The Tactician and the Princess
"Wake up, Nathan. We're going to set up camp here."
Nathan's eyes slowly opened as he yawned and stretched his arms, seeing his best friend, Chrom, looking down at him from within the caravan. He took a peek outside to see a thick layer of snow covering the ground, deducing that they had entered Regna Ferox.
Just hours earlier, Nathan and the others had been engaged in a fight with Risen up the North road. Nathan had run himself tired from the constant strategizing during the battle as the group's tactician, and fell asleep almost immediately after the group was able to get back into their caravans and get themselves moving once again.
Chrom offered Nathan a hand up, which he gladly accepted. The Brown-haired Tactician then hopped out of the caravan for a look around, and also to decide where to pitch his tent. He noticed that the others had already done so, forming a circle-like shape around the center of the area, which Frederick was setting up a campfire in. He nodded to Nathan as he walked by.
There wasn't exactly a lot of room remaining in the small area created by the formation of the tents, with the only spot remaining being next to a vibrant yellow tent, that was bigger than many of the others. Nathan figured it was as good a spot as any, and began setting up his small black tent next to it.
"Hey, Nathan! Need any help?"
The tactician turned around to see Lissa, Chrom's little sister, standing behind him. She wore a yellow skirt and had her hair in two pigtails. Nathan frowned and squinted at her.
"What's the catch?" He asked skeptically.
"There's no catch!" Lissa responded with a twinge of annoyance in her voice. "I just want to help out my friend!"
Nathan smiled. "Well, if you're that willing, it'll be much help to have you around. Thanks!"
Lissa grinned in return as the two worked together to pitch the tent, which turned into a quite enjoyable exercise, with the light conversation between the two keeping them occupied. As they were finishing with setting the tent up, Frederick walked by while surveying the area.
"Ah, Lissa, there you are! I couldn't find you to come get firewood with me, so I went by myself. It would be rude of me to not have a fire prepared in case milord and milady need to warm up." He told them.
"Yeah, sorry Freddy, I forgot about that – I was going to come join you but Nathan asked me to help him set up his tent." Lissa responded.
"Hey, I didn't-" Nathan started to say before Lissa gave him a quick glare. "Uh…I mean, my apologies, Sir Frederick, I didn't know that you needed Lissa's assistance."
Frederick gave him a nod. "It's no issue, Nathan. Simply a miscommunication." Frederick then walked back to attend to the campfire, as Nathan wiped the sweat off his brow, then looked over at Lissa, who was giggling at him.
Nathan raised an eyebrow as Lissa let out a sheepish grin. "No catch, huh?" He said with a smug look on his face.
"Well, not for you anyways! And besides, I thought you liked my company!' Lissa retorted.
Nathan smiled warmly back at her. "Well, I do, so I guess that's alright." He declared. "Now then, if you'll excuse me, I have to get started on mapping a route for tomorrow's march."
Lissa frowned and crossed her arms. "Where's the fun in that?" She whined.
Nathan shrugged in response. "Well, the fun is people not getting killed, I suppose." He stated nonchalantly. "Why, was there something you needed my help for?"
Lissa shook her head as she played with one of her pigtails. "Well no, as you can see my tent's already set up…" She pointed towards the large yellow tent next to his and Nathan's eyes widened.
"That's yours? It's like, twice the size of everyone else's! I thought it was supposed to be the mess hall or something!" Nathan said with a laugh.
"Yeah, well, I didn't ask for it! Chrom and Frederick bought it for me." Lissa retorted, clearly annoyed. "They're always trying to watch me like hawks, I'm not their kid…"She vented.
Nathan bit his bottom lip while standing in front of her. "True, but you are Chrom's little sister, and one of the people that Frederick was assigned to guard by your parents…so isn't that the same thing?" He said with a sheepish grin, nudging her playfully, not realizing that he had crossed a line.
"I'm pretty sure it is not!" Lissa yelled back at him. "I am NOT delicate!" She stormed off, as those who were outside were all looking in their direction.
"So much for planning out the next march tonight…" Nathan thought to himself with a sigh as he ran after Lissa to apologize.
So, that's it for this chapter, but please let me know if I should continue this! Thanks! - Nate