AN: There is a huge lack of long Takamu stories on this website so I figured I would give a long story a shot. Of course, I suck at staying dedicated to long stories so this will most likely end up not being finished ever, but I can dream. Enjoy.
Corrin shielded her eyes against the sunlight, running her eyes over the horizon, which was lined with soldiers. All Nohrian, it seemed. Corrin felt an unfamiliar tug on her heart at the thought of this, and shook her head, turning to her companions. A red haired girl, about her age, was at her side on a brilliantly white Pegasus.
"Watch out!" she yelled, and Corrin noticed a moment too late that a man with an axe was running at her, preparing to strike. Before she could react a flash of white sprang in front of her, the redhead blocking the axe with what appeared to be… a spear? No, it was styled differently, for sure, with a longer, curved piece of steel used for the tip. Corrin vaguely recognized it from a book she had read, but couldn't quite put her finger on the name.
"Hey, are you alright?" The redhead was asking her, "You seem distracted." Corrin only shook her head, shaking herself out of whatever daze she was in.
"No, no, I'm fine." Corrin leveled her sword, moving to strike down the axe man. The sword felt like an extension of her arm at this point, and Corrin felt grateful for that familiarity in battle. Soon after she struck him down, a sound of hissing met her ears and she glanced over to see that the river had completely dried out. "A dragon vein..?" she thought.
"The Nohrians dried up the river with a Dragon Vein!" Hinoka exclaimed, sudden confusion filling her face. "But… Only royalty holds that power, right?"
"Yeah, which means that there are some really big shots over there." Behind her, Corrin heard a new voice. She turned to see a young man, perhaps only a year or two younger than herself. His long silver hair seemed to shine in the setting sunlight, and he held a long, strange bow in his hand. Wings adorned the riser, and the tips of the bow ended in elegant curves, with no bowstring. His hazel eyes were strangely hard and unforgiving. Corrin briefly wondered if they would look softer in a different situation. "Suits me just fine. I always wanted to use a Nohrian royal for target practice!" The scowl didn't leave his face, especially when he looked at her.
Beside him, a younger girl with a softer shade of hair than the redhead stood timidly, a staff held tightly in her small hands. She seemed to be hiding in the older boy's shadow, and when Corrin looked at her she was reminded of the sakura petals she had seen earlier… When? She couldn't remember now.
The redhead looked at her. "Stay focused, Corrin. The Nohrians brought their heavy hitters." Corrin only nodded in response. "I'm going scout and see how many there are. Takumi, Sakura, stay with Corrin." Both the boy and the younger girl nodded. The pegasus and rider flew away before Corrin could even respond. The young man came to stand beside her.
"Takumi," Corrin thought.
"Hang in there, Corrin. The Nohrian royals aren't pushovers. We need to work together to beat them, despite everything that's happened. As the eldest.. I guess you're in charge. Tell me what to do and I'll do it." Confusion filled Corrin's mind. "Wait.. Eldest? Despite what that's happened? What does he-"
The younger girl, who Corrin remembered as Sakura, rushed over. "Corrin, are you hurt?! Let me heal your wounds!" Corrin realized that she had a dull ache in her left arm, and wondered what other fights there had been any fights before the fight with the axeman. Sakura lifted her staff, and a bright light surrounded Corrin, a warmth ebbing from her left arm. The light faded, and the ache was gone.
"Thank you, Sakura," Corrin smiled at the younger girl, and somehow the voice that came from her mouth didn't feel quite like her own.
Takumi's arm gripped on her shoulder suddenly, and Corrin turned to see a man with a spear running for them.
"It's an ambush! Sakura, get back, you aren't equipped to fight!" Takumi makes sure Sakura is behind them before he gets prepares his bow. Corrin is about to ask how he intends to use a bow without arrows, let alone a bowstring, but the words are blown away when a bright blue, glowing bowstring appears out of what seems like nothing, running between the tips of the bow. "Okay, here's how we're going to do this. I can shoot from over here, to soften him up. Then you can jump in and finish him."
Corrin supposed she it wouldn't be best to ask him about arrows, and nodded. She watched in awe as he pulled back the glowing string, the arrow forming out of nothing, the same colour as the bowstring. He let go, and the arrow pierced the soldier in the arm. The man dropped the lance in pain, a string of swear words leaving his mouth before Corrin jumped in with her sword to finish him, just as planned.
She glanced over to Takumi, who gave her something almost like a smile. The pegasus and her redheaded rider were back before Corrin could say anything, and she smiled at Corrin. "Good job fending off that soldier."
"It went well, Hinoka. Probably because SOMEONE gave Corrin advice. And you're welcome, by the way." Takumi nudged her, and Corrin had an urge to make a funny face at him for his cocky comment.
"No time to talk, all of you. Ryoma's still out there, fighting. Let's go see how he's doing."
Corrin glanced at the golden horizon one last time, and the last thing she saw was Takumi's hazel eyes staring at her before everything went white, the echo of Hinoka's voice ringing in her ears.