Well, I finally decided to post my own "Soren centric" fic. This is written as if Soren was raised by his father. Review! Oh, and much thanks to my beta!!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"And if you place troops here, should the enemy retreat towards this bridge, they will completely annihilate the rebels' army." I finished proudly.

"Yet again, your skill and insight completely amaze me, lord prince. It proves that you are indeed a genius, no matter how young." Bryce answered in awe.

"Hm." my father said.

My smile faltered for a moment.

"Father, what do you think?" I ventured bravely.

"It will do." he said, standing up and leaving the room.

"Father…"

I jolted awake from the nightmare I was experiencing. Lately dreams plagued with memories were afflicting me.

I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and slid of the cot I was sleeping on. I felt around on the floor and found my bag with all my tomes and other items then blindly made my way to the door of the dirty room I was spending the night in. I fumbled for the doorknob. When I found it and had opened the door, I was met with the loud raucous noises from the bar below. Apparently the rabble rousers were still partying.

I stumbled down the stairs. It was time to leave this rat hole.

I weaved in and out of the drunken farmers, trying to make my way to the door of the tavern.

Someone's arm wrapped around my shoulder.

"Where you going, little lady?" a huge, blonde, young man said. From the weight of the arm on my shoulders and the firmness of his chest I figured this man was probably not a farmer. I winced at the overpowering smell of alcohol on his breath.

"Excuse me." I said, shoving his arm off me.

"Surely a cute, young woman like you isn't going out in that cold, dark world so late at night?" he tried again.

"Let me go." I demanded.

"Gatrie, just get over it. She doesn't like you." someone said.

I looked at the direction of the voice. A man with a purply-grey colored hair sat at a table with a plate of food in front of him.

"I'm Zihark." he said, smiling. "I'm afraid Gatrie here is a bit pushy."

"But, but," Gatrie whined.

I finally couldn't take it anymore.

"If you do not remove your arm from my shoulders I will remove it permanently." I said.

"Um," the man, Gatrie stuttered.

"Gatrie, that isn't a girl." Zihark said, realization dawning on his face.

"WHAT?!!"

He stuck his face up close to mine.

"Oh my gosh! She's a guy! I am so sorry! Please forgive me!" he gasped.

"Please, excuse me." I insisted.

"Let me make it up to you." he said, ignoring my request.

So then I found myself sitting at the table with a plate of obviously unpalatable food in front of me.

"Eat up!" Gatrie insisted.

"Gatrie's paying." Zihark said.

"You're worse than Shinon." Gatrie whined.

"I don't know the guy." Zihark explained to me.

I stared at the food then at the door. My fingers were itching to reach for my tome.

"Well, I'm really sorry that I thought you were a girl." Gatrie said.

I twitched and didn't reply.

"I mean, you have long, pretty, black hair and such pale skin, I'm sure anyone would mistake you for a girl."

It took every ounce of willpower and tolerance gained in my eighteen years to not blow that man away.

"By the way, what's your name?" he asked.

The front door of the tavern slammed open, saving me from answering. The loud noises in the room quieted down. I looked up and saw a huge, blue haired man standing there.

"Gatrie! Zihark!! What are you doing here this late?!" he demanded, staring right at our table.

"Well, commander," Gatrie, began, "I can explain."

"I don't want to hear excuses. Curfew was two hours ago. Do you know what time it is?!"

"Um, late?" Gatrie tried.

"Don't try to be funny! It's two o'clock in the morning! Zihark! I would have thought you would have made sure Gatrie was back in time!"

"Well," Zihark said guiltily, "I guess I got distracted."

"Distracted." Gatrie snorted.

He noticed me just then.

"Who are you?" he asked me.

Everyone in the tavern looked at me. That was exactly what I didn't want. Attention.

I stared at the commander's face while I opened my tome under the table. As quietly as I could I ripped the needed amount of pages from it.

I shot out of the chair and towards the door, just as I chanted the spell. Behind me I heard chaos as a Wind spell shot around the tavern. I had weakened the spell so no one would die from it, but if someone got a direct hit, they would have a killer headache in the morning.

I ran down the dark road away from the tavern. After about three miles I veered off the road and into the woods. Any normal person running at my speed would be making a loud noise and destroying the landscape, but me, I wasn't normal. I skillfully hid my tracks all while running at an extreme speed.

As soon as I was deep enough in the woods and far enough away from the road as I deemed sufficient, I sat down under a tree and gasped for air. I hadn't run like that since…

I reached into my pack I clasped my hands around a piece of jerky. I hadn't eaten in two days. I bit into the meat and grimaced at its salty and spicy flavor. I forced myself to take another bite. I shoved the jerky back in my bag. I couldn't eat anymore.

I was curled up in a ball in the roots of a huge old tree on the edge of a small clearing. I pressed my cheek into one of the huge roots and breathed deeply of the earthy, wood smell. Here I felt at peace, among the trees. Though I knew I shouldn't have, I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

"When Princess Crimea's army hits this bridge, they will be driven back by the horse soldiers. They will most likely retreat this way where the ballistae will finish them off. Should a few escape, the foot soldiers here will take care of them. There is a 99.9% chance that they won't survive." I said, emotionlessly.

After examining the map and the markings on it for a few minutes, Ena replied:

"I can find no flaw. This is a battle we will win."

Out of habit I glanced at my father for a reaction. As usual, I saw none.

"Send out the troops." was all he said.

I awoke in a cold sweat, though the cause of my awakening was not my dream. I looked up. A female, cat laguz was standing there, with a huge, hulking blue tiger.

"Well well well, what do we have here?"