A/N: This was going to be the chapter where I would have added the fandom tag, but then I remembered that FF separates the 'single' and 'crossover' ones. So, for the ones who are 'following' this without actually following it, I'll hold off a chapter before changing this to a crossover.

A few days in and we are even further into Hoshido territory. The land is beautiful, lively, colorful, and outright terrible. Ryoma and the other Hoshidans are ruining the view. I scoff, 'Not a prisoner? Spare me.' I hear a bird's screech in the air, yet when I look up, there is nothing. My stomach grumbles again, after the rabbit, I just resigned to eating the stew that somehow tastes worse than the slosh Nohr has. The dragon keeps roaring its protests, but what can I do about it? I am not allowed to hunt, so I can't actually use my dragon form. I start feeling worse, the lack of raw meat is really starting to hit me hard… and the soldiers here are starting to sound more appetizing by the hour.

I can see why Keaton chose to bite into some of the Ice Tribe units, "Meat is meat." He is right, and one of these soldiers would be more than enough for a single meal. The bird screeches again and I still can't see the thing. Am I just hearing things now? I force myself to think about something else. Monk, there. She is the only grounding force here right now. I learned from some of our many, very long chats that while she chose to assist Hoshido, she frankly regrets bringing me here. She tells me that Ryoma convinced her and her 'Sis' that I needed to be back here, and now that she sees just how miserable I am here, she starts to doubt him.

'Then take me back.' I remember telling her that, but she said she couldn't until Sis returned. She sounds like she is really dependant on her Sis. "Yasei, Yasei!" 'Thank the gods she is calling me by my actual name.' Speaking of, she nearly prances up to me, a huge smile on her face, she has beautiful jade-colored eyes. "You heard that, right?" Her armor looks vastly different from the Hoshidans, she has this dark green and light blue color mix, and it covers every bit of her except her head and the bottom of her feet. Those two half-moon blades still sit on her sides, but she also has a staff on her back, I can't tell what kind. The staff is made of some sort of metal… and it has a bell in a cage on the top.

"Huh? Did Ryoma give orders?" No, we are still marching and he is at the front.

"What? No… I m-mean the bird screech!"

I breathe a sigh of relief, "Gods, good. I thought I was hearing things. But, what is so important about it?"

She is now nearly hopping instead of walking, "That is Sis's Spirit Eagle!"

"Spirit… Eagle?"

She stops hopping and gasps, "Oh, that's right, y-you don't have th-those here, um…" She pauses, "He is an eagle, capable of g-going invisible. No wait, sorry, 'Spirit Walking'."

"Which is why I cou… wait, not here? Where are you from?"

She fidgets, "I actually wasn't supposed to be s-saying all that, um… nevermind?" Her smile turns sheepish. "Anyway, just know that Sis is back, and she brought someone with her!" She claps her hands. Gods, this woman is probably as excitable as Elise. 'Elise'. I frown, "Uh, I didn't offend you, did I? Ancestors, I'm sorry I don't know what…"

"Monk, please. Calm down." I have a small smile now, "I just remembered of how I am stuck here. Away from my Nohrian family."

"Oh… right. I'm s-sorry about that, if I had known h-how strongly you f-felt about this, then…"

I drop to a whisper, not that it matters, Saizo and/or Kagero are probably within arm's reach right now, "As long as you two can get me out of here."

She nods very quickly, "Sis can do like, anything. Sh-she has all of these amazing accomplishments."

Two scents waft into the area, one is a new one, while the other… "Keaton?" Blood and nature, "Keaton!"

"Yup." Monk says.

I turn around and see him, as well as Monk's Sis. She has a bow strapped to her back and this strange purple-red armor on, the shoulderguards are spiked with these thick-needle like points. 'Wait, hold on… that's the same armor design as that messenger…' The only unguarded spot is her head, where a red bandana rests. Her face looks just like Monk's, jade-green eyes and all. Keaton makes a dash for me the second his eyes lay on me. "Keaton!" I repeat and the Wolfskin tackles me to the ground. "Gods…" He pulls me into a kiss.

"Mine." He says as we break the kiss. My breath becomes heated… but he shakes his head, "Not now." He stands and pulls me up with him, "Later."

I giggle, "I'm yours whenever."

"I know." 'Of course he knows, but I want to say it anyway.'

"Anywhere… anytime." He smirks in response. "I… couldn't take care of my dragon side since coming here, mate." We start walking, "Ryoma won't let me hunt, and all I had for raw meat is this tiny rabbit nearly three days ago. Their stew is the only thing I have been eating."

He growls, "How are you?"

"Easily agitated, patience is thin, quick to anger, and um… feeling needy often." I admit, "I tried to bed… Monk."

"And those problems will only become worse." He then shrugs, "I told you how I felt about females, go ahead."

"Uh, the hesitation is on her part, not mine." I pause, "Could you get me a proper kill? Not some small critter."

"When we camp, I'll bring two."

"Two? I'm not sure if I can eat a whole beast by myself."

He shakes his head, "You say that now, but once you actually realize how long you've been without a kill, you'll see otherwise."

I nod, "I trust you, you've done so much for me." I vaguely make out Monk chatting with her Sis. "Monk is the only reason I haven't actually tried to rush off… after she found out how much I despised this mess I am in… she told me she regrets bringing me here. She is just so sweet."

He tenses, "She's the one who stole you away?"

"Yes, but… she really regrets it, so she tries to make sure I am well-taken care of."

"Then why didn't she get you an animal?"

"She is really… squeamish. She hates killing, hurting other living things, and turns into a flustering mess whenever nudity is involved."

"I see." After that, it is just silence throughout the way to until we camp.

When camp is set up, I notice the other one that wasn't here last time. "Ah, good, there you are." I nearly jump out of my skin when I am tapped on the shoulder, 'How did I not hear her coming?' "Come on, we need to talk." It is the sister of Monk, who keeps walking without me even responding. I shrug and follow her to the new tent. She taps on something before actually opening the flap, we both enter, then she does that tapping thing again after she closes the flap.

Both Monk and Keaton are in here, the former sitting in a plush chair, 'How did they pack that?' the latter sort of leaning against one of the tent's walls. "Monk, now do you see why I keep saying to get every possible point of view before jumping in to help?" She asks with a disapproving tone, before unstrapping her bow and quiver to put it in a very specifically marked spot near a desk.

"Yea… I just thought. I mean, R-Ryoma lost a family member, and…"

The woman cuts her off. "Hey, I'm not mad. Cheer up, Sis. I finally had an opportunity to show off my point, you know I didn't do this to spite you or anything."

Monk nods, "Yea, I know."

Both of them smile. I take a quick moment to look around, two beds, a desk with a chair, a small pile of something. The area is being lit by floating balls of light and everything is so… organized. "Yasei, Keaton." She starts again, then does a half-bow, "I am Hadronix, Adept Hunter of the Trueshot Lodge and Rank 1 Category 'E' Engineer in the Gnomish subdivision."

"You lost me after your name." I can sense confusion just overflowing into a pool around Keaton.

"Sis, I thought you said we weren't going to share that stuff?"

"These two have a right to know." She raises a hand, "But! This information stays between us, when we are in public, I am Hunter, she is Monk, got it?" I nod and Keaton mutters his approval.

"Oh, well. Then I am R-Raven, Expert Monk under the Sp-Spirited Crane and W-Wise Serpent styles, also an a-apprentice in the Fierce Tiger stance. I am also a M-Master in Cooking, and one of th-the top chefs in Way of the P-Pot and Grill." She says in a very proud manner.

"You two are using a lot of words that are just flying right over my head." I admit, "And here I am, Yasei, princess of Nohr."

Raven giggles and Hadronix just smirks, "It's alright," the archer assures me, "Our previous reputations have no meaning here. I could list all the things I have done and it would be just a load of empty air for all that it is worth here."

"Then why come here? Did you not like it back at your home?"

"Whetever I lay my head for the night is home to me." She replies, "I travel a lot, as to why we are here…" She turns her gaze over to Raven with a thin smile, who shies away.

"We w-were helping families th-that were missing some of their h-heirlooms when bandits ransacked their homes, and in the r-rubble happened to be this aged d-document on a legend of these two fist weapons. Sis made a copy and after f-finishing returning heirlooms, we went on a tr-treasure hunting trip!"

Hadronix nods, "We traveled, found the place, got the weapons, a tornado swept us up and here we are." She gestures towards Raven's blades, "Can't figure out how to use them again."

"I'm sorry, but… why tell us this?"

"I have hunches, and those hunches have kept me alive so far. This specific one is telling me to assist you in whatever you needed done, which looks like to end this war." She shrugs. "Well, it's more like help you out."

"And so h-here we are." Raven says while swinging her feet around. 'How do they even fit all of this stuff in the convoy?'

"Well, the first thing I would like to do is high-tail it back to Nohr." I inform them, "My blood family is just so…"

"We can't," Keaton speaks up, "Well, I can't. Xander ordered my execution." He tilts his head towards Hadronix, "At least, that is what she told me, anyway."

I stop and my heart shatters, "Gods… that's right." 'I completely forgot about that.' I start shaking, "We… I can make him see reason, he's just harder to convince, that's all."

"You could always lie." Hadronix says.

"I am a horrible liar." Keaton snickers at the comment, "I couldn't lie to save my life."

"You could always deceive him."

"What's the difference?"

She smirks, "Give him the notion that he's dead, make him believe that he is gone, then just hide him in plain sight."

Keaton glares at her, "I am the only furred one that was in the army, how do you expect me to pull that off?"

A long pause follows, the smirk on Hadronix only seems to have grown, and even Raven starts giggling, "What?!" I ask.

"Oh, my poor, dear, clueless Yasei." The bow-user finally speaks up, "We have already pulled that off with you and your army, twice, in fact."

"We never saw you two." I disagree.

"Or smelled you two." Keaton adds.

Hadronix looks at Raven, then at us, "If we are going to be technical here, which is something I enjoy doing, then you two still haven't smelled or seen us yet." 'I don't even know how to respond to that.' The confusion on me is evident, "Perhaps a sentence or two would prove my point?" She clears her throat, "My men and I are half-frozen, and it would be going against our orders, but command us to fight and we shall." Her voice changed while saying that. She sounds just like the…

"Lead soldier? How?"

"Lady Yasei!" Raven exclaims, "Direct orders from King Garon." Her voice doesn't change, but she attempts to mock the Wyvern Rider.

"Oh, I do hope that the blue-haired beauty finds the lance useful." Hadronix adds in her normal voice.

"Wha-... how did? What, gods…" Words fail me.

"Gnomish Engineering at its finest," She goes through her pocket and pulls out a device… that is larger than her actual pocket, "This is the Contradicting Optical Versatile Elliptical Renderer. Cover, for short." Then she shrugs, "I don't know why they used Elliptical, but..."

"And that metal… thing, does what?"

She seems insulted, "Metal thing? Mind if I call your Yato a pointy metal stick, too?"

"Um, Sis is r-really passionate a-about her inventions."

"Oh… and 'Cover' does what, exactly?" Gods know I am not going to remember that whole phrase.

She smiles again, and start pressing on several points on the th… on Cover. A thin haze distorts my view of her and she reappears as the… lead soldier. "Cover does that." And she… he? It? Sounds just like the lead soldier, and smells like him. A few presses later and she looks like Hadronix again. "So, that is all you need to know for now, since it seems like you two need some time to process all of that." She moves over to the flap, "Give me a few days, a week at most, and I'll have an escape plan ready." She pokes it again, "See you tomorrow."

"Wait!" I exclaim before I get up, Hadronix lets out a small 'hm' while Raven tilts her head. "Xander and Phoenix believes that there was an informant leak in my army, were you two selling us out?"

Raven looks offended, "W-we wouldn't…"

Hadronix narrows her eyes, "I see…" She trails off, "But no, we weren't… thank you for letting me know, though."

Satisfied, I nod and leave, with Keaton next to me, "They are certainly… something." I comment.

"Yea… I'm going to hunt those beasts down, now." Keaton nods.

A/N: I'm going ahead and putting this out here, just because I have inserted 'my' character, doesn't mean she is getting a free ride here. At the end of the day, this fic is about primarily Yasei.

This wasn't spur of the moment decision, in fact, this is one of the few plot points that actually stayed when I planned this out.

Have a good one!