A/N: What? Another update? You just updated four hours ago! Actually, I started working on this the moment I uploaded the other chapter. Clearly, I made a lot of progress fast, mainly because this was tons of fun to write.
So yeah, it's here. The first real battle. Don't worry, I promise that I'm not going to fall unconscious this time.
And to Eravel... Holy. Crap. That is the funniest thing that I have seen thus far. Glad to hear your thoughts.
Hah. Funny. Chapter 11 conveniently takes place at Chapter 11. Funny coincidences aside, this chapter is going to be (almost) pure seriousness.
It's not like we have to gather much. Actually, we don't need anything. We're just heading straight toward the battlefield. We searched the town a bit in case of survivors, there were none, and didn't find anything in the remains of the buildings either. We didn't have time to get the gold, thanks to the idiot Gorge that had all of his hits blocked by that armor. Damn. I am kind of mad about that.
"How much longer, Niro?" I yell into the sky. The silhouette of Rysor swoops past me, followed by Niro's distinct voice.
"Just a few more miles. You sure you want to do this?" he explains.
I nod. They've kept asking me this entire time. There may be more men than us, but We have Ayla. She can use swords, magic, and can heal. She's like the ultimate unit. Yeah, we aren't actually going to rely on her, but it stills helps to have a promoted unit.
"Uhh... There's a horse in the road." Ayla announces. What? Let me see this! I look outside of the cart and sure enough- there's a large red horse with a white mane that looks sort of like Epona sitting out by the side of the road. Strangely, there's no owner in sight. It looks like it hasn't been out here too long, but there's no telling.
"Hey Geoff, look." I nudge him and point outside. He gets up and looks at the horse, a smile crossing over his face.
"Cool. Looks like Epona. Sure does bring back memories." Stating the obvious again. "What's it doing out here?" he jumps out of the cart and approaches it. He turns toward the forest and cups his hands. "HEEEEELLLLOOOOOOOOO?!" he yells. No response. I turn and notice a satchel at the horse's side.
"Maybe this will explain it." I open the satchel and look inside of it.
"Hey, is it a good idea to look through people's stuff?" Jafray questions me. No, but what if this horse is owned by someone who is dead. Nevermind. I dig through the bag and the first thing I find is a note of sort.
I unfold the note and begin to read aloud. The handwriting is a bit crude, but I can still make out what it is saying. "To whomever may be reading this: I have moved on. I have grown mad and have ventured off into the forest to never be seen again. I have but one wish: Take care of my horse. She deserves better than myself. Even if you are a brigand, please treat my horse fairly, for she is all I ever had." what follows is what I assume is some sort of signature, but it looks like a random scribble and I can't read it very well. So someone just leaves a free horse sitting at the side of the road? Convienient yet tragic at the same time.
I dig in the satchel some more and pull out... A bow? I also see what I think is a master seal. Whoever left this horse here clearly wanted the person who found it to make use of it.
"It didn't say that." Jafray says in disbelief, though still smiling at me. I toss him the note. "Okay, so maybe it said that." He facepalms and hands the note back to me.
"Cool, can I have the horse? And can I see that?" Geoff takes the master seal from me, which I try to take back, but he manages to hide from my grasp. He stares at the master seal for a minute, spinning it around in his hand. "I heard about these. They're expensive. And I heard that they can instantly teach you how to fight better." So that's how they work? Interest- Wait a minute. Random horse... Bow... Master Seal... Jeremiah, are you trying to promote Geoff?
Maybe. No, not really. This is just a complete coincidence.So I get struck by lightning, impaled by a crown, and possessed by a book, and Geoff gets a free horse and bow lessons? Damn coincidence all right.
Geoff closes his hand around the master seal, which begins to glow a bright yellow. It envelops his hand, soon crawling up his arm and eventually spreading across his body. The others and I simply stare in awe as the light begins to fade. Surprisingly, Geoff's appearance did change a bit, which I can't help but find slightly strange. But it does look a bit more like a bow knight. Alas, he's promoted, despite that fact that I would have been so much better if it had been me. Meh. Patience.
"Interesting. He's a Bow Knight now." Ayla's tone of voice says that she isn't surprised, but the sentence says otherwise.
"So he doesn't have to ride in the cart anymore." I hear Calina pipe up from within the cart. Geoff realizes this and I hear I quiet 'damn it' before he decides to climb onto the horse. Strangely, the horse doesn't object, and even playfully rubs her mane against Geoff.
"I'll call her Epona." Well that was a surprise, said no one ever. I wouldn't be surprised if Geoff ended up with a future child named Link. I shit you not, that is probably going to happen.
Meh. I climb back into the cart and rest my head, taking out a gold coin and flipping it into the air for no reason. Eventually, my thoughts drift to the upcoming battle. What if I do mess up? What if everyone dies and it is all my fault? Admittedly, I may not mess up and could very well succeed entirely, but what if I don't? It's only luck that I survived this far, though admittedly it's my bad luck that got me into most of those situations. You know what? I'll just have to wait and see.
"Halt!" a soldier wearing the same Plegian uniform stops the cart. "Are you here for the battle?"
"Yes." I hear Ayla respond.
"Fine. Pass these out to your companions and then meet up at the fort northwest of here." with that, the man excuses us and directs us to our destination. Apparently not too many other mercenaries had arrived here, which may make the battle a lot easier for all of us.
"Hey." I feel someone nudge my shoulder. I turn to see Jafray holding out some kind of mask.
"What for?" I ask him.
"It's for the heat. That, and we can't let anyone recognize you." Fine. I slip the mask on over my face, which covers all of my face except my eyes and a bit of my mouth. I think that it may get a bit suspicious that I'm wearing a mask, but even if they do suspect me, they only really know me by my name. If they ask, I'll simply go by Alan.
A little down the path, we finally start to prepare our supplies. Geoff gathers a few arrows, we take our gold in case someone tries to get into the cart, and Niro and Rysor finally land.
"Are we all ready?" I ask. I see a few mixed expressions and some nods, but everyone seems ready. Wait, Wilson is here, right? Good. I don't see how the hell I forgot him. I mean, he isn't like Kellam forgettable, yet somehow you still manage to forget about him.
I jump out of the cart, followed by the others.
"Here." Ayla hands us a sort of cloak with the Plegian flag to be put on top of our clothes. They each seem to vary, I guess for different classes, but they are still easy to take off. I feel a lump form in my throat as nervousness begins to overtake me. The others all walk toward the fort, but Geoff and I stay behind a bit.
"R-ready..?" he asks. He's pale and shaking with nerve, something that I have never seen him do. He's always more confident then me, never showing a sign of fear or nervousness. Now? He thinks I'll mess up, doesn't he? ... No. I won't mess up. I feel the lump seemingly disappear as a wave of confidence replaces it. I will do this. I will do this. In Naga's name, I will succeed.
"C'mon." I walk into the fort, and Geoff snaps back into his senses and begins to lead Epona into a nearby stable. I stop in my tracks and wait for him to finish. As he does, we both walk into the fort. The others are waiting there for us, faces stricken with fear.
"W-we're supposed to go on the front lines." Wilson- so I didn't forget him this time- explains. Of all people, even he is afraid.
... I can't stop to think about it. I just have to act. If I don't act, then I really won't be able to do anything. "They said it that fast?" I ask, my voice quivering. My confidence is leaking. Sigh.
"Yeah." "They said we looked strong enough to be up front." As opposed to his once-annoyingly prideful voice, Gorge's voice is but a mere yelp right now.
I stare at the ground for a minute, the gears grinding in my mind. I turn and walk out of the fort, with the others following. The Ylissean army is already gathering, but the Plegian army is still bigger. Maybe our plan will work. Maybe we will help Ylisse. But.. What if this plan is in vain? What if even if we do manage to help, all we're doing is risking our lives?
I sigh again, before walking out and approaching the front lines. Typical, there are just a bunch of barbarians and other typical Plegian army troops up here. Hell, a lot of them are actually promoted. I look down at my clothes, which I now notice are ripped and worn when compared to other myrmidon cloaks. Hell, I'm not even really a myrmidon, am I? Just a thief in clothes that aren't really mine.
... I hear a horn from behind me, which I guess is a sort of signal for the fighting to start.
While the men around me rush toward the opposing army, I stay behind, staring at the dried sand.
"Get a move on, runt!" a large man shoves me from behind. I don't respond. I just keep staring at the ground. I think I hear fighting erupting in front of me, but I don't concentrate on it too much.
"I said GO!" I feel the man kick me in the shin, I now think that he may have been one of the commanders. I reach my hand toward Draiotoll and look up. "Wait a minute.." the man stares at the sword. "That is..."
A wave of rage erupts from me, and I jam the sword into the man's neck. A look of fear etches onto the man's face, as a gurgle which may have once been a cry of help escapes from his mouth. The rage still swells through me. I rip the Plegian cloak off of my regular one, and stomp on it, sending a few men in my direction. One of them approaches and lifts his axe, only for a large, black figure to swoop down and pluck the man from the ground.
Niro gives me a thumbs up as I hear more battling erupt around me. The seconds begin to feel like minutes as I take Draiotoll and begin to slash at a man's leg. He falls onto his stomach, and I jam the sword into his skull. The remorse isn't coming. I feel nothing. It's as if the world is moving, but my consciousness isn't.
I see a wyvern rider swoop towards me, but a large white figure dives down and impales the man before he reaches me. The wyvern simply panics and flies off, before being sniped by a few arrows.
"Whose side are you on?!" I hear a strangely familiar female voice address me.
I tense up and my eyes widen as I look up and see an all-too familiar girl hovering above me on a pegasus. It is... Why is she here? It's...
"Watch out, Ravel!" out of the corner of my eye, I see Jafray slice off the head of a mage, who was likely trying to get all three of us.
"I said, whose side are you on?!" the woman asks again, this time turning and impaling another wyvern rider.
"Ylisse." my voice is a choke. Why... How is she here? It seems so impossible. "Don't attack the pepole that aren't wearing the Plegian flag."
She nods, before flying up North, I presume to tell the other Shepherds.
...Susan.
Geoff
"Time to die, fools!" I shoot a few arrows at some men, all of which hit them in the eyes. Shit, this is fun! I know my life could end at any moment, but I fucking LOVE using a bow! Epona seems to be used to fighting. Strange, but true.
I see a thunder blast heading in my direction, which Epona immediately dodges with almost no effort. I swear, Epona's a badass! she hasn't taken a single hit, yet I've somehow got hit by a few stray arrows. Didn't penetrate my skin, though they did break through my armor a bit.
I shoot a few more arrows, before going back and pulling out my sword.
"Onward, Epona!" this sends her galloping to a nearby gathering of people. Apparently they saw the mess that I turned those other bastards into, and are now running in separate directions. Admittedly, I was afraid that we would screw up. No, we haven't... yet. It could happen, considering this whole battle seems to be an uncoordinated mess. But hey, war is hell. I'm pretty sure hell doesn't need planning.
Epona gallops up to a myrmidon, who I proceed to decapitate. I've long since gotten used to the blood. Just not when it's mine. Or someone I know's.
"Go Geoff!" I hear someone cheer from behind. I turn to see Gorge getting hit by a bunch of myrmidons. I wouldn't call it getting hit. More like he's facing me while a bunch of myrmidons are failing to even catch his attention. "Also, look what I found!" he holds up a... Is that a master seal? Cool. It starts to glow, enveloping him a golden glow that freaks out the myrmidons. I use this as a chance to snipe them with some arrows. Gods, bows are fun. I don't even know how or why the fuck I'm so good at using it, I just am.
Because I'm a badass.
Gorge has stopped glowing and is now in some really awesome looking armor. It's like a dark-green armor with a human-sized shield to match. And those myrmidons had trouble before, this is- "SHIT!"
I look to see an arrow sticking out of my shoulder, and an archer with what I can only imagine as a troll face.
Gr... "FUCK YOU!" I lift up my bow and fire and arrow straight at his chest. His cocky look immediately shrinks into pain, and he falls to the ground.
Gah... I take the arrow and snap it in half, pulling it out of my flesh. I rub the spot that now has blood pouring out of it, until it is enveloped by a tingling. The wound closes up, with the blood still covering it. I smile as I see Ayla holding up a staff out of the corner of my eye.
A rather muscular man with a sword and shield approaches me. He bends his neck a bit, a cracking sound emerging from it. "Gregor doesn't see enemy flag. Is stranger enemy?" What? I look up, and... Pretty sure that's the symbol of Ylisse. Okay.
"No, I'm not the enemy. Don't attack the people without the flags." With that, I turn around and decapitate another Plegian, this time a mercenary.
"Geoff, a little help?!" I turn around to see Calina surrounded by a bunch of mercenaries.
Hrm...
I could let her die as revenge for the fork thing... claim it's an accident... Probably get yelled at... Naw. Heroes don't do that shit. I come up and grab her hand, pulling her onto the horse before any of those mercenaries can even realize what is going on.
"Thanks. And... Sorry about stabbing you with the fork." ... Fine. I'll forgive her for now. But this isn't over. It's never over.
"Watch out!" she takes Epona's reins and quickly turns her, sending an arrow flying just inches past my head.
"Well, now we're even." I roll my eyes and pull out my bow again, this time shooting at some of the wyverns that approach Niro. Seriously, why am I so good at this, Jeremiah?
What?! You want to ask me now?! That's just natural talent! I guess the person you were inserted into knew how to use a bow well! Good enough of an answer for me! I feel in my pouch for more arrows and... CRAP! Pleeeaaassseee don't tell me I'm out of arrows.
Well you're out of- I TOLD YOU TO NOT TELL ME! Fine... Fine... Swords it is. Calina hops off of Epona as I draw my sword, and rush towards the growing group of people in front of me.
Ravel
This has been... strange.
I see Susan is somehow in Ylisse, we're almost effortlessly slaughtering dozens of Plegians, and I'm pretty sure that I'm seeing a dozen people trying to hold back Gorge. Seriously, the dude became a living tank somehow.
Wilson's busy going berserker on some lance-users, and Geoff is busy being randomly overpowered.
Buy yeah, we haven't lost anyone, surprisingly. I'm surprised at all of this. Either the Plegian army is absurdly underwhelming, or we are absurdly overwhelming. Either way, we win.
Gah!
An axeman tries to cleave my skull with his axe, which I barely manage to block with Draiotoll.
I hold back his weight for a minute, which is difficult for two-hundred pound men. Seriously, this guy is huge.
The axe is barely touching my face by the time I here a voice boom above all of the others.
"Gangrel had fallen! Everyone drop your weapons!" I think that was Chrom's voice.
Pheww... The man lifts his axe off of me, shrugging. "I hope we're still getting paid." With that, he ventures off. Actually, wasn't the original Chapter 11 to Rout the Enemy? Huh. Well as Chrom has said, "Anything can change!"
"You!" Wha? I turn around to see a barbarian in what I assume is the Feroxi uniform standing in front of me. "The Ylisseans would like to speak with you and your friends." Is this good? Or bad? I'd assume Good. Pretty sure there's no rule against mercenaries turning against their clients.
Alright. Glad we got this done. No casualties either. Hah. And they said I had bad luck.
A/N: Meh. Cheesy-ish end, I know. I had to end it somehow, and to be honest, I was originally going to kill of Ayla's horse. Admittedly would have allowed me to get some character development started for her. (She seems to have none of it at the moment,) I dunno. It just felt weird when I finished, so I just deleted it and wrote a new ending. Admittedly, I don't like the end result as much as I could have, but it was better than making me feel guilty for the next three chapters.
It's two in the morning... I need to get some damn sleep.