Author's Note: Fire Emblem does not belong to me, but to Nintendo.
This story is rated "T" because of language, violence, death, and suggestive scenes.
Prologue
Galloping hooves echoed across the plains of Sacae. In the twilight of the day, a horse and its rider race, the wind ushering them on their way.
Once, dragons and men coexisted.
They shared a peace forged in wisdom,
a peace that lasted many generations.
Panting nearly as much as her horse, the cloaked traveler glanced behind her, groaning as her eyes spied the pursuers that still trailed behind the two. Whinnying loudly, the horse pushed itself as fast as it could go, but that would not stop the distance that was beginning to close between his rider and the bandits.
All that was lost when mankind disrupted
this balance in a sudden onslaught.
Man fought dragon in a savage war
that shook the foundations of their world.
This war was called The Scouring.
Chuckling darkly, the lead bandit reached behind him and unhooked his hand axe from his back. Taking aim in front of him, and with a grunt, flung the axe at the unfortunate horse's legs. It connected sideways against the horse's back leg, a screaming whinny echoed with the bandit's triumphant howl as the horse and rider both slowly fell to Mother Earth's embrace.
Defeated and humbled,
dragons vanished from the realm.
"Oh!" Escaped from the pursuing rider's lips as she and the horse suddenly fell to the ground together. The earth was damp and muddy, sliding them both near the edge of a ridge. "Ah!" She gasped and frantically dug into the slippery dirt, but her strength had already vanished.
In time, man rebuilt and spread his
dominion across the land and
on to the islands beyond.
The bandit group halted at the edge of the ridge, a nightly fog already starting to fill the area. The leader grunted angrily. Not only did the woman and horse fall down to their deaths, but he had wasted a good axe. Growling angrily, he turned his horse around and slowly trotted off, his lackey following.
A millenium has passed
since those dark days ended.
A soft, pained groan escaped the woman's lips. Her vision blurred, she could barely make out the outline of her horse that landed nearby on his side. A low growl from his mouth and panting were his only sounds. Good, she thought. Renegade's safe...Her eyes rolled back up to the sky. A blurred shadow of a person fell across her line of sight. That was the last thing she saw before the blackness enveloped her.
Fire Emblem:
Blazing Sword of Justice
The Girl from the Plains
The sound of birds twittering awoke Faren. Her hazel eyes slowly opened, a vision of a red cloth ceiling greeted her. She groaned as her head throbbed, placing a delicate hand on her head. Her mop of brown hair probably stuck out in every direction.
"Oh, are you awake?"
"Neh?" Was Faren's response. She sat up, her gaze settling on a young woman. The young woman smiled as she stood up. The woman was stunning, a sea of emerald green hair flowed behind her, held up by a red and silver band. Her aquamarine eyes shone brilliantly underneath her bangs. She wore a collared sky blue dress, decorated with orange triangles on the collar and short sleeves. An orange sash secured the dress around her waist, the dress splitting to expose her tanned legs.
The young girl smiled again at Faren. "I found you unconscious on the plains. My name is Lyn, and I'm from the Lorca tribe."
Faren blinked, but nodded politely. "Thank you very much, Lyn."
Lyn smiled again. "You're safe now. May I ask your name?"
"Faren. My name is Faren."
"Oh...What an odd-sounding name...But pay me no mind. It's a good name!"
Both girls giggled and Lyn sat down on the edge of the bed where Faren was. "Um..." Faren began nervously. "Did...did you happen to find...a black horse as well...?
Lyn nodded energetically. "Yes! His back leg was wounded...but aside from a few cuts and scrapes, he's fine! He gave me a bit of trouble, though. He must not be a very trusting to strangers."
It was Faren's turn to giggle. "Yeah. Renegade is like that. Thank you for rescuing him."
Lyn nodded again and her eyes drifted to Faren's clothes. Her cloak gone, Faren wore a simple long red tunic, tied around her waist by a dark blue sash that dangled down to her tan pants. "I see by your attire that you are a traveler. What brings you to the Sacae plains?"
"Just that!" Traveling!" Faren spoke so cheerfully, it took Lyn by surprise. Lyn thought the girl might be hiding something, so she asked a different way. "Would you share your story with me?"
As Faren opened her mouth to repeat the same answer, a loud crash echoed from outside. Lyn snapped her head to the door of the simple tent. "What was that noise? ...I'll go see what's happening," She said to Faren as she stood up, grabbing a nearby sword to attach to her belt. "Faren, wait here for me." And with that, Lyn disappeared out the flap of the tent.
Faren pushed back the covers, and stood shakily to her feet. Her whole body was a little sore from her fall yesterday, but she could walk as long as she didn't overdo it. Spotting her favorite emerald cloak on a nearby chair, she swept it up as Lyn rushed back into the tent.
Lyn looked fairly worried, gripping her sword's hilt tightly. "Bandits!" She whispered to Faren.
"Oh no!" Faren gasped as she adjusted the cloak, fearing that they may as well be the same ones from yesterday.
"They must have come down from the Bern mountains...and must be planning to raid the local villages! I...I have to stop them.."
Faren looked at Lyn curiously. "So how many are there?"
Lyn thought for a moment. "There were two...if that's all of them, I think I can handle them on my own..." She looked seriously at Faren. "You'll be safe in here, Faren." As Lyn turned to head out of the tent, Faren grabbed her arm. "Wait, Lyn!"
Lyn glanced back at Faren. "What is it? Can you fight?"
Faren chuckled sheepishly, rubbing her mop of brown hair. "Oh, no no no. I'm not a fighter. Too weak for that. I'm what you would call a tactician. I direct warriors for battle! It's why I'm traveling!"
Lyn eyed her suspiciously for a moment. "...I see. A strategist by trade...an...odd profession, but ...okay...Let's go together!"
"Right!" Faren shouted happily and followed Lyn out of the tent into the bright sunshine. The day was beautiful, a few clouds dotted the sky here and there. The sun was high in the sky, indicating the time to be about noonish.
A soft whinny from her right made Faren smile. She glanced and saw Renegade laying comfortably on some straw next to a soft chocolate brown horse. That other horse must be Lyn's, Faren thought. She turned her gaze back to Lyn, who was peering through a thicket at the bandits. She motioned to Faren to join her. As Faren knelt down and peered through the leaves, Lyn whispered. "So...what do you think?"
Faren's eyes narrowed in concentration. A little farther away was an abandoned tent. She hoped it was abandoned as she saw the bandit slice through it and yelling repeatedly. Closer to the two girls was another bandit, smaller but looking just as ugly. He must have been on guard. This is more simpler than I thought... Faren thought. They're both wielding axes...this will work in Lyn's advantage.
Faren turned to Lyn and whispered. "Okay, here's what you do..."
Grog sighed as he watched Batta tear apart the tent in frustration. Grog knew he was upset due to yesterday's incident. If they had caught that girl and the horse, they'd have money. Whoever left this tent had nothing of value either, or Batta simply didn't care.
"Boss needs a wench for a night.." Grog muttered to himself.
"HIYAAH!!"
"Huh?" Grog looked up in time to see the sheen of a sword come down on his face. He yelled out in pain and swung his axe wildly. Lyn back flipped out of the way, gripping her sword's hilt with both hands and thrusted upward into the bandit's throat. He gurgled for a moment, blood spurting from his mouth before falling. Lyn pulled out her blade and turned her attention toward the leader, who glared menacingly at Lyn.
"YOU KILLED GROG!!" Batta yelled angrily at Lyn. She rolled her eyes and looked to her right as Faren ran up to her. "That was awesome, Lyn! Just like I told you!"
Batta's eyes widened as he pointed a filthy finger at Faren. "YOU. You're that woman from yesterday!"
"Eep!" Faren smiled nervously and hid behind Lyn, whispering something to Lyn. Lyn nodded and step forward, brandishing her iron sword threateningly. "If you want Faren, you have to go through me to get her, bandit!" Lyn took her stance in front of Batta, who gripped his axe handle with both hands.
"Who do you think you are?!" Batta roared. "You think you can stand up to Batta the Beast?!" He lunged toward Lyn, who leapt into the air at Faren's suggestion.
Faren stumbled back and gasped as she saw Batta's axe connect with Lyn's left leg. With a pained grunt, Lyn flipped over Batta and sliced his side. Batta roared and brought his axe down toward Lyn's head. She slid to the right, the axe barely grazing her shoulder. She quickly took a stance, holding her left hand out in front of her and her sword in her right. Fire seemed to burn in Lyn's eyes as she dodged right again, missing Batta's axe. With a battle cry, Lyn leapt into the air and slashed Batta's throat.
"Ugh...wa..." Were the last sounds Batta murmured before falling down dead onto the earth.
Faren stared at the scene before leaping up to stand. "YOU DID IT, LYN!!!" She ran to her new friend and hugged her tightly.
"Ow! Faren!" She laughed, hugging the girl back. "Whew...that was close...sorry if I worried you. Thanks to you, we beat them!"
Faren smiled happily at Lyn as she cleaned her blade on Batta's clothes. She sheathed her blade then studied the bandits bodies for a minute. "Let's bury them, Faren. I know they don't deserve it, but it would not be right to leave their bodies upon Mother Earth for others to see." Faren agreed and both of them worked on covering the bandits with dirt for the rest of the afternoon until night fell.
"Good morning, Faren!!" Lyn's cheery voice rang through Faren's ears.
"Mmm..." Faren sat up straight, her short brown hair stuck out in every direction. She patted it down to where she liked it, some bangs in front of her right eye, the rest of her hair could do what it wanted.
She looked up at Lyn as she handed her a bowl full of porridge. "Are you feeling okay this morning, Lyn?" Lyn nodded. "Yup. Those scratches they gave me don't hurt that much. What about you?"
"Oh, I'm fine." She greedily slurped down the food and sighed satisfactorily. Lyn chuckled and took both of their bowls. "Say, Faren...I want to talk to you about something."
"Okay." Faren stood and stretched, smoothing out her traveling clothes and adjusting her sash.
Lyn hesitated, setting the bowls aside on the makeshift table. "Faren...you have some experience in battles, I can see. Would...would you allow me to travel with you?"
Faren looked back surprised at Lyn as she adjusted a simple hoop earring. "Um...sure...though what about your parents and the rest of your tribe?"
Lyn looked down sadly and turned away from Faren. "My mother and my father...died six months ago. My people..." Faren could hear the difficulty it took Lyn to say the words. She placed a reassuring hand on the girl's shoulder. She felt Lyn's hand upon hers a moment afterwards. She continued.
"My people, the Lorca, they don't...I'm the last of my tribe. Bandits attacked, and...they killed so many people. The tribe was scattered. My father was our chieftain, and I wanted to protect our people. I am so young, and my tribe is old-fashioned. They wouldn't follow a woman. No one would follow me..."
Lyn sniffled and wiped a tear off her eye. "Lyn..." Faren could not find the right words to say. Lyn had suffered in loneliness for so strong, yet she seemed so strong for someone so young.
"I'm sorry..." Lyn turned and smiled at Faren, the tears gone. "I've been alone for so long...I will shed no more tears. I'm better now, thank you."
Lyn paused for a moment before grabbing both of Faren's hands. "Faren, I...I must become stronger, so that I may avenge my father's death! Yesterday's battle taught me something: I won't become stronger by sitting here alone. Faren, tell me that you'll train me, that you'll let me travel with you!" She bowed her head.
Faren stared at Lyn before grinning wide. "Of course! I could use the company!"
"You will?" Lyn asked incredulously before Faren nodded. She smiled also and hugged the smaller girl. "That's wonderful! Thank you! Oh, thank you!"
"Ah, Lyn...?" Faren's small voice choked out. "You're...choking me...".
Lyn released Faren, not seeming to have heard her as she still grinned widely. "We'll be better off working together, I know it! You'll be my master strategist and I'll be your peerless warrior! We can do it!!"
Both girls laughed happily and began speaking excitedly of their next destination. Each one had their share of troubles and loneliness. Each had their hidden pain. Now they have each other. One has to wonder what kinds of adventure that Lyn of the Lorca and Faren the mysterious tactician will have!