Fire Emblem: The Awakening of the Demon King

[Victoria]

After that sickening night of watching her father die in front of her very eyes, her spirit diminished as she found her way toward a tavern at the border of Frelia. After what felt like ages of traveling on foot and the occasional lift from a caravan that happened to travel the same way. The doors to the tavern opened by the touch of her fingers as she glanced around the area for an empty table or bar stool. A table happened to be available, so the young woman stepped her way to a seat and made herself comfortable. She removed her traveling cloak and set it on her chair

After a moment of resting, a barmaid made her way to her table. “What'll it be, Miss?”

“For starters, I'd like to have some water to rehydrate myself and some food sounds good right about now. Got any steak left?” Stefany took a glance at the barmaid and took note of her attractive looks.

“Aye, that we do! Sit tight and I'll get your order to you in a bit. Would you like a loaf of bread as well, Miss?” she added. Stefany nodded to confirm the order and sat back into her chair and let out a sigh of relief. A yawn escaped her lips as her eyes scanned the different patrons in the tavern. Some looked shady, others looked seedy, and some just looked like they had nowhere in particular to go. After moments of gazing around, her food came.

“Here ya are, Miss! Hope you enjoy your meal.” The barmaid bowed and walked off to serve other customers as Stefany gave an approving nod. The bread was warm and crispy and a light brown, freshly baked it seemed. She grabbed both ends and tore it in two. The center was milky white and puffy. Her mouth watered with excitement and yearning as she took a bite of the bread.

Her tongue ran across her lips as she placed the bread down onto the plate and took hold of the carving knife she was provided and proceeded to cut it into edible chunks. The tender and juicy texture melted in her mouth as her eyes watered with happiness. It'd been many days since she had a good meal in her stomach.

Several moments later, she finished her meal and hydrated her body. With a full stomach, she attempted to make eye contact with the barmaid and get her attention with a small wave. “Could I perhaps trouble you for a pint of mead, Ma'am?”

“Sure~, no problem Missy. Though you look a bit young to be drinkin' the stuff, you sure you can handle it?” she questioned.

“True, I am only sixteen, but I've had my first encounter with alcohol six years ago when I was much younger. So I think I will be able to handle myself.” she responded with a smile.

Another moment passed as she received her mug of mead. The warmth of the liquid traveled down her throat and into her stomach. A sigh of contentment left her lips as her tongue savored the flavor and licked her lips.

Moments later she finished her mug and dug into her cleavage for her pouch. As if the timing couldn't be any better, the barmaid finished her other rounds and brought the bill to Stefany. Stefany smiled as she looked it over and provided the right amount of coin and a good extra amount for a tip.

“Oh~ That's... quite a large tip, Miss. Thank you for your patronage!” she said with glee. Stefany stood up and stretched her arms as the barmaid blushed at how small her dress was. Smaller than her maid outfit. This girl was a bold one, all right. It seemed to be somewhat high quality as well. Maybe she could get some more coin out of her if she played her cards right. The pouch did look quite big after all. She stepped closer and leaned in toward Stefany and spoke into her ear. “Say, Miss... if you're looking for some company this evening, I don't mind sharing my room with you.” she said in a coy expression, putting a hand on her hip.

Stefany smirked at the barmaid and felt amused with what she was trying to do. Two could play at that game. “Why, that sounds awfully gracious of you, my lady. I'll grab an extra mug of mead and wait for you, yes?” she suggested and sat back down at her seat. Their eyes locked on to each other as their lips curled in grins. The barmaid walked off and grabbed her another mug of mead. A larger one than before.

“On me, madam.” she flirted.

“My thanks, gorgeous.” she bit her lip and eyed her hips. The barmaid's walk had a bit more sway in her hips than normal, as if giving Stefany something to look at. It was obvious to the young shaman that the barmaid wants to squeeze more coin from her pouch in exchange for a night with her, and that suited her just fine. However, it was going to be the other way around. The barmaid would end up paying Stefany for her time. She was that confident in her abilities.

The night became late and the tavern closed for the evening as the two young girls made way to the maid's abode. Shoes came off and clothes were left on the floor as the night became a little rough and steamy for the Princess and the Mistress of the Tavern.

Hours later, Stefany managed to dominate and tame the maid, and in her drunken stupor, slip out that she was the princess of Renais. This led the barmaid into thinking deeply about her future. She compared her current pay as a waitress and the possible pay and board for working for a princess and the obvious choice seemed to call out to her.

“...The name's Brenna, by the way...” she managed to speak from her lips after the exhausting rounds of fun they had. “How would you like to have a personal maid from her on out?” she offered.

Stefany grinned, “And here I thought you wanted to squeeze some more coin out of me, but instead you want to work for me?”

“I'd still be getting coin anyway, right? And besides... I'll be better off working for you than staying at that tavern for the rest of my days.”

“Wise choice, Brenna. Now, your first duty as maid, is to come here...”

The two girls continued their fun throughout the night and into the next dawn, where Stefany would make her journey toward the main capital of Frelia.

[Heartless Angel]

Lucian sat atop the roof of the tavern. The air inside had grown too thick for his taste... Though he never quite understood it, over the ages he'd developed a sort of sixth sense for trouble. As ridiculous as it may sound, something big was going to happen in this tiny desert town in the middle of nowhere. He for one didn't want any part of it.

The blazing desert sun made it difficult to see far, but he could see a sizeable sandstorm in the distance. Leaving now would be unwise. Though he was immortal, the sensation of dehydration was rather unpleasant; and odds were it'd take several days to get through the desert in this storm.

He let out a sigh. "I hope this storm lets up before I get swept up in this mess...", he said to himself. He took a drink from the jug he carries with him. He swished the foul liquid around for a few moments, making strange faces, then spit it out. "Tastes like piss... That's either a bad omen, or a sign that it's been way too long since I refilled this with somethin' fresh...", he said. He sniffed the jug and quickly moved it away from his nose. "...Maybe a little of both.", he mumbled, pouring the liquid out onto the ground.

[Magi of Worlds]

(OOC: LMFAO! Heartless that was hilarious! Whew! Its rare that I get to enjoy a bit of humor like that in anything I read! Thanks!)

Arc and Myra cleaned up and packed away their tent and personal belongings after the noon hour and got ready for a long ride. Their destination was a well protected fort several miles from Flarg. It was this fort that Arc had shifted his mighty army he called Desert Patrol to. It numbered in the hundreds and every recruit was a veteran. Among Arc's general's were Maximus, a retired Swordmaster who used to teach Arc his talent, Myra for obvious reasons, Julius, a Berserker who used to serve as the Chancellor of Raust's advisor, and Meena, a Mage Knight who was almost as powerfull as the Arch-Sage himself!

Also not a single person who was in Desert Patrol was considered weak. All seven hundred of them were masters of their trade. Arc had Berserker's, Sage's, Druid's, Heroes, Swordmaster's, Ranger's, even a brigade of General's. He also had Falcoknights and Rogue's. Every person was equipped to the best of their ability and even knew how to fight dirty. Several of them had been in the pay of powerful bandit's before Arc got to them.

They were his second pride in joy after Myra and harder than hell to kill! Not only did he have the best soldier's, Arc aslo employed the best blacksmith and trader's for weapon's, armor, and food. Yes, it would take years for anyone foolish enough to try to seige this fort to succeed. And then they would have to deal with the Assassin of the Desert himself! To Arc this was home and he was glad he was heading back!

It was getting late when the two riders finally spotted the fort on the horizon. It was named Fort Ismaire in memory of Arc's mom. A short hour later they were thundering into the courtyard and the gate was closing behind them. Maximus met them there and quickly ushered them over.

"My lord, we caught a man who was snooping around and claiming rumors of a criminal who escaped jail. After many hours of torture we finally learned that he was a Grado spy who was sent to search for Prince Stephan. Apparently Grado has attacked Renais and he escaped. The man said his last report was sent with the knowledge that he was coming here. What should we do?"

Arc thought it over for a few minutes and came up with an answer.

"If the Gradoan's come here looking for their spy with swords instead of words then we prepare for war!"

[Heartless Angel]

(OOC: I try mate, I try. I always try to add some humor into my roleplays.)

He watched as a young couple... well, young to him at least, left the small town. "Odd... they ain't headin' out in a direction that leads to any city I've heard of... can't imagine they think they can go around the storm...", he said to himself. He looked around the small town. "They gotta be goin' somewhere, but where? Well, any place is better than here, may as well follow em.", he said, jumping down from the roof. He refilled his jug with water and began tailing them, being areful not to get too close. He didn't know these people, or how they'd react to him.

He followed for what seemed like mere moments to him, when he noticed a fort that seemed to be their destination. "Who woulda thought, a fort out here... Well, if they let me stay, least I won't be around Flarg to see what that feelin' earlier was.", he mumbled.

He continued to follow them until they reached the fort. He saw them go inside, and a gate closing behind them. "Shit! I ain't gonna make it in time!", he said, breaking into a run. He couldn't catch up fast enough to beat the closing gate.

"Damn, locked out... well, now what...", he mumbled. He decided to wait a few hours, just to be certain it wouldn't be obvious he'd followed them. "Well, least there's some shade here, better than nothin'.", he said as he sat down in the hot sand. He only waited about 20 inutes before he became irritated. "Shade's gone, sand in my pants, runnin' outta water, and I gotta piss.", he said to himself. He stood up and walked towards the gate.

"Well, I certainly ain't breakin' this thing down... Suppose I could try knockin'.", he said. He had no idea what to expect, but he began pounding on the gates with his fist. "Hey! Anyone here?", he yelled.

[Magi of Worlds]

(OOC: Heartless, you're too clever for your own good!)

As Arc and Myra were just finishing up in their room and knock came on the door.

"Just a minute!" Arc called out. he could hear the response of yes sir and went back to their fun. Ten minutes later Arc opened the door fully clothed and asked what was the matter.

"There's a man outside who wants in my lord."

Arc considered this and told the guard to let him in and escort him directly to the War Room. The man nodded and set off. When he'd left Arc went back inside to tell Myra. She said ok and turned over to go to sleep. He kissed her cheek and left the room.

Arc headed down a hallway and down some stairs. At another turn he came upon the door to his War Room. Upon the walls were maps of several of the surrounding kingdoms and even some of the castles. On a table in the middle of the room was a map of Grado. Arc was studying it as he waited for the intruder to be lead in.

[Heartless Angel]

He back away as the gate began to open. A small group of armed men waited for him. "Well, you gonna let me in? I gotta piss.", he said. They surrounded him, weapons drawn and led him inside. He was led into a room full of maps, with a sword at his back. "Fancy toilet you got here, but I don't think I'll need an armed escort...", he said.

The man behind him hit Lucian in the back of the head. "Shut up, wise-guy! Arc, this is the one, we found him outside banging on the gate.", the man said.

"Mind askin' your friend here to lower his weapon?", Lucian asked.

[Magi of Worlds]

"Mind askin' your friend here to lower his weapon?"

Arc turned around and gave the soldier the signal to lower his weapon and motioned them all out the room. He was left alone with the stranger.

"It seems odd how you aren't afraid of my appearance and also came here of all places. Though you don't look like a Grado spy. I have several questions to ask you stranger."

As Arc decided on which question to ask first he unfurled his wings so that they'd be less cramped and massaged the muscles around his shoulder's. He then preceded to pace back in forth in front of the small table.

After a few minutes of this he turned back to the stranger.

"I guess my first question will have to be who are you and please tell me no lies" Arc said staring deep into the man's eyes with his golden ones.

[T.G. Oskar]

It was dusk, and the small brigade of Caius had departed Tai'zel short of a day ago. Caius left the town with the same group he had departed; six brave and strong men, each horse-mounted, and each wielding a lance. Some held swords alongside them; some held axes; however, each of them held a spear made of the finest Gradoan iron.

Which was enough to say, "as average as iron can be". So were their swords, so were their axes. And their plate armor, as well. Only Caius held the stronger steel, but it wasn't because he was a cheap man. Quite the contrary; it was hard to find steel sent to his keep's blacksmith to handle, which would have been pointless since the blacksmith could only handle iron and wasn't skilled enough to make any steel. Thus, only Caius held the best of equipments. He didn't mind; he held the best group he could.

A group...made of farmers, sailors and fishermen, trained against all of the incursions towards Southern Grado. They were few and far within, but none had ever truly succeeded. Some of them had seen recent service during the assault at Renais, using their skill at defending the coastline to protect the lakeside of Grado. They were not just farmers, sailors and fishermen; they were farmer-knights, they were sailors in heavy plate, they were fishermen that skewered fish and men with equal skill.

And...they were doing a good step. Had it not been because someone pointed that the distance between Tai'zel and Flarg was smaller than he thought, and since he was pushing his men to travel as fast as they could. The desert landscape was already showing, the grasslands of Grado paving way for the sandy terrain of Jehanna.

"Oi, boss, we were lucky that we didn't have to take four days of travel, ain't it?"

"Of course! And if we move it faster than having the horses walk, we'll reach even faster! How about that for fast, eh!?" Caius blurted his order in such a way that even the horses moved faster. Little could be heard from the tapping of the horses in the barren soil, where hints of sand appeared here and there.

"The boss is a bit cranky today, dont'cha think?"

"Eh, he be serious for now. Once we finish with this criminal, we return to our homes, rest for a while!"

"But that's odd...why no one decided to help us?"

"Our boss is famed in Grado...in the *southern* part of Grado, that is. In the west, he's no more famous than you and I. They mebbe knowing something we dinnae..."

"Why couldn't they send General Caellach? He knows this area better than we do, dont'cha think?"

"Ya think they're gonna bother th' General? Nae, they bother our boss, just like they always do!" The back guard of the company engaged in idle chat as they rode upon the horizon, side to side, shouting as much as they could.

Hours and hours, they rode. Their horses were well-fed, healthy, and willing to go the extra miles. Stepping into the sand was not something they weren't used to; these were horses that were used to see sand along with sea. But not sand lacking any sea. Neither were the fishermen.

"Oi, I feel like a fish out of water! So much sand, so little water!"

"Think that you feel like a fish out of water, but when they travel to Grado, they are snakes out of the desert!"

"Aye, we be the invaders now..."

Caius' horse halted in midst of gallop, delivering a surprised whinny. The rest of the group followed suit. Out from the helmet there was a loud reprimand, deep from the bowels of sir Erthem.

"Invaders? INVADERS!? Of course not! We are following a criminal that has escaped Grado towards Jehenna, we are no invaders! We are strong, yes, but we've seen bigger invasion forces! Us? We're just doing our job, we can't be an invasion force! When have you heard of seven people being an invasion force!"

"Uh, sir...some of the caravans were comprised of seven people. We had to stop them, turn them back...weren't they invaders as well?"

"Are you daft? Which invasion force has a warrant scroll for pursuing a criminal outside of its borders? They had no document, and they were clearly fleeing; thus, we had to stop them. Why, if one of them rebels of Renais were to enter Grado, where would our prestige be? Not to mention, the situation in which Grado would be?"

"But sir! Why us?"

"..." Caius also had the same question. Why them? They were defenders, not bounty hunters. "If I had the answer, Fred, I would, but I don't have it. All I know is that the Prince himself, through the Chancellor, sent us to capture him. Let's do this fast...maybe then, we may be capable of returning home." Caius' voice was not the deep and bellowing voice of before, but one that showed some doubt.

"Aye, to our wenches!"

"And to our farms!"

"And to our nets!"

"And to our boats! Yohoho, on to the sea we go!"

"Yea, and to th' wenches!"

"Are ya daft!? The first thing we spoke were wenches, are ye so desperate to see a woman!?"

"Aye. The first and the last thing I think of is a woman, lad! Me an' I, enjoying mead and wine! And then, getting married and having some kids, aye?"

"Then you don't want a wench, you want a fine woman!"

"Wenches are fine women too!"

"Silence! Robyrt, you keep speaking of wenches, and I'll tell your wife Sara!"

"Sir! No speaking that to me wife! She would kill me!"

"Better her than them, Robyrt! Onward! Before Robyrt's wife comes looking for us and drags his corpse to the motherland! GWAHAHA!!" Caius bellowed a hearty laugh, and rode onward, free of the doubt. His men were his support, whenever he had any doubt. He still had that doubt, of whether he was the right man for this mission. To his men, they were merely capturing a criminal, and while they served guard, they were so distraught so as to hear about Prince Stephan. Only Caius knew about their true mission...only Caius and one of the knights, of course, who heard everything while the others were speaking.