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Quick Author's notes: Timeline of the fic starts pre-canon and up through the start of the game itself. Focus is mostly on Rhys, Oscar, and then Titania, Mist, Boyd, and Rolf. The relationship focus is more 'found family' (or in the case of the brothers, family-family) than 'shippy. Just a look at how characters go from joining the band as young, raw recruits, to how it becomes their home and family. Because it starts a little ways before the events of the game, there are some OCs thrown in at the beginning, who are not really important as more than background. Feedback is welcome here. Chapter One: First Day ---/-/--- It's a simple enough job, just escorting a small caravan from one town to the next, along a rather notorious stretch of road. The mere presence of armed mercenaries might be enough to put off any bandits. The more established members of the group had certainly prepared them with enough stories of what such routine jobs were like. Oscar has something of an advantage. It might be his first time riding out with the Greil Mercenaries, but he had the training of a Crimean knight behind him, that was sort of experience. Rhys isn't sure if he should feel envious or not-- well, he's certain he shouldn't feel envious, but he isn't sure if he does anyway. He has experience, with healing, but never on the battlefield. He patched people up after training accidents, or if Alberich had been over-taxed and anyone returned from a job bearing injuries. Sometimes he suspects the old bishop sometimes left one or two small ones on purpose, just so that he could improve his skills. Alberich is looking to retire, though-- he and Irakliy both, an armor knight that had been with the company since some time in Gallia, which is all Rhys really knows about him. He's never even seen Irakliy out of his armor, though he's sure someone must have done, they all live and eat and work together. Irakliy already has a trusty replacement in the form of Gatrie, but he'd gone on several missions just to see it would work out, and though he won't be on this one, Alberich will. It's some comfort. Rhys won't have to carry the well-being of his friends alone. And if he's hurt himself, he'll have someone to turn to. Should any of their employers and charges be injured in a sudden attack, Alberich could stay behind and see to them while Rhys charged out just behind the mercenaries. He can think of a lot of situations in which it would be useful to have the older man along, and not only because he doesn't know how ready he is to handle the duties of a healer solo. When they set out, Titania rides to the front right of the caravan, with Alberich and another fighter behind her, and Rhys follows behind Oscar at the left, breathing a little easier knowing that they have a more seasoned warrior protecting him from any attacks from the rear. It had been Titania's suggestion that he and Oscar stick together at the start of it-- if there was to be trouble, she'd said, Oscar may have some experience under his belt from before his time with the mercenaries, but he was still likely to be thrown in harm's way, and to receive a blow or two. If he made certain he would always be able to ride back as far as Rhys could reach, he would be able to be healed. And if they got themselves surrounded and Rhys was in danger, it would be easy enough for Oscar to pull him up onto his horse and carry him to safety. The words 'easy enough' don't fill Rhys with a sense of confidence, exactly, but Titania's tone had. She'd been calm, confident, almost breezy about things that sounded difficult and dangerous to him. And Oscar certainly hadn't seemed rattled by the suggestion. Rhys had interrupted then, once, to ask if they oughtn't be paired differently, newcomer to experienced mercenary, but she'd told him that if there was trouble, she was going to be riding out into the thick of it ahead of Oscar, and if she found herself in danger, Alberich would be able to reach her with a Physic staff, without having to put himself in the line of fire. 'Besides,' she had added, 'you and Oscar will get along nicely, I'm sure you'll be great friends'. He'd stammered, and blushed, and apologized-- to Titania, for questioning her judgment when he still had so much to learn, and to Oscar, for any accidental slight. By the time they were ready to go, however, even if Rhys had not forgotten his own embarrassment, Titania and Oscar both seemed to have. He thinks back to it a few times, as they walk alongside the caravan, resolving each time to put it out of his mind. He won't be green forever, after all. Now he knows that even if he can't see them from his inexperienced perspective, Titania has reasons for the decisions she makes, and the commander wouldn't put her in charge of a small unit of her own if he didn't trust her to bring them all home safely. And Oscar... Oscar is good-natured and friendly and not the type to hold a grudge, especially not over an imagined insult. The horses plod along slowly, to allow everyone on foot to keep pace. The sound of hooves is steady and grounding, and the smell of sun-warmed grass growing along the sides of the road is sweet like summer afternoons... There's little chatter-- there had been some, when they'd first started out, and it had died away naturally, to leave the sound of the turning wheels, the horses' hooves against hard-packed earth, the whoop and whistle of birdsong in the trees... Slowly but surely, Rhys feels his nerves ebb away. The trees they pass, single or in little clusters, are not what he had once imagined-- twisty trunks and widespread branches and bright, cheery leaves, leaves the color of Oscar's hair, really. Not the thick, dark woods he'd first pictured, with bandits lurking behind each one. Here and there, scattered wildflowers dot the verge. It's true they pass no farms, no friendly settlements or posted guards of any official capacity to keep the road safe, but it hardly feels like it deserves its reputation. The caravan comes to a halt, on Titania's orders, before they can reach a blind corner, where rocky outcroppings and thick trees obscure the bridge ahead, and they wait for her to ride ahead and scout things, and that's when the nerves make their return. It still isn't as bad as imagining what might be, before even setting out. Rhys feels in control of his fears, trusting Titania's leadership, and the skill of all his companions. He feels ready to take on the duties of a healer on the battlefield, if that's what it comes to-- to face the clash of weapons and the tang of copper in the air should enough blood spill. To be responsible for his friends' lives, as they will be for his. She orders Alberich to stay back with the caravan, when she returns-- if it is a trap, he's capable of going on the offense as well as healing, and even from over the trees and boulders, they'll see his light magic as sure as any beacon, they'd be able to ride back to his side. But, she tells them, she doubts the bandits are clever enough to spring a trap on two levels like that-- they're just hoping to catch a whole caravan unawares turning the corner, to spring out at the bridge where maneuvering will be difficult. It's unlikely they plan to draw the caravan's guard forward only to come out of hiding at the rear. The best hiding places are all ahead, or too far behind to be of any good. They move forward slowly, in a tight group up until they reach the bridge itself, the riders keeping their horses to the same slow pace as the caravan had gone. It makes it easy for Rhys to stay close behind Oscar, shielded from trouble that way. The clamor is worse than he could have anticipated-- when the bandits do leap out of hiding on hearing Titania's horse clatter across the wooden bridge, they shout at the top of their lungs, one even knocks weapons together to add to the noise, and once the fighting really starts, there's no escape from the ringing of lances hitting armor, of sword against sword, of Titania's axe cleaving straight through the wood handle of an enemy javelin only to hit against a vambrance on the next swing-- or the quieter, but more sickening sound, of weapons sinking into flesh and scraping bone. There are shouts, on both sides, but Rhys can't focus to make them out. He can only focus on Oscar, and on anyone else who falls back to his side, either to shield him from an enemy or to be healed. He feels like there ought to be a sense of guilt or shame, at using Oscar like a human shield. Oscar has two younger brothers he's responsible for, after all, isn't it a bit heartless? But Alberich had strongly recommended the practice of staying behind someone at all times, he'd even mentioned using Irakliy as a human shield, used those exact words, and Rhys knows Alberich had been anything but dismissive of Irakliy's worth. If anything, he thinks, the old bishop saw the man as a brother. The years they spent together with the Greil Mercenaries overshadowed the separate lives they had led before joining. The battles fought side by side forged a bond. It's a bond Rhys still can't fathom, when all his work so far had been back at base. But feeling it for himself is a big part of the draw of graduating to a real member of the band. Knowing firsthand what it is to put your lives in someone's hands like this is immense, perhaps as immense as the first lure of a life in the clergy had been. It was a brotherhood on par with what he might have found at a monastery, even before taking to the field of battle himself. Now... Now, provided they all make it back in one piece, it might be something greater. It isn't as big as faith itself, it doesn't overshadow that calling... no, but it is not overshadowed by it, either. It's complemented. Raised up. After all, his duties are the same, in the broadest sense. He may be just a novice, but whether he is a mercenary or not, his lot is to heal the wounded, to offer spiritual counsel, to do his best to understand what is needed from him as a servant of Ashera. It's exhilarating and overwhelming, and he feels like he might faint at times, even being kept back from the front lines. With the narrow bridge, and the surprisingly large number of bandits, it's difficult for anyone to break forward-- it seems almost as if when one foe falls, another takes his place, though Rhys tells himself that can't be, that he must be exaggerating it all to himself, his dizzied senses and inexperience blowing the fight out of proportion. It's Titania out in the front, seemingly in no need of him, and Oscar holding the line at their end of the bridge, should any bandits slip past her. They do have one fighter moving between the two when he can, and an archer standing to the side of the bridge, armed with a longbow should any bandits try fording the narrowest point rather than taking the bridge. Rhys is completely unprepared, when Oscar does pull him up onto the back of his horse, but he holds on as tight as he can, as an arrow whizzes past them, a bandit making it far enough forward to attack him despite his largely protected position. Luckily, it's a move that leaves him open to Oscar in mere moments, and no one needs Rhys' skills too immediately until it's all over. It feels so sudden, after how long it had all seemed to stretch on when it was happening, and Rhys wonders if that's normal, or if he only needs to get used to the tide of battle. It's a shock, to have things feel so quiet and still again, and it's only the fact that his arms have gone rigid where they're locked around Oscar that keeps him from swooning right off the horse when he finally takes in the bodies of the bandits. The sniper suggests pushing the one off of the bridge and into the creek, perhaps kicking the rest after him even if their bodies lie further from the bank, but Titania wrinkles her nose at the suggestion. "We'll cover them. Even bandits deserve that much. Oscar, take Rhys back to the caravan. I'll call you forward in a moment, but let them know the danger's passed." She orders, and Rhys feels so detached from things that it's almost a surprise when he feels the horse move. Oscar passes her message to the caravan, before carefully prying Rhys' arms off and helping him down from the horse, following after. "You're looking a little green around the gills. Are you all right?" He asks, his smile kind-- if a bit cheery for someone fresh from a battle. Rhys decides to find it reassuring. "I-- I will be, thank you. It was my first time out there... and I've never seen-- I'll do better." "I'm sure you will." Oscar nods. "We both will." "Did you see much action, with the knights?" "Much? No. No, not much. But it was good training. Enough to prepare me for this. Well-- during my time, things were just so peaceful anyway. Little border skirmishes here and there, or bandits like these, that would be the worst of it, really. But-- never another real army, of course, so... About like this, at the worst. I'm sorry I almost let you get hit-- I didn't see him until he was so close. I'd thought there was no one who could get to you." "But you did see him in time. You really have nothing to apologize for." "It's the one thing the knights didn't prepare me for-- I never had to guard a priest before. I learned to go back to back with another knight, back before they put me on a horse, and how to guard a partner's weak side while he guarded yours, and... lots of things, but-- Like I said, we'll both do better." "Yes. Yes, of course we will." Rhys agrees. Oscar mounts his horse again, before Titania beckons them all forward, and the caravan resumes its slow, steady pace, crossing the bridge in peace. The bodies had been moved to the side of the road, covered with branches in lieu of a proper burial. Rhys supposes it's the best that could really be done, but he still feels a little sick, just seeing their feet all lined up. A part of him wishes he could have saved them, even though they were the enemy. They hadn't been evil men, necessarily, only desperate ones... Perhaps it would be easier to think of them as evil, and to say it couldn't be helped, but if they'd just surrendered before it was too late, he might have healed them. Desperate and stubborn, then. But not all jobs will be that way, nor all bandits. And even if there was nothing he could do for his enemies, he'd healed his friends, and looking around at them, at Titania and at Oscar, and even at Alberich, with whom he'd never shared the battlefield, Rhys could begin to understand that special bond.