Gaius wiped the blood from his sword and leaned against the wall, sighing. Chrom walked over to him and spoke. "That was actually quite impressive."

"Thanks, Blue," Gaius said, "though I normally tend to steer clear of the messy work. It doesn't sit well with me."

"Well, sit well or not, your help was quite useful. What would you say to joining us?" Chrom seemed like a straight forward person, asking what he thought he needed to ask when he needed to ask it."

Gaius rummaged through his pockets for one of the candies which Chrom had given him. "Hm, these are quite tasty. Anyways, Blue, I'm not really one for long-term commitments, and I'm certainly not one who works for free. What's in it for me?"

Chrom sighed. "Did you just call me… Blue? Well, anyways, to a certain extent, Gold? I do have some other candies, though I'm not really sure if you were just joking, or if-"

"YES." The sweet addict practically jumped up from his resting position, knocking over his sword which he had leaned against the wall. "Three conditions- candy, pastries and you have to pay for my weapon maintenance. Then I'm all for it."

"Okay, good. Do you have any other stuff?"

"Stuff?" Gaius asked, "As in candies and treats? Cos I've got a whole lot of those out back. I dropped them off there before we-" Chrom interrupted him, holding up his hand.

"I meant," he then said in a stern voice, "non-edible necessities. Such as a tent, other weapons, a vulnerary, that sort of thing."

"Uh… no?"

Chrom was, for the second time this day, at a loss for words. "Do you mean you-" He sighed, "never mind. Just… come with me. If you really have nothing, then we need to get you some equipment before we set out again. So much for staying ahead of the Plegians."

They had finally arrived at their campsite. Gaius was ordered to clear the area along with a muscled, blonde man and a quiet, yet tall man with grey-brown hair. The job was comprised mainly of clearing away brush, sticks, leaves and such, as well as digging a fire pit. Of course, Gaius didn't really know what to do. However, the blonde man was more than happy to teach him. "Teach can show you what to do!" Before Gaius could utter a word, he was dragged off, and Teach tried to show him the ropes.

"Are you really sure that this is how we're supposed to unload the carts, muscles?" The candy lover was sceptically observing how Teach was practically bench-pressing each piece of luggage and then tossing it to Gaius.

"Of course! Teach is always right!"

"Or maybe Vaike is just showing off." Gaius whirled around to see the silent grey-brown haired man holding a bundle of leaves and sticks, with a stern expression on his face. "No one is amused by your foolishness."

Vaike's expression changed immediately. "Ah, Lon'Qu. Didn't see you there. I'll just… go…" He grabbed his axe and ran off to another already-cleared part of the campsite to help some other people dig the fire pit.

Lon'Qu proceeded out to the forest without saying another word. He threw his batch of leaves and twigs into the brush and walked back to Gaius. "Those bags need to go to the main tent." He walked off.

Gaius was baffled. He reached into his cloak for a caramel lollipop and unwrapped it before grabbing a case of books and taking it to the center of the campsite, where he assumed the main tent would be placed. This group of people was certainly the most unusual bunch. After this, he grabbed a shovel and dug a small pit for the fire. He had barely began to walk away when a brown-haired man with fancy armour began to light the fire. Gaius realized that he himself was starving. "I wonder what's for dinner…"

"UGH! Chrom, you know how much I hate bear! Can't you catch something normal for once? Like rabbit? Or deer?" A young girl in a dress was giving Chrom a hard time as he emerged from the forest with a young man with messy brown hair. They were carrying a giant brown bear between the two of them, and the girl did not seem happy about it. "Bear stinks. It's chewy. It smells disgusting, and it tastes like old leather boots!"

"Ah," Gaius muttered to himself, "At least now I know what's for dinner. Maybe the cook can make it… edible." Popping another one of would-be-Lissa's candies into his mouth, he wandered off into the woods for a few minutes, contemplating how one could possibly make bear taste good.

As the bear was being disassembled and roasted, everyone took their personal belongings and set up their tents. Gaius, being a thief, had to be naturally observant. Thus, he noted multiple things. Firstly, Chrom's tent was set up in the middle, and beside it was put up a large tent, which he assumed would be the strategy and general meeting tent. As well, the lady from the previous battle who had been shouting out orders, her tent was close to the large tent as well. There was no general section for men and women, but Gaius could see that Lon'Qu was obviously trying to keep his tent as far away from the women's tents as possible. As well, the girl who had been yelling at Chrom earlier kept on trying to get near Lon'Qu, and Lon'Qu kept batting her off.

Gaius ended up placing his tent close to the northwest corner, near the chef's tent. That tent was used on various occasions, though the cook obviously didn't like cooking bear, as that night's dinner went nowhere near his tent. Gaius obviously thought that he could easily nab sweets and the like from the tent in the middle of the night when he was craving something that wasn't stashed in his cloak.

Chrom loved bear. He actually, much to the amazement of the others, seemed to enjoy eating it. Of course, no one else really liked it that much, other than Stahl. Though that may have just been because Stahl was perpetually hungry. Lissa, as Gaius had heard her being called, was the one who openly complained the most. The fire-starter man just stated that he wasn't hungry. Everyone else followed the wise old saying, grin and bear it, not complaining, but not enjoying the chewy meat, either. Gaius had eaten one bite and set it down, before racing through his caramels to satisfy his hunger.

"Hey," Gaius heard a voice and felt a tap on his shoulder, "Could I possibly have one?" It was Stahl- the ever hungry glutton of the group. "I'd much prefer eating those to bear."

"Sorry Mr. Bedhead, but this candy is for my mouth only. You gotta be prepared for all possibilities." Gaius rejected Stahl's request without a second thought. After all, he had earned the candy he carried. Well, most of it. Some had been… liberated from shops and jars in between jobs, but it's not like anyone needed to know that.

After dinner, much to everyone's dismay, they had to attend a strategy meeting. This is where Gaius learnt the name of the woman who had been giving orders during the previous battle. Her name was Robin. "Alright," she said, "We're going to take the Exalt to Ferox through Breakneck Pass in two days. It's less likely to contain enemies, and we're getting help from someone to take us through it. We're going to need eleven people on active duty, and the rest can use the carts and horses.

Everyone else nodded, as they knew what was going on. Gaius just hoped that he wouldn't be assigned to active duty. After all, since there were so many people in the camp, there was a chance that throughout the whole time he was going to be hired, he would never have to fight a battle.

"Alright," Robin continued, "So on active duty is Chrom, Myself, Miriel, Virion, Kellan, Vaike, Lon'qu, Lissa, Ricken, Maribelle, Sumia, and Gaius."

"Wait… excuse me?" Gaius said this a bit too loudly and everyone, including Robin turned to look at him. "Just a thought, but why am I on active duty? I've barely been here for a day!"

Robin sighed. "Your name's Gaius, right? We always judge people based on skill and how they would suit the terrain. Chrom said you're skilled, and a thief is one of the perfect people when it comes to fighting in places which require someone to be light on their feet and quick to react. Breakneck pass is very narrow, and it's not like we can have horsemen in a place like that."

"Do we get compensation if we're injured? I'd have to say that it would be nice if I got a reward for… valour and courage in action. Something sugary, I'd say…"

Robin almost smacked herself in the forehead, and a few others in the crowd chuckled. "If it'll make you stop kicking up a fuss, then alright, you get a reward… so long as you don't get injured on purpose to attain caramels."

"I'll do my best," chuckled Gaius, "though I make no promises."

Rolling her eyes, Robin continued with the meeting, trying (and failing) to pretend that nothing had happened.


Author's Note: I'm sorry for the awkwardness of the last part. Or at least, It seemed awkward to me. This chapter was surprisingly hard to write. It's building up, though. I don't like to jump into the main plot right away, though supports will probably start happening next chapter. Though this is a fanfic between Robin and Gaius, I emphasize that there will still be plenty of interactions between other characters, and even some C supports (though probably nothing more) with other women.Don't worry, there will be no "love rivalry" or anything of the sort. I just find that a story gets better when there is more interaction than just between two people.

Anyways, thanks for reading and please tell me if there is anything which I can do better!