Chapter 9: Friends From Afar
Jill crossed her arms as Soren simply strolled into the infirmary and plopped an unconscious Bastian on one of the beds, then walked out as if nothing had happened. Turning her head, she noted Rhys and Mist diligently caring for their wounded soldiers.
The wyvern knight shrugged. She was here to keep both 'physicians' company, and to guard the area. After all, Soren sternly reminded everyone that the risk of Confederate Assassins were too high to let any room be left unguarded.
"You know?" Jill spoke in Mist's general direction.
"Hmn?" Mist seemed interested in what her friend had to say, though she was too busy to look in Jill's direction.
"Why is it that the majority of us have this urge to strangle both our Wind Sages? Honestly... Soren can be so ridiculously rude at times, and Bastian's just clinically insane. They are dependable allies, especially Soren, but there are times when I really want to grab either of them by the neck and choke them until they start being normal for once."
Rhys shuddered. "Such behavior is far too violent, Jill."
Jill smiled. "Rhys, don't tell me that your patience hasn't been worn thin by either of them."
"Well... Yes, they can be vexing, but it's not right to use physical violence to solve problems... If you are frustrated, you should tell them." Rhys spoke seriously.
Jill laughed. "You know that neither would listen."
"Hasn't Soren been a little better? I mean, Lucia has been trying to get him to be friendlier." Mist inquired with a smile as she turned her head.
"Oh, well, he doesn't fire words like some nasty Elwind spell, that's for sure. It's more subdued, and a lot less cutting, but you can still sense that he's very, very ticked at the majority of us for hardly any understandable reason. I dunno, perhaps he has a perpetually bad day? Either way I hope that it works out between those two. He could really use Lucia's calm maturity, you know? The guy's just too damn tense." Jill sighed.
Mist smiled wider. So she wasn't the only one who cared about that sullen mage after all. (1.)
A short lance whizzed through the air...
And grazed Kyza on the shoulder.
The tiger growled angrily as his eyes scanned the area. Where did that attack come from? According to their hawk comrades, there should not be any troops hiding in the remains of these woods.
He heard a scuffling from his left, about ninety degrees from whence the spear came, and something in his mind, perhaps his instincts, told him to strike. He pounced towards that noise and, viola! His paws struck a Begnion halberdier in the face. With a roar and a few slams to the head with his giant paws, the enemy soldier's neck snapped and Kyza's foe was still.
The tiger shook his head. It took two hours for Ranulf, Lethe, and Lyre to finally emerge from the war tent, and after they informed Skimir of their assault plan the entire army moved out. However, Kyza, despite holding the rank of Lieutenant, did not receive a single word of the plan. Despite the fact that an entire platoon depended on his leadership, he didn't know how to proceed.
As one might expect, a sudden assault by several armored knights startled him and his men, and within moments they were separated, every laguz fighting to keep him or herself alive. About forty five minutes had passed since he lost contact with his troops, and Kyza had no idea where he was in the big scheme of the battle.
Little did he know that, for the most part, things were going according to plan.
Since the archers had bows and a newer type of projectile weapon known as a "crossbow," Ranulf and Janaff agreed that the hawks should not be forced to commit suicide while hurling themselves at these adversaries. Instead, they would try to lure the enemy out of the fort.
But, as Lyre pointed out, the enemy wasn't stupid. If they spotted laguz troops swiftly darting to and fro, they could easily deduce that the Gallian army was trying to lure them, and they wouldn't move out accordingly. That was why Lethe insisted that the hawks guard the mountain passageways and any other trails that lead to the fortress.
If they forced their enemy to waste their supplies, and placed an encampment not far from the enemy's gates, the desperate Confederate forces might very well try to make a swift dash to seize the camp and take whatever they could find. Quite logically they would also try to rush out of the fort's east gate to reach the mountains and cross them into Begnion, and thus the hawks would be able to dive down and take them out.
Of course, both of these strategies depended on how many supplies the enemy had and how desperate they were, which the Gallian Royal Army had no ability to deduce due to lack of intel.
But, thankfully, the Confederate army wasn't exactly the most efficient army ever constructed. Lucia, for one, would be appalled to read their storehouse records, let alone Soren.
"What did you say?!" Zeffren howled when a mere Lieutenant handed him their equipment manager's report.
"Yes, sir. We only have enough rations for four days. Once they're gone, the soldiers will likely mutiny."
"Why hasn't the convoy arrived yet?" The Colonel growled. His mount was having stomach issues and thus was forced to stay in a stable, and he wondered if he should start feeding it incompetent subordinates rather than the meat that it shared with the troops.
"Um, sir, you have noticed those large brown blobs in the sky out of firing range, right? Those are our foe's hawk air support, and let's just say that they make short work of unwary reinforcements." The Lieutenant sighed.
"You! Why is it that every single subordinate in this army is a smart aleck or one who rouses up trouble? Obey my orders, damn it! Send some troops out to drive those birds out of here!... And go raid the enemy's positions for some supplies while you're at it."
"As you wish..."
Both sister's jaws hit the ground at precisely the same time.
"I think our brothers have just been insulted... For the commander of the last enemy stronghold to be this idiotic... I can only hope that Kyza can keep his head up high once he realizes how incompetent his attackers were..." Lyre mumbled.
Lethe sneered. "Yet vengeance on their sorry hides will be that much easier... If this commander was one of the worthy ones who cut down many of our brothers, he would far more worthy of our claws, of course, but he'd also be difficult to kill."
And with that said, Zeffren found his men collapsing left and right.
"What's going on? Don't tell me... The enemy has been expecting us all along? Get out of here, men! Brave those hawk's talons and head for our homeland! There is nothing left for us here!" Zeffren yelled over the sound of his men's screams.
But, to his relief, as Zeffren and whatever soldiers he had left fled for the mountains, he found dozens of pegasus and wyvern knights swooping in from the east and engaging the Phoenicis hawks. In moments, several armored knights and snipers were dropped among his scattered ranks. One sniper immediately addressed him.
"Sir, I am here to inform you that reinforcements are coming. Lord Valtome has informed me that your orders are to hold the fortress at all costs. The Confederacy cannot fail to keep this land in our hands."
Zeffren smiled. "Very well, then. These sub-humans shall pay for what they have done!"
Ranulf and the dismounted wyvern knight stood face to face.
"So I guess you're the commander here." Ranulf sneered. From behind Zeffren, he spotted the transformed Lyre and Lethe leaping at an enemy armored knight from either side, and the startled knight could hardly react in time as Lethe and Lyre's jaws bit down on both sides of his neck.
"That I am, and who might you be, sub-scum?"
"I am General Ranulf, the Gallian warrior who will get rid of you. Now, shall we begin?"
"Hah! I, Colonel Zeffren, have hacked the skulls of many sub humans like yourself. If anything, I'll be getting rid of you. Come, come! Show me how sharp your claws are, and I'll help you tear them off!"
Lethe cursed as she slammed her claws into the face of an enemy sniper. "We ran out of time... Lyre! Be careful! If you die I will spit on your grave for being so unworthy of our clan!"
Lyre groaned. After having lived through thirty years of such bickering, she knew that such words were merely Lethe's harsh way of saying that she cared for her younger sister and could not cope with her death. But it was no doubt irritating as hell. (2.)
"And if you die I'll consider myself an only child." The younger cat groaned as she clawed away at a squad of charging halberdiers.
"How dare you speak thus? I'm your sister, for Ashera's sake! You ought to treat me with respect! How dare you disown me for doing my warrior's duty?!" Lethe growled.
"Same here! Why would you spit on my grave if I fought my best as a warrior of Gallia and died for my country?! Is that not the mark of a warrior's devotion: to be more than willing to die for her homeland?!" Lyre yelled back.
Since they were arguing in the snarls and howls of the Gallian native tongue, the Begnion soldiers they were fighting, who were so used to the common tongue, had no idea what they were saying.
"You are also a daughter of Gallia as well as a warrior! Your duty is to spend your strength in Gallia's service, and eventually, once you're older and wiser, find a mate with whom you feel intimate and bear cubs who you will train in the Gallian way! If you die in battle, how will you fulfill your latter duty?!" Lethe hissed.
"Here you are talking about cubs when Gallia is in ruins and our people must fight to the bitter end in order to keep our motherland alive! Have you ever understood the concept of priorities, Lethe?! At any rate your death would counter your latter duty as well, and if that was the case I should disown you." Lyre spoke with a smirk, hoping that Lethe could sense her sarcasm.
"You twist my words against me! I see where this is going... So you don't res..."
"Lethe! Snap out of it! The important thing is that I'd never be able to live with myself if I let you die, and I'm the one with the lower rank and lesser experience! I'm sure you feel the same way, so let's spend our energies on slaughtering these bastards who destroyed our nation instead of arguing!" Lyre roared.
At that point Lethe's eyes widened, and for a moment the sister's eyes met, with Lethe giving Lyre a light nod before turning her face away and pouncing on an enemy mounted knight.
Lyre smiled behind Lethe's back. She finally got her sister to shut up for once.
The skies turned cloudy, and soon his vision was covered in red.
"So that's all I was capable of..." Zeffren gasped as the pain finally began to fade. He'd never feel anything else again.
Ranulf slowly licked himself clean. In spite of all that talk, the enemy commander was now dead in less than five minutes, and yet the blue cat somehow couldn't find the heart to laugh. Too many of his siblings were dead, so many that even the enemy's most pathetic tactical blunders couldn't really be thought of as "comical," rather, they'd merely be insults to the dead.
Skimir charged through the ever advancing tide of Begnion armored knights. Because the hawks hadn't anticipated such a huge wave of reinforcements, they were quickly outnumbered by the enemy air support. Of course, this allowed for many Begnion soldier drops, and thus both laguz ground and air forces found themselves gradually getting overrun.
Scores of hawks flew from the west, but even their swift forms were not fast enough to counter the horde. Many more beast laguz pounced from the bushes, and yet they still found themselves quickly surrounded by red armor and sharp blades.
That was why, more than ever, Gallia's people depended on the fatal paws of its prince, and Skimir was more than happy to crack some skulls with the sheer force of their blows.
With an arrogant audacity that the proud soldiers of Begnion all eventually wielded in their careers, an enemy armored general, sporting a huge axe, came lumbering towards the lion.
Skimir smirked as the enemy warrior threw the axe at him.
The silver axe stretched as far as it could on its chain, but finally crashed against the ground.
The axe general blinked. He could have sworn that the lion was right there in front of him.
And, seconds later, he felt a searing pain on his ears. His head felt like it was being split open, and then everything went black.
And Skimir crushed the head of his first victim. (3.)
The various Begnion halberdiers distributed among the enemy ranks had their jaws drop as they watched Skimir crush that helmet with ease. Skimir's sheer strength was godly compared to their simple, generic hides.
But even his godly strength was unnecessary for getting rid of them.
Between them, the sisters counted nearly sixty kills as the Begnion army tried, and failed, to secure their fortress. With more and more Gallians rushing to the aid of Ranulf and Skimir, the Begnion land troops found themselves separated from the fortress itself. As more hawks came to tilt the chaos in the skies to Phoenicis's favor, the Confederate forces found their efforts to hold their position nearly null and void.
With an angry roar Kyza plunged himself into the fray. Having finally spotted fellow Gallians engaging multiple Begnion soldiers, he took it as a sign that the enemy had outwitted his superiors and that this was a fight for the very survival of his nation.
He angrily swiped his paw at the face of many a Begnion soldier, and thus many beorc began to howl from broken jaws and cracked necks.
Finally, when Senator Valtome approached the fortress, his arms wrapped tightly around a young Begnion falcon knight, he witnessed his army getting slaughtered by the hundreds as sub-humans and humans continued to strike each other in the melee. With a sigh, he whispered in the girl's ear: "It's pointless to help them. Lillia, have the rest of our squadron withdraw."
The girl nodded and quickly began to bark orders at the other young ladies that made up this pegasus squadron. As they began to turn around, Valtome shouted: "All aerial units, if you can hear me, then hurry and fall back! There's no point staying around and fighting when we've clearly lost. The rest of you land forces, hold the enemy off so that we can escape. Once you've done that then you'll all be given medals of honor if you make it back to Sienne!" And with that, Valtome left the scene.
Not surprisingly, quite a few platoons of wyvern and pegasus knights, who were sick of risking their lives engaging the hawks, swiftly followed him, knowing that they were abandoning their land-based friends to certain death.
And the land troops of the Confederacy immediately felt their hearts sink. So this was how the Senate repaid them for their efforts... By leaving them to die in their darkest hour.
And yet the scattered warriors fought on.
What else could they do? Those sub-humans would never let them rest...
But something drastic happened.
Something that touched their hearts and would change their lives for the better.
"Hey... Ranulf..." Janaff muttered as he retracted his talons and hovered low, close to the blue cat.
"What is it?" Ranulf hissed softly back in the common tongue.
"I think... No, that is Tanith! And Sigrun! And several other people! They're heading this way!" Janaff let out a gasp in surprise.
Ranulf's eyes widened. "All units, pull back. Cease your fire!" He ordered in the common tongue. Skimir, noting his surprise, decided not to say anything and ceased his bloodlust for a moment.
The Confederate troops, not quite comprehending what Ranulf had said, noted the sub-humans pulling back. Among them, a paladin yelled. "Comrades, since there are so few of us, if they wish to cease fire, then we should as well. Get into the porcupine and tortoise formations, now!"
As if on cue, the surviving Begnion infantry troops began to clump up together into little round blobs full of men, with their spears and swords outstretched, much like a porcupine, while the armored divisions huddled together in ovals, with their shields outstretched, just like tortoises hiding under the cover of their shells.
Above all of them, the sound of beating pegasus wings filled the air, and soon Tanith, Sigrun, and the rest of the Holy Guard descended on the patches of land that were vacant after both Gallian and Confederate forces entered their respective defensive formations. Zelgius personally dismounted from the saddle of another falcon knight, while the rest of the proud warriors of the Begnion Imperial Army left their transport steeds and snapped into attention.
"Commanding officers of the Gallian/Phoenician and Confederate armies, this is Apostle Sanaki of the Begnion Empire. I ask that you hear me out..."
Ranulf, Skimir, and Janaff exchanged glances, and the three of them decided to appear before the exiled ruler. Tanith gave Ranulf and Janaff a respectful nod each, as she recognized both of them from the Mad King's War, and they did the same. Old comrades they were, and hopefully they'd stay that way.
The Confederate soldiers stared at each other. Zeffren was dead, and Valtome abandoned them, and so only their most experienced promoted units, though practically anonymous in their own right, decided to step forward to answer Sanaki's call.
"As you know, too many people have died from this war... The nation of Gallia has been forced to experience another genocide more devastating than the Civil War less than half a year ago, and, Confederate soldiers, you cannot deny that our beloved Begnion has undergone some of the most drastic and, in countless ways, painful changes in our history. With so many dead and so many more wounded, what victories have any side gained from this war?
"This pointless fighting between us must come to a close. No matter what, we are all fellow living beings. Regardless if we are Laguz or Beorc, we each have that same dream: to live peacefully with our families and friends and spend our lives the way we wish. To have us slaughter each other so ruthlessly for little more than land or political fame is far too idiotic, no? I ask that you lay down your arms and allow for some form of reason to prevail..."
The Paladin who called upon his comrades to fall back, and other promoted troops of the Confederate army turned to one another. It truly was pointless to continue fighting, and Valtome had abandoned them to die, at any rate. They turned to the Apostle, knowing that, despite her incompetence as a leader, she still cared for her people. Bowing their heads, they decided to surrender to her rather than face Lekain's wrath.
"Apostle Sanaki, we are Confederate soldiers no more... We trust that you'll be able to reason with these.... These.... These laguz and find a way to end the bloodshed." The paladin nodded along with the rest of his allies. Though sub-humans couldn't be easily trusted, Sanaki's words could not be denied. After all, Gallia wasn't the nation who attacked the Confederacy. 'Twas the other way around.
Sanaki smiled. "Then I hope you won't regret what I plan to do next." And with that Sanaki stepped towards Ranulf, who, a bit caught off guard, quickly shifted back to his more beorc-like form.
"Sir Ranulf of Gallia, General Tanith and the rest of the knights of her squadron have mentioned your prowess and courage, among other virtues, and thus I ask that you accept my terms...."
Lifting and turning her head a little, she added: "The same goes with you, Sir Janaff. Could you come a bit closer, please? I am too, shall we say, vertically challenged to give you a proper greeting if you continue to hover over the ground." She gave both a light smile.
Janaff shifted back to his human form as well and shrugged his shoulders as he landed on the ground. He knew that Sanaki wasn't the type to do anything treacherous, after all.
As she shook hands with both commanders, she gave a slight bow. "These are dark days for Tellius... With the Confederate warmongers assaulting the nations that remain free from its grasp without fail, those armies who wish to remain independent or who disagree with Lekain's policies must band together if we are to survive. I only wish that His Majesty Tibarn and His Majesty Caineghis were here... But since you are commanders in this army, I would like to propose an alliance between the Begnion Imperial Army and your forces until I can notify your respective lords..."
At that moment, Skimir stepped forward. "Beorc Empress, I know that my uncle isn't here to accept your treaty, but I will instead. If your beorc soldiers are willing to raise their blades against the Confederacy while never turning them upon a hawk or a Gallian, then we Gallians, for one, shall raise our claws by your side."
Sanaki smiled at that. "Thank you, Prince Skimir."
Without warning, they heard the cry of an eagle as a huge hawk descended upon them. The hawk shifted back to human form to reveal Tibarn himself.
As Janaff, Ranulf, and Skimir stared in shock, Tibarn quickly greeted them with an explanation.
"Ulki was close enough to hear everything. Sanaki, I'm glad to see that you are alive and well. To be honest I thought that something must have happened to you, otherwise the Confederate Army couldn't possibly hold this much control over Begnion's forces... It's a sad sight for me to see so few Begnion soldiers within the Imperial Army... And though those who fought against us today have pledged allegiance to you, I'm worried that your army won't be enough to convince the Begnion people as it stands... But rest assured that as long as the Imperial Army continues the policy of friendship with Phoenicis and Gallia, well, we Phoenicis Hawks will never betray our comrades!" Tibarn smiled.
Sanaki beamed. "I thought that I would come here, scorned by the Gallian army for what my people have been forced to do... But to find such overwhelming acceptance warms my heart. Rest assured, even in death I will make certain that the Imperial soldiers with me shall never betray their laguz friends. We fought together to bring down Ashnard, and in the same token we shall unite to destroy Lekain!"
The Gallian army rested that day with the Begnion Imperial Army by their side. With more Phoenicis and Gallian reinforcements arriving by the hour, all critical positions in the eastern forest were fully secured. Many Gallians may have died, but their deaths were hardly in vain.
After ensuring that her troops were prepared and confident, Tanith decided to speak to Ranulf in private.
"Sir Ranulf!"
"Ah, Tanith... Yeah, we didn't have much of a chance to talk a few years back, right?"
"No, unfortunately... However, this may seem rather selfish, but I've come to you to ask a question..."
Ranulf raised an eyebrow. Most questions weren't asked out of selfishness per-say, but then again Tanith was a very serious and disciplined person with a much stricter sense of morals than him.
"What is it?" He asked.
"Do you... Ahem..." Tanith began to look a little flustered. "Do you happen to know whatever happened to General Ike?"
Ranulf studied her eyes, but the normally stoic and serious warrior refused to meet his gaze.
He chuckled. "I see. Unfortunately, no. But I'm sure that with the Confederacy's defeat, Gallia and Crimea will regain contact soon enough, and you can look for him then."
"Very well. I am sorry for bothering you. I had merely assumed that you..." And Ranulf waved his hand as Tanith tried to explain herself.
"Don't worry about it. I understand. Knowing him, Ike'll be fine." The blue cat smiled as he started looking around for Lethe.
1. No, this is not some badly done parody of some generic harem anime. Soren and Lucia will be the only couple that blunt mage will be involved in. However, there's a theory among many of the fans who's works I've read (or whom I've contacted) that Mist might have had feelings for Soren once, but Soren was too sullen and stern to acknowledge them, and thus they faded away with time.
In this fic Mist cares for Soren a little because he's such a vital part of their 'family,' and he's Ike's best friend, and also, vaguely, because she did like him once, but her heart lies with another, whom I will reveal eventually. :P
And I'm explaining myself in case I wasn't clear, that's all.
2. I hear that according to Intelligent Systems canon beast laguz have a lifespan 5 times that of a beorc. However, that would make them insanely old. Since this is not a novelization of Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, I like to bend the supposed game canon. Thus, Lyre is merely thirty. I ask that you not hate me for that age choice.
Oh, and by the way, if you think that Lethe's acting a bit too ticked lately, well, having your country nearly burned to the ground by those with whom you've been on uneasy terms with at best would do that to ya, especially if you're a diehard patriot like Lethe. She'll calm down once the Confederacy takes enough casualties from her claws.
3. Sorry, any more details and this won't be a "T" rating. The "Axe on a chain" getup is from the Fire Emblem games 6 though 8, where the General class of unit (promoted armor unit) used axes on chains to pummel foes to death.