Hey guys! Been a while since I've written, since school has gotten hectic and I've found myself behind. Anyways, one of my friends suggested that I try the 100 themes challenge from deviantart, so here goes (If you're wondering, I'll be using variation 1). I'll try to update regularly, but I can't promise anything.
The lengths of the passages are going to vary a lot, depending on how I feel/how much I connect with the theme. I'll try my best :)
Please R&R, if you disagree/don't like something, feel free to let me know in the reviews, but please remember, flames will bring the building down, but constructive criticism can remodel it into something better!
Robin paused, taking a moment to survey the battlefield. About half of the Plegian forces were gone; there were only a handful of wyvern riders, including, of course, the leader of the force, Vasto.
He pursed his lips, quickly assessing and analyzing different plans in his head before deciding on the best course of action for the situation.
"Alright, Shepherds. There's only a few aerial units left; form a ring around Virion and Ricken to protect them. Virion, use your arrows to your advantage, and take them out. Ricken, you too, with your wind magic. Should be pretty straightforward, since we've already dealt with their ground units and archers."
There was a murmur of consent, and the Shepherds quickly hurried into formation. The Plegian wyvern riders, unsure of what to do, held back, awaiting a command from Vasto.
"Cowards! C'mon, get them, before I get you!" Vasto yelled from the back. One of the wyvern riders inched forward, just into Virion's range.
There was a resound twang as Virion released his taut bow, followed by a roar. Virion's arrow had found its mark, and the stricken wyvern, unable to fly with one wing pierced by the arrow, plummeted to the ground with a sickening thud.
"Ladies, did you see that? That was a shot worthy of a nobleman, if I may say so myself." Virion congratulated himself, seemingly oblivious to the eyerolls that followed his statement. As the wyern riders slowly lurched forwards, knowingly moving towards their deaths, there was a sudden beating of wings coming from behind the phalanx.
Oh gods. We've left our rear completely open...I forgot that reinforcements could be coming…
Robin turned around slowly, dreading what he was about to see, expecting wyvern riders to come crashing down, axes ready to bury into the Shepherds' backs.
Except, it wasn't a wyvern rider. It was a pegasus knight; Robin squinted to get a clearer view, but he heard her voice before he could see any details of her face.
"Prince Chrom! Enemy reinforcements to the rear! They'll be upon us soon!"
Chrom turned as she landed among the Shepherds, guarding the back of the phalanx, and Robin finally got a good look at her face, and he was stunned.
Her hair was a brilliant scarlet red, her eyes a deep mahogany that complemented her hair perfectly.
Not to mention that her face is beautiful...
"Is that..gods, is that Cordelia?" Chrom said.
"Cordelia?" Robin snapped out of his daydream at the unfamiliar. Chrom turned his attention back towards the slowly advancing wyvern riders before answering, and Robin did the same.
"She's one of the pegasus knights; perhaps the most gifted. We stationed her and the other pegasus knights at the border, but-" Chrom's thought was interrupted by the swoosh of a wind spell flying through the air. Another wyvern spiraled to the floor in a crumpled heap.
The wyvern riders were close enough that the Shepherds could see the looks of fear on their faces. Chrom turned to Robin, who nodded at the prince. All other thoughts temporarily put to the side, they advanced on the Plegians, ready to end the battle.
They were in Regna Ferox, trying to figure out the next steps. Emmeryn had been captured by Gangrel and the Plegians, with the announcement that she was to be executed the next day. Robin had spent the entire rest of the day since they had heard the announcement trying to figure out a plan of action. Now that he had some semblance of a plan that he thought might work, he sighed and got up from his desk to bring it to Chrom and the Khans.
Wearily, he slipped on a coat over his nightclothes and stepped outside into the chilly night. When he passed the weapons' storage tent, he thought he heard the sounds of someone rummaging and counting to themselves. Quietly, he tiptoed into the tent, only to see a familiar fiery red mat of hair. He could feel his face burning as he addressed her.
"Hello? Er..if I may ask, what are you doing in here at this time of night?" She turned at his voice, and their eyes met.
"Oh, hello. I'm taking inventory of our weaponry and armor stores. Can't have us going to war and running out of gear, can we?"
"Er...no, I guess not?" He stammered, as she laughed nervously.
"Exactly. Um...anyways, I don't believe we've formally met. Cordelia, of the Ylissean Pegasus Knights." She laughed nervously and cautiously extended a gauntleted hand towards him, and he shook it warmly.
"Um...Robin. I'm a Shepherd..? I'm not sure if you know of my whole...situation, so...yeah," he finished lamely, and she shook her head at him.
"Well, I've heard the rumors about you...and I guess you are as handsome as they said you were," Cordelia covered her mouth as she realized what she said, and an awkward silence settled between them. "Er..but those were just rumors! I, um, look forward to getting to know you better, Robin. Um...Good night." And with that, she briskly exited the tent, presumably to get to sleep.
For some reason, Robin's chest felt aflutter, and he found himself staring at the tent flap she'd just gone out from. He'd never felt like this before; he was at the same time scared of his sudden inability to move, to even tear his eyes away from where she stood, but, meanwhile, he'd rarely felt so elated in his life. Granted, his memory of "life" was short, but he had for sure never felt like this before.
"Huh." Robin followed out the tent once he regained his senses, and made his way to Chrom's tent.
"You think it'll work?"
"Mhm. Honestly, Robin, anything you think of at this point, I believe is going to work, no matter how crazy it sounds." Chrom patted his tactician on the back. "Come this time tomorrow, we'll be swapping stories with Emm on the way home to Ylisstol."
Robin smiled ruefully.
"I can only wish that I had as much confidence in myself as you do. We shall see if your judgment is correct tomorrow."
Chrom shook his head.
"I know it will. You've earned my trust, and that of the Shepherds. That is enough for me. Now, get some sleep; tomorrow's a big day, and I can't have my right hand man falling asleep during the march, can I?"
Robin chuckled lightly and nodded.
"You give me too much credit, Chrom. But, of course." A thought suddenly crossed his mind. To be fair, it had been on his mind the entire way to Chrom's tent from the arms tent. "Oh, by the way?"
"Yes?"
"Er...this is going to seem a bit...out of context, but...you know the pegasus knight that joined us today during the battle?"
Chrom couldn't help grinning from ear to ear.
"Heh. Fancy her already, do you? Well, you've got a lot of competition, but I'm sure you'll be able to pull through. If I remember rightly, she might have mentioned to me that she's into scrawny, brainy tacticians who suffer from amnesia, so you'd fit the bill perfectly."
"Very funny." For once, Robin was stumped for a response. Chrom had seen right through him.
"Well, I don't see anything wrong with it, and I don't think anyone really will. Just...focus on Emm for tomorrow. Then we'll figure out your love life." Chrom winked at Robin, who promptly tossed a book from the table into his friend's face.
She could feel her heart thumping through her chest as she rued her inability to be socially normal around men she was interested in.
If only I wasn't so awkward around handsome men...maybe Sumia can help with this? I just met the man...maybe she can tell me more about him.
She decided to take a detour to Sumia's tent. When she reached it, occupied with her thoughts, she didn't think to knock and burst right through the flap.
"Ah! Who is it?" Cordelia's fellow pegasus knight shot up from her bed and reached for her lance.
"It's just me, Sumia." A tall, red-haired woman had entered the tent, and Sumia relaxed.
"Oh, hello. Goodness, Cordelia, you scared me right there."
"Ha. I know, you should have seen your face." Sumia sighed.
"Well, at least I didn't fall and break anything this time. So what's up?" The two had already caught up with each other earlier, so Sumia knew there had to be a reason for Cordelia to be in her tent, especially this late.
"Well...what do you know about the new guy?"
Sumia cocked her head.
"What new guy?"
"Uh..the only one that wasn't a Shepherd the last time I saw you guys?"
"Oh, you mean Robin?" Cordelia nodded, and Sumia winked teasingly. "Got your eye on someone other than Chrom, for once?"
"W-what? No! I just...ran into him in the weapons tent, and that was really the first time we met. So I just...wanted to know more about him. Just in case he...becomes another one of the guys to chase me," she finished, looking for ways out, but her furiously flushing face gave her away.
Sumia nodded knowingly.
"I'll agree that he's not bad on the eyes, Cordelia. Anyways, he's our tactician, and judging by our results, he's a pretty brilliant one. Oh, and from the rumors going around, there's competition. Quite the competition, if I may say so myself."
Cordelia sighed.
"I guess I'll try to talk to him...we've already met and introduced ourselves, though, so that's a start, isn't it?"
When Cordelia returned to her tent, she dug through her trunk and dusted off the cover to a long forgotten book that she had hidden well from sight.
Sighing deeply and checking around her tent for shadows, she flipped open to page one of How to Make Him Fall for You in a Fortnight.
At the same time, Robin rubbed his temple, trying to comprehend the feelings running through his head as he lay sleepless in his cot. Dealing with war and Plegians and Risen was easier than dealing with this feeling; try as he might, he couldn't get the image of a certain pegasus knight out of his head.