Parings: Myra (Avatar) & Chrom
Summary: The Shepherds are marching towards a village in the northern, mountainous region of Regna Ferox in need of help after recent attacks of brigands. Soon they were caught in a terrible blizzard where they seek shelter in an abandoned farm house only to find that they are not alone…
It seems the wind is picking more with every heavy step the Shepherds take. Things with the weather took a turn for the worst. Losing the sun's warm rays to the oncoming night, it gets colder and colder each passing minute. The wind pushes the hood off of my head exposing more of my face to the ice shards being rained down on and leaving my ponytail to flap in the wind. I reach behind me to tuck in my ponytail and put my hood over my eyes. With weather like this, it makes me even more thankful for the thick cloak and gloves I always wear. But I can't say the say the same for the rest of the Shepherds.
"Hey, you okay?" A deep voice calls out from behind me. I turn to see my husband, Chrom, who is only a few spaces behind, looking at me with worry.
"I'm fine," I say with somewhat of a smile. I give a small yelp as an unexpected blast of wind causes me to lose balance and knocking me into his chest. Luckily, Chrom catches me easily in his arms and sets me up right by putting his hands on my shoulders. "Thanks…," I say with a slight blush.
"Nothing of it," Chrom replies. His worried look vanished with a smile. Up close, I can see his face is red from the cold and his bare arm is as well. His blue eyes go to look up at the cloudy, grey sky that was cloud less not but a few hours before. "Seems like we miss calculated the storm," Chrom says still looking at the sky.
"Seems as though we have," I say looking up at the sky too. I think back to where it could have possibly gone wrong during the march. We were already in center of Regna Ferox when we got the distress call from the village that recently got invaded by brigands. We started off the next morning hoping to get to the Northern Mountain Range where the village was. The morning was met with a clear sky. By midafternoon, the sky was arranged with big, white puffy clouds. "Do you think the storm is coming this way?" Chrom asked when he spotted a gathering of grey clouds in the distance. At the time there was barely any wind, the clouds didn't look heavy at all, and the temperature was still cold but we had the sun's rays to keep us warm. "I think it will blow over once it gets to us," I told my husband. I was very wrong. Now at sunset, the only light source we had was about to disappear over the horizon.
The wind let up a little. Behind Chrom I can see the rest have stopped behind us. Chrom turns around to see this too. By instinct, I look for Lucina and Morgan first. I see that Lucina has Morgan's cloak over her shoulders and Morgan has his fire tome open. Most of the mages, dark mages, and sages have their fire tomes open with a flame trying to keep themselves and others warm. Everyone else is either walking or is sharing a mount with their loved ones. Even Panne, Yarne, Nowi, Tiki, and Nah have used their stones and have people on their backs.
"All of the sorcerers please take out your fire tomes and come together in the middle for a bigger flame. Everyone else, huddle closer to the flame. We'll need to discuss our next move," I say to all the Shepherds. The rest of the sorcerers got out their tombs and began to form a close circle. As I expected, with all the flames a bigger one formed and cast a welcoming warmth. Some of the Shepherds got off their mounts and eagerly come closer to the flame. Chrom is still by my side with his arm wrapped protectively around my waist. Lucina comes up to us with Morgan, his cloak is back on, trailing behind her. "Father, we need to find shelter right away. With night coming we can't continue marching like this," Lucina says to Chrom.
"I know," He replies with is usual serious face. "We needed to stop to rest and warm up. We'll be discussing our next move." He looks expectantly at me when he says this. I just nod in agreement. With that we make our way to the fire. There, I can see everyone huddling closely with their families and comrades.
A few minutes passed with silence. Chrom is the first to speak, "As was said before we need to discuss what to do next. The obvious choice is to get out of the storm and find shelter for the night. I don't know how far the village is from here, but I don't want to take any chances of it not being near." He looks to me if anything needed to be added. I thought about taking out the map to see if we really were close but I don't. Don't want to risk it being blown away.
"I can't promise anything about the location for now," I add, "Maybe it will be better to send someone ahead to scout out a cave or something?"
"Fredrick insisted on being the one to find a suitable place," Chrom says. "He should be back by now." As if on cue, the proud knight comes running up on his mount. Fredrick stops in front of the fire with his usual stern face. "Milord, I have found what is to be a suitable place for shelter," Fredrick says "I have found an abandoned farm house in a small valley. It looks as though it hasn't been in use for years. Behind, I have also found a barn for the mounts."
"Good work, Fredrick," Chrom says to him, "How far away is this?"
"Nothing but a small march, Milord. There is somewhat of a steep hill going into the valley. Nothing else of an obstacle in the way," Fredrick says with certainty.
I turn to my husband, "I think it sounds good. It's close with protection from the storm and wind. And if it's really meant to be house, then here has to be a fire place of some kind for there to be warmth in the harshest of winters, like this one. We could easily use scrapes, or even the floor boards, for firewood. Also, with the house being in a valley there will be a natural barrier of mountains from any ambush, at least one that we won't expect. Plus, the barn would serve a resting place for our mounts. I can think of only one bad point that can be completely looked over. Someone else could've taken shelter there as well. But I would think the possibilities of that being slim." As his trusted adviser and as a tactician it's my job to point all possibilities.
"I agree," Chrom says to me, "Even if there is someone we'll have to try to share. And if a fight is to come, we'll be ready." He then turns to Fredrick, "Tell everyone to get ready. We'll be one our way soon."
"Yes, Milord."
After everyone is ready, we set off. The Shepherds are back in their small groups as they were before we stopped. As it gets darker, the temperature drops and the wind gets stronger. As Fredrick said, the hill was steep and trickier than what I had thought. But sure enough, at the peak we see a big worn-down house with a barn in the back.
"Riders, don't put you mounts in the barn just yet!" I say trying to shout over the wind, "If a fight is at hand we'll need the numbers!"
After a few minutes of basically sliding down the hill, we stop at the front porch. The house is a two-story monstrosity. The house itself looks like it hasn't been used for over a decade. With the missing planks, railings, parts of a fence it would usually give off an uneasy feeling. But add in the fading light, the roar of the wind, and the given circumstance, it feels even more intimidating. With a bit of a push, the door slides open with a long creak.
I was about to walk in when Chrom grips my arm. "Myra, wait-!" He's about to say something when I interrupt him, "Chrom, you have to have some light if you want to see," Not giving him time to reply, I go in with my hood still on and a fire tome going. The inside is dryer and cleaner than the outside. Someone has been here, but I see no other traces. I hear Chrom telling everyone to stay. He then joins me at my side with Falchion drawn. He starts, "It seems to be cle-," He doesn't get to finish when a bright slash sends flying him. "Chrom!" I start to run towards him when another slash blocks my path. I turn around to find the origin of it and I see a hooded figure hovering the staircase. "Not another step," a woman's voice warned.
After hearing a commotion the rest of the Shepherds try to come in. But the hooded figure, now on the ground, uses another slash to slam the door shut. They try to open the door but it seems be jammed. Up close, (now suspecting they are female) she is holding what I think is a wind tome and a sword at the side. Chrom gets back up and yells trying to reason with her, "Listen! We not here for a fight! We just want to be out the storm!" "I could careless why you're here! I just want you out!" the woman says as she sends another slash at him. Chrom easily avoids it starts to run towards the woman. She avoids his strike. This back and forth game goes on without anyone getting hit.
I see this as an opportunity. I run up behind the woman to strike her with fire. She must have sensed my presence because she twirled out the away and sent me across the room. My head hit the wall, knocking my hood off my head. I look up, the woman met my eyes and froze. She runs to me. Thinking she was going to attack I brace myself. Instead me picks up and hugs me, "Myra, is that really you?" the woman whispers. Still in shock from the hug, I don't answer.
She pulls back to look at me. "Oh gods, it really is!" the woman says excitedly. She then pulls off her hood. She looks no older than me. The woman has dark brown hair, like me, going down to the middle of her back. Her blue eyes are filled with tears. Even though I've never met her before in my life, my heart aches with nostalgia and love when I see her face.
"Well, say something," she says jokingly. Recovered from the shock I finally say, "I'm sorry, but I don't know you." "What?" she says in disbelief. "Are you done hugging my wife?" Chrom asks finally coming over. "Wife?" The woman asks in shock as she takes a few steps back.
"Yes. I'm Chrom, the Exalt of Ylisse, and Myra is my wife, Queen of Ylisse as well. But I gather you have met already before," Chrom shows his arm with the Brand of the Exalt on it. The woman widens her eyes finally seeing who he is. "Now you know who we are. I think it's called for us to know who you are."
"Fine. My name is Monica," The woman says with confidence, "And I'm her mother."
To be continued…
