Author's Note- This school year is going to be a killer one me, but I'll try to get a chapter in every now and then. Also, thank you for all the reviews, and I do have some plans to clear up some of the inconsistencies that you've pointed out (Ewan not having staves or light magic, being too trusting of strangers, etc). But some of those will probably come in later chapters.

Disclaimer- I do not own Fire Emblem, nor any related characters, events, etc., except for the few original characters that may, and eventually will appear over the course of the story.

Ewan, Enthusiastic Student

Chapter 3- Unconditional Trust

Ewan felt awkward to hear his newest comrade talk of his son's illness. Being used to seeing the world optimistically, he couldn't think of a way to bring happiness from this situation. The young mage remained silent, waiting for his ally to speak again.

"Let's not worry about it, alright, Red?" Balor spoke as he broke the silence. The mercenary quickly changed the subject, saying, "It shouldn't be too long until we get to Port Kiris. Once we get there, I'm going to find my employer."

"But, this won't be the last we see each other, will it?" Ewan asked, and Balor smiled.

"Of course not, Red," he reassured him, "Life is funny like that. We'll probably see end up seeing each other in the oddest of circumstances."

Ewan beamed, remembering that he, his teacher, and his sister were all involved in the purging of the fiends from Magvel, and he had thought for the longest time that their involvement was more than a mere coincidence.

The duo marched onward toward their destination. Ewan could already smell the shore, a sign that their trip together was almost over. The mage had lost track of time, but he knew quite well that he would have to eat once he reached the city.

"Gah, I'm hungry," Ewan blurted out spontaneously, "I could go for some food right now."

"You'll have to wait 'til we get to the city," Balor explained. "I'm hungry myself, but I think we can reach the port before hunger drives us insane." Ewan chuckled once Balor said this; the swordsman's way of talking casually and adding humor into his sentences every chance he got was certainly different from Saleh, always solemn and serious in tone.

It was less than half a day since the young magician had left on his journey, and already Ewan had a good feeling in his mind. The bright sky seemed too welcoming to allow any negative thoughts in the lad's mind, and he openly enjoyed the company of Balor, his newfound friend. Somewhere in Ewan's mind, there was another thought, one that told him of more of the wonderful things that could happen on his journey. That thought reminded him of Ross, Amelia, and the countless other companions he had during the War of the Demon King, and if he could see each of them once again, he would certainly have been one happy boy. All these hopes were enough to make Ewan quickly forget that his journey was originally intended for learning and becoming a great sage like Saleh, but back in Caer Pelyn, Ewan's teacher knew that whether the boy would open a single book or not on his journey, he would certainly have learned something by the time he came back.

Port Kiris was a busy trade city on the northwestern part of Magvel. Being a port town, it was commonplace to see merchants from distant land showcasing their goods, whether they sold clothes, jewelry, spices, or other trinkets that could only be found in certain places. One would also find many types of people there, as people of all sorts would stay in that one place to live, to work, to make quick gold, and in Ewan's case, to explore.

Ewan and Balor both reached Port Kiris during the afternoon, when the sun was still up, but the air was not as hot anymore. On the contrary, being by the ocean brought nice breezes, though both smelled the scent of salt water in the air. Of course, this was typical for a harbor, but nonetheless the two took some time getting used to the smell.

The mage looked around him; to his right, he saw several wooden ships anchored by the harbor and men transferring goods from ship to city, to his left, several white houses stood close to one another, apparently the homes of several families, and straight ahead, a large open square with benches along two sides which people would sit on for a break. Balor had already started to walk away while Ewan gawked curiously at his surroundings.

Balor looked back at his young friend and said, "This is it, Red."

"You're leaving?"

"Yeah," Balor replied, almost regretfully, "But I'm sure we'll see each other again." He started walking toward the buildings beyond the square, but turned back one last time.

"Be careful, Red."

"Huh?" Again, Balor's sudden change in tone took Ewan by surprise. "Wh-what do you mean?"

"Well," the blue-clad mercenary started to explain, "I don't want to anything to happen to you. There's always someone out there willing to bring misery to others."

Ewan remained silent, contemplating on Balor's words of wisdom.

"Until next time, Red." And the Azure Blade walked away, leaving his new comrade lost in thought, eventually merging with the groups of people standing in the city square, and disappearing from Ewan's sight completely.

Instead of following the swordsman, Ewan decided to find something to settle his upset stomach. He saw to his right the port, and walked toward it, hoping to find someone who sold fish that he could eat for a late lunch. He approached one man standing by a small, wooden vessel tied to the dock. He was a short, stumpy man wearing a ragged white shirt and old brown pants, and his beard seemed to curl as much as the hair on his head. He had a net full of fish, some still alive and flailing to escape their captor, and that certainly would explain why the middle-aged man smelled like brine and rotting fish.

"Whad'ya want?" The man seemed to scowl and his voice seethed with disconent. Ewan was intimidated by his negative disposition, but asked the man for fish anyway.

"I'd like to buy a fish, please."

"You an' everyone else," the sour man responded. "Are you going to tell me which one or what?"

"Er, I'd like a dead one, please." Ewan tried his best not to be intimidated, but his voice was high as he said the last word. The fisherman started to grumble to himself as he tossed a fish from the net to Ewan.

"Fifty gold." The fisherman wasted no time to get the transaction done, and Ewan paid him the money needed.

"Um, thank you," Ewan stammered, but the man only grumbled to himself and dragged his net elsewhere, hoping for another customer to come.

He looked at the fish he had bought: it was the about the length of one of Saleh's textbooks, and had silver scales. It was uncooked, so Ewan would have to work his magic to cook the fish the right amount. The mage brandished his Fire tome and opened it, holding it with one hand, and the fish in his other.

"Fire!" he yelled, and a small orb of fire appeared above his right hand, heating the fish until…

"Oh, darn it!" The fire disappeared and in his hand was a black fish, burned to the point that it could crumble into several charred pieces if dropped on the floor.

"Well, I guess this will do…" Ewan reluctantly started to eat the over-charred fish, forcing it to go down his throat as he ate each piece slowly with displeasure. After eating most of his fish, the young apprentice walked off to the town square. He strode calmly, taking his time and looking all around him to see the kinds of people that lived and worked in this city. Eventually, a tall man accosted Ewan out of nowhere. He wore a ragged brown vest over a dirty white shirt, was barefoot, and had shaggy, dirty blonde hair.

"Care to help a poor man out?" he asked as he walked up to Ewan. He immediately felt sorry for him, a poor, homeless man having to live off of so little to survive.

"Of course, but," Ewan took some time to think before continuing, "what could I do?"

"My mother," the man started, "is very ill. Please, I need you to see her."

Ewan, surprised by his request, replied, "But what can I do? I'm not a doctor, and I don't have any healing staves with me, and…"

"All I ask is that you see her, at least tell me if she can make it." All of a sudden, the beggar grabbed Ewan by his shirt. "Please!"

The red-cloaked mage was now locked in a battle with his conscience.

"This man is desperate for someone to help his mother, and I have to help him if no one else will."

"You don't have anything to do with him! He has nothing to do with your hopes of becoming as great as your teacher, Saleh."

"He needs my help before it's too late."

"You're just going to get yourself into trouble."

"I need to help him."

"You need to walk away."

The benevolent side of Ewan won, and he replied after a moment of silence, "Alright, I'll go."

The beggar embraced Ewan, much to the mage's displeasure, and started walking to the west, toward a forested area outside of town. He signaled for Ewan to follow him, and the young man walked along with him, though he kept a fair distance away. It took about fifteen minutes to reach their destination: a small, wooden cabin in the wooded area outside of Port Kiris.

"Please, come in." Ewan carefully entered the cabin and saw little inside. A wooden chair and small table was in one corner of the room, and across from the doorway was a single bed. In the bed, was a large lump covered by the bed sheets, which Ewan assumed was the man's mother.

"There she is," the beggar said, sounding tired and gloomy. He walked toward the doorway as Ewan approached the bed, hands shaking and palms sweating.

"I hope she's alright…" Ewan started to say as he pulled the sheet off of the bed.

There was no sick lady under the sheets, but only a couple of small pillows.

"What the heck?" Ewan turned to the beggar, who smiled grimly and held out two gleaming daggers, one in each hand.

"You were a fool to ever come here, you know that?" he taunted Ewan, whose heart froze when he started to advance. Ewan started to slowly back away, fumbling to get his Fire tome from inside his robes.

"Now, now, as long as you give me all your gold, I won't have to hurt you." The man's eyes gleamed with wicked pleasure, and a sadistic grin spread across his face. As Ewan was already backed into one of the far corners of the room, he felt powerless, and his face became pale as his mind raced.

"You idiot, now look what you've done!"

"He's going to take everything you have!"

"He's going to kill you!"

"Why did you have to trust him so easily, you fool?"

Ewan finally spoke up, hesitating with each word. "I d-don't have much g-gold with me." He took out his satchel of gold and tossed it to the thief. The bandit took it and examined the contents inside.

"Looks like I won't have to kill you then," he started to say, "which is a shame, because I took out these for nothing." He hid his daggers inside his vest, and walked toward Ewan, still smiling demonically. "I can always beat you around so that you'll stay silent. That's going to be good enough for me." Now the man stood two paces away from Ewan, who was frozen in fear of the situation he got himself in. He was alone against an armed man who would be quick enough to silence him if he did so much as brandish his spell book.

All the bandit had to do was to throw one hard punch at Ewan's gut. He hit the mage directly, and the young mage was thrown back against the cabin corner.

"I'm sorry, Teacher. I've been such a fool…"

And after another hit, everything around him went black.