Badon was a blur to Lyndis as she stormed away from her companions, fists clenched at her sides; she didn't particularly care where she ended up so long as she was away from the boys and their naiveté about bargains with bandits. As a result, she found herself lost in the port's market after a moment of stomping around the streets, swallowed by the scents of fish and spices for sale and the shouts of vendors, loud and cacophonous.

She planted her boots in the middle of the cobblestoned road and gaped; this was a far cry from home. Caelin had a market district, of course, but not this chaotic. And Sacae… she'd visited Bulgar once, as a child, and decided it was the one place more hectic than the port of Badon, where trade routes from Ilia, Lycia, and Bern all met. Like Badon, the market in Bulgar was colorful and crowded, cloth canopies squeezed together along the city streets, shoppers brushing shoulder to shoulder as they went about their errands. Other children might have found the sight enthralling, but Lyndis only felt claustrophobic and overwhelmed, clinging tightly to her father until he lead their horse out of the city and back home – back to the open plains, to the tribe.

Lyndis frowned and shook off the memory – she couldn't go home now. There was no way to get all the way back to Sacae, and even still, it wasn't as if anyone would be waiting for her there.

A familiar, delicate hand grasped Lyn's arm, and she turned around. Florina had chased after her, as evident by her messier-than-usual lavender hair and exhausted turquoise eyes. "L-lady Lyndis!" she said between heavy breaths. "You left so fast, I was worried… I wasn't sure what was happening until Hector and Eliwood left for the inn to speak to the pirate captain…"

"So they are going ahead with their ill-born ideas… hmph." Lyndis crossed her arms. "That Hector. He doesn't think before he acts, does he? A pirate ship… he just doesn't get it." Of course he wouldn't understand, not Lord Hector, a nobleman of the same pedigree as Eliwood. He'd been sheltered in castles and schools his whole life – he taught himself to fight for sport, not survival, and he likely had a family awaiting his return back in Ostia. There was no way he could have the same understanding of loss she did.

"Well, after you left, he suggested that they abandon the idea of pirates, but Eliwood decided to give them a chance anyway…"

"They don't deserve chances. Bandits, pirates… they're all the same. That's why I want to find passage to Valor that doesn't involve them – I can't trust those kinds of people."

"I understand," Florina said, and dropped her hand from Lyn's arm to hold her hand. "And I am in your service, Lady Lyndis, so… may I help you with that?"

Lyndis smiled in return, forgetting to conceal her teeth and providing her knight with a brilliant grin to contrast her earlier scowl. "Thank you, Florina. I'm sure there's a merchant somewhere here who may lead us on the right path!"

Together, they then entered the market, questioning every vendor about boats leaving Badon and captains available for hire. The port city was excellent for embarking – regular departures for Bern and Etruria and even all the way around to Ilia – but still, every person they spoke to claimed the same as the man they first encountered in the town. Only a mad man would sail to Valor, the Dread Isle. Only one as ambitious as a pirate.

"You won't find a ship headed towards the Dread Isle, not if you asked the whole town, milady," one particularly sleazy-looking merchant told them. "Perhaps you could swim there, but fetching girls like you ought to stay ashore. You're too pretty to brave the waters."

"I've had enough of this," Lyndis scoffed, and began to turn away.

"I did catch word of a commotion down by the port, however," the merchant added before she was out of earshot. "Not sure what's happening, but apparently Captain Fargus stirred up some nobles again."

"Lyn, nobles! Maybe it's Hector and Eliwood?"

The lord nodded and faced the merchant once more. "Tell, who is this Captain Fargus?"

"The most notorious pirate captain in Lycia, of course," the merchant answered with a laugh.

Frowning, Lyndis left the vendor and began towards the port. "It has to be them, those fools… but we have to get to that island, so it looks like we'll have to endure pirates…"

Florina accompanied her through the town, following shouts and battle cries down to the port. Evidently, the pirates were not organized enough to form a distinct army, but rather wandered the streets in groups in anticipation for a skirmish, shouting about the "inevitable defeat of the Pheraean army" by the hands of Fargus's pirates and how the Pheraeans were clearly "cowards for not coming to arms yet" and a general variety of vulgar things. Lyndis saw them around every corner as she jogged through the streets: giant, burly men with unkempt beards and identifying blue bandanas. Clearly, this Fargus fellow only allowed the most threatening-looking brigands to join his crew.

Finally, on the street where Lyndis left Hector and Eliwood, she found them again. The boys stood in front of an inn along with Marc, their tactician, clearly discussing the battle they'd somehow gotten themselves involved in. To Lyn's dismay, her comrades all seemed somewhat excited about the ordeal.

"What in the world is going on?" she exclaimed.

"Oh! Lyn!" Hector called to her as he turned from the discussion. "Nice timing. We need your help!"

Lyndis rose an eyebrow at the request. "You're battling the pirates?"

Eliwood took notice of Lyn's arrival as well. "Fighting and…" he began, but shook his head and stopped himself before rambling an explanation. "Look, we have to reach the docks and speak to the captain! This is a test to see whether or not he'll give us passage."

So it wasn't a simple bargain with the pirates after all. Rather, it was some sort of test; but why prove themselves to pirates? She needn't earn the respect of thieves. Yet the idea of demonstrating their strength was promising – if their army trounced Fargus's gang of pirates, it could prove who had the upper hand in their agreement to reach Valor. Lyndis could handle pirates if they respected their place beneath her… but the implication of alliance that such an agreement held… no, they hand to reach the Dread Isle for the marquess's – and Lycia's – sake.

"I don't understand, but…" Lyn said, and gave a resigned sigh. "I'm here, so let me help!"

She caught a flash of a grin on Hector's face before he turned to Marc. "Well then, we have all three of us here and Florina, so what's our plan of action?" he asked.

"Well, first, Florina – can you fetch Huey and gather everyone else?" the tactician said. "Because the pirates are scattered throughout the village, I think it'd be best if we separate to knock them out and then rendezvous at the arena. Fargus has his ship just north of it, but in case he decides to launch a final attack on us, we can tackle it together."

"I wouldn't put it past him to pull something tricky like that," Lyn agreed.

Marc nodded, his navy-blue hair bouncing against his forehead. "We should divide into teams – please relay that to everyone else, Florina. As far as the four of us go, I believe Eliwood and I should take the south road, and Hector and Lyndis can head north."

"US?"

Eliwood stifled a chuckle by pressing his fist to his mouth. "What's wrong with you two pairing up? You're both skilled fighters, after all. This should be easy."

"I apologize, but I do question Lord Hector's methods of combat. To put it simply, he's a reckless fighter and it puts his comrades in danger! We may each be better off on our own." From the first time she saw how he fought - weeks ago when he helped her retake Caelin - Lyn didn't approve of Hector's style of fighting. Even though he explained how he was never taught, and she apologized for being angry with him, she fell back into distrust with him after seeing his acquiescence in regard to taking the pirates' boat to the island.

"I thought you understood why I fight the way I do," Hector added with a grumble. "I don't need to be joined to my greatest critic. She's right. I can get much more done if I work on my own and don't have to worry about her."

Marc crossed his arms. He was a slender boy around the other lords' ages and was about an inch shorter than Eliwood, making him the smallest of the group - in the year Lyndis had known him, he still hadn't completely grown into his long tactician's robes. But despite his physical meekness in comparison to his friends, Marc seemed to know more than the three of them combined. "Eliwood being the unsaid leader of this army, it's best that he stick with me, as our tactician. That leaves Hector and Lyndis as the remaining pair. Because you're our strongest fighters, it will be most efficient for the two of you to lead your troops and eliminate the bulk of the enemy to the north."

"Hm. There's not much a choice then, is there?" Hector faced Lyn and held out his hand. "I trust Marc."

"As do I," Lyn replied shortly. She paused to stare at Hector's open palm – it was not an offering of peace to her, but a question. Was she too proud to set aside her grievances for Eliwood's sake? For Lycia's sake? In the end, she knew she couldn't leave Eliwood to the same fate she faced that day in Sacae – he didn't deserve that. No one did.

Finally, she took Hector's hand in her own and gave a firm shake, looking square into his midnight-blue eyes. "Marc has had my upmost respect for over a year now, and I trust his decisions will lead us to save Lord Elbert."

"With that settled, I believe we should advance, then," Marc said with a sly grin. And with that, they took to arms.