About the last chapter: Leo, Olan and Sigrene will appear later. They aren't really OC's (original characters) I just put a face on a faceless character.
This chapter is kind of in two parts. This chapter will be on what Farina and Karla do on this day, and the next chapter will be what Dart, Rebecca, Wil and Geitz do on the same day. Also I don't own FE or any of the characters
So without any further ado:
Chapter 4 – The Hazards of the Arena
-Badon-
Karla raised her damp self off the bed, the water she had dragged in left a huge mark in the middle of the bed. She groaned and pushed her dark frizzy hair out of her eyes. Great, she thought, not only do I feel like crap, my hair looks like Serra's. She woke up Farina and they decided to go to the baths after breakfast.
The inn was full of pirates who had arrived the day before from Badon. This excited Farina, certain that they had brought some members of Eliwood's army.
"Listen… they came from Badon, maybe someone came with them!" Farina said
"By someone, do you mean someone from the old army?" Karla asked, a little hesitantly.
"Nah, I think they brought a dragon along." Farina said, rolling her eyes "Let's check out the shops before we go to the baths."
"Why not" Karla said resignedly. They choked down their slightly stale porridge and left.
"Right, where first?" Asked Farina
"Well, why don't we check out the Armouries on the other side of town?" Karla suggested. Farina nodded and they walked off.
Badon isn't very big, but being the only pirate port on the south coast, it stocks a lot of supplies and fairly large selection of weaponry. There are 10 armouries and Vendors which sell: Basic lances, more advanced lances, basic axes, advanced axes, basic swords, advanced swords, basic bows, staves and miscellaneous items, basic magic tomes and a new shop had just opened which sold advanced bows.
The staves and miscellaneous items store was huge and this was where Farina and Karla went first. It was a large hall with staves lining one side, and different vulneraries and elixirs lined the other. In the middle was a range of items, from door keys to goddess icons to some rare promotion items near the back wall.
Farina worked her way down one side of hall, while Karla went down the other side after they agreed to rendezvous at the back wall. As she made her way through the small crowd, Farina spotted a display of Horse/Pegasus/Wyvern care products and picked up a small tub of hoof waterproofing wax, as she had to leave most of her Pegasus stuff behind. Karla however just picked up two elixirs and her dark eyes continued scanning the crowd.
They met up at the back of the hall and showed each other what they wanted to buy. Farina looked around and her eyes fell on the small display of promotion items in the corner.
"Hey look they have a few Elysian Whips" Farina said, reverently, pointing at a complicated whip which lay on top of a handsome leather case. Farina always kept hers on Murphy, in case she lost all her possessions.
"It would make a great present for Florina" She argued to herself softly. But then she saw the price tag and dropped the whip as though it was burning.
"15000 gold?" said Karla next to her "Let's just look for someone" Farina swished her hair and they walked down the hall, her dark blue eyes flashing around the room.
They didn't find anyone in the main store or the axe armouries next door, but when they walked into the new archery armoury they saw Wil and Rebecca browsing near a shelf of complicated bows.
"Oh look! It's Wil and Rebecca" Farina said running off to meet them.
"Wait!" Karla said, but it was too late. She knew of them and also the fact that they were both close to Dart and had put two and two together.
"Wil, Rebecca, how are you!" Farina said happily. Wil and Rebecca both did a double take.
"Hi, Farina!" Said Rebecca "It's nice to see you again"
"It is too" Added Wil. Farina smiled for a moment before Karla walked over.
"Hello, I'm Karla, we fought together a month ago" Karla said
"Karla, I know you, the sword princess! You're really talented" Wil said admiringly. Rebecca gave him a strange look at this and greeted Karla somewhat coldly.
"So what are you all doing here?" Farina asked them. Wil and Rebecca looked at each other.
"Oh we're going back to our old village in Pherae" Wil replied hesitantly.
"You two look like newlyweds!" Farina said happily. To her surprise Wil and Rebecca both blushed and looked away from each other. Rebecca chose to take it as a joke and laughed a bit a few seconds late.
"So where are you two going?" Rebecca asked, obviously trying to change the topic.
"We're not sure. We're currently looking to join a mercenary squad." Karla said.
"But no one pays as well as Hector." Farina added. They laughed a little and it became a little awkward.
"So Rebecca we're heading off to the baths, do you want to come along?" Farina asked.
"Oh err, if you don't mind Wil?" Rebecca asked, looking at him hopefully.
"Sure you can go Rebecca. When will you be back?" Wil said. Rebecca seemed a little sad about leaving Wil alone.
"Err" She turned to Farina.
"We'll have her back to you in an hour… sorry about breaking you two up." Farina said. Wil and Rebecca both looked away from each other for a second. Farina, Karla and Rebecca left the armoury and walked down to the baths.
Thankfully pirates aren't very hygienic and don't visit the baths very often, but even so, when people of opposite sexes come in they are allocated to different baths (there are six). So Farina, Karla and Rebecca walked to the counter and were given a room just behind the main area.
They stripped in the little side room, Farina with confidence, Rebecca a little nervously and Karla her usual impassive self. The water was surprisingly hot and it burnt them a little as they stepped in. They sat on a ledge underwater in silence for a while, before Farina decided to break the silence.
"So what's going on with you and Wil?" Farina asked, slyly. Rebecca kind of slipped a little, but slid back on again.
"Nothing, we were just chatting about life in the village, that's all" Rebecca stated, red faced, although that could have been the heat.
"All right, all right." Farina said smiling. She suddenly pushed off into the water gracefully and wet her hair. She trode water for a while before moving back to the edge. She tossed her wet hair over her back and basked in the heat for a while.
Karla wet her hair too, but then decided to get out and prepare for a morning arena battle, which was going to sign herself up for. She walked into the small room and changed back into her usual Sacaean garb and towelled her hair dry before walking out, thanking the woman at the counter and paying her share of the bath fee.
She walked over to the sword armoury and bought a killing edge, after gasping at the regal blade she saw on sale for 20000 gold. Karla decided that she would buy herself a light brand if she won at least twice in the arena.
Farina can push me into the arena for money, but she can't decide what I spend the money on, Karla thought with a little satisfaction. She headed over to the arena nearby.
"Well, what do we 'ave here then?" The Arena co-ordinator (if you can use such a word to describe an old battle-worn pirate with scars on his forehead) said to Karla when she approached. But he knew enough of battle to know that women should not be underestimated. In fact the scars on his face were inflicted by a female myrmidon.
"I want to battle old man" Karla said coolly to him, her hand resting on the hilt of her sword.
"If you know watcha getting into… alright there's a battle on right now, you'll be on after that. I'm gonna need…" He trailed off, judging the skill of the woman in front of him. "700 gold." Karla pulled out her money bag and handed him the money.
"You'll be up against a good strong sage, he's got a thunder tome. I need your belongings, they'll be up 'ere with me don' worry." He bent down under the counter with Karla's bag and sword. He shuffled around for a few minutes and then pulled out another sword. It was old and chipped and was on the brink of breaking.
"Right, here's a steel sword. Now if you die, you have to leave the name of someone who'll pickup your belongings."
"Farina" Karla said without hesitation. "She's a falcoknight."
"Right, well good luck" Karla was ushered into a sandy oval, where a dead paladin and horse were being dragged out of the arena, half a lance lying in the sand next to her. A huge berserker was shouting to the crowd, who were cheering.
Karla observed this without a single emotion. She had to be in that state, otherwise she might falter when it was necessary for a killing stroke. The berserker had left and a slightly nervous sage walked out onto one side of the field, to some applause.
Karla took a deep breath and waked out, her face expressionless, her body tense. She could almost see the sage was feeling bad for having to fight a woman. Maybe he had a wife… Karla drove the thought out of her mind. He was out to kill her, she thought to herself, If she didn't kill him he would kill her.
Even though Karla had done this many times before, it never got any easier. She didn't like killing, and killing in cold blood was a lot harder than in the heat of battle.
A drum roll started and it drove all thoughts out of her mind. Karla was only focused on beating the man in front of her. She pulled out the steel sword and it hung loosely by her side. The sage pulled out a yellow book and read over a passage quickly.
She thought to herself again. Now the best way to fight a sage is to strike really quickly so they don't have time to cast a spell, if he casts a spell, it's going to be a lot harder.
The drum roll ended and a trumpet sounded one extended blast. The two opponents tensed, waiting for the end of the sound, which would commence the battle. Karla increased her grip on the steel sword and it glinted in the sun. The sage swallowed and shuffled the book.
The trumpet blast ended. At once Karla was off, zigzagging while running so that the sage couldn't get aim, her hair flowing behind her. She knew at once that she was up against a formidable opponent. Already the sage had traced half a glowing image in the air. By the time Karla had reached him he had finished the image.
Karla slashed viciously with her sword, but the sage danced backwards completing the spell. She slashed again, this time vertically, but the sage slid to the side. A bolt of thunder flew at her from the air; she couldn't dodge so she threw her sword up in an attempt to stop the thunder.
The thunder cracked down on the sword with amazing ferocity, Karla felt it getting hot, but held on swinging herself under the sword to the side. The thunder abated and she jumped at the sage, so they were only a foot away from each other. This time he couldn't dodge, and the blade sank deep into his arm.
The crowd cheered, finally someone had inflicted some damage. The sage's next spell hit Karla in the arm. She could feel it burning, and yet it was glorious; she could smell her hair singing. She swung her sword backward and caught the sage off guard, cutting deep into his thigh. He screamed and Karla made the final slash across his chest, slicing his robes open and cutting the tome in half.
The sage swayed for a moment, his mouth full of blood, then collapsed onto the sand. Karla turned away and clenched her teeth at the pain in her arm. She stumbled back into the competitor's area and took a huge swig from her vulnerary. The pain in her arm subsided, and she could eerily feel her flesh healing itself.
Karla sat down in a small rickety chair by a window and gazed out for a minute.
"Karla, there you are!" A voice said behind her she spun around to see Farina walking over with Rebecca and Wil. Farina was grinning weirdly and Karla was a little suspicious, but she walked over to them.
"Seeing as you're standing in front of us, I take it you won?" Farina asked.
"Yeah, It was tough though, I got struck by a thunder" Karla said. Farina and Wil winced but Rebecca just looked sadly at Karla.
Farina had signed herself up for a battle after lunch, so they walked back to the inn, where they were all staying, for lunch. Farina ate quickly and took Murphy out of the small stables for a quick fly, to get ready for the battle.
Murphy was a very resilient young Pegasus and she was still flying at her best, despite what she went through. Her strong wings pushed them into the air in three large flaps. Farina instructed Murphy to circle the inn a few times before they landed.
They all walked over to the arena together giving Farina support as she led Murphy, who was trotting along beside them.
"I'm up against a Wyvern lord" Farina told them, looking fairly nervous. They were very strong, but she was amazingly fast and could avoid the more powerful blows, she told herself.
They separated once they reached the Arena, Karla, Wil and Rebecca heading towards the spectators area (competitors were allowed to bring in four spectators for free).
Farina tightened her hold on the steel lance the Arena man gave her and mounted Murphy.
"Okay Murphy, if we win I'll get you a noble carrot!" She said jokingly. Murphy made a little chuckling neigh and flappped her wings impatiently. At Farina's instruction she trotted on to the pitch.
The Wyvern was already out on the sand and it hissed at them. How could anyone ride them, Farina thought, They're so ugly. Murphy seemed to agree with her, because she gave a small shudder.
The drum roll started and the crowd fell silent. Farina spotted Karla, Wil and Rebecca sitting near the front behind the Wyvern.
Both Farina and they Wyvern Lord pressed themselves further into their steeds. The drum roll came to an end, and Farina moved her lance a little.
The trumpet sounded, and a band struck up for some reason… tiddle tiddle tiddle tiddle dum Dum DUM… Dum dum DUM… Farina ignored the music. the trumpet blast ended and they both took off into the air.
Farina made the first strike, as Murphy slid sideways in the air to help her. The lance plunged into the Wyvern's shoulder, but it didn't seem to feel it at all. Farina swallowed and pulled the lance out of it's shoulder.
The Wyvern lord struck out then, but the lance missed. Barely. In fact it grazed Murphy's wing as Farina found out later.
Murphy turned again and Farina stuck out her lance again, this time hitting the wyvern on it's side and it hissed. She pulled out her lance and struck again, this time hitting the rider's armour, causing a large dent in it. The rider had pulled his lance around and made another attack, this time Murphy was too slow, and the lance hit the side of her leg.
Murphy neighed very loudly, but still turned for the attack. Farina focused totally on the accuracy this time and stuck the rider in the chest, almost knocking him off, but not causing any damage.
Now that she had the lance where she wanted Farina pulled it back a little before slamming it into the rider as hard as she could. The rider lost his grip on the reins and fell off his Wyvern. The Wyvern rose into the air, with the loss of a great weight on it's back.
The rider was lying on the ground, while Farina twirled her lance in her hands, while Murphy flew at the rider. Farina aimed the lance at rider's chest, but saw his eyes, they were full off pain and suffering.
Farina immediately felt sorry for him and instead swung her lance sideways into his helmet, knocking him out. Murphy landed on the ground a short way away to some cheering from the crowds.
Farina's mind was full of what had happened. She was trying to figure out why she had stopped herself. The obvious thought was that he wasn't going to kill her, but she knew that wasn't it. It was the eyes, she thought, of course. He was poor, just like she herself was only a few years back and it reflected into his eyes.
She led Murphy to the dingy stable area, found a vulnerary in her bag and fed some to Murphy, who neighed with relief. Karla, Rebecca and Wil walked over to her and congratulated her.
"Great battle Farina" Karla said.
"Yeah, I was really worried for a second, but that was amazing!" Rebecca added. She then walked over to Murphy to pet her.
"I had no idea you were so fast and so skilful with a lance" Wil said. Rebecca turned away from him and became more involved with patting Murphy. She suddenly walked away to the counter and signed up for an indirect battle (Rebecca, not Murphy).
The others looked a little disbelieving, but they went up to the stands after supporting her.
They sat in the stands, Wil was on the edge of the bench watching Rebecca nervously. Rebecca was up against a Druid armed with a flux tome. The band struck up and the battle begun. Rebecca made two shots which hit their target, before dodging a flux spell. She made two more shots, one of which missed, before another flux came at her.
This time, however, she was too slow and got hit by it. She cried out, but made the final shot and the druid fell backwards on to the sand.
Afterwards she took some vulnerary and enjoyed some congratulations from Farina, Karla and Wil. She seemed quite happy with herself.
Karla decided that she would have another shot at the arena and signed up for one. It was decided that she would be up against a general, a highly skilled general. She picked up the old steel sword and walked outside without a word. The sun was setting and it filled the Arena with a soft orange light.
Farina, Rebecca and Wil walked up to the stands for the battle. The drum roll started and the huge general walked out with a huge lance. Karla knew at once that if she let herself be hit by the lance there was a chance that she would be getting back up.
She would have to go critical to beat this general, maybe even twice. She tightened her grip on the sword. The drum roll ended and the band struck up.
The trumpet blast ended and the battle began. Karla ran up and slashed at the general, slicing through some of the armour. The general growled and thrust out his lance. Karla slipped to the side, just avoiding the path of the lance. It was travelling so fast it felt as though it had hit her, even though it missed by a centimetre.
Karla attacked again, so fast it was little more than a flash of the sword. Two deep gashes appeared in the general's armour. He thrust again, but this time the lance hit its mark. Karla screamed as the lance ripped into her leg, through her white Sacaen robe. She dropped on all fours in pain, while in the stage Farina stood up in horror.
"Yield, Karla! YIELD!" Farina screamed at her. Karla looked up to see a lance flying towards her head. She rolled to the side and the lance drove into the sand.
For some reason the sight of the lance threw everything out of her mind, the defeat, the sorrow and the pain. She jumped up onto her uninjured leg and spun her sword around her. Another gash appeared in his armour and he groaned, but he still wrenched his lance out of the sand and swung it wildly.
Karla ducked under the lance and went critical aiming for his neck, five huge gashes opening up in the general's armour. She ducked waiting for the next lance attack, but it never came.
Her attack had severed the general's throat, and he collapsed into the sand, like so many before him. Unfortunately for Karla, her boost of energy left when she saw the general collapse and she followed suit.
"KARLA!" Farina screamed. They ran down to the sand and picked up the unconscious swordmaster. Rebecca poured some elixir into her mouth.
"Let's take her to the infirmary" Rebecca said. They hobbled over to the infirmary, which was next door to the arena.
The infirmary was a small hall with several stretchers. When Farina and Wil walked in carrying Karla, a young priest who was sitting in a canvas chair by the window trying to understand a light magic tome, jumped up. He pulled a mend staff out of his robes and immediately stepped in to action.
The priest used his staff several times, and the wound sealed, but he couldn't revive her.
"I'm not sure I can heal her… It seems that she's almost accepted death." The priest said sadly. "We have to wait and see if she wakes up." Farina, Wil and Rebecca looked at each other, shocked at what they heard.
Just then Dart and Geitz burst into the infirmary.
"Rebecca, Wil you're alri- wait you!" Dart said spotting Farina in the corner sobbing quietly.
"Dart" Geitz said in a low warning voice "leave it"
"Karla…" Farina moaned "Please wake up, remember our agreement…"
"Don't worry, I'm sure she'll recover" The priest said, but they could all hear the lack of conviction in his voice.
Well that was a long chapter…Yay more than 10,000 words! (altogether). The next chapter is more romantically minded… and I will get it on in a couple of days.
To the Reviewers:
Lemurian-Girl: Okay so maybe they're not that odd in their supports. Anyway thanks, I kinda feel sorry for Wil and Rebecca after what I put them through…
ManaMage: Foreshadowing? Well you'll find out. Thanks.
MiSs JoVaNNa: I dunno, I guess I meant like bow strings or something, I mean peoplekeep a lot ofweird things in chests… Glad you enjoyed it.
Nightmare3: Thanks for the advice, I was kinda hesitant when I put in Karla, because she's such a deep character. I try to keep thoughts to a minimum, but I'll take them out of quotation marks. In answer to your question, I plan on including some cameos the fic continues.
Draknal (Chapter 1): I really do need a new description. Thankyou, I hope I keep the plot fresh and interesting.
Daniel Chen: You don't understand the plot? It's really quite simple. Thanks.
I couldn't post for the last 2 weeks, because I posted something in script format, my bad! I'm sorry to you and to fan fiction . net. everyone R&R!