DISCLAIMER: Fire Emblem: Fates and all of its characters belong to Intelligent Systems (and any other major parties involved in the making of the Fire Emblem: Fates games). I own the plot, Dakota, (Name)'s personality and the decisions she makes. I do not make any profit from this fanfiction; it is solely intended for your reading pleasure.

(Name) = Your name.

(eye color) = Your eye color.

(hair color)/(hair length) = Hair color / Hair length.

(Pet Name) = An annoying name that pisses you off, no matter who it comes from.

(Nickname) = A cute name that makes you blush.

Keaton's P.O.V.

We've been waiting at the edge of the forest that surrounds Castle Shirasagi for an amount of time that even my stomach refuses to count. I look to (Name), who's sitting next to me and watching some unseen royal guard with surreal intensity. In that second, I realize that her ears and tail are white, which is strange. None of my packmates have white fur, which means that she's not the young Wolfskin that my pack lost to Hoshidan forces a few months ago. So that must mean she comes from the Wolfskin pack that lives up in the arctic tundra, where it snows practically nine months of the year... Well, so I've heard.

I don't even get the chance to for the words in my mind when she springs up into a kneeling position, as if she were about to race a one hundred meter sprint. Dakota, sitting at her opposite side, does the same. A little more reluctantly, I follow suit.

"No matter what happens, we stick to my plan," (Name) growls quietly, not taking her eyes off her supposedly hidden target. "Got it?"

"Got it," Dakota and I repeat, waiting for her signal.

"3...2...1..."

I raise myself slightly higher off the ground, my legs tense and ready for action.

"Now."

The three of us surge forward, all senses on high alert. My packmates that I had brought along for backup race after us. No sooner than we crossed the understood threshold were we set upon by Hoshidan ninja. Instinctively, I clench my Beastrune in one hand and grab (Name)'s with the other, pulling her into my protective custody. Now in my beast form, I easily plow through wave after wave of pesky Hoshidan ninja. I call out to Dakota, and she's at my side within moments, taking on the Hoshidan troops while I continue to escort (Name) to the front entrance of the castle. I hear a sharp gasp from said white-furred Wolfskin and I'm harshly shoved aside while she protects me from a rather scary-looking ninja with red hair. Right away, I can tell he's different; much more highly trained than the others.

"Back off, Saizo," (Name) hollers at him. "Go pick on someone your own size!"

Remembering the lack of her Beastrune, I step in front of her, grabbing the Hoshidan ninja by the scarf around his neck and throwing him a good thirty feet away, straight into a brick wall. I feel (Name) crawling up my back until she reaches my neck, giving one of my ears a sharp yet gentle tug in the direction of the castle. I can smell fear coming off her form and quickly charge towards the front entrance of Castle Shirasagi. I run at breakneck speed through the castle, letting (Name) guide me. My only job is to make sure she stays safe until she gets her Beastrune. Once she has it, she'll be able to fend for herself. Though, if we're being honest here, I don't mind protecting her, but I'm not about to admit it.

A rather sharp electric arrow in my shoulder stops my advance and forces me out of my beast form.

"Not so tough now, are you, Keaton?"

The mocking tone in that annoying yet familiar voice grates against my ears.

"How's it feel to be powerless against your enemy in their home turf, Keaton?"

Gods, please give me enough strength to shut him up.

"Shut your trap, Takumi!" (Name) shrieks at the Hoshidan royal prick-in-my-ass.

How is it that she can call these Hoshidans by name so easily?

My question is more or less answered seconds later.

"Well if it isn't little (Pet Name)," Takumi laughs teasingly. "I'll admit, I almost didn't recognize you with that savage look in your eyes."

"Give me back my Beastrune," she growls, now stepping defensively in front of me. "And I dare you to call me that name one more time, you whiny little bitch."

The young prince laughs heartily.

If only I could just wrap my hands around his scrawny little neck and-.

"You can't hide it, can you? You know you liked it, so come on out of denial and maybe we can take it to the next level, (Pet Name)."

Now it hits me. (Name), one of my own kind, was a prisoner here, and unless I'm crazy, what he's saying means that she was subjected to-. No. It has to be a bluff. I glance at her and my heart sinks. That little shit isn't bluffing.

She's trembling and holding herself in a more sheltered defensive stance, pure terror coming off her in tidal waves. I have no idea how helpless she must have felt, and I'm already certain I don't want to know any part of it. Not that she would probably want to tell me about it, anyway. Whatever he did to (Name), I swear I will make him pay for it three hundred times over.

Out of nowhere, the wall behind Takumi gets a gaping hole blown through it. My heart leaps happily as the dust clears to reveal Dakota shaking the royal prick of an archer upside down, yelling at him to fork over (Name)'s Beastrune. Takumi throws the item in question towards its rightful owner, begging for mercy and receiving none from my Deputy Chief. (Name) races forward, catching her Beastrune and holding it close to her chest like her life depended on it. It's in these next few moments that time seems to slow down. Dakota has just thrown Takumi out through the hole in the wall she created upon her entrance, and a strangely calming aura has begun to sweep around (Name). And the legendary katana, Raijinto is now positioned directly in front of my throat. The wielder, the high prince of Hoshido, Lord Ryoma, stands beside me, calling for all battling forces to cease their attack. Dakota whirls around and cries out to me, taking a step in my direction, but I order her to stop, to which she reluctantly complies.

"It seems this dog already knows his place," chuckles the grating voice of the red-haired Hoshidan ninja whose name I accidentally forgot on purpose.

"Watch your tongue, Saizo," Lord Ryoma scolds.

"Ryoma, let him go."

I slowly look up. (Name) is standing little less than two meters away, facing down the two Hoshidans on either side of me. She takes a threatening step forward and stops, knowing the risks involved with advancing too far.

"(Name), we're not your enemy." The high prince of Hoshido makes his first attempt at calming her down. "Please set down your Beastrune, then we can settle this peacefully-."

A feral growl from the white-furred Wolfskin girl cuts him short, and while I watch the scene unfold before my eyes, I find it increasingly difficult to believe this isn't a dream. (Name)'s (eye color) eyes are now a brilliant blue, and a white mist is swirling lazily around her feet. A lone tendril of mist extends out towards me, gradually forming into a serene, white wolf with blue eyes. There's absolutely no explanation for what happened next. (Name) became fully encased in a veil of mist, which dispelled after a few moments, releasing a real blue-eyed Arctic Wolf. This creature, along with its mist-borne companion, waste no time in leaping at Ryoma and Saizo, snapping at them with vicious and powerful jaws.

I remember the ninja's name now.

...

Fuck.

"Keaton, run!" Dakota yells at me.

I turn my head to see a male Kinshi Knight with long, deep red hair bearing down on me, light glinting off his Iron Naginata. He gives me a cruel smile.

"So sorry," he says sarcastically.

Agony hits me like a brick wall as the naginata weapon pierces straight through my lower abdomen, and I can't hold back the scream that rips its way from my throat. Dakota echoes this with a screech of her own. Just as quickly as it impaled me, the weapon is pulled from my body, causing me to cry out in pain once more. Though my eyes are closed, I can feel thick mist surrounding me, and smooth fur brushing against my form lightly trembling form.

"Hold on, Chief," Dakota's voice whispers in my ear, soothing a small portion of the agony racking my body as I'm lifted by a pair of strong, furry arms. "We'll be back at camp soon."