Fire Emblem Fates Beta Fan-Fiction Discussion: Working Titles

[Blue Sun]

Good day everyone. With the last thread closed down all of the main characters have their names set in stone. Moving on to the more important matters, I'm ready to get the two stories started. As I have discussed in private with a few others (Taka-kun, Luankachu, and Emperor Hardin) the two storiesthat I plan on writing are forms of adaptations of Fates proper, but to make sure that there is absolutely no confusion as to what I mean when I say two stories, this is what I mean: the first story that I will start working on is an adaptation of both Birthright's and Conquest's plots combined, and the second story that I will start working on (either simultaneously alongside the first story or after the first story is finished) is an adaptation of the Invisible Demon Kingdom's plot. DLC episodes will be considered much later given that almost none of it has been released yet (aside of the third path of course). And just like with Reawakening there will be some changes here and there to the original stories as to not make them strictly novelizations.

To even start writing of course, I need a thorough understanding of Fates's original plot (as well as supports) so that I can make changes or make the unchanged original parts of the story easier to understand. As such, I will need someone who is good with understanding Japanese and can translate Fates fairly well. I myself will look for anything of Fates that's subbed and make comparisons between each sub. This will make the releases of each chapter somewhat long.

Since I'll be working on the first story first (natch), I'll inform you of one crucial detail that applies to both stories but has a little more relevance in the first one: there are two Avatars. The male twin Avatar is named Yamato Kamui who was primarily raised in Byakuya (a.k.a. Hoshido by Nohrians) , and the female twin Avatar is named Corrin Plantagenet who was primarily raised in Nohr (a.k.a. An'ya by people from Byakuya). They will both be based on their appearances in official artwork and have their own personalities that act as contrasts to each other.

Since I know how the Prologue/Chapter 0 goes, it shouldn't be very difficult to write it.

[Azz]

Will definitely read when you release.I just hop you plan on fixing the many problems with the family tree.

Anyways here's a few links to supports.(I don't that is all of them but I would recommend checking the support topic everyday since there is always new supports):

http://pastebin.com/FKbnytwm

http://pastebin.com/N8VKGxR9

http://pastebin.com/qddaf9Ui

http://pastebin.com/u/fletching

[Blue Sun]

Will definitely read when you release.I just hop you plan on fixing the many problems with the family tree.

I'm a little confused as to what you mean by this. Care to elaborate because I don't spend too much time on these forums.

Anyways here's a few links to supports.(I don't that is all of them but I would recommend checking the support topic everyday since there is always new supports):

http://pastebin.com/FKbnytwm

http://pastebin.com/N8VKGxR9

http://pastebin.com/qddaf9Ui

http://pastebin.com/u/fletching

Thanks! These will definitely come in handy.

[Azz]

I'm a little confused as to what you mean by this. Care to elaborate because I don't spend too much time on these forums.

Thanks! These will definitely come in handy.

Your welcome.

Oh and what I mean is that the royal families are just so convoluted that I was hoping you would fix them.If you don't wish for spoilers I won't say more but if you do I will post more.

[Blue Sun]

Your welcome.

Oh and what I mean is that the royal families are just so convoluted that I was hoping you would fix them.If you don't wish for spoilers I won't say more but if you do I will post more.

Well, they're still mostly the same, but Kamui and the Byakuyajin (i.e. Ryōma, Hinoka, Takumi, and Sakura) are very much aware that they're step-siblings with each other (the Byakuyajin are of course direct siblings amongst themselves). They're all still fairly close though (wholsesome family close, not romantic close). None of the Nohrian siblings are aware that Corrin was kidnapped from Mikoto and she herself doesn't know it either (they don't find out until later). The Byakuyajin have been trying to get Corrin back but to no avail (magic barrier over Nohr keeps dirty Hoshidan peasants out). Suzukaze and Rinka managed to somehow bypass the magical barrier during their rescue attempt but they were almost immediately captured afterward.

[Azz]

Well, they're still mostly the same, but Kamui and the Byakuyajin (i.e. Ryōma, Hinoka, Takumi, and Sakura) are very much aware that they're step-siblings with each other (the Byakuyajin are of course direct siblings amongst themselves). They're all still fairly close though (wholsesome family close, not romantic close). None of the Nohrian siblings are aware that Corrin was kidnapped from Mikoto and she herself doesn't know it either (they don't find out until later). The Byakuyajin have been trying to get Corrin back but to no avail (magic barrier over Nohr keeps dirty Hoshidan peasants out). Suzukaze and Rinka managed to somehow bypass the magical barrier during their rescue attempt but they were almost immediately captured afterward.

I see.

Here is the family tree by the way:(Not by me)

Edited July 21, 2015 by Azz01

[Blue Sun]

I see.

Here is the family tree by the way:(Not by me)

That's actually it right there. There's a few differences in the early plot such as right here:

Garon and Shenmei marry. (both stories)

Shenmei is usurped and exiled from Nohr by Ecaterina and returns to Tōma, remarrying to its king.

Xander is born around this time. (both stories)

Camilla is born around this time. (both stories)

Ryōma is born around this time. (both stories)

Hinoka is born around this time. (both stories)

Mikoto becomes briefly involved with the spirit of Anankos. (both stories)

Aquazura is born around this time. (both stories)

Corrin and Kamui are born around this time. (both stories)

Leo is born around this time. (both stories)

Garon's wife and concubines erupt into a civil war amongst themselves for political power and Garon's favor. (both stories)

Takumi is born around this time. (both stories)

Elise is born around this time. (both stories)

Sakura is born around this time. (both stories)

Ecaterina murders Ikona during the quarreling amongst her and the concubines, almost instigating a war with Byakuya. (both stories)

All of Garon's concubines are killed by each other, Ecaterina is executed by Garon himself, and of Garon's children, only Xander, Camilla, Leo, and Elise survive. (both stories)

Anankos usurps and kills Tōma's king and Shenmei. A young Aquazura was hidden by Shenmei prior to the latter's death. (both stories)

Mikoto flees Tōma with the young Corrin and Kamui after Anankos becomes king. (both stories)

Anankos's Invisible Demons kill Garon and he possesses his corpse to control Nohr. (first story only)

"Garon" ambushes Mikoto in Byakuya and kidnaps Corrin (who is later locked away in the Northern Tower), but is stopped from kidnapping Kamui thanks to Sumeragi happening to be in the area. (first story only)

Sumeragi grants Mikoto sanctuary in Byakuya and they marry. (happens earlier in the first story)

After Sakura's birth, Sumeragi later visits Chevalier City on diplomatic terms and is ambushed and killed by "Garon" for "attempting to instill chaos and treachery within Nohr". The citizens of Chevalier City knew of the truth and begin plotting a rebellion for the future. (first story only)

Due to both kingdoms having offended one another gravely, Mikoto and "Garon" reach a form of agreement to abstain from further conflict. (first story only)

Anankos's Invisible Demons ambush Mikoto in Nohr and kidnaps Corrin, but is stopped from kidnapping Kamui thanks to Garon happening to be in the area. Garon orders his troops to return the unconscious Mikoto and her son to Byakuya (having mistaken them for Byakuyajin). (second story only)

Garon tracks down the Invisible Demons who escaped and kills them, rescuing Corrin and declaring her as his own child, not knowing that she is Mikoto's kidnapped daughter, and locks her away in the Northern Tower for her entire growing life. (second story only)

Garon and Sumeragi come together and reach a form of agreement to abstain from further conflict. (second story only)

Sumeragi grants Mikoto sanctuary in Byakuya and they marry. (happens later in the second story)

Edited July 21, 2015 by BlueSunStudios

[Taka-kun]

Ah, the topic is finally up. Hopefully, you can keep this updated as your story progresses.

As for the family tree, I don't think it needs any changes. You can work a plot around that.

[Tactical-Pigeon]

Hm...you know, I'm going to say it now. I feel like if you're going to have these two split up on chapter 6...there might be some problems. 1. Cyrus, 2. Kaze at chapter 11, 3. King Garon. If you read both stories you'll get what I'm talking about, but i'm trying to be spoiler free

Edited July 21, 2015 by Wolfie (Noheart)

[Yari]

A person writing a Fates fanfic with two Kamuis and the Hoshido and Nohr stories happening at the same time and it's not me? I like you!

I found videos on youtube with the translated first five chapters and prologue together with the a few Hoshido chapters I can't give you the links but the name of the chanel is timmydayo the videos don't take to long to update and the translation itself looks good.

Good luck with your fic!

[Luankachu]

I found videos on youtube with the translated first five chapters and prologue together with the a few Hoshido chapters I can't give you the links but the name of the chanel is timmydayo the videos don't take to long to update and the translation itself looks good.

Seeing you say that reminded me of mentioning that someone is translating the Nohr route, though it takes some time for the translation to come out. That person's username is metoolazy and the last chapter they've done is chapter 9, which was one week ago.

[Tactical-Pigeon]

A person writing a Fates fanfic with two Kamuis and the Hoshido and Nohr stories happening at the same time and it's not me? I like you!

Apparently we're in the same group. Good luck to you

[Blue Sun]

Hm...you know, I'm going to say it now. I feel like if you're going to have these two split up on chapter 6...there might be some problems. 1. Cyrus, 2. Kaze at chapter 11, 3. King Garon. If you read both stories you'll get what I'm talking about, but i'm trying to be spoiler free

In the first story, unless your name is Aquazura, Izana, or Fuuga, you're either aligned with Byakuya (Hoshido) or Nohr (An'ya). This includes "both route" characters such as Felicia, Jakob, Suzukaze, and Silas.

A person writing a Fates fanfic with two Kamuis and the Hoshido and Nohr stories happening at the same time and it's not me? I like you!

I found videos on youtube with the translated first five chapters and prologue together with the a few Hoshido chapters I can't give you the links but the name of the chanel is timmydayo the videos don't take to long to update and the translation itself looks good.

Good luck with your fic!

I always found two Avatars more interesting than one, and I didn't want to write each route separately. I wanted one story that dealt with conflict between the two nations but I didn't want to just base the whole thing off of one route. The other story, Invisible Demon Kingdom, is about unity conversely. It will be a while until I get to the ninth Nohrian chapter, so hopefully a summary or translation comes up before then. And thanks for wishing me luck!

Seeing you say that reminded me of mentioning that someone is translating the Nohr route, though it takes some time for the translation to come out. That person's username is metoolazy and the last chapter they've done is chapter 9, which was one week ago.

As I said above it will take a while until I get there, but I really hope that more info comes up soon.

[Azz]

All this fan fiction talk makes me want to write my own.

Urgh, why must this happen.

Anyways, I was wandering, Blue(Can I call you Blue?), could you link me to your Reawakening fan fic.I heard about it in the full name topic and was quite interested but I could not find it.

[Blue Sun]

All this fan fiction talk makes me want to write my own.

Urgh, why must this happen.

Anyways, I was wandering, Blue(Can I call you Blue?), could you link me to your Reawakening fan fic.I heard about it in the full name topic and was quite interested but I could not find it.

Stuff like that happens, for better or worse.

You can call me Blue if you want. The link to Reawakening is here: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11060664/1/Fire-Emblem-Reawakening (though sadly it is on a hiatus of sorts for a few reasons and I only got up to half of the prologue/chapter 0 done). As I said many times before I want to get back to work on it when I can. I hate leaving stories unattended to.

[Azz]

Thanks for the link and take your time no rush.

I think I may hop on the fan fic band wagon and start coming up with a few drafts for a fic.

[Blade]

I'm glad to see some Fate/If fanfics going on here. I feel like I want to join the fanfic bandwagon too..... Is there more room for the bandwagon?

I wrote up a draft of Oboro and Hinata fighting Nohr bandits (It takes place before the choice).

Edited July 22, 2015 by Fanatic&Ecstatic

[Blue Sun]

Thanks for the link and take your time no rush.

I think I may hop on the fan fic band wagon and start coming up with a few drafts for a fic.

Thanks mate :).

Go for it.

I'm glad to see some Fate/If fanfics going on here. I feel like I want to join the fanfic bandwagon too..... Is there more room for the bandwagon?

I wrote up a draft of Oboro and Hinata fighting Nohr bandits (It takes place before the choice).

There's always more room in the wagon :).

[Taka-kun]

I just recently read the summary of Hoshido route (done by Kirokan I believe) and maybe you should as well, to give a groundwork and sense of direction that you want to go with Kamui's story. Some plot points will be lost because "your" Kamui never grew up in Nohr and won't have the same conflicts, so you might want to find a way to work around that.

That said, I am now even less inclined to do a fanfic of Fates because of how simplistic the Hoshido story is, as it's hard to fit in the themes that I discussed with you earlier. Gotta really rack my brain if I wanna do something clever out of it.

[Blue Sun]

I just recently read the summary of Hoshido route (done by Kirokan I believe) and maybe you should as well, to give a groundwork and sense of direction that you want to go with Kamui's story. Some plot points will be lost because "your" Kamui never grew up in Nohr and won't have the same conflicts, so you might want to find a way to work around that.

That said, I am now even less inclined to do a fanfic of Fates because of how simplistic the Hoshido story is, as it's hard to fit in the themes that I discussed with you earlier. Gotta really rack my brain if I wanna do something clever out of it.

I actually read that before. And I'll use that as a reference when I get to doing the Birthright exclusive chapters (still waiting on Nohr, and I really need that summery Kirokan). Yeah, some plot points are going to be lost, but I should be able to make up for them one way or another. Thanks again for contributing to the thread.

I only ever plan to do two full stories for Fates anyhow (three once I get more info on the DLC that isn't the Invisible Kingdom path) with the rest probably being one shots of stuff that happen at varying intervals.

By the way, I got 2759 words for the prologue/chapter 0 done as of right when I typed this. Once I get to the halfway marker (almost there), I'll post it somewhere in the forums for everyone to take a quick look at it. Maybe someone may catch something that I didn't when they go over it (and God do I hate seeing typos in my work), or they may just give a brief critique/review of what I've written so far. I'm getting real tired though; I stayed up all night doing the prologue/chapter 0 and laundry that I should have been finished since the afternoon. So I think I'll get some shut-eye after I get about half of the entry done and posted.

Edited July 22, 2015 by BlueSunStudios

[Azz]

Finally have a first draft done and a general idea of what the story will contain.(I just have no clue weather to make a topic or not and if so where XD)

Also can't wait to see the Chapter 0.

[Blue Sun]

I forgot to post the finished half of chapter 0 before I hit the hay a while ago. Since it's not a completed chapter yet I'll just post it here for sake of ease (when it's completed I'll publish it at FanFiction.net and in the forum's written section). I hope no one really has a problem with that.

Theme – Map E2R

Darkness…they were completely surrounded by nothing but darkness. Where were they? Perhaps they were outside; the ground beneath them felt soft and solid, and some blades of grass tickled their bare soles. Were they dead? It didn’t appear so; they felt a little winded but it was nothing that made them feel particularly drained or unnatural.

“Hey…wake up…” a nearby voice said. It was soothing yet urgent, and it was so very familiar. “Please, wake up…we need you out here…” What was going on? Whatever it was it sounded important judging by the tone of the speaker’s voice. Slowly, their eyes opened and the first thing they saw was a young woman with bright red hair gazing down upon them, looking worried. Beside her was a teenaged boy with silver hair and a young rose-haired girl, both of whom had similar expressions as the red-haired woman did. Their memory was foggy but it all started to come back to them.

“H-Hinoka-onēsan?” the awakened youth asked.

“Are you okay, Kamui?” the woman asked as she ran a hand through the youth’s head, looking for anything out of the ordinary. After several more seconds passed she sighed in relief and managed to smile. “Thank the shinryū above that you’re fine.”

“This is Kamui we’re talking about here Hinoka-onēsama,” the silver-haired boy said. “Nothing gets him down for long.”

“I know that Takumi but still, I can’t help but fret over him whenever he’s hurt.”

“Afraid that you’ll lose him like our other anē (sister) and ryōshin (parents)? Like I said, he’s tough to take out. And besides, if that ever came to pass I’d be dead beforehand, and I’m not.”

“Um, Hinoka-onēsama, Takumi-onīsama?” the rose-haired girl spoke. “Shouldn’t we…”

“Oh, yes, of course Sakura,” Hinoka said getting back on track. “Kamui, I know that this is probably going to scare you, but, we’re right out in the fields battling the An’ya army.”

“An’ya army?” Kamui asked. “Wait, you don’t mean—”

“Yes; we’re at war with our western neighbor, An’ya. They’re invading our home and we need you in top condition to help us drive them back.”

“If we’re at war, then where’s—”

“Ryōma-onīsama?” Takumi said. “He’s up ahead with the rest of the troops heading for An’ya’s daīchi-ōji, Marx. That man’s the one responsible for leading this attack. Onīsama wouldn’t leave your side until we convinced him that you were A-Okay with us, and obviously we were right.”

“Huh,” Kamui said. “I never thought we’d end up fighting a war. How’s it looking so far?”

“Not too sure,” Hinoka answered. “We have the advantage in that this is our territory, and we’re all pretty familiarized with it. On the other hand, we’re not really prepared for invasions. Our soldiers are mostly trained to defend our country from rogues within. If left unchecked, An’ya will literally trample all over us with their troops, especially their numerous cavalry.”

“My Fūjin Yumi should be able to pick off a few soldiers from a distance,” Takumi said, “but if they start getting up close and personal them I’m going to have a problem.”

“And Sakura is not exactly ready for battle just yet.” Sakura didn’t like being reminded of that but she said nothing, only meekly giving a short nod.

“If I had to guess, we’re not doing so well.” Kamui said.

“Figures that you’d think so, not that I entirely disagree. Here’s a gin no katana (silver sword) and a hi-katana (flying dagger) for you to use. Aqua gave us this ryūseki (dragonstone) for you to use before she left, but I’m not too sure about using it just yet.”

“Wait, if Marx-ōji is here, then wouldn’t that also mean that…” Kamui trailed off, turning blue in the face after having a scary thought come to him. “Hinoka-onēsama? On a scale of one to ten, how ready are we to take on—oh, I don’t know—bōrei kishi (revenant knights) and kurai kishi (dark knights)?”

“Together or separate—”

“And a kurai-ōjo (dark princess) who can transform into a ryū (dragon)?”

“…Together or separately?”

“Together.”

“…Two out of ten.”

“Yikes, I thought you might say that. Well, thanks for the heads up; now we know who to avoid.”

“I would say we have a fifty-fifty chance,” Takumi said. “Sure, they may be more experienced than us, but if we use our heads for this one we may be able to pull through. How about this strategy: I take on Camilla-ōjo since I just so happen to have the perfect anti-flying weapon despite the general disadvantage I have against her while Hinoka-onēsama engages Leon-ōji. She’s good at handling magical fighters like him and she always has a weapon triangle advantage against him.”

“Sounds reasonable enough,” Kamui said.

“Sounds suicidal Takumi,” Hinoka retorted. “They’re stated to be the elites of An’ya’s army, second only to Marx-ōji and Garon-ōsama themselves. Plus, you still didn’t exactly give us a guideline on how to deal with…Corrin…”

“I was working on that part,” Takumi said, not failing to notice the strained tone Hinoka spoke with when mentioning the Nohrian princess. “She can turn into a ryū, but we don’t have any weaponry that can deal with them aside of a Ryūjin-tatsu (Dragon God – Fifth Earthly Branch), and we don’t have any onmyōji (yin-yang masters) who can wield one if we had one anyways. So my suggested course of action is to take her out from a distance with our ranged units while she deals with a single unit. If she’s anything like Kamui, she likely doesn’t have complete control over her ryū form either.” Kamui shot Takumi an offended glare that went ignored as the Byakuya yumidzukai pondered more possibilities. “She’s a katana wielder and we have plenty of naginata and shuriken units on our side. How about we pair up the hard-hitters with defensive support units, or at least have some very balanced attackers go in and deal with her?”

“Or why not have me deal with her?” Kamui suggested. Takumi looked to him as if he had said a dumb joke before he broke out laughing. After he finished he stared at his elder brother with a deadpan face. “That’s stupid onīsan. Don’t be stupid.”

“I’m serious. If Corrin-ōjo is going to turn into a Ryū then why not fight fire with fire?”

“Are you suggesting that—”

“Let’s be honest here; how many people can stand up to the might of a ryū?”

“Not many, but I’m serious when I say that that’s a bad idea. You never fight fire with fire because that only fans the flames even more and you can burn yourself worse than ever. Whoever invented that point of view should be shot, preferably with something on fire for extra irony.”

“Come now Takumi, Kamui does have a point,” Hinoka said. “Ryū are far more powerful than us humans, even if we have ryū blood flowing through our veins. It’s best if we matched such a beast in strength.”

“Not you too…”

“Um, not to interrupt, but isn’t there someone else that we’re forgetting about?” Sakura suddenly asked. “I heard that the royal family of An’ya also has another member.”

“You mean Elise-ōjo?” Takumi answered. “I wouldn’t worry about her so much in comparison to the rest of her siblings, but she shouldn’t be overlooked. She’s a bō kishi (rod knight), and while he have a good deal of healers on our side most are not very mobile. She’ll be able to reach wounded soldiers in ‘what am I even looking at’ speeds. Try not to actually attack her until the others are down, or at least capture her instead to cause the opposing army lose some bit of morale.”

“Taking someone hostage? But, isn’t that dishonorable onīsama?”

“All’s fair in love and war Sakura, even kidnapping and murder; well maybe not when it comes to the love part but you get the idea. It’s better that you learn this now than later.”

“Then it’s settled,” Hinoka said. “We’ll take on the royal family first. Oh, and…Takumi?”

“Yes onēsama?”

“Try your absolute best to not kill Corrin. I understand that she’s spent some time in An’ya and that she’s our enemy but—”

“Spare me the lecture. I get the ‘she’s still family’ spiel and all that other jazz about looking for her for so many years—plus onīsama’s going to tan my hide raw if I do—but please, please don’t tell me to take it easy on her, otherwise that’s really crossing a line given her actions as of late.”

“Very well then, so long as you remember that. But we’ve talked long enough; on to victory for Byakuya!” The Byakuyajin siblings raised their weapons high into the air as they marched off to catch up to Ryōma.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Had a nice nap sleeping beauty?” a sarcastic voice came. “I told you that pushing yourself with your dragonstone is killer sis.”

“Save the sass for later Leo and just help me up,” a feminine voice came.

“Are you alright my dear Corrin?” an older female’s voice asked as she and Leo pulled their younger sister to her feet. “You were out for quite some time.”

“Oh yeah Cammy, I’m totally fine; nothing like waking up in the middle of nowhere which is working wonders for my psyche.”

“I apologize for the inconvenience but it’s urgent that you attend this battle with us; this day is the day that new history between Nohr and Hoshido shall be written.”

“And it’s going to be written in blood, either our enemies’ or our own,” Leo added.

“And I’d like to keep my own blood strictly inside of me thank you very much,” the youngest sister of the family said, “not that I really want anyone’s blood to be spilled to begin with but, ah, it can’t be helped.”

“Oh, hello there Elise, I didn’t see you th—” It was then that Corrin noticed something seemed off; she looked around for any sign of fighting and found that they all were quite removed from the battlefield. “Hold on a second; didn’t you all just say that we’re fighting Hoshido?”

“We are,” Leo answered, “but Xander ordered us to hang back from the fighting until you were done with nap-time.”

“So does that mean that Xander is already up ahead?” Corrin asked ignoring Leo’s jests.

“Yup!” Elise answered. “He said that he didn’t want you using your dragonstone again so soon but Leo convinced him that you’ll need it for this.”

“It’s a good thing that we studied the Hoshidan army in preparation for this,” Leo said with a confident grin. “Prince Ryoma’s come to challenge Xander as expected, and it’s not just him either; Princess Hinoka, Prince Takumi, Princess Sakura, and even…Prince Kamui…are all accounted for.”

“Kamui?” Corrin asked, her voice gaining a hostile edge to it. “You mean that he’s here? Now?”

“Yes, and I know that you’re still tense over what happened but let’s try to keep a cool head here sis; cooler heads don’t make mistakes that they’ll immediately regret at the very least.”

“True…still, when I do see him again I will let him have it.”

“Just try not to kill him alright?”

“I’m not promising anything but I’ll make an effort to try to restrain myself a little. Anyways, what of the other royal siblings? How do we deal with them?”

“I’m glad that you asked. First off, we’re not going up against Ryoma, period; if you wanted suicide you’re better off doing it yourself. Next there’s Princess Hinoka; she’s a pegasus warrior but we hardly have any bow users in our army, but no matter. She can handle magic fairly well so Camilla should deal with her; pegasus warriors are known for being physically frail and a few good ol’ swings from Camilla’s brave axe will bring Hinoka to her knees, and she has Ragnarök in case her brave axe doesn’t work out. Then there’s Takumi; the guy’s a huge threat against a lot of our soldiers–and especially against but needless to say—our wyvern riding units, but as a bowman he’s a pushover when engaged up close, especially against magic. That’s where I come in, using Brynhildr to shred him like the paper tiger he is. Princess Sakura is the priestess of the group, and thus should be of a higher priority than her older siblings because of her ability to heal others with staves. Capture her to lower the Hoshidans’ morale but don’t harm her under any circumtances. And of course, there’s Kamui; he’s a sword-wielder like you and can transform into a dragon, unsurprisingly.”

“In hindsight it’s unsurprising,” Corrin said with a sour face. “But by now we know.”

“And knowing is half the battle. By the way, I managed to snag this for you to use against him.” Leo handed Corrin a large and jagged sword, causing her eyes to widen.

“This is—”

“A wyrmslayer. It’s very effective against dragon units and almost any experienced sword-wielder can use it, but it’s not so great when used against anything else. And I got you your dragonstone and a silver sword for use against anything that isn’t Kamui.”

“‘Anything that isn’t Kamui’ implies that they have no dragons in Hoshido.”

“Correct.”

“Well, at least we’re off on the right foot. And…what about Hoshido’s hallowed treasures?”

“All are accounted for, even the Yato sword from the spies’ reports.”

“…We are really getting off on the right foot today. All five hallowed treasures in one place…I can hardly contain my excitement.”

“They say that whosoever gathers all five of them shall be nigh-unstoppable,” Camilla said. “Xander’s Siegfried and Leo’s Brynhildr are two of the five treasures.”

“I’m assuming that Princes Ryoma and Takumi have two others?” Corrin asked Camilla.

“I believe so; Ryoma wields the Thunder God Sword while Takumi wields the Wind God Bow. I don’t know who would have the Night Sword God, or ‘Yato’ as the Hoshidans call it.”

“Actually that’s short for ‘Yatōgami’ from what I’ve read.” Leon added. “The shortened variation is used by a few Nohrians while others like us use its more direct translation ‘Night Sword God’, but the Hoshidans call it by its full name. Anyways, Ryoma currently has it but he’s not actually wielding it. I believe that he may be plotting to use it for something.”

“Whatever it is we’ll beat him to the punch,” Corrin added confidently. “Soon the Night Sword God will be ours to command, and the Hoshidan army will be child’s play once we have it in our grasp.”

“I can’t help but agree with that one Corrin.”

“Well then, if the game is to procure these hallowed treasures…” Camilla said.

“Then let’s play!” Elise finished. “On to victory for Nohr!” With their plan set the Nohrian quartet made their way toward the battlefield where their eldest brother waited for their return.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Theme – Crisis E1

Ryōma clutched the Raijin Katana in his hand so tight that one would have thought he saw it as a part of his own body. He took a rather small group of samurai, sōjutushi (lance fighters), and tenma musha (pegasus warriors) with him as he sprinted to where he could see the Nohrian prince. Once he and his troops crossed a small bridge across the river, they were all met with the sight of lancers in formation as they awaited their orders.

“Well damn,” Ryōma cursed in annoyance. “Nothing like a good ol’-fashioned home invasion taken to its logical extreme. Well, brothers-in-arms—and sisters-in-arms—the only way past is to cut through them. Any objections?” The only sound heard was silence. “My thoughts exactly.”

“Ryōma-sama, look atop that hill!” one of his soldiers announced. “That mounted knight in black armor, is that daīchi-ōji of An’ya, ‘Marx’?”

“Where‽” His eyes were led by a samurai’s finger to a lone, conspicuous hill, and on that hill stood the very object of his ire: Xander. “That has to be him; no one would ever make themselves that noticeable unless they wanted to be seen, and Marx must want me to see him.” Xander himself had already spotted the Byakuya-ōji before he made it across the bridge, regarding him with a calm and calculated gaze.

“So this is the crown prince of Hoshido,” he said to himself. “He resembles his father so strongly. No matter though; his heritage to the former king will not pull him through this battle.” A distant sound caught his ears and he turned to spot the source; it was his siblings all on their way to the site of war, with none looking worse for wear. He would’ve smiled at the sight had the atmosphere not been as tense as his father was during his worse days. With everyone in the Nohrian army present he gave the signal for the lancers to advance and attack; Ryōma saw this and with a mighty shout he charged forward, leading his entourage into the fray.

Ryōma cut down the first lancer he came into contact with, sending a powerful shock through their body that left them a convulsing, sizzling heap. To avoid getting hit he quickly leapt into the air and footstool jumped off of a dozen of his enemies, distracting them while his soldiers rushed through them. Once he was touching down on ground once more he was greeted by several lancers surrounding him; they didn’t last very long against him as he took them all out with a small number of wide-horizontal slashes, sending electricity everywhere he swung. Behind him were his troops who caught up with him, passing him by as they advanced ahead to engage the enemy; he stood to his feet and directed a fierce glare to the Nohrian army before him.

“Behold, An’ya soldiers,” Ryōma announced, “for I am the daīchi-ōji of Byakuya: Yamato Ryōma!” The Byakuya-ōji then directed his finger toward his Nohrian nemesis. “I challenge your commander to a one-on-one duel to end this bloody conflict between us once and for all!”

‘“An’ya”…’ Xander thought for a moment, ‘so that is what these Hoshidans call us? Interesting.’ “Behold, Hoshido soldiers,” Xander spoke, “for I am the first and crown prince of Nohr: Xander Plantagenet. If it is a duel you seek from me then it is a duel you shall receive, but I shall warn you; this hallowed sword of Nohr shall be the last thing you’ll ever lay eyes upon!” Emphasizing his point, Xander drew forth his weapon – Siegfried – and a dark miasma erupted around the blade, shrouding it in thick darkness. With a war cry of his own he and his horse leapt down from the hill and landed perfectly in attack mode, slicing through several Byakuya soldiers in his path without skipping a beat. Seeing the sight of his enemy barreling toward him made the Byakuya-ōji sprint at full speed to meet his galloping opponent; both men lunged straight at each other with their weapons aimed at their nemesis, and when the weapons clashed with each other in a display of bright sparks, the war had truly begun.

That's the first half of chapter 0. It's meant to evoke the feel of the game's chapter 0 proper but with a few extra elements added to it. The second half will be combat-based, as per my original style with Reawakening's first iteration. Anything in bold and italicized parenthesis are translations. Thoughts? Comments?

Edited July 28, 2015 by BlueSunStudios

[Luankachu]

Sorry I took so long. I was asleep. Some ideas I have is maybe add a translation for some japanese terms in parenthesis for people who aren't fluent in japanese? After all, not everyone will know what a Soujutsushi (Lance Fighter) or a Tenma Musha (Tenma Warrior) is (Which, by the way, you spelled as Soujutushi [i have no idea how to put that line above the "o"] and Tenma Mushi, near the end, right after "Theme - Crisis E1".)

While looking up what a Soujutsushi is, I found this, which shows the official spelling for the characters and classes: http://fireemblemwiki.org/wiki/Name_chart/Fire_Emblem_Fates.

(I recommend using the Hepburn translation for Japanese classes simply because it feels weird to read Siro no Ketuzoku instead of Shiro no Ketsuzoku, for example).

Also, you typed "Takumi looked to him as if he had said a dumb joke before her broke out laughing"

"Lord Ryōma, look atop that hill!" Shouldn't it be Ryoma-sama instead of Lord Ryoma?

Also, shouldn't the Byakuyajin siblings refer to themselves with the Japanese Sibling Terminology like "Hinoka-neesan/Hinoka-neesama", "Kamui-niisama/Kamui-niisan", "Takumi-niisama" (Older siblings tend to refer to the younger ones by name instead of by title. From what I remember of Gameplay videos, Kamui uses "san" and Sakura uses "sama". I don't know what Takumi uses. Likewise, Kamui uses Hahaue and Sakura uses Kaa-sama for Mikoto). Information found here: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/JapaneseSiblingTerminology?from=Main.JapaneseSiblingTerminology

If I'm remembering correctly, one of Sakura's traits is that she uses honorofics for everyone, so this link might be useful. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/JapaneseHonorifics?from=Main.JapaneseHonorifics

For the story itself, I greatly enjoyed reading it. "Not many, but I’m serious when I say that that’s a bad idea. You never fight fire with fire because that only fans the flames even more. Whoever invented that point of view should be shot, preferably with something on fire for extra irony." and "And I’d like to keep my own blood strictly inside of me thank you very much" Got some laughs out of me. It was interesting to see the strategical planning elements about the battle before the battle started. One more thing, I can understand why the Byakuyajin want to keep Corrin alive, but why do the Nohrians need Kamui alive?

[Blue Sun]

Sorry I took so long. I was asleep. Some ideas I have is maybe add a translation for some japanese terms in parenthesis for people who aren't fluent in japanese? After all, not everyone will know what a Soujutsushi (Lance Fighter) or a Tenma Musha (Tenma Warrior) is (Which, by the way, you spelled as Soujutushi [i have no idea how to put that line above the "o"] and Tenma Mushi, near the end, right after "Theme - Crisis E1".)

While looking up what a Soujutsushi is, I found this, which shows the official spelling for the characters and classes: http://fireemblemwiki.org/wiki/Name_chart/Fire_Emblem_Fates.

(I recommend using the Hepburn translation for Japanese classes simply because it feels weird to read Siro no Ketuzoku instead of Shiro no Ketsuzoku, for example).

Also, you typed "Takumi looked to him as if he had said a dumb joke before her broke out laughing"

"Lord Ryōma, look atop that hill!" Shouldn't it be Ryoma-sama instead of Lord Ryoma?

Also, shouldn't the Byakuyajin siblings refer to themselves with the Japanese Sibling Terminology like "Hinoka-neesan/Hinoka-neesama", "Kamui-niisama/Kamui-niisan", "Takumi-niisama" (Older siblings tend to refer to the younger ones by name instead of by title. From what I remember of Gameplay videos, Kamui uses "san" and Sakura uses "sama". I don't know what Takumi uses. Likewise, Kamui uses Hahaue and Sakura uses Kaa-sama for Mikoto). Information found here: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/JapaneseSiblingTerminology?from=Main.JapaneseSiblingTerminology

If I'm remembering correctly, one of Sakura's traits is that she uses honorofics for everyone, so this link might be useful. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/JapaneseHonorifics?from=Main.JapaneseHonorifics

For the story itself, I greatly enjoyed reading it. "Not many, but I’m serious when I say that that’s a bad idea. You never fight fire with fire because that only fans the flames even more. Whoever invented that point of view should be shot, preferably with something on fire for extra irony." and "And I’d like to keep my own blood strictly inside of me thank you very much" Got some laughs out of me. It was interesting to see the strategical planning elements about the battle before the battle started. One more thing, I can understand why the Byakuyajin want to keep Corrin alive, but why do the Nohrians need Kamui alive?

Thanks for the suggestions. I was actually pondering about whether I should use the Japanese honourifics or not (and have translations for the Byakuya exclusive stuff) considering that I might start using them to a point where readers may get incensed (whereas we say sister and brother, they use the the honourifics), but I'm already using actual Japanese terminology here and there so it can't hurt much if at all. Also, thanks for the typo catch with Takumi; I tend not to notice typos when I'm sleepy. I'm using Microsoft Word Office and I'm using a combination of keys to get the o with the macron (line) above it. That saves me the trouble of having to copy-pasta when making the documents. And yeah, for everything Byakuya related I'm going by the hepburn romanizations (such as Shiro no Ketsuzoku rather than Siro no Ketsuzoku).

I'm glad that you like it so far. :)

And the Nohrians needing Kamui alive? That's easy: "Garon" told them the same thing Mikoto told the Byakuyajin (guess who's totally bullshitting).

EDIT: The last post's been edited based on Luankachu's suggestions. As of right now there are 4307 words for Chapter 0 (When White and Dark Clash). And for anyone curious about the names, I'll post them all up on this thread real soon. Also, with news that there will be DLC released once every week until the 20th of next month, I'm considering integrating them into the story in some manner.

Edited July 23, 2015 by BlueSunStudios

[Blue Sun]

The next portion of "When White and Dark Clash" is done. Here it is:

Theme – Map C1R

The four royals from each side had finally arrived on the battlefield proper and saw that everyone in their respective armies were engaged with each other. From their point of view they couldn’t see any of their opposing counterparts, so for the time being they settled on taking out any enemy soldiers in the surrounding area that happened to somehow cross over to their side.

Byakuya Side

Takumi set his sights on a wyvern rider who managed to cross the river without any scrapes, immediately charging an ethereal ya (arrow) with a grass-green tinge of energy surrounding it.

“Easy pickings,” Takumi said with a grin, letting the arrow fly at the flier and utterly dropping them with a single shot to the heart. The wyvern itself flew away startled from the death of its rider. “Tch, they could not have made it any easier to get killed even if they tried. Ah well; I better move on to my next target.” Takumi spotted a knight within range and went over to attack them while Hinoka was busy with a mercenary.

“I’ll show you!” Hinoka shouted before moving toward a mercenary, giving off a light-green aura. With her gin no naginata (silver naginata) she struck the enemy first dealing hefty damage to him, swiftly dodging a counter-swipe from his silver sword. The tenma musha was fast enough to sneak in another blow, finishing off the Nohrian grunt with a shuttle-loop attack. The light-green aura dissipated from the Byakuya royal as her youngest brother came up to her. “Why do I get the feeling that this is too easy?”

“Maybe because the An’ya soldiers are just that weak?” Takumi answered. “Or do you think that they’re trying to soften us up with easy kills? Either way at least we’re not dead yet.”

“‘Yet’?”

“I’m not trying to kid myself into thinking that we will win this; we may if we play our cards right, but even then all it takes is just one little thing to completely ruin any hope of victory.” Hinoka couldn’t help but sigh at her younger brother’s quasi-pessimistic attitude even if he was ultimately right, but she didn’t need such depressing thoughts on her mind. “I’m not trying to make you feel all ‘oh gods everything boils down to chance’ even if it comes down to that somewhat often.”

“I know that. Just…keep your chin up and your head high.”

“If I do that then my neck’s exposed to attacks. You wouldn’t want that for one of your precious otōto would you?”

“Less smart-ass comments and more fighting, otōto-chan.” Takumi’s eye visibly twitched at the way that Hinoka addressed him though he knew that he brought it on himself. Hinoka saw that a fighter was creeping up on the unsuspecting Kamui who looked lost. “Kamui, look out!”

“Huh‽” The warning came a little too late; the fighter was able to deliver a hefty slash to Kamui’s back, causing him to stagger forward for a bit. The ōjo and her mount were already rushing to Kamui’s side when he took a pained swing at the fighter only to miss, and as the fighter leapt at him to deliver a likely fatal blow his silver axe was met with a gin no naginata from Hinoka. It was Hinoka’s turn to deliver an attack of her own, driving her naginata straight through the Nohrian grunt and causing him to back away in agony.

“Sit still Kamui!” He did as he was told and Hinoka moved his cape aside to inspect the wound; she almost freaked when she saw the rather large gash in his back. “I have a kizu kusuri (vulnerary) on me right now; you’ll need this more than I do.” Hinoka poured out some of the salve onto her hand and took hold of Kamui’s shoulder with the other hand. “I’m going to have to ask you to stay as still as possible…”

“Yes Hinoka-onēsama—”

“Because this is going to hurt a lot.” Before the younger ōji could ask why he felt something stinging reach into his open back, gasping out in pain. “I know that it hurts really bad Kamui but stay with me on this one.” Kamui did his best to not scream and retract his body much as he felt his sister’s fingers run deep inside him, rubbing the stinging medicine all over everything that she could touch. After getting the medicine inside and at the entrance of the gash, Hinoka sat and waited for it to take effect; it didn’t take long for the solution to start seeping into Kamui’s flesh, and in no time new skin was forming so that the wound was closed once it had finished. It left a small scar where the injury was but other than that it didn’t hurt to the point where it would cause the Byakuya-ōji any problems.

“Thanks Hinoka-onēsama.”

“You’re very welcome, though do be more careful out here; I know that this is your first real fight but these An’yajin are here to conquer us, and who knows what they’ll do to our people. Don’t give them that chance; give them hell for ever daring to mess with our home.”

“Right.”

“As long as we stick together we can drive out these cowards from Byakuya. Now let’s get back into the fray!” The sound of the shouts of the fighter from earlier alerted the two nobles to his presence; the second time around Kamui got the jump on him first, jump slashing the man and displacing some of his armor. He took a second swing and still managed to land a hit on Kamui despite his own injuries, only the wound wasn’t so significant like the first one was. The fighter backed away to gain some distance from his enemies, but it was in vain as Kamui leapt at him and pinned him to the ground with his katana. The ōji breathed a breath of relief and sat down to catch a respite of relief while his present siblings dashed up to him.

“Now’s not the time to be taking a breather onīsama,” Takumi scolded. “We still got some An’ya troops headed this way.”

“Can’t help it Takumi,” Kamui said. “Not really used to fighting like this.”

“Well you better start now, because I get the feeling that this won’t be the last we’ll be dealing with An’ya.”

“Are you hurt Kamui-onīsama?” Sakura asked in a fret. “H-here, let me fix you up.” The miko recited a chant and held her harumatsuri hanaegushi (bloom festival baton) above her onīsama’s head, and flashing images of o-fuda surrounded her and Kamui while the wound on his chest healed. Even though the injury was gone Kamui didn’t exactly feel too keen on standing atop his own two feet again.

“You seem to be a little out of it today Kamui. Granted, you weren’t given much time to recuperate from your transformation incident, but we…er, I was worried about leaving you behind as we went out to war, and I suppose I got desperate and decided to bring you along despite onīsama’s misgivings about you being on the battlefield so soon.”

“Like I said onēsama, you worry too much,” Takumi said. “He’ll be fine with or without us, and the same can be said in reverse.”

“…I know that, but I just…can’t help it……I’ll go find out where onīsama is. You three sit tight, I’ll be back…” Hinoka’s tenma (pegasus) didn’t need to be told to take off, flapping its wings and carrying its entire mass and its rider into the skies. Watching his onēsama go, Takumi couldn’t help but let out a small sigh.

“She really hasn’t been the same in a long time. And to think that she may have gotten a bit worse now that Corrin’s resurfaced for the first time in years, albeit under very horrifying conditions.”

“Onēsama wasn’t always like this Takumi-onīsama?” Sakura asked.

“No. She was pretty cheery back then, very respectful, she still is respectful even now, and wasn’t so overprotective of the family. Then again, she was always the one who was the most attached to us all, and to this day she’s still the most thoughtful and caring of the family. I guess all of that love and care became twisted into fear of losing her family after otōsama (father) was killed. It got worse when she found out that she had an anē who was kidnapped before okāsan (mother) and otōsama married. And then it got even worse as of late after Corrin came and…when okāsan was killed. And don’t even get me started on when onīsan freaked and transformed into a ryū before everyone’s eyes. I‘ve never seen onēsama cry so much after what happened back at the capital.”

“Poor onēsama…”

“I know that I don’t say this often but, she will pull through Sakura, no matter how hard it is for her; she’s a tough girl.” Kamui remembered Hinoka’s breakdown all too well and how he wished he was conscious then so that he could comfort her. Hinoka was never one to hide her feelings but he felt awful just not being there for her when she was at her lowest. He mentally swore to himself that whenever he got the chance that he’d really thank her for all she did for him and swear that he’d always look after her.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nohr Side

Leo’s sharp eyes caught the sight of an injured sōjutushi on his way over to him; the prince did nothing and waited for the Byakuyajin to enter the bluish and devilish wide surrounding him, laughing cruelly when the sōjutushi missed. “What’s the matter Hoshidan? Don’t you have the weapon advantage? Surely this should have been easier for you despite your injuries.”

“Don’t you mock me An’ya refuse!” the sōjutushi snarled, failing to notice the ever-so-slight shift in Leo’s facial expression. “You invade our lands, kill our queen, and you dare have the gall to—”

“I—I’m sorry, could you repeat that first part? I don’t think I exactly caught it.”

“I said, you invade our lands—”

“No, no, no, before that. What was that about me being ‘An’ya refuse’?” Upon hearing his own words the sōjutushi visibly went pale in the face as Leo’s cocky smile faded, right before a violet flame erupted around Leo. “Yeah, see, that’s what I thought.” Immediately the sōjutushi was bound by pitch-black vines of dark magic with glowing red outlines, and following that Leo cast Brynhildr on the Byakuyajin; trees erupted from the ground below the Byakuyajin and turned him into a typical Mortal Kombat spike pit victim. “You can invade our lands, kill our king, but never spit out racism towards us Nohrians in my presence.” The words were the last the sōjutushi heard before everything faded to black for him, his body going limp in seconds before the trees disappeared and his body fell to the ground. Leo couldn’t help but give a sour look even after his prey met their end, watching as green energy left the fallen soldier and enter him. “Tch, I don’t need to hear that garbage. If I wanted to listen to racism I’d have stayed home with father and the other Nohrians and watch them harass our darker-skinned brethren and call them ni—”

“Goodness gracious little Leo,” Camilla said. “Don’t you think that that was a tad overkill for the poor creature?”

“He was asking for it sis. And who are you to come to me about overkill anyways? Heh, they should’ve crowned you queen in that department.”

“Touché my little brother, but you shouldn’t be following my example; I’m such a bad girl~.”

“So do as you say and not as you do?”

“Precisely.”

“That’s hypocrisy at its finest, but oh well; at least you’re an example of what not to do.”

“Don’t make fun of me little brother.”

“Sure, sure, or else you’ll kick my arse.”

“Good to know that you understand me crystal clear.” Leo shot Camilla an eye-rolling glance and a smirk before he rode off to his next victim, with Camilla smiling at him as he left. “That child is such a darling little thing, but for Anankos’s sake he has a forged silver sword for a tongue.” The eldest Nohr princess laughed softly at that and signaled her mount to slink toward her latest opponent; a lone shinobi had snuck across the river and was scanning his surroundings, not noticing the Nohrian princess creep up on him. He did get an eerie sensation when she drew near and attempted to move to lose the feeling; he was too late because dark vines entrapped him. He turned his head and found a horrifying sight, that of the revenant knight princess cloaked in a violet flame and gazing at him ominously.

“Aren’t you just one of the cutest ninjas I’ve ever seen?” came Camilla’s soft voice, with her emanating the same devilish wind Leo did. “It’s such a shame that I must kill you. I do promise that it shouldn’t hurt too much.” The panicked shinobi pulled out his makibishi (spikes) in a hurry right before Camilla slashed at him; she missed, allowing him to counterattack. “Ooh!” Camilla yelped, feeling the sting where the makibishi struck her. The dark flames surrounding her grew ever-so-slightly larger, and after pulling the shuriken out of her she gave a small glare at the shinobi. “You know, that was very naughty of you…” Her face darkened while her eyes took on a ruby sheen, and she and her mount began spewing a violet flame breath within two yards of them. The shinobi knew right then and there that he was screwed, for as he tried to move the dark vines kept him in place as his executioner rose her axe up high. He prayed to the shinryū of Byakuya that the princess killed him in one stroke; his prayer was answered, though not as he could have expected. Camilla put so much energy into the swing that she split the shinobi in two from top to bottom, getting some blood splattered onto her. Afterward she appeared to turn to normal, but shortly afterward she felt strange; she moved around and felt very sluggish and light. “Ugh, what did that ninja hit me with?” She looked to where she discarded the makibishi with her blood on it, her eyes widening in shock when she finally recognized the weapon. “Oh dear…”

Almost on cue she felt something very sharp pierce her through her back, shrieking when it lodged itself in her spine and falling off of her mount. She tried looking up from where she laid and found a yumidzukai and a samurai together, both of whom looked somewhat torched. “Oh dear…” Camilla repeated seeing the samurai rush over to slay her. Before he reached her something was galloping toward her and fast; an armored horse sped in front of her, a clang was heard, and Camilla felt herself dragged off of the ground and onto the same horse. A Nohrian paladin swooped by and rescued her from the samurai’s fatal attack, and her wyvern quickly tailed behind them.

“Thank goodness I came by in time Lady Camilla,” the paladin said with relief in his voice.

“Thank goodness indeed…I was sure that I’d be sleeping with the flowers back there…” As the paladin carted her away to a safer area she turned to see the Byakuyajin who attacked her, finding Leo and Corrin fighting them. Neither of the two grunts lasted long; Leo wrecked the yumidzukai utterly with his cold-sword, and Corrin herself followed suit with the samurai. Camilla smiled knowing that her siblings were taking care of business in Xander’s absence.

“Omigosh, Cammy!” Elise nearly screamed in fear when she saw her oldest sister slouching against the paladin with a gin no ya (silver arrow) in her back. The paladin climbed off of his horse before helping the injured princess down, and Elise rushed over to Camilla with a recover staff with her. “Stay still big sis, ‘cause this is gonna hurt a bit.” Elise carefully grasped the shaft stuck inside of Camilla and slowly tried pulling it out, drawing a pained gasp from the woman once the object slid out of her with ease. Blood began pouring out from the wound like a faucet. “Hang on sis, I’m almost done.” At that time Leo and Corrin came rushing up to the group, inspecting how their big sister was doing.

“That’s quite the gash there sis,” Leo said. “Good thing Michael here saw you when he did.”

“Don’t you worry about those hicks,” Corrin said, “me and Leo did a little bit of taking out the trash.” Her comments earned a raised brow from everyone present (even the mounts).

“Erm, Corrin?” Camilla said. “I appreciate you and Leo taking care of the enemy but, do you suppose that you could, well…”

“Act like less of a racist?” Leo said for her. “Seriously, I just got through with a lance fighter who was—”

“Aaand done!” Elise interrupted, finishing the healing process and shifting the conversation to something else. “That outta feel nice huh big sis?”

“Very nice Elise,” Camilla said. “I still feel very drained though; that ninja sure knew what he was doing back there.”

“Was it the spikes?” Leo asked.

“Yes.”

“Those things need to be watched out for. The effects should last for a whole minute before going away completely, so you don’t have much longer to suffer from them.”

“You killed the ninja already?” Corrin asked.

“Yes,” Camilla answered.

“That’s good then. Michael, thank you for rescuing my elder sister from those hi—er, Hoshidans when you did.”

“It was my pleasure Lady Corrin,” the paladin said. “Is there anything else I can do for you all?”

“No thank you; that will be all for now.” Michael gave a quick salute and climbed back atop of his horse before riding off to the battlefield. Once the paladin was out of earshot and sight Leo and Camilla both started glaring at Corrin while Elise sheepishly looked away.

“We will discuss this later young lady,” Camilla said in a low tone. “For now let’s find out where Xander is.”

“Knowing him he’s probably on the other side of the river already,” Leo suggested. “I don’t think he needs much help against Ryoma but let’s try to locate him just to be sure.” With that everyone climbed back onto their mounts while Corrin transformed into her dragon form, riding off to find their elder brother. Corrin tried to keep her mind off of the earful she was guaranteed to have once the battle was over – provided that they all survived it – and focused on her next course of action: to steal the Yatōgami from Ryōma and use it to crush his army.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Why are you doing this to us Xander, An’ya-ōji?” Ryōma questioned. “First you kidnap Corrin, then you kill otōsama and then okāsama…and now this‽ This invasion was your doing…wasn’t it?” Xander kept himself silent much to the ire of the Byakuya-ōji as the two of them stood in an isolated section in the plains. “Answer me!”

“…I’ve no words for my enemy.” Xander calmly stated, angering Ryōma further, “nor do I wish to heed his words; I am not here for talk. All you need to know is that we are here to conquer Hoshido. Surrender now and I will spare you and your army from the sting of Nohr. If not…then this is the part where you shall fall.” As Xander prepared his attack his body gave off a red glow and became coated in a golden sheen, his face darkened while his eyes turned red, and both his and his horse’s breaths turned into deadly purple flames. Siegfried itself took on a gold glow and Xander rushed at the Byakuya prince, looking as if he was a demon. Ryōma was caught off guard by the prince’s appearance and took the blow, feeling extremely faint afterwards and losing some of his armor. He wasn’t out of the fight just yet; as Xander returned to normal to catch his breath for a moment Ryōma was ready to counterattack.

“Delay the first strike…” Ryōma muttered under his breath, “…only to strike back twice as hard‼” His Raijin Katana glowed a brilliant sky blue sheen and the lightning that constantly danced around the blade turned into a light green color. Right before Ryōma rushed to slice at the Nohrian prince the Raijin Katana briefly flashed red just as it did before he was hit by Xander. Xander realized that Ryōma was still capable of fighting a bit too late, raising his shield in an effort to block the strikes. It was futile; Ryōma stabbed the man once and he was already reeling from the lightning coursing through him. Ryōma didn’t let up either, slashing him vertically three times and then finishing off the combo with a horizontal slash. Now both of the royals had lost a fair deal of armor, with the kensei (sword saint) and the paladin heavily injured and staring the other down.

“You won’t win this…” Xander panted out. “The Nohrian army is far more experienced than Hoshido can prepare for…You’re only delaying the inevitable…”

“If you think that we’re going to let you invaders come and take our home away from us, then you have another thing coming to you An’ya-ōji,” Ryōma growled out. “Mark my words; An’ya will fail invariably against the indomitable spirit of Byakuya!” On the “Nohrian” side of the field the royal siblings made it to the area where the brothers were dueling…only to find that the bridge on both sides of the two were collapsed. Anybody who could fly had no problems crossing over, but everyone else had to take the long way around, and the long way was jam-packed with soldiers duking it out.

“Just our luck,” Corrin grumbled. “The damn bridge is out, and I can’t swim worth a damn either.”

“Why would you even try to swim in the river to begin with?” Leo said. “It’ll carry your arse right out of here if you fall in it.”

“How else would anyone get across?”

“Maybe they were dropped off by fliers? Maybe they crossed these bridges before they went out? Or maybe they got lucky with the stream.”

“How are we going to get to Xander now?” Elise said. “I don’t want to have to go the long way around and he looks like he’s in trouble.”

“Goodness gracious children…I assure you, nothing can get in the way of us royals for long. In fact, we have an easy solution to this.”

“What do you mean?” Leo asked. “The bridges are out and the only quick way across is through the river stream. Obviously, horses can’t cross water and you and Corrin are the only ones who can fly over there, but I wish there was something we could do about this blasted water…if only we could get rid…of…it…” A eureka moment came to Leo and he promptly smacked himself on the forehead. “Duh! How else would we get rid of this stream?”

“What, are you guys referring to the—”

“Yes, our Dragon Veins!” Leo answered Corrin.

“I was wondering when it would come to you my genius little brother,” Camilla said in a teasing tone.

“Don’t make fun of me sis.”

“Fine, fine, or else you’ll humiliate me. Anyways, why don’t I handle this little issue?” Camilla’s wyvern pulled up to the edge of the river and the princess cleared her thoughts of anything that didn’t have to do with clearing the river. “O’ great Anankos, hallowed father who resides within the heavens, heed your daughter’s wish: grant me the strength to displace this body of water so that we may reach our fellow dragonkin…” Camilla channeled her latent dragon powers from within her to her hands, a ball of fire slowly burning into existence. “I command this breath of fire that which scorches even the seas to make this vast river disappear‼” The princess raised her hand and fired the fireball skyward, watching as it dove into the river. Within seconds the water was evaporating at a rapid pace until it was no more, reaching even its source further ahead.

“Awesome! The river’s gone!” Elise cheered. “Now we can go help Xander out! Kinda feel sorry for the Hoshidans who use this river though.”

“Quite,” Camilla said. “Have no worries my dear Elise; those who are descended from the dragons of old are very capable of restoring it to its former glory. But now is not that time.”

“Now’s the time to go make sure that Xander’s not dying,” Leo said. “And by the way Elise, you should probably hang back for a bit; stay close to us but don’t go off far. Some of the Hoshidans here might try to take you hostage since you’re not ready for combat yet. Just let me, Corrin, and Camilla handle the enemy troops.” Hinoka was on her way to find Ryōma when she found the river completely gone, and worse was that the royal Nohrian siblings were crossing it.

“The hell?” Hinoka cursed. “What befell the river? It was there just a second ago! Those accursed An’ya soldiers—no, the ōji and ōjo of An’ya dried it up with their ryū myaku (dragon vein)…I better hurry over to onīsama and make sure he’s fine. We’ve lost enough of our family already…” She gave her tenma a small gesture and it sped up its pace, scanning the ground below for its rider’s onīsama. Soon it spotted what looked like an overgrown lobster, but upon closer inspection the tenma realized that it was Ryōma; it also saw Xander – the Nohrian prince – and—much to its horror—the rest of the Nohrian siblings closing in. It whinnied in distress hoping that Hinoka noticed it. “What’s wrong Shīda?” It whinnied again while pointing its head toward the Nohrians. “Oh no…no, no, no, nononono—” Hinoka didn’t need to tell Shīda to speed up while Hinoka prayed that she could reach Ryōma before the royal siblings did.

“Heh, this wasn’t a long trip,” Leo said. “Just a skip and a hop on over and we’re almost—wait, look guys. What’s that up there in the sky?”

“…Is it a bird?” Elise asked with a smile.

“Elise, I swear, you just couldn’t wait to make that ref—”

“It’s Princess Hinoka!” Corrin shouted.

“It is?” Leo asked. “Holy crap, it is!”

“Shoot her down before she gets to Ryoma!” Camilla and Leo tried pulling out their Ragnarök and Ginnungagap tomes respectively and began firing at the Byakuya-ōjo, barely missing her.

“Gyahh‼ I am not dying here today!” She and her mount made a dive-bomb motion to reach the ground faster.

“She’s almost there!” Corrin said. “Shoot her!”

“We’re trying!” Leo said. “It’s hard to hit a moving target when you’re moving you know!”

“If only I had a draw staff on me!” Elise said. Hinoka managed to evade all of the magi blasts and touched down safely, and she found Ryōma still battling the Nohrian prince.

“Onīsama!” Hinoka called out, momentarily stopping the fight between the two royals.

“Hinoka?” Ryōma said. “What are you—”

“No time to talk! I’m getting you out of here!”

“But we’re—”

“The other An’ya siblings are on their way here, so hurry!” Ryōma didn’t have time to question Xander why his siblings were trying to help when the duel was between them, and as much as he hated backing out of a fight he didn’t want to keep his imōto waiting. Xander didn’t want to let Ryōma go but he wasn’t about to attack a fleeing opponent, especially with the duel ruined.

“This isn’t over An’ya-ōji!” Ryōma said to Xander as he took a seat behind Hinoka. With that Shīda tried taking off again, though with some difficulty now that the rather heavy Ryōma was seated on it. Just then Camilla, Corrin, Leo, and Elise arrived only to spot the Byakuyajin barely escaping.

“There they are!” Corrin said. “Now, fire!”

“Already on it!” Leo said. Before he could get to casting Brynhildr Xander stopped him.

“No Leo,” he commanded. “We’re not going to attack fleeing opponents in the back. That’s an act of cowardice and dishonor.”

“What‽” Corrin questioned. “But they’re getting away Xander! We need to—”

“We will; we’re allowing them just enough time to get their prince into fighting shape. We’re pursuing them after we inspect our own army.” Corrin could feel her blood boiling at how everyone simply let their enemy walk away to go recover. “Ryoma and I had a duel, and I’d prefer it to be uninterrupted the next time we cross blades.”

“We just saved your life and all you can say is ‘don’t interfere next time’‽ Xander, this isn’t a game for Anankos’s sake! This is a goddamned war we’re fighting here!”

“Watch your tongue with me Corrin.” Corrin caught Xander’s harsh glare and tone, immediately silencing herself. “I am very well aware of what is going on, but we will win this war without the need to resort to underhanded tactics.”

“So, that means that we’re not taking hostages?” Leo asked.

“No, we’re not. We can win this war without having to do any of that.”

“But, father said—”

“I know what he said Corrin.”

“Let me fix you up real quick bro,” Elise said, not wanting him to trudge all the way back to their side of the battlefield in his current condition. She pulled out her recover staff and poured her magical energy into the staff, bathing her elder brother in a bright light. In a moment, all of the injuries he had had almost completely vanished, though he was still very much sore.

“Thank you Elise. This should do for some time. Now let’s get moving.” Everyone climbed back onto their mounts and began to take off; Corrin was about to transform and fly until Xander stopped her for a second. “Corrin? I would ask you to be mindful of what you say to me. I love you, I truly do, but never forget that I am both your elder brother and your superior. If you step out of line then I will punish you however I see fit. Am I understood clearly?”

“Yes brother…”

“This was not a true slight against me though, so I will abstain from meting out punishment. Take this as a warning.” Xander’s expression softened up somewhat but did not lose the strict edge it had. The group traveled through the dried up river in silence, focused on checking on their soldiers and ignoring the scolding Corrin received. Meanwhile, back with the Byakuyajin, Ryōma was healed up to a fighting condition be Sakura, expressing gratitude that Hinoka retrieved him when she did.

“How was the An’ya-ōji Ryōma-onīsama?” Takumi asked.

“He was the closest thing that I can call an equal,” Ryōma answered. “His skill with a yōtō is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before, aside of otōsama’s of course.”

“So, basically, no one here but you stand a chance against him.”

“If you want to put it that way, yes.”

“You think that the An’yajin are coming here right now?”

“I know so. They wouldn’t just let us get away to come back later when we’re guaranteed to beat them.”

“I wonder how the others are doing…” Sakura said.

“That’s what I want to know about too,” Kamui echoed. “I just hope that they’re all okay out there.”

“They’ll be fine,” Hinoka said to reassure her otōto and imōto. “We may have trained them to stop brigands from within Byakuya but we trained them well.”

“I agree,” Ryōma said. “They’re not some plain soldiers. They’re our finest soldiers.” Nobody could argue against that, not even Takumi the resident cynic of the bunch. “But, it can’t hurt to check up on them. Just to let them know that we’re watching out for them.” Again, there were no arguments being made and the Byakuyajin set out to locate their army.

Thoughts? Comments?

Edited July 26, 2015 by BlueSunStudios