". . . There's a survivor! Over here!"

"How is she?"

"She's . . . in pretty bad shape, but she's breathing."

Slowly, my consciousness returned to me. Voices filled my ears; however I didn't know their owners. I allowed my eyes to open, although I was greeted with nothing but a blur. I blinked my eyes a few times, but the blur didn't go away. I could only see the colors of the people hovering over me.

"Hello there," Said one of them in a soft voice. Her voice was somewhat squeaky, and I could barely make out the yellow that donned her. "It's going to be alright; we're here."

"Huh . . . ?" I managed to get out of my mouth. It finally occurred to me that my lips were terribly dry, though I didn't have the strength to even move my tongue properly to lick them. I groaned, letting my head roll to the side slightly.

"Robin, do you think you could hold her down?" The squeaky voice asked quietly, and I heard a deep grunt come from one of them.

"Sure, if you think it will help," The person called Robin replied. All too quickly, I felt a pair of rough, strong hands on my shoulders, keeping me down on the ground. I didn't know why this Robin was holding me down; had I done something wrong? What was even going on, anyway?

The pain in my leg didn't set in until the yellow-donned girl lit her staff and touched it to my right thigh. It was unbearable; excruciating. I couldn't stop myself from thrashing and screaming; however Robin's hands firmly held me down almost without problem. I heard soft words of comfort come from the girl who was lighting the fiery pain in my leg, but I ignored them. I had never felt something like this in my life.

Slowly, the pain in my thigh eased to just a sore feeling. My screams died and my thrashings stopped, much to Robin's belief. He let me go and stood back up, examining me from head to toe.

"There," Chirped the healer, "all better . . . sort of. Hey, do me a favor and blink your eyes will you?"

I reluctantly did as she asked, and the blurriness in my eyes went away. When I could see clearly, I saw that there were three people hovering over me; the squeaky-voiced girl who held a staff and had her hair in pigtails; Robin, who had white, shaggy hair and only an inch taller than the girl next to him; and a man with blue hair, kind yet hard eyes and a sword on his hip. The blue haired man offered me his hand, which I hesitantly took. He hoisted me to my feet, which the blonde haired girl quickly objected. I could see why, feeling the soreness in my leg, I didn't want to be standing.

"Are you alright?" The man asked me, and I had to swallow a few times before I could reply.

"Y-yes, I'm okay. I think. Maybe. What happened?" I let the words flow from my mouth a bit too fast, and the man in front of me chuckled.

"I suppose it's not a bad thing you don't remember . . . look around."

I did as he ordered, and immediately I regretted it. A gasp escaped my lips as I examined the burned down buildings and burned bodies around me. The sky was red with a tint of black from the smoke, and the smell of burning flesh made me want to vomit. I had to stare for a moment before I remembered exactly what had happened before this moment – we had been attacked by a large group of bandits, and our villagers weren't exactly cut out for fighting. I, with training for a lance, had taken my father's in an attempt to protect as many people as I could. It was to no avail; I was wounded and the pain must have knocked me out. I let out a choked noise and looked down, only to see my father's lance broken in half.

"What you did was heroic," The healer waved her staff, "but stupid. If I hadn't have been here, you would be dead! Though, Robin was the one who killed off the last bandit before he killed you . . ." Robin let out a snort and crossed his arms.

"It was nothing heroic, it was just stupid entirely." He said bluntly, and I felt anger eating at me. I knew what I did was stupid, but what was I supposed to do? Stand there and get stabbed by a barbarian's dagger?

"Let's get off of that," Said the man with blue hair, "what's your name?"

". . . Sylphie, my . . . my name is Sylphie." I replied after a moment, clearing my throat. I didn't think last names mattered at the moment.

"My name is Chrom, and this is my younger sister, Lissa," He motioned to himself, then at his sister, "she was the one who healed you–"

"Obviously!" She butted in. "Who else here is a healer? Not you, nor Robin! It should be obvious!" Her face was noticeably red, and she was making furious hand motions with her free hand. I was surprised she didn't explode.

Robin eventually cleared his throat. "Excuse me, but . . . we need to go. This isn't a nice environment to chat in."

"Let's go back to Frederick!" Lissa grinned and held up her staff, looking at me. "Is she coming, too?"

"I suggest we leave her here." Robin stated bluntly. I swear I wanted to smack him. My blood boiled, but something in my gut told me that that would be a bad idea.

"We can't just leave her here with her weapon broken and her village destroyed," Chrom reasoned, "we're taking her with us."

"I advise highly against that–"

"Screw your advisories!" Lissa huffed, marching over to me and grabbing my arm. "We're bringing her, whether you like it or not!"

Robin pinched the bridge of his nose, and I looked down at the cleric. She had her cheeks puffed out, like she was so set on bringing me with them. In all honesty, I was confused, nor did I know these people at all. This was so irrational . . . like some of the stories I read where the heroine went with her new party right away. I wanted to say no, but what would I do then? My village, my friends, my parents . . . they were all gone. I couldn't stay here.

"U-um, if you say so . . ." I mumbled out, my voice shyer than usual. Lissa looked up at me and beamed, marching ahead and pulling me along after her. I glanced at Robin, and noticed he was giving me a glare. Did he not trust me that much? What harm was I at this point?

Ten minutes passed, and we were on the trail away from the village. The smell of the bodies and fire had started to die a small bit, but it was still there. It was disgusting and I hated it, but it seemed like they were used to it. The cleric had let go of my arm about three minutes ago, but she kept eyeing me like I would sprint away from them. I don't think I could run if I wanted to.

Suddenly, my foot (on my bad leg, mind you) managed to find its way into a hole, and my ankle twisted itself as I fell onto my face. The sore feeling in my thigh had begun to hurt again, and it didn't help that my ankle was screaming too.

"Are you okay?" I heard Lissa ask me worriedly, lighting up her staff. Before she could do anything, Chrom stopped her.

"We can heal her when we get back to camp. For now . . ."

He helped me up onto my feet, though I was hopping on one foot. Suddenly he crouched down and reached his arms behind his back, pathetically motioning with his hands. I didn't want to, not in the least bit, but I had no choice unless I wanted to roll or hop the rest of the way. With a mumble of a curse I got onto his back, and he stood up with his hands carefully under my legs. It seemed like he had no problems at all. Was I really that light?

Hesitantly, I put my arms around his neck lightly and allowed him to carry me. Robin shot me quite rude looks and Lissa paid me no attention. A few minutes ago she had been clinging to me, and now she was acting like I wasn't here. I guess I wouldn't look at someone either if they were riding my brother's back.

I don't know how long had passed, but apparently, I had fallen asleep. Chrom woke me up by using his arms to shake me lightly, which woke me up easier than I thought. I wasn't usually known for my light sleeping, but I guess since I was still in pain, the sleep wasn't that bad. I would like to get some real sleep in a bit, though; my eyes were heavy.

I saw that there was a camp, and at least six different tents set up around a campfire. I wondered if each tent was one person, or if there were two to a tent.

"The tent to the far right is mine!" Lissa pointed to it. "There's Chrom's, Robin's, Frederick's, Gaius' and Sumia's. We weren't able to bring everyone with us . . . oh well! You'll share a tent with me, Sylphie."

Well, that answered my question.

I was carried into the tent, where the man gently put me down on the bed (which wasn't really a bed, just blankets and a pillow on the ground,) nodded to me, and left. Lissa sat down next to me.

"Hold out your ankle," She ordered, and I did so. She used her fingers to put pressure on it, and I winced.

"Oh, just a twist! It's nothing I can't fix." With a confident grin, she lit up her staff and put the end of it gently against my ankle. Within a few seconds, the pain subsided, and I could move my ankle again. "See? All better!" Lissa grinned and let out a giggle, one that my ears couldn't decide to be musical or irritating.

"Thank you." I said quietly, laying my head back on the pillow. I let my eyes close, but Lissa reached up and slapped my shoulder.

"Hey, no sleeping; we need to introduce you to the others!"

"I-I'm not one for introductions–"

"Too bad!" Lissa grabbed my wrist and pulled me onto my feet, dragging me along as she eagerly left her tent. I saw three others standing around the fire with Robin, Lissa and Chrom, and they all looked intimidating.

"Like I said earlier – these are our other units!" Lissa pointed to them as the named them. "Frederick, Sumia, and Gaius. They're all pretty nice as long as you're not threatening!"

"Milady." Frederick bowed, though I didn't say anything in reply.

Sumia gave me a smile, though I could tell she was nervous.

The only thing Gaius gave me was a "'Sup" before he went back to chewing on a lollipop or something.

"This is Sylphie," Lissa introduced, and I realized that Lissa was the one who did the most talking to me. Chrom nodded to me occasionally, Robin gave me glares, and Lissa chatted like there was no tomorrow. These were the Shepherds, I could tell; how could I be in their presence?

"What weapon does she use?" Sumia asked, eyeing me curiously.

"Well, she attempted to use a lance, though failed horribly at it." Robin finally spoke up, and I rolled my eyes.

"Hey, I'm not a professional," I tried to say, but it barely came out louder than a whisper. Apparently no one heard me, because I was ignored.

"If we're keeping her, maybe I can train her!" Sumia piped up.

"Hah, that's funny. You can't keep yourself upright for more than ten seconds and you think you can tutor someone?" Gaius snorted, and Sumia's face flushed.

"I'd be happy to help," Frederick added, but Robin shook his head.

"She's not staying." He said simply, and Lissa pouted.

"Where will she go?" She asked, crossing her arms. "We've taken a liking to her, I think, and she'll probably die all alone!"

"That's not my problem."

I gulped and took a step towards Robin. "Y-you can trust me," I said as loud as I could, "I'll try my best!"

I heard a snicker from Gaius behind me and a relieved sigh from Sumia, but I ignored both. Robin looked me up and down, before sighing loudly and waving a hand.

"Fine." He muttered.

"Well, it looks like luck is on your side," Chrom said, causing Lissa to laugh. "No one can persuade Robin that easily."

"Hey! I'll have you know I'm still strongly against this!"

I couldn't help but laugh as well. Though, eventually I coughed and turned to them all. Their chatter stopped and they looked at me.

". . . So, do you guys herd sheep like the rumors say?"

"She's leaving."

"Robin!"