I was...floating.
It was like I was underwater, but nothing like that. It was like I was underwater, but without the water.
Obviously, I've never been in a situation where I'd have dealt with zero gravity, but something told me there was something different about this weightlessness.
I suppose I shouldn't be describing the fact that I was floating in a slightly glowing nothingness.
There were much more interesting things to describe, like the dragon.
Another thing I've never experienced before are dragons. There's always been a screen or reality separating me from the beasts. Now, up close, you could really tell how magnificent they were. It was completely understandable how religions could be formed around the likes of Grima or Naga.
...I'm not really panicking about the dragon now.
Weird.
"You have been chosen, young one..." The Dragon said, in a much more soothing voice then I would have expected.
I tried to respond, but I could not find my voice.
"You have been chosen to represent your world, a forerunner to those that will follow your footsteps." The dragon continued. "This is a tale you already know. You have been given skill and improvements to succeed in this alien world. Now use those gifts to excel in it. Make your place in it, and you shall be saved."
I managed to find my voice.
"Rewarded?" I asked. "What would be my reward? I make it to the endgame, and you send me home?"
"You will be rewarded." The dragon replied. Before I could ask any more questions, he faded.
And I awoke.
I'm sure you've played the game. It's rare that they send someone here that's unfamiliar to the world. You should already be aware of how large the personalities are of the Shepherds.
A bunch of unique characters like that, you have to be really careful about what you say around them. Each one requires a different approach. Some of them are easier to appease than others.
For example, Lissa.
"The noble pine stands alone/No one to see how tall it's grown/In its frozen home/So it stands in the snow /And the north winds blow/It's a cold little life here in Winters"
I was sitting at the camp with Frederick, Chrom, Lissa and Robin. Robin seemed to be the default. I suppose throwing anything new at me would somewhat throw me more off course then I already was.
Anyway, they had just asked me if I could play them a song and, initially, I panicked. I had this lute thing, but I had no idea how to play it.
However, I had an image to keep up. I bragged about playing them a ballad, so I thought of the first ballad I could think of. Well, it had 'ballad' in the title.
"And there's a boy all alone/No one to care how tall he's grown/In his frozen home/So he stands on his own like the pine"
I was playing this song I had recently heard online, from brentalfloss. It was a cover of the "Winters" theme from Earthbound, a song about Jeff. It was sad and I liked it.
"And as the snow falls down/It never makes a sound/Sure, it seems to fly around/But it's headed for the ground/This winter's gonna be long, yeah/This winter's gonna be long"
I was doing really good doing through the song. The audience seemed to really like it. Lissa had stars in her eyes, Robin and Chrom both seemed relaxed, and Frederick was using the distraction to get rid of his bear meat.
"And in his dreams, he can fly/A daring genius hero guy/With a dad nearby/But he wakes,/ And there's snow/And the north winds blow/It's a cold little life here in Winters"
That was all good, considering the fact that I was freaking the fuck out.
I can't play anything. Never had the skill, never put in the time. Yet here I was, playing a fucking lute with more skill then my friends who actually put effort into this sort of thing. All I was doing was telling my mind what song I wanted to play and following an instinct.
And then there was my voice. Singing was the only thing I could really do musically, but I didn't sound this good, especially without practice. Hell, you should be able to sing this well without warming up first.
"So will he live like the pine?/Perfectly still, just killing time,/In a slow decline/Or will he come to be something more?"
The song was almost over, so I should probably start thinking up some bullshit backstory about it, to make it sound more epic.
"Maybe adventure lies/Beyond the snowy skies/With a purpose and a friend/Waiting just around the bend/Till then he's gotta be strong, yeah/'Cause winter's gonna be long/This winter's gonna be long."
I finished the song, and waited.
Lissa began quickly clapping and cheering.
"WOOOT!" She shouted. "That was amazing! So cool!"
Lissa's the easiest person to win over. The only way to piss her off is to really try. Actually pissing her off isn't recommended. I would say she's the most scornful of all the Shepherds, despite also being one of the kindest.
"My lady, you must silence yourself!" Frederick exclaimed. "You'll draw attention to yourself!"
"But Frederick, that was great!" Lissa exclaimed. "Didn't you enjoy it?"
"I suppose it wasn't that bad." Frederick admitted. "Coming across a random bard is much less suspicious than coming across a random master tactician." He glared at Robin.
Frederick is generally wary, hence the "Wary" name. However, in the beginning, you should let him go through his distrust of Robin. That way he'll forget about how suspicious he was of you. Just avoid him in general for the first few days.
Also, a great way to get on his good side is to go to his fitness sessions. Oh, they're hell, but it's really nice to be able to build up strength on your own.
Robin...Robin is a mixed bag. The thing about Robin is that Robin could be anybody. You can't even pin down what exact gender your Robin will be. Robin is usually always smart, so when you do interact with them, you should be on your guard.
Also, don't allude to the game story at all, even as a little snarky comment to yourself. I've seen Outsiders do that during the Gangrel war, only for Robin to remember their foreknowledge when their Grima connection was discovered.
It never ends well.
I guess I should mention Chrom, but you could have already guessed at this point that he's trusting to a fault.
Thing were a little tense between Robin and Frederick, so I figured I should lighten the mood.
"A random bard?" I asked, as if I was offended. "I'll have you know I'm the greatest bard on the Eastern Coast!"
"You keep saying that 'Eastern Coast' thing." Chrom noted. "Where is it?"
Shit. Let's BS my way out of this.
"The eastern one." I replied.
"There are a lot of eastern coasts." Robin said. "Which one are you from?"
OK, if Robin could cite amnesia, I'll use it to, even if I'd be lying.
"I'm going to be honest with you folks: All I know is that I'm from the Eastern Coast." I said, as if I was revealing something I was embarrassed about. "I remember getting on a boat, but even that's a bit fuzzy."
"...Didn't you say there were stories about you?" Chrom asked.
"Well, I'm a bard!" I exclaimed. "You could remove my brain and feed it to me for dinner and I'd still remember the songs and stories! Sure, I might not remember much about my personal life, but I can still entertain audiences everywhere!"
I'm really good at this backstory thing. It's fun.
Lissa looked at me with dramatic tears in her eyes. "That's...so sad!"
Robin looked at her. "...I have full blown amnesia. How is that less sad?"
"Because it isn't beautiful, Robin!" Lissa exclaimed.
"You're correct, my lady!" I exclaimed, dramatically standing in front of the fire. "It would seem the stories of my previous deeds didn't travel as far as I had assumed they had, but make no mistake! This story will be told about for ages! Starting now!"
And then, as if on cue, the sky exploded.
The song in the chapter was "Ballad of Jeff" by brentalfloss. It's a fantastic song. You're all going to learn I have a weird sense of music. A lot of video game stuff and show tunes.
Anyway, the beginning of this chapter was a bit vague. It happened while Ned was sleeping.
This is going to be an interesting project. I'm interested in seeing how well it's received.
