I realised something the other day. We all begin with the letter S. I mean, you have me, Saren (I know, one letter away from Soren. XD). Then you have saphirarubius, Silverwing5566, Soapscum, Sadomina-sama and Sora Blade707. NinjaSheik technically qualifies as just Sheik, and David's Shigure as a surname. So there you go. Interesting trivia there for you. :nods sagely: What about you anonymous reviewers - and those who haven't yet reviewed? I'm interested to see how far this pattern goes. =D

Thank you all once again for your wonderful reviews!

David Shigure - Thanks for reviewing, dude. You were warned about the number of chapters. XD But I appreciate the effort. It would be nice if I could convert you to this fandom.

NinjaSheik - Hehe, yeah...I love their relationship. It hurts when I have to write argument scenes, but that was part of the reason that I started writing Ike/Soren. I was so fed up of the fics out there that have Soren going all ga-ga all of a sudden. So yeah. I hope none of you think that it'll be a walk in the park from now on just because Ike and Soren are on speaking terms again. I plan to drag you lot through the bushes a few times more yet. =o Sorry.

Soapscum - I was wondering where you'd gone to. :hugs: Welcome back to the Ellipsis world! Please, take a seat...:ties you to the chair and prevents you from ever leaving: Seriously? I've come across the name Senerio in nearly every Soren fic I've read. Wow. OK. Clearly I made some false assumptions. :sweat: Every reviewer says that I get Ike and Soren's personalities across, but it's really hard sometimes. Last chapter, I was fiddling so much while waiting for reviews. I was really worried that he was unusually hesitant and uncertain - I'm used to Soren being blunt and uncaring. It was difficult to keep in character while moving away from canon so much. I'm glad you enjoyed their little insults at the end. xD It's how I see Soren punching though, really! I mean, he's very tactical, and he's aware he's weak, so he hit Ike on the elbow joint. It's really painful. I have a trapped nerve there in my left arm, so it's especially painful when someone does that to me. u__u In a manga, they called it 'Lightning Fist', which made me laugh...but I'm not sure if that's the term for it, or if that's just how they translated it across from the Japanese. I just know it hurts. D=

Sora Blade707 - According to my email, your review doesn't exist. D= It was only because I wanted to re-read the reviews that I noticed yours today, so I'm glad I did. It made me smile. =D I agree that Soren calling anyone 'Uncle' sounds weird. Could be worse. Imagine him calling Ashnard 'Daddy'. :snigger: Someone needs to do a humour fic of that. Hurrah for horrible puns and Pokemon references! =DDD

Now, some of you may remember back in Chapter 9, when I promised Ranulf and Shinon would soon appear. Well, erm...Ranulf did. Shinon probably won't be arriving for some time. However, you will soon be getting :insert drum roll here: ...Stefan! Hoorah! Oh dear. I've only written Stefan once before (see The Stench of Iron), so it won't exactly be great. But I hope to be getting another relationship dynamic there. And I may pair Stefan and Lethe in this story, because so many of my fans apparently now support this. Er. Review for/against this motion.

Has anyone noticed that my A/Ns are now nearly as long as the chapters? XD

"We have to travel on a beorc ship?" Lethe hissed, her fists clenched. "That is an insult! You would have a laguz prince travel on such an inferior vessel?"

Soren regarded her with cold neutrality. "There are no ships to be found in Gallia. King Caineghis suggested that Crimea be the easiest place to find one. Would you disobey the orders of your king, I wonder?"

She turned away from him, scowling. "Bah. I am more loyal to my king than you are, pathetic beorc."

"I have no king," Soren replied, silently wondering why Lethe had yet to comment on...him. He had managed to avoid her previously, yet he had expected her to notice his Brand right away. "I serve only Commander Ike."

A chipper voice interrupted their debate. "Lethe!"

Lethe turned, her eyes widening almost imperceptibly. "Ranulf." She lowered her head, and Soren fought hard to conceal a smirk. "What, beorc?" she growled at him.

"I find it mildly amusing to watch you bow to someone. You're hardly the docile sort."

Lethe narrowed her eyes at him and hunched her shoulders. "Lethe," Ranulf said in a warning voice, for she looked about ready to attack. She glared at him, though her body language relaxed a little. She muttered something under her breath before (quite literally) turning tail and stalking off.

Ranulf sighed. "You know, Soren, you might consider not winding her up like that. We'll be sailing for at least a month. I won't always be there to calm her." He shot Soren a sideways glance. "Beorc skin is very easy to claw through. You might consider that."

"As a tactician, do you honestly believe me stupid enough to provoke her in your absence?" Soren asked pointedly. "Besides, it isn't as though I'll be walking around unarmed." He gestured towards the fire tome under his arm. There was an awkward silence as Ranulf warily eyed the tome. "Do laguz have varying innate abilities, even among individual tribes?" Soren questioned.

"Hm? Of course!" Ranulf laughed. "I mean, can you swing a sword as well as Ike can?"

"Firstly, Ike is a beorc, and I am not. Secondly, swordfighting is largely an aquired skill. I meant more along the lines of physical abilities. Lethe didn't appear able to...sense me."

Ranulf gave a light-hearted shrug. "Probably a good thing, too. She's bitter enough towards beorc. I doubt she'd be any more friendly towards your kind. But yes, my sense of smell is rather remarkable compared to hers. Better not to tell her that, though. She has a rather competitive personality." Soren made a note to relay Ranulf's comment to Lethe later. "It depends, really. A lot of your scent is masked by your robes - and what with Ike's sword nearby, too, it was rather impressive that I noticed at all when we first met." Ranulf allowed himself an indulgent smile.

"I see." Soren sounded hesitant, almost pensieve. Ranulf didn't pick up on this, however. That or he was merely uninterested. He made his excuses and headed off in the same direction as Lethe had earlier, leaving Soren alone in the corridor.

Soren lowered his gaze. He had packed quickly and early, leaving himself open and vulnerable to being treated as the messenger boy. Unfortunately for him, Ike, who had never been the most organised of people, was rather too busy drowning in his own packing to remember that Soren was not the best person to spread news to the laguz. Soren himself found it somewhat irritating that they were required to reroute through Crimea in order to sail to Begnion, but at least he understood the necessity. Which was more than could be said of most of the mercenaries, who had done little but complain since Ike had announced it. Soren pressed his palm to his forehead. Really. This was such a tiring job at times. Not that he would ever so much as consider resigning.