They were out of swords and lances, again. Though they didn't fight much, and didn't really need to, they ran out of weapons quickly. Most probably because of their general, who had a propensity for breaking things during practice. Because the same general felt responsible, he took it upon himself to go out and buy them for his subordinates.
When he went out to town, he was noticed. People would clear paths for him, some would cower in his presence, others would admire him, and many would whisper rumours heard about him, but of course they didn't really know him. Even though there wasn't a question of being attacked, he still took his sister and bodyguard with him, besides, his sister wanted to go.
"Uhh… that will be about five thousand gold… Your Highness." The shopkeeper stuttered nervously, it was not every day when the prince of Yilsse came to your shop.
"Milord, are you sure about appearing in public like this? I was about to faint when I heard that you wanted to go alone-"
He sighed. His bodyguard had been this way ever since they were children. Though he was glad for his concern, it also angered him and annoyed him at times. Even though past was past, and he had changed, putting those near suicidal notions behind him, the past would still crop up in the form of little things. Little things that reminded them both of something they didn't want to remember.
"Peace, Frederick. I'm a grown man, I can handle myself. Besides, I'm next in line for the throne, how am I going to be an effective ruler if I don't go outside and get to know my people better?" He sounded defensive and slightly snappy, as he sometimes did with Frederick. He didn't want to hate him, they were dear friends, but sometimes he couldn't help himself from acting like he did.
"Well… I suppose… if you look at it that way you are right, Milord."
He looked down at the pile of weapons in Fredericks hands; there were enough for everyone now, he hoped that this would be his way of apologizing for breaking almost everything when they were training yesterday.
"Indeed, that's enough, actually, more than enough, but no matter. We should be heading back," Then he started looking around, as if he forgot something, "Wait a minute… where is Lissa?"
Sure enough, Lissa appeared, she had bought herself some white ribbons, which now held her blonde hair in twin ponytails, and a new healing staff, as she had exhausted her previous one.
"Sorry, Chrom, I had my own purchases to make. You should have seen the chaos at the tailor's shop, people were everywhere! I almost got trampled over!"
"Well, I've had my own setbacks here, but we're done now, we should be leaving, everyone's probably worried-"
The booming sound of thunder silenced them.
They looked at the sky, it was still clear blue, but there was a streak of purple lightning in the trees. They were terrified, it was probably an ill omen, or a sign that some demonic creature had been brought into the world, whatever it was, they could not ignore it. If they followed it to its source, they'd probably find out what caused it.
"Chrom, what was that? Where did it come from?" Lissa shivered and hid behind her brother in a flimsy attempt to protect herself. Chrom, in turn, held out his arm in front of his sister and stood in a defensive position.
"The outskirts of town, we have to hurry! Naga knows what caused such a blast…"
"Are you sure that is wise, Milord?"
"It could be an enemy, Frederick! Now come on, we have to hurry!"
They ran to the far end of the shopping complex, where their horses were resting. Frederick took his horse, Chrom and Lissa took theirs, and they began to ride to the source of the mysterious lightning. They did not stop or take any detours until they reached the forest near the end of town. The forest seemed peaceful enough, but there was a black haze pervading it, it was weak, but prominent enough to notice. The group began to tread with caution, preparing for some kind of monster, hex, or Naga forbid, Plegian spy. What they found however, was something they didn't expect.
Under a peach tree, that was now singed, lay a young woman around Chrom's age. She was sprawled on her stomach; her face in the grass, her satchel was placed against the tree trunk. If they didn't know better, they would have assumed she was just taking a nap. When they got closer, and Chrom moved her so that she was now lying on her back, they saw that her face was contorted in pain. She couldn't have been sleeping; she was most probably attacked and now unconscious as a result. Now all three of them were standing over her like scientists inspecting a test subject.
"Dark hair, pale skin, bony, mage's uniform… milord, this girl is Plegian. She very much looks it-"
"Frederick, I also have dark hair, and she's just a regular mage, not a dark mage. Don't judge her just by how she looks."
"Perhaps she escaped from that hellhole… but Grimleal cannot enter the country…"
The woman began to twitch and convulse, her eyes were fluttering and she was panting. Lissa immediately knelt down at her side.
"Chrom, she's hurt, we have to do something!"
"What do you propose we do?" Chrom yelled, almost in panic.
"I don't know!"
Fredrick took a few steps back and brandished his lance, as he would when fighting an enemy.
"Careful, Milady! She might have sensed us, it could be a calculated act for all we know-"
The woman's eyes flew wide open, her entire body grew tense, her hands were shaking, she was panting, and she was covered in sweat, as though she had woken up from a nightmare.
"I see you're awake now." Chrom's voice was neither friendly nor hostile.
The woman sat up and began frantically looking at her surroundings, and stared at the people before her with furrowed brows.
"There are better places to take a nap then on the ground, you know."
"I…I-"
"You don't appear to be from here… where do you come from?"
The woman was gaping like a fish at him.
"I don't remember…"
Her voice was tremulous, she sounded terrified.
"What?"
"I don't remember anything… who am I?" she placed her hands on her ears, curled up in a foetal position and began to rock back and forth, "Who am I? Who… who…" Her voice was growing increasingly high pitched, and she was crying.
Chrom and Lissa stared at her gravely, she had probably been through an accident that made her lose her memory, and pitied her for it. Frederick however was not moved, and looked as if he was watching a badly acted play.
Lissa placed an arm around her shoulder.
"Hey, don't be sad, what you have is called amnesia and-"
"It's called a load of Pegasus dung. She is probably acting." Frederick spat.
Lissa glared at Frederick, and turned to the woman, continuing to console her.
"I'm sorry, Frederick can be quite paranoid. But don't worry, maybe something will come back to you."
"I… I-"
"Let's start with the basics, can you remember your name or where you're from?" Chrom asked.
They waited for about five minutes, then the woman got up and sat pretzel legged, looking at Lissa, she seemed calmer.
"I remember… my name is Ariana," she began to recite, as if she learned this by rote, "I'm 19 years old, I'm studying to be a tactician, and I'm… on the run, and… and…" She placed a hand on her forehead and grimaced when she realized she could remember no more.
"Oh, wow! You already remember a lot, so maybe the rest of your memory will come back in time too!"
Frederick turned to the woman and stared at her with a stern but neutral expression, his hands were folded across his chest.
"So, Arietta-"
"Ariana."
"Whatever. About an hour ago, a bolt of lightning struck this tree, where you presumably stood; do you know anything about it?"
"No…"
"Then that means, if you're telling the truth that is, we know how you lost your memory. Second, you speak with a Valmese accent, which means you are most certainly not from Yilsse."
"I… I…"
"You also mentioned that you were on the run, do you remember why, or from whom?"
Ariana gaped at Frederick, furrowed her brows and tilted her head slightly, then sighed.
"I think you scared her, Frederick. Well, it's no surprise; you're treating her like some kind of criminal."
"You never know, Milord-"
"Peace, Frederick." Chrom's voice seemed to grow more guttural, and he was barring his teeth.
Frederick clicked his tongue and looked down at his feet, then turned to face Chrom, who was eyeing her curiously. Ariana realized that he was looking at her, and their eyes locked. They stared at each other for not very long, only a few seconds, but it was enough to make Ariana shiver as if hit with a thunder tome. She got up and backed away, still staring at Chrom in shock.
"You're… I know you… you call yourself Chrom…"
Lissa and Frederick stared at each other in perplexity, Chrom however was unmoved.
"Ah, so you know who I am?"
"You're… I think you're royalty of some kind… yes, yes, I'm sure of it. You're royalty, and so are your friends. You look rich…"
In normal circumstances, talking to royals in such a disrespectful manner would land one in a jail cell, but they understood that Ariana had just lost her memory, and would be unable to think straight as a result. They were offended all the same though, as Lissa looked down at her dress and Frederick frowned.
"That obvious, is it?" Chrom chuckled, "Well, you're mostly right," He gestured to Lissa, who was standing behind him, "…my sister Lissa, the delicate one over here-"
"I am NOT delicate!" Lissa scrunched her face and frowned, and her hands were balled into fists, "Excuse my brother, he can be quite thick sometimes."
"…sorry, is royalty, like myself. Frederick the Wary here however is a noble, and my bodyguard."
"A title I shall wear with pride," Frederick interjected in a smug tone, "Naga forbid one of us keeps an appropriate level of caution."
"Frederick, if she is telling the truth, then we can't just leave her here, alone and with no memories, what sort of Shepherds would we be then?"
"T'would not do to let a wolf into our flock, Milord."
Chrom sighed in resignation, but still wanted to find a compromise.
"I guess the only other option we have is to take her back to town…"
Ariana flinched and held her hands out, as if trying to defend herself.
"Does this mean that… that you're going to take me prisoner?"
Chrom laughed heartily, finding Ariana's disoriented state amusing even though he shouldn't.
"If you can show us you're no enemy of Yilsse, you're free to go, now come on, let's get a move on-"
"Chrom! Look!"
Lissa was pointing at a dark cloud of smoke in the distance, staring at it in terror. Frederick and Chrom followed suit, they knew that this was a bad sign, and that the town would most likely be in danger.
"Damn it all! Most probably bandits, Lissa, Frederick, let's get out of here, we can deal with the girl later!"
Chrom, Lissa, and Frederick sprinted towards their horses and rode off, leaving a confused and perplexed Ariana behind.
Southtown was ablaze.
A vegetable merchant was kneeling on the ground as two thugs burnt his cart and took his merchandise, the weapons shop owner they dealt with earlier was holding a bronze sword in front of him, trying to fend another thug off, people were scrambling for safe haven as their houses and crops burnt to the ground, the thugs were cackling as they held sacks of crops, gold, and other goods in their hands.
From the tailor shop that Lissa frequented came a burly man with curly, unkempt black hair holding an axe in his hand, he barred his teeth at the royals once he saw they had come back to town.
"Get to it lads!" He cried out, and several thugs surrounded him, "These holier-than-thou Yilssean types need to be taught a lesson! They think they're so great and can just push all of us around... but now the tables are turned!"
"Down with Naga! Down with Naga!" his subordinates chanted enthusiastically.
All three of them stared at the now confirmed Plegian bandits in a mix of horror and fury as they mocked their faith. At that moment, all three of them wondered how they came through here without being noticed by border patrol, but then they realized that the bandits most likely killed those who kept watch.
"You dare desecrate the name of The Divine Dragon Herself, Grimleal scum?" Chrom responded to the head Bandit as he pointed his sword at his neck.
The head bandit roared in fury at the ethnic slur and brought his axe down on his enemy, but Chrom dodged the blow quickly.
"You'll pay for that, Yilssean! Now, die-"
But before the head bandit could swing his axe again, he was hit with a bolt of electricity. He began to writhe on the floor in pain due to the shock. Chrom turned around and his jaw dropped as he saw who his saviour was.
"...the amnesiac-"
"Ariana, Your Highness. And forgive me for my earlier show of emotion, I was disoriented but came to my senses since, though unfortunately, my past has not returned to me yet."
Chrom stared at her, still in shock. She seemed very different from before. She was no longer meek and helpless but stoic and collected even among all the chaos around her. Perhaps this was what she was like before she lost her memory.
"But you most certainly remembered how to fight..."
She swiftly dodged the axe of another thug, and hit him with magic from her tome. Now she and Chrom were standing back to back as they were being cornered by brigands.
"Yes, thankfully."
"But why-"
"It would be most unwise to leave a debt unpaid, Your Highness. Had I been found by these brigands rather than you, I know not what would have happened. As you can see, I know my way around a fight, so if you will have me, please, let me join you."
"All right, strength in numbers, just stay close!"
Ariana hit a brigand with a bolt of lightning, knocking him over and clearing a path for her and Chrom. They sprinted towards Frederick, who was guarding a terrified Lissa.
"Oh Naga, Chrom, what do we do now?" Lissa whimpered as she hid behind her healing staff.
"Lissa, you just stay here, the rest of us will take care of these bastards!"
"R-right."
Chrom ran to a brigand that was crouching behind a toppled fruit stand, and charged at him, giving him a bloody gash in his left shoulder, the brigand, in turn, ran towards Chrom with his sword pointed at him, Chrom got out of the way just in time, but did end up having his chest grazed. Ariana ran to his side, holding her tome in front of her, and soon the brigand convulsed from the electric shock, screaming in pain. He then toppled over, his eyes lifeless.
"Frederick!"
Frederick turned around to hear Lissa's high pitched scream as another brigand was charging towards her. Instinctively, he ran to her and blocked the brigand's axe, but when Frederick tried to attack, the brigand dodged his lance with ease.
"Get out of here, Milady! It is not safe!"
Lissa ran and hid in a pile of vegetables, but she did not plan on staying there for long, as she would be discovered eventually. She watched closely as another brigand ran towards Ariana and brought down his axe on her, she cried in pain and noticed her right shoulder now covered in blood. She jumped back, and then hit him with another bolt of lightening, clutching her wound and grimacing as she turned to Chrom.
"...Help..."
"Right!"
Chrom lunged forward and stabbed the brigand in the stomach, he screamed and blood gushed from him, now he too was clutching his sides and kneeling, but he was less likely to survive than Ariana was.
"Ahh!"
Lissa screamed as the brigand Frederick was holding off found her hiding place, and was about to bring the axe down on her, but looked down and saw that Frederick's lance was sticking out of his chest, he fell over, making no sounds as he died.
"Alas for you."
Chrom tensed as he saw a mage run towards him, and stabbed the mage in the side, making him yell out in pain. But the mage was quick, and jumped back, as he muttered an incantation under his breath, Chrom was hit with gusts of wind so powerful that they knocked him over, leaving him lying on his back and wide open for the brigand with near-fatal wounds. Yet it was too late, he was electrocuted by Ariana's tome. Lissa took notice of her wounded state and ran towards her.
"Oh Naga, are you all right?"
"Forgive me... Your Highness, mages are usually... lacking in the defensive side-"
Lissa muttered an incantation and held out her staff towards Ariana before she could say any more. She felt a wave of energy surge through her and turned to her right shoulder, which was slowly being healed.
"Don't be so modest, you're doing great out there! Now go, hurry up and defeat the rest of them!"
She bowed to Lissa modestly, even in the middle of battle, she still cared for common courtesy.
"I am in your debt, Your Highness."
She ran towards Chrom, who was struggling to face the mage who toppled him over earlier.
"Your Highness, what are you doing? Your ability to handle magical blows is, dare I say it, abysmal! Let me handle this..."
A bolt of lightening hit the opposing mage, and he, like the others they fought, was electrocuted to death. Chrom was, indeed, a sorry sight afterwards. Blood was covering his chest and he was kneeling on the floor. However, he was not like this for long, as Lissa ran to her brother as fast as she could to heal his wounds.
"Ariana, how did you know that I have trouble dealing with mages?"
"If I may be so bold, you are a lord, but you have not seen many battles as of yet, lords start out poor at handling mages but become more resistant to magic over time. I most probably learned this while studying to be a tactician..."
"Wait, so you can size up any soldier at a glance?"
"...I believe so."
"Okay, how about the remaining four brigands, can you do the same with them?"
"The head brigand is a barbarian, meaning he is a strong attacker, but unskilled and rather slow, and can be undone by magic. His lackeys are two myrmidons and a mage they are fast, skilled, and are strong attackers... but they appear to be inexperienced, so if you can land a hit on them, they will go down fast."
Chrom, Frederick, and Lissa looked at each other, surprised by the confidence with which she gave her analysis, but also wondered if they should listen to her or not.
"I have an idea, Her Highness will take cover, out of harm's way, I will take care of the lackeys, His Highness and Frederick will handle their leader-"
Ariana was interrupted by the sound of both myrmidons running towards her. She braced herself as she found herself surrounded. She quickly cast a spell and hit the myrmidon on her left with a bolt of lightening, he keeled over, but the other saw an opening in her stance and stabbed her in the side. She swerved to the right, and then electrocuted the other myrmidon. Then almost out of nowhere, an enemy mage blocked her chance of escape, and hit her with a thunder tome, she screamed in pain as she felt the lightening bolt hit her, but responded with an attack of her own, which managed to damage the mage considerably. She winced as one of the myrmidons held his sword above him, ready to strike...
But found himself impaled from behind by Frederick's lance. Then Chrom rushed forth and stabbed the mage in the chest. Ariana took this opportunity to get out of the remaining myrmidon's attack range and electrocute him with her tome. Now there was only one brigand left.
"Best not to leave a debt unpaid."
"You need not be indebted to me, Your Highness... but go and take out the leader, for I am weak-"
Lissa cast a spell with her healing staff, and Ariana's injuries were healed.
"It seems I owe you again, Your Highness."
"Don't give me any of that! Without you, I might not be here!"
"But she's right, Milord. Mages are not equipped to handle bulky opponents. I will help you take out the leader, Ariana can take cover with Lissa."
"Right, Frederick! You two, stay out of danger!"
Both of them sprinted towards the head brigand, who was now unpleasantly shocked at the fact that all his subordinates had been killed. However, in spite of his fear, he tried to keep a nonchalant facade.
"That's right, sheepy, sheepy, come to the slaughter!
He charged at the weaker of the two targets, and Chrom tried to dodge his axe but ended up with his shoulder grazed. He charged at the lead brigand and stabbed him in the shoulder, he winced at the pain, but still kept gloating.
"You've gone soft, Yilssean! Guess you guys haven't picked up a sword since old Bluebeard croaked, am I right?"
Chrom ignored the taunts and kept parrying his axe with his sword, he got struck in the side, which proved to be a damaging blow, as he cried out and knelt down. Frederick immediately came to his aid and stabbed the head brigand in the chest, and he stared in horror at the weapon as he realized he was about to die.
"You'll pay, Yilsseans... One day... you will all pay..."
The head brigand tottered over, knelt down, and died. The four of them stood in silence for a minute as the beheld the aftermath of their clash.
"It's over, Your Highness."
Lissa and Ariana both caught up with the rest of the group, with Lissa staring at her awestruck all the way.
"Thank Naga we were close to the town, and wow Ariana, I'm really surprised. Valmese people are usually really stupid, but the way you handled yourself there, you were incredible!"
Lissa did not notice this, but Ariana's face darkened at Lissa's attempt at a complement, though she didn't remember being from Valm, she didn't like being condescended because she wasn't the same race as her fellows. She decided to give Lissa the benefit of doubt, she most probably didn't know how to interact with people of other cultures.
"My-My thanks, Your Highness." her voice was low, trying to hide her displeasure.
"My sister is right, you're far from a helpless victim, that's for sure.
"Indeed, if you remember what you learned in your studies, then you can probably remember why you were on the run..."
Ariana sighed in resignation and looked at her feet.
"I understand your skepticism, Sir Frederick, but I cannot explain why only some of my memory came back. However, I have shared what I know, so please leave me be."
"Frederick, it is all right, she may not be from Yilsse, but she saved Yilssean lives, and that is enough."
"But Milord-"
"The Shepherds are in desperate need of a tactician, Frederick. With Ariana's talents, we'd be much less at risk."
"Is there something wrong with Miriel, Milord?"
"Miriel has knowledge, but good luck getting her to explain it to us in ways we can understand, and she isn't exactly...sociable. Someone like Ariana would be much better as a strategist."
"You have a point, Milord, but Ariana should agree with your proposition first."
They turned to Ariana, who was staring at them in confusion.
"Wait, I never got a chance to ask, you called yourselves 'Shepherds...' what is that? Is that the name of your army?"
"So to speak, we shepherds tend to our people, the sheep, and lead them away from danger. We're more of a peace-keeping force than an army though, but with Plegia poking at our borders, we may have to take a step up."
"I see."
"Listen, Ariana, if you join us, you won't be living easy. You'll have to travel on a regular basis and face more brigands like these. In addition, you will be our tactician and thus, my second in command, expectations will be high. I don't want to force you into any decision, please, take this into consideration before you say anything."
Ariana furrowed her brows, tilted her head to one side, and frowned, then she folded her hands across her chest. She stood like this for about a minute, and then sighed.
"I must confess, I like the idea of being part of a group. Feeling useful to many people gives me a sense of purpose, which I find even more necessary now that I lost my memory. For that reason, I- well, of course I care about the impending war as well, Your Highness. I wouldn't just enter battle for my own selfish reasons-"
"The reason is only secondary to me. You're lending us our strength and I am grateful for that. In any case, I don't find your reason to be selfish at all."
Ariana's eyes lit up, and she bowed deeply in an expression of gratitude.
"Thank you, Your Highness."
"Well, now that that's settled, Milord, Milady, Ariana, we'd best be on the road. If we start now we can reach the capital tomorrow morning."
Lissa turned to her bodyguard and raised an eyebrow.
"But-but Frederick, why can't we stay at an inn, like we did last time we were here?"
"You were on vacation then, Milady, and this is as far from a vacation as it gets. Besides, you are a shepherd now, trekking and camping are par for the course."
Lissa winced at the very idea and placed her hands on her hips, glaring at Frederick.
"Frederick! Sometimes I hate you!"
"He has a point, Your Highness. Though you've quite the stern lieutenant, he only means well."
"Not you too! Chrom, say something! Don't tell me that you're-"
"They're both right, Lissa, remember, hardship builds character. We know that better than anyone, don't we?"
Lissa began to grumble, then folded her hands and turned her back on her companions.
"FINE, I'll go with you, but I WON'T be happy about it!"
Chrom and Frederick chuckled, Ariana sighed, and they began their journey to the capital, knowing that this battle was only the beginning.
