Pebblekit: Hello everyone! Thanks to all of you who read my first story. I really appreciate it. This one is my first multi- chapter story. I'll do my best to update as frequently as I can. Wish me luck…. This story is centered mainly around Rolf, Shinon, Boyd, Oscar, and maybe, just maybe a character that I made up. I don't know if I'm going to use him yet though. If I did, I'd have to use his siblings too. Feel free to tell me of any pairings you might want me to use, but I can't promise I'll use them, I've already got some lined up. Also, last time I wrote a fic, the lines that I used to divide the story into sections disappeared, so the story was really choppy. Sorry. I'll try to find another way to get the point across. Please forgive me if it doesn't work. Enough of my ranting! On with the story... Crud. No more excuses not to start writing….

Pairings for this chapter: Maybe a little Mist/ Rolf if you REALLY squint

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, the characters, the places mentioned, or anything having to do with or related to the game. A lot of the dialogue comes from the game as well. I plan to make this go on past the game chapters though, so please be prepared. I hope to have really long story.

Now We Begin

Prisoner in Reality

Chapter One- The Pain Inside

"I can't believe he actually beat me!"

"Boyd, calm down. It's not the end of the world."

"Don't tell me to calm down Oscar! You're not the one that got beaten by Ike!"

"I'm also not the one that's worried about such a little thing when I could be outside training and getting ready for the next battle I have with the guy who just beat me."

Boyd opened his mouth to reply, but then the meaning of Oscar's words sank in and he immediately ran outside.

"Wow Oscar, you really handled that well." Oscar looked around and saw Mist behind him. "You never lose your temper, do you?"

"I try not to," the green haired man answered back. "I'm kind of used to the way Boyd acts in a rage. It's easier to get him to leave than to try to make him be quiet. You just need to phrase your words right when talking to him. By the way, you saw Ike and Boyd battle each other, right?" Mist nodded. "How did it go?"

"Don't you know?" Oscar shook his head. "Really? I thought the first thing Boyd would do was tell the entire story to you with every detail imaginable."

"Not really. All he did was keep repeating that he was mad that Ike had beaten him. I don't know anything about the battle itself at all."

"Well, it wasn't very eventful. Ike attacked Boyd. Boyd attacked Ike. Ike attacked Boyd again. Boyd attacked Ike again. All in all, I think the two of them were pretty evenly matched. Really, I think that Ike won just because he had the advantage with a sword over an ax."

"You know about the weapon triangle already?" Oscar was mildly surprised at this piece of information.

"Yeah. Dad taught me one day after I saw you and Boyd fight. I asked him why you were being so worried about your brother's ax if you were wearing armor and if Rhys was sitting right there. He said that axes had an advantage over lances, lances were good against swords, and swords won against axes."

"That pretty much sums it up."

"Oscar." Titania walked up to the lance knight. "Commander Greil said that tomorrow will be Ike's first day as a full fledged mercenary. He wants you, Boyd, and me to teach him everything that he needs to know about the job."

"Okay. No problem." Titania walked off after she delivered the message, leaving Oscar and Mist alone. "So your brother is finally going to join the gang, huh?"

"Yeah, looks like it." Mist was looking at the floor. There was a hint of sadness in her voice that Oscar barley could hear.

"Hey, is something wrong?"

"No… not really… well maybe there is…."

"What's on your mind? I may be able to help if you're confused."

"It's just that, well, whenever you went off on a job, Rolf always got sad. He was always worried that you may come back hurt, or even worse, that you wouldn't come back at all. I always used to tell him that there was no way that you or Boyd could die. I always told him not to worry and to act his age. But… I never once considered his feelings. Now, Ike is going off to fight alongside you guys. I- I'm worried for him. I now understand how Rolf feels whenever you guys leave. I feel guilty about how I talked to him about it, as though there was nothing to worry about, like there was no reason for panic. Now that Ike is leaving too… I just don't know what to think."

Oscar pondered this for awhile. He needed to say something that would reassure Mist and cheer her up at the same time. "Well… I can't tell you that Ike will come back okay after every battle. But, I can say that Ike really has gotten stronger. He can fight very well now. He's also a lot more levelheaded than many of us would like to think. I think that if you sent your best wishes with him to the battlefield, that if you tell him how you feel, I think he might try harder to come back in one piece. Does that help you?"

"Yes. Yes it does." Mist wiped her eyes on her arm wrap. She had apparently been on the verge of tears. "Thanks a lot. How did you get so good at figuring out what people want to hear?"

"Well… that's mostly because Rolf never speaks his mind. I often have to figure out what he's thinking."

"Rolf?!" Mist's voice of full of disbelief, "Are we thinking about the same person? Because I can't picture Rolf not telling you something that he's worried about."

"He may tell you things that he won't tell me and Boyd because you're closer to his age. He never tells his brothers anything. You see, Rolf has a lot to live up to. Both his parents were excellent fighters that were rewarded many times for their services to their country. Not only that, but all of the people around him are top notch mercenaries. The exception to this statement, or course, is you. He may tell you things that he won't even mention to other people because you're not a mercenary yet. Even so, you're still the daughter of who is no doubt his father figure. He might even feel awkward around you sometimes."

Mist thought long and hard about this speech. She had never even noticed that what Oscar said may have been the truth. "I never thought of that before."

Oscar smiled. "It doesn't surprise me. I think the only other two people that may have noticed were Commander Greil and possibly Shinon."

"How could Shinon have noticed something that I didn't when he doesn't even talk to Rolf that much? Am I really that bad of a best friend?"

"No, you're not. Shinon is very fine-tuned to the things that are occurring around him. It's probably a quality that he acquired by being a mercenary most of his life. Just calm down, Boyd is Rolf's brother, and he didn't notice."

The two of them probably would have talked longer, but Gatrie entered the room at that moment and Mist didn't want to talk about such a serious subject with the knight around. After explaining this to Oscar in a quiet voice so that Gatrie wouldn't hear her, the young girl took leave of the room.

"Hey, Oscar! What were you talking to Mist so intently about?" Gatrie asked as a joke, but Oscar didn't really want to talk at that moment so he took it seriously, completely missing the sarcasm in his comrade's voice.

"Just because you like to sweet talk every girl that you run into doesn't mean that the rest of us do." His tone wasn't cold, but it had an air of finality in it that clearly stated that the subject was closed to further conversation. Somehow or another, though, Gatrie seemed to either miss the emotion in the lance knight's voice, or he just ignored it.

"Ah, you're still a boy, too embarrassed to admit that you have a crush on someone."

"Um, Gatrie, you've got that wrong. I don't like-"

"Don't deny it! You just don't want to get in trouble right?"

"No. That's not right. Why would I get in trouble anyway?"

"Elementary, my friend. She IS the daughter of the commander, you know. And she IS like… what? Ten years younger than you?"

"Exactly. So why would I fall for her?"

"Um… Uh… let me think about that for a moment…" Oscar took Gatrie's total stupidity as an opportunity to run away as fast as he possibly could.

Scene Two

Rolf gazed out over the mercenary fort, completely lost in thought. Everything was so quiet, so… peaceful. It was spring on Tellius. All of the wild flowers were blooming in full color. Birds flew around overhead, destinations unknown. If he could, Rolf would have sat there for hours just gazing at the scenery. But the entire fantasy ended when a certain someone came up.

"Rolf! Hey, Rolf!"

It was Mist. Rolf sat up and looked over at her. "Hey, Mist. How are you doing today?"

"I'm okay. Guess what!?"

Rolf thought for a moment, but he couldn't think of anything that was of much importance other than the fact that Boyd had been beaten by Ike. But knowing Boyd, the entire company probably already knew that. "What?"

"Tomorrow is Ike's first day as a full fledged mercenary!"

"Really?"

"Yeah! Isn't it great? Now he can fight with your brothers on the battlefield!" Mist face fell for a second, as though there was another thought on her mind as she said this. But the sadness was gone in less than a second, so it was possible that Rolf had just imagined it.

"Yeah! It's wonderful!" Happiness was welling up inside of Rolf, though it was for slightly different reasons than what Mist pointed out. He was happy, yes, that Ike had finally fulfilled his dream and had become a true mercenary. But he was also happy because now that Ike was going to fight as well, there was one more person to watch Boyd and Oscar, and therefore, there was less of chance that anyone would get hurt.

"Hey, let's go play a game!" Mist suggested.

"A game?"

"Yeah! Let's make our happiness last!"

"Okay. What do you want to play?"

"How about…" Mist thought for a moment, searching the bowels of her mind for a game that both she and Rolf would enjoy. "Hide and Seek?"

"Sure!"

"I'll beat you this time."

"Not if I can help it."

As the two of them set off to find a tree or something that could be used for the base, Mist turned her back to Rolf. "Hey… Rolf?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you… ever feel… awkward around me?"

Rolf frowned. What had she thought of that for? "What do you mean?"

"I… never mind."

"You sure?"

"…This is perfect! Why don't we use this wall for the base?"

Rolf was still curious about what Mist had asked him, but he dismissed the thought quickly. "Okay." And with that, the two friends played until after dark. Eventually, Oscar and Titania had been sent out to find them and force them to come back inside. Once again, Rolf had beaten Mist at Hide and Seek by a landslide.

Scene Three

"Promise me you'll come back soon, okay?"

"We'll try our best." Oscar and Boyd were leaving to go on a mission. Titania and Ike were with them. "Don't look so crestfallen. Titania and Ike are going to be with us, so there's no reason for you to be so worried."

"But Oscar… just try your best to come back, okay?"

"Oh come on, Rolf! There's no reason for you to be so scared. It's just a couple of bandits ransacking a village. I promise we'll be fine, so cheer up you peewee!"

"Boyd…"

"What's this? You didn't yell at me for calling you 'peewee'? Gasp! Is it possible that you finally except that you in fact are a peewee and I have been right for years?!"

"…You? Right about something? That would be a change. And don't call me peewee!" Boyd frowned at that statement and balled his fist which he proceeded to bring down on the top of Rolf's head. Pain lanced all the way down Rolf's spine. "Ow! Oscar! Boyd hit me!"

"I didn't hit you that hard."

"But it still hurts!" This was true, as Rolf was rubbing the part of his head that Boyd had hit.

"Boyd," Oscar was as calm as ever. Considering the circumstances, that was an incredible feat. "I don't think that you realize the full extent of your strength."

"Oh yeah?! And what is that supposed to mean? ….. ………….. ………………………….. Oscar… did you just… did you just compliment me for hitting Rolf so hard?!"

"No. I was saying that if you can cause that much pain with one blow to the head of our little brother, perhaps your energy would be better spent on the battlefield. Just a suggestion." Boyd (for once) was rendered completely speechless by this statement.

"Hey, you two! We need to get going!" Titania called from somewhere around the forest that surrounded the camp.

"We're coming!" Oscar called back. Then he reached down and gave Rolf a big hug.

"Don't worry. Boyd and I will do our best to come back because we know you'll be here waiting. Please don't get so sad. We will try our hardest, so just wait for us, okay?" Rolf hesitated, then nodded. Once he did, Oscar and Boyd walked in the direction that Titania's voice emanated from.

Rolf sat down on the grass once they were out of sight. He had thought that he wouldn't worry so much when Ike joined the team. But all that the ranger's presence on the battlefield had succeeded in doing was make him worry about Mist's brother as well as his own.

With a sigh, Rolf decided to just sit in that spot and wait for his brothers to come back. They'll be okay. I mean, they wouldn't leave me here alone… would they? Rolf was so intent on thinking about this that he didn't even notice when someone came to sit down next to him.

"Rolf?"

The boy jumped about two feet in the air, which is saying something because it's quite hard to jump when you're sitting down. Looking around, he saw that the owner of the voice was Mist. "Oh, hi Mist. You startled me."

"Sorry. I thought you knew I was there."

"It's okay." Rolf only then noticed how red Mist's eyes were. It was obvious that she had been crying quite hard. "What's wrong?"

"I- I'm sorry Rolf!"

"Huh? Why are you sorry?"

"Well, before, whenever Boyd and Oscar went off to fight and you were upset, I treated you horribly. I told you that it was no big deal, that they would come back no matter what, but now I see how you feel!" Ike's gone to fight now too, and I'm so worried that he won't come back! If I lose him, I- I'll…" Mist broke into tears again. It seemed as though she had been wanting to say all of this for awhile, and now that she had a chance, all her worries just flooded out.

Rolf didn't know what to do. After a few moments of watching tears rain down Mist's face, he put an arm around her and pulled her into an awkward hug. "… I'm not going to tell you not to worry, but I don't think that your crying is going to do any good. Ike will most likely come back. I'm sure that he'll do everything in his power to stay alive. But if he knew you were crying about him, I think that he would feel guilty for making you sad."

Mist seemed to ponder this for a moment. Then, she wiped her eyes on her arm wrap, just as she had done when talking to Oscar the previous day. When she spoke, her words were shaking, as though she was trying to choke down the rest of her tears. "You sounded a lot like Oscar right then. You two really are brothers." When Rolf didn't say anything, Mist went on. "Y-your right. I'm sorry for crying, it's just- just…" She broke off and wrapped her arms around Rolf, hugging him back. "Thank you Rolf. For being there for me when I need you."

Rolf patted her lightly on the back, trying to comfort her. "Mist, I won't tell Ike if you want to cry. And no one else is here right now." This wasn't exactly true, as Gatrie, Shinon, and Commander Greil were still there. But they didn't seem to be anywhere around that area at the moment.

"Thank you." Mist's voice was barely above a whisper, and then, slowly, Rolf's shirt became soaking wet, as his friend burst into tears again.

Scene Four: Note: Because of a certain review I got, I'm going to try to write this battle scene better than my last one. Please tell me if it's still too weak. Also, I realize that I put the line about Boyd's ax before the battle. Sorry, but I needed something to start the section off.

"I can't believe you told him that I broke my ax the first time I was on a mission!"

"I thought it would lighten the mood. I also didn't want you to give him the impression that life as a mercenary is easy."

"…What does that have to do with me breaking my ax?"

A bandit charged at Oscar, ax brandished, which cut off the older brother from answering. The enemy swung his ax up, aiming at Oscar's chest. The lance knight narrowly dodged the attack. Then he struck out with his lance. He managed to hit the bandit on the shoulder, but the stubborn guy wasn't through yet. He ran at Oscar, trying to use the full advantage his weapon had over his foe. Oscar backed up, but he got hit on his arm. Grimacing in pain, the green haired man brought his lance down into the enemy's throat.

Meanwhile, Boyd had charged at another fighter. The two men were about equal in strength, so they kept dodging each other. The fight looked as though it was going to go on for awhile. Ike had already made quick work of one bandit and was now charging at another. The ranger slashed out with his sword, having the advantage over the bandit's ax, and successfully hit the enemy on the side of his rib cage. Then, Ike stabbed his sword straight through the guy's chest.

Titania had already taken down two men. Now there was only the bandit leader, an ugly guy by the name of Zawana, and the bandit that Boyd was still exchanging blows with. Deciding to take on the boss together, Titania, Oscar, and Ike decided to watch how Boyd's battle would end before engaging in battle with Zawana. Ike had wanted to help his friend and tried to rush out in the battle beside Boyd, but Oscar held the ranger back.

"He won't thank you for helping him."

"But I-"

"No. Stay here. This is Boyd's fight. The only thing we can really do right now is cheer him on." Oscar didn't like watching his brother struggle either, but he wanted Boyd to learn how to fight his own battles.

Boyd swung up, only to find the bandit blocking his attack. Then he leaped back as his enemy tried to bring his ax down on the green haired fighter's head. They parried back in forth, both trying to get a hit in. Then, after a few minutes, Boyd seemed to get an idea. He moved forward, dodged the bandit's swing, and balled his fist. Then, with all the power his could muster, he brought his tensed hand down on the bandit's head. The bandit staggered in surprise and pain. Boyd saw his chance. In one swift movement, the fighter swung out with his ax and slashed into the bandit's stomach. The bandit fell to the ground and twitched until he died of blood loss. By then, Boyd was breathing very hard.

"Never thought…. I'd see….. the day when….. I used that move…. in battle." Boyd gasped out, trying to catch his breath. Oscar clapped him on the back.

"Now we can tell Rolf that he's not the only one that thinks you hit hard." Oscar had a playful tone in his voice as he climbed back up onto his horse.

"Now," Titania had the light of battle in her voice, "we attack their leader."

The battle was mayhem. Titania had decided to sit the battle out unless they needed her as a last resort in order to give the three men a chance to gain experience. Zawana was sitting behind a fence with a gap only wide enough for one person to get through. Not all three of the mercenaries could charge him at once because they kept bumping into each other. Ike ran forward and slashed at Zawana. He quickly dove to the left to avoid getting hit by the bandit's ax.

Boyd ran forward and hit Zawana in the stomach. Then he ran to the right. Ike and Boyd were now also both inside the fence. Oscar was standing in front of Zawana. The bandit seemed to realize that he was surrounded because his eyes widened in fear. At once, all three of the mercenaries ran forward, their weapons raised. Zawana swung his ax at Boyd in one last defensive attempt before he fell to the ground, bleeding from five serious wounds.

"Urhg! I- …I'm meant for better than this… I don't want to die here…" With that sentence, ironically, Zawana dropped down dead.

It took a moment before Oscar processed that they had won. Ike smiled triumphantly and Boyd punched the air in front of him in exhilaration even though he was still bleeding from the wound Zawana had given him on his chest. Titania walked over and congratulated Ike on a job well done for his first fight.

"I think that fight I had with that other fighter was the hardest battle I've ever had." Boyd bent over double, breathing deeply.

"Regardless, you did well." Oscar dismounted his horse and slapped Boyd on the back.

"I don't know, man. That entire battle, I was worried about whether I could keep my promise to Rolf that I would come back in one piece."

Oscar didn't have an answer for his brother's statement. He could only ponder about what Boyd had said. 'We should be more careful from now on. I didn't realize that Rolf worried about us that much until I talked to Mist yesterday' Oscar thought to himself."Do you want to ride on my horse?" he finally asked his brother. Boyd shook his head.

"Hey, you two! We're heading home!" Titania called.

"We're coming!" Oscar shouted back. "Come on Boyd, let's go home." With that, he put his brother's arm around his shoulder, and together they walked back the way they had come.

"Yeah, home." Boyd's voice was barely above a coarse whisper. "Home…"

Author's Note

Okay Spottedtail, I worked quite a bit harder on this battle scene. Was it any better?

This chapter took up quite a bit of time to write. I didn't know how serious I wanted the fic to start. This story will tie in with my oneshot that I posted later. Please tell me if anyone was OOC. This chapter was kinda short. I meant it to be longer, but I thought that the entire chapter would be ruined if I added another scene after Boyd's seriousness. Sorry. I'll get started on chapter two RIGHT NOW. Please tell me if there is anything wrong so I can work on it as the story progresses. I think I'm going to add a little more humor. See you next chapter! Bye!