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

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Mark watched as Sain and Wil rode towards the distant fort looking for shelter. Lyndis's Legion, as Wil had named the group, had ridden hard for the rest of the day. Mark hoped that they had put enough distance between themselves and the fallen Ganelon Bandits.

Unfortunately, according to Wil's information, the Ganelon Bandits had been known to track their prey for many miles. "Kent, let's follow them. If they ran into any trouble we'd have heard it by now."

Kent nodded and urged his steed forward.

As they rode Mark looked over at Lyn riding behind Florina. The tactician scowled. He was not happy about having a pegasus knight travelling with them. True Florina was only a trainee, but she was still a threat in his eyes. There was no way she would capture him as she was petrified of men, but she might tell others about him.

"This will be fine," Lyn declared as they rode up to the derelict fort. "Who wants to be stuck inside anyway? I prefer a place where the wind can blow."

"A true daughter of the plains," Mark thought. "Not that different from the Caledonians, when you think about it."

"Both Sain and I will alternate the watch tonight," Kent offered.

Sain made a face and was promptly hit. "Why does everyone always hit me?" he moaned.

"Because you deserve it," Mark answered. He strode into the fort in search of somewhere to sleep. He was half asleep as he walked, so he missed the sound of footfalls coming from within. He turned the corner and nearly walked into a young woman. "What the!" He took a step back into Lyn who had followed him, knocking both of them over.

As the two of them fell over, Mark twisted in midair and landed right on top of Lyn. He pushed himself up and looked into Lyn's eyes. His face was inches from hers. He could feel her breath on his face.

Lyn met Mark's gaze and smiled warmly back at him. She was breathing heavily.

The tactician noticed this. He must have winded Lyn when he landed on her. Alternatively she could have been out of breath for an entirely different reason. Mark suddenly felt very self-conscious. "Er…ahem." Mark quickly rolled off Lyn before his blush became visible.

The woman who had startled Mark, then watched the spectacle in amusement, giggled. She helped Lyn to her feet. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to surprise you." She sounded sincere, except for the giggles.

Mark scowled at her.

"Uh…don't worry…about it," Lyn panted out of breath. "Who are you?"

"And why are you here?" Mark added coldly. He didn't listen to the answer as he realised that his chest didn't hurt. It should be killing him the way he fell. Maybe Lyn broke his fall enough, so that his ribs weren't jarred.

"…here's a likeness of my husband. Have you seen him?" The woman showed Mark a small picture of a large, muscular man.

Mark shook his head. "Can't say I have. Now if you'll excuse me ladies." The tactician took his leave and wandered of in search of somewhere to sleep.

Part of his mind restarted up the debate about Lyn. "I'm a hunted man. There's not a chance," he murmured to himself. Then again, Lyn was also being hunted. It could work. At that point Mark decided that his mind had gone too far. He was a loner and that was the end of it. He'd pay off his life debt and get the hell out of Lyn's life. Plus, Lyn was friends with a pegasus knight. That put an end to his internal debate. He returned his attention to finding a place to sleep.

Mark realised that he was blushing again. No! He couldn't think like that. He was a hunted man. It would never work! He stalked further into the abandoned fortress. Finding a suitable spot, he sat down with the utmost care, so as not to jar his ribs. A few moments later his head slumped forward, and he began to snore.

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It was dark as he looked around. The wind was whipping in his face, despite the rider in front of him. Slowly so as not to alert his captor that he was awake, he tested his bonds. He almost laughed when he found that the rope binding his wrists together was coming loose. Ever so slowly, he began to work his hand out from under the rope.

His captor had foolishly expected him to remain docile as they rode her pegasus. She had been complacent when securing his hands behind his back.

He suppressed a cry of victory as his hand slipped free. He quickly removed the rope from his other wrist and planned his next move. He couldn't untie the rope that stopped him from falling off the pegasus, without alerting the pegasus knight. Deciding on the easiest method, Mark head butted the woman in front of him as hard as he could.

He reeled from the impact as their heads connected. He would have fallen off the pegasus, if it hadn't been for the rope securing him to the beast.

The pegasus knight slumped forward, unconscious. Strangely enough, the pegasus remained calm and continued to fly through the night.

After recovering from the blow, Mark quickly took the knight's boot knife and cut the final bonds that tethered him to the pegasus.

The point of the blade nicked the hide of the flying horse, sending it into a frenzied panic. It suddenly swerved to the right, to avoid the unseen attacker to the left.

Mark who was not expecting the manoeuvre lost his balance and fell from the mount. He watched as the ground flew up towards him. He was completely calm in the knowledge that his life would end quickly and relatively painlessly.

He only panicked when he saw the tree looming up to greet him. That might break his fall enough that he wouldn't die on impact. Instead he would die slowly and painfully.

He hit the upper branches and crashed through them. His descent was slowing as he crashed through the tree. He thought he might just survive this. He hit the thick, sturdy branch and with a cracking sound folded over it, as if he were a sheet on a washing line.

He slid off the branch and landed on the ground with a dull thud. He felt the blessed embrace of unconsciousness surround him as he passed out.

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Mark felt a pressure on his shoulder and instinctively lashed out with his foot. It connected with somebody's shin.

There was a muffled scream, and then Florina fell to the floor whimpering.

Mark just stared at her as she writhed on the floor clutching her leg. After a few moments he recovered from the shock. "What the hell were you doing?" he growled menacingly, as he stood.

Florina squeaked something inaudible and scuttled away from the angry tactician.

"What!?" the growl got lower.

"L…Lyn sent me," Florina managed. "The…there are bandits…attacking!" She looked away from Mark.

"Shit!" Mark hissed. "Can you stand?" He watched as Florina climbed to her feet and took a faltering step. "Just about. Right, do you think you'll be able to fight on your Pegasus?"

Florina nodded. She started to walk towards where the others were waiting and nearly collapsed. As Mark tried to steady her, she panicked and fell over. "Stay away!" she cried.

The tactician couldn't believe what he was going to do next. Call a pegasus, was he insane? He raised two fingers to his mouth, and whistled a high warbling note. He heard some hoof beats, and then a pegasus stuck its head round the corner and whinnied at him.

"Huey!" Florina cried out in joy. She got to her feet and hobbled towards her companion.

Mark got the distinct impression that Huey was glaring at him. Glaring back at the pegasus, he set of to find the others.

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Wil notched an arrow and let it fly through the remains of the wall. He watched with satisfaction as the enemy archer fell back with an arrow piercing his heart. He notched another arrow just as the bandits broke through the wall. He released his grip on the bowstring and the arrow flew through the swordsman's throat. With that Wil turned and ran down the corridor.

As he reached the corner he tripped and slammed into the wall. He watched dazed as the brigand roared in victory as he charged down the corridor after him. As the axe user reached the corner, a knife shot out at neck height, ripping the man's throat open.

"Thanks Mark!" Wil panted as the tactician helped him to his feet. As he looked he could see no trace of Mark's knife. He didn't dwell on this too long as they were still in the middle of a fight. "What should I do now?"

"Sneak out the hole in the wall. Find some concealment and take down some of the bandits near the front."

As Wil nodded and trotted off towards the hole, Mark turned in the opposite direction. As he entered the small courtyard at the forts centre, he quickly assessed is remaining troops. "Florina, Dorcas come with me," he ordered. He saw the look of protest on their faces. "Don't worry. Natalie will be fine."

Dorcas was about to argue the point when Natalie interjected. "I'll be alright. Just do what he says Dorcas." To take the sting out of her words, she cuddled up to her giant of a husband.

To Mark's amazement, Dorcas started to blush. "Okay, cut out the mushy stuff. If this works you'll be back here in few minutes." With a smirk the tactician led his small team towards the eastern entrance.

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Kent thrust his lance through the mercenary's chest, before the man could hack Sain's arm off. "Sain! Watch your flank!" he shouted over the din of the battle. He turned his attention to another brigand charging at him from the left. He realised to late, that his lance was stuck in the dead mercenary's chest.

Just as the brigand was about to bring his axe down, he grunted and fell over. There was an arrow protruding from his back. "Kent! Watch your flank!" Wil called, with a manic grin on his face.

"What now?" Sain asked as he finished off the last bandit in sight.

Kent gazed around the surrounding area. "Sain, take Wil over there and stop any reinforcements. I'll go and help Lady Lyndis."

Sain watched as his friend rode off to the east. "Why is he the one that gets to help the beautiful Lady Lyndis?"

Wil's grin widened. "Because you'd just try to flirt with her in the middle of a fight."

"I wouldn't!" Sain replied indignantly.

"You did this morning."

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As Mark watched his plan unfold, he couldn't help but chuckle. It was possibly one of the funniest things he had ever seen.

Dorcas was standing in a small group of trees near the forts eastern entrance. There was nothing funny about that on it's own. What was funny was the fact that a man as large as Dorcas, was trying to hide behind a small bush.

As he reflected on it, Mark decided it was definitely the strangest battle plan he had ever encountered. Also the funniest. As he watched the band of four mercenaries approached from the north. Mark became grim faced almost at once, and slid back into the shadows around the door.

He heard laughing from a distance, and suppressing his own, he unsheathed his daggers. "Nothing fancy," he told himself mentally as two of the sword wielders approached his position. A shadow flew over their heads as Florina swooped down from her perch on the fort, and skewered one of Dorcas' attackers with her lance. The other lost his head to a thrown hand axe.

As the two remaining bandits turned to stare at their fallen comrades, Mark stepped out of the shadows. His dagger came down in a flash, and lodged in his target's spine. His victim quietly slid to the ground. Mark repeated the process with the other bandit, and then sheathed his daggers.

"Let's head back in!" he called to the others. He turned and once again vanished into the shadows of the fortress.

From somewhere to the south a cry of, "Curses they're not human!" could be heard. "Listen up rogues! Retreat! Pull back!"

Mark smirked. He could guarantee that his companions were human. Although he wasn't too sure about himself these days. Shaking his head he carried on walking through the dank fort. He found his corner and settled down to sleep again.

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