Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem or any of its characters.

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"Milady. If my memory serves me well, there should be a village in the next valley." Kent informed Lyn as they rode along.

"You hear that Mark?" Lyn called over to the tactician were he rode behind Sain.

Mark turned his head and nodded. It had been ten days since he and Lyn had set out. Now they were passing the foothills of the Taliver Mountains, an area notorious for it's bandits. To speed their passing, he and Lyn rode behind Kent and Sain on their horses'.

"Hey, what's that?" Sain inquired. He was pointing to a plume of smoke coming from the next valley. "Looks like something's on fire."

As the horses entered the next valley their riders stared in horror at the sight before them. The smoke was coming from a settlement. It wasn't just one house that was on fire though. It was the entire village.

Mark had seen this before. It was only vague in his memory due to the passing of time, among other things. However, it was still unpleasant to recall. The heat of the flames. The screams of those still trapped in their burning houses.

He was aware that the others were talking but he didn't care as he remembered something else. Running through the flaming streets clutching a sword tightly, crying children close behind. There they were, the soldiers blocking his escape and the traitor. He clutched his sword even tighter. "I'll kill the people that did this," he growled.

"Oh! You to Mark?" Lyn sounded surprised. She smiled at the tactician gratefully.

Mark snapped out of his thoughts. He must have spoken aloud. " Uh…yeah, of course!" He had no idea what he'd just agreed to, but Lyn sounded happy about it.

Lyn blinked back tears as she tried to speak. "I…You're…" She settled for a simple, "Thank you".

"Come on. We need to carry on," Mark reminded them. He smiled as reassuringly as he could for Lyn's benefit.

As the group passed around a small wall they spotted two brawny men grabbing a small girl with lilac hair. Standing next to them was a pegasus. Mark paled at the sight of the winged creature.

No one noticed this, as their attentions were fixed to the scene in front of them. Lyn saw the pegasus, and hopped off Kent's horse. As she ran, she called out a name. "Florina! Florina is that you!"

Startled by Lyn's sudden appearance the men loosened their grip on the girl. She immediately ran to Lyn and embraced her.

Mark watched as the two men confronted Lyn while the girl cowered behind her. He tapped Sain on the shoulder. "Keep an eye out for trouble, I think there're more than those two around. Kent, go warn that village about a possible fight."

As Kent rode towards the village, the two men ran off while more bandits appeared from their hiding places. "Why did I have to be right," Mark moaned. "Sain we better go meet up with Lyn."

"Don't forget the other fair maiden with her," Sain chided his passenger as they rode over to the others.

"Okay Lyn what we have got?" Mark asked as he dismounted.

"These bandits want to kidnap my friend Florina here," Lyn pointed to the lilac haired girl who was preparing her pegasus for battle.

"Okay, and who's that?" Mark indicated a brown haired youth walking towards them from the nearby village.

"His name is Wil," Kent answered. He had just returned from warning the local villagers about the upcoming fight. "He has a grievance to settle with these bandits. He's an archer by the way."

"Alright, now lets see what the enemy have got." Mark noticed Sain approaching the lilac haired girl. "Sain! Stop molesting Florina and come over here." Mark considered his next move. As Sain stopped his horse nearby Mark climbed up behind him, his ribs only protesting slightly. "Now over by the wall," he ordered the cavalier.

Sain trotted his mount over to the wall. "There you go. Now do you mind telling me why we're doing this?"

"Keep her steady and all will be revealed." Mark stood up on the horses back and climbed onto the high wall. He took a good look at the surroundings. There was a mercenary on the other side of the wall, staring up at him. Mark judged the angles and distance. "Wil! Shoot an arrow just past my shoulder."

The archer complied and the arrow whistled past the tactician. There was a satisfying scream as it struck the mercenary in the chest. Mark smirked. "Okay, Florina go finish him off."

Despite the fact that Florina was on his side, Mark still quailed at the sight of the pegasus flying over his head.

Not caring whether Florina survived, Mark turned his attention to the rest of the area. The wall he was standing on was shaped like a large cross. There was another wall just south of the eastern prong of the wall. The narrow gap was perfect for defence as a small group of trees occupied the space.

"Lyn take out the archer hiding behind the wall to your east. Kent, Sain, follow Lyn. You'll see a small wood in between two walls. Defend that area, but watch out, there's another archer nearby. Wil go and pick off anyone you can."

As they headed off to carry out there orders a cry came from the other side of the wall. Mark turned to see Florina, wrench her lance out the corpse at the feet of her pegasus. "Florina! Go warn that village to the north, then haul your ass back here!"

Florina nodded and flew off.

"Now…" Mark clapped his hands together as he looked at the ten-foot wall he was standing on. "How do I get down from here?"

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Mark's plan worked, as pretty soon all the bandits, save for their leader lay dead. Mark was still stuck on the wall as Florina was to scared to give him a lift on her pegasus, and secretly Mark was scared of the pegasus. After a few minutes of searching Mark found a section of wall low enough for him to jump off safely.

Now Lyn and the cavaliers had surrounded the remaining bandit. As Mark watched the man deftly dodged every attack, until one of Wil's arrows hit him in the leg. The bandit stumbled and was promptly beheaded by the Mani Katti.

"Umm…it's Mark isn't it?" Florina asked meekly from a distance.

Mark turned towards her. "Yes, what do you want?" His tone was harsher than it should have been, but he didn't care.

Florina tried to shrink back in her saddle. "The…the village gave…gave us this gold." She held up a heavy looking pouch.

"Good work Florina!" Lyn shouted as she raced towards them.

"Well someone's happy to see her," Mark muttered as Lyn embraced the pegasus knight on her mount. He walked over to where Wil and the cavaliers were talking.

"We should move on quickly," Kent said.

This puzzled Mark "Why? You dealt with the bandits?"

"He was of the Ganelon Bandits," Wil said and left it that.

"And that means?" Mark inquired.

"There are more of them," the archer answered. "And they won't let the deaths of their brothers rest. They'll hunt us."

"Alright that makes sense." Mark turned to leave. "Wait a minute! We?"

"If it's alright, Wil would like to tag along until we reach Lycia," Kent explained. "We could do with all the help we can get."

The tactician nodded. "That makes sense. Any objections Sain?"

Sain didn't reply, his eyes were fixed on Lyn and Florina.

"Kent, if you'd be so kind?"

"Certainly Mark." Kent slapped his fellow cavalier in the head. "Sain stop ogling our liege and her friend!"

Sain looked hurt. "But Kent, their beauty is remarkable. How can one not regard such radiance?" Sain defended himself.

Mark sighed. "Have you tried looking the other way, Sain?"

"What! That would be an insult to such magnificent exquisiteness!"

Mark shook his head in defeat and walked towards Lyn. He heard feet running to catch up with him. He turned to see it was Wil.

"Does he always act so strangely?" he asked.

"Strange isn't the word for it." Mark thought for a few seconds. "I'd say that perverted, is a better description of Sain's behaviour."

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