Fire Emblem Fire Emblem: Tale of the Tactician

Author's Note: I am revising Chapter 2. My old writing and grammar was all over the place, so I have opted to rewrite it and simply filter out some of the problems. If you choose to read on, you may find more grammatical errors than in this and later chapters. Chapter 2 and 3 will be fixed soon. Four and on should be fine. I am going to add an actual intro to the story for anyone who stumbled upon this and are not too familiar with the games involving Elibe or even Fire Emblem in general. The story overall has been finalized and is in it's final stages. However, I will be editing a few key points in an effort to get rid of any plot holes I find or to fix grammar issues. Also, I may or may not change a few things even in canon characters to make the story more interesting. In this chapter for instance, you'll see just how much I intensified Lyn's hatred for the Taliver. I hope it doesn't deter the story for some of you. Please review and tell me what you think of the story and if you've read it before, about how different it's become whether it's improved, digressed, or whatever. Of course, it is your choice on whether or not to do so. I hope you all enjoy the revised edition of Fire Emblem: Tale of the Tactician

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

-Confucius

"Once long ago. One thousand years to be exact, dragons and men coexisted. They shared a peace forged in wisdom, a peace that lasted many generations. Until one day, for unknown reasons, the advanced primates attacked and slaughtered their reptilian brethren. Their fellow citizens blood fell upon the continent they lived, Elibe. This act created bad blood among mankind and dragons occuring in a savage war that shook the heavens. Ripped quakes upon the Earth within land, sea and sky. The dragons proved too powerful for the humans, and all hope was lost….Until. A flash of light appeared from the heavens dispelling the darkness of the war in the form of eight powerful warriors, all wielding holy weapons. Thanks to these eight warriors, the dragons were all but defeated and banished from this realm forced and secluded into a new realm and with that, vanished. It was not long before man rebuilt all the damage of the war establishing the continent Elibe into it's many territories. The leader of the now named, "Eight Legends", the hero Hartmut went on to found Bern. Which went on to be the most powerful nation in the entirety of Elibe. The Holy Knight, Barigan who founded Ilia, home of the pegasus knights. The Divine Trooper, Hanon founding the nomadic nation of Sacae. Saint Elimine, founding the nation of Etruria. The Berserker Durban going on to found the Western Isles and Roland, the champion. Going on to find the kingdom of Lycia. The other two having vanished as fast as they appeared, one even being rumored to still be alive. While there have been historical events since the age of humanity began, nothing significant occurred since the scouring, until the day a group known as the Black Fang was created in Bern. At first, it stood for justice, assassinating corrupt nobles and giving to the poor. Until one day, an unknown deity appeared with his small army. Through one of his minions, the Black Fang became corrupted and soon set out on it's own agenda. It was not long before the group invaded a small territory known to the continent of Elibe as Dread Isle. Inhabited by a tribe long thought to be extinct. Surviving the attempted genocide by Bern 700 years prior. With the arrival of the Black Fang a war broke out. The weakened tribe stood no chance. The Black Fang with it's new army finished the job Bern had failed to seven hundred years earlier. This attack on Dread Isle and this small tribe would set the wheels in motion for a new war. One, that would change Elibe….Forever."

It was a dark night as the corridor of the area was lit thanks to the torches on the wall. The thick bricks laid out upon the walls making the area as sturdy as it was solid. It was quiet for but a moment, when footsteps echoed through the hallway. Firm steps which could be heard from the other end of the hallway. It was not long before more footsteps followed, in the form of three humans beings. A boy no older than seventeen leading the group. Rugged pants seeping from his throat and free from his mouth as the other two followed closely. Soon they came to a dead end and a wall with nothing more than a small grate covering the opening.

"Come on! This is it. Crawl through this opening and you'll land in an underground area that will lead directly to the boats. Take the boats and leave if I'm not there in an hour. If you feel the Black Fang is coming, forget about me and run!" The tan skinned male said rather quickly as he placed his hands upon the knife he was wielding quickly trying to unwedge the grate from the wall with it wanting to tug it from the wall without causing damage to the bars.

"Kewayne? What do you mean leave without you? You're not coming with us?" The second male among them said, his voice was rather small, signifying the fact that he was not as old as the male identified as Kewayne. Younger in fact, no older than thirteen. Kewayne looked back to the other boy just nodding to him his brown eyes falling upon the boy and girl behind him.

"Maybe so….But my life isn't important here. If I die now, it won't change a damn thing. If you two stay here, the entire world could be at risk….I already allowed misfortune and injustice to befall my tribe….I won't let that happen to the world! You have to get out of here!" He called out finally managing to get the grate free from the wall. Taking it in his hands, he threw it to the side, not too far though so he could grab it again.

"Go! Ephidel will be here any second! Make haste!" Kewayne ordered. The girl and boy looked to him before the female finally spoke.

"...No. You saved our lives. Abandoning you now would be-" Kewayne quickly intercepted.

"FORGET ABOUT ME! You both staying here is much higher of a risk to everyone who lives today. Just go…." Kewayne said slowly before the two siblings looked at him. An orb appeared behind them, a black, evil aura came from the orb as Kewayne turned his back to the two children grabbing the grate quickly. Get in the hole! Now!" Kewayne screamed to them once more. The children allowed their crimson red eyes to peer toward each other once more, until slowly, the girl who appeared to be older slowly forced herself into the opening reluctantly. The boy following as that happened. Taking advantage, the mysterious male grasped the metal grate slamming it into the hole allowing his hand to move away from the grate allowing fire to come from his hand and hitting the metal edges of the grate melding to the wall.

Just as he began two males stepped free from the orb. The first was a mage, donning a red and purple cloak, his hood pulled up and over his head. His emotionless eyes fixed upon the opposing male as if he were a piece of meat. He allowed his head to sway from one direction to the other as if in disapproval. Slowly moving forward as another male appeared from the shadows, with a tan skin complexion. His eyes cold and hard, full of what seemed to be hatred and anger, but disappointment at the same time. Wearing strong, iron clad armor, but not the one of a knight. It was more, custom made clothing for a shaman. Made of light steel which made it easy to move around in. It was not long before the mage in a cloak spoke.

"So….The children escaped. Should have known you wouldn't have the stomach for it." The cloaked male said slowly, his voice creeped from his lips, seemingly in an annoyed tone, but at the same time, lacked any emotion. The light, calm and collected voice came across as a loud whisper. It was the kind of voice that would make someones spine shiver. He spoke once more looking to Kewayne.

"What a waste. To think of all the uses you could have had to Lord Nergal." Ephidel looked toward the man beside him who stood tall stepping forward from the shadows. His right eye closed, black markings, that of a burn covering his eye. It appeared to be quite recent even.

"Foolish boy! You always were a stubborn little brat." The male hissed angrily lifting his hand, a clenched fist as a black aura appeared around his fist a scowl imprinted onto his face, hostility covering his opened eye. Kewayne looked back and held both his hands to the side, opening both hands, he allowed fire to encase both of his hands as the flames continued to burn, his eyes full of intensity.

"Father….No…..Darren….I'll make you pay….You bastard….No good kinslayers like you…..Deserve to die!" Kewayne growled loudly in anger, his eyes flaring in immense rage. Allowing the muscles in his legs to begin their work, he ran full speed towards the male he identified as his father, fire surrounding both of his hands. Slamming his fist forward he attempted to punch him in the face, aiming mainly for his cheek. Darren merely smirked, swiping his right hand upwards as he allowed his entire hand to encase Kewayne's wrist. Kewayne winced slightly as his father began to bend his hand back slowly causing him to groan in pain.

"Pitiful. You're supposed to be a genius. How could you not anticipate that?" Darren retorted. Darren's dark magic capable of absorbing weaker forms of dark magic or anima magic if struck head on by the dark magic. Darren let a smirk creep across his lips as Kewayne looked down wincing slightly.

"I did anticipate it….In fact….I was counting on it!" He called out loudly slamming his free fist upward toward his own father's jaw. Not expecting this, the fire encased fist collided into Darren's jaw causing him to growl out loudly as he stumbled away from his son his hand now ceasing it's magic now gripped his jaw line.

"You ungrateful little-" He called out angrily lifting both of his hands, resisting the pain now felt in his jaw, now slightly shiny signifying a burn he allowed a black aura to encase both his hands once more. He was casting yet another dark magic attack. With a growl of anger, two orbs formed and launched forward toward Kewayne wrapping around each other. Swirling together in unison as one blast, the wave of magic moved quickly. His eyes fixed on the attack coming his way, he quickly leaned his right side back and twisting his entire body dodging the attack his eyes widening as he narrowly avoided the attack. With the dodge, he landed on his two feet once more as the attack struck the wall causing a loud bang to fill the air.

"Just accept your death with pride. You know as well as I do. You don't deserve life! Out of all of my children. You were the the most useless you foolish brat!" He allowed his dark magic to grow larger launching yet another blast of magic at Kewayne, this time much faster than before, swiftly striking him in the rib cage causing him to wince loudly in pain as his body slammed against the brickwall behind him like a ragdoll. His head in particular slamming into the brick, causing a spurt of blood.

His body slowly sank down leaving a bloody trail behind his head he coughed and gagged loudly. The pain flowing through his head with a heavy throb. Slowly forcing himself back onto his feet, he panted tiredly looking straight to his father once again. His right eye closed showing that he was in pain. He panted before walking toward his father, allowing his flame to once again encase his fist.

"...No….If I die….I'M TAKING YOU WITH ME!" He called out with a last wind, he ran full speed towards his father. His legs stretching and spreading as he went in a full on sprint in his direction. He was stopped in his tracks however when a wall of dark magic shot free from the ground separating the young male from his father, a slight hiss emerging from his throat. A new, eerie presence filled the air as Kewayne now stood frozen in place. Almost as if in horror.

"Enough games….Time to end this." A eerie voice came from behind Kewayne, his entire figure hidden in the shadows, aside from one, all white eye that glared down to the young tribesman before him. The male stood in complete terror, believing he knew who it was, he turned quickly. his eyes widening completely realizing it was exactly who he thought.

"I-IT'S YOU!" He called out in a terrified tone, before a loud gushing noise filled the air. A crimson liquid shot through the vicinity coming to a stop when the red slammed into the wall, splattering entirely and spreading on impact. The splatter, was that of blood. The body of Kewayne, one that stood proud, found itself slowly descending to the ground before it finally collapsed on the ground completely lifeless. Dead.

* * *

-Two years later-

It was day time, as a bright light shot down from the heavens above and onto the grassy plains below almost as if god was smiling down upon the nomads of the plains below him. The sun was this bright light, the kind of smile cast down almost regularly upon the plains, despite her usual nature, it was hard to embrace the smile as a sign of good fortune, at least for one, eighteen year old woman. She sat down on the grass of the plains, it was dry an obvious sign that it hadn't rained for a while. The grassy plains where her home, but she sat outside what appeared to be a village. Or, at least what was left of it.

She sighed slightly looking into the sky not sure of what to think at the moment, though it was this usual, daily silence on the hill that brought her peace. It helped her relax. She finally allowed a slight smile to peer across her lips as her eyes caught a glimpse of something beautiful. A rare sight, even for the nomads of the plains. A pyre bird, colored an orange tint walked alongside the female who smiled allowing her hand to move downward, inviting the bird. The bird tilted it's head in confusion, but slowly walked onto her hand as she lifted it onto her shoulder.

"It's always the beauty of the plains that help remind me…." She said softly smiling slightly closing her eyes, before the bird made a slight cawing sound. This caused her eyes to open before the bird leapt up off of her shoulder flapping it's wings quickly. With a few more caws, it began flying toward the South. It stopped after a few yards, letting out another loud caw looking straight to the young woman.

"Are you asking me to follow you?" She asked the bird, loud enough so it could hear. It cawed once more, almost in approval. Before flying a bit more, watching the woman who began to follow. The bird as soon as it noticed she was following, looked away and increased it's speed, the woman ran behind it trying to ponder why the bird had wanted her to follow. Upon stopping, the bird cawed once more. Taking another three or so seconds, she arrived seeing what the bird wanted her to see.

At her feet, was the body of an unconscious male. Completely motionless, wearing a dark purple cloak, the hood covering his head. His entire body was covered, even his hands. Wearing mixtures of blood red, dark purple and black, the woman leaned down and slowly rolled the male over so he would land on his back. His face now apparent to the nomad she was surprised. She saw his skin was a slightly dark skin tone that most would not obtain unless bronzed by the sun, though the color seemed to be natural rather than artificial.

"Oh my god! Are you…." She mumbled to herself, examining his apparently, dead body. She allowed he soft and slim fingers to come together as the very tip now graze just beside the unconscious male's jugular. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, focusing, when she felt something against her two fingers she realized he was still alive thanks to him having a pulse. With a sigh of relief, she slowly lifted the male by the arm and wrapped it around her shoulder.

"Come on….Let's get you patched up." She said slowly as she began her way back toward the village of rubble, to the only ger left standing.

* * *

A few days later, the male laid on a bed all by himself, breathing weakly, until slowly, his eyes began to flutter open in a tired manner. A groan came free from his throat as he slowly found himself moving into a sitting position panting slowly along with groaning in pain. His hand swiftly moved to his side gripping his right side holding it over his rib as he began to breathe heavily. What was more stunning to him, was his lack of memories. He couldn't remember anything.

"What in the hell….Where am I…..What in the world is going on?" He groaned slightly before seeing something from the corner of his eye. It was a bag, one that looked familiar to him. He found himself using his right arm to slowly move himself off of his bed letting out a slight groan. Once his feet touched the surprisingly soft floor, he looked down for a moment trying to process it. Feeling grass in between his toes.

"Grass and dirt…." He muttered to himself, recognizing the feeling of dirt and grass. Though, it all felt strange since he couldn't remember where he'd felt it before. He let out a slight sigh as he looked back toward the bag, slowly walking towards it allowing the feeling of dirt and grass to comfort him. Once he reached the bag, he grasped it by the strap lifting the bag into his hands before turning back toward the bed he had woke up in. After the short journey back, he sat down on the bed placing the bag next to him.

"I wonder why this seems so familiar…." He muttered to himself before slowly opening the bag and letting himself peer inside. His eyes analysing the insides. There was only one item within the bag. A musical instrument. It was the alloy known as gold, formed into an arc like shape with a straight solid bar running from one end of the arc to the other. Multiple strings covering the open area between the peak of the bent arc to the straight handle bar. It was a small, portable harp that someone could easily carry. He was silent for a moment before a rough pain shot through his head.

"Agh! My head!" He called out in a growl of intense pain. Images played in his head of a woman with long brown hair and light blue eyes with a tan skin tone. A beautiful smile upon her face a small infant being held in her arms, wrapped in a blanket. In her other arm was the very same harp. Playing it slowly causing the infant to smile as she played. A flash came before his eye as a new image came. The woman playing the harp appeared once again. This time, with a boy and a girl.

The young boy having black hair and tan skin, same color as the womans. With dark brown eyes and a happy smile upon his face, though it seemed he was no older than six years old. The girl with him was far older, sharing similar features to the young boy, but appearing older at nine years of age. The male listened to the music almost happily. Until finally, the visions ended, the answer came to him. The pain in his head vanishing, his eyes opening from their closed position as he looked closely to the harp.

"...This belonged to my mother…." The boy muttered slowly as he looked at the instrument slowly moving his hand toward one of the strings, allowing his fingers to brush over the strings slowly allowing them to vibrate, creating the sweet, sound that created music. Eyeing it slowly he placed it back into the bag carefully before hearing the sound of grass setting downward under a foot. Turning quickly, a woman appeared in the doorway.

"Oh! You're finally awake. That's a relief." The woman said slowly as her lips curled into a smile. The mysterious male allowed his eyes to examine Lyn. She had long, green hair that was wrapped into a pony tail stretching down her back and coming to a stop at her waist. Her eyes matching her hair with a beautiful green like color, though it leaned toward more of an emerald green shade. She wore a green tribal uniform, though only a shirt really. Attached to the top were banner like cloths hanging at her waist covering her front and back, but allowing the skin of the outsides of her legs to show. It was not long before the male spoke once more.

"Who are you….What's your name….And where the hell am I?" He said looking to her trying to hold a poker face the whole time as he watched her carefully planning to defend himself if he could. The woman was surprised by how upfront he was, though it was to be expected.

"I'm Lyn of the Lorca tribe. You're located on the plains of Sacae right now." She answered. The bronzed male looked around thinking slowly to himself unable to process what was going on, it seemed all he remembered was the bare essentials. With a slight huff he gripped the bag tightly looking to the young female now identified as Lyn. It was silent for a mere moment before Lyn spoke again.

"If I might ask, what's your name?" Lyn asked the mysterious male who tilted his head to the side slightly, his hand moved up so his index finger would meet his lower lip as his thumb touched the front of the finger a bit as he thought to himself. He tried remembering his name, but he was drawing a blank. He couldn't help but curse to himself mentally. Forgetting his own name. Such an idiotic thing to do. With a sigh he finally answered.

"Not a clue." He finally revealed looking straight to the woman holding a calm collected face. Normally, Lyn would have seen it as a lie, but being a Sacean she could tell it wasn't. Being known for their honesty she had little to no difficulty spotting a lie when she saw one. She saw the truth in his eyes and was surprised.

"You don't remember your name?" Lyn merely said in reply. He could not help but feel slightly annoyed by her response.

"Obviously. Did I not just tell you that?" He shot back in a somewhat rude tone. Lyn thought little of it though. She tended not to heed any mind to such a thing unless it was clearly meant in a bad way rather than a 'duh' kind of thing.

"If you don't remember your name….What do I call you?" Lyn asked the male sitting before her. He remained silent for a moment, his posture remaining the same as thoughts shot through his head. He was not sure what she could call him, he couldn't remember anything. Words and the bare essentials maybe, but names and other such things were nothing but pure blackened blanks.

"How should I know? I have amnesia. I can't remember my name or any other names. Honestly, the fact that I remember what a word is and what certain words mean is a miracle." He shot back with a bit of disdain in his voice. He was annoyed by the handicap of amnesia. It was troublesome to say the least. Lyn's bombardment of questions didn't help either. It was weird. Despite this, he seemed to enjoy having company. God knows why. After a moment, Lyn smiled her index finger and thumb gliding together generating a snap.

"Aha! What about Mark? That's the only name I can think of. Sorry if you don't like it." Lyn told the man who closed his eyes for a moment. His shoulders moved upwards with a shrug.

"Sure. I don't care really. Plus, not like I have anything better." He admitted as he managed to find his lips curl upwards into a smile. As Lyn was about to speak a loud shriek filled the air shortly after a thud. Lyn hearing this leapt onto her feet. Tied around her waist was her blade, it appeared to be roughly three feet long, hanging off her side being held in a sheath. Lyn sprang to action running straight toward the opening of the ger looking outside, her hand down to her side grasping the handle of her katana. The commotion only got louder. Lyn saw smoke coming from beyond the hill overlooking her ger. It was not long before she processed what had been occurring. Realizing this. She looked back to Mark.

"Mark. Stay here no matter what. If I'm not back within a few hours, run as far away as you can! Try getting to Bulgar. There should be a map there somewhere in the ger. Just stay put! Alright?" Lyn ordered to the male. She did not give him time to answer either. She had ran off as fast as she made her order allowing her arm to tug the blade from its sheath. Being free from its case it was obvious that something bad was going on. Mark watched Lyn run off before standing up once more opening his bag.

"If she unsheathed her sword….She might need my help." He muttered to himself looking through the bag quickly. He'd take anything he could to help the woman. It was obvious she'd saved his life, otherwise she'd know more about him. No stranger would just have someone in their house and be genuinely interested in pulling anything unless they had ill intent. Mark could tell how Lyn had been behaving that she could be trusted. After a moment of rummaging, he realized there was nothing in the bag. He looked around the room and saw a blade in the corner of the room. He stood up from the bed making his way toward the sword grasping the handle tightly. Looking toward the opening, he thought for a moment.

"She did tell me to stay here….Then again….If she was sure she didn't need my help….She wouldn't have told me to leave if she did not return soon…." He muttered to himself for a moment. With that, a smirk appeared upon his face curling from his lips. He had just thought of something. "I got it…."

* * *

Meanwhile, Lyn had appeared at the outskirts of the source of the flames. It was a small town, houses were being lit on fire. According to what she gathered from a woman nearby, three bandits had attacked and ransacked the town. The men and soldiers of the town were off in Bulgar dealing with a bandit issue there. The soldiers left were all killed by the bandits overwhelmed by the force of the bandits that had more forces originally. Lyn ran inside of the town quickly running full speed. Upon reaching a corner, a bandit appeared his fist fully clenched and thrusted toward Lyn.

Lyn wouldn't be struck so easily though. Thanks to her peripheral vision and quick reflexes, she managed to quickly bend backwards dodging the strike entirely. The bandit was surprised at her quick reflexes, but Lyn was not quite done she quickly bent forward back into a standing position at the same moment going onto her tip toe elegantly and gingerly a she allowed this to perform a twirl forcing her other leg upwards so her leg would slam into the males back, the strike propelling him forward and nose first into the wall. Colliding roughly into the wall dazing him. With it she forced against him holding him to the wall her blade now held up her blade to the back of his neck remaining still, but serious.

"Where are they? Where are your friends? What are you doing here?" Lyn said in a demanding tone, the bandit growled slightly when the woman had pinned him. He could have easily pushed her away, but the blade held to his neck would end him if he was not fast enough. He would not take any chances.

"Hahaha! Wouldn't you like to know?" The bandit called out in response causing Lyn to grow a bit irritated, but she ignored it merely slamming her foot into the back of his knee causing his leg to hit the wall a slight crack upon impact implying his leg was heavily damaged on the impact. Much more damage than Lyn originally intended, but she realized it did not matter. The bandit would not talk. Knowing the condition of his leg was likely too poor to continue fighting, she grabbed his axe and managed to get it from his grip since he was in pain trying to tend to his leg. Lyn looked down to the bandit and looked down.

"One final question….You and your friends. Are you….From the Taliver bandits!?" Lyn growled slightly aiming her blade directly at the bandit prepared to attack it seemed. The bandit was surprised by this question and chuckled. He ignored his pain and looked to the woman.

"Taliver? Heheh….Maybe we are, maybe we aren't. Slut like you won't know. Unless we do decide to keep you alive. When Batta is done with you….Heheh….You'll be begging for mercy." The bandit shot back with an arrogant smirk on his face blood seeped down from his nostril. A show of the damage done to his nose when his head originally hit the wall. Lyn aiming her blade at the male remained silent. She listened to his words and merely closed her eyes.

"You bandits make me sick….Especially Taliver." She finally said before her blade moved downward and collided with the bandits chest causing him to howl loudly in agony. The attack itself may not have hurt as much, but watching as the blade pierced his heart made it all that much worse. Soon, the male finally just faded away and died as Lyn growled slightly a bit of anger overcoming her being seeing the bandanna that was tied to his waist not having noticed it until just before she killed the man. It has the emblem of the Taliver bandits upon it. This allowed her to conclude these bandits were members of the ruthless rabble. With a growl, she heard another scream in the back of her town. Her body quickly turned to the source as she began to sprint full speed toward the source.

* * *

A young woman fell to the ground with a cry as two bandits stood over her smiling wickedly with arrogant smirks upon their faces. The one who appeared to lead the charge was rather large in stature, his muscles almost seeming to be unnatural entirely. A green cloth wrapped around his head like a headband. He looked to the female allowing his massive hand to reach and clamp around both of her wrists. With a quick movement, she found her back slammed into the wall behind her. Her arms now held above her head as the male held them there with one arm.

"Looks like I got the last of our trophies. The Taliver will no doubt accept us after this big catch!" The larger male roared in triumph with nothing but a massive smile on his face, the smaller male beside him wearing a red headband rather than green. He was significantly smaller than the apparent leader, but he was quite large in his own right. Gripping his axe tightly as they loomed over their prize. The woman screamed.

"Ah! Someone help!" She called out, the larger male growled and allowed his freehand to become flat. With a scowl on his face, a horizontal gesture allowed the palm of his hand to ram into the womans cheek in the form of a slap. She couldn't help but yelp in pain as she felt the massive mitt of the male collide into her small, frail face. With a scowl of disdain he growled.

"Dumb bitch!" He growled in return as he simply moved to the side slightly, his massive hand still engulfing both of her wrists holding her to the wall. He looked to his partner allowing his free hand to glide downward and directed now to the defenseless female.

"She's all yours." He said with a chortle watching his colleague approach dropping his axe a smirk coming across his lips. Before he could make another movement, a rock flew through the room, it wasn't a small rock either. It was about as large as a human fist. With great speed, force and velocity the rock moved and finally collided with his head, the intense force completely penetrating the male's head causing his body to rock completely to the opposite direction from where the stone had come from. The impact caused the male to completely fall to the side landing on his arm. The spurt of blood made it quite obvious the blow was lethal. At the very least it would cause the male to lose consciousness. Bleeding out seemed like it would follow. The other bandit looked toward where the stone had come throwing the other female away from him with a growl. He saw the build of a young Sacaen wielding a blade standing at the entrance of the room.

"What the fuck is this!? I thought this village's soldiers had gone off to the home of the Empress!" He called out as he allowed his hand to now grab the axe he had left dormant when grasping the woman he had thrown. Lyn looked onward barely containing her anger. Her lust for vengeance building rather quickly, the grip on her blade becoming tighter.

"You're of the Taliver bandits….Aren't you…." Lyn finally said with intense disdain in her voice. The bandit could not help but be a bit surprised by how intense the woman had been acting. Though it did not take long for her clothes to catch his attention. He realized what she was and laughed.

"What are the odds? A pitiful Lorca coming to challenge the Taliver bandits? I thought you savages who survived would have stayed far out of our way after we put an end to your pitiful little tribe." Hearing his remarks about her tribe caused her to growl angrily grasping her blade tightly as she dashed fullspeed toward the male who frowned with a look of disdain as the woman rushed towards him.

"Don't you know who I am? I'M BATTA THE BEAST! BITCH!" He called out as Lyn finally reached him, the blade quickly making a move for the males stomach. Seeing right through her move, Batta used his massive axe to slam into her sword the impact of his massive weapon colliding into her sword causing it to snap completely upon impact, the upper half now sent flying away completely. That was not it, Batta lifted his leg completely allowing his foot to drift upward meeting Lyn's stomach. The force sending her back about three feet.

Lyn gasped upon being struck in the stomach causing him to drift slightly before finally slamming into the ground with a hard impact causing her to cough and gag loudly, her hand quickly reaching for what was left of her sword, the handle anyways. Looking up, the male bandit quickly kicked the woman in her rib cage causing her to drift slightly away from her weapon as she coughed and gagged a little more. The bandit now stood over the woman and smirked gripping his axe tightly slowly raising it over his head.

"Game. Over." He said carefully with nothing but a smile upon his face. Seeing the axe moving down, she quickly rolled to the side dodging the axe completely as the impact impaled the ground. Lyn lifted her foot rather quickly slamming her toe directly into Batta's crotch. The impact caused him to howl in pain releasing his axe in favor of his testicles in order to tend to the pain she caused. Lyn took this time to get ready for defense. Batta now recollecting himself looking to the woman as his left hand grasped his crotch. His right hand grasping his axe by the handle.

"You fucking slu-" In the middle of his sentence, Lyn's fist moved quickly slamming directly into Batta's cheek causing a forceful impact. The overall force causing him to take a step back, his hand now releasing his axe. Lyn would not stop as her other hand would slam into the males stomach causing him to cough. Another punch allowed her to strike his jaw. Now spitting up a bit due to the impact, Batta was slightly deteriorated. Lyn following this, quickly twirled on her right foot spun quickly before Batta could make a move. Her left foot now shot up and collided with Batta's temple causing his entire head to drift to the side, but Batta by now had gotten used to Lyn's strikes. His hand quickly shot to the side, ignoring the pain momentarily as his hand now encased Lyn's ankle. With his physical strength, he tugged the woman's leg lifting her up into the air with a battle cry. With this, he slammed her directly into the ground as she called out in pain upon impact. Now releasing her. He growled slightly, allowing his thumb to glide across his lower lip. Now analyzing his thumb, he realized what had happened. He was bleeding from the mouth.

"Blood? BLOOD!? THAT'S IT! YOU'RE FUCKING DEAD!" He called out angrily returning to his axe his hands now encasing the handle of it tugging it from the hole his last attempted attack created. Lyn coughed as she slowly stood to her feet. Covered in scratches and gashes due to having collided with solid stone. The male bandit returned and growled grasping his axe as he ran full speed.

"NOW YOU DIE!" He called out slamming his axe horizontally. Lyn with enough reflexes left allowed her knees to bend quickly ducking the strike. Her eyes now averted to the ground, her hand grasping her blade by the half with the handle. With a quick move, she slammed it into Batta's leg causing him to yelp in pain. Lyn now seeing it was safe to stand moved up and stabbed him once in the shoulder. Causing him to yelp once more. Seeing another attack, his unwounded hand caught her by the wrist growling angrily as he slowly forced back in a power struggle. Gaining control, he slammed his knee into her arm causing her grip to weaken. Taking advantage, he struck Lyn once more directly in the cheek sending her across the room entirely when he followed with a violent push. Lyn coughed and gagged before looking up to the bandit who limped toward her. Lyn froze, she was in too much pain to move anymore. Maybe a bit of fear flooded through her realizing that she was in trouble. The bandit groaned as he held his axe tightly.

"Stupid bitch….This would have all been over if you simply gave up!" He called out lifting his axe once more. Lyn's eyes widened as it seemed her end was near. Though they both heard footsteps colliding into the ground. The bandit turned slightly only to feel a smaller body slam into his side a small slender arm wrapping around his neck and pulling back in a chokehold. The male dropped his axe narrowly missing Lyn as it dropped. Batta turned to expose the young female that he had captured earlier was behind this. Batta quickly grasped her by the back of the head and threw her across the room with a growl.

"YOU SHOULD HAVE RAN GIRL!" He called out quickly. She backed away quickly as her arms and legs acted to push her away as he walked toward her angrily. After a few steps, a whistle and snap echoed through the room. It came from the ceiling. Looking up, it was already too late. A large bush of roses fell from the opening in the roof acting as a skylight. The bush was full of thorns, so leaving the bush wasn't much of an option without even more pain on Batta's part. He called out in pain feeling the thorns scrape against his flesh as a body emerged from outside of the room. It was Mark holding the blade he had from earlier looking up to a male who was standing above the skylight. He looked to the unnamed woman giving a thumbs up before grasping the blade tighter looking to the bandit.

"Nice work you two. Now. I'll finish this." He said calmly grasping his blade tightly. He made his way over to Lyn crouching onto his knees looking to Lyn.

"You okay?" He asked, Lyn however finally caught a second wind. Not acknowledging her friend aside from the blade he had. She snatched the sword from his hands and walked quickly to the male within the rosebush that in reality was just a bunch of roses carefully gathered and brought together to create what surrounded the bandit. Lyn with a battle cry slammed her blade directly into the mesh of flowers, a loud cry filling the air from within. She didn't stop. She was full of anger now, slamming her blade into the pile, pulling out and repeating over and over before slashing repeatedly. Even after Batta's cries stopped, she did not.

Mark finally intervened and grasped Lyn by the sides and pulled her away. "Lyn! Stop! It's over!" He called out before Lyn called out once more, this time in sadness and despair it seemed, some tears emiting from her eyes before she fell limp against Mark. Falling unconscious having finally caved to the damage done to her body.

* * *

After a day or two, Lyn's eyes finally opened once more. She was back to her ger and groaned slightly moving upward finding that her wounds had been patched up with bandages and apparently some vulneraries. Something caught her nose as she sniffed the air. Looking over, she saw her ger open only to see Mark standing there. With a sigh of relief he walked over and looked to Lyn.

"Oh thank god….For a little bit, I feared you were gone." He admitted looking to Lyn who was now holding her head recalling what had happened last her eyes would open. Though, the first thing she recalled was her behavior. Not even talking to Mark. Merely grasping her sword and insanely stabbing the male who was trapped. She cringed at her own actions surprised at what her intense hatred for the Taliver bandits had caused her to do. She'd admit it was gruesome. Maybe a bit overboard. In her mind though, it was justified. She held no remorse. In truth, to her it felt a bit good to make a Taliver bandit suffer.

"I...I'm sorry about how I acted back there." Lyn finally spoke. She was more sorry for how rude she was to her friend. Lyn was typically forgiving and kind but when it came to the Taliver….That is an entirely different story. Mark simply nodded and looked to the woman.

"It's fine. What I'm more concerned about….Is how violent you were. Why did you attack that man so mercilessly? Those people planned on imprisoning him." Mark said as the woman let a soft sigh escape from her lips remembering the feeling she felt when she first struck the bandit named Batta. The stab wounds she had caused. Lyn realized that despite her soft, kind demeanor, when it came to the Taliver. She was ruthless and brutal.

"...He was a member of the Taliver bandits….A group of bandits….I hate intensely….A group that I want to suffer, ones who I wish to kill myself….You see…." Lyn confessed to her friend. Stopping as she was about to reveal the source of why she hated the Taliver so much. Why the man she had killed brought out such a sadistic side to her.

"I'm sure you've noticed it. The ruins outside of this ger….This area was once the home of my people….My tribe. The Lorca tribe. Six months ago, we were a thriving tribe here in Sacae held in high honors of Empress Victoria's right hand. My father being a close personal friend of his. Though….That all changed six months ago. When her right hand was assassinated, soldiers who worked with us were taken away. The Lorca thought little of it, being without military protection. We were well trained. We felt we could handle ourselves and anything that came our way. We were wrong." She spoke, her voice getting lower and lower as a creeping amount of despair came as she got further into her story regarding where her tribe was.

"A month after protection was lost, people began getting sick, some people died from the illness, others were bedridden. Few were lucky enough to avoid it, like me. Though one night….It became clear. The Taliver had poisoned our water supply. When we were weak enough they attacked. Those who remained healthy were heavily outnumbered. The sick who fought along them weren't much help. Men were slaughtered. Woman were raped and then killed. Children too were murdered. Father when he realized we were going to fall to these bandits had me and a select few Lorca hideout in a small underground cavern covered by a massive rock only an entire group of strong hulking men could move. He and my mother….They decided to fight. They….They wanted to fall with the tribe, the people who supported them. I wanted to fight too, but father never allowed it. He knocked me unconscious after making me think he'd let me fight. And had me hidden with the others. They fought and fought until it was over. After it all….Only one dozen of the Lorca were left. My father being the chieftain, I was supposed to succeed him but….No one followed me….Or listened to me. They all left. Went separate ways, leaving me alone….The last of the Lorca." Lyn said as her friend grew silent. Tears finally escaped the womans eyes showing pure innocence, at least. What was once innocence, now lost due to the despicable things that the Taliver had done.

"Oh my god…." He muttered to himself upon hearing the truth behind her tribes slaughter. He couldn't possibly imagine how damaging it was for all of that to occur. Her friends and family….All gone. Mark finally spoke.

"I….I'm really sorry to-" Lyn lifted her hand to the male shaking her head as she closed her eyes.

"No….No more tears." She told herself now sitting up, she took a deep breath as the intake of air swayed through her body. She remained silent for a moment. Her hand moving down, silence overtook the room. After the moment passed, Lyn's eyes opened. Her eyes were no longer filled with sadness. Determination and hope seemed to fill her eyes now.

"Im sorry you had to see me like that Mark….Look. Yesterday. During that fight with Batta. Nearly falling to him. Nearly dying….It dawned on me that I will never get stronger here. As long as I sit here and mope around, I'll never be able to avenge my friends and family. As long as I sit here, I'll only get weaker. And since you can't remember anything….You're setting off? Right? To see if you can discover something about yourself? The clothes you're wearing tell me that. And that smell outside….It's a horse isn't it?" Lyn asked. The male's eye merely arched in surprise. He couldn't help but be impressed by how well Lyn had managed to figure things out.

"Quite observant. Yes. That is indeed accurate. What are you getting at?" Mark asked as Lyn now looked into his eyes. Her renewed vigor now completely kindled and even stronger than before.

"Let me go with you. Allow me to join you in your quest! You seem like you might be in need of a partner, and the intelligence I've seen from you tell me that you were a tactician before you lost your memories! I need a tactician who can help guide my blade toward causes I can handle. To help me survive battles long enough to gain the strength I need!" Lyn stated as her friend remained silent. He was surprised by Lyn's approach and desire, but it did bring a smile upon his face. The idea of a companion was actually comforting for the male.

"Alright then. I don't see why not! From here on out Lyn, we're partners. You have my back, and I'll have yours!" Mark called out happily as Lyn returned the smile.

"Good. Shall we set off tomorrow morning?" Lyn asked her new companion who thought for a moment and he nodded.

"Yes. Allow your wounds to get a bit better. Just in case bandits assault us. It'll also give us time to plan out what we're going to do. I'll go get a horse for you at the town we were in." Mark answered and Lyn merely nodded as the male now labelled as her tactician grasped the cloak he had to the side tying it around his neck acting almost like a cape as he thought to himself as he stepped toward the horse hoping Lyn would really be okay on her own.

"Who am I….What happened before I woke up here? Something tells me….This is the beginning to something bigger than myself." Mark said to himself climbing onto his brown colored stead who called out loudly. Mark recalled the villagers saying that if or Lyn ever needed anything, to just go on by and ask. He was prepared to take them up on their offer. Mark knew that if this journey would be anything like a day prior, they would need it.


End file.
