Chapter 5 (Noah)

After about forty-five minutes of wandering through Ylisstol, I finally admitted defeat. I was lost.

"Probably should have asked Chrom if he had a map of the city. I've never once gotten lost with a map," I muttered to myself. Truthfully, I loved navigating. Growing up I was the navigator every time my family had been to an amusement park. But I'd always had a map for that. I liked maps. Maps were nice.

Feeling my anxiety rising at the prospect of being lost, I stopped walking and took a deep breath.

After standing there for a while I was approached by a city guard.

"Is everything all right?" he asked.

It was then I realized how suspicious I probably looked. I was dressed in strange clothes, had a sword at my hip, and was standing motionless in a fairly busy section of the city.

"Yeah, sorry, just got lost. Say, how would I get to the nearest blacksmith?" I responded.

The guard smiled politely, then turned to point at an alleyway to my left. "Just head through that alley and take a right at the end of it. It'll be the building across from the large group of women," he said with a chuckle. "Randal likes to work with his shirt off."

I laughed at that. "Thank you so much."

"My pleasure," the guard replied, sounding an awful lot like a Chick-fil-a worker. "Take good care of that weapon," he added as he nodded at the sword on my hip. "It's a mighty fine looking blade."

"I will. Thank you again," I said before entering the alley he had directed me to. The alleyway was crowded with shadows but was surprisingly clean. It was rather long, splitting off into smaller alleys in several different places. The alleyway was also very narrow, so much so that I wouldn't be able to effectively use my sword. It was at that moment I realized this was the perfect place for an ambush, and I immediately quickened my pace. That guard had set me up! I drew my trusty handgun, a simple Beretta M9A1, knowing that in such close quarters I wouldn't have time to draw and fire on an attacker before they got in close. I checked the 15 round magazine, flicked the safety off, and waited for the worst to happen.

It only took a few seconds after this for the first attacker to show up in front of me, a dagger in his hand. I snapped my gun up and fired two quick shots, both hitting the man dead in the chest, and broke out into a run. There were screams outside the alley as the shots rang out. I quickly glanced over my shoulder to see another man with a dagger running after me, confirming what I had already guessed. The two were probably planning to have me turn around after seeing the first man, only to have me find the second man boxing me in. By killing the first, I'd thrown a wrench into that plan.

I was almost to the alleyway's exit back onto the street. I took another quick look over my shoulder to find that the second man had almost caught up to me. My best bet now was to make it out into the open street where I could use my sword, and seconds later I did just that.

"We would have let you go if you'd just handed your stuff over quietly," the man called to me. "Now we're going to make you pay with more than just your things though."

I laughed. The man had slowed down after I had made it out into the street, most of the people who had been milling about likely scattering after the gunshots earlier. "We? I don't know if you noticed this dumbass, but your friend is dead." I had my pistol trained on him, the distance between us now great enough that I could get some shots in before he could reach me.

"Yes, and you're going to pay for that," he snarled back. Then he whistled, and four more people with daggers stepped out from the nearby buildings. "Kill him, and bring me back the body," the man ordered before slipping back into the alley. The four new attackers grinned and slowly circled me with weapons drawn, but I stood my ground. They continued to circle around like wolves, probably waiting for me to make the first move. Just as it looked like they were about to pounce I raised my pistol at one of them and fired three shots then took off running down the street as more onlookers screamed. The first and third shot went wide, but the second hit my target in the side, and he doubled over as the other three gave chase.

I ran and ran, but the men never gave up. They weren't gaining on me, but they hadn't lost any ground either. I rounded a corner into an open square and slammed into somebody, stopping me dead in my tracks. Looking up I immediately recognized who it was I had run into. It was Cordelia. With her were Commander Phila and Emmeryn.

Oh fuck me. This is not how I wanted to meet.

"Why hello again Noah. Is something-," Emmeryn began. It was at that moment the men chasing me came around the corner with daggers still drawn. Cordelia and Phila had their lances out in an instant, causing the men to freeze. Before they could turn around and run through, I raised my Beretta and fired off three shots. There were more screams at the loud gunshots, and all three men fell. I looked over at the women, who were clearly shocked. Phila and Cordelia recovered quickly though and rushed over to check on the bodies.

"Two of them are dead, the third is still breathing," Phila called out. "I'll take him for questioning. Lady Cordelia, stay with the Exalt." She picked the man up and whistled for her Pegasus and Cordelia moved back to Emmeryn and me.

"That's quite the weapon you have there," the redhead said as she nodded towards my handgun.

"Thank you milady. I wish I hadn't needed to use it, but I was left with no choice," I replied. Cordelia was a lot shorter than I had imagined, but I guess it made sense that she would be short as a Pegasus Knight.

Connor came running up at that moment. "I heard gunshots and came as soon as I could. Is everything alright?"

"I think so," I said. Then it hit me. I had just killed four people. I think I'm gonna be sick. I stumbled slightly, and both Connor and Cordelia were at my side immediately to catch me.

"Bullshit. Come on, let's get you back to the Shepherds barracks," Connor said with a hint of concern as he held me steady.

"Thank you." I turned and grinned sheepishly at Cordelia. "Lady Cordelia, it was a pleasure to run into you —no pun intended— even if it wasn't under the best of circumstances."

Cordelia blushed slightly. "It was nice to meet you as well. Maybe we can meet again under better circumstances."

Emmeryn looked me in the eyes and chuckled softly as Connor led me away. She definitely knows.

As soon as we rounded the corner and were out of sight I told Connor to duck into an alley for a moment. The full weight of what I had done was setting in. I had killed four people. People with lives and families of there own. Connor grabbed my arm and held on to me as I leaned over and felt the sickness in my stomach take over as I vomited. To his credit the Hunter didn't even flinch, having likely seen this same reaction before from others.

"First time is never easy," he reassured me.

"Does it get easier?"

"It depends. If you dehumanize your enemy you can do it without a second thought. Learned that the hard way. Seeing what we did to the Fallen though, that brought me back from the brink. They're trying to survive, just like us. Every time I kill one of them I wonder what could have happened if we were able to see eye to eye."

"How do you get over it?"

"Two things. First, I remind myself that I'm fighting for what is right and that it's either me or them. But I keep myself open, knowing that what is right might change at any moment."

"And the second?"

"I think of all the people who depend on me to keep them safe, and find comfort knowing that everything I do allows them to keep on living."

Connor fell silent after that. I stayed there for a few more minutes trying to regain my strength. When I was finally ready I stood up straight again. "Let's get back to the barracks," I said. Connor nodded and we left the alleyway. As we walked I processed my feelings. I still felt strange about the whole ordeal. Connor's words had helped. I had killed people, yes, but it was in self-defense. I was safe now.

So why didn't I feel that way?

AN: We're back! This chapter didn't quite turn out the way I had originally intended, but I think it turned out alright. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you did please leave a review, as I'd love to know what you think of the story so far.

I'd also like to give a special thank you and congratulations to OnePunchPlayer for being the first person to review the story!