Robin was rolling a coin through his fingers. He hated waiting. It always made it seem as though time passed by much slower than normal when he was waiting for something, and it infuriated him. Slamming his coin onto his desk, he let out an irritated sigh as he ran his fingers through his hair.

Sunlight seeped into his study from the westside window in the room. A black desk was placed at the far end and the walls were lined with bookcases, each filled to the brim with tomes, encyclopedias, and all sorts of things that would be either found in a royal library or the darkest of dungeons.

Not only was he the son of the Grimleal's High Priest, Validar, and Plegia's Lord Strategist, Robin was also the avatar for the Fell Dragon, Grima. The first two already gave him power over most of Plegia, but the last one granted him a rank that far outstripped the Plegian King, Gangrel.

But for Robin, a seat of power was something that he could care less about. He honestly didn't care about Grima, either. All he cared about right now was the fact that Plegia and Ylisse, their neighboring nation, was on the verge going to war with one another.

'And only fifteen years after the previous one…' Robin grimaced.

Despite having been only two years old at the time, he still remembered the news of the Exalt's death, heralding the end of the war. As he grew up, he quickly learned that the war had devastated both nations. Any war that lasted for nine years would do that to any nation, no matter how rich they once were. And any war that lasted for nine years would take countless lives, whether they were gutter poor or the king.

In this case, it was both, and the now-king Gangrel was forced to take up the crown at the tender age of nine. Three years later, when Robin was only five and Gangrel having just turned twelve, Robin entered the king's service.

Since then, Plegia had been on the road to reconstruction. With most of the outer villages and towns having been destroyed in the war, most of the people sought refuge in the capital city. There was once a problem of overpopulation, but through Robin's insight and King Gangrel's rule, that was a problem that as resolved by the time Robin was fourteen years old.

New villages and towns were built by any oasis that could be found and roads would be permanently placed on the sands of Plegia with the help of magic, making it easy for caravans to travel to and from the capital. Small poles imbued with magic were placed every quarter of a mile, generating a wind that was strong enough to repel sand while weak enough for travelers to walk past with ease.

As years passed by, Robin had both the trust of the people and the king, and Gangrel had bestowed upon him the rank of his Chief Advisor and Lord Strategist. Despite the age difference of just under a decade, the two were close friends. Many times, Gangrel would tell - no, order Robin to go on vacation, well aware of Robin's position as Grima's avatar. Reluctantly agreeing, Robin would travel to either the outskirts of Plegia to check on the newly formed towns, to Valm, to Ferox and very discreetly, to Ylisse.

Whenever he'd travel to Ylisse, Robin would make sure to dress in the garbs of the Valmese or the Feroxi. He knew full well of the hatred that Ylisseans held against Plegians, so him being there whilst wearing a Plegian's casual clothing would make him stick out like a sore thumb. Thankfully, with his light skin complexion and a bit of illusory magic to make his hair color darker, it was easy for him to pass himself off as someone from Rosanne, Valm, or even from the outskirts of Ferox.

And during his trips to Ylisse, he was able to learn a few things that he would have never learned had he stayed in Plegia. The first was that the people held hatred to the previous exalt for the war. That hatred was passed down to the next exalt, Emmeryn, but through her compassion and patience, the people soon came to love and adore her. And through the occasional glimpse he had of Exalt Emmeryn, he was able to see why.

She, like Robin, did not seem to care much for rank. She would often visit the city in person, wanting nothing more than to merely speak with the people. The children would flock to her as well, and Exalt Emmeryn would spend up to hours playing with the children.

Another thing that Robin learned was that the royal family consisted of two others, both being the younger siblings of the exalt. With Exalt Emmeryn being the eldest child, Prince Chrom was the middle child and Princess Lissa was the youngest. With the information that he'd gathered, he was able to find out that Prince Chrom was the same as him, while Princess Lissa was a year younger than him.

The third thing that he learned was that they were on the road to reconstruction, just like Plegia. The only difference was the Ylisse had nowhere the amount of gold in their vault as Plegia had. On multiple occasions, Robin had sent a messenger to Ylisse in goodwill to offer gold and aid, only to never receive a response. With a little investigation, Robin discovered that the Ylissean border guards had killed his messenger without listening.

The last bit of info that he learned was the image that the Ylisseans had of Gangrel. They called him the Mad King, who was hell-bent on razing Ylisse, which was absolutely absurd. The Gangrel that Robin had befriended and known for many years was nothing like that. Gangrel wanted peace, just like Emmeryn. It was only the people of Ylisse and a small minority of Plegians that wished for bloodshed.

Sighing once more, Robin paced once more around his study. His patience having worn thin, Robin picked up his cloak off his chair and made for the door when he felt air behind him thicken from magic. In less than a second, Robin channeled mana into his arm and spun on his feet to face the intruder.

"Heya, Robin! Why are you about to blast me with lightning? That'd cause me to become a bloody mess!"

Robin sighed, lowering his arm and dispelling his primed spell. "Henry. I was about to go out myself in search of you."

"Nyah ha ha!" Henry laughed. "I had a little run-in with some bad guys! They wanted blood, so I gave them theirs! But they didn't like it, which was strange. I gave them what they asked for, didn't I?"

A small grin formed on Robin's face before quickly vanishing.

"What news do you bring from the border?" Robin asked.

"Nothing new. Ylisseans don't like Gangrel and Plegia, they're still poor, and they don't have much of an army." Henry twiddled with a strand of his white hair. "Bandits have been a lot more commonplace, however. Maybe it's from the lack of an army and money? But yeah, I've found a few villages that were burnt and partly painted with blood! Even made a new friend!"

As if on cue, a crow fluttered through Robin's window and perched itself atop Henry's head.

"Meet Sanguis!" Henry laughed.

"Nice to meet you, Sanguis," Robin smiled. "My name is Robin, a friend of Henry."

Sanguis cawed once and then started pecking Henry's head.

"An increase in bandits… less army members means less patrol… a few Plegians not liking Ylisse…" Robin muttered to himself. Then a startling realization came to him, one that he hoped was wrong. "Henry, these villages that were attacked by bandits…were they on the western borders of Ylisse?"

"Yuppers!" Henry nodded. "How'd you know - wait, it's cause you're Robin. I know already, nya ha ha!"

A small grin formed on Robin's face. "Thank you, Henry."

"No problem! Is there anything else that you want me to do? Find any corpses that I can play around with? Any bandits that need some extermination?"

"That's a 'No' to all three," Robin replied.

Henry's face drooped for a second before his usual liveliness reappeared. With a wave of his hand and a, "See ya later!", Henry vanished into the shadows.

Clicking his tongue, Robin opened his door and quickly made his way across the castle. Some of the servants and maids made an attempt to grab his attention but quickly moved out of the way upon noticing his facial expression. When he turned the last corner to walk into the throne room, someone grabbed his shoulder, stopping him. Without even looking, Robin knew who it was. No one else had such a foul air about him.

"What do you want, Validar?" he growled.

"Now now, is that any way to greet your father?" an eerie voice responded.

"We both know that you could care less of our blood relationship," Robin scoffed. Not bothering to even fully turn his body, Robin merely looked over his shoulder with cold fury in his eyes at his father. "All you ever cared about was my purpose as Grima's vessel."

Validar's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You would dare speak his name so casually and disrespectfully? You should be honored that you're his vessel! You received a blessing that no one ever had!"

"By that logic, shouldn't you be addressing me with respect?" Robin scowled.

With his anger flaring, dark magic started to gather around Robin. The magic seemed to drain the light and heat from the world as the hallway's lighting dimmed and the temperature noticeably dropped.

"And as Lord Grima's avatar..." Robin spat out the word "Lord" in utter disdain. "...I hold absolute authority over all of the Grimleal."

Knowing full well that Validar had nothing left to say, Robin threw off Validar's hold on him and briskly walked towards the throne room.

"And that includes you as well, High Priest."

Leaving Validar alone to his rage, Robin took in a deep breath to calm his own anger as he stood in front of the great doors to the throne room. Once the blood that was once rushing around in his head settled down, he placed his hands on the faces of the smooth doors. Pushing aside the giant slabs of obsidian, Robin stepped inside to meet with his one of his closest friends in Plegia.

"Gangrel! There's something that I want to speak to you about and what…in Grima's balls…are you doing?"

"Oh, Robin!" Gangrel cheerfully grinned. "How can I help you?"

"First off, you can tell me what you're doing hanging from the damned chandelier," Robin bluntly said.

"It's exactly what it looks like. Hanging from my chandelier." Gangrel shrugged.

Robin groaned into his hands. This man, that was currently dressed in a jester's outfit and hanging by his legs from the golden chandelier in the middle of the throne room, was the king of Plegia. And to top it all off, he had a very, very satisfied looking grin on his face, as if climbing up to the chandelier was an accomplishment. In fact, it actually could be seen as an accomplishment as the chandelier was suspended from the ceiling with nothing climbable around it.

"I feel as though I'm going to regret asking this, but…how?" Robin incredulously asked.

"Ah ah ah~" Gangrel wiggled his index finger. "A trickster never gives away his secrets!" The king then laughed, causing the chandelier to sway with him along with it. "But uhh…" Gangrel's face noticeably turned a nauseating shade of green. "I'd appreciate it if you could help me down from here. Preferably, within ten seconds before I hurl all over my floors."

"How much do you care about the chandelier?"

"On a scale of one to ten, with ten being a prized possession? Zero."

"Gotcha."

Robin swiped his hand left to right in a slicing motion, and a green blade of wind shot out from the tips of his fingers. The magic wind easily sliced the chandelier diagonally in half, causing both the half that Gangrel was hanging from and the Plegian King to come crashing onto the ground. Sputtering a few colorful curses, Gangrel rolled around on the gilded floor in agonizing pain before stopping to glare at the strategist.

"I'm not thanking you."

"You're not welcome."

Pushing off of his arms, Gangrel nimbly leapt up onto his feet before dusting himself off. He gave a quick, dismissive glance at the shattered half of the chandelier before looking back at Robin.

"Anyhoo, back to the matter at hand." Gangrel conversationally dusted himself off again. "What did you want to speak to me about?"

"I'm going to visit Ylisse to talk to their exalt, Emmeryn," Robin said.

The chain that was suspending the second half of the chandelier finally gave out, and it joined its other half on the floor in a broken heap of gold and glass.

"What." Was all Gangrel could manage to get out.

Robin sighed. "Plegia is doing well right now. We have more gold than we know what to do with, the farmers say that the harvest is better than ever, which to be fair, doesn't mean much since we live in mostly a desert and most of our food is imported from Valm and Ferox, and the people are, for the most part, happy. Most of the villages and towns have been rebuilt, and Plegia, as a nation, is thriving."

"Fruit of over a decade's worth of hard work, yes." Gangrel nodded his head. "But, where are you going with this?"

"You know how you send me on vacations every now and then?"

"To prevent yourself from working yourself to death?"

"Not my point, but sure." Robin tightened his lips. "During those little vacations, I've traveled the world - from Ferox to Rosanne, Chon'sin, Valm…and to Ylisse."

"Are you mad?!" Gangrel roared. "Do you have any idea what would have happened to you if you were caught?!"

Robin shrugged. "Worst case scenario? I get publicly executed. Best case scenario? Killed on the spot."

"Damn it, Robin! That's not the point! You are Plegia's Lord Strategist, the king's - MY adviser! If caught, they'd falsely make a statement about your unannounced presence there being an act of aggression! And THEN they'd hang you! And what do you think would happen then?!"

"I die?"

"Yes, you'd die! Then Plegia would lose their beloved strategist! We'd lose the king's adviser! And I - " Gangrel's voice died as he muttered the last few words. "I'd lose my closest friend…"

A solemn silence fell over the two.

"But, knowing all of this, you still plan on going anyway, right?" Gangrel muttered.

Robin nodded. "I'm sorry, but despite Ylisse's best efforts, they're still in tatters, and it's in my plans to aid them as best as possible. And from what I've seen and heard, their current exalt is a genuinely kind soul. If fate were to allow it, I'm sure you two would be friends."

"Alright." Gangrel let out a deep sigh. "Do you need any supplies?"

Robin shook his head. "All I need is my sword and tome. Though it'd be helpful if you'd personally sign a letter stating that you wish for a healthy relationship between Ylisse and Plegia. Especially since the entire continent of Valm is in under what seems to be a civil war. From my calculations, if this Walhart is victorious, he won't stop with just Valm. He'll set his eyes across the ocean…"

"…and onto the continent of Ylisse…" Gangrel finished.

"Exactly. With luck, we can get Regna Ferox to join our alliance, if only temporarily. They're renowned for their love of combat, after all. So, a letter of peace with your seal would make it easier for us to make a combined might against the potential invasion."

Gangrel let out another sigh. "Very well, consider it done. When will you depart?"

"At dawn."

"That's a very short notice," Gangrel grumbled, scratching the back of his head. "But, despite how spontaneous it may seem, I'm pretty sure you've given this plenty of thought?"

"Correct."

Gangrel's brow furrowed, obviously against the idea of Robin entering Ylisse alone, where their hospitality towards Plegians was worse than a bandit's hospitality towards merchants. But, he eventually relented as his shoulders sagged.

"This is either the dumbest idea you've ever thought of, or the smartest…"

"Not the craziest?" Robin grinned.

"Oh, it's definitely the craziest," Gangrel retorted. "I just didn't think there was a need for me to state the obvious."

"You can berate me all you want upon my return from the Halidom," Robin said, turning around. "Til then, Gangrel."

"Just drop by my room before you leave," Gangrel called out. "Can't forget my sealed letter, can you?"

Casually waving his hand over his shoulder, Robin left the throne room. The last thing that he heard before walking out of earshot was Gangrel muttering.

"How in blazes am I going to clean up this mess?"

. . .

. . .

So, as in the story's summary, this is just a story that sprouted off of one of my stray "What if" thoughts. I don't plan on making this into a lengthy series. It'll most likely be only a few chapters, 10 max, but yeah.

I was originally planning on writing this out later on, but I just really liked this idea so I gave in and just opened up a new Google Docs sheet, and a few hours later, this happened.

I've made Gangrel a little younger than what I think his normal age would be in the game just so that his friendship with Robin would seem a little more natural, and I've also made him a kind king. The main reason is that, in his supports with the Avatar, he's shown to have a nicer side to him. That and because he's actually pretty good looking, contrary to his usual portrait. Have you seen his confession art? I thought that was a fanart at first, but no! It's the official art for Gangrel!

Will I go into the invasion of Valm? Maybe.

Also, yeah, I know, I said that my next upload was going to be on Myriad, but I couldn't help it. My apologies.