He awoke with a start. His head throbbed and his body felt sore.
There was a buzzing in his mind that he couldn't place. As if something was missing from his memory. Many things in fact, like who he was or even where he was.
Looking around he found himself in a clearing. The area was lightly forested with the sun high in the sky illuminating the area around him.
He sat up and put a hand to his head, as if the clear the fog that covered his mind. Who was he and how did he get here?
Robin…
The name felt familiar, like an old friend and one he felt intimately familiar with. Could that have been his name? If it wasn't then he could deal with it later, it would have to do for now.
Robin stood up gently and looked about his person to get any more information about his situation.
He lifted his arms and inspected the coat he was wearing. The coat was sturdy and seemed to have been well worn. There was patchwork around the seams that indicated that it had been repaired a few times.
In one of the large pockets of the coat he found a book of some kind, thick set and with a green cover. Robin opened the tome hoping to find a clue of some sort but found only words he could not read.
Robin sighed and closed the book after turning to a few more pages and finding more of the same unknown lettering. Was he some sort of traveling scholar of some sort? That would explain the well traveled coat and the strange book.
He looked through his coat some more to see if there was anything else that might give him more information about himself. There seemed to be a great deal of pockets on his coat both on the inside and the outside. He found another tome in his inner pocket, this one smaller than the green book he had found earlier.
The book was labeled "Tactics and Warfare," luckily it seemed as though this book was in a language he could understand. He flipped through the book and found writings on different tactics and their execution. The words seemed strangely familiar to him, as if he had read these lines before.
Robin put the book back in his inner pocket and continued rummaging through his coat pockets. He found a bottle that smelled much like he imagined medicine would, a roll of bandages and scraps of paper that contained drawing of troop movements and strategic maneuvers.
That certainly settled it in his mind. He was some sort of wandering scholar who studied tactical information or he was a tactician. What didn't make sense however was that if he was a tactician, where was his army? Surely a tactician needed someone to give orders to?
He would worry about that later. For now he needed to get moving and maybe find someone to help him figure out where he was. Hopefully he would be able to find some sort of road that would lead to a village.
Robin started walking forward and found that he was on a small hill overlooking a path the wound through the mountains. The path was a road and he hoped it would lead to a village if he followed it.
Further along the path he spotted what looked to be two travelers. One man seemed to be riding a white steed and there was a girl standing next to him. They looked to be chatting as they ambled along the path.
Robin hoped that he would be able to find travelers to talk to and maybe get some information about the lay of the land. They didn't seem to be traveling too fast so he would hopefully be able to catch up to them. He hoped that they didn't decide to start galloping on their horse.
He started lightly jogging towards them down the hill hoping he could catch them.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw a group of rough looking men appear on the path. Robin slowed his jog to assess the situation. Could these men be bandits looking to rob the travelers?
His hand moved towards the green tome in his coat pocket almost unconsciously. When his hand touched the spine of the book he pulled it out and gripped it tightly before letting it open in his hand. Green magic seemed to flow from the book in his left and into his right hand.
Robin looked at his hand that glowed a slight green and turned it over back and forth. There was a pressure in his hand just waiting to be released, just waiting to be push out in the direction he willed it.
He held the magic in his hand for a moment longer before letting it dissipate. There was a chance that these men would be friendly and he would have no need to fight. He would wait a moment more to see and crouched slightly behind a nearby tree.
"You there! Renais dogs!" Shouted one of the rough looking men towards the two travelers.
"Grado's men…" The man on horseback cursed and turned his steed to face the oncoming foes. "Stand back, Princess Eirika."
A princess? Could these bandits be looking to kidnap a royal to ransom her to their kingdom? Taking a second look he did notice that the man on horseback looked to be some sort of knight and the woman had a courtly air to her.
"It's all right, Seth." Princess Eirika replied to the man he now knew to be named Seth and readied her rapier. "My brother has taught me something of swordplay. I will stand with you."
The men charged at the pair of travelers with a battle cry.
Seth and Eirika were outnumbered five to two and were quickly split apart. Two of the men engaged Seth hoping their numbers advantage would allow them to defeat the knight.
The rest of the men moved to surround Eirika. Two of the men fought Eirika in an almost careful manner so as to not hurt her. Robin guessed that they wanted to take her alive.
Even outnumbered Eirika seemed to be holding her own and was not holding back. Her nimbleness allowed her to avoid capture and her quick strikes were able to wound the men around her.
Seth seemed to be holding his own but Robin noticed that his sword arm seemed to be a bit sluggish. It was as though he had been injured recently and was fighting through the handicap.
Robin had no doubt that were he at full health he would make quick work of the bandits. As it stood he was still gaining the upper hand even unnumbered as he was.
He turned back to look at Eirika and saw that in the heat of combat she could not see one of the men circling behind her to her blind spot. If he didn't do something Eirika would be captured here and who knows what would be done with her.
Robin readied his tome and felt the power course through his arm.
Eirika jumped backwards to put some distance between the two men she was fighting. It was at that moment that she realized she had lost track of the third man. She turned her head backwards and saw him charging at her.
She had made a mistake in losing track of one of her enemies. Something her brother told her to never do. Eirika knew she could not let herself be captured but she was not sure how she would get out of this situation. Her enemies had her surrounded and even if she turned to face this enemy she would only be exposing her back once again.
The princess grit her teeth and gripped her rapier tightly. She would not be defeated here, Grado still had to answer for their crimes and she would fight to her dying breath to make sure her people found justice.
It was at that moment that the man behind her was blown off his feet by a magical wind. The man was launched forcefully into the trunk of a tree and bounced back into the solid earth. He did not get back up.
The battle seemed to stop for a moment as everyone looked around to see where the magic had come from.
Eirika looked over to where the blast had come from and found a silver haired man in a large coat standing a small distance away from her battle. He held a tome in his hand with his right arm stretched out and coated with a slight green light.
Time seemed to resume and one of her attackers turned to rush down the man who had saved her. Eirika focused on fighting her remaining opponent and would worry about the newcomer later. Though she was relieved that he didn't seem to be an enemy as he had saved her after all.
The man's axe came down at her with a swipe which she sidestepped before lunging at her foes unprotected side. Her rapier stuck true and drew blood which seemed to only anger the man. He responded with an angry swing of his axe which she jumped backwards to avoid.
She would have to go for a fatal blow it seemed. While she was quicker than her opponent one hit with his weapon would be enough to defeat her. Eirika wished she did not have to kill but she could not surrender here, for the sake of her people.
Eirika waited for the man to make another slash at her and ducked under the swing. Her rapier was already moving when her opponent attacked and she aimed it at the man's lightly armored chest where his heart would be.
Her opponent's movements stopped after that Eirika removed her blade from the man's chest. The man fell to the ground unmoving after a moment more.
The princess looked around and surveyed the area. Seth had defeated his enemies and looked to be none the worse for wear, though he was still injured. The man who had assisted her stood a small distance away, his opponent unconscious on the ground.
He looked at her and gave a shy smile. "Are you alright miss?"
Eirika returned his smile and walked until she was in front of him. "Yes I am. Thank you for your assistance earlier."
"It was my pleasure." He replied.
"My lady!" Seth shouted as he galloped over to the pair. He eyed the man warily but made no move. If the man had wanted to harm them he would have done it during the battle.
He stopped before them and dismounted his horse before addressing the stranger. "I thank you for helping my lady earlier." Seth said gratefully.
"I couldn't stand by and do nothing." Robin said.
"Might we have your name?" Eirika asked curiously.
"My name is Robin." Robin replied. "I was actually hoping I would run into some people, I'm in a bit of a dilemma you see."
Seth narrowed his eyes suspiciously at his words. Would he ask for a reward for helping them?
"What would that be?" Eirika said worriedly.
Robin paused for a moment unsure how to properly convey his problem without sounding like a loon. He decided a straightforward statement would be the best way to go about it.
"I seem to be suffering from some sort of memory loss." Robin began. "Other than my name and magic use I don't seem to remember where I am or how I got here."
"Oh no that's awful. I can't imagine what that would be like." Eirika said.
Eirika thought of how worried she would be if she were to wake up in an unknown land with no memories. Especially now during these dangerous times. Her own kingdom under attack, her brother missing and her father. She hoped that he was alright.
"That's quite alright. Thank you for your concern." Robin replied. "I was actually wondering if you may be able to point me in the direction of a village. Maybe I'd be able to find work while I figure out what I should do."
"I'm afraid that may be a bit difficult at the moment." Seth said grimly. "The kingdom of Grado to the south has just declared war on the kingdom of Renais. There will be soldiers everywhere.
"We don't know why Grado attacked but their intentions cannot be trusted at the moment. I would suggest you head either north or east. To the north is the kingdom of Frelia and to the east is Carcino. You may find a village there, the kingdoms will be on high alert however once they hear of Grado's attack."
"Frelia to the north or Carcino…" Robin repeated slowly thinking of his future plans when Eirika interrupted his thoughts.
"We can't just abandon you here, especially after you helped us out." Eirika said. "We will take him with us Seth."
Eirika knew that there was no way they could leave Robin to fend for himself. With his memory loss he could easily get lost or run into Grado soldiers. He seemed to be able to use magic so maybe they could help each other.
"I wouldn't want to impose." Robin said.
"Nonsense! We are heading to Frelia ourselves, we could travel there together and then you can decide what to do afterwards." Eirika said with a smile.
Seth was a little worried about traveling with the stranger. What if he was some sort of spy sent by Grado to keep watch on them and kidnap the princess at their first opportunity? His story certainly seemed a little fishy but he could not sense any dishonesty in the man.
He would have to keep an eye on him, but for now he would trust him. His assistance was greatly appreciated and princess Eirika seemed to think he was a good person.
"We should get a move on before more soldiers show up." Seth stated.
"Right. Lead the way Seth." Eirika replied.
Robin nodded at the pair and started following them as Seth brought his horse to a slow trot.
"While we travel I can give you a brief overview of the surrounding lands and the kingdoms." Eirika said.
"That sounds wonderful. Thank you Eirika." Robin said as they started moving towards their destination.