Sorry for my lack of updating… heh, I kinda got hung up during the writing of this chapter. (Sigh) This always happens…The second I find something I don't like in my story, I end up wanting to rewrite the whole thing. Luckily that wasn't the case this time. If it was then you probably would never see this thing complete. Anyway, its time to respond to the reviewer's comments and questions. (oh joy!)
Responds to Reviews
Jeanie: Yup, Karel and Karla are Sacaen. There are various conversations though out the game that prove it, but if I posted them here it might spoil some of the game.
darkstarred: All will be revealed somewhere within the chapter!
Asidogoo: I'll try buddy, I'll try!
Bass GSX: (sniffles) Yes, I know that Karel unfortunately wants to kill Karla… But that's coming up in the third and final chapter! Just think of this as one of those "What if…" stories. (As in "What if the characters met Karel BEFORE his insanity?")
Silver Shadow: I'll try my best at the Lyn/ Rath stuff, but you should read the whole chapter to get the general idea of where this is going.
…Fish?: (see Silver Shadow, please.)
Okay, well that's all for responding to questions. Feel free to ask more!!!!! And now, for the story!! (Don't be fooled by the first 600 words, it really is a good chapter when you get to the end. [coughsROMANCEcoughs]) Oh, and one more important thing… Please don't yell at me for making everyone seem out of character!
PART TWO
Upon the horizon was a rather large tree, its silhouette only visible because of the small sliver of moonlight shining up from the end of the Earth. Sunrise was approaching and Lady Moon was gracefully sinking down from the velvet sky. Rath was sitting, rather than sleeping, below the tree and debating as to whether or not it would be worth his efforts to hunt for breakfast. He could not understand why he was struggling with his conscience; it was his duty to provide food for the small band he was traveling with. Perhaps it was because he was suffering in a painful half- sleep that was slowly dragging by. There seemed to be no force that could rid the sleep that pestered him so.
"Time to get up, Rath," he encouraged himself. "You can't sleep all day."
This continued until a bright, blinding light pierced through the atmosphere and directed it's self towards Rath's chocolate colored eyes.
"Morning is here…" he mumbled to himself. "Finally here."
He got up and fixed his bandana which had slipped off during the night. With a long, sleepy yawn, Rath proceeded in stretching. The light from the sun began to grow steadier and the sky was starting to light up in shades of pink and purple. Clouds became visible as stars slowly started to fade away. Rath then grabbed his bow and quiver and walked off to mount his horse. It was no surprise that the steed was already prancing about, nibbling on blades of grass.
"Come here," cooed Rath. "Time to start the day." His mount trotted over and nuzzled his owner's shoulder affectionately. Horses always felt at home with him, and he always felt at home with horses. Gripping his iron bow in one hand and the horse's saddle in the other, he was able to quickly climb up and direct the horse to the east. He dug his heels lightly into the horse's side and the two were soon off, riding swiftly into the blinding Sacaen sun.
"Whoa," Rath clucked softly. His horse veered to the side a bit and finally came to a stop. There before them lay a large pasture of tall, green grass, concealing any creatures that could be hunted.
"Something," thought Rath "is not right." It was quiet there, too quiet to be normal. He opened his ears to all sounds but none could be heard. After a moment or two, the Sacaen urged his horse to cautiously proceed. It did not take long for something to catch Rath's interest. Nearly twenty yards away, the grass was patted down and hiding something.
"A deer, perhaps. Or maybe two!" Rath could only imagine the praise he would receive for bringing game like that back to camp. It would provide enough meat to last for an entire week. He pondered the approach he should take to capture the animal. Would he sneak up from behind it, or should he attack it head on?
"If I sneak up from behind than I can chase it back to camp if the attack falls through." He thought about the possibilities for a moment. "Yes. I shall handle the situation in that manner."
Slowly he dismounted and drew his bow silently from his pack. He produced an arrow from his quiver and crept without a sound towards his target. The grass swished lightly as he weaved through the tall blades.
"A bit closer," he urged. He continued to sweep through the grassland, undetected by his prey and anything in his surroundings. When he was just inches away from the patted area of grass, he loaded a shaft on his bow and prepared to strike.
"Lady Lyndis?" called Guy from his spot under the tree. He stretched his arms over his head and yawned lazily as a leaf fell from a branch and landed in his lap.
"I'm right here Guy," responded Lyn as she peeked around the tree trunk, looking into Guy's bright eyes.
"Oh, there you are! I thought you'd disappeared with Rath."
"Rath? Where has he gone?"
"Don't know. I heard him get up earlier, took his horse with him." Answered Guy while pointing to were Rath's horse should have been.
There was silence for a moment until Lyn began to ponder aloud if they should go after him.
"Lady Lyndis, if Rath is unfamiliar with the area then wouldn't it be best if we go after him?"
"Yes, I suppose that's the most logical thing to do right now. We should pack up before leaving though.
"Aye."
Lyn and Guy gathered up the blankets and stuffed them back into their packs, while debating where to go in search of Rath.
"Did you happen to see which way he went, Guy?"
"That way," claimed the swordsmen while pointing a finger to the east. Lyn gazed in that direction, putting a hand to her forehead to shield her eyes from the sun.
"Then let's ride."
Rath kept himself quiet and low in the grass while he steadied his bow. "This is it," he said to himself, "One… two…" he prepared to rise, "three!" Rath jumped upward and stared straight down at his target, bow in hand, arrow ready to fly. But Rath didn't shoot. He looked down at his "target" and was quite astonished at what he found.
Lyn and Guy rode in silence, enjoying the rolling hills and bright morning light.
"What is that?" asked Lyn casually to Guy.
"You mean that thing on the horizon over there?"
Lyn nodded.
Guy squinted and stared at the being in the distance, then finally replied. "Looks like a horse to me…" he paused. "Wait a minute… is that Rath's horse?"
Lyn also peered at the figure. "I think that is his horse, Guy! Let's go!"
They took off in the direction of the horse.
Rath was frozen in his place, looking down on the beings he almost shot with his bow. A young man and women lay sleeping in the grass before him. The women looked hurt. Her face was bruised here and there, and blood was dried to her lip. The robe she was wearing was soiled with dirt and a few blotches of blood. Yet she seemed to be at peace, her lips curved upward in a relaxed smile and eyelids gently resting closed. Long, charcoal colored hair was fanned out around her, contrasting with her pale face.
The man however looked quite different. His skin was more healthy looking than the women's, not as pallid. His hair was dark brown, almost black, with bangs that partially covered his face. The man's face was fairly angular, yet at the same time shapely. His nose was long but not prominent, as was his chin. Rath decided that if the man were upright, he would stand quite tall.
The pair looked like they were from Sacae, but their choice of clothing made Rath think other wise. Both figures were garbed in long robes, the girl wearing white, the man navy. However instead of the traditional Sacaen robes that were trimmed with brightly colored patterns, theirs were simply trimmed with silver and gold.
Rath stood there, his bow still at hand, debating what to do. Should he leave them there? He decided not to because the girl might need medical attention, but he felt that it wasn't his place to wake them from their peaceful slumber. "What should I do?" Rath asked himself. He was about to make a decision when he heard the sound of hoof beats coming near. He turned around and saw Lyn and Guy approaching.
"Rath!" yelled Guy as he threw his arm in the air to wave. Lyn also waved at their companion.
Rath ran forward and hushed them up. "Follow me," he said in a loud whisper. Lyn and Guy dismounted and followed Rath to the two strangers lying in the grass.
"Who are they?" questioned Lyn.
"I don't know. I came across them while hunting.
"Hey! Is that man a Swordmaster?" asked Guy a little too loudly.
"Guy, hush!"
"But look, he dresses just like one! The girl to! And look at the swords they carry!" Guy gestured towards the two sheathed swords that were partially hidden in the grass. The swords were indeed beautiful. One was a bit bigger than the other, with red tassels and the other had green tassels. They appeared to be well kept.
"He's right, Rath. There's now doubt in my mind that these two are masters at swordplay." Concluded Lyn.
There was silence for a moment, followed by Guy asking what they should do.
"Maybe we should—"Lyn stopped in mid- sentence and focused her attention to the sleeping beings.
They all stared down at the young man, who's eyes where fluttering open. As he propped himself up on his forearm, he looked around, trying to focus and make sense of were he was. However he abruptly stopped his gazing when he realized that there were currently three pairs of eyes peering down on him. He shrunk back down to the ground and started to wake the girl sleeping beside him.
"His eyes are golden!" thought Lyn in astonishment. "Could he be one of Nergal's morphs?" Lyn stared back down at him, discovering that his eyes were more brown then golden. But at the same time she did notice that his eyes had flecks of gold and red sprinkled around his iris.
"Hmm, what is it, brother?" asked the awakened girl in a groggy manner. She immediately looked upward and gave a small gasp.
"Please, don't be alarmed," blurted out Lyn, "We mean no harm."
"Oh, thank goodness." Sighed the girl. She breathed deep and relaxed a bit. "We were being pursued late last night and I feared our antagonists had finally caught up with us." She paused briefly before introducing herself. "I am Karla. This is my older brother, Karel." The young man nodded in greeting.
"I am Lyn, and these are my comrades, Rath and Guy."
"Pleasure to meet you." Commented Guy. Rath dipped his head in agreement.
"The pleasure is ours." Responded Karla in an uplifting tone. She rose from the ground and with her brother's help, was able to steady herself.
"Are you feeling alright, Lady Karla? I couldn't help noticing the bruises on your face. It looks as though you were in some sort of fight."
Karla put a hand to her lip, then touched the swell around her eye. "I suppose you could say we were involved in some fighting last night…" She closed her eyes and swayed slightly, the memories of the night before flooding back to her.
"Perhaps you might know of a place were her wounds may be treated?" inquired Karel.
"They nearest town is reasonably far away from here, probably too strenuous a journey for her on foot." Said Rath.
"Lady Lyndis, surely you could help Lady Karla. You've proven your skills as a medic many a time back at camp."
Lyn paused. True, she had acquired some skills in healing since she joined forces with Eliwood. "I'd be happy to help you in anyway I can." Offered Lyn.
"Would you really?" asked Karla. "I wouldn't want to be a burden to you." She looked up at her brother as though to seek his approval.
"We'd be honored to help you, Lady Karla."
"Thank you very much." Said Karla as she approached the group. "I'm in your debt."
"It's no trouble, really." mentioned Lyn, bringing her horse over to the group. "You should stay off your feet."
"Thank you again." Karla used as much strength as she could find within her and mounted the horse that was offered to her.
Karel guided his sister's horse while Rath guided the one that he had offered to Lyn. Guy rode in the middle.
"Rath, where do you think we should set up camp?" asked Lyn quietly.
"Well, I suggest that we move closer to Bulgar. Closer than where we were last night anyway."
"Okay." Responded Lyn. She looked over at Karla, who was trying her best to stay upright in the horse's saddle. But looking past her, Lyn spotted her brother who was staring at the scenery before him. And then, suddenly, he turned his head and met Lyn's eyes. They stared at each other for a few seconds before he finally turned away and looked ahead again. She turned her head to the side and started blushing. "He's so very handsome…" she thought.
Rath, who had seen the whole thing, shook his head in disgust. "Not this again," he moaned inwardly while remembering yesterday morning with Eliwood. He just couldn't figure out what he lacked that Lyndis wanted. "She won't stare at me and blush but she will for some stranger?" He knew he had to confess his feelings, and soon.
The group rode for a few hours, Lyn having explained her mission to Bulgar to an understanding Karel and Karla. They finally settled down in an area that was only four or five miles away from their original destination. A few trees were scattered around the camp site and less than a mile away was a small river in which they could retrieve water from.
"Lyn, would mind getting some water for the horses?" asked Rath, gesturing to a few buckets of to the side.
"I'll get right on it." She picked up the two pails and started to head for the river.
Lyndis was only a few yards away from camp when she heard footsteps behind her. She turned around and her heart skipped a beat. It was Karel.
"I thought you could use a hand." He stated while relieving her of one of the buckets.
"T- thank you." She stuttered. She felt terribly awkward around him, was it because he was a Swordmaster? No, there was just something about him, something that she couldn't quite put her finger on. She looked up at him, and he looked down at her. Lyn could feel her self blushing under his gaze, she needed to find something to say that didn't seem stupid. She blurted out the first thing that came to mind, "You have nice eyes."
"You think so?" he asked calmly.
"Y- yes… their an interesting color…" Embarrassment took over as she realized that she was acting like Florina.
"I think you have nice eyes too." His voice was smooth and soft. Deep, but not to deep.
"Thanks…"
There was silence, save for the sound the two made when they walked. The silence was comfortable, but Lyndis felt the need to break it.
"So, Karel… are you and your sister from around here?"
"You could say that. We were born here, but most of our childhood took place elsewhere."
"Was it just you and Karla growing up or did you have any other siblings?"
"Two older brothers, twins actually."
"And your parents?"
"Alive and well I suppose. It's been quite a while since I last saw them though."
Lyn didn't want to intrude on his personal business, but she found him to be so interesting. "Why is that? Have you been too busy? Do they live too far away?"
Karel paused, as though to prepare a well thought out answer. He let out a sigh, which worried Lyn into thinking that she had hit a sore spot. "…My parents and I, we never really got along very well. It got to the point that I simply couldn't stand them any more and ran away from home. Haven't seen them since."
Lyn wanted to ask him so much more. What was his childhood like? Where did he grow up if it wasn't Sacae? How old was he?
"But what about you Lyndis? Tell me about yourself."
She didn't know where to start. "Well, I was born and raised in Sacae. My father was the chief of the Lorca tribe and my mother was a Lady from Lycia." She told him all about the raid on her tribe by bandits and how she was the only survivor. On the way back to camp, she told him the story of how she discovered that her grandfather was really a Lord of Lycia, and that she was the heir to his throne.
"Ah. So I suppose I should really be calling you Lady Lyn, rather than just Lyndis."
"No, Lyndis is fine with me. But if your really a Swordmaster, wouldn't I have have to call you Master Karel?"
He chuckled at the thought. "No one else calls me that, so it would be ridiculous for you to be the only one."
Meanwhile, Rath stood near the fire he just started, making sure it had enough wood for the moment. Looking into the distance he could see Lyn and Karel talking and laughing. He prayed to Elimine above that they weren't flirting.
Later into the night, the group had loosened up and began talking more freely, everyone except for Rath that is. He couldn't take his mind off Lyn, who was sitting down between him and Karel. "Karel…" he thought. Rath didn't trust him at all. Something about him just didn't seem right. He tried to ignore it but it always crept into his thoughts…
"So Lady Karla," began Guy. He felt open with her because he had spent some of the afternoon helping her with her wounds. "What were you and Karel running away from anyway?" Karla began to tell her story…
It was late at night and Karel and Karla needed a place to stay. They had found and inn located on the boarder of Sacae and Bern and had decided to stay there. After paying for her room Karla told Karel that she was going to turn in for the night. He stated that if she needed anything he'd be at the pub attached to the front of the inn. She was walking down a long, dark hallway, trying to find which room was hers. For a moment she paused. Karla could have sworn she heard breathing from behind. She looked over her shoulder but saw nothing out of the ordinary. When she found her room, she removed the key from her pocket to try and unlock the door. That's when two big, strong arms reached out and pushed her against the wall, causing her to let out an ear piercing scream. Karel had barely made it past the front desk when he found himself running to his sister's side. He saw the man and immediately attacked him. One solid punch in the face and the drunkard was out like a light. Unfortunately for Karla, another drunken man approached her, this time, hitting her and yelling at her for what happened to his pal. Karel grabbed her and the two ran out side, being pursued by a whole group of intoxicated friends of the first man…
"So Karel and I found ourselves running away from them, and with no place else to go, we were forced to sleep in the grass. That's where you found us, Rath. I suppose it seems cowardly, us being Swordmasters and running away. But would it really have been appropriate to draw our swords on weaponless, drunk foes?"
Everyone understood their plight.
The talking continued until the fire was down to embers and ash. Lyn was starting to walk to her sleeping area when she spotted Karel out of the corner of her eye. She called out to him and he approached her.
"I wanted to tell you," she grasped his hand, "I had fun talking to you today."
He paused and slowly smiled at her. "Good night, Lyndis." She watched him go and let out a sigh.
Early the next morning Lyndis woke up to a blood red sky. "It'll rain today," she mentioned to herself upon remembering a saying she once heard. "Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky at morning, sailors take warning." She got up and stretched quietly, she didn't want to wake the others up.
Lyn looked over at the general direction of the horses and saw a figure gently stroking one. "Who would be up this early?" She wondered. Closer inspection showed her that it was Karel tending to the animals, rather than Guy or Rath, who usually took that responsibility. She began to walk towards him, all the while thinking of what she would say. Lyn didn't want to chock up on her words like she did the other day.
"'Morning Karel," she started.
He looked up and just stared. Lyn couldn't quite read the expression on his face, but it seemed like he was trying to place her. It was almost as though he had no memory of her what so ever. Finally he gave her a slow, lazy smile.
"'Morning Lyndis."
She walked over and stood beside him, both of them staring absentmindedly at the sunrise. Eventually Lyn noticed him bending down to grab the horse's water buckets.
"Come with me?" he asked.
The green haired Sacaen girl did not answer at first. She was preoccupied with staring at his eyes. Clearly they were not brown like yesterday, but now seemed to glow golden. They were almost frightening, frighteningly beautiful.
"Lyndis?"
"Oh, sorry. Of course I'll come with you." She picked up a bucket of her own and started to walk.
They didn't talk much on the way to the river. Lyn tried to make conversation with Karel a few times but he either gave a short answer or did not answer at all. After a while she gave up and decided to set her sights on the river ahead. A few more minutes of walking and they were there.
She looked out across the river and took in the view. The other side featured a lush forest and sandy bank, while the side she was on appeared barren and rocky. She let out a long sigh and picked up the bucket at her feet preparing to fill it. That is until she felt a pair of hands rest on her shoulders. She new it was Karel, he was the only one around at this time of morning.
"What are you d-"she stopped as he brought himself close to her, his hands sliding down her shoulders and lightly griping her forearms. Lyn stood completely still, wondering just what he thought he was doing. His lips grazed her ear and Lyndis couldn't help but shudder.
"Your so beautiful," he whispered. "But…" He took Lyn's hand, causing her to drop the bucket, and placed it on the hilt of her sword. "…I'm sure your swordplay looks even better." He leaned in and kissed her check lightly, then was gone.
Lyndis didn't turn to watch him go. She just couldn't bare to face him after such a spontaneous action. Instead, she waited for the sound of his boots to meld with the wind blowing across the plains. "Such an odd character…" thought Lyndis as she shivered with a hidden delight.
FIREmblemFAN: Well, that's the end of this loooooooonnnnnnnnggggggggggg chapter! Hope you all enjoyed it! Sorry if the formating is messed up. The Quick Edit thing won't let me double space paragraphs. (annoyed)
Lyn: (beating the living daylights out of Karel) You pervert!!! How dare you try and touch me and use cheesy pick up lines!!!!
Karel: (trying to defend himself) Ouch! Sorry!!!! It's not my fault!!!!!! She made me do it!!!!! (points accusingly at FIREmblemFAN)
Rath: (pouts) No love for me…
End.