A/N: For those of you who read my stories, my apologies on the unannounced hiatus. I really have no excuse, except for maybe trying to play the games I got over the holidays (including FE's PoR and RD). I shall be back to posting though! So, I'll be updating this interchangeably along with LH. Don't worry, it won't be nearly as long of a fic.
Anywho... the idea for this particular fic came during a chat (I seem to turn a lot of conversations into stories) with my good friend and Beta, Xanedis, when I was trying to explain a few things about FE12 to him. A bit of speculation and accepted headcanons later... I decided to take this up. So, this is my thanks to him for being so helpful.
Haha... with those notes in order, I do hope you enjoy this story. Word Count: 3,668
The Shepherds were on the road once more after picking up yet another of the future children. By Chrom's judgment, they were to refuse the offerings of the townspeople for saving them. Now, the Shepherds still had some distance to tread before reaching port, but they would keep on as always. Up at the front of the column, led the Ylissean prince himself, as well as his own future daughter and the twin tacticians, Robin and Raven.
Even their new addition stayed up front with the four, though she had been clinging onto the male tactician's side ever since their encounter with the prince's imposter earlier. "Daddy, please. Why won't you call me your Pega-pony Princess? You always called me that in the future," the young pegasus knight begged.
"I, uh…" The tactician looked over to his twin sister, who wouldn't stop laughing at him. He could always count on that kind of support from her. Even Chrom looked like he was trying to suppress his laughter, the lord acting dignified as ever. At least he could count on Lucina to keep a straight face. He looked back down at his daughter, who was looking up at him with pleading eyes. As embarrassing as it was, he couldn't deny that face. He cleared his throat. "Alright my… Pega-pony Princess."
"Aw, I knew you couldn't say no." She said, pulling her father in for a bear hug.
"Haha hah… why don't you… go back to your mother and sister for a bit?" He said, wanting to get a moment of relief from his newly found, older daughter.
"Mm… Okay." She beamed with a bright face that made Robin feel so proud that she was his. "But I will be back. This hero will not give up on her hero," she added, running to the back of the column to spend time with the rest of her family.
As she ran off, Robin let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding. His sister was still laughing at his troubles, and Chrom had finally burst out in laughter as well. All Robin could do was stare at the two, but mainly his sister. "Really, Raven? Aren't you ever going to get tired of laughing at me?"
She continued on, holding a hand over her mouth. "Heheh. Sorry Robby, but you know I won't."
Stop calling me 'Robby'. He let out a sigh, thanks to his sister's antics. Of course she rubbed off on her husband though, which made life even harder for the male tactician. "And you too, Chrom? Shouldn't a leader, I dunno… lead by example?"
Chrom put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Ah, what's life without a good laugh every once in a while? Lighten up."
Yes, but this isn't your daughter. He thought. Speaking of daughters, his niece was watching this scene the whole time. He turned back to her. Lucina's face did seem a little brighter, though it seemed like she still tried to hold the same expression she always donned on the road. "Lucina?" He called, to get her attention.
"Hmm?" She responded, turning her attention over to her uncle.
"Did I really used to call Cynthia 'Pega-pony Princess' back in your future?" He asked, not really sure if he was ready for an answer.
Lucina's gaze drifted off, seemingly recalling some memory from her future. "Well, we were quite young… but yes, quite often really."
"Haha. See, Robby?" His sister said with a pat on his back. "You're going to be calling your daughter this eventually. Might as well get used to it now."
Her grin was not reassuring in the least. Thanks. Just… thanks. "Oh, gee, now I feel much better." He stated sarcastically.
"Come on, Robby." His sister reached up to ruffle his hair, to which he quickly greeted with a few swats in defense. "You should count yourself lucky. You have a lovely wife, and two wonderful future daughters. You have a portrait-perfect family with those three. You can stand to spend some more time with them."
"Wow, Raven… and here I thought you couldn't take anything seriously today." He replied with a grin directed at her.
"Hey, I-"
"Shepherds!"
Everyone's attention was drawn over to the old man that was calling for them. As he drew closer, it became apparent that this was a person the Shepherds had become quite familiar with during their Outrealm journeys that took place through the war with Plegia and before the news of Valm. "Hubba?" Chrom let slip out during everyone's confusion.
"They're after me." He quickly told them before taking shelter under Lucina's cape, which caused Raven to give him a cold glare as Lucina was fidgeting away from him.
"Who?" Chrom asked.
"7th Platoon." He explained, still trying to hide behind Lucina. "I lost them, but then I found them, and they have two lovely lady members, and-"
"You don't need to explain anymore." Chrom said, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Isn't it enough that he's having us chase his Einherjar in the Outrealms, but now our world?" Robin chimed in.
"Hey, you!" The group heard called out from the direction Hubba had come from.
Three cavaliers were approaching the Shepherds. Two male units, one of blue tinged armor and quite a confident look, the other in his olive armor not particularly looking like he wanted to deal with this. The two seemed to be following behind a female cavalier with her rose hair held in a white headband. Her face practically radiated fury, as she was headed right towards the group. "Give up the old man!" She shouted out at the five, coming to a stop right in front of Chrom and Robin.
Hubba poked his head out from behind Lucina to speak a few brave words to the woman. "Now, now Cecille, I was merely admiring-"
"You want something to admire, old man?!" With that comment, Cecille pulled out her steel sword, leveling it in the direction of Hubba and Lucina. "How's this?"
"Hey, no need to involve the young ladies here," the blue armored cavalier commented, gesturing to Raven and Lucina, giving a wink to the two. "They couldn't possibly know of what this man has done to you and-"
The rose armored cavalier directed her sword at her comrade before he could continue on with his input. "You are this close to sharing what I'm about to give that old geezer, so I'd suggest you shut it before that happens."
The olive armored cavalier rode up to his comrades. "Luke, do you really want to be at this end of Cecille's blade again?" He asked.
The three cavaliers continued to argue amongst themselves. Robin was curious about these three, but decided not to press into the matter considering another comment from the supposed 'Luke' could set off the female cavalier even further. Gods… maybe Hubba was right about trying to reason with the Einherjar. It seems like they have enough of their own problems already.
"Hey! Guys!" Came the voice of a young male. Everyone turned to notice two figures on foot coming from the direction the cavaliers had originated. One was a particularly young archer, garbed in green with hair to match. In fact, Robin found him to be quite similar to another Einherjar the Shepherds had met alongside Marth earlier. The other one that approached was a female mage of short, purple hair, and she seemed to be carrying some sort of thunder magic tome along with her. "Did you find him?" The archer asked, as the two ran over to the cavaliers.
The mage slowed as they approached, her eyes locked on Robin. "Kris?"
"You know, I was also thinking about how much he looked like our good ole Kris the Ordinary too, but they're too different." The blue cavalier spoke up again. "This guy's too good-looking to be our Kris."
What? Robin had no idea what they were going on about, and looking over to Hubba through all this, it seemed like his attention was on rather… unsavory things. "Hubba!" He shouted out, causing the old man to jump.
"So you do know the geezer!" The female cavalier burst out.
"Great going, Robby." Raven said with a light smack to the back of her brother's head.
Chrom had his hand pressed to his forehead. "You know what?" He said. "We've never had any luck with these Einherjar in the past, why would it have worked now?" He unsheathed Falchion, readying for a battle to erupt.
Lucina had finally managed to push Hubba away from herself. "Father?" She added. With the tension in the air growing, her hand shifted to her own Falchion. "We aren't…"
"Chrom!" Raven shouted out. "You aren't helping!"
"There he goes!" The female cavalier shouted out, causing everyone to turn their attention to old Hubba, who was scampering to the back of the column.
The cavalier spurred her mount onward. Chrom sprinted forward trying to meet her, but a blast of thunder magic came toward him, taking the whole group by surprise. "Chrom!" Raven shouted out, rushing over to her husband's side along with Lucina.
"Cecille, Luke, Rody," the purple garbed mage called out toward the cavaliers, "pull back." The olive armored cavalier pulled back without much hesitation. The other two looked reluctant though, but they followed her orders and pulled back as well. Thus, the Einherjar escaped.
With the five Einherjar out of sight, Robin turned his attention over to Chrom who was trying to get his wife and daughter to back off of him. "You alright Chrom?" He called out to the prince.
"Well, I keep telling these two that the attack struck the ground and not me, but they won't listen." He explained.
The statement caused Robin to chuckle slightly, but others were not as amused. "Chrom, you had us worried sick." Raven stated.
"Mother's right." Lucina added. "You are rather weak against magical attacks."
"H-hey! I'm not that bad."
Robin was glad that it was now his turn to watch his brother-in-law's rather embarrassing situation. What was worse, was Frederick riding up to the four to voice his own concern. "Milord, there seemed to be an attack. Are you uninjured? Should we call up the healers? I myself keep a few spare elixirs in case-"
"Frederick, I'm fine." Chrom quickly stated. "Hubba is here, probably hiding in one of our supply carts right now. Now, would you please tell the others that we will be stopping for a time, and to keep their eyes out for him? The four of us have a few rogue Einherjar to chase right now, and I'd prefer if things are in order when we get back."
"Of course, milord. I shall inform the Shepherds and ensure we have proper order by your return." Before heading back, Frederick pulled out a few elixirs from a satchel and handed them to Chrom. "In case milord has need of them." With that statement, Frederick finally headed off to inform the Shepherds of the news.
Chrom kept a hand pressed to his forehead and let out quite a loud breath now that Frederick was gone.
"Just the four of us?" Robin asked.
"Yes." He replied. Chrom took another breath, seeming to regain his usual composure. "I think we can handle it on our own." He looked over to his wife. "Raven?"
Raven's face shifted to one of thought, something the Shepherds had become quite accustomed to seeing over the time they had known her. "You and Lucina still carry rapiers, correct?"
"Yes."
"Of course, Mother."
Robin started to think on what his sister was getting at. Three cavaliers, an archer, and a mage… "So… you want Chrom and Lucina to go after the cavaliers when we find the Einherjar, and the two of us take the archer and mage, am I correct in my assumption?"
"You are." She confirmed. "But we still need to catch up to them, and standing around here talking about that isn't going to do any good if we lose them." She added. "As much as I despise Hubba sometimes… we can't let any rogue Einherjar roam our world. We should go."
The four Shepherds set out to find the runaway Einherjar. It seemed like they were going the same direction as those pesky Einherjar. The route they were led took them to the edges of a light forest. The horses the cavaliers rode, left big enough tracks, making it a rather simple matter for Lucina and Chrom to pick up on the trail. Robin and Raven were just following along, trusting the two lords would lead them in the right direction. They should be able to catch up with the cavaliers' limited mobility.
The search for the missing Einherjar had lasted about an hour. For Robin, it was beginning to feel like an eternity, and the group's slow pace wasn't helping his sanity. How far could they have gone? Robin started to wonder. Aren't we on an island? They can't have gotten too far. As Robin trod forward, he felt someone suddenly grab the hood of his coat to yank him back.
"There they are." He heard Raven whisper to him. The Einherjar had come to a stop, and seemed to be arguing amongst themselves once more. "Remember, we need to make sure those cavaliers go after Chrom and Lucina." She stated to the group once more. "Chrom, Lucina, remember that you need to keep those cavaliers away from Robin and me. Wait for my signal."
Robin was given a light pull by his sister to head out. The two carefully made their way around the Einherjar in a wide arc. The last thing the siblings needed, was to draw the attention of the whole group, and risk foiling Raven's plan before it had a chance to unfold.
The two came to a stop behind two trees large enough to hide them from the eyes of the Einherjar. Robin patiently waited for his sister to give the signal to the two lords waiting for them. He wondered what this signal she spoke of could be, but it all seemed to become clear when he spotted Raven pulling what looked like a card out of one of her coat's many pockets. By the looks of the thing, it was another Einherjar.
Raven held the card forward and called the ancient hero forth. The hero summoned was none other than King Marth himself. 7th Platoon… they fought in the War of Heroes. Calling forth a familiar face, smart.
Robin watched his sister explain the situation and point the lord in the direction where Chrom and Lucina were hiding. Marth gave a nod and ran forward, drawing the attention of the Einherjar. "Marth?" Robin heard some of the cavaliers mutter in confusion. The distraction worked, and the Einherjar gave chase to their long lost prince. Chrom and Lucina had burst from cover and continued to lead the cavaliers further away from their archer and mage.
With their separation, Robin and his sister ran forward to draw the attention of the two Einherjar on foot. Robin pulled out his own Arcwind tome, hurriedly preparing a spell to send out toward the two.
He lined up his target, the archer in green. He focused his energy, wind beginning to swirl around his being. "Arcwind!" He shouted, releasing the power he had built up.
The great winds that rushed past Robin and his sister, converging on the unsuspecting archer, practically lifting him a few feet into the air. As the young archer hit the forest floor, the female tactician was already closing the gap, with her steel sword in hand, to reach the boy for a direct attack.
The archer struggled to get to his feet. He barely stumbled away as Raven's steel sword came forth. As the archer regained his balance, he pulled out his own iron bow, nocking an arrow. Robin, in his range. The male tactician noticed the archer lining him up, and prepared his Arcwind spell, only to be taken aback as his sister closed the gap once more. She stepped between the archer and her brother, ripping the bow from the archer's hands with a calculated swing of her own blade.
The young archer held an expression of shock as he looked at his iron bow, laying far away from his own self. Robin didn't waste the spell he had prepared, sending the great winds of Arcwind toward the archer once more. This time, as he lay on the ground, Raven didn't waste any time in bringing her blade down through the archer's chest, finishing this Einherjar once and for all. "Gordin, brother..." He uttered with his final breath before an indigo mist enveloped his body, leaving only a card with a portrait of the archer who was just defeated.
"Ryan!" The female mage shouted out after having just witnessed her comrade fall. Her hand extended, electricity arcing from her fingertip, she was prepared to send out her spell against the tactician, who had just sheathed her sword and was now picking up Ryan's card.
"Back off!" Robin called out, protecting his sister by sending out an Arcwind spell toward the mage readying to attack her. Causing enough of a distraction, the spell allowed Robin to rush over to his sister's side once more.
"Thanks for that." She stated, placing the card away.
The mage had recovered and stared at the two tacticians. "Why did you follow us?" She asked as Raven pulled out her own tome. "We let you have the old man."
"We are only here because we have to be." Robin answered.
"Please, believe us. If there was another way, we would gladly take it." Raven added. "We're sorry."
The mage uttered something to herself that neither tactician could hear. Robin, however, could make out the words her lips formed to be saying something akin to 'I'm sorry, Kris.' The mage looked up and extended her hand, the energy she was building up, distorting her figure. The sky around the twins crackled with electricity.
There was little time to react. Robin desperately aimed Arcwind at own his sister and himself. The winds of the spell surrounded the twins, lifting up the matter on the forest floor. As blue forks of electricity erupted from the air, the material caught up in the wind spell ended up taking the hit instead of the tacticians.
Burning debris fell to the ground, the Einherjar only being able to stand in shock. "Arcthunder!" Raven called out, casting her own thunder magic toward the mage. Yellow forks of lightning came forth from the sky and struck the mage.
Singed, but still able to fight, the mage blindly cast out another spell toward the area the twins were. The bolts of blue came together, the spell leaving a burn on the ground where it had struck. The tacticians had already moved on.
Once more, Robin cast his wind magic out toward the mage, knocking her off balance. "You're finished!" The female tactician shouted, her spell converging on the mage, this time, shining much brighter, and seeming much larger than was ever normal.
The dust cleared, and the mage collapsed. "If only… he were here…" She uttered before an indigo mist surrounded her body, leaving nothing but her own portrait.
The tacticians stepped toward card that was left behind. "Good job, sis." Robin stated, watching his sister pick the item off the ground.
"Katarina, Atoning Strategist… " She uttered, looking at the card.
"The mage?" Robin asked, receiving a nod from his sister. "Well, that would make sense. Hubba did say this was 7th Platoon."
Raven stashed item in her coat. "Let's just try to find Chrom and Lucina, then we can take these cards back to the old man."
"Right, and maybe he'll let us keep one, like the encounters in the Outrealms." Robin mused. "Katarina could teach us some of the tactics from Marth's time…"
"It's no guarantee." Raven added to bring Robin out of his thoughts. "Come on."
The tacticians managed to meet up with Chrom and Lucina once more, and Raven was able to return Marth to his own card. They headed back to meet up with the other Shepherds, and in turn, Hubba.
On their way back, the group discussed the Einherjar and recounted tales from events before Valm, when they traveled the Outrealms for the first time. The group agreed that they should do so again after dealing with Valm. It would be quite a different experience to bring the future children along with them this time. It did take a bit of convincing on the part of three of the group to convince Lucina that this was a good idea, but she did finally comply with their wishes.
As the four returned, things did seem to be coming along as camp was being set up. The group found Hubba, soon enough, with Frederick standing guard over the old man to make sure he wouldn't cause any more trouble.
"Oh, you have returned!" He greeted. "Just as I have foresoothed, foreseed, foresawed… You have brought back my Einherjar!"
"Yes, Hubba," Raven stated. She pulled out the five cards and handed them over to the eager looking, old man. "Here you are."
"Ah! Thank you, thank you!" He burst out in excitement. "Oh, but you must accept this for all your troubles." He handed the Katarina card back to Raven.
She hesitantly took it from his hands. Chrom had something to say about all this though. "Wait, Hubba we don't need-"
"Oh, but I insist." He said. "The Shepherds could always use another strategic mind, and I would do anything for your lovely tactician."
Raven scowled at the old man and left, dragging her daughter along. Robin merely held his hand to his face and stood through Chrom's following tirade. Losing Einherjar, and all over women despite their thoughts of him… Will that old man ever learn?
A/N: I was really tempted, and I mean REALLY tempted to give Katarina a Hellfire tome in this. Its original name being Katarina's Book in FE12, you'd see why I'd want to include that, alas. Now, if I didn't include something, it was for good reason, so don't worry about why it's not here. Anyway, I hope you enjoy what I have here so far, POV's will change each chapter, and I assure you, this will lead to some interesting places. Be sure to leave a friendly Review! :D