I do not own Fire Emblem. I do not own anything. All Hail Intelligent Systems.

Speak Softly And Always Bring a Tent.

I've always found the rain very calming.
Venus Williams

"Whose bright idea was it to go camping?" Luso chanted.
"Frederick's!" Lissa cheered.
"Who said keep on moving till nightfall so we can't find a campground that isn't covered in poison ivy?"
"Frederick!" Chrom laughed with a wry smile.

Frederick looked at his feet and grumbled. "The things I put up with for the good of the realm... Luso gather the fire wood."

"But we don't even have a camp location yet!"
"Carry the wood then. I expect three logs when we find a clearing." Frederick smiled sadistically.
Luso groaned as he picked up a series of thick branches off of the ground.
"Frederick only cheerful when he's about to bring down the axe." Chrom smirked as he grabbed a few of the sticks off of Luso's arms.
"Or Lance." Robin noted. "But he can equip an axe if he wanted too. Speaking of weapons, Luso, is that a kill sword on your waist?"
"Kill sword?" Luso fumbled around with the stack of wood, dropping a stick on top of Lissa's foot. The Ylissian princess pouted at Luso and swore revenge as she squeezed her foot.
"The Killing Edge." Robin replied eloquently. "Are you even skilled enough to use it?"
"Eh? The Katana? Why shouldn't I be? I learned martial arts-"
"Just don't use it for a few battles." Robin muttered. "Stick to the iron sword for now."
"Why?"
"Just don't." Robin smirked. "Trust me. I'm the tactician."
"I found a camping ground." Frederick said to the group.
After Luso was flayed alive for only bringing branches, the small group had all the motivation to gather firewood. As a result, despite night falling within ten minutes, they gathered enough wood for a fire.
Frederick quickly started the fire using flint and steel, and the group huddled around it for warmth.

"Did you notice?" Frederick broke the silence. "The bandits spoke with a Plegian accent."
"Plegian?" Robin asked while wrapping his coat a little bit tighter.
"Ylisse's neighbor to the west, a theocracy covered in sand, and inhabited by Grimleal."
Robin paused and thought for a few seconds."Why would bandits come to attack Ylisse? Is there any reason?"
"Eighteen years ago, there was a short but very ferocious war between Ylisse and Plegia that lasted for two years. Cornelius, the previous Exalt, ordered a crusade, a holy war against the Grimleal. Seven small armies rushed into Plegia, given free rein to do whatever they wished. It was horrifying because of the soldiers who fought. They could do whatever they wished, and took advantage of the lawlessness. One out of three Plegians died, most of them women and children."
"Frederick..."
"I was one of those soldiers, barely seventeen when I went to the front. But I was one of the few who never attacked noncombatants. I became well known because of that. That's why I still serve as a knight captain. Emmeryn dismissed anyone who was known to attack any refugee camps."
"How did the war end?" Robin murmured while stroking the fire.
"A decisive battle between Mustafa's, and Cornelius's armies. In that battle, Cornelius lost his life causing an uneasy peace to be created between Ylisse and Plegia."
Issaic's words echoed in Luso's ears. "Blood runs deep between Ylisse and Plegia. We are like oil and vinegar."
"So... If a war begins..." Luso muttered.
"Every last Plegian will support it. I'm going to go find some food." Frederick turned and left the campsite, leaving behind an awkward silence.
"Not every Plegian." Luso stretched and walked away from the campsite to find some water.
When Luso returned with a water skin, he found the remaining Shepherds eating some kind of meat. Robin and Chrom were devouring it at a speed unmatched, Lissa was complaining about its smell, and Frederick was waiting in silence.
"Meat is meat. Calm down and eat it." Chrom groaned in between bites. At this point meat juice was running down his face, slathering his jaws in the same manner blood does on sharks.
"What kind of person eats bear? You'll mess up the Ecosystem!" Lissa complained.
"The scary thing is." Luso muttered while dropping of three water skins, next to the fire. "That the bear has almost no meat left. You jerks really didn't save me any did you."
Robin coughed slightly as he spat a bone into the fire. "Sorry."
Frederick's eyes flashed as he quickly passed his share of bear over to Luso. The great knight disguised his motion with the act of picking up a water skin.
"Yes it is most unfortunate. Thank you for the water."
Luso leaned back against the side of a tree while looking over his(Frederick's) share. It had a few nibbles but was otherwise completely untouched.
Luso had barely took the first bite when he recalled something about camping.
"By the way, do we have tents?"
Everyone in the camp simultaneously looked at Frederick.
"Tents? Why would we need tents?"
Lissa asked. "Well what if it rains?"
Thunder cracked and lightning split the sky as water fell from the heavens.
Luso covered his head with his hands. "You just had to ask."
The torrent of water had them drenched in about ten seconds.
Sleeping outside in the early fall, while it was raining means hypothermia is a potent threat. And desperate times called for desperate measures.

Luso spun quickly flicking water off of his armor. When it was somewhat dry, the mercenary grunted. "We are never speaking of that night ever again."
Robin shook the water out of his coat and carefully examined the thunder tome in his pocket while shuddering in retrospect.
"Agreed. "
"But it was warm." Frederick commented while slipping on his armor. "And I got to be with Milord. I'll be damned before Lord Chrom was cold!"
"I had to keep watch over Lissa." Chrom rubbed his eyes with a tired expression. "I'm wasn't going to let anyone-"
"We understand Chrom." Luso droned slowly. "How much longer until Ylisstol?"
"Well not much longer. Just a few more hours of walking" Frederick said with a cheerful smile.
"By a few." Lissa stuck her tongue out. "He means seven. Gyuak! A bug!"
As the princess retched next to a tree, Chrom sighed and strapped his sword to his waist.
"We can stop to forage for breakfast later. Let's move."

After another forced march that took longer than an SAT. The party finally took a break. The water from the previous night's storm had gotten into their socks and shoes. Because moisture softens skin and makes it more apt to blister, everyone in the party except Chrom and Frederick had welts on their fests.
"Alright, take a break and find some food." Frederick muttered after an hour's worth of begging.
Chrom charged into the forest looking for meat, with Lissa rushing after him to make sure he caught something that wasn't bear.
Frederick shadowed the two siblings, creeping after them with his lance at his side, almost heartbroken to inform the prince that if he caught meat, then they would have to stop to make a fire. The knight did not know how to tell Chrom that he would have to give up on the meat and rather go for plants like dandelions.
Even in this world, nobody liked dandelions.
Robin and Luso, unlike the siblings and the knight had wandered off in opposite directions without a care. The only thing they had to remember was to return to the road before the break ended.
After only a few minutes of searching for food Robin lay down for a nap.
Luso on the other hand knew things about the land he never studied before. He could find berries, roots, and plants that were edible, even though he had never seen any of the things in his life. Instincts warned him when he smelled a set of dark blue berries, and caused his mouth to water when he found a certain fruit in a tree.
The boy wandered around taking fruit, and berries, sampling them as he searched around for food.
It was all fine and dandy until the earth shook and a pillar of magma sprayed into the sky. The heat smashed into Luso's body in an evil wave, causing a torrent of cold sweat to rapidly evaporate.
The mercenary turned and dove behind a rock formation as the lava rained down upon him.

Chrom and Lissa had been searching for traces of deer. The prince had knelt directly next to a set of fresh footprints when a rumbling sound started to echo from the hills.
The trees started to fall, one by one as the shaking got worse and worse.
"Lissa? Run." Chrom muttered as the earth started tearing apart piece by piece.
Like a demon escaping the pits of Hell, a torrent of Lava cracked the soil and sprang up from the scorched earth. Long arms of magma reached out, grasping at the escaping prince, but never capable of touching him. It was not his day to die after all.
"This place looks safe." Chrom wiped his sweat off his brow and groaned slightly.
A summoning circle in the sky said otherwise.
Just as he said those words, a pair of bodies fell with a large thump next to the Ylissian prince and princess.
"What are those!" Lissa muttered.
"I don't know. Stay back." Chrom drew his sword, the Falchion, and stared at the two silent corpses.
"Are you sure? They seem human. Don't you think they need healing?"
One of the creatures slowly stood up. It was human but not human. It had the same form as a human, but it's eyes glowed in the dark.
From seeing the eyes alone Chrom knew that it was no ally.
"Kill... Prince... Gragh." The creature groaned slowly while raising a rusty hatchet.
"I don't think so." Chrom quickly ran forward and slashed across the monster's chest, fatally cutting the creatures heart into two pieces. "That should do." The prince muttered as he raised his sword above his head. A faint growl came from behind him. "Huh?" Chrom quickly turned around and saw the monster, still alive, was raising its axe to attack him.
"Ngh!" The hatchet crashed down upon Chrom's sword, grinding against the Falchion's edge.
Chrom briefly struggled against the monster's strength before deciding to kick the creature in the chest. With a loud thump, the monster fell backwards and scrambled in an attempt to get up.
With a single strike, Chrom decapitated the creature, its glowing eyes fading to black as it slumped against the side of a tree.
A piercing scream caused Chrom to jump. Lissa had backed up against a tree, trembling as the second monster approached her slowly.
It raised its axe and started to swing it, with the intent to kill. Chrom shouted in desperation, chasing after the creature with sword in hand.

No! I'm not going to make it in time!
"Lissa!"
A blue blur flew through the air, landing in front of the axe man. The blur was a man, just a few inches shorter then Chrom, with dark blue hair and a mask shaped like a butterfly on his face. In his right hand was a sword, polished until it gleamed. With one smooth strike, the man knocked the axe out of the monster's hand, and stabbed the creature through the throat.
"Quite an entrance." Chrom said with a nod. "I guess I have to thank you for saving my sister. What's your name?"
The boy simply stared at Chrom for a few minutes. before sheathing his sword. After a few seconds he muttered. "Its Marth."
"Well Marth, would you like to join the Shep-"
Before Chrom could even finish his statement the enigmatic swordsman was gone. More and more of the creatures were rising up from the forest floor and lurching towards him.
"This is just great. Where is everyone?"

Frederick was dashing through the forest on his beloved horse searching for his lord. After a calamity like this, Prince Chrom was the highest priority. Anything, and everything else be damned!
Two of the monsters leaped out from behind trees to ambush the great knight. The risen groaned in pleasure. The fulfillment from killing was the best in the world.
"No time for this! Milord could be injured! Dead! Had his clothing torn!" Frederick roared in frustration. "Pick a god and pray, foul beasts!"
A pair of hooves slammed into the creature's faces, and split their skulls in two.

Robin had long since awakened from the all the shaking and the fire falling from the sky. The first night, he was kept awake by Chrom and Luso both continuously rolling-over in their sleep, the sheer cold, and the fact that they had no cover and it was raining. Now his nap was interrupted by fire from the sky.
It is needless to say that Robin was pissed.
"I checked the roads, and the paths already, where could they be? Searching around like this will get me nowhere."
A dull padding sound came from the right, a sound exactly like a horse galloping. It could be Frederick, or it could be any other horseman caught up in the blast.
"Pick a god and pray!"
It was Frederick.
Robin started to chase after the sound of the horse, running as fast as his legs would take him. Then he crashed directly into a lithe boy.
"Gah!"
"Sir Robin?"
Robin looked down at the person he slammed into. The boy was skinny and wore a polished black mask. Robin examined his body as quickly as possible attempting to absorb every detail possible. The albino shifted his body so that it wouldn't completely cover the person he bumped into.
"Do you know me? How did you know my name?" Robin squeezed the person's shoulders as tightly as possible.
The boy tensed up as Robin grabbed onto him even tighter. "Who am I? You called me Sir, am I a noble of some sort? What am I!"
With a hint of a blush the boy kicked Robin in the nuts. "Get off me!"
As Robin rolled over on the forest floor in extreme pain, the tactician muttered to himself continuously that his quick beating heart was from pain, and not pleasure.

"Is it safe to come out?" Luso poked his head out from behind the rocks he had taken shelter during the cataclysm. "I don't think anything bad will pop out will it?"
The boy glanced around at the burning forest until he heard a growling sound from behind him. Luso froze. It was a sound he heard just the other day. A sound he would rather not hear again for quite a while.
It was another bear, completely enraged from the sky falling around it. It was so angered that it was going to maul anything that came near it that smelled of food. And Luso happened to fit both categories. The bear started salivating, and flexed its arms displaying several sharp teeth and claws.
"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" The mercenary screamed as he scrambled away from the behemoth.