Somewhere in the plains of Ylisse

A lone robed figure stumbled his way through the meadows, clutching his head in his hands. Faint mumblings could be heard through his lips as he trudged forward.

"M-my head… it hurts.. why is this happeni-" the figure's pained groans were cut off by his sudden collapse. The man's pained expression didn't stay for long either, it was replaced seconds later with a small but triumphant smirk.

'That was much simpler than I imagined.' Grima said as he trudged his way up a small hill. He was in quite a good mood, his previous self had put up a good fight but was ultimately lost himself to Grima's power. It seems that feeding his avatar his memories slowly, replacing vague, hazy childhood memories with visions of a similar but altered future had worked. The 'him' in this timeline was overwritten before he could even resist. Laughing to himself at his victory Grima finally made his way to the top of the hill and started to take in his surroundings.

'If I'm correct then that brat Lucina should appear somewhere in that forest' Grima thought as he sat down on the grass with rough breaths. 'I would've never have known that my power would decrease so much just from jumping to the past. As of right now I can't even summon one dark spike much less risen. It will be best to avoid anyon- GAH!'

"Sorry about that. Are you alright?" Chrom looked at the white haired man who flinched at a simple tap on his shoulder. "Though it's partially your fault for so jumpy."

The robed man seemed to stare at him in shock until he finally recomposed himself.

"No need for apologies, Prince Chrom. I was just in deep thought, it prevented me from hearing your approach. My name is-"

"How may I ask, do you know of my lord's name." a voice beside Chrom interrupted.

"Frederick!"

"Another day, another victim of Frederick the wary." a childish voice followed.

"If it keeps my lord and lady safe then I will happily take the title." Frederick sighed and turned his eyes towards the stranger, "Now, my previous question."

"Of course, sir knight," the robed man bowed, "people all over the continent of Ylisse must know of the crowned Prince Chrom, but…" The man looked thoughtful for a minute before looking up smiling towards Chrom, "I must admit I have a different reason for knowing."

"And that is?" Chrom asked and while he would never say it out loud he was put off by the man's smile. It wasn't that it was a bad simile, but that it seemed to be the smile of someone who's never made an expression of joy before.

"My name is Robin, I am a tactician seeking to join the Shepherds' cause," the man explained, "Of course I would recognize my future employer."

"A tactician huh… we just happen to be in need of one but…" Chrom looked to the ones behind him. "What do you think Frederick, Lissa?"

"Trusting someone we just met is a bad move milord, but if he proves himself it may be a blessing in disguise."

"I'm totally ready for the Shepherds finally getting bigger, plus there will be a new face around to prank!"

"Look like everyone agrees." Chrom chuckled, "Welcome to the Shepherds, Robin."

"Yes," Robin said as he joined in the merry laughter, "I feel most welcomed."

'Heh ha Ha HA' Grima laughed as he saw the helpless ants that surrounded him. What at first seemed like a string of bad luck worked out, in the end, thanks to his genius. He knew as soon as he had to take a break after walking ten steps up a hill that he was never going to defeat Lucina with his current power. It would be amazing if he could make to Plegia without dying of thirst. But those worries are past him now, the Shepherds will now carry him to every important event. All he had to do was to gain their trust and when they are at their most vulnerable they will turn their backs to him!

"Chrom, look smoke!" Grima's planning was interrupted by Lissa's shrill voice

"That's in the direction of Southtown, must be bandits." Chrom took off towards the smoke, the other Shepherds following closely behind. He turned to Grima "Looks like you'll be able to show off your skills soon enough."

"I'm grateful for the opportunity."

Southtown

Southtown was in flames when the Shepherds arrived, the town was painted with blood and the corpses of the unfortunate villagers. The Shepherds themselves arrived on a hill overlooking the town.

"Damn it." Chrom cursed, checking the overall damage, "We've arrived too late, there are bandits swarming everywhere. Robin what do you thin-"

Chrom turned around realizing that the Shepherds' new tactician wasn't near them. "Where is Robin!?"

"Hah..right here.. Chrom." Robin stumbled out of the brush behind them before collapsing on the ground, wheezing. "Don't...worry ..this is just..a temporary setback."

"How weak can you be if you be if you are out of breath after running such a small distance." Frederick scolded. "If you are to continue to be a Shepherd you will need stricter training."

"Hah… I'm okay now." Robin stood and look over the ravaged town.

"Alright, no time to waste we need to get down there fast." Chrom said as he started running, "I'll lead, Frederick, Lissa, and Robin will follow me."

"As you command milord."

"Okay!"

"Wait."

Surprised, Chrom and the other Shepherds turned towards Robin, the source of the voice.

"You asked me to prove myself and I will, with a plan that will solve this as quickly as possible."

"A plan? There no time to come up with a plan!" Chrom shouted, "We have to act fast, to save as many people as we can!"

"No need to come up with one, I already have one," Robin explained. "If we charge in immediately we would be surrounded as soon as they know we are here and we would have to fight through all of them."

"We can take them," Chrom said.

"Yes, but we don't have to and if we don't we can end this much quicker."

"I understand that, but how? We aren't the type that's good at sneaking around. Fredrick and I are both armored and he's on a horse."

"We will do the opposite of that, we will make as much noise as possible."

"Huh!?" the Shepherds exclaimed, "But you just said..."

"We will do a series of hit and runs, bandits are crawling the entire town but they are split up into groups of at most five. We will ambush the first group we meet and make sure they scream for help before we kill them. That will draw the attention of other bandits but by the time they get there we will already be gone. Then-" Robin pointed at the rows of houses, "We will run left and towards the tower center between those houses. If we encounter another group we will do the same, except this time we run right. With this it will seem like we are in different places all at once, that will confuse them until we arrive at the town center and take out their leader."

"That's… that's amazing. Did you came up with that just now?" Chrom asked wearing a similar shocked expression to Frederick and Lissa.

"Of course." Robin answered, "you did ask me to prove myself."

"That you certainly did, but I have one thing to ask," Chrom paused, "what did you mean by 'making them scream for help'."

"Oh, that, I don't mean torture them or anything." Robin explained quickly, "perhaps threaten them with a few choice words and such. Now should we hurry?"
"Of course, sorry for doubting you." Chrom sighed relieved, "did you two get all of that."

"Yes, milord."

"Yep!"

"Then let's go."

The battle went as quickly as Grima predicted, the bandit leader Garrick didn't even have time to prepare when the Shepherds came for him and took him by surprise. Afterward, the villagers were happy, thanking the Shepherds for bravery. Chrom and the others were happy, for they were able to get rid of the threat faster than they would've ever thought of. And most importantly Grima was happy, at how things went so far in his favor. He would've been troubled if the bandit attack never happened. If he couldn't prove his skills fast enough he might have had to force a win at a critical point in history to earn the Shepherds' trust or worse he might have never been able to be trusted by any of them. But the battle at Southtown had nothing to do with the history he knew and was easy enough that he was able to impress them with a battle they would've won anyway.

Coming up with strategies was easy enough, he had been watching his would-be avatar through his mark in the previous timeline. And the countless wars he's observed, most of which started by him, made him no stranger to the battlefield. Grima sighed contently as he gazed at stars above him, stars that someday will belong only to him. 'Of course, I would be able to impress a lowly prince, I am the great and powerful Grim-GAH!'

"Oops, sorry." Chrom chuckled, "deep in thought again?"

"..Yes..of course." Grima answered 'your death will be a painful one, you meddling prince.'

"Sorry to interrupt you then." Chrom sat down next to him, "I still can't thank you enough, it was unfair for us to ask a new recruit like you to prove himself. But you have surpassed all of our expectations."

"It was nothing." 'I could've done it in my sleep'

"Not one to be humble, huh." Chrom smiled, "well, you've earned it, just like you've earned my- no, all of our trust."

Grima looked down from the stars, turned towards Chrom, and put on the smile he had been practicing.

"I will gladly take it."