Okay, so I didn't get to update this last week… But I just wrapped up some big fair thing at school, so I should be a little freer… I hope… Well, Here's your update!

Guy: Uh-huh.

Matthew: Good for you.

FireEdge: I hate you guys…

Reviews:

Hamano Ayumi: Hehe, sorry! But I needed to add more emotion in it. And that was for something I'm building up this chapter… Hopefully, this one won't scare you to death!

TheOneAndOnlyT: Yeah, I noticed that after I uploaded it. This one will be longer, I hope. Yes, I realized that Eclipse never hits, but I had to think of something! Memory loss…? That's a good idea… You know, I've just noticed that this chapter seems to have the same qualities as your most recent chapter in Two Angels… I don't know if you'll notice, but it's freaky, since it was unintentional…

: Yeah, I noticed that after I uploaded it. This one will be longer, I hope. Yes, I realized that Eclipse never hits, but I had to think of something! Memory loss…? That's a good idea… You know, I've just noticed that this chapter seems to have the same qualities as your most recent chapter in … I don't know if you'll notice, but it's freaky, since it was unintentional…

Wyrmseeker: I'm sorry you're in a bad mood. :( But is the paragraphs that bad? I can see that a few of them are a little long, but still…

: I'm sorry you're in a bad mood. :( But is the paragraphs bad? I can see that a few of them are a little long, but still…

montblancerk: You're the second reviewer who's said it was too short… I guess I'm slacking… Yeah, I finally found a way to make Florina more… passionate. Just wait 'til you see her this chapter! And sure, I'll review some of your stories!

Ragnarok-legend: Hehe. -Laughs nervously at the quotation marks- Yeah, about the "sypathetic glance" thing… Well, it was a really hard battle, and they didn't have time to worry about someone who was hurt, since it was the healer's job. And Rebecca didn't see him… she was… somewhere else… yeah, lets go with that.

The Blazing Blade: Hey! I resent that! … Even if you have a point… But this one was fast! Sort of.

Aeros Fujita: Thank you so much for the compliment!

alena: Don't worry! Wil won't die! He's much too important to die!

Ed, the Master Tactician: Hehe, I'm glad you checked too.

Brent yelle: Awww, poor Guy. But he definitely deserves that! Thanks for reviewing!

Sokuma: I was right, it wasn't dramatic enough, but I didn't really have that much inspiration that chapter. Hopefully, this one will be better.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem.

Stray Arrow

Chapter 20

Florina still sniffed, tears still running down her cheeks, though they were slower. She was flying slowly behind Kent and Sain. The two paladins had a stretcher held between their two horses, Wil lay on it, his eyes closed, his chest rising and falling slowly.

She had finally recovered over the shock of what happened, well slightly at least. And she was very relieved that Wil was going to be okay. Though she was grateful that the charm had healed, she supposed it could be called, Wil. She didn't exactly know what to make of it.

Even if she had found out that it had belonged to the legendary hero, Barigan, she still pondered about how it had been removed from his grave, where it had hung on his neck. The pendant had saved Wil's life so many times… How many times would it continue to pull through? And why did it keep on doing that? What kind of charm was this thing?

Soon however, they reached Wil's room that he shared with Raven. Kent and Sain dismounted and carefully took the stretcher, walking inside the room. The two lay him on the lower bunk. The two then straightened after making sure that the sniper was settled comfortably.

"We'll leave you with Wil for a while." Kent stated, looking at the young falcoknight.

"I think Priscilla and Serra, if she's well enough, will be here soon to check up on him." Sain added with a nod, and a reassuring smile. Or as reassuring as it could get. "We'll take leave of you now." The two then walked out the door, leading their horses back to the stables.

Florina dismounted Huey and walked into the room. She pulled up a chair, and sat on it, looking down on Wil's serene face. Just looking at him, laying there, caused her lower lip to quiver. She was about to start crying all over again.

She once again felt like it was all her fault. He wouldn't have been poisoned and impaled by a lance if she hadn't been so careless, he would have been okay. Sure he'd still have suffered from the Eclipse spell, but at least he wouldn't have been hurt any farther.

Florina took Wil's hand and held it tight, fresh tears starting once again to fall down her cheeks. She remembered when he had said that he would protect her. But she didn't want him to protect her this way. By risking his own life for her…

It wasn't fair that he had to always suffer, she again felt useless. Was she fated to always be weak? Always needing protection from others? She remembered that back on the plains, Lyn had always protected her.

The Sacaean woman was always looking out for her, and had even agreed to take her along on her journey a few years back. And this was how she repaid Lyn. By almost getting one of their archers killed by letting her emotions overwhelm her. If only she was stronger… But she wasn't. She'd always be the weak little Florina that everyone saw her as.

She screwed her eyes shut, trying to make herself stop crying. But it wasn't working. Trying to stop herself just made it harder to keep the tears from coming. So the girl sat crying, silently, the only other sound was Wil's breathing.

She sat like that for what seemed eternity, every moment dragged by, as she watched Wil's body through blurred eyes. She wished that he was sitting up, holding her in his arms, smiling and laughing. Telling her a funny story that would raise her spirits.

But he couldn't. The young girl could only hope that the sniper would pull through. Her reveries were interuppted as there came a knock from the open door.

"Florina?" Serra's voice rasped hoarsely, her voice was only starting to come back from the battle. Beside her stood Priscilla, she carried two different staves. The redheaded girl took a step forward.

"I'm sorry, Florina, but you have to leave while we heal Wil…" She said. Florina stared at the two of them for a moment, then back at Wil. She blinked back tears, not really wanting to leave him, but she knew that they needed room to do their work, and the room wasn't very large.

"O-Okay…" She stammered, standing up, slowly releasing his hand. Florina then slowly made her way to the door. Priscilla gave her arm a gentle reassuring squeeze, before turning towards her patient. With another glance backwards towards Wil, she walked out the door.

Going up to Huey, she wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face into his mane. The pegasus whinnied quietly, and nuzzled his mistress' hair. She pressed her cheek against his neck and breathed in deeply. Her fingers traced a pattern on the pegasus' smooth skin. Florina wasn't sure how long she stood there, staring at a single spot on her steed's neck.

But suddenly, she heard the sound of heavy footsteps. The lavender-haired girl didn't look up, let alone care who it even was. The footsteps then stopped beside her. A large shadow loomed over her. Still she didn't budge. It wasn't until the owner of the shadow spoke did she look up ever so slightly.

"Florina." Hector finally spoke. His eyes met those of the young girl. He could see that she was crying. But the girl said nothing, only stared at him with an unreadable expression. "Are you alright?"

"… C-Could you l-leave me a-alone, please?" She asked, looking back down at Huey's neck. Her voice sounded meek, but she was tearing apart inside. Both from sorrow and anger.

"You need to talk to someone. It's not good to keep your feelings bottled inside of you." Hector continued on. Florina's fingers tightened their grip on Huey's mane. The pegasus threw its head back with a snort. The blue-haired lord placed a gauntleted hand on her small shoulder. The young girl twitched at the man's movement. And a shuddering feeling ran through her, as she felt his hand rest on her shoulder.

"It's alright to let it all out." The lord added, in a tone that was meant to be comforting. She shrank back slightly, if you could see her blue eyes, you would notice a different spark about them. Tears silently rolled down her face.


Priscilla let out a long breath, and lowered her staff. Beside her, Serra did like-wise. The two healers, were slightly sweating, and their faces a bit flushed. The healing had taken a larger toll on them then they thought it would've.

"I think… we did it." Serra said, finally. Her purple eyes scanned Wil's body. The wound in his abdomen was gone, only tender pink skin could be seen. The colour had also returned to his face.

"Yes, I hope so…" The red-haired girl nodded. "But… I don't know if there was any damage to his… mental health. We can't heal that. Afterall, he was on the brink of death. Perhaps even was dead…" The valkyrie shivered as she thought of that possibility.

"…" Serra stared at Wil silently. "Maybe he was… I've seen a lot of weird things that have happened around this guy… But… I swear, even if I hadn't been Silenced, I couldn't have saved him, as much as I hate to admit it. I thought it was just a minor wound at first, but after that druid got me, I had time to check his wound out. It wasn't possible for him to survive…"

Priscilla's head shot up, her large green eyes holding a confused yet curious glint in them. "He wouldn't have… survived? Then how…?" The young bishop strode over to Wil. A gloved hand moved his shirt collar down. There lay a chain with a small pendant around his neck.

"What is that?" Priscilla walked over immediately, leaning down, a hand brushing back a strand of red hair. She examined the little charm. It was made of a glittering aged silver, in the shape of a star. "A… charm? What's so special about it?"

"… I've seen this thing work before. It seems to have magical properties to it. It projected a barrier to protect once. Now it… saved him from death. I don't know what it is, but it brought Wil back to life!" Serra exclaimed, looking over at Priscilla.

"Is that possible?" The green-clad girl asked, her eyes blinking in surprise. Serra shook her head.

"Technically, no. But who knows… I heard that this charm is over a 1000 years old… Apparently, it used to belong to one of the 8 Generals, Barigan." The bishop replied with a shrug. Priscilla contemplated that for a moment. She then stretched out her arm and her fingers gently brushed the charm. But they shot back seconds after.

"What's wrong?" Serra questioned, seeing the other girl's reaction.

"I-I just… touched it, and…"

"And what?" The bishop asked curiously. Priscilla turned to face her, her face a mixture of sadness, and confusion.

"I don't know what to make of it… When I touched it, I felt a small… shock of some sort. But I also received an image. A few of them actually."

"Images?" Prodded Serra, a light rekindling in her eyes. Priscilla bit the tip of her gloved thumb nervously.

"Well, at first I saw a man… He was of medium stature, he had dark blue hair and it was kind of long at the back… He was riding a tall white stallion. But then, suddenly, he fell… I don't know why, or how. He just plunged… Then I saw Wil. He had his eyes closed, and he was laying on his back, drifting through the ocean on a small wooden raft. That's it…" Said the valkyrie.

"That's certainly strange… What do you think it all meant?" Serra's head tilted to one side in puzzlement. A finger twirled around her pink hair as she bit her lower lip in thought. "Huh?" She was jerked out of her thoughts when she saw movement coming from the bed. Wil's arm twitched and his eyes started to flutter open.

"Oh! He's awake!" Priscilla exclaimed, immediately stepping over to the side of the bed. But suddenly, there came a loud cry from outside, and her head jerked up. The two girls shot a glance at each other before rushing out the small room.


"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Florina shrieked. She finally had enough. The blue-haired lord had taken a startled step back, away from the falcoknight. She took in a deep shuddering breath.

Hector had tried to comfort her, but he only made it worse, she just wanted to be alone for a bit. But the young lord had kept on persisting, saying that he understood how she felt. But he didn't… No one did, right now.

"You don't understand ANYTHING I've been going through!" She continued to yell. "How can you possibly understand the feeling of having almost killed the one you love?! And now I have to sit here, waiting for Wil to recover and wake up! But I don't eve KNOW if he'll wake up! And it's all my fault...!" By now, her anger had turned more to tears, as she collapsed onto the ground, crying.

Priscilla and Serra let out a small gasp, seeing Florina on the ground, sobbing hysterically. Hector stood frozen, slight confusion painted on his face. Their heads turned to look down the corridor when they heard footsteps ringing against the marble floor.

"What in the world is going on here?!" Lyn cried, furious. Behind her they saw that Kent and Rebecca were with her. Her angry face immediately turned to one of worry, as she saw her friend on the ground crying.

"Florina! What's wrong?" The lord ran over to the young girl and knelt down beside her, her hands on the flyer's shoulders. Kent followed in a brisk walk, and took the skittish pegasus's reins, watching everything at once. His gaze rested on Hector more than once.

"What happened?" Rebecca also ran over to the others. She looked at Priscilla and Serra expectantly, but the two other girls just shrugged their shoulders. They were just as clueless as she was.

Lyn on the other hand had an idea as to what had happened. Her head shot up, her long ponytail settling on her shoulders. Her dark blue-green eyes piercing into Hector's.

"Hector! I told you to stay away from Florina!" The Sacaean woman jumped up in a fury. The other lord settled his stance.

"I didn't do anything! I was just trying to make her feel better! Is that a crime?!" Hector demanded angrily. Priscilla and Serra looked nervously behind them, through the door to where their patient rested.

Lyn caught their gaze from the corner of her eye, and knew that she shouldn't be yelling right now. Not when Wil was still recovering, with merely a wall between them. She nodded and crossed her arms over her chest.

"I was going to pay Wil a visit, but it looks like it'll have to wait…" She said, calming down. But she still glared at Hector. "But I need to settle this now… I'll come and see Wil later, Serra, Priscilla." She then gave the other lord a look that clearly said she wanted him to come with her. Now.

Hector grinded his teeth, but grudgingly obliged. Kent offered to stable Florina's pegasus for her and left on Lyn's heels. The four young girls were left to look after the others leave, Florina's quiet sobs the only thing breaking the silence.

Rebecca knelt down to the floor, peering at Florina's face. The orchid-haired girl's eyes were red from crying, and her cheeks were wet. Her gloved hands were anchored in her lap.

"It's okay, Florina. Wil will be okay. He's a strong guy, I've grown up with him, and I've seen him come through from a lot of injuries before. That's why he's always so cheery! Because he knows that everything will be okay in the end." Rebecca said soothingly.

The other girl's sobs didn't subside, but they lessened, and she began to breathe more deeply and slowly again. Florina looked up into Rebecca's smiling face.

"R-Really?" She asked hesitantly. The sniper nodded, giving Florina a reassuring hug. The falcoknight was beginning to feel better slight. Having someone with her that truly did understand her feelings.

"Speaking of Wil recovering…" Serra started, clearing her throat. The two on the floor stood up and looked at Serra. "Well, he seems to have woken up…"

"Wh-What?!" Florina exclaimed, the happy sparkle returning to her eyes. Beside her, Rebecca's face also brightened considerably. Priscilla nodded, a smile on her serene face.

"Yes, before the… outburst, we saw him open his eyes. We're not sure if he's awake right now, but he should be making a speedy recovery. For now, you can go in and see if he's well. But you cannot stay for long, he still is resting and we're not entirely sure if he's without… other injuries." Said Priscilla, the valkyrie purposely left out the fact that Wil was supposed to be dead. There were things that were better left unsaid.

"Let's go on in." Serra added, walking in to the small room, followed by the others. Once inside, they saw that Wil was still laying on his back on the bed. The four of them walked slowly next to the bed, the healers in the lead.

"Is he awake?" Asked Rebecca, her voice a whisper. Priscilla placed a hand on Wil's forehead, and the sniper's eyes immediately shot open. The four of them let out a small gasp and Priscilla withdrew her hand. Florina immediately rushed to his side.

"Wil!" She cried, a mixture of joy and worry. The brown-haired young man blinked at the ceiling, his brows furrowed in confusion. "Wil?" She asked again, now confused herself.

"… Wh… Where am I?"

Okay…. I'm finished with this chapter…

Guy: It sucked… just like you…

Matthew: That's mean.

FireEdge: -Fwaps Guy- I have no clue if this is long enough for all of you, or emotional enough… But… yeah… Tell me if I'm not doing a good enough job, and I'll try and revise this chapter or something. I still don't like how I depicted Florina, but I had that scene in my head for such a long time. I just couldn't get it typed out right… Any comments for improvement on that would be appreciated.

Matthew: In the mean time, review and help out the stup-er, stumped, person!

FireEdge: … -Twitch-

--FireEdge--