Chapter 3 - Reunions
Author's Notes: And here's chapter 3 readers new and old, getting near the end of the beginning part and finally closer to the time skip, next chapter is going to be the end of Gangrel, and the set up for something greater. Got a lot of stuff planned for after the time skip like out realm adventures.
Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem Awakening
"Alright everyone that's the plan, now if you're ready let's move out."
After putting the plan into my head, I moved to where Robin directed me. Apparently, I would be helping free the Shepherd that was kidnapped, supporting me would be Lissa. When we got to the location Robin specified, I noticed there was a group of what looked like Plegian soldiers standing guard near an abandoned shack. Motioning for Lissa to stay quiet, I moved closer to the shack, getting within a few feet of it, I could hear the sounds of someone yelling for help. It sounded vaguely familiar, but there was no time to worry about such things now.
Sneaking up on the shack with Lissa in tow, I moved to a closer vantage point, getting within a few feet of the men standing guard. I unsheathed my dagger and sword preparing to strike. It was going to be difficult taking out the four of them together, in realizing this, I picked up a rock from the ground and threw it near a bush to the side. Hitting the bush, a clamor of noise was heard that drew the attention of the guards with one of them telling the others to check it out. As I watched the three guards stalk towards the location of the noise, I moved in to take out the remaining guard. Giving a dagger a throw, it embedded itself into the guard's head causing him to fall forward, where I moved to catch his falling body. With his body in my arms, I moved it into the bush I was in previously to conceal his body from the others.
With a look around the shack, one of the solders yelled out, "Hey, where'd you go, boss ain't going to be happy you skipped out on guarding this here woman!"
As the other guards went looking for their missing friends, I surveyed the locations of the remaining guards. One of them took up the position of their now deceased comrade, and the other two were patrolling around calling out his name. Taking out my bow, I made swift work of the meandering men, and turned my attention to the last remaining guard after disposing of the last two bodies. I motioned to Lissa to come closer, and walking side by side we greeted the last remaining guard.
"Alright there buddy, now I got two things to tell you. First, you can just leave peacefully and I won't even bother trying to kill you, or you can make your last stand here and be gutted like a pig."
"Ha, you won't get out of this alive, Ylissean dog, it's four against two and you don't stand a chance." With that being said, I moved the bush hiding the bodies of his comrades and with a quickly paling face he responded
"You'll have to go through me, there's no life for me if I retreat anyway."
As his eyes steeled for the coming fight, I sighed and held my blades firm in my hand. With a charge he came running at me, but his fear of death was quite clear, I could taste it in the air. Using the back of my blade, I knocked him out and left his body sitting in the bush with the other three. On the bright side, you can't blame him for being knocked out; hopefully he'll do the smart thing and start a new life. Searching through the bodies, I found the key leading to the knocked shack and moved to open it. Surprised was the first thing that came to mind, because the person that we were trying to rescue turned out to be none other than Maribelle.
"Oh, Arthur, it appears you have a knack for rescuing ladies it seems."
"It's what I do best," I told her with a grin spreading across my face. As we finished with pleasantries, Lissa came forward and gave her a large hug; they must be childhood friends I noted. As the two of them hugged it out, the sound of thundering footsteps could be heard, turning in that direction I noticed a few things. There was a boy I seemed to recall from that large hat running towards us, a group of rather nasty looking Plegians were trailing behind, and he was calling for help.
"Uh ladies, you might want to postpone your reunion with each other until we get out of here safely," getting their attention to direct it at the oncoming horde of soldiers. Taking quick measure of the weapons they were carrying, the boy with the hat's name suddenly came to mind.
"Ricken, that you, what are you doing here?"
"I came to help!"
Although I could appreciate the sentiment, I vaguely remember hearing that we weren't supposed to let Ricken fight yet, since he was considered too young. Seeing as he's here now, there's nothing I can do about it, so might as well make the best of this situation. Motioning him to duck, I let loose a couple arrows hoping to thin their numbers before they got here. Of the dozen running towards us, I managed to tag four of them with arrows, some hitting their legs causing them to topple over and in the chest puncturing a lung making them bleed out slowly. I told Lissa and Maribelle to take cover behind me and provide support when needed.
With Ricken next to me, we took on the remaining eight soldiers. Unsheathing my sword, and my daggers, I prepared for combat. One of the more angry looking soldiers charged at me first, clumsily baying for blood like a rabid animal. He appeared to be overriding his fear of death with the adrenaline of combat. Ducking under his first swing, I cut the tendons in his arm causing them to become useless as they fell to his sides. Giving him a good but to the head with the handle of my dagger, I moved on to my next opponent.
There were about six more of them, taking note of the smashed corpse probably after taking a hit from the spells Ricken was throwing out. Turning my attention back to the enemies, I narrowly dodged a sword blow aimed at my neck. Bracing myself, I turned to my attacker who was carrying a pole arm. Taking his weapon into consideration, I rushed him as quick as I could to get within the safe zone that would make it difficult to attack me. Driving my dagger into his heart, with a yell, he collapsed, his breath becoming more ragged as his life slipped away. Slowly, I pulled the dagger out of his chest before taking a blow to the head from a wooden spoon. Wait what, a spoon? Why does it hurt so much, Looking up I took another hit to the head and a kick to the chest, winding me.
"You gonna die pretty boy, gonna pay for killing my friends."
"Hey there big guy, let's take a second to talk about this."
I tried distracting him hoping to buy myself enough time to regain my breath. As he moved in to finish me off, I watched as it came crashing down. Course in the next moment I was still awake so that counted for something. It appears Lissa decided to strike him in the back of the head, knowing how much that hurt the last time she hit me, I felt sorry for the guy, but he's still alive at least.
"Thanks Lissa, thought I was a goner there, glad to know you have my back."
"Glad to help Arthur."
After regaining my breath, I took a look at the number of enemies remaining, and only saw two more of them who were in the middle of trying to take Ricken down. Watching him duck and weave due to his small size was quite interesting; he made full use of his smaller stature to full advantage and when they got tired he would blast them with the occasional wind tome. Deciding to make it easier, I took out my bow and notched an arrow. I fired at the one who wasn't hit by Ricken's spell, with his back turned he was an easy target, as the arrow flew true knocking him over. With only one soldier remaining I charged forward with my sword and grabbed his shoulder forcing him into the blade, as the blade entered his body, it let out a satisfying schlunk.
"Now that that's taken care of let's get back to the others before more of them join the party."
"That sounds like a splendid plan, Arthur; let us make haste before more ruffians show up indeed."
Setting out to the meeting point, we arrived just before the others. Taking stock of the expressions on their face I could tell something bad happened during our fight with the Plegians.
"Okay guys, judging by the looks on your faces something bad happened, well let's hear it no point leaving the rest of us in the dark." Turning to Robin, I instead got my answer from Chrom
"Were at war Arthur, it seems old blood has caused strife to build between Ylisse and Plegia."
"Well that sounds serious, we have a plan?"
"Of course we do, we don't give in, but first we have to tell my sister about this and see what her opinion of it is." With that we started traveling back to Ylisse without even a break. Well I guess times are tough when you've got a war on your hands.
Traveling through the road, I decided to strike up a conversation with Lissa and Maribelle.
"So how long have you guys known each other?"
"Oh I've been with Lissa since she was a child darling and have watched her grow into the lady she is today, although her manners could use a little work."
"Hey, don't listen to her Arthur my manners are fine, I just like to pull the occasional prank or two."
"Ha-ha, I can understand that Lissa, I like to pull pranks on people too, recently I find pranking Robin is pretty funny."
"I totally get that, she makes that great face when she's pranked right?"
"That's pretty much what I do it for, her face makes my day."
"Would you too kindly stop reminiscing on being like children?"
Turning to Maribelle at the same time, and with a pout on both are faces we told her, "but it's fun Maribelle, what's wrong with doing something fun, you're not going to tell us to stop are you?"
"Oh I wouldn't dream of it dear, it's just a lady should hold herself with much higher respect darling"
"Ah there's no harm in it, besides I think Lissa's fine the way she is, bright and happy, no need to go around pulling teeth. Besides we already have you as the refined lady Maribelle."
"Yeah, I like myself; as long as it puts a smile on my friend's faces then I'm happy."
"Alright enough about that, let's talk about something more fun."
"Oh do you mean the bits and pieces of table etiquette which is such a grand topic, where to start."
"Ya, I was thinking more on the lines of what prank we should pull on Robin next." I declared noting the disappointed sigh Maribelle gave at the mention of another prank. I tried reassuring her that this was a worthy endeavor and to wait until after she sees Robin's reaction.
"Oh hey, why not prank her with one of the classics, like an exploding can?"
"Hmm, I don't know, we should go for something much grander, something that she'll never see coming."
"I hope this prank is worth this face you speak of, since we are taking up our dear tactician's time."
"Oh trust us Maribelle, when you get to see the face she makes you'll have a good laugh, probably the best laugh you've had in days. Now here's the plan, it's genius I tell you genius."
"What's wrong Robin, you're shivering, and did you happen to catch a cold?"
"Oh no, it's not that Chrom, I just had a strange feeling someone was talking about me, and I got the sense that whatever it is, it can't be good."
"Well I'll keep you safe no matter the odds."
"Thanks I appreciate that Chrom, but my gut tells me I better be prepared, just hope it's not another of their pranks."
"Oh, do you happen to mean my sister and Arthur?"
"Who else could I mean, they're the only ones that love to prank others, I just hope they never team up one of these days, or it'll be the end of me that's for sure."
"Hmm, can't be all that bad since they are doing it in good fun Robin."
"Oh you don't know the half of it Chrom, just wait till they prank you one of these days, maybe Arthur and Lissa will finally let up a bit."
So we've just returned to Ylisse and apparently the rest of the Shepherds are allowed to go about the rest of the day seeing as it was only noon. Thinking about how to spend the rest of my time, a certain red head came careening into my vision. The next thing I know I'm looking straight into the face of a certain merchant with quite a sly looking grin on her face.
"Alright Arthur, I think it's time you repaid that debt now. "I get it Anna, shall we go then milady?" Knowing when to give up, I offered my hand, which she took with quite a grip, felt like she was trying to prevent me from running away. I had a creeping suspicion she had something planned for the two of us. Walking through the town with Annie was pretty bizarre. I didn't hate it, because for the most part I sort of found it interesting like I was finding out more about it. One thing for certain, she really loves money, whether it's earning it or appraising something of value. The odd thing about this was, I felt at peace walking around town with Anna, which in itself was a surprise. The answer to my earlier question came quite abruptly, when we were inside of a cake shop.
"And this is our final stop of the day Arthur." A cake shop, guess everyone likes spending money on sweets, so what's it going to be Anna every cake in the shop?"
"Hmm, nothing like that, just something in the back that I reserved." With that said, she let out a loud wolf whistle; this caused someone looking just like Anna to pop out from the back.
"Ha, Anna I was wondering when you'd get here, is this the one you were talking about then?"
"Is this the one you mentioned in your letter Anna?"
"This would be him, his name's Arthur. A man of average height, with a lean build due to his many years of traveling, with senses honed by countless battles with bandits. His defining features would be his raven black hair, kind brown eyes, and angular jawline. What people remember mostly about him is his personality, where it can drive him to action. He is driven by a moral code that punishes the ones against his sense of justice and forces him to fight for the weak."
Interrupting her rather intense speech describing yours truly, I asked her, "umm Anna how come you're describing my features to your twin sister, can't she see me." The way she replied to my question sent shivers down my spine.
"Oh I'm just making sure the family is ready for you."
"Umm, should I be worried?"
"Hmm, there's nothing for you to worry about Arthur, it's just so my family's prepared for you."
"Well alright, I trust you Anna, so what should we do now, introduce me to your mother?"
"Oh, moving a little quick there, but you're not ready for that shock yet, I was thinking more along the lines of strolling through town enjoying cake."
"You had me at cake."
What followed was a relaxing walk through town as we munched on desserts. I especially like the custard filled ones. Apparently, I was making the same blissful face I made while I enjoyed breakfast at the inn, so she found out I had a big sweet tooth, hopefully that doesn't bite me later. As we returned to the barracks, I noticed we got a few winks and raised eyebrows, at some point we were holding hands. I don't recall that happening though, the cakes must have distracted me, in my embarrassment I thanked Anna for the great time and moved to check my room.
Changing to a more comfortable set of cloths, I put on a simple cotton over shirt, and cloth pants. Then I checked my tools' condition and some of my other gears, finding them in order, I opened my chest where I kept my gold. Shock, followed by a dark rage at who would dare take from me everything, until I noticed a note attached to the bottom.
Hey Arthur
If you're reading this then you noticed all your gold is missing, but
Don't fret I'm simply keeping it so you don't waste it on any useless
purchases
Robin
Brow knitting, I decided she took it too far, my purchases are not stupid, my sweet expenses are sensible and sane even if I may have bought enough to purchase a sword or two. Racing through the hallways, the courtyard, and the rooms, I settled on Robin sitting in her desk writing something in her book. Just as I was about to enter her room and demand my sweets gold back, I was struck in the face.
Wiping the pieces of pie out of my face, I stuck some of its pieces into my mouth, custard a classic. I directed my attention to the now laughing Lissa and Robin; I felt betrayed and made sure she knew.
"Lissa, how could you, I trusted you, we were going to be prank buddies."
"Oh Arthur, I just couldn't help it, you know me, I'm not one to turn down a good prank. Especially, when I get to find people you make funny faces, like you and Robin."
"Were still on for our other plan though right?"
"Course I wouldn't give it that chance for anything." Turning to Robin I decided to congratulate her on getting a pie in my face, by making me rush into it with a ruse.
"That was pretty good Robin, alright you got me, now what?"
"Now Arthur, I return your gold, and you can put one point for Robin."
"Ah, tricky tricky, alright, but just so you know this isn't over, more will come, and you should be prepared, also Lissa your fair game too."
"Hey, I was only joining in Arthur, but hey the more the merrier." With the gauntlet being thrown, I grabbed my gold in a sack Robin left on the table and made my way outside. Walking through the courtyard I took a break breather on a bench to decide what to do for the rest of the day.I decided to pay another visit to the cake shop so picking myself off the bench I got moving. As I walked through the courtyard, I came across someone sitting in a bush; I don't remember seeing him before.
"Hey there, what are you doing sitting in that bush, admiring the leaves?"
"Hmm, oh uh, I was checking the leaves yeah, got to make sure their healthy, complicated stuff."
"Oh, well I was looking for some company, about to get some sweets myself want to come with when you're done? At the mention of the words sweets, I noticed his ears perked up like a dog's would at the mention of food. Seems he was stuck between finishing his job and sating his sweet tooth. So I edged him on, by telling him all about the myriad of desserts just waiting to be eaten.
"Ah what the hay, let's go, didn't want to do this job anyway, alright lead the way."
"Great, come on let's go, don't want them to run out." With that, we made our way through town to the bakery. Through the bustling streets filled with crowds finishing their shopping for the day, and milling about after a day of work. As we neared the bakery, I pulled out my sack of gold, to make sure all the gold was there and Robin hadn't played another prank on me, thankfully everything was there.
"Alright here we are, as a gift from me to you for accompanying a lonely man on his journey to engross his sweet tooth, I'll pay for it."
"Appreciate it," he said with some gusto in his voice, in which we proceeded to buy enough sugar filled pastries to cover a table. They came in all sorts of shapes and sizes, the creams and sugars would collide against my taste buds in sweet bliss. The smooth chocolate, the aromatic vanilla, the many flavors came together creating a taste sensation that drove my mouth mad. Calmly, we ate in peace no words being needed to communicate our thoughts as we let our joyful expressions talk for us.
"Oh I never caught your name, Mr. Leaves are interesting."
"Ha-ha, alright enough with the nicknames, the name's Gaius, resident roguish thief for hire and lover of all that is sweet."
"Pleasure to meet you Gaius; I'm Arthur, lover of fine confections and an occasional hunter of bandits."
"If you like sweets wait till you have a taste of this."
With excitement, Gaius pulled out a confection he was hiding from within his person somewhere; I was amazed that they were kept in such good condition, without being crushed when he moved about. Grasping his proffered confection, I first took a whiff of it; it smelled like fresh vanilla with a hint of cinnamon and nutmeg. Next, I took a small tentative bite to get an idea of its taste and texture. The taste was incredible, it was a nice sweet flavor with a bite from the nutmeg that seemed to wrap around my taste buds. The texture was like velvet, soft and smooth as I bit down on it. To put it simply, it was divine, I spent a good minute savoring that one piece before, popping the rest of it into my mouth where it traveled to my waiting gullet.
"That was incredible, the taste, the texture, the aroma, it blended together to form a masterpiece in the realm of confections." I praised it as tears welled up in my arms.
"Thanks for the compliment Arthur; it's a rare joy to be able to share these with someone that has a sweet tooth as big as mine."
"Wouldn't it be better to collect the recipes?"
"Ah, I don't know how to use the kitchen for the life of me."
"Oh, well I have enough skill in the kitchen to do some things; anyway if you have the recipe I can make some more of the treats, that way you don't have to hide them all the time."
"That's a nice offer there Peppy."
"Hmm, my name's Arthur if you forgot."
"Nah, that's alright Peppy, it just fits you, I give friends of mine nicknames, and it's what I do."
"Well alright no harm in that sweety." Okay that may not have been the best nickname, judging by Gaius's strange expression that may have been a little awkward.
"Okay Peppy, calm down that was a little weird."
"Let's just forget I said anything Gaius, I'll just leave the nicknames to you. So want me to escort you back to the castle, I'm staying near there anyway."
"Sounds good, though it's probably over by now, but what the hay, may as well pretend I was there the whole time if it isn't."
"Hmm alright, then onwards my fellow compatriot to the castle were our destiny waits."
So we set off back to the castle, I'll have to see about getting a prank planned for Lissa too. Walking through the streets of Ylisse at this time of night, there were rarely any people milling about, they seemed to all have moved indoors, to either sleep after a long day, or relax with loved ones. As we neared the castle I noticed that the usually stationed guards weren't anywhere to be seen. Something strange was going on I could definitely feel it. I immediately set off to find Robin in the courtyard with Gaius trailing behind me.
As I entered the courtyard, I was met with a very familiar mask that I could place on only one person. With myself bursting through the doors, after rushing through the halls, all eyes turned to me. There seemed to be a palpable silence in the air, as if I was interrupting a very delicate moment. Trying to diffuse the situation I greeted my old friend as calmly as I could.
"Hey there Mar Mar, long time no see, glad to see your still being all mysterious and masked." There was a slight gasp from the others in the room as I greeted my friend, with Chrom just about breathing down my neck for answers.
"You know Marth, Arthur why didn't you say anything about it?"
"You mean at the arena, when I was on his team, that's because you never asked."
"Alright, moving on, what do you mean there's going to be an assassination?"
"That on this night, there's going to be an attempt on your sister's life, that could tip the scales of the balance in this world. I'm here to put a stop to it so the future is no longer doomed."
"How can I believe you came from the future and know all this?" That was a weird question, so not only is he masked and mysterious, but a time traveler too. Well that's pretty interesting to say the least.
"I'm about to save your life from him." Marth nodded towards the bush behind him, as if on cue, a robed assassin came bursting out of the brush, sword readied and charging towards him. Marth flew through the air, landing behind him to catch him off guard, and slash him across the back taking him out in one fluid move. It was beautiful to watch him perform such a graceful attack, it made me forget about the purpose of it for a second. I decided to clap to which got a snicker out of Robin.
"I believe this proof shall suffice?" Before Chrom could respond, I decided to move things along.
"Bravo bravo, you came from the future, now what, do we all die tonight or do you have a plan?"
Before Marth could respond, out of nearby bush, came another assassin, sprinting towards Marth, I began to move. As he moved to dodge, his foot fell on the blade of the last assassin causing him to slip, on the bright side it made the assassin's blade missed, however it did slash his mask. As the assassin tried to regain his footing for another strike, I threw a dagger aimed at his neck, finishing him before he could recover. As I walked over to the downed body to retake my dagger, I noticed Robin and Chrom with their wide eyed stares and hanging mouths.
"What happened, what's with your faces you guys see a ghost or something?" Chrom grabbed the side of my head and directed it at a blue haired woman standing where Marth should have been. Where Marth should have been, stood instead, a blue haired woman wearing his clothes and carrying his sword.
"You're a woman?"
"And apparently quite the actress too, I'm surprised it took you this long to notice." Wasn't that surprised to be honest, since I did have my suspicions, but hey that's what the mask is for, so there must have been some reason she didn't want anyone to find out. While she finished explaining to us what that meant, I turned to Gaius and pried him for some more information.
"So Gaius, mind telling me what you were really doing in that bush."
"No need to get all defensive Peppy, I'm over that now, didn't really want to hurt you guys anyway, you seem like nice people. Besides I'd rather eat sweets then waste my time doing work."
"True true, I can relate to that, so I'll assume you're gonna help us out though."
"Course, couldn't let my sweets eating buddy die on me."
"Glad to know you care Gaius."
Alright I'm currently running through the halls, apparently I'm on guard duty since I'm use to picking people off with a bow and sneaking around the dark. Though I like to think of myself as more of a shadowy crusader then some cloaked assassin. Anyway, I got to talk to Emmeryn for once, so that was interesting. It's pretty boring so far though. I don't see anything, I can hear fighting though, wonder what other sweets Gaius hides under his clothes though.
My thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of padded footsteps. Hearing the noise, I crept into a suitable corner to make myself harder to detect. Out of a nearby corner, came a rather strange looking person. She looked feminine with the protrusions coming from the chest, but what was strange were the rabbit ears and lack of human ears. She stopped outside Emmeryn's room, so I assumed she wasn't a threat. Sneaking up on her, I decided to scare her a bit for my amusement. Moving closer, I got within a few feet of her before getting ready to give her a jump.
"Would you not play your childish games?"
"Oh, what gave me away, I thought I was being sneaky."
"The Taguel's ears are more honed to the sounds of the world than a human's."
"Ah, well then that plan's a bust, well seeing as you haven't attacked me yet, what are you here for, oh rabbit eared one."
With a slight frown at her nickname, "I've come to aid you against this devious plot to eliminate your ruler that so many are fond of."
"Well alright, I'm on guard duty, so I guess every bit of help counts."
We spent the next couple of minutes, in dull silence. I tried breaking it every once in a while with some silliness, but she would brush it off. Well that's no fun; I have to break her cool demeanour someday. While thinking about how bored I was getting, my thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of running footsteps. I motioned for her to stay quiet while I waited for them to round the corner.
They came charging down the hallways like mad dogs. Not sure how they found out which room was Emmeryn's already, but the imminent arrival several soldiers didn't give me any time to ponder on that subject. Hurrying back to the rabbit eared stranger, I told her of the oncoming threat as I concealed myself in the corner again awaiting their arrival. In a moment they came through the door, as they looked around for Emmeryn, I made my move. Withdrawing my daggers, I aimed for their necks and chests, as I threw them. One was struck in the chest, collapsing his lung and putting him down in time, the other dagger missed by a hairs breadth as they turned on me.
There were still three more soldiers to take care of as I took out my sword. Moving to strike, I never got the chance to. Something furry and huge came brambling out of nowhere and knocked them all down, it looked ferocious, but at the same time quite majestic. I spent a good amount of time staring before I realized the woman was in front of me again closing my mouth.
"Do try to stay focused or you'll lose your head."
"Oh, yeah sorry about that, it's just you can transform?"
"All Taguel can use the power of beast stones to morph into our beast forms."
"That's so awesome; you've got to let me see sometime. I always wanted to ride a giant rabbit." I said with a rather blissful smile on my face. Which I got laughter for, well at least I made her laugh. Anyway we should probably check on the others.
"You mind guarding Emmeryn, while I go check on the others?"
"I do not mind human, go about your business."
"I'm named Arthur by the way."
"Panne is my name."
Well alright then, I know her name now, sounds pretty strange when I think about it, but I guess that's okay, especially when you're not human. As I continued walking down the corridors, I noticed that for the most part, I couldn't hear the sounds of clashing blades, ragged breaths, and pained cries. Guess most of the battle is over with then if I can't hear the sounds of battle. So I picked up speed and searched through the castle for the others, that's when I got to the library. All the noise I was making must have attracted a lot of attention because before I knew it, there were seven Plegians following me. Well then, don't assume you've won until you've actually won Arthur. Since I was still wearing a hood and didn't stand out too much as an Ylissean, I tried to play myself off as on their side.
"Hey fellas, why are you following me, don't you have a princess to chase?"
"I thought you were some Ylissean dog, but you must be Gaius, our hired rouge eh." Thank the hood, they don't actually know what Gaius looks like, lucky.
"Yep that's me Gaius, anyway I saw the princess go through the courtyard." As I pointed them towards the courtyard, I slowly unsheathed my daggers. With their heads simultaneously turning towards the direction I pointed towards, I attacked. Slicing through the first two and moving towards the last five, I managed to nick one of them in the arm, but it wasn't enough.
"Get the traitor, use his blood for paint!"
"As much as I'd love to be used as paint, I've got things to do so ta-ta!"
I ran for dear life, as I was chased by the five remaining soldiers. Hoping someone would notice the predicament I was in, I ran past the courtyard towards Panne. Before reaching Panne, I heard a familiar yell telling me to duck, so I fell to the floor and laid myself flat. A second later, a rather huge fireball past by over my head, it singed my clothes and made me sweat just from the proximity of it to myself. The five soldiers weren't so lucky, being reduced to ashes the moment it hit them. As I patted myself clean from the dirty ground, Robin came into view just as I was about clean.
"Alright Arthur, mind explaining why you're not with Emmeryn?"
"Don't worry about that Robin; I left a bunny in charge of guarding her. It'll be fine what could go wrong."
"Arthur, sometimes I really do want to throttle you, how can a bunny possibly guard her?"
"Well when the bunny's as smart as a person, the size of a cart, and on our side, I think it can do a mighty fine job guarding one itsy bitsy princess."
"Alright fine, I trust you Arthur, you haven't let me down before."
"Oh Robin, would I ever let you down, I'm the very face of honesty."
"Okay, ignoring those pranks you've pulled on me sure, let's just get moving."
With our conversation done, Robin led me to where the others were, apparently pushing the last of the invaders out of the castle. I told her I had to handle some business before I would catch up with her. So moving on to the side where I saw a familiar figure prepared to depart again, I stopped them. Placing my hands in front of her eyes, I said in a tone as close to Lissa's as I could.
"Guess who!"
"Let me think, it's Arthur isn't it."
"Ohh, how did you guess, it wasn't my voice was it?"
"No, it was rather close to Lissa's if that's a compliment. It came down to the fact that there's only one person I know that turns any situation into a joke even if it's serious."
"Well you caught me, but Mar Mar you couldn't possibly think of leaving without saying good bye to little ol me could you?"
"I wouldn't miss it for the world Arthur."
"Well good, before you go off and be mysterious again, take this its dangerous to go alone." I said with mock warning. Since, the item in my hand wasn't actually anything that could possibly help anyone in a dangerous situation unless you were attacked by wild dogs.
"Oh it's a cake, thanks Arthur."
"Don't let the frosting melt, and you look nice without the mask Mar Mar."
"Eh hmm, alright then I'll be off then, maybe well see each other again." I saw Marth off as she hastily made her way out of the castle. Then realization struck me, I was supposed to be doing something. Must not have been that important if I forgot about it. So I decided to head back to Panne and see if I could get her to transform so I could ride her. Moving through the courtyard, I was greeted to the sight of Robin and man did she look tired.
"Hey Robin, you're not looking so great, what happened?"
"I was waiting for you Arthur." Now I remember, I was supposed to go back to the others with Robin and explain the bunny.
"Oh, yeah my bad, I forgot about what I was doing before, sorry."
"It's fine, let's just get a move on." So we headed off back to the others. Passing by hallways, and courtyards, I could see the extent of damage the battle had caused. There were smashed windows and arrows in many places. Pieces of burnt rubble, and possibly human remains that were cooked to a cinder. The sights of corpses scattered about where the most grueling, they ranged from badly maimed one's with broken heads, missing arms to subtle ones like pierced chests and slashed necks. It was going to take a while to clean this mess up that's for sure. By the time we got to Chrom and the others, I noticed the sun was beginning to rise. I haven't even had any sleep yet, hopefully I would get to actually sleep in a real bed for once.
"Welcome back Robin, I see you went to fetch Arthur."
"I did, and he has an interesting story to tell."
"Way to make it sound like it's all my fault."
"Well it was your job."
"Alright, now don't freak out, but I left guarding Emmeryn to a giant bunny."
"I hope I heard you wrong Arthur, it sounded like you said something crazy."
"Okay, in my defense she did save my life, so I assume she was on our side."
"So you're telling me, you let some strange giant bunny who you don't know guard my sister?"
"Well if you put it that way, it sounds bad, but yeah."
So Chrom dashed off to where we left his sister, with me trailing behind, trying to calm him down and reassure him it was fine. He would have none of it, since he kept running. Please be right Panne, don't be doing anything bad now, you're half bunny, there's no way you could be evil. When we crashed open the door leading to Emmeryn's chambers I was in shock before me was the most evil sight I had ever witnessed. There on the floor was Panne in bunny form, but that's not what shocked me, it was the fact that Emmeryn was on top of her. Regaining my senses, I rushed over to them and complained.
"What Panne, I thought you didn't want anyone to ride you, how come you let Emmeryn do it?"
"Because Arthur, you're going to do more than just sit on top of me aren't you."
"Uhh, well I was just thinking of it," she started giving me a glare that broached no lies, "alright I admit it I was going for much more."
"That's why I wouldn't let you ride me." As our conversation ended, I watched as Chrom was set laughing, probably from the fact that instead of being in danger, Emmeryn was sitting on top of a large bunny that Arthur was envious of.
"Good evening, Chrom I see you've been doing well."
"As to you sister, hopefully Arthur wasn't too rough in guarding you."
"Arthur is a very calming presence, and was glad to have him."
"Oh thanks, Emmy, you were the funniest person I had to guard."
"Hey, Arthur, that's the exalt your talking to, show some respect."
"It is fine Chrom, I wouldn't want to pull any teeth, besides, it's how Arthur shows friendship towards others."
"I'm glad you understand me so well." I said with a large grin on my face. With that business concluded we headed to the throne room where everyone was waiting. As we collected together I saw the weary faces over the room, and the gloom that was in the air was palpable. The effect of realizing we were at war, was dawning on everyone in the room I suspected. Robin was the one to announce our next step from here on in.
"Alright I know your all tired, but were going to first, march Emmeryn towards a new hideout safer than the capital, and second were going to leave this castle in the next couple moments." I knew sleeping in a real bed was a pipe dream, I could see my hopes crumbling as everyone began preparing for travel.
"Hey, cheer up Arthur, you'll get to sleep in a bed someday."
"You just don't get it do you Lissa, I spent years, traveling around sleeping on anything from rocks, to bug infested forest. But when you get to sleep in a bed, it is like bliss, after a long day of travel, getting the chance to properly sleep for once being whisked away hurts..." I guess at some point, the rest of the group decided to leave Arthur to Lissa, since she was the only one listening to me rant about how different bed sheets gave you different feelings.
"Hey Arthur, instead of talking about beds, why don't you just lay down in the trade caravan?"
"With Anna." I said with some fear, indicating what that entailed with some volume.
"Oh what's wrong are you scared she's going to make you pay for it?"
"Oh that's not what I'm afraid of Lissa, there's something much scarier than that."
"Hey, why don't you tell me about how you met Marth anyway."
"Oh, how do you know Mar Mar anyway Lissa?"
"Oh, well she did save me once, when I was about to be hit by some evil risen. She was so heroic, swooshing in at the last moment, and saving me from its blade. Anyway, how come you were fighting with Marth in the arena anyway?"
"Oh that's a long story, but to summarize, I owed someone Basilio a favor and he was calling it in, except I didn't know I was going to be fighting in the arena at the time."
"That must have been confusing, being asked to do something that you weren't expecting."
"It was not a big deal, I didn't mind besides I got to meet you guys right?"
"Hey you right, you've been pretty fun to have Arthur, even if Robin calls you annoying I'm sure deep down shes glad to have you."
"That's what I'm here for Lissa, anyway we should probably hurry up since we've started to lag behind them." I indicated towards the other shepherds who were way ahead of us. As we jogged to catch up to the rest of them, I heard a call come from behind us. It sounded like someone was trying to warn us of something. Running up to Robin and Chrom, I got their attention and directed it behind us were a single Pegasus knight could be seen flying towards us. She made a gallant figure, wearing a silver chest plate that seemed quite well made and ornate and her hair was a striking red color that was similar to Anna's. She rode on a majestic Pegasus, as clean and strong looking as Sumia's and her face seemed to be set in a stern frown as she flew towards us.
Alright so now were getting ready for another fight, apparently the other knights were ambushed and most of them were killed off, but they allowed Cordelia enough time to escape and warn us. The worst part of that was, they captured Emmeryn somehow and now they're coming for us. So, while Robin and Chrom went off to make their plans as the enemy approached. I went to find Anna, to see if I could manage to get a new bow and sword since mine were nearly broken with cracks running through them. Looking for her trademark red hair, I found her near the trade caravan that she happens to own.
"Hey, Anna you mind selling me a new sword and bow?"
"Sure Arthur, I've got a fine selection of bows ranging from bronze to steel, and the swords are in the bins over there take your pick." She gestured to the large array of weapons all over the bin. I made my way towards the bow rack first. Hovering over the assortment of bows and the price tags on each of them, I picked out a sturdy looking steel bow and paid her the required bits. She smiled at the coins being dropped into her pouch. I laughed for a bit at that, in which she responded with a cleared throat. Getting to the sword filled bin, I noticed something strange, there was a cloth covering an ornate looking blade that seemed to be made of a metal that I haven't ever seen before. Picking it up I heard a shout from Anna before everything went black.
As the darkness receded from my vision, I noticed that I wasn't in Anna's tent anymore. I was staring up at the rafters of the medical tent. As I pushed myself up from the cot, I was greeted to the sight of a bunch of worried faces. Lissa gave me a warm hug and a great big sigh as I untangled myself from her and asked,
"What happened?" I asked directing my attention to Robin.
"Anna says that sword was cursed and should not have been in that barrel."
"What," I responded in disbelief. I was unsure of what to make of these events. I was filled with questions that needed answers to if I was going to be okay mentally. "What happened to the sword?"
"It's beside your bed," Robin indicated towards the sheathed blade leaning on the side of the bed. As I moved to pick it up, I felt a strange pressure coming from my head, as if I was underwater. It was suffocating, but at the same time felt comforting. Unsheathing the blade, I noted that it didn't look any different than it did when I picked it up in the barrel. "I need to find Anna, thanks for taking care of me guys."
"Oh don't thank us, it was mostly Lissa that took care of you after Anna told us what happened." Hearing that I turned to Lissa, and gave her a pat on the head.
"Hey, I hope you're not treating me like a kid Arthur." She said in a manner more fitting of a small child, though it did make me want to give her a hug.
"Wouldn't dream of it Lissa, but I do mean to thank you and if there's anything I can do to make it up to you just name it." With a final nod and an okay from Lissa, I ran through the camp looking for Anna. I found her making some sales to the other shepherds, but when she saw me she shooed them away.
"Hey Anna, so mind explaining to me the story behind this sword?"
"Yep about that I'm not sure how that got there, I was pretty sure I put it in storage, I'm really sorry about what happened."
"Ah, don't worry about it Anna, I'm not angry, I'm much more curious than angry at this point. So back to what I asked, could you tell me about the sword?"
"Oh, well sure, I don't mind, but it does get rather dark, are you sure you want to hear about it?"
"Well of course I do, all this is making me even more curious so just tell me already."
"Well alright, as long as you're sure." She cleared her throat as she prepared to describe to me its story. I sat myself down on one of the nearby stools and placed the sword beside me. As I waited with baited breath for her to begin, I anticipated a rather grim tale. Why else would the sword be rumored to be cursed?
"The blade's name is Essence Drinker, Its name originated from the way it gains power from the blood of the one's its slain, It is said to gain power from battle and bloodlust, whether it be from righteous fury or dark intent. The sword finds its new owner by touch and binds itself to their soul until death. The last wielder of the blade was said to be a insane individual that screamed for war and battle wherever he could find it even the blood of innocents were spilled."
"Wait does that mean I'm going to go insane?"
"Hmm, you've got to let me finish first then you'll be able to decide."
"Alright alright, I'll let you continue."
"Thanks, anyway, not all wielders have been driven to madness of course, there have been some that have been able to maintain their sanity and even purge the corrupt. I've never wielded it myself of course, but I have heard stories about the sword speaking to its owner."
I was stuck in thought about what to do with this situation, what do I do in this situation. In truth, I don't really feel like this is that bad of a situation. I mean not only did I just acquire an unbreakable blade, but it's got a really cool story to come with it. I felt sort of strange as if something interesting had just happened. I said my thanks to Anna and moved through the camp with the blade in its sheath at my side. I slung my bow and quiver around my back and set off for a walk. I needed to clear my mind of such thoughts. Walking through the forest, I was interrupted by Gaius.
"Need some company there Peppy?"
"Oh hey Gaius, I could use a good friend."
"Hey don't worry about it, I'm sure you'll be fine, you're not going to go crazy and starts massacring us all, besides I'm sure were more than capable of stopping you."
"Oh that's not what I'm worried about, it's just Anna told me the sword talks to its wielders, so I was sort of concerned about what that would be like, but I get what you're saying Gaius, thanks."
"Ah what are buddies for, anyway to celebrate your return to the world of the living, here's one a cake from my secret stash."
"Thanks Gaius, by the way they never told me, but how long have I been out for?"
"Oh, you were knocked out for about two days; we put you on the trade wagon with Anna, and were going to head into the desert next."
"Two days huh, well at least it wasn't any longer."
We spent the rest of the time strolling through the forest, as my mood slowly improved. I saw Gaius off to bed, and decided what to do next. I wasn't tired yet because I was sleeping for the past two days anyway. Moving to a remote area, I unsheathed Essence Drinker and took a scrutinizing look at it. It was a finely crafted looking blade, with an ornate handle covered in strange red cloth over the grip, and a purple blade that seemed almost black, as the sinister wave pattern on the blade gave it an evil appearance. The cross guard was a deep black, that seemed to devour light. I took a few practice swings and spent the rest of the night waving it around. I vowed that no matter what happened, I'd die before hurting my friends.
"Oh gods, it's so hot, how long is it Robin please, I'm dying I can't walk any further."
"Quiet Arthur, there are a few villages we can make a stop at soon, so just be quiet before I sick Fredrick on you." I remained quiet at that, the thought of imposing Fredrick hanging by my side, sent chills down my spine. I'd seen him in battle, no matter who he was against regardless of weapon; he would demolish them like an ocean tide, unstoppable and relentless. So I continued to trudge through the desert sand and hot sun, the fatigue and heat was getting to me. My legs felt like giving out with each step and it only got worse as my parched throat begged for water.
Scanning the desert, I noticed a pool of water just off in the distance, in retrospect it may not have been the smartest move at the time being in a desert and all, but I ran towards it. Diving for the water, hoping to finally quench my thirst, I heard yelling from Robin and the others as I made my way over to the pool. When I put my hands into the water, it slowly disappeared, and revealed itself to be simply more desert sand.
"Noooooo," I shouted into the sky, as I agonized over my predicament, I was handed a water skin cask. Overjoyed at the realization that I was able to satisfy my thirst, I drank the whole thing down in one go.
"Eh, you must be quite thirsty to drink so quickly."
"Oh you wouldn't believe it, I've been spending most of today marching through the desert."
"Oh good, well since I've helped you, would you like to help me?"
"Well sure, what do you need me to do?" As I asked that question, my gruff looking savior pointed towards the girl behind him. I think I got it, he wants me to take care of her doesn't he, well I guess I do have a way with kids. Moving towards her, I noted her rather strange appearance, and the ears that seemed to be protrude out from her head.
"Well hey there little girl, do you need help, are you lost in the desert or something?"
"Mmm, I'm not a kid, I'm a full grown adult and older than you."
"Ah I see the desert sun must have gotten to you, here why don't I walk you over to the nearest village and we can find your mommy and daddy." As I moved to take her hand, I was blown off my feet by the arrival of a large dragon. Out of concern I looked around for the little girl that was here earlier, but couldn't seem to find her. Don't tell me she was flattened by the dragon. While I was in the middle of my own thoughts, it was interrupted by the dragon knocking me on my but. With a large explosion, the dragon seemed to morph and change shape back into the form of the recognizable little girl I was looking at earlier.
"Wait, did I just see that happen?" I turned to the gruff man, hoping for an answer to my question, but all I got in response was a nod.
"I'm a Manakete, so I might look like this, but I'm actually over a hundred years old."
"Well then, if that's not why you wanted my help then why point to her."
"I was trying to point behind her." Taking my gaze and directing it to the position he indicated, I noticed a group of black robed individuals making their way towards us. They looked like religious priests who were part of a cult. They carried various tomes and staves and each robe had a strange marking on them that were similar to what Robin seemed to wear.
"Well that makes a lot more sense; I've got a better plan though. We run towards the rocks over there."
"Lissa would you mind getting Arthur to come back, he's probably slouching around in the hot desert sun somewhere after realizing the pool of water was a mirage."
"Sure thing Robin. Hey, I found him he's coming towards us, and he brought people with him."
"What do they look like."
"Well one of them looks like a mercenary and the other is a little girl."
"Why are they running towards us?"
"I'm not sure; it looks like they're running from something, like they're being chased."
"Looks like trouble, alright everyone to arms. We don't know what we're dealing with, but it's enough to make Arthur want to run."
"Why do we run towards rock Arthur?"
"That's why Gregor," as I pointed towards the Shepherds who were now mobilizing for battle. Good to know Robin has enough sense to realize that trouble was approaching. When we finally got close to the others, I quickly introduced Gregor and Nowi to the rest of them and the strange robed individuals I saw whilst running for my life. As we waited behind the rocks to ambush them, I belted Essence drinker to my side. We could feel their footsteps approaching and the tension began to rise as we waited for them to cross our path. Once they came into vision, we struck.
"Attack!"
The shout began the attack, as I moved to struck down the first person I saw with my blade. As we crossed blades, I felt an exhilarating feeling rising from within, as if I had boundless energy to be released and my muscles screamed for action. Slicing through my first victim cleanly, I noticed some of their blood flowed into my sword, but there was no time to think about it now. Cutting down enemy by enemy, I felt more and more powerful with each fallen foe and they in turn rejuvenated my fighting spirit. As the last enemy fell, Robin wanted to discuss what just happened with Chrom and the others, so I made my way over to the campsite that was set up to take a nap before we would have to set off again. My aching body could do with some rest after everything that has happened today.
While lying down in the cot trying to sleep, the feeling from the battle was still within me. It was a feeling of violent carnage, of need for more bloodshed. Now I see how the sword could have driven people to the brink of madness, I need to calm myself down. The only way I could think of to calm down was to eat sweets except I didn't have any on me at the moment so I headed off to beg Gaius for some. On the way there I was interrupted by something hitting me in the head. As I rubbed my forehead of the growing bruise, Nowi came running up to me.
"Sorry Arthur, didn't mean to hit you, I meant to hit that snake over there."
"Ah now worries Nowi, I sort of needed that wakeup call anyway." While talking to Nowi, I had a sudden urge to grasp her in my arms, was this normal? I just felt the need to hold her tight and pretend she was mine for a moment.
"Hey Nowi, you mind if I give you a hug?"
"Umm sure Arthur, I'm always up for hugs."
And so, I hugged Nowi. Man was she small, couldn't really tell before, but she really is small. I could feel the bloodlust recede as I held her in my arms. This is really relaxing. For the moment I Nowi was in my arms, Lissa came walking by and saw us together.
"Hey, I want a hug too."
I don't know what happened, but after some time had passed we ended up with a group hug consisting of a grumpy Panne, disgruntled Gaius, cheery Lissa, springy Nowi, and myself.
"Okay, I'd appreciate it if you'd stop now."
"Oh, someone sounds like they need a hug."
So that continued on for a while longer, on the bright side I got rid of my earlier problem and only at the cost of Gaius not giving me sweets for a week.
So were back to traveling again, apparently Emmeryn is holed up somewhere near an execution ground. Gangrel's a pretty sadistic guy, trying to give her a public execution. I saw Chrom earlier to, he looked pretty shaken up by everything that is going on. We could see a large fortress looking structure built into the sand a few miles away. Robin planned a rather elaborate course of action that we were supposed to take as we neared the structure. Course thats when we noticed the huge mass of enemy troops. This wasn't going to be easy.
"Enemy forces are coming in from behind Robin, and there seems to be a woman fighting some of the enemy soldiers near the ruins."
"Thanks for scouting Arthur"
"Ah no problem I hope you got a plan for this though."
"We'll take them out from the front, full on charge."
"Umm okay well you're our tactician so alright."
"Arthur, I need you to sneak past the other soldiers and see what we're up against using those ruins can you do it?"
"Sure thing boss, I live to serve." I began my trek to the nearby ruins that seemed to surround the entire outside of the mountain wall. Making my way through there I noticed a few enemy archers set off to pick off any oncoming attackers. Taking out my daggers, I surveyed the area and determined they were spaced out far enough that I could take each of them out without them noticing my presence. Creeping through the ruins as quietly as I could, I dispatched each and every one of them in a routine. Sneak up, knife through the ribs, and set down body slowly. As I got to the last archer, I looted his corpse and found a few items of interest. One of them happened to be a battle plan and the various locations of the troops that were placed in defense of the execution grounds. Robin would likely want to have a look at this. Glancing at the numerous names of the different troops in the vicinity. I came upon one that gave me chills, it was her again, I did not have fond memories with a certain individual, hopefully she won't find out I was here. Finishing off with the rest of the ruins, I began to retrace my steps back to the entrance again and back to the Shepherds. Closing in on the exit, I heard the sounds of frantic running and turned my attention to the noise.
In the distance, a blonde haired woman dressed in priest like clothing, was making her way to the ruins I was currently located in. She was being pursued by the Plegian soldiers. Not sure what to do, I went with the fact that since she's being chased by our enemy, she could be considered a friend for now. Notching arrows into my bow, I let loose a shower of arrows aimed at the Plegians chasing her, as they fell to the onslaught of wooden projectiles. I stepped out of the ruins to greet her.
"Good thing I was nearby with a bow in hand."
"Thank you kind stranger, I was hoping to skip effort of having to resort to violence."
"Trying to lose them in the ruins I'm guessing."
"Those were my thoughts yes."
"Well, now that's taken care of, I got to find the rest of my party, found something they might need."
"Would it trouble you if I joined you?"
"Well, we could use all the help we'll need so I'm sure they won't mind, name's Arthur."
"I am called Libra."
"Nice name, sounds really beautiful."
"Sadly I was not born a girl."
"Oh, sorry, I just, it's…"
"No it is alright, I understand that my appearance is more feminine, than most men."
"Right anyway, let's get going before I make a fool of myself."
Heading back to the others, I could notice the amount of carnage and devastation that was caused by the battles being fought. There were scattered bodies of fallen soldiers all over the desert sands, strewn about as if by some mad painter. The locations of small skirmishes could be seen by the roughed up sand and the splashes of red being embedded into the picture. Moving on from that, I followed the signs of carnage to see the others slowly pushing forward through the numerous number of enemy troops.
"Hey Robin, I found something you might be interested in seeing, it's the enemy's battle plan which I happened to have confiscated from one of the soldiers." What followed was Robin scanning over the paper, and making a few affirmative sounds here and there. Unsure of what to do next, Robin fixed that predicament by giving off a few order.
"I want anyone able to use a bow to defend our rear against the enemy reinforcements, and Lissa I want you to support them if they're injured."
So that's how I ended up with Virion of all people, I never really got to know him though, so I guess this was my chance to find out what he's really like. I always found him to be rather pompous, but on the bright side at least Lissa's here too. As I watched the horizon for any sight of a threat. I pondered why Robin only wanted people who could use a bow to defend our rear, wouldn't it be more prudent to have the sturdier fighters in the back I thought. My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of thundering wings flapping in unison. As I directed my attention towards the sound, I was met with the sight of a squadron flying beasts. There was about a dozen winged creatures headed towards us. They were of different species; I could see Gyphons, Wyverns, and Pegasi coming towards us. Their arrival explained why Robin positioned us here.
"Hey Virion I challenge you, whoever shoots down more gets to make the loser follow a single order, you in?"
"Ha, your common archery will be no match for the likes of me, bring it Arthur."
"Hey shouldn't you guys take this a little more seriously?"
"Come on Lissa, a little fun in the midst of combat never hurt anyone."
"Whatever you say Arthur, but Robin expects you to shoot them all."
"No worries Lissa, as long as we're here none shall pass."
Notching an arrow into my steel bow, I fired at the nearest Pegasus. I watched as she attempted to dodge to the right, allowing me to fire another one into the rider on top of the beast. Now rider less the Pegasus landed, unsure of what to do as the body of the soldier tumbled into the sands below. Glancing at the other enemies, I notched a few more arrows and noted that the Wyverns seemed to fly slower than the Pegasus, although they were much more menacing in size. Taking careful aim and steadying my heartbeat as to focus. I fired a few more arrows at the oncoming horde. Luckily, one of the shots managed to hit its intended mark, puncturing the wing of the dragon and causing it to careen towards the ruins with a satisfying crash.
With my first two targets down, I glanced over at Virion for a moment and was amazed at the speed of which he could fire those arrows. Not wanting to lose, I reaffirmed my goal and strove for it. With the horde of enemy flyers nearing we each shot arrow after arrow of our boy, by the time there were only two flyers left in the air, my bow couldn't handle the strain of the continuous fire and the string snapped with a resounding snap. With the original dozen flyers almost gone, I noted that I had only shot down five of them, but being unable to fire another arrow to take out another to tie it up. Virion gave me a rather comical smirk as if to say 'too bad your bow broke, this victory is mine' as he let loose another casual shot to take at another one of the remaining two.
I watched as the final flyer was shot down, and Virion turned to me as if to gloat. What came instead was a simple declaration of victory. I guess he was going to discuss the spoils of victory after this was all over. I could feel a chill creep up my spine from the way he smiled as we walked away from the carnage that was wrought.
"Hey, wait for me," Lissa cried out. I almost forgot about her, since I was concentrating quite hard and couldn't focus on anything else at the time. Waving Virion to go on ahead, I slowed my pace to match Lissa's.
"Oh sorry Lissa, forget about you." Sighing, I responded to Lissa's earlier question with some whining. Telling her, "unfortunately, Virion won, but that's just because my bow couldn't withstand my awesome shooting abilities. I really need to get better at taking care of my equipment, I heard that some of the Shepherds could use the same sword forever because they knew how not to break it.
"Oh sorry to hear that Arthur, did he say what he wanted you to do?"
"Not yet, but that smile he gave me sent chills down my spine. I have the feeling he's going to wait for a good opportunity to embarrass me or something."
"Hey, don't let it get you down. I know how about a race, if you beat me to Chrom and the others, I'll give you some candy from my special pouch."
"You're on Lissa." As we prepared to run, I thought it would be kind of unfair having her run around in a dress, except when we started running I remembered back to what Chrom was telling me when I mentioned Lissa and I's pranking activities.
"Yep, I'm glad Lissa found someone who can keep up with her, especially with all that energy she keeps holed up inside her just waiting to explode out. You should see her run sometime Arthur, when she was younger she would race across the palace in a second, and be at the end of town the next."
This memory surfaced because, of the fact that as I was running, Lissa would outpace me no matter how hard I tried. If I slowed down she would too, as if to mock me. When we got in sight of the others, I pushed myself as hard as I could focusing on pumping my legs left foot, right foot. Running so fast, I couldn't stop myself in time and ended up crashing into Robin. Brushing me off and offering her a hand accompanied with an apology. I had to ask.
"Did I win?"
"Unfortunately no, Lissa beat you by about three point four seconds."
"Well that was fun, what happens when I lose Lissa you never told me." Although I was sort of disappointed at losing another challenge, it did get my mind off of what Virion might have had planned for me. I mean I'm sure Lissa couldn't have anything planned that would be nearly as ominous as Virion's surely.
"Since I won Arthur, I demand you sing a song for me."
"Can this wait till after the battle Lissa?" I asked, hoping to postpone my impending doom, as sweat began to form on my brow at the fear of having to sing in front of others. I never liked thought of myself as a good singer, so I sincerely hoped Lissa would allow me to weasel out of this for now. Luckily, Lissa let me leave my doom for later in the future. That was something to look forward too.
We began to move forward again, nearing the entrance to the execution grounds I saw earlier. The entrance was guarded by two towers with numerous troops sitting inside them. Robin decided to split us into two, one force to take out the troops in the tower and the other to move through the front and take on their leader in the hopes of reaching Emmeryn in time. Remembering back to the troop list and the name I saw I hoped that, with fingers crossed, Robin would put me into the group that was to invade the twin towers.
"Arthur, I want you to join Chrom and the other's in rescuing Emmeryn."
"Uh, could I take on the towers instead?"
"What are you talking about, your skills are needed with Chrom's group, I can't change the strategy just because you demand it." I shrunk back from her stern voice and icy stare, realizing that objecting against Robin's orders would be pointless. My only hope was that she wouldn't notice me.
"Alright you're with me Arthur, don't be afraid, we've taken on soldiers much tougher than this, if you're in trouble just run to my side and we'll take them on together."
"Oh it's not the soldiers I'm afraid of, let's just say there is someone I know on their side, and for better or worse, I'm afraid of what she'll do if she sees me."
"Wow, I've never seen you so afraid Arthur, it can't be that bad surely."
"That's because you've never experienced true terror before Chrom, the likes of which that tears at the soul." I declared as shivers traveled down my spine. I told Chrom one last thing before we got going, "If I disappear, then it's not because I ran away, but I found a place to hide."
"Well see what happens, anyway, let's go Shepherds."
Moving throughout the desert sands we neared the entrance way to Emmeryn. There was about a dozen Plegians standing in our way, even a few Grimleal were part of their ranks, well at least they looked like Grimleal. One of the mages was wearing a cloak quite similar to theirs. As the first few battles began to start out, I moved to the back to support Chrom with my bow. He was quite a marvel to watch on the battlefield, each movement was done with skill and finesse. It was as if he took swordsmanship to a new level, the strange thing was, as I watched him fight, I had the feeling I'd seen this sort of fighting style somewhere before. There was no time to think on it though as a fireball flew my way. I ducked out of the way, and looked for the caster. Seeing him in the distance, I took careful aim and fire as he was casting another spell, too focused on finishing the spell, I easily took him down as he couldn't dodge the arrow.
Taking a look back at Chrom, to my alarm he was encircled by several soldiers. Unsheathing my blade, I moved to lend my assistance. Yelling out my war cry, I charged aiming at the nearest one. He was unable to react in time to the blade swinging down at him, and I was able to finish him off before he could counter. Turning to Chrom, I made one last remark.
"Looks like someone forgot to invite me to the party."
"Glad you could make it."
"Let's take these guys down, we got a damsel to save."
"On it."
Moving in unison, we attacked the soldiers with fervor never relenting our assault. We moved through each enemy in a fluid motion, with a parry here and there returned with a strike. With each enemy I struck down, I could feel myself growing faster and stronger with the blood that is being shed. It felt exhilarating, each swing became more fluid and powerful with kill. It was as if each fallen foe gave me a sugar rush of a new level. As the last body fell, I held a rather bloody blade in my hand, but the blood did not cake rather absorb itself into the sword itself. It was as if the blade was a living thing, taking in the red liquid like fine wine. As I cleaned myself off, standing before me was someone who has been haunting my dreams for many nights.
"Mhmm, found you." Those two words sent chills down my spine, and froze my blood. I could feel my sense of panic rising; thankfully Chrom noticed my predicament and got in between us.
"Halt, if you wish to harm Arthur, you'll have to get past me first."
"Fool, you can't stop fate." Finishing her rant about destiny and what not and how our souls were bound together, Chrom gave me a questioning look. It seemed to ask me what was going on.
"Okay, so on my travels, I happened to help her out on a certain occasion, and we traveled together for a while, but got separated one day due to certain circumstances." I tried my best to reveal to Chrom that I was uncomfortable around her without actually telling him directly in the hopes that Tharja would not hear something negative.
While I was explaining to Chrom, Tharja had snuck up behind me. She ran her fingers down my spine which inadvertently sent me cowering behind Chrom's back. I whimpered in his ear like a scared little puppy hiding behind its master. With some irritation, Chrom stepped aside and started reprimanding me about my actions.
"Alright Arthur, enough of your games, we still have a battle to win." Finishing his rant off with that, I was left alone with Tharja.
"Hey, long time no see huh." She didn't respond with that, she simply continued staring at me as if I was a morsel about to be eaten. With a final nod in my direction as if concluding a decision on something, she told me in a clear voice,
"Well we should get on with the battle Arthur, wouldn't want to anyone dying would we."
"Uhh, sure." As we continued back towards the rest of the troops, I couldn't shake the feeling of dread building up within me. It was a sense of danger that told me win or lose something was waiting for me at the end of this battle that I would have to deal with eventually.
"Alright Shepherds, these are the final troops blocking our way to Emmeryn, fight proud and strong." With that final message in our minds, we charged forward clashing against the enemy force. I used my sword to slice through enemy by enemy, parrying every attack that came towards me. That familiar feeling of empowerment coursed through my veins edging me on. I moved quicker, struck harder, and killed faster with each drop of blood spilt. In my daze, I had not noticed that I had charged into the middle of their forces, surrounded on all sides by the enemies. I could not feel fear, because the blade's thirst for blood was echoing into my mind clouding any thoughts of retreat. I fought like a beast, without thought only action, slicing through arms, maiming bodies, and feasting on their blood. As the numbers of enemies thinned, and my mind began to recollect itself, I was wracked with pain. The rage of battle had blocked my senses, so blows that were dealt on to me, were only felt now.
I groaned in pain and gasped as I pulled an arrow out of my leg. Surveying the rest of the Shepherds, I noticed they did not come out of this unscathed either. There were cuts and bruises on everyone, some were better off than the others, but we could all use a good night's sleep after this business was over. Taking a short breather, I was shocked to discover the sight that greeted me when I caught up to Robin. Before I could even scream, Emmeryn had martyred herself, falling from the height that she just did. I felt my heart reach out for Chrom and the pain that he would no doubt have been dealt by this turn of events.
"What happens now?" I asked Robin, hoping for a tactful response to the recent events.
"Simple Arthur, we retreat, regroup, and retaliate."
"Sounds like a plan." I told her, understanding that this battle was lost. As the rest of the Shepherds formed up, we made tracks for our base camp. The mood was rather morbid; you could feel it in the air, a stench of sadness and regret. Hopefully, Chrom wouldn't put all the blame on himself and know that all his friends were here for him.
Setting up the camp didn't take too long, but it felt stiff and awkward, probably from the fact that no one knew how to cheer up Chrom about what just happened. I talked to Robin about it and apparently were going to be moving against Gangrel now. Tharja went off with Robin afterwards to get settled into the army and be introduced to how the Shepherds worked. Seeing my silent protests as Robin was interviewing Tharja for information to write down in that book of hers. I had the feeling they only spurred her on to make sure she was placed near me as if indulging in some cruel torment. If this was her way of tormenting me for the pranks, then the prank I have planned for her will be all the more sweeter.
With my face all mucked up from the constant battles and running, I left Tharja to Robin to find a place to wash my face. Calmly, I walked towards the stream that was by our camp and kneeled down to use the water. Sighing, I washed my face with a few splashes of the icy cold water, thinking this day couldn't get any worse. Course that was when Lissa showed up, reminding me of the torment that awaited me.
"Hey Arthur, remember that bet we made, well seeing as how everyone's sad over what just happened, it made me think, 'how can I cheer everyone's mood up?' That's when I remembered, that I could still get Arthur to sing, so come on Arthur let's hear that song of yours."
"Uh, Lissa wouldn't everyone get more depressed hearing my terrible singing?"
"Hey, don't think like that, it'll lift everyone's spirits, just trust me." As I mumbled my protests, Lissa had grabbed my arm and was pulling me up and walking me over to the center of camp.
Getting closer to the center of camp, I could see the faces of all the Shepherds all sitting in various places looking either glum about the recent events or unhappy about not being able to lift the mood.
I turned to Lissa, asking her, "What did you do Lissa, did you tell the whole camp to come because I'm sure there are much better things to do than hear me sing."
"I just told them that they had to come see something Arthur was planning to cheer everyone up." Well this was going to make things harder, I wasn't sure what they were expecting, but hopefully my singing wouldn't make them lose all hope. May as well get this over with, who knows on the off chance that this does lift everyone's spirits it'll be worth a little lost pride. Clearing my throat and warming it up for my impending doom, I turned to the crowd in front of me.
"Alright, I'm not sure exactly what Lissa told you guys, but for the most part this will probably give you a good laugh then anything." If it wasn't obvious before it was when Gaius yelled out a comment.
"Get on with it Peppy!" I was simply trying to hold off the inevitable, after all no person wants to be publicly shamed. The worst thing about this was Lissa was all smiles the entire time as she watched me squirm. I could feel the many eyes on me and that set my heart beating. My hands paled and began to sweat as the nerves got to me. Shaking, I calmed myself down with a few breathing exercises and prepared myself for the worst. I decided to sing to them a old folk song I remember hearing at an inn one day, it was some strange ballad about a lost hero and such.
I wasn't sure how I was doing because; for the most part everyone was rather silent during the entire ordeal. Since this was something I had to do anyway, I steeled myself for the coming comments and finished the song. Those were the longest three minutes I had ever experienced, by the time I was finished singing the songs I swear my hands were cold enough to freeze water.
"So how'd I do?" As if that broke the tension in the air, they responded by laughing in my face. I could see all their faces light up in pleasure from my singing. I groaned here and there expecting this reaction; well at least it didn't really hurt my pride in any way. As the laughter died down, there were a few comments thrown my way, most notably was Gaius'
"Hey Peppy, I'm sure we can turn your voice into a weapon, when the enemies hear it they'll be too busy laughing to defend themselves."
"Ha-ha I know if you want to get a refund for the ear damage you've gotten from hearing my abysmal singing then you can talk to Lissa about it."
Taking a glance at the rest of the camp, I saw Chrom laughing with the rest of us, and the tense atmosphere that was flooding the camp after Emmeryn's death seemed to have lifted. I wouldn't have to worry about stepping on any toes now. My thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of a blonde haired trickster and her brother in tow.
"Hey Arthur, see told you it'd work, nothing cheers people up faster than a good laugh."
"Okay, just a question though, did you plan this all out from the beginning?"
"Nah I didn't think that far, I just wanted to hear something funny."
"Alright come here Lissa, I'm gonna need to pay you back for that embarrassment."
"You'll have to catch me first!" I started chasing after her as she said that, if I didn't realize Lissa was fast before it was pretty obvious now. Course that didn't stop me from chasing her down, I almost caught her a few times too. Each time we made a swift turn, I caught up a bit, I could see it my victory was at hand. She may beat me when we're running in a straight line, but that dress makes it harder for her to turn. When I got within a few feet of her, I leaped at her, managing to cause her to tumble. As she was climbing to her feet, I began to tickle her as hard as I could.
"Hahahahaha, stop, stop it Arthur, I can't breathe."
"Never Lissa, not till you say you're sorry for embarrassing me."
"Okay okay, I'm sorry I won't do it again."
"That's better." Getting off Lissa, I could see the stares I was getting from a few people from camp. Namely, there was Chrom giving me a knowing smile as if understanding what I was feeling, Gaius who couldn't hold back his laughter, and Robin who seemed happy about something. Suffice to say, I couldn't understand what they were thinking about so I disregarded that from my mind and instead offered Lissa a hand up. Taking it, I pulled her to her feet and helped steady herself before making sure she was okay.
"I'm fine Arthur, a little dirty, but a little dirt doesn't hurt anyone, except maybe Maribelle."
"Haha, shes probably allergic to it or something." Poking fun at her expense, course having a umbrella sent flying my way didn't help any. Rubbing my nose in pain, I waved to Maribelle before she walked away. Yawning, I told Lissa we should probably get to bed seeing as how the next morning we'd be marching for Gangrel. Saying goodnight to her, I made a move for my tent. Hopefully tomorrow won't be the last day I'd spend with the Shepherds.