I'm so sorry guys. This chapter has made me lose my mind! This chapter...I swear fought me tooth and nail to be written! Yet finally here it is. Anyway, I've been really busy recently so it's been hard to get out new chapters. I'm hoping things will slow down enough for me to get some new chapters out a little quicker.

I don't own any fire emblem characters. Just Ikyna.

-Punjabigrownbg

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Ikyna stared at her father as bewilderment sat across her face. "Any particular reason why you're tossing wooden weapons at me pops?"

Greil snorted with smile as he turned and started heading towards the log she and her sister had previously been sitting on. "I'd like to see what you're made of as well."

He waved his hand at Boyd and motioned for him to come closer, "I think you've had enough time to rest. You'll be sparring with Sprouts now."

Boyd's jaw dropped slightly, "Already? I just finished fighting your son!" he complained.

"Are you saying that two battles is proving too much for a professional mercenary?" The mercenary commander added emphasis to the word professional with a smirk.

"Well he did get beat pretty badly by Ike." Mist added with a chuckle and received a sharp glare from Boyd.

"That's true." Greil began while rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "It's a shame that both my kids have already surpassed you."

"I wouldn't go that far Boss." Boyd said in a sudden panic. "I could keep this up all day." He slung his sparring tool over his shoulder again and pumped a fist in the air, "Whenever Ikyna is ready."

"You heard the man." Her father said with a rough tap on Ikyna's shoulder.

"Aww come on pops, you're not really going to put me up against the super mercenary Boyd are you?" She said mockingly.

"No need to keep up the act sis. Dad already knows you're training with me." Ike began.

Ikyna shrugged with a sheepish smile. So much for the attempted innocent act she thought. It was true she trained and practiced sparring with Ike rather regularly, but she didn't think anyone had taken notice of it.

"Only a little." She whispered under her breath.

"I'll be the judge of that." Greil said in his heavy voice.

Ikyna sighed and scuffed her feet as she walked towards Boyd. She had to silently agree. A little match with someone other than her brother would be a good measuring line. "Alright then," she held the sword awkwardly at the tip, "Go easy on me tough guy." She said while sticking her tongue out playfully at the green haired boy.

Boyd clicked his tongue against his teeth and scowled. "Don't expect me to go easy on you just because you're a girl?"

Ikyna tilted her head sideways and sneered slightly, "And here I thought you'd be afraid of hurting the boss's daughter."

Boyd's face froze as he began to understand the situation he had gotten himself into. "Well, I…." he began to stutter.

"Don't be intimidated Boyd. I know my daughter well enough to know that she won't go down so easy." He gave an encouraging squeeze to Boyd's shoulder, "Underestimating her is a mistake you may regret making." Boyd turned in and skeptically watched the girl twin.

Ikyna twirled her wooden stick over her hands. She studied the practice weapon. It was heavy and it didn't feel right in her grasp. "This isn't really my style pops." She admitted.

Greil had already made his way to the log on the other side and was sitting with one leg crossed over his other knee. "Is that a problem?"

"I suppose not." She trailed off at the end of her sentence as she continued to stare at her practice weapon. "Am I allowed to improvise?"

A small grin etched itself into Greil's face as he looked at his daughter. He leaned his head on his hand, "If you like."

Ikyna nodded quickly to her father before grabbing both sides of the sword firmly. She brought her knee up and snapped the wooden stake over her leg. The sound of cracking wood echoed in the forest clearing. Two pieces now rested in Ikyna's hands. These were tools that she could use.

With dexterous hands she spun each piece around; liking the way the short halves felt in her palms. Boyd was looking at her in disbelief, "Can she do that boss?" he stammered

"I believe she just did." Was Greil's amused reply.

Ikyna smiled smugly, "Are you scared now?"

Boyd narrowed his eyes then snorted out a laugh, "You wish." He said before assuming a low fighting stance.

Ikyna didn't waste any time jumping straight into the fight. It wasn't her thing to wait for a battle to start. Ikyna startled the other mercenary by how quickly she had charged him. He barely had time to block the first swing she made but had no chance to block her second strike. It wasn't a hard hit, but it was enough to earn a slight grimace.

Boyd had never fought against someone wielding two weapons. Having to keep up with the separate attacks was proving more difficult than he had anticipated. Ikyna was very wiry and kept evading every hit he tried to land. Most of the time Boyd fought against bulky bandits where the fights were as all about being stronger than his opponent. This match went beyond his own comfort zone.

Ike watched from the side, very entertained. No matter how many times Boyd swung at Ikyna, she slipped past each strike like water falling through a person's hands. The older twin enjoyed seeing someone else stuck in the situation he was always in. His twin was like wind, it was nearly impossible to land any blows on her.

Her thin body was constantly weaving in and out of his sight when they would spar. Ike could hear Boyd's grunting growing in frustration and the blue haired boy couldn't help but laugh to himself.

"Hey Ike, is she going to be okay?" Mist had her hands clasped over her mouth and looked concerned.

"Why?"

She pointed her small hands toward the fight. To Ike's surprise there was a change in the momentum. Ikyna's face looked strained as she assumed the defensive. Boyd was raining down a fury of strikes that were pushing Ike's sister back.

"She looks like she's losing. Is she?" The young mousey brown-haired girl asked.

Ike shook his head as he watched the two figures. "No Mist, she's fine." The corners of Ike's lips curled up. It did seem that Ikyna was at a disadvantage, but he knew his sister well. After several practice battles with her, Ike knew Ikyna was far from being beaten

He watched his sister's eyes and her focused expression. She wasn't just dodging, Ikyna was analyzing her opponent. With each move Boyd made, Ikyna was storing the information and strategizing her best course of action. Ike wondered what was going through her mind.

Ikyna could sense that Boyd was getting tired. Ikyna wasn't surprised; he was exerting a lot of energy. It would have been better if Boyd didn't allow himself to get so frustrated. "Just a little." she thought to herself as she calculated how much longer he could last.

Between evading blows Ikyna reviewed her strategy. Boyd favored his right leg because of an injury he had sustained to his left during an earlier mercenary job. Ikyna made it a point to stay on his left side to keep most of his work centered on his weak leg.

"If I can cause him to strain his left leg." Ikyna silently thought while twirling just out of his reach again, "I can take advantage that weakness." She began to watch his leg with each extra step Boyd took. It was barely a flicker but Ikyna saw the wavering footing of the emerald-haired mercenary.

For just a split second he paused with quiet wince as the constant exertion finally began taking its toll.

. "There!" Ikyna found the opening she was looking for. She tried driving down two harsh blows to finish the fight, but the Boyd responded quicker than she anticipated he could.

When Ikyna had made to move to hit him, she had left herself vulnerable to a blow from above. The clank of the two weapons clashing rang had there blades locked against each other. Boyd was pushing his sword down on Ikyna as she held it securely between the two pieces of her own.

Both youth groaned as the strain of the brawl intensified. Ikyna hadn't thought Boyd would be so strong. The force he was pushing down on her sent a pain from her hands down to her thighs. This was much different from her spars with Ike. Even if her brother was stronger, he didn't have the muscle mass like this mercenary.

Ikyna found herself chuckling, perhaps Boyd wasn't just talk after all. His oppressive strength was proving that he definitely had value as a mercenary. "What are you smiling about?" Boyd said through his worn out voice. "Unless the thought of losing is funny to you."

"We'll see about that."

Boyd hesitated for a second. He hadn't expected her to reply so confidently. "What are planning?"

Ikyna decided that her plan wasn't going to work. She had underestimated Boyd and now she was in this losing situation. That wouldn't stop her thought. Just as easily as a plane can fail, another one can take its place.

"Like we discovered before, I'm good at improvising." She said before suddenly dropping both pieces of her sword.

The momentum that Boyd had built up from leaning down took over. His own blade came barreling towards Ikyna. She slid to her right and took the harsh blow to her shoulder. Through a harsh cry of pain she hunched over and threw a quick jab to Boyd's left leg. The young man yelped and began to stumble back while hopping on his right foot. With his balance thrown off Ikyna seized the opportunity. In one swift movement she grabbed his left leg and used it as leverage to flip him on his back.

Boyd looked up at her with a perplexed expression. He wasn't even sure how he had ended up the way he was. Mist was equally surprised and amazed that her sister had so easily flipped a man over. Greil and Ike, however, only looked on with tickled smiles.

Ikyna sauntered her way over to Boyd and held out her hand, "You were right about one thing, seeing you lose is pretty funny to me."

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Yeah I know it's kind of an abrupt ending but I just have to end this chapter. I can't take it anymore! I need to move on to the next phase! I'm getting a little dramatic but this chapter and I aren't getting along well so I'm moving on. Thank you again for all the supporters and the reviews. You guys rock!

-Punjabigrownbg