Fire Emblem, Valiant Dawn Chapter 7
Author's Note
Alrighty, time for a two-part chapter in Port Toha. And that's about all I have to say.
Disclaimer: All the characters belong to Nintendo and Intelligent Systems. Except Adam. That would really suck if they owned him... Oh yeah they own the world and the storyline too.
Chapter 7
A Nice, Quiet Dinner- What Could Go Wrong?
Port Toha was not what I had expected. From the way it was shown in the game, I had expected Port Toha to be fairly small, and while it seemed to be layed out in the same way, it was anything but small: A sprawling port city surrounded by a high wall, it dominated the landscape. In the distance I could see dozens of masts in the bay, and outside the gates there were huge camps of what looked like refugees.
"Wow, I didn't think it would be so huge!" I exclaimed as our wagons neared the main gates.
"That's what she said," Boyd muttered, but I ignored him. Soren, who much to my disappointment was ridding with us, looked at me as if I were stupid.
"It's the largest port in western Crimea, which makes it the region's trade hub. Of course it's huge," he said with an air of superiority.
"Oh okay, that makes sense. But if we wanna leave the country without Daein noticing, wouldn't it be a better idea to find a smaller port? Maybe one where the city guard hasn't been bought by Daein," I asked.
"Port Toha may look nice, but you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy," Ranulf answered from the wagon ahead of us. "It's the perfect place to find a ship captain willing to take on some off-the-books passengers with no questions asked, and with enough coin the city guard will be happy to forget we were ever here. Since King Caineghis provided us with plenty of money, this should go smoothly."
As our wagons drew nearer to the eastern gate, I saw a half a dozen soldiers posted outside. They wore the white uniforms of Crimea, but they did not look very friendly. Worse yet, their leader bore Daein's emblem on his armor.
"Halt! By order of the Daein occupation force, all wagons entering the city must be searched for contraband and wanted persons."
Ranulf, wearing a hood to conceal his distinctive ears, got down from his wagon and approached the captain. "You don't need to search these wagons, and we can enter the city," he said, discreetly passing a bag of coins to the captain.
The captain opened the bag and smiled. "I don't need to inspect these wagons." He motioned for his men to open the gates, then waved us through. "Move along, move along."
As the wagons began to move again, Ranulf shook hands with the man. "You will forget we entered the city."
"Forget who, now?" the captain replied, pocketing the coins Ranulf had pressed into his hand. "Enjoy your stay in Port Toha, but you may want to make it short. It will be getting very crowded around here soon, if you get my meaning."
We entered the city with no further incident, and parked the wagons just inside the walls. Ike began to give orders once everyone was dismounted.
"Titania, Mist, Oscar and Rolf, I want you to sell our extra wagons and horses, then see about getting some more supplies. Soren, you're coming with Ranulf and I to find a ship. The rest of you feel free to shop, eat or look around town. Just stay out of trouble, and meet back here by sundown."
"Alright, time for that dinner you promised us," Boyd said, while a very hungry looking Ilyana nodded her agreement. "C'mon, I know a good tavern not too far from here."
"I didn't know you'd been to Port Toha before. Was it some kind of mercenary job?" I asked.
"Yeah, something like that..." he replied. "C'mon, it's this way." He led us through a bustling market filled with all sorts of food, clothes, weapons, tools, armor and even some rare imported merchandise (or so the merchant claimed). Once we got out of the market, Boyd led us across a bridge that seemed just as busy as the marketplace. The tavern was just a few buildings down from the bridge, and Boyd wasted no time leading us in. Inside, a multitude of people were crowded around the bar while small groups sat at a few of the tables, ordering drinks and chattering away. A group of minstrels in one corner were playing an upbeat, jazzy tune on some peculiar wind instruments.
"Did somebody forget to mention the war to these people?" I asked, aghast at how relaxed the whole city was.
"Who cares? We should enjoy it while we can, cause there won't be any good places like this on a boat," Boyd said as he craned his neck to look over the crowd. "Ah, table over there. Let's get it before someone else."
We got a table at one of the back corners, and a serving girl was over in an instant. "You want some drinks or somethin'?"
"Wine, if you have it," said Ilyana.
"Just water for me," I added.
"Whoa, uh-uh! My friend means ale-" Boyd stopped as he turned towards the waitress, and the poor girl's mouth dropped open.
"Boyd? What are you doin' here?!"
"Ummm, yeah hi it's been a whi-"
The girl slapped him in the face. Hard.
"TWO YEARS! You said you'd come back and see me, but I never even got a letter!"
"Yeeeeaaah, I was really busy with the, umm, mercenary stuff and all. Y'know, fighting bandits and pirates and being heroic. Yeah, that's why."
"I doubt you were that busy, you lying jerk! And who's this? The new girl?" she asked, gesturing at Ilyana.
Ilyana shook her head. "No, definitely not. Now back to more important matters, I would like a plate of-" Boyd cut her off.
"C'mon baby, you know the time we spent together meant a lot to me," he said sweetly, leaning closer to the serving girl.
"It did?"
"Yeah, I really missed you... ummm, Cheryl?"
"You don't even remember my name!?" she grabbed a drink from the table next to ours and threw it in Boyd's face before storming off. When she was gone, I began to applaud sarcastically.
"And I though I wasn't good with the ladies..."
"Hey, how many girls have you courted?"
"Well none, but that's not the-"
"That's what I thought. Ooh, here comes that cute new girl from the prison. Just sit back and watch a master at work," Boyd said. I looked over my shoulder and sure enough, Nephenee was wandering into the tavern, looking for a table. Poor, unsuspecting Nephenee...
"But she didn't even take my order..." Ilyana mumbled sadly, watching the waitress leave.
Boyd stood up and got Nephenee's attention by waving ridiculously. "Hey there beautiful, why don't you come here and take a seat next to me? Dinner's on us!" Not-Cheryl heard this and huffed indignantly.
"Yeah and I'm paying. Real generous, dude," I grumbled.
Nephenee did come to the table, but chose to take a seat next to Ilyana (and far from Boyd). Thwarted, Boyd sat back down. Still, he wasn't ready to give up just yet.
"So tell me, beautiful, is you father a baker? Cause you're a real cutie pie!" Oh my god, did I really just hear that?
Nephenee, a confused expression on her face, simply replied "Ummm.. no," before turning to talk with Ilyana. Any further attempts at... whatever Boyd was doing was interrupted as another server came to take our orders.
When the food arrived the coin purse I had taken from the Daein camp became a lot lighter thanks to Ilyana ordering more food than the rest of us combined. We all dug into the food except for Boyd, who was thoroughly baffled.
"That line used to work so well..."
"She barely knows you, and she seems kinda shy. Wouldn't it have been better to just say hi and invite her over without hitting on her?" I asked.
"What? No, you clearly know nothing about this."
"Neither do you, apparently."
"I used to... I'm sure it's just got something to do with all this war and fighting. Yeah, that's it, I'm getting distracted by all the heroic umm... heroism I've been doing."
"Keep tellin' yourself that," I snickered, earning myself a punch in the shoulder.
A loud belch from the direction of the two girls interrupted us. I looked over to see that Ilyana had finished half of her food, and had several empty flagons in front of her.
"Oh, that can't be good," I said. How did she eat it all so fast? This meal is gonna be so expensive. "I thought the idea was just to have a few drinks..."
"Heeey that guy by the bar's checking me out, isn't he?" she asked me, slurring her words a bit and completely ignoring me. Groaning inwardly, I looked at the bar and there were indeed a few men looking in our direction. One, a blue-haired man with a sword belted at his side, seemed to be focused on Ilyana. To his left, though, a group of evil-looking men were also eyeing our table, but seemed to be taking extra interest in our weapons. They had been talking to people at several other tables, and a few of these had joined their group. Seeing me looking in their direction, the leader and a few others approached us.
"Hey there, strangers," the leader said. "Don't recall seein' you round here before..."
"We're travelling mercenaries," Boyd replied cautiously. "Just passing through."
"Well, you got some nice weapons, and most of you look like you know how to use them. Might be that I got a job for you..."
"Thanks, but we've already got a job," Boyd said.
"Now hear me out, this would just be a quick engagement on the side. See, there's been all kinds of strange folk comin' into this fair city. Most of 'em are just refugees, but I hear some of them are sub-humans in disguise. Me and my group of vigilantes are planning to give the city a good purging once the Daein army gets here, that way the scum will have no way out. A few extra swords would be mighty handy for takin' on the beast-men."
The mood at our table had been getting darker the more the man said, and now Boyd stood, scowling openly at the man. "You want us to help you with a laguz hunt?" he asked incredulously. "Not a chance. As I said, we already have a job, so get lost."
"What did you say, boy? You a friend o' the beasts?" the leader asked, one hand on his sword as he moved closer to Boyd. Just when it looked like a brawl was going to start, the man who had been checking Ilyana out interrupted.
"You're hunting lag- sub-humans? I'll gladly join your group."
"You will? Well good, I guess we've got enough recruits. Let's go show the new guys the ropes before the hunt starts."
"Good, I'd like to meet everyone in this little hunt." This guy sounded almost too eager... wierd. With a final scowl in our direction, the leader took his men and left.
"Ugh, I can't believe I thought that guy was cute. Ignorant jerk," Ilyana said.
"I better go tell Ike about this. If they're gonna go after Lethe, Mordecai and Ranulf, then we have to get them out of sight," Boyd said, gathering up his axe and taking a few more bites of food.
"I'll come with you," I offered.
"No, you've still got to settle the bill. Don't worry about it, I'll take care of the laguz hunt thing," he said, puffing out his chest and glancing at Nephenee. Ugh, I thought he'd given up on that. "You could come with me if you want, beautiful. We could have a nice romantic walk together..."
Nephenee looked really uncomfortable. "N-no thank you. I've still got to..." She quickly grabbed a half empty drink from Ilyana. "...finish this drink."
"Alright, fine." Boyd left, sulking.
The rest of the meal passed in a rather awkward silence; Ilyana's mouth was full, Nephenee never spoke much, and I was to nervous to say much when it was just me and the two girls. After Boyd had been gone for a while, Nephenee left to look around the market. Distracting myself as I waited for Ilyana, I began to listen to the minstrels while I nursed my drink (the ale was nasty, I should have just gotten water). It took a while, but once Ilyana was finally finished eating I left a few coins on the table for all the extra courses she ordered, and made a mental note not to offer to pay for dinner ever again. We had just started to rise when a man stepped out of the crowd, a small crossbow trained discreetly on Ilyana.
"I thought I recognized you, but it was the appetite that gave you away." He motioned for us to sit back down. "Now, where's my money?"
"In that coin purse on your belt, probably..." Ilyana suggested, completely serious. I would have laughed if there wasn't a weapon pointed at me. So much for a quiet, peaceful meal...
"What?! No, you stupid bitch, I want the money you owe me!"
"But I don't even know you, how could I owe you money?"
"Ugh! You borrowed money here two months ago, but you left town and never payed it back. I would be bad for business if I let people get away with that."
"Oh, I remember now. The sign on your door said you'd give me money, so I used that to buy some food. I didn't know I had to give it back, most guys are happy to give me food..." Oh wow, this whole loan thing is kinda lost on her.
"Well, you do have to pay me back, plus fifteen percent for the long wait," the man said, exasperated.
"Oh, I don't have any money. Can you pay him, Adam?" she asked, looking at me sweetly.
"Oh, come on! Seriously? I just bought-" She gave me sad puppy eyes. Damn. "Oh whatever. How much does she owe you?" I pulled out my bag of coins again. This day just keeps getting better and better.
"Let's just call it an even three thousand," the loan shark said.
"THREE THOUSAND! How much food did you get?"
"I was hungry, and he said I could have as much money as I wanted..."
"Well, that was dumb. Look man, we don't want any trouble, so I'll talk to my employer and see if she can borrow money from him to pay you, okay?"
"What, let her walk away again without paying? Not a chance." He raised the crossbow to aim at Ilyana's chest, an evil grin on his face. "As I said it's bad for business, so if you can't pay..." Next to me, I saw Ilyana quietly slip a thunder tome out of her bag. This could get very messy. "...then I guess I have no choice."
"Okay, whoa man let's talk about this-"
KRACK! A lightning bolt shot out from under the table and struck the loan shark in the chest. He pitched forward onto the table firing the crossbow as he went. Luckily, the bolt hit the wall just to Ilyana's left. The whole tevern went silent. So much for not drawing attention.
"I think it's time to leave," I whispered.
"Yeah, that would be good."
Despite the silence, everyone in the tavern seemed none too surprised by the dead guy, so I did my best to calm myself down and act normal. I tossed a gold coin to the bartender, saying "Sorry 'bout the mess," before heading for the door. I was barely halfway there before the music and chatter started again as if nothing were amiss, and I glanced over my shoulder to see the barkeep casually motion for some of his workers to get rid of the smoking corpse. Wretched hive of scum and villainy, eh? This place is seriously messed up.
We made our way back to the market, doing our best to stay unnoticed. Upon reaching the market we could see that most of the mercenaries were already there. Most were simply milling about the stalls, but Ike stood in the middle, accompanied by Ranulf and Soren. I approached him, not eager to break the bad news.
"I was just about to send someone to look for you, you're the last ones to get back," he said as we approached.
"Yeah, we kinda got held up..."
"Oh, Boyd already told me. I'm not too worried, since our ship will be leaving before sundown, and the captain tells me she's a fast ship. We should be long gone by the time Daein arrives and that hunt begins."
"There's more," I said, looking at Ilyana. "It seems someone got in trouble with a loan shark the last time she was in town."
"Oh but it's okay now, I killed him," she said matter-of-factly, completely unbothered by the death. I guess she doesn't really care about anyone aside from her friends...
"You killed him? And this is good how?" Ike asked.
"No one seemed to care. The tavern went back to normal right away."
"You must have been at Chalmun's place," Ranulf said laughing. When everyone looked at him in confusion, he continued. "You picked the shadiest tavern in all of Port Toha, and that probably wasn't the first death in there today. Man, this one time I was in town and some guy picked a fight with a former knight. The old man cut his arm off right in front of the bar! Hahaha... Anyway, that won't have drawn any attention, it's actually normal in that place. Doubt anyone will even bother to tell the city guards, and even if they do the guards probably wouldn't care."
"You're sure?" Ike asked.
"Trust me, we're fine."
Just as Ranulf finished speaking there came a great commotion from the city gates. We turned to see ranks of black clad soldiers entering the city, while Crimean citizens and refugees alike fled before them. Daein was early.
"You were saying?" I quipped halfheartedly.
Author's note
I tried to work in some references to my favorite science fiction movies in this one, we'll see if that worked. I just noticed a few (very few) similarities between Port Toha and a certain spaceport, so I had some fun with it. The next chapter will cover the battle to escape Port Toha, but again I have no idea when it will be out. I'm busy. Very busy.
Anyway, thanks for reading. If you liked the chapter, hated the chapter, or had any opinion in between that please leave a review, concrit, PM or whatever. I know I say this every time, but the feedback is super helpful. I have not yet addressed some of the concerns people have raised in regards to Adam's combat skills/fear/other stuff yet, but trust me it will be taken care of in the next chapter.