Author's note: Rewrites are taking a bit longer now, since I'm running into more I need to change bit by bit. Most of it is still in adding some better descriptors to things though. Also, Welcome Dorcas! He's probably my favorite character that for some reason I never use, mainly because he's just a normal nice guy with a caring wife that wants to do right by her. How can you dislike that?

Chapter 11: Pasts That Haunt

Yes… She had given him what he needed. Some might say he was using her, but it really wasn't like that. If anything, it was a mutual agreement between the two to use each other. But the best way to show that would be to start from the beginning.

Being fourteen years of age now, it was easy for Will to tell the difference between things that worked and things that didn't. His tactical prowess had improved greatly over time, do to constant life and death struggles with no true weapon skills to aid him. Of course, the AD squad took on more and more dangers, making it that much harder to survive. Nergal had apparently decided to add another.

"This is Maria. Our newest Angel." He said. I wondered if she felt as I had. Disgusted to be so close to a thing like that. She did seem to be shivering.

"A child?" Mark said, skeptically. It didn't seem like a logical comment to make. All of them must've been in the age range of fourteen to twenty, Jaffar being twenty. It turns out that Mark was fifteen. This girl was fifteen as well, barely a year older than Will.

"She is just as capable as any one of you." Nergal said, smiling. Will hated that smile. It always hid people's true intentions all around him. He was beginning to wonder if any smile he saw was genuine, apart from Nino.

"The Angel of Destruction." Will said simply. On some nights he had thought about the possibility of Nergal adding another member of the squad. Upon reflection of their current names, it was the only one he could think of.

Nergal's smile told him he had answered correctly. "Yes. Good guess. Now the squad has four."

Will looked at her again, trying to size her up. When she shot him a curious glance in return, he merely turned away. When she was talking Will tried to infer any information that might be useful to him. He learned of her family, the one she had left to be here. He suspected that was a lie, and her family was actually dead. Nergal never pulled in families unless he got all of them at once, like Lloyd and Linus. She also walked like a person that cared about her appearance, not like any of the Black Fang members at all, who all seemed to walk with hunched shoulders and downcast eyes. It was all this that told Will that this Maria girl had no plans to die. There was one final he learned one night while they were talking…

She was a spy for Ostia.

It was still early in the morning, but both Lyn and Florina knew they heard the sounds of training in the background. Both of them looked at each other in slight confusion, but soon shrugged as Lyn passed it off as Sain and Kent getting their blood running in the morning.

Will dodged Dorcas's club another time. Dorcas was faster than he let on, due to his tight lipped nature. Being an axe user meant that he was inevitably slower than Will, who was used to a lighter sword. Of course, Dorcas had much more power in exchange for this speed. Dorcas wasn't the only problem, though.

Wil launched a stick at Will, who dodged it again. If there was one thing he was confident in aside from his tactics, it was his dodging ability. He told them that while injured it was much easier to focus on dodging and he didn't have to worry as much about fighting an enemy at the same time. That was usually what ended in him being injured.

"Look, I'm going to need your help." He had told Kent, Sain, Wil, and Dorcas even earlier that morning. "I can't hinder you all in a fight, so I need to be well versed in dodging and holding off an enemy. At the very least I need to stop getting injured all the time." They all nodded to this.

Will had proven to be a great tactician in all their fights so far, and they had no reason to doubt him this time. Dorcas, seeing the others place their faith in him, had no reason not to do the same.

Kent and Sain's sticks were harder to dodge, as he had to be sure to not get run over by the horses at the same time. Despite that, he managed to roll through a small crack in their defenses. He gave a small sigh of relief at the end of the exercise.

The others seemed pleased as well, lowering their weapons as Wil offered Will a small congratulatory pat on the back. "Let's see…" Will said, ticking off his notebook. He had a feeling he'd need a new one by the end of this. "I've stayed alive long enough for people to come back and help me six times, and died… twenty-seven times."

Everyone sighed, but Kent shook his head. "Real battle will be different." He said, and Will nodded, hoping his assumption was correct.

Now they were seated around the fire again as their breakfast cooked. Will had explained what they had been doing nearby, though at first Florina and Lyn looked slightly surprised, they took it in stride after thinking about it.

"You could just stick near one of us, you know." Lyn said, voicing a thought as they ate their breakfast, a small plate filled with fruits and bits of fish. "Wouldn't that keep you safe enough?"

Will smiled slightly. "Well, the problem with that plan is that I need to be able to get around to everyone to give them advice, or send people to other places. The more people we have, the harder it becomes to do." He said, making Lyn sigh.

"Couldn't you just send other people over?" She asked.

"Lyn, don't worry about it. With my arm in this state it's best for me to be moving around battlefields anyway." He said.

"I'm just worried. You can't defend yourself for a short time. Wouldn't it be better to…?" She trailed off as Will shook his head.

"Sorry Lyn, no can do." He stood up, and motioned to Dorcas. They left together, probably for tactics training.

Lyn sighed. Kent looked at Will's retreating form. "He's been having trouble training himself in combat. It's something he's apparently never done before. Doing it all for your sake, milady. I think that should be enough for you." He also stood, and Sain joined him.

"He's a slippery guy. Doubt we'll find an axe in his head anytime soon." Sain said with a friendly wave, as the two left for their training session.

"Lyn…" Florina began, but Lyn ignored her as she stood up as well.

"Come on, Florina, we're going to train as well." Florina simply nodded, deciding to save the discussion for later.

Wil looked around, still having a piece of fruit in his mouth. When he noticed everyone had left, he jumped up, and hurried after Will.

"So…" Will said, explaining yet another tactic to Wil and Dorcas, Wil having joined them after a few minutes. "Here would be a good part for the three of you to break through."

He was talking about the two there and Lyn, as most of his strategies did. They still wondered why he did this, when in battle he still shouted out directions. Once again there were drawings tied to trees, and once more neither the axe man nor the archer could discern what on earth they were supposed to be. Thankfully Will had explained the situation as he usually did.

"Will, why bother? You give us directions in combat anyway." Wil said, wondering. Will smiled.

"For two reasons. One, I won't always be around to help, and it's best if you know how to fight enemies even if it's just a bandit or two. Two, if I die…" Both of them frowned at that, "You need to know strategies that can help you to the goal. If I become useless, you leave me and continue on, that's the law of the…" He trailed off. Both looked at him again, this time in confusion. His voice had become quiet. "Right… I'm not there anymore… it's not the law anymore… I live free…"

"Will, you okay?" Dorcas asked, snapping Will out of his brief reverie.

He smiled and shook his head, removing the thought from his mind. "Yeah, sorry. I was wrong. Look, I'm not going to die, okay? It's just an extra precaution."

Both shrugged at this. They weren't sure what he was talking about at all, to tell the truth. It also seemed like it wasn't a good thing to pry about, since Will was trying so valiantly to continue the lesson.

"I made a promise to Lyn to see her through. Well, more of an agreement than anything, but I'm not going to die until our goal is reached, okay?" Both smiled slightly, and nodded. Will gave a little nod, and continued. "Alright then. Now as for when you've got a pack of cavaliers coming towards you, it's best to…"

Kent and Sain's swords clashed with a resounding ring. They were careful enough not to injure each other, but they found they fought better with them than with the sticks Will recommended. They knew why, though.

"Are you sure you don't want to use a stick, Kent? You might lose an arm…" Sain joked, and Kent smiled slightly.

"I much too careful for that, Sain. You would be the one to lose an arm if we truly fought." Both laughed briefly, and then lowered their swords and bowed to each other. The duel ended in a draw.

"Alright, now for the lances?" Sain asked, reaching for his pack. Kent nodded.

"Although I might not be so lucky there. You train far too much with it." Kent shook his head. "You and your heroics, Sain."

Sain shrugged. "There is always the off chance that I will sweep an unsuspecting beauty off her feet with my amazing abilities." And they both laughed again.

"Whoever falls for that must read or hear too many knightly romance stories." Kent said, and their lances crossed for the first time, and Sain shrugged in return.

"Lyn…" Florina tried again. She had been blocking Lyn's more violent than usual strikes for the last half hour, only attacking her once or twice in the process.

"What, Florina?" She asked, through gritted teeth.

"Is something wrong? You've been acting all angry since breakfast." She said, and Lyn sighed, finally lowering the stick.

"I'm more disappointed in myself. If I'd been quicker taking out that leader, I could've come back to help you both." Florina sighed.

"You can't blame yourself Lyn… I mean, if it's anyone's fault it would be mine… I mean, I was with him and all…" She said, quietly, and Lyn walked over, and hugged her.

"Well, I feel responsible." She said, simply.

"Why?" Florina asked, curious.

"Well…" Lyn started. She might as well tell her, it wasn't like it was a lovey-dovey moment anyway. I mean… it was just a talk. Yeah, I'll say it like that… And I didn't really mean for it to go like this… She'll understand, right? Lyn took a breath slowly, and said it as simply and as fast as she could. "Iaskedhimtolookafteryou."

Florina blinked. Lyn had spoken so quickly that she hadn't caught a single word of what she had said. "Sorry?"

"When you were unconscious, we agreed to take you and Wil with us, remember?" She said, and Florina nodded.

"Well, I also mentioned how you hadn't really completed your knight training …" Florina made a bit of an indignant squeak. "I'm sorry, but from when I last saw you…"

Florina sighed. "I know… I'm nowhere near as good as my sisters are… but still…"

Lyn nodded, and the silence stretched for a couple of seconds before Lyn continued. "So… I asked Will to train you, and help in whatever way possible. I think he said he would have done it with everyone anyways, but I asked him to… you know…"

"You asked him to take extra time with me?" She said, a little hurt showing on her face as she did so.

"Yeah… I did. You aren't… mad, are you?" Lyn asked, seeing the look on her face.

"I… I…" Florina tried. She wanted to say she wasn't mad, but in truth, she was. She thought that he was being a little too nice with her. She had thought it was just because he hadn't wanted to frighten her. But… "I am angry." She said, and headed back to camp. Lyn put her back against a tree, and looked at the sky. She had really messed up this time.

"What is wrong, fair Florina?" Sain asked, as Florina entered the camp. Kent had hunting duty, along with Wil. Will was still with Dorcas, apparently.

"Nothing." She said angrily, entering her tent without another word.

"Hmm…" Sain said, thinking to himself. His gaze drifted momentarily towards the place where Lyn no doubt remained, before his gaze returned to the tent. I see…

Shortly thereafter, Will and Dorcas entered the camp. They were still discussing tactics. Dorcas seemed much more adept at thinking up strategies than Will had known, and had known situations similar to the ones Will constructed. His insight had taught him quite a few new things in a short amount of time, for which he was exceedingly grateful.

"Guess there isn't much for you to learn, is there?" He said, grinning. Dorcas simply shrugged in response. As they approached, Sain continued to gaze at Lyn and Florina's tent, which caught his curiosity. "Something wrong, Sain?"

Sain looked around. "Dame Florina seemed upset when she returned from training with Lady Lyndis."

"Who doesn't?" Will sighed, plopping down next to him. Dorcas sat across from them.

"No, not in terms of defeat. It was a very different kind of anger. Like she heard something not to her liking… and Lady Lyndis has yet to return as well." Sain said pensively.

Will sighed, getting up. "Time to raise morale, is what you mean?" He said, with a stretch.

"I suppose so, though heavens help you when dealing with women. They are always the most easily angered when trying to cheer them up." Sain said, giving him a cheery wave, and Will went off to find Lyn first.

"So, you're a knight?" Dorcas asked.

"Oh? You'd like to hear my most gallant of tales, I gather?" Sain said, before launching into what must've been his entire life story. Dorcas tuned out within the first five minutes, so he wasn't really sure how much of it was true and what Sain had interpreted to his favor.

Kent and Wil had found a good couple of animals, both of which Wil shot down easily. Now they were carrying them back to camp. They had spent the entire day without a march. Mainly to give Will time to heal.

"So, tomorrow it's back to the grindstone, eh?" Wil said, cheerily.

Kent nodded. "True, but the Ganelon bandits will still pose a problem. Lundgren will be after us as well."

Wil was still smiling. "Aw, come on. We're better than those jerks!" He said.

Kent smiled slightly. "Yes… I suppose we are."

"Lyn?" She opened her eyes slowly at the sound of a voice. She must have dosed off while thinking to herself. Someone was shaking her lightly to rouse her.

"…Will? What's going… huh?" She mumbled in confusion, making Will laugh.

"It's getting late. How long have you been out here?" He asked. Looking over he noticed several trees were scraped up with marks made no doubt by her Mani Katti. She must have been at in a while, for none of the trees in sight failed to bear a mark of some kind from the sword. "You must've tired yourself out training. Come on, let's go back."

She nodded, and leaned against him tiredly as they went back. He allowed her to as they began to walk. "She's mad at me, you know…" Lyn said, sleepily. "I told her that I asked you to look after her, and she was mad… and I still thought it was my fault you were hurt…"

Will couldn't help but wonder if Lyn wasn't sleep-talking. She definitely didn't seem to be fully awake. "Don't talk nonsense. It's my fault I was hurt, and the one who attacked me. The blame can't lie with anyone else." Lyn leaned even further into him, and he sighed.

"You need some sleep. We have a long march tomorrow." He said, as they entered the camp. Kent, Wil, Sain, and Dorcas all raised their eyebrows at the sight of Lyn practically hanging off him. "She's trained a little too hard today." He said as an explanation. All of them shrugged.

He brought Lyn to her tent just as Florina was exiting it. It seemed she had been sleeping too, as she looked rather ruffled, most likely from tossing and turning. She just walked right by him to the fire, making sure to take the furthest seat from the others, and waited. Will put Lyn down onto her bed roll. "Just like any other girl…" He said, as she finally let go of him. "Hard to believe she's gone through so much."

"I'm not… the only one…" Lyn said, still sleepy. Will smiled. "You seem… a lot like me…"

Will stayed quiet for a moment, his face betraying no emotions he might have felt in that moment. "Sleep well, Lyn." He said, which caused her to smile. She was glad she had convinced him to not use her title.

"Just one thing…" She said, and he turned back. "Don't die on me."

"No need to worry." He said, and exited the tent. The next morning, Lyn could swear her sleep had been one of the best she ever had. But that was tomorrow. The rest of the evening still remained.

Will looked at the others around the fire. "She's asleep." He said. They were all looking at him, which made him feel a little weird. Wouldn't they have done the same? Put someone to bed when they needed it? It's not like anything weird had happened.

"Who gets her share?" Sain asked, looking at the extra plate. Will nearly fell over. That was what they were worried about.

"Uh… cut it into pieces and split it between the six of us?" He suggested. They all looked at each other, then shrugged and did so without complaint.

Only five minutes later, Will sat down next to Florina. In return for Sain's life story, Dorcas was now regaling the group with a grandly exaggerated tale of the last battle, where the dashing husband of the fairest maiden Natalie swooped in from parts unknown, saving lone archer Wil from a fate worse than death at the hands of some saucy female bandits. It was quite an enjoyable tale, but Will had other things to take care of.

"Still mad?" Will asked. He wasn't close enough to scare her off, but close enough that she could hear him.

"Well… yes. I mean… you did all that just because…" She was cut off by Will laughing. "What's so funny?"

"Come on… even if Lyn asked me to, I could have not done it. But I chose to anyway." He said, and Florina couldn't find a response. "Your lance work has already improved tremendously, and your fear of men has definitely gotten better. I mean… you took care of my injury, right?" He said, waving the bandaged hand.

She nodded, looking at the fire instead of at him. She could tell he was looking right at her though. "It's just… I don't want to be taken care of." She said. "I want to be able to take care of others."

"You're a good person." He said, and looked at the fire as she looked at him. "You want to do something it took me years to do. I always cared for myself. Even when… well, nobody is proud of their worst moments."

"You mean you…" She said, trailing off. A part of her desperately wanted to know what he would've said. However, some other part of her told her it wasn't the time to push her luck. He was the first man she was even somewhat close to, it made little sense to push him away by asking silly questions.

"Of course. I was a selfish bastard like so many people are. I didn't care who got hurt if I stayed alive. That changed though… I suppose I have you all to thank for that." She still looked puzzled when he looked back at her. "If Lyn hadn't found me, I wouldn't have gotten another chance in life. I owe her for that."

Florina nodded, looking at the fire quietly. "So… still want to train with me? I can't guarantee it'll be easy, but to help yourself and others, you'll probably need it. Sorry to sound rude or…" Will began, trying to find out where he stood in their conversation.

She shook her head, cutting him off. Her lavender hair swayed slightly as she did so. "It's okay… I know I need it. I think I will train a bit more." She got up, and smiled.

Will just gave her a half shrug, like it didn't matter either way, and joined in the conversation with the others, who were now talking about how they had come to be there. Florina entered her tent to see Lyn sleeping, a smile playing across her face. He's a very strange guy… I guess I understand a little of what Lyn sees in him though. Only a little bit.

In the morning, Florina also said she couldn't remember the last time she had slept that peacefully. The boys all complained that they knew THEY had slept far better in a bed.

Matthew was weaving his way through the trees, making his way to Araphen. He'd been told that Lady Lyndis and her band were headed to Caelin, which would mean they would probably pass through there. That's where he'd 'offer' his services.

"Of course, it'll take me forever to get there at the rate I'm going…" Said Matthew, noticing he hadn't even crossed Ostia's border yet. He'd make it though. He always did. He just had a habit of taking his time and showing up at the last minute. It paid huge dividends in his line of work.

Rath sighed. It was a boring existence here. He missed his tribe, he missed the plains. He hated being locked up like this. Though he never told it to the Marquess's face. He was always polite to him. Though something always seemed wrong about that smile. Something always irked him about the man and the way he spoke.

The older man wiped his sweaty brow, looking up at the sun as he shielded his bald head. He had also noted the change in the atmosphere that had come over Caelin lately. Something had changed, and he'd have to find out soon.

"I have a feeling I won't be free to farm for much longer… The Crag of Caelin will have to move again…" He said, and then turned to his house. "Hopefully my map is correct… Don't want to get lost for another three months…"

The bandits were trying to organize but it was proving to be rather difficult. They couldn't round up any volunteers. No one wanted to fight those people after what had happened to Carjiga.

"We can't spare the women either. We go for the kill this time." Said one of the leaders, pounding his fist angrily on the table.

Suddenly, a man none of them knew stepped from the shadows. "Allow me to be of assistance." Without a word, he redirected their battle plan with strange magic, the arrows turning and twisting into a much better plan then any of their leaders had concocted. They looked at him in surprise.

"Their tactician anticipates such moves as the ones you have used. The same moves won't work twice. Allow someone who knows his strategy style to assist you." The man said with an elegant bow.

They looked at him. This Nut was willing to take them on, so by all means they'd let him. "Alright, but if you make any wrong moves, you're dead, got it?" The leader said, and the man shrugged. "What's your name, anyway?" He asked as the band set out for their target.

"I am Mark." He said, smiling in reply. That same creepy smile didn't have the same effect on the bandits as it did on the soldiers.

"You got quite the look there." He said gruffly, and they continued on their way.