Prince Nayoko of Hoshido

The week after Ryoma and Takumi left Fort Jinya was a week of silence.

We heard nothing from them. No messages were sent to tell us how far they'd gone, and none of the promised messages about our new missions came in.

Tension grew within the fort. As Sakura worried, she worked doubly hard in the medical ward. When I saw her at mealtimes, she looked permanently close to tears, and sometimes she didn't turn up at all. If that happened, a pale-faced Azura would come down to fetch her food. Then there was Hinoka, whose way of dealing was to train from dawn until dusk so that she was as exhausted as her sisters.

All of this left me in charge of the fort. I spent my days looking at our numbers, checking up on Sakura and the patients in the medical ward, begging Hinoka to take a break, organising patrols, fetching armour that Raiden had successfully adjusted, and waiting for further instructions from Ryoma.

But none came.

Until Saizo returned.

It was the first thing I heard from Semyaza when I was woken up that morning, and I went straight down to the throne room. Saizo was waiting there, his face streaked with blood and dirt and a bandage around his leg. Kaze was on one side of him, an arm under his shoulders to keep him standing. A woman with purple hair was on the other.

I stopped in front of them. Semyaza stood with me and inclined her head towards the throne. I ignored her. I may have been the acting ruler of the fort, but it was not mine to sit on.

Hinoka, Sakura, and Azura came through the doors a moment later. As soon as they had reached us, Saizo spoke. "Prince Ryoma and Prince Takumi have gone missing near Izumo."

"What?" Sakura's blood drained from her face.

"Missing?" Hinoka repeated. "Gods!"

Years of practice kept my own emotions tightly bound. "Are you certain, Saizo?"

"Yes, my lord. We became separated in battle." He sighed heavily. "I blame myself. I should have been at Prince Ryoma's side every step of the way."

"Pardon me, but you must be Prince Nayoko, yes?" the purple-haired woman asked. "I'm Orochi. I used to serve as a diviner for Queen Mikoto. I came from Castle Shirasagi with a message from Yukimura -- and a vow to serve you until we find Prince Ryoma and Prince Takumi. Yukimura is readying our troops to march to Izumo, and he is hoping that your troops will join him."

Your troops. The words should have made me feel proud, but I just felt a heavy burden of responsibility fall upon my shoulders. They were only my troops because Ryoma was gone.

"Yes, of course," I said. "We will support you in any way we can. Jakob, send word about the fort to rally the troops."

"Yes, my lord." Jakob bowed and left the room.

I turned to the others. "Time is of the essence. Semyaza, do you mind helping Kaze get Saizo up to the medical ward? Then I would like you, Kaze, and Jakob back in here to consult the map Ryoma left for us. Hinoka, Azura, and Orochi, I would also like you here. We need all hands on deck."

***

As we already had a route planned thanks to Ryoma, we were ready to march just two hours later. We sent word to Yukimura that we would meet his army near Izumo, then spent five days travelling from dawn until dusk.

On the fifth day, we drew close to the territory of the Wind Tribe, not too far from Izumo.

"Who are the Wind Tribe?" I asked my companions as we began walking that morning. My infantry was bringing up the rear some way behind us, and Hinoka and the sky knights were scouting ahead, leaving myself, Azura, Sakura, and all our retainers to walk alone as a small group.

"A neutral tribe who coexist with us in Hoshidan territory," Azura said. "They're located in these mountains. You can only access their settlements by climbing the Eternal Stairway, which we'll walk past soon."

I glanced up at the mountains that were rising beside us, their craggy peaks reaching for the blue sky. "Perhaps we should make a detour there? Being this close to Izumo and that high up, the Wind Tribe might have seen Ryoma and Takumi. Or they might have seen something else of importance."

"I agree, my lord," Jakob said. "I think it would be a worthwhile trip."

I called Hinoka back and suggested our plan to her.

"Let's do it," she said fiercely. "We must find Ryoma and Takumi soon!"

She and the sky knights went ahead again, then twisted out of view and flew into a large tunnel in the mountainside.

We reached it a few minutes later. The tunnel was lit by lanterns hammered into the rock, revealing stairs that looked as if they'd been made for giants -- they were easily three times the size of us. Thankfully, there were pathways on either side of them, and so it was one of these that we followed.

We climbed and climbed until my clothes were sticking to me. On my right, Semyaza dragged a hand through her hair, lifting it away from her wet forehead. On my left, Kaze suddenly came to a halt. "I think we're being followed."

The rest of us stilled and turned around, listening. If I really strained my ears, I supposed that I could hear footsteps. Or maybe, because I was trying so hard, it was my imagination.

"Who's there?" My voice echoed off the walls, and I raised it into a growl. "Show yourself!"

The floor shook beneath us. Two Faceless stomped out of the shadows.

"What the --?" I drew my sword. "How can they have cut between us and the infantry without our soldiers seeing?"

"Yes, it's strange, my lord," Kaze said. "I expected humans. The Faceless usually aren't this stealthy."

"Well, the Faceless are what we've got." I turned to the others. "Sakura, stay back. Orochi and Jakob, guard her. Kaze, Semyaza, Azura, and I will deal with this."

We four drew marched forwards. Kaze and Semyaza branched off towards one Faceless, while Azura and I went to deal with the other.

The Faceless struck out with its huge fist as soon as we were within range. We ducked. Azura straightened up and thrust her naginata forwards, impaling the Faceless in the stomach.

It roared in pain and tried to bat her away. She jumped back, leaving the naginata. The Faceless reached for it, and while it was distracted, I stabbed it in the chest.

The body fell backwards, and the whole tunnel shook on impact.

"Thank you, Azura," I said.

She withdrew her naginata from the body. "It was an accident, really. But now we know how to throw them off next time."

Semyaza and Kaze had just finished dealing with their own monster, and they walked back to us, sheathing their weapons. Behind them, the Faceless shimmered. The green body vanished as if it had been a mirage.

A human corpse lay in its place.

Shock jolted through me. I turned back to look at the Faceless Azura and I had just defeated. That, too, was now a human.

"Gods, what have we done?" I exclaimed.

Semyaza and Kaze turned, following my gaze. Semyaza gasped and covered her mouth. "Those are people from the Wind Tribe!"

"How can this have happened?" I asked. "A moment ago, they were Faceless!"

Figures emerged in the dim light of the tunnel, coming towards us. "Sire!"

Wingbeats echoed down the tunnel from the other direction. When I looked over my shoulder, I saw that Hinoka and the sky knights were coming back, no doubt wondering what was taking us so long.

When both the infantry and the scouts had reached us, I explained the situation to them. One of the Hoshidan soldiers chimed in with his opinion immediately. "Azura was the last person we saw come in, sire!"

I sighed. That was another thing that had been happening over the last five days. Now we were warring with Nohr, the Hoshidan army was hostile towards Azura. Whenever the slightest thing went wrong, it was Azura this, Azura that.

My Nohrian men had never come running to tell tales. I missed travelling with them. During the day, if we'd been far away from Windmire, they had bellowed and jested. When we'd camped at night, they'd drunk and jested some more. And, best of all, they'd never questioned each other during hard times. Come what may, they were loyal to the end.

All Nohrian platoons were like that. In life, you have to pick your enemies -- and when your king is a tyrant, your fellow soldiers are your friends, no matter your differences.

"I don't understand how Azura could have made the villagers look like Faceless," I said to the Hoshidan. "Or why, for that matter. But thank you for the information."

I offered Azura a smile. She attempted to return it, but it was far from sincere. The tale-telling was wearing her out, too.

"Let's press on," I said. "We have no choice but to reach the Wind Tribe and explain what's happened. We cannot walk away from this tragedy, and we need their help. We'll have to risk their wrath."

The others murmured their agreement, and we turned to go back up the path. I caught a flash of long, black hair from the corner of my eye.

When I looked again, it was gone.

***

The Wind Tribe had certainly earned their name. A harsh wind howled down the tunnel as we approached the exit, and when we stepped into the glorious sunshine again, it became a fierce gale. The sky knights had to land. Our infantry stumbled back. Even if I shouted at the top of my voice, my words were lost.

Eventually, I gave up and tried to understand our bearings alone. The mountaintop looked the same in every direction, with no sign of life anywhere. To our left and right were huge, sandy plains. A short way ahead of us, the mountain dropped, revealing a glimmer of foaming sea. I imagined that the roaring waves were impressive when one could hear anything over the wind.

I decided that we'd try going left first, and if we didn't find anything for a while then we could double back. I conveyed my decision by pointing that way and waiting for the others to nod their heads. Then I walked on.

Walking was almost as difficult as talking in the wind. From my very first step, it was like trying to move into a boulder. We shuffled forwards at the pace of snails, the wind snatching away our breath. It felt like a band was tightening around my lungs.

Semyaza tapped me on the shoulder and held a red handkerchief out. She'd tied one around her mouth and nose. I accepted it with a nod of thanks and put it on, and my lungs felt much better.

Round, wooden huts loomed up on the horizon. I looked at Azura, and she bobbed her head. That was a Wind Tribe settlement.

A small group of men were standing outside the collection of huts, cloths tied around their faces like us. They had their swords unsheathed, but they didn't threaten us when we stopped in front of them. Their gazes passed over Hinoka, Azura, and Sakura. Then they turned away and gestured for us to follow.

As asking them questions was impossible, we followed them through the huddled group of huts, the curved sides all spinning away from us and making me feel dizzy.

When we reached the hut in the centre of the settlement, one man opened the door. The others stood aside and looked at us. Aware that we could be walking into a trap, I laid my hand on the pommel of my sword before I went in.

The hut was one room, sparse of living things aside from a bamboo bedroll and some mats. A bald, hulking man sat on one, his dark eyes assessing each of our small group as we entered.

The Wind Tribe men stepped in and slammed the door shut. An abrupt silence fell, the wind fading to a gentle whistle that rattled the wooden walls. Everyone in the room removed their cloths.

"Chief Fuga," one of the men said, "these visitors approached the village. Princess Hinoka, Princess Azura, and Princess Sakura are among them."

"So I see," the large man replied. "You know that we are neutral in your war, princesses. What is it that you want from us?"

Hinoka glanced at me. "We have some questions to ask you, Chief Fuga. But first, we have something that we need to apologise for."

I stepped forwards. "This may seem like a hard tale to believe, sir, but while we were passing through the Eternal Stairway, we were followed by two of your villagers. However, we did not know that they were villagers at the time. They appeared before us as Faceless, and the spell was only broken when they were defeated. I am sincerely apologetic for their deaths."

I bowed my head, but I watched him keenly from the corner of my eye. Anticipating a violent reaction.

After a long moment, he spoke. "Raise your head and look at me."

I did as he asked, my gaze unwavering.

He studied me carefully. "I see something of Queen Mikoto in you. Would you be her long-lost son?"

"That's right." Hinoka put her hand on my shoulder. "This is Nayoko."

His eyes drifted to my belt. "And that looks like the Yato blade. Is it?"

"Yes, sir."

"Unsheathe it."

I drew it with a flourish. All of us stared at the golden sword.

"If Yato has chosen you, then you must be a man of truth," Fuga said. "I believe you."

Relief broke over me. "Thank you. But, if you don't mind me asking, what do you know of my blade? You recognised it by the hilt alone."

"Ah, King Sumeragi and I were good friends. I learned much about the history of that weapon from him. It possesses the ability to draw together the power of the other four legendary weapons, and so produce the Fire Emblem. In the wrong hands, it could unleash enough power to end the world. But in the right hands, it could save it."

"I see," I murmured faintly. Ryoma and Takumi had two of the legendary weapons. Xander and Leo had the others, in the form of Xander's sword, Siegfried, and Leo's tome, Brynhildr.

"I assume that was not the question you really came all this way to ask me," Fuga said.

"No," I replied. "Ryoma and Takumi have gone missing, and they were last seen near Izumo. As it's close by, we were wondering if you'd seen anything unusual. Did they battle around here? Did their troops pass below?"

"You're the first visitors we've had for a while, and no army has fought -- or been seen -- nearby."

My heart fell into my boots. "Oh."

"But I am sorry to hear of your misfortune. I can offer you something to help in your journey to find them. Or, rather, someone. You are in need of all the men and women you can get, and we have a skilled diviner who could use some real-world experience. His name is Hayato." Fuga looked at his men. "Bring him in here."

One of his men left the hut. When he returned a few minutes later, he had a young boy in tow.

"Good day," said the boy as soon as the door was shut and everyone possessed the power to hear again.

I gave him a quick once-over, uncertain of how useful he would really be. "Good day."

"Don't judge him by his youthful appearance," Fuga said. "Hayato has mastered a number of unique skills that make him invaluable."

I looked at the boy again, more thoughtfully this time. "I suppose I wasn't much older than you when I fought in my first battles, Hayato. Very well. I won't turn down your assistance at a time like this. Every second that passes reduces our chances of finding our brothers." I held out my hand. "So welcome to the Hoshidan army."