Mark stared at the sky outside of Lyn's tent. The skirmish a week earlier had weakened his already weakened state, and Lyn was unable to walk on both legs for a day or too. As such they decided to take the appropriate amount of time off before Mark continued his quest with Lyn in tow. Since Lyn's tent only had one bed and she refused to share it, she showed him a tent a little ways away that she had been sleeping in while he was unconscious. The revelation of this tent brought to Mark's attention that there was a whole little village of tents with a massive fire pit in the center. No one was there though. Little villages of tents like these showed up often in Mark's research of the area. They were easy to transport, to put up and take down, so they were ideal for the nomadic lifestyle. Lyn still hadn't told him the details on how her parents died, or why she seemed to be alone and willing to travel the world with him, but now he felt like he had an idea. He was glad that he offered to take her with him before he figured all of this out. If he had waited, she might have just taken the gesture as one of pity.

Snapping back into the present, he heard the sound of a flap opening up behind him. Lyn popped out in her usual clothes, now with a large bag over her shoulder. Her sword was strapped to her side. She smiled at Mark.

"Thanks for letting me come along. I know it's harder to travel with more people. More mouths to feed and such."

Mark smiled back. "Not at all. I'd be dead by now if not for you, it's the very least I could do. Besides, why leave friendships at their beginnings? I look forward to getting to know you even better." Lyn laughed a little bit into her hand. Mark raised an eyebrow. "What? What did I do?"

"Nothing, nothing you just… sound so formal. You said how you wanted to act more on our friendship as if you were forced." She noticed the look on his face. "I-I know you didn't mean it that way, I just mean you could stand to be more relaxed." Mark nodded.

"Yeah, sorry that part of me slips out from time to time." He silently cursed himself. He'd been trying to get out of his formal speech since he left the manor. Guess I still have a ways to go. He thought.

"Well anyways, just let me take down this tent here and we can get going." Mark nodded and looked back at the sky. He had never seen the sky so clear so consistently. He double checked his pack to make sure he had everything. His sword and tome where at his side. He was all checked out. By the time he was done making sure, Lyn was ready herself. Mark had a thought.

"Oh, should I grab a tent too?" He wanted to be considerate.

Lyn blushed lightly and shook her head. "No, I brought an extra bed roll, so it'll be fine. Anyways, did you have any specific destination in mind?"

"Nope." Mark said happily.

"Alright then." Lyn said, "In that case, we should go the Bulgar. It's one of the only places in Sacae that stays in the same place, because it's one of the larger markets in the region. There we can restock on everything we used over the last week, and set off in any direction that we would like."

Mark thought about it for a moment. He hadn't been to Bulgar, and it's not like he was in a rush. Plus, everything she said made perfect sense. He shrugged. "Sounds good to me." He said, and together they set off.

They walked in silence most of the time, Lyn stopping to make sure they were still heading in the right direction, and Mark with his mind occupied in a book. Several books. In fact, Mark held a book in each hand as they walked, occasionally swapping the books with some from his pack, and occasionally his tome. The little conversation that they did have was just small confirmations of direction. Until, at last, Lyn finally tried to break into Mark a little bit.

"We're almost there." She started. Mark didn't respond. Lyn looked at him with her head slightly to the side. "So, what have you been reading this whole time?"

"The theory and usage of anima magic in comparison to that of the dark arts." Mark said, without pausing from his research. Lyn's face only grew more confused.

"Well…" she started. "Is it interesting at least?"

"Exceedingly." Mark said flatly, eyes racing across the pages.

"... So, why did you leave where you were from." That shook him. He looked up from his book with a look of anger before it immediately dematerialized.

"Well, that doesn't really matter does it?" He said light heartedly. "After all, we're just traveling now. Who we were is gone, who we will become is just about set in stone. We've become vagabonds with no home to return to. Unless… you felt differently?"

"Not really…" Lyn said. It was true, she had given up on the plains, at least for now. They just left her sad and wishing she could change the past, which she knew was foolish.

"Exactly." He said. "Anyways, where did you want to go after Bulgar. I don't really care, personally, so I'll let you decide."

Lyn thought about it for a little bit. "I was thinking Ilia, since it was where you were headed anyways. I have a friend there too so I wanted to see it."

"Are you sure it isn't just because of the snow, like you were so excited about when we met?"

"No, of course not!" She said, unconvincingly. Mark burst into a hearty laughter, and Lyn followed suit. When they stopped, they were at the edge of the Bulgar market.

Mark and Lyn had split up to find the things they needed. Mark quickly found everything that he had used up, and was checking out a book vendor when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Just a moment Lyn, I'm looking at this book on the history of the eight heroes and-" He turned around to be face to face with a red haired man in armor. His posture was poised, but relaxed. He had a horse by his side that he was holding the reins for. He was clearly a knight, and likely fought on horseback. His armor was lighter than that of an armored knight.

"Sorry." The man said. "You obviously were very invested in your browsing. I just wanted to ask you a quick question.

Mark blinked, "Oh, sorry, I'm not actually from here so I couldn't tell you anything about this market or anything. I'm just passing through." The knight nodded.

"Yes I see that now, but I'll ask anyways. Have you met anyone named Lyndis? She is supposed to be around here."

"Huh… I don't think so. I know a Lyn, but not a Lyndis. Sorry!"

"No apologies necessary. Please, continue your search. Thank you for your time." The knight bowed slightly and disappeared back into the crowd behind Mark. Odd. He thought. What is a knight from one of the surrounding regions doing out here in the flatlands? He shrugged and gave it no further thought. He purchased the books that he wanted and shoved them into the fold of his pack. He walked around the market a bit more looking for his travelling buddy, but she was nowhere to be found.

"Lyn?" He shouted out about the crowds. No reply. "Huh" He huffed. "What would be the best course of action here…" Unsure what to do, he decided that his best choice would be to walk outside the market where he at least wasn't in a crowd.

Mark paced around on the outside wall of the marketplace. He watched as a few groups of travelers came to and fro, some looking like nice families, others like bandits, but all seemed at ease around the marketplace. Perhaps security was tight enough that the bandits didn't have the will to take anything, so the normal travelers felt safe. Either way, it seemed a place where everyone could just get along, and Mark could appreciate that. What he couldn't appreciate was how long Lyn was making him wait.


Come on already, she said she didn't need much. Mark thought. He leaned against the hot stone that made up the outer wall and looked at the sky. As he had remarked several times to Lyn already, the skies of Sacae where the best part of the region to him. Eventually he heard a noise near the exit of the market.

"No, really, it wasn't like that!" A man shouted in desperation. Mark glanced over to see his traveling companion exit the market in a huff. Mark calmly walked over to her.

"Little trouble in the marketplace?" He asked with a tone of sarcasm. Lyn rolled her eyes and held up her pack. It was clearly packed to the brim, held together by some rope and bulging out in several places.

"Got everything. Let's go." She turned and started walking away.

"To where?" Mark said, jogging to keep up. They hadn't decided, after all.

"Just not here. If we stick around then those knight are gonna-"

"WAIT" shouted the same voice as earlier. Mark looked over his shoulder to see two figures riding to them in the distance. They were still a ways away though. Suddenly Mark felt a hand clamp onto his shoulder. Is was much too large and hairy to be Lyn's. Mark slowly turned around to see the hulking figure of a man.

"Hey." The man said simply, his low voice making Mark shake a little. "Do you know a Lyndis?" He said. He held up his other hand to reveal Lyn's ponytail (and by extension Lyn) in his grasp. "Because this little girl here looks like a Lyndis." Mark snapped into thought.

"Can't say I do?" Mark said with a fake nervousness, shrugging and lifting up his hands. He slowly moved his hands closer to the bandit's arm, under the guise of dropping them. The bandit looked down at him angrily.

"I don't like liars." He said. Mark chuckled.

"Then DAMN are you gonna hate me." Mark said. Quickly, he grabbed the bandit's arm and lit his hand on fire with the only spell he memorized for just such an occasion. The bandit cried out in pain and reflexively let Mark go. He dropped low and shouldered the bandit to the ground. He had let go of Lyn at this point, so she quickly scurried to her feet, drew her sword, and plunged it into the bandit's chest. The bandit slowly started dying, weakly reaching for Lyn before his hand dropped and he passed on. Mark looked up to see angry bandit's coming to avenge their fallen brother. Their leader had his sights set dead on Lyn, his gaze unwavering.

"...Got something to tell me?" Mark said to Lyn.

"Nothing that I'm fully aware of."

"But you're Lyndis, right?"

"Well, that's my full name yes."

"The hell'd you do?"

"I don't know!" They kept this back and forth up for a while until eventually mark felt a hand on his shoulder again.

"Uh…" A voice behind him began, but Mark swiped at it with his hands ablaze. A knight in green armor staggered backwards on his horse, before the horse brayed and knocked him off.

"Oh… sorry." Mark said, huffing, thinking his life had been about to end. "Need something?"

"OW!" The green knight said. He pouted on the ground for a moment. "First the girl's a mean one and now even the guy can't seem to stand my presence. Life is cruel, I say, truly."

"Oh quit your blubbering and get up Sain, we must protect the Lady Lyndis." Said the knight in red, who rode up shortly after the green one. Mark blinked.

"Oh, I know you! You're the one from town!" Mark said. The red knight nodded.

"Yes, my name is Kent. My partner here is Sain. He's a good knight, I swear, he just lets his… flirtatious mannerisms get the best of him sometimes." He turned to Lyn. "Now, may we help you take out these brigands? I promise I will explain all after the day is won." Lyn looked down before looking up at Mark.

"What do you think?" She asked.

"It would certainly be easier if we had them, but you seem upset."

"Well they were rude to me in town."

"Sain was rude to you in town." Kent corrected. Lyn rolled her eyes.

"Sure, but if you think they'll help Mark then so be it, you're the tactician. Direct us." Lyn held her sword at the ready.

Kent looked down at Mark from his mount. "You're a tactician?" He asked. Mark nodded. "Very well, my companion and I put ourselves in your hands. We are fighters trained on horseback, and in both the sword and-"

"I know." Mark cut off, thinking of strategies. "This isn't my first time directing a small unit. One look at you and it's obvious what you can and can't do."

"Oh yeah, like what?" Sain said, now back on his horse. Mark looked at him.

"...Tell me Sain, how often do you swim, because I would say you shirk your duties to do so from time to time.

Sain turned pale. "Wha- but how did you-"

Mark pointed at his neck. "You are noticeably more tan from one point of your neck upwards than below. It can't be from your normal armor because I can see it. If it was from your normal armor, the tan-line would be equal with the hem of your armor. This also implies you don't really swim, you soak. Do you just sit in hot springs, up to the neck? Maybe fell asleep like that one too many times?" Sain grimaced. "And there you go. I can see a lot about you with one look. What you can and can't do on the battlefield is easy for me. Now." He turned to the bandits. They were almost upon them. "Go south into that patch of trees." Mark pointed. "I saw one of them flank off to ambush us from that side. Lyn, Kent, you ride towards that bridge that they've crossed and split up their forces. You'll each need to fight two bandits. Once you've made a path through the middle by dragging the other bandits out of the way…" Mark glared down at the boss. "I'll take muscle head over there."


The plan went with relative smoothness. The only one that seemed to have trouble was Sain, which was sad considering he only fought one man, while Lyn and Kent each took on two with ease. Mark dashed over the bridge toward the waiting man. The man's ax gleamed in the sunlight, and has dried blood on it's edge. Mark's sword was clean, held in his right hand, and his tome was in his left. His biggest hope was with his initial strike. If the fight took too long, the bandit would win. Luckily Mark thought, the Sacaen fighters are just savages. They haven't experienced true wonder on the battle field. Therefore the best strategy... as he got within fighting range, he started an incantation. A few moments later his sword burst into flames. The bandit when wide eyed and stumbled back. Mark smiled smugly. The best strategy is to blow his mind and leave his mental defenses a wreck.

Mark jumped up into a swinging strike and cut a gash into the bandit's ax arm. He grimaced and turned, but Mark was already moving again. The leg, the other arm, the chest. All small gashes, but with the bandit unsure of the sword's power and the unfamiliar feel of a burning hot blade, he was simply terrified. Eventually he was on his back, shuffling away from Mark who slowly approached, smiling an evil grin at his complete victory.

"D-Damn... it was only supposed to be... a lone girl..." He said, voice shaking. Mark squated down to his defeated opponents level.

"I'd let you live but..." Mark casually slipped the flaming sword into the mans chest. "...something tells me you won't be the last of your kind I'll meet, and I don't want them to know I can do this either." Mark gestured to the flaming sword. "Sorry. You're a potential tactical scapegoat." The man looked up at him in fear, and slowly died, falling over. Mark sighed, unsheathing his sword from the man's chest and putting out the flames. He pulled out a rag from a pocket in his coat and wiped off the blood. Soon enough, it gleamed as if the fight had never happened. When he turned back he saw his travel buddy and the two knights heading towards him. Lyn. Lyndis. Whichever. You've got yourself some explaining to do.

A/N Matt: Yay part two! Cool beans. Took me forever to work up the nerve to actually write it up even though I'm excited for this series. Just been that kind of summer you know? Ah well. Here we get to see a little bit of a darker side to Mark. Hope you enjoyed!