It seemed as though the sea of soldiers would never end. Poor Huey was dodging arrows and javelins at a steady pace, desperate to find a spot where Florina could safely impale her opponents, but she could no more than give them a mere scratch before Huey had to jerk back again to evade that countering thrust. Of course, judging by that scream, it was more than a mere scratch that she had inflicted upon the last myrmidon.

Her spear-arm was growing tired as she held the heavy steel lance in her hand, constantly jabbing it forward and sometimes without merit as she missed her target. They were in a lower altitude of the Bern Mountains now, but the still towering peaks gave her no shade or relief from the blazing sun. Freeing Huey's reins for a split moment, Florina wiped off the sweat on her brow with her arm. The metal on her chest and arms burned with the heat built up by the sun.

A knight approached her, and their lances clashed. Steel tangled with steel; hidden eyes pierced Florina from behind the helmet. She pulled back her weapon, and Huey flapped his wings to gain height. Swinging behind her enemy, Florina dashed downwards, striking him with all the might she could muster.

There was a sickening crack! Huey screeched and pulled back, using his wings as a shield from the flying shards of metal. The knight fell, but in him, her spear point was lodged firmly. Florina had pulled away with the splintered ends of a now useless weapon. Granted, it was still sharp, but unless she should come upon an enemy wearing no armor at all, it would do little but mar the heavy steel platelets that the other surrounding knights and their one, lone, fearsome general wore.

Luckily, Florina had one thing they did not, and that was speed. She darted up into the air, so high up that no spike could reach her. Her eyes scanned the area for Merlinus, and in a far away corner, she could see him trying to gain control of his frantic horses. Huey flew over to his direction, but a whizzing near her ear upset the Pegasus.

It was the sound of an arrow that had fortunately missed her flying steed, but Huey knew the sound well. It was enough for him to immediately fly as far away as he could from the projectile. Florina let him take his course, instead searching out for a comrade that could spare her a weapon.

Dear Elimine, she would even take an axe right now if it meant she would be armed. But wait…she had been getting better in her sword practices. Perhaps, if worst came to worst, she could loan a blade and stay in the back lines, fending off only those enemies that posed a threat to her.

That telltale flash of green armor sparked in the corner of her eye. Sain always carried both a lance and a sword with him. Though he preferred the romantic lance to his blade, brigands, wielding jagged axes, currently circled him and he knew that (though he liked to ignore it sometimes) that his lance would do him little good.

With a satisfying grunt, the brigand fell as Florina watched and waited for the opportune moment. He was still alive, since his body still shuddered and moaned, but he was no longer of any danger. At this point, Florina felt it was safe for her to approach Sain.

He looked up as Huey landed, and thrusting up the visor of his helmet, a broad grin was revealed on his face. Florina returned that smile, albeit not as widely.

"What can I do for you, Flora?" he asked. He seemed careless about his surroundings; so, Florina took the responsibility of making no enemies were sneaking up on them before continuing.

"I need a lance," she said. "Mine broke and—" She did not need to go any further. Sain handed her his javelin. "Thank you," she said relieved and comforted.

"No need," he pushed it aside, slamming his visor down. With his voice muffled he added, "Now, how about we ride together into the next scuffle. With two knights of Caelin, I'm sure the enemy will flee in terror." He was joking, as they both knew two soldiers of a small Lycian territory would likely not scare away the minions of the Black Fang. Still, his ever so cheerful demeanor always made the battles seem slightly better.

And besides, she enjoyed his partnership. After all, it was just more time to spend with Sain without having to think about the other people in their relationship.

Love squares could get quite tiring after a while.

------

The battle had ended, and dusk had greeted them all with wide-open arms. Weary and sore, the soldiers were more than glad to settle down and sleep. Farina had disappeared, claiming that she had business with Dart. More likely, she was just trying to sneak a look at that stupid treasure map she had told Florina about the other day.

Florina stripped off her armor in the privacy of her tent. Sure, she did not wear as much protection as her companions, but even after a long day, her shoulder guards grew hot and bore heavily upon her thin shoulders. Her gloves dropped to the ground, and she kicked off her boots. Smiling, she wiggled her toes, now free save for the heavy, woolen gray socks she wore. She was about to tear those off as well until her mind drifted to the lance discarded in the corner of her tent.

It was not hers. It was Sain's. She should return it; after all, she could get a new weapon, rightfully hers, from Merlinus now. Then, her eyes drifted back to her boots. She really did not want to have to put those back on again. Of course, troubling Sain by "borrowing" his weapon even longer was another thing she did not want to have to go through.

But the boots were just so uncomfortable. They were thick and long and stuck to her skin. They blistered her feet and caused her skin to rash.

Sain, however, was nice enough to give her his lance during the heat of battle. It was common courtesy to return his weapon. She was the one who should be bothered with getting a new one from the supply.

Oh but how could she stand a few more minutes in those ghastly things, after she looked forward so much to taking them off! Her legs could breathe again as they were free from the tight prison.

This was silly. A few minutes would not kill her…right? Sain was a gentleman to her, something he was to few other girls. Returning his lance should be the least she could do.

Her toes wiggled again. Florina glanced down at her feet. Why not go without the boots? No one would be looking down at her feet, and if they were, how could they blame her for not wanting to wear that awful footwear. She could easily slip behind the tents, which seemed to be the back roads of the camp. Those who were not resting inside their tents were out at the fireside, eating and drinking as they pleased and ignoring that little shadow slipping by.

With this resolved, Florina grabbed the lance and ambled on over to Sain's tent. The only person she passed was Dorcas, who did not even pass a glance towards her. When she reached her destination, she burst into Sain's tent.

Then her cheeks burned when she realized that she forgot to announce herself. Fortunately, Sain was dressed, but Florina was still embarrassed that she disregarded common manners when she had been trying to be courteous.

"Why, hello," Sain said, slightly surprised by her sudden arrival. He, too, had thrown aside all his armor, including his boots as well. Even the band that held his hair out of his eyes was missing, and several brown strands now hung down. He looked…kind of cute that way. Flustered, Florina could only hold the javelin forward, as a sort of offering.

He chuckled. "Excited to see me?" His hand enclosed around the javelin, knuckles brushing against Florina's fingers. She quickly released her hold on it.

"Excited to get rid that weapon," she retorted back after a moment. Sain set the javelin down to one corner of the tent and then turned around. When he did so, he noticed she was staring at him.

"What?"

"S-sorry, it's just…your hair band," she said. "I've never seen you without it." It was true. She had seen him without armor numerous times before, but never once since she had met him had he appeared without that strap of cloth.

"I've never seen you without your boots," he pointed out. So he noticed after all.

"You try wearing them!" Florina said in her defense.

"Fine, I'm sure they would look quite flattering on me," he said. As the image of Sain wearing her boots came up in her mind, Florina tried her best not to burst out laughing. Suddenly, she spotted the band laying on his bedroll. She pranced over to it, picked it up, and tied it behind her head.

"Not as good as I look," she said. She struck a pose, but to her surprise, Sain did not look amused. He tsked lightly under his breath, mumbling something she could not hear. "Well, I think it looks good," she remarked, turning around so that she could admire herself in the reflection of Sain's chest plate.

Without warning, her world was plunged into darkness. Florina let out a shriek, but she found that it only echoed around her. She heard Sain chuckle, then start laughing almost hysterically. Dazed, she wandered around blindly before she realized what the sudden weight upon her head was.

Sain had put his helmet on her while her back was turned. Her hands fumbled to find the visor.

"Now, you look good," he said with another chortle. "And by the way, it's on backwards." With a growl, Florina tried to find out which direction Sain's voice was coming from. Not only did the helmet feel like lead but also it smelled like a mix between rotten eggs and sweat. She grasped both sides of it and tried to pull it off, but her hands slipped.

"Sain, get it off of me!" she shrieked, half-playfully, half-serious. Two arms slipped around her, and the added weight of Sain's head was added to her neck's load.

"Why? I think you look kind of cute in it," he told her. Florina breathed deeply, so that the sounds reverberated against the metal.

"Really…I can't breathe." At first, Sain did not buy it, but when faint choking sounds emitted from the helm, he sighed and removed it. Once free, Florina tackled Sain, who only caught her petite body in his arms.

"Well, did you have any other business with me?" he questioned her. His embrace was tight, so that she almost did not realize he was speaking. But she was able to come with an answer.

"Are you kicking me out?"

"I do have an appointment with someone," he told her.

"Oh really? Who?"

"Could be my Lady Love," he said. Once again, those words dampened Florina's spirit, as she knew she was not that love and yet yearned for it so much. "Or could be my friend who is a total idiot when it comes to love, a certain red haired knight we all know so well."

"Fine, I'm going," Florina said with a sigh. She raised her hand in farewell as she turned to leave, but Sain took that hand in his.

"But, I'll walk you back," he offered. He removed his hand, to Florina's chagrin, to pluck his hair band off her head and replace it on his own. After it was situated to his tastes, they strolled out, side-by-side.

Chatting lightly, Florina was pleasant until Priscilla showed up along their path. Upon seeing her, Florina could not help but drop her smile. Priscilla seemed in a nice enough mood, though something was clearly bothering her and looked anxious upon spotting Sain.

"Hello Sain," she said with some merriment. "Oh Florina, hello." She turned back to Sain. Florina considered ducking out, but a certain curiosity crept inside of her. "Um, Sain, can I talk to you for a moment?"

Unexpectedly, Sain backed out. "Sorry, I'm busy," he said very curtly.

"But—" Priscilla seemed as if she really needed to speak with him, and Florina was taken aback at his sudden change of behavior.

"Really, I have to go." He snatched Florina's wrist rather forcefully and guided her away from Priscilla, whose face reflected a hurt expression. Florina wiggled out of Sain's grasp and rubbed her red wrist.

"W-what was that about?" she hissed. She, too, was shocked by how rude Sain was. At times, he could offend women with his flirts or annoy other men with his behavior, but he was never so impolite like that. Sain shook his head.

"I just didn't want an awkward encounter," he excused himself. He avoided Florina's gaze.

"That was rude!" she said in true shock. She could not understand this; it was quite out of character for Sain. Once again, he shook his head.

"Sorry, but…I have to go," he said and took off in the opposite direction. Puzzled, Florina could watch after him as he disappeared.

There was a giggle from behind her.

"Looks like someone has a little more affection for you than they'll admit. Interesting…indeed…"

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Author's Note: Sorry, Angel of Atonement. I can't say it was a killer ending this time. But it doesn't matter, as I am extremely satisfied with this chapter. Well, tell me what you all think of it in a lovely (or not-so-lovely, I ain't picky) review.