Uprising (Reina and Charlotte)

Having only just arrived in Cheve, Corrin's army is beset by a rebel squadron led by a group known as the Chevois Knights. To make matters worse, these rebels are supported by a number of Hoshidan troops led by Prince Takumi. Two bridges looming over a flowing river separate Corrin's troops from the main opposition. Prince Takumi is waiting to strike at the opposite end of the eastern bridge; his backup consists of three heavily armored knights and a Diviner lurking amongst them. To the west is a small group of mages, whom are currently locked in combat with Corrin's army.

A tall sorceress garbed in the attire of a seasoned Hoshidan Diviner makes her way towards the group in an attempt to attack who she assumes to be an unsuspecting Odin. Her traditionally styled purple hair and bewitching appearance do very little to hide the mischievous and confident expression she wears. Nyx clicks her tongue in disappointment at the sight before jumping front of Odin to block the incoming spell that this sorceress intended to use against Odin.

This sorceress' once confident expression is deflated as she hears a powerful cry coming from the smoke caused by her spell. "Unquenchable Blood Flames!" Before she can express even a modicum of confusion, she is sent flying into the river by an explosion of lightning. As she drifts away with the current, she hears one last boast from the wizard who bested her. "Glory unyielding!" The remaining Diviners who were assisting her are subsequently sent flying into the river by this same wizard, save for one.

Upon hearing Cyrus call out to Mozu, the remaining Diviner turns his head to meet the incoming opposition. For his efforts, he is met with an arrow to the shoulder that sends him stumbling back, where he, too, falls into the river to join his allies. The last unit occupying this area is a Cavalier, who grabs the reins of his steed to alter his positioning. Just as he finishes, he is met with a punch to the face that knocks him from his horse and into the river. The last he hears, aside from his steed galloping to safety, is Cyrus' triumphant laughter.

Rejoining his comrades, Cyrus pats Odin on the shoulder as he says, "Excellent work, everyone." He then dons a conniving smirk as the runic pattern in his left eye dons a yellow shimmer. A dark chuckle escapes him before he says, "All according to keikaku."

Charlotte, one of the army's two most recent recruits, looks to him with confusion and asks, "What the Hell does that even mean?"

Mozu takes a step near Cyrus, raising a finger as she explains, "In the Hoshidan language, 'keikaku' means 'plan'."

Looking to Cyrus again, Charlotte then asks, "Why didn't you say that in the first place?"

Drawing the Hastebrand, Cyrus points his blade to the path ahead. "No time to explain, Charlotte; we must make haste to the center!" In the distance, as if on cue, a man armed with a bow and dressed as a shady individual comes into view. Though his face is mostly concealed by his red hood, his devilish smirk cannot be contained. A bag is slung on his back, and there is a certain pep to his step as he strides along his way. Cyrus' eye twitches in rage at the sight. "Oi! You there!" The ruffian stops and looks around; "Yes, you! The one with the bow and bag!"

"Kinda busy here, kid; go ask someone else to help you find your mother."

Knowing that Cyrus might be more than a little offended by that statement, Corrin takes a few steps towards his ally as he says, "Now Cyrus; he doesn't know your circumstances."

Cyrus shakes his head, seemingly unmoved by the statement. "Never mind that, Lord Corrin." Pointing to the ruffian with his sword, he continues, "I know good and well you are on your way to exploit those innocent villagers while this conflict rages."

"Well, obviously! The pickin is good!"

"Cease your advance now, lest you personally deal with us!" The ruffian bursts into laughter at this, much to Cyrus' ire. His eye twitches again as the ruffian turns to walk away and go about his nefarious business. His voice is as a defiant roar as he shouts, "You think this is a game?!" Suddenly, everyone's attention is on him; "if you will not cease your insidious plot, I will ruin you!"

The ruffian smirks at him, which leads Cyrus into preparing to make another retort before the ruffian makes a statement of his own. "Oh yeah? Let's see you get past this then."

Charlotte's eyes widen in realization of the ruffian's threat. "You wouldn't dare."

"Hey, you guys with the Chevois Knights? The Nohrian army is right over here!"

Cyrus' eye twitches once more as he tightens the grip on his weapon. "Everyone, we're taking a defensive approach; we still have some time to warn those villagers." Leading the advance with a jog, he continues, "Don't take any unnecessary risks; we all go home together." His allies voice their assent as he and Corrin take to properly leading the charge into the fray. Upon crossing the bridge, they are soon met with a group of Hoshidan warriors.

This group is much larger than what needed to be dealt with before, totaling to seven mounted units. At the helm of this group is a woman with ocean blue hair riding atop some sort of flying creature boasting decorative plumage and vibrant colors. As the creature comes into clearer view, Mozu says, "They have a Kinshi Knight; I reckon I can deal with her." Straining her vision, Mozu gets a better look at the Kinshi rider. A faded scar in the shape of an 'X' perfectly divides the two sides of her face. She currently wears a sort of sadistic smile, one that is only further accentuated by the unmistakable bloodlust in her eyes. Finding herself getting nervous, Mozu says, "Yikes, she's scary."

Mozu feels a hand rest on her shoulder, and turns around to see Cyrus smiling at her. "Worry not, Mozu; you won't be facing an opponent that fierce by yourself. I shall use myself as a decoy to give you the perfect shot."

"She's not alone, you know; those Cavaliers will swarm you!" In spite of her protests, Mozu eventually sighs and nods to Cyrus, giving a look that confirms her trust in his strategy. "I reckon you'd fight a dragon alone if we let you."

"I have done that in Erdboden, many times in fact."

Mozu then throws her arms into the air, turning to Silas as she says, "Silas, talk sense into him."

Silas shrugs, a smirk forming on his face as he says, "This is out of my field, Mozu."

Cyrus steps into the enemy's striking range with Felicia and Elise not too far away from him. Two Cavaliers are the first to rush at him, opting to assume a Dual Strike stance rather than simply attacking from two sides. In making this choice, the first Cavalier is able to land a glancing blow with his lance on Cyrus' sword arm, though his ally misses his strike entirely. As the first Cavalier rears his arm back to prep his lance for another strike, Cyrus sees an opening.

With the Runic Blade in hand, Cyrus lunges at his vulnerable opponent. The blade stabs right into the heart of the Cavalier, seemingly passing right through his armor as if it was a non-existent factor. In spite of the blade's entirety sinking into the target, there is no blood to be seen, nor can the blade of the sword be seen piercing through the Cavalier's back. Cyrus uses his forward momentum to flip over his now incapacitated opponent; he snaps his fingers, causing his sword to disappear from its current resting place. It then emerges from a portal of darkness as Cyrus swings his arm down to strike the second Cavalier.

This Cavalier's horse instinctively jumps backwards to avoid this strike, also yielding a secondary result in giving the blue-haired Kinshi Knight her opportunity to fly in and shoot an arrow at her airborne target. Cyrus meets the arrow with the flat end of his sword before landing on the ground. His eyes meet with those of the Kinshi Knight, and at once the two shoot smirks at each other.

"I like the look in your eyes, boy; I shall take great delight in watching the light fade from them."

Sheathing the Runic Blade, Cyrus elects to switch over to using the Hastebrand. "May I have the name of my bewitching opponent?"

"Certainly. I am Reina; be sure to remember it when you reach the afterlife." She is then met with a startling surprise as Cyrus suddenly appears right next to her, swinging his blade in a diagonal fashion. She blocks the strike with her bow, allowing herself to get a better look at her opponent's face. In a brief instance, she realizes that there is a key difference between what she thought her opponent was like and what he actually is. The realization causes her to chuckle maliciously. "I was wrong about you; your eyes are that of a feral beast, rather than a warrior." Her grin grows just a bit wider as she follows, "You will make for an even more satisfying kill."

Cyrus, though ready to make a reply, finds his attention caught by the ruffian from before. This ruffian, fully intent on robbing the nearby village, is dangerously close to its entrance. Pushing away from Reina, Cyrus scans the battlefield to judge the army's best course of action. "Lady Elise, I need you to hit the ruffian with the Freeze Staff! It's a long shot, but you can make it!" Jumping out the way of an incoming Cavalier, he follows, "Everyone else, we're taking care of as many enemy units as possible; form an unbreakable bastion to protect Mozu and Lady Elise!"

True to Cyrus' claim, Elise finds herself struggling to focus enough to send the effects of her staff to the intended target. In spite of this, her cast is successful, immobilizing the ruffian before he can enter the village. Upon realizing that her attack was successful, Elise's face brightens to form an elated expression as she cheers in triumph. Cyrus cheers in kind, which turns out to be a mistake that allows a Cavalier to strike him with the swing of his lance, which sends him rolling along the ground.

As he looks up, he can see that a nearby ally of the Cavalier who struck him has already readied his lance for a killing strike. Cyrus realizes he has no chance of blocking or dodging this attack, and grits his teeth as he internally curses his own carelessness. To his surprise, Charlotte comes to his aid, delivering a critical jump strike to the unsuspecting Cavalier. The rider is knocked from his steed, which then flees in panic. Though he is conscious, he opts to make a retreat with Reina and the rest of his defeated comrades.

Charlotte turns to Cyrus and helps him to his feet. Before her comrade can put forth a word of gratitude, she flicks a finger to his nose, catching him off guard and eliciting a sound not dissimilar to the chirp of a small bird. Charlotte snickers at this before saying, "That's for being reckless; you gave that Mozu girl quite a fright just now…and that is to say nothing of Lord Corrin. I thought his heart was gonna leap right out of his chest." She then takes to poking Cyrus in the chest, shooting a telling glare to his face as she says, "You need to watch yourself out there; I'll take everyone for their word on you being a trustworthy tactician, but don't expect me to follow plans that are as crazy as that last one." Cyrus smirks at her, which causes her glare to intensify; "Did I say something funny?"

"No, not at all; my apologies for worrying you and the others." Though he can see that Charlotte is about to retort, likely to refute his claim that she was worried, he continues, "Rest assured that my crazier strategies only ever use me as the focal point."

"That's not much better." She sighs, shaking her head before turning to face her approaching allies. "You're gonna be a pain in the butt; I can tell." Though she can't see Cyrus' face at present, she is fully aware of the smile he currently wears. Try as she might to grimace, she can only grin as she follows, "I'm gonna grow to hate that smile of yours."

"Oh? Challenge accepted; I look forward to proving you wrong, Charlotte."

"Now you should know it's not smart to underestimate me."