Age of Destruction: Fire Emblem CYOA

And were gone in subsequent games.

A damn shame, because I liked seeing Ilyana crit dragons to submission with a staff.

I think they just considered it pointless in the 3DS games since staves don't get "equipped" in that game (if a Troubadour with a Fire tome uses a staff and then gets attacked, they'll be using the fire tome). The absence in the remakes were because they were trying to preserve the "feel" of the originals.

I just did?

Eh.

A, E, 2, 7

Suarrure thunders back into the fight, leaping past Sylvia to punch the fighter and send him sailing over the precipice.  Sylvia drops back and Alice steps forward.  She points to the sky and creates a gust behind Allune.  Allune uses the tailwind to rush to Sorina's side as Alice guides the wind down on top of the outlaw blocking their way.

Allune swoops down on the the injured outlaw, crashing into his back before he knows she's there.  Sorina knocks the myrmidon back with her shield and leaps for the outlaw.  Surprised by the sudden attack, he fires his half-nocked arrow in a panic.  It flies over Sorina's head as she stabs him in the chest.  He shuffles back to flee, then turns at the sound of charging footsteps.  Rhett tackles him to the ground and proceeds to bury his hatchet into the outlaw's face.  "Don't hurt Sorina!" he yells at the corpse.  "Oh, hi, Sorina."

"I'm coming, Sorina!" Carin calls out.  She gallops over, heal stave at the ready.  She raises the staff and Carin's wounds begin to glow.  The myrmidon looks at the mass of enemies and decides to spitefully lash out at Carin.  He ignores Sorina attacking the outlaw and stabs straight at Carin's chest.  She shrieks in fear and doesn't react fast enough.  Her mount, fortunately, rears back and the sword stabs into her hip instead, her faulds absorbing the worst of the blow.  Sorina swings her staff at him, but he parries the blow and slashes at her.  She manages to dodge out of the way.

Sorina turns from the outlaws and grabs the myrmidon's neck before stabbing him through the back.  "Are you OK, Carin?"

"Y-ye...  No, no, that really hurt...  I'm bleeding... a lot...!" Carin cries.

"Don't worry, we're safe now," Sorina promises.

"O-oh...  Um...  You were at the village...?" Carin asks.

Allune gives her a nod.  She flies up a bit as the last of the fog fades.  "We're clear," she calls down.

Alice walks over to Carin.  "Don't worry.  I'll take care of you.  This isn't so bad - nothing a little medicine won't fix."

"Not... to seem ungrateful, but what are you doing here?" Sorina asks suspiciously.

"Helping you," Rhett says.

"But... how did you know we needed help?" Sorina continues.

Rhett points at Alice.  "Alice told us."

"But how did Alice know!?" Sorina demands in frustration.

"Magic," Alice teases her.  "What happened?"

Sorina shrugs.  "These guys came out of nowhere.  Well, actually, Kurt warned us just before it happened...  But it was still too late to really help.  We got split up.  Carin and I made a break back the way we came, but it looks like they were expecting it."

"Wait...  What!?" Sylvia yells.  "Kurt?  Why is Kurt here?"

"To... warn us?" Sorina answers, though she sounds like she's not sure herself.  "He and Quinn ran in the opposite direction.  And the captain and Doran tried to distract them."  She points back the way they'd been escaping.

Sylvia looks worried.  She takes off running.  Suarrure shrugs and runs after her.  Alice yells after them.  "Sylvia, wait!  There could be - will definitely be more.  We need to be careful if we want to help them!  You can't do anything if you charge into another ambush!"

Sylvia stops in her tracks.  "...OK.  Let's be smart about this.  Patch Carin's leg - you two, take a breather.  Then we'll proceed carefully."

---

Support time!  Choose 6.

(A) Alice/Allune B
(B) Alice/Suarrure C
(C) Alice/Carin C
(D) Allune/Rhett C
(E) Allune/Suarrure C
(F) Sylvia/Sorina C
(G) Rhett/Sorina C
(H) Suarrure/Sorina C
(I) Suarrure/Carin C
(J) Sorina/Carin C

A, B, D, F, G, J

All caught up. I'll back this.

Current standings:

4 A Alice/Allune B
4 D Allune/Rhett C
4 F Sylvia/Sorina C
3 C Alice/Carin C
3 G Rhett/Sorina C
3 I Suarrure/Carin C
1 B Alice/Suarrure C
1 E Allune/Suarrure C
1 J Sorina/Carin C
0 H Suarrure/Sorina C

Alice rummages through her belt for some medicine and walks over to Carin. She pauses to pat her mount for a moment. "Good girl, you probably saved Carin's life."

"She did?" Carin asks in confusion. "O-oh... I guess you're right... Good girl!" She hops off her mount and gives her a hug.

"She really seems to like you," Alice says with a smile.

"I guess so," Carin says. "I... never really thought about it before. I mean, I know I like her, and I try to take good care of her, but I've never really wondered if she likes me..."

Alice laughs. "I don't think you have to worry about that. Now, come on. Let's see that leg. Off with the armor."

"Um... H-here?" Carin says with a nervous laugh. "That's a bit..."

Alice frowns. "You're a healer. You know I need to be able to see the injury to treat it. This isn't really the time for modesty."

"Right, right... Um..." Carin hesitates.

Allune lands and spreads her wings like a screen. "Would you hurry up? We need to get moving."

"Ah... Thanks," Carin says.

Allune grunts in acknowledgement. Alice gives Allune a knowing smile as she begins treating Carin. When Alice finishes, Carin thanks her and goes to check the others.

Allune starts to fly off, but a hand wrapped gently around her ankle stops her. "Thank you, Allune. By the way, did you give any thought about what I said the other day?" Alice asks, holding Allune in place.

Allune looks confused for a moment. "About...? Oh. How unpleasant experiences have value or... something?"

Alice nods. "Yes. So...?"

Allune shakes her head. "Not... really."

Alice closes her eyes for a moment, then looks up at Allune with a mischevious grin. "Well, why don't we find your answer? Come down and walk with us. I think you need to feel the ground beneath your feet for a bit."

"Alice..." Allune says with a hint of annoyance in her voice. "First of all, no. Second of all, I need to stay up here and watch for ambushes."

"Between you, Suarrure, and Sylvia, I don't think we need to worry. Please?" Alice implores her with an encouraging smile. "I'd really enjoy your company. A chance to talk with you on equal ground. Just for a few minutes." She releases Allune's ankle and gingerly starts to pull off her shoe.

Allune sighs, but offers no further protest. "Fine." She lets Alice take her shoes, rolls up her pants, and lands with an immediate grimace. "Ugh... So gross...! Don't ask me to do this again. And you owe me for this. At the very least I expect you to warn me before you go wandering off half-naked from now on."

"Oh? So you can join me?" Alice teases her.

Allune refuses to give her the satisfaction. "Yes, exactly. Watching you's my burden, after all..."

A few minutes later, the group are walking towards the coast, the direction Quinn and Kurt went. Without a better idea, they set course for the town where Hyun'ji should be landing.

Rhett tilts his head and observes Allune a minutes. "Huh. You're walking. You don't do that very often."

"Yes. I know." Allune tries to hide the annoyance in her voice.

"Why not?" Rhett asks.

"Because... Well, I'm not sure how to explain it, since you can't fly."

"I can fly. I fly a lot at home. But I need a pegasus," Rhett protests.

"Um... Well, that's true enough. OK, think of it this way. I think the ground's a bit dirty. And I don't like getting my pants dirty." Allune asks.

"You must have to wash them a lot," Rhett points out.

"Yes," Allune says.

Rhett frowns, then remembers what he meant to talk about. "Oh, hey, I was talking to Sylvia earlier about things. Does it bother you when people say you can see like a hawk?"

"Huh? Why would that bother me...?" She scratches her head. "I mean, I guess I understand why some laguz would get offended. But I do have really good sight. And it's a compliment... But I guess some laguz wouldn't take it that way."

"Because they don't like being compared to animals?"

"Yes, exactly." Allune gives him an appreciative smile.

Rhett smiles back at her. "I really like when you walk, by the way. It's nice. It feels easier to talk to you like this. You can be kind of intimidating." He wanders off without another word.

"Intimidating...?" Allune asks as Rhett walks away.

---

"So, uh... How's it going, Sylvia?" Sorina asks.

"Oh... Good, I guess," she answers uncomfortably. "Took some bad hits during that fight."

"I saw," Sorina says.

"Yeah... You looked like you took a few hits, too," Sylvia says. "A lot more than me."

"Yeah, but... I'm in heavy armor, after all."

"Yeah... Well, no need to be modest. You're pretty tough, too," Sylvia adds.

"Oh... Thanks. You're really... Good at magic," Sorina answers.

"Ah? Y-yeah, I... y'know. Learned from mom and dad." She lets out an uncomfortable laugh, then the pair fall silent. After a few painful moments, Sylvia continues. "Why does this feel really awkward?"

Sorina looks away for a moment. "You're just worried about your brother, aren't you? And your dad, too..."

"Y-yeah..." Sylvia says. Her pace slows a bit.

Sorina slaps her on the back. "Come on. I know I'm not the best for moral support, but... Stay strong. We gotta keep moving. They might need our help. But we'll make it."

"Um... Yeah. Thanks, Sorina." Sylvia gives a slightly reassured smile. "I'm going to take point for a bit." She trots forward a bit.

"You're not very good at that," Rhett says from behind Sorina.

"Ack! Rhett...! When... Were you eavesdropping?" Sorina demands.

"No, I was just walking behind you," Rhett says. "You aren't in private. Everyone could hear you. Except maybe Carin. It's just that they're pretending they couldn't for some reason."

"O-oh..." Sorina mutters. "Right... Sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?"

"Be...cause that was probably really uncomfortable for everyone?" Sorina suggests.

"Why? You were just trying to help your friend...?" Rhett asks.

"I know, but... I'm not very good at that sort of thing. Not like Mom..." Sorina pauses and sighs.

"But you tried. And Sylvia appreciated it. See? she's smiling. Aunt Haley would say you did good, right?" Rhett suggests.

"I'm not sure that's why she's smiling," Sorina mutters.

"All you have to do is tell her hope she's OK, right? Let her know that you care about her? 'cause you do care about her. And so do I." Rhett says authoritatively.

"That's right, Rhett!" Syvlia calls back. "It really helps."

Rhett smiles at Sorina knowingly.

---

After a few minutes, Suarrure starts to relax a bit. It doesn't seem like there's an ambush waiting. The enemy didn't seem to expect the anyone to survive their attack - or at least didn't expect them to come back. And, best of all, those crows don't seem to be following them. Looks like that Forest Guardian lady took care of them after all. He stolls confidently over to Carin, who's walking alongside her horse to let her rest. "Well, hello there, Cutie."

"Cutie? Hehe..." Carin giggles. "That's really nice of you to say. Um... Suarrure, wasn't it?"

Suarrure gives a wide grin and lets his tail wag excitedly. "I'm glad you remembered! And may I say, your pronounciation is excellent. A lot of people really struggle to pick it up."

"Oh? I... um... Thanks."

"So, how's the hip?" Suarrure asks.

"Hip? Oh...!" Carin frowns a bit. "Well, it doesn't hurt anymore."

"I'm glad to hear it. But are you sure you don't want me to take a look, just to be safe...?" Suarrure asks.

"That's a very kind offer, but there's no need to worry. Alice did a great job. But... I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were a healer, too."

"Oh... W-well, I'm... not." Suarrure looks away.

"Oh." Carin's glares at him.

"B-but I can still be concerned, right? Right?"

"I... suppose, yes," she says, her expression softening a bit.

"Hey, I just had an idea," Suarrure says. "Maybe you could give me a few lessons? About... y'know. Healing. And anatomy."

"I don't... know..." Carin says softly.

"Aw, c'mon. I'm sure you'd be a great teacher! And I'm sure you're way more knowledgeable than me. Just teach me a few basic things. Just in case? Please?"

"W-well... OK. But... I'll need you to find someone to act as a volunteer."

---

Alice offers Allune her shoes back. "Thank you for humoring me," she says with a soft smile. "So? Did you find your answer?"

Allune snatches them back and hops into the air. "Yes. That was disgusting and I don't understand how you can 'enjoy' walking around like that."

"But was the experience... meaningful?" Alice asks.

Allune puts her hands on her hips and looks away. "Well... Maybe. A little."

---

End of Chapter 2A

---

Next chapter poll!

(A) Rand Chapter 2
(B) Lily Chapter 2