Fire Emblem: Last of the Manakete

Happy new year all, hope it's better than last year.

Being sneaky and holding back are currently winning.

"Fear not the cutlass in front of you, fear the dagger behind you."
-Traditional Republican saying

"Let's get them!" Kelton snarls, starting to rise to his full height.

Axton immediately reaches out and yanks him back down. "Your sister's in the middle of that, with a dozen men around her!" he snaps. "We charge in without a plan, they'll just hold her hostage, and then where will we be? Besides, they outnumber us nearly two to one!"

"But if we just wait, then they'll organize into a real fight!" Kelton hisses back. "We can take them now, while they're not ready! They'd never know what hit them!"

"It's too late for that! They're already mostly organized, we'd just be-"

"Enough!" Artemis hisses. "We don't have time to argue. Here's what we're going to do: Axton, Lancel and I will sneak into the camp to get to your sister: we're the fastest and stealthiest. The rest of you will stay here: if needed you'll come in after us, but it would be best if we could get to Ardan without struggle."

You start to open your mouth, but Artemis puts a finger on your lips. "No, Ryza, not this time. This time, please just obey. Besides, I need you to stay here to provide overwatch: you have the best eyes, so you'll be able to tell if we're about to get into trouble. Can you do that for me?"

You nod quickly. "I can do that, Artemis," you say.

She smiles and pats you on the head. "Good girl, Ryza," she says. "Axton, Lancel, let's go."

Both men grimace, but follow as Artemis leads the way towards a section of bushes that extends into the camp. There doesn't seem to be anyone keeping an eye on that point, though you see a few bandits getting uncomfortably close.

"She really trusts you, doesn't she kid?" Kelton says, sinking back down to a prone position behind the bush.

"I hope so," you say. "I hope she'll be okay…"

Kelton ruffles your hair, causing you to instinctively lean into his palm and smile slightly despite the tense situation. "Eh, she'll be fine," he says. "She seems like a tough girl who knows what she's doing, and she got those two guys with her." He grins. "Pretty, too. She with anyone?"

You blink in confusion as you hear a few groans from the rest of the villagers behind you. "Not now, Kelton," someone says. "We're here to save Ardan, remember?"

The man nods. "Of course, of course," he says, but you notice his eyes lingering on Artemis as she slips past a pair of bandits struggling to drag a box of something out of one of the outer tents.
(4,3 + 1)
For a few tense minutes, things seem to go well. Artemis, Axton and Lancel use the fact that, while the bandits have been alerted by something, they don't know the enemy is already among them to make their way towards the tent that Ardan was being held in. Thankfully, the biggest bandit had wandered off to yell at a few of his subordinates elsewhere in the camp, leaving only one of the archers to stand in front of the tent, looking bored.

Unfortunately, the good luck can't last forever.

Your breath catches as you watch Artemis come to a halt, clearly nervous. It's also not hard to figure out why: there are two bandits who stopped right in front of her. Thankfully, neither are looking at her, instead talking to each other, but all they'd need to do is turn their heads just a little and she'd be caught. You can tell Artemis is considering killing them, she has an arrow in her bow, but the two men are standing out in the open, with at least three bandits who can clearly see them.

"Don't do it, Artemis…" you whisper. "Just-"

Then you realize the bigger problem; there are two more bandits walking towards Artemis from the other side. Like their fellows, they haven't seen her, but they would in just a few seconds, and worse, Artemis clearly had no idea they were there. She was stealthily slipping backwards, waving Axton and Lancel with her, trying to avoid the bandits she could see. You desperately look for a way for Artemis to get out of this, but even if you saw one, how would you communicate it to her?!

"We've got to do something," Kelton says, his normally confident voice tempered with worry. "They'd be overwhelmed in seconds if the alert goes up now!" He grips his stick. "But if we attack now, it'll draw their attention over here, and they'll have a clear shot to Ardan."

Your eyes, however, have turned to the other side of the camp. There was one bandit there, watching the forest with a bored expression. He was isolated… and he was in even your limited range.

"Wait," you say as you grip Thunder's Cry and focus. "I've got this."
(5,1 + 2)
Remembering Artemis's words, you consciously suppress the dragon within, trying to keep yourself normal. It's harder than you thought it would be: your magic comes from the part of you that is dragon, so trying to both cast magic and dampen that facet of your soul and being is hard. However, as you see the men moving to pincer Artemis from both sides, you throw yourself desperately into your casting. She needs you to succeed, and she'd want you to succeed in the right way.

Thunder's Cry crackles in your hands, causing the men around you to gasp and point, but you are one with your magic, one with your power. Forcing your wings back one last time, you throw out your hand with a muted cry and call down your magic.

A single bolt of lightning; only a small one, but enough, falls from the clear sky onto the isolated bandit you'd spotted. He is only able to let out a short cry as he topples, spasming, to the ground, but it's drowned out by the crack of thunder that echoes over the camp.

There is a moment of silence as every bandit looks around, stunned and confused, before someone points. "Over there!" he calls. "They're over there!"

You let out a breath as your hopes are realized; the bandits all start sprinting away from you and away from Artemis too, towards a completely useless and unthreatened part of the camp. That would keep them busy for a few minutes, long enough for Artemis to get Kelton's sister and for you all to get out of here safely! They'd be so proud of you!

You turn, grinning, to see everyone but Kelton staring at you like you were something that had just crawled out of a dark hole unexpectedly. "How did you get it to go that far?" someone asked, pointing a shaking finger. "That must have been a hundred meters! Maybe more!"

Oh… were humans not able to cast that far? You'd thought, since Artemis had said humans could use magic now, they could do things like that. You made a mental note to ask Artemis just what counted as "normal" among humans, so as to avoid any confusion in the future.

However, Kelton still seemed grim. "Forget that, we're not out of this yet," he says, pointing into the camp. You turn to see what he's noticed.

Near the center of the clearing, the bandit leader is not running towards the lightning strike like the rest of his men. Instead, he's standing still, his eyes scanning the trees.

Then, his eyes lock onto you, and you realize that once again you'd stuck your head too far out, and this time, the person who's spotted you was not a kindly old woman and her wood-chopping son.

"TO ME!" the bandit bellows, his massive voice seeming to shake the very ground as he raises his massive, shiny axe. "To me, brothers! They come from that way!"

With those words, he charges.

The bandits start to rally; those nearest to him immediately letting out whoops and battle cries of their own as they thunder after their leader. Axes and bows are raised, they lumber towards you, and further into the camp some of the men who'd been rushing towards your distraction start to turn: confused and out of position. That won't last long, and it won't take them long to get to you once they figure out what's going on.

"We're in for it now," Kelton says, but he's grinning as he stands, unslinging the thick slab of wood from his back (shield, you remember your reading, that's a shield) and holding it in front of him protectively as he sets his long, pointed stick. "Form up! Axes in front, spears behind! Except me, of course! You're not getting me off this line 'till we've won! Keep the mage safe at all costs!"

The man around him shiver, but do as he says; big, strong men like Bill stepping to stand on either side of to their leader, while the smaller men with long sticks cluster behind them, sticking their weapons through the gaps. Twelve stand against a dozen as they approach ever faster.

"What should I do?" you cry over the shouts and pounding of feet.

"Zap 'em!" Kelton calls as the first wave approaches, led by their massive leader.
(2,2 + 3)

The initial clash is a rush of noise and confusion, especially since you're still tucked in the back. Despite their headlong rush, the men of the village are able to hold the bandits back, axe clashing against axe as neither side is willing to risk themselves too much. It helps that, in desperation, your first lightning bolt slams into the big man with the shiny axe, staggering him. However, to your shock, he raises his axe and roars again! You thought that would stop him!

Everything was madness. This wasn't like when you were in your home with Artemis, there were so many people, so much shouting, it was all so overwhelming!
You can't win like this.
But still, you hold back. It's taking more and more of your focus to keeping yourself from falling further into your draconic nature. Your back aches, your wings constantly trying to burst out as you draw your magic to unleash another bolt, this time on one of the archers who had nearly shot Kelton in the face, only for his shield to flick up just in time. You won't disappoint Artemis, you'll do as she asked.

As your lightning crackles around your tablet and you unleash another bolt, you see Artemis, Axton and Lancel reaching the tent. The archer outside doesn't even have time to cry out as he's shot through the heart, and Artemis darts into the tent while Lancel grabs his bow and quiver. It's not over yet: you just need to hold them back a little longer!
(2,1 + 1)
Then, the big man reaches the line.

A single swing of his mighty axe sends a man toppling to the ground, screaming in pain as his own weapon is torn from his hands and blood begins to leak from the gaping wound in his chest. Another falls to a well-placed arrow. While your fitful lightning knocks the offending archer off his feet your struggle is growing worse and worse. The bandit starts to get to his feet. An arrow from Axton finishes him off as Artemis hustles the girl out of the tent, unbound and staff in hand. But you can't focus on that, all you can see is the massive man.
I'm so scared!
"Stupid villagers!" the huge bandit roars as he raises his axe again. "You think you can come into our forest!?" Behind him, more and more bandits are starting to arrive, and some are starting to circle into the forest on either side of the battle. With only a few villagers, standing in front of you, if they get around…

"This isn't your damn forest, bandit!" Kelton roars, pushing his way through the crowd to stand before him. "This is Miau's! Face me!"

The bandit leader snorts. "You think your pointy stick can stop me, boy," he growls, swinging his weapon hard enough to knock Kelton back a step even as he blocks with his shield. "My axe has chopped through a dozen soldiers' spears, yours will be just one more."

Desperate, you throw another bolt of lightning at the man, causing him to stumble back with another cry. This time he doesn't even fall. His eyes settle on you, and he laughs.

"And you're so desperate that you're bringing a child to fight!?" he gloats. "You will all die here, and I'm sure someone will pay for the little mage! Or at least her tome when I take it off her corpse!"
Stop holding back!
Artemis is on her way back to you, the girl with her. You remember reading about how White manakete could close any injury with a wave of their hand, and Kelton had said his sister was a healer. If she could get to you, she might be able to help, but at least two bandits had seen her and the others and are moving to intercept them. Arrows flick out, silencing one of them, but it means that they will be further delayed, and as another villager falls, you're not sure they'll reach you in time.

This is… not going well.

[] Keep holding back. Artemis trusted you to finish this without going all. You can do this, you can be brave. You are manakete, more than your dragon!

[] This is bad, this is bad, you can't afford to hold back anymore! People are getting hurt! You have to fight! Your dragon is a part of you, let her help a little!

[] Your stone crackles in your pocket. You could end this nightmare in an instant, if you just let her all the way out. Fear and Anger war in your heart.
AN: Oof, those rolls...

tricholysis said:

I'm not sure I really like the implied idea that Ryza is in some way rejecting her dragon-ness from taking this course of action

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

While Ryza hasn't read the scroll on dragons yet (despite several offered chances to do so ) there are some things that she learned from her mother.

1) Her dragon is a part of her: she can no more reject her dragon-ness than she can reject her own existence.
2) Her dragon is not all of her: Manakete are defined by being more than just their dragon: they have a heart as well (which is why I changed the name of humanoid form to "heart-form")
3) Dragon form is powerful, but somewhat unpredictable. What exactly that means, she was never told, but it's why she was told never to use her dragon form without supervision until she grew older (Events have, of course, changed that order.)