Fire Emblem: Valiant Dawn

Chapter 10

Author's Note: Okay, I got a lot of positive feedback on the OC thing, so I will go ahead with that plan. I'm actually pretty pumped to see what happens with this. Some people thought it would be better to wait until part two, and while I understand why that may be quite frankly my plans for the story require it to happen somewhat sooner than that, say around chapter fifteen or so. I will still need time to edit and finalize the template, but there will most definitely be a request for OC submissions coming up soon. Thank you all for providing feedback, it is most helpful and I am glad to know that you like the idea.

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Nintendo and Intelligent Systems. I own nothing.

Chapter 10

Bonus Experience: Not as easy as one might think...

"Mmmmmfgh!" I let out a muffled scream as waves of pain shot up my leg. "Stop moving it around so much!"

"I barely touched it," Nephenee replied as calmly as she could while fighting to keep my wounded leg still. She sighed in exasperation as I twisted again. "This'd be easier if ye'd just sit still!"

"Easy for you to say, you don't have an arrow sticking through your- OWWWWW!" I yelled as she broke the arrowhead off. "Now you're just doing that on purpose!"

"Oh, ye're actin' like a baby-"

"Y'know what? I'll just take the thing out myself." I declared as I pushed her hands away from the wound. All I gotta do is keep my hand steady, I told myself. It'll just be a little pain. I took hold of the shaft, and felt a little pain, but nothing like when Nephenee had tried to remove it. Okay, no big deal. Nice and easy... Taking a breath to steady myself, I pulled on the arrow.

"OOOOOWWWWWWW!" I screamed again, only this time my hand jerked and twisted the arrow around even more. The wound was torn open even wider, making my calf burn with searing pain. I let go of the arrow and clenched my hands into fists, slamming them against the cot I sat on until the pain passed.

"See? I told ye, ye shoulda waited for a healer," Nephenee said when I quieted down again.

"Nuh-uh," I managed. It felt like my leg was on fire every time I moved. Yeah, pull it out yourself. Great idea, dumbass. "They're busy, I'd be waiting for ages. No time for that."

"Alright, if ye insist..." Nephenee suddenly took hold of the arrow and pulled it out in one quick motion. I fell back on the bunk and though the pain was intense, it lessened quickly without the arrow twisting around in the wound. There was a nasty sting as Nephenee cleaned the wound, but she wasted no time bandaging it up tightly. I took several seconds to compose myself, then sat up.

"I think I'm okay to walk." I got up, slowly putting weight on the wounded leg. It hurt, but it held me up.

"I don't think ye should be doin' that just yet," Nephenee said, putting a gentle hand on my shoulder and trying to steer me back to the cot.

"Thank you for helping me, Nephenee. I'll be fine," I said with a dismissive wave as I limped towards the door, stumbling occasionally when the ship swayed. I'm not gonna sit around waiting all day, I gotta be sure she's okay. Once the ship was safely away from Port Toha, the healers had begun to triage the wounded and get them off the deck for treatment. Those with minor wounds, like me, had been relocated to cabins in the aft section of the ship, while the more severely wounded were tended immediately by the healers. Nasir, the captain, had temporarily given up his own quarters to allow Rhys plenty of room to work on Ilyana. I was pretty worried, but I couldn't go and check on her with an arrow in my leg. Fortunately, I had been able to convince Nephenee to help me remove the arrow without a healer present. Now, all I have to do is get down the hallway, and if I remember correctly the captain's cabin is- My thoughts were rudely interrupted as the ship swayed again, making me lurch like a drunken idiot and crack my head into the door jamb. "Oww." Okay, maybe I'm not so good with walking just yet. Stupid gorram boat! Nephenee grabbed my arm to steady me, and steered me back to the cot.

"Ye're not goin' anywhere. C'mon, lay down an' rest for a bit before ye hurt yerself." I started to protest, but she cut me off. "Ye need to rest," she reiterated forcefully. "It's for yer own good." She was right; That last fight took more out of me than I realized, and I couldn't deny that the bed was pretty darn comfortable...

"But I gotta go check on-" I tried to protest once again.

"I'll go see how she's doin', as long as ye stay put," Nephenee offered.

"...Alright, okay." That works, I guess. And man, I'm tired. "Nephenee... thanks," I said as she left. I couldn't be sure because of her helmet, but it looked like she smiled in response. Once she was gone, I lay down on the bed, propping my leg in a more or less comfortable position. I hadn't planned on sleeping, but after a few seconds my eyes just kinda closed on their own. Ah well, I'll just rest for a few seconds...

I opened my eyes again, realizing that I must have fallen asleep. There was still light coming through the cabin's porthole so I couldn't have been out for very long, a few minutes at most. I sat up, and was surprised to feel no pain or dizziness. My concussion was gone, along with the ringing in my ears. I performed a quick self-inspection, and found my arms free of the cuts and splinters I'd received from the explosion. My armor had been removed and was stacked neatly at the end of the cot, and sure enough, when I pulled my shirt open I saw that the cut I had received from the vigilante leader was gone, not even a small scar marking its place. My leg felt much better as well, it had no difficulty supporting my weight when I stood, and without the concussion to disorient me I was better able to deal with the rocking of the ship. A healer must have seen me, so maybe I was out for a few hours, not minutes. I tried not to think about them removing my armor; I understood that it was necessary, but it was still kinda embarrassing. Hopefully it was Rhys and not one of the girls. That would just be suuuuuuuuuper awkward and wierd. Dammit Adam, focus on something else! I noticed a note next to the stack of armor, so I read that to distract me.

You wer asleep and I coud not wake you up, so I just left a note. Your freind is okay, but she said you owe her food for kiling al the soljers. Also, you snore alot.

Neph.

A surge of relief passed through me as I put the note back down and started pulling on my boots. Even though we were at war, I couldn't bear the thought of losing one of my closest friends here. Good to know that she's okay, I thought. And I already knew that I snore, it's woken me up on many an occasion. Super scary when it happens too, 'cause it sounds like some giant alien is attacking you. That's some truly scary shit right there. Also, you can't start a sentence with also. Also, since when are peasants literate? Oh well, maybe they have a higher quality of education here than in medieval Europe... By this time I'd managed to get my boots on, so I left the cabin, taking care not to smack my head on anything when the boat swayed.

After a few stumbles, I emerged on the ship's deck and promptly began to drool over how amazing it was. I hadn't had the time to appreciate the ship before, but now I could see that it- no, she was an absolute beauty. The construction of the hull looked like that of a medieval galleon, which had always been my favorite kind of ship, but the size of this one was closer to that of an eighteenth century ship of the line (minus the cannons, of course). The three masts were way taller than any sailing ship I'd ever been on, so tall that I got a little dizzy just thinking about how high up that crow's nest was. Nonetheless, I couldn't help but think about how spectacular the view must have been from up there. Even from down on the deck I could see miles of rolling waves with the coast of Tellius just visible in the distance to my left, and to my right... Rhys puking his guts out over the side of the ship. Lovely. I noticed Boyd was nearby leaning over the side as well, so I went over to say hi.

"Hey Adam! You're finally awake," Boyd called out when he saw me.

"Well, it's not like I was out for that long, just a few hours. I didn't miss anything, did I?" Was it just a few hours? Come to think of it, I feel pretty refreshed for just a few hours' sleep...

"A few hours? Ha! More like an entire day! And yeah, you missed a lot. Some Daein wyvern riders chased us, but we took'em out with the ballista." He indicated a ballista mounted at the front of the ship. The rack of ammunition next to it held bolts as tall as me; I could only imagine the carnage. Strange, that wasn't in the game. Perhaps the game was not as accurate as I had thought... That's certainly a disturbing notion. "They never even got close to the ship. Let's seeeee... oh yeah, Ilyana's awake, and Rhys says she'll be fine after a few days' rest."

"Yeah, Nephenee told me she was gonna be okay. Anything else?"

"Oh, the Deputy Commander's real eager to get everyone training now that we have free time, so you might wanna stay away from her," he cautioned me, looking around furtively just in case she was nearby.

"What's the matter, Boyd? You not up to a little sparring, or are you afraid that I might kick your ass?" I taunted. I was still nowhere near being able to beat any of the mercenaries, but I wanted to take advantage of the months we would be at sea to train. After all, if the plot stayed true to the game then I had an entire war to look forward to.

"No, that would never happen... it's just that I'm still getting used to being on a ship," Boyd said quietly. Come to think of it, he was looking a little queasy and he'd just been leaning over the side of the ship... I grinned knowingly, my joy at his discomfort made greater by the fact that I had spent a week at sea not long before coming to Tellius, so seasickness wasn't a problem for me.

"Never been at sea before, huh? Not used to the way the ship rocks back and forth like this all the time," I said, my grin growing as he looked more and more sick. "Don't worry, Ike said we'll be at sea for months. You've got tons of time to get used to that. Oooh, here comes another wave!"

Boyd just glared at me as the wave rocked the ship. He gulped and put a hand on his stomach. "How are you not bothered by this?"

"Oh, I got used to it pretty quick the last few time I was on a ship. Hey, wanna go get some food? I bet Mist would be happy to cook something for you!"

That did it. The thought Mist's cooking must have been too much for him. Boyd managed to wheeze out "You're an asshole," before leaning over the rail and losing his lunch.

"Adam!" a loud, authoritative voice yelled from behind me. "I see you've finally decided to get out of bed and join us. Time for you to start training!" It was Titania.

"Oh no," Boyd moaned. "I really don't feel up to training right now, Deputy Commander..."

"Take it easy, Boyd. Go lay down and get some rest, it will help with your seasickness," she said kindly. Boyd looked a little surprised, and happily went back to his cabin. Titania turned to me, her expression going back to scary mode. "If you're finished trying to make people sick, perhaps you should start training."

"Well, I can't really train without a sparring partner..." I said, realizing too late what Titania had in mind. Shit, I hope she doesn't want me to train with...

"Mia could use a sparring partner," Titania suggested. Oh shit. Mia was scary. And psychotic. And scary. Really, really scary. That girl takes training to the extreme, and there was no doubt in my mind that I would end up wounded even worse than I had been in the last battle.

"Yeeeaaah, I was just going to check on Ilyana, 'cause, y'know, I'm really worried and I've gotta be sure everything's okay with her," I said hastily. I wasn't really all that worried anymore, but it was certainly a convenient excuse to get out of training with Mia. Hopefully, it would buy me enough time to find some alternative.

Titania frowned, clearly not pleased that my training would be delayed, but she was too compassionate to deny me the chance to see my friend. "Alright, she's in the captain's cabin over there. Try not to disturb her, and remember that after you're done I want you training right away. Ashera knows you need it."

"Thanks, Titania- I mean, Deputy Commander!" I called over my shoulder as I dashed away. Sweet, clean getaway. I slowed right down when I got to the cabin door, and knocked gently in case she was sleeping.

"Come in," a unfamilliar voice called from within. I entered and closed the door quickly behind me before Titania had time to change her mind. Inside, Ilyana was sitting up in bed, with the newcomer Zihark seated on a chair next to her. More than a dozen empty soup bowls were stacked neatly at the foot of the bed, and Zihark held one last bowl for her to finish.

"Hey, how're you feeling?" I asked as I pulled up a chair of my own. She certainly looked better than she had the last time I'd seen her. Her skin had lost its deathly pallor and had returned to a healthier, pinkish hue. There were still bandages covering the burns on her right arm, but with Zihark's help it looked like she was back to her regular eating habits. Ilyana downed the contents of the last bowl he held out to her in one gulp before replying.

"Much better, thank you. Bill here was just helping me finish my lunch. Thank you Bill, you can be on your way now," she said, dismissing Zihark. The poor guy looked a little dismayed, and left without even correcting her on his name. Used to her flakiness, I just shook my head helplessly.

"You know he saved your life, right?" I stated more than asked. She looked a little confused.

"Who, Bill? I wasn't in any danger of starving, you know. I was just a little hungry, and it was Oscar who brought the soup. Bill just helped me hold the bowls," she explained, gesturing to her bandaged arm.

"No, not that! After the explosion, when you were trapped and bleeding out, he saved your life. Zihark pulled the beam off of you and used some kinda potion to close your wound." This seemed to genuinely surprise her. Perhaps she didn't remember all of what happened. "If it weren't for him, you could have bled to death."

"Oh my! Thank you for telling me, I'm afraid I don't remember much after the explosion," she admitted before pausing thoughtfully. "Does that mean I owe him food?" she continued, a bit of uncertainty in her voice. She clearly wasn't used to being indebted to someone. I groaned internally.

"No, but I don't think it would kill you to be nice to him, or at least get the guy's name right. He seems to have taken an interest in you," I added, remembering their first reactions to each other at Chalmun's Tavern.

"Oh, but I was nice to him! I let him feed me!" she replied, clearly pleased with herself for being such a nice person. Again, I shook my head helplessly. "So what brings you in here? I know Nephenee already told you that I'm alright, and you were in such a hurry to get inside..." llyana said, changing the subject.

"What, I can't visit my wounded friend without some ulterior motive?" I asked defensively. She just raised an eyebrow. I sighed, and explained meekly "Titania wants me to train with Mia." Ilyana started to laugh. "C'mon dude, it's not funny!"

"Oh yes it is! She would destroy you!" she chuckled. "Why not train with Boyd like you always do?"

"He's seasick, and I might have messed with him a bit and made it worse," I answered. It seemed like such a great idea at the time. Karma's a bitch, I guess.

"Well then why not train with Bill? He's a good swordsman," Ilyana suggested.

"You mean Zihark," I corrected her.

"Zedark, of course. Go get him to teach you how to fight," she said, as if she'd known that all along. Come to think of it, it's not such a bad idea. If I could become even half as good as him, it would still be pretty frakin' deadly. As long as he's okay with training me, that is.

"Good idea. I'll go ask him," I replied, finally feeling optimistic about training with someone new. "Hopefully he's okay with it."

"And hopefully once you're trained you won't be such a wimp on the battlefield," Ilyana added with an evil grin.

"Ah, I'm hurt!" I replied dramatically, putting on a mock-hurt expression. She chuckled evilly, then waved me out of the room. "Seeya later!" I called softly over my shoulder as I left. Outside, there was no sign of Titania, so I took the opportunity to seek out Zihark. I found him at the prow of the ship, leaning on the rail and gazing out over the water with a bored expression on his face. I jogged over to stand next to him.

"Hey Zihark, sorry to disturb you like this but I kinda got a favor to ask of you," I blurted awkwardly, not really sure how to start this conversation.

"Your name is Adam, right?" he asked, ignoring my question. "Ilyana's friend?"

"Yeah..." I replied uncertainly. The conversation was not going where I had wanted it to, but I opted to just go with it and see what happened. "We've been friends for a little while."

"Good, then I've a favor to ask of you as well. But I interrupted you, so you ask first," he said, looking both relieved and hopeful. What have I just agreed to? I found myself wondering.

"Yeeeaaah, so... I'm terrible at fighting. Ilyana's the only reason I've survived this long, and I can't keep relying on her to save me every time I get in over my head so... would you teach me to fight? I mean, if that's okay with you." Oh please oh please, train me in your ways of being awesome!

"Sure, I'd be happy to!" Zihark replied, actually sounding almost excited about the idea. I forced myself to remain outwardly composed while I thanked him, but inside I was having a super awesome happy freak out! Yay, I'm gonna learn to kick Daein ass! With a sword! WOOOT! "One condition, though," he continued, putting an end to my celebrations. "I want you to help me get to know Ilyana. Don't worry, my intentions are strictly honorable!" he added quickly.

Hmmmmm, would she be okay with that? I mean, setting her up with some guy in exchange for training is kinda... I dunno, sleazy or something. But on the other hand, I wanna get better, and it was her idea in the first place. Maybe I'll just give him some good advice and not actually get directly involved in... whatever the hell it is he wants to do. I suddenly realized that I'd been silent for a long time, and Zihark was getting kinda anxious. "Alright, if you want to get to know her, just give her food. If you don't do that, she won't even remember your name."

"Really? But I just helped her eat. Isn't that the same thing?" he asked, more than a little confused.

"You'd think so, but she's... a bit eccentric. I don't really understand it, but apparently the distinction is important with her."

"Well, thank you for the advice. Any particular kind of food?"

"Not really, she will literally eat anything," I said, remembering the granola bar wrapper she ate the day I arrived in Tellius.

"Excellent! Well, time for me to hold up my end of the bargain. Follow me!" he said.

"Where we goin'?" I asked as we headed below the main deck.

"The cargo hold. It's being used for training so we don't get in the way of the crew."

"There's room in there? Well, I guess Crimea's not exporting much these days," I said, answering my own question. Really, what would they have been able to pick up in Crimea anyway, aside from a company of well-paying passengers eager to get the hell out of there?

Zihark chuckled. "Bloody invasions have a tendency to slow down trade. And yes, our supplies and food only take up a small portion of the hold. There is more than enough room," he explained. Sure enough, when we reached the cargo hold it was nearly empty, leaving a cavernous space for the mercenaries to hone their skills. Titania had several of the mercenaries training, but they only occupied one end of the hold. Zihark and I grabbed wooden practice swords and moved to the empty end. He tucked his sword into his belt and squared off against me.

"So tell me, how much experience do you have fighting with a sword?" he asked.

"Well, I've fought in a few skirmishes now..." I began. I recounted my exploits with the Greil Mercenaries, limited though they were, and felt a small swell of pride when I realized just how much crazy stuff I had survived. Perhaps I was not such a bad fighter after all...

"Interesting," Zihark said when I finished. "Well then, before I start training you, I'd like to test your abilities myself. Come at me with everything you've got!" he ordered, dropping into a fighting stance but leaving his sword belted at his waist.

I hesitated, unwilling to attack him when he was defenceless. "Won't you draw your sword?" I asked, confused. Perhaps there's some kind of training etiquette I'm missing...

"If I need to," he replied confidently, then motioned for me to attack. I was a little insulted by his choice to remain unarmed. I'm not that bad, I thought. He'll definitely need to draw his weapon to block or parry. I knew that I had no chance of winning this duel, but I suspected that he'd underestimated me and I meant to prove him wrong. I threw myself forward, using both hands in a downward, diagonal swing. Zihark shifted to the side, and my attack hit nothing but air. I recovered and swung horizontally at him, but he just stepped back and I missed again. I pursued him for a few minutes, slashing the air like a total idiot while Zihark dodged my attacks with small, almost leisurely movements. While I grew more and more tired, he didn't even break a sweat. Then, tiring of the farce, Zihark finally ended the fight. Instead of stepping away, he stepped into my attack, struck my wrist to stop my sword arm, then retracted his arm and struck me square in the chest, knocking the breath out of me and sending me crashing to the floor.

"Alright, we've got a lot of work to do," he said nonchalantly as I lay there gasping for breath. "I can see that you've trained with an axe wielder; Your attacks are straightforward and obvious, without any attempts at subtlety or defence. That style has its merits, but you currently lack the physical strength to take advantage of it. Worse yet, your own attacks are sending you off balance, leaving you very open to counter attacks."

I caught my breath and stood up, more than a little embarrassed, and retrieved my sword. I glanced over at the other mercenaries, dreading the anticipated laughs at my expense, but if any of them had seen me go down they were polite enough to continue their training as if they'd seen nothing. "So what? I'm completely hopeless, then?" I asked Zihark, not liking his assessment at all but realizing how very right he was.

"Not completely, you've just taken a very necessary blow to your pride. I think you're ready to learn now," he replied. This time he drew his sword when he faced off against me. "Ready your blade, and perhaps we can fix a few issues today." I obliged him, and he promptly came over and began making adjustments to my stance. "First, never take a low guard; It has its uses, but you are nowhere near being able to pull that off. In your case, it leaves your upper body exposed and delays your own attack while you bring the sword up. Keep the tip of the sword up towards your opponent, not pointed at the ground."

"Like this?" I asked as I mimicked the guard he was demonstrating.

"Yes, but don't grip the hilt so tightly; It's a sword, not a club!"

"Yessir," I replied, loosening my white-knuckled grip. The lesson continued for hours, with Zihark constantly making adjustments to my stance and technique. Once he was satisfied that I could hold a sword properly he began to train me mainly on defensive techniques like blocks and parries, explaining that I needed to learn to keep myself alive before worrying about hitting anything. I learned quite a bit, both about swordplay and about just how much I needed to improve if I wanted to survive the coming war. Even though he was not using his full strength against me, I still looked clumsy and awkward next to Zihark's precise and graceful fighting style. Even worse, I found that my strength and stamina were insufficient; After a few hours, my arms felt like they were made of lead, slowing me to a crawl and leading to fewer and fewer succesful blocks. Finally after what felt like forever, Zihark decided to call it a day.

"Good work today," he told me. "Go eat and get some rest, and meet me back here bright and early tomorrow morning."

I was exhausted, so I just grabbed some bread from the stores and ate on the way back to the cabin I shared with Boyd and his brothers. They were all snoring loudly when I got there, but regardless I was asleep by the time my head hit the pillow.

Over the next several days, Zihark spent every morning putting me through one brutal training session after another. When I wasn't training in combat with a sword, I was training with my fists or working on my upper body strength. Back on Earth, I had been in somewhat better shape than most of my friends, but on Tellius I was surrounded by warriors, not fellow nerds, and I had some serious catching up to do in terms of fitness. For that, Zihark sent me to climb up and down the ratlines on the outside of the ship, or had me haul crates across the hold on days when it was too windy. It was a grueling schedule, especially for the first few days, but one thing kept me going through all that; Little by little, I was getting better.

Author's Notes

Well there it is, I finally got around to posting chapter 10. Hope you enjoyed, please leave a review and let me know what you think of the chapter. I was gonna post this last week, but I wanted to add more to it and change the chapter title so I spent a week doing that, only to realize that I hated the new title and the section I'd added. So this is pretty much exactly what I almost posted last week, with a few tiny edits.