It was a busy day at the training grounds, and Chrom smiled as he gazed around at the excited group of people gathered around. Today was recruitment day for the Shepherds, and it looked like there were a lot of eager young warriors looking to join. Frederick stood next to him, his stern eyes sizing up each person carefully. Chrom knew that Frederick did not plan to go easy on any of them, and he was curious as to how many would stay after a day of the great knight's ruthless training regimen.
"They look promising so far, milord. We'll see if my assessment is correct soon enough." Frederick said, nodding at Chrom as he walked towards the excited group and began rounding them up. Chrom watched, eager to get in and spar with the newbies himself.
"W-wait for me! Ahh!"
Chrom turned just in time to watch as a young woman ran up behind him, tripped over her own feet, and fell face first into the ground while dropping the lance that she had been carrying. He blinked in surprise and quickly knelt down beside her.
"Are you alright?" he asked, his brow furrowing with concern. She pushed herself up onto her knees and looked at him. Her eyes widened and her face flushed with embarrassment.
"Oh, Chrom! I-I mean, Sir Chrom! No, I mean, m-my lord!" she sputtered as she bowed her head and stared straight at the ground. Chrom laughed and took one of her hands in his.
"Just Chrom is fine." he said, standing up slowly as he helped the woman to her feet. She lifted her head and her brown eyes met his blue ones, and he couldn't help but think that she looked adorable with her face flushed like it was.
"O-oh, okay!" she said, smiling as she let go of Chrom's hand, brushed herself off and retrieved her lance from the ground. "My name is Sumia."
"Sumia." Chrom echoed. "I like it." He chuckled as Sumia blushed again. "Are you here to join the Shepherds?"
"Oh, yes!" she said, nodding enthusiastically. "My best friend just joined the Pegasus Knights, and I fear I'd be too much of a klutz to join too. But I want to do something to help, so I was hoping to find a place in the Shepherds." Chrom was impressed with how much conviction was in her voice, and her eyes burned with a fiery determination.
"Well, Sumia, I think you'll fit in just fine. If you can manage to survive a day of Frederick's training, that is." he said, chuckling as a nervous look crossed her face. He watched as she looked over to where Frederick was preparing to start the training, and she pursed her lips.
"I can do it! I'll be sure to do my best!" Sumia said, her grip tightening on her lance and she looked back at Chrom. "I better go join the others then! It was really nice to meet you, my lor-I mean, Chrom." She smiled sweetly at him, causing a spark to jolt through his heart, for some unknown reason. Eh, it was probably nothing.
He watched as she hurried off towards the main group of new recruits, and he winced as she stumbled yet again, but she managed to catch herself this time before actually falling to the ground. Chrom caught Frederick's eye, and the knight raised an eyebrow at him. Chrom just shrugged in response. Maybe he'd have to give Sumia some special training sessions to try and fix her clumsiness problem. He smiled at the thought, for he had enjoyed his first meeting with Sumia, and really looked forward to spending more time with her. He had a feeling that she was going to do great things with the Shepherds, and he would help her out as much as he could.