Consciousness brought with it a wave of pain. I tried to open my eyes, failed, tried again, failed again, and finally succeeded on the third attempt. Then I was forced to blink several times to get used to the light. It probably took me a full minute to get my eyes open all the way. One thought was in my head while I tried to regain my eyesight.
Is Tiki alive? Did I manage to save her?
Once my eyes had readjusted to the light, I looked around. There were three worried-looking women kneeling over me. Some absurd and shameful part of me had a thought that was something like hey, I could get used to this, but I beat it away before it could take root. The thought that sprang up in its place was What a ridiculous idea to have. I glanced around at them.
The first was Lissa. She was on my left side, staff in hand, concentrating on what I assumed was my injury. The second was Tharja. She was looking straight down at me. Her eyes were hidden by her hair, but the rest of her face betrayed that she was either angry, concerned, or both. When I recognized the third woman I breathed a sigh of relief. It was Tiki. She was alive. She was also the first one to speak to me.
"Ah, good, you are awake." At that, Lissa looked up from whatever spot she was concentrating on.
"Oh thank goodness. I got worried for a second. I got here right away, but there was an ax stuck in your side so I wasn't sure if I'd be able to heal you or not. But if you're awake that means I did."
"Well thank you for that. My side still hurts, though."
"Yeah, about that...umm...here." She handed me what looked like a knitting needle.
"What's this for?"
"Bite down on it."
"Why?"
"Umm...please don't be mad."
"Huh?"
"The uhh...the ax is still in you. I need to pull it out."
"Oh."
"Yeah. Please please please don't be mad at me."
"Why would I be mad at you?"
"Umm...because I'm going to put you in a lot of pain?"
"That's not your fault."
"But I still have to do it and I don't want to hurt you."
"I think we can blame the Risen for this, not you." I realized I hadn't actually looked at my injured side. I leaned over and felt a pain shoot up my left side as I saw that yes, there was an ax buried into me right below my ribs.
"Lissa, please just take it out and don't worry about how much it will hurt."
"Umm...okay. Bite down on the needle." I did. She looked nervous, maybe even scared. She motioned to Tharja. "Come help me with this. I need you to press down right on the cut as soon as I get it out." Tharja looked unhappy but she moved without protest. Whatever she might say, I knew Tharja was concerned for my well-being. Lissa handed Tharja a strip of cloth. Vaguely I realized that it was a part of her dress. I wanted to protest and tell her not to damage her dress on my account, but I was biting down on the knitting needle. Before I could remove it to speak she mouthed a simple "I'm sorry," set herself, and pulled the ax right out of me.
The pain was instant and immense. It felt like someone had set me on fire. My back bowed as I struggled to not flail around. I started to scream and realized that preventing that was the reason I was biting on a metal rod. I still screamed, but it was muffled by my clenched teeth. My eyes blurred with tears. I felt Tharja press the cloth against me and then I felt the weight of Lissa's staff press against me as well. I saw a new silhouette above me but I couldn't tell who it was through the mass of tears. My vision darkened momentarily and I thought I might lose consciousness again, but I somehow managed to avoid doing so. I felt someone grab my right hand and give it a gentle squeeze. I squeezed back, though I was much less gentle about it. To my surprise, whoever it was didn't pull their hand away, they just gripped more firmly. It was a welcome, if slight, distraction from the pain. I felt my back straighten out as I sagged back to the ground.
After what felt like an eternity the pain began to subside. I was able to begin blinking away the tears as the fire became more like a dull smolder. I realized that the silhouette I had seen above me was Chrom. He looked just as worried as everyone else. I spat out the needle. It landed on my neck and slid down onto the ground. My breathing was ragged, so I took a few moments to try to even it out. Once I had it under control, I looked up at Chrom.
"How long was I out?"
"Oh, not long. Maybe a couple of minutes. You did miss the end of the battle, though. Cherche faced down the Risen leader on her own and defeated it like she was facing a training dummy. What about you? Are you alright?"
"I think so." The pain was fading. There was still an ache, but it felt like there wasn't a hole in my side anymore. I looked to my left, but there was no one there. Tharja had vanished again and Lissa was nowhere in sight. "Wait a minute, the lines were about to be breached when I left them. What happened?" I heard Sully's voice from behind me.
"We held our ground, thanks to this guy here." I heard a timid voice from the same direction.
"He isn't facing us, you know. He can't see who you're talking about." He was right, I couldn't. But I did recognize his voice.
"Kellam, is that you? Did you fill the gap and I just missed it again?"
"Yeah. I was trying to let you know that I was there, but it was pretty chaotic."
"I'm sorry I didn't see you, Kellam. I want you to know that you are the hero of the hour."
"I think you're exaggerating. I'm just doing my job." I heard a clang and Sully's voice.
"Nah, you did good. Come with me and I'll get you some drinks." He started to protest as their voices faded. I looked back up at Chrom.
"The Risen that slipped past us nearly missed it's attack. I can't believe how fortunate that was."
"It wasn't fortune, it was me." I recognized Tharja's voice from, of course, behind me. She must have hexed it to make it miss.
"Did you kill it too?"
"Yes."
"Good job."
"Hmph. You're welcome." She was happier than she sounded, I could tell.
"Wait, what happened to Lissa? She was just here." Chrom pointed off to my left.
"She's over there. She seemed upset, so I was going to go check on her as soon as I made sure you were alright."
"I'll do it. I think it's because of me anyway. Go make sure everyone else is unhurt and that there are no Risen still around."
"I don't know, she's my sister."
"I know, but like I said, I think she's upset because of me, so I should go fix it."
"Maybe you're right. It might be easier for you than me anyway."
"I don't know about that, but it's my fault." Chrom nodded and left to join the other Shepherds. I thought I was alone until I realized that I was still holding someone's hand and I hadn't bothered to look over that way yet to see who it was. I did.
It was Tiki. She had been there when I woke up, of course, but I hadn't expected that she would do something like this. It wasn't as though we knew each other; we had only met briefly once before. This was a more familiar act than I would normally expect. She noticed that I was looking at her.
"I hear I have you to thank for saving my life."
"I wouldn't go that far. You just heard that it was Tharja who killed the Risen that was trying to kill you."
"Yes, but it was your plan that protected me. And you took a blow intended for me."
"That's true. We were here to protect you, so I wanted to make sure I did."
"You certainly did that, even though it might have cost you your life."
"I don't know, I probably just assumed Lissa would save me if anything happened. Hard to say what I was thinking in the heat of the moment."
"Regardless, you saved me, and for that you have my deepest gratitude."
"You're welcome, then. And thank you for this." I brought my right hand up to indicate what I was talking about.
"Of course. You saved my life. The least I can do is help you endure the pain you suffered on my behalf."
"It definitely helped. I know I squeezed pretty hard, so I'm sorry if I hurt you." I tried to smile, but I wasn't sure if it would look like one or not. I was still in a fair amount of pain so it might have looked more like a grimace. Whatever it looked like, I apparently got the point across because she smiled back at me.
"You did not. And even if you had, it would be little compared to what you were going through."
"Again, thank you. I don't know what else to say. Oh, except maybe to ask you a favor."
"What is it?"
"Do you think you could help me up? I can't just lie down like this all day." She laughed gently. It was strangely soothing. She stood up and helped me to my feet. I stumbled a little but recovered and grabbed my injured side. It was still sore. I expected it would remain so for some time. I looked over at Tiki. She was a little shorter than me. It was odd to think. Maybe I expected someone so dignified and revered to be larger than life, but she wasn't. She was just a normal-sized woman. Maybe even a little on the shorter side. Standing as close as I was to her made the thought I had before the battle started return. She was a beautiful woman. I beat it away again. That was still not an appropriate thought to have about the Voice. "Thank you."
"Of course."
"You didn't get hurt, did you? By the Risen, I mean."
"No. I was still meditating so I did not feel any pain, and there was no serious injury when I awoke. I was a little sore, but nothing beyond that."
"Thank goodness. I got so worried when you got attacked. I'm glad you're okay."
"Thank you for your concern. I will be fine."
"Good. Now I have to go check on Lissa-" I went to use my right hand to motion towards where Lissa was sitting and I realized I was still holding Tiki's hand. I pulled it away and felt my cheeks start to flush. "Sorry." To my surprise, she looked a little embarrassed too.
"It's alright. I should go and speak to Chrom and the others."
"Right. Uh, have fun with that. I'll, uh, see you later."
"Of course." She turned and walked away. As I watched her go I realized that I was unconsciously rubbing the back of my head. I stopped. I wasn't sure what was so embarrassing about that. It was just accidentally holding hands. With the Voice. Who was a beautiful woman—no. Not appropriate. It wasn't going to happen. I forced the idea out of my mind once again and walked over to Lissa. She had, for some reason, been left alone by the rest of the Shepherds. I figured that Maribelle must have been busy tending to everyone else or she would have been here. I sat down next to the distressed young woman.
"Hey." She sniffled a couple of times.
"Hi Robin. You're not mad at me, right?" I put a hand on her shoulder.
"Of course not. It told you that already. It's not your fault I got an ax stuck in me."
"I know, but I still had to put you through a lot of pain. You should have seen how you looked when I did it."
"I can imagine."
"I don't know if you can. The look on your face was so awful and I—I—" she started to choke up. I moved my hand from her shoulder to her far shoulder and pulled her in next to me.
"Just let it out. It's fine." She leaned her head against my shoulder and cried softly for a minute or two. "Better?" She sniffled again.
"Not really."
"You could try putting a frog down my coat if you think it would help." That drew a short laugh.
"You're never going to let me live that down, are you?"
"No." Her troubled look returned.
"I...I thought you were going to die."
"But I didn't. Because you saved me."
"But I still thought you were. I was scared."
"I know. But I'm right here." I gave her a squeeze. "See? Couldn't do that if I were dead."
"But you were out cold and there was an ax in you! I know my staff worked, but if I hadn't been there right away I don't know if I could have saved you! You almost died, Robin. Don't you understand that? You need to take this more seriously! We—I—almost lost you. Don't you—don't you get that?" Her voice was raised almost to a shout. She looked up at me and her eyes were wet.
Oh. So this was the real reason she was so upset. It wasn't because she had to inflict pain on me after all. I shifted positions so I could give her a more proper hug. She lost her composure entirely and started crying into my shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Lissa. I'm sorry I scared you." It took her a few seconds to stop sobbing.
"You're so...so stupid sometimes. Jumping in front of an ax like that. Didn't even block it. Just let it hit you."
"I know. Didn't have a sword on me. And I missed my magic attacks because I was on the run."
"Then wear armor if you're gonna start letting people hit you. Stupid." She hugged me a little tighter. It made my recently-healed side hurt, but I didn't care.
"Okay, I will."
"Good. You'd better."
"Only because you asked."
"Good."
"I love you, you know."
"Of course I know."
"Good." I gave her another squeeze.
"I love you too. Even if you're stupid."
"Good." We broke off the hug and sat next to each other in silence for a bit. "We should probably get back to the others at some point."
"I know. And I'm feeling better now. Thanks."
"I'm glad to hear that. Hey, you want to hear about why we almost lost?"
"What?"
"The story about why the ranks almost collapsed and the way that one Risen got past us. Do you want to hear why it happened?"
"Wait, was it your fault?"
"It was."
"Then you totally have to tell me. Is it gonna make me call you stupid again?"
"Probably."
"Then you definitely have to tell me."
"I will, when we set up camp tonight. Sound good?"
"Yep. Let's go find Chrom." We stood up together and walked over to where I could see the Shepherds gathered in the distance. I kept my arm around Lissa's shoulder as we walked just to reassure her that I was still there.
The Shepherds were all milling around, talking to one another, or working on their weapons or armor. It appeared that everyone was alright. I didn't see anyone who looked like they had a major injury and no one was missing. A few of them shouted greetings to me as we walked by. Tharja, in a startling change from the norm, was by herself away from the group rather than stalking me. She saw me with Lissa and glared at us. Tiki, I saw, was engaged in a conversation with Lucina. As we walked past them, she looked over to me and smiled. It sent a small jolt through me like I'd hit myself with a lightning bolt. I smiled back and pushed aside that still-inappropriate feeling. We found Chrom not long after. He grinned at me and handed me my tome.
"Found this on the ground after the battle. Figured you'd want it back."
"Thanks." I took it from him and stuffed it into its usual spot in my coat pocket. "Dropped it to get more speed."
"I'm not sure a book is heavy enough to really weigh you down."
"Probably not. I wasn't really thinking very hard at the time."
"I can tell." He looked over at Lissa and his expression became more serious. "Are you alright, Lissa?" She nodded.
"Yep. I told off Robin for being stupid, so I feel better now." Chrom laughed.
"I'm glad to hear that. He could use a reality check sometimes."
"You too, Chrom?"
"Maybe if you'd thought harder you would have avoided taking an ax to the stomach." He grinned again, but briefly. "But seriously, I'm glad you're well. We can't afford to lose you."
"Me too. And you can thank Lissa for that."
"You can thank me for a lot more than that." Chrom laughed and I joined him. It made me grip my side in pain.
"Oops. Maybe I shouldn't be laughing just yet." They both looked concerned, but I waved them off. "I'm fine, just a little sore. On a more serious note, we should be going. This was a productive detour, but we still have a war to fight and I want to head north. We need to reach Walhart and end this." Chrom nodded and took on a more serious expression.
"I agree. We'll head back to the path we were originally on before we came hear and make for Walhart's castle. It should be about four days' march at our normal pace. We've broken Yenfay's ranks, so we should have a clear path between here and there."
"Indeed. We're going to do this, Chrom. For the sake of Rosanne, Chon'sin, and every other nation under Walhart's heel."
"Yes, we are." He turned away from me towards the main body of the army and raised his voice. "Shepherds, to me! We make north, for Walhart's castle and an end to this war!"
Is their initial meeting a bit cliche? Yeah probably. Do I care? No. And now it's clear where we are in the plot. That is to say, as soon as it's possible to access Paralogue 17.