Way-la-ho~!

That doesn't really mean anything I just like how it sounds when you say it out-loud.

Something known: I was going for something totally different than when I wrote my first story; while I think the other quartermaster story had a pretty weak start, this one is going to go much stronger. And while some elements of the plot might be fixable, I think Fates has a plot that's… Fine,

It does makes some mistepps, ones that felt sort of unnecessary. I won't get to them too much this chapter but a few things I wasn't too fond of will begin to crop up and I'll be changing stuff here and there. As for planning and doing actual quartermaster stuff, I do hope to touch on that aspect a little more. The first story was kind of an experiment to see if I could do it. This one will be longer and probably more intensive. Although as for pairings I'm not sure. Aurora and Belladonna are very different characters in that regard. Aurora is a semi-closeted lesbian in a world where she's kind of insecure about it, and she shows that by getting extra-defensive when romance is brought up.

I won't say much about Bella and romantic stuff- I might consider that, but I think it will be with a canon character, since Fire Emblem has too many people to keep track of as is. This is mostly a light-hearted story though, so don't be too surprised.

Anyway, sorry for the really long babbling. Let's begin, shall we?

Chapter Four

Bound for Trouble

Belladonna had always admired strength. While physical prowess was second to personality and intelligence, she had to admit she was fond of strong men and women, and had always strove to be one of them. In her home village, when she wasn't studying, she was hauling heavy things for the local farmers, or hauling stone and wood for building. She put her impressive size to good use, and grew stronger and tougher as a result.

It certainly wasn't doing the poor Hoshidans at fort Jinya any favors, however. She currently had a poor young recruit pinned against the wall with one arm, while he thrashed in a panic.

"You'd think they noticed we're not trying to kill anyone by now." She sighed, delivering a swift cuff to the side of his head, knocking him out cold. Taking them alive was easier said than done with such small numbers, but Fort Jinya was only guarded by a very light garrison. However, there were a few who would provide a much greater challenge than the rank-and-file: Ryoma's retainer, Saizo, and the late Queen Mikoto's retainer, Orochi. Not to mention Yukimura and his frankly bizarre puppet.

Actually, Saizo was running Bella ragged at this point. The ninja would suddenly appear as if from nowhere and hurl shuriken and darts, littering the ground with caltrops as he did so, making it slow going. Worse, Bella, in her haste to evade the flurries of attacks and incapacitate as many recruits as she could, had been cut off from the others. She squeaked as she hopped back, nearly stepping on one of the many barbs that Saizo had dropped. One misstep could end the whole battle for her. Worse, it seemed the shuriken he used were poisoned; she could see a strange chemical shimmer on them where they sank into the floors and walls. It probably wouldn't be a fatal dose, but a scratch would make the going much harder. Poison could do so much more than kill.

"Come on, Rocha, think…" She murmured to herself, as she scanned the room, desperately trying to find the ninja before he attacked again. She blinked, catching sight of movement and lunging, slamming her axe-hilt, butting it toward the motion, but ended up only striking into empty air. Missed.

"Gah…" She groaned. "Certainly not my afternoon, is it?" She quickly ducked behind a corner, just in time. She had seen the flash of metal before Saizo threw it, this time. Several shuriken were buried into the floor where she had stood.

"How many of those do you have?!" She snarled, as she lashed out with the metal pole of her axe, finally catching sight of Saizo. It was only a matter of time; there were only so many places to hide in this room. Now just came the hard part; catching him. She stumbled a bit to evade the caltrops he scattered, only to hiss as something lashed past her arm, painfully. A single bright-red cut shone where the shuriken had slashed her shoulder as it spun past, only grazing her, but enough to suddenly feel a wave of sluggishness.

"Ah…" she stumbled, backing away, feeling her limbs growing heavy. Even her vision swam slightly, as she missed a step, landing on her knees, using her axe to balance herself to keep herself from fully hitting the floor, trying to clear her head.

"You've breathed your last." Saizo uttered as he approached, the deadly bladed shuriken held between two fingers, moving to press the blade into her.

Suddenly, Bella's mind cleared. The floor beneath her was glowing faintly. Saizo glanced down, surprised.

"What?"

Bella knew what. The Dragon Vein.

Before he could do anything further, Bella's hands powerfully wrapped around his wrist.

"Oh-"

He didn't get the next words out, but they most likely were not going to be "dear me". Bella stood and slammed her head into his stomach, sending the ninja sprawling as she twisted his arm violently. There was an unpleasant crack of bone, and Saizo scrambled back, managing to free himself from her, clutching his limp wrist as he retreated. Bella glanced over at Azura, who slowly rose, still glowing faintly from when she had harnessed the Dragon Vein in the ground.

"Those are handy…" Bella grunted, pushing herself upright with a smile. "Thank you, Lady Azura. Patched up my arm and purged the poison all in one go… These Veins are really a marvel."

Azura nodded, looking concerned, as the others caught up.

"Yukimura is ahead." She cautioned. "Saizo may be wounded, but he'll still be dangerous, and Orochi…"

"Magic, right? Scrolls." Bella bit her lip nervously. "I must be honest, I've no idea how to handle magic and the like."

"Be cautious." Gunter advanced carefully. "Even the weakest of magics can be dangerous."

Bella carefully peeked around the corner. "...Yeek!" She jerked back, as a knife shot across the space where her face had been. "Okay! Not doing that again! So that's what those puppet things do."

"Yukimura has always been a master at making strange devices." Azura tightened her grip on her weapon. "It's going to be difficult, but we need to subdue him or else we shall never be able to speak with him."

Corrin glanced at the Dragonstone she wore, considering it. She would be a much bigger target, but it would be difficult for the knives to pierce her scales. But that would also leave her vulnerable to Orochi's magic.

"We'll have to try something." She sighed, wrapping her fingers around the stone. It flashed, and where Corrin once stood was a mighty dragon. "Someone's going to have to stop Orochi though, or else I won't stand a chance."

"Maybe we can go in pairs?" Bella offered. "If we do that we might be able to outmaneuver them."

"Hm." Gunter nodded. "That would be wise. Saizo is wounded, you say?"

Bella nodded. "Yeah. I may have broken his arm. He still has full use of his other one though, so remain cautious."

The soldiers grouped together, ready to rush. It was all or nothing. Bella had Mozu at her side. "I suppose we'll go after Orochi…"

"Jakob, with me." Gunter said. "Lady Corrin in her dragon form is more than a match for the puppet and its rider on her own."

Jakob scowled, but from Corrin's nod, stood by his side, readying his blades. "Then we shall be subduing Saizo… Are we ready?"

"Ready!" Corrin pawed at the ground.

"Now!" Gunter spurred his horse, and Corrin lunged. A shuriken and knife swiftly were deflected off of solid scales and metal plate. Quickly, Mozu and Bella rushed towards Orochi, before she could ready a spell. The Diviner jumped back in surprise, hands moving, scroll glowing with power.

Bella jumped, startled as a ghostly image of an ox bulled forward, swinging its horns from side to side. Mozu leapt the other way, as the spirit faded. Quickly, Mozu and Bella moved in to flank Orochi. With Saizo forced to back away from the vicious lance-butts from Gunter, and Yukimura trying to manipulate his strange mount to move away from Corrin's crushing paws, Orochi was in a bit of a bind. Swiftly, Mozu swung the butt-end of her spear, tripping the woman. Bella quickly jerked down and scooped her up, holding her in the air, arms pinned to her sides.

"Let… go!" She struggled wildly, and Bella grunted, gripping her tightly in a relentless bear hug.

"Nope!" She grinned, but it was strained. "Not a chance!"

Mozu blinked, trying to bite back amusement, as she turned. Gunter and Jakob had disarmed and backed Saizo against a wall, and Corrin in her dragon form had Yukimura lightly pinned, his puppet sprawled to the side.

"Hate to say it, ma'am, but it would seem we won. Didn't have to kill a soul, either." Bella chuckled, though she kept her grip on the struggling Orochi. "Listen, miss, I'd rather not have to throw you like a ragdoll, so if you'd kindly stop kicking me in the shin we can sort this out with words and not weapons…

"Or you could just start kicking me harder…"

Bella sighed. "Look, if I put you down will you kindly stop that?!"

Well, we have some more allies. Four more, and one of them is another Princess!

Lady Sakura and her retainers joined us, after Sakura and the ninja Corrin saved, Kaze, managed to convince Yukimura and the others to stand down. Then Sakura's retainers… Subaki and Hana. They're a little wary of us (surprise, surprise) but willing to follow Lady Corrin. Well, Sakura. Lady Corrin by extension…

It's nice to have some more hands to help, but having them hasn't solved our problems… More people to fight also means more bodies to armor and mouths to feed. More hands to fill with swords.

And a pegasus now. They eat even more than horses do. We've plenty of fresh, clean water, but food is a mild problem. There isn't much clean grass here, and Pegasi are a bit picky, according to Subaki.

He gets on my nerves a little, but I'm hardly the humblest woman around so I'll let his ego slide for now.

We "found" some gold in Fort Jinya that could be spared, and Sakura has plenty of money that she was willing to add to our treasury, but… Well, we don't have anyone to buy it from.

We really need a supplier.

Six becomes ten. We might actually accomplish something at this rate. We have a Hoshidan Princess aiding us, after all. More might join the cause with her supporting us...

Bella left her journal in the sun to let the ink dry, as she stood, walking to the weapons mounted on the wall. There were only a few, and even fewer that weren't dented and scratched up from use.

"Tsk." She picked up a battered katana, testing the blade on her fingers. "Far too dull… Have to see if we can't use it for scrap metal…"

"Ah, gosh… That looks pretty bad!" Bella kinked her head to see Hana, frowning. She was still wearing her lacquer armor. Bella sorely would like a chance to get a look at some of that kind of armor. While not as sturdy as metal, it was still tough and light- and flexible too.

"Mhm!" Bella agreed, distracting herself from the armor. "It's fortunate that we're able to get what we can, but with Princess Sakura, I have a feeling we may be getting more support, soon." She sighed. "Which means supplying weapons is going to be tricky. Taking weaponry from those defeated is one thing, but it's not exactly sustainable." She gestured at the battered sword in her hand. "I mean, it only takes one unfortunate battle to wind up like this."

"I think that one's beyond repair." Hana nodded, unhappily. "Although, hmm, I think you could salvage the other katana."

"I'm afraid I'm a bit out of my depth with Hoshidan weapons." Bella admitted. "Fortunately, the methods for maintaining them do not seem so different from Nohrian weapons…"

"At least you know what you're doing." Hana's face was a bit grim, but relieved. "I was a bit concerned about putting my life in the hands of a Nohrian, but I guess this won't be too bad."

"I strive to do my job well, no matter what it is and who it involves." Bella smiled, but it twitched faintly. "...Usually. I've only made one exception, and my then-employer was a bit of a bad apple."

"Huh, you weren't always a quartermaster?"

"Of course not!" Bella laughed. "It's rare that anyone in Nohr keeps one occupation their whole life if they aren't a priest, farmer, soldier or outlaw. I was born in a cold little village that kept rams."

"Rams?" Hana raised an eyebrow. "You mean like sheep?"

"Kind of." Bella chuckled. "These ones were huge, though, with big curly horns, not like the ones you find in lowland Nohr… Oh, and Goats, too. But big mountain goats."

"Whoa. No wonder you look so tough."

"Hm?"

"Well, um!" Hana shrugged. "You're like twice my size and swing that axe around like it's nothing."

"Oh!" Bella chuckled. "Well, honestly I was always on the larger side. I'm taller than both my parents." She shrugged. "I guess come to think of it, whenever a goat or ram got too rowdy, I would be the one who had to wrangle the thing…"

"And here I thought you grew up in some fancy place…"

"Is it the clothes? Or how I talk?" Bella winked. "No that was education and an enamorment with fancier things."

"Hm."

"I'm a lot more jaded now, regarding nobility, but I do enjoy fancy words and clothes."

"I don't really get it, but I guess whatever works for you." Hana tossed her hands up, somewhere between puzzled and perhaps a little annoyed. "Anyway… as long as we're here, what the heck got someone like you in all of this? Shouldn't you have run back home by now?"

"Being overly curious, a bit foolish, and panicking… But basically I just realized I wouldn't be safe anywhere… and I appreciate Lady Corrin's ideals, if not her methodology. She's not experienced and our numbers are too small to save us the way she wishes to."

"Well, I guess there's a way we can help!" Hana grinned. "And that's by getting stronger! Where's the practice weapons at? I'm not gonna fall behind!"

"Uh." Bella blanched. "We don't have any yet. Started to carve some out of wood, but none that are close to finished. You could use some sticks I guess."

"That's no good." Hana scowled, but brightened when she saw the practice weapons. "Oh, that's not so bad… It only should take a few hours to bang them into proper shape!"

Bella brightened as well. "Really now? Mind lending a hand? I'm mostly going off of some old books and what Gunter has told me, but any help would be good at this point."

Hana picked up a handful, and sat down. "Let's get started."

The two set to work. An extra pair of hands made the going much smoother. It was late evening when they finished, but they had made respectable progress, creating some wooden practice spears, swords and even a hefty practice axe, although Bella felt she should get some advice on that one; the weight wasn't quite right.

She had to admit, it was kind of relaxing, carving and learning tricks to make the going easier. They weren't perfect, but they were perfectly serviceable as practice weaponry.

"Well," She sighed, looking at their work. "That should do for the moment."

"Great!" Hana picked up a practice sword, giving it a few swings. "These aren't bad."

Bella chuckled, giving one a few twirls as well. "Yeah. I'm not too handy with a sword and even I can tell that they're quite serviceable."

Hana dashed outside. "Then get better! Spar with me."

Bella huffed. "My goodness…" She picked up the practice axe, testing it. "...Meh, it's not perfect, but it will have to do!" And with that, she strolled out after Hana.

Bella had a few bruises, but she wasn't bothered by them too much. She sat, waiting for Princess Sakura to finish healing the worst one; both her and Hana had lost their balance after a particularly fierce bout, and Hana had tripped head-first into her ribs, leaving her breathless on the floor.

And, according to Sakura, she was lucky that her ribs hadn't cracked or worse.

"I suppose I could have been more cautious, but it was rather fun." She admitted, smiling. "Up until the part where her head collided with me."

"P-please be more c-careful from now on…" Sakura admonished nervously. "Even S-subaki has trouble sometimes when he spars with Hana…"

"I'll try, Princess." Bella winced. "Ow-ow! It feels worse now…"

"That's the um… t-the adrenaline running out…" Sakura gave her festal a slow wave, letting the magic soothe the bruised ribs. "It um, i-it means you're feeling pain you ignored e-earlier…"

"I think my previous confidence and my lack of regret was misplaced."

"You're t-talking even m-more… uh... long-winded...ly…? Than normal."

"I'm coping with the fact that gravity is such a harsh mistress. And Hana has a boulder for a head."

Sakura bit back a giggle. "You seem quite strong too… H-headbutts can be very dangerous, even accidental o-ones… And uhm, you just had some heavy bruising."

"I do sit-ups… Well, the bruising doesn't feel good." Bella winced. "But it could be worse. Thank you for the healing Lady Sakura."

"O-of course! I am a healer, after all…!" Sakura managed a small smile.

"Well, that's more than enough. I've nothing but respect for healers." Bella rubbed her midsection gingerly. "We had a priest back home who was a marvelous healer… Injuries in the mountains are usually quite serious."

"O-oh my… I can see why you would need a good healer… Nohr is pretty cold, r-right?"

"Especially in the mountains, Princess. The Ice Tribe have it the coldest, but they know ice- they understand it and can use it. Ice and cold and snow is what they live with for all their life, but not the poor folks like us who lived up in the mountains."

"I've never seen the mountains, just the hills in Hoshido." Sakura confessed, taking a seat, interested by the conversation. "But u-um, big sister s-says it's very… dark and grey."

"Well, it depends, milady. A lot of Nohr is just grey stone. But there are the bogs in the center, and south are the port towns, which are actually quite nice… But crops are a bit tough to raise. Meat and milk are more common; although we do have lots of wheat. It's tough and can grow anywhere there's dirt."

Sakura lowered her gaze. "I-I see…"

"That isn't to say it's a miserable place." Bella smiled. "Well, the mountains are... But southward, there are some lovely places, especially in summer. Nohr has its own beauty, although it's much bleaker to look at than Hoshido in many places..."

"W-well, it's nice to learn more a-about it." Sakura smiled weakly. "I-I guess we probably will have to go there, eventually, i-if big sister wants to make everyone be able to fight together."

"We'll be okay." Bella smiled. "I wasn't feeling very optimistic before, but hopefully the Wind Tribe will be able to point us in the right direction. There's a river that leads south, so I suppose we'll be following it. Always best to stick near fresh water, after all."

"I s-suppose… that makes sense…"

Belladonna chuckled. "Well, sir Gunter knows best in this case, but Lady Corrin has some basic tactical and military training as well, so we'll have to defer to their judgement."

"Um, what a-about you?"

"I'll keep us fed and keep weapons in our hands. And I'll do my best to get better at fighting. Size and muscle is only so helpful if I don't know what I'm doing with it!"

Bella realized quickly that training was a wonderful way to accumulate bruises. Hana was faster and more skilled than her, Gunter was more experienced, Subaki was superior in all aspects, she had never trained with Jakob, and Corrin was far far more nimble.

She jokingly blamed being out of practice, but it was mostly inexperience. She'd fought a few faceless, but generally intimidation worked enough that she hadn't needed to use her axe much until now.

This was going to be a very rough time for her.

Well, journal, I spent most of today training.

…

I hurt in places I didn't know I had.

…

I'll write something else when the hurting stops.

Not much to say. I'm gonna be deviating from the main plot here and there soon, mostly to give this story a bit more life of its own. Hope you enjoy!

Feel free to review and such! I appreciate it!

Goodnight everybody!