"Ye take good care of the lad, ye hear?" Fargus laughed, slapping Dart on the back. "Give 'im all his food, make sure he got 'is-"
"I ain't no baby, Captain; I can take care of meself," Dart mumbled but smiled.
"Let's get going," Hector said. "Thanks for everything, old man Fargus."
He laughed. "Not a problem, boy! Ye know, with that attitude of yers, ye would've made quite a pirate yerself!" he said jovially and Hector scowled as Eliwood laughed.
"He's right, you know."
"Shut up."
"Well, goodbye," Lyn said, looking at Fargus. Her expression was unreadable. "…thank you for taking us here."
"Not a problem, lass! 'Tis not everyday I see a fine lady such as yerself," he said and winked. She raised an eyebrow and he laughed, walking back to his ship. "See ye later, landlubbers!" he shouted as the ship started to drift away from the Dread Isle.
"See?" Hector said to Lyn as they watched the ship sail away. "Not all pirates or bandits are bad."
"…I see," she said quietly and nodded. "They were all very kind."
"Yes, they were. Now, we should get moving," Eliwood said and gestured at the dense forest not too far from the shore. "Shall we?"
"Let's go," Hector said and nodded. They started to walk toward the forest, their comrades following close behind.
"Can any of you tell me why Ninian is here? We never really got a chance to talk about that since our little battle," Jasmine said as she walked up to the lords.
"Oh, right, I forgot to tell you about that," Lyn said as she looked at the brunette walking beside her. "She was on a small boat drifting away from Dread Isle. She appears to have lost her memory," she said and glanced over at Ninian walking beside Eliwood. She looked confused and a bit worried as she looked at the trees surrounding them.
Jasmine raised her eyebrows. "What?"
"I know," Lyn said as she looked back at her. "It's all very confusing to me too."
"It's starting to get foggy," Eliwood commented, glancing around at the sky. Surely enough, a light fog was descending on them. "Let's try not to get separated in these dense woods," he announced to his comrades, turning around to face them.
"Kind of spooky, isn't it?" Hector said as he looked around at the dimming sky. "You scared?" he grinned down at the two young women beside him.
Lyn snorted. "Hah. You wish."
"Too afraid to even admit you're scared, eh?" he said and his grin widened.
"I'm not scared," Lyn huffed. "It's obvious you're the one who is."
His eyebrows rose. "Me? Scared? I'm never scared," he said and huffed out his chest.
This time it was her turn to raise her eyebrows. "Really?"
"Really."
"I find that very hard to believe."
He scowled. "Don't believe me, huh? Do I even look like I'm easy to scare?"
"Yes."
Jasmine giggled and Hector narrowed his eyes at Lyn. "That's a big claim right there, woman!"
"Hah, I bet-"
"Shush, you two," Eliwood whispered and they fell silent at his urgent tone. "I see someone up ahead." His hand went to the hilt of his sword and he crouched over slightly.
"Get behind me, Jasmine," Lyn said quietly as she unsheathed her Mani Katti.
"Wait a second…" Hector murmured as he took steps forth, ax in hand. "Leila, is that you?" he called out as they got closer to the figure. "It is you!" he said, grinning as he brought his ax down to his side. "Amazing! Always ahead of the game, aren't you?"
"…something's not right," Eliwood said quietly as he eyed Leila, sitting upright against a tree trunk. Two deep slashes were across her neck and chest. Her head was limp against her shoulder and she didn't appear to be breathing.
"…Leila?" Hector said quietly, eyebrows furrowing as he too sensed something wrong. "Leila!" he said louder and bent down to her level. He reached out but quickly withdrew, eyes wide. "No…"
"She's…gone," Lyn breathed. "I-I'm sorry, Hector," she said quietly, gently placing a hand on his shoulder. His breathing was slowly becoming more ragged and his hands shook as he stood up. Eliwood looked at his friend sympathetically and put his hand on his other shoulder.
"She was a wonderful person."
"…I'm sorry for your loss," Jasmine muttered quietly, glancing over Hector uncomfortably. Her comrades were starting to gather up behind them, curious of what was stopping them. Many gasps and murmurs spread across the group.
"That's the spy..."
"The Ostian..."
"No..."
"What's going on?" Serra shrieked from the back of the group.
"Yes, milords, what is going on?" Oswin asked as he pushed his way passed the clump of people. He stopped short when he saw Leila. "No, it can't be…"
"She was one of our best spies…" Hector murmured. "A friend, too…"
Matthew pushed his way through the crowd, accompanied by Serra. "Really, Lord Hector, I should-" she cut herself off when her eyes laid on Leila. "Oh my…Leila…" she whispered. She closed her eyes after a moment, clasped her hands together, and started to pray underneath her breath. Hector turned to both of them, his eyes a mix of rage and distress.
The spy's face was a mask and he stared at Leila blankly. "I'm sorry, Matthew," Hector said quietly as he walked over to him, gently placing a hand on his shoulder.
"…Why do you apologize, milord?" he asked, his eyes transfixed on Leila's body. "Leila blundered. That's all."
"Matthew…Leila…she was important to us all," Oswin said quietly, placing his hand on the spy's other shoulder.
"We'll miss her," Serra whispered, hugging him for a moment.
"…After this mission," he started, "I was going to ask her to put this life behind her. Waited too long, huh?" he said and forced a dry chuckle. Nobody responded. "Milords…may I rejoin you later? She has to be buried," he said quietly.
"Of course," Hector said and nodded slowly. Matthew walked to Leila slowly, as if it pained him to walk, and gently picked her up. And with a flash, he was gone.
"Blast!" Hector shouted the moment he was gone, angrily kicking the closest tree to him. "They put her out here for us to find like this!"
"Unforgivable!" Lyn hissed venomously. "This is…a foul deed. Beyond foul."
"…Let's go," Eliwood said quietly. "The foe must be somewhere in this forest," he said and looked around his surroundings. "We must stop this before any more die!"
Lyn nodded. "Yes, no more can be harmed!"
"I'm going to kill them all," Hector hissed. "Leila's death will not be for nothing. We are going to find the foe and finally end this!"
"Ah!" Ninian yelped suddenly and everyone turned to face her. "Beware! Something comes!"
"What is she babbling on about?" Hector demanded.
"Ninian can sense when something dangerous is coming," Jasmine explained hurriedly, glancing around.
"Stay on guard, everybody!" Eliwood shouted, looking back at his army. "Weapons-LYNDIS!"
Lyn was dangling in the air, her hands pushing against an arm gripped around her neck. A man was holding her from atop a horse, a sword not too far from her. Her struggles were useless and she had to stop in order to breathe easier. Hector and Eliwood immediately drew their weapons and started to advance but stopped quickly when the sword drew nearer to Lyn.
"If you value her life," the man said in his husky voice, "send the girl to me," he said and gestured toward Ninian, who cowered behind Eliwood.
"You...you won't kill her!" Jasmine said shakily, mustering up her courage for her closest friend and she stared the man straight in the eye. "I won't let you!"
The man chuckled darkly. "What makes you so sure, young one? All I need to do is slit her throat and her blood will pour down on you."
"I'll do anything!" she said, twitching under his gaze. "Just...let her go."
He looked at her for a brief moment and nodded slowly. "Very well. Simply hand the girl over to me," he jerked his head at Ninian, "and you can all leave."
"We are doing neither!" Eliwood said loudly, brandishing his Rapier. "You will release Lyndis!"
"The longer we talk, the less time your friend will have to breathe." He tightened his grip on Lyn and she gasped for breath.
"Just give him Ninian!" Jasmine snapped, brown curls twirling as she faced Eliwood. He looked at her in disbelief, as did Hector.
"Jasmine!" Eliwood gasped, shocked. "I can't believe you would suggest such a thing!"
"It wasn't a suggestion." She stared at the gaping lords. "I will not lose Lyn," she said in an even tone.
"Stupid girl! That doesn't mean that we can just give Ninian up!" Hector snarled, taking steps forth, finger raised. She flinched and closed her eyes for a brief moment before opening them again. Hector raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth to speak-
"I'll rescue you, Lady Lyndis!" Sain said unexpectedly and everyone turned to watch him gallop toward the man with his green lance raised high in the air. The man's eyes widened and his horse quickly dodged the charge. However, at that sudden turn, Lyn slipped out of his grip and flung through the air, into Sain's arms. He put her in front of him on his horse, his hands still on the reigns. He tugged on the reigns and faced the now angry man.
"You…you're Sacaen!" Lyn gasped.
"That's correct…I'm Uhai of the Black Fang. I've been sent to capture the girl…" His eyes darted back to Ninian. "And to kill the lot of you…if, however, you hand over the girl and depart the island at once, I'll grant you your lives."
"And if we refuse?" Lyn huffed.
"You know nothing, little lord," the man said, chuckling. "Nothing of Nergal's might, of his terrible power. You are ignorant, and so you hope to oppose him."
"…Maybe we don't know what it is we're fighting…but if we flee, our loss is assured," Eliwood said evenly. "So we will continue to struggle, and we may yet prevail!"
"…Folly," Uhai breathed. "All of you are silly, ignorant children! Nonetheless," he said and looked at Lyn. "You, too, are of Sacae, and I've got a mind to show you mercy. I will let you die with a sword in your hands. But rest assured…" He looked at the other lords and their companions. "I will kill you all here."
And with that, he tugged on his horse's reigns, dashing off through the forest.
It was dead silent for a few moments.
"Did I miss anything?" Matthew's voice broke the quiet, tense air.
"Not much..." Hector said quietly, glancing back at Jasmine, who was looking down at her feet. "Battle plans?" he asked her. She looked up at him slowly, mouth opening and closing like a fish.
After a moment, she quietly murmured, "Sorry about suggesting to give up Ninian." Her eyes were back on the grass. "It was real selfish of me."
"It's alright," Eliwood said gently, smiling at her. "I understand your concern for Lyndis."
There was another moment of silence and Marcus cleared his throat awkwardly.
"Battle plans, Lady Jasmine?"
"Oh, right," she said and looked back up. She still looked like she felt bad about what she had said. She shook her head, a hand on her forehead. "Right...right...battle plans. Since the fog is already pretty thick, we should travel in large groups. Does anybody have any torches?"
"I've got one," Marcus said.
"Aye, me too!" Dart shouted.
"Merlinus?" Jasmine asked, turning around to face the merchant. He was putting up his tent, fumbling with a number of things in his arms.
"I've got two!"
"Let's divide into groups of two for the time being, and split up into two more groups if we find any snags or other bridges." She squinted through the mist. "I can't see any…but if there are any, we'd see them if we get close enough."
Hector was giving her a cautious look. "Remember last time there was a fog?"
"I remember quite well, thank you very much," she said quietly, averting his gaze.
"What happened last time there was a fog?" Lyn asked curiously, approaching the two.
"Why don't you ask him?" Jasmine responded slightly harshly and quickly looked at Lyn apologetically. "Sorry, I didn't mean to sound like that."
"Bah, I'll tell you later," Hector said, waving off Lyn's confused face. "Now's not the time."
"Now, we're splitting up into two groups…Marcus and Oswin, I want you two guard Merlinus, Ninian and Hannah. Ninian and Hannah, you stay in Merlinus's tent, alright?"
"That reminds me," Hannah said in her shriveled old voice. "You have not yet asked for an augury, young tactician."
"We have no time," she responded impatiently and opened her mouth to continue her orders. Hannah, however, cut in.
"No time? You bring me, a fragile old woman, to the Dread Isle and tell me that you have no time?" she shrieked and Jasmine turned to face her fully, biting down on her lower lip.
"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to upset you."
"Upset me? Upset me?"
"We have no time for your silly little old womanly outbursts!" Hector snapped angrily. "A battle's about to begin!"
"You should be more careful of the demands you make on this weary old frame," she said to Jasmine and paused at Hector's agitated look. "Oh, aye, the augury...Yes, yes, of course. Don't put your pants in a knot, young one," she said to Hector, who mumbled something underneath his breath about old ladies. "You will pay the 80 gold?"
"You will pay the 80 gold?" Jasmine repeated, turning to face Hector expectedly.
He raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"Well, we can't have the augury without paying her 80 gold."
"80 gold for a stinkin' fortune?" Hector growled. "I think not."
"Then there will be no fortune-telling here," Hannah said, narrowing her eyes at the hotheaded lord.
"Fine, I don't care! Jasmine, battle plans!"
"I think we should get the augury, Hector," Lyn said from behind the two and Hector turned to face her.
"We're already wasting too much time!" he growled.
"You're wasting our time by arguing over this!" Lyn retorted. As the two started to bicker and their comrades gathered their equipment, Jasmine returned her attention to Hannah.
"Here's 80 gold," she said after digging through her bag. She put it in Hannah's outstretched, wrinkly old hand.
"All right," Hannah said and closed her eyes. "I sense the foe has a strange item…watch your possessions closely…Take the orchid-haired sky rider…there is someone she should meet." Her eyes opened. "Ah, I can see no more."
"Take the orchid-haired sky rider," Jasmine repeated thoughtfully. "Who will she meet?"
Hannah's thin lips curled into a smirk. "That, I cannot say."
Jasmine frowned but turned back around, surprised to find Hector and Lyn still going at it.
"Orders, Jasmine?" Eliwood asked eagerly. He was by Lyn and Hector, as if he had tried to stop their bickering, but failed miserably.
"Like I said, I want us to be split in two groups," she told the redhead. She scanned through her comrades and seemed to come to a decision. "Listen carefully, this is important," she said and spoke louder, finally silencing Lyn and Hector. "Florina, Raven, Rebecca…Priscilla, Lyn, Matthew, Sain, Kent, and I are to be in one group. The rest will be in the other group. Actually...scratch that." Everyone stopped bustling. "I want more people to be left behind with Merlinus, in case we miss a snag or something…" Her eyes trailed to Hector when she said this. "Dorcas, Florina, and Canas-stay behind with Marcus and Oswin."
With a few murmurs and clanks, everybody split up into their groups.
"You guys head east," Jasmine called out to Eliwood and Hector's group. "See if there are any bridges or snags. If not, come back and search elsewhere. We'll head south. And remember to use your torches."
"All right," Eliwood responded and he and his group headed off through the thick fog.
"Please give me two torches, Merlinus," Jasmine said and the merchant quickly hustled his way over to her, handing the torches to her. "Thank you."
They started their journey through the fog, Matthew leading the way.
"Um, Jasmine, can I ask you something?" Rebecca asked the tactician quietly as Sain started to chat idly to Priscilla. Raven looked ready to murder him and Bartre was talking to the redhead. "Jasmine?"
"Hmm? Sorry, what?" Jasmine said, snapping out of her thoughts to look down at the younger girl.
"Do you think Dart and I…have anything in common?"
"No, nothing that I can think of."
"Not at all?" Rebecca asked, sounding a bit disappointed, and Jasmine shook her head. "Hmmm…I don't know…there's something about him."
Jasmine didn't know how to respond but luckily for her, Lyn walked up beside her. "Jasmine, can I have a word?"
"...of course." Rebecca ran off toward the front of the group, striking up a conversation with Raven. "...are you mad at me?"
Lyn raised her eyebrows. "Mad? Of course not. Why would you come to such a decision?"
Jasmine bit her lip. "Well...I pretty much gave up Ninian's life."
"Yes, you did, and I'll say it wasn't the smartest thing to do," Lyn said honestly and Jasmine's face fell. "I feel very touched that you would go to such extremes for me, truly, I do, but...it's not right to give up another's life," she said gently.
"I know," she mumbled quietly, looking down at her feet as they walked. ""I'm sorry-really, I am. I feel really bad about it."
"Don't feel bad, Jasmine," Lyn said softly, eyebrows knitting as she saw the tactician's guilty face. "You were just standing up for me. You weren't thinking straight."
"I...I can't lose you, Lyn," she murmured. "You're my closest friend. I...I don't know what I'd do without you. You've always been there for me."
"Oh...Jasmine," Lyn said quietly and tightly hugged her, though she stiffened but returned the embrace a moment later. "You are like my second sister-Florina is my first," she smiled.
"Life would've been much better if I was your sister," Jasmine responded quietly. Lyn opened her mouth to respond but couldn't when Kent landed in front of the girls. Jasmine let out a surprised squeak and the two bent down, Lyn helping the Cavalier up.
"Are you alright, Kent?" she asked him.
"Yes, thank you, milady," he said and gave her a quick bow.
"Oh, will you stop that nonsense?" she said impatiently. "What's going on?"
"There's an attack up ahead," he said as he grabbed his sword that had flew the distance with him. "I can't see anything now..."
"Oh yeah, the torches!" Jasmine said suddenly and lit one of them just in time to see Sain pull his lance out of the enemy Cavalier.
"Kent!" Sain shouted. "Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine!" he shouted back and looked down at his dented armor. "My armor took the blow."
"We might need to get that fixed," Sain smiled.
"Well, as long as everybody's alright," Lyn said as she and Jasmine approached their comrades. "Nobody's hurt?"
"No," were the unanimous replies.
"Good. Now, we need to get a move on. Who knows where the next enemy will be and when they will strike."
"Yes, and we all need to stick together-AH!" Jasmine ducked the javelin that had been headed straight for her neck. In a matter of seconds the attacker was dead, blood staining the grass as he fell. Matthew glanced over at Jasmine, his daggers dripping with blood.
"…Thanks," she whispered, eying him anxiously. His fighting style had changed dramatically; there was no teasing, no cheery words from him, and no smiles. Nothing. It was quick and over in a flash.
Something was not right.
Lyn seemed to sense it too, looking at the thief out of the corner of her eye. "Yes, well, we best get a move on," she said and Raven rolled his eyes.
"No, we should all just sit around here and decorate each other with daisies," he mumbled sarcastically. He noticed the tactician raise an eyebrow at him but he ignored her, starting to walk off.
"Hey! Raven…I think. Wait!" Lyn called out after him. "We all need to stick together!"
The redhead growled wordlessly at this, stopping and twirling around to face her with a scowl. "Then let's hurry up and get a move on!" he snapped and sent a glare at Sain, stopping him from advancing any closer to Priscilla.
"That is no way to talk to Lady Lyndis!" Kent said defensively before Lyn could say anything. "It's very disrespectful!"
"Please, Kent," Lyn said, sounding slightly annoyed. "I am no different from any other person."
He frowned down at her. "But milady-"
Sain cleared his throat. "Please, milady, Kent…we will get behind if we don't continue on."
"Of course," Lyn said shortly.
"I apologize, milady," Kent said, bowing on his horse-which looked quite awkward. "I never meant to offend you."
"Your apology is accepted," Lyn said and nodded to him. "You're right, Sain; we must continue on south."
"Hey, there's a snag over here!" Bartre shouted. He had gotten rather bored of their conversations and had sauntered off to check the area.
"Sain, Kent, Bartre, and I will go over the snag," Jasmine announced, a plan formulated in her head. "You guys continue south," she said and handed Lyn her other torch.
"All right," Lyn nodded. "See you after the battle," she said and walked off with her group.
"Finally!" Sain said and grinned down at Jasmine. "You and I have not had any time to speak at all, my sweet!"
She smiled up at him. "I know; we haven't. It's quite sad, really, considering that we've been traveling together for weeks now," she said and pursed her lips slightly. "Talking to you always makes my day-I can honestly say I feel better right now," she said and Sain beamed, opening his mouth to compliment her, but Kent interjected.
"But now," Kent reprimanded, "is not the time for chit chat." With that, he dashed forward, attacking the snag along with Bartre.
"Oh, loosen up, Kent!" Sain said cheerfully. "Really, you need to stop being so stiff all the time."
"And you need to stop fooling around and trying to woo every woman you meet," Kent retorted as he continued his attack on the snag. Jasmine giggled.
"Ah, Kent, I do not try to woo; I woo," the green knight grinned, earning a sigh from his red clad friend and another giggle from the tactician. Bartre let out something between a snort and a snicker. "Hey, you're supposed to be on my side, Bartre!"
"I've seen the looks the women give you," the ax man responded.
"So you've seen the way they look at me like I am their hero-because, of course, I will protect them all!"
The snag fell, not allowing anybody to respond to Sain. They crossed the snag one at a time and were immediately welcomed by two Cavaliers and a myrmidon.
"Hah, this is going to be fun!" Sain grinned and lifted his green lance. "I shall protect you, sweet Jasmine!" he said and charged forward, followed by Kent with a roll of his eyes and a battle roar from Bartre.
The fire diminished and a loud curse followed.
"Quiet, Hector. There could be enemies lurking anywhere."
"Yeah, and now we can't see them!" the blueheaded lord snapped.
"Can't Erk just light up another fire?" the other lord suggested.
"Maybe I could if you would get Serra off me."
"Argh-Serra! Get off the poor man!"
"But Lord Hector!" Erk and Hector winced at her whining voice. "He needs to stay by my side to protect me."
"She does have a point there."
"Then I guess I can't light the torch." There was a smirk in the mage's voice, which made Hector growl.
"Fine. Serra, get off him."
"But-"
"SERRA!"
"Nice job attracting the enemy, mate," Dart said as he swung his ax around at an archer. "I commend ye."
"Oh shut up," Hector growled as he unknowingly dodged a lightning bolt that would've knocked him out if he hadn't taken that step. "Gah! Erk, light this torch, NOW!"
There was some scrambling and 'oofs!' as the mage rushed over to the large lord. He lifted his spell book and raised it, starting his chant-
Only to have the book crumble apart.
"My spell book!" he cried out, looking at the small pieces that were left on his hand and he brushed off the ones on his head.
"What just happened?" Hector growled, unable to see anything because of the thick fog.
"My spell book! It doesn't work anymore-it just fell apart! I knew it was starting to get rusty…"
"Well, don't you have anymore?" Hector growled as he swung his ax around, hoping to hit the enemy. Instead, he forced Wil to duck and accidentally cut off a few pieces of his hair.
"I think you should be a bit more careful, Lord Hector," the archer said as he stood up, taking a few steps back. "I don't need a haircut just yet," he chuckled.
"What-? Oh. Oops." He stopped swinging his ax.
"Lord Hector, perhaps I can light up the torch with my lightning?" Lucius suggested from somewhere behind the lord.
"I don't see how it can hurt," he shouted as he dodged another attack.
"Now, if only I could find you…" the blond said and squinted as he flailed his arms about.
"That'll take too long!" Guy said impatiently as he made his way to Hector fairly easily, eyes adjusted to the fog quiet well. He took the torch out of his hands and lit it. The fire that crackled away was dim and Hector turned around only to see the enemy monk chanting with a book in his hands-
"MOVE!" he shouted and pushed Guy out of the way. A powerful lightning bolt struck the ground their feet had been on only moments ago and it cracked the ground.
"Whoa…" Guy mumbled, staring at the large crack, somehow still holding onto the torch. "That was...more powerful than usual."
"I like to call those critical hits," Hector said and the myrmidon looked at him curiously. "What? If they hit you, it's a big blow. And it's not every time you get a hit like that. Does that ever happen to you? Or is it just me? You know, when you get that strong adrenaline pump and-"
"I don't think now's the time to be talking about this," Eliwood said as he ran up to the two, Rapier glinting red. "While you two were chatting, I had to go deal with the man that nearly killed you again-had I not come along."
Hector snorted. "I could've defeated him."
"Yeah, if you weren't talking about critical hits," Eliwood said, a small smile itching away at his lips. His friend scowled and opened his mouth to retort but Lowen rushed passed him, sword in his hand.
"I-I see three or four people approaching us," he said a bit shakily, pointing to the outlines.
"Nice eyes, Lowen," Eliwood said kindly and the Cavalier blushed slightly.
"I do not need your praise, milord; I am merely doing my duty."
"Watch this," Hector grinned at Eliwood as he shouldered his ax and dashed off. He could only see the outlines of the approaching people even as he drew closer, because of the dim torch. He swung his ax around.
"Watch out!" one of them called out and Hector realized that he had just sliced through thin air. He growled, glancing around at the outlines.
"Is anybody hurt?" another voice called out and there was some rustling with hooves pressing against the grass.
"No," two male voices and one female voice responded. The female voice was one that Hector immediately recognized. He had heard it somewhere-it was familiar, so familiar, but where had he heard it…?
"What's going on?" Eliwood called out as he ran toward him, his comrades right beside him. "Are you alright?"
"…Eliwood? Is that you?" the female voice said in a confused voice. And Hector suddenly realized where he had heard that voice.
"Jasmine?"
"Hector?"
"Jasmine?" Eliwood asked with a confused frown as he reached them and Guy walked up, raising his torch to reveal the dumbfound figures. "Jasmine! Bartre! Sain! Kent!" Eliwood cried out. "What are you all doing here?"
"Getting attacked by a blueheaded lord," Jasmine said, shooting an annoyed glance at said lord. He raised his eyebrows before they quickly knotted together.
"I thought you were the enemy! You should've called out-"
Jasmine bit the inside of her cheek from snapping at the lord and Eliwood interrupted Hector calmly. "Now, you do have to admit that it was rash of you, Hector, to just attack people that we can't see."
"But they could've been the enemy!" Hector huffed defensively. "I had every right to attack! I couldn't see anything, anyways! They should've lit a torch up," he said and looked at Jasmine accusingly. She shot him a look in return.
"Err…that's my fault, actually," Sain chuckled wearily, scratching the back of his honey brown head. "I kind of dropped the torch into the river."
Kent rolled his eyes and Bartre chuckled at the memory.
"We can all travel together now!" Wil said cheerfully. "Let's go! Which way, Jas?"
"South."
"Let's get going," Eliwood said and started to walk forward with Guy by his side. "We should all be close to each other because the light is quite dim," he said to them over his shoulder. "I think it'll last a bit longer-"
And what was left of the fire sizzled away. Hector groaned loudly.
"Of course."
Oh Hector. Attacking your own comrades? Tsk tsk. You really need to be more careful.
Well, I hope you enjoyed. I feel like a lot actually happened in this chapter.