*His Father's Son (FE9 OST)

**The Enemy Approaches (FE9 OST)

***Defensive Battle (FE9 OST)

****Holding Your Own (FE9 OST)

"Where is he?!" demanded the gruff male voice once more, another blow landing. "Your general, di Medici?!"

"You despicable savages will never get a word out of me!" the Nohrian officer protested indignantly. "Subject me to whatever vile atrocities and tortures you wish, it makes no difference!"

"Vile atrocities,' eh? You Nohrians would know all about those, wouldn't you? And as far as tortures, if I was going to torture you to death, you'd know it VERY well by now. Do you know how much trouble you were to capture? Besides, even a degenerate like you is worth more to us alive than dead...for now anyway."

"Saizo, what is this really accomplishing?" inquired the softer, female voice. "You have continued as such for the past twelve hours and what do we have to show for it?"

"Well Kagero, we tried it your way for the first four hours and how much did that get us?"

"Why do you uppity heathens continue to deny the inevitable?! Even your wretched prince knew when it was hopeless-"

Kagero knew the man better than any other soul alive, and seeing the white-hot anger in Saizo's remaining eye, she knew well that the Nohrian officer had just signed his own death warrant. Surely enough, without a word, Saizo brandished one of the knives from his belt, driving it into the man's throat and dragging it sideways with all his might, the Nohrian's blood painting the cave floor in front of him. "Lord Leo...avenge us..." he rasped before expiring.

"Well, that's another one." said Kagero, no small hint of annoyance in her tone. "The fifth one in a month. I thought we were trying to get information out of them?"

"And we are." confirmed Saizo, etching a fourth notch on a wooden tablet before replacing it in his bag. "They just made the choice not to be cooperative with us. And I made the choice to cut their godsdamned throats because of it."

"We can't continue like this indefinitely, Saizo. We need an actual plan. What, did you think you were going to take on the entire Nohrian army yourself?"

"Of course not! But what did you really think we were going to do once you agreed to continue our fight with me after that black day? After what those Nohrian animals did to Orochi and Reina at Cheve, you would have to be out of your fucking mind to think I'd have just left you at their mercy!"

Kagero closed her eyes, reminiscing grimly about the reports about the incident Prince Takumi had delivered before his own murder by Nohrian troops celebrating their victory. The kuniochi was a woman who prided herself on her unflappability no matter what the situation, but such horrific reports corroborated by tens of survivor accounts made even her slightly ill; indeed, the nights were few where Kagero would not suffer terrible nightmares over her best friend since childhood suffering such a death. While she intellectually and emotionally attempted to take refuge in the fact that (by her reckoning) a good half Nohr's soldiers and officers alike did not really consider they as Hoshidans, to be even really human, viscerally and instinctually, the kuniochi had to be explicitly reminded several times that their mission was to "retrieve Lady Corrine" and not "slaughter every Nohrian on the battlefield," even by Lord Ryoma.

"Saizo, I'm sorry." she conceded. "I was so wrapped up in the situation, everything that had to be done and taken into account, that I didn't even think about how difficult this must be for you."

The flame-haired ninja gave a slight shrug. "Seriously, don't worry about it." he said dismissively. "After the first week or so of wanting to turn one of these blades on myself for failing Lord Ryoma, I got to the point where I figured that they'd do more good turned on some Nohrian officers."

"But my point remains. If we are to do this and come anywhere close to succeeding, we need support, we need allies, we need leadership."

Her lover's head rested serenely on her lap with an expression lacking a care in the world, Princess Hinoka on the other hand, was a woman with many troubles. Ever since her defeat at the hands of her stepsister in front of Shirasagi and subsequent capture a month prior, her mind had been singularly occupied with concerns about her people, her country, and her sister most of all. The hours in the aftermath of the castle's fall had been an absolute nightmare for the common people; for her, it was more alternating psychological torment than anything, worrying herself sick over Sakura and seething with rage at the guards' dehumanizing taunts about Ryoma ("Even he knew that a common Nohrian cur's life has more value than his!") still made Hinoka's blood boil thinking about them. Hinoka had taken more than her share of lives and taken little joy in so doing, but killing those two in the process of their escape simply felt good.

Listlessly poking at the fire with a nearby stick, the princess awaited the last remaining member of her "war council," if it could worthily be called such. "Well, milady." began the officer, Fujimoto. "Our supply situation looks about the same as did this morning. Which is to say, absolutely dismal."

Hinoka sighed, half from exasperation and half from frustration. "Fifteen who can hold a weapon outside of us three with two weapons apiece ranging from moderately used to literally falling apart, and enough food to last a couple of weeks more at the very most." she listed off. "I never thought this part of war could be so frustrating!"

"Oh, come now, Lady Hinoka." Azama quipped whimsically, their collective desperation making his trademark sarcasm noticeably less apparent. "The worst that can happen is that we all die horribly."

"No, it's not." remarked the remaining officer, Hakumura grimly, resolutely sharpening the blade he'd taken off a dead Nohrian officer. "It's really not."

Stirring from her sleep, the absentminded archer yawned lightly before injecting herself into the conversation. "Sorry, what were we talking about again?" Setsuna inquired sleepily. "I must have dozed off at some point."

Smiling softly at the younger woman, the princess ran a hand through her hair. "Don't worry about it, Setsuna." she replied gently and as calmly as she could manage. "Go back to sleep."

"But I want to help, Lady Hinoka."

"But none of this would have been possible without you, baby."

To the astonishment of nearly everyone who met her, Setsuna, for all her airheadedness, clumsiness, and flights of fancy, was actually one of the most dangerous women in Hoshido. During their brief captivity, one of the guards had become a little too leery with her beloved liege for the archer's liking. By that night, Setsuna had managed to undo the ropes binding her wrists and free her fellow retainer before strangling the would-be predator as the Nohrians were distracted and terrified by the otherworldly sounds (and occasional sights) emanating from the castle, allowing them to free their liege and surviving comrades and all simply with a broken bowstring at her disposal.

"But all is not lost, milady." resumed Fujimoto. "A few Nohrians we interrogated mentioned a considerable supply convoy of weapons, armor, and assorted goods en route to the capital from Windmire. It should be passing near this forest in a week or so."

"Do you think us mere bandits, good sir?" inquired a quite-displeased Azama. "Because what you are suggesting is little more than banditry; most unbefitting a proud warrior of Hoshido, no?"

"We don't have much choice, Azama." Hinoka reminded sternly, stroking the once-again dozing Setsuna's hair. "We'll ambush the convoy, take what we need and distribute what we can't use to the people. With any luck, we should be able to make it north where we can figure something out."

Since his return to Krakenburg, Leo had settled into one of his old established habits of rummaging nightly through the castle's considerable libraries. No longer hobbled by either his cane or his father's prohibition on entering many rooms. What the prince could not deny was that much of what was new to him, while not necessarily pleasant, was never uninteresting.

"Hmph, good riddance to such a reprobate." muttered the prince, flipping through some of Iago's notes. "What the devil is this Konrad prattling on about anyway?"

"A reprobate though he may have been," began Leo's otherworldly mentor. "can you truly say that such knowledge could not be...useful in the right circumstances?"

"Hmm, of course it could be but I have my doubts about whether or not it should be done."

"But you are the chosen prince! The one destined to save Nohr from ruin with your strength and wisdom! Iago used said knowledge only as such because he was a reprobate, but your moral fiber and prudence will make great things possible."

In instances like these, Leo would be truly torn, finding his own morals and most deeply-held desires locked in battle constantly. While Iago was in fact, a reprobate for whom any death, no matter how painful and torturous, would be far better than he deserved and he was delving into some truly twisted things things which the prince would have scarcely thought possible, his mentor's case about what exactly could be accomplished with such things in the right hands was sounding more and more appealing.

"You know what, you're correct." conceded the prince. "Thank you, Wise One, I always enjoy our conversations. And I think I will at least entertain this Konrad fellow, at least go to his laboratory and hear him out."

While she was (in a sense) home as well, Corrine found herself with fewer and fewer refuges. Granted, she'd heard the stories, but now she was only starting to get acquainted with just how toxic and treacherous the domain of politics, let alone those of Castle Krakenburg, could be, particularly concerning Leo's new right-hand men. She could tolerate the unpleasant Duke Bayern, the perpetually scowling and angry Duke Guillaume, hell, despite being completely and utterly uninterested either by the man or his proposals, she could even deal with Duke Durante and his constant amorous advances. But there was just something truly odious, truly malevolent about their leader, Duke Matteo of Toscana, that made the dragon princess feel like bathing even by being in his presence.

Yes, Corrine despaired at the fact that her allies in the new court were few and far in between as well. Camilla of course, was as adoring and doting as ever, but seemed increasingly prone to bouts of overpowering depression and Leo, never exactly the warmest fellow around, had become even more reclusive and inscrutable, burying himself in his research and council meetings, almost as if consciously avoiding her. Nonetheless, Corrine still managed an exhausted, sleepy smile for the individual she trusted and adored above all others as she shifted her lithe frame and frazzled azure locks off the dragon princess' body and into her arms.

"What is it with your obsession with my breasts?" Corrine inquired, half-giggling. "I swear, you're just like a baby!"

"They're just really nice, do you blame me?" asked Azura playfully in response. "Besides, it's a good reminder that you're not the only one who can bite when she's in the mood."

Giggling even further, the princess scarcely needing the prompting of her lover's fingers in her ashen hair to plant another kiss on her lips, afterwards taking several seconds simply to adore the other woman. Camilla was often called the most beautiful woman in the kingdom and Corrine (not without some awkwardness and discomfort) could, on a physical level, admit this. But as far as she was concerned, the woman in her arms with whom she enjoyed the post-coital glow, was truly in body, mind, and soul, the most beautiful creature ever to live and most beautiful creature who will ever live. Gods, what did I do to deserve a girlfriend like her, Corrine would often find herself thinking.

But much as always with their little dalliances, the real world had an irritating way of creeping back into the little world which they had carved out for themselves.

"Does Leo seem at all...different to you?" inquired the songstress. "I cannot point out exactly how or why, but something just seems kind of off with him."

"Well, he's under a lot of stress, isn't he?" replied Corrine, instinctively pulling Azura closer. "But yes, I do see what you mean. I just assumed it would pass, but while he claims to be fine, he just seems off. He seems to be avoiding me and when that's not possible, he's just been looking at me differently ever since Shirasagi."

"And he refuses to talk to anyone about it? Anyone at all?"

"Leo's never exactly been a chatterbox and he's usually too proud to mention something that's bothering him until it becomes a real issue."

"I see..."

From the one of sleepy contentment previously shared with her lover, Azura's expression shifted to one of mild concern. "Now that I think about it, he's been treating me differently as well." she remarked.

"Really?" her girlfriend responded. "How so?"

"Well, like you already said, it's as if he avoids most human contact if at all possible. But with me, on the occasions where he does, I swear he looks at me...oddly as well. I want to say it's contempt or resentment, or even...envy possibly? Then again, I ask myself, why exactly would he be jealous of me? He literally has the world at his fingers."

"Even though I've asked him a thousand times about it, he still won't tell me if anything is wrong or not. I'm just worried about him, that's all."

"Do you have anyone who could keep an eye on him for you. If so, you'd better find them fast; for whatever reason, he and Matteo are leaving for Hoshido tomorrow morning."

"Actually, yes I do. He may not be exactly thrilled about the destination, but tailing people without their knowledge is one of his specialties."

Under normal circumstances, Hana's home province of Mutsu would not usually be more than a week's ride away. Perhaps two if one was required to travel slowly for whatever reason. However, these were not normal circumstances, seeing as the swordswoman and her liege were obliged, much to Hana's frustration, to double back and trace circular routes more often than not as to avoid the odd Nohrian patrol. Still, the four and a half weeks of traveling had left the princess in more of an appreciative mood than she.*

"It may sound selfish at a time like this." began Sakura wistfully, appreciating the late summer colors. "B-but I'm just glad that I can be here, alive with you to appreciate this kind of thing, Hana."

"Naturally, I feel the same, Lady Sakura." Hana replied, wearing a weary smile. "There is still much beauty in the world, even in times like these."

"And the people here are just as lovely too! And so hospitable! Remember when that big storm was about to hit us a couple of weeks ago? The village elder insisted we stay with them even with Nohr almost on top of them!"

"Well, northerners are known for two things; hearty cooking and hospitality."*

Hana grimaced as a burned-out hamlet came into view, completely devoid of human life upon closer inspection. "Hospitable even to a fault." Hana finished grimly, instinctively clutching her blade tightly. Sakura wishing to pay her respects to the Nohrians' latest victims, the swordswoman conceded, urging her along after a quick series of prayers. Something was wrong, very wrong and Hana could almost smell it. **Continuing down the road another hour or so, by nightfall, Hana's acute sense of danger had been vindicated, the smoke from a couple of fires and the semi-inebriated whoops and shouts of celebration giving away the culprits of the earlier massacre.

Silently urging the princess behind a nearby thicket, Hana drew the Regal Blade, ready for action at a moment's notice. Almost immediately, a very sharp, powerful, but distinctly feminine screech of disgust pierced the night air. "And let me say it again!" Rinkah shouted. "Anything you want to put in my mouth, I'm going to rip off!"

"Come on!" plead one of the Nohrian pikemen drunkenly. "Why you gotta be like that? The guys in the other unit said these savage bitches are supposed to be easy!"

"Oh, ho! That's it, little man!"

With a mighty swing of her club, Rinkah sent the pikeman tumbling to the ground, soon to be deceased from his severe head trauma.

"Commander!" cried another Nohrian. "We've got a situation!"

"The savage is turning out not to be so harmless!" reported a third. "We need backup!"

The pikemen and two horsemen forming up, their commander, the higher-ranked rider scoffed. "So it looks like this uppity sow REALLY doesn't know her place!" he remarked haughtily. "Men! Do whatever you see fit to this savage slut to avenge poor Hasler! We're all gonna be rich once we bring her head to Lord Matteo!"

Alternating between audibly and semi-audibly cursing as she fell back, taking in her encirclement, fortunately for Rinkah, in the process of doing so, she walked past a certain thicket, into which she was dragged by Hana. "Who the-" she began. "Wait, Hana, Princess? You're alive?! But how?!

Shushing Rinkah harshly, the swordswoman nodded to her princess as the signal to ready some arrows. "Keep your voice down! That doesn't matter right now!" insisted Hana. "How many are there?"

"Including that guy I just brained, about eighteen." Rinkah recalled. "You got a big plan or something?"

"Nothing too big. We can't go around them, so we'll just have to go through them! Fortunately, there aren't that many and their training and equipment seem basic at best. Just get me to their commander and protect Lady Sakura while I'm dealing with him. Once I do that, this lot should turn back into the mob they really are."**

Under the cover of the nearby foliage, Hana, Sakura, and Rinkah made their way out from under their initial refuge. At her retainer's signal, the princess let loose three more shafts at the Nohrian troop.

***"We've got bowmen!" cried the rider. "You three on me! I'll mow 'em down!"

"I've got this guy." said Hana steadfastly. "And one of the pikemen. Sound good?"

"Best thing I've heard in months." answered Rinkah with a smirk, her usual fire back in her demeanor.

Exactly as she promised, Hana did in fact, have the horseman's charge well in hand. As his steed galloped in at ten meters and closing, Hana deftly maneuvered off to his right, relieving him of his dominant weapon arm as he fell from the mount before driving her blade through an exploit in his armor, ending his struggle once and for all. The swordswoman dealing with the spearman just as deftly, as (contrary to her initial appraisal) four other Nohrians closed in, Rinkah leaped in to cover Hana, bringing the combined force of her strength and existing inertia down onto his skull. The Flame Tribeswoman and retainer making short work of the three remaining pikemen and axeman, Hana motioned for her liege.

"Alright, Lady Sakura." she began. "I'm going to need you to do the same thing and then we're going to get away from this position as fast as possible."

"I understand." the princess responded, just as resolutely as she drew back her bowstring, letting fly a few more arrows.

Rinkah abruptly darting off towards their pre-designated position, Sakura fired three more arrows as to drive home the ruse further before Hana dragged her into a run.

"Where are those godsdamned archers?!" shouted one of the remaining Nohrians.

"I think they're coming northwards!" replied a second.

"Alright, then form up and move out!" cried a third. "They're not escaping this time!"

As the Nohrians closed in on an (contrary to their own appraisals) unoccupied position, under the cover of a forested position well-ahead of them, Hana motioned to her two companions to halt as the shimmering armor of a Paladin reflected against what dim light was available, the rider himself apparently handing down orders to one of his subordinates.

"Their commander!" she remarked. "He's guarded by a group of five. Lady Sakura, fire some more arrows at them. I'll take care of the rest!"

"Of course!" replied Sakura. "But won't that be r-really dangerous for you?!"

"Lady Sakura, please! What most people call 'dangerous' I call a training exercise!"

Even contrary to her own expectations with the weapon, after loosing several of her remaining arrows at the group, the princess managed to hit an exposed patch of skin on the second pikeman's torso, sending him on one knee and his comrades in their general direction. While Sakura had watched her retainer practice her bladework at length, the speed and grace with which she managed to dispatch the Nohrians bearing down on their position, while extremely bloody, had a certain beauty to it, she thought. Of course, the performer of the dance of death did not exactly hurt her view of it as such either.***

The swordswoman herself closing in on the enemy commander was (rightfully so) quite terrifying for the enemy commander as well as his steed.

****"What are you doing?!" he demanded, regaining control of his steed. "I am Alfonzo, finest blade in all Parma and commander of this unit!"

"You could have spared me the fancy introduction." Hana remarked boredly. "All I see is another dead Nohrian bandit. I've made plenty of them tonight."

"How dare you, savage?!" he spat. "You insolent little c-"

With a kick of the steed's flanks, the beast descended on Hana's position with a pace to match his master's rage. Effortlessly blocking the incoming sword with her own, Hana used the inertia to push herself upwards and relieve the enemy commander of his head thanks to a graceful slash and an exploit in his armor, sheathing her blade with a flourish as she landed.****

The riderless horse lacking its now-burning-in-one-of-the-campfires war standard darting towards the survivors was, exactly as Hana had predicted, enough to see the seven remaining Nohrians into a disorganized rout, Rinkah and (particularly terrifyingly for them) Hana herding them against a cliff wall, their weapons drawn on them.

"So wait, what do we do with these guys now?" Rinkah asked. "I mean, it's not like we can take 'em prisoner-"

Without a word, Hana turned her blade on the first Nohrian, sending him to his death with a deep slash, doing away with his comrade to her left in a similar fashion.

"Hana, what are you doing?!" cried Sakura. "Stop this at once!"

"Lady Sakura, we don't have a choice!" reminded the swordswoman bitterly, running another of the former pikemen through as Rinkah dealt with another. "They've seen your face and I heard their commander speaking as if he was familiar with one of Nohr's dukes! Besides, this is way too close to Mutsu for me to just let them go!"

"Or you could always just, you know, blind them." Rinkah reminded the princess in a very-matter-of-fact tone. "Even if they did find help, there's no way they'd be able to retrace their route."

Grimacing, Sakura relented, no small amount of displeasure in her expression. "V-very well. You have a point." she conceded. "But I take no pleasure in it."

Once the remaining enemy troops had been dealt with, Hana and Rinkah helped themselves to the camp's stores of provisions, Hana distributing water with (of course) Sakura receiving preference. As per the fiery tribeswoman's request, Hana relayed the whole sordid tale, from Fort Jinya and Hans' massacre(s), to their separation and assorted Nohrian atrocities, and finally, the battle with Corrine and Prince Xander in the Shirasagi throne room and their flight from the capital.

"That...was one hell of a story." Rinkah conceded. "It's not that I don't believe you, it just seems that the rumors were more fact than fiction."

Finishing a large gulp of water, Hana shot the other princess a quizzical glance. "What are you talking about?" she asked, somewhere between concern and anticipation.

"The Ice and Wind Tribes also have heard similar reports about Nohr's conduct ever since the war picked up, giving more credence to the other rumors that have been spreading in the past month or so."

Sakura swallowed nervously, aware on some level that this was not good news. "Oh, my." she said meekly. "Wh-what sort of rumors?"

Rinkah's expression turned steely and contemplative. "Pretty much all of the tribes have been experiencing odd disappearances of their members with some regularity." she reported grimly. "It was just a few individuals here and there at first, but now it's gotten to the point where entire families and clans will just vanish into thin air."

"Any connections you guys know of?" inquired Hana, already half-sure of the response she was about to receive.

"Nohr. They all seem to be connected to Nohr somehow, whether through its criminals and assorted scum acting of their own accord or its army and tax collectors, the biggest rashes of them seem to be with its army however. Since he's trying to stay on their good side, Kilma of the Ice Tribe has been trying to squash the rumors among his own people, but the others aren't having it. Hell, the Wolfskin are said to almost be on the warpath; most of them are convinced Nohr kidnapped their chief for gods-only-know-what kind of sinister purposes. Since we're technically neutral, Father thought to have me investigate the rumors before someone starts a bloodbath. As you can see, that didn't work out so well."

Taking in all this information, Hana sighed with exasperation and exhaustion. Everybody knew that the Nohrian national character was more than a little...proud, so to speak and Hoshido was their blood enemy, so such treatment, while outrageous, was not exactly unsurprising. But why on earth would Nohr pick such fights with the other nations on the continent? Were they not about to have a new king with new ministers and policies? Whatever the case may have been, it was looking more and more like she, Sakura, and some other nations may have an enemy in common.

"Let's rest for a little while then press onward, it's not that much farther to Mutsu." Hana insisted. "Once we get to Tagajō, we can talk to my uncle and brother and see what we can figure out."

"Good suggestion!" congratulated Rinkah. "Father's always been tight with Lord Tomokane. I'm sure we'll be able to work something out. But with that said, you may be better off just leaving me behind."

"Why would we ever do that?!" asked a wounded Sakura.

Rinkah gave a grimace. "Well, you know how they operate." she reminded. "I'm basically marked for death now anyway."

"Hello!" called Hana incredulously. "The both of us are marked for death too! Certainly even more so than you!"