New author's update: from a suggestion from a friend, I decided that it would be a good idea to write full length chapters (~5000-8000 words) and split them up into smaller chapters ~2000-3000 words each. So for my readers that enjoy long sessions, you get 2-5 chapters to read and for my readers that read slower or enjoy shorter chapters they exist now. If you read my other stories, you'll notice that for the new LOZ book coming soon that it will be down like that as well. I haven't decided when I will transition that way for Yu-Gi-Oh! But it will be done also… and when I do the rewrites for them as well I probably will start it up with that and have parts so the chapter names stay the same. Anyway, this author's note will be on all the chapters up to and including chapter 11. (yes, this four chapter thing turned into 11 chapters.) I also did some serious rereading and corrected any mistakes such as cane instead of came and what not. I hope you guys enjoy. :)
Any author's notes at the end of the first four chapters will appear in chapters 1, 2, 3, and 4 if they exist respectively. There won't be any other ending author notes for chapters 5-11. Thanks.
Chapter 4
There was a silent breakfast that I was surprised to know I wasn't the first one to arrive. Robin stood at the empty-ish table with books spread out with a map in the middle. A basket of apples sat off to the side.
"Morning Mychaila." The white haired male said without looking up.
"Morning… you didn't even look at me. How did you know it was me in here?" I asked him crossing my arms.
"You step incredibly light compared to anyone else in the castle, I almost didn't hear you. Then, there is the fact that anyone else would still be sleeping or getting ready to go in their rooms."
"As observant as you are, it could have been an assassin instead of me."
"Assassins also don't wear coats that create a slight whoosh sound when you walk."
"It's amazing how observant you are."
"Just a hobby to keep track of everyone on the battlefield, or when Kellam is around."
"You mean the really quiet one that is a tank and for some reason everyone ignores?"
Robin chuckled. "Ya him, I'm surprised you noticed him that much to get a detailed description. You are also surprisingly observant."
"Well when you're in a strange place that seems so off you have to keep track of everything and how things are done, how people address others, or even what way is the right way to the dining hall inside this monstrous building."
"How many times did you ask before you arrived here?"
"Twice," I admitted. "But the third time is the charm and the map is imbedded into my head."
Robin smirked before going back into an almost blank face as he read something in one of the books. I walked around the table before grabbing an apple from the basket and looked at what he was researching. The map was a blown up part of a small, mini map on the side called Breakneck Pass. It seemed to be the narrowest and difficult part of the trip with a cliff that rose on one side and dropped on the other. I looked over the other books that he had and they were split between the pass and the Eastern Castle. The letters and the sentence structure were a bit different compared to what I was used to, but I understood what was being written about the defenses of each. The Eastern Castle had quite a bit of defense compared to what I had seen in the castle I stood in now with its open nature. The pass on the other hand was easily a death trap if someone decided to say hello with arms wide open and the command to fire upon will.
"Is there any other way to get to the Eastern Castle?" I asked him.
"Are you afraid of heights?"
"No, I don't think so… that pass is great to defend if we are their first, but if not..."
"I know," he sighed. "But if there was I would be looking at it."
"This whole thing is a death trap with ease to have two armies on each side and no escape with sheer cliffs, really not ideal."
"That's why I'm looking at it in great detail. With the number of shepherds along with their strengths and weaknesses, if placed just right; we shouldn't have any casualties."
"What's your win/lose so far?"
"All wins, no deaths and I tend to keep it that way."
"All in for the living, the shepherds are all unique in their own ways… I'll let you get back to studying." I told him before sitting down and biting into my apple.
I had the map in my head anyway and didn't need the books to reinforce matters like rock slides and if it were to rain the sides of the cliff on both sides would most definitely go without much weight on them. The best option would to have an air unit for that part of the trip. Unfortunately from what I've seen, they didn't have planes. Why did I know about technology so advanced that didn't seem even feasible to where I sat now? Maybe I am an alien; a human life form from another planet. I smirked, impossible. I shrugged off the tech problems as I bit into the apple again. No need to poke the bear for answers that would come in due time.
"So what do you think about this situation?" Robin asked suddenly.
I looked up at him and I swallowed as footsteps came to my ears from down the hall. "You want amnesia girl's opinion?"
"I have amnesia too so it can't hurt."
"Alright here's my opinion: keep the ones who aren't capable at fighting more experienced fighters in the back in case a slippery snake slips through the front rank. They can get experience without having a lot of damage done to them. They would then be able to overwhelm the dumbass that attempted to get a free shot."
"I would ask if you have done this before, but that would be pointless."
"Oui."
"Oui what?" Chrom asked appearing from the around the corner. "What does Oui even mean?"
"It means yes, agreement, yea, yup… it's a different language." I answered him in thought. "Want an apple?"
He nodded and I tossed him one. "You are awfully happy today."
"Nah, just chipper, because I'm over tired."
"Why are you up if you are tired?" Robin asked me and I shrugged. I didn't want to throw myself out there and complain about nightmares outright. They have other things to worry about and I wasn't looking for attention.
"I'm guessing you had a few nightmares." Chrom concluded after a moment and I looked up at him in slight awe, but mostly annoyance. "Yeah, one too many; you can sleep on the way."
"I'm fine." I answered going back to eating my apple in frustration. I apparently did not like being read like an open book. "How's the all-seeing prince this morning?"
"Wow, you are even adorable when you are being sarcastic." Chrom stated and I glared. "Sorry, I didn't mean to tread on a closed subject. But the point still stands."
"Adorable is the last thing that will be in mind when this trip goes to hell." I replied letting it go. Open book and when I try and be intimidating; I still get called adorable. There had to be an advantage somewhere in there. I just didn't have a clue what it was.
"So that's what you two were doing."
"Mychaila has a good eye and mind when it comes to tactician things." Robin said.
"Really, well I guess you are more than just a girl lost in the woods. I wonder what else you will discover that you are good at."
"Hopefully nothing then happy moral will be tested on this trip. This pass is just asking for some traitor to set up shop."
"Well lucky for us, we only have the shepherds, Emm, a few close people, and you coming with us."
"What do you mean by close people?"
"Emm's guard and Hierarch."
"Oh good, a priest."
"You sound against the idea."
"Religious peeps are not always the nicest peeps, that's all I'm saying." I answered, something was tugging at me to try and figure out why it was a bad idea to have this guy with the group, but I wasn't going to start up a pain-fest. "Anyway, when are we heading out?"
"Peeps…?" Chrom was still on the last statement.
"People so…"
"Right, within the hour. Do you want something more than what you are wearing for armor?"
"If I need some maybe, but the only things I know I'm good as it making people laugh at my adorableness and a making decent tactician observations."
"Alright, your decision, want to be up front, the back, or in the middle surrounded by trained people?"
"Does the middle front exist?"
"It can." Robin stated.
"Then that's where I want to be in case something comes up I have someone to refer to and I could also relay messages between the front and back."
"That, actually isn't a bad idea." Robin and Chrom said at the same time and it sounded like a possessed drunk. I started laughing at the thought.
"What's funny?" Chrom asked.
"Trust me, you don't want to know." I told him grabbing another apple to calm down.
"How are you still hungry? Where does it all go?"
"Through the esophagus that's connected to the stomach and then through the small intestine and then-" I chocked on my saliva and started coughing. "Can I not talk without killing myself?"
"Now you sound like a doctor. What don't you know besides yourself?" Chrom asked with a playful grin.
"Lots of things. I'll never know everything no matter how hard I try, because there is always something being made between human intervention and nature. Discoveries are always being found and inventions are being made to make even more discoveries. It is a battle I will never win."
"Forgive me for asking."
"You have other battles?" Robin asked with curiosity.
"I probably did, but for now it's just to discover what I'm good at and what I'm not." I answered before taking a bite out of the apple. A few moments later the piece attempted to go down the wrong pipe and I coughed for air before it went down the right pipe. "I will succeed on eating you apple; I will not fail and die due to my breakfast."
Chrom started laughing.
"I guess she has another battle to win." Robin commented only sending Chrom into a hysteria.
I shook my head as I finished another less deadly bite. "You guys are so caring."
Chrom sighed as he settled down. "I'm sorry, but that was just priceless. I have never heard anyone declare war against anything like that in my entire life."
I sighed as other people walked into the dining hall and Chrom and Robin left shortly after to discuss details about the Eastern Castle. I didn't bother following them as they probably wanted to be alone in a quiet area and not some girl that chokes and declares war on her food while they were trying to talk about survival. I only guessed what they were going to discuss about and it intrigued me more to start firing questions, but I didn't follow through with my wants. Five apples later to make the total count seven, Lissa and surprisingly Exalt Emmeryn came around the corner. At this point, I was alone and wasn't sure if I had to stand or salute or just sit there like an idiot deciding if I wanted an eighth apple or not. So, I stood up to acknowledge her awkwardly. She raised a hand and I returned to my place in the hardest piece of oak chair I have ever recalled sitting in besides the one I sat in the night before. That was a nicer chair.
"You don't look all that rested." The Exalt said to me with concern. "Nightmares?"
"Chrom deducted the same thing actually. And you both would be correct, but I'm sure that they will go away… eventually." I replied, they really were two peas in a pod. I noticed she also wasn't looking all that great as she rubbed her hands every so often. It wasn't cold in the room. "I hope I'm not speaking out of turn here to mention that you look nervous about this whole thing."
"I like your honesty." She smiled. "This is where a lot of my people live and to just leave in case of another attack seems cruel, if I could prepare a total evacuation I would-"
"But it's impossible." Lissa finished. "The people would panic and that would raise some alarms with spies who could be in the city."
"So you're moving command stations. I can agree with that. Once you arrive at the Eastern Castle, you can easily then either prep for an evacuation or prepare a counter attack by having the citizens stay within the castle in case of a siege." I told them. "That way you can save your people and still not be at total risk of losing your own life. The majority of people need someone to lead them, it's just human instinct. Whether it be a person on their own or someone else, most go for the latter so they don't have to make the choices and allow someone else to deal with them."
"You know quite a bit about people." Emmeryn stated.
"Nothing concrete, humans are as predictable as they can be unpredictable. Always doing something even when there is no hope in sight, they keep going to find hope again."
"You speak like you are an outside viewer."
"The opposite actually." I admitted and Emmeryn's face changed to one of surprise. Lissa looked very lost on what we were talking about. "Yesterday I was terrified and crying to the point of tiring myself to sleep in search of anything about me like where I came from, what the point was, why me? Today after a few nightmares on repeat, I figured out that there had to be some point to this, like helping out this country deal with some pompous dude with a stick so far up his butt that he says the crap on it and just wants to watch the world burn," Lissa snorted. "If answers come, then they come. If not, then I'll just make a life worth remembering by using what I do have to help what I can help with."
"That was a long speech." Lissa remarked.
"Sorry," I apologized. "I just needed to get that off my chest and pass some time."
Suddenly a loud clanking came from the hall and a guard came to the door. "Your Majesty, we need to get going before light breaks and we get too far behind the trading carts."
"We are leaving with merchants… not bad." I stated picking up the basket that was recently refilled with apples. "Breakfast on the road it is."
"How many have you had?" Lissa asked.
"Well… there were for you two because you didn't eat when you got here."
"I don't think we'll finish six apples between the two of us."
"How many did you want?"
"Two each, maybe?"
"Well here's four, one for this guy and this will be my eighth, because wasting food is terrible." I responded as I grabbed two apples from the basket after handing it to Lissa and threw one at the guard. He caught it in surprise almost dropping it. "So which way to the getaway car?"
"Um… this way… miss…" The guard answered unsurely before leading the way.
I just wanted to tell all of my favs, followers and reviews, thank you very much. :3
Until next chapter.
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