Rebecca: Hi everybody! You should know by now that she doesn't own any
Fire Emblem characters!
Me: Who are you?
Rebecca: I'm your muse!
Me: ?????
Rebecca: Oh come on! You know, I'm someone who makes you write more and inspires you! *cracks a whip*
Me: *gulp* Help me...
Rebecca: ^_____^ Now onto the thank-you's!
Me: Hey wait!
The Story Master 125: Another review from you! Yay! I'm glad you liked the humor in my last chapter, but sadly humor's kind of hard to portray in battle chapters so... But I hope you still like it! Yeah, Sain's horse being named Emerald and Kent's horse being named Ruby makes a lot of sense. Ah, the power of color coordination! Eliwood gets a horse?? Awesome! Thanks for reviewing!
Jeanie: How many of Rebecca's supports have I gotten? Um...*looks embarrassed* I've gotten hers and Lowen's in my game, but if you look on the Internet, you can usually find other support conversations. Yeah! Actually Rebecca can be paired with Lowen, Wil, Raven and even SAIN!!!! Many thanks for the review!
Houyoku: Really? You had a good time reading my story? *starry-eyed* You're so sweet! Oh, sorry about Florina's pegasus' name problem. I don't remember where I saw the name Angel, but it seemed like it suited a pegasus...ah, oh well. Thanks for the clear-up! Maybe she has two pegasus!!! O.o How do you get so many support conversations? *bows to your superior knowledge* Wow, that helped a whole lot! Long rants are wonderful in reviews! Don't apoligize for that. Thank you so much for reviewing!
Fenix: Thanks for the information on Florina's pegasus, and thanks for reviewing too! Glad you like the story so far!
????: Wow, that's so nice of you to say! Yes, this story is definitely going to be Wil/Rebecca!
DTN: Oh yeah, Rebecca/Wil rulz alright!!! I'm happy that you understood this! You don't really have to know a lot about the games to understand what I write...at least I think you don't... Well if you don't understand, you can leave your questions in a review or email *hint hint* It's OK that you don't know the names of the horses, but thanks for the pegasus name! Thanks again for your wonderful review!
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Twenty-four pages!!! Oh yeah! This chapter is kind of like two chapters rolled into one, because it has before a battle and the actual battle. Oh, and I used APujanata's wonderful Turn-By-Turn walkthrough to help write my battle chapters, so if your confused about why some things happened, go there at gamefaqs.com. It shouldn't be that hard to find... Enjoy!
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When Rebecca woke up, it was still pretty dark in the tent that she shared with Krista. She guessed that it was very early in the morning by the faint hints of light making their way through the tent flaps. Usually, she would just glare at the light and go back to sleep, but she was tired of sleeping! She giggled at how that thought was contradictory to itself—being tired of sleeping! Another giggle escaped her, even though she was trying her hardest to be quiet.
"Huh...? C'mon...just five more minutes..." Krista sat up and rubbed her eyes, muttering something about stupid morning people.
Rebecca's hand flew up to her mouth, as she too sat up.
"I'm so sorry!" she whispered. "I tried to be really quiet. I...I guess I'm still not used to traveling a lot..." She stood up. "I'll go for a walk or something, so I won't disturb you."
"Oh no. That's alright. You don't ha—" A huge yawn cut Krista's statement short. "...Whoa. I haven't yawned like that in a while... What was I saying again?" She laid back down with a huff. "Oh nevermind. If you want to go outside, take my traveling cloak. It's still—" She yawned again. "...It's still pretty chilly outside."
"Thank you, Krista." A muffled 'You're welcome' was Krista's response as she pulled the blanket over her head.
Rebecca tiptoed across the tent floor, retrieved the traveling cloak, quietly put it on, and then tiptoed out of the tent. She didn't realize that she had been holding her breath, until she let it all out upon exiting the tent.
It felt good. It was probably the first time she had been able to breathe deeply without feeling any pain. She smiled and breathed again, taking in everything around her—the fading moon, the rising sun, the call of birds, the chattering of small woodland creatures, and the AIR. 'Ah, what wonderful air!' she thought. Never before had she breathed anything so crisp, so clean, so...huh?
Rebecca looked around in confusion. That smell wasn't bad, but it definitely wasn't natural. It almost smelled like—
"Oh @#$%!" She cringed at the rude interjection. "Burned again! I knew I should have let Lowen cook! Stupid...dumb...burnt...meat!" Each word was emphasized with what sounded like the cut of a knife or—Rebecca walked closer to the sounds—an axe. She gulped. She wasn't sure if she wanted to eat breakfast this morning, for Bartre was slicing up the overcooked meat with his axe, a murderous gleam in his eyes. She quickly backed away. No, she wasn't going to eat any of THAT.
On her way back to the tent to warn Krista about breakfast, Rebecca heard voices coming from the tent shared by Eliwood, Marcus, and Lowen. Since her hunger wasn't going to be sated, she reasoned that her curiosity would have to be doubly contented. In other words, she was trying to justify her reason for eavesdropping. Anyway, she crept closer to the tent to listen in on their private conversation.
"I believe we shouldn't go all the way to Laus with such a small group." Rebecca was surprised to hear Krista's voice. "We could be easily overwhelmed by a well-trained militia or even by a rag-tag bunch of brigands if here were enough of them!"
Rebecca could picture Marcus stroking his beard as he replied, "She's right, Lord Eliwood, we should not go straight to Laus. It would be too dangerous."
"What about..." Rebecca heard the ruffling of papers as Krista presumably hunted for a map.
"...Here it is. I knew my map was in here somewhere...ahem. We are here in Pherae, correct?" Rebecca could hear murmurs of assent. "And we need to go there, to Laus, right?" Again, she could hear replies of agreement.
"Look at this town in between the two." Rebecca could picture everyone leaning in to get a better look at the map.
"You mean Santaruz?"
"Yes I do, Lowen."
Rebecca could faintly see Eliwood's outline stand up and start pacing back and forth. "Hmm...Santaruz..." he mused. "I believe Lord Helman would help us. He and my father were...are...good friends, and I'm sure he would recognize me."
"Sounds good to me," declared Marcus, "but something else is sounding better right now...and that's—" To his great embarrassment, his stomach chose that moment to intercede on its behalf.
"Breakfast?" slyly finished Krista.
Rebecca could picture Marcus's stern, solid face so well, that she was hard-pressed to keep from laughing. However, try as she might, a tiny giggle escaped. She put her hands over her mouth, but it was too late.
"What was that?" Lowen sounded a little nervous.
"I don't know," answered Krista, "but I think it came from the tent's entrance. Go check, Marcus."
"Humph...very well. It is probably nothing more than a small animal or a bird."
"That was no animal..." Eliwood was as nervous as Lowen, but having been trained in the art of bureaucratic speaking, he knew how to mask his emotions well.
Marcus was slowly making his way toward the tent entrance, when Rebecca suddenly realized that she should get away—and fast. 'Hurry!' she thought. 'If they find out that I was listening...' She scrambled to get out of the way, but panic made her trip and fall flat on her face.
"Ow..." Rebecca pushed herself up from the ground very slowly, while tenderly fingering her aching nose.
"R-Rebecca?!" Lowen rushed past Marcus to help her up. Marcus looked slightly irked, but he would most likely forgive Lowen later—after he dealt Lowen a damaging defeat during lance practice. Marcus smiled—evilly, some would say—in anticipation.
"I'm fine, Lowen!" Rebecca was now trying to convince Lowen that she could manage on her own. Lowen wasn't listening and insisted on doing the chivalrous thing—carry her. Krista, Eliwood, and Marcus, watched, amusement written all over their faces. At one point, Eliwood moved to separate them, but Krista stopped him. This was the most entertainment that they were likely to get, and anyway, Krista reasoned, it was a good way for people to blow off some steam.
"Lowen!" Rebecca was now halfway between being picked up by Lowen and falling down again—a situation she did not seem to be enjoying.
"I told you! I'm fine!"
"But Rebecca! I have to—"
"What's all this racket?!" Dorcas came running toward them, his axe shining in his upraised hand.
"Aaaah! Dorcas, what are you doing?!"
Dorcas came to a shocking halt, looked at Rebecca and Lowen, then at his axe, then back at Rebecca and Lowen, and then at Krista, who had just shouted at him. He then lowered his axe.
"Oh...sorry. I thought that we were being attacked... I mean, the way Bartre's making 'breakfast', you would think he was fighting in a battle—"
"What?!" Lowen dropped Rebecca in his shock. Thankfully, Eliwood and Krista were there to save her.
"He...he's making breakfast?! Oh no!" Lowen rushed off to rescue his precious food from the clutches of Bartre the Brave—Blunderer of Baking.
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Lord Helman was tired. He did not want to go along with that man's plan anymore. Heck, he wasn't even sure if that being was a man! Lord Helman shuddered. He never wanted to see those piercing golden eyes or that long, black cloak...
"Ah, Lord Helman." It was a sly, seductive voice that oozed false comfort and security. It was His voice.
Helman couldn't help it. He had to tell of his concerns. "Eliwood is coming here! What should I do? I cannot lie to him. I cannot!"
"Do not worry." His manner... It was so soothing... No! Helman would not be pulled into that man's web of deceit again!
"His father and I were good friends. If I saw him face-to-face...I know I would have to tell him everything."
"Then the solution is simple. Do not meet with him face-to-face. We will just chase him away." Again, his voice urged Helman to comply, but Helman still had a little protest left in him.
"You...you don't mean to harm Eliwood?!"
"No. No, of course not. A few scratches will not kill him. We will simply make him see his error in pursuing us. He will then run back to Pherae like a good little lord." Then, He laughed, and Helman shook with rage, defeat, sadness, and helplessness.
"As long as you don't harm him..."
"Of course not." Helman left the room, drained from such an encounter with...Him.
With a flare of his long, dark cloak, and a glint of malice in his golden eyes, He barked an order to his servant lurking in the shadows.
"Kill them."
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Rebecca's life consisted of two things—chewing and walking. She thought that traveling with Eliwood & Co. would be exciting and full of danger at every corner, but... She sighed. It was kind of boring sometimes. She supposed things would get interesting once they got to Laus, but first they had to stop by Santaruz to get help from the Marquess.
Rebecca sighed again and tried to find a soft spot in Bartre's burnt mystery meat. That wasn't too likely.
"Hey," Krista waved to Rebecca, and walked over. "What's all the sighing for? Is it the...you-know-what?" Bartre was eyeing them suspiciously, so Krista had had to call his mystery meat a 'you-know-what'.
Rebecca laughed, which was a fine feat with all of the mystery meat in her mouth.
Krista stared questioningly at Rebecca. "...OK...I'm guessing that's a no." Rebecca nodded. "Then...what is it?"
Rebecca started to sigh again, and then caught Krista's eye. "Sorry...but, I'm just so bored!"
To Rebecca's immense surprise and relief, Krista smiled. "I know the feeling. When I went with Lyn on her adventure, we were bored a lot. Although..." Krista started to laugh at a memory. "I don't know if traveling with Sain could be called boring!"
"Who?" asked Rebecca.
"Oh yeah. You've never met him have you?" Rebecca shook her head. "Well, he's...now how do I describe him? He's...what you would call a—"
"Yes?"
Krista looked like she was trying very hard not to laugh. "He's a big flirt." Now she burst into gales of laughter.
"Oh..." Rebecca started giggling very quietly. She couldn't help it. Krista was contagious.
"H-How much longer until...we get to Santaruz?" Rebecca managed to gasp out between laughs.
Marcus walked up to Rebecca and Krista, while leading his horse, Roland. "We have arrived."
Rebecca looked around at her surroundings. She could barely make out Castle Santaruz in the distance.
"What do you mean, 'We have arrived'? Castle Santaruz is still a long way off."
Marcus pointed to a shop and a town nearby. "We can replenish our supplies here. It would be impolite to expect Lord Helman to supply us with everything we need."
"Oh, I see. So we're—"
"Hey, look out!" Lowen had spotted some rough-looking men heading their way.
"Everyone get behind me!" cried Marcus as he leapt onto Roland.
Suddenly, the men stopped, and one came forward, his hands on his sword sheath. Rebecca didn't like the look of him one bit.
"Heh heh heh... Noble sirs. Alms for Zagan, a poor villager." The man extended his hands like he was going to receive something. From the way Marcus was glaring at him, Rebecca didn't think that Zagan would be receiving anything.
"Poor villager?" Marcus scrutinized the man further. "You look nothing like an honest man. Clear the road. Move swiftly!"
Zagan smiled, a crooked and sarcastic smile. "Ha...good advice. Maybe YOU should be the ones to follow it!"
"What?" Marcus asked forcefully.
"Heh," The man turned and pointed to Eliwood. "Someone wants that boy in an early grave." At that threat, Marcus made Roland rear up and scare Zagan away.
"Come on out, boys! Earn your keep!" shouted the man, as he ran far away from Roland's hooves.
"Coward..." Lowen muttered under his breath as he reached for his lance.
Eliwood spotted him. "No, Lowen. It will be his time soon enough." He turned to Krista.
"I know, Eliwood. Does everybody have their ear devices in?" Everyone nodded.
"Good." Krista winked at Rebecca. "So much for being bored, huh?" Then she was off to scout the area.
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Rebecca was tense and a little bit nervous. This was to be expected of course, since this was her second official battle...but... She wished she could be confident and prepared like Marcus, or eager and enthusiastic like Lowen.
"Everyone ready?" It was Krista. Apparently, she had finished surveying the area already. "...Hey. Somebody tell Bartre to turn his device on the signal that let's me talk to everyone at once." Dorcas went to help Bartre.
"OK. Thanks. Here's the lowdown. There's a village just north of you Marcus, so you should go check it out." Marcus nodded and rode to the village. "The rest of you, move a little closer to the enemy, and wait. Oh! And tune your devices back to where I can speak to you individually... Good luck. Krista out."
Rebecca fixed her device like everybody else, and then she waited with her bow clenched tight in her hand.
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A lone brigand rushed to attack them, but was halted by Bartre's thrown axe. The brigand grabbed his left shoulder where blood was freely flowing, and howled a mad war cry.
Rebecca had to drop her bow and cover her ears, it was such a horrible, piercing shriek of madness. This was an error on her part, and the brigand knew it. Yellow eyes followed her discarded bow, and then turned to Rebecca. They narrowed in fiendish delight. His axe would feast on her blood soon enough.
Unbeknownst to the brigand, another's eyes had narrowed in the same way, but not for the same reason. Dorcas was watching him, calculating his every movement like any experienced fighter would. Dorcas saw the brigand focus on Rebecca, and knew what he had to do. Quickly maneuvering around the brigand, Dorcas cut him down from behind.
Eliwood stared in shock, not at the dead brigand, but at Dorcas. "I- Isn't that dishonorable, cutting him down like that from behind?"
Dorcas looked up at him, a fire smoldering in his normally-calm brown eyes. "All's fair in battling men who would do the same to you in a heartbeat, Lord Eliwood."
Eliwood took time to register this information. "Point taken...but I still don't have to like it."
Dorcas shrugged. "It's your choice. You may fight anyway you choose. Just...make sure you win."
Eliwood nodded. "I understand...now let's get back to fighting!"
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'And they say women talk a lot', thought Rebecca. 'I guess Eliwood and Dorcas fell pretty comfortable on the battlefield if they can hold a conver—'
"Look out!" shouted Rebecca.
"Wha—" Eliwood didn't have time to finish his exclamation, for Lowen pushed him out of the way as an arrow sped past him and hit an incoming mercenary. The mercenary was stunned and scratched, but otherwise fine. He glared at Rebecca, and then charged toward her with every intention of cutting her down with his upraised sword. Bartre made sure that this intention would not be fulfilled. He lunged past Rebecca and threw an axe at the mercenary, which connected with devastating effect. Now, Rebecca wasn't a fragile girl, but such a sight made her feel slightly dizzy. For the second time, she fervently gave thanks that Bartre was not her enemy.
"Hey Rebecca, you alright? You look a little—"
"No, it's OK." Rebecca cut Krista short. "I'm fine. Really. I just need to...uh..."
"It's OK. Battles aren't pretty. It's not like a dead enemy disappears into thin air. You have to fight your enemies physically, but you have to fight yourself emotionally. The dead man won't disappear and neither will your guilt or disgust. Believe me..." Krista sighed. "I know..."
Rebecca couldn't reply with anything more than, "Oh..."
Krista could feel tension building between them, which was the last thing Rebecca needed to be able to focus and fight. "Umm...Rebecca? There's a fortress nearby to your right. Maybe you could recover there...yeah."
Rebecca smiled. "Thanks, Krista. I'm glad to have you here beside me, well, kind of beside me... Rebecca out."
She scanned the battlefield for the fortress that Krista had told her about. ...Aha! There it was. Now all she had to do was—
"Oh, ow..."
Rebecca swung her head around, searching for the speaker, who turned out to be Eliwood.
"Oh, Lord Eliwood! Are you alright?"
"You can drop the 'lord', and yes...I'm alright..." he panted. "It's just that...I'm still not used to REAL battles."
Rebecca nodded. She understood. "Um, Krista told me about a fortress nearby where we could recover our strength a little." She brought her face closer, so she could see him better. "You look like you could use that recovery more than me. Come on."
Rebecca took Eliwood by the arm, and half-dragged, half-supported him to the fortress.
Once they made it to their destination, Eliwood closed his eyes in contentment. "Thank you, Rebecca. I feel a whole lot better. I suppose being near any type of civilization gives me a little morale boost."
Rebecca smiled. "You're welcome, Lor—I mean, Eliwood."
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"Hey Dorcas!"
"Yeah, Lowen?"
"You have a steel axe, right?"
"Yes. I do."
"Isn't it, uh, well... What I mean to say is...uh...heh... I mean, sorry to bother you!" Lowen rode off on Hartmut, his sorrel horse.
"..." Dorcas shrugged, and looked around for his next victim. He wished that he had his trusty iron axe back again. It had been so much easier to land a blow with. However... He sighed. After traveling and fighting so much, his axe had finally broken. Oh well. He did still have this steel axe...
No enemies so far. Where were those 'boys' that the man Zagan had ordered to come out? Were they scared or something? Dorcas snorted. Not likely. They were probably lying in wait until—hah! A horse, a sorrel, came galloping toward him. He gripped his steel axe, ready to strike when the rider came into range. Ready...almost there...yes!
"Hi Dorcas!"
"L-Lowen?!" Dorcas had to skid to a halt in order to not collide with Lowen, or, more importantly, Lowen's horse. Hartmut didn't seem like he would take Dorcas slamming into him very well. "I thought that you went ahead to scout or something!"
Lowen looked slightly hurt and unsure of himself. "I d-did, but then K-Krista told me that there was a shop nearby..." He gulped. "A-And she said that you needed other iron axes, s-so here they are." He drew two brand- new iron axes out from the satchel that he kept slung around Hartmut.
Dorcas didn't know what to say as he took the graciously-given gifts. "Thanks, Lowen. I don't really know what to say..."
"'Thank you' is enough. I'm always happy to serve. You know that a knight of Pherae—"
"Uh, Lowen?" Dorcas did NOT want to listen to him ramble on and on about the policies and what-not of Pheraen knights. "Shouldn't we get back to fighting?"
Lowen turned red. "Uh, yes."
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'Man, they talk too much' was the dominant thought on Bartre's mind as he watched Lowen and Dorcas. The battlefield was for fighting, not for conversing! Bartre would show them. He smiled and raised his axe.
"Hyaah!" Bartre race past both Lowen and Dorcas, to show off his courage.
"Hahaha! You can't catch me! I'm Bartre the Brave! Haha—"
"Watch it!" Dorcas had spotted an enemy soldier near Bartre. "I'll get him!"
Bartre had also spotted the soldier. "No, I'll get him!"
Lowen had to avert his eyes from the soldier being killed by the two axe-wielders. Killed? Hah. Chopped up into tiny pieces was more like it. He shuddered. As the lance was Lowen's most comfortable weapon, he had a particular fear of axes. He almost felt sorry for the soldier. Almost.
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Rebecca watched Eliwood. He looked so...contradictory. His eyes betrayed his naiveness, and yet, the way he carried himself showed him to be an able and responsible leader. The kind of leader that people would WANT to follow, fight, and even die for.
Eliwood looked up to meet Rebecca's eyes. She blushed and lowered hers, suddenly becoming very interested in her hands. 'Oh no,' she thought, 'He must think I'm weird for staring at him so much. I...' She started to bite at her nails. 'I sure hope not.'
It was now Eliwood's turn to examine Rebecca, and he could tell that she was embarrassed. He sighed. Why was it that everytime he was in close proximity with any girl, it was awkward? It definitely wasn't that way with his father and mother...his father... Eliwood clenched his hand around his sword. He couldn't let himself lose focus, because he had to find his father. He had to—
"Look out! Behind you!"
Eliwood swung around at hearing Rebecca's warning to see a brigand running toward them, his eyes blazing with bloodlust. Eliwood's training saved his life (and Rebecca's) that day. He managed to dodge the brigand's attack, and thrust his sword into the brigand's unprotected thigh.
He was now a perfect target. Rebecca grabbed her bow and quickly strung an arrow. All she had to do now was aim and fire—easier said than done. She tried to focus on the target, just like her brother and Wil had taught her, but...those practice targets hadn't been alive. They wouldn't retaliate, and they couldn't...die. She shook her head. This was no time to second-guess herself! She was one of her village's best hunters for goodness sake! Surely shooting this brigand would be as simple as shooting a wild boar... Then she made the mistake of looking into the brigand's eyes.
There was hatred and malice, oh yes, but there was also hurt and pain and...sorrow. Rebecca couldn't do it. She wouldn't—couldn't—kill another human being no matter how savage or evil.
However, the brigand, sensing Rebecca's hesitation, rushed forward, ready and willing to bring her down.
"Rebecca!" The explosive exclamation blasting from right inside her ear, made her let go of the tightened string on her bow. The arrow flew—unaimed and unintentional—to land in the charging brigand's throat.
Instead of a war cry, a gargled choke and blood issued from his mouth. Rebecca had never been more mortified in her entire life. What was happening to her? She hadn't been like this in the last battle...
"Rebecca?" Krista's voice sounded far away. "You alright?" Now, it sounded a little clearer. "Eliwood's taken care of that last brigand, so you're safe..."
Krista's voice had trailed off to let Rebecca comment, but Rebecca had no comment to give.
"...Please be OK...Krista out."
How could she be OK? She had just about killed a fellow human being. A bad one, yes, but... Rebecca hid her face in her hands in an effort to hold back the tears.
She felt a hand on her shoulders and stiffened.
"Rebecca?" It was Eliwood. He sounded worried and—she looked up to see him clearer—tired. She mentally scolded herself. 'You're not the only one who's tired of fighting! Come on. Eliwood's tired too, and HE was the one who actually killed the brigand. Stop being such a crybaby!'
Rebecca wiped her eyes, and put on a small smile.
"I-I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me." Rebecca swallowed a great amount of fresh air. "I-I guess that I just...just didn't—"
"Want to kill?"
Rebecca froze in shock, and then a bright smile born of gratitude and wonderment lit her face. "Yes! How...did you know...?"
It was Eliwood's turn to smile. "Remember when you helped me get to this fortress? Remember what I said?"
She nodded.
"I said that I wasn't used to REAL battles, right?"
Again, Rebecca nodded.
"Well," Eliwood paused to try and find the right words that would convey his meaning. "Your predicament is like mine. We are both not used to killing people, no matter how heartless or cruel they are. Even people..." He lifted his sword, which was dripping with the brigand's still- hot blood. "...who wish to kill us."
Rebecca could kind of tell where Eliwood was going with all of this. "So, you're saying that it's hard for both of us to kill a person, even if that person has no problem whatsoever with killing us?"
"Correct." Eliwood nodded. "But...you don't feel like dying, do you?"
Rebecca almost laughed at such a question. "No!"
"Then that is where your struggle comes into play."
Rebecca's urge to laugh stopped. "What? I don't understand..."
Eliwood sighed. "As the son of a marquess, I have a deep sense of self-preservation that has been ingrained into me by my parents and court. So, do I kill to stay alive or have mercy and be killed myself?"
Rebecca's mouth opened in a silent 'Oh' of understanding. "I...never thought about it like that before. But," She hung her head in shame. "I wasn't like this in the last fight! It almost felt, well, RIGHT, to kill those brigands..."
Eliwood smiled in empathy. "That is probably because they were desecrating your home. If a bunch of brigands attacked my home, I would surely feel the same way." He cleared his throat. "I want you to understand, Rebecca, so you will be able to fight." He pulled her close. "I don't want any of my friends getting hurt."
Her heart was beating wildly. 'Friend?' she thought. 'Did he really consider her a friend already?' She couldn't tell if she was thrilled or disappointed. Did she want to be more than that? Rebecca blushed. This was no time for silly daydreaming! They were supposed to be fighting! [A. N. – This is a Rebecca/Wil story. I just got so tired of waiting to write some romance fluff. :P Rebecca just has a little crush on Eliwood, I mean, what girl wouldn't?]
"Um," Eliwood was getting nervous. "S-Shouldn't we...uh...go fight or...something?"
Rebecca looked up at Eliwood in surprise. "Oh! Oh, yes! Of course!" She grabbed her bow and arrows, and started to head off in a random direction.
Eliwood ran to catch up. "Wait! Rebecca, the rest of the group is THAT way!"
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A young man with blue hair and purplish black armor walked over to a man with a red helmet that covered his face—a guard. The former surveyed the scene before him, and caught a glimpse of bright red hair—Eliwood! He, and his three companions—a sturdy knight, a clever-looking thief, and a sassy, pink-haired cleric—started to move past the guard. Yet, the guard insisted on staying in their way.
"Hey! If you won't let us through, then will you at least tell us what's going on?!" the blue-haired man exclaimed. "Are you just going to stand there and watch?!" He looked quite ready and willing to sock the guard in the jaw.
"Who do you think you are?" the guard asked. "This is Santaruz. What we do here is no affair of a foreign lordling."
The so-called 'foreign lordling' seemed to be holding in his anger by a small thread. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to disagree with you there. For you see," He took out his weapon, and Wolf Beil. "The person you're attacking just happens to be a friend of mine."
"A friend? Wha—" The blue-haired man cut down the guard right then and there, in plain view of his companions.
"Ewww!" squealed the pink-haired girl. "I loathe violence!" Then, she was pushed aside by the sneaky-eyed thief. "Humph..." she pouted.
"Nice job." He congratulated. "You're a born fighter, Lord Hector." Hector smiled in appreciation, but was quickly sobered by the appearance of his burly knight friend.
"I do not condone resorting to violence so quickly—"
"There's no time, Oswin!" interrupted Hector. "We gotta help Eliwood!"
Oswin snorted, like he didn't really believe Hector. "Help? That sounds like another excuse to fight."
Hector acted mock serious. "Oswin!"
Oswin sighed and shook his head. "Fine. I'm going..." He picked up his javelin, and headed out.
Hector's eyes followed him as he disappeared onto the battlefield. Then he finally seemed to realize that the thief and cleric were still beside him. "Matthew! You go find a place to hide with Serra!"
Matthew, the thief, didn't look too enthusiastic about Hector's idea. In fact, he looked downright miserable. "H-Hide? W-With...Serra?"
As with Matthew, Serra was also disappointed at Hector's request. "But I want to go!"
"No way!" Hector ordered. Serra stared at him, a question in her bright eyes. Did he really care about their safety? Hector seemed to know that he needed to give a reason. "You'll slow us down!"
So much for caring about our safety... "You're so rude!" complained Serra.
"Haha...I'm going now! Hurry up and hide!" Hector flew into battle, grinning in anticipation.
Serra glared after him, and then tossed her pink pigtails with a huff. She grabbed Matthew's arm. "Come on, Matthew!"
"Help...me..." pleaded Matthew.
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Bartre was on a roll. He felt like he could do anything; he thought that he was invincible. Therefore, it was natural for him to go charging straight at an enemy soldier, who saw Bartre and smiled. The soldier believed that he could easily dodge Bartre's reckless attack. He was wrong.
Bartre had not been the brightest student in his class, so he probably didn't know that his chances of landing a blow were slim. Not that it mattered. His unpredictable and reckless way of attacking confused the enemy soldier, who couldn't decide which way to go to get out of the way.
The soldier fell, his eyes wide open and glassy with shock and pain—with Bartre's iron axe plunged so deep in him that the iron part could barely be seen. Even with such a fatal wound, the soldier still struggled for his life. Hector watched him, and impressed with his valiant struggle, gave him a mercy blow to the back of his head.
Hector whistled. "Nice show there, Sir...?"
"My name's Bartre, and there's no 'sir'. It's just Bartre." After answering Hector's unspoken question, Bartre stooped to get his axe out of the dead enemy soldier.
"Here. Let me do that." Hector offered. He then grabbed the axe, and started to wrench it out. A sickening, squelching sound accompanied his action as he slowly drew the axe out. It was stained red with fresh blood, just the way Hector had always imagined a war weapon would look like.
He stood there like a statue—heroic and frozen in time, forever gazing at the weapon painted red in the sunlight.
"Geez... You can have it if you want it so much..."
Hector blinked. "Huh? ...Oh, thanks a whole lot, Bartre. This axe is just so...beautiful...in a fatal kind of way..."
"Ah, heck. Don't mention it. Just—"
"Bartre! Behind you!" Lowen yelled a warning, and just in the nick of time too. Bartre managed to throw himself out of harm's way as an arrow came speeding toward him. A horse, Hartmut, galloped toward the enemy archer at a frightening speed. At the rate Lowen was traveling, his javelin would slice through the archer with no problem.
The archer would not be able to counterattack in time. His demise was imminent, for as fate would have it, Hector wanted to try out his newly- acquired iron axe—on the very same archer that Lowen was going for.
Bystanders would have called him crazy or mad or insane, but only a select few—including Oswin and Eliwood—knew what Hector really was. Battle- happy. Ever since he was little, Oswin remembered, Hector had been the wild child—always sneaking off to fight in the arena with his friends. Thank goodness Eliwood had been there. He had been Hector's voice of reason when that blue-haired ball-of-energy wouldn't listen to anybody else. Oswin smiled. Of course, Hector would only listen to someone who could best him in sparring, which was one activity that Eliwood was surprisingly adept at.
The clash of metal against flesh alerted Oswin to the present situation. The unlucky archer had just been butchered by Lowen's thrown javelin and Hector's axe. Lowen, having seen what Hector intended to do, decided to throw his javelin instead of risk a close-up with his axe. He knew that Hector would never intentionally hurt an ally, but one could never be too careful. (Krista had spied Hector & Co. earlier. She had recognized Matthew and Serra, since they had traveled together with Lyn on her adventure. And so, Krista informed everybody that the man with blue hair and really dark armor—Hector—and the knight in rust-colored armor—Oswin—would be joining them as allies.)
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Marcus narrowed his eyes as he entered the town. It was quiet. Too quiet. Where was everybody? No children laughed and played. No women chattered and gossiped in the streets. No men went about doing their jobs. Nothing. It was almost as if a spell had been cast that kept the town still and silent. Marcus didn't know anything about magic, but he DID know that something unnatural was going on here. He hoped that the uncanny aura of this village did not reflect on how Lord Helman was doing...
"Heh heh." Marcus had to hold back an undignifying yelp as an old man appeared out of nowhere.
"W-What do you need, sir?" Marcus believed in being polite to his elders, and yes, even though he himself had aged gracefully throughout many years, this man standing in front of him was definitely older than he was.
"No need to be so formal," the old man croaked. "I have a proposition for you, as I speak on behalf of this town." He made a sweeping gesture.
Marcus looked around again. Was this man a lunatic? There was nobody—wait. As Marcus viewed the town a second time, he could see signs of recent activity, like bread being set out on windowsills to cool. These townspeople weren't gone...they were hiding! But why?
"What is your proposition, and may I ask why your lovely village is so..." Marcus couldn't think of the right word, but the old man seemed to know that he meant.
"It is...Him." Something about the way the old man said the word 'Him', gave Marcus the impression that this was no ordinary man he spoke of.
"Who? Surely not Lord Helman!"
The old man shook his head. "No. However, he does meet with...Him...often." Marcus watched as the man pulled out a beautifully- decorated, leather-bound book. "Use this book to save Lord Helman; that is our proposition. It is a Secret Book, and will improve your skill in battle if you read it. But," the old man warned, "Use it wisely, for only one person may read from it. After that, it will fall apart."
Marcus took the Secret Book. "Thank you for such a valuable item. My comrades and I will save Lord Helman."
The old man nodded, and hobbled off to disappear into the shadows, leaving Marcus with much to think about as he rode out of the village to join his companions in battle.
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Hector was having the time of his life. What more could he want than what he was doing right now? He was swinging his axe fearlessly and ruthlessly, practically mowing down any opposition that happened to come his way. He had already defeated another soldier all by himself, and his tactics were terrifying. In fact, he was so downright scary that foe and friend alike were afraid of coming close to him lest they be hurt—or even killed. Only Oswin, his guardian appointed by Uther, Hector's older brother, was brave enough to get within shouting distance.
As Hector was too awe-inspiring a fighter, an enemy soldier decided to attack Dorcas instead. He thought that Dorcas would be easier to take down. He thought wrong.
Dorcas had never had fast reflexes or a quick tongue, so most people had passed him off as being 'just another fighter' with 'nothing extraordinary going for him'. They had never stopped long enough to notice how his every move had purpose to it, and that he only spoke when he had something meaningful to say. This soldier was making the same errors that those people had, only his error would cost him his life.
With an unemotional, calculating gaze, Dorcas watched the soldier run toward him. 'Relax.' He closed his eyes. 'Let the enemy come to you, and then when he gets close enough...' He could hear the soldier's footsteps get louder and louder until... 'Now make him pay for underestimating you!' Dorcas' eyes shot open, immediately locking onto the soldier. Then the enemy soldier could see nothing but the dazzling light of the sun as it was reflected off of Dorcas' axe. The axe that would so soon end this soldier's career as a fighter, and even worse, end his life.
"Whoo! Dorcas!" called Bartre. "I almost thought you were a goner for a second there! Why did you just stand there like a lump?! If I were you, I would have—"
"I don't like wasting my energy needlessly." Dorcas snapped.
"Well soo-rry, Mr. Grumpypants!"
Dorcas shrugged his shoulders, his anger going as quickly as it had come. "I'm sorry too. Here," He handed Bartre one of the iron axes that Lowen had given him earlier. "Have one of my iron axes. I noticed that you gave yours away to Hector."
Bartre looked embarrassed. "Ah, Dorcas. You don't have to..." Dorcas shrugged and started to put it away.
"But I'll still take it!" exclaimed Bartre as he practically snatched the axe from Dorcas, who rolled his eyes and smiled.
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"Eliwood!" Where were all these blasted brigands coming from?! The fortress, which began as their safe haven, had now turned into their nightmare. Apparently, Zagan had sent the majority of his troops over here, while the rest had been sent to the other side. That probably wouldn't have been too bad, but only she and Eliwood were on this side. They needed help, and fast!
"Eliwood!" Rebecca repeated. "Are you alright?"
Eliwood nodded. "For now, but we can't keep this up forever." He slapped his ear device as though that would make it work better. "Krista, where's that help?!"
His device crackled. "It's coming! Sheesh! Just look behind you! Krista out."
Unfortunately, Eliwood was not allowed to turn around, for yet another brigand engaged him in combat.
"Rebecca!" he yelled. "Turn around and see who's coming!" She nodded and went to do what he said.
It was somebody riding on a horse...Lowen? No. Lowen had golden armor. Then it had to be... "Marcus! Marcus is coming to help us!"
The relief that Eliwood felt was so intense that he let his guard down for a split second. It wasn't that long, but it was long enough for the brigand to see his chance for victory. He lunged toward Eliwood in an effort to unbalance him. It worked. (The brigand didn't want to kill him, because he would be worth so much more alive.) Eliwood lost his grip on his steel sword, and fell to the ground—right where the brigand wanted him.
"No!" Rebecca cried as she loosed an arrow toward the brigand. It lodged itself into his side, and he cried out in pain and rage. He didn't care if Eliwood was worth more alive anymore; the brigand needed to kill to satisfy his anger, and since Rebecca—the object of his rage—was too far away, he would have to make due with Eliwood instead.
Eliwood could not reach his weapon. Rebecca would not be able to shoot another arrow in time. The brigand lifted his axe, triumph in his yellow eyes. Oh yes. Most people would see that Eliwood's death was inevitable. However, Marcus did not see like most people would. He did not see that Eliwood's death was inevitable. Instead, he saw a brigand about to kill him, the one person that he was supposed to protect above all others.
Instinctively, Marcus gripped his sword...and hurled it at Eliwood's attacker. The sword flew, swift and sure, and killed the brigand instantly.
Rebecca would never forget the brigand's face as he died; he almost looked...relieved, all of his anger and bitterness flowing out with his blood. Suddenly, something clicked, and Rebecca understood why she should fight. She and her comrades had a purpose—to live, whereas their enemies' purposes were to kill...and die. Yes, they were human beings, but after having practically sold their lives for the sole purpose of taking other lives...they were better off dead. [A.N.- I'm sorry if Rebecca seems a little, uh, harsh...but I needed for her to have a reason to stop hesitating so much before shooting enemies and stuff.]
"Lord Eliwood! Are you hurt?" Marcus rode up to Eliwood, and jumped off of Roland to give him a hand.
"Yes," thanked Eliwood, "I don't know what would have happened if..."
Marcus nodded. "My duty is to protect you." He then began to ride off.
"Wait!" called Eliwood. "You forgot your sword!"
Marcus looked back over his shoulder. "Keep it."
'Huh?' wondered Rebecca. 'If he gives Eliwood his sword, he won't be able to fight for the rest of this battle. He'll be defenseless...' She gasped as a realization dawned on her. 'Maybe that's what he wants! If enemies go for him, then Eliwood would be safe.' Rebecca tightened her grip on her bow. Marcus may not be able to defend himself, but SHE could—and would—make sure that none of her friends went down while she still had arrows.
Rebecca's premonition came true. As soon as an enemy mercenary saw that Marcus could no longer defend himself, he attacked. Marcus just smiled, and neatly dodged. These badly-trained mercenaries were no match for him, but Rebecca strung an arrow, just in case. One could never be too careful. At least, the enemies went for Marcus now instead of...oh no, Eliwood!
Had the mercenary just been a diversion? A brigand was attacking Eliwood! This wasn't supposed to happen! Rebecca stood, torn between helping Eliwood or helping Marcus, who couldn't dodge the mercenary's attacks forever. If she helped Eliwood, then Marcus might get hurt; and if she helped Marcus, then Eliwood's life would be in danger.
"Gah!" That was Eliwood! Rebecca quickly made up her mind, and aimed at the brigand who was attacking him. She was sure Marcus would understand...wouldn't he rather have Eliwood safe? Sure he would...
The string was tense and so ready to be released—Rebecca could feel it. This would be a perfect shot—straight through the heart.
"Rebecca wait!" It was Krista. "Don't shoot HIM! Help Marcus with that mercenary! Dorcas is coming to help Eliwood, so don't worry. Krista out."
The string was pulled back too far. Rebecca wouldn't have time to aim before she let the arrow fly. All she could do was pray that her arrow would hit the mercenary and not Marcus.
The arrow sped toward the mercenary, and just barely nicked him in the side. Rebecca would have cursed, but she was not that kind of girl. Instead, she reached into her pack to retrieve another arrow. She froze in horror. She had only one arrow left.
Panic swept over her, like a cold wind chilling her to the very core of her being. One arrow. Her hand moved across the arrow, feeling the sharp point, the slender middle, the soft feathers at the end. An arrow had never seemed so precious to her before. What would she do after it was gone? There were still a lot of enemies left...
"Rebecca!" She snapped out of her self-imposed shock. "Move out of the way! What are you doing?!
Someone pushed her to the ground, and she lay there as one frozen. Rebecca couldn't see (since her face was on the ground) but her other senses seemed to make up for that. She could hear swords and axes clashing, smell the sweet scent of earth mingled with the sour odor of battle, and feel the vibrations of fighting through the trembling ground. She knew that she was vulnerable on the ground, but something held her down—her fear.
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Rebecca was safe for now, for Eliwood had pushed her out of the way of a charging mercenary. He couldn't understand why she hadn't moved out of the way to begin with, but he couldn't deal with that right now. He had a mercenary to deal with. He whipped out his newly-acquired iron sword, and stood protectively in front of Rebecca, right in the way of the mercenary.
The Pheraen lordling watched the attacker's sword arm, so he would be able to dodge out of the way if necessary. He could not count on anybody coming to his rescue, since Marcus was weapon-less and Rebecca looked like she had only one arrow left. He had to take charge, and he had to take it NOW!
"Hyaah!" Eliwood plunged his sword...right into the air that the mercenary had occupied seconds earlier. The full force of his blow not connecting with anything, made Eliwood lose his balance. He knew the mercenary would get him now, and he grimaced as he thought of what would happen to his mother and the kingdom without him...or his father. His father. If only he had been able to see him one last time...
"Eliwood!" Lowen galloped up on Hartmut to stick the mercenary with his lance. Eliwood couldn't believe his luck. He would have to tell Marcus to be nicer to Lowen, but he seriously doubted if that would ever happen. Eliwood even tried to picture what Marcus would look like being nice, and he almost burst out laughing.
Lowen stared at Eliwood, who looked like he was about to go into hysterics. "Uh...Eliwood?"
The redhead looked up at Lowen. "Yes?"
"Well, you look kind of..." Lowen shrugged. "...weird. Pardon me for saying such—"
"Oh that's fine," interrupted Eliwood, "I just tried to picture Marcus being...nice."
A very funny picture popped into Lowen's mind. It was Marcus trying to smile. Suddenly he felt a strong urge to laugh...
"See?" asked Eliwood. "Funny, isn't it?"
"Yes, it's quite—" Lowen grabbed his sword. "Look out!"
Eliwood heard the whistling of something traveling quickly through the air, and then all he could feel was pain. His right shoulder was on fire, and his mind was dimly registering the fact that an arrow must have hit him. It was getting too hard to think, too painful to do much of anything...
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Rebecca forced herself up from the ground. One of her friends got shot because of her, so she no longer cared if she only had one arrow left. She would find that archer and make him pay for what he did to Eliwood!
She scanned the battlefield for any sign of that enemy archer. Where was that—there! Rebecca smiled in anticipation. Oh, revenge would be so sweet. The archer's attention was focused on Eliwood, so this was her chance. She strung her last arrow, pulled the string back, aimed at the archer, and let it fly.
It was a perfect shot. The archer never knew what hit him before the arrow ended his life instantly. Part of Rebecca was revolted at how coldly she had killed the archer, but her other, stronger part relished in the fact that the archer would never harm anyone again—especially one of her friends.
Well that was that. She had no more arrows. Rebecca had expected to feel afraid and vulnerable, but instead she felt...relieved and confident. The relief came from not having to kill anyone anymore, and the confidence spouted from the faith that she had in the ability of her friends to take care of everything. Her confidence was confirmed as she watched Bartre take care of another brigand. Was that the last of the enemies? No...they still had to defeat Zagan and another mercenary.
The device in her ear crackled. "Hey, Rebecca?"
"Yep?"
"Is something the matter? You're just standing there..."
Rebecca smiled. "Oh, don't worry. I just ran out of arrows. That's all. I'm—"
"What?!" Krista exploded. "Why didn't you say something?! I would have told someone to come and get you out of the really heavy fighting!" Rebecca just laughed.
"What are you laughing at?! Zagan is still alive you know!" Krista took a deep breath. "Sorry...I just get really tense when I'm doing my job... Hey, I've gotta go tactinize (or whatever we tacticians do) so... Krista—"
"Out!" finished Rebecca.
"...You're impossible!" joked Krista. "I'm outta here."
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Marcus slew the enemy mercenary with quick efficiency. Was that the last of them? Wait, where was that snake Zagan hiding? Marcus hated sneaky enemies most of all. He could take any direct hit that got thrown at him, but a surprise attack? He shook his head. He would just have to be prepared and on his guard. Besides, Eliwood's life—as well as his own—hung in the balance.
Zagan watched and waited. Soon that stupid bodyguard—Marcus, or whatever his name was—would let down his guard, and then... He licked his lips at the thought of the Dark Master's reward when he presented Him with that lordling brat's head. It was almost time...
Something fell was in the air. Eliwood could feel it. And yes, the arrow planted in his shoulder was part of this bad feeling, but the majority came from...something, or someone, else. Marcus was looking out for him, but he still couldn't shake his feeling of danger.
Marcus was getting nervous, not that he would ever admit it. The battlefield was still, and the stillness was what made him nervous. This calm was like the eye of the storm or the eerie silence before a tornado hits. Whatever happened, Marcus knew that he must be prepared for the "tornado", no matter what.
It was so tense! Rebecca surveyed the battlefield with her forest- green eyes. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. Even Bartre seemed to understand that something important was going to happen soon. Like the string on her bow, there was only so much stress that she could undergo. Oh, she wished that the something would happen already! She was about to get her wish.
Zagan had waited long enough. Now was the time to strike!
Pain made him dizzy and clouded his vision. Eliwood would not be able to hold on to consciousness forever, but he knew that he had to hold on for a little bit longer. Just a little bit...
Rebecca watched in horror as a wild-eyed Zagan sprang out of his hiding place on the other side of the mountain. Never before had she seen such malice, anger, and strength combined into one fiery attack. It was as if Zagan was fighting for HIS life—and maybe he was. Rebecca remembered when Zagan had first appeared. Hadn't he said that someone wanted Eliwood dead? Perhaps that meant that Zagan's own life would be forfeit if he did not get his "job" done. Whatever the case, surely Marcus would stop this dynamic attack.
Marcus was a trained and decorated knight of Pherae with one sole duty—to protect Eliwood. This duty was foremost on his mind when he was confronted by Zagan's vicious attack. He knew he could not allow Zagan to get past his sword (which Lowen had let him borrow to replace the iron sword he had given to Eliwood), but... The ferocity of Zagan's attack caught him by surprise, and Marcus only managed to cut him before Zagan was behind him. Behind him, and running straight toward Eliwood.
Zagan was elated, filled with the joy of battle and triumph. He saw his prey look at him straight in the eyes, an unwavering and determined gaze. So, his prey would die with honor would he? Zagan smiled. This would be too easy. He laughed; it was a cold and mirthless laugh—the laugh of pure evil, the laugh of...Him.
Rebecca closed her eyes and clapped her hands over her ears as Zagan laughed. She trembled in the inevitability of what was going to happen next. If only she hadn't wasted that last arrow! Then Zagan wouldn't be laughing anymore, oh no. He would—huh? She uncovered her ears. Zagan wasn't laughing. She opened her eyes. Had something happ—oh my! Rebecca quickly shut her eyes, but the picture stayed with her. Zagan skewered, like the boars she used to hunt, on Eliwood's sword. He definitely wouldn't be laughing anymore.
Krista let out the breath she had been holding. That was a close call. Too close. She certainly had to work on her tactician skills more. They were a little rusty from that year of rest she had had after her journey with Lyn. Oh well, at least everyone was still alive. She a feeling that things were not going so well at Castle Santaruz. They had to keep going.
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Phew! That was a LOT. Maybe next time, I'll just make it into two chapters... But anyway...
Have any comments, questions, or suggestions? Then REVIEW! Thanks!
Random questions: 1) What's your favorite Rebecca pair—with Wil, Raven, Lowen, Sain, or some other guy? Because I was going to try out a Raven/Rebecca story next. 2) Who's the eighth hero? I watched the beginning of Eliwood's story where they name all the heroes, and they only named seven! I even watched it twice just to make sure! They named Roland, Hartmut, St.Elimine, Hanon, Barigan, Durban, and Athos. Count it. Seven! *confused*
Random fact: There are 10 kinds of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't. (I didn't make that up, so I can take no credit. The credit goes to someplace on the Internet, but I can't remember where... I just thought it was funny!)
Rebecca: Now be nice people and review, so gentleness28 here can get to writing! *cracks whip*
Me: Why are you being so mean?? I'm writing another story for you!
Rebecca: Really? *puts whip away and tries to act innocent* See? I'm being nice!
Me: *sweatdrop*
Me: Who are you?
Rebecca: I'm your muse!
Me: ?????
Rebecca: Oh come on! You know, I'm someone who makes you write more and inspires you! *cracks a whip*
Me: *gulp* Help me...
Rebecca: ^_____^ Now onto the thank-you's!
Me: Hey wait!
The Story Master 125: Another review from you! Yay! I'm glad you liked the humor in my last chapter, but sadly humor's kind of hard to portray in battle chapters so... But I hope you still like it! Yeah, Sain's horse being named Emerald and Kent's horse being named Ruby makes a lot of sense. Ah, the power of color coordination! Eliwood gets a horse?? Awesome! Thanks for reviewing!
Jeanie: How many of Rebecca's supports have I gotten? Um...*looks embarrassed* I've gotten hers and Lowen's in my game, but if you look on the Internet, you can usually find other support conversations. Yeah! Actually Rebecca can be paired with Lowen, Wil, Raven and even SAIN!!!! Many thanks for the review!
Houyoku: Really? You had a good time reading my story? *starry-eyed* You're so sweet! Oh, sorry about Florina's pegasus' name problem. I don't remember where I saw the name Angel, but it seemed like it suited a pegasus...ah, oh well. Thanks for the clear-up! Maybe she has two pegasus!!! O.o How do you get so many support conversations? *bows to your superior knowledge* Wow, that helped a whole lot! Long rants are wonderful in reviews! Don't apoligize for that. Thank you so much for reviewing!
Fenix: Thanks for the information on Florina's pegasus, and thanks for reviewing too! Glad you like the story so far!
????: Wow, that's so nice of you to say! Yes, this story is definitely going to be Wil/Rebecca!
DTN: Oh yeah, Rebecca/Wil rulz alright!!! I'm happy that you understood this! You don't really have to know a lot about the games to understand what I write...at least I think you don't... Well if you don't understand, you can leave your questions in a review or email *hint hint* It's OK that you don't know the names of the horses, but thanks for the pegasus name! Thanks again for your wonderful review!
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Twenty-four pages!!! Oh yeah! This chapter is kind of like two chapters rolled into one, because it has before a battle and the actual battle. Oh, and I used APujanata's wonderful Turn-By-Turn walkthrough to help write my battle chapters, so if your confused about why some things happened, go there at gamefaqs.com. It shouldn't be that hard to find... Enjoy!
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When Rebecca woke up, it was still pretty dark in the tent that she shared with Krista. She guessed that it was very early in the morning by the faint hints of light making their way through the tent flaps. Usually, she would just glare at the light and go back to sleep, but she was tired of sleeping! She giggled at how that thought was contradictory to itself—being tired of sleeping! Another giggle escaped her, even though she was trying her hardest to be quiet.
"Huh...? C'mon...just five more minutes..." Krista sat up and rubbed her eyes, muttering something about stupid morning people.
Rebecca's hand flew up to her mouth, as she too sat up.
"I'm so sorry!" she whispered. "I tried to be really quiet. I...I guess I'm still not used to traveling a lot..." She stood up. "I'll go for a walk or something, so I won't disturb you."
"Oh no. That's alright. You don't ha—" A huge yawn cut Krista's statement short. "...Whoa. I haven't yawned like that in a while... What was I saying again?" She laid back down with a huff. "Oh nevermind. If you want to go outside, take my traveling cloak. It's still—" She yawned again. "...It's still pretty chilly outside."
"Thank you, Krista." A muffled 'You're welcome' was Krista's response as she pulled the blanket over her head.
Rebecca tiptoed across the tent floor, retrieved the traveling cloak, quietly put it on, and then tiptoed out of the tent. She didn't realize that she had been holding her breath, until she let it all out upon exiting the tent.
It felt good. It was probably the first time she had been able to breathe deeply without feeling any pain. She smiled and breathed again, taking in everything around her—the fading moon, the rising sun, the call of birds, the chattering of small woodland creatures, and the AIR. 'Ah, what wonderful air!' she thought. Never before had she breathed anything so crisp, so clean, so...huh?
Rebecca looked around in confusion. That smell wasn't bad, but it definitely wasn't natural. It almost smelled like—
"Oh @#$%!" She cringed at the rude interjection. "Burned again! I knew I should have let Lowen cook! Stupid...dumb...burnt...meat!" Each word was emphasized with what sounded like the cut of a knife or—Rebecca walked closer to the sounds—an axe. She gulped. She wasn't sure if she wanted to eat breakfast this morning, for Bartre was slicing up the overcooked meat with his axe, a murderous gleam in his eyes. She quickly backed away. No, she wasn't going to eat any of THAT.
On her way back to the tent to warn Krista about breakfast, Rebecca heard voices coming from the tent shared by Eliwood, Marcus, and Lowen. Since her hunger wasn't going to be sated, she reasoned that her curiosity would have to be doubly contented. In other words, she was trying to justify her reason for eavesdropping. Anyway, she crept closer to the tent to listen in on their private conversation.
"I believe we shouldn't go all the way to Laus with such a small group." Rebecca was surprised to hear Krista's voice. "We could be easily overwhelmed by a well-trained militia or even by a rag-tag bunch of brigands if here were enough of them!"
Rebecca could picture Marcus stroking his beard as he replied, "She's right, Lord Eliwood, we should not go straight to Laus. It would be too dangerous."
"What about..." Rebecca heard the ruffling of papers as Krista presumably hunted for a map.
"...Here it is. I knew my map was in here somewhere...ahem. We are here in Pherae, correct?" Rebecca could hear murmurs of assent. "And we need to go there, to Laus, right?" Again, she could hear replies of agreement.
"Look at this town in between the two." Rebecca could picture everyone leaning in to get a better look at the map.
"You mean Santaruz?"
"Yes I do, Lowen."
Rebecca could faintly see Eliwood's outline stand up and start pacing back and forth. "Hmm...Santaruz..." he mused. "I believe Lord Helman would help us. He and my father were...are...good friends, and I'm sure he would recognize me."
"Sounds good to me," declared Marcus, "but something else is sounding better right now...and that's—" To his great embarrassment, his stomach chose that moment to intercede on its behalf.
"Breakfast?" slyly finished Krista.
Rebecca could picture Marcus's stern, solid face so well, that she was hard-pressed to keep from laughing. However, try as she might, a tiny giggle escaped. She put her hands over her mouth, but it was too late.
"What was that?" Lowen sounded a little nervous.
"I don't know," answered Krista, "but I think it came from the tent's entrance. Go check, Marcus."
"Humph...very well. It is probably nothing more than a small animal or a bird."
"That was no animal..." Eliwood was as nervous as Lowen, but having been trained in the art of bureaucratic speaking, he knew how to mask his emotions well.
Marcus was slowly making his way toward the tent entrance, when Rebecca suddenly realized that she should get away—and fast. 'Hurry!' she thought. 'If they find out that I was listening...' She scrambled to get out of the way, but panic made her trip and fall flat on her face.
"Ow..." Rebecca pushed herself up from the ground very slowly, while tenderly fingering her aching nose.
"R-Rebecca?!" Lowen rushed past Marcus to help her up. Marcus looked slightly irked, but he would most likely forgive Lowen later—after he dealt Lowen a damaging defeat during lance practice. Marcus smiled—evilly, some would say—in anticipation.
"I'm fine, Lowen!" Rebecca was now trying to convince Lowen that she could manage on her own. Lowen wasn't listening and insisted on doing the chivalrous thing—carry her. Krista, Eliwood, and Marcus, watched, amusement written all over their faces. At one point, Eliwood moved to separate them, but Krista stopped him. This was the most entertainment that they were likely to get, and anyway, Krista reasoned, it was a good way for people to blow off some steam.
"Lowen!" Rebecca was now halfway between being picked up by Lowen and falling down again—a situation she did not seem to be enjoying.
"I told you! I'm fine!"
"But Rebecca! I have to—"
"What's all this racket?!" Dorcas came running toward them, his axe shining in his upraised hand.
"Aaaah! Dorcas, what are you doing?!"
Dorcas came to a shocking halt, looked at Rebecca and Lowen, then at his axe, then back at Rebecca and Lowen, and then at Krista, who had just shouted at him. He then lowered his axe.
"Oh...sorry. I thought that we were being attacked... I mean, the way Bartre's making 'breakfast', you would think he was fighting in a battle—"
"What?!" Lowen dropped Rebecca in his shock. Thankfully, Eliwood and Krista were there to save her.
"He...he's making breakfast?! Oh no!" Lowen rushed off to rescue his precious food from the clutches of Bartre the Brave—Blunderer of Baking.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lord Helman was tired. He did not want to go along with that man's plan anymore. Heck, he wasn't even sure if that being was a man! Lord Helman shuddered. He never wanted to see those piercing golden eyes or that long, black cloak...
"Ah, Lord Helman." It was a sly, seductive voice that oozed false comfort and security. It was His voice.
Helman couldn't help it. He had to tell of his concerns. "Eliwood is coming here! What should I do? I cannot lie to him. I cannot!"
"Do not worry." His manner... It was so soothing... No! Helman would not be pulled into that man's web of deceit again!
"His father and I were good friends. If I saw him face-to-face...I know I would have to tell him everything."
"Then the solution is simple. Do not meet with him face-to-face. We will just chase him away." Again, his voice urged Helman to comply, but Helman still had a little protest left in him.
"You...you don't mean to harm Eliwood?!"
"No. No, of course not. A few scratches will not kill him. We will simply make him see his error in pursuing us. He will then run back to Pherae like a good little lord." Then, He laughed, and Helman shook with rage, defeat, sadness, and helplessness.
"As long as you don't harm him..."
"Of course not." Helman left the room, drained from such an encounter with...Him.
With a flare of his long, dark cloak, and a glint of malice in his golden eyes, He barked an order to his servant lurking in the shadows.
"Kill them."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rebecca's life consisted of two things—chewing and walking. She thought that traveling with Eliwood & Co. would be exciting and full of danger at every corner, but... She sighed. It was kind of boring sometimes. She supposed things would get interesting once they got to Laus, but first they had to stop by Santaruz to get help from the Marquess.
Rebecca sighed again and tried to find a soft spot in Bartre's burnt mystery meat. That wasn't too likely.
"Hey," Krista waved to Rebecca, and walked over. "What's all the sighing for? Is it the...you-know-what?" Bartre was eyeing them suspiciously, so Krista had had to call his mystery meat a 'you-know-what'.
Rebecca laughed, which was a fine feat with all of the mystery meat in her mouth.
Krista stared questioningly at Rebecca. "...OK...I'm guessing that's a no." Rebecca nodded. "Then...what is it?"
Rebecca started to sigh again, and then caught Krista's eye. "Sorry...but, I'm just so bored!"
To Rebecca's immense surprise and relief, Krista smiled. "I know the feeling. When I went with Lyn on her adventure, we were bored a lot. Although..." Krista started to laugh at a memory. "I don't know if traveling with Sain could be called boring!"
"Who?" asked Rebecca.
"Oh yeah. You've never met him have you?" Rebecca shook her head. "Well, he's...now how do I describe him? He's...what you would call a—"
"Yes?"
Krista looked like she was trying very hard not to laugh. "He's a big flirt." Now she burst into gales of laughter.
"Oh..." Rebecca started giggling very quietly. She couldn't help it. Krista was contagious.
"H-How much longer until...we get to Santaruz?" Rebecca managed to gasp out between laughs.
Marcus walked up to Rebecca and Krista, while leading his horse, Roland. "We have arrived."
Rebecca looked around at her surroundings. She could barely make out Castle Santaruz in the distance.
"What do you mean, 'We have arrived'? Castle Santaruz is still a long way off."
Marcus pointed to a shop and a town nearby. "We can replenish our supplies here. It would be impolite to expect Lord Helman to supply us with everything we need."
"Oh, I see. So we're—"
"Hey, look out!" Lowen had spotted some rough-looking men heading their way.
"Everyone get behind me!" cried Marcus as he leapt onto Roland.
Suddenly, the men stopped, and one came forward, his hands on his sword sheath. Rebecca didn't like the look of him one bit.
"Heh heh heh... Noble sirs. Alms for Zagan, a poor villager." The man extended his hands like he was going to receive something. From the way Marcus was glaring at him, Rebecca didn't think that Zagan would be receiving anything.
"Poor villager?" Marcus scrutinized the man further. "You look nothing like an honest man. Clear the road. Move swiftly!"
Zagan smiled, a crooked and sarcastic smile. "Ha...good advice. Maybe YOU should be the ones to follow it!"
"What?" Marcus asked forcefully.
"Heh," The man turned and pointed to Eliwood. "Someone wants that boy in an early grave." At that threat, Marcus made Roland rear up and scare Zagan away.
"Come on out, boys! Earn your keep!" shouted the man, as he ran far away from Roland's hooves.
"Coward..." Lowen muttered under his breath as he reached for his lance.
Eliwood spotted him. "No, Lowen. It will be his time soon enough." He turned to Krista.
"I know, Eliwood. Does everybody have their ear devices in?" Everyone nodded.
"Good." Krista winked at Rebecca. "So much for being bored, huh?" Then she was off to scout the area.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rebecca was tense and a little bit nervous. This was to be expected of course, since this was her second official battle...but... She wished she could be confident and prepared like Marcus, or eager and enthusiastic like Lowen.
"Everyone ready?" It was Krista. Apparently, she had finished surveying the area already. "...Hey. Somebody tell Bartre to turn his device on the signal that let's me talk to everyone at once." Dorcas went to help Bartre.
"OK. Thanks. Here's the lowdown. There's a village just north of you Marcus, so you should go check it out." Marcus nodded and rode to the village. "The rest of you, move a little closer to the enemy, and wait. Oh! And tune your devices back to where I can speak to you individually... Good luck. Krista out."
Rebecca fixed her device like everybody else, and then she waited with her bow clenched tight in her hand.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A lone brigand rushed to attack them, but was halted by Bartre's thrown axe. The brigand grabbed his left shoulder where blood was freely flowing, and howled a mad war cry.
Rebecca had to drop her bow and cover her ears, it was such a horrible, piercing shriek of madness. This was an error on her part, and the brigand knew it. Yellow eyes followed her discarded bow, and then turned to Rebecca. They narrowed in fiendish delight. His axe would feast on her blood soon enough.
Unbeknownst to the brigand, another's eyes had narrowed in the same way, but not for the same reason. Dorcas was watching him, calculating his every movement like any experienced fighter would. Dorcas saw the brigand focus on Rebecca, and knew what he had to do. Quickly maneuvering around the brigand, Dorcas cut him down from behind.
Eliwood stared in shock, not at the dead brigand, but at Dorcas. "I- Isn't that dishonorable, cutting him down like that from behind?"
Dorcas looked up at him, a fire smoldering in his normally-calm brown eyes. "All's fair in battling men who would do the same to you in a heartbeat, Lord Eliwood."
Eliwood took time to register this information. "Point taken...but I still don't have to like it."
Dorcas shrugged. "It's your choice. You may fight anyway you choose. Just...make sure you win."
Eliwood nodded. "I understand...now let's get back to fighting!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'And they say women talk a lot', thought Rebecca. 'I guess Eliwood and Dorcas fell pretty comfortable on the battlefield if they can hold a conver—'
"Look out!" shouted Rebecca.
"Wha—" Eliwood didn't have time to finish his exclamation, for Lowen pushed him out of the way as an arrow sped past him and hit an incoming mercenary. The mercenary was stunned and scratched, but otherwise fine. He glared at Rebecca, and then charged toward her with every intention of cutting her down with his upraised sword. Bartre made sure that this intention would not be fulfilled. He lunged past Rebecca and threw an axe at the mercenary, which connected with devastating effect. Now, Rebecca wasn't a fragile girl, but such a sight made her feel slightly dizzy. For the second time, she fervently gave thanks that Bartre was not her enemy.
"Hey Rebecca, you alright? You look a little—"
"No, it's OK." Rebecca cut Krista short. "I'm fine. Really. I just need to...uh..."
"It's OK. Battles aren't pretty. It's not like a dead enemy disappears into thin air. You have to fight your enemies physically, but you have to fight yourself emotionally. The dead man won't disappear and neither will your guilt or disgust. Believe me..." Krista sighed. "I know..."
Rebecca couldn't reply with anything more than, "Oh..."
Krista could feel tension building between them, which was the last thing Rebecca needed to be able to focus and fight. "Umm...Rebecca? There's a fortress nearby to your right. Maybe you could recover there...yeah."
Rebecca smiled. "Thanks, Krista. I'm glad to have you here beside me, well, kind of beside me... Rebecca out."
She scanned the battlefield for the fortress that Krista had told her about. ...Aha! There it was. Now all she had to do was—
"Oh, ow..."
Rebecca swung her head around, searching for the speaker, who turned out to be Eliwood.
"Oh, Lord Eliwood! Are you alright?"
"You can drop the 'lord', and yes...I'm alright..." he panted. "It's just that...I'm still not used to REAL battles."
Rebecca nodded. She understood. "Um, Krista told me about a fortress nearby where we could recover our strength a little." She brought her face closer, so she could see him better. "You look like you could use that recovery more than me. Come on."
Rebecca took Eliwood by the arm, and half-dragged, half-supported him to the fortress.
Once they made it to their destination, Eliwood closed his eyes in contentment. "Thank you, Rebecca. I feel a whole lot better. I suppose being near any type of civilization gives me a little morale boost."
Rebecca smiled. "You're welcome, Lor—I mean, Eliwood."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey Dorcas!"
"Yeah, Lowen?"
"You have a steel axe, right?"
"Yes. I do."
"Isn't it, uh, well... What I mean to say is...uh...heh... I mean, sorry to bother you!" Lowen rode off on Hartmut, his sorrel horse.
"..." Dorcas shrugged, and looked around for his next victim. He wished that he had his trusty iron axe back again. It had been so much easier to land a blow with. However... He sighed. After traveling and fighting so much, his axe had finally broken. Oh well. He did still have this steel axe...
No enemies so far. Where were those 'boys' that the man Zagan had ordered to come out? Were they scared or something? Dorcas snorted. Not likely. They were probably lying in wait until—hah! A horse, a sorrel, came galloping toward him. He gripped his steel axe, ready to strike when the rider came into range. Ready...almost there...yes!
"Hi Dorcas!"
"L-Lowen?!" Dorcas had to skid to a halt in order to not collide with Lowen, or, more importantly, Lowen's horse. Hartmut didn't seem like he would take Dorcas slamming into him very well. "I thought that you went ahead to scout or something!"
Lowen looked slightly hurt and unsure of himself. "I d-did, but then K-Krista told me that there was a shop nearby..." He gulped. "A-And she said that you needed other iron axes, s-so here they are." He drew two brand- new iron axes out from the satchel that he kept slung around Hartmut.
Dorcas didn't know what to say as he took the graciously-given gifts. "Thanks, Lowen. I don't really know what to say..."
"'Thank you' is enough. I'm always happy to serve. You know that a knight of Pherae—"
"Uh, Lowen?" Dorcas did NOT want to listen to him ramble on and on about the policies and what-not of Pheraen knights. "Shouldn't we get back to fighting?"
Lowen turned red. "Uh, yes."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'Man, they talk too much' was the dominant thought on Bartre's mind as he watched Lowen and Dorcas. The battlefield was for fighting, not for conversing! Bartre would show them. He smiled and raised his axe.
"Hyaah!" Bartre race past both Lowen and Dorcas, to show off his courage.
"Hahaha! You can't catch me! I'm Bartre the Brave! Haha—"
"Watch it!" Dorcas had spotted an enemy soldier near Bartre. "I'll get him!"
Bartre had also spotted the soldier. "No, I'll get him!"
Lowen had to avert his eyes from the soldier being killed by the two axe-wielders. Killed? Hah. Chopped up into tiny pieces was more like it. He shuddered. As the lance was Lowen's most comfortable weapon, he had a particular fear of axes. He almost felt sorry for the soldier. Almost.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rebecca watched Eliwood. He looked so...contradictory. His eyes betrayed his naiveness, and yet, the way he carried himself showed him to be an able and responsible leader. The kind of leader that people would WANT to follow, fight, and even die for.
Eliwood looked up to meet Rebecca's eyes. She blushed and lowered hers, suddenly becoming very interested in her hands. 'Oh no,' she thought, 'He must think I'm weird for staring at him so much. I...' She started to bite at her nails. 'I sure hope not.'
It was now Eliwood's turn to examine Rebecca, and he could tell that she was embarrassed. He sighed. Why was it that everytime he was in close proximity with any girl, it was awkward? It definitely wasn't that way with his father and mother...his father... Eliwood clenched his hand around his sword. He couldn't let himself lose focus, because he had to find his father. He had to—
"Look out! Behind you!"
Eliwood swung around at hearing Rebecca's warning to see a brigand running toward them, his eyes blazing with bloodlust. Eliwood's training saved his life (and Rebecca's) that day. He managed to dodge the brigand's attack, and thrust his sword into the brigand's unprotected thigh.
He was now a perfect target. Rebecca grabbed her bow and quickly strung an arrow. All she had to do now was aim and fire—easier said than done. She tried to focus on the target, just like her brother and Wil had taught her, but...those practice targets hadn't been alive. They wouldn't retaliate, and they couldn't...die. She shook her head. This was no time to second-guess herself! She was one of her village's best hunters for goodness sake! Surely shooting this brigand would be as simple as shooting a wild boar... Then she made the mistake of looking into the brigand's eyes.
There was hatred and malice, oh yes, but there was also hurt and pain and...sorrow. Rebecca couldn't do it. She wouldn't—couldn't—kill another human being no matter how savage or evil.
However, the brigand, sensing Rebecca's hesitation, rushed forward, ready and willing to bring her down.
"Rebecca!" The explosive exclamation blasting from right inside her ear, made her let go of the tightened string on her bow. The arrow flew—unaimed and unintentional—to land in the charging brigand's throat.
Instead of a war cry, a gargled choke and blood issued from his mouth. Rebecca had never been more mortified in her entire life. What was happening to her? She hadn't been like this in the last battle...
"Rebecca?" Krista's voice sounded far away. "You alright?" Now, it sounded a little clearer. "Eliwood's taken care of that last brigand, so you're safe..."
Krista's voice had trailed off to let Rebecca comment, but Rebecca had no comment to give.
"...Please be OK...Krista out."
How could she be OK? She had just about killed a fellow human being. A bad one, yes, but... Rebecca hid her face in her hands in an effort to hold back the tears.
She felt a hand on her shoulders and stiffened.
"Rebecca?" It was Eliwood. He sounded worried and—she looked up to see him clearer—tired. She mentally scolded herself. 'You're not the only one who's tired of fighting! Come on. Eliwood's tired too, and HE was the one who actually killed the brigand. Stop being such a crybaby!'
Rebecca wiped her eyes, and put on a small smile.
"I-I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me." Rebecca swallowed a great amount of fresh air. "I-I guess that I just...just didn't—"
"Want to kill?"
Rebecca froze in shock, and then a bright smile born of gratitude and wonderment lit her face. "Yes! How...did you know...?"
It was Eliwood's turn to smile. "Remember when you helped me get to this fortress? Remember what I said?"
She nodded.
"I said that I wasn't used to REAL battles, right?"
Again, Rebecca nodded.
"Well," Eliwood paused to try and find the right words that would convey his meaning. "Your predicament is like mine. We are both not used to killing people, no matter how heartless or cruel they are. Even people..." He lifted his sword, which was dripping with the brigand's still- hot blood. "...who wish to kill us."
Rebecca could kind of tell where Eliwood was going with all of this. "So, you're saying that it's hard for both of us to kill a person, even if that person has no problem whatsoever with killing us?"
"Correct." Eliwood nodded. "But...you don't feel like dying, do you?"
Rebecca almost laughed at such a question. "No!"
"Then that is where your struggle comes into play."
Rebecca's urge to laugh stopped. "What? I don't understand..."
Eliwood sighed. "As the son of a marquess, I have a deep sense of self-preservation that has been ingrained into me by my parents and court. So, do I kill to stay alive or have mercy and be killed myself?"
Rebecca's mouth opened in a silent 'Oh' of understanding. "I...never thought about it like that before. But," She hung her head in shame. "I wasn't like this in the last fight! It almost felt, well, RIGHT, to kill those brigands..."
Eliwood smiled in empathy. "That is probably because they were desecrating your home. If a bunch of brigands attacked my home, I would surely feel the same way." He cleared his throat. "I want you to understand, Rebecca, so you will be able to fight." He pulled her close. "I don't want any of my friends getting hurt."
Her heart was beating wildly. 'Friend?' she thought. 'Did he really consider her a friend already?' She couldn't tell if she was thrilled or disappointed. Did she want to be more than that? Rebecca blushed. This was no time for silly daydreaming! They were supposed to be fighting! [A. N. – This is a Rebecca/Wil story. I just got so tired of waiting to write some romance fluff. :P Rebecca just has a little crush on Eliwood, I mean, what girl wouldn't?]
"Um," Eliwood was getting nervous. "S-Shouldn't we...uh...go fight or...something?"
Rebecca looked up at Eliwood in surprise. "Oh! Oh, yes! Of course!" She grabbed her bow and arrows, and started to head off in a random direction.
Eliwood ran to catch up. "Wait! Rebecca, the rest of the group is THAT way!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A young man with blue hair and purplish black armor walked over to a man with a red helmet that covered his face—a guard. The former surveyed the scene before him, and caught a glimpse of bright red hair—Eliwood! He, and his three companions—a sturdy knight, a clever-looking thief, and a sassy, pink-haired cleric—started to move past the guard. Yet, the guard insisted on staying in their way.
"Hey! If you won't let us through, then will you at least tell us what's going on?!" the blue-haired man exclaimed. "Are you just going to stand there and watch?!" He looked quite ready and willing to sock the guard in the jaw.
"Who do you think you are?" the guard asked. "This is Santaruz. What we do here is no affair of a foreign lordling."
The so-called 'foreign lordling' seemed to be holding in his anger by a small thread. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to disagree with you there. For you see," He took out his weapon, and Wolf Beil. "The person you're attacking just happens to be a friend of mine."
"A friend? Wha—" The blue-haired man cut down the guard right then and there, in plain view of his companions.
"Ewww!" squealed the pink-haired girl. "I loathe violence!" Then, she was pushed aside by the sneaky-eyed thief. "Humph..." she pouted.
"Nice job." He congratulated. "You're a born fighter, Lord Hector." Hector smiled in appreciation, but was quickly sobered by the appearance of his burly knight friend.
"I do not condone resorting to violence so quickly—"
"There's no time, Oswin!" interrupted Hector. "We gotta help Eliwood!"
Oswin snorted, like he didn't really believe Hector. "Help? That sounds like another excuse to fight."
Hector acted mock serious. "Oswin!"
Oswin sighed and shook his head. "Fine. I'm going..." He picked up his javelin, and headed out.
Hector's eyes followed him as he disappeared onto the battlefield. Then he finally seemed to realize that the thief and cleric were still beside him. "Matthew! You go find a place to hide with Serra!"
Matthew, the thief, didn't look too enthusiastic about Hector's idea. In fact, he looked downright miserable. "H-Hide? W-With...Serra?"
As with Matthew, Serra was also disappointed at Hector's request. "But I want to go!"
"No way!" Hector ordered. Serra stared at him, a question in her bright eyes. Did he really care about their safety? Hector seemed to know that he needed to give a reason. "You'll slow us down!"
So much for caring about our safety... "You're so rude!" complained Serra.
"Haha...I'm going now! Hurry up and hide!" Hector flew into battle, grinning in anticipation.
Serra glared after him, and then tossed her pink pigtails with a huff. She grabbed Matthew's arm. "Come on, Matthew!"
"Help...me..." pleaded Matthew.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bartre was on a roll. He felt like he could do anything; he thought that he was invincible. Therefore, it was natural for him to go charging straight at an enemy soldier, who saw Bartre and smiled. The soldier believed that he could easily dodge Bartre's reckless attack. He was wrong.
Bartre had not been the brightest student in his class, so he probably didn't know that his chances of landing a blow were slim. Not that it mattered. His unpredictable and reckless way of attacking confused the enemy soldier, who couldn't decide which way to go to get out of the way.
The soldier fell, his eyes wide open and glassy with shock and pain—with Bartre's iron axe plunged so deep in him that the iron part could barely be seen. Even with such a fatal wound, the soldier still struggled for his life. Hector watched him, and impressed with his valiant struggle, gave him a mercy blow to the back of his head.
Hector whistled. "Nice show there, Sir...?"
"My name's Bartre, and there's no 'sir'. It's just Bartre." After answering Hector's unspoken question, Bartre stooped to get his axe out of the dead enemy soldier.
"Here. Let me do that." Hector offered. He then grabbed the axe, and started to wrench it out. A sickening, squelching sound accompanied his action as he slowly drew the axe out. It was stained red with fresh blood, just the way Hector had always imagined a war weapon would look like.
He stood there like a statue—heroic and frozen in time, forever gazing at the weapon painted red in the sunlight.
"Geez... You can have it if you want it so much..."
Hector blinked. "Huh? ...Oh, thanks a whole lot, Bartre. This axe is just so...beautiful...in a fatal kind of way..."
"Ah, heck. Don't mention it. Just—"
"Bartre! Behind you!" Lowen yelled a warning, and just in the nick of time too. Bartre managed to throw himself out of harm's way as an arrow came speeding toward him. A horse, Hartmut, galloped toward the enemy archer at a frightening speed. At the rate Lowen was traveling, his javelin would slice through the archer with no problem.
The archer would not be able to counterattack in time. His demise was imminent, for as fate would have it, Hector wanted to try out his newly- acquired iron axe—on the very same archer that Lowen was going for.
Bystanders would have called him crazy or mad or insane, but only a select few—including Oswin and Eliwood—knew what Hector really was. Battle- happy. Ever since he was little, Oswin remembered, Hector had been the wild child—always sneaking off to fight in the arena with his friends. Thank goodness Eliwood had been there. He had been Hector's voice of reason when that blue-haired ball-of-energy wouldn't listen to anybody else. Oswin smiled. Of course, Hector would only listen to someone who could best him in sparring, which was one activity that Eliwood was surprisingly adept at.
The clash of metal against flesh alerted Oswin to the present situation. The unlucky archer had just been butchered by Lowen's thrown javelin and Hector's axe. Lowen, having seen what Hector intended to do, decided to throw his javelin instead of risk a close-up with his axe. He knew that Hector would never intentionally hurt an ally, but one could never be too careful. (Krista had spied Hector & Co. earlier. She had recognized Matthew and Serra, since they had traveled together with Lyn on her adventure. And so, Krista informed everybody that the man with blue hair and really dark armor—Hector—and the knight in rust-colored armor—Oswin—would be joining them as allies.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Marcus narrowed his eyes as he entered the town. It was quiet. Too quiet. Where was everybody? No children laughed and played. No women chattered and gossiped in the streets. No men went about doing their jobs. Nothing. It was almost as if a spell had been cast that kept the town still and silent. Marcus didn't know anything about magic, but he DID know that something unnatural was going on here. He hoped that the uncanny aura of this village did not reflect on how Lord Helman was doing...
"Heh heh." Marcus had to hold back an undignifying yelp as an old man appeared out of nowhere.
"W-What do you need, sir?" Marcus believed in being polite to his elders, and yes, even though he himself had aged gracefully throughout many years, this man standing in front of him was definitely older than he was.
"No need to be so formal," the old man croaked. "I have a proposition for you, as I speak on behalf of this town." He made a sweeping gesture.
Marcus looked around again. Was this man a lunatic? There was nobody—wait. As Marcus viewed the town a second time, he could see signs of recent activity, like bread being set out on windowsills to cool. These townspeople weren't gone...they were hiding! But why?
"What is your proposition, and may I ask why your lovely village is so..." Marcus couldn't think of the right word, but the old man seemed to know that he meant.
"It is...Him." Something about the way the old man said the word 'Him', gave Marcus the impression that this was no ordinary man he spoke of.
"Who? Surely not Lord Helman!"
The old man shook his head. "No. However, he does meet with...Him...often." Marcus watched as the man pulled out a beautifully- decorated, leather-bound book. "Use this book to save Lord Helman; that is our proposition. It is a Secret Book, and will improve your skill in battle if you read it. But," the old man warned, "Use it wisely, for only one person may read from it. After that, it will fall apart."
Marcus took the Secret Book. "Thank you for such a valuable item. My comrades and I will save Lord Helman."
The old man nodded, and hobbled off to disappear into the shadows, leaving Marcus with much to think about as he rode out of the village to join his companions in battle.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hector was having the time of his life. What more could he want than what he was doing right now? He was swinging his axe fearlessly and ruthlessly, practically mowing down any opposition that happened to come his way. He had already defeated another soldier all by himself, and his tactics were terrifying. In fact, he was so downright scary that foe and friend alike were afraid of coming close to him lest they be hurt—or even killed. Only Oswin, his guardian appointed by Uther, Hector's older brother, was brave enough to get within shouting distance.
As Hector was too awe-inspiring a fighter, an enemy soldier decided to attack Dorcas instead. He thought that Dorcas would be easier to take down. He thought wrong.
Dorcas had never had fast reflexes or a quick tongue, so most people had passed him off as being 'just another fighter' with 'nothing extraordinary going for him'. They had never stopped long enough to notice how his every move had purpose to it, and that he only spoke when he had something meaningful to say. This soldier was making the same errors that those people had, only his error would cost him his life.
With an unemotional, calculating gaze, Dorcas watched the soldier run toward him. 'Relax.' He closed his eyes. 'Let the enemy come to you, and then when he gets close enough...' He could hear the soldier's footsteps get louder and louder until... 'Now make him pay for underestimating you!' Dorcas' eyes shot open, immediately locking onto the soldier. Then the enemy soldier could see nothing but the dazzling light of the sun as it was reflected off of Dorcas' axe. The axe that would so soon end this soldier's career as a fighter, and even worse, end his life.
"Whoo! Dorcas!" called Bartre. "I almost thought you were a goner for a second there! Why did you just stand there like a lump?! If I were you, I would have—"
"I don't like wasting my energy needlessly." Dorcas snapped.
"Well soo-rry, Mr. Grumpypants!"
Dorcas shrugged his shoulders, his anger going as quickly as it had come. "I'm sorry too. Here," He handed Bartre one of the iron axes that Lowen had given him earlier. "Have one of my iron axes. I noticed that you gave yours away to Hector."
Bartre looked embarrassed. "Ah, Dorcas. You don't have to..." Dorcas shrugged and started to put it away.
"But I'll still take it!" exclaimed Bartre as he practically snatched the axe from Dorcas, who rolled his eyes and smiled.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Eliwood!" Where were all these blasted brigands coming from?! The fortress, which began as their safe haven, had now turned into their nightmare. Apparently, Zagan had sent the majority of his troops over here, while the rest had been sent to the other side. That probably wouldn't have been too bad, but only she and Eliwood were on this side. They needed help, and fast!
"Eliwood!" Rebecca repeated. "Are you alright?"
Eliwood nodded. "For now, but we can't keep this up forever." He slapped his ear device as though that would make it work better. "Krista, where's that help?!"
His device crackled. "It's coming! Sheesh! Just look behind you! Krista out."
Unfortunately, Eliwood was not allowed to turn around, for yet another brigand engaged him in combat.
"Rebecca!" he yelled. "Turn around and see who's coming!" She nodded and went to do what he said.
It was somebody riding on a horse...Lowen? No. Lowen had golden armor. Then it had to be... "Marcus! Marcus is coming to help us!"
The relief that Eliwood felt was so intense that he let his guard down for a split second. It wasn't that long, but it was long enough for the brigand to see his chance for victory. He lunged toward Eliwood in an effort to unbalance him. It worked. (The brigand didn't want to kill him, because he would be worth so much more alive.) Eliwood lost his grip on his steel sword, and fell to the ground—right where the brigand wanted him.
"No!" Rebecca cried as she loosed an arrow toward the brigand. It lodged itself into his side, and he cried out in pain and rage. He didn't care if Eliwood was worth more alive anymore; the brigand needed to kill to satisfy his anger, and since Rebecca—the object of his rage—was too far away, he would have to make due with Eliwood instead.
Eliwood could not reach his weapon. Rebecca would not be able to shoot another arrow in time. The brigand lifted his axe, triumph in his yellow eyes. Oh yes. Most people would see that Eliwood's death was inevitable. However, Marcus did not see like most people would. He did not see that Eliwood's death was inevitable. Instead, he saw a brigand about to kill him, the one person that he was supposed to protect above all others.
Instinctively, Marcus gripped his sword...and hurled it at Eliwood's attacker. The sword flew, swift and sure, and killed the brigand instantly.
Rebecca would never forget the brigand's face as he died; he almost looked...relieved, all of his anger and bitterness flowing out with his blood. Suddenly, something clicked, and Rebecca understood why she should fight. She and her comrades had a purpose—to live, whereas their enemies' purposes were to kill...and die. Yes, they were human beings, but after having practically sold their lives for the sole purpose of taking other lives...they were better off dead. [A.N.- I'm sorry if Rebecca seems a little, uh, harsh...but I needed for her to have a reason to stop hesitating so much before shooting enemies and stuff.]
"Lord Eliwood! Are you hurt?" Marcus rode up to Eliwood, and jumped off of Roland to give him a hand.
"Yes," thanked Eliwood, "I don't know what would have happened if..."
Marcus nodded. "My duty is to protect you." He then began to ride off.
"Wait!" called Eliwood. "You forgot your sword!"
Marcus looked back over his shoulder. "Keep it."
'Huh?' wondered Rebecca. 'If he gives Eliwood his sword, he won't be able to fight for the rest of this battle. He'll be defenseless...' She gasped as a realization dawned on her. 'Maybe that's what he wants! If enemies go for him, then Eliwood would be safe.' Rebecca tightened her grip on her bow. Marcus may not be able to defend himself, but SHE could—and would—make sure that none of her friends went down while she still had arrows.
Rebecca's premonition came true. As soon as an enemy mercenary saw that Marcus could no longer defend himself, he attacked. Marcus just smiled, and neatly dodged. These badly-trained mercenaries were no match for him, but Rebecca strung an arrow, just in case. One could never be too careful. At least, the enemies went for Marcus now instead of...oh no, Eliwood!
Had the mercenary just been a diversion? A brigand was attacking Eliwood! This wasn't supposed to happen! Rebecca stood, torn between helping Eliwood or helping Marcus, who couldn't dodge the mercenary's attacks forever. If she helped Eliwood, then Marcus might get hurt; and if she helped Marcus, then Eliwood's life would be in danger.
"Gah!" That was Eliwood! Rebecca quickly made up her mind, and aimed at the brigand who was attacking him. She was sure Marcus would understand...wouldn't he rather have Eliwood safe? Sure he would...
The string was tense and so ready to be released—Rebecca could feel it. This would be a perfect shot—straight through the heart.
"Rebecca wait!" It was Krista. "Don't shoot HIM! Help Marcus with that mercenary! Dorcas is coming to help Eliwood, so don't worry. Krista out."
The string was pulled back too far. Rebecca wouldn't have time to aim before she let the arrow fly. All she could do was pray that her arrow would hit the mercenary and not Marcus.
The arrow sped toward the mercenary, and just barely nicked him in the side. Rebecca would have cursed, but she was not that kind of girl. Instead, she reached into her pack to retrieve another arrow. She froze in horror. She had only one arrow left.
Panic swept over her, like a cold wind chilling her to the very core of her being. One arrow. Her hand moved across the arrow, feeling the sharp point, the slender middle, the soft feathers at the end. An arrow had never seemed so precious to her before. What would she do after it was gone? There were still a lot of enemies left...
"Rebecca!" She snapped out of her self-imposed shock. "Move out of the way! What are you doing?!
Someone pushed her to the ground, and she lay there as one frozen. Rebecca couldn't see (since her face was on the ground) but her other senses seemed to make up for that. She could hear swords and axes clashing, smell the sweet scent of earth mingled with the sour odor of battle, and feel the vibrations of fighting through the trembling ground. She knew that she was vulnerable on the ground, but something held her down—her fear.
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Rebecca was safe for now, for Eliwood had pushed her out of the way of a charging mercenary. He couldn't understand why she hadn't moved out of the way to begin with, but he couldn't deal with that right now. He had a mercenary to deal with. He whipped out his newly-acquired iron sword, and stood protectively in front of Rebecca, right in the way of the mercenary.
The Pheraen lordling watched the attacker's sword arm, so he would be able to dodge out of the way if necessary. He could not count on anybody coming to his rescue, since Marcus was weapon-less and Rebecca looked like she had only one arrow left. He had to take charge, and he had to take it NOW!
"Hyaah!" Eliwood plunged his sword...right into the air that the mercenary had occupied seconds earlier. The full force of his blow not connecting with anything, made Eliwood lose his balance. He knew the mercenary would get him now, and he grimaced as he thought of what would happen to his mother and the kingdom without him...or his father. His father. If only he had been able to see him one last time...
"Eliwood!" Lowen galloped up on Hartmut to stick the mercenary with his lance. Eliwood couldn't believe his luck. He would have to tell Marcus to be nicer to Lowen, but he seriously doubted if that would ever happen. Eliwood even tried to picture what Marcus would look like being nice, and he almost burst out laughing.
Lowen stared at Eliwood, who looked like he was about to go into hysterics. "Uh...Eliwood?"
The redhead looked up at Lowen. "Yes?"
"Well, you look kind of..." Lowen shrugged. "...weird. Pardon me for saying such—"
"Oh that's fine," interrupted Eliwood, "I just tried to picture Marcus being...nice."
A very funny picture popped into Lowen's mind. It was Marcus trying to smile. Suddenly he felt a strong urge to laugh...
"See?" asked Eliwood. "Funny, isn't it?"
"Yes, it's quite—" Lowen grabbed his sword. "Look out!"
Eliwood heard the whistling of something traveling quickly through the air, and then all he could feel was pain. His right shoulder was on fire, and his mind was dimly registering the fact that an arrow must have hit him. It was getting too hard to think, too painful to do much of anything...
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Rebecca forced herself up from the ground. One of her friends got shot because of her, so she no longer cared if she only had one arrow left. She would find that archer and make him pay for what he did to Eliwood!
She scanned the battlefield for any sign of that enemy archer. Where was that—there! Rebecca smiled in anticipation. Oh, revenge would be so sweet. The archer's attention was focused on Eliwood, so this was her chance. She strung her last arrow, pulled the string back, aimed at the archer, and let it fly.
It was a perfect shot. The archer never knew what hit him before the arrow ended his life instantly. Part of Rebecca was revolted at how coldly she had killed the archer, but her other, stronger part relished in the fact that the archer would never harm anyone again—especially one of her friends.
Well that was that. She had no more arrows. Rebecca had expected to feel afraid and vulnerable, but instead she felt...relieved and confident. The relief came from not having to kill anyone anymore, and the confidence spouted from the faith that she had in the ability of her friends to take care of everything. Her confidence was confirmed as she watched Bartre take care of another brigand. Was that the last of the enemies? No...they still had to defeat Zagan and another mercenary.
The device in her ear crackled. "Hey, Rebecca?"
"Yep?"
"Is something the matter? You're just standing there..."
Rebecca smiled. "Oh, don't worry. I just ran out of arrows. That's all. I'm—"
"What?!" Krista exploded. "Why didn't you say something?! I would have told someone to come and get you out of the really heavy fighting!" Rebecca just laughed.
"What are you laughing at?! Zagan is still alive you know!" Krista took a deep breath. "Sorry...I just get really tense when I'm doing my job... Hey, I've gotta go tactinize (or whatever we tacticians do) so... Krista—"
"Out!" finished Rebecca.
"...You're impossible!" joked Krista. "I'm outta here."
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Marcus slew the enemy mercenary with quick efficiency. Was that the last of them? Wait, where was that snake Zagan hiding? Marcus hated sneaky enemies most of all. He could take any direct hit that got thrown at him, but a surprise attack? He shook his head. He would just have to be prepared and on his guard. Besides, Eliwood's life—as well as his own—hung in the balance.
Zagan watched and waited. Soon that stupid bodyguard—Marcus, or whatever his name was—would let down his guard, and then... He licked his lips at the thought of the Dark Master's reward when he presented Him with that lordling brat's head. It was almost time...
Something fell was in the air. Eliwood could feel it. And yes, the arrow planted in his shoulder was part of this bad feeling, but the majority came from...something, or someone, else. Marcus was looking out for him, but he still couldn't shake his feeling of danger.
Marcus was getting nervous, not that he would ever admit it. The battlefield was still, and the stillness was what made him nervous. This calm was like the eye of the storm or the eerie silence before a tornado hits. Whatever happened, Marcus knew that he must be prepared for the "tornado", no matter what.
It was so tense! Rebecca surveyed the battlefield with her forest- green eyes. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. Even Bartre seemed to understand that something important was going to happen soon. Like the string on her bow, there was only so much stress that she could undergo. Oh, she wished that the something would happen already! She was about to get her wish.
Zagan had waited long enough. Now was the time to strike!
Pain made him dizzy and clouded his vision. Eliwood would not be able to hold on to consciousness forever, but he knew that he had to hold on for a little bit longer. Just a little bit...
Rebecca watched in horror as a wild-eyed Zagan sprang out of his hiding place on the other side of the mountain. Never before had she seen such malice, anger, and strength combined into one fiery attack. It was as if Zagan was fighting for HIS life—and maybe he was. Rebecca remembered when Zagan had first appeared. Hadn't he said that someone wanted Eliwood dead? Perhaps that meant that Zagan's own life would be forfeit if he did not get his "job" done. Whatever the case, surely Marcus would stop this dynamic attack.
Marcus was a trained and decorated knight of Pherae with one sole duty—to protect Eliwood. This duty was foremost on his mind when he was confronted by Zagan's vicious attack. He knew he could not allow Zagan to get past his sword (which Lowen had let him borrow to replace the iron sword he had given to Eliwood), but... The ferocity of Zagan's attack caught him by surprise, and Marcus only managed to cut him before Zagan was behind him. Behind him, and running straight toward Eliwood.
Zagan was elated, filled with the joy of battle and triumph. He saw his prey look at him straight in the eyes, an unwavering and determined gaze. So, his prey would die with honor would he? Zagan smiled. This would be too easy. He laughed; it was a cold and mirthless laugh—the laugh of pure evil, the laugh of...Him.
Rebecca closed her eyes and clapped her hands over her ears as Zagan laughed. She trembled in the inevitability of what was going to happen next. If only she hadn't wasted that last arrow! Then Zagan wouldn't be laughing anymore, oh no. He would—huh? She uncovered her ears. Zagan wasn't laughing. She opened her eyes. Had something happ—oh my! Rebecca quickly shut her eyes, but the picture stayed with her. Zagan skewered, like the boars she used to hunt, on Eliwood's sword. He definitely wouldn't be laughing anymore.
Krista let out the breath she had been holding. That was a close call. Too close. She certainly had to work on her tactician skills more. They were a little rusty from that year of rest she had had after her journey with Lyn. Oh well, at least everyone was still alive. She a feeling that things were not going so well at Castle Santaruz. They had to keep going.
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Phew! That was a LOT. Maybe next time, I'll just make it into two chapters... But anyway...
Have any comments, questions, or suggestions? Then REVIEW! Thanks!
Random questions: 1) What's your favorite Rebecca pair—with Wil, Raven, Lowen, Sain, or some other guy? Because I was going to try out a Raven/Rebecca story next. 2) Who's the eighth hero? I watched the beginning of Eliwood's story where they name all the heroes, and they only named seven! I even watched it twice just to make sure! They named Roland, Hartmut, St.Elimine, Hanon, Barigan, Durban, and Athos. Count it. Seven! *confused*
Random fact: There are 10 kinds of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't. (I didn't make that up, so I can take no credit. The credit goes to someplace on the Internet, but I can't remember where... I just thought it was funny!)
Rebecca: Now be nice people and review, so gentleness28 here can get to writing! *cracks whip*
Me: Why are you being so mean?? I'm writing another story for you!
Rebecca: Really? *puts whip away and tries to act innocent* See? I'm being nice!
Me: *sweatdrop*