To The Rescue
"So this is Ylisse's infamous master tactician, eh~?" The ruffian sneered, then spit in the captive's general direction.
Slowly gaining consciousness, Robin realized she was bound standing up against something. She tried moving her arms and legs, but failed against the restraints strewn across her shoulders, torso and legs. Considering how many times people have tried to kidnap her previously, she was surprised at how thoroughly she was tied up.
'Oh, great.' she thought to herself. 'How did I end up in this mess . . .?' Robin thought back on what she could remember. She had been on a trip to a town to gather more medical supplies. Kellum had joined her, but did she get separated at some point? There had been an odd smelling incense as she was leaving town, then she remembered getting hit with what felt like a ball of energy before she could react. Was it a sleeping spell? Slowly, she opened her eyes to survey the surroundings.
In the middle of the forest clearing laid out in front of her, there was a fire burning inside a pit. Twelve or so men stood around watching the forest for intruders, two of which stood near her, facing her direction. One of them seemed to have more presence due to the additional weapons and jewelry adorning his person. She assumed him to be the leader of this band.
'Ah, it must be a tree that I'm bound to.' Robin again tried to move her arms, but to no avail.
"Oh, you finally be waking up then?" the 'leader' sneered, his teeth shining like gold.
"What do you want with me?" Robin barked as she glared at the bandit.
"Oh? Got a bit of snip to ya, eh? I like that in a bird." He grinned as he walked toward the trapped tactician. Upon arrival, he grabbed her chin and tilted her face either way. "You're not too bad of a looker either. Man, that prince sure has it nice with all these beauties surrounding him." Robin winced as the smell of ale on his breath hit her in the face.
Robin twisted her head out of his grasp, and spit in his face. "I didn't say you could touch me," she snarled dangerously. The bandit laughed.
"Is that so~? I brought you here to lure prince boy out, but that doesn't mean we can't have some fun while we wait." A grin split his face as he drew close enough to his victim, causing her to feel his breath on her neck.
"You wouldn't dare." She glared daggers at him, still struggling against the rope holding her back.
"I wonder how long it'll take Princey to get here~? Maybe he'll be too preoccupied with that cute little wifey of his to notice you missing." He laughed again before backing up to look at her face again. She had a steely resolved expression, seemingly not phased by his taunting. The bandit frowned. Robin smirked.
"I don't think it's Chrom that you'd attract by kidnapping me." A distant sound rose up, and seemed to begin approaching. "Ah, sounds like he's coming. Are you ready?"
The bandit glared at her. "I don't appreciate this high an' mighty attitude you suddenly have. You think one person can take all of us? Hah! We've got even more reinforcements leading up to this spot here as well. It doesn't matter to me whether he comes peacefully to pay us off, or if we have to take him down the hard way and take it from him. We'll be sitting pretty after this either way!"
The shouts of men could be heard – it seems that battles have arisen. The sounds of birds and explosions have also increased in volume, gradually getting closer. Some of the men standing in the clearing rushed into the woods to assist their comrades. Screams rang out in the distance, none of which sound pleasant.
The men remaining in the clearing cautiously held their weapons, hands shaking in fear. They nervously looked around them. It was hard to determine the exact location the foe was coming from – the deafening cries of birds seemed to surround the camp.
Robin smiled and suddenly seemed to be completely at ease. An explosion to the left, followed by a cry of agony sounded. "You've given him a reason to do what he loves best." Robin began, leaning as coolly as she could against the tree. "It's too bad for you really, you may have had a chance if it was Chrom. Oh wait, no you wouldn't have," she laughed.
Angered by her mocking tone, the bandit did the thing he figured would most humiliate the tactician. He once again grabbed her chin roughly, then crashed his lips against hers.
Appalled, Robin tried to pull away, but between his grip and the tree behind her, there was nowhere to go. The sound of fighting seemed to swell as birds began to swarm within the clearing.
The pack leader continued to force a kiss on her. Behind him, a dark haze rolled in from the trees. A distant laughter could be heard as a bandit fell dead into the clearing. The crowing became deafening. Frightened, some of the men dropped their weapons and fled. Unaware of his surroundings, the leader bit down on Robin's bottom lip, drawing blood. She yelped out in pain, as she desperately kept her teeth clenched.
The bandit suddenly felt a jolt, then a force pulled him away from the girl. He lost control of his arms and legs, falling straight onto his back when he was pulled away. Disoriented, his eyes flew around, suddenly taking note of his fallen comrades. Above him, he saw a cloud of crows circling the clearing, cawing loudly. He tried to get up, but found himself paralyzed and unable to move. He began sweating nervously. A pleasant laughter could be heard as footsteps approached him. He exhaled as dark force seemed to push him heavily into the ground. The screams of men could no longer be heard, and the incessant crowing also seemed to calm to a lull.
"Ahaha! What do we have here~?" An amused masculine voice sounded out from the direction of the footsteps. They stopped right above the bandit's head. When he looked up, the bandit saw a young man smiling down at him, blood splattered across his eerily pleasant demeanor.
The boy kneeled down to get a better look at the bandit's face. "Are you the one that kidnapped Robin?" His white hair blew gently in the wind as he tilted his head. "You don't seem very strong~. How did you manage to deceive her? Did you have another person working with you, neh?" He prodded the paralyzed bandit with the corner of his spell book. Various black crows landed, encircling the two men, cawing occasionally.
The bandit's eyes widened. How could this one person have taken out so many of his men? Who is this kid?
"Who are you working for, or with? Is it the Valmese? That Validar of Plegia?" the white hair boy continued poking the frightened man's cheek. A crow landed on the bandit's chest, and peered into his eyes. "If you don't tell me, I'll leave you to my friends here," the dark mage continued. "I feel like I should warn you though~ they're quite fond of Robin, hehe! They also don't like people that mess with or hurt her!" He smiled as more crows descended, the general ruckus of crowing starting to raise in volume.
The bandit leader was still unable to move, and broke into a heavier cold sweat. He was officially too scared to speak, as his life flashed before his eyes. After seeing the paralyzed man's eyes roll into his skull, the younger man stood up.
"Whelp, that's too bad. I really wanted to meet this mysterious contact! Maybe he would actually have put up a fight," the boy chuckled. "I guess you'll get to play with the crows then." He smiled, then turned away. Crows pounced on the bandit from every direction, pecking and pulling bits of flesh. The bandit's screams were drowned out by the excited caws of crows.
As the young man approached the bounded tactician, she had a relieved smile, which turned into a smirk as he got closer. "You're as ruthless as ever . . . Henry."
Henry smiled as he pulled out a knife. "Hey-o Robin! You seem to be in a bit of a pickle!" He then began cutting the ropes tying her to the tree. "I would use my magic, but I don't actually want to start a forest fire, ahhaha," he elaborated at her confused look. The ropes eventually snapped, and fell loose.
Glad to be free again, Robin separated herself from the tree and stretched. She rubbed the various marks left on her skin where the ropes were tightest. She then remembered the awful taste in her mouth.
"Blaugh~ Henry, do you have any water on you?" she asked.
"Sure do!" he unhooked a water skin from his waist. He handed it to her, which she immediately took a swig from. She swished it in her mouth, before violently spitting it out. Startled, Henry took a step back as she repeated the process. "Whoa there Robin! That's not the best way to consume water. Did something happen?" The dark mage patted the tactician's back as she went into a coughing fit.
Straightening up when she was finished, Robin wiped the excess water from her mouth. "Ugh. That guy forced me to kiss him." She gestured vaguely at the mass of crows a ways off, then noticed a smear of blood on her sleeve. "Argh. I think he made my lip bleed too." She tentatively touched her lip again, and Henry frowned as she winced.
"He forced you to kiss him? What do you mean?"
"Well, it was more like he forcibly kissed me. I was tied to the tree, and he grabbed my face and forced his mouth on mine." She spat out more water, then took another swig. "I should have bit him, but I didn't want to un-clench my teeth." She shuddered, then sat down on a log a little ways from the fire. Henry sat down next to her, resting his head on her shoulder.
"That's too bad. I hear ladies are sensitive about those kinds of things." He eyed the scene of carnage left by the crows. Maybe he should swipe a couple of those bones to practice that reanimation spell he read about, that way he could make him pay a second time.
Robin scoffed. "I'm not worried about that. He was more like a rabid animal than a person." She winced again when she touched her lip. "It's just too bad I'll be forced to think about it until this heals up." She turned to look at the white hair boy, whom was smiling pleasantly as he leaned against her.
Henry nuzzled her shoulder. "I'm sorry to hear that, is there anything I could do to help you out? I know a great memory wipe spell! You might forget how to read at the same time, but hey! More chances to experience the journey of learning, hahaha!"
She laughed. "No, no, that's all right. I've lost enough of my memories as is. Maybe you should just kiss me to dis-"
Before she could finish her sentence, Henry had turned his face towards her, and gently placed his lips on hers. She squeaked in surprise, and he took the chance to tenderly deepen the kiss. Shortly afterwards, he pulled back and rested his head on her shoulder again, smiling.
"-sinfect it. Wha!" Robin's face bloomed into a deep blush. "Ahh~ I forgot how obedient you can be!" she cried as she hid her heated face with her hands. Henry giggled as he felt her heart beat increase through her shoulder. He sat up and looked at her face.
"I thought you weren't sensitive about these things," he chuckled in a light hearted way, brushing some of her hair out of her face. She stared back at him in disbelief.
"Wha~ You are very much a person, not some animal. Aah~ Henry, wha~" She blushed deeper. "You- We- we've kissed now, ah haha~!" Robin hid her face in her hands again, trying to process what happened. Henry smiled and put his forehead against hers. "I never know was to expect when it comes to you," she said as she lowered her hands. A smile rose to her face as she leaned against Henry's cool forehead.
Henry giggled when Robin opened her eyes and made eye contact with him. "You're so cute when you turn red as a tomato!" He smiled wider as Robin pouted. "I almost want to do it again to see what would happen~". He leaned forward making exaggerated kissing noises. He clearly had no intent to follow through on his threat, so she pushed him away giggling.
"No~ My lip is bleeding! You might end up getting sick from it." Robin laughed as they settled down next to each other again, forehead against forehead.
Henry licked his lips. "Mmm, Robin blood. Can't help but wonder that that'd taste like."
Robin closed her eyes and had a pained smile. "Oh yeah, I also forgot about that side of you." She opened her eyes and stared into his for awhile. He had his usual smile on, seemingly simply enjoying her presence. She gently bit her lip, then swallowed before whispering, "So you really want to know . . .?"
"Hmm~?" he hummed in response.
She blushed a little at what she was thinking. Her eyes drifted down towards Henry's lips. "I'd let you, you know. . . If you wanted to, that is."
His eyes gleamed at the suggestion. If there was one thing he knew about humans, it's that then tend to avoid each other's blood like the plague. What does it mean if Robin is openly offering . . ? Robin parted her lips, and began to slowly lean in. Nervous. Is this was feeling nervous is? Mixed with anticipation, and excitement?
"Ah!"
Henry was caught off guard when Robin pressed her lips to his. He felt his heart beat quicken. When he had gasped in surprise, Robin used the opportunity to suck in gently, drawing Henry's tongue towards her lips. She lightly raked his tongue with her upper teeth, nudging it toward her split lip.
Tasting the familiar metallic taste, Henry snapped out of his shock. He closed his eyes to focus on the sensation. He lightly lapped at the wound, before committing to longer, tender strokes, eventually drawing her lip into his mouth. He often licked his own wounds, so the taste was familiar, however, something about the situation shot electricity up his spine and through his extremities. Her blood, somehow, tasted richer than his own. It's not something he'd feel the need to have on a habitual basis, but it was an interesting finding.
Drawing back slowly, Henry eased back by placing several chaste kisses to her lips, cheeks, chin, forehead and nose. Robin giggled, then opened her eyes and smiled at him. A light blush dusted her cheeks. Henry couldn't resist the adorable look, so he threw his arms around her in a big hug, nuzzling his cheek into her hair.
"Sorry," Robin chuckled as she returned the hug, "That was probably a weird thing to offer, I'm not sure what came over me." Henry sat back, then tucked some strands of her hair behind her ear.
"Don't be sorry, crazy lady. I'm honored you'd let me lick your wound. Literally! Hehe~ It reminds me a little of my time with Wolfy~! He'd always do it to me if I got cut or injured, ahhaha. Besides, I also learned a new thing about you!"
"Oh? What would that be?"
"Now, despite my love for bloodshed," he chuckled as he began, "I don't make it a habit of tasting the different kinds. Thus, I'm no connoisseur of blood, but if I had a say, yours is probably top tier! Rich and thick. It seems to ooze power." Henry licked a bit that was left on his lips as Robin stared at him wide eyed. He nodded after a contemplative look. "Yup, for sure. It makes me wonder what your lineage must be like."
Robin chuckled nervously. Validar's taut, sinister smile flashed through her mind. Is there more to him than meets the eye? Is it possible there is something else going on, considering the hierophant doppelganger of herself? Unsettled, she looked around the clearing. The crows had finished their job, leaving a disturbing mess of bones and gore. The sounds of the forest could be heard again among the birds.
She looked back at Henry. "I haven't said this yet, but thank you so much for saving me. It seems like this kind of thing keeps happening more often." She sighed. "Sorry for the trouble. I really do appreciate it." She offered a weak smile.
"Hehe~ It's no trouble for me. I love anything that gives me an excuse to let loose! It's one of the reasons I ask my crow friends to keep an eye on ya. You're notoriously good at finding trouble." He laughed as she hid her face, groaning.
"It's true. I'm glad people are going after me instead of Chrom though. I think Frederick the Wary being near him for almost twenty four hours, seven days a week wards off a lot of threats." She laughed as she thought of the Great Knight's menacingly pleasant aura.
"Well gee, Robin, you're a pretty important player too. Maybe you should assign yourself a guard to follow you around." Henry hummed pleasantly as he nudged her for emphasis. She chuckled.
"I can usually handle myself. A tactician is replaceable, but a Prince would leave a nation in turmoil. Especially after Emmeryn, Ylisse can't lose another member of the royal family. Plus, I don't think Lissa could quite handle the stress and pressure if something like that happened." She thought warmly about the plucky blonde. She then turned her gaze back to Henry. "Besides, if I went and got a guard, when would you ever be able to have fun?" She smiled a toothy grin at him, which he smirked at in return.
"Maybe you should just let me follow you around instead~ I'd be front row for the danger then! Pew pew pew!" he mimicked casting fireballs at the surrounding area.
Robin blushed a little, then smiled. "I wouldn't want to be a burden to you, even though that already seems to be the case. I wouldn't mind seeing you around more often though, if you really are willing." She nudged him back, which caused him to giggle in return.
He ruffled her hair and stood up. "Of course! Say 'hello' to your new shadow!" he smiled and held out his hand. Once Robin grabbed it, he helped her stand up. She smiled at him.
"I look forward to our time together!"