FicWad

Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem, Natsume or anything assosiated with them. (Do I have to do this at every chapter? -_-; )
Hope you enjoy the story so far. Like promised Vaida will appear in this chapter.

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Chapter 5 : Broken

When the army finally reached Bern a cloud of dread hung over their heads. Stories of Bern's fabled military might was spread all over Elibe and nobody would be foolish enough to challenge the country head on. That was the main reason why Eliwood, Hector and Lyn assumed the disguises of common travellers.

The fog was thick as they arrived in the outskirts of Bern. Heath sighed. His heart was heavy.
"What's wrong, Heath?" Rebecca asked. She was constantly by his side now. Heath did not mind.

"It's nothing."

"It's becasuse you're back, isn't it?"

"Don't get me wrong. Part of me is happy to be back. I just wish it was under different circumstances."

"Not easy to be hunted, huh?" Rebecca questioned. Heath shot her an odd look.

"Everyone knows that you deserted, but we still trust you...I still trust you. You've got your reasons. Just because you left Bern doesn't make you bad...I just thought you should know that."

Heath frowned despite Rebecca's words. The fact that everyone knew he deserted did not rest well with him, but he supposed that it could not be helped. Before he could say anything tough, the Black Fang sprung a surprize attack on them.

Quickly Heath leapt onto his wyvern and took to the air, whilst Rebecca and the other ground units took their usual battle formation. Matthew slipped off and returned an hour later with news of the enemy commander.

"We are facing Lloyd. He's the Silver Wolf of the Four Fangs and Brendan Reed's oldest son." Eliwood and Hector nodded as the spy filled them in on the enemy commander's whereabouts.

"They have ballistae, but this fog is making things tough for them as well." Matthew concluded.

"Allright Matthew. Inform the units in the front line that they should proceed with caution. Heath and Fiora are to warn the villiages. Oswin and Marcus will guard Merlinus." Eliwood replied. The spy nodded and dissapeared into the mist to do Eliwood's bidding.

Lyn, Eliwood and Hector where fighting in the front lines again along with Erk, Rebecca, Raven and Florina. Serra and Priscilla lingered in the rear to heal their wounds.

The battle progressed well and they soon reached the enemy's stronghold. Just as Eliwood and Hector was about to rush the gates a fleet of wyverns came over the mountains and attacked them. Rebecca and Erk reacted quickly and felled the wyvern rider closest to Eliwood.

"We've got them!" Rebecca assured Eliwood. The red-haired noble turned on his heel and rushed inside the enemy stronghold in seach of Lloyd. More wyvern riders descended on Rebecca and Erk. Raven and Florina remained behind to aide the sniper and sage, but the small group was soon surrounded by the famed wyvern riders of Bern.

Erk chanted as fast as he could whilst Raven and Florina tried to keep the wyvern riders a safe distance from the mage. Rebecca quickly notched an arrow in place and shot another rider in the neck. Blood spurted all over the rider's armor. The rider slumped in the saddle, confusing the wyvern and granting Erk enough time to slay the beash with Thunder. The smell of charred flesh and blood soon became sickening as corpses of humans and wyverns alike kept piling up.
A riderless wyvern snuck up on Raven, but Florina saw the sneaky beast and quickly jabbed her lance in its neck. The wyvern let out a screech of pain before it slumped to the ground. Black blood oozed from the puncture wound.

"Thanks..." Raven whispered out of breath. Florina gave him a shy smile and winked.

Wait? Florina winked at Raven?! Rebecca thought as she caught her breath as well. They finally managed to slay all the wyvern riders with only a few minor injuries to themselves.

Raven smirked when he saw the asthonished look on Rebecca's face. "Don't think that you're off the hook. I still have a grudge to settle with you."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Rebecca replied innocently. She knew he meant the tree incident.

At that moment Heath and Fiora landed close to them. Fiora carried a Silence Staff and Heath an Orion's Bolt. Hyperion quickly lumbered towards Rebecca and licked her face in a dog-like manner. Rebecca giggled as the wyvern's raspy tongue tickled her face. "Get off you."

"I read that wyverns could sense their riders' emotions and act accordingly. But I never thought I would see a wyvern act to affectionately, especially towards a stranger." Erk mused.

Raven and Florina glanced at each other and grinned. Fiora slipped away and stood protectively next to Florina. She did not trust the hard-eyed mercinary that was acting so friendly with Florina.

"Really? I guess he must have a lot of affection towards her then," Raven concluded ignoring Rebecca's angry gaze and Heath's flustered mumblings.

Erk looked thoughtfull for a moment. "I do not think the rider's emotions are confined to the limited space of 'affection'. I presume it is something much more than that for the wyvern to act to friendly towards Rebecca."

"Do you mean...?" Raven gasped mockingly. He glanced at Rebecca and saw how she was trying to hide her flushed face in Hyperion's neck. Heath looked just as embarassed.

"Yes. I mean THAT." Erk added evilly. He was starting to enjoy tormenting Rebecca. After the time she tried to fix him and Serra up he wanted nothing more than to repay her "kindness".

"B-but I'm sure Hy--I mean the wyvern can sense Rebecca's f-feelings too? H-He can sense she feels the same affection towards his rider," Florina emphasized the word. Rebecca and Heath glanced at each other with confused helpless looks.
Raven and Erk grinned. Florina was finally coming out of her shell.

"W-What's the chances of their children having green hair?" the shy pegasus knight asked sweetly. Raven and Erk laughed hard at the sight of Rebecca and Heath's confused crimson faces.

Fiora laughed softly at the scene, before she spotted the nobles returning.

"Behave yourselves," she reprimanded lightly.

Soon the army regrouped and headed towards the royal palace. Leaving Lloyd inside the stronghold to look at their departure. The swordmaster was so caught up in his thoughts that he did not notice Limstella behind him until it was too late.

"Y-you...but I could not even sense you..." Lloyd gasped with his dying breath. "...Linus..."

"This is excellent quintessence. My master will be pleased," Limstella said in a robotic voice as she teleported away.
Just as fate would have it Linus came in and saw his brother dead on the floor.
"Lloyd! No!" he cried as he rushed to his brother's side. Kneeling beside the dead swordmaster Linus felt blind rage take hold of him. "They will pay, Lloyd. I will send you their corpses as a gift. None of them shall live."


Over the next few days Eliwood's army marched towards the royal palace with utter care. They were in the heart of Bern now and everywhere news of the prince's coming of age ceremony could be heard. As soon as they were close enough to the palace Eliwood ordered the army to stay out of sight behind a line of mountains that obscured the palace from view.
The army had orders to leave if the lords did not return by nightfall the next day.

Heath was bored and worrried. All air units was grounded for fear of being spotted. Everyone was busy to do something to keep dark thoughts from their minds, except Heath. He had absolutely nothing to do since he could not fly his wyvern and have been avoiding Rebecca. He felt too awkward around the sniper to talk to her without being reminded of Raven and Erk's teasing.
He never felt so embarassed in his life.

Then again...Rebecca was so cute... Heath thought as an image of her blushing face popped into his mind.

He shook his head. He really should try to forget about her. The thought made him feel instantly hollow as a longing filled his heart like never before.
Heath knew he was head over heels for her. It was not the first time he fell in love after all. Only this time it felt...different and it scared him.

This is war, dammit!, Heath closed his eyes tightly. The more he tried to get Rebecca out of his head the more she lingered there. His heart grew heavy as he realized what he had to do. He just hoped she would take it better than Priscilla did.

Rebecca was sitting by herself and attempted to restring her bow without much success. Usually Raven did it for her, but the green-haired girl avoided the mercinary lately. She was afraid that he would start teasing her about Heath again. Besides Florina occupied all of his free time now and she did not want to intrude.
Clumsily she tried to hook the string into the proper places, but it would slip out of her grasp and slap her visciously across her arms.

"OUCH!" Rebecca hissed as the string assaulted her again. How she hated stringing bows!

"Want me to help?" Rebecca glanced over her shoulder to see Heath standing behind her. A worried look covered his face. Without saying another word Rebecca spun and shoved the bow into Heath's arms.

"You've been avoiding me." Rebecca accused when the wyvern rider finished re-stringing her bow. Heath swallowed. This would be harder than he thought.

"Rebecca...I need to talk to you. Somewhere private." Rebecca shot him an odd look before leading him to a small cave close to the camp.

"Nobody will bug us here. What is wrong Heath?" Rebecca's heart hammered in her chest. She did not like the heavy feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Heath took a deep breath. "You know I am a fugitive with a price on my head, right?" Rebecca nodded.
"I...uh...look I don't want you to get hurt. Being around me won't be like laying in a bed of roses. Bern's wyvern riders or the bounty hunters will eventually find me. When that happens I don't want you to be around."

"But I can take care of myself. Wouldn't it be good to have a sniper around just in case the wyvern riders attack you?" Rebecca asked looking very confused and hurt.

"No. I won't allow you to put yourself at risk for my sake, Rebecca."

"What are you saying, Heath? That we can't be friends anymore?" Rebecca's voice became thin as she balled her fists and clamped her arms to her sides.
Heath's heart broke seeing her so hurt and angry. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply.

"I suppose that is what I am saying. We cannot be friends anymore, Rebecca." Heath swore someone jabbed a dagger into his heart and twisted it.

Tears now streamed down the sniper's face. Heath resisted the urge to wipe them away. "Was it something I did?" her voice was full of emotion and Heath wanted nothing more than to cradle her in his arms and muffle her sobs in his chest.

Turning on his heel he walked a few steps away, but he paused at the cave mouth. He could hear her sniffling and he hated himself for it.

"You deserve better, Rebecca," Heath said before he walked away.

Rebecca fell to her knees and buried her face in her hands. She was so confused and heartbroken. She thought Heath liked her, but she was wrong.

He hated her.

It was night time when Rebecca finally got the strength to leave the cave and return to camp. She headed straight towards her tent, ignoring the curious glances that some members of the group shot her. As soon as she was safely tucked inside her bedroll the tears streamed down her face again. She cried herself to sleep that night.

The nobles returned successfully from their mission. They gathered enough information to know that Queen Helene would aid them if they recoved the Fire Emblem in time for Zephiel's coming of age ceremony. However they were being watched by a powerful wyvern lord. Her cruel eyes quickly scanned the battlefield-to-be and spotted her target. The children. Ninian and Nills.

"Fly Umbriel!" she commanded and the black wyvern. Moments later the beast swept down on Ninian and Nills.

"Now I've got you," Vaida snarled, but Eliwood, Hector and Lyn came to the children's aid before she could lay claim to one of them.

"Leave them alone!" Eliwood warned dangerously.

A harsh laugh escaped her throat. "You wish to challenge me? You won't live to regret this day!" she hissed as she kicked Umbriel to take to the air.
"Go! Wyvern riders of Bern! Take these scum down any way you like. The king promised to be blind to this day so don't hold back!" Vaida hollered as seemingly endless troops of wyvern units sprang from the mountains.

"Darn! We're so close too! We have to rejoin with our army." Hector hissed as he readied his Wolf Beil. If there was one thing that Hector hated it was running from the enemy. This time he had no choice. Vaida's forces was too many and too powerful for the axe-swinging noble to handle. Fortunately Pent and Louise was with them.

"Our forces is just behind those mountains! We have to hurry," said Eliwood as he moved to defend Ninian from a javelin-bearing wyvern rider. Quickly he switched his Rapier with a much heavier and ragged Wyrmslayer. The Wyrmslayer tore through the wyvern's thoat as Pent finished its rider with Elfire.

Kent heard the sound of battle and saw wyverns in the sky just a little bit north of their camp. His sharp mind quickly put two and two together and found trouble. The paladin kicked his steed and raced towards the camp, rousing the army quickly and efficiently.
"Heath and Fiora fly over the mountains and rescue our lords!" he barked. "Florina, take Raven and Rebecca with you over the mountains as well. They will need the extra backup."
The fliers nodded and did as they were told. The axemen and Serra was to remain behind to defend the camp against invaders whilst the rest of them would move to meet the enemy.

Sain, Kent, Lowen, Marcus and Priscilla headed west towards the break in the mountains. Rath and Will accompanied them and skillfully shot down any wyvern riders that came too close. Vaida watched everything from a safe distance.

"Pah! Look at those worms! Insignificant little..." then her harsh eyes caught sight of a familiar wyvern. "Hyperion? So the bastard lives."
Clenching the reins tight in her left hand she kicked Umbriel into the air and steered her beast towards the ususpecting Heath.

Rebecca saw the black wyvern descend on Heath. He was completely unaware of the wyvern's approach and he was grounded. Lady Lyn was busy to mount Hyperion so that he could take her to safety. The wound on her arm prevented her from being much use in the current battle.

"Heath! Look out!" Rebecca yelled as she shot at the wyvern that was almost on top of Heath now. The rider's lance was aimed with deadly accuracy at Heath's head.
At that moment when Rebecca's arrow connected with the rider's armor a few thing happened at the same time:

Lady Lyn shoved Heath out of the way.

Hyperion moved to block the lance blow.

Rebecca fired a second shot and pierced the rider's shoulder.

Heath rolled onto his back and recognized his assailant.

"Co-commander!" he stuttered as he quickly mounted Hyperion again. Luckily his mount was not hurt. Rebecca's second shot saved the wyvern.

The black wyvern landed. It was a huge and meanicing beast. Its rider wore crimson armor. "Heath you spineless worm!" Vaida hissed as the dangerously pointed her lance in Heath's direction.

"Commander! Why are you doing this?" Heath hissed venemously as he readied his own lance in defence.

"Dog! Do you wish to challenge me? Pah! You know you will never beat me!" said Vaida as her wyvern leapt forward, embedding her lance in Heath's shoulder.

Heath let out a cry of pain, but he refused to fight back. Rebecca watched in horror as Vaida readied her lance for a second strike. Her arms was leaden and her fingers feeble. She was rooted on her spot and she could not help Heath. Fear consumed her.
Fear of losing him.
The man she loved.

An arrow planted itself in Vaida's shoulder as another grazed her wyvern's underside causing the beast to veer up and cancell Vaida's attack. A wall of Elfire erupted under the wyvern as well.
Pent and Louise managed to drive Vaida away. As she soared to safety the wyvern rider saw the reinforcements apporach. She had no time for this!

"They should have been dead by now!" Vaida yelled angirly. "Retreat!"
As if by magic the wyvern riders dissapeared leaving only the dead, wounded and eery silence in their wake.

Pent rushed to Heath's side and inspected the wound in his shoulder. The lance went completely through his shoulder, shattering his collar bone and severing a major artery. Blood spewed from the wound. Pent knew that he had to stop the bleeding quickly or else Heath would bleed to death. He saw Rebecca staring dumbly at him. Fear was still wrought on her face.

"Louise, go to Rebecca. Her staring is distracting me."

The beautiful blonde sniper nodded and quickly moved to distract Rebecca's gaze from Pent.

"Rebecca?" Louise said gently as she touched the young girl's face.

"Lady Louise...is he...will he..." Rebecca stuttered. Her eyes seemed distant as tears streamed down her face.

"Lord Pent will take care of him. Come with me."

Rebecca allowed herself to be led away by Louise. She did not see Eliwood fuss over Ninian or how Hector looked longingly at Florina. She did not notice Kent's approach or hear Priscilla's yelp of horror. Rebecca saw nothing. Heard nothing of the world around her.
All she saw was Heath.
Dying.

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Oooh, bit of a dark chapter, eh? Well It can't be all moonshine and roses.
As you noticed I do not have a tactician in this fic. The role of tactician would be unnesasary.
Instead Hector and Eliwood gives the orders on default. Otherwise Kent or Lyn would take charge.
Anyway. You guys know the drill. RRR!
Next chapter will be up soon!
Oh, and please forgive my typo's.

MWAH

Saicha6744 is out for now.