AN: Back again! Enjoy!
Mother catches my eye and makes a smile while Lon'qu, unknowingly, confronts her. I stifle a giggle, and thankfully, the swords master is oblivious.
"Um... Te'ri..." he mumbles, suddenly interested in the ground.
"What is it, Lon'qu? Something wrong?" Mother asks.
"No... well... I wanted to tell you something concerning your daughter and I." Lon'qu says with great difficulty.
Mother takes a sip of the ginger tea that just finished boiling. The steam rises, curling and fading as it floats away.
"I'm not sure if you're going to take this nicely... but... um... Ke'ri and I are... engaged..."
She catches my eye again, and I grin silently.
"How could you?" she looks rather indignant. "Why?"
"I'm s-sorry... It's just that we l-love each other." Lon'qu blushes wildly, mumbling. "Why must this be so difficult for me to say?"
But Mother bursts out laughing. "I'm joking, Lon'qu. I'm glad for you and my daughter. I trust you'll take care of her, right?"
"I will. I'll try my best."
"Good. It's finally time you two got to know each other's feelings. All this while, I've been watching... what was a childhood friendship became so much more beautiful... I'm proud of you two."
"Thank you." Lon'qu breathes.
"And you got a ring, Ke'ri." Mother takes my hand.
"I insisted on this one. I didn't want to use up his money." I explain.
"That's okay." Mother grinned. "I'm so excited for you two!"
We both nodded, and I could see Mother's pride shining in her eyes. "My daughter... all grown up..."
Father smiled warmly. He had been watching all this time, leaning against the wall near the small, cozy kitchen, where thousands of meals were cooked. Lon'qu always ate with us when we were younger. Ever since I found out that his only source of food were scraps of stale food, whether it be from the dumpster or not, I've insisted that he got a proper meal. The memories, though sad from the misery of slums, were times of happiness, when he and I used to spend time as best friends. But we were more than that now.
"Be safe, both of you." Father eventually told us, and I push the memories to the back of my mind.
"... I'll try my best."
But anything could happen.
It was soon time to leave and head towards the capital of Chron'sin.
"Bye, Mother and Father." I hug both of them. "I'll always be thinking of you both. Hopefully I'll be safe."
"Ke'ri..." Mother wept.
"Mother, don't worry. And even if something happens, it'll be alright." Hopefully.
As we march away, I turn back twice, seeing the two fade slowly the further we get. The third time I look back, they're gone, and I sigh.
"It's alright, Ke'ri." Lon'qu says. "I'll keep you safe."
"It's not whether you can, it's whether I can take care of myself." I say. "I just can't shake the feeling out of my head, that something's going to happen to me."
"Relax. We can worry about that later. We worry on the present now. Don't let those thoughts worry you."
Reaching the rocky mountains, I find myself wondering about that mark again. I uncover a bit of it, and I shake my head.
It can't possibly be because of that.
Camp was set up near the capital of Chron'sin. Still unnerved at my thoughts, I excuse myself and walk through the forests. I just want to settle the uncertainty that roams my mind like the shadows of a sunset.
"You're not going alone." Lon'qu shook his head. He stood up as well, grabbing my hand so I would stop walking.
"Why?"
"... Anything could happen."
There's always going to be a little part of him that can't get over the death of my first life.
"Alright." I agree, and we find ourselves strolling down through the heart of the forest, with me picking interesting eaves and stones from the ground. Lon'qu walks by my side, hands in his pockets, deep in thoughts.
"I hate to say it as well, but you're right." Lon'qu muttered after a solid ten minutes of walking.
"Right about what?"
"About the fact that something might happen to you. After all, you were reborn, and that obviously never happens to any other person who dies."
"I still don't even know why I was reborn." I shrug. "And I still don't know what fate has in mind for me-"
Something makes me stop right in my tracks. Lon'qu hears it as well, and he unsheathes a killing edge.
The rustling gets louder, and I unsheathe a steel blade, ready to attack the enemy.
To our surprise, another swords master collapses out of the bushes, brown and purple clothes ragged and cut. Growing blood stains makes my heart leap, and Lon'qu looks horrified, the emotions starkly written all over his face. Maybe that's because it reminds him of his past memories. The way he described his thoughts made it seem that way.
More rustling sounds nearby, and the woman on the ground groans. With great desperation, she manages to utter a few weak words.
"... Help... me..."
The dark haired woman breathes heavily, and without another thought, I rush over to her side.
"There are enemies... after... me... W-would... you help... m-me?"
"Of course I would. We'll take you back to our camp to get your wounds treated as soon as possible." I decide, not taking in mind whether she could either be playing a trap, if she could be an enemy or not.
She does look familiar...
"We're going to get you help." I say. "Lon'qu, you're strong enough. We should take her back to camp."
Upon hesitation, Lon'qu carries the woman back, and we both run from the nearby rustling. It fades, however.
"We're checking upon that later." I decide, before turning to the barely conscious woman. "What's your name?"
"My... name... is... Say'ri..."
As soon as the princess from Chron'sin is treated, Lon'qu and I, along with Robin, Chrom, and Lucina run back to the source of rustling. From hiding, we notice armor knights and cavaliers.
"Where has that princess went?" one of the knights was asking. "We injured her. Surely she can't be far from here."
None of us makes a sound, but somehow, we find an arrow whizzing past us, inches close to hitting Chrom's ear.
"Show yourself!" the commander spits, readying a weapon. It was a silver axe, bright and deadly.
Robin stands up, knowing we wouldn't be able to run away now.
"Where is the swords-master princess, if you've seen her?"
"Were you the people who hurt her?" Robin ignores the question thrown at him.
"She is a rebel of Chron'sin. We were told to target her."
"And who might you five be?"
Chrom hesitates. "We are the Shepherds, from Ylisse. And I believe you won't be able to find Say'ri. As I've heard, you soldiers are of the Yen'fay's and Walhart's empire. We cannot let you advance."
"What right do you have to say that in our land?"
"Justice does!" Lucina calmly said.
"Soldiers, attack!" the one in command shouts. All soldiers leap into battle, and our decision to go back to find them could have been nearly a bad idea; with only five of us, we were already outnumbered. Lon'qu and I fought back to back. Though I was unable to do much to the armor knights, but remembering I had magic on my side, I was able to cut through some armor with a fire-edged sword.
Melting some of the armor, Lon'qu was able to land finishing slashes on the weakened knights to render them unconscious. Chrom's and Lucina's Falchions glimmered in the pale sunlight that shone through the dense foliage above. Since Chrom had an Armorslayer in hand, he had an easier job of dealing with the defensive soldiers.
Robin, however, had the best advantage of powerful magic. Only two hits were needed to knock out the most defensive of knights.
Before I even register it, I am surrounded by five soldiers, somehow separated from the rest of my group.
How could I have gotten myself stuck in this mess?
I start to slash at knights around me with a fire-edged blade, but taking on five at once is no easy feat. Getting knocked to the ground, I feel twinges of panic.
Relax. Calm yourself.
A distorted, familiar voice echoed through my mind. After weeks of not hearing that voice, I could barely believe who I heard.
It's Lena again! Where was she this whole entire time?
Rolling out of the way from another hit, I take a deep breath. A sudden power flows through my veins, and with surprise, my blade glows with a dark aura. With a slash, one of the knights were knocked out. I take each of the other enemies before the dark aura fades.
It may have saved my life, but something about it made dread swirl in the pit of my stomach.
This could be bad, if I think I know why it happened.
AN: I know this chapter was short, but I felt it could kind of end there. I'll be starting the next chapter soon.