Author's note: Hey everybody, and welcome to my first story on this site. I'll admit that I've been a longtime lurker for quite some time now, but I just recently had an idea hit me that was powerful enough that I couldn't help but write it down. So in case you couldn't tell from the title, this is a story that revolves around FemRobin and Shulk; a pairing that I personally feel could use just a teensy bit more love. And before I forget, credit goes to ZwesomeRachel on deviantart for the cover picture. If you've got time, be sure to go check out more of her stuff.
On that note, please be warned that this story will contain plenty of spoilers for both Fire Emblem: Awakening and Xenoblade Chronicles. Just a heads up is all.
Robin & Shulk: A Heart-to-Heart
An Introduction:
It had been only a few weeks since the 4th annual Super Smash Bros. Tournament had officially begun. While the actual tournament bracket had yet to be constructed, the veterans and newcomers who had been invited that year were competing in exhibition matches to help not only the veterans get back in the mindset that Smash brings, but to give the newcomers an idea for how these matches took place. This was not necessarily a tournament built around determining who the best fighter was; rather it was more of a social experiment conducted to help the combatants forge new bonds with each other, settle old-school rivalries, and most importantly to just enjoy themselves. This was an opportunity for combatants from all around the multiverse to come together and learn more about each other combatant, and the worlds that they all come from.
As for today, the exhibition matches taking place were doubles matches. To mix things up, Master Hand, the tournament organizer, assigned each combatant with a randomly selected partner. While the consensus on this decision was low, Master Hand explained his decision by saying that this was entirely experimental, and if the format turns out to be at least somewhat successful, he would allow each combatant to select their own partners the next time around. And thus, we come to the attention of two individuals who were selected to compete alongside each other: A white haired woman named Robin, and a blonde haired man named Shulk.
Before coming to the Smash Mansion, Robin had just wrapped up a rather lengthy and exciting adventure in her home world. Originally born to be nothing more than a vessel for the fell dragon, Grima, she seemingly sacrificed herself in order to destroy him forever. However, a year after her noble sacrifice, she was found in a grassy field by two of her former comrades: Chrom, the Exalt of Ylisse, and Lissa, his younger sister. Not long after this is when she received an official invitation to the 4th annual Super Smash Bros. Tournament. While her initial reaction to being invited to such an event seemed puzzling, she eventually decided that she would accept the invitation, and set off not long after. Upon arriving at the Smash Mansion, she quickly found herself becoming acquaintances with a number of different combatants, and while the entire experience felt somewhat overwhelming at first, it didn't take her too long to get settled in, what with many other combatants joining the ranks of the Smash Mansion almost every day.
Come the day of the doubles exhibition matches, she found herself being paired up with a rather peculiar partner: a young man with blonde hair named Shulk. Unfortunately for her the two didn't have long to get acquainted with one another, as almost immediately after she learned of them pairing up, it was time for their match to start. They had been selected to fight a pair of two different newcomers: Little Mac and Greninja. The bout went rather swimmingly, with Robin and Shulk proving to have excellent chemistry, despite this being the first time the two ever encountered one another. Needless to say, the two found themselves victorious. Although, even though they won, something about that match began to bother Robin. There was a moment near the end when she was facing off against Little Mac while Shulk was busy with Greninja. Robin had charged up her Thoron spell, and let loose against Little Mac, but the young boxer was charging up his straight lunge attack, and simply powered through it without being knocked back at all. After cooling down the spell, she didn't have any time to react to Little Mac headed straight her way with a very powerful punch.
Before she even realized what was about to happen, Shulk suddenly grabbed her and got them both out of the way of his attack. While she was thankful for the swift rescue, it was that exact moment that was bothering her all day after the match. "How did he know I was about to get hit by that attack? Wasn't he on the other side of the arena facing off with Greninja?" She thought to herself. How did he know about that attack before even she did? Robin considered herself to be somewhat of an intellectual, what with being the master tactician for Ylisse's Shepheards for a good number of years, but she couldn't quite put her finger on how he managed to pull that off. "Maybe it had something to do with that red sword he was carrying? What did he say it was called anyway? The Monado? Hm…" She continued to speculate, but she wasn't able to draw any real conclusions, not without knowing anything about his weapon of choice.
After what almost seemed like hours of speculation and wild mass guessing plagued her mind, she suddenly realized where she could find her answer. "Well of course. Why don't I just go find him and ask him? He seems friendly enough." She mentally berated herself for not thinking to do that way earlier that day. Besides, she hadn't really had a chance to formally introduce herself to him anyway, what with their match starting almost immediately after the two learned of their temporary partnership. What better way to find out what I want to know then by going and actually talking to him? Upon deciding what to do, she got up and went in search of his room. "Easier said than done, considering the size of this place… I've only been here two weeks and I'm still discovering new hallways and rooms here… Just how big is this mansion?"
C Rank/ Green Affinity:
It took her longer than she initially hoped, but Robin finally found the door to Shulk's room. Upon discovering it, she took a moment to relax, and tried to mentally remember the path she took if she ever found herself coming back to this room for any possible reason in the future, before dismissing the thought entirely. She figured she would forget it anyway, and reached for the doorknob before stopping herself. It was rude to just barge in, after all. After taking a deep breath, she lightly knocked on the door.
"Come in!" she heard from the other side. She reached and turned the doorknob and quietly walked inside. She saw him sitting at a desk, seemingly tinkering with something mechanical, with his back facing her. Not even a few seconds later, he turned around to see who it was that had entered his room.
"Oh, hi there Robin. How are you?" Shulk politely asked her. Robin smiled at his polite demeanor. He seemed to be very easy to get along with, despite the lack of proper introductions.
"I'm doing just fine actually. What's that you are tinkering with on the table there?"
"Oh, this here? Princess Peach accidentally broke her alarm clock getting out of bed this morning, so I offered to fix it for her."
Robin was amazed. He offered to fix something that someone else broke without a second thought? "Wow, that's very generous of you!" She said.
"Ah, well it's no big deal, really." Shulk replied. "Repairing gadgets and tinkering with stuff has almost always been a hobby of mine, ever since I was a young kid. I've tweaked plenty of things over the years, so a simple alarm clock shouldn't be too much trouble." He put the alarm clock back down on the table, and looked directly at Robin. "Anyway, you probably didn't come here just to hear me talk about my hobbies. What can I do for you?"
"Actually, I wanted to ask you about something that happened during our match today. Something that has been bothering me all day."
This managed to get Shulk's attention. He was pretty sure he knew just what it was she was about to ask about, but he kept his mouth shut and let her ask anyway.
"Remember when Little Mac was about to lunge directly at me near the end of the match? And how you swooped in and managed to get us both out of the way just in time? How did you know to get me out of the way in time before I even knew he was about to land an attack? I was fairly certain you were on the other end of the arena, so how did you know what was about to happen to me before even I did?"
Shulk silently applauded himself for guessing correctly what it was she was going to ask about, and noted on her attention to detail when it came to what specifically happened in the match. "Well, the others weren't kidding when they said how great of a tactician you are." Shulk complimented. That's when Robin noticed him starting to frown a bit. "I could tell you, but I'm not entirely sure you would believe me. Most people I tell this to don't tend to when they first hear about it."
Robin was a bit taken back by that statement, but the pressed on. "Oh please, I wouldn't be such a good tactician if I didn't take into consideration things that sounded even somewhat improbable. So, can you please tell me how you did it? I really want to figure out how you pulled that off."
Shulk sank back into his chair, and took a deep breath. "Alright then," he quietly said, before pointing to something behind her. "You see my sword back there propped up against the bed?"
Robin turned around and took a closer look at the red blade. It was unlike anything she had seen back in her own world.
"That sword is called the Monado, and that is no ordinary blade. Whenever I wield that weapon, I am granted the power of foresight." Shulk told her.
Robin looked back at him in awe, before turning back to the blade. "Y-you mean… with that sword, you can see the future? But… how? How is that actually possible?"
Shulk laughed a little bit. So much for taking into consideration even the improbable. "It's alright. Like I said, not very many people are truly able to understand the concept by just having me tell them that it can do that."
She stopped and thought about what he just said. Being able to see the future? That sounds like a concept so unfeasable, but at the same time… "That would explain the incident I came to question you about. You knew that Little Mac was going to power through my Thoron spell and I was going to receive the brute end of it."
"Yeah, as soon as I saw what was going to happen, I immediately retreated from my duel with Greninja and ran over to get you out of the way of his attack."
"But… how quickly did you see it play out? Does that mean you know at the beginning of the match everything that would have happened by the end?"
Shulk proceeded to let out a small sigh at that question. "Unfortunately, no. I only saw you getting hit by Mac about 5 to 10 seconds before he was actually going to hit you. I can't truly control when the Monado gives me my visions. They just sort of happen whenever something bad is about to happen, and they range in duration. Sometimes a vision will tell me what will happen to someone 5 seconds from now, or it might show me what will happen in a few minutes, or even a few hours. A very small few of the visions were shown to me days or weeks in advance of when they actually occurred, giving me plenty of time to figure out what to do to prevent them."
"Wow… Now I wish I had that power… Dealing with Grima would have been a walk in the park if I were able to tell what he planned to do before even he was aware of his own next move…"
Shulk noticed that she looked a tad disappointed, but he wasn't entirely sure why. He did answer her question, didn't he? "Well, do you feel like that answered your question?"
"Definitely, but the problem with that is…" Robin suddenly fell silent.
"…is what? What's the problem with that?" Shulk asked her.
"Well, now I have so many more questions that I want to ask you. I-I mean, would that be alright with you?"
Shulk proceeded to let out a small chuckle. "Sure thing. I'm just about finished tinkering with Peach's alarm clock anyway, so I should have plenty of time to converse with you about whatever you want. Sound good?"
Robin began to lose track of the time, as the two of them just sat there and talked. They told each other about where they came from, the kinds of adventures they both had, and the kinds of people they met along the way. Robin even learned that Shulk went through a pretty similar ordeal to her, being used as nothing more than a vessel for a mad god. The two of them had gone through such similar situations, it was almost as if it were destiny that they were to meet each other at some point.
Shulk was glad that they were able to talk like this, as he felt the lack of introductions they two had earlier that day kind of mystified the type of person Robin really was. Now, he was glad he was getting the chance to know her better, as he felt there was so much to like about her. It wasn't until much later when he realized just how long the two of them had been talking with one another.
"Well, I hate to say it Robin, but it is getting pretty late at this point. Why don't we call it for the night and continue this talk later?" Shulk suggested.
"Aw… but I was really enjoying this talk with you." Robin pouted.
"Don't worry. It's like I said, we can pick up where we left off tomorrow. If we were to keep this up I imagine neither of us would have the strength for any potential matches we are given."
"Well, guess you got me there." Robin sat up from Shulk's bed, and made her way to the door leading back to the hallway. She turned back to him and gave him a warm smile. "Goodnight Shulk."
Shulk smiled back at her. "Goodnight Robin. I'll catch back up with you tomorrow."
Robin quietly closed the door and looked around the hallway. "Oh great," She immediately thought to herself. "Now I have to navigate this maze of a building trying to make it back to my own room. Ughhhh….. Why do all of these damn hallways have to look exactly the same!?" She hoped she would find it soon, as she surely didn't want to spend the rest of the night on the hallway floor…
Robin and Shulk attained Support level C!
Shulk [Green Affinity] Robin
Newly met Friends
And there we go. It seems that Robin and Shulk have gotten themselves off to a pretty good start so far. What will happen next? Well, I need to figure that out myself actually. Anyway, be sure to leave a review if you've got time. I'm open to any sort of criticism you guys may have. Till next time!