Hello everyone! I am so sorry this update took so long. Things have been pretty hectic for me these past few months. Like a whole bunch of stuff with school and finances and some personal issues, ya know, life in a nutshell. Anyways I know you don't wanna here about my problems so lets get on to the main point: This story. Let me remind you, I will not give up on this story. Your reviews have been amazing and most encouraging and I thank you all. So without any further rambling on my part, here is the next Chapter!

Disclaimer: The author does not and will never own any of the characters in the Fire Emblem Universe, for that privilege belongs to Nintendo.

Gaius was grinning as he saw the impatience building up in his captors facial features. Even though he was captured, it was reassuring to know that his willpower was up to his standard. While most thieves would sing the truth in seconds if confronted by an obsessive plegian dark mage, Gaius's mind worked frantically to plan his escape. He could see he was in a brightly lit room of what he guessed was the local church given the stained glass artwork.

'Alright,' He thought, making sure to keep his facial features appear casual. 'She really should have done a more thorough search if she wanted to keep me here.'

"Now, thief," Tharja spat. "Explain what is happening to Robin. You cannot fool me, I can sense a curse upon someone from a league away. It's slightly different, but I feel something is wrong with Robin."

Gaius chuckled. "Calm down Sunshine. Why don't you ask him yourself? No need to chain me up and try to cast truth curses on me."

"Robin would never admit something was wrong until it forces him from doing his duties," Tharja glared. "As much as it pains me to say it, you and Chrom are his most trusted companions."

The thief could've swore he heard a slight twinge of sadness in Tharja's voice. Clearing his throat Gaius spoke, "That's not true Sunshine and you know it. Robin thinks highly of all of us. You know how much he values your skills as well." His hand were working furiously with his hidden blade, trying to undo the bindings.

"Of course he does, you buffoon!" Tharja snapped. "I know all of that! He loves all of his comrades! I'm talking about personal matters!"

"Haven't you stalked him the most out of everyone though?" Gaius raised an eyebrow. "I thought his whole existence was an open book for you."

Tharja tsked and shook her head. "He caught on and started setting up privacy wards whenever he needed time to think. Even I had a difficult time breaking them down."

Gaius saw her momentary lapse of attention and sprang into action. Cutting the last of his bindings he flipped backwards and jumped on one of the tables. Running full speed at the wall he ran up enough to grab an outcropping. Jumping to a chandelier, he swung his body up to the windows. Pleased with himself, Gaius risked a quick glance back to catch the look of surprise that was undoubtedly on the witch's face. Instead however, he let out a small scream as he saw a mass of dark energy fly towards him. Unable to react fast enough Gaius flew through the window and landed in a heap on the ground.

"Foolish man," Tharja sniffed. "No matter, I have all I need right here." From her sleeve she produced a bag of sweets, cackling softly to herself. "I knew you wouldn't sing, but you can't hide anything from me."

Orlan had been the Chief of his bandit group for several years. They had been mostly successful raiding smaller towns and hamlets, where the local watchmen were weaker and reinforcements were at least several hours away. Maybe it was because of his small time success that drove him to become more ambitious. With his group of sixty or so bandits he led the charge into Westpeak, a town well known for its alcohol and open traders market.

The watchmen were quickly overwhelmed but the damned Spymaster stationed there had taken out over ten of his fighters before a well placed arrow hit his leg allowing the other bandits to pounce on him, killing him instantly. Now that most of the guards were dead, Orlan gave the order to start taking everything. They would have to work quickly, as reinforcements were only an hour at most away. Women and children screamed as they were separated, younger men tried to protect their family only to be smacked down.

The Chief grinned wolfishly as he watched his crew pillage. He knew that word would spread how Orlan's group successfully raided a vital town in Ylisse. Many would flock towards him, and he'd have his own army. He could see it now, Orlan, Commander of the Great Bandit Army!

A shout broke him out of his thoughts. Turning his head he saw one of his men running towards him at full speed. "Chief!" He screamed in panic. "Chief we need to get away, NOW!"

When the bandit finally drew up to him, Orlan pushed his two guards away. "The hell you speaking of?"

Gasping for breath, the bandit choked out one word that drained the color from Orlan's face. "G-Grand… Master."

Turning to his lieutenants he shouted "Everyone escape with our loot, on the double or I'll have your head on a pike!"

Everyone grabbed their loot and started running. As they approached the edge of town Orlan risked a glance back. A look of terror was shown on his face as he saw a group of horsemen giving chase and closing in fast. Over the din of the mad scramble a thunderous voice sounded out "Lancers, charge the enemy! Run them out!"

War cries sounded as the squadron of horsemen thundered forward, causing panic among the bandits. Many dropped their haul to lighten the load and run faster. Orlan kept screaming for his men to retreat, running towards the hills. Before they could get much further however a large shadow flew overhead.

"You're not getting away!" a voice roared out.

Many bandits screamed as they looked up and saw a large dragon descending fast. A raging blast of fire flew from its maw and created a flaming wall in front of the bandits. Many came to a screeching halt, the less fortunate ones were burned instantly. Orlan looked around terrified, trying to find a means of escape. Finding none, he jumped as the dragon roared overhead before disappearing into the clouds. The horsemen caught up and instantly formed a circle around the group. Orlan could see the leader of the squad was a knight in shining green armor.

A number of the bandits recognized Stahl, commander of the Green Lancers. An elite forward unit in the Royal Army that was tasked with providing aid and reinforcements from a fort and several outposts within the halidom during times of peace. Another figure stepped forward and many of the bandits started whimpering. Orlan ground his teeth. It had to be his luck that they were facing down the Royal Grandmaster of the Ylissean Army. The figure strode forward confidently, his armor glinting and reflecting glow of the still burning dragonfire and his robe which showed his rank of office was flowing behind him.

"Gentlemen," Robin began, his voice clear and commanding. "You are all under arrest for crimes against the Halidom. Drop your weapons, and surrender quietly. It will be better for everyone present this way."

Something about the tone in that voice caused something to snap in Orlan. He strode forward defiantly and brandished his ax. "Like hell we would! Why would we do that?"

Robin raised an eyebrow. "I'm assuming since you all went for the hills instead of facing people who can actually fight, you would much rather live to see another day than to die here."

"I'd rather die than surrender to a pack of Ylissean dogs," Orlan shot back. A few braver bandits growled in agreement. "And if I'm going to die, I'm going to take the Royal Grandmaster with me!"

Robin frowned as he saw the Bandit Chief sprinting towards him along with a few others who weren't too surprised by the bold action. He saw two of the Lancers ready to charge and intercept the oncoming foe but were stopped by a hand signal from their Grandmaster.

"Looks like a hard lesson is in order," The Grandmaster muttered, channeling his magic into his arm.

As Orlan closed in he heard the Grandmaster shout something to the sky. A shadow appeared overhead and next thing the bandit Chieftain felt was a crushing pain and the sensation of being sent flying along with some of his subordinates. The rest halted as a large green dragon roared in fury, its large wings spread wide to intimidate the enemy and its tail which had sent several of them flying was protectively wrapped around the Grandmaster.

Some bandits decided to give up right then, throwing down their weapons. Those of a braver spirit assumed a defensive stance, unsure of what to do next. The Grandmaster stepped forward, the dragon following close.

"Some of you have the right idea," Robin grinned. "For those of you still wanting to resist, I added some extra incentive. If you all would look up please."

Eyes flew upwards, expecting another dragon assault, only to find a large magic circle floating over their heads. Arcs of electricity flashed around the circle, threatening to unleash all of its power in an instant.

Any courage that was built up was instantly quashed. Weapons were thrown down, and the Lancers advanced to cuff the bandits. the ones knocked unconscious were shackled and put into a cart that was brought up from the village.

"Everything's taken care of here Robin," Stahl reported, walking up to his friend. "Once again I'm amazed at your Spymaster network. We were able to mobilize quickly and send aid."

Robin shook his head. "We lost a good man today though. Harris was one of my best Spies. He'd been in my service for the past four years."

The Knight could see Robin's habit of self blame was coming back. It was the part of him that made him the most efficient Tactician. His obsession to keep his soldiers alive drove him late into the night, constantly drafting schematics and planning assaults or marking a retreat zone. Stahl remembered that Robin would also spend time trying to get into an enemy tactician's mind, drawing up counters to his own plans.

"Robin, he was an excellently trained fighter, also one of the sneakiest you've employed, but Remember there is only so much one man can do. Knowing how you trained them he saw something and had to stop it at all costs." Stahl remembered Frederick giving him a similar lecture when the green Knight was promoted to Commander.

The Grandmaster smiled a put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I know Stahl, thank you. It's just hard to know that tonight I'll be writing a letter to a young widow and new mother, saying he gave his life for his Exalt instead of spending it with those who truly deserved his time.

Stahl shook his head. "Do you want me to accompany you? I am in command of the reinforcements after all."

The idea was dismissed by a wave of a hand. "I appreciate it my friend, but Gaius and I will handle it. Technically our sugar obsessed friend is the Second-in-Command of the Spymasters."

"I send my condolences as well." Stahl turned around to start their departure. "Before you do go and get depressed by your lonesome however, it looks like someone's coming to cheer you up."

Robin looked up and saw Nowi skipping towards him, thankfully in her human form. While there was nothing wrong with her dragon form, the Manakete sometimes forgot and tried to jump hug the poor tactician when she got too excited.

"We did it, Robin!" Nowi sang with joy. "Not that I doubted you for a second, and you looked so cool out there! Oh, did you see how I blocked off their escape with my fire? Or how I sent them flying with my tail? Or - "

Robin chuckled as he placed a hand on her head. "Yes, yes, Nowi. I saw everything." the Grandmaster interrupted, heading back to his horse. "I had a front row seat remember?"

Nowi just grinned and followed Robin, hopping on the back of his horse as the Grandmaster climbed back into the saddle. With a nod, Robin started heading back towards town while Stahl and his men set chains on the bandits. While the bandits were being chained and formed into a line, Robin felt the manakete's arms wrap a little tighter around his waist.

"Is everything alright Nowi?" Robin asked, craning his neck to look at the small figure behind him. Nowi fidgeted a little before responding.

"It's just, I don't like the chains, that's all" She murmured

"The chains?"

"Yeah, even though they're the bad guys, seeing people in chains kinda reminds me of the time before I met you all"

"I'm sorry that reminded you of that time," Robin was shocked and angry with himself that he had nearly forgotten what Nowi could have went through before becoming a Shepherd. "I can't imagine what horrors you've seen."

The manakete shook her head. "It was a living hell, the things they made me do. I still have nightmares sometimes."

The horse had reached the Spymaster's outpost on the outskirts of town. Robin hopped off of his horse and held out a hand for Nowi, the latter accepting it graciously. When she was firmly on the ground she let out a small squeak as Robin pulled her into a warm embrace.

"I didn't mean to bring up old scars, Nowi. I'm sorry."

Nowi quickly wiped away some of her tears and quickly put on a playful pout. "Well, I wouldn't have thought about it if you didn't drag me away from the castle on my day off!"

"What?" Robin choked out, flabbergasted at her complete turn of character.

"You heard me mister!" The little fireball had both hands on her hips, a wicked grin on her face. "I was going to enjoy a nice relaxing day but you come running out of nowhere and tell me to come with you to beat up some bandits! What's more I had to carry you there on my back until you got a horse from the Spymaster's stable!"

"But that's - " The poor Grandmaster started only to be cut off by a wave of the hand.

'No buts!" Nowi continued. "You owe me a day off, so I think you can repay me with a date tomorrow!"

"Wait, Nowi, do you even know what you're saying?" Robin was caught up to the fiery manakete's pace.

Nowi's grin widened. "Of course I do! I'm nowhere near as smart as you Robin, but I'm not a dummy!"

"Then why - "

"AAAAUUUGGGGGHHHHH!" Nowi threw her hands in the air in exasperation. "Let me make it clear then!" Grabbing his collar she brought him down to her eye level. "Tomorrow night. Meet at barracks. We'll have dinner. It'll be a magical evening. Got it?"

"Got it," Robin nodded weakly.

Nowi jumped for joy, and with a final wave she transformed and flew off into the sky.

The Grandmaster stared dumbly at where the manakete flew stood. "Looks like the first part is taken care of," he muttered to himself. "But why do I feel like I just got mugged?"

Once again we have reached the end of the chapter and I must ask as always: "Did you enjoy, laugh or even crack a grin?" If so then you have made my day as an author. Now I leave you until the next chapter. Any question, comments, concerns please feel free to message me or just leave a review. Until then, stay beautiful!

- DaBlazinAsian