A Fire Emblem Story-Chapter 1-Run

"How far away again does your mother live?" Klein asked for the thirteenth time, his blue eyes still turned down. 

"Not far, Klein.  Stop being such a baby." Cassandra assured him, smiling.  Roy walked next to her, still weary with sleep.  This is Cassandra, he thought with a smile.  She's always been a morning person. 

"You said that about a mile ago!  Is there another mile to walk?" Klein complained, stopping. "I'm staying here if there is,"

Cassandra turned around, aggravated.

"Fine!  Stay here!  You've done nothing but complain since we left camp!" She exploded, turning back and taking two strides. "Roy and I will be back in a while." With that, they both walked off to the north.  Klein, seething, sat down and crossed his arms.

As Cassandra and Roy kept walking, the silence spread on.  Roy opened his mouth a few times to break it, but just ended up looking away.  Finally, Cassandra sighed.

"He'll be fine, don't worry.  This isn't the first time I've yelled at him," she assured him, smiling. "We do this often.”

"Oh, okay." Roy sighed in relief. "It would be horrendous if we lost him.  He's a good mercenary.  How'd you two meet?"

"Its really stupid.  We were put as sparring partners in almost every class.  It was really a become-friends-or-you'll-both-end-up-dead friendship."

"Interesting."

"Cha, you're telling me," Cassandra snorted, peering ahead.  Immediately, she recognized the ivy-infested clay house with its red-brick roof.   She stopped walking, unsure whether to go on or not.  Roy noticed her and stopped walking as well.

"Cassandra?  Are you coming?" He asked, suddenly concerned.  She nodded weakly before shaking her head again. 

"I'm not sure what I'm going to say to her," she admitted, smiling sheepishly. 

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I left without saying goodbye, Roy!  I'm scared that she won't let me in again."

Roy, taken off guard, stepped toward her.

"She's your mother, of course she'll let you in.  It's been four years and she probably misses you."

"Yeah, but-"

"Listen, if she doesn't take you in again, you can blame it on me, okay?'

Cassandra looked up to see Roy grinning. She rolled her eyes and took a deep breath, clearing away all her worries. 

"Feel better?”"

"Yeah, I do.  Let's go.” She grinned and started walking again.  At the door, Roy knocked and stepped back, hiding her from view.  After at least a minute, the door squeaked open and a small, pallid woman with the same hair as both Cassandra and Roy peeked around the edge.  Upon seeing Roy, she straightened up and faced him head-on. 

"Roy!  It's been a while, come in!" She exclaimed, clearing the doorway for him to walk in, but Roy stayed put. "Is there a problem?"

"Aimee, I have someone to introduce to you," Roy announced, taking a deep breath and stepping to the side, revealing Cassandra.  Aimee, not recognizing her, just stared blankly. 

"And who is this?  Are you her suitor?" Aimee asked, looking between the two of them.  Cassandra turned bright red and shrank back.

"No!  No, Aimee, you don't recognize her?" Roy asked, rolling his eyes. 

"Am I supposed to?"

"Roy, I'll take care of this," Cassandra sighed, holding out her hand. "It's been a while...four years?  Good to see you again...mother."

Aimee, registering what Cassandra had said, didn't take her hand.  Instead, she slapped her across the face.  Surprised, Cassandra didn't recoil her hand.  Her cheek stung from the strike, making her face tingle. 

"How dare you leave without saying goodbye!" Aimee cried, tears in her eyes. "You're a fiend!" After a moment of staring at Cassandra, who hadn't looked back at her, Aimee gave up and took her into a tight hug. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Cassandra, caught off guard, didn’t hug back.  She also didn't answer.  Her eyes were fixed on the cliff above, where a horde of bandits were descending the mountain. 

"Mother," she whispered, pulling slightly away. "Go in the house.  We'll be in in a moment."

Confused, Aimee pulled back, but did what her daughter asked.  The door pulled shut and Aimee disappeared.  Cassandra and Roy turned to the hill, where soldiers of every size and shape tumbled down the slope.  Their grace showed that they were no normal bandits, but the lowest of the Imperial Army. 

"The Imperial Army?" Roy asked, taking a step back. "What in the world would they want with the countryside?"

"No clue," Cassandra hissed, turning slightly to him. "Shall we find out?"

"Yeah, sure," Roy nodded wearily.  As the Army tumbled faster down the mountain, Roy and Cassandra stood shoulder to shoulder in the middle of the road.  Luckily, as the leader of the group spotted them, she motioned to her troop to stop.  The leader, a woman with hair almost as red as Klein's, a face white as a sheet, and odd pink eyes, sized up Roy, his black hair, blue eyes, and regal armor before ogling at Cassandra. 

"What are you two doing, protesting some new law?" She growled at them, her horse impatiently pawing the ground. "Get out of the way!"

"Where are you going?" Cassandra asked, crossing her arms and sticking out her chin.

"It's no business to the general public," she snorted, her hand on her sword.  Cassandra, also alert, let her hand shoot to her dagger mounted on her hip. 

"Who says we're general public?" Roy asked, stepping forward. "I'm Prince Roy, of Kalae, and this is my cousin, Cassandra, and I order you to tell me where you are going."

At his introduction, the woman's eyes brightened, and she turned to her troop. "Y'hear that, boys?  We don't have to go to the castle!"

Cassandra eyed Roy evilly, as if to tell him 'I told you to keep your big mouth shut.'

"What are you talking about?" Roy asked, stepping back.

"Now, see here, Prince," she grinned, moving forward slowly. "You're coming with me and my troops here, no violence and no one gets hurt."

Roy met Cassandra's gaze, scared.  Cassandra stayed calm, drawing her dagger and motioning for Roy to get ready to fight.  Nodding, Roy reached into his bag and started slowly chanting his spells.  The woman raised an eyebrow.

"Well, what's your answer?" She asked impatiently as a knife flew past her head, taking a few of her hairs with it.  Her head reeled to stare at the soldier's armor that was pierced and back at Cassandra, whose arm was crossed over her from throwing the knife. 

"Still got it," she grinned, reaching for another. 

"I take that as a no," she growled back, shrugging. "But its two to fifty and I think I've got this in the bag."

"Make that three," A familiar and distinctly male voice called out.  Cassandra wheeled around to see Klein, ready to draw his sword, walking slowly.

"Klein!" Cassandra called, waving. 

"Hey, I have to tell you something," he hissed as he neared.

"Now's not the best time," Cassandra urged, motioning to the cavalry.  Klein examined them and sighed.

"That's what I was going to warn you about," he hissed.

"Well, it's a little late," she said, dragging him to flank her. 

"That's enough of this heartwarming scene," the leader spat, drawing her sword. "All right, dogs!  Your target is the Prince!  Hear ye, I am Wendy of the Jasper Imperial Army!" Pointing her sword ahead, she screamed, "Charge!"

Cassandra, Roy, and Klein darted to the underbrush before the cavalry could trample them, taking cover behind the trees.  Klein and Cassandra, on the left side, used the same tree.

"So why do they want Roy?" Cassandra asked, shifting her weight.

"I don't know exactly, but where I was sitting someone from the castle came to ask where he was.  He wouldn't give specifics, but that he needed to find him right away.  Sounded important."

"Yeah.  Where'd he go, anyway?"

"I think he's on the other side of the clearing."

"Can you see any artillery men?” Cassandra asked, unable to see.  Klein, craning his head, saw about ten swordsmen running behind the horses.

"Yeah.  About ten."

"All right.  When they come, take them out and run, 'kay?  I'm going to find Roy."

"Got it." Klein grunted, pushing off of Cassandra and charging at the men.  Cassandra, creeping out after him, saw Roy's head immediately.  Gesturing wildly, Cassandra ran behind Klein, cutting down all the myrmidons that Klein missed.  Roy, sprinting to keep up, stole a look behind himself.  The army had turned, looking behind themselves to see the three. 

"Run!"  Cassandra barked, ducking her head and sprinting away, with Klein and Roy close on her heels. 

"We're not going to make it!" Klein yelled back.

"I know that, now what?" She yelled, taking another look herself.  Suddenly, a wall of fire exploded behind them.  Cassandra, surprised, stopped running.  Roy, his hands black with soot, shooed them away.

"Let's go!" He shouted as the leader, Wendy, reached the wall.  The trio took off. 

"You know we can't hide from them forever, right?" Roy asked as they caught their breath in another clearing. 

"Thank you, smart one." Cassandra retorted, looking back.  No cavaliers thundered down the gravel road. 

"So what are we going to do?"

"No clue," Klein panted, cleaning off his sword. "Why would the King of Jasper want you, Roy?"

"I don't know..." Roy admitted. "This is the first I've heard of it."

"I don't think it's the King," Cassandra sighed, sinking onto the warm, grassy ground. "The king is too kindhearted for this kind of thing."

"Then who could it be?" Klein questioned.

"Maybe his daughter," Roy pondered, looking down.

"The Princess?" Cassandra asked, incredulous.

"Yeah.  Erica.  She's been acting all distant, so says her brother Wil.  She's been dismal and as if she's been up to something...maybe this is it."

“"No way,"” Klein argued. “"Her father would never let her do something like this,”"

“"Unless she took care of the problem,”" Cassandra breathed. “"Either way, my mother is probably wondering where we are.”"

_____________________________

The throne room, a large rounded room lit by many melting candles, stood empty except for six people, three women and three men.  One of the women, a redheaded woman in gray armor, sat kneeling in front of the throne.  Sitting in it was not the king or prince, its rightful residents, but Princess Erica.  She sat with her feet propped up over the armrest while she rested on the other.  Her caramel-brown hair let little to no light into her pallid face, and her blue eyes pierced the woman, Wendy, in front of her.

"General Wendy," Erica announced, eyeing the woman in front of her. "I have reasons to believe that you have failed your task of kidnapping the Prince of Kalae.  Am I correct?"

"Yes, milady," Wendy answered, bowing her head like a shamed dog. “But you have to understand-"

"I understand perfectly well that you have failed, and the only punishment for failure is death.  Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, milady."

"Linus!" Erica called, though he wasn't even ten feet away.

"Yes, milady?" Linus, a muscular man in his late teens with black hair cropped short and skin as pale as the princess's, answered, stepping forward.

"Linus, take this sorry excuse for a general and execute her."

"Yes, milady." He nodded, grabbing Wendy by her arm and leading her to the execution chamber.  Wendy didn't struggle; she had known this was coming a long time ago, back when that rat of a prince had made that fire wall.  Erica watched them go without remorse.  Turning to her faithful servant, Ninian, she beckoned to her.

"Ninian, my most trusted servant," she smiled, her face the perfect picture of an angel, "take her body and burn it in the forest.  I never want to see her face again.  All her portraits that exist in this world are to be burned along with her.  Understand?"

"Yes, milady." Ninian answered.  She turned to fulfill the task, her bleach blond hair flowing down to her waist.  Her almost too-pale face caught every beam of light coming from the candles, and her watery blue eyes shone like a mirror. 

"Jaffar, Orson," Erica snapped, sitting straight on her chair. "I want another fleet aimed at Kalae.  Take the prince, and kill all those that get in your way."

"Yes, milady," Orson, a man well into his forties still with jet-black hair and a scrawny beard contrasting his pale face, nodded, turning and leaving.  Jaffar, a blonde man in his twenties with red eyes and a pale face shaded by his cloak, nodded and scurried after Orson, leaving Erica all alone.