"Alright, everyone, let's stop here." Chrom announced as he rode into a large open area on his shared horse with Robin. The rest of the Shepherds followed behind on the few horses and pegasi they had. It was tough to accommodate all thirty of them, plus their supplies and weapons, so the group shared a sigh of relief when Chrom finally found a place to settle in.
Miriel had been appointed as coordinator, as the redheaded mage was easily the most mature and organized member of the Shepherds. She'd been mentoring the youngest mage, Ricken, for a while now, so it was decided that he would act as her assistant. The two slid off of the horse they were sharing with Maribelle and strode to the front of the formation.
Before everyone could begin unpacking, Miriel cleared her throat for her announcement, "Attention, everyone! I am aware that many of you have," she paused, "eccentric personalities. But with our increased capacity, it is extremely crucial that we settle in a calm and organized manner." Miriel almost looked smug, knowing that her advanced vocabulary would be lost on a good portion of the group. Ricken picked up on this and quickly interjected, "What she means is, don't mess around like last time." He said, aiming a not-so-subtle glare at Tharja, whose attempted hex on Lon'qu last time went wrong and, long story short, two tents were burned down.
"In order to do this in an efficient manner, I've taken the liberty of assigning jobs. Listen closely," Miriel adjusted her glasses, "Stahl, Donnel, and Cordelia unpack tents, Libra, Panne, and Cherche start a fire…" She continued until everyone was occupied with a task.
So far, everything was going smoothly. But knowing his friends, Ricken knew the peace wouldn't last long. Miriel had tasked him with walking around camp to ensure things were getting done, a job he hadn't been exactly eager to take up but would do nonetheless.
Ricken was walking while adjusting his oversized mage's hat when he ran straight into some kind of gigantic metal boulder. Once he regained his vision, he looked up to see Kellam standing over him worriedly. "Kellam? What are you doing?" Ricken asked his larger comrade, who looked at him in response (with his eyes closed, of course), "Miriel forgot to give me a job." Kellam simply stated. Oh, right. This is the guy everyone forgets about, Ricken thought to himself. Even though it wasn't his fault, he couldn't help but feel guilty for forgetting about him like everyone else.
"Come on, let's go ask Miriel what you can do." Ricken started to walk back towards the camp when it struck him that Kellam wasn't following. "Huh? Kellam, let's go." He repeated himself.
"I would, but, it's hard to see someone so short in this armor, sorry." Kellam apologised. Ricken's cheeks blushed red. He hated it when people called him short. Sure, he was the shortest one in the army, but all he wanted was for people to see him as an adult. Which was proving to be difficult with his short stature.
Ricken grunted, knowing the only way to get Kellam to follow would be to drag him. He swallowed his pride and grabbed Kellam by the hand, guiding him to camp. By now his whole face was burning red with embarrassment.
The two were nearing Olivia and Sumia, who were brushing the Pegasi. Maybe they won't see us, Ricken thought, just when Kellam tripped over a rock and fell forward, pinning Ricken to the ground. Even worse was the horrendous clanging noise that reverberated through the entire camp.
"Oh my goodness!" Olivia shrieked and rushed towards the small mage and his large knight companion. Sumia was right behind her. A few of the others heard the noise and came to investigate.
Gregor, Henry, and Lissa, who were nearby setting up a corral, stood around what appeared to be Kellam lying face down with Ricken's squashed hat underneath. Olivia and Sumia were struggling to lift Kellam off the small boy, but to no avail. "What happen?" Gregor asked in his thick Russian accent. Olivia cried, "Ricken's under here! We have to get him before he's completely crushed!"
Lissa immediately jumped in to help the two girls lift up Kellam. As a healer, she had a quick reaction to situations like this. The three struggled until Lissa remembered the bystanding silver haired mage. She looked up, "Henry! Help!"
He turned his attention away from the crow he was playing with and was suddenly reminded of the situation at hand. He joined in to help Ricken, who was his best friend (or, the only person who didn't think Henry was too creepy to hang out with).
"Oooh, do you think there'll be blood? I hope there is! Nya ha ha!" Henry giggled to himself, earning a glares from Olivia, Sumia, and Lissa. Henry's morbid delight was interrupted by the sound of a sword being sheathed. Gregor was standing above them with his sword equipped. "Move out of way. Gregor has idea."
The four scurried away while Gregor placed his large sword under Kellam as leverage. Though surprised Kellam was still unconscious throughout the whole ordeal, Gregor managed to turn him over, revealing Ricken lying flat on the ground. Lissa called out, "Ricken! Are you okay?!" To which the young mage managed a weak 'yes'. The five Shepherds felt a wash of relief.
"Aww, look! They're holding hands!" Sumia gushed.
Miriel monitored the progress that was being made on the fire. To ensure there were no accidents like last time, someone needed to be watching it around the clock, and no better person to do that than Frederick. Someone so dedicated to their lord's safety should be easily persuaded, Miriel reasoned. She couldn't for the life of her find Ricken, so she needed to find someone else to send for Frederick. The unpackers were finishing up pitching the tents, so she figured that Donnel would be a good candidate. That boy would do anything you asked of him.
Donny was hammering the last stake into a tent when Miriel lightly tapped his shoulder, startling him. He spun around, "Y-YES MISS- ER, UH, MA'AM!" Donny stuttered, intimidated by Miriel. The pot on his head was still rattling.
"Would you mind fetching Frederick for me? Tell him that I request his a word with him." She politely asked. Donny came from a hardworking farm village in Ylisse, so he wasn't used to being asked such favors. Do it'cher self, lazy hog, is what he thought, though he would never say it out loud.
Miriel returned to her 'station' by the fire while Donny quickly told Stahl and Cordelia that he would be right back. He was about to head out when Stahl inquired, "What did she need you for?"
"Oh, uh, she just wan'ed me ta get Frederick fer er'." Donny answered, his southern drawl making some of his words foreign to Stahl, who just nodded his head in understanding.
He knew Frederick would be wherever Chrom would be, and Chrom would be with Robin. See, he'd learned a few things in his short time with the Shepherds. Morgan would probably know where his mother was, so Donny thought he'd start there. Luckily, he spotted Morgan talking with Lucina by the mess hall tent.
"Do ya' *huff* know where yer *huff* ma is, Morgan? *huff*" Donny panted after running to get there as quickly as possible. He couldn't leave Cordelia and Stahl to do all of the tent pitchin' themselves. Morgan furrowed his brow at Donny's strange request but answered, "I think she's talking about strategies with Chrom by the lake over there." Morgan pointed towards the small lake behind some trees. Of course. Of course the tactician would be drawing stuff in the sand.
After running another half mile to the lake, there Robin was with Chrom, drawing battle tactics in the sand with a long stick. And Frederick was there, keeping watch over Chrom, as expected.
Not wanting to disturb them, Donny snuck his way over to the tree Frederick was leaning on. The best way ta get someone's attention back home was ta fling somethin' at em', Donny recalled. He picked up a rock and tossed it at Frederick while hiding behind a bush. Not taking into account the noise it would make on his armor, Donny realised too late. The rock hit Frederick with a loud PANG!
Chrom, Robin, and Frederick all turned to look at the bush Donny was hiding in, thus making the day a great reminder that Donnel wasn't a bad person, he just makes mistakes sometimes. This was a particularly big one.
The headache was growing worse. Miriel sat down on one of the logs by the fire and cleaned her glasses. Half of the Shepherds were nowhere to be seen, and Ricken and Donnel still hadn't returned. Hopefully they hadn't gotten into trouble. The tents were all set up and it was time to assign them. Hopefully this would be a quick and painless process, as it was getting dark.
Miriel gathered the ones she could find so she could get their tents out of the way. The Shepherds gathered around the fire when Miriel began, "Because of our larger number and lack of tents, we'll have two to a tent this time." She knew this was a terrible idea, but it's all they could do. Unless someone wanted to sleep outside with the wolves.
"So, as of right now, the pairings will be," She adjusted her glasses, "Sully and Cordelia, Maribelle and Nowi, Gaius and Lon'qu-" "Can ol' Teach be with-" "NO, Vaike."
Her patience was running low. If one more thing went wrong, she would probably lose it. Miriel continued, "Say'ri and Tharja, Panne and Cherche, Vaike and Virion," She paused and glanced at Vaike, who was pouting but staying silent, "Tiki and Anna, and I'm sorry Libra, I tried to keep the tents gender consistent but you'll have to be with me. Or at least until we can get everyone figured." Libra nodded, perfectly fine with the arrangement, being the solemn person that he is.
By now Muriel had dropped her usual intelligent act and used simple words. It was too tiring to keep it up. "Great. Now go ahead and get settled."
"You wanted to see me?" Frederick inquired to Miriel, who was writing some things down on her clipboard. The mage turned to look at the knight, "Indeed, actually, I was hoping would would take watch on the fire tonight." Miriel said. The loud crackling of the fire was almost making it hard for Frederick to hear.
"But, Chrom and Lissa-" "Frederick, I'm sure they can protect themselves for one night. You're the only one I can trust to watch the fire." She stated. Fredrick thought for a moment, "Can we at least do it in shifts? With all respect, I do need rest." Miriel mulled it over for a second. She agreed that it sounded like a better course of action. She sighed, "As long as you can find someone who'll agree to do it."
By chance Nowi happened to be skipping by, on the hunt for someone to play with her. The woods were so dark, they would be great to play hide n' seek in. The small girl caught sight of Frederick and her eyes grew wide with excitement.
"Hey Freddy, wanna play with me? Pleeease?" The Manakete pleaded. Miriel shook her head, "Nowi, it's very late-" "Hold on," Frederick interrupted, "how would you like to watch the fire tonight, Nowi?"
"Sure! Sounds fun!" The short blonde skipped merrily towards one of the stumps and plopped down. Miriel wrote something down on her clipboard and walked towards the tents. If Nowi was going to be outside, then she could share a tent with Maribelle, leaving Libra to himself. Perfect!
"Alright, Nowi, I'll take the first watch, and I'll wake you up when it's your turn, understand?" Frederick clarified, to which she nodded her head vigorously. Goodness, did she have a lot of energy. "And don't call me Freddy."
With the combined efforts of Olivia, Sumia, Lissa, Henry, and Gregor, Ricken and Kellam were carried back to camp, both still out cold. Miriel was still walking to the tents when she heard the loud THUMP of Kellam being dropped on the ground. She turned around and confronted the small group.
"What were all of you doing? I've already assigned tents! And-" Miriel stopped mid sentence in realisation. Nobody had eaten yet. They had been so caught up in today's mishaps that they literally forgot to make food.
Miriel tugged on her hair. Usually she could handle stress but this was getting out of hand. "Go tell everyone to gather at the mess hall, please." The red haired mage asked the group of five, with Nowi chiming in, "Great! I'm starving!"
About an hour later finally everyone was sitting down. It was nearing 11:00 but it's never too late to eat, right? At least, that was Cordelia's reasoning. Her and Gaius had been put in charge of cooking and so far things were not turning out so great. With Cordelia's neat and properness mixed with Gaius' messy tendencies, the two couldn't decide what to make.
"It needs more sugar!" Gaius whined to Cordelia, who had to once again remind him, "Not everything is dessert! There are other ingredients besides candy, you know!"
"Yes, but...no. Your argument is invalid. Candy is everything." "MY argument is invalid-"
All that could be heard to everyone else sitting at the tables was muffled yelling. Ricken sat in the back with an ice pack held up to his forehead, Lissa still fretting over him and him repeatedly assuring her that he's fine. Frederick got Lon'qu to watch over Donnel. His brooding aura would keep Donnel from any more 'shenanigans'. Miriel was sitting with her head down, finding it difficult to stay awake even in the mess hall with all of the Shepherds.
Cordelia finally agreed to just let Gaius make whatever he wanted, because arguing was too frustrating. That's how the group came to have candied apples for dinner.
After dining in the aptly named Mess Hall, everyone retired to their tents. Miriel's hopes of smooth sailing were clearly dismissed. Maribelle was too picky to eat a candied apple so she went to bed early, which is how Miriel came to find her already sleeping. No matter how many loud disturbances there were in the night, none had a chance of waking Miriel. She planned on having a long sleep.
Surprisingly, Nowi didn't bother Frederick as much as he thought she would. Those apples gave her a sugar high for a while but she quickly passed out. Frederick silently thanked the sweet-toothed theif, Gaius, which was a first.
In the morning everyone seemed very ready to leave. After some down time, the Shepherds were itching for another battle. The sooner the war was over, the better. Especially for Ricken, whose hand-holding incident was remembered even after the war.