Just one quick note. Miran is female!Morgan (Maribelle!Morgan specifically) in appearance, though her personality is rather different from her in-game counterpart due to the fact she grew up alongside Lucina and Morgan.
Lucina's speech probably also seems a little inconsistent at times, mostly when she's speaking to her siblings vs anybody else. It's less formal and more relaxed around them, but that's because she's comfortable around and trusts them. With my interpretation of Lucina, the formal speech is her number one way of keeping people at a distance. The more she comes to trust a person, the less formal her speech will be around them.
My heart stopped in my chest when I saw the lume of smoke rising in the distance, but the momentary stupor broke when Illia tensed and tossed her head. The pegasus laid her ears back and I tightened my grip on her reins before putting a hand on her shoulder. "Easy girl." She craned her neck to look back at me and I smiled, attempting to keep her from bolting. "Let's report back to Mother and Father." The last thing we needed was for her to fly away and waste precious time we couldn't afford to lose. She gave an affirmative snort before she banked around and returned to the waiting Shepherds.
We landed next to Mother who was in a quiet conversation with Father, though they turned their attention to me a moment later. "Anything to report, Lucina?" Mother's green eyes burned into mine as I nodded, pressing my lips together. I knew she wouldn't want to hear this, but I had little choice.
"A large plume of smoke in the air. I did not investigate further, but I would surmise that the Risen we received reports of attacked a nearby village. Judging from the smoke, it happened just an hour or two ago." Mother sighed and ran her hand through her bangs, making me look down and away. I hated being sent on scouting missions; I only seemed to bring bad news, but since I was one of the few that worked well with a pegasus, I had little choice. It had only been a few weeks since I'd saved Illia from a burning village, but we were a perfect team. She shifted underneath me as Mother moved her horse closer and put a hand on my shoulder, giving me a gentle smile.
"Don't beat yourself up so much, Lucina; none of this is your fault." I flinched a little and pulled away, Illia flexing her wings a bit in response. Mother's smile faltered and changed to a serious look as she sighed, shaking her head. She knew that I would never forgive myself for all of the mistakes I'd made, but damned if she wouldn't try to convince me otherwise. "Anyway, we'll stop at the village for the night and help with the dead and wounded. Does that sound reasonable, Chrom?" She shifted her attention to Father who nodded.
"Of course. The past few days have been hard, so we should stop a bit earlier to give everyone a bit of a rest, though we'll still have to start early in the morning as usual." He gave me a sharp look that said he agreed with Mother's earlier sentiments regarding my attitude. I narrowed my eyes as I gripped Illia's reins tightly, holding his gaze.
"I will go on ahead to begin to help." Mother opened her mouth to protest, but I didn't give her a chance; I released my hold and Illia took to the air, leaving them behind as I shook my head. I understood they were worried about me and only wanted to help, but they didn't know anything. Yes, they knew that I had been through hell, but they hadn't experienced it. To spend every day for thirteen years fighting non stop… Watching people you'd become close to die… Having the people look to you as a pillar of strength and hope at only nine years old… They really couldn't understand anything I'd been through and never could. They really did try, but there was no hope of it every happening.
Illia touched down and I ran the back of my hand across my face, swallowing my feeling as I looked at the village before me. If I was going to help, I couldn't allow any weakness to show. These people would need all of the help they could get, looking out at the wanton destruction. Little remained of the fortification wall that surrounded the town, the foundations of homes sticking up while the crop fields were trampled as far as the eye could see. Bodies of human, animal and Risen alike lay where they had fallen with the sounds of the wounded and dying ringing in my ears. Already the able-bodied survivors were beginning to bury the departed, though their eyes were haunted, not yet ready to take on the gruesome task.
Illia shifted underneath me and I dismounted, running a hand along her neck. "You can go back to Mother for now if you want to, though it won't be long until she arrives." She laid her ears back and puffed into my face but shook her head, turning around and flying over the shattered wall. Swallowing, I turned my attention back to the village and approached one of the survivors. Her eyes widened and I held my hand up, giving a gentle smile despite the hole in my chest. "Peace, milady. I am Lucina, a member of the Shepherds. The rest of my company will be around shortly to help, but I am the first arrival. How can I be of assistance?"
She squirmed under my gaze and looked down at her hands, squeezing them together. "I...don' tknow. I'd probably be better if you talked to milord. He's this way." Her voice was quiet, hesitant, but she looked back up at me. She likely didn't trust me since this area had fallen victim to a band of brigands impersonating us, but we'd put a stop to them a few weeks ago. The rumors of our arrival had spread, but the people were still wary of us and I couldn't blame them. I started to follow her, picking my way through the bodies, but froze when I heard his voice.
"Separate the Risen from the dead; it'll be a few hours until they disappear and we don't want to risk the corpses of the innocent rising." Iit was a bit deeper than I remembered, but the authority in his voice was clear. My heart jumped into my throat and thrummed in my ears as I followed the woman toward the center of town where the few survivors fathered. He stood in the center of them, atop a small pile of wood with his jaw set as he gave orders.
"Milord…?" He turned around when the woman spoke and froze in place when our eyes met. "This girl claims to be with the Shepherds and is here to help… Can we trust her?" She glanced at him and he nodded before jumping down and embracing me. I swallowed before I buried my face in his chest, feeling tears well up again, but I fought them down as I gripped his coat.
"Lucina…" Morgan did his voice to keep his voice steady, but I knew him well enough to hear the slight hitch in it. He put his hand on my head and I looked at him, genuinely smiling for the first time in many years. He returned the gesture as he ran his fingers through my hair. "So the Shepherds are on their way to help. I assume Mother and Father are among them?"
I winced a bit but nodded as he raised an eyebrow. "Of course." He gave me a hard look and I squirmed a little before sighing. Nothing got past his eyes. "We...had a bit of a disagreement before I arrived. I'll apologise when they get here." They still couldn't understand the hell I'd been through, but it wasn't their fault and I wouldn't wish said hell on anybody, them least of all. Plus, they were just doing their jobs as parents in trying to make me feel better. I was just so used to relying only on Morgan and Miran that-
My blood froze in my veins as I looked back at Morgan, but he just smiled at me. "She's currently helping with the worst of the wounded, but you should probably go see her. We could definitely use the help." He released me and nodded over to one of the few houses that remained standing. Not wasting a moment, I jogged over and peaked around the doorframe, seeing MIran sitting next to a man that was bleeding profusely.
"Please...tell my wife...I'm sorry…" He squeezed Miran's hand and she nodded as his breathing stilled and his head lolled, his glassy eyes still staring in my direction. Miran placed her hand over them, closing his eyes lids and placing his shattered arm over his chest. She sighed before she stood up, but tensed when she saw me, shaking her head a bit as she backed up a few steps.
I left my hiding place and stepped into the doorframe, holding my arms open. A few tears trickled down her cheeks before she ran to me, burying her face in my chest. She remained silent as I ran my fingers through her hair, trying to bring her any sense of comfort. Her entire body shook as she collapsed against me and I eased onto my knees before pulling her into my arms. Apparently she hadn't gained much, if any, weight over the past two years because it wasn't difficult to carry her over to a chair and cradle her in my arms. She was several heads shorter than I was, but she still fit neatly into my grasp.
"Luci… I thought I'd never see you again... " Had I not been so used to her quiet voice, it would have been impossible to hear over her muffled sobs. "I'm...so glad…"
"It's alright, Miran; I'm not going anywhere now that we're back together…" It was hard to believe now that we'd been separated for well over two years with how easily we were slipping back together, but I wasn't going to complain; the bitter loneliness seemed to have vanished as if we hadn't even been apart.
It didn't take Miran too long to cry herself out, though I glanced over toward the door when I heard someone enter. Aunt Lissa glanced at me and smiled, pssing me without a word as she began to tend to the wounded. I stood up, still keeping Miran in my arms, and walked out of the house. Morgan was deep in a discussion with Father while Mother surveyed the damage. She caught sight of me and walked over, her head bowed. "Lucina, I'm so sorry. I should have known better than-"
I shook my head to cut her off and she blinked, glancing at me, then Miran. "You have nothing to apologise for, Mother; I was the one in the wrong. I am just far too used to depending only on myself that kindness is difficult for me to accept." I bowed my head in response, only to have her place a hand on my shoulder.
"It's fine, Lucina; I should understand that better than anybody, but my maternal instincts override my ability to think at times. We're both too stubborn for own good at times, huh?" I looked up at her and she smiled. I returned it with a tiny one of my own and her eyes lit up, but it dropped the moment she glanced at Miran. "Is this Miran?" Her voice dropped to a whisper as I nodded again. "So that means…" She looked over her shoulder at Morgan before turning her attention back to me.
"That is Morgan." I had barely mentioned the twins since I had joined the Shepherds because it hurt far too much to think about them. Even before Grima had taken Mother and Father from us, we had refused to sleep apart from each other and it had only gotten worse after her final words. I tightened my grip on Miran a bit and she shifted but didn't wake up, letting me breathe a sigh of relief; it seemed like she was just as heavy a sleeper as always.
"How about we get camp set up so we can let her sleep in a more comfortable spot?" Mother smiled at me again and I nodded, letting myself smile fully. She was slowly getting past my barriers, but I didn't mind right now; I finally had my brother and sister back.