Children of Shepherds
The Morning of ChangeThere was a war before their time. Five years mended the war-torn lands that they would know, but their world would never be the same. They would grow up in the Palace of Yisstol, raised by the servants there, given a few of their parent's belongings as a final memento of their parents. With only the rings their mothers wore and tales of their parent's might they dreamed dreams of what could have been, though their troubles have only started; a new dark future would be found. The original Shepherds are no more, tactician, commander, guardians, and allies were defeated, but Grima was sealed in the end. Now their children must rise to meet a challenge and avert a dark future, one day at a time.
Yarne was asleep in his room when he heard a horn being sounded, waking him reluctantly, "Aw, Cynthia's testing the Justice Wagon's horn again, isn't she?
"Actually, my young ward, it must be Owain, he is summoning us!" he leapt out of bed at the sound of Cynthia outside his room, then sighed, "Ah, well, time to hop into action." He murmured, gazing at his reflection in the full height mirror, "Well, I don't look too pale this morning, maybe it was just a short fever, I'll have to have Brady take my temperature just to be-"
Cynthia called out for him again, and Yarne wasted no time answering, "In a minute, give a Taguel a minute, would you?! If I wake up to fast I might shock my system, I am the last of my race, after all so I must take perfect care of my health." he said, hopping to the door, but Cynthia was gone by the time he got there, he looked around, but only heard a door slam, he sprinted down stairs only to run into Cynthia, "No, wait-" she screamed, but it was for naught, he had ran into her, they tumbled from Yarne's initial direction and stopped at the feet of Owain, "Hello, fellow heroes, I was wondering when we would set out on an adventure in search of evil to destroy!"
"Yeah, though I would have rather stayed in bed all day, I was in the middle of escaping the bandits when you guys woke me up, now I'll never know if I made it." Owain helped the two up and smiled, "Of course you did, for I, Owain Dark, came to your side, Radiant Dawn! To the Justice Mobile, Avengers of Avenging Justice!" Cynthia's eyes reflected alarm as she ran up in front of him, "It's the Justice Wagon, not the Justice Mobil!" Owain held up a finger, "Actually, I was referring to our boat." Yarne frowned, "You mean the one that served in the Valmese war, the one that Grandmaster Rick used to cross the ocean between Valm and Port Ferox? I thought you said it wouldn't be ready until someone tested that thing!"
"Exactly, and who better to test it than the Justice Cabal?!" with a disheartened groan from Yarne and an enthusiastic cheer from Cynthia, the group went to the dry docks, where the large vessel awaited its first voyage since the Valmese War.
"Minervykins, I count three archers on our right, evasive maneuvers! Or just dive bomb into the fray; I should have expected nothing less from you." Gerome said, gripping the reins with one hand and raising his axe with the other, but before he could slice through the purple soldiers a girl in large armor stabbed it, "Die, Risen scum!" she shouted, obliterating one of them, "Kjelle! That looked like Kjelle. What is she doing here? Minerva, get us closer."
He flew low to the ground and swung his axe into the Risen, turning it to dust, "Gerome? What are you doing here?"
"I was about to ask the same thing, how did you learn of this batch of Risen?"
"Oh, you know, I was tracking a few of them up this hill for some mercenaries serving the Exalt, but they had more waiting for me."
He sighed and landed, "What are you doing?" she asked, as he patted the spot behind him, "Come on, those first few were distractions, these were just pawns sent to draw you away from Yisstol, I am certain that there's an entire army coming back down to take Yisstol down, but they'll need an intelligent commander, they'll also need an informant, you are not the only protector of Yisstol, but you may be one of the best, but now we need to know when they'll strike."
"Obviously they'll strike when we're at our most vulnerable," she said as she took a seat behind Gerome, "when several of our best are outside Yisstol, but they need to know when that is, so a spy, then."
"Obviously, but where and who is this spy, and how to flush him out before he learns what he was sent to?" she cleared her throat, "Ahem, or how to flush her out before she learns what she needs to know, happy now?"
"I will be when those Pegasus Knights stop tailing us."
"Then they know who I am, they know I'll reveal the secret entrance to the castle." He leaned up and stared down at the water below him, "Gerome, what are you doing?!" he turned back, thinking, "Minerva, circle. Kjelle, what body of water is that?" she crossed her arms, thinking, "It's Lake Emmeryn, why?"
"Don't worry; I'll not take away from you your eternal rival. Minerva, to Wyvern Valley!" with that, he leapt off Minerva's back and splashed into the lake below.
"Gerome!" she yelled, as she watched Gerome disappear, then resurface, splashing as he looked up at her, "He's alive Minerva, now it's time to go to Wyvern Valley, oh, no, most of the fliers behind us have already gone! What are those Risen planning? Oh, right, they don't make plans, but who has their leash, last time it was Validar, but he's not a threat anymore, right?"
As Gerome stroked through the water he spotted a large ship, he smiled and swam up alongside the boat, "Hey!" he called out to Owain, who was sitting on a lifeboat, painting "Justice Mobile" on the hull, "Hoy, Gerome, how do you fare?!"
"I'd fare a lot better if you let me up and set the sails for Yisstol."
"Ah, yes, of course, and I see you've taken a swim this fine midday! Cynthia, lower me some, I've got something I need to fish out."
"You got it, want me to shift your boat some, or just straight down?"
"Straight down, and tell Yarne to set a course for the Yisstol, thank you very much. Hey, what's going on up there?" Owain asked as the sound of Yarne's muffled shouts reached the deck.
"Oh, nothing, he just said that he's heard and that he's a Taguel, so he has good hearing, and then he said he heard already."
"What peculiarities this midday!" Owain exclaimed as he helped Gerome into the boat, "Tell me about it, kind of redundant, isn't it?" Cynthia called back down,
"Not that, it's just that I don't know how Gerome got here, he's usually on his wyvern, which reminds me, how is it you came to find us, Gerome?"
"I was reading a post sent to me the other day, it revealed the location of today's voyage, but I only put this knowledge to use while flying to Yisstol today, I was being tailed, so I jumped off Minerva, leaving Kjelle—who had informed me that this was Lake Emmeryn—to deliver a message to a secret ally, though I did send her there with those Pegasus Knights following, but I had to send them to the ally or send them to Yisstol, I regret that I had to make that call, but as the ally wasn't their original target I have no doubt they'll be heading back to Yisstol very soon." They got off the boat and Gerome sat on a bench, "So, from whence did the post come, Gerome? No doubt an evil general, planning to catch us unawares, but posted the wrong address-"
"It was only a part of a correspondence between me and Cynthia, she invited me to sail with you, I wrote back that if nothing came up I would join the crew for some time." Cynthia and Owain smiled, looking from themselves to Gerome, "You know, this seems right, I mean, officially the Justice Cabal is made up of me and Cynthia, but we did take in Yarne, though he's not quite bold enough to wear the name, but you, you're perfect with us, isn't that right Cynthia?" Owain said proudly, Cynthia answering with a silent nod, "This is a temporary alliance, so don't get comfortable." Gerome said, lifting his arm and shifting his gaze from the dripping sleeve to Owain.
"Oh, how negligent of me, may I take the honor of providing you with spare garments while those are prepared for the morrow?" Gerome stood up and faced the door, "Just point me in the right direction."
"Ah, of course, my mind has many maps of all the places I have visited, and I have visited the heart of this fair vessel many times, first you take this door to the main hall, take a right and then—I have a better idea, just call out 'Echo' and Yarne will call back out to you, it's our way of finding him when he is separated from us or lost, he should be somewhere around the cloths right now, just follow his voice until you reach him—ah, but remember, when you first step inside take the right, then call out 'Echo', otherwise you'll end up lost, the Valmese had crazy ventilation systems, yeah."
Gerome looked around the boat, then saw a map, "Or check the fire escape to this boat, hmm, there, then there—but what if the clothes aren't there, but still waiting to be transported, and I must find Yarne anyways, so it seems I must search—ah!" he jumped back as he turned around finding Yarne behind him, who also yelled, "Are you trying to kill me?! I'm the last Taguel, or don't you know-"
"Yarne, just tell me where the clothes kept, can you take me to them?"
"Yeah, sure, this way." he followed Yarne to a room where clothes cleaning supplies were kept, "Umm, maybe I wasn't specific, but do you think I could get some clean, dry clothes, as you can see I came back from a small swim."
"Ah, right, right, sorry, I just thought you were interested in stealing my turn this evening, ha, ha, ha? Ahem, never mind."
"…Kjelle probably hasn't landed yet, but when she does there will be a contact there, who will be a very powerful ally for us, they will fly to Yisstol and be there in time to rescue us, or at least we must hope as much, I have no idea what will happen, but I do know that we must visit the Exalt, we'll have to be quick, though."
The group listened as Gerome finished speaking, then sat down and picked up a spoon. Gerome had started on his soup but dropped the spoon when heard a shriek on the wind, "Minerva!" he whispered as he ran to the window, but was disappointed to find nothing outside, "Oh, my, I-I hope he isn't seeing things. Oh wait, could it be one of my mother's hexes?!" he turned around and assumed a fighting stance, but straightened when he saw it was Noire, "Do we remember you?" he asked her.
"Of course! I had planned on coming back sooner, but each time I told Mother I wanted to see you guys, she would start asking what spell she should practice next, it was terrifying, because I was always the test subject!" she said, clutching her bow to her, "So Tharja's in town, that means you're Noire, wait, you've been on our boat all day long?!" she trembled and stepped back as he rose his voice, "I-I was seasick most of the time, I mean, you guys stopped to buy some medicine or something, I thought I was pretty obvious, walking up the boarding ramp, I mean, I didn't want to get in your way, I had no idea if you guys had other business, so I didn't take my time getting in the boat, but I never knew I was seasick, oh boy, was I in for a surprise."
"And you thought you should say something before we see you, you could have killed me!" Yarne shouted, slamming his fist into the table, she snarled back at him and held onto her necklace and her voice erupted into thunder, "Blood and thunder! Do you, mere mortal bunny, wish to die today?! Speak, before my arrows speak for you!" Yarne shrunk back trembling, shaking his head, "Then I pronounce you deceased, kiss my arrows!" Gerome grabbed her arm before she set the arrow, "Noire, no!" she turned and growled at him, "Insolence! Do you dare defy me?! Me! You have dared to defy me!" he clenched his teeth before answering, "You're so strong, why don't you try leading this vessel as captain?" she dropped the necklace and sighed, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you guys like that, I was just a little angry, but I wasn't going to hurt him, just scare him a little bit, that's all, it won't happen again...maybe...oh, gosh I hope it doesn,t that was terrifying."
Gerome sighed and sat back down, "You still know how to make an entrance."
She smiled and took a seat next to him, "Yeah, thanks, you guys always make me feel welcome, not like, well, never mind." Yarne shrugged, "Yeah, we know, your mom's a witch." She turned to Yarne and her snarl reappeared, "Insolence! Do you dare mock Tharja, the origin of my being, my life giver?!"
"No, not at all!" she let her necklace go and sighed again, "You're probably right."
"Right for apologizing or for the other thing I said?"
"My mom is kind of a witch, but she's all I have left, after Dad…Is that carrot stew?" Yarne stood up and ran around the table to serve her some stew, "Here, in fact, take my bowl while I get yours ready."
"Ha, ha, thanks Yarne, you guys are always so nice to me." she said, as Yarne reached over the stew and picked up his bowl, rubbing his fur against the rim as he reached over, and screaming and dropping his bowl into the stew, "Yarne!" Noire yelled, grabbing his hand and examining at his arm, "Oh, that's going to be there in the morning." She commented.
"Yeah, you think?! I-I mean, yeah, you know, I think I should just lie down someplace, ahem I'll be in my room, applying various ointments on my burn, and not getting on Noire's bad side. Oh, man, I feel it scarring already!"
"Here, just show me the medicine cabinet and I'll apply the ointments, though we should probably shave some of the fur of your arm first, so we can see what burn looks like."
"The medical cabinet is in my room, and thanks a lot, but I'll keep my fur, you guys just pig out, this bunny's turning in for the night."
Noire reluctantly sat down as Yarne left, Gerome cleared his throat and took a bread stick from a plate, "Don't worry, Noire, it's probably just some singed fur, and Taguel are tough, if it's a burn he won't die from it, it's probably nothing too serious. I'm not even sure that I saw his arm connect with the pot maybe just thinking about how it would burn scared him enough to drop his bowl and now he's just ashamed of his fear so he's going to rest."
She sighed and looked up at him, "I know, it's just that, well, I don't think he likes me, what do you think? Oh, what if I scared him off?! That would be so terrible."
"I wouldn't think to dwell too much on these things, you'll be able to ask him at breakfast."
"If I can keep dinner, I still don't have my sea legs, and I'm feeling kind of light headed, maybe I'll just follow Yarne's example. Oh, where's my room?"
"There's an entire hallway, pick whichever one you like if they aren't locked already and you'll find the room's key in the dresser, we'll meet back here at breakfast, and Cynthia?" she looked up from her food and smiled, "You'll have to go to town and get the Justice Wagon, as I believe you called it in letter forty, sentence three."
She smiled, "Of course, and if there are any enemies I'll be able to shout a super cool hero line and jump out of the Wagon, draw my weapon and save the day!"
Owain smiled, "And I jump into action alongside of you, then we can see who was cooler after the enemies are down!" Gerome shook his head, "These are Risen we're up against, so be careful."
"Risen!?" Noire cried out, "They're back? Do you think they're stronger than the ones our parents fought?"
Owain stood up and cross his arms, "Let them come ten times stronger than those our parents fought, for with the might of our parents we are ten times what they were born with, and with training we will become more than a match for any foe, dead or alive, or undead or alive…unalive-y…whichever category the Risen fall under."
They turned as Yarne threw open the doors, "Someone said there were Risen, where are they?! Where do I hide, where do I run!?"
Owain sighed, "Make that a lot of training."
Noire opened the doors to the deck and rubbed her eyes tiredly, "You don't seem to have rested much."
Gerome said falling from the lookout basket, "I'm fine, but I don't know what my mother will say when she finds out I ran away, well, maybe it's too late for that, what will she say when she finds me, that's the better question."
Gerome gazed across the water to the docks, "I don't know, but if you want you can hide here, besides, no one knows you're here except us, you can easily maintain your current position, or you could try to work things out with your mother."
Noire shuddered, "Sorry, but I'll probably keep hiding with you guys, until we reach the next town, that is. Or maybe I could join you guys, I've heard word you have the Exalt backing you guys, so maybe I can help?"
Gerome shrugged, "You'll need to ask Cynthia, she's in charge." Noire nodded and turned around to find Cynthia behind her, "Talking about me, huh? Well, how can I help?"
"Well, I'd like to join you guys, if you'll let me." Cynthia nodded, "Mm-hmm, alright, Noire, congratulations, you're one of us now. Guys, Yisstol is dead ahead!"
"And it's being overrun by Risen!" Gerome growled, "Hey, I have a bow, why don't I just pick off those bad guys on shore?"
Gerome stepped closer to the edge of the boat, "I wish you would, Cynthia, where's your mount?"
"Back at HQ, but that doesn't mean I didn't bring javelins!"
"Good, get to the lookout and take them out, I'll ready the others for invasion."
A furor awoke Lucina, who was leaning on the elbow on a large red throne within the palace, "What's all that racket out there?!" she called out tiredly, "Are you going to answer or-ah!" she jumped out of the seat to the left of the throne, the door flying into the throne, "Hey, that cost my father—Risen?!" she heard footsteps rushing up behind her and saw it was her guard, "No, we fall back, now!"
The guards turned around and ran obediently after her, "Where's Laurent?" she demanded.
"Right here, Lady Lucina. Elwind! Elthunder! Arcthunder! Now hurry, Lucina, I have the escape ready, we'll run to the Justice Cabal headquarters, it ought to be safe there, though not all of our troops will be able to stay there for the long term."
"Just long enough for me to take my home back, and I will come back! And I'll not be gentle."
As she turned to leave Laurent tapped her shoulder and pointed at a white sail on the horizon, "Men, forget the escape, we charge in head first, defend that ship! Archers, scout ahead, knights, hold our positions, Laurent, you and I will take some fighters and see what can be done, everyone else, stay with the knights, Laurent and I will take three fireworks, if none are seen by day break then presume that our attack has failed and go to Justice Cabal headquarters, proclaim our deaths and follow all orders Cynthia hands out."
Laurent wiped some sweat off his brow, "But if we launch the fireworks then they are to come to our aid immediately, yes?"
Lucina shook her head, "Yes, we'll try to hold them off as long as we can, though the fireworks may not work at all."
"That would be a tragedy, and the irony would only send us further into despair, but no, they will work, of this or our death I am most certain."
"Then you're all to expect fireworks at dusk, or hear them if nothing else." The soldier nodded, "We remember last week Laurent was testing the fireworks, it was very noisy, so we'll be ready, just make sure—Risen, through the door, and they've regrouped, and they've got fliers behind us!"
"Arcfire!" Laurent shouted, sending a stream of fire into the mounted Risen, "You need to hurry milady!" a soldier warned, she nodded and slid a false wall out of her way, she waited until Laurent closed it back to follow the trail/
"You have the fireworks ready?" she heard him sigh, "That isn't a good sign." She whispered.
"Well, you see, I have them ready, but the launch zone isn't ideal, the beach is covered in sand, and sand isn't the most level of platforms, so I'll need to launch them from a tree, or other elevated location that doesn't move."
"Then we'll make due with whatever we find, no time for doubts, let's just go, there will be something we can use, there has to be."
"I do hope you are correct, otherwise the encounter with the Risen will be brief, unless our friends on the ship will prove tougher than the enemy."
"This is the Justice Cabal we're talking about, they've had their training."
"Yes, but knowing the people outside of their duties should help you realize that they are the same as you and I, and you've seen how we've retreated just now."
"Yes, but what I have yet to see is how we fight, I should think we'll fare better than the Risen."
Severa stepped into a candy store, gazing intently at the surroundings; she scowled when she located Inigo, "Hey, it's time to go, Inigo."
"Ah, but Severa, I was going to meet someone here, you can't deny me a little break between jobs, can you? Come on; don't make me use the puppy eyes." She crossed her arms, "We have to speak with the Exalt, let her know that one of our contacts went out a few hours ago and hasn't sent back."
"Kjelle's missing?" she scoffed at his reply, "Not that you care."
"Now, now, I care about all of the-" the wall next to the crashed open, knocking them to the floor, "This day can't get any worse!" Inigo cried out as he followed Severa through a door to the alley, they gasped as Risen marched closer to them,
"You had to go and say it, didn't you?" he let out a frustrated groan and drew his sword, "I was about to enjoy a nice evening milkshake, and they were having a special too."
"Follow me, we'll clear a path through the alley, you know these streets better than I do, considering how often you search them for one of your fans."
"I'll pretend you didn't say that part, but I know a good place to hold them off, though with us being the only ones here I would suggest we make a break for the docks as soon as we can. And just for the record I am not all that familiar with the docks, but the place we're going is near enough."
"And what is this place that's good for a stand, some fort or something?"
"No such luck, it is a warehouse for fish, so we must take some food to go."
"For once, I agree with you, and another thing, I'm not letting you spend half our funds buying things for all of your stupid friends, we need that money to live, you'll get allowance, like the little kid you are."
"Hey, now, allowance is good, we're a team and I don't mind saying allowance instead of paycheck, I'll take whatever I can get."
"Yeah, sure, oh, and by the way, exactly what do you have in mind when we reach the beach? Swim to safety?" he laughed and turned to see the Risen behind them.
"I have no idea, but the enemy is behind us by a good distance, shall we take a small break?" he asked, "No way, we'll need all the time we can get to formulate a brilliant plan—oh, this is just my luck—they have us surrounded, they only let us get this far ahead because they had more waiting for us, get ready, we're in an open field, surrounded at least twenty to one, and the sun is about gone, you do the math." He frowned, "I didn't expect it to end this way."
"How did you expect it to end, or didn't you expect an end?" "You expected a terrible, bloody end?"
"These are Risen we're talking about.
"A ship, we're saved!" he shouted. Severa looked over to where Inigo pointed.
"If the Risen don't kill us first; looks as though we must fight, you have permission to engage the enemy!"
"Ah, I didn't know I needed permission for that." She grinned back at him as she battled Risen.
"You might want to take notes." She said as she dodged blades and axes.
"This will not be the last dance of Inigo!" he shouted as he made a path to the docks, he looked back to find Severa running up behind him, "Follow me, Severa!" she scowled, "What does it look like I'm doing? You're in front, after all."
Yarne, in Taguel form, kicked a Risen down while Cynthia stood in the lookout basket, throwing javelins at the Risen groups whenever she didn't see any allies in range, searching the field between tosses, soon her eyes found Severa and Inigo running their way, "Humans ahead of me, coming from the fish warehouse!"
Gerome heard her and answered back while defending the boarding ramp, "Many retired mages went to work at the fish warehouses, using their blizzard magic to keep the fish cold to prevent spoiling, perhaps these are some of those more powerful mages who survived or didn't run?"
Cynthia looked on interestedly, "Good thing we have a Taguel, Yarne heard everything and is on the way to investigate—I think, maybe he's trying to find somewhere to run!"
Yarne looked to where Cynthia was perched, "Of course I'm running, the Risen are surrounding me—ah! Sharp blade incoming, ah! Twelve headed my way, I'm doomed!" suddenly Severa intervened, and when she was done she turned back to him, "Your next." She said, glaring at him.
Yarne trampled through the Risen, Severa close behind, soon Yarne stood behind Gerome, "She wants to extinct the Taguel—ah!"
Gerome pushed his ally back, spear in hand, "I must warn you," he said, holding his spear with both of his hands, "I'm deadly on a wyvern, want to see what I can do on dry land?"
"Pay-lease, I'm not going to hurt your friend."
Gerome and Yarne asked, "Really?"
"Yes, really, Gerome, Yarne. I had to scare you back to safety somehow, but it looks like I won the bet."
Gerome tilted his head questioningly, "What bet?" she laughed quietly, "Had to have been there, I think I see him, most likely he's going to run up the boarding ramp and yell something along the lines of-"
"I win! I win! I win!" Inigo yelled from the boarding ramp, having shoved Yarne to the side, and would have shoved Gerome aside had Severa not pulled him out of the way.
"See, I told you. No, you overgrown baby, you did not win, I was here first, now I'm in charge of the team. I say that as in officially in charge, he already takes orders from me because he's scared of me, and he can't leave because money's scarce, we collaborated because there were too many other mercenaries to compete against alone, but the more battles I survive, the stronger I become, oh, and he's gotten a little bit stronger since I first made his sorry acquaintance."
"Hey!" Iningo yelled, marching up to her.
"You may be my boss now, but I am still magnificent in my own right, and if you were trying to compliment me then I will have you know I felt as though I was being patronized, you really ought to practice being nice."
Gerome stood between them and thrust his lance forward, destroying another Risen, "If this argument is resolved I must ask that you tell me what you came for."
Severa smiled and stared admiringly at the ship, "I must say, she looks to be a fine piece, may-" Owain jumped in front of her, smiling, "Good eye, that's our ship, her name is Justice Mobil! Not a mere ship but an ally to us, a friend in battle should we but call upon her name! She's the fastest ship in the fleet, made it out of the Valmese Chase, and with nothing more than a scar on her hull, which I reinforced with oak, then highlighted the scarred section with-"
"Enough! I said it was a pretty boat, now won't you offer the tour!? Please?" she added a smile, and Owain shrugged.
"Sure, uh, have to clear it pass the boss first, though. Hey, Cynthia, can we let these two on board? They're mercenaries that have united to bury their competition, and they have grown in strength and companionship, forming a bond of trust and friendship." Severa glanced back at Owain, then at Cynthia.
"And mutual dispassion, might I add." Severa said, followed by Inigo stepping forward holding up his finger, "What she said! Wait, that's-"
"Anyways, the point is that we get on each other's nerves and make just enough to rest our heads on the streets and fill ourselves with crumbs and water, or tea, whenever Inigo leaves someone with the bill, but of course, he can never be bothered to bring back a tea cup, so I only drink water."
Cynthia placed her hands on her hips and gazed up at the sky, "Sounds neat, I'll take you on board and you will become one with us Justice Cabal people, um, heroes! Dun, duh, da!"
"Great, we could probably be a great force on your side, you tell me who needs stabbing and I'll make sure they leave here with a smile, he, he, I took that from a little slogan on some restaurant, which we couldn't afford to eat at."
Inigo nodded, "I still remember the breadsticks and pasta, with white sauce and parmesan cheese, hmm, my mouth waters simply rem-" Severa jabbed him in the shoulder with her elbow; he glared at her then held up a finger and pointed at Cynthia, "Hey, hey, Miss Cynthia, Severa hit me."
Cynthia turned to Severa, "And why did you hit him, Severa?" she smiled and ran her hair back, "I don't know what you're saying, Princess Pega Pony."
Cynthia gasped, "I thought it was you, but I didn't know, wow, you sprouted up since then, what has it been, five years? Too long, and I'm guessing that you two fighting together isn't just a coincidence?"
"Actually, it is, but he's the same guy, just as stupid now as he was then."
"Alright then," Owain shouted, "we're back together again, awesome! The Justice Cabal now feels complete! Yes, I sense it, we are as one! Almost, now all we need are the others. Speak of the Shadow Dragon, there's Lucina now! Wait, Laurent is her court mage; surely he should be with her—shouldn't he?" Lucina ran up to the breathing heavily, the sheath on her belt empty,
"Hey, where's Laurent? Where's Falchion? Both are supposed to be with you—hey, and Brady? I thought he was one of your top healers? Did he get the boot?" Lucina shook her head.
"No, he must have went with some of the troops I've sent out to battle the Risen, and Laurent's fine, he left me so I could reach you guys, he says he won't be long. Come on, Falchion's over here, I left it here so I wouldn't lose the fireworks over behind that tree, I can sense Falchion, so it's never lost, maybe it comes with being the only one able to wield Falchion. Anyways, Laurent had originally set them in the trunk of that tree in the middle of town—what's left of it, I mean, so it took a long time to drag them over here, especially undetected. Help me find a place to launch them from, somewhere they'll shoot straight up from—we have until tomorrow at dawn, otherwise they'll presume that I failed, maybe I should have set a later deadline." Lucina stared at Cynthia, whose eyes were dashing back and forth; she turned around, then pointed over Lucina's shoulder.
"If we want them to fly straight we'll have to strap a board to their backs, no way will they go up if we set them on the ground, but listen, if we chop down a tree we can dig out the trunk, and then set the fireworks inside, and then they'll fly straight!"
Gerome shook his head, "The falling tree would give us away, and the entire process will be far to exhausting, but how do these things work to begin with?" Lucina examined one, and then shrugged.
"All I know is that you set this side down and light the string, then the rocket launches, I don't know, something about an explosion and propellant. Laurent would be able to explain it better, but the idea is to give this thing some room after lighting the string, somehow, someway, it soars through the sky like an eagle, and explodes like a bomb, graceful and deadly." Inigo scratched his head,
"Owain, would you oppose to naming this device 'Severa'?"
Severa snarled at his comment and stomped his toe, while Gerome looked from his spear to the fireworks, "You say it soars? It doesn't just dash up and explode? Then I may have an idea, Severa, help me lift this. There, now set the wooden end into the ground. Wait, this won't work, it'll fly right into the ship, take this back out, now turn this way, hold this thing steady, Laurent made this way too heavy to be practical, it belongs in a cannon, there, now, how do we light this?"
"I could use my magic." Laurent pulled some twigs from his hair and dusted his shoulder, "And this was mother's hat, hmm, no damage this time, I must be more careful in the future. What was this I heard about the casing for the fireworks being too heavy? I agree with you completely, and I will try to do better in the future, but these are still in the early development stages. Now, about that fire, here is a torch, I am about to blast the flames over the torch, so do try to distance yourselves. There, now watch this." He set the touched the lit torch to the string and the team watched as the rocket soared higher and higher until it exploded among the stars, Lucina smiled, "Now begins the new Shepherds."
Owain rubbed the side of his head, "Any chance we can keep the same name we've been using, I mean, I know we were kids then, but-" Lucina laughed quietly, then sighed, "Of course, we'll keep the name and when the others regroup we'll face these Risen together! Now let's get to the ship."
That looks like a good stopping point to me. I hope I got their characters down, but if I didn't then just say that this future is slightly different, in less significant news I've decided to leave their dad's identity up to you (I know you know I know you're out there) and Morgan's mother is a surprise, I know that we all just love surprises (so long as I don't take too long, I'm sure).
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