade met the second axe in a loud clang. On her left, Lucina saw Vincent pull his axe back to his body. Her chance was gone.

Victor snarled, and he leaned closer. Lucina's arms faltered. The axe pressed against her sword inched closer. Her fingers screamed in agony as the hilt of her sword twisted them back, begging for a second of respite.

With a snarl, Lucina spun on her heel and slammed her knee between Victor's legs. His eyes crossed, and for a brief moment, the crushing weight on her lifted. Lucina took the chance and held it tight, pivoting the axe straight into the ground. Already unbalanced, Victor fell right into the flying pommel of her sword.

Blood splattered onto the dirt road. Victor stumbled back, his nose bent like he'd been hit in the face by a cannonball. Lucina took a step back, just in time to avoid a clumsy punch across her face. For a moment, she allowed a small grin to stretch over her face.

Something slammed into the back of her head, and her skull exploded. A cry escaped her lips, and she staggered away. The world around her trembled. Her ears rang, as loud as the Fell Dragon's call.

She turned around, and she caught a splotch of blood on the wood just below the head of Victor's axe. Her eyes widened as she realized just how close she'd come to death. Victor snarled, and he raised his axe again.

The wound on her nose seared as the tip of the axe blade brushed against it. Lucina backed away, and the axe traced a line down her chest, her heart in her throat.

A shadow cast over her from behind. Lucina whirled around. Her sword swung up, catching just below the axe's head. Putting a hand behind the flat of her blade, Lucina shoved the axe into the ground.

Vincent's only reply was to slam his fist into the side of her face.

Lucina's head snapped back. She reeled, her head spinning. As she steadied herself, she opened her eyes just in time to see the wooden shaft barreling toward her.

The axe's handle cracked against her stomach. Lucina wheezed, and she bent over the shaft, gasping for air. Vincent stepped forward to meet her, and his fist crashed into the bottom of her jaw. Her teeth snapped shut so hard she thought she might have cracked a tooth.

Her back slammed against a tree. Above her, the branches rustled, and the uneven creases in the bark stabbed through the cloth at her flesh. She only had enough time to wince before Victor's shadow loomed over her, blocking the sun from view.

With a roar, he embedded the tip of her axe into the tree, so close to her that she could feel the splinters bursting out from the cut brushing against her hip. She thought he'd missed. Then the scarf around her neck tightened its grip, and she realized he had her pinned. She reached down to pull away. Victor shoved her back and pressed the rest of the shaft against her windpipe.

She lifted her gaze. A fist crashing into the side of her face jerked her head back. Vincent had abandoned his axe, buried deep in the dirt behind him, and instead had opted to use his fists. It was adaptability she would have admired at the end of the world, if she weren't on the wrong end of it.

Victor rained blow after blow on her. Lucina kept her arms over her face, but for every blow she blocked, he would land two more. Her stomach, her jaw, her elbows, all made bloody and bruised under the onslaught.

With one last blow against her stomach, Vincent reached through her guard. His fingers wrapped around Lucina's face, his hand smelling of rancid meat and smoke, and he slammed her head against the tree.

Lucina slumped, her mind in a daze. Vaguely, she was aware of a purple shape stepping away from her. Vincent turned around and, with a roar, pulled his axe from the ground in a shower of dirt. Hefting it in his hands, he walked back over to Lucina. She was helpless to watch as he raised it over his shoulder.

"Wait!"

Victor and Vincent glanced behind them. They only looked away for a second. A second was all she needed to pry the wooden handle off her neck.

The two bandits turned back to her, but it was already too late. Lucina let out a yell, and she charged forward. The space between the three of them was too small to swing her sword. So she rammed her skull into Vincent, sending him flying into the red-haired cavalier.

The cavalier's arm wrapped around Vincent's throat almost by instinct. A smile broke out on Lucina's bloodied lips when she noticed the dagger in his hands, poised to strike. Any second, the cavalier would strike. Perhaps it was wrong of her to be so eager for blood, but with her own blood running down the side of her face, she felt it was justified.

When the dagger remained frozen in the air, though, her smile wavered.

"What are you doing?" she growled.

The red-haired cavalier's head shot up, and as he blinked, a frown crossed his face, like he was waking up out of a trance. "Huh?"

"Kill him!"

"B-but–"

Vincent cut him off. "Don't just stand there! Make yourself useful, you little twat!"

Lucina's blood ran cold. What did he mean by...

Then she saw an axeblade, half-hidden by the trees, rise over the cavalier's shoulder.

"Behind you!" she shouted, though she knew it would do him no good.

"What–" This time, the cavalier cut himself off with a cry of pain as the axe buried itself into his shoulder. Vincent tore himself from the cavalier's grasp, and the cavalier fell to the floor. Beneath him, Lucina saw blood pool out on the dirt floor. Her eyes darted up, hoping to catch a glimpse of the attacker.

Out from the shadows, a boy, not much younger than herself, stepped into the clearing, his long red hair flowing back behind his shoulders. The animal fur draped over his shoulders marked him as another bandit.

"I thought you wanted me to watch," the third bandit said. "You said I'd have to learn by watching you two."

"Well, we're going to give you a hands-on lesson now," Vincent shot back. He pointed down to the motionless cavalier at his feet. "How'd you like to kill your first snot-nosed nobleman?"

"Not him!" Victor said before the third bandit could move. "He's already done for." He motioned to Lucina. "Come have a go at this one instead."

Lucina tensed. A feeling of dread crept up on her as all three pairs of eyes returned to her, and it dawned on her that this might be a battle she couldn't win.

"Lucina! Catch!"

For a second time, a voice rang out in the clearing. Lucina only caught a glimpse of brown in the air, sailing up and over in the air, a small shape against the sun, before gravity took hold, and it came down, shattering into pieces on Victor's face.

A clear liquid from inside splattered all over his face. Victor screamed, and his hands flew to his eyes. Lucina didn't hesitate to press the chance.

She tried to lunge forward. Her cape pulled her back. With a frustrated scream, she spun around, grabbed hold of her cape, and pulled.

Her cape ripped apart. From the corner of her gaze, she became aware of Vincent closing in. She charged at the tree instead. Specks of dirt stung her feet as something crashed into the ground behind her. She didn't stop, reaching down and grabbing the other half of her cape as she reached the tree.

Her feet left the ground. Lucina pressed a single boot against the trunk of the tree. Her grip on her sword tightened, before she pushed off the tree and into the air. She flew over the head of Vincent, over the head of the third bandit. Her blade gleamed silver in the sun as she raised it over her head.

The cry tore itself from her throat before she knew what she was saying. "I say when it ends!"

Her blade came down in a blinding stroke of steel. A squelch reached her ears, and something warm and wet splattered against her face. Beside her, Victor gave another cry as his arm flopped to the ground.

Lucina sprung into action the moment she hit the ground. Her sword slid back into its sheath with a rasp. As she heard a dull thud behind her, she sprinted for the downed cavalier. She barely stopped to scoop him up in her arms, before she was back to running.

The leaves and low-hanging branches bit her legs as she crashed through the thicket. She almost didn't notice the familiar crop of red hair peeking out from a bush, barreling through the forest like an angry wyvern.

She didn't stop until the three bandits were out of sight. As soon as she did, all the energy left her. A dry crackle echoed in the woods as the cavalier crashed to the floor. Lucina looked down on his bleeding form, her face blank.

Her legs buckled. With no more bandits around her, her wounds finally caught up to her, and she became aware of how many bruises ran up her arms and her face. It wasn't a pleasant feeling, and with each painful throb, she only seemed to grow weaker.

"You'd better thank me for this, Kjelle," Lucina murmured.

Then her knees finally gave out, and she collapsed on top of the cavalier.


This has probably been one of the harder chapters to get out. It's lengthy, and there's a lot of action in it, something which I can find hard to write out. I didn't even think I'd make the deadline, but I did. I hope you found it all, at the very least, entertaining, since it took quite some effort to get out.

Next Monday's the goal. I've got a pretty big thing coming up Friday, so after that, I hope I'll be able to catch a break.