Disclaimer: A self-insert fic I'm writing for fun. Likely ridiculous and probably heavily clichéd at many points.

This is intentional.

Try not to take things too seriously and enjoy.

Prologue: Wait, what the-

Where am I?

That was the first question on my mind when I opened my eyes.

And why am I dressed like a cosplayer?

That was my second.

I got to my feet and looked around. Surrounding me was a field of grass, stretching as far as the eye could see. Behind me, a vast ocean that glittered beneath the sunlight. Before me, a town in the distance as well as a trodden path.

It was a familiar sight. Strange, considering the fact that I'd never been anywhere like this in my life.

After a moment and realizing that I wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. "Well, this isn't how I imagined waking up on a Saturday morning..."

I was pretty sure I went to sleep in my bed like I usually did. I definitely didn't plan to wake up dressed like I was.

Instead of the usual t-shirt and jeans outfit, I was wearing a white silk shirt, tan breeches, leather boots, and a heavy emerald travelling cloak.

That was strange in and of itself, considering I didn't have anything close to my current attire in my closet.

The most unexpected part about my outfit, however, was the fact that I had a sword strapped to my waist. A sword that, when I pulled it out and tested its edge, was most certainly not a replica or shoddy knock-off like they sold at conventions but rather a genuine balanced piece of steel (figuratively speaking, considering that the blade looked more like a gold alloy than plain steel) with a decorative crimson guard and leather wrapped hilt.

It was about twice the length of my arm and double-edge. Its sheath or scabbard, whatever it was called, was a simple black leather.

After making those observations, a thought hit me. One that made me dread the truth of the current situation that I found myself in.

"This better just be a dream and not some crazy sci-fi fantasy crap that leads to a crappy self-insert fanfic scenario," I said.

Self-inserts were fun to imagine, read, and sometimes write, but actually living one out? Yeah... I'd pass on that. Some things were better left in the realm of wishful fantasy. Not only that, but I rather liked the plain old Earth I was born on.

I had commitments, people I cared for, and a happy, if not completely content, life back home. There was no way I'd pass that up even for another life in a fantasy world.

Still, as I took another look around my surroundings, it seemed that whatever "this" was, I wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

Realizing that, I decided to try and figure out what was going on.

Another examination of my surroundings and clothes didn't give me anything other than a deceptively light bag of gold coins.

I sighed and started walking along the path towards the town. Hopefully they can tell me where I am... or at the least give me a place to stay for the night.

When I arrived at the town, the first thing I noticed was its layout.

A river coursed through the center of the town, splitting it in half. A stone bridge connected the two parts and a water fountain marked its midpoint. Surrounding the center were houses. Yet, they weren't the kinds of houses I was used to, those wooden and plastic siding houses in neat geometric shapes. These houses were roughly hewn and made of brick.

They kind of look like those houses in a typical JRPG actually.

I entered through the east entrance, and from there I could see a marketplace on the other side of town. People milled about, dressed in simple clothing. Women were dressed in blouses of varying shades of green and matching skirts, whereas the men were dressed in tan shirts and matching pants.

Each of the townsfolk were busy doing various tasks, ranging from laundry to forging steel.

Seeing all of that only reinforced my growing suspicion that I wasn't on Earth anymore. Still, I thought, there's no confirmation of that.

It was possible that I was just... moved to a third world country in my sleep? That doesn't seem very likely, now that I think about it.

I sighed and made my way towards the marketplace. I could ask around there and find out more about the situation I am, and more importantly where I was.

"Hail, traveler!"

I blinked at looked around. A man waved at me and approached. He was balding with some bits of scraggly brown hair, and had on a friendly smile. It faded a bit when he noticed the sword strapped to my side, but returned after a short moment.

"Welcome to Southtown!" he said.

"Er... what?"

Southtown? I didn't know of any place called that near where I was from. If I was moved around in my sleep as some sort of practical joke, they must have gone pretty far out of there way to do so.

The name seemed familiar though...

"You look a little lost. Where you from, sonny?"

The sudden shift to a familiar tone took me off guard, but I shook it off.

"Ah," I said. "I'm from... out of town. In fact, I'm not too sure how I got here."

The man nodded. "I see... foreign, eh? Not surprised, with how you look. You from Valm by any chance?"

It was a simple question. Pretty casual one at that. Just typical small talk, and one the man probably wasn't expecting much of a response to.

That simple questions froze me in my tracks.

Valm?

Despite my limited knowledge of geography, I knew for a fact that wasn't the name of a country on Earth. The only place I knew- No, the only game I knew with a country called Valm was...

Dammit. Of all things, Fire Emblem Awakening? Where people can die left and right with a simple mistake?

This wasn't good. Not at all. I might have been able to beat the game, but that was through judicious amounts of grinding and resetting to ensure everyone lived. Even then, as the player, I had an insane advantage to making sure that the Shepherds lived, namely access to a bird's eye view of the terrain and all sorts of useful information.

An advantage that I wouldn't have here, since this had become reality and no longer a simple video game.

Well... at least I'm not the Avatar.

If I was, odds are I wouldn't be dressed the way I was. If anything, I looked more like the tactician from Blazing Sword rather than the one from this game. Not only that, but if I was the tactician for this game, I would have run into the Shepherds already.

"Sonny? You alright there?"

I blinked. Right. I was talking to someone.

"Yeah," I said. "I'm fine."

My voice came out more shaken than I would have liked, but it wasn't too out of the ordinary.

Or so I thought.

The man narrowed his eyes, the friendliness starting to shift into suspicion. "Of course you are, sonny. Of course you are."

I decided to change the topic before any trouble could start. "So. Where's the nearest inn?"

The man gave me a look that showed he didn't miss my intent, but eventually turned and pointed towards the marketplace. "Right 'cross the bridge there. Name's River Runner. Can't miss it."

I gave him a quick 'thank you' and walked away.

I needed to think.

The inn was the first building after crossing the bridge to the marketplace. While it was similar in style to the rest of the buildings in the town, the interior was surprisingly modern. A welcome surprise for sure. There was even running water, which was a huge relief considering that I didn't even realize how much I would have missed it until now.

After paying for a room, I flopped onto my bed for the night and stared at the ceiling.

Ylisse. That was where I was. And the town I was in, Southtown, that was where the game began.

Since there weren't any signs of Chrom, Frederick, or Liz, it seemed likely that I wasn't the Avatar.

That meant that I was free to do what I wanted. Despite that, the sword digging into my side reminded me that I needed to decide what I wanted to do next, and soon. This town was set to be raided by bandits any moment now, from what I could remember at least, and unless I wanted to die a horrible death I had to leave, or get ready to cause deaths myself.

...Yeah. Let's not think about that right now.

I didn't really want to find out how I'd react to a situation like that.

Anyway, planning.

I hadn't played Awakening in a long, long time. When did it come out again...? The winter of last year? This year? Either way, my memories of it were definitely fuzzy.

In all honesty, it was probably better that way. This wasn't a game or a fanfic after all (despite the clichéd setup I seemed to be experiencing) but real life. These also weren't fictional characters I would be meeting, but real people. Each with their own stories, lives, and families.

They would be better off without me in the mix, especially since I wasn't sure if I was in the Future Past timeline or the actual playable game timeline.

Ah. That reminded me. Wasn't there an Outrealm gate around here somewhere? The portal that allowed access to all the DLC stuff in other worlds? If I went there, I could probably head back home... maybe. Hopefully?

I sighed.

Either way, I had to make a decision. I knew myself well enough that the moment I met the Shepherds would be the moment I'd give up on finding a way home. Even if they didn't know who I was, I had spent countless days, weeks, even months getting to know them. Getting attached to them.

They were my best friends I had never met, and I couldn't just leave them here to an uncertain future. Not when I knew the steps I could take to assure they arrived at the conclusion safely.

I got out of my bed.

The room I had rented for the night didn't have much in it. A bathroom to the side, a window opposite the bed showing the area in front of the inn, and a door leading into the rest of the inn sitting on the opposite side of the bathroom were the only interesting features. Well, that and the bed.

I walked over to the window and stared outside at the blue sky.

To leave, or to stay?

I wasn't a fighter or a warrior, like the people in this world and the people that I would meet.

Sure, I did some training here and there with my swords, but that was mostly for fun and trying to recreate various techniques from animes.

Fighting other people- no, killing other people?

...I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answer to whether I could do that or not.

I wanted to say that I couldn't. That I was an upstanding person who would be repulsed to even think of doing so... but I also knew that I couldn't deny that I wouldn't kill someone. There had been more than a few times in my life where my temper had gotten the better of me, and after those times I never regretted it.

...In any case, I was a writer, a student, and a programmer. Not a fighter. My skill set might intersect a bit with what was required to live in this world due to the various hobbies I took up, but I wasn't sure I could survive here. Not without some serious adjustments, and I wasn't sure I wanted to adjust when I still liked my old life so much and had so much to do.

Hell, I still needed to write the latest chapter in my Fate/Familiar of Zero cross!

I let out a groan and pressed my head against the window-

"Well... crap."

-only to see a group of men set fire to the church on the other side of the river and then disperse into the town, wreaking havoc along the way.

Screams, pleas for help, violence.

My heart raced, blood pounding in my head.

Before I could act on that feeling, I noticed a familiar group of people appear on the southern side of the marketplace. That of a cavalier in heavy steel plated armor, a blue-haired man wielding a golden blade, a blonde cleric with a ridiculous hairstyle and yellow dress, as well as a white-haired young man dressed in an all-too-familiar cloak with purple eyes patterned on it.

They had arrived.

The decision point. Rationally, it was best to leave it up to them. Realistically, there was nothing I could do that would help them. Rightfully, this fight belonged to them, and I had no place to interfere.

I knew all of that, and yet I found myself dashing out of my room, my sword already drawn and trailing by my side.

I heard the innkeeper let out a shout of concern, and I saw the other patrons scatter as I entered the reception area of the inn.

I ignored them, all of my attention focused on the situation taking place outside.

The closest bandit was a muscular swordsman with a large and rusty iron blade as tall as he was. Brown hair and a not too memorable face.

He was standing a short distance outside of the inn's entrance, and had been making his way towards it when I ran out.

The bandit grinned, raising his sword with ease and shifting into a firm, two-handed stance.

Oh crap. Crap. Crapcrapcrap.

I was going to die. It was as simple as that. I had a stupid impulse and acted on a stupid idea before I could think about its ramifications.

Rushing headfirst into a life or death situation where the other party had no qualms about killing you, or of killing in general, wasn't one of my smartest ideas.

Even so, it was too late to back out now. My sword was already in my right hand, trailing behind me as I ran forward, and me left hand was held out in front of me.

It was painfully obvious what kind of attack I intended to do. I knew it, and the swordsman knew it too.

But I was too committed to this course of action to change it. What was that quote again...? Abandon your fear? Move forward and don't stop? No... you'll die if you hesitate.

I had already shown my hand, so there was nothing left to do but play it.

I stepped into range. The bandit swung his sword at my foolishly unprotected head.

Fast. Far faster than I could have expected a sword that big to be swung. I had underestimated him. An amateur mistake on my end.

A flash of adrenaline. The moment before I was going to be cut in half, I managed to swing my sword up to meet it.

I parried... or at least tried to.

They made it look so easy in anime and games. The theory was simple as well, and one that I knew well. To parry, you simply had to meet the tip of your opponent's sword with the base of your own. Due to more leverage, you could brush the attack aside and quickly follow up with your own attack.

I had practiced the maneuver at least a thousand times. Even so, the blow was heavy.

My sword rebounded from the attempt, and I only avoided killing myself by quickly turning my wrist and bringing my entire right arm across my left shoulder, wrapping it around my neck like I was getting ready to perform a powerful diagonal slash.

Still, my parry succeeded. The bandit's blade was shifted to the side and missed me entirely. However, the man was already moving, not fazed in the least by my actions.

He took a big step back and swung his blade behind him, preparing to bring it across in a ferocious horizontal slash that would split me in half.

A surge of panic. I didn't know what to do.

A crippling fear. I was afraid of getting cut by the blade. Terrified of messing up and dying. Horrified of killing.

I almost froze up.

To hesitate is to die.

The man stepped forward, his muscles rippling as his body tensed in preparation to cleave me in two.

"Robin! Over there!"

I heard Chrom's voice call out. Surprisingly, he sounded nothing like the voice actor. Instead, his voice was more... charismatic was the only way to put it.

But that was something I noted in the back of my mind. A subconscious observation.

-They said that you would find out who you truly were when faced with life or death. That a brush with oblivion could change a person, revealing hidden depths in one's personality, one's potential.

Faced with mortal peril, I realized it.

The thin veneer of humanity. It was a front I had put on.

Pleasing others, acting nice. That was a habit. It wasn't my true nature. In fact, that was a restraint, one I had built up over the years not to act out with the violence that I was all too knowledgeable about.

I lunged forward, closing the distance in an instance.

The bandit flinched. He must have been caught off guard at the sudden dichotomy in my actions.

Of course. I had been hesitant before. Fearful.

I threw that away now.

My right leg snapped out in a practiced roundhouse kick.

A sickening crack, and a gasp of pain.

I brought my leg to the ground and jumped back.

The bandit's return slash cut through empty air, a desperation attack.

This battle was already over.

He had overreached. I had not.

I found myself moving forward once more, my body automatically assuming a lowered stance with my sword behind me.

The bandit struggle to regain his balance, scrambling backwards to avoid his impending doom.

Too slow.

I stomped my right foot against the ground and twisted my torso, causing my sword to cut upwards.

Blood splattered, and there was a strangled scream.

Another slash put an end to that.

A chilling sensation, travelling from my sword to my body, calmed my fraying nerves.

Ah. That's what this sword is.

The blade that could steal an enemy's life force for your own. A cursed sword of golden light, originally from the GBA Fire Emblem games. The Runesword.

Footsteps approached.

"Well that's the end of that. Nicely done."

I turned towards the voice.

It was a man around my age, early twenties. Silver hair. A calm, charismatic voice and a friendly smile. Clothes similar to my own, yet different.

"Not as easily as you could have done it, Robin."

I could see the way my words affected him. How his eyes widened in surprise, and how his expression turned into one of hope.

A mistake. A careless slip that would no doubt have serious repercussions in the future.

I don't care.

Another voice interrupted any response Robin could have given to my words.

"So you got to him in time."

That was Chrom. He took a glance at the body on the ground, then turned towards me. "Looks like he didn't need your help though, did he, Robin?"

Frederick approached and gave me a scrutinizing look. "Indeed, he did not. Though to falter as he did in the beginning... perhaps he is unused to combat?"

"All the better that we arrived in time then."

Chrom gave me a warm smile, one that spoke of how happy he was that I was safe.

A strange sentiment, considering he didn't know me, but one that I appreciated anyway.

"Regardless," Frederick said. "It seems that he is no hapless victim, milord. As it were, neither is Robin." He narrowed his eyes and looked at both me and Robin. "Perhaps an explanation is in order?"

I ignored the conversation at that point. It was continuing along the lines of what I remembered from the game, and so unimportant to myself.

Instead, I turned my thoughts to my recent actions.

-I had killed someone.

I had killed someone, and it didn't bother me. No, if anything, I was upset that I wasn't able to react faster and end his life in that first slash.

Something was seriously wrong with me.

Was it because of how I ended up here? Did I get 'damaged' along the way to make me like this? While I could see my actions as something that could occur, knowing myself as I did, they weren't something natural. Not something that I consciously would choose, or my natural impulse.

Was that a way to 'acclimatize' me to this world? A way to ensure that I could fit in and survive by whoever or whatever sent me here?

-I didn't like it. This didn't feel like me anymore. If anything, it felt like how 'the Sword' might react-

"And what of you?"

"Huh?"

Chrom was staring at me, along with Robin, Frederick, and Liz. It looked like I had been asked a question.

"...I'm sorry?"

"Ah. How rude of me."

I meant to apologize for my lack of attention, but Chrom seemed to have misinterpreted my words. "I should have introduced us first. Well." He straightened and gave me a warm smile. "I'm Chrom. That brusque knight over there is Frederick..."

Said knight huffed at that, but his narrowed gaze never left me.

"...the delicate blonde girl over there is my sister Lissa-"

Oh, I remembered her name wrong.

That wasn't very reassuring. If I was misremembering character names, what else could I have mistaken or forgotten?

"I am not delicate!" Lissa flushed and stomped the ground, throwing a minor tantrum at that. It looked more to be for show then actual anger though.

"-and that's Robin. Now, what's your name?"

I opened my mouth to respond, and then closed it.

...I couldn't remember my name. I knew that I knew what it was, but when I thought about it, the name eluded me. Like something I couldn't access, yet knew existed.

It's not like it matters, does it? This was all probably just a crazy dream, so I decided that I might as well adopt the role that would suit this situation the best.

"Mark. My name is Mark."

A few years later, I would regret not having gone back to sleep when I first woke up on that grassy field by the sea.