Note: Soner and Bello are owned by Waywatcher. Same goes for the original storyline, which I've edited for this story with permission from Waywatcher themself.
"Adrian! Hey, Adrian! Come on, get up! Adddrian!" a redheaded girl whispered, shaking her older half-brother.
The blue haired half-Manakete boy grunted as he sat up in bed.
"What? What is it, Annabelle?" Adrian asked tiredly.
He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and squinted out the window.
"Annabelle, it's still dark out." Adrian said irritably.
"Yeah! But soon, it won't be! It's the day, Adrian!" Annabelle said happily.
"I know." Adrian muttered.
"We're gonna be Shepherds like Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma are!" Annabelle said happily.
"I know." Adrian said.
"We're..." Annabelle started to say.
"Go back to sleep, Annabelle." Adrian ordered.
He sighed and dropped his head back onto his pillow.
"But..." Annabelle started to say.
Just then, next to Adrian, Caeldori shifted and rolled over, putting her pillow over her head to cover her face. By now, the older redhead had gotten well adjusted to life as a Princess, and she was a symbol of pride for her people. She was also in a relationship with Adrian. Although they were step-siblings, no one really had a problem with them being together because they weren't blood related. The couple had actually been well-received by the rest of their family when they had gotten together, and their love for each other had grown even stronger. Adrian and Caeldori both knew that Adrian would long outlive Caeldori, due to how he, his older sister, and mother were Manaketes, but neither of them cared. They weren't married yet, as they were currently engaged and the wedding was going to be held in a month, but even then, the two slept together and even would make love to each other if they wanted. They would get married sooner, but because of Adrian joining the Shepherds, they were going to postpone the marriage ceremony for a little while, just so it wasn't too soon after. Caeldori wasn't pregnant so far, and she and Adrian wanted to keep it like that until they were married, so they went beyond oral love only when they knew she wasn't ovulating. Adrian and Caeldori had made love together earlier in the night, so Adrian was only dressed in a pair of pajama shorts, while Caeldori was completely nude. Fortunately, Annabelle didn't realize that about her step-sister because she was covered by the blankets and pillow.
"Annabelle, go back to sleep! You still have four hours, and it does not take four hours to get prepared!" Caeldori ordered tiredly, her voice muffled from the pillow.
"But..." Annabelle started to say.
"I'll wake you up in time. Get some sleep." Adrian ordered.
He shot Annabelle a look with his face. Annabelle recognized it. Caeldori could get pretty angry if she was interrupted from sleep, especially if she didn't get a lot and was pushed to her breaking point, which was very low. Annabelle groaned.
"Okay." Annabelle mumbled.
"Hey there, sleepyhead. I thought you would have been here earlier. Sleep in for once?" Bello asked teasingly.
Annabelle huffed at her aunt.
"Hey, I wanted to get here early, but Marth and Caeldori were lazy." Annebelle replied.
Adrian and Caeldori approached the girl and their aunt. Caeldori was already prepared and outfitted in her Sky Knight uniform, while Adrian was still adjusting his outfit, making sure it was straight and his Dragonstone was tucked into his cloak collar.
"No, we just happen to have normal sleeping schedules." Adrian said.
Just then, Marth approached his little half-sister, step-brother, step-sister, and aunt.
"Ah, good, you three are awake." Marth said.
Caeldori glanced over at Adrian, restraining herself as she noticed Adrian still messing with his outfit.
"Adrian, did you remember your Dragonstone?" Caeldori asked.
"Yep, Caeldori." Adrian replied.
"And your outfit is on properly?" Caeldori asked.
"Yes, Caeldori." Adrian replied.
"And you have your tome?" Caeldori asked.
Adrian groaned.
"For Naga's sake, yes, Caeldori! I have my tome." Adrian replied tiredly.
Caeldori chuckled.
"Relax, Adrian. I'm just trying to make sure you're all set for the initiation." Caeldori said.
"Father, are we..." a voice started to ask.
Valerie and Sayvra ran into the room, and the two girls stopped upon seeing their older half-sister, half-siblings, and aunt.
"Ah, hello, everyone. Are we..." Valerie started to ask.
"On time, little sister. A few minutes early." Caeldori replied, glancing at the sundial by the window.
Annebelle ran up to Sayvra and Valerie, and hugged them both.
"Hey, Valerie, Sayvra! Sayvra, did you bring Stalwart with you?" Annabelle asked.
Sayvra nodded at her younger half-sister.
"Of course! What sort of rider would forget their mount? He's waiting in the stables." Sayvra replied.
"Now we just need Iona, Ruby, Wilhelm, and Maynard." Caeldori said, failing to hide the excitement in her voice.
"They probably overslept. They're like me!" Annabelle said.
"Except more powerful, not blindly trusting..." Bello started to say with a smirk.
"Hey! Being trusting is a good thing!" Annabelle said with a frown.
Bello giggled.
"Relax, honey, I'm just teasing. I know how you feel. I was just like you when I was your age." Bello said.
"Really?" a voice asked.
Ruby, Wilhelm, Maynard, and Iona approached their family. In the years since Ruby had come to the palace and discovered she was a princess, Iniabi had made sure to get her help on her "flaws". She had made steady progress, and while she was still a little nervous and shy, she was now more functional and stable. Ruby herself had especially tried her best to get better in order to help her people and become closer with her younger half-siblings and step-sister. Her body was still lively and flawless, even though she was in her thirties, but while she still wore her dancer's outfit from when she had first arrived in Ylisstol, it had been modified to cover her body a bit more. And due to being more functional and stable, Ruby had, at the advice of her parents, decided to explore her talents in dancing and had gone on to become a sensation to people with her grace and moves. Ultimately, however, she stayed close to Ylisstol and remained in the palace. She also wasn't married, even though she was in her 30's. Meanwhile, Wilhelm and Maynard had both grown tremendously since they were little. What had once been two scrawny little boys that couldn't lift a lot of weight were now tall strong young men. Wilhelm was decked out in purple armor that was very similar to his mother's own dark purple armor, his dark olive green hair and gray eyes a trait that many people said made him look so much like Kjelle. Meanwhile, Maynard kept his red hair short and curly like Sully's, his muscles and abs bulged and defined due to how much he trained as a knight alongside his older brother, mother, and maternal grandmother, who was still alive and living in Ylisstol, though she had retired as a knight due to age catching up to her and her body slowing down and getting weaker, despite how much she had trained and strengthened her body since before even joining the Shepherds. And Iona was so much like Idoun in terms of appearance, having inherited her mother's slender form and a clothing style similar to her's, which included letting her feet be left uncovered by footwear. However, she had grown much more outspoken and open than she had been as a child. Her ear flaps were now gone, revealing her sharp ears, an inheritance from her mother, except, unlike her little brother, who's ears were completely sharp and pointed, her's were more round, as a result of having a human father. She had had her ears covered as a child because she was sensitive and insecure about letting people see them, as she didn't want to be mocked for her "impure blood". But she had slowly gotten convinced overtime by her mother and father to expose her ears, and now she freely let everyone see them.
"R-Really, Aunt Bello? You were l-like Annabelle at her age?" Ruby asked.
Bello nodded.
"Yep. Like her, I wanted to be the Shepherd's new Tactician. I remember when it was my own initiation. I pestered your father and Uncle Soner into getting up way early to get ready, but had to go back to sleep. When the actual initiation went underway, it was a lot more harder than it seemed. I guess I just then mellowed out with age." Bello replied.
The black haired woman winked at her nieces and nephews.
"But some things never change, regardless of age." Bello added.
"Indeed." a new voice said.
"Hi, Papa! Hi, Mama!" Annabelle greeted cheerily.
The others noticed Iniabi approach them, with his younger brother and Bello's older brother, Soner, along with Cynthia, Idoun, Kjelle, Severa, and Cadence. Cadence was now the fifth Queen of Ylisse, as Iniabi had married her and added to the Exalted family, despite even fiercer opposition than when Iniabi had married Idoun, Kjelle, and Severa. Most people wanted to see Cadence locked up in the castle dungeon for molesting Iniabi as a child and then "seducing" her way into his life again, but they had to be tolerant with her and had slowly grown to love and accept her. Cadence also happened to be Annabelle's mother, making her and Ruby full sisters on both sides. Cadence smiled at her youngest daughter.
"Hello, dear. Are we all gathered together?" Cadence asked.
"Yep!" Annabelle replied.
"Good, everyone is here. Everyone has all their equipment?" Cynthia asked.
"Yes. Caeldori made sure of that." Iona replied.
"Good. Now, if you'll allow me a bit of preamble, you all know why you're here." Iniabi said approvingly.
"We're joining the Shepherds!" Annabelle said excitedly.
Soner hid a grin at his niece's enthusiasm.
"Well, yes. However, it is not a simple matter of being instated. While you've all gone through training, you're yet to see real action." Soner said.
"Except this big dork here." Sayvra said teasingly, ruffling Marth's hair slightly.
"And big sis here!" Valerie said, wrapping an arm around Caeldori.
"Yes, except Marth and Caeldori. They're already Shepherds. Anyway, we've gotten a report of a small group of highwaymen harassing traffic along the main road to the Border Pass, and we have decided this would be a good mission to act as your initiation. You are to go to the designated coordinates on the map, track down the bandits, and bring them in for questioning. If they respond with violence, defend yourselves as appropriate." Iniabi announced.
"O-Oh, uh, Father?" Ruby asked.
"Yes?" Iniabi asked.
"D-Do we know how many of them there's supposed to be?" Ruby asked.
"Somewhere around 16 or so." Iniabi replied.
Annabelle dug out a map from her cloak.
"Father, can you mark down the location on my map?" Annabelle asked.
Iniabi nodded and went to do that. As he did, Wilhelm struck up a conversation with his siblings.
"Is it just going to be only us royals?" Wilhelm asked in a whisper.
Adrian smirked and patted his Dragonstone.
"I hope so. I can't wait to prove how great I am. I bet those bandits will run in fear just upon seeing the Dragon Prince of Ylisse." Adrian replied.
"I wouldn't count on that." Valerie said.
"Pff. I'm plenty strong enough to scare them. Right, Caeldori?" Adrian asked.
The boy grinned at his fiancee, who raised an eyebrow.
"Sure, we'll go with that." Caeldori replied.
Adrian smirked smugly, glad to see his fiancee agree with him.
"See? Caeldori agrees." Adrian said.
Sayvra rolled her eyes, pretty sure that their step-sister didn't care.
"Hey, Marth?" Valerie asked.
"Yes, Valerie?" Marth asked.
"You and Caeldori are already Shepherds, right?" Valerie asked.
"Indeed." Marth replied.
"So, if you do not mind my asking, why are you two coming on this mission as well?" Valerie asked.
"Well, someone has to keep an eye on you all, in case things go wrong. And Father has decided that your brother and I are responsible enough to monitor you all." Caeldori replied.
The three were at the front of the group. Valerie was, unlike her older half-sister, a sword user and went around on foot, so she was walking on the ground with her older half-brother beside her. Caeldori was also walking with them, leading her mount rather than riding. Apart from her, only Sayvra was trained for combat on a mount, and only Iona and Adrian could shift into dragon forms, though their's were a bit larger than most Manaketes due to their mother's past as the Demon Dragon of Elibe. The others didn't even have horses available to ride on. The mission was only about a day's walk, but they still had to camp at least once.
Unsurprisingly, the new inductees soon realized that there wasn't much to do on the march. The countryside soon became boring after a dozen miles of identical treeline. Even talking lasted only so long as well, as evidenced when Annabelle ran out of things to talk about halfway through the afternoon, despite her reputation for being chatty. At the end of the day, when the sun was starting to set, Adrian groaned.
"What are we supposed to do? We've been walking forever! This is boring!" Adrian asked tiredly.
Iona frowned at her little brother.
"Is this really all there is too it, Adrian? We just walk and nothing happens?" Iona asked.
"Nothing happening is a good sign. When you're a soldier, nothing happening means you're not fighting for your life." Marth said.
"So there's really nothing to do?" Adrian asked.
Caeldori looked over at her fiancee.
"You can talk if you want. Otherwise, no, not really." Caeldori replied.
The redhead empathized with Adrian, she really did. Even with how she constantly tried to improve herself, she had to deal with the same thing when she first joined the Shepherds. And even then and with her time helping Corrin and the rest of his allies in the war against Anankos, she had a hard time with her own mission herself.
"There's nothing to do but get used to the boredom. It's annoying, yes, but also a necessary lesson." Caeldori added.
Inwardly, she thought that the others should be happy that she wasn't telling them to keep in formation or to keep focused, but they were new to this, and she, Sayvra, and Marth could keep lookout well enough. They were trained and knew how to fight properly. It's wasn't a matter of issues involving taking orders or lack of discipline, but rather, they just needed time to adjust.
"No need to go boot camp instructor on them. This isn't like back in Nohr or Valla. This is different." Caeldori thought.
"How close are we, Annabelle? Are we going to come upon them tonight?" Wilhelm asked.
Surprisingly, the knight prince had managed to last for so long out on the road outfitted in his armor, especially since it was their first mission. Annabelle pulled out her map and studied it.
"We could if we pushed for it, but then we'd be fighting near nightfall. We don't want to get caught in the dark." Annabelle replied.
Adrian scoffed and shook his head.
"I think we should go through with attacking now. If we wait for tomorrow, we might not get home by nightfall that day. We'd have to camp again, and I don't think any of us want that." Adrian said.
"But it's risky!" Annabelle said.
"C'mon. It's the middle of summer! Days are long right now. We'd have enough time. Think about it. Taking the bandits out tomorrow means they have the rest of today to attack more travelers! Even if it's inconvenient, it's our job to get this handled as quickly as possible, right?" Adrian asked.
"Huh... that's surprisingly smart." Annabelle replied.
Adrian smiled proudly.
"Thanks!" Adrian said.
"For you." Annabelle growled.
"Hey!" Adrian snapped.
The half-dragon boy glared at Annabelle, his anger towards his half-sister growing slowly. Ruby glanced at Marth and Caeldori.
"S-So, um... which one, then?" Ruby asked.
Marth crossed his arms and shook his head.
"Don't look at us, Ruby. This is your mission. Me and Caeldori are just here to make sure you all don't get killed." Marth replied.
Caeldori nodded, agreeing with her step-brother.
"But both choices do have their benefits. Pushing and fighting tonight is a bit risky, but Adrian is correct to say it has the chance of saving more travelers from being harassed. On the other hand, sleeping does give us safety, so we'll be well-rested for the fight. However, there's no guarantee that all the bandits will be at their camp during the day. A few travelers might suffer for our delay because of that." Caeldori said.
"So clearly, we go tonight." Adrian said.
"There's no point in us fighting tonight if we're just going to screw up from being tired!" Annabelle said tiredly.
"We're trained, we're well-equipped, and adrenaline can make up for what little exhaustion we'll have! I'm not suggesting we spend the whole night looking for them or anything, just that if we see the opportunity, we should strike tonight. We're supposed to be Shepherds. We're supposed to be protectors. If waiting means more people, even one person, get robbed, then we're not doing our job." Adrian said.
"I-I agree with Adrian. The sooner we can get this done, the better for everyone." Ruby muttered.
Annabelle was surprised. She thought the dancer princess would be all for not having more work today. Iona shook her head.
"We can't take that sort of risk. Why should we risk someone getting seriously injured or killed? Yeah, we might stop another robbery, but if one of us get's hurt, then that's going to be worse for everyone as a whole. That's one less active Shepherd in the future, at least for a while, which makes everything more difficult. And besides, I couldn't bear to see one of you hurt, especially Adrian. I... I couldn't handle it." Iona said.
"You say that as if Ylisse is in great danger. This is a time of peace!" Maynard said unamusedly.
"Still, brother, we don't want one of us getting injured." Wilhelm said.
Caeldori sighed, finally having enough of the argument.
"Choose. The sun is falling and we have two hours. We either camp in the next ten minutes, or push on to fight and camp afterwards." Caeldori ordered flatly.
That prompted a flurry of shouts and gestures from Adrian and Annabelle. Neither of them made any headway, none of them able to make a budge in the other's direction. Caeldori was disgusted by both's behavior, especially disappointed with her fiancee because she thought he was better than this, but she kept her anger in check.
"Allow me to ask something. Which of you is the leader?" Caeldori asked.
"I am!" Adrian and Annabelle replied in unison.
"Why?" Caeldori asked.
"I know the most about tactics and how to properly handle combat! I'm keeping us alive through the mission, so we can do more in the future!" Annabelle replied.
"Yes, but I've heard from commoners when Father and my mother, Queen Idoun, who you know Father married before your's, take questions or do surveys. I know the price of slowing down!" Adrian snapped.
Annabelle laughed cruelly.
"Ha! And what makes you being born from Miss Idoun anything special, dragon boy? Mother was the first to have any sort of relation with Father!"Annabelle asked snarkily.
Adrian growled, grasping onto his Dragonstone.
"Don't you dare insult me because of my species, Annabelle! I'm making sure we put our job and the people of Ylisse before ourselves as Shepherds should!" Adrian snarled.
Marth, Sayvra, Iona, Wilhelm, Maynard, Valerie, and Ruby each took a few steps back in caution, afraid that Adrian would suddenly shift into dragon form and attack Annabelle. However, Caeldori stood her ground, not even afraid in the slightest.
"And who's right?" Caeldori asked, feeling slightly uncomfortable but ignoring the feeling.
"I am!" Adrian and Annabelle replied in unison.
"Wrong! Figure it out. You're both smart enough. Also, eight minutes left." Caeldori ordered bluntly.
Caeldori smirked in satisfaction when Adrian calmed down and pocketed his Dragonstone, before she heard the two quickly talking in hushed voices as they tried to figure out what she meant. In less than a minute, they went from arguing to working together. Surprisingly, neither gave into ego. Caeldori expected continued pettiness out of Adrian, but they dragonic prince actually didn't do anything of the sort.
"If not you and not me, then who?" Annabelle asked.
Adrian frowned.
"Marth, maybe?" Adrian asked.
"I think you're both missing the point. I don't think it's another person." Maynard said.
"Is this a 'both of us are right' situation?" Annabelle asked.
"But we can't be. Not at the same time, anyway." Adrian replied.
"Yeah, but then, what do we choose?" Annabelle asked.
"I mean... we each disagree on what should be done, right?" Adrian asked.
"Yeah." Annabelle replied.
"And we all are basically split even on the issue. So... what do we do? I mean, we could default to rank... which would be Ruby." Adrian said.
"Y-Yes, but... as much as I'm the e-eldest out of the inductees here, I... I don't know everything." Ruby spoke up.
Annabelle sighed.
"And I'm a tactician, and I certainly don't know everything. So, what then? Rock Paper Scissors?" Annabelle asked.
"I don't know. I don't want us getting killed and you don't want others getting killed." Adrian replied.
"Can we do both?" Annabelle asked.
"How?" Adrian asked.
"Uh... well, if we camp close enough to the road, we can always warn any merchants going by. No one's going to leave the city this late in the day, so we can escort any merchants coming into the city to prevent casualties. Then, we camp at sundown and get them the next morning." Annabelle suggested.
Adrian thought it over briefly.
"That's... a surprisingly simple solution." Adrian said.
"Yeah, I know." Annabelle said.
She looked away from him.
"Uh... listen, Adrian, I..." Annabelle started to say.
"You were both too busy arguing to figure it out. However, no matter how long it took, you came to an acceptable conclusion. Do keep in mind, however, that we will be setting up camp in the dark if we follow this plan." Marth said bluntly.
"I can make light." Iona said simply.
She lifted her Dragonstone from around her neck.
"I could release a small flame in my dragon form." Iona said.
"Good. Well then, let us wait for passers-by. If we do find travelers to guard, then we should spread out. Sayvra, would you mind flying up and seeing if you can spot anyone approaching?" Wilhelm asked.
"Of course, little brother." Sayvra replied.
She climbed onto her pegasus and the bounded into the air. Valerie sighed in relief.
"This is a rather inelegant plan, but at least we all agree on it." Valerie said.
"I'd rather we take out the bandits tonight." Adrian said.
"And I'd rather we don't put ourselves in danger when we're tied. But this is better than nothing." Annabelle said.
Just then, Sayvra returned from the air.
"There's a small caravan approaching. They're about five minutes away." Sayvra announced.
Marth grunted.
"Alright, everyone. Be ready for more walking. It's a long day today." Marth ordered.
Iona shifted into her dragon form and blew a dark purple flame into a pile of wood everyone had set up, illuminating their campsite in a lavender light. Her dragon form was similar to Idoun's, except her form was missing the red vein-like markings her mother did. Adrian's dragon form also had the same similar design to their mother's, but while his form did have Idoun's same red markings, they were more thinner and widely spread out than her's. Both dragon forms were also massive, to the point they had to be careful about where they transformed, though they were smaller than their mother was in dragon form. Fortunately, the area around them was wide enough to the point that Iona didn't have to fear about causing any damage. The lilac haired girl shifted back into human form and curled up next to the campfire.
"Thanks, Iona." Annabelle said.
She yawned as she herself curled up near the fire.
"Ugh, this mission is so difficult." Adrian muttered.
"Welcome to being a soldier." Marth said flatly as he shifted around some of the firewood.
Adrian walked over to where Caeldori was sitting. The redhead had her shoulderplates off to relax, her arms completely bare, and had them laid in front of the campfire to warm up. Adrian attempted to lie down next to the woman, but when he was firmly on the ground next to her, the redhead glared at him and pointed to a spot on the opposite end of the campfire.
"Move." Caeldori ordered.
Adrian looked at his fiancee in confusion.
"What? Why?" Adrian asked.
"Your behavior today was obscene. You made a complete embarrassment of yourself and decided to bicker with Annabelle instead of talking to her calmly. You even made an embarrassment about your own sister by bringing up who married who first in order to get an advantage over. So, you can go sit somewhere else. You can also forget about sleeping with me for tonight." Caeldori replied.
"But Caeldori..." Adrian started to say, feeling a bit stifled towards the girl.
"I don't want to hear it, Adrian! This is what you get for acting like a spoiled child!" Caeldori snapped.
Adrian attempted to speak again, but the glare in his fiancee's eyes stopped him cold. He growled in frustration and stood up.
"Ugh, fine, your highness." Adrian muttered.
Caeldori took off one of her boots and slapped his leg hard with it.
"I heard that!" Caeldori hissed.
Adrian moved to the opposite half of the campfire, where he sat down between Maynard and Valerie. He winced in pain as he rubbed the area of skin where he'd gotten whacked by his fiancee's footwear.
"Dinner will still be a bit, right?" Ruby asked.
"Yes. It'll take awhile to make a proper cooking fire." Wilhelm replied.
Earlier, when deciding on who would be on cooking duty for everyone, it had been voted that Wilhelm would do so. Fortunately, Wilhelm hadn't inherited his mother and grandmother's infamously bad cooking, so everyone was fine with eating his food.
"Alright." Marth said.
He dug into his backpack, pulled out a book, flipped to the mark, and settled down by the campfire so he could read. Annabelle also settled down to read, with nothing else to do at the moment, as did Valerie. Sayvra was off tending to Stalwart and brushing the pegasus's coat, while Ruby headed away from the campfire a bit practice her dancing. Iona just stared down at her Dragonstone and tinkered with it, while Maynard decided to take a small nap. Adrian was left without something to do. He'd never been too fond of books, but at the moment, he wished he had one just to have something to do. He looked over at Caeldori, who was currently reading a book of her own. He couldn't tell what the book was because the title was concealed by the darkness of the night, but he did notice that Caeldori did seem quite flustered as she read it. She glanced up and noticed the half-Manakete boy staring at her. The redhead frowned disapprovingly at Adrian and turned her body slightly so she was facing away from him. Adrian sighed and laid back onto the grass, settling in to rest. There was nothing to be done about her anger towards him for the time being. At least the stars were starting to come out, so he had something to look at.
"Get up, everyone! If we want to find those bandits before anyone leaves the city, we have to get moving!" Marth ordered.
"It's early!" Adrian grumbled groggily as he slid out of his bedroll.
The sun wasn't even up yet.
"Welcome to the life..." Marth started to say.
"Of a soldier, I know. Ugh." Adrian mumbled tiredly.
The entire group was tired, but they fumbled their way to packing up their things and scarfing down a quick breakfast consisting of nuts and bread. There wasn't any time to cook soup like the previous dinner, so they only got preserved foods.
"Alright, so here's the plan. Sayvra, Caeldori, you should walk with us. Seeing pegasus knights would be a dead giveaway to the bandits that there are soldiers around." Annabelle explained.
Sayvra nodded.
"Of course. I will lead Stalwart on foot." Sayvra said.
"Good. Everyone, keep an eye out for trampled greenery or broken branches off the side of the road. That might be where the bandits have come through before, so we can use those clues to lead us to their camp." Annabelle ordered.
The group set out and traveled slowly down the road, looking for signs of disturbance in the surrounding area. The area was pretty empty, the only things around being the open sky, trees surrounding them, and the ground below them. Unlike the first day, there was very minimal talk between the group. Speech was limited to commands, or pointing out something unusual. Sayvra's sharp eye was particularly noteworthy here, as she constantly pointed out small details that the others missed. Caeldori noticed them too, but as she and Marth were only there to really supervise them and make sure they didn't get killed, she didn't say anything. About forty five minutes into the search, Sayvra pointed off into the trees.
"There! Some uprooted grass and a ruined shrub. There is also a notch in the tree. Something must have hit it." Sayvra announced.
The group treaded into the grass to investigate these clues. Wilhelm confirmed that the notch in the tree seemed to be from a weapon, specifically a mace. It had a cut in the center of the smashed area, a tell-tale sign on the protrusions that made up the mace head being driven into the wood. The uprooted grass and shrubs also bore signs of a struggle, drag marks in the dirt and numerous piles of dirt that must have resulted from someone kicking the ground.
"S-Someone must have been dragged away, l-literally kicking and screaming." Ruby said.
She glanced to her step-sister, who nodded in agreement.
"At least the path won't be hard to follow." Caeldori said dryly.
The path became a bit less apparent the further they got from the road. The drag marks disappeared after awhile, and the trampled grass became a little less obvious. At some points, Sayvra's keen eyesight was absolutely necessary to avoid guesswork, and even Caeldori needed to step in to help when even her step-sister couldn't find any traces. But then, Valerie heard something. She held up her hand, catching the others' attentions, and cupped her hand at her ear and pointed off to the side. Wilhelm and Maynard immediately took point. Both being the most heavily armored of the group, they were a natural frontline. Annabelle quickly whispered orders to get everyone in formation. Most of the group was to follow just behind Wilhelm and Maynard, with Ruby in the center of the group so she could use her dances to help quicken their speed, while Annabelle herself took to the rear. Meanwhile, Sayvra and Caeldori were to remain in the back, with Sayvra remaining there until the fighting started, at which point she'd take to the air and join the battle as best as she could.
Fourteen bandits came into view, giving them a two-to-one manpower disadvantage when Marth and Caeldori weren't included in the count. Annabelle noticed a lack of bows, magic, and wyrmslayers, which was something she could abuse. The bandits had no good way to take out her, Sayvra, Iona, and Adrian, which would allow them to shower them with spells and flame uninterrupted.
"Easy fight. Front line, keep them occupied. Me, Sayvra, Iona, and Adrian will deal most of the damage here." Annabelle whispered.
"Understood. Let's sneak around the back of them. With a sneak attack, we can reduce the chance one of us get's injured." Valerie whispered.
"Good call." Annabelle whispered.
They approached the bandits from the side.
"Let's wait for them to move along a little bit. Then we can easily swoop in from the back." Annabelle whispered.
They did as she said. It didn't take long. The group prepared to fight, and when they got close enough for Annabelle's satisfaction, she nodded to the others and the group charged forward, while both Sayvra and Caeldori took to the air. Two brigands died instantly, one from a spear through the chest and the other from a pair of sword slashes to the stomach and neck. The screaming of the two brigands alerted the others, and the element of surprise was lost. While Caeldori seemed to be able to somehow expertly maneuver her own pegasus through the trees, Sayvra struggled to get into the fight on her mount. The branches posed an issue to Stalwart's massive wings. Eventually, the white haired girl just gave up, dismounted her steed, and charged in with her spear. Iona and Adrian both tore their foes with brutally powerful flame attacks. Some of the trees managed to catch fire from the dark fire burning them, but miraculously, it didn't spread to the rest of the trees and create a forest fire. The flames from the dragon siblings consumed whatever they touched, and most of their targets died from having their bodies engulfed by the fire and consumed, leaving a charred corpse. The area around the two dragons visibly dimmed, despite the sunlight pouring in, due to the amount of darkness they released in the flames. If the bandits weren't already panicked from being attacked, seeing their leader suddenly get incinerated by dragonflame certainly sent them over the edge. The remaining five bandits split and ran in different directions, trying to escape the same gruesome fate. Adrian reverted back to human form, his giant form changing back to that of a small almost frail-looking boy, and he took out his tome he had brought on the trip.
"Vincula Umbra!" Adrian whispered in a distorted voice.
He thrust a hand forward. Streams of black shadows emerged from his fingertips and latched onto three of the bandits. The shadows coiled all around them, binding them like chains and dragging them to the ground. Meanwhile, Valerie, Wilhelm, and Maynard chased down the last two bandits. Being the least armored of her half-brothers, Valerie was the first to catch up and slashed at the bandits' legs with her sword to cripple them, and the two men fall to the ground with pained shouts. The dark blue haired girl kicked their weapons away as her half-brothers caught up.
"So, uh... are we going to have to carry them now?" Maynard asked awkwardly.
Wilhelm sighed.
"Probably. Good job, Valerie." Wilhelm replied.
The group gathered the remaining bandits together. There was still five of them that the group was going to have to carry back to the nearby village to be imprisoned. Sayvra pointed to two of the able-bodied bandits.
"You two! Carry them!" Valerie ordered.
She gestured to the two men that she had crippled. The bandits reluctantly complied and lifted up their injured comrades.
"There. Now, let's get this over with so we can go back and tell Mother of my heroics." Adrian said.
"Your heroics?" Caeldori asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Fine, mine and Valerie's." Adrian admitted.
"You say that like me and Sayvra weren't instrumental in actually finding them." Caeldori said reproachfully.
"Well..." Adrian started to say.
"And like Annabelle didn't make the tactics." Caeldori added.
"Yes, but..." Adrian started to say.
"And that Wilhelm didn't make dinner and pack breakfast, and how he and Maynard charged in first. Shall I go on?" Caeldori asked bitterly.
"Okay, so everyone did something. I'm sorry." Adrian replied.
"You just want to say you did a lot because your mother married Father before my mother married her, and you want the extra attention." Caeldori growled.
"No." Adrian said very unconvincingly.
Iona hid a smirk at seeing the couple fight. She always did find them super adorable, even back when they were merely step-siblings.
"Sure, whatever you say." Iona said.
"Hey, kids!" Iniabi said as the group walked back into the barracks.
The Exalt immediately swooped on his children and step-daughter/future daughter-in-law, and pulled them all into a hug.
"How'd it go?" Iniabi replied.
"We succeeded, obviously." Annabelle replied happily.
"Well, I'd hope so. It was an easy mission. No complications, I asume?" Severa asked.
"Well... it took a bit to decide on a plan, Mom." Valerie replied.
"Annabelle and Adrian argued for two hours." Caeldori explained.
Adrian and Annabelle were both dismayed. Adrian glared at Caeldori, who gave him a hard stare.
"That's what you get for repeatedly acting like a spoiled brat, even after I talked to you about that. This makes things even between us. You're forgiven now." Caeldori mouthed.
Adrian opened his mouth, but then closed it. He didn't want to make things worse between them. Fortunately, none of the others noticed their little interaction, and if they did, they acted oblivious or ignored it.
"I expected nothing less." Iniabi said with an amused smile.
He glanced to his oldest.
"Ruby, anything to note?" Iniabi asked.
Ruby held up a coin pouch.
"Do we get to keep the reward? D-Did you know there was a reward?" Ruby asked.
"Nope. Cool, though. Did you split it yet?" Cynthia asked.
"So we can keep it?" Annabelle asked eagerly.
"Sorry, honey, but you can't." Cadence replied.
Annabelle's face visibly fell.
"Aw." Annabelle muttered.
Kjelle smiled understandably at her husband's daughter.
"Sorry, Annabelle. That how soldier life works. You don't get to keep any of the rewards you earn. They all go to the army." Kjelle explained.
Wilhelm looked at his parents, aunt, and uncle, and the other wives with formality.
"We apologize for the delay, Father, Mother, everyone. However, we have returned successful. There were a few growing pains, but the mission was executed well otherwise." Wilhelm announced.
Iniabi grew just as serious as his son as well.
"Good. Now, seeing as your mission was successful, that leaves only one thing to do." Iniabi said.
He drew Falchion from it's sheath.
"Kneel." Iniabi ordered.
Marth and Caeldori stepped aside from the group, while those left did as they were told, with their eyes towards the floor. Iniabi tapped the blade three times on each of them, on both shoulders and the head.
"I now pronounce all of you... Shepherds." Iniabi announced.