A/N: Okay, we're almost at the final battle of the Ylisse-Plegia war. Just one last chapter before the big clash. Also, I'd like to thank everyone who reads and reviews my story and those who follow and favorite it, again. It's nice to see people enjoying my storytelling, it means that I'm actually doing a good enough job! So, thank you guys again. You're all awesome!


Chapter 7

The Shepherds were marching directly into enemy territory. After spending the entire day marching from the cold, frigid snows of Ferox, to the borders of Plegia, near the very edge of the Ylissean continent, they finally made it to the grounds where their greatest battle would be waged. It was just as Robin said, a mostly flat land of desert ground, just across a river, due Northwest of Plegia Castle. By Robin's calculations, after traveling the entire day, and well into the night, the battle between Gangrel's army and the Ylissean League should take place in no more than 12 more hours, at high noon. Everyone set up camp in no time, and tents dotted the cracked desert ground.

Robin, Frederick and Chrom convened in the briefing tent, filling Frederick in on the details one last time before the decisive battle.

"And then, Frederick, you, me, Stahl and Sully will make an opening for Chrom and Sumia to fly right in and strike down Gangrel." Robin reviewed, moving around and knocking chess pieces over on the map. "I can only make very rough estimates of the battle to come without seeing the enemies formation and equipment but I have no doubt that we can make this work and be back home in Ylisstol by the end of the week."

Frederick nodded in approval. "Such elegant movements, even in unfamiliar territory. I find it hard not to feel almost overconfident in our victory." Frederick said, showing a rare smile. A smile which quickly faded. "But, I shall endeavor to keep a leveled head. Even the slightest bit of cocky thinking could spell our end." he said, returning to his normal, cold demeanor.

"Well said, Frederick The Wary." Chrom chucked. "But I have full confidence in Robin's skills. If he can assure us victory, then I can rest easy tonight." . He smoothed his blue hair over, and sighed of relief, seeing that the war was coming to an end, finally.

"Even so, milord, I will stay vigilant even in the most promising of situations."

Robin put away the chess pieces and rolled the map up and tucked it away in it's proper place. "Well then, meeting adjourned, I suppose. We should get to bed as early as possible, I know I will. I want to be at the top of my game for tomorrow."

Chrom raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? It wouldn't hurt to at least speak one more time with your companions before tomorrow's battle. Everyone in camp is always happy to speak with you."

Robin's eyes drifted to the top of the tent as he thought. "Well... I supposed I could spare an hour or two. It doesn't look like anyone else is turning in for a while anyways."

"That's the spirit! Come on, let's go and speak with everyone." Chrom placed an arm over Frederick and Robin as the tree walked out of the tent. He nudged the two over to the many circle of campfires that housed the same group of Shepherds, just like always: Stahl, Sully, Cordelia, Vaike and Sumia sat around one campfire, Gregor, Lon'qu, Ricken and Lissa around another, while Miriel was off with Kellam studying his odd ability to disappear sometimes, while Panne stalked the desert area in her Taguel form, keeping the camp grounds safe from brigands in the night with Libra. And off to another area, the familiar quartet of Gaius, Tharja, Maribelle and Nowi.

Frederick went off to join and converse with his fellow cavaliers, while Robin went off to join his circle of friends. He was held up my Chrom holding his shoulder. "Just a second, Robin. There's something I wanted to show you before you go off." he smiled.

Robin turned and looked back at Chrom with obvious curiosity. Chrom removed on of his gloves and pulled a ring that he wore on one of his fingers, and showed it to Robin. It was magnificently crafted, made out of pure silver, with intricate designs on it. Across the band was a symbol of two dragons clashing, with the Mark of the Exalt, the royal sigil of House Ylisse in between the two.

"It's beautiful Chrom. Why are you showing me this ring for, though?" he looked up to him.

Chrom smiled, a blush finding it's way across the Prince's face. "Well... This ring was made to commemorate my birth, and I was told to give it to the woman who I would choose to be my wife... And, when this business with Gangrel is over, I'm going to present it to Sumia."

A smile spread across Robin's face. To see his best friend getting married, and have a royal wedding, of all things, was a sight to see! "Chrom, that's amazing! Although, I can't say that I'm surprised. I've noticed how close you two have grown. I don't know if you or her had a relationship before I joined the Shepherds, but I've seen just how much you two support each other."

"Yeah." Chrom responded, placing the ring and his glove back over his hand. "I was thinking of doing it tonight, but tomorrow's victory seems to be a better time."

"That would be the best choice of the two."

The two then shook hands and walked their separate ways to their companions.


Robin approached Gaius, Tharja and Maribelle, but for some odd reason, Nowi wasn't around this time. Odd. Robin could have sworn he saw her just a second ago. Robin sat down with the others and waved to each of them.

"Hi guys. Where's Nowi? Wasn't she here a second ago?" he asked, looking left and right across the desert to see if she was off playing with an animal or something.

Maribelle was polishing her Mend staff, wiping away the amount of dirt and sand that clung to it. "I believe the girl said she was hungry and went to look for food. Although, whatever animal she might find in this ghastly wilderness is beyond me. Not even a tree that could bare a single fruit appears to grow here." she huffed.

"Y'know, if she would have just asked, I could have shared some of my stash with her." Gaius said, pulling out a box of small cakes. Robin was genuinely disturbed, where does Gaius possibly keep all of his merchandise? And how does he manage to down so much sugar and not gain weight? He opened his mouth to ask but was cut off by a familiar call from behind him.

"I'm baaaack!" Nowi squealed, carrying a large boa over her neck. Robin was shocked and attempted to scold her on carrying such a dangerous beast, but he noticed the creature was out cold. Nowi spotted Robin's familiar black cloak and rushed over to the campsite. "Hey, Robin! Look at what I got!" she exclaimed, dropping the reptile at his feet.

Robin pokked at it to see if it was alive, which fortunately, it wasn't. "My, that's a big snake. Did you catch it by yourself, Nowi?" he asked.

Nowi grinned in pride. "Yep! But only because of your rock-throwing lessons the other day. I decided to put the practice session we had to the test."

Maribelle yelped in fright, seeing such a large snake. "Eugh! Nowi, why would you bring such a foul creature here!?" She cringed, fearing the beast would come back to life and attack her.

"Aw, don't fret, he's deader than a Risen... Y'know, the ones that stay dead." Nowi reassured. She sat down next to Robin and reached into one of her carrying pouches and pulled her precious blue stone out. "Here, Robin. I wanna thank you for your help by giving you this!" she smiled, placing the stone in Robin's hand.

Robin looked at Nowi with a bit of shock. Wasn't this her most prized object? "But... this is your shiny rock. Your most treasured possession. I couldn't accept this Nowi." He said, holding it back to her.

Nowi shook her head and wrapped Robin's fingers around the stone in his palm. "Ah, I'm not THAT fond of it. Besides, I'll just find another one." she admitted.

Robin opened his hand and looked at the luster of the blue stone. "Well, that's... very generous of you, Nowi. Thank you." he said, smiling back to her. Was she compensating for his tactical book that he gave her earlier? Whether it was the case or not, Robin was thankful for the gift. He placed it in a pocket on the inside of his cloak.

The group sat around the campfire, enjoying the heat and looking up at the stars. Gaius finished his box of cakes and just jittered around a bit, probably from the massive intake of sugar, while Tharja was scribbling some new incantations and curses for tomorrow's battle. Maribelle, kept her distance from the big snake and went about her business polishing her staff. Although, she was a little discomforted when she saw Nowi present Robin with what was a treasure to her. She was happy that Nowi found someone she liked, but she was a little sad that a man who she had grown attached to was slipping away from her. Though, Robin had not said a word to HER on the matter, so maybe she still had a chance. But she was conflicted that she might deny another their own true love. She decided to just be patient and see how fate would deal their cards.

After a long moment of silence, Nowi nudged Robin's shoulder. "Say, Robin, you're a good teacher. Is there anything else you can show me?" she asked.

Robin bit his lower lip and thought about the possibilities. Teaching her to wield a sword, or magic tomes seemed moot for one who could turn into a dragon and practically fry the opposition. His stomach began to growl. Robin was embarrassed. He hadn't eaten breakfast today and spent the entire day marching. He laid his eyes on the large snake and got an idea.

"Well..." Robin tapped his chin with his index finger. "How about trying your hand at field cooking? You know, campfire cuisine?" Robin scratched his head. He didn't fancy himself good enough to teach another. "Frederick just started teaching me the basics, so I'm not very good yet, but..."

Nowi's face lit up. What a perfect idea! Nowi was just content with grabbing veggies off the side of the road, or eating small animals as a dragon to get her fill. Actually having a cooked meal would be a welcome change. "That's perfect!" she squealed. "And, if you don't think you're that good yet, we'll practice together and be gourmet chefs in no time!"

Robin picked up the large snake Nowi carried and placed it around the camp fire to start cooking it. "Heh, with that kind of enthusiasm, we just might." he chucked.

Maribelle nearly dropped her jaw at the mere thought of eating a snake. Especially one as ugly and revolting as this one. "Excuse me... you're not going to actually EAT that abomination, are you?" she asked, cringing.

Gaius shared her sentiment, starring at the reptile. "I'm with her on this one, Bubbles. I mean... I've got plenty of other stuff if you're hungry..."

Tharja was indifferent to the whole thing. "Whatever... Just leave me the bones when you're done..." she said.

Maribelle looked at Tharja with a look of pure disgust. "Alright. I've had enough. I refuse to sit here and see you two ingest something so foul. I'll be in my tent if anyone needs me." she huffed, storming off, holding her hand over her mouth.

Robin shrugged the whole thing off. "Her loss. Snake is pretty good when made right. Okay Nowi, pay close attention..." he said, holding the snake gently over the fire.

Nowi watched on, as Robin twisted and rotated the snake over the fire, giving instructions on color, texture and smell.


A good 30 minutes passed of slow-cooking until the snake, which was nearly blackened was ready to eat... probably.

Robin split the snake down the middle, one half for him and Nowi. "Well... it looks edible... I think?" he said, cringing at the look of it.

Nowi made no such faces though. She was used to eating live animals, so something cooked was bound to be different. "At LEAST? I think it looks totally scrumptious!" she said, licking her lips.

Robin wasn't so sure. "Well, the proof is in the flavor... Which, I dunno, looks like it could fall anywhere between mud and toenails." he grumbled.

"Robin, what are you mumbling about? Let's hurry up and eat already!" she said, waiting to sink her fangs into her meal.

Robin swallowed hard for the possible stomach pain to come. "Er, right... Here goes nothing..."

Gaius and Tharja looked on in disbelief as the two began eating the cooked snake. It was gross enough that they were eating something Nowi found in the wild, but was the audible chewing and slurping really necessary?

After suffering from such an odd sight, the two finished eating. Surprisingly, it was not as bad as Robin had thought. "See? It came out just right!" Nowi said, tossing the bones to the ground. "Oh, sorry, Tharja. Do you still want these?" she asked.

Tharja tried not to retch from watching the whole show. "No, I... You can just leave them there..."

Robin tossed his share of bones into the desert ground. "Hah. Good thing Frederick is such a good teacher." he sighed in relief.

Nowi dusted her hands off. "No, I think you're the good student. I wish I could learn things like you could. I mean, look at me: I've been around for over a thousand years, and what can I do? Nothing. That's what." she said, puffing her cheeks out.

"Don't get so down about it, Nowi. You've got plenty of time to learn new things. You're a Manakete after all, you've got all the time in he world." Robin pulled out Nowi's stone which she gave him earlier. "And, I'll help you, if you want." he said, smiling.

Nowi smiled back, very much interested in learning more from Robin. He already taught her how to hunt and cook. Whatever else he could teach her was just fine by her. "Aww. Thanks Robin!" she said, wrapping her arms around Robin's waist and embracing him.

Robin had already gotten used to Nowi hugging him at random, so he wasn't embarrassed, even if it was in front of company. Tharja was less than optimistic though, as she gripped the binding of her new Flux tome so hard, her knuckles were turning white.

"Right. Well, I think it's time we all got some rest guys. Tomorrow is the day we fight for the end of this war. And I need every one of you to be rested and ready." Robin stood up when Nowi let go of him and walked to his tent. "Good night everyone." he said, waving to them all.

"'Night, Robin!" Nowi waved back. she stayed behind though to enjoy the company of her other friends before heading out. Gaius was still grossed out by the whole show of seeing them eat snake, but was slowly recovering. He unwrapped a new lollipop he plucked from his sleeves and popped it in his mouth.

"Hey, kid, What's up with you and Bubbles, anyways? You two got something going on between each other?" he asked.

Tharja again gripped her tome, stifling a growl. 'They probably do... Robin has shown no interest in me whatsoever... That little Manakete keeps monopolizing him, and that snooty noble is always fawning over him with her lessons... I think it's time I started taking the initiative...' she thought. 'But how...? ...Maybe if I could see into his future...?'

Nowi knew what Gaius meant, but she chose not to directly answer him. "Well, we're good friends. That's all I'm gonna say on that subject." she teased, sticking her tongue out at him.

Tharja was going crazy on the inside. She was madly in love with Robin, but whenever she tried to get close to him, it was either Nowi or Maribelle that was in the way. She needed to know what the future held, so she could take the initiative. "...Nowi..." she muttered.

Nowi looked to Tharja, a little surprised. She never heard her address her by her name before.

"Yes?"

"I need you... to come see me in my tent. Now." she said. It didn't sound like she was giving her a choice. She just got up from where she was sitting and walked to her tent.

Nowi was confused. "Why do people seem to keep asking me to see them in their tent lately?" she wondered aloud.

"Beats me. But I'd do what Sunshine over there says. Trust me... She once asked me to get a bit of hair from Bubbles once, and I said no. She made my tongue swell up for hours... Couldn't even lick a lollipop right..." Gaius shivered at the memory.

"Err... Right. I'll go do that, then..." Nowi got up and followed Tharja to her tent.


Nowi sat inside Tharja's tent, which had a... different look to it that most others. She had a table with bottles and vials cluttering the top of it, a stack of black tomes that had some sort of archaic language he didn't understand, a ceramic skull with a candle that flitted with a purple tinge inside the center of it. That purple flame was the only source of light in there, as opposed to everyone else using lanterns, so the low lighting was unsettling.

Tharja was scribbling something inside her Flux tome before she closed it and looked at Nowi with her cold eyes. "Listen up. I want you to give me some of your Manakete claws. Nothing much, just a sliver of them will do."

Nowi puckered her lips at the request. "You want my toenails? What would you want those for?" she asked.

"Manakete claws are used in dark mage divinations. I'm going to use them to see the future." she said, keeping that cold stare.

"Ooookay. That's a bit creepy but as long as you're not gonna hex anyone, I'm okay with that." Nowi reached behind her purple cape and pulled out a pouch filled with nothing but her discarded toenails.

Tharja looked at the pouch in surprise and disgust. Who in their right mind has a collection of their toenails? Convenient or not, it was still disturbing.

Nowi rolled her eyes. "Yes. I do collect my toenails. Don't ask. Long story. Slightly gross. Anyway, before I give you this, can I ask a favor? If you're gonna use this for your divinations thing, then can I have the first fortune?" she asked.

"...Why? You want me to look into your future and see who you end up with?" she said, narrowing her already threatening eyes.

Nowi shook her head. "No, nothing like that. Don't even think about poking around in my love life!" she yelled. "All I want... is for you to tell me about my mom and dad. Like where they are, and where I can find them. Can you do that?" she asked, with a hopeful look.

Tharja scoffed at first. She didn't owe Nowi anything, why should she help? But that look in her eyes made her reconsider. Tharja didn't really know much of her parents growing up either when she started down the page of curses and hexing. Besides, she had nothing to lose in the venture anyways. "Yes. Just give me your clippings, and I should be able to tell you tomorrow." she said, rolling her eyes.

Nowi smiled brightly and attempted to hug Tharja, but decided against it. "Yay! Thanks! Here, they're all yours!" she said, handing her the clippings.

"There's one more thing." she said. Without warning though, she plucked a few strands of hair from the top of Nowi's head. Specifically, from the one large cow-lick she had that sprouted from her forehead.

"Ouch!" Nowi whined. "Is that for the fortune telling too...?" she asked. Tharja only nodded and carefully placed the strands on the table behind her.

Despite having her hair plucked rather painfully, Nowi was ecstatic to son be aware of her parent's location. She ran out of Tharja's tent, giggling to herself.


Everyone in camp was already asleep, but not Tharja. She stayed up late conducting the ritual for a dark divination. She had all she needed for the ritual: Claws of a Manakete, the bones of a snake, which she collected when everyone had fallen asleep, dried bat wings, and a lock of hair from the one who's future would be read. Tharja carefully blended all of the ingredience in a wooden bowl until it mixed into a purple powder. Then, she picked up the small strand of silver hair she got from Robin, when Gaius proved useless.

She dropped the lock of hair into the powder which began to burn into a bright purple flame, and whispered an incantation to know the future of Robin's love life. When it was complete, she blew briskly into the burning powder, which floated to the top of her tent in a thick purple fog. Tharja peered into the haze and focused until an image made itself appear. What she saw didn't come as a surprise to her at all.

"Hmph. I'm not really surprised. Hee hee hee~" she giggled.