A/N: Hey guys, hope you're doing well and you had a good time celebrating whatever it is you celebrate during this time of year.
Figured I'd try and make up for the wait on the last chapter and put something out before the end of the year. But then i thought I should pull a TeamFourStar and wait until the last second of the year, just like they did with that one episode of Hellsing Ultimate Abridged.
I can only hope I continue to live up to your expectations. As always, thanks for your support, and I hope you enjoy.
That being said, if you're reading this at the time of upload, feel free to set this aside and enjoy the holidays. It's New Year's Eve after all! I promise this will still be here in the morning.
The following is a fan work based on the video game Fire Emblem Awakening. I do not claim ownership of the game, its characters, world, premise or anything else contained within. Fire Emblem Awakening is owned by Intelligent Systems, and published by Nintendo. Please support the official release.
How many days had we been trekking east? I'd lost track a while ago. When your days are all spent training and dragging yourself through miles of snow it all starts to blend together. The only thing to set today apart from the others was the wind.
The already bone chilling cold had only be exasperated by strong gusts of wind and we'd been forced to find shelter around noon. We'd spied ruins up on the hill and had begun to make our way up when he heard shouting. The three of us shared a glance before we quickened our pace.
However, the ruins provided little in the ways of cover. What had at one point been a stone fort, had collapsed into a handful of short walls that would have trouble stopping a spring breeze, never mind the icy gales of Eastern Ferox.
Still, the three of us huddled behind one such wall as the occupiers of these ruins harassed another traveler. "We've business, you and I." The apparent leader of the bandits growled as he hefted his axe in an act of intimidation. "You killed my brother, and I mean to settle the debt."
As he spoke, his men began to spread out around the ruins, planning to encircle the women. "I'm sorry, have we met?" The women he was accosting asked, her bright red hair and matching clothes stood in stark contrast to the white snow and grey stone walls. "I think you have the wrong merchant."
"An Anna's an Anna, all the same." the lead bandit declared. "Playing dumb won't save you. Blood for blood, its only a fair trade." I shared a look with Kjelle and Morgan and they both nodded and made ready to fight.
The merchant wordlessly drew her sword, the cold ring of steel echoing out around us. "Careful love." She said dangerously, "prices aren't the only thing I can cut in half."
"Get her." The bandit leader grunted. Taking that as my cue, I leaped the wall and drew my sword, Morgan and Kjelle charging out from our hiding spot as well and taking the nearest bandits by surprise.
"Oh my, am I being rescued?" the merchant hummed as she stepped up to my side.
"You could say that." I shrugged, eyeing the now circling bandits, I counted around twenty, the leader included. "Hope you're better with your sword than I am."
"Just watch where you swing that thing and we'll be alright, love." The merchant smiled.
"What are you waiting for?" the bandit barked. He reached over and slapped one of his minions on the back of his head. "Go on, kill the whole lot of 'em!"
Spurred on by their leader and realizing that they still outnumbered us, they charged. Any cohesion immediately broke down and the ruins were swallowed up by the melee. I stepped up to meet the first bandit and swung just as Kjelle had spent the last week drilling into me. My sword cut through the first man like a hot knife through butter, his patchwork clothing doing little to stop the honed silver blade.
The next two hesitated as their comrade's blood stained the snow and his scream reached their ears, the man behind them didn't have the same luxury and continued to charge forward, crashing into this stunned friends and the three stumbled to the ground in a heap of tangled limbs and curses. I brought my weapon down into the pile and the curses turned to screams as blood sprayed onto the snow and another bandit lay dead as his comrades struggled to untangle themselves.
The merchant danced around me to finish off another of the fallen bandits, then delivered a kick to my chest. I stumbled back just as the leader's axe cleaved through he space I had just been. I collided with one of the walls with a grunt and scrambled around to the other side of it to avoid his next swing. His axe crashed through the wall and nearly took the whole thing out.
Another bandit charged as his leader bellowed and swung again, I ducked the wild attack and the axe sailed over my head and into the charging brigand. The man's head sailed through the air as the leader yelled a curse. "You little shit!" he spat. I brought my sword up to block the next strike, wincing as the impact rattled my arm and threatened to knock my weapon free. "You the rat that killed Victor?" he challenged.
"No." I took a deep breath, adjusted my grip on my weapon and met his gaze. "But I'll kill you." The bandit roared and charged me, swinging his weapon with reckless abandon. I gave ground in the face of his onslaught, ducking and leaning out of the way of his attacks. A flash of red caught my eye and a knife found itself buried in his side.
The bandit ceased his assault to clutch at his fresh wound and turned to the merchant. seeing my opening I stepped in and plunged my sword into his ribs. I ripped the blade free, his blood spraying over the snow as he collapsed.
"i did it!" I huffed trying to catch my breath. The freezing cold air washing over me as the merchant approached.
"You all right? Any nicks or cuts?" She held up a staff a jewel embedded on its head. "I'll patch you up Free of charge just this once." The jewel glowed a warm, calming green, the light washed over me and the a strange tickling sensation washed over me.
"Uh thanks, Anna, right?" I asked.
"That's my name, but we should wait until the fights over." her statement was punctuated by a blast of fire and an agonized scream. She stooped to retrieve her knife from the fallen bandit before dashing off to rejoin the fight. With a start I hefted my sword and followed after her.
I stepped back to catch my breath as the last bandit fell, lifeless, into the snow. The crumbling ruins the band of criminals had been using as shelter now serving as their graveyard. I wiped my sword through the snow to clean off the blood then returned it to its sheath.
"Hey, look who isn't almost dead for once." Kjelle jeered as she slapped my on the back.
"What can i say, I have a good teacher." I grinned sheepishly. "Is that all of them?"
"Unless some of them ran off into the snow." the knight confirmed.
"Rob! You're alive!" Morgan called as she skipped over. "You are actually alive, right? No hidden stab wounds or something?" The girl quickly patted me down before jabing me in the side.
"What the hell?" I grunted, swatting her away.
"It's not a proper fight until you get a little hurt!" she cackled as I scowled back.
"This all of you?" Anna asked, finally joining us. "Thanks for the help. My name's Anna, Some people call me the Secret Seller."
"Like, you sell secrets, or you are the secret?" I asked.
"That's a secret." she grinned as she placed a finger on her chin.
"Fine, keep your secrets." I rolled my eyes, but couldn't help but grin. "So, Anna, these roads are pretty dangerous. What're you doing all the way out here by yourself?"
"Oh, just plying my wares, going wherever he roads take me." She looked around at our little group. "Say, how about we travel together for a bit? Safety in numbers and all that."
"We're heading east, is that alright with you?" Kjelle interjected.
"I don't have any particular plans right now, so I don't see why not." The merchant agreed.
"Do you have a wagon? Can we ride in it? Walking through the snow kinda sucks." Morgan added.
The merchant gave a thoughtful frown. "Give me some time to do some reorganizing and I'll see what i can do." With that she excused herself and walked off.
"Well now what?" I asked.
"We should lend her a hand. The sooner we're on the road again, the better." Kjelle replied, already moving to following the merchant women. With a shrug and a sigh I followed, Morgan hot on my trail.
We found Anna fussing over her cart. The large wooden wagon loaded to bare with crates and linen sacks. A single horse had been attached to the front, donning a heavy woolen coat. The merchant had been grateful for the help and Kjelle and I had helped to stack the crates in a way to create a bit of a wall we use to hide form the wind.
Morgan had started out helping, but had distracted herself with some books she had found, then promptly began to stack them. But eventually the work was done and we were on the road again, huddled together amongst the crates of miscellaneous goods.
As the the cart rattled down the path, I felt a pang of nostalgia rising with in me. With the three of us crammed together in the cart, I couldn't help but remember all the times my family would pack ourselves into the car and drive to my grandmother's on Christmas day.
A smile rose unbidden onto my face, even as a shiver ran down my spine. "You know, I think that's the first time I've seen you actually smiling." Morgan hummed, keeping her voice low. I saw Kjelle perk up at the sounds but settle again when she realized it was just Morgan talking. "You've always got this grumpy look on your face."
"That's just how I look, Morgan." I muttered back, "and I've smiled in front of you before."
"Yeah, but those are always so half-hearted." She continued, shifting her position to get more comfortable. "So? What's on your mind?"
"Just remembering the family trip I used to take every year." I explained, "Our situation is vaguely similar."
"Must be nice, being able to remember those kinds of things." she mused.
"Just kind of makes me homesick" I replied, before shifting to look at her. "I'll get you to your parents, both of you. I promise, even if it's the last thing I do."
"I'll make sure it's not." Kjelle piped up.
"Yeah, I'd prefer if you were alive by the end too." Morgan added.
"Thanks." I cracked a grin, then settled back into my original position. With that, we settled into a comfortable silence, the only sound was the rattling of the cart. Until Anna piped up, anyway.
"So, you guys ever been this far east before?"
Two days later, The Throne of the East Khan had come into view, and by midday we had arrived in the city. What would at any other time been a bustling city, had been left a shell of its former self. Most of the guards had headed to Plegia for the war, and many of the tradesmen had gone with them. "Since Khan Flavia had won the tournament and became Ruling Khan, her seat here is mostly empty." Anna explained as we wondered the streets.
"So who runs the city then?" Kjelle asked.
"I'm not privy to the details, but I think one of her cousins fills in as needed." the merchant elaborated. "But that doesn't really matter for our business here. I'll see about picking up some supplies and finding a few rooms for the night. Any idea where you want to go from here?"
"We need to head a bit further east, I think." I stated, "and then south. Might need to cross some water at some point."
"There's nothing further east of here." Anna said, "Nothing civilized, anyway."
"We have reason to believe one of our companions is out that way." Kjelle said, sparing me a glance as I nodded along. "Are you sure there's nothing out there?"
"Nothing but old ruins and abandoned villages." Anna replied.
"We should still probably have a look." I stated. "This isn't something we can afford to be lax about."
"Who is it we're looking for around here again?" Morgan asked as we arrived at an intersection.
"Noire." Kjelle answered, looking to me, I nodded in assurance.
"And what does Noire look like?" Morgan continued as we kept walking.
"Black hair, green clothes," I began to describe "Sizeable bust." Kjelle fired off a glare in my direction. "Am I wrong?"
"Well...No." Kjelle relented, "but there was a better way of describing her."
"I think I was about as eloquent as you could be." I quipped, aside from that, she's skilled with a bow, and tends to flip between incredibly meek and violently loud."
"Yeah, that's Noire alright." Kjelle nodded.
"Well, why don't you guys take a trip around the city, and see what you can turn up? I'll come and find you when I've got everything sorted." Anna suggested.
"Sounds like a plan to me." Morgan agreed.
"If it gets dark before we find each other, let's meet back at the gates." Kjelle added.
"We should get going then." I nodded, and we split and went our separate ways.
Despite being one of the largest cities in Regna Ferox, the streets remained mostly empty. Sure there was still a bit of hustle and bustle, just because all the fighting aged men had been hauled off to war didn't mean life stopped. Women stilled gathered in the markets for supplies, hunters still brought in their kills, and the tradesmen too old or stubborn to head to war earned their living. Even the city guard, older men who could still fight but no longer had the stamina for long marches, patrolled the streets and kept the peace.
Morgan struggled to keep up with her companion however. The larger man moved through crowds with easy, either throwing his mass around to clear a path, or deftly slipping through spaces between other customers. His longer stride had him crossing clearings in seconds even as she struggled through the pockets of people.
Even then, he kept looking back to make sure she hadn't fallen behind, and patiently waited for her to catch up. At least, she hoped he was being patient. It was hard to tell with him sometimes.
It was the third time this happened that Rob had decided to dig into his coin pouch. "Sorry!" Morgan cried as she managed to catch up with him. "I'm kinda bad at this."
"I don't mind, I used to have to wait when I went to the cities with my parents." He said as he counted his money, before his mood seemed to sour. "We should have gone through those bandit's belongings. We're kind strapped for cash."
"That probably would have been a good idea." Morgan agreed. "It'd be a bit weird though, to be patting down corpses, don't you think?"
"Probably creep me out the first couple times, " he nodded, "but I'd get used to it. Besides, when you need money, you can't really complain."
"I guess you're right." Morgan said, "So how bad off are we?"
"We'll be alright for now, since Anna's buying our food." he said, before narrowing his eyes and glaring back the way they had come, "until she's comes and makes us pay her back. She's being awfully charitable for an Anna, and that makes me suspicious."
"I'm sure she's just grateful for our help with the bandits." Morgan argued.
"Yeah, well, let's just see how long that gratitude lasts." Rob grumbled as he turned and began to walk off again.
"Hold on!" Morgan called after him, already running to catch up. "I don't want to get lost!"
"Stay close, then."
"Can I hold your hand?" Morgan asked, sticking out her hand for him to take.
The man paused, as if unsure how he was supposed to react. "You mean like, actually?" he asked slowly.
"Yeah, so I don't get lost? It's pretty hard to keep up with you."
"Oh, right. Sure." He reached out and took her hand in his, his hand dwarfing hers. He looked away and quickly continued on, though at a slower pace as Morgan could now force him to move slower.
The two continued on in silence, observing the various market stalls, and slowly touring the city. It was as they approached the city gates opposite the ones they had come in that Rob stopped dead in his tracks, then quickly escorted Morgan to the side of the road. She followed his gaze to the gate as a trio of men riding horses slowly made their way into the city.
Behind the horses was a lone women, her hands bound by a thick rope and tied to the lead horse. Morgan recognized her from Rob's description immediately. She has clearly been badly beaten, her bare arms and face were covered in bruises, one of her eyes had swollen and she struggled to keep up with the horse as she limped along. But judging by Rob's stone cold glare at the lead rider, she knew exactly who this was.
That was Noire.
Rob cursed under his breath as the men dragged Noire passed, squeezing Morgan's hand in apparent frustration. "That's her, right?" Morgan whispered.
"Yeah." Rob nodded, "Slavers, I'd guess. This is really bad."
"Let's follow them for now." Morgan said, releasing his hand and beginning to follow after the abductors. Rob was quick to follow, not even a step behind.
The pair followed the men as they wound their way through the city, occasionally having to duck into alleyways to avoid the gaze of the men as they scanned the streets. They were led to a run down looking two story building with an attached stable where another trio of horses waited. Morgan and Rob watched from around the corner of another building about a block away.
They watched as a fourth man stepped out of the building as the others approached. As the trio dismounted and dragged Noire forward, Morgan could make out the weapons hanging from the men's belts. They appeared to be in fairly good condition, at least compared to those used by the bandits. Three of the men had swords, one of the riders took the time to retrieve a bow from his saddle. "At least six, based on the horses" Morgan whispered, before she ducked back around the corner. "Possibly more inside, at least one archer."
"We're gonna need Kjelle." Rob grunted. "Anna too, if we can talk her into it."
"She'll probably charge us." Morgan joked, she peeked around the corner again as she heard shouting. The new man punched the leader of the three and gestured angrily at Noire who flinched away from him. He growled something to the three before he turned and stomped back inside with Noire as his prisoner.
The remaining three, begrudgingly went about preparing to stable their horses. "Let's head back for now, and find the others" Rob grunted, "I'll remember the route." Morgan nodded and the pair headed back towards their initial entry point into the city.
"Are you insane?" Anna screeched, now back in one of the inn rooms she had rented out for us, interrupting me as I explained what our plan for the evening was. "I get that she's your friend, but what you're suggesting is straight up banditry!"
"I think it makes perfect sense." Kjelle argued, already preparing her equipment. "They've taken Noire, so we're going to go set her free."
"You'll get the guards called on us! And then we'll be the ones needing to be freed!" the merchant protested. "And that's if we don't just get killed!"
"Oh you've got to be kidding me." I growled, "Don't tell me slavery is actually legal here."
"Its illegal to take people as slaves in cities, but owning them is fine. Out in the wilderness, it's fair game" Anna explained. "They own her now, the only way we can get her back without putting ourselves at risk is to buy her."
"Oh, fuck that!" I roared, "I'm not giving those bastards a single coin!"
"I have an idea for evading the guards as well." Morgan added, "we'll set the building on fire as we leave. If we're quick about this, the guards will be too busy putting out the fire to chase us."
"Then we escape into the night and lay low for a few days." Kjelle finished for her, "good plan, Morgan."
"I want no part in this!" Anna continued to protest, you're just adding arson to the list!"
"Think about it like this, Anna." I pushed, "I imagine slaves are pretty expensive to buy. So they'll probably have a lot of money. Money, that could partially be yours if you help us."
"You...!" the merchant began but quieted for a moment. "You drive a hard bargain. Fine."
"Thank you." I nodded, "We'll head out at sunset and hopefully catch them as their bedding down for the night."
"Get some rest for now, we're going to need it." Kjelle ordered.