I tried to make this chapter a lot longer. Its about 30ish words longer unless you count authors note. Woohoo me lol. But I posted this right after chapter 2 so it makes up for it, right?


While everyone was turning off lights, Robin was pulling her boots back on. The rest of the day had gone on normally, and now Robin's heart was racing in excitement.

Running under the glowing stars, Robin headed to the edge of camp by the supplies wagon, hoping Stahl was in this area like he said he would be.

To her delight, he was. He stepped out of the shadows of the wagon.

"Ready?" He said in greeting.

Robin nodded, and without further ado they began to run.


About a hour or so later they returned, and Robin got get a good's night sleep.

When Robin didn't get a chance to talk to Stahl again the next day, she wondered if he would be there again by the supplies wagon at the edge of camp. After that, Robin knew she wouldn't need to remind or talk to Stahl about running again.

As the days went by, the Shepherds continued to march towards Plegia, fighting bandits along the way like usual, and Stahl and Robin fell into a steady running routine. Robin would meet him at the wagon while everyone was sleeping, and he was always there. Sometimes he would come out to greet her with a apple or muffin in hand, or he would be practicing his sparring like the first time they had gone out, or he would be doing nothing at all.

Some days, they would only jog slowly and talk the whole time instead. Other times they would only say a word or two, or they would just sprint the whole time without a word. It each day was a different and new experience, and Robin liked the weird running bond she had with Stahl.

It was one of those days, when Robin walked out to their meeting spot when Stahl was sparring against the dummy quite ferociously, and curiosity finally got the better of Robin.

As they started to head out, Robin asked the question she had been wondering for weeks now.

"Stahl..." She said hesitantly. "Why do you come out and practice your sword fighting sometimes? Like when how you were today, and when I ran into you."

When he didn't answer right away, she turned to see Stahl's face had hardened, and she grimaced inside. She hoped it wasn't something personal or sensitive.

"Whenever something is troubling me emotionally... I take it out by sword fighting." He muttered eventually.

"Emotional?" Robin asked. Stahl certainly didn't look like he was crying.

"Yeah... Its hard to describe. But being in a war gets to me after a while. Don't you hate fighting day after day?" He asked.

Robin shrugged. "Its to survive."

Stahl continued. "Sometimes I see the faces of all the soldiers I've killed, and it weighs me down." He turned to Robin in hope that she would understand.

"Don't you ever wonder?" He continued when she didn't say anything.

"Wonder what?" She asked quizzically.

"What kind of life they had? If you made a mother or sibling cry somewhere, because they got the news that their son was dead? Or all the stories that person could've told?"

Robin slowed her jog down, and looked at him speechless, not able to speak with his intensity.

"I think about it all the time. What if that person was funny? Or smart? Or could've been my best friend? But I'll never know. Because I killed him." Stahl said angrily, throwing his hand in the air.

"Is this really the answer? Killing each other?" He asked bitterly as he kicked a rock into the air.

Robin felt a deep ache of sorrow for her friend. They had unconsciously slowed down to a walk now, and Robin placed her hand on his arm.

"Stahl, you do it to protect your friends and country. And Chrom always tries to negotiate before declaring war. You aren't a bad person, we just have to do it for others we love."

Stahl shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, I know. I just need to let it out sometimes, you know?" He asked, and Robin nodded her understanding.

Stahl continued. " Sometimes that's not even whats bothering me. Like once I was out all night because Vaike made me so angry when he lost some of my stuff." Stahl said with a laugh.

"But its usual about fighting in the war. So that's why I go out alone to practice." He finished.

Robin nodded solemnly. "I understand. And I admire it Stahl. It shows your human. Some of the others let it all go to their head. But you don't."

Stahl didn't say anything, so feeling like maybe he wanted the conversation to end Robin broke their eye contact, and started to run again.

"Hey," Stahl said as he grabbed her hand, getting her attention and pulling her back. "Thanks for understanding and listening. It means a lot."

"Of course." Robin said with a smile. "To be honest Stahl, I never would of guess you felt that way. You're always happy and smiling and stuff. "

Stahl grunted. "I'm just the token nice guy, aren't I? The average guy who's always taken for granted, unless you need a favor." He said frustrated. "Then they all just love me."

Robin frowned. "I would never take you for granted. And I don't think the others see you Robin'say either. Everyone loves being around you, because you're always just being yourself."

Stahl smiled in appreciation, and Robin gave a "ahh".

"There's that smile I love too see." She said, and Stahl's smile grew as he laughed.

"Enough of this. Let's get back to our run, shall we?" Stahl suggested.

Robin nodded,pleased that this conversation had ended on a positive note, and they picked up their pace again.

That night as Robin said goodnight to Stahl, she couldn't help but wonder if the runs were benefitting Stahl as well as her.


Authors note: Some personal insight that gave me inspiration for the conversation with Stahl and Robin is I've met a lot of people, who seemed to always be laughing, smiling and being happy, or the most positive, and found out that they actually have a real dark past or something bad going on life, that you would even think of them having because of their attitude. I feel like Stahl is one of those people, who doesn't want to burden others with what's bothering him, so he continues to smile for others even when he doesn't feel like it, so i wanted to put that in my story. I've always admired those kinds of people, and feel like others tend to take them for granted. Maybe that's why Stahl is one of my favorites. Anyway I've rambled on enough, just thought I should explain that random dark turn in Stahl.