((Re-edited since first upload.))

I'm SO sorry that I didn't get this chapter up as fast as I told you I would. But my internet has been disconnected for a while, and I have some family things that are going on that is taking much more of my time then I'd want it too. I apologize deeply! Here's your update, anyway.

Guy: Excuses, excuses…

Matthew: Well, they're true, at least…

Reviews:

Hamano Ayumi: Hehehe, yeah, don't worry, he will. :)

TheOneAndOnlyT: Yeah, the ending was supposed to be cheesy, but clichéd lines are always funny. Hmmm, good point… Why didn't I think of that: Eh, guess my mind wasn't in the right place, I'll try and resolve that this chapter.

Baka KitsuneBri: Actually, I know quite a bit about the Scouring and its generals. It's probably because I participate in the RP community of "The Scouring". The title explains it all… And there's been a bunch of debates about it on the boards of GameFAQs. So those are the places I pull all my information from.

Ed, the Master Tactician: Thanks for, once again, reviewing!

Wyrmseeker: Yeah, I was informed of that by another reviewer, also. And I'll try and fix that up this chapter… Somehow.

Emarista the Torturer (x3): Wow, you seem angry… I'll leave you to let off some steam. Here's a Hector voodoo doll for you. Enjoy. :) Awww, you'd save Wil for Florina? That's so nice of you! And don't worry about not reviewing for a long time, I understand.

Ragnarok-legend: Wow, that's for the compliment, Ragnarok! And yeah, I'm sorry this chapter wasn't up as fast as it should have been, but I'll be waiting for your update too:) Hehe, yup, your cameo is on the way in just a few more chapters!

The Blazing Blade: Thanks for reviewing.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem.

Stray Arrow

Chapter 22

As Florina dashed off in a flurry of tears, Wil tried to stand up but was immediately shoved down, gently, by both Priscilla and Serra with Rebecca only a step behind.

"You aren't going anywhere, Wil. Despite the fact that you look fine, you need to rest. Florina needs some time on her own. You going after her, not even understanding how she is feeling right now won't help. Off to bed." Serra scolded him. The other two young women nodded in agreement.

Wil grimaced. He may not remember Florina, but the urge to go see her was strong. Of course, there was no way he could get past the three of them. No doubt, they'd set up a guard by his door too…

"Fine…" He sighed and lay down on his bunk with a grunt. Letting out a deep breath, he slowly closed his eyes.

The others gave a sastified nod and the healers turned to Rebecca. "You'll have to watch him. We have to go see if we need to help any of the others."

"Of course." That was the last thing he heard before drifting off to sleep. He then drifted into a dream.


Wil's eyes fluttered open as a strange smell reached his nose. Looking up, instead of seeing the bottom of the other bunk above his, he saw a clear blue sky. Fluffy clouds flew across the air.

With a start, he suddenly realized that whatever he was laying on was moving. Sitting up, he let out a yell, feeling the platform beneath him jerk. He immediately grabbed the edge of the raft and steadied himself.

After regaining balance, he sighed. Taking his hands, wet from the water that they had met, from the side of the poor excuse of a boat. Settling back on his heels he finally had a chance to look around at his surroundings.

From the salty smell, he knew that he was drifting on an ocean. How he had got here was beyond him. Instead, he spoke out loud his thoughts.

"How do I get out of here?" Glancing around the raft, he frowned to find that there was none other than himself on the piece of wood. There wasn't even an oar.

Looking up, he glanced in every direction. But all his eyes met were solid blue. From the light coloured sky, to the wrinkled navy waves of the ocean. There was no land in sight.

The sniper noticed that there wasn't even any noise. Where were the cries of seagulls? The buzz of insects? The splashing sound of fish? It was utter silence.

"Great, now what do I do? Wait around and die, while I float on this piece of driftwood?" He snapped to the air. But as if answering his thoughts, in front of him, a fog-enshrouded island materialised.

"Well…" Soon his little platform reached the land, it's edge scraping against the sandy shore. Wil immediately jumped off the raft. But as soon as he landed on the ground, he swayed and fell over onto his knees.

Riding on the ever-moving waters of the oceans had made him light-headed and unbalanced. As he tried to regain his bearings, his head jerked up at the sound of boots crunching on sand.

Looking up, he saw a gauntleted hand in front of his face. Lifting his head higher, he saw that the hand belonged to a man. The man was not very tall, but from Wil's calculations was at least his height.

The man had a hard face with curves like that of a rock. He had dark blue hair that reached just below the nape of his neck. Eyes of the same colour were inset in his face above a sharp nose.

The older man was clad in armour similar to that he had seen Kent and Sain wear. Though it looked more authentic and a black cape fell from his shoulders.

Without a thought to whether this man was a friend or foe, Wil accepted the offered hand. And the other man pulled him up with seemingly no effort.

"Th-Thank you." Wil stammered, dusting his pants of the grains of sand that had accumulated there. Straightening, he realized that the man, indeed was just the exact height as he. Neither an inch taller, nor an inch shorter.

"May I ask what your name is?" Asked Wil finally. The other man smiled.

"That is not important…" His voice was deep and strong. It had the sound of a mighty general that was used to commanding troops. "I am here to… help you."

Wil's brows furrowed at what the other man said. "Help me? If you mean help me out of here, I'd gladly appreciate that." But the blue-haired man shook his head.

"I cannot help you out of here… For, this is a dream…" He answered, somewhat solemnly.

"A dream? But this place seems so real…" Wil murmured to himself. Shaking his head, he dismissed the subject and went on. "Okay, then what are you to help me with?"

"To regain your memories, of course… You lost them, did you not? You would like to reclaim them, wouldn't you?"

"O-Of course!" He replied. There was probably nothing more in the world that he wanted more then regaining his lost past. "But… how?"

"It's quite simple… Getting here had been the hard part, I suppose you could say…" The man answered with a faint grin. He suddenly seemed weary. "You couldn't have come here unless you were sent here… by someone who loved you dearly…"

"Someone who loves me dearly…" The sniper tasted that statement on his tongue. He had a feeling that that person was that lavender-haired girl from before. If only he could remember her name.

"It's very rare that someone could find their way here… But even without the prayer that was sent to me… You seem special in a way…" But the other man trailed off and instead turned around and started striding further into the island.

Wil followed without hesitation, and before he taken a few steps, a temple materialized in front of him. He paused to marvel at the structure. It seemed to be carved from pure silver, yet that didn't seem possible.

It was a rather small building,with an arched roof and twirling columns that held up the eaves of the building. The shadowed walls were carved with intricate drawings of rearing pegasi.

Stepping inside after the man, he found that the walls inside were decorated much in the same way. The innards appeared to be almost like a church, or a temple. Many benches lined the two sides of the building, leaving an aisle that could just fit three men walking abreast.

At the back was a large dais. There were many ivory-carved statues of pegasi, woman wielding lances and even one of the man in front of him, lined the back of it. Who was he anyway?

Right in the middle of the platform, stood a spear rack of some sort. But the rack held but one long beautiful spear. Its shaft was glittering silver, with an ancient text engraved into its long handle. The spear point seemed to be made of ice. Yet not of ice. A long tassel of rich red ribbon of some sort was tied around the haft below the point.

"Where are we?" Wil finally managed to breathe out through his awe. The man's shoulders sagged somewhat, and a frown quirked at his mouth.

"Kneel down…" He simply replied. The sniper blinked once, plainly confused, but did as he was told. The blue-haired man strode forward and picked up the spear in a quick swipe, twirling it skillfully in his hand before driving the butt onto the floor with a loud 'thump'.

"… I don't know why you were sent to me, rather than Roland…" He whispered under his breath, obviously not expecting Wil to hear, but the young man did manage to pick it up. "But she did tell me too… I cannot refuse her…"

"What are you saying?" Wil asked, lifting his head, not able to resist his curiosity any longer. The man's brows furrowed in confusion and stared at Wil for a long spell before shaking his head.

"By what powers I still possess, and by the might of the Malte, aid this helpless soul…" The man closed his eyes, and before Wil could react in any way, the point of the spear thrust through his chest and stabbed his heart.

The sniper felt his breath caught in his throat as the spear penetrated his body, yet he felt no pain. And he suddenly knew who this man was… Ba-


Wil's eyes snapped wide open, as he shot up straight as a board. He was breathing heavily, sweat seeming to have accumulated in seconds, his hand clutching his chest. There wasn't a mark that he could feel through his tunic.

"Wil! What's wrong!" Rebecca cried worriedly, leaning over in her chair to lay a gloved hand on his arm.

The sniper didn't answer immediately, his wide brown eyes scanning the room as he tried to control his rapid breathing. But… that dream… Who was that man? He couldn't seem to remember his name.

Remember… I… I can remember…! He suddenly realized with a start of joy and surprise. He was Wil, of a small village in Pherae. The girl that sat next to him was Rebecca, his old childhood friend.

"Rebecca!" Wil cried, hugging the other sniper, who seemed really startled.

"Wil, what's the mat-"

"I can remember! I know who you are!" He cried, letting her go, delight filling his eyes. Rebecca's did the same once the news actually sank in.

"R-Really! That's wonderful, Wil!" She said joyously, jumping up. "You have to see Florina right away! I'm not sure where she is, but I'm sure you'll find her eventually!"

Wil just nodded, already losing track of what his friend was blabbing out, she was so ecstatic. But when she saw him just sitting there, her face became stern in an instant.

"What are you waiting for! Go find her!" Wil jumped up with a slight squeak at the strictness of her tone and ran out the door. He felt light as a feather, whether he had been wounded before or not.

And a feeling in the back of his head told him exactly where to find the girl he was searching for.


Suddenly, Florina's speech was cut off by the sound of running footsteps, quickly approaching their stall. Lyn immediately jumped up, followed by Florina, though considerably slower.

"Stay here, I'll go see who it is. It's most likely one of the stablemen." Lyn said with a smile and a squeeze of Florina's arm. Standing up, the young woman stepped outside of the stall to talk to whoever had come.

Florina sat back down and softened her breathing. Straining to listen to the exchange of words between Lyn and the voice of a man. But she could only hear murmuring through the sound of her pegasus frisking about in the stall.

Then, footsteps were heard again, deminishing with a few seconds. Someone had left. It was probably a stableman. Going to clean one of the stalls, Huey's even. But Lyn had said that something was going on, and that he could leave for the moment.

Finally, another set of footsteps approached the stall door, and she felt Lyn's shadow loom over her again, as she entered. Florina looked up, starting to ask what the stableman had said. But her question froze on her lips.

There, standing above her wasn't Lyn. Actually the figure was far from the Sacaean woman. Instead it was the form of a medium height man. With messy brownish hair covering his head, and soft playful roan eyes. A smile that showed just a hint of teeth sat below a narrow and sharp nose.

For a moment, Florina almost forgot what had happened only a short while ago. About what had happened to Wil, especially about his memories. All she saw was him, and his smile.

She had almost forgotten how it looked like; the past few days had been so grim. The girl realized that her heart was pounding in her chest, she felt fluttery all of a sudden. As if overcome with a sudden excitement. She nearly squinted at the bright sun that silhouetted his lithe frame.

Florina was aware of a sudden warmth that overcame her as Wil came closer, her mouth hung open just a fracture, as if to say something. But no words came out. She couldn't, and frankly didn't really want to do anything as she felt his arms wrap around her when he knelt down.

The feel of his arms around her weren't new, but felt like a worn pair of boots. Comfy and welcoming after a long day of wearing dress shoes for some formal social. She let out a small sigh as he pulled her closer, her cheek pressed up against the rough wool of his shirt. She could hear the soft beating of his heart.

A heart that she knew that he had given to her. And she knew that she wouldn't ever let it go. Not for any reason, not reluctantly anyway. But just as that thought came to her, the recollection of what had happened came back to her.

The warm feeling left her somewhat, though the actual feel of Wil's body never went away. What is he doing here? He should be in bed… resting… He doesn't even remember you, why is he here? The thoughts ran through her head as started to gently push herself away.

"Wil-" She started softly. Florina realized that her voice was already starting to crack up as she remembered what had happened. But before she could go on, Wil had already pulled her close again. This time he leaned down and pressed his lips softly against hers.

Once again a tingling feeling of happiness captured her. He held the kiss for a long moment, that when he let her go, he was panting lightly. The light in his eyes were bright, just like they were when he had first admitted his love for her.

"I remember, Florina. I remember everything!" He finally spoke, nearly yelling the words out in his joy. The falcoknight stared blankly for a moment, letting his words process through her mind as she shoved away the dullness that had stunned her moments ago.

But when it did, a mixture of emotions smothered her. Joy was the most evident. But also disbelief. She blinked, a puzzled look appeared on her face. Did she really hear him correctly? Did he just say that he remembered? That his memories had been reclaimed? That wasn't possible… It couldn't happen. Nature just wasn't made that way.

Suddenly tears sprouted to her eyes. This must be a dream… She must have fallen asleep when Lyn had briefly left the stables. It had been so warm and hazy, the stall. She tried to blink back tears, but they rolled down her cheeks.

"Florina! What's wrong!" Wil said, startled. This was far from the reaction he had expected of her. He thought she would be overjoyed, her arms flinging around his neck, laughing happily.

But the girl he loved sat there desolately, crying. For what reason, he had no clue. But he reached his arm towards her and paused. He could hear her sobbing words under her breath.

"This must be a dream… Memories can't be recovered like that… It's almost impossible… Why am I having such a horrible dream?" Her sobs were shuddering now as she cried harder.

Wil's hand stopped short of her arm, his eyebrows lowering in remorse. Was she in denial? He knew people who turned to this state in a time of grief, but when news of mirth was told… That was a different story.

The sniper was at a lost for words. What could he do? She wasn't even looking at her. But he let out a slow breath. A dream? She thinks this is a dream… That this isn't really happening, that what she wants to happen is only an illusion.

Wil pulled Florina into his arms once more. She didn't seem to acknowledge him. He was 'just a part of a dream, afterall'. He could feel her shaking in his arms.

He spoke softly, kissing her hair, stroking her arms and back. Hoping that tangible feelings would take her out of her state of shock. However, at the moment, nothing was happening.

((A much better ending than before, I hope… But also, like the last re-edited chapter, shorter. I think…))

Oh god, I hate my ending… It was so… bad…

Guy: You finally admit something!

Matthew: I think we're supposed to "cheer her up"…

Guy: Pfft. No chance of that.

FireEdge: Yeah, any comments on that last scene will be greatly appreciated! I'm not really good with that kind of stuff… Anyway, please review.

-FireEdge-