Here we go with chapter five! I started school last Monday, and I do seem to have a decent amount of homework, but I have hopes that I'll still be able to update somewhat regularly. Also, I am switching back and forth between updating this one and my FE: Awakening headcanon fic. It's called 'Premonition,' if you think you might want to check it out :) I have a pairing list for that one posted in chapter one, just like with this fic.

Anyway, I would like to offer my many thanks to Glaceon Mage, Rapis-Razuri, and Sentinel07 for their super awesome reviews! I'm so glad you guys are liking the fic so far!

And, as always, many thanks to Rapis-Razuri for her lovely beta work!

Enjoy!

Dragonsong
Chapter V – Unexpected Discovery

"Lilina!"

Roy looked around the clearing as he slid the Sword of Seals back into its sheath, the War Dragon lying dead before him. His friend was nowhere to be seen and, though he'd told her to run, he didn't imagine she'd gone that far. Sighing, he moved to backtrack his own footprints in the snow back towards the place where the fight began and found where his and Lilina's footprints were last beside each other.

Hers were much smaller and didn't go as deep into the snow as his did, making it easy to tell whose footprints belonged to whom. He started to follow hers back in the direction she'd run, frowning when he came across a place where her print sunk in more deeply, right next a spot where it looked as though she'd fallen.

The strangest thing about the area was that her footprints ended there, and a quick survey revealed a small amount of blood staining the white snow near where her head would have landed. Next to her print were two sets of footprints which, judging by the size and depth, belonged to an adult male and… a dragon youth?

Shaking his head, he bent down to reexamine the reptilian prints in the fresh powder. No, not a dragon… A wyvern? What was one of those doing in Ilia? The beasts were cold-blooded, meaning they had to be suffering in these climates.

However, the fact remained that his best friend was missing and he had no idea where to search. The wyvern's prints disappeared, meaning it had taken flight with both its rider and Lilina. Gritting his teeth, he glanced around the forest and tried to determine which way the wyvern might have gone.

Inhaling deeply, he tried to keep his head as he reached into his bag and pulled out his map of Ilia and a compass. After locating his rough position, he looked up again at his surroundings and frowned. He'd come from the east and his initial trip through Ilia had taken him south and west of where he was, so he decided he'd try exploring north. He had finally found Lilina and wasn't about to let her go again.

…

Almost a day later, Roy found what he hoped he was looking for. An old fortress stood within the forest, looking as if it didn't get proper maintenance anymore. It was definitely still occupied, though, judging by the voices and sounds of metal clanking against metal from inside. He assumed it was—if not, still is—used as a checkpoint for the Ilian mercenaries.

Gritting his teeth, he hoped Lilina was inside as he walked up to the gates and raised his fist to slam them. "Hey! Anyone in there?"

The gates slid open slowly, revealing a courtyard covered in a light layer of snow. A few men and women were gathered around, some in armor—of both country and simple mercenaries—and some in common clothes of Ilian citizens.

Straight across the courtyard from him, stood a man in dark armor that looked to be a modified version of Bern's Wyvern Knights. He wore a helmet that covered messy green hair and a cocky smile on his lips. "So, who's this barging in on my front step?"

Judging by all the pieces of Bern armor around, he was certain he'd found the place that wyvern had belonged to. Taking a step forward, he said, "I've only come looking for my friend. We were in the forest when we encountered a War Dragon, but were separated during the fight. Have you seen her?"

The man touched his chin as he thought about it, then hummed, "Maybe. What's she look like?"

He grit his teeth. As if there would be more than one girl wandering these god-forsaken frozen forests. "Long blue hair, brown cloak, pale skin."

The man glanced around at the people gathered nearby. "Hm… What do you guys say? Have we seen anyone like that?"

Roy sighed and reached back to set his hand on the hilt of his sword. "I have been on a very long journey, I just killed a dragon, and I lost track of my best friend after she was potentially injured. You have ten seconds to give me a straight answer before I get violent."

"Heh!" the man coughed as he hefted a spear over his shoulder. "The cub thinks he's a lion!"

Roy couldn't help but grin as he drew his sword and held it in front of him backhand. "Funny you should use that analogy. They call me the Lion of the Alliance."

The man's face blanked. "Lion of…? Never heard of you."

The people around him nodded their agreement as he sighed. "Doesn't matter if you've heard of me."

He turned to face the crowds and announced, "The kid thinks he can beat me! Quite a bark on this one, eh?"

The people around him started jeering at him and shouting words of encouragement at the apparent leader of their group. Roy felt his irritation rise to a point where he just didn't care, causing him to flip the Sword of Seals and draw on the power within to summon the fire to the outside. Flipping the blade, he launched the blast into the open sky and looked at the people now distracted by his display. "Now may I have an answer?"

The leader stared in the direction the fire went, then turned to him and asked, "How did you do that?"

Crossing his arms, Roy glared and muttered, "So now you want answers? How's it feel?"

"Tell you what," the leader said. "We duel. If I win, you tell me about that fire. If you win, I'll tell you if we've seen your girlfriend."

Roy eyed him warily. "How do I know you'll honor your word?"

He walked a few steps forward and shifted his lance to his off-hand, then held his other out for a shake. "I may not be a traditional knight, but I have my honor."

Roy studied him for a moment, watching his grey eyes for truth, then finally accepted the gesture. "All right, a duel. What are the rules?"

He walked back a few paces to take his starting position, then said, "One weapon each, fight to first blood."

"Agreed," Roy said with a nod, then hefted the Sword of Seals in front of him, silently wishing he'd brought his rapier along as he had initially intended. He didn't really want to use the most sacred sword in the world in a duel like this one. Gritting his teeth, he fell into a ready stance and waited as his opponent did the same, hefting his spear for battle.

A woman in Bern armor stepped forward and called out, "On your ready… Fight!"

Roy stayed where he was, watching his opponent carefully as he did the same. The man wore the armor of Bern's Wyvern Knights, but he wasn't actually riding a wyvern. The young warrior honestly wasn't sure how their lot fought without being mounted. In the past, he had sparred with Zeiss, but he used a poleax as his weapon of choice.

The leader of these ex-soldiers seemed to be just as wary of his fighting style—or perhaps the flames within his sword—as he slowly moved to circle around him. He moved to circle back, then swung his blade to throw a spark of flames at the man's feet in a taunt.

The leader jumped in surprise, then frowned as he realized it was just a spark. Offering a smirk, he lunged forward and shifted his weapon to attack with fluid ease. Roy blocked quickly, then stepped back to allow more room and spun to strike again.

Steel struck against steel over and over, their attacks being deflected again and again. As Roy moved to strike against his opponent's side, he heard a voice in the crowd call out, "General?! General Roy?!"

The battle ended there as both competitors moved to step back and see what the interruption was, only to find a young man in Bern Wyvern Knight armor with red hair spiking up messily. The younger man in the fight stepped back and asked, "Zeiss? Is that you?"

The young wyvern knight looked back and him and nodded slowly. "Yeah… What brings you here, General?"

The leader looked at him and set a hand on his side before asking, "You know this guy, Zeiss?"

He nodded again, his expression a cross between surprise and that of someone who just woke up. "Uh, yeah. He was the Executive General of the Alliance Army during the war… I served under him after General Gale pushed me to Princess Guinevere's side."

The green-haired man looked at Roy skeptically. "This kid? He was the commanding officer?"

"Yeah," Zeiss nodded. "That's right, Commander."

Reaching up, the commander slung his weapon over his shoulder and held out his hand for a shake. "Huh. Well, sorry about that. The name's Heath. I'm sorta the commander of this fort."

Roy sheathed his sword and accepted the gesture. "I'm Roy. I've been searching this area for more warriors to join our cause against the Demon Dragon. I'm sure Zeiss has already filled you in on that."

Heath nodded. "Even if he didn't, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that the world is in shambles and a majority of humanity lives in hiding. Zeiss, why don't you take him inside. He came looking for our guest," he said with a smirk, taking off his helmet and shaking his hair out, revealing a white streak through the top part of the green mess.

Roy crossed his arms. "So Lilina's here?"

Zeiss blinked blearily. "I… guess so? I just woke up. Had night watch last night."

Heath waved them towards the doors, saying, "She's with Ellen. Don't worry, she's fine."

Zeiss brightened up as he started to walk towards the inside gates. "Yes, sir! I'll show him the way!"

Roy walked after Zeiss, but paused by Heath's side, saying, "That was a good fight. I'd like a rematch sometime."

Heath grinned and replaced his hand against his side. "Heh, I might be getting old, but I still got what it takes." As the younger man proceeded inside, he grimaced and moved his hand from his side to peer at the blood starting to soak his clothes under his chestplate. "Damn kid…"

…

Roy walked through the halls of the fortress behind Zeiss, watching his surroundings as a precaution. They hadn't asked for his weapon, nor had they outright lied to him that he was aware of. Zeiss was here and seemed to trust this leader, so he was only watching his back to be safe. He paused as he took in the sight of the axe strapped to Zeiss's back and murmured, "Zeiss, that axe is…"

"Eh?' he started, then turned and flashed a bright grin. "Oh, yeah! You trusted me with Armads, so I've made sure it never left my sight since. Even if it's my turn to clean out the loft, I still keep it with me."

He laughed through a sigh as he shook his head and said, "I knew I was trusting the right person with it."

He smiled and stuttered an abashed laugh, running a hand through his hair. "Well, you know, I'm just honored you trusted me with it at all. I mean, not only was I still a kid, but I was technically a Bern deserter."

Raising his eyebrow, he retorted, "Zeiss, do you know how old I was when the Sword of Seals chose me? Age has nothing to do with it. And, well… Our army was comprised of soldiers from every nation save the Western Isles. When I was assigning the ancient weapons, I tried to trust at least one to someone of each country, as it was in the days of legend."

Zeiss nodded slowly as he thought through his words. "That makes sense, General. But… Why did Miledy and I both get weapons?"

Counting off his fingers, he said, "The Sword of Seals, Armads, Maltet, Forblaze, Apocalypse, Aureola, Murgleis, and Durandal. Eight weapons and seven countries. Adding in that no one from the Western Isles government participated in the war, repeats had to go out to somewhere. I admit that I had initially offered Maltet to General Percival of Etruria, but he refused. He was quite comfortable with his own lance and stubbornly insisted that someone else would be better suited."

As Zeiss opened his mouth to reply, he stopped as he caught sight of two people standing out on an open terrace. Miledy and…? Was that…? Zeiss held up a finger in a 'just a second' way and said, "Can you give me one minute? I just want to let Miledy know you're here, General."

He nodded. "Sure, but you really don't have to call me 'General.'"

Flashing a smile, he said, "Force of habit, sir." Without waiting for a response, he offered a short bow and turned to jog out to the terrace. He knocked on the doorframe to alert his sister of his presence and, after a few words he couldn't hear from his distance, Zeiss came back inside with his sister following behind him. The man that had been with Miledy stayed outside, facing down over the courtyards and ignoring Roy altogether.

The former general thought he recognized the man outside, but ignored him in favor of greeting Miledy. "It's good to see you again. I'm glad you two are all right."

She nodded once, her eyes looking away and her hands folded together. "Yes, it's good to see you as well, General."

She seemed… sad. He wasn't sure what else he could say, but he was saved the trouble as Zeiss spoke up, "Well, we're on our way to see Ellen."

Miledy gave a brief nod and said, "We'll be in the mess hall later, if you would like to speak more, General."

He returned the gesture and said, "I would like that. It's been too long. I'm sorry to have interrupted your conversation."

She bowed and said, "It was no trouble. I'm glad you're all right, General."

He nodded again as a dismissal—he didn't feel like their commanding officer anymore, but they seemed to think he was—and turned to follow Zeiss again, glancing back to see Miledy return to the man outside. Walking after the younger of the two siblings, he moved closer and asked in a hushed tone, "It's none of my business as to why, but is Miledy normally this detached?"

Zeiss stopped in mid-step, then slowly glanced back in the direction where his sister stood. "Three days ago… Was the one-year marker."

He paused, knowing full well that it really wasn't any of his business, he couldn't help his curiosity as he asked, "One-year since what? You don't have to answer, of course."

Inhaling deeply, he slowly started to walk again and murmured, "Just over a year ago, Mil… She gave birth to a baby girl. But… she never cried. There's a grave out in the courtyard for her…"

Roy paused, not sure what he could say. Finally, he managed, "I see… I'm sorry. You lost a niece that day, too."

He nodded slowly. "Yeah… I knew this time would be tough on her, but it's hard to watch her sometimes…"

They stayed silent for a bit before Roy spoke, quietly asking, "Then that was General Gale back there?"

He gave a slow nod. "After we were forced to flee from the Dragon Temple, Miledy, Ellen, and me left on Rubley and Trifinne, trying to find Princess Guinevere, but we never found Her Highness. Instead, we found Gale, badly wounded and Ellen cured him with her staff. Somehow, the four of us ended up here in Ilia, working under Commander Heath."

Roy almost choked on his spit as he made the realization, then said, "You should know, Princess Guinevere is safe."

Zeiss turned to look at him, "Are you for real?!" Pausing, he quickly added, "Er, sir?"

Chuckling, he said, "Again, no need for formality. I'm no one's general anymore. Just call me 'Roy.' And, yes. Her Highness is safe in a castle in Etruria, along with the rest of our forces. Prince Mildain of Etruria is there, as well as the remaining lords of Lycia."

He nodded. "I see… Thank Elimine! There's still hope for Bern to redeem itself yet."

Roy smiled and set his hand on Zeiss's shoulder. "As long as a leader and their people remain, a country can always be rebuilt."

"Yeah… That's true." Stopping at a door, he said, "This is Ellen's infirmary. I guess your friend is in here, Gener- Er, Roy."

He offered a small smile and nodded, "For what it's worth, it's been good seeing you again. You want to come in and say hello?"

Okay, so some of you may have a few questions right about now. Why did Miledy give birth to a stillborn? Why is Gale alive? Why didn't I mention Guinevere earlier? Why is Heath being such a troll?

Answers:

1. It was a random stroke of inspiration that I decided I liked and kept with it because it would add more drama. 2. Because I love the bastard. 'Nuff said. 3. Admittedly, I… kind of forgot to allot a position for her when I was figuring out where everyone was in the ruined world. I have an Excel sheet with all the player characters from both FE6 and 7, showing where everyone (or at least the plot-important ones) is right now. I forgot Guinevere because she's not a player character and I just copy-pasted the lists from FE Wiki ^^; 4. Honestly, the guy has been a free-roaming mercenary for twenty years, and his only guidelines in life are to stay alive and serve his conscience (ergo, serve the lesser man). It's probably just my headcanon, but I like to think Heath mellowed out with age XD

Also, you can certainly expect a few other FE7 character to show up XD I'm particularly excited about the one showing up in chapter seven or eight-ish… Any guesses?

That being said, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Please review!

-Valk