If Only For The Moment

Chapter One: Welcome To The Shepherds

Ricken's legs carried him as quickly as they would allow him towards the Shepherds barracks. Today was his first day, his orientation as it were. He'd be properly introduced to each member of the Shepherds, some of which of course he had already had the pleasure of meeting beforehand. Chrom of course, the man who Ricken idolized and strived to be. He also had met Vaike on the occasion when he and Chrom would spare by the castles training field. Besides that, he knew Chrom's sister, Lissa, who if he recalled would be the youngest of the shepherds besides him at this point.

There was of course one other individual that Ricken had only ever gotten a good look at once. The shepherds new tactician. She had her robes hood up the first time they had passively met, when Ricken had begged Chrom to allow him to join them. The second time was during the rescue mission to save Maribelle. From what he had gathered, her name was Robin, and she was blinded in her right eye, obvious by the eyepatch she wore over it. She had short, curly brown hair, and she wasn't all that much taller than Ricken himself. He supposed she was about as old Chrom, but her height had made Ricken question that at first.

He cleared his mind of the thoughts of all that for the moment, as he held to his large mages hat, a small cut piece of bread held in his mouth as he ran for the barracks. His robes didn't make the task any easier, due to his height he could on occasion trip over them. He was finally nearing the front door, just as he had spent the last bit of his breath, only to hear the welcoming voice from Lissa, who appeared to have been waiting for him.

"Hey, Ricken! It took you long enough, I was starting to get bored standing around waiting for you. You know the others have been waiting to meet you!"

Lissa was a short woman, her dirty blonde hair was done up with an ornamental headpiece so that two large clamped together strands of it were pulled off to either side of her head. Besides that she had on her usual bright yellow dress. Not a very combat oriented article of clothing, but Lissa was a Cleric after all. It's not like she was supposed to be in the middle of the battle, unless someone was at her side to cover for her. She had only a bit of height over Ricken, and from what he could imagine, she wasn't but at most two or three years older than him.

He realized he had stopped, and was staring with bread still held between his teeth, preventing him from giving a comprehensible response. He pulled the bread from his mouth, letting out a soft sigh. He had hoped that Chrom would have been the one to give him the tour of the Barracks. Not that it really mattered, after all the army would soon be mobilizing the following day, in order to take Emmeryn to a safer location that was hidden away somewhere in the mountain range. Ricken wasn't among those who knew exactly where the place was, but he had the general idea by the trails that were mapped for them the day before.

"S-sorry Lissa, I was so excited last night…. I didn't really get to sleep until really late," He felt embarrassed that he was already making mistakes on his first day in.

"Don't worry about it Ricken, it's not like you were late for anything important. You're just touring the barracks, and meeting everyone. No need to stress just yet," During her rambling comforting attempt, Lissa had made several random motions with her arms, seemingly in high spirits. It comforted Ricke a little, knowing at least that Lissa would be a lot more forgiving of Ricken for any mistakes he might make.

"Yeah, you're right. I just didn't want to start making mistakes on my first day, Chrom wouldn't be very appreciative-" He was cut off by Lissa, who put a finger on his lips in a clear show that she wasn't very conscious of personal space.

"Oh, hush up. Chrom wouldn't have cared anymore than I had. You're worrying over nothing." Ricken was a bit surprised that Lissa was trying to be so reassuring, though he very much appreciated it. He smiled politely and gave her a courtesy node, which she replied with by standing in a triumphant pose. "Alright then, ready to head in?" Ricken held no more hesitation, feeling only excitement inside now.

"Yes, I'm ready." Lissa gave him a cheeky grin before turning, and pushing the large metal door open.