"Ughhh, why must it be so hot?" Heather whined as she trudged through the sand.

"You did say you wanted to help, did you not?" Lucina replied as she wiped her forehead.

The pair had to leave their horses behind because the sand would be too hard for them to travel in. On top of that, the sun gave them no mercy, and beat down heavily on the pair.

Heather groaned and trudged on. Lucina was beginning to feel the fatigue herself, but she kept that quiet. The last thing she wanted to do was worry Heather.

They walked in silence for a few moments. "Hey Marth, don't you think it's a bit too quiet?" Heather asked as she glanced around.

Lucina nodded, "Yes, it is a bit quiet, but that's probably because we are in the Plegian Sands. Aside from a few towns…there's not much out here."

"Really? We're already in Plegia? You'd think they'd have a big 'Welcome to Plegia and I hope you enjoy your stay' kind of sign," Heather said.

Lucina rolled her eyes, "Yes, well, Plegia is not known for being hospitable…and I don't think that's a thing, Heather."

"Well, it should be! Imagine if Ylisse had one! Man, that'd be so cool," Heather said excitedly.

Lucina shook her head and returned her attention forward. Heather had made a point: It was very quiet out here. Lucina was fairly certain they weren't that far behind the Shepherds, especially if they were all traveling as one big army. Lucina knew first hand that armies take a long time to mobilize, and to travel with. She hadn't anticipated the Feroxi to be so quick with mobilizing their army, otherwise Lucina and Heather wouldn't have to travel in the conditions they are currently in.

With that in mind, it did not put her at ease to have such silence, aside from the groans coming from Heather.

"Hey, look at that!" Heather said suddenly, and pointed off into the distance.

"What are you…" Lucina followed Heather's gaze. Off in the distance, there were a few small buildings visible.

Heather grinned, "Buildings mean village, village means people, people means water!" She cheered.

Yeah…they forgot water.

Heather had brought a few things, but they were in such a rush that they didn't have time to pack. Lucina had planned to just get to Ferox, warn Chrom, then be on her own way. That's when she was going to get the necessities, but Heather had changed her plans entirely, causing her to be way less prepared than she had originally wanted.

They were still in Plegian territory, though. Meaning, even an innocent town could be very dangerous for two Ylisseans.

"Heather, we should just…" Lucina trailed off as she realized that Heather was already running towards the town.

Lucina took off after her. "Heather! Stop! You can't just run off in enemy territory!" She called after her.

Heather slowed down as Lucina caught up. "Seriously, don't be an idiot," Lucina hissed.

Heather rolled her eyes. "Marth, there's literally no one here. You worry too much."

Lucina glared at her. "Rightfully so, Heather. I just-" She was cut off as something flew directly past them.

"Get down!" Lucina yelled.

The pair hit the ground just as the sand next to them exploded up in the air.

Lucina jumped up and grabbed Heather by the arm, "C'mon! Run!"

The two took off in a zigzag pattern. Sand exploded all around them. Lucina coughed as she inhaled a mouthful of sand.

"What's going on?!" Heather yelled as the two ran.

"Plegians! They spotted us!" Lucina replied breathlessly.

The pair skidded to a halt as two Plegian men stepped out from behind a giant boulder.

Lucina whipped around, looking for an exit, but more Plegians stepped out from behind the rocks. There were five of them.

"Crap," Heather muttered as she realized they were surrounded.

The men all laughed. One man, an axe wielder, stepped up.

"What are two lass's like ya doin' out here?" The man asked.

Heather's eyes widened in fear. "Oh! U-Um we were just…on our way home!"

The man chuckled and continued to walk towards them, bobbing his axe up and down on his shoulder. "Is that so? How about I give ya some directions, yeah? Just be a good girly and step righ' here-"

The man lunged forward towards Heather with his axe. Lucina jumped in front of her, and her sword clashed with the axe. Lucina grunted as the man put more strength into the axe, pushing Lucina back in the sand.

"Heather! Don't just stand there! Help!" Lucina yelled over her shoulder.

"R-Right! Stay back you creeps!" Heather yelled, and pulled out her elthunder tome.

Another man laughed. "Hehe, you're not the only one with a tome, lass."

The axeman pushed Lucina off, and swung his axe directly at her head. Lucina quickly ducked and rolled to the side, narrowly missing his attack.

Heather's eyes widened as she saw the other Plegian. "N-No way. Is that a Nosferatu?" She asked tentatively.

The man grinned and Heather stepped back in fear.

Lucina yelped in pain as the axe nicked her arm. She jumped back, then charged at the man once again. She ducked as the axe swung carelessly towards her face, and slashed at the man's leg. The man howled in pain and fell to the ground.

"Heather! Focus! I need your help!" Lucina called out as the other Plegians began to close in.

Heather's heart began to race as she watched a Plegian make his way towards her. She held her elthunder tome in one hand, but her head was racing with so many thoughts it was hard for her to focus.

Lucina tried to run towards Heather, but a Plegian with a sword intercepted her. The two began to fight, and Lucina called out to Heather once again. "Heather! Behind you!"

Heather felt a hand grab her arm. She yelped, and tried to wriggle free, but the man kept a firm grip. "H-Hey, let go! Let me go!" She yelled.

Next thing she knew, she was on the ground. Heather tried to get up, but then she felt something hard hit her in the gut. She groaned and fell back down. Her mouth began to taste like blood as she gasped for air. Something hard hit her again, and her vision started to blur. Her ears started to ring as the chaos around her started to get quiet, then she blacked out.

"Heather!" Lucina screamed.

She ripped her sword from the Plegian's chest and ran towards the remaining two Plegians.

One of them had a dark magic tome, while the other held an axe.

Heather lay motionless in the sand. The man with the tome chuckled. "I'm sorry lass, but if you think you're gonna best me with that stick of yours, you're wrong."

Lucina grit her teeth. He was right, she could probably take on the axeman, but the mage, too? Her chances were low.

Lucina looked back at Heather. She couldn't leave her here, not like that. But, the chance that she herself would survive this battle was almost impossible. But Lucina had to get to her father. She knew that, too. Was Heather's life as important as billions of other lives?

The man readied his tome and pointed his hand directly at Lucina. His hand began to crackle with purple energy as he conjured a spell.

Lucina frantically stumbled back and tripped on one of the dead Plegian's arms, and fell heavily in the sand. She stared hopelessly up at the mage.

It was too late. There was nowhere left she could run.

Lucina squeezed her eyes shut and awaited the death blow.

There was a loud explosion sound, followed by a cry out in pain. Lucina opened her eyes. She looked down, and saw a dismembered hand slide and stop right in front of her feet on the ground. Her eyes widened as she hesitantly looked up. The Plegian mage was gone, and he seemed to have been scattered all over the ground in a bloody mess. She took in a shaky breath as she looked at the horrific scene.

"Gah! What the-" The axeman's eyes widened in fear as he spun around. His eyes settled on Lucina, who was still on the ground.

"YOU!" He growled, and charged towards her.

Lucina pushed herself backwards in the sand, trying to get away from the man.

There was a bright flash of light, and the charging Plegian froze in place. He fell to his knees as blood dripped down his mouth. He slowly looked down. Protruding from his chest was a crackling thunderbolt of electricity. His eyes rolled back in his head, and he fell lifelessly on his side.

Standing above the dead Plegian was another man. The man wore a mask, covering the bottom half of his face, revealing only his eyes. He wore a mage's attire, but it was also modified to be a bit more mobile seeing as it was less loose and more fitted. He had a sword strapped to his hip, and a dagger strapped to his right forearm. The man held a few different tomes, and his hand was still crackling with a few wisps of electricity.

Lucina looked up wearily at the man, unsure if he would come after her next. The man simply looked down at her, and turned to walk off.

Lucina shaily got to her feet and watched the retreating figure. "H-Hey, wait! Who are you?" She called after him, but it was futile. The man had already disappeared and was out of earshot.

Lucina frowned, then ran to go check on Heather. Heather was covered in cuts and bruises. Lucina winced at the sight.

"Hey, Heather. Wake up. Heather!" Lucina said frantically as she gently shook the girl's shoulders.

No response.

Lucina cursed under her breath.

She frantically looked around. Certainly the Shepherd's weren't too far away by now.

Heather needed help. Fast. Lucina knew that for sure.

Lucina sighed, and slung the limp Heather over her shoulders.

"Just hang in there, okay?"

…

Lucina had been walking with Heather practically on her back for about an hour. Still, no sight of the Shepherd's.

Lucina was hungry, thirsty, and most of all, exhausted. With the help of the beating sun, Lucina was pretty sure she wouldn't survive by the end of the day.

On top of that, Heather seemed to be getting worse by each passing minute.

At this point, it was inevitable that she needed the Shepherd's help, whether she wanted it or not. She swallowed her pride and trudged on.

…

"Naga be praised," Lucina gasped.

Over in the distance, Lucina could see a camp, as well as the Feroxi army, which were very easy to identify.

She trudged through the sand over to the camp as fast as she could. Lucina was beginning to be able to pick out a few of the Shepherds as she got closer. She saw Sully and Stahl walking together. Nowi ran around in circles excitedly as she held an apple high in the air. Panne and Vaike were arguing about something.

Lucina trudged on, ignoring the exhaustion that was eating away at her.

She was then intercepted by Chrom. "You there! What do you think your-" He abruptly stopped as he realized who he was talking to.

"Marth!? What in the blazes are you doing here!?" He asked, eyes wide in surprise.

Shepherd's began to gather around as they heard the commotion. Under normal circumstances, Lucina would be embarrassed to have attracted so much attention, but she was too exhausted to care.

"S-Sir, please…I need your help."

Chrom looked at her, eyes wide in shock. He nodded, "Y-Yes of course! Give me one minute!" Then he ran off.

The Shepherd's looked curiously over at Lucina. Most of them looked worried, some even scared. Lucina didn't blame them. She thought that appearing half dead in the middle of their camp was probably a bit alarming.

Her thoughts began to drift back to hours earlier to that man she met. He was different. Lucina wasn't sure who he was, and had no recollection of him in her time either.

He was strong, though. Appeared out of nowhere, and seemed to know how to wield multiple tomes at once, something she never knew that was possible.

She sighed. 'Chances are, I'll run into him again,' she thought.

Over in the distance, Lucina could make out Chrom and Robin running over to her. Maribelle running behind them.

Marth took in a deep breath. 'Here we go.'

AN: Yeah, I switched chapters 16 and 17. Thanks for the feedback to the individual who gave me the suggestion about chapter order! As the writer, some things make more sense to me that may be confusing as the reader, so thanks for letting me know! :D

-LittlePuppers