Another week gone by and here is the first "actual" chapter of New Emissaries: Ymarkteg!

Chapter One

Coastal City, Corelis

Several miles from the Coast of Ymarkteg is Corelis a city with close ties to the ocean and several ports that welcome trade and fresh caught fish. Stationed farthest south from the Southern Kingdom of Anondye, Corelis has long since enjoyed peace in this golden age. Corelis has many ties to a city further north known as Malsean which is THE trade hub of Corelis. With constant travel between the two cities by many people being the norm, relationships between the people of Corelis and Malsean are strong.

In the Lis Forest to the west of the town is a small house, recently built and home to Soren and Mia, formerly of the Greil Mercenaries.

Following the confession of his blood and family line on Zatuo, the two are the perfect pair to anyone who sees them, most of Corelis knows the two and swears they have never seen a couple more in love than they are.

Today Soren departs for the town to get food while Mia makes her way over to a local dojo where young kids train to learn the art of the sword. After having shown her skill to Headmaster Kino she was offered a teaching position and is extremely content in her position.

"So, feeling good about today, Mia?" Soren asked as they walked alongside each other towards Corelis.

She nodded quickly "I'm so glad to see how many of them take so quickly to the lessons…it makes me feel good inside!"

"That's great…even if this city has no personal need for warriors, it doesn't hurt to have an active populace."

She smiled and acknowledged his comment as they reached the fork in the road.

Mia turned to Soren and kissed him before walking away "Don't forget anything!"

"I never do!"

She laughed and blew him another kiss "I love you, Soren."

"I love you too, Mia." He turned and headed towards the market street. He passed a building nearing completion in its construction. He stopped briefly remembering that not too long ago there was only a foundation on this spot.

A man on the roof with baggy torn pants, no shirt to cover his muscular body and short spiky hair looked down at Soren and waved his hammer in the air "Hey! Soren!"

"Mikel! How is it going today?"

"Look for yourself! Ever since these fools put their all into it, every day has been a breeze! We should be done in a few days!"

Soren nodded "Good to know! Keep up the good work!"

Letting out a loud and hearty laugh, Mikel responded "All day! Every day!"

Soren continued his walk, he frequently thought about how amazing it was to live here. Walking about freely, getting to know several people personally, developing these strong ties is something he would never have tried to do so long ago, and with Tellius actions towards Branded he never imagined how it would be to have a normal life.

He quickly stopped and turned towards the Post Building, walking in he waved to the lady behind the counter, in a long, light blue dress and darker blue hair and bangs on the side of her head, she smiled at him "Always have to check the mail eh?"

"It's been a while since they kept in touch and…I miss them." He stated.

"So, have anything for me Pira?"

She nodded and went into the backroom.

"Yes actually…here you go."

He quickly glanced over the names on the letters "Oscar…Uhnie and…Leah."

He looked up to Pira and grinned "Thank you."

She smiled "No problem!"

As he walked down the street buying things he kept feeling the letters in his pocket, it has been over a month since any last contact with some of the Mercenaries…and a year and a half since a message from Ike arrived.

He came to a bench and sat, taking Oscar's letter from his pocket and opening it.

Hello Soren

It has been a while, but things have been changing over here, for the better…remember when my horse was injured and I took him to that stable to be cared for? I had nothing of importance or anything that I thought you'd be interested in, so I told you of the woman who cared for him. I was surprised at your interest and advice on that…It's been a while but I asked her out and we've been together for a month now.

I thank you for what you've told me…in all the years I knew you, I never thought I'd get help from you like this but seeing how you're living, I have to say, you really do know everything, and I appreciate it Soren.

Rolf has been doing pretty well too, now with a job, we're living fairly well here and I'd like to extend an invitation again.

Hope everything is going well over there.

Your friend, Oscar

Soren smiled at the letter, he glanced at the other two, the Uhnie letter was specifically written to go to Mia, while Leah's letter had both of their names on it. Placing them back in his pocket, he stood and continued his task.

Mia sat down at the training school, wiping her forehead as the kids ran around and several were eating.

Usually during this time she liked to relive memories of the adventures across Thyremog, Hitenticul and Zatuo but having replayed them all, good or bad in her head so many times, there was little to do.

Another instructor sat next to her, in long flowing robes covering his vest and his head topped with messy green hair he reached out and shook her hand.

"Lyle, how did your first session go today?"

He shrugged "Pretty well actually…remember Yimer? The kid who kept getting his sword knocked out of his hands every day?"

She nodded, poor little guy just couldn't keep his grip.

"He finally managed to hold onto it, though he did complain about losing some feeling in his hands."

She smiled "That's great news, Lyle!"

Lyle gave a wide, silly smile "Yeah, glad to move the little guy on to more interesting things…what are you up to today? Just relaxing?"

She nodded "Yeah, not much else to do…I think almost everyone I know has heard most of my interesting stories from the other lands…and I myself am a little tired of reliving them."

Lyle laughed "I never get tired of hearing them, I've lived in Ymarkteg my whole life, sure I've moved from East to West and as of six years ago started living here but still, other lands…"

"You're not too old to go on a voyage." She stated.

Nodding, Lyle stood "Some day…until then, you hungry?"

She shook her head "Nah, you go on ahead."

He grinned and turned, glancing over at the other students before walking away.

Arriving at home, Soren placed all of the supplies into their proper places before glancing over at the photo of him and Mia on the wall from the first day they moved into their home.

Mounted below it, in it's fantastic sheathe was Ein'Tosen, the black blade Soren crafted for Mia while on Zatuo.

Soren placed his hand on the blade's sheathe and everything that went into crafting it, flashed through his head.

First off, Ein'Tosen was crafted mainly because Mia's enhanced strength caused her to break many blades frequently. Since then she has trained to fix that 'problem'. Now she can freely wield any blade, but Ein'Tosen's properties are still special, Soren hopes a day the magic blade is needed doesn't come.

To follow that up, Soren thought of Ty, the Branded refugee from Tellius that lived in Zatuo for many years before they arrived, he wished that Ty knew where to find him so he could send some kind of message. Soren, desperately wanted to know how Tellius has changed since the Greil Mercenaries' departure over six years ago.

It was sometime after they moved in that he began thinking about the other warriors who fought alongside them during the Mad King's War and the Dawn War.

He truly wanted to know how their lives were going…first and foremost: Rhys, the only Greil Mercenary who did not follow the group after they left Tellius.

Several others, such as the rulers of Crimea and Daein, Elincia and Micaiah as well as Begnion's Apostle, Sanaki and the loyal warriors who returned to peaceful lives after the war like Brom, Nephenee, Sothe, Jill, Harr or several of their Laguz allies, Lethe, Mordecai, Reyson and his siblings.

"The Branded settlement…" Soren only saw Stefan's home once, during the lull between wars he ventured to the desert to see the place Stefan wanted Soren to live. He wondered if Stefan was able to achieve his dream of making his village widely known and accepted, especially considering the truth behind the Branded.

Soren nearly jumped as someone place a hand on his shoulder, he turned quickly to face Mia, she smiled "Sorry…I kinda noticed you were deep in thought."

"Why are you back so early?" Soren asked.

She shrugged "Just on my break between Session Two and Three. I thought you'd be back already."

Soren nodded "Well, I went to the Post today and got some mail from Oscar, Uhnie and Leah."

Mia's face brightened immensely, she turned and saw the letters on the table before letting out a long sigh "I am so glad to hear from them again…"

"I was too, couldn't help myself, read Oscar's letter."

Mia turned to him and crossed her arms.

"Hey, you read Titania's letter last time!"

After a short silence, they both began laughing, Soren recapped the letter for her, she was happy for Oscar, he has been so dutiful his entire career, she was glad things were going well for him.

They sat down and opened Leah's letter, in the short time before Mia began reading it, a memory forced its way into Soren's head of the day the two left and Leah followed them.

"You two are really going?" the younger man said.

Soren and Mia turned to Leah, they developed a strong friendship with him since he was recruited out of Hitenticul. Zihark left a while ago and without them, the Invincible Four as Zihark liked to call them, would be separated for good.

"I'm sorry Leah…we just…"

Before Soren could continue Leah held out his hand "You don't need to explain everything to me…or anything…I was honored to call you two my friends…you helped change me…I will be forever grateful."

Mia smiled at Leah and embraced the younger trueblade. "We were glade to call you a friend…you are a Greil Mercenary and you are one of our greatest comrades."

Soren nodded and shook Leah's hand "Stay as long as you feel you need to, Leah, and whatever you decide to do when you leave…keep in touch. You know this, but I want to say it…you are a dear friend of mine."

"Dear Soren and Mia,

It's me again, Leah, I've been on a cross country quest of sorts. I guess it's one of those self-discovery type things. Right now I'm in the Core Kingdom of Numengate, I didn't message you the whole time I was up north in Regalshin and I apologize for that…it was very cold, that is all I myself remember.

This place is very strange though, apparently it's history is marred with causing many old wars in Ymarkteg. Despite the fact that it is the center of meetings on the rulers of the five kingdoms, it still has an uneasy air about it.

However, there are plenty of traveling warriors that I have stopped to train with and hone my own art of the sword. Some of these have some kind of knowledge, but none of them have the preciseness of Zihark or the swift elegance of Mia and I'm not just saying that.

Anyway, I plan on continuing to train here for a while longer, I will most likely begin my return to Corelis in a few months. Have you heard from Zihark? I'd like to know where he's gone.

I wish you two the best and continued happiness.

Be seeing you soon, hopefully.

You're honored friend, Leah."

Soren smiled as Mia folded the letter, Leah has grown immensely and every message from him further solidifies that fact.

"When was the last time we heard from Zihark?"

Soren shrugged "I really don't know…there are a few who we haven't heard from…technically, we've never gotten a letter from Shinon, Uhnie sends us messages with Shinon's 'regards'."

Mia laughed as she opened Uhnie's letter "True…I hope Zihark is alright wherever he is."

"Dear Mia

You've probably heard the whole 'it's been a long time' thing enough, so I'll get right to it. Shinon decided to man up, put his money where his mouth is and well…he proposed to me."

Mia and Soren quickly glanced at each other and mouthed WHAT!? Before turning back to the letter and continuing to read.

"You are probably just as surprised as I was, as much as I messed with him and we seemed to fight, I really do love him and I'm very happy, he doesn't want a big event or anything, but I think it'd be a good time to get the Mercenaries, or at least most of us back together again. We're still in the planning phases, but when it does happen, we'd like or I'd like for you two to come.

Thank you, Uhnie."

Mia folded the letter "Wow…Shinon and Uhnie are getting married…"

Soren nodded slowly, he didn't want to say anything. He hadn't really thought at all about proposing to Mia, they've just been living together for several years and have been together for even longer. Now he thinks he should've proposed a while back.

"Actually, I…should I? For all intents and purposes we are married already, just not officially…"

"Soren? You alright? You spaced out just now." Mia stated.

The sage shook his head quickly and turned to her.

"Yeah, I'm fine…Shinon getting married…honestly, I didn't think that'd ever happen but in retrospect…"

"He and Uhnie have been together for a long time." The trueblade said as she stood up and folded the papers, before taking them and storing them with the rest of the letters.

Soren stood up as Mia appeared at the doorway, she walked over to him and kissed him. Soren embraced her and kissed her again, as they stood there for a while she quickly broke away.

"Oh! I forgot, I'm late!" Soren turned to the clock, yep, she should've been back about five minutes ago.

She rushed around, picking some things up and headed for the door.

"Mia." She stopped with the door open and turned to Soren.

Many things crossed his mind to say, eventually he pushed them all aside and smiled "I love you, Mia."

With a widening smile Mia nodded "I love you too, Soren." Turning she ran back out, heading to finish her work day.

I really enjoyed writing this chapter, mainly because I am back in the universe of New Emissaries and got to throw out a lot of calls to characters from Tellius and elsewhere.

Can't wait for some of the more interesting things to happen *wink* but even as far ahead as I am, the greatest things I have planned are still being built to happen!

Up on my deviantart are my pictures of the New Emissaries OCs: Leah (Trueblade), Uhnie (Assassin), Tyse Erent (Vampire) and Cadeera (Valkyrie, originally wrote her as a troubador but she can use light magic, not just heal)

And my Ymarkteg versions of Soren and Mia in addition to a map of Ymarkteg

See y'all next week!