Chris: Yes, I took abnormally long. Hopefully, I'll pick up the wind for this fic. Anyway, for those you say I took too long, I completely agree with you. And for the person who requested Lyn/Chris, probably not going to happen since I have a no OC/Game character rule. Maybe a little, but probably not a full-blown romance. And maaaaybe werewolves, but I dunno.

Disclaimer: I'm a lazy ass who doesn't update fast enough. I just needed to point that out.

Oh, and I also don't own Fire Emblem.

Chapter 8: Fight at the Castle

Wil was the first person to strike. Running a hand along the smooth wooden shaft of his arrow, he sighted on a swordsman who was creeping to the side of the castle, no doubt ready to exploit the fact that the walls were run-down and ready to collapse. Grinning to himself, he released the arrow and saw it strike the mercenary in the shoulder. He saw the mercenary curse and look around in surprise to see who had shot him.

'If you didn't want to die…You shouldn't have fought.' Wil thought to himself as he loaded another arrow and sighted at the mercenary's chest. Taking a couple of seconds to make sure that he would hit, the brown-haired archer released the arrow and saw it fly into the swordsman's chest and propel him to the ground. Suddenly, however, a return arrow flew above the battlements and Wil ducked and rolled to the side as the arrow landed where his head had been.

Chancing a peek down, he saw another archer watching the walls. 'Dammit. I can't get up without risking getting shot. If only I had a crossbow…That would be small enough to shoot while ducking.' Wil notched another arrow just to prepare himself and peeked again, prompting another arrow to fly at his face. Memorizing the archer's location in his mind, he quickly stood and launched the arrow hastily. Not bothering to see anything, he notched another arrow to his bow. He didn't hear any sounds from below so he looked around, only to see that he had missed.

'…Let me try it one last time…' Wil breathed deeply before quickly rising and sighting the enemy archer. He released the bowstring and watched as the arrow flew into the archer's neck, killing his foe. Grimacing, Wil continued his vigil on the battlements, too high to hear the sounds of a bandit slowly chipping away at the wall.

---

"Sain! Snap it up!" Kent yelled as he swung his sword to quickly slay a bandit that had gotten too close. The orange-haired cavalier grimaced at his partner, who landed a heavy strike against an enemy's axe, cleaving the weapon, and the wielder, in the two.

"Of course, my good sir Kent!" Sain replied, steering his horse out of the way of an axe that was aimed for its head. Sain quickly dispatched that bandit and looked out in front of him, where even more of the axe-wielding bandits were gathered. "Sheesh, it's a good thing we got to the gate in time."

Because the gate only allowed two people in the corridor at one time, Sain and Kent possessed a natural advantage because they didn't have to face a horde of bandits at the same time while the bandits had to file in two-by-two, thus reducing the effectiveness of their forces.

"Harr, keep talking pretty boy!" A gap-toothed brigand, wielding a heavy axe and garbed in nothing more than rags, jumped at Sain. The cavalier parried the brigand's blow and swung back, slashing the bandit across the chest and flinging him to the ground.

"I do not appreciate being called a pretty boy." Sain muttered as he finished off the fallen enemy. He sighed inwardly as another brigand hurled himself at him. 'And I don't like this. These fools think they can win…' He quickly disillusioned the attacking bandit from that ideal and looked at his partner, who showed no signs of tiring. "You okay, Kent?"

"I'm just fine. Concentrate on the battle and never abandon your duty!" Kent replied as he dodged an attack. The red-armored cavalier winced as an axe managed to pierce his armor, but he quickly regained his focus and slew the person who had wounded him. "Their numbers are dwindling and we must keep fighting!"

---

Lady Lyndis was heading for the side entrance when an axe suddenly flew past her head, colliding against the wall and clattering on the floor. Stifling a curse, she drew her sword and prepared to kill the bandit who dared to attack her. She spun around the corner and stopped, stunned. "Dorcas?"

"How do you know my name?" The bandit, a tall, muscled man with a small brown beard and short brownish-red hair looked at Lyn in confusion. "Unless…"

"Good, I'm right. Dorcas, your wife is in this building! Do you want to attack her?" Lyn shouted, her ponytail whipping behind her head because of the wind.

"Of course not! You people are protecting my wife?" Dorcas ran up to retrieve his fallen weapon. "If so, then I'm on your side."

"Glad to have you!" Lyn smiled. "Huh?"

"L-Lady Lyndis!" Florina cried as she ran towards Lyn, leading her pegasus behind her. The orchid-haired pegasus knight panted when she finally reached her friend. "A-Are you okay?"

"I'm just fine, Florina." Lyn smiled at her friend and patted her on the shoulder. "Thanks for asking. Oh, and before I forget…" She motioned to the newest recruit. "This is Dorcas."

Florina seemed to shrink slightly, hiding behind her pegasus. "I-It's nice to m-meet you."

"…" Dorcas nodded in reply. The fighter departed the castle, intent on clearing the area of any enemy brigands. Lyn and Florina quickly heard sounds of fighting and they rushed outside to help, only to find out that Dorcas had already dispatched the foe and was relieving the corpse of its weapon.

"Doesn't talk much, but he gets the job done." Lyn muttered to herself. "Okay, let's just wait here. If the bandits have any reinforcements, which they most likely do, we can't discount the fact that they may appear at the side entrance. If none show up, I'll proceed to sneak behind and kill the bandit leader. You two stay back and protect this exit, okay?"

Dorcas nodded, watching their surroundings. "Okay."

"S-Sure, Lyn…" Florina nodded fearfully, clutching her lance in a death grip as she slowly mounted her pegasus now that they were in open air. "B-Be careful when you do."

"Of course, Florina." Lyn grinned. "Wouldn't do to get killed here, now would it?"

---

"Gulp…I have no idea what the hell I'm doing…" Chris muttered uncertainly to himself as he placed a hand on his sword hilt, standing in front of their makeshift infirmary. "I can't use a sword well at all and I'm standing here on guard duty. I am a tactician. This does not bode well whatsoever."

The nervous black-haired boy jumped as he heard something crack behind him. Whirling behind him, he saw it was nothing. "Okay, okay…Just my imagination…" He whispered to himself, the sound of his voice calming him down, albeit only slightly. Chris breathed deeply, trying to calm himself so that he wouldn't be so nervous and thus not hurt himself while he was handling his sword.

'I still have no idea why that bishop guy gave this sword to me.' Chris thought to himself, his dark-green robes brushing on the ground. He took in another deep breath and continued pacing in front of the door. "I just hope no one gets this deep…" The moment he said that, he knew his hopes would be dashed, for standing in front of him was a tall, unshaved man holding a humongous axe in his hands.

'Damn it all.' Chris quickly drew his sword, although his hands were shaking and his posture was to say the least, inelegant. "S-Stay away! I don't want to have to hurt you!"

"Harr harr! A young whelp like you thinks he can boss around me?" The brigand let out another laugh before raising his axe. "We'll see if I can cut you down to size!" He swung at the young tactician, who brought his sword up to counter. Unused to fighting as Chris was, the vibrations from the collision traveled through his hands and almost made him drop his sword.

The tactician staggered backwards, stunned by the amount of power that his foe had put into his first attack. "I-I said stop!" He brought his sword back up again, but he was shaking with fright.

"Make me, kid!" The brigand attacked again and Chris jumped to the side, avoiding the attack. As quickly as he could, he swung his sword at the bandit's side. He saw the sword pass through skin and flesh and a small part of him hoped that he had won. But obviously, he hadn't.

"That's it! I don't care if you're a kid, you're going to die!" The bandit, now enraged, raised his axe high above his head, intent on decapitating the young tactician. Chris threw all rational thought from his head and just blindly stabbed forward, his eyes closed.

The black-haired boy waited for the pain, waiting for the axe to cleave into his body. But he felt nothing. Slowly opening his eyes, the tactician saw that he had struck first, with his sword, Sange, firmly lodged in the bandit's stomach. His enemy gave a few strangled gurgles before collapsing on the ground, wrenching the sword out of Chris's grip.

The young tactician looked at the fallen body in front of him, nudging the corpse slightly with the toe of his boot. When he saw that the brigand was dead, he gave a sigh of relief and then collapsed on the floor, overcome with crying and shaking.

'Why am I crying?' He thought to himself as he continued to shake. Tears kept flowing from his eyes even as he tried to stem them from popping out. The tactician rubbed his eyes forcefully and tried to stop himself from crying, but every time he would try, the image of the brigand would come back and he would be stricken with another wave of shaking. Finally, however, all the adrenaline that had been powering his body drained away and he slipped into unconsciousness.

---

"Looks like the first wave is done." Kent commented. "Do you want to stay here to guard or should we go out?"

"I say we go out." Sain replied. "While it would probably be easier to just stay in our defensive positions, the only way we'll truly eliminate these brigands is if we were to head for their field and defeat them there." The green-armored cavalier looked at his friend.

"You're making sense, Sain. It's making me nervous." Kent said, smiling slightly to show that it was just a joke. "Come on, let's go." He nudged his horse forward out of the bloodied gates of the castle.

"Right behind you, my boon companion!" Sain brushed back some of his sweaty brown hair and followed his partner outside.

"Hey, hey! Wait for me!" Wil ran after them, clutching his bow under his shoulder. "You can't forget about me!" The brown-haired archer halted in front of Kent, panting heavily. "How could you guys leave without telling me?"

"I didn't think you'd want to come." Kent commented, looking at the winded archer. "Are you certain it was safe to leave the castle undefended?"

"Oh, shoot!" Wil straightened. "Well, Chris is always there and we killed everyone else that was attacking, right?" He looked thoughtful for a couple of moments. "I can't help but think that there might have been something that I missed."

---

"So you're the leader of this pack of outlaws and misfits!" Lyn yelled at the only bandit left. "Just like one of you filth to remain in the back!" She drew her mystical sword, the Mani Katti, and pointed it at the bandit. "I care not for your name, but just for your death!"

"What are you talking about?" The leader cried. "I am Carjiga and I'm not alone! Come on boys, attack!" He raised his axe and suddenly more bandits sprung out from the foliage and advanced on Lyn.

The swordswoman immediately knew she was in trouble. However skilled she was, there would be no chance for her against five-on-one odds. Still, there was a chance she could lower the odds against her and somehow come out on top. She brought her sword in a defensive stance, careful to make sure that nobody attacked on her blind side.

"Milady!"

Lyn spun, distracted by the sound. As she spun, one of the bandits took his chance and leaped at her with his axe. However, before he could even get close, Kent rode in at full speed and impaled the attacking bandit with his sword. Close behind him, Sain trampled into one of the bandits and immediately slew another. And finally, a small shower of arrows rained on another, thus eliminating all but one of the threats posed to Lyn.

The green-haired Sacaen quickly dispatched the final brigand and faced the leader, who had begun to sweat. Lyn grinned at her friends. "Thanks a lot. I really needed your help."

"It was only our duty, Milady." Kent said, dismounting from his horse and kneeling before Lyn. "I can only apologize for not arriving faster."

"Hehe, well, I did my best!" Wil ran up, a wide smile on his face. "That's all I can do, right?" He stretched and massaged his fingers. "Pretty good shot."

"Even if I had to plow through a million of these ruffians, I would still race to be by your side, my beautiful Lady Lyn!" Sain crowed, grinning widely. "Even if it were for millions of miles, I would still fight by your side!"

"Thank you all." Lyn smiled warmly and patted Kent on the shoulder. "Come on, you don't need to bow towards me. The point is that you arrived on time." She turned and faced Carjiga. "I believe you're alone now. Do you have the guts to fight?"

"Grrr….You'll pay for that, wench!" The black-bearded man rushed wildly forward with his axe, screaming a battle cry at the top of his lungs.

Lyn just stood there, her hand on the hilt of her sheathed sword. Her eyes were closed and she slowly withdrew her weapon. 'Strike!' Her eyes snapped open and she swung her sword horizontally straight across Carjiga's chest. The Mani Katti ripped a huge, bloody line from one side of his body to his other, but the berserk brigand just kept coming.

Jumping back to avoid a swing, she danced around the slower man, her sword appearing where he expected it least. Finally, she thrust forward, her sword piercing through his body until it appeared on the other side. She dispassionately withdrew her sword from the corpse and looked at the others. "Come on, we're done here. Let's go see if Dorcas and Florina are okay. We'll report back to Chris and find out where we'll go next."

---

"Hahahaha…Can you believe it? My first battle and I fainted right afterwards." Chris said weakly. The black-haired tactician faced the other members of their little group. "I've gotta say that I'm not cut out for this stuff…Especially with all the killing…" He bowed his head and looked at the ground, his hands clasped together.

Kent and Sain shared a glance. Kent walked up to the tactician and patted him on the back silently before retiring to the stables to take care of his horse and weapons.

Sain, being the talkative one out of the pair, shook Chris by the shoulder. "Hey, I know what it's like. I can only give my condolences and I hope that you won't have to go through it again." He walked off to the stables as well.

"I guess those two are right. I killed someone, but that doesn't mean I have to keep moping about it." He clapped his hands and stood, his eyes slightly shadowed but sparkling with their usual enthusiasm. "So, how'd it go?"

"The bandits were defeated, Dorcas was found, and all in all, we did really well." Lyn smiled and gestured to the infirmary. "Heather is doing better as well and Natalie was overjoyed to hear that we had found her husband."

"Heh, that's good." Chris brushed back some of his scruffy hair. "Well, we'll sack out here for another night before leaving. We'd better get to the road. Every day we stall is another day that your wicked uncle schemes for the throne." He unclasped his cloak and laid it on a wooden table nearby. "Sheesh, that thing is so restricting sometimes."

Lyn settled down in a seat and made sure there was no one nearby. No one was, because Dorcas was busy talking to his wife, Florina had decided to go out for a reconnaissance, and Sain and Kent were in the stables. Wil had left to whittle some arrows and Heather, while recovering, was still unconscious. "Hey Chris."

"Yeah?" He adjusted the collar of his shirt, grumbling slightly. "What's up?"

"When you were fighting the bandit, why didn't you change into a vampire?" Lyn asked. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but I'm just curious. If you have changed into one, you would have been able to defeat the guy in a second, right?"

"Maybe…" The tactician gave her a strange look. "I just didn't want to. There are times when I need to change and that wasn't one of those times. I have control over my desires, Lyn. I don't change every time I fight."

Lyn flushed. "Sorry for asking."

"It's okay. I've often wondered about it myself." Chris mumbled. "I'm going to sleep. Don't wake me for dinner. I'm not hungry." He walked to where the beds were located and while he stood straight, Lyn could see that he stumbled sometimes and seemed to be in a haze.

'Well, if he has a problem, he can always talk to us.' Lyn thought to herself. She headed for the stables where Sain and Kent were located. It would be a good idea to sharpen her weapons as well and besides, their company would be most appreciated.

---

Chris stumbled into his room, sighing deeply. He collapsed on a ratty mattress nearby and closed his eyes, trying to get all thoughts of the battle out of his head. The tactician turned, unable to find the peace of sleep. He continued to toss and turn for a while before proclaiming that it was impossible for him to be able to sleep.

'What can I do?' Chris looked around for something to occupy him and tire him out so that he could sleep easier. His gaze fell to the sword he had strapped to his waist. Slowly withdrawing it from its sheath, Chris looked at the cold steel that could decide whether or not someone would live or die. The person who wielded such a weapon could not only protect himself, but also enforce his actions upon others. Perhaps…

Taking a deep breath, he positioned himself in a comfortable position with the sword held diagonally in front of him. He raised his sword high above his head and brought it down. Breathing in again, he repeated the motion.

'Perhaps…I will one day be able to do what I command others to do. Perhaps I can fight.'

Chris: Even if you don't believe me, I am truly sorry for the huge delay in getting this fic updated. I've just been involved in so many different things that I haven't had enough time to work on everything. Thanks to Geb, Dias of All Final, and Min the Noodle for submitting characters.

If you want to submit your own OC, be my guest. I would love to have another OC in the story. E-mail me if you wish to submit one. Oh, and to those who have an OC, do you mind if I partner you with my own OCs or put you with FE characters? If so, just tell me. If not, I'll probably have some snippets of romance for the OCs.

Thank you for your time and review please.