I don't own fire emblem.
This story doesn't exactly have a plot. Just a random event I made up. Anyway, this is my fanfiction in 3-4 years? Not very well thought out though. Sorry! But I thought maybe someone would like to read something random?
THERE ARE SOME SUPPORT SPOILERS FOR OTHER CHARACTERS AS WELL.
My grammar and description isn't good either! You've been warned.
The army decided to set camp at the base of the mountain for the rest of the day. The sun was high in the sky and was starting to set west, indicating it was late in the afternoon. They would need to get a full night rest before attempting the tough climb ahead of them. After all, they've been traveling the whole night before and most of the day ever since the Emmeryn's attempted assassination. Some of the soldiers were already heading to the barracks to turn in for the day and others were either training or in the mess hall finishing up their meal.
Flipping a page of her strategy book, Robin let out a long tired sigh. Not wanting to head to bed early, she took the time to observe her surroundings. Frederick was training Donnel with some godforsaken exercises. It's a wonder Donnel haven't collapsed not to mention he seem to be having fun doing such exercises. Virion was busy flirting with Sully only to have a kick into the stomach once again. Robin was about to walk towards him and asked if he was alright and if he wanted to play another tactic battle, but Virion immediately chased down the stalking Sully that was storming out of the room. Too bad. She wanted another chance to test out her skills even if his methods were inequitable. She then spotted Lissa showing Gaius her new latest sewing creation with pride. She sighed once more and rested her head on the desk, closing her eye lids. If it wasn't for the fact that they were at war now and her uneasy feeling, it would seem like any other peaceful uneventful day.
Going through the mountain path would be best path, but there was something off particularly the man that was guiding them…
Suddenly, she heard rapid footstep rushing towards her. She jolted up back into her seat, alert, ready for dire news. Instead she made contact with a slightly enraged princess.
"Oh gods no…" Please don't tell me Gaius said something stupid again.
Feeling nervous, she looked over her shoulder to see anything or anybody would aid her. To her displeasure, she saw Stahl grinning and waving at her as he was being tolled away by Miriel through the door. Before completely disappearing, he popped out head his and mouthed a "sorry". Robin glared at the door. She wanted to smack Stahl for not resisting his girlfriend, though a part of her mind vaguely wondered how in the world did Stahl and Miriel got together when the woman forced him to partake her experimentation. A very unlikely couple indeed.
"Robin!" That caused her to divert her attention back to Lissa with a start. She was not looking forward to this. Not at all.
"Gaius-"
"I knew it," Robin groaned, facepalming. Lissa slammed down her hands onto the table while glaring at the red head man who was scratching the back of his head seemingly bored. There was no way she can escape now.
"Listen! Gaius said this looked like a centipede! You can tell what it is right?"
"Errr…" So it's back to her sewing problem again. She glanced at Gaius with hopeful eyes as he popped another lollipop into his mouth, maybe he can offer some hints? He raised an eyebrow when he caught her look. He smirked in amusement. That stupid thief! There is nothing funny about this!
"That's right, Bubbles. Please enlighten me. Clearly I'm blind as a bat," he grinned, shrugging his shoulders. At that, Lissa nodded her head cheerfully. That's the thing Robin liked about Lissa. She doesn't stay angry for too long.
"You do realize you're the one in trouble, smart one?" Robin glared, but averted her attention back to Lissa and the bizarre creation. She considered her words carefully before talking out loud. "Well, it's very… interesting Lissa." The stuffed animal in her hands had a couple of loose strands. Maybe those are legs? Or just poorly made stitches? A big bulb at the end-that gotta to be the head- and a weird flap on the side. She had to take caution; otherwise she was going to be more prone to Lissa's pranks. Granted, her pranks aren't that bad. It made her laugh if anything after a while. But just recently she's been using one too many toads. It made her shiver inwardly when she imagined the toad sliding down her back, spreading slim slowly across her back.
Taking a deep breath, she replied, "It's a-"
"Ah, there you are Robin. I was looking for you."
A relieved sigh escaped from her lips. Saved by Chrom! She gave him the biggest smile she could muster, looking at him as if he was Naga herself.
Chrom only response was simply raising an eyebrow at her strange reaction. "Huh? Anyway, I need to borrow Robin for a while Lissa. I have something to discuss with her."
"Sorry Lissa, maybe some other time?" Robin offered out of politeness, but also hoping Lissa would forget all about this.
"Wha? Oh fineee," Lissa whined, turning back to Gauis.
"Let's go," said Chrom. Robin quickly waved good-bye and promptly followed him. When Robin made it out the tent she heard Lissa's voice from the distance.
"It's a blue bird, Gaius. It doesn't look that BAD." Hah! It was anything but bird like. Personally, Robin thought it was a deformed baby doll- sorry Lissa.
"Whatever you say princess. Look, you need to apply some of the basics first before attempting to do something so complicated. Let me show you... Again."
Robin laughed, as she ran to catch up with Chrom on the pebble-less path, courtesy to Frederick. Who knew Gaius had some prior knowledge of sewing?
"What are you laughing about?" Chrom asked, amused.
"Haha, have you seen Lissa's sewing? It's so bizarre looking. Anyway, what did you want to discuss about?" Robin asked, curious.
"I was wondering you can give me some tactics advice. After what happened to Emm, I want to be better prepared. Maybe learning how to read the enemy's movements and patterns."
Robin considered this thoughtfully. "Hmm… Want to play chess?" she finally suggested.
"Chess?" he asked, confused. "What does that have to do with-"
"Well, chess does require some tactical skills and cover the basics of critical thinking," Robin insisted. "Besides, you've been worrying too much lately, so a little fun wouldn't hurt."
"If you say so, Robin," he said with a slight smile.
"I should have a board in my tent. Stay here, I'll go get it!" And with that, Robin dashed to her tent. In all honesty, she too also needed some time off to relax. All this stress was making her tired and her thoughts stream clumping together.
When Robin returned with the board, she saw Chrom dozing off under the tree. Not surprising since he's been worried sick about Emmeryn's safety, but she was not going to let him sleep there especially when she finally found her chessboard. With a smile, she sat next to him and shook his shoulders.
"Chrom, wake up," she ordered in a soft tone, but he didn't stir. She shook her head and flicked Chrom's forehead, hard.
"Oww! Hey! What was that for?!" Chrom glared, rubbing his forehead.
"For dropping your guard oh great one," Robin grinned. "I didn't hit you that hard."
"Well, you were taking a while to get back here."
"Patience is a must have for a tactician," Robin countered happily.
"Now you're just saying things to get your way."
"No, I'm not. It's true. Waiting for the right moment and always being on your guard help you survive longer on the battlefield. I'm sure you don't want to rush into a fight at every chance you want, my dear. You might miss an opening if you do that," she said as she set up the board. "Besides it's rude to fall asleep when waiting for a lady."
"Hah! You? A lady?" Chrom laughed. "Ow! Hey, stop throwing those chess pieces! We need them for our lesson!"
"We've been through this, Chrom," she glared. " And be thankful I didn't grab those rocks!"
"If only you look and act the part of a lady," he grumbled in which he got another piece thrown at him. "We're never going to get anywhere if you keep throwing them!" he said, wincing.
"You should know very well that I have a womanly figure after what happened at the women's…" Robin loud voice trailed off. Her face glowing bright red as did Chrom's. "In any case, help me pick up these pieces!"
"We wouldn't have needed to collect them if you didn't lose your temper," he mumbled.
"Don't start with me," she growled. After a moment of silence, she heard Chrom chuckled under his breath and she couldn't help but smile as well.
"You sure like throwing things though. Why don't you try your hands with some javelins?"
"I've thought about it, but I have my hands full with casting spells and keeping an eye on the battle," she said, picking up the last chess piece.
"Here are the rest of the pieces," Chrom said. He threw a pawn her forehead for good measure, causing Robin to glare and rub her forehead. He grinned and proceeded to give her the rest of the pieces through normal means.
"Okay, back to business." She placed the board between them and prepared the game. Once she was satisfied with the set-up, she did a welcoming gesture. "Alright, you can go first, milord." Chrom laughed.
"So tell me, what does this have to do with battle?" he asked as he moved his first pawn two spaces ahead. "War isn't turned base and there isn't a moment to think. It all depends on what we know and our instinct."
"Exactly," replied Robin, moving her pawn ahead two spaces ahead.
"Then why-"
"Chess lets you see a different perspective on war, Chrom. You see this pawn?" she asked, waving the trinket around before placing it back down. "When a battle begins, warriors from both sides charged with momentum. That's why the pawns can move two spaces in the beginning. But as the battle rages on-"
"They become more on the defensive side and move one space ahead," finished Chrom, moving another pawn ahead.
"Right. But also because their momentum slows down too. They become tired," Robin clarified. "However, when a pawn achieved a certain fleet, they can be promoted to the next class. In this case, their goal is to reach to the end of the board. In war, they could have defeated a formidable opponent."
"Then how do you suggest knights and bishops movements?"
"We all have roles in war. Let's say a knight's job is to move in a certain pattern to achieve their goal and such. And as for king, he is their leader and if he falls so does everything. Moral will fall and soldiers will lose their reasons to fight."
"Hmm, I guess when you look at it that way it does make sense."
"Mm, that is just the basic concept of chess. Chess helps form memories and knowledge of various patterns. It also forces you to make the best decision as possible. Looking at your playing style shows me that you're an impulsive and a very straightforward leader. If the enemy commander sees this, he would definitely use it against you. Oh! I stole your bishop~" Robin sang.
Chrom groaned, but then noticed that her knight was undefended. He made the move to capture it with his queen. He straightened his posture, having to redeem himself, or so he thought. Robin took that opportunity to steal the queen and grinned.
"Another thing, sometime you have to sacrifice to trick the foe and into the lion's den. This is war after all…" at that last statement, her grin disappeared. She stared at the queen in her hand. "One way or another, someone is going to lose their life. Being a tactician means predetermining for someone else death in the near future."
At this, Chrom's eyes soften. He held her hand and gently brought it down. "But being a tactician also means giving someone else a chance at life."
Robin's eyebrow furrowed at this. "What do you mean?"
"What you try to do, Robin, is you try to save as many lives as possible while limiting casualties. War is what it is. With a capable tactician by my side, I'm sure that many people will be spared," Chrom stated with confidence before hastily withdrawing his hand.
Robin smiled. She hadn't thought of it that way before and his words did make her feel better. She then patted his hand and swiftly made her move. "Thanks Chrom. Checkmate."
"What?!" Chrom did a double take and then look back to her. "When did you... Rematch."
"You're on!"
Just another uneventful, but much needed, peaceful day.
Yes, lame ending but that's it. Think of this a… halfway to S support between Chrom and the Avatar? Haha. I'll try to be organized in the next chapter. Just don't expect too much. I'm not like those talented writers out there. *eye at them enviously *
Please review so I can improve my writing/get inspiration/get new ideas. And you guys can suggest future pairings.
That and I was bsing most of the chess talk. Oh, I'm sorry Chrom is out of character.I was in the mindset of what happened after the A support.
And remember, there is no real plot. Just things that might have happened when they are not battling. This is mostly revolve around friendship and a bit of romance.