*Nightime forest ambience

**Burning Ambition - (FE9 OST)

***The Task at Hand - (FE10 OST)

****With Us! - (FE9 OST)

*****A Dark Fall (Calm/Fire) - (FE14 OST)

******Powerful Foe [Remix] - (FE8 OST)

*Well out of reach of their pursuers, Saizo could finally relax his posture from a combat-ready stance. "Hey," he grunted, setting down his brother. "you alive?"

Kaze hacked a bloody cough. "Barely." he confirmed.

"Hm, that's what I thought."

Producing a shimmering elixir from a pouch on his belt, Saizo handed it off to his twin. "This should help. Get you out of immediate danger anyway."

Kaze took the elixir, greedily gulping it down as though his life depended on it (which it did). Immediately, a good deal of the horrible, crippling pain Hans' axe had subjected him to was at least ameliorated, something he assumed to be working on his almost-certain internal injuries.

"Can you stand?"

Still somewhat unsteady on his feet and dizzy due to blood loss, Kaze grunted in the affirmative, his life in fact, out of immediate danger. "Not that I'm not grateful," he began. "but why did you save me? Especially after I, you know-"

"Betrayed Hoshido?" Saizo finished for him, his tone very matter-of-fact.

"Yeah, that."

Starting a fire, Saizo muttered to himself, his face reddening slightly. "You had something in your possession rightfully belonging to Lord Ryoma." he lied. "I wasn't going to let those monsters get their paws on it."*

**From the moment they'd first met, Severa had never been exactly a fan of the bookish, arrogant prince. However, as the menacing, megalomaniacal king, Leonard was an absolute nightmare to deal with. While beloved by his beloved sister, her status as a lowly mercenary meant that Severa's life was in his hands- and he knew it. Relished it, in fact.

The castle's audience chamber somehow seemed even more cavernous and foreboding than usual, despite the king merely lazing upon his throne, Pietro at his side like some sort of smug, malevolent statue. "You called for me?" asked Severa through gritted teeth.

Correcting his posture, the king grunted in affirmation. "Quite perceptive, you are, Selena." Leonard complimented insincerely. "A very sensitive matter has arisen as of late and, seeing as I have my doubts about keeping you around at all, I believe this provides us all with an...opportunity. Both for you to prove your worth and resolve a delicate matter of state."

Perhaps it was the emphasis on the word "opportunity" or the sinister, knowing smirk Pietro gave, but something, just something Severa could not exactly place gave her a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. "W-what kind of matter?" she inquired, loathe to show any weakness at all to a man who sensed it like a shark does blood.

"Pietro has volunteered his time and efforts to deal with a mortal threat to the kingdom's security, especially in spite of our difficulties in the east. You are to accompany him to the lands of the Ice Tribe, giving support as needed."

Severa gulped. Knowing what she knew (and none of it good) about the man at the king's side- his arrogance, his cruelty, his vanity, and his bigotry, even by Nohrian standards, only led that sinking feeling in her stomach to become even more pronounced. "Of course, this is not a request." Leonard reminded. "And refusing outright would be...unwise. One way or another, you are going to have some use to this kingdom. It's little concern of mine how exactly."

"Very well," Severa began through gritted teeth. "Your Majesty."

Perhaps this was all in her head and this would be some simple, routine patrol task, Severa thought. Worst case scenario, Leonard was actively trying to put her in mortal danger so she did not return. Maybe she could even act as a counterweight to Pietro's known tendencies- Bleh, she thought to herself. Now she was sounding like Lady Corrine to herself. Then again, the main difference between the two, Severa pondered: That she was willing to stab Pietro in the fucking neck if he went too far.**

***Over the next month or so, as the winter slowly gave way to the start of spring, Hana and her unit found themselves ensnared in the rather frustrating dynamic of low-intensity skirmishes with the enemy- some victorious, others not so much, but most inconclusive- led all of the commanders present to assume (correctly) that this would be a different sort of engagement with a very different sort of commander.

"I don't understand it!" complained Haruka, most uncharacteristically slamming her fist against the table. "It's almost as if he's afraid to face us in an open battle."

"Or he fears committing to a battle where he would be at a disadvantage." her husband interjected. "No matter what anyone thinks of him."

While having remained silent for the most part, Hana rubbed her chin in contemplation. "Chief Kikai did say he was...different from the other Nohrian commanders somehow." she recalled. "Perhaps this is what he meant?"

And this caution with the lives of his men was well-rewarded by his men: After one of the decidedly victorious engagements with the enemy, Hana and her team had managed to capture a loquacious Nohrian lieutenant who seemed rather convinced of the general as the savior of his country and the war effort in general. "Thank you, you've been a big help." Hana thanked absentmindedly, silencing the lieutenant for good.

It was a cliche, true, but from Lupina and Amagi down to the lowest grunt, there was a thick, very palpable tension in the air- so thick it was in fact, Hana had taken to any spare moment not training or reviewing her troops practicing, real weapon or not, to practicing her swings and thrusts. Whether this was a conscious effort to force in some more training, to cut said tension, a nervous tick developed, or all three, she was not sure. What she was sure of however, was that the entire effort of the alliance hinged on the victorious outcome of this battle. Something the Flame Chief's shadow made clear during their last tactical meeting before the engagement.

"I'm going to be level with you, ladies." he remarked grimly, gesturing at the map on his table. "We have a bit of an uphill battle, so to speak. As you both already know, the enemy has made camp west of the river, while their general, Bohdan, oversees the action from this plateau- about a couple hours' march from the west bank- uninterrupted, of course."

"Damn, this isn't going to be easy." replied Lupina incredulously. "My first, second, and third instinct would usually be just to rush the commander and their casters, but-"

"This Bohdan- he's different from the other Nohrians, especially the commanders." Hana observed, rubbing her chin. "He's not a risk-taker- if he has to take one, he'll do whatever he can to minimize the danger to his men."

Amagi gave one of his exceedingly-rare smiles. "This may be something we can exploit if we can force him into a situation where he has to gamble."

"Like having to draw forces away from his center to his right wing?" Hana remarked, keenly observing the figures' formation. "His casters and archers particularly?"

"And towards his left, as well." added Amagi. "Even though most everything beyond the west bank is nearly-perfect cavalry terrain, I'm fairly certain my warriors can hold their sector without too high a casualty rate. "And we accomplish this by-"

Both of the commanders turned to Lupina, as though expecting her to complete the sentence. Given her displeased expression, Lupina clearly had a good idea of what they were both thinking. "Oh, fine!" she said huffily. "Drawing the bulk of the casters south is going to be REALLY fucking dangerous for us, though."

Hana scowled in response. "It's not like we're exactly getting a paid vacation either, you know!" she snapped. "WE have to circle around, get up that ridge, AND take out the commander!"

"Since we must necessarily march at dawn for this plan to succeed, why don't we all get a good night's rest?" interjected Amagi, smothering the argument before it could continue. "And focus on fighting the Nohrians instead of each other, hm?"***

Amagi retiring for the evening, Hana was inclined to do the same and sleep as much as she possibly could before she was startled by someone rather unexpected. "Oh, hey there," came Setsuna's voice. "long time no see, huh, Hana?"

Hana swore her skeleton nearly leapt from her body at being addressed. ****"What the-?! Setsuna?! Where-?! How-?! You're alive?!"

"Yep, in the flesh."

"Look, I don't mean to sound crass, but this isn't really a good time. Unless you've got- I don't know- a whole army camped downriver from here, equipped and ready to go into battle tomorrow morning."

While her expression was typically vacant for her, Setsuna simply shrugged. "I dunno about a whole army, but you heard of the "Black Band?"

She'd seen and heard quite a lot of strange things, but for Hana, the notion of Princess Hinoka's perpetually spaced-out retainer leading a peasant army to scourge the Nohrian forces was literally incredible. Gesturing at Hideaki to follow her, Setsuna led the pair downriver about half an hour. And the sight, while again, literally incredible was a welcome one indeed: Setsuna and her considerable forces had set up a completely parallel camp under the collective nose of the Nohrians.

"Well, I'll be damned." remarked Hideaki, mouth agape.

"Well done, Setsuna!" congratulated Hana. "But I only have one question. Will they be able to reinforce us from the east and south for battle tomorrow morning?"

Setsuna smiled, an ever-so-slight hint of darkness behind the expression. "Wouldn't miss it. It's what we've been doing all this time."

Amagi wouldn't quite be able to sleep yet, thought Hana. But nonetheless, they would have some most welcome news for him once they returned to camp. The exact things which he had been most concerned about- troop strength and their lines holding- would have an unexpected boost tomorrow morning.****

It went without saying that this was particular morning, while clear-skied and sunny, was by no means a crisp, refreshing Hoshidan morning- everyone standing on the battlefield, from the frontline soldiers to the support staff knew exactly what was at stake with what was, either way, certain to be a bloody battle.

Reviewing their front line troops one last time, Lupina gave that trademark toothy grin of hers. "Any sight of the enemy yet?" inquired Amagi worriedly.

"Unfortunately, no."

"Well, don't get reckless on me now- oh, who am I kidding?!"

"Alright, you lot! It's finally time! We cross the river now! Let's give those Nohrian bastards what for!"

From his plateau perch and from his loyal steed's back, Bohdan observed the formation of the enemy lines with his spyglass, no small amount of concern brewing inside of him. "A bit more than I expected." he muttered to himself.

"Something wrong, sir?" asked the adjutant.

Bohdan shook his head. "Nothing, it's nothing. We proceed as rehearsed."

"Understood!"

With this, the adjutant stood at his side, signalling the advance with a triumphant tone.

For Hana, given her level of charisma and the resulting inexplicable courage-granting air surrounding her, it was little matter to keep her own subordinates under control. Said subordinates however, lacked this particular gift and their nervousness at their first real test in a battle of some consequence, was palpable:

"Just like we rehearsed it." repeated Kaito to himself. "Just like we rehearsed it."

"Ugh, come on already!" whined Tomoe to no one in particular. "I'm sick of waiting!"

"I wish they'd hurry it up." spoke Hisaya "My blade thirsts."

"Yeah, that's not creepy at all." replied Ida, perhaps attempting to add a bit of levity to an utterly serious situation

Shortly thereafter, a lone pegasus darted down from the heavens, gracefully landing at by the side of its owner's commander. "Commander, we've got visual confirmation." Yua informed. "The enemy's right flank is advancing towards the river."

*****Hana grimaced, knowing that their own plan required she and her troops to go into battle essentially blind. "Alright, that's our cue. Yua, keep me updated! The rest of you, on me!"

Even for veterans of the war at this point, it was honestly kind of surreal to notice the carnage going on by the river with only the isolated war cries and shouts making the battle seem somehow more...real. But Hana and those immediately under her command had more immediate, pressing matters.

"The enemy!" shouted an Nohrian sentry, blowing a distressed bugle call. "They're in our rear!"

Swearing to himself, Ida was the first to identify the din of hoofbeats over the din of the battle. "Quick reaction force approaching at twelve!"

"Understood." Hana shouted. "The rest of you, form up!"

Exactly as rehearsed, the group used the treeline behind them as a sort of fallback point as the horsemen charged them down. Said horsemen were little more than an annoyance, Hana herself having become relatively skilled in dispatching them. Kaito and Hisaya having dealt with the sentries before the latter finished them off to the last.

"From what I got from him," Kaito remarked, scowling at the swordsman. "they think that our group has a lot more manpower on hand than we actually do."

Having finished off the last of a group of pikemen, the gears in Hana's mind were beginning to turn. Surely, there had to be a way to use this fact to their advantage and make the enemy panic! Once again, the familiar pegasus swooped down from the sky, its owner giving yet another intelligence report. "Ma'am, the Flame Tribe's left- it doesn't look good! They're falling back across the river!"

"Damn," Hana muttered. "What in the way of relief? Are their lines holding otherwise?"

"Yes. For now, anyway."

She'd encountered these decisions before in the field, but never on the scale of possibly tipping the odds of an entire battle. But if what Kaito said was true about their perception of their numbers...

"Kaito, Hisaya!" she spoke at once. "Relieve the Flame Tribe! Double back and hug the treeline. At any sign of movement in the air, don't engage! If this goes right, we can make the Nohrian right panic."

"Yes, ma'am." they spoke in unison, the swordsman clearly disappointed that he would not get to face Bohdan.

"The rest of you! On me! We continue with the assigned mission!"

Both he and his steed alike armed and ready for battle at a second's notice, Bohdan, through his spyglass, nonetheless took note of how the battle was proceeding. Their left flank seemed to be giving way and his initial plan seemed to be proceeding swimmingly. However, there was simply some nagging little feeling that the general could not escape thanks to his highly-honed instincts.

"Sir, the savages are retreating to the other bank of the river!" reported the runner. "Our men are in pursuit as we speak!"

"Good." answered Bohdan, dismissing the the thought out of hand. "Any sign of reinforcements? Or odd movements?"

"No, sir!"

"Excellent. Send word to the commanders: The plan proceeds apace. After we break the enemy's left flank, envelop the remainder from both sides."

"Yes, sir!"

Truly, he got no joy or even glory from this. But as Bohdan knew well after all these years, an order was an order. And his orders were to crush the massive force the enemy had somehow put into the field once and for all. However, no sooner had the runner departed, his adjutant reported some most troubling news.

"Sir! They've broken through! From the south! The savages have broken through!"

"What?! How?!"

"No idea, sir! It's like they came out of nowhere and-"

"How many are there?"

"Again, we're not sure, sir! Just that their vanguard is-"

Bohdan silencing the adjutant with a raised hand, he dismounted his steed and began to pace about the plateau. Oh, this enemy was a tricky one, as he knew well. However, it seems even that he had broken his cardinal rule of never underestimating an enemy. "It looks like I'll have to take care of this." he muttered. "Send word to the defenders! Protect the high ground to the last!"

"At once, sir!"

Honestly, for Hana, the approach to the plateau was very much a blur- a storm of blood and iron, of imperiled screams and vigorous shouts. But as her blade struck down the last of the Nohrians defending the forts approaching the plateau, she steeled herself for what would be the final push of this mission. This particular plateau had two separate, winding paths ascending to the top. With this in mind, she deployed Ida and Tomoe to approach from the secondary path.

"Ma'am, are you absolutely sure?" spoke one of the Mutsu swordsmen. "If anything were to happen, Lord Takeshi would have my-"

"Yes, I'm sure!" barked Hana. "We don't have a whole lot of room to maneuver anyway and trying to get too many up would just slow us down."

While under usual circumstances, there would be more than enough space for even a group to hike briskly up towards the summit. However, war is not, by definition, a usual circumstance. With a combination of suicidal devotion to their general and an overconfidence equally so, the plateau's defenders hurled themselves at Hana's lines, the madness of battle seeming somehow even more chaotic than usual as men were stabbed or slashed or lost their footing to their certain maiming or deaths.

"Send word to the other side!" cried a lieutenant. "They're coming at us from-"

Blocking a blow from Hana with his lance, the force of the blow did the will of its mistress either way, sending the man screaming to meet his maker. "That's the last of them, ma'am." spoke another of the swordsmen. "For now, anyway."

Hana gave an awkward sort of half-smile. "Good work." she congratulated. "But we're not done yet! Healers, treat the wounded! Everyone else, on me!"*****

******Perhaps her group approached the summit with more caution than was needed. Then again, it was well-warranted as they encountered the Nohrian general- armored up on his steed, his fierce eyes watching his prey like his namesake.

"I want to ask you something before I kill you." began Hana. "Your men revere you, but what makes you...well, different?"

Bohdan chuckled in the way an only an old man sick of the foolishness he'd witnessed could. "The truth, lass? Nothing, really. I simply know what any warrior should."

"What do you mean?"

"Slaughtering civilians for sport, taking hostages, brutalizing women. Shameful, all of it! I intend to let you die here today with a weapon in your hand."

"How gracious of you. But I don't intend to be doing any dying here today."

"Neither do I, lass. En garde!"

For a man of his advanced age, it was remarkable how swift Bohdan was, both with his bow and ushering his steed forward and loosing arrows straight and true. "Ma'am, look out!" warned another of the Mutsu swordsmen, literally shoving Hana out of the way of an incoming arrow, it piercing his armor (and lung) instead. The intermittent rain of arrows rained down by Bohdan gave even skirmishing with the troops at his flank adding another layer of intensity to an already high-stakes encounter. Finishing off a rather troublesome axeman on the commander's left, Bohdan, in the heat of battle, did not seem especially perturbed, letting loose another salvo of arrows in the swordswoman's direction. While dodging three of the shafts handily, Hana grunted in pain as the arrowhead impacted her chestplate. Miraculously, after what she had seen plenty of times become a fatal wound, she was ready, willing and able to continue on with the fight, she would later realized the charm the princess had carved for her was totaled.

With Ida, Tomoe, and their men having fought their way up the other winding path little worse for the wear, it seemed this particular skirmish was turning against Bohdan as they ambushed his remaining troops from behind. But the old warrior showed no signs of letting up any pressure, skillfully continuing his deadly rain of arrows in support of his men. Upon realizing what exactly he was doing, Hana, at that moment, understood why exactly his men revered the general so. But there was little time to dwell upon it; having exhausted his supply of arrows, Bohdan drew his sword, he and his steed working in unison like only many years of practical experience could accomplish.

True, Ida and his men seemed to be getting into a fair bit of trouble at Bohdan relieving his surrounded men, inflicting a fair number of casualties in the process. However, while her own retinue had been devastated by the flurry of arrows, the enemy's was nonexistent at this point. Having a good idea of both Bohdan's movements and her own agility, at the sight of the enemy commander charging down their lines, ultimately ending up perpendicular from her own position, Hana saw the opportunity and took it; as he charged down another line of Tomoe's faltering men, Hana, timing the jump just so, leapt through the air blade-first, catching a gap in Bohdan's armor as the swordswoman knocked him from the back of his steed, driving the blade deeper for good measure, the old horseman giving a deep, hacking cough at the mortal injury he'd just sustained.

"Urgh, well fought." he complimented sincerely.

Hana grimaced slightly. "I could say the same."

"A fitting end for an old soldier, eh...Farewell...Yulia."******

Hana had no time to ponder upon the exact identity of this Yulia, for there was still the task of cleaning up the remaining defenders. Then again, the death of their beloved commander had a noticeable and immediate effect upon their morale:

"The general! He's-"

"No, no, no, no!"

"Damn! It can't be? Can it?"

"What are you talking about? You just saw him-"

Looking out from the plateau, it was clear that Bohdan's last gamble had not gone according to plan: What with the Wolfskin and Flame Tribe warriors, as well as Setsuna's forces having surrounded the Nohrian survivors well past the west bank of the river. Months in the making for both sides, the outcome of this decisive battle was clear to all of its participants.

Of the fourteen survivors attached to the late general's retinue, none of them appeared much better than their fellows: Equipment worn, utterly exhausted, and seeming generally resigned to their fate.

"Hey!" Hana barked, somehow still ignoring her arrow wounds. "One of you must have come from the same place as your general, right?"

Rather meekly, two of the survivors stepped forward, still resigned to whatever grisly fate the victors had in store for them. To their surprise, as well as to that of Tomoe, Ida and their men alike, Hana gestured at two of the Mutsu swordsmen still fit for any task, the two of them nodding in acknowledgement before embalming Bohdan's body in the remains of one of the tattered tents. "Take this back to his home." ordered Hana. "Stop only when absolutely needed. If you harm a hair on an innocent head on your way back, I'll know."

Overjoyed with their good fortune and none too keen on questioning the viability of the swordwoman's threats, the pair eagerly took up the bundle holding the remains of their revered commander and set off to lower ground. In the general post-battle commotion of counting casualties, disarming the enemy, and the countless other tasks which came with even being a part of running an army, as though by the whims of fate, Hana noticed the sparkling sapphire lying at her feet. Upon further inspection in her own hand, it had much the same air about it as the ruby given to her by Kirigamine or the Emerald given to her by Victoria.

Needless to say, all this excitement could be rather distracting: Looking down at the wounds she had taken, Hana noticed that she had become rather light-headed by this point in time. "Wait, that's not good." Hana thought to herself before collapsing into unconsciousness.

Sapphire of Wisdom:
Description: A brilliant gem of great magical power and unknown origins. Required to craft a blade effective against a certain king.