So, first fanfic. whew! Gotta say, I AM SUPER NERVOUS! Anxiety through the roof, know what I mean? Anyway, concrit is welcome, flame will be ignored. Enjoy the story.
"We have to do-oh! He's waking up!" he heard a young, feminine voice say.
He turned over onto his side and slowly lifted himself to his feet. His eyes fluttered for a few moments adjusting to the vivid colors of his tranquil surroundings, verdant green fields, a nearby forest, and rich blue skies unmarred by a single cloud. Such open fields, the gentle breeze… Perfect conditions for a joy flight. However, as beautiful as the scenery was, the boy quickly realized he had no idea where he was or how he got to be sleeping in the middle of nowhere.
He started looking in every direction, trying to find any sort of landmark to spur his memory. But nothing came to him, not even his own name. The boy hid his growing panic when he finally decided to face the people in front of him.
A young woman about his age from her looks, though that wasn't saying much because he could not even recall his own name, let alone age. No… That wasn't right exactly. Looked his age perhaps, but there was a gut instinct telling him it wasn't that simple. But every effort to figure out why was met with a paradoxically sharp yet dull pain in his head.
The woman in question wore a frilly yellow dress and a tight brown corset. Her blonde hair matched her dress and was done in two wild twin tails, she also wore an odd hairpiece. She was the only woman present so it must have been her voice he awoke to. She struck him as a kind and trustworthy girl.
There were two taller men with her, the more eye catching of the two had medium length dark blue hair and wore a blue vest of the same shade with only a single sleeve leaving his right arm noticeably bare save for a shining silver pauldren with a stark white caped sewn to it. Both he and the girl possessed a rather regal air around them. With wide eyes he immediately realized who exactly the blue haired man was, Chrom. How did he know the name of this man, but not his own?
It could wait, he needed to look over the tallest and clearly the oldest of the three. He wore a full set of heavy, pale blue plate armor. His features were sharp, and the knight was leveling a scrutinizing glare his way. Next to him was an armored war horse and judging by the man's windswept brown hair it was easy to deduce that the mount belonged to him. Unlike the other two Robin felt a strong distrust towards this human knight.
A well balanced trio, but oddly he didn't feel threatened, only distrust towards the knight. It was strange, he possessed no knowledge, and no memories, yet he somehow knew he could best them with ease. Was 'knew' the right word? Was it perhaps better to say it was instinct that told him? That could wait until he was somewhere safer. Somewhere he could safely go over his precarious situation and think on a course of action.
"Good to see you awake" Chrom started, his tone amiable yet he could still hear the faintest bit of reservation. "are you all right?" he asked. He seemed to be genuine and kind. But right now he had no memories, no idea where or who he is. He had to be careful, he had to get away.
He knew Chrom was asking about his frantic examination of their surroundings. "I'm fine". He felt defensive, why? He somehow 'knew' he could take them in a fight with relative ease so why did he feel the need to guard himself? What did he have to guard in his current situation anyways? And why did he feel like he had committed an offense by speaking to Chrom in such a manner? Nothing made sense!
The sharp and immediate response earned him an even sharper glare from the knight.
Chrom however chuckled and let it slide "easy now, we don't bite" Chrom's reassurances seemed genuine. But he wasn't buying it. He couldn't afford to.
"So your weapons are merely for show then?" he rebuked. The longer they spoke the more spooked and panicked he became. Where was he? WHO was he? Where were his memories? WHY were his memories gone? WHY was this 'Chrom' so intent on befriending him? Nothing made sense and his panic was quickly giving way to terror. He took a step back before he even realized it.
"Peace friend, our weapons are reserved only for the wolves" Chrom explained
"I'm your friend now?" His tone was almost mocking. "Might want to remind that knight of yours" he took another step back and instinctually drew the bronze blade at his side. He Looked down at the blade in surprise for just a moment, not even knowing he had one. His real memories may be gone, but his muscle memory was untouched it seemed. Looking back at the trio he saw them give his surprise a moment of confusion before reacting to his drawn blade.
The young woman gasped in fear, the knight drew a shining silver blade of his own that put his bronze blade, green with rust, to shame and Chrom raised his arms no doubt about to attempt to placate. "hey, please I beg for peace. Frederick the wary here is too paranoid for his own good. Pay him no mind. We truly mean you no harm."
"With how often you're repeating that its making me question your sincerity" he said that, yet Chrom truly did seem sincere.
"Milord, this man's behavior is highly suspicious. I recommend we apprehend him and bring him to the capital for questioning"
At the mention of capture all of his red flags were set off and he had no time to question why. His muscles reacted to the words before he could think a single thing.
"Frederick! Read the situation, for the love of the go-" Chrom was cut off by a small bolt of lightning hitting Frederick's horse sending it into a craze and a huge wave of blinding dirt was kicked up from in front of them.
After a long coughing fit the air finally cleared and the siblings waited for Frederick to chase and calm his horse down. When he returned he was clearly nonplussed. "He ran off" they both knew who he was referring to.
"Of course he did, he was clearly scared and confused and then you basically called for his arrest." Lissa replied, irate, still brushing dirt from her dress and combing the dirt from her tailed hair. "you both handled that poorly, he's clearly an amnesiac"
"A what?" Chrom asked, motioning the two of them to begin following him to resume their march.
"An amnesiac" she repeated, falling into step with her brother. "someone who has amnesia. They have no memories of anything. Not their name, names of places, their families, its all gone." She frowned "he must be so frightened all on his own, not knowing where he is, or who he is. Maybe I should've said something, diplomacy never was your forte Chrom, and Frederick is suspicious of anything falls into his line of sight"
"Amnesia… Well it would explain a lot of his behavior" Chrom admitted.
"You call it amnesia, I call it good acting. The innocent never run" Frederick cut in
"Innocence implies accusation Frederick. No one was accusing him of anything" Chrom argued, though good-naturedly.
"I was making the accusation, his behavior was suspicious" Frederick reminded the group
Lissa just chuckled "Freddy, an accusation of suspicion from you holds as much weight as a single sheet of parchment. A tree could be suspicious to you"
Chrom chuckled at that "she has you there Sir Frederick the Wary"
He let out an exasperated sigh "a title I wear with pride"
Much further up the road, hours later in one of the large Southtown's two taverns Robin was enjoying a complimentary beverage of apple cider. A gift from the owner after hearing his plight. The tavern was busy, loud and bustling, filled mostly with locals so far as Robin was told. Human locals. Robin felt paranoid, he felt a sharp distrust towards all of them. Every single one and he didn't understand why. He was human too, wasn't he?
It was only after his second sip that Robin remembered his name. It was small, yes. But if he could recall his name whose to say he couldn't rediscover all of his memories? More pressing at the moment though was his advanced display of magic. Turned out he had three thin, highly concentrated magic tomes strapped with leather belts to various places on his chest overtop his tan colored shirt and he could launch spells from his hands, and even feet, without needing to hold them. It was how he escaped from the trio he had awoken too. A small shock to startle the horse and a gust of wind at the ground to kick up dirt followed by dashing away with wind enhanced steps.
Robin took another swig as he continued to think. The manner in which he used magic so far, it made him think it was supplementary. He could be wrong, of course. But from his instinctual actions thus far there was a strong case to be made. So was he primarily a swordsman then? He did reach for his blade first after all, before he even knew he had one. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a smooth black stone that was spherical in shape. It felt vital to him, like a lifeline almost. Now that things were settled down and he had a moment to gather what few thoughts he had he was constantly aware of the stone even when it was in his pocket. It was almost like he would die if he lost the stone. What kind of stone could warrant such importance? Perhaps he should get it looked at, but that unsettled him. The idea of someone else holding the stone made him frown in discomfort. Just what was this bloody glowing rock? There was definitely a power lying under its smooth, reflective surface. It felt vaguely familiar to him. Hmmm…
"hello!" a cheery voice piped up from in front of him, interrupting his thoughts. He immediately pocketed the stone without a thought, in a very subtle manner Robin noted. As if he didn't want to draw attention to the stone. Was it some sort of secret? Was the stone rare? Robin doubted normal stones glowed.
Robin looked up and was greeted by a young human girl whose head was barely high enough above the table to rest her chin on it. Her onyx black hair was shoulder length and straight. She was smiling at him, her green eyes sparkling with innocence.
"Hello" Robin nodded at her. Even with this child he felt his muscles stiffen. Was he a fugitive of some kind? He had been getting a lot of strange looks from the townsfolk. He should stay on guard. "how can I help you?"
"My uncle says you have no memories, that's so cool! And your ears are cool too! They're so pointy!"
Robin flinched at that. Cool? What was cool about losing all of your memories? Robin did not let his anger or offense show. She was young, she didn't know any better. That went for the ear comment as well. Perhaps his ears were different but was it really polite to so frankly bring attention to them? But could he really expect manners from humans? "How do you figure?" he asked evenly.
"because its like you get to restart life!" she threw her small arms up "you can be whoever you want to be! Like a great adventurer! Or a treasure hunter! That's why you have your sword, right? You're going to be a great warrior now?" she looked up at him with big hopeful eyes and a wide, excited smile. It was adorable, almost enough to make him smile. She seemed to drop the ear thing, and that was fine to Robin. Perhaps he should wear his hood from now on. Any animosity Robin had was gone after that. She was just a human kid with a romanticised understanding of life. The two continued to talk for a while after that.
"well I think you should definitely be an adventurer!" she continued to insist as their conversation dragged on "One of those guys who travels from town to town doing jobs for people, they're super helpful!"
Robin liked her enthusiasm " you mean a mercenary? Is that what you want to be when you grow up?"
She jumped a couple times and nodded fiercely with each rapid jump. "Yeah! I'll protect everybody in the towns I visit, and my sword will be the coolest too!" she exclaimed, reaching up towards him swinging an invisible sword. With her chin barely able to rest on the table the whole display was so innocently sweet to him. Yet, he couldn't bring himself to smile at it. Nor could he let his guard drop. He could not afford to. Robin could feel many pairs of eyes on him.
"that's quite ambitious, but I'm sure you'll achieve it"
Her entire face lit up, her hands holding onto the table, her small fingers barely visible and her head resting on the table between her tiny fingers. Her eyes glowed at him from across the table. "really!?"
Robin nodded once. "Absolutely"
"my mom thinks it's a silly famtasy!" Robin assumed the little girl meant 'fantasy'. "she thinks that when I'm older I'll want to get a husband and" Robin was amused at how her face contorted in disgust "have kids bleuck!"
Robin was beginning to feel a soft spot form for this child in spite of himself, was he perhaps fond of children? Did he have any? "anything is possible," he said to her.
"Morgan! There you are! I've been looking all over for you!" a woman came over to his table, relief in her eyes as she looked down at the little girl at the end of his table.
Huh… Morgan… That name was actually quite nice. He liked it. "You're her mother?" Robin asked
She looked at him and was suddenly very embarrassed "yes good sir, I am. I apologise if she was disturbing your drink. We don't often get travellers in spite of what you might think given our town's size and Morgan has always been a curious and adventurous girl" her mother explained
Robin nodded "so she's told me"
"Beg pardon?" the mother asked
"we were talking about what he should do for a living now that he has no memories!" Morgan announced to her mother guiltlessly, like it was perfectly normal.
The mother gasped and looked horrified "my stupid, stupid brother" she muttered. She looked Robin's way, guiltily "sir, one thousand apologies. Truly, I cannot imagine the pain you must be feeling."
"its fine, no harm done. Her intentions were hardly malicious." Robin waved it off. "we had a pleasant conversation" yeah, he had grown a soft spot for the kid.
She stared at him in disbelief, as if expecting him to take back his words and chew her out. When nothing of the sort came she smiled and her face showed admiration "you are too kind. Please allow me to buy you a drink for the trouble" she offered, "perhaps we could talk for a while?" she added, a bit hesitantly yet clearly hopeful.
A drink with her? Robin Looked her over. She looked a few years older than him, maybe four or five. Again, his gut told him it wasn't that simple. But the thought of casually socializing with an adult human made him feel disgusted, why? Wasn't he a human? He had to be, right? Sure his ears were a bit… Misshapen but there were far more noticeable defects in existence, right? Yet the feeling was there. It wasn't because she was ugly, that's for certain. She was easy on the eyes though, with long black hair and blue eyes opposed to her daughter's green. Right, her daughter. "your husband wouldn't object?"
Morgan looked a bit crestfallen but the mother didn't seem the least bit bothered by the question. "he's not in the picture"
A bit vague, but at least Robin wouldn't have another reason to look over his shoulder. Perhaps conversing with her would shed light on the reason why he was reacting so negatively to the idea? "then I'd very much like to share a drink with the woman who could raise such a happy little girl on her own. Please, pull up a chair" Robin offered. He could already feel the disgust grow, he hoped this effort wouldn't be for naught.
Robin noticed the woman blush as she sat down, but the moment she was seated the door to the tavern flew open with enough force that everyone in the tavern went silent and looked over to see the reason. A plain young man stood in the open doorway, pale as a ghost. "BANDITS!" he shouted "everyone, get to your homes and lock your doors! Bandits will reach our town any minute now!"
Robin raised an eyebrow as panic began to ensue "hold a moment" he asked as Morgan's mother picked up her daughter. She looked at him, silently telling him to hurry "doesn't this town have a guard? Given its size…"
"Southtown doesn't get enough traffic to warrant guardsmen from the capital. Its that same reason we don't have a local militia. This town has been peaceful for as long as I can remember. We haven't had a bandit attack since the days of the previous Exalt"
Robin had no idea what an 'Exalt' was but that could wait. "right, you better get to safety"
"you're more than welcome to stay with me" she offered, "I can give you a much better reward than a free drink there" he couldn't miss the playful smirk that tugged on her lips as she said that. If drinking with a human disgusted him, doing that with a human revolted him for reasons he couldn't place. If Robin wasn't a complete xenophobe then he must have not been human, and if he wasn't human then what was he?
"tempting" Robin lied "but I'll pass. Someone needs to stand up to the bandits"
She was shocked "are you mad? You're one man"
Robin nodded and chugged the last of his apple cider "one man with nothing to lose" Well, maybe a glowing rock perhaps but that could remain unsaid. He walked past her and past all the other panicking villagers who were scrambling for the safety of their homes with their lockable doors.
It didn't take long for the streets to clear and the bandits to appear. Nearly three dozen of them. "Smoke them out boys! Separate the men and women and no killing unless absolutely necessary, we can't sell corpses!" The apparent leader shouted his orders. He was easily identifiable by the ridiculous amount of jewellery on his fingers and neck along with his silver axe no doubt Plundered during previous conquests. Turning around, when his larceny ridden gaze met Robin's his eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You!" he began to laugh as he pointed "you must have a death wish young man"
"I wouldn't know" Robin called back, raising his voice so that he could clearly be heard over the thirty feet of space between them. The prospect of tearing these humans apart excited him to no end.
The bandit, confused by the response, elected to ignore it. "tell you what young man, I'll offer you a place in my band! You wouldn't be the first traveller to join me under these circumstances so what do you say? Do you like gold?" He stretched his arms out wide, making the layers of expensive necklaces on his neck jingle in an attempt to sell his pitch. Actually, he did feel some sort of primal attraction to the treasure. But it was hardly compelling.
"Right now all I know is that I like apple cider and have a strong dislike for bandits" Robin replied harshly, drawing his sword with his right hand and shooting a massive pillar of crimson flames into the sky with his left in an attempt to intimidate them. "First and final warning, LEAVE"
The bandit leader smirked "gathering the townsfolk can wait boys, deal with the would-be hero first!"
With a gust of wind Robin paid little mind to the shocked expression the bandit in front of him had as Robin brought his bronze blade down with so much force he was able to entirely cleave his target diagonally from the left shoulder.
Understandably horrified at the sight of their comrade falling to the dirt in two pieces the four nearby bandits posed no threat as Robin cut them down with strong, graceful strikes that were seamlessly woven together making it look like he was dancing rather than fighting. Flipping and spinning as he struck them down with ease. He finished his 'routine' by shooting a thick bolt of thoron into another bandit's chest right through his heart. It continued on and pierced another four bandits killing them instantly, lodging itself in the final victim.
Robin reacted quickly when he met his first blade, parrying with the flat of his bronze sword and kicking away an axe Robin ignited the axe wielder with a flick of his wrist like he was barely an afterthought and sliced the jugular of his first attacker. Thirty six at the beginning, and he already cut down a third.
Robin was prepared for more attackers, but was surprised to see them acting more cautiously now. Glancing at them as they glared back information on them flooded Robin's senses. Their combat experience, proficiency with their arms, strengths and weaknesses, overall combat ability, the list was endless. Robin didn't care who his past life was. What Robin figured out just then is that all that man knew was war, and that was all Robin inherited from them. Well, that and a glowing rock.
"careful men, this boy ain't no normal swordsman. He's a spellsword!" The leader shouted, warning his men. "Surround him and overwhelm him with numbers!" It was at that moment that Robin noticed that these humans were different. Darker skin and different accents than the townspeople. The differences were minor, yet they set his blood aflame and he found his anger suddenly skyrocketing. Anger? No, that wasn't right, nowhere close. He was ENRAGED.
For the first time since being born in that field Robin smiled. It was a dark and sinister smile and he noticed more than one bandit recoil at the sight of it. "Surround me if you like, that'll make it all the easier for me" not waiting for a retort Robin launched himself with wind magic and planted his foot sideways on a bandit's neck. He threw his blade catching the entire enemy force off guard allowing the flying metal stick to find its mark in another bandit's chest piercing the heart. In that same moment Robin shot more wind magic through his feet, snapping the neck of the bandit he kicked off of.
Robin soared for less than a second before his feet connected with the collapsing bandit and retrieved his blade. Using more wind magic he kicked off in a back flip and landed gracefully. Robin was in the zone now, drunk on the combat adrenaline relying solely on his instincts and muscle memory. "come on! Lets dance you TRASH!"
Meanwhile just outside of town the royal siblings accompanied by their great knight were hurrying to the town.
"what do you think created that massive pillar of fire!?" Chrom asked as they ran
"I have trouble believing a single mage could put on such a display. Perhaps bandits have besieged the town, creating the fire to intimidate the villagers into cooperating" Frederick proposed, his horse trotting beside him
"I just hope no one is injured" Lissa worried "or worse"
"we're in the town now, if anything is going on- wait!" he heard fighting. "Do you hear that!?" Chrom asked
"BURN YOU DOG!"
Scowling Frederick mounted his steed "indeed I do milord. I'll charge ahead"
It didn't take long for Chrom and his sister to catch up, but Chrom was startled by what he saw. There were a great many corpses littering the ground, many of them burning. Only seven bandits remained in the fray and fighting nearby Frederick was Lissa's suspected amnesiac.
Thinking that there would be time to talk to him later, with a war shout Chrom joined the fight taking two axe wielding bandits for himself. He side stepped one clumsy swing and parried another. Using the opening his parry created Chrom flourished his blade as he seamlessly went from his parry to a perfectly placed thrust, putting his Falchion between the ribs and piercing the heart. He was sure his instructors would have been pleased to see such a quick, clean, and dignified display. Chrom smirked at the thought.
"Chrom, fall back! axeman twelve feet to your left! Intercept it before he flanks your knight!" Chrom was shocked to hear a voice he didn't recognise call him by name. Looking to see who it was Chrom was stunned to see the amnesiac block a strike from Chrom's second opponent. "I said fall back, not stand there. I got this trash, your knight needs you" he said as he held the offending weapon at bay with his own.
With a nod Chrom turned and ran left, spotting the axeman immediately and got between him and Frederick just as the axe was about to fall. Holding Falchion above himself at a slight horizontal angle Chrom was able to deflect the over head slice before it could meet its mark. Taking advantage of the bandit's horrendous over-swing Chrom ran his blade through the bandit's chest and heaved upwards making sure to cut as many organs as possible then retracted Falchion when he felt the bandit go limp.
Robin meanwhile just finished off the axeman Chrom was previously contending with. The collapsing corpse revealed a less than optimal sight. The final three brigands closing in on the healer. Panicked Robin shouted at the knight and Chrom "you two! The healer! Knight, take the closer swordsman! Chrom, axeman!"
With a gust of wind Robin sped as fast as he could to the healer but even with his tactical mind going full speed he wasn't sure how to save her even if he closed the gap in time. Magic? He wouldn't need to close the gap then. But which kind? With how close he is Robin would risk burning her with the heat. Or worse, a stray flame igniting that frilly dress of hers. Lightning? No. Her staff is metal, he couldn't risk it. Wind wouldn't be an option either, as talented as he was Robin was unable to actually use wind magic with his hands or in any orthodox offensive manner.
Thankfully Robin was able to close the gap in time, his blade cutting right through the offending weapon and placing himself between the healer and the bandit. Unfortunately the piece of the sword that was cut off flew up and cut Robin deep under his right eye right over slicing right to the cheekbone.
Ignoring the searing pain Robin promptly put his hand over the bandit's face and sent a potent amount of electricity through him. The bandit's screams were muffled as his body convulsed for a few moments before going limp in Robin's grip.
With the fighting over now Robin let out a sigh and dropped the corpse. He had called Chrom by name earlier when a name was not given. Hopefully he didn't notice.
Hearing footsteps Robin turned his head and gulped. The knight and Chrom were approaching, no doubt to apprehend him. Why were they following him? Did they know him? What did they want with him? Robin was beginning to grow frustrated with his amnesia. Just who was his past life? In spite of his current annoyance though Robin noticed that his earlier dislike of humans wasn't rearing its ugly head when he looked at Chrom and the healer. Were they special? He was curious.
Drawing his blade Robin dashed a safe distance away from the healer and ordered them to freeze, to which they complied. "why are you following me?"
"following you? We've been doing no such thing. Southtown is out of the way, true, but this route is quite scenic and still leads to the capital" Chrom answered
Shit, that actually makes sense. He barely understood it, but it made sense to him. Although, with his amnesia just about anything would make sense to him right now. Robin paid little mind to the healer as she rejoined her party.
"when we got here… Most of the bandits were already dead. Was that you're doing? Southtown doesn't have a guard or militia" Chrom asked
If they're asking then they don't know who he is. Robin also felt no need to hide things from Chrom oddly enough. "Yes, it was." Robin decided to answer.
"Hey" it was the blonde girl speaking "do you… By any chance have amnesia? Have you lost your memories?"
Robin's eyes shot wide open. "how did you know that!?" She didn't sound very accusatory, nor could he sense any malice from her. She seemed concerned and worried. After snapping like that Robin nearly felt undeserving of the girl's kindness. How bizarre. Disgusted to share a drink with a random human woman, yet now Robin felt unworthy of this particular human woman's kindness. His curiosity was growing. Chrom and this girl were different, why?
"peace, we mean you no harm. You fought to save Ylissian lives. You even assisted us in protecting Sir Frederick here even after he unjustly called for your arrest" Chrom again tried to placate him, apparently not having learned from their last encounter. Like the girl he also seemed to be genuine, but his constant insistence made Robin very wary. A man armed with such an impressive blade backed by an intimidating knight suited in full plate and armed to the teeth claiming to want nothing but peace and the friendship of a stranger he stumbled upon on the roadside? As trustworthy as Chrom seemed it was suspicious. Robin could not afford to be careless in his current situation. "not only that, you sustained an injury protecting my sister. I owe you a debt beyond repaying" they were related? So it wasn't just them but something about this human family then… But what?
"we have no intention of arresting you by the way" the blonde girl spoke up. "Freddy means well but sometimes his paranoia does more harm than good. He may seem scary but he answers to my brother and me so he's mostly harmless." She said with a reassuring smile "I figured you were probably suffering from amnesia by your behaviour when we found you" she answered his question with a disarming smile. "We can help you"
Robin weighed his options. Looking around town Robin could see the villagers at their windows eyeing him suspiciously. Any hope of building a life here effectively dashed because of this stand off. Looking back at the trio, he did assist in the saving of the knight and probably earned a scar protecting the healer. Surely those deeds would earn him some bargaining power if nothing else with them.
Robin sheathed his blade and carefully inspected their reactions. 'Freddy' and Chrom seemed relieved while the healer just looked happy. She struck him as the most kind and compassionate of the three and she had authority over the knight, who doubtlessly had authority himself if he held such a rank. To Robin it seemed like Chrom and Freddy were at least friends and that slightly concerned him. Robin felt incredibly distrustful of the knight like he had most humans so far.
He took another look at Chrom, and Robin's eyes widened at what he saw on Chrom's arm. The symbol… It felt so… Familiar to him. It evoked feelings of loyalty, and trust. "The tattoo… what is it?" Robin asked
"Huh? Tattoo?" Chrom followed Robin's gaze and chuckled "this isn't a tattoo, its commonly called the 'Brand of the Exalt' these days, though its formal name the 'Mark of Naga'. It was bestowed upon my bloodline thousands of years ago by the divine dragon Naga herself when she still walked among us"
Robin was beginning to grow frustrated at the constant storm of sudden emotions seemingly random words were eliciting from him. That… Was kind of ironic he figured. But more importantly at the mention of Naga more feelings of loyalty and trust overcame him. Was this why he felt he could trust Chrom and his sister? Because they carried Naga's blood? It had to be. So whoever Robin was he was loyal to Naga. Robin sheathed his sword. "one blessed by Naga couldn't be malicious. I hope you can forgive my earlier mistrust. I surrender myself into your custody"
"There is no need to surrender yourself to me" Chrom said with a relieved sigh "we're not arresting you or anything. You're lost with no memories, we understand why you acted so defensively. We just want to help you. What's more, I'd also like to get to know the person who put his life on the line for my people and saved my sister" Chrom clarified.
Robin nodded "I… Appreciate your kindness. It seems to good to be true"
"While it is nice to finally have this whole ordeal behind us, we should get back on the road if we hope to make any substantial ground before nightfall" the knight cut in, making no effort to hide his displeasure at Chrom's decision.
Chrom nodded, either not noticing or not caring about the knight's behavior "you're right Frederick, that we should"
Robin wordlessly placed himself at Chrom's side as they left the town's borders. The walk was quiet until Southtown was a speck on the horizon. The dirt path they followed was bordered by dense shrubbery and towering trees wider than three full grown men and twice as tall as the tallest Southtown building. This allowed very little sunlight to reach them, and what sunlight did reach the forest floor struck the ground like rays of divine light rather than sunlight. Any other sunlight being heavily filtered by jade green leaves gave their surroundings a slight verdant tint. It was serene, Robin thought, the only thing missing were the cute forest animals.
"Sorry for not introducing ourselves earlier" Chrom suddenly spoke up, snapping Robin from his observations. "Emm would be chiding me for my lack off manners were she here. I'm Chrom, leader of the Shepherds. My stern lieutenant here is Sir Frederick, the delicate one is my sister Lissa"
"Hey, I'm not delicate!" She protested, arms in the air. She turned her attention Robin's way and shot him another one of her prize winning smiles. "You're lucky it was us who found you, bandits would have been a rude awakening"
"After the scene we arrived to in town I suspect the bandits would not have fared well were they to wake him" Frederick sharply cut in, suspicious as ever.
Chrom chuckled "I'm inclined to agree, you're certainly not a helpless victim Robin, that's for sure. Did you learn anything while in town?"
Robin nodded "I have, very little I'm afraid. My name, and that I am a very deadly killer. I'm a master swordsman, a master tactician, and I've been trained to fight with magic in an unorthodox style. That, and that I have some degree of reverence for Naga"
Chrom nodded, grinning a bit in amusement "yes, I bore witness to that ability of yours. And you were rather quick to join us after you learned about the Brand" he said "you said you remembered your name?"
"Robin"
Chrom smiled good naturedly. "Well Robin, please accept my formal thanks for everything you did back in Southtown. You had no reason to put yourself in harm's way like you did, especially because of your situation. And that is saying nothing of the odds you faced before we arrived"
Lissa laughed "yeah, you're a real triple threat! The townsfolk were lucky we all showed up. Is there anything you can't do Robin?"
Recalling his birthday and age came to mind. Although… "Lissa, forgive me if I'm overstepping but how old are you?"
Lissa frowned "Do you think I'm too young to be out and about outside the capital too?"
Robin raised an eyebrow, utterly confused "umm… No… I only asked because when I first awoke and saw you my gut told me we were about the same age." Or at least looked.
She smiled "oh! Are you sure though? You look closer to Chrom in age."
"I have no memories, so I have to rely on my gut. My gut told me we're similar in age, and that the lady offering me a drink… Put me off and she seemed to be around Chrom's age, though older" Robin explained
"Huh, well I just turned sixteen" Lissa answered smiling "does that sound right to you?"
Robin nodded. It felt as right as it could. "Sounds right, so I'm around sixteen at least." Or the equivalent of a human sixteen year old. "Might as well make it easy on myself and say I'm sixteen" at least until he figured out what he truly was and his real age.
"Its odd though, looking at you I'd guess you'd be approaching your twentieth year" Chrom said with a smirk.
"If that were true I would have been a lot more excited when that single mother basically propositioned me" Robin debunked with nonchalance. He wasn't lying.
"HUH!?" Lissa exclaimed with red cheeks
Chrom laughed whole heartedly
"You seem to have a firm grasp of estimating one's age" Frederick pointed out, not even bothering to hide his suspicion. He was probably all too happy to steer the conversation in any other direction too.
"Part of my skills as a tactician" that was a flat out lie, but Frederick didn't need to know that. "Though far from the most useful. I can gauge all of your skills and abilities at a glance. I can gauge your potential, how your skills are progressing, and how you'll approach combat just as quickly. By watching your eyes in a snap I know whether or not you'll strike, parry, or dodge. It all comes to me so fast and naturally I barely have to think about it. Its like an afterthought unless I feel like focusing on it" Robin explained. He wanted to dissuade Frederick from trying anything so Robin may have embellished a bit... Maybe. "Whoever my past life was he must have been quite the dedicated student"
"That… is impressive, it's a good thing you were able to retain those skills along with your swordsmanship and sorcery" Chrom managed to say through his surprise.
Robin nodded "he must have been really dedicated to warfare to have these things so ingrained in him that not even amnesia could erase them"
"Say Robin, you have no home right?" Chrom asked
"Chrom!" Lissa gasped "is that really an appropriate question to ask him?"
"its fine Lissa" Robin assured her before looking back at Chrom "I have no memories at all, let alone ones of home or family, so that'd be a no"
"Well, the Shepherds do need a tactician. I'd be more than willing to hire you on as my family's royal tactician. To be honest though even if your official title would be our family's royal tactician you'd more or less be my personal tactician. Regardless, it's a high ranking position that pays significantly more than most in the castle. As my personal tactician you'd get your own room in the castle, almost as big as mine or Lissa's. You'd get to eat with us in the royal dining room, three large well cooked meals a day prepared by the finest chefs in Ylisse. Only catch is that you'd also be working for my personal militia called the Shepherds." Chrom offered "though I'd hardly call that a catch personally"
Robin could only widen his eyes at the offer. Royal? So he's a prince? It would explain the knight. Should Robin apologise? No, if Chrom and Lissa were sticklers for formality they'd have said something by now. From what has been said so far Robin also gathered that whatever kingdom he was in was called 'Ylisse'.
"milord, are you sure that's wise? We hardly know this stranger" Frederick asked with concern.
"I have a name and age Frederick" Chrom replied with a cheeky smirk "more importantly though I know that he will stand up for what's right and raise his sword when innocents are threatened with no thought for himself. That's all I need to know"
"That's truly generous of you, I'd be a fool to turn down such a kind offer" Robin said, still a bit breathless from surprise. "I accept… but are you sure? I doubt I made the greatest first impression and your knight looks about ready to explode"
Chrom chuckled "I'm sure Robin, welcome to the Shepherds"
Robin nodded "thank you Chrom" and for the first time that day Robin felt like things were looking up for him. This new life, while rocky at the start with constant storms of emotions that he struggled to make sense of, was shaping to be a good one. Robin did have one issue though, he wished he knew more than just warfare.
And there it is. Chapter one. No going back now, it feels like I'm going to be fighting anxiety every step of the way. How do people do this? I have a whole newfound respect for authors on this site... Especially the smut writers.