I started this fanfic in April of 2005. Due to several factors, the main one being that I'm too lazy by far, I haven't touched this over two years. I finally remembered about it last week and decided to give it another go. I've altered it the original chapters along the way, but I'm afraid that you're still stuck with the original piece of shit first chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem or any of its characters.

Prologue: A Girl From The Plains

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"Are you awake?" a voice asked.

The figure in bed nearly screamed in pain as he stirred. When he opened his eyes he saw the owner of the voice. She had long dark green hair that was tied back in a ponytail by a hair band. Despite this it still reached down beneath her knees. Her skin was porcelain white which contrasted her green eyes beautifully.

"My name's Lyn. I found you unconscious on the plains. You're safe now that you're in the care of the Lorca tribe." The woman smiled at him.

The figure realized he was gawping and immediately clamped his mouth shut. He began to study his surroundings before saying anything. He was in a small house. Opposite the bed he was lying in, was a small stove. There was a curtained off area where he guessed a bathtub would be. With the additions of the table, chairs and chests it was quite a cosy place.

"Who are you? Can you remember your name?" Lyn asked. She sounded worried by the figures' lack of speech so far.

Coming back to his senses he toyed with the idea of feigning amnesia. "No that would be foolish," he thought to himself. "I may as well tell the truth. A name is just a name after all," he decided. "Uh, my name…Yeah, it's Mark," he finally replied.

Lyn looked relieved, having heard Mark talk. "Your name is Mark? Well it's certainly unusual," she mused to herself. "But pay me no mind. It is a good name."

Mark just smiled. Lyn was rambling in an effort to fill in the large gaps he left in the conversation. He wondered how to get out of this situation. He sat up and stifled a cry. His chest burned in pain. He felt bandages around his chest; pressing against them he nearly passed out in agony. "Shit!" he thought to himself. "I owe her my life."

"I'm guessing that you're a traveller by your attire," Lyn attempted to start up the conversation again. "What brings you to the Sacae Plains? Would you share your story with me?

"Oh yeah! There it was," Mark thought to himself. "Damn it! I don't know enough about Sacae to lie. Should I tell her everything? I suppose I should. My life's indebted to her now. Oh well, here goes." He was just about to speak when they heard a strangled cry. It sounded as if it was a long way off.

"Hm? What was that?" Lyn looked panicky. "I'll go see what's happening. Mark, wait here for me!" With that she left the house.

After several attempts Mark managed to get out of bed. It took him another few minutes to stand. "Great. That's a few broken ribs at least," he muttered to himself. It hurt to just breath now. However he persevered and made it to the door, just in time for Lyn to nearly run him down.

"They're bandits! They must have come down from the Bern Mountains, planning to raid the local villages." The Sacaen paused in thought. "I…I have to stop them!" As she said this, she pulled on some fingerless gloves. Next she tied a scabbard to her waist with what appeared to a belt made of braided horsehair. She calmed down a little. "If it's only the two of them I should be able to handle them on my own." She turned to Mark, "You'll be safe in here," she informed him.

Mark just shook his head. "No, Lyn I'm coming with you," he stated matter of factly.

Lyn turned back to him. "You want to help? Well can you use a weapon?" she questioned him.

"Not at the moment," Mark admitted. "However the bandits don't know that.

Lyn looked puzzled by this remark.

"It'll distract some of them, making it easier for you to deal with the others. Divide and conquer," Mark explained. "I can also give you advice during the battle if you need it."

A look of comprehension dawned on Lyn's face. "Ah, I see…so you're a strategist by trade? A strange profession, but…" She ran after Mark as he had already walked out of her house. "Very well. We'll go together!"

0-0

Mark had surveyed the scene by the time Lyn caught up to him. "Alright Lyn this shouldn't be to hard. Head west and take out the bandit there. After that's done head north and meet me by that…tent thingy."

"It's called a ger," Lyn informed him before running off towards the bandit to the west. She stopped and waited for the bandit to rush her. As he did, she sidestepped the axe swung at her; she drew her sword and slashed it at her assailant's stomach in one movement.

The bandit doubled over in pain and screamed. He lashed out with his foot, catching Lyn in the shin. She staggered backwards and barely dodged the second swing of the axe. She was amazed at her opponent's tenacity. She couldn't dodge the third blow and screamed as the heavy weapon left a long gash in her thigh.

The bandit charged in for another attack and impaled himself on Lyn's outstretched sword. Blood gurgled from his mouth and he fell to the ground dead. Lyn pulled out a vulnery from her pack and applied the salve to her wound. Sighing as the wound faded away leaving only a slight ache behind, she removed her sword from her dead foe's chest and set off for the ger.

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Mark saw none of this as he approached the bandit guarding the ger. He knew the cur had spotted him and was watching his approach. "This is just great," Mark said to no one. "This guy looks tough, argh!" he hissed as he stumbled causing his chest to complain. "Damn! I can barely walk, let alone fight…Oh well, here goes."

He cupped his hands around his mouth to amplify his voice. "Hey there!" he addressed the heavily built man guarding the ger.

The man glowered at him. "Who do you think you are? You think you can stand up to Batta the Beast?"

"In answer to your first question, I think I'm me!" Mark replied as coolly as is possible while shouting. "I'm guessing you're Batta, right?" What to do now? He saw Lyn in the corner of his eye. She was running towards them as fast as she could. She was however, still a way off.

Mark assessed the situation in his mind. Lyn wasn't a match for Batta in a straight fight, especially if he remained in an easily defendable position. He ran through everything his father had taught him. Then it hit him, he'd draw the bandit out. "Hey Batta! You got the beast part right! I can smell you from here!" Mark shouted.

Batta growled at the insult and charged towards Mark. Mark on the other hand stood there calmly. Just as Batta was about to strike down Mark, Lyn rammed into the bandit's side at full speed, knocking them both to the ground.

Lyn was the first to her feet and immediately took the opportunity to slash at Batta's vulnerable form. He rolled away and only took a small wound to his back. Lyn then had to leap backwards in order to dodge a violent slash. She ducked the next blow and caught the third with her sword.

Lyn maintained her stance as Batta pressed his axe down as hard as he could. Lyn couldn't hold it up forever, as she was weaker than the bandit. She couldn't break the lock either without the possibility of losing her arm. She wasn't expecting the punch from Batta's right hand. As she sprawled on the floor she dropped her sword.

She looked up at Batta with fear in her eyes, as he raised his axe to deliver the final blow. It didn't come, instead she saw him swing his right elbow behind him and heard Mark cry out. She grabbed her sword and thrust upwards through the brigand's chest.

"What? How…how did you…" Batta managed to stammer, before sinking to the ground in a pool of his own blood.

Panting in relief Lyn stood and looked to Mark, who was still hanging onto Batta's axe. "Sorry if I worried you." She helped the traveller to his feet. "I didn't think he'd be that strong. I need to train more…train so no one can defeat me."

Mark just nodded and pointed to the ger. Lyn nodded and they headed towards it in unison. As they entered, a scream and an iron pot came the other way to greet Mark's head. With a small groan he sank to the floor and passed out.

0-0

"Good morning, Mark!" Lyn's voice chirped out. "Are you awake yet?"

"Hmm, déjà vu," Mark muttered as he opened his eyes and found himself in Lyn's house again.

Seeing that Mark was awake, Lyn started talking again. "That fight yesterday must have taken a lot out of you.

As Mark sat up, his head began to swim, and the memory of the pot returned. He felt nauseous as he moved. "Ugh…I think it was that pot that took it out of me," he replied sourly. "What happened?" he inquired. At least his chest wasn't hurting so much today.

"The woman who knocked you out was a captive of that bandit. She was the one we heard." Lyn explained. "Anyway she wanted to escape and thought that you were Batta returning."

Mark shifted so he was sitting on the beds edge and spread his arm's wide, wincing slightly as he did so. "Come on, do I really look that fat?" Mark asked in a hurt tone. "So where's the escape artist?"

Lyn smirked at Mark's first question. "She left for Bulgar at dawn." A look of doubt crossed her face. "Say, Mark," she hesitated. "I want to talk to you about something."

Inwardly, Mark starting cursing in every language he knew. "Damn it!" he thought to himself. "She'll want to know what happened to me. Mind you, it might be safe to tell her. Maybe the bounty hasn't reached here yet." He nodded for Lyn's benefit.

"I saw yesterday that you have some experience in warfare." Lyn looked at Mark hopefully. "Would you let me travel with you?"

Well that was unexpected. However, if she were to travel with him, Lyn would be putting her life in considerable danger, as well as increasing Mark's chances of being captured. Mark decided that his trump card would work, as she didn't much older than eighteen years of age. "If that's what you want, but shouldn't you ask your parents for permission first?"

Lyn looked devastated. "My…my parents?"

"Well, they have the right to know that there daughter wants to wander off with some stranger." This had never failed before and it looked like it wouldn't now. Especially when Lyn looked so upset.

"My mother and my father…they died six months ago. My people…the Lorca…they don't," Lyn's voice cracked. "I'm the last of my tribe. Bandits attacked, and…they killed so many people." She started to sob now. "The tribe was scattered."

Mark saw all this and hated himself. He hated himself for making one so beautiful cry. For trying to shun someone who was on her own, just like him. All he could do though, was offer Lyn a shoulder to cry on. He hugged Lyn, ignoring the pain in his chest as she returned the embrace.

After a while, Lyn calmed down a bit. Much to Mark's embarrassment though she still held on to him. "My father was our chieftain, and I wanted to protect our people. But I'm so young, and my people were old-fashioned. They wouldn't follow a woman. No one would follow me." She sniffed and stopped her tears. "I'm sorry. I've been alone for so long…" she trailed off thoughtfully. She was still hugging Mark.

Mark felt himself starting to blush. He let go off Lyn, hoping that likewise she'd release him. When nothing happened he assumed, that he'd jumped to the wrong conclusion.

Lyn snapped out of her thoughts. "No, I will shed no more tears." She hugged Mark a little tighter then released him. "Thank you, I think I'm better now. Mark, I want…" she stopped and corrected herself, "I must become stronger so I may avenge my father's death!"

"Yesterday's battle taught me something. I won't become stronger by sitting here alone." Lyn sounded surer of herself now, much to Mark's relief. "Mark, tell me you'll train me, that you'll let me travel with you!" She gave him a pleading look.

You should know that I'm not a proper tactician. My father was and he taught me for a while."

This didn't perturb Lyn. "I need to get stronger. You still have things to learn. We can help each other"

"Well I can't exactly say no, when you put it like that," Mark replied. He smiled as he saw a look of pure joy cross Lyn's face.

"You will? That's wonderful! Thank you! Oh, thank you! We'll be better off working together. I know it. You'll be my maser strategist, and I'll be your peerless warrior! We can do it! Right?"

"Sure we can!" Mark encouraged his new companion. As Lyn began bustling around gathering supplies for their journey, Mark sat back down on the bed. "Master strategist?" he muttered to himself. "Peerless warrior?" Shaking his head in disbelief at his new companion's naivety, he settled down for a quick nap, after all he was still weak from his injuries.

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I know my grammar isn't up to much. However that's something I think I'll be working on for the rest of my life. The good news is that you want to read the next few chapters, you don't have to wait as they're already up.

Spingleburt.