A/N 1: If there's anyone out there that's still reading or following this story, sorry for the massive delay in updates. Life got in the way, in short, and it took longer than expected for me to transfer what I've written from my notebook into my computer.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem: Awakening.

Survivors

Chapter Three: The First Duel

"Impress me."

He was upon her in an instant.

The wooden blade was a brown blur as the myrmidon swung, his target her exposed neck. She hastily brought up her practice lance; a sharp crack echoed through the air when the weapons made contact, less than an arm's length from her throat. Cordelia winced, her arm trembling slightly from the impact, the artificial thunderclap generated by their weapons still ringing in her ears. The practice blade inched closer and closer to her throat with each passing second.

Think.

She could feel the panic growing, the sweat rolling down the side of her face. Forcing herself to concentrate, the pegasus knight racked her mind for her next move. Head-butts were out of the question without a helmet, and a punch might leave her exposed. There had to be something else - wait, yes, a simple kick to the chest. That would drive him back, giving her some space to breathe and to position herself at the ideal range for her lance. It was as good a move as any to make. And no one ever sees that one coming.

Cordelia adjusted her footing, then swung her leg up - and struck nothing but thin air.

"Predictable," she heard him mutter.

The next thing she knew, there was another crack and she was stumbling backwards, her arms flailing wildly as she attempted to prevent herself from falling. A dull ache had begun to spread through her chest, starting from just beneath her left lung, but she could not spare any time to wonder about it. Lon'qu's next attack went wide, a product of sheer luck in the form of an involuntary step back from the pegasus knight. It was a small opening, but an opening nonetheless; Cordelia jabbed her lance forward, putting her weight behind the blow aimed at her opponent's chest. A clean strike was too much to hope for at this point of time - all she needed was to throw him off-balance, if only for a few moments…

But it was not to be.

Faster than her eyes could follow, the black-haired swordsman danced past the point of her lance, effortlessly moving within an arm's reach of her. She blinked, having just noticed his palm resting on her breastplate, before he harshly shoved her back.

This time, the pegasus knight did fall.

A smattering of cheers and applause reached her ears, no doubt a sign of appreciation of the myrmidon's skill from the other Shepherds. Someone in the crowd whooped loudly, shortly followed by what sounded like a wolf-whistle. Lon'qu, meanwhile, simply gestured for her to rise. The crowd cheered again.

Cordelia's cheeks burned - from anger or humiliation, she could not tell. While she might've appeared proud to others, she was nonetheless willing to admit defeat. Swallow her pride, eat humble pie, learn from her mistakes and surpass them. She was certainly willing to acknowledge the myrmidon's skill, even call him one of the best warriors she'd fought. On any other day to any other person, she would've conceded.

There was just one problem. The myrmidon wasn't just any other person.

The pegasus knight wordlessly hauled herself to her feet. No sooner had she raised her lance when the myrmidon lunged at her again, practice sword in hand. His weapon descended towards her, a perfect diagonal slash, but she was ready this time. Cordelia twisted her body to the side, the practice weapon missing her cleanly - easy, oh so easy. Now he was open. With a bit more force than necessary, she slammed the blunted tip of her lance into his gut, a burst of grim pleasure rushing through her body as his sharp, pained gasp reached her ears. A quick flick of her wrist brought her lance around, the shaft smacking her foe in the chest like an errant child needing discipline. Whilst the tactic would have failed against another knight or armored warrior, her opponent was neither. The pegasus knight smirked as he staggered back, falling to one knee courtesy of her strikes.

"Is that all?" It was her turn to mock him now.

Lon'qu's only response was a small grunt. Sooner than she'd hoped, he was back on his feet, looking none the worse for wear. She forced down the brief flash of irritation, settling back into her at-ready stance, and their duel resumed. With the superior range of her lance, she should have had the advantage, but the myrmidon evidently had learnt how to deal with such foes in the past. Even as they traded blows again and again, she noticed he was working his way closer to her, towards the spot where the length of her weapon became detrimental to its use. A smart move, she had to admit. A warrior who fought with his head as well as his blade - a lethal combination of speed, skill and sound tactical judgment.

Cordelia's world had narrowed to two things - the position of her lance, and the position of her opponent's sword. Everything else had faded into the background, unnecessary and unnoticed. At this point of time, a single distraction, no matter how minor, could prove devastating for either party.

And it came in the form of a loud, prolonged crack - the unmistakable sound of splintering wood.

Both the pegasus knight and the myrmidon froze as their weapons shattered, finally unable to cope with the stresses they were being put through. Cordelia blinked, dumbly staring at the uneven stump of wood that was once a training lance in her hands, her attention briefly taken off her opponent. In hindsight, that was the deciding moment of the duel; she had just begun to look up when she felt her right hand being wrenched towards her back, the remains of her lance falling from her grip. A kick to the back of the knee felled the red-haired woman again, and soon the myrmidon had the remains of his sword at her throat.

Neither party moved. No one spoke.

"I think that's quite enough," Robin stated.

"Stupid myrmidon..."

Sumia glanced up from her dinner, just in time to see Cordelia all but slam her plate down onto the opposite side of the table. The red-haired pegasus knight ignored her friend as she sat, muttering to herself all the while.

"I had him. Gods, I had him there..."

"Cordelia? Are you well?" Sumia gulped, the sight of her friend repeatedly jabbing her meal with her fork filling her with trepidation. She summoned the courage to gently nudge her friend in the shoulder, just as Cordelia brought her fork down again. Both women winced at the resulting clang of metal colliding against porcelain. "Something the matter?"

The red-haired woman sighed, eyes dropping to her plate. "I lost. Of all people, it had to be him. That was utterly humilia-"

"That was amazing!"

Cordelia's head shot up faster than a bolt of lightning from a tome. "Sumia," she snapped, a little harsher than intended, "I lost that duel, if you noticed."

"You have no idea what you've achieved, do you, Cordelia?" The other pegasus knight gushed, apparently caught up in whatever discovery she'd made. Her enthusiasm was infectious; Cordelia found her irritation slowly giving way to curiousity.

"Whatever do you mean?"

"...then again, those standards are probably normal for you... I mean, you're always aiming for perfection..."

"Sumia!"

"O-oh! Right! I was rambling there..." Chuckling nervously, Cordelia's friend nonetheless returned to the conversation at hand. "Well, how much do you know about the members of the Shepherds?"

"...names and faces, that's about it. At least for the Ylisseans."

"I guessed as much. That's okay though. Anyways, the man you were battling today? He's one of the newer Shepherds as well."

"I wonder where Lord Chrom found a man like him," Cordelia muttered.

"Regna Ferox. Apparently, he was a former champion of one of the khans'. He doesn't look one bit like a Feroxi though."

"He doesn't fight like one - at least, not completely. Most Feroxi warriors emphasize brute force. He focuses more on speed and positioning."

"Even his name's not one you'd expect a Feroxi to have. Lon'qu." Sumia frowned, her tongue struggling to wrap itself around the syllables. "There's not much I can tell you about his background - he remains pretty tight-lipped on that."

"What about his swordplay then?"

"Ooh, don't remind me..." The brown-haired pegasus knight groaned, looking as if she wanted to hide her face in her bowl of stew. "He's highly skilled - you probably found that out firsthand, though. In terms of raw skill, he could even be considered the best among the Shepherds. The first time we sparred, I didn't last a full minute. Even Frederick has problems matching him when they spar."

"Perfect," Cordelia sighed. The option of asking the great knight for advice had just vanished before her eyes. This was one opponent she was going to have to figure out on her own. "How am I supposed to best him, then..."

"I doubt he'll agree to duel with you again, Cordelia," Sumia paused to take a bite out of her meal, then continued. "Outside of battles, he tends to avoid contact any and all forms of contact with women."

"...what?" That had to be the most ridiculous thing she'd heard the entire day.

"Apparently, he has a fear of women. It doesn't seem to affect him in combat, but..." Sumia huffed. "I asked him nicely if he wanted a flower fortune reading, and he turned tail and ran as if he'd seen a ghost! The nerve of him!"

Cordelia could only sigh again, slowly tuning out her friend's complaints. She was nowhere closer to figuring out the mystery that was the myrmidon Lon'qu, and she did not know what to do next.

A small part of her wondered why she was bothering with him, anyway.

The next day, the war with the Plegians finally caught up with the Shepherds, and all thoughts of Lon'qu were set aside.

A/N 2: The next update will hopefully be much sooner. I'm dedicating NaNo to this, so hopefully that'll be enough motivation. Thank you very much for reading this, no matter if you've just started or been following it from the start! :)