Fire Emblem PoR: The aftermath

AN://Check the bottom for an explanation to the two month lateness.

Ike groaned again, they had been moving at a constant pace, and for a beroic on foot it could get difficult to keep the speed up. Still though Ike pushed past his pain and continued to move as fast as his legs would allow. King Caineghis carried the apostle on his back and behind him were three spacious wagons that carried Begion reinforcements, Lethe galloped next to Ike and behind the wagons were Lyre and her mate. Ike never bothered to learn the jerks name though. “Ike, I don’t mind letting you ride me, you have been running since sunrise.” Lethe stated in her cat form. “I understand that you aren’t weak, just swallow your pride and we can get there within the hour.”

“It’s not that…” Ike began, of course Sanaki and king Caineghis were listening in, almost literally as they leaned their heads closer to the bickering couple. “I don’t want to give the bitch squad more of a reason to mock you. To be honest, their prejudice and cruelty exceeded yours the first day that we met.”

‘Go on Lethe…bite him.’ A voice in side of her head joked. “I explained to you about that.” Lethe stated as she closed the distance between her and Ike. “How many times do I have to apologize for our first meeting huh?”

Ike let out a low chuckle as did the apostle and beast king. What he didn’t expect though was that Lethe would run between his legs and hoist him onto her back. “Now no complaining, worst comes to worst I’ll beat Lyre senseless.” Lethe’s tone was soft at first but suddenly became stern then went to a snarl as the sentence continued.

Ike didn’t say a word, he knew that she would do it if she felt threatened, or if they threatened Ike. In a way there was no dominate partner in the relationship, they took care of the other, and that is all that mattered. Lowering down Ike let his body rest on his lover’s back and gently he nuzzled his face into her neck. For a moment he could swear that he heard her purr.

~Back at camp~

“I did all that I could…I think that we should call the hawk tribes, they won’t mind lending us a little help right now.” Mist stated as she walked out of Marcia’s tent. Yes she would survive, yes she would be able to fight again, but no, she wasn’t going to be moving a whole lot for a long while or at least until Mist got Ashera’s staff (Don’t know if that’s how you spell it, the staff that you get for saving the monks in ch.19 or something).

“As long as she survives.” Soren stated grimly. “How do you suppose that we will get assistance from the nation of the hawks, there is no way that we could get there and back in time. If we don’t face the black night he would probably go into the villages and continue killing until he manages to get us…we have to go, win or lose, Ike or no.”

“I heard Ike talking to Janaff.” Mist began pulling a bow out of the tent and lighting it on fire. “He said ‘Shoot a flaming arrow into the sky and I will come as soon as possible.’ I think that he would bring the king as well, he knows that we wouldn’t call him if it was serious.” Mist watched as it flew high into the air and seemed to hover for a moment before it came back down, the wind had put it out before it even hit the ground though, preventing a fire.

“Why call them, it would take more then a day for them to get here even if they somehow managed to see the arrow in the first place.” Soren rebelled as they walked back into the war room.

“I think that I know why.” Ranulf interjected. “It’s because if they managed to bring the dead back, why not bring the old kings back. They were very strong individuals, I think that we can rest assured that they will bring back Ashanard, the old beast kings and even a few others that we can’t imagine.”

“What about the old dragon tribes?” Mia asked with worry in her voice. She faced against one before and was surprised at their thick skin, it broke her blade and the monster swung it’s tale knocking her almost ten feet back.

“The good thing about that is that they are still on their first king.” Ranulf replied with a small smile. “The dragons have unreasonably long life spans. We won’t have to worry about any of the old dragon kings…since the first is still alive. Listen, Ike is due in about a hour, bad news is that we are due in front of the tower in about ten. We can stall for time for now, but sooner or later we are going to have to deal with the black night and those other two people that he mentioned.”

“Leave the black night to me…I think I can handle him until my pupil returns.” Stephan states confidently. Mia blushed at the word pupil and Ranulf growled jealously, he knew why she was shy, he had witnessed it first hand.

~Flashback to yesterday-training field~

Mia was sore, but she needed her practice. The field was trashed, but it offered her more of a terrain to work with, just less actual objects to cut and swing at. “Need a partner?” A voice called out. Mia recognized it in an instant.

“Stephan! Just on time! Of course.” She greeted energetically. She put away her real sword and pulled out her practice wooden sword. “I need it, so make sure not to hold back alright?”

“Why I would never do that to a student who wants to learn.” Stephan stated acting a little insulted. They charged at one another, at speeds that almost no human could reach, only Laguz have ever managed to move at. You could hear the swords as they made contact, they were so hard that it sounded more like thunder then the sound of wood making contact.

Eventually Mia slowed, she wasn’t a good as the hermit, she knew it, he knew it but Mia wasn’t one to back down, at any time. Taking a step back he watched as Mia lunged forward and missed. Seizing the moment Stephan swung forward and made contact with her stomach.

Mia doubled over and coughed roughly. She watched as he practice sword skidded across the ground and out of her reach. The fight had gone on for some time, but neither noticed that an unexpected visitor waited in the brush.

Kneeling down he laid the women on her back. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you that bad…I just wanted to end the fight, if I didn’t then I would have gotten tired as well.” Unbuttoning the women’s shirt he pulled it open and let it lay on either of her sides.

Mia blushed. No it wasn’t the first time a man had seen her naked, but the last time it was Ike, Gatrie and Rolf who accidentally walked in on her when she took her bath, they were so scared they didn’t move at first. Ike and Rolf sprinted out and Gatrie stayed drooling. Ike threw his hand over his eyes as he then walked back in and dragged Gatrie out by the hair. Ike shouted apologize with Rolf but Gatrie complained and probably fought to get back into the room for another eye full.

However this was on purpose, she wasn’t embarrassed by the first incident as it wasn’t anyone’s fault (If you view it that way) but now it wasn’t an accident, and somehow it was different. Then Stephan did something that she didn’t expect, he began to tickle her. She squirmed a little and began to giggle as his firm hands went over her stomach. “Stop moving.” Stephan instructed. “I have to check for internal injuries, sorry if your embarrassed, it is a lot easier if you don’t have a shirt on though…well it seems that there isn’t any bleeding, and your ribs are alright, you’ll just be sore for a while.”

Stephan stood up and so did Mia, immediately buttoning up her shirt. “If you don’t mind, I would like to offer you some pointers, get into your stance.” Mia did as instructed and moved her body to the position that she would be in before she would attack an enemy. “Hmm…first hold farther up on the blade, it is easier to control.” Stephan then moved to her rear and ran his hand up her arm and tugged the hilt of the blade up.

“You would be surprise how much energy this saves…but you will have to get closer. Also,” Stephan then ran his hand into her upper thighs and spread them slightly apart, but not without brushing her butt and womanhood in the process, Mia gasped and Stephan whispered into her ears. “Need to be farther apart. This should help immensely if you relax a bit more.”

The pair of yellow eyes had seen enough, in a blue blur he dashed out of the bushes and back to his camp.

~Back at the war room~

“Whatever.” Ranulf stated much to everyone’s surprise. Next to Soren he was one of the most thorough people when planning an attack on an enemy that had the upper hand. “I better get ready on a personal level, later.” With a wave Ranulf walked out of the massive tent and into his own personal tent. He shuffled through some bags that he brought and found a few elixirs that he had taken from his kingdom in the off chance that he would need them.

Laying down on his bed he closed his eyes and breathed deeply, he was about to fight possibly the three strongest men that he had ever met, yet he was eerily calm. After all, If Ike could bring down the black knight, the Daien four riders and the mad king Ashanard chances are that he could as well. “Ranulf.” A soft voice called out. ‘Soft? That is so unlike Mia.’ Ranulf thought. “Is something amiss?”

“Just leave my tent and get ready. Worry about yourself. I have more ways to tell you to get out if you would like to here them.” With an rather unforgiving scowl he managed to make Mia leave.

“Alright, I am out of the tent, could you tell me what the matter is now?” Mia shouted into his tent.

“It doesn’t really matter now does it?” Ranulf spat as he changed into his casual clothes and step out into the sun. he was tired, she wouldn’t care and he didn’t need to dump his jelousy onto her. Like every other man he could bear it on his own. “We have to fight now, so let’s just forget about.”

“No, if you don’t mention it then you’ll be distracted.” Mia insisted. Ranulf on the other hand had enough of the whole issue and changed into his cat form. He galloped away as fast as he could. “GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!” Mia screamed running after him as fast as she could, however she couldn’t keep pace. Groaning she decided to let it be for now and head off to the meeting place.

~the field~

Everyone was waiting for the knight, they were early but it didn’t really matter, he would be there sooner or later. Hopefully Ike wouldn’t take too long. He still had the only sword that could even manage to scratch the knights armor.

True he was missing his helmet and Stephan probably could have killed him in one blow, but the knight was fast…very fast and could move another section of his armor to block the blade. If Stephan was to stand a chance he would need Ragnel.

There was also the issue of the other two that he was talking about. Chances were that they were either Daien Generals or the worst case scenario was that Greil showed up, and he wouldn’t be able to take any of them if they attacked as a unit and watched the others back. Maybe if Ike showed up he could try to fight, but chances were that he wouldn’t win.

Finally, there was a large archaic ruin in the middle of the field, a big knight encased in black armor and next to him was a man with a sword even larger then his, anyone that fought in the last fight to reclaim Crimea could identify that sword, it belonged to Ashanard the mad Daien King. To his right though was another individual in unidentifiable white robe, in his hand was a large heal staff, but by the looks of it the staff was made to attack as well as heal.

Mia trembled a little, the staff was the one that she made Rhys, while she was sure that the magical capabilities were used up, the staff still would hurt like hell if you were hit by it. “Where is Ike?” The Black Knight asked. “I will not wait another moment and neither will King Ashanard.”

“Why are you back? What’s your point?” Soren asked.

“I am here to kill Ike, like he did with me.” The Knight answered. “The one in the white robs is just our backup, and Ashanard is here to kill, revive the dark god and even take back his old kingdom. It is the wishes of Izuka and Oliver.” Stephan unsheathed his sword and pointed it at the Black Knight. “But it appears that the time for talk is over. Choose three fighters, just three and I will keep the dead out of this.”

Soren was taken back by the offer. He sighed and thought carefully over his chooses. “I think that it is safe to say that Stephan myself and Neph…”

“Soren stop.” Mia stated. “I will be the last fighter…I have some interest in this fight.” An intense fire burned in her eyes, something Soren recognized in Ike’s. ‘I will save you Rhys.’ She thought as she pulled out her sword. “By the way, don’t bother arguing with me.”

Soren groaned, that meant that he had to fight the mad king Daien. Stephan had wanted to fight the Black Knight since the incident at the tower and Mia noticed that Rhys was involved, she would want to fight him. He remembered Rhys saying ‘Who would want to be a warrior after death?’ Soren also remembered that they were in love and you never truly forget what a lover said to you or how they made you feel. ‘She wants to finish him…to keep him from this life, I won’t stop her.’ “Shall we?” Soren asked.

~Stephan/Black Knight~

Both charged the other, not fearing anything or even feeling. In battle, both tended to let go, release their feelings and forget what they are going to be doing to another human being. The knights feet hit the ground so hard that it seemed to make the earth tremble, Stephan steps were light and gentle, there wasn’t any noise made as he ran down a trail.

The knights sword was the size of a grown man yet he swung it with so much ease and could make it move in almost any direction. Swinging straight down he hit the ground and watched as it left a small crater in the ground. He grinned as chunks of earth flew up and launched straight towards Stephan.

Leaping in the air Stephan kicked the chunks of earth back down into the ground where they shattered into many smaller pieces. Without fear he used all of his body weight and swung straight down onto his armor. It didn’t leave even a scratch. “I thought that you would have known better hermit.” The knight stated allowing his sword to rest at his side. “The armor is blessed by the goddess. You will need to do just a little bit better than that.”

Stephan grinned. “I know that fool, what you don’t know is this.” Releasing Astra, Stephan moved at an untraceable speed. Three of his shots were at his chest plate, purposely trying to make the knight attempt at a block. ‘That gap in his gauntlet, if I can hit it I can take off his hand.’ Stephan thought. ‘Fine, don’t block, just get cut.’

Adjusting his grip Stephan leapt back and swung at the knights head. Surprising the knight managed to block the shot and shove Stephan almost fifteen feet. “Nice try.” The knight stated. “I noticed the look that you gave my gauntlet, try again.”

“He won’t have to. Catch.” A gold blade was thrown from the direction of the voice, the sun seemed to shimmer off of the sword. “Take care of him Stephan.” A blue haired lord stated.

Catching the sword in mid air Stephan lost care and turned to the knight. “Maybe now you could offer me a challenge.”

Stephan dashed and both swords seemed to scream as they made contact. Neither lost ground or seemed to back down. One thought flashed through both of their heads. ‘I need to take a hit if I am going to land one.’ Stephan charged again and leapt into the air at the knights feet cutting his armor straight up and in half and cutting his flesh deep.

Taking a step back the knight spun and cut Stephan across the chest. Both fighters panted and fought to keep air going into their lungs. In a flash Stephan fell face down into the dirt and the knight walked away.

~Soren/Ashanard~

“You are his tactician aren’t you? Hehehe, how entertaining this will be.” Ashanard stated staring down Soren.

It took a moment, but Soren caught it, his armor was different, it wasn’t the one that was blessed by the goddess, it was a normal set of silver armor. “What happened to your armor? Without it I could kill you without any effort.”

“Hehehehe! So you think you can? Just try me.” With that Ashanard began to walk forward toward the sage. Pulling out a wind tomb Soren blasted the former king. He watched as blood flew out of his wounds and made a small pool on the ground.

‘He doesn’t even care.’ Soren thought after he shot two more out of his tomb. “Hehehehe, make my blood boil boy.” His pace continued and slowly began to get faster and faster until it was a full out sprint to reach Soren.

The man swung his long sword and managed to cut air, leaping out of the way Soren watched as it flew by and barely missed his body. “You are fast…like your commander I would expect no less.” This time he walked in slowly, taking his time.

‘There isn’t much point…I just have to hold out for as long as possible.’ Ike was due back any minute, if Soren could only hold his ground then maybe Ike could finish off Ashanard. In a way Ike was a shield to Soren, something that kept Soren safe and even to a certain degree sane.

In a moment a part of his life flashed, the first day he had met Ike he wandered over to the camp, starved, smelly and exhausted from days of wandering after his mentors death. Ike carried his skinny form down to his father where he was excepted into the mercenaries troop. He wasn’t excepted by many other than Mist, Greil, Ike and Titania, it took the others a lot of time before they could even look at him.

Dashing forward Soren jumped on the sword and dashed forward toward Ashanard’s face where he slid and let his foot connected with his face. Regaining his balance on the ground he let lose with a Tornado spell and for a moment knocked Ashanard back.

Something happened, his face went from a smile to a harsh scowl. He was angry…not even in the last fight did the smile leave his face, he enjoyed it to death. “I see that there is more to the eye then I would have first guessed. Too bad that a shining star like you had to run into me today. Now I will do my worst for what you did to my face and my sword.” Holding the blade perfectly erect with his face Soren noticed the bruise on his eye and the cut in his blade that Tornado made.

Ashanard moved at a speed that Soren had never witnessed, it was like the dreams you have, you can’t move and when you do it isn’t as fast as the monster that chases you. The massive sword came down and Soren barely side stepped it. He didn’t fear death, but he didn’t want to die yet. ‘Just a little longer.’ Soren thought as he continued to barley side step when Ashanard swung.

“THIS IS IT!” Ashanard screamed swinging in a side swiping motion aimed at Soren’s stomach.

‘I can’t dodge, I have to stop it.’ Lifting his tomb Soren fired a wind spell and watched as the sword slowed but continued. Using the tomb as a shield Ashanard cut straight through and across Soren’s stomach.

Soren’s eyes went wide as he felt the hot blood spill on his robes. He looked in Ashanard’s eyes and saw the glee and the look of blood lust only increase. “THAT IS ENOUGH!” a voice roared. A blur of yellow orange fur flew over his field of view and pounced Ashanard. “I CAN HURT YOU NOW COWARD!” was the last thing Soren heard before the darkness took him.

~Mia/Rhys~

“STOP IT RHYS!” Mia cried blocking more of the shots that came from his steel staff. He pulled back a moment and looked Mia in her cerulean eyes. “Don’t you remember?”

Rhys charged again and swung at Mia and the steel weapons met letting out a clang that resembled a roar of an animal than anything else. Letting up on the pressure Mia stumbled forward and Rhys knocked out the back of her knee and she fell down.

He struck her in the back of the neck and she fell face down in the dirt. She rolled over and now Rhys toward over her, using an end of his staff he brought it down intending to struck her in her face, Mia raised her sword and blocked the shot.

Using all of her strength she threw him back and off of her. They stood at a distance of five feet staring the other down, Mia’s eyes were pleading for him to back down and his eyes burned with sadness but a certain intensity.

“I remember everything Mia.” Rhys stated sadly. “The night that we spent under the stars out on the field behind our camp, what he asked me to do and what you said to me. Heh, I even remember the moment that I took off your clothes. That is what makes me do this, the ability to get away from the memories and leave them all behind, it is something that I want. If I can fight and beat you, then I won’t be afraid to do it to anyone.” Mia noticed something, he was crying.

‘He does remember…he doesn’t want to fight but he carries on. Why bother?’ “Rhys, let me win.” Mia stated just as teary as he was. “You hated fighting in the last war, why do you want to continue on with it? If you let me win I can stop it…please.”

“I can’t I’m not capable.” Rhys began wiping his the tears off of his face. “My action are not all my own. If I am commanded to fight today I have to, I only decide the time and the circumstances…it will happen.” Rhys re-armed himself. “But if you die, then we can be together again.”

She stood still, true she wanted to continue to live, to push on and win. But part of her screamed to take the offer, to be with her true love forever. She felt for Ranulf, Stephan, Ike and Gatrie but not even a tenth of what it was for Rhys.

Coming to a decision she threw her sword over to him and fell to her knees offering her final prayers that it would be quick. “Just think, together forever, and when these bodies are destroyed,” Rhys began lifting the silver sword to his side that had the blade a golden color. “We will enter eternity together.”

The sword came down but never made contact. Looking up Mia found Ranulf holding Rhy’s staff in his human form. His firm muscles held the sword back. “You are not Rhys.” Ranulf stated slowly and pronounced every word. He then added pressure and began to push Rhys back. “Rhys only used this staff for defense, never assault and certainly not to kill…you may have his memories and corpse, but you do not have his soul.”

AN://Sorry for the wait but I just got off my honeymoon and since there was only one review I felt no need to rush an update. I am leaving for the marines on Aug 13th and I will not be able to update. Inspire me to update faster.