Note: A wild female Avatar appears! I once again have used the name I gave my Avatar. And yes, I know Aaron is the boys' spelling of that name. I just prefer this spelling anyways.

Donnel sat hunched over in his seat, looking down at a battered and bloody Aaron. She had several cuts and bruises decorating her skin; a particularly nasty cut on her right arm worried him the most, as it was deep and had almost nicked the nerves that let that arm function.

Lissa had worked tirelessly on the tactician but there was only so much magic could do. She'd had to use several vulneraries and had had to wrap several extremities in gauze.

Donnel growled quietly in frustration, afraid he'd disturb the sleeping woman.

This is my fault, he thought guiltily. She's always been protectin' me, right from the beginning.

He thought back to the day he'd met her along with the rest of the Shepherds. His village had been overrun by bandits and he had only been able to sit helplessly as they'd burned and pillaged his home, taking everyone in the hamlet hostage. He'd only gotten away because he had run at his mother's insistence to save himself. He'd regretted it immediately but didn't have enough confidence in himself to charge the bandits. The group was massive and well-armed at that. There was no way he could fight them off single-handedly.

He visited neighboring villages, begging for assistance but to no avail. They were no better equipped than he to deal with the brutes.

He had just about given up all hope of saving his village when he spotted a large group in the distance, all armed to the teeth. Despite this, they gave off an air of approachability and Donnel had quickly run up to them and asked for their help.

"Please, Yer Majestyful," he proclaimed, becoming polite as soon as he saw the Brand of Ylisse on the group's leader. "I'm beggin' ya. My ma's among the hostages, sir."

"No need for formality. Chrom's just fine." He gave Donnel a determined look. "Of course we'll help. Lead the way…?" He petered off, realizing he didn't know the boy's name.

"Donny, that is, Donnel."

"Alright, lead the way, Donnel."

They approached the village as quietly as they could, hiding behind a low wall.

Donnel peered over the wall, pointing at the bandits. "That's them, sir."

Chrom nodded, taking in the number of men the bandits had compared to theirs. "What do you think, Aaron?"

"Definitely going to need to pair up for this one," the tactician announced. "There's too many of them for a soldier to go it alone. They'd overwhelm that person and butcher them in a matter of seconds." She glanced at the bandits once more. "Lots of archers, very few cavalrymen. We need to send people out a lot of people on horseback to cover more ground quickly and magic users would be helpful."

Chrom nodded. "Got it. Shepherds, step forward."

Donnel marveled at how the tactician (Aaron, was it?) could glean so much information from just glancing at the battlefield. He was also amazed at how organized everything was as they picked people out of the group to fight in the upcoming battle.

Once everyone was paired up, excluding Donnel and Aaron, Chrom shimmied over to Donnel, sword drawn. He handed Donnel a lance.

"Ok, lead on, Donnel."

"H-huh?" he spluttered. "I ain't even stuck'a pig before. I can't fight!"

Chrom became flustered. "Truly? I assumed with your background…never mind."

"I wanna fight 'em, honest. I'm real sorry, sir."

"You want to get strong and protect your village, right? Then fight alongside us and hone your potential. A sickle's not too far from a sword, Donnel."

"I-I…alright, sir! I'll try my best! These're my people after all!"

Chrom clapped him on the shoulder, a proud smile on his face. "That's the spirit."

Chrom had left for the battlefield before Donnel noticed he was without a partner. "W-wait, Yer Lordship, who am I fightin' with?"

"That would be me," a voice told him.

Donnel whirled around, lance at the ready. The owner of the voice, the tactician, stumbled back, hands raised defensively.

"Whoa, easy there, cowboy!"

Donnel flushed, stowing the spear. "Sorry, missus." He squinted, the messy blonde hair and brown eyes familiar. "Yer…Aaron, the tactician lady?"

She chuckled. "That would be me." She drew her sword, waving for him to follow her. "C'mon…Donny, was it? We're sitting ducks out here."

"Donnel," he corrected. "B-but ya can call me Donny, yeah. Uh, ok."

He stuck close to her, glad that Aaron had decided to stick to the shadows. He shook fearfully and gripped his lance tightly.

He watched in awe as Chrom and the rest of his soldiers dominated the battlefield. They struggled sometimes but for the most part were breezing through their opponents' ranks.

He glanced at Aaron. "Y'all sure are a well-oiled machine, huh?"

"They sure are," she muttered back to him.

He looked at her, perplexed. " 'They'? Aren't ya one of 'em?"

"Well, yeah, but I'm new. I've got a long road ahead of me before I'm half as good as they are." She gave him a reassuring wink. "Though I'm strong enough to keep you safe. Just stick behind me and you'll be fine, Donny."

He flushed, appreciating her words, feeling a sort of kinship at being a fellow newbie. "A-alright." He eyed the rest of the group. "Shouldn't we be joinin' 'em?"

"Oh, they're the diversion. You and I are going to strike at the heart, their commander. Once we do that, the rest should scatter."

"Oh." He thought about the statement for a moment and what it meant. "Wait, what?!"

"Donny, shh! Keep your voice down! Their gonna hear—"

She cut herself off, jumping in front of Donnel and pinning him against a house. Aaron gasped as she felt two arrows puncture her skin, one in her right shoulder and one just to the right of her spine.

Donnel stared at her in horror. "Missus, ya alright?"

"Damn, yeah. Go Donny! Get out here! I'll deal with the sniper."

Suddenly, he thought back to his mother and felt an overwhelming feeling of determination well up in him. He wouldn't run away twice.

He pushed Aaron gently out of the way, rushing the archer head on with his spear aimed at the bandit's chest. He let out a battle cry, thrusting the lance forward. The spearhead went through the archer's chest cleanly, hitting him directly in the heart. The life drained from the man's eyes and he went limp. The sight sickened Donnel and he hastily pulled his spear out of the corpse.

Aaron was at his side in an instant. "Donny, are you okay? You look pale."

"Y-yeah," he assured. A split second later, he was hunched over, heaving up the contents of his stomach. Aaron rubbed his back, murmuring reassurances.

He eventually stopped and he wiped at his mouth with a shaky hand. "S-sorry…"

"Don't be," she said forcefully. "I threw up, too, the first time I had to kill someone." She chuckled humorlessly. "At least you stopped. I'm pretty sure Lissa had to drag me off the battlefield." She gripped his shoulder tightly. "C'mon, let's get going." She watched him warily. "Unless you don't want to? I completely understand if you don't."

"Nah, I'll keep fightin'. But shouldn't we do somethin' 'bout those…?" he said, gesturing to the arrows still stuck in her flesh.

Aaron glanced back, the pain suddenly hitting her. She whimpered for a second before sucking it up. "Yeah, you mind getting those?"

"Y-ya sure ya want me doin' that? Wouldn't you be better off lettin' your healer deal with this?"

"No time. Just pull 'em out. I'll get treated later."

Donnel nodded, positioning himself behind her. He forced himself not to throw up again as he saw the blood seeping from her wounds into her clothing. He got a firm grip on the arrow in her shoulder, pulling it out in one quick, fluid motion. She cried out but quickly recovered and gestured for him to continue. He repeated the earlier action and this time Aaron bit down hard on her lip to stifle a yelp.

Donnel panicked as he saw more blood pour out of her wounds. She told him she would be fine and did a quick-fix job on her wounds. It wouldn't benefit her for long bit it would be good enough for now.

She and Donnel rushed through the village, cutting down anyone who dared get in their way. Donnel had almost been defeated several times but Aaron would always step in to block or take a blow for him then dress his wounds.

Finally, after what felt like a decade, they reached the commander's stronghold. He was sitting outside the elder's house, leaning on his axe, looking around disinterestedly. His eyes landed on Donnel and Aaron and he perked up, getting into a battle stance.

"Well, if ain't the son of that dastard who broke my ribs," he called. "The gods shine upon me today!"

Donnel growled, running at the man with everything he had, several emotions running through the young villager's head. Anger at the death of his father and the kidnapping of his mother and friends at the hands of this monster. Fear, afraid that said monster would simply cleave him in two. And courage, knowing Aaron and the rest of the Shepherds were here to support him.

The commander tried to dodge but moved too slow. He grunted as Donnel's spear punctured through his stomach. He grabbed Donnel's hand, his axe raised over his head.

"Good day to die, isn't it?" the commander asked, a wild glint in his eyes.

Almost as soon as he said it, he collapsed to his knees, eyes rolling into the back of his head. Donnel let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. He looked up from the commander's body to see a bloody and out of breath Aaron gripping her sword.

"Ya saved me," he managed after a while. "Again."

She gave him an exhausted grin. "Don't mention it."

"Is he—?"

"Dead? No. Knocked out."

"Good," Donnel said. "T-there's been too much bloodshed today. I-I don't wanna have to kill anybody else if we don't have to."

"Agreed."

There was sudden fanfare of triumphant shouts and what sounded like relieved sobbing.

Aaron tied the commander's hands and feet, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt.

"Let's go greet your people, hero."

Donnel smiled. "Yeah!"

It felt like it had been years since then. He'd improved and felt himself getting stronger. He'd gained a new set of values and great friends, especially Aaron. One thing hadn't changed though. Despite having bettered himself, Aaron was still defending him in every battle, always taking hits for him. He did the same for her, of course, but the number of time she'd saved his hide far outweighed the number of times he had saved hers. At first, it hadn't bothered him too bad but now…

She'd never been injured this badly before for his sake. This had been it. The straw that had broken the camel's back.

Donnel heard Aaron stir and he leaned over, concern etched into his face. She slowly opened her eyes and took a sudden intake of breath when she saw Donnel.

"Jeez Donny!" she cried weakly. "Scared me half to death!"

Donnel leaned back, pulling the pot he wore over his face. "Sorry."

Aaron made an effort to sit up but quickly abandon the attempt, the pain too unbearable to push through. She lay back down, staring peacefully at Donnel. "You're alright?"

Donnel felt his eyes begin to water and he was tempted to cry but stopped himself. She's worried 'bout me when she's in the state she's in? Doesn't she know how close to diein' she was?

"Yeah…you?"

"I've felt better," she admitted. "Did we win?"

"Do we ever lose?" he joked.

"Guess that was a stupid question," she muttered, giggling. She noticed the look on Donnel's face and frowned. "What's wrong?"

"You…You…" He felt hot tears run down his face despite his efforts at restraining them.

Aaron tried to sit up again, managing it this time. She cupped his face with her good hand. "Donny?"

His hand went over hers while he tried and failed to wipe away the tears streaming down his face with the other. "I-I'm gonna get s-stronger, ya hear?"

"Huh?"

"I-I'm gonna p-protect you like you've always done for me," he croaked. "So somethin' like this doesn't happen again. I'll get stronger, just y-you wait and see."

She smiled, laying her forehead on his. "I believe you," she muttered and she comforted him as he pulled her close, sobbing into her shoulder.