Note: A warning for spoilers in this story (although pretty much every Awakening fanfic has spoilers). Don't read if you haven't finished the game.

I'm using the female avatar in this story. There won't be any in detail description about 'Robin', though I may refer to a certain style her hair is in now and then. Her description is for you to make up in your own mind, but I will be changing her name. I don't care for the name Robin, so I've changed it to Rina in this story. I really liked the name Morrigan, but thought it would be too close to Morgan. I also might've tweaked the story a bit, but only a little bit. Nothing too much.

Anyway, I hope you like the story!

Chapter One: Drawn in

It was like she was stuck inside a lucid dream. Or if she were a spirit, being guided through her past before she went on to the afterlife. She saw a woman, feeling particularly nostalgic at the sight of her. The woman's eyes were kind and gazed down on her with a soft look. Arms were wrapped around her in a protective manner before the woman's image was suddenly whisked away as if she were smoke blown away by the wind.

Am I dead?

A child appeared before her next, with adoring eyes and a giant smile. She was looking down at the child and felt a smile form on her own face. Was she giving the child the same look the woman gave to her? She couldn't quite remember. Placing a hand on the child's small head, a dull physical feeling came to her hand. The sort of feeling you can only have in a dream. As if she were partly numb. The child giggled and pointed to something behind her. Before she could react, a different pair of arms encircled her from behind. She may of only felt the hug faintly, but an intense feeling of calm came over her.

If this were Heaven, then I wouldn't mind.

The next thing she knew, she was seemingly fighting for her life. A sense of dread and fear ran over her, but also adrenaline and determination. Wherever she was, she knew she had to win. Someone was fighting next to her. A man. Wait, she recognized him.

Oh...

Her fear lessened and she felt as if she could win this battle with him by her side. Within a few moments, the enemy fell, but she was blown back by a sudden impact onto the ground. The man ran to her, alarmed, and lifted her into a sitting position. In her dream-like state, she didn't even feel the pain. She only felt happy that the battle was finally over. He seemed happy as well, assuring her of that with a smile and that kind look in his eyes. They made her feel calm, those eyes.

I love you.

She wanted to say that. It felt right to say that. But, something went wrong. Her vision turned red with every heartbeat. Dark words came to her ear, from someone she didn't quite know. The expression on the man's face went to confusion, then horror as he looked down at the bolt of lightening in his side. It looked like a sword, as if someone stabbed him. Looking over at her right hand, she could hardly believe that the person who stabbed him was her. Staggering up, the man shook his head. He told her that it wasn't her fault, but it was. She refused to believe anything else. Finally standing up, she backed away from him as a rush of guilt and sorrow overcame her. He told her to promise him that she'd escape, his eyes holding forgiveness and worry before he collapsed on the ground. How could he still be so kind to her? She killed him.

Chrom...

The sound of birds chirping came to her ears and the feeling of the grass beneath her body felt like a comfy bed. All of her previous thoughts were gone, it was like she was one with the earth at that moment. She didn't know why it felt extra good to actually feel everything, like the grass, but it did. How did I get here? The thought ran through her mind, but she felt too sleepy to answer it. Nothing came to her anyway. She didn't know how she fell asleep on the ground, or why she was there. Faint noises finally caught her attention. Footsteps were heard and she assumed someone was standing over her. Or rather, more than one person.

"Chrom, we can't just leave her here." The first voice sounded like a small girl.

The next one was deeper, definitely an older male. "What do you propose we do?"

"We have to do something!"

Well, she supposed she couldn't sleep forever. Opening her eyes slowly, the bright light was almost too much for her apparently sensitive eyes to handle. How long had she been sleeping there? Standing over her was a girl with blonde pigtails and a noble-looking young man with blue hair that reminded her of sapphires.

"It looks like you're awake." The man gave her a kind smile, temporarily distracting her until the girl spoke again.

"Hey there." The blonde gave her a similar smile that made her want to return it had she not been so dazed from sleep.

The man laughed and held a hand out to her. "The ground isn't a good place to sleep, you know. Come on."

She almost grinned. It felt good to me. Taking that as a signal to grab his hand, she held out her own and noticed a purple mark right under her knuckles. It was strange, but the girl didn't give it a second thought once the man helped her up. When he did, she couldn't help but notice his blue eyes. It was like they drew her in whenever she looked at them.

Oh...

With that single thought, it was like deja vu. But, she couldn't remember thinking that before. Come to think of it, she couldn't remember anything past sleeping on the ground.

Get a hold of yourself...Frowning, she lowered her gaze and only then noticed there was someone else present. A tall man clad in heavy armor, sporting a stern expression as he silently watched from a few steps away.

"Are you alright?" Her attention was brought back to the man, nodding at the question.

"Y-yes..." She began, finding her voice. Her throat felt dry and scratchy, making her once again question how long she had been sleeping. "Thank you, Chrom."

His eyebrows raised in question. "Ah, then you know who I am?"

"No, actually, I..." To be honest, she spoke before really thinking about it. She didn't know this man at all. "It's strange... Your name, it just...came to me..."

Chrom seemed to ponder her answer, looking away in thought before their eyes met again. "Tell me." He continued. "What's your name? What brings you here?"

Subconsciously, she placed her hand on the side of her head. Oh boy...She tried to recall what should've been a simple thing, but did not succeed. "My name is...It's...Hmm?" Did she go dumb during her sleep or what?

"...You don't know your own name?" He seemed to wonder what was wrong with her himself, making her feel embarrassed under his sight.

Taking a moment to look around at their surroundings, she couldn't remember anything at all. "I'm not sure if...I'm sorry, but where am I, exactly?"

The pigtailed girl at his side deduced that she must have amnesia, while their intimidating friend contrasted her with saying that it was 'pegasus dung'. Ugh, I'm not lying though. She found herself wanting to say, but thought better of it. I really don't remember anything. Why? This was starting to bother her. What did she even look like? Was her hair all messed up from sleeping outside for who knew how long?

After going back and forth with the question of her memory, she heard something about 'Shepherds'. So, they tended sheep? Why would someone tend sheep in armor? Her head tilted to the side in confusion and mind wondered about that, until they started speaking about taking her with them.

Starting to feel a little panicked, she spoke up. "Wait!" She held her hands up. "Don't I have a say in this?"

I'm not going to jail, am I? I didn't do anything!

But, he assured her that they'd listen to her once they got to town. That still wasn't enough for the girl, as she began to eye the three of them with suspicion that actually appeared to be just a pout to them. It made Chrom laugh before motioning for her to follow them, which she reluctantly did. He did seem nice enough to not betray her.

After walking for what seemed like forever on her long unused legs, her nerves got the best of her. "Are you sure you're not going to arrest me or something like that?"

Her words seemed to amuse the young man more and more, he gave her an entertained look. "Hah! You'll be free to go once we make sure you're no enemy of Ylisse."

"Ylisse? Is that where we're going?" She asked, not ever hearing of such a place.

The blonde girl giggled. "We're already in Ylisse. We're just heading to one of the towns."

The intimidating man gave her a look of disbelief. "You've never heard of the halidom? Ha! Someone pay this actress. She plays quite the fool!"

Getting frustrated with this tall man – this knight or whatever he was – her frown deepened, but she had no clever words to spout back at him. She was always bad at comebacks...or at least, she assumed she was.

"The furrowed brow is especially convincing." He continued, a slight grin forming on his face that she wanted to wipe off.

Chrom silenced the older man and decided to inform her on Ylisse and their exalt, Emmeryn. It made her think. Was Ylisse where she was from? She wished that she could remember.

After that, he made short introductions. So, the pigtailed girl was his sister Lissa and the stern man was indeed a knight named Frederick. Chrom referred to their group as Shepherds. Once he said that, she found herself speaking before she thought again.

"You tend sheep? In armor?" Her thoughts from earlier were finally spoken, and she wished that she hadn't when she heard how stupid it sounded herself. But, Chrom didn't deny it. He just found it funny, like every other thing she had said. She wondered if her cheeks were red at the moment, fighting the urge to cover them.

"My name is Rina." She announced shortly after, the name suddenly came to her and believed that it was her real name. "...I just remembered that. Hah...How odd. One mystery solved, isn't it?"

"Really?" Crossing his arms, Chrom seemed to be committing the name to memory. "Rina? Is that foreign? Well, we can discuss it later. We're almost to the town. Once we-"

"Chrom!" Lissa suddenly caught the attention of everyone as she pointed to a burning town.

The town was obviously in danger and the sound of people causing a commotion could be heard from where they were. Rina assumed it was bandits, which seemed to be what the others thought as well as Chrom drew a sword. Frederick mounted the steed that was quietly following behind them.

"Chrom." Was all he said, glancing over at the young man.

It was like a silent message went between them and Chrom nodded, turning back to her. "Rina, you need to stay here." He told her. "I suspect that brigands have raided that village, so you'll be safe where you are. Alright?"

His tone didn't seem to leave much for argument and the three of them ran off before she could really respond. She stood there for a few moments, watching them disappear into the town, but Rina felt uneasy and ran off after them before she knew it. Feeling something heavy move against her leg that she hadn't felt while walking, she stopped and felt around her long coat. She pulled the coat open and looking in the inner pocket. There was a book inside of it, a tome. Was she a mage? There was also a sword at her side. Why hadn't she noticed these things before? Maybe she was too engrossed in not wanting to go to jail. Whatever the reason was, it didn't matter. Apparently, she was a fighter of some sort. Which was good, she could help Chrom and the others fight the brigands!

Rushing off again, she felt as if she was finally recovering the pieces of herself and the first was finding out that she was no regular maiden. Maybe even more.

Note: I didn't mean to use so much of the original dialogue, I even edited some of it. I wanted to start from the beginning and I didn't know how to not make that follow the first dialogue. I promise it won't happen in the next chapter.