Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem Awakening nor Starcraft, all rights to the owners.
We'll get back to Pokemon after this, and we'll do second generation replacement after that. For now: aliens… and by aliens I mean the Zerg. I'm not the most well-versed in the technicalities of zerg biology, so pardon if some things are inaccurate here.
This was requested by Darkness is complete, and it was a lot harder than I expected. This is my fourth take.
Now Donnel isn't stupid. He learned early on that the outlandish rumors that spread around his village on a regular basis were just that: rumors. There wasn't actually a hag livin' in the forest cursin' the crops, there wasn't actually a river spirit makin' everyone sick with bad water, and the Anna that passed through wasn't actually a devil in disguise.
She was a thief, not a demon. His ma always said to never trust an Anna. They're all greedy… well, Donnel ain't allowed to say the other part.
So when Donnel heard that there was monsters in the woods he payed it no mind. Maybe there's a wolf or a bear prowlin' around, but those ain't gonna bother ya unless you poke at 'em. They're smarter than to mess with humans. We got pointy weapons after all; better to go after our pigs or chickens.
You can image the village boy was surprised to find a giant insect in his animal trap. It's the size of a large dog and has giant claws as big as Donnel's forearm… but it still got it's leg stuck in the boar trap.
Normally at this point Donnel would stick the thing in the head with a spear and put it out of it's misery… but he genuinely isn't sure if he can even eat or kill this thing, and he's pretty sure that thing has armor on its forehead so there's no guarantee his bronze spear will even go through the carapace.
"Alrighty then…" Donnel says to himself. The creature isn't moving all that much, but the villager has no illusions about its ability to kill him with those claws and sharp teeth. Does he let it go? Does he try to kill it anyways? "Oh lordy. Sorry you… scary insect thing. Where'd you even come from anyways? No way you're from around here."
The boy tentatively steps towards the thing, still clutching his spear. It's eyes are already latched onto him and tracks his every movement.
"I'mma just cut yer rope little buddy." The villager says nervously. He extends his spear towards the thick rope tied to the creature's leg, and starts clumsily sawing at it from a distance. It takes a few minutes, but eventually the rope snaps and the giant insect is free. It tests out the injured leg, ruffles it's undersized wings, and darts off into the forest.
Donnel breathes a sigh of relief as he moves to reset the trap. Looks like the rumors were true, there are monsters in the forest. At least it didn't charge at him.
Resetting the trap takes a few minutes. He has to pull the the branch back into place and attach a new rope and set more bait. It's a delicate process, which only adds to the time needed. He's so absorbed in his work that he doesn't notice someone watching him until he turns around to grab the bait and hits his head against theirs.
"Sorry there, didn't see…" Donnel trails off when he sees exactly who he's talking to.
She's female, and looks mostly human. She has sinewy, burgundy-colored skin, purple eyes, hair that looks like a couple dozen insect legs sprouting from her head, and has two giant bone wings sprouting from her back.
She's also accompanied by about six of the same insect monsters Donnel freed just a few minutes ago. The villager, now terrified, puts on a wide smile and prays to Naga this lady isn't some sort of grim reaper. "W-Well howdy! Sorry about trappin one of your… pets? I was tryin' ta catch me a boar."
The lady looks curiously at him. "How does it work?"
"Sorry?"
"The trap, how does it work?"
"Oh." Donnel feels his heart rate start to lower a bit and it stops pounding in his chest. She's not here to kill him. "Well here, lemme show ya from the start."
It's a bit nerve-wracking to work with giant insects watching him, but Donnel manages to focus on his work and show the lady how to make a boar trap. She nods silently as he explains every step.
"Wow." She says at the end. "For something so low-tech, that's surprisingly well thought out."
"Well… thanks I think." Donnel says nervously. "So, if ya don't mind me askin', who are ya?"
"Me? Oh, I'm Robin." She sticks out her hand and the villager tentatively shakes it. Her grip is strong, and Donnel can see muscles firmly defined in her arm as she shakes. "I'm sorta lost actually. Would you mind telling me what planet this is?"
"Planet?" Donnel blinks. "Golly, well we call it Mundus."
"Erm… what sector is that?"
"Pardon? What's a sector?"
"Oh dear. Okay, has anyone on this planet ever been to space?"
"Maybe Lady Naga has, but aside from that I ain't so sure."
"Who is this Naga?"
"She the goddess o' life of course." Donnel says.
"Right." Robin says. The worry steadily growing in her face has grown to something resembling panic. "Right, okay, this is fine… totally fine…"
"Y'alright? You look a bit scared there miss Robin."
The burgundy girl gives a nervous, slightly hysterical laugh. "Oh yes, just fine. I'm stranded on a technologically deficient planet of terrans, out of range to contact a nearby fleet, and maybe with fanatical protoss still chasing me. This is fine."
"W-Well I don't pretend to totally understand ya, but I'm sure there's a way you could get help." Donnel says as convincingly as possible. "Why, the Exalt loves helpin' people. I'm sure she could lend ya a hand."
"Does she have a spaceship?"
"Well no… but if you know roughly how ta make one I'm sure we could figure it out." The villager offers.
"No I…" Robin pauses. "No I don't, but the swarm does. A leviathan, even a small one, would take a lot of resources to morph, but I suppose it's possible."
"A what?"
"A giant Zerg. The size of… a lot of castles." Robin says, lacking a better analogy that the boy would understand. "It's a really big space boat."
"Well that sounds like a plan then." Donnel says with a smile. "We'll find ya a way to the capital, and see if we can't get yer case brought to the Exalt."
"Right."
"For now though, uh, golly?" Donnel murmurs. "Well, you better come with me back to the house. Gotta try and explain this to my Ma… somehow."
###
"So this… lady needs help getting to space?" Donnel's mother says disbelievingly to her son.
"Yes." Robin says, standing tall. She's not sure if she should be intimidating this woman or impressing her. "I would like his assistance."
"Why? Why him?" The lady says suspiciously.
Robin grimaces in embarrassment. "He's the first person who hasn't screamed or tried to stab me on sight."
"I-I see." Donnel's mother swallows thickly. "And those things are…?"
"Zerglings, and a drone." Robin motions to the giant insects Donnel had seen before and a floating lobster thing with fleshy wings.
"Right…" The lady sighs. Donnel fully expects his mother to say no after all of this, but to his surprise she says. "I've always intended for him to visit Ylisstol at some point. He can go with you, but it's your duty to keep him safe, understand young lady?"
"Yes ma'am." Robin says with a stiff bow. Inwardly though she's giddy. This feels like a mission, the queen never gave her a mission because she was 'too young'.
She's three months old! She's plenty old enough for a mission. Zerglings are only a few seconds old before they go out to fight! Broodmothers are only a few minutes old before they command broods! She's totally old enough.
"If Queen Zagara ever hears about this she'll be so impressed…" Robin thinks, hiding a smile. "I can follow orders, and I can even get off this planet without her help!"
…
"Okay, maybe I'd still like her to come pick me up. This is gonna take a long time on my own."
###
"So yer sayin' this little thing can turn into a building?" Donnel says in awe as he kneels down to the drone's level.
"Yep."
"And that building can make more of these things?"
"Yep."
"Woah… that's mighty impressive miss Robin."
"The zerg have learned how to multiply really quickly." Robin hums with a smirk. "We're kinda the best."
"I believe it!" Donnel smiles. "Golly, I can't wait to see all that."
"Neither can I." Robin sighs. "Then I can stop wearing clothes. How do terrans stand these things?"
Donnel's mother gave the Robin some actual clothes to wear because the girl was walking around with nothing on. Apparently zerg don't have clothes (which, Donnel supposes, considering they're all apparently space bugs that makes sense) but for Robin that's not exactly going to work because she's basically human, and Donnel highly doubts the guards are going to let some naked lady with bone wings into the palace.
It's highly doubtful they'll let anyone with bone wings into the castle, but it's still a good idea to give Robin the best possible chance of getting in.
"We're sorta used to it." Donnel shrugs. "I mean, we wear 'em every day."
"That's so weird…"
"Says the girl from space with big ol' insects followin' her 'round." Donnel laughs.
"That's normal! I have zerglings guarding me all the time!"
"That's normal for you; not everyone else!"
###
"You sure you'll be fine out here?" Donnel asks with concern.
"Of course! I've slept in the forest a few nights before I found you. Plus, it's not like I can just walk into the village." Robin says. "It'll be fine."
"Well alrighty then." The boy says with a smile. "I'll come back here in the mornin' so stay safe miss Robin."
Robin watches her new friend walk into the village from her position at the edge of the forest. If it weren't for her bone wings she could probably follow him. Her clothes aren't enough to make her inconspicuous unfortunately, and they'd still have to explain her burgundy skin.
Oh well. She's used to the forest by now. She'll get to walk around a town when they get to the capital anyways. For now she needs to find somewhere to sleep for the night, and maybe have her zerglings hunt a few squirrels to eat.
She really does miss having creep to feed her troops. It's a pain to have to hunt things.
There's still a few hours before nightfall, so Robin spends it simply observing the town from a distance as her zerglings hunt. She watches travellers enter the town, often with wagons and animals in tow. The town guards quickly search the wagons before waving the travellers past.
Robin has learned from travelling with Donnel that terrans don't have good senses like she does. When the guards look her way they don't react whatsoever. She doubts they can see her, but she can see everything happening in high detail.
She can even see Donnel talking with someone in the town square and getting an apple to eat. Robin waves, though he obviously can't see her.
Hmm, those people are leaving so late in the day? Is there a town or village nearby? Ooh, that guy has a power suit. She thought Donnel said no one here had been to space… but why is he riding an animal? Isn't that inefficient? Why not a vulture bike?
And why is he travelling with an unarmored guy with a metal sword and a lady with a big wood stick with jewels on it? Are they performers? Why do they need guard?
Whatever. They can be weird if they want. It's not her problem.
A few minutes pass uneventfully, but eventually she notices a lot of men walking over a nearby hill. They're dirty, and they all have poorly-maintained weapons. Donnel's weapon is chipped and worn, but he keeps it clean unlike these people.
Robin wonders what they want with the village. Is there something special there everyone is trying to get? Donnel didn't mention anything.
Terrans are weird.
They're all running now, and taking out their weapons… okay. Robin doesn't know a lot about terran society, but she recognizes a charge when she sees it, and she will not stand for the chance that Donnel will get injured. Staying hidden be damned.
The girl throws her cloak aside and starts running down the hill towards the village where the dirty men are just arriving. She calls telepathically for her zerglings, but they're just to make this quicker, Robin is confident she can take out these men by herself. She can see a fight break out between a few of them and the guards, which ends quickly as the guards are overwhelmed.
As soon as she judges she's in range, Robin jumps. Her wings flare out behind her and snap forward as she drops, and the spikes ends tear into the unfortunate men she lands on.
"What the hell is that?!" One of the dirty men shouts and points towards her. "Guile, Barry, we got some sorta monster here!"
The man raises his axe towards her, but she lashes out with her wing and impales him with one of the spiked tips. Two man run at her from behind, but she backhands them with her wing when she spins around and slashes their throats with claws that extend from her fingers.
If Robin remembers correctly, human fingernails aren't actually claws hidden in a skin covering, but they are for her.
The girl quickly remembers where she saw Donnel last, and runs over there. The town is absolutely infested with these bad guys, and Robin slashes at them evenever they get in range. She finds the spot where she say Donnel last, but he isn't here now.
Snarling, Robin glances about rapidly. Did he go into one of these buildings? Did he run away? No, it doesn't matter. The best way to make sure he stays safe is to kill all of the people who attacked this town. She can worry about finding him after the threat is gone.
Her eyes lock on the closest foe, and she lunges.
###
"This is madness…" Frederick grunts as he pulls his lance out of the brigands. "There are too many for this to be a simple outlaw band."
"Chrom, what's that?!" Lissa shrieks as she points to the town square. There's a burgundy-skinned woman with giant bone wings slashing apart brigands with reckless abandon. "And what are those?!" She shrieks again when a number of giant insects run past them and make leaping bites at their foes.
"I have no idea, but they're attacking the brigands." Chrom grimaces. "Let's focus on the brigands first, and then worry about these new creatures."
Most of the places they go they find bandit corpses, as the insect monsters have gotten there first. The men have deep bite wounds to their necks and chunks torn out of their chests, leaving no question as to what killed them.
With only a few fights of their own, the trio find the village clear of bandits and rush back to the center of town to find the strange girl still there and all the insect monsters roaming around her. Her eyes immediately snap to the three of them and she bares disturbingly sharp teeth.
"You! Are you bad guys too?" She snaps. Her wings flare out threateningly and Chrom notes the dried blood on the tips.
"No! No we're not!" Lissa squeaks in fear. "We're good guys! Promise!"
"A better question is who, and what, are you?" Frederick asks sternly.
"I'm Robin of the Zerg, and you are going to help me find Donnel!"
"I-I'm right here miss Robin." A heavily accented voice calls tentatively. "Uh… are all the bandits gone?"
"Donnel! Yes, they're gone, and you're fine?" The girl instantly looks less threatening as her wings come down and she quickly moves to stand protectively next to the... ordinary village boy. All the insect monsters follow the girl and calmly patrol around their legs, paying the trio no mind.
"Yeah, just fine." The boy says. "Uh, everyone, it's fine to come out."
"With those things still here!?" Someone hisses from inside the building.
"They're mighty friendly." Donnel calls back. "I've been travellin' with them for a few days and I've been just fine."
"Oh…" Lissa murmurs quietly. "So she is a nice person?"
"I heard that!" Robin huffs and glares at the cleric. "Of course I'm nice! I'm great!"
"And these things are tame?" Frederick asks with a grimace.
"My zerglings listen to my telepathic commands, so yes, they're tame." The girl says. "And who are you all?"
"I'm prince Chrom of Ylisse." The blue-haired boy says as cordially as he can.
The village boy (Donnel?) quickly whispers in the Robin's ear, and she immediately perks up. "Wait, you're related to the Exalt, aren't you?"
"Yes."
"I need to talk with her!" Robin says intensely. "I need to go to space."
Chrom isn't sure if he heard that right, but the look Donnel has on, one of begging, suggests that Robin is actually telling the truth.
"Well… erm…" Chrom coughs in confusion. "I'm not quite sure if she has a way to do that."
"I don't need her to make the spaceship, I can do that! I just need a lot of space!" Robin begs.
"Is this some sort of joke?" Frederick asks with a disbelieving scowl.
"I'm afraid not yer knightliness sir. She's dead serious." Donnel says. "An' if she can do half the things she claims she can do, she might actually be able to make one o' these spaceship things."
"I see." Chrom says, thoroughly confused. "Erm… well we were heading back towards the capital anyways. You're welcome to join us for the trip."
"Really?!" Robin sounds incredibly enthusiastic.
"Gosh, well thanks yer lordship." Donnel says in obvious awe.
"Just Chrom is fine Donnel." The prince sighs. He has a feeling this is going to be a long trip back.
###
"You certainly pick up interesting people captain." Sully mutters as she eyes Robin and her zerglings suspiciously.
"My dearest Sully, it would not do to be ungrateful of those who help us. Why, without lady Robin there's no saying if we would have survived this encounter." Virion scolds.
"Shut it Ruffles." The cavalier grumbles. "We're trading one type of monster for the another."
"Yeah, you get the awesome ones instead of the dead ones." Robin brags. She's totally oblivious to the fact that Sully is complaining about her instead of complimenting her. "Just wait until I get to set up a hatchery. We'll be even more awesome and powerful then!"
"Right…" Sully mutters.
###
"Oh my…" Emmeryn murmurs. "Space you say?"
"Yes! And I need a lot of space to get minerals and synthesize vespene so I can make a leviathan!" Robin says with absolute conviction.
"Well… we may be able to provide you with land." Emmeryn says cautiously. "However, there is an issue."
"What?"
"Others will frown upon me freely giving you land for no recompense. Perhaps there is something you can offer in return to assuage their nervousness?"
"Hmm…" Robin purses her lips. "Oh! I can give you troops!"
"Troops?"
"I can make more zerglings!" She gestures to the insect monsters that patiently stand by her side. "And with a bit of time, I can provide stronger troops too! Roaches, hydralisks, mutalisks, maybe even brood lords!"
"And will they listen to us?" Emmeryn asks nervously.
"Well sorta." Robin frowns. "See, I'm in control of all zerg in my immediate area, but I can extend the range of that control with overlords, and if I make queens they can direct troops in my absence to a limited degree."
"So what you're saying is that without you your… zerg… are a blunt instrument." Chrom says. "But they shouldn't turn against us?"
"No, they won't. Even without overlords they have a limited connection to myself, but will be little more than an animal to point in a direction and let loose. Any control beyond that will be lost." Robin murmurs.
The exalt leans back in her chair to think. She doesn't want troops, she doesn't want to accept the possibility that she might need them and that negotiations with Plegia will fail, but at the same time she knows it would be foolish to leave Ylisse undefended.
And if those reserve warriors happen to be insect monsters, so be it.
"I agree to this deal. Ylisse will provide with a large plot of land and materials within reason to help with the construction of your leviathan, and in turn you will provide our country with defenders should it prove necessary." Emmeryn says with as much authority she can muster. "Donnel."
"Y-Yes yer exaltedness?"
"You will be responsible for monitoring Robin's operation, and relaying messages when she cannot. If her zerg cannot speak, you will be her second voice."
"O-Of course yer ladyshipness." The villager says with a nervous bow. "Oh golly…"
"And you will be paid to do so." The exalt says in a softer tone. "It would not do for a ruler to let work go unrewarded."
Donnel's shoulders sag in relief. "Mighty kind of ya. I was worried how Ma would fare without me, but now I can send some gold back to 'er."
Emmeryn hides a smile under her stoic ruler facade. "Good. Now, if that is settled. Chrom, I require you for council. Lissa, please provide rooms for Robin and Donnel in the Shepherd's barrack for the time being."
"Sure Sis!" Lissa chirps. "Come on you two! I want to introduce you to everyone!"
Stopping here because this is getting long, but I think this idea warrants a part two at some point.
Invisible Prince: Second Generation Replacement is an idea suggested by Scorin early on in The Robin Variable. It entails the second generation (Lucina, Owain, Noire, etc) taking the role in the story their parents would (so something like Lucina and Owain finding Morgan in a field) and then using a custom third generation in place of where the second generation would usually be.
Of course, there are less second generation characters than first generation characters, so I think I'll have to make some up there too.
Wait, I put normal horses in the pokemon story? Where? That's a mistake.
I like a lot of your idea. But I have to say no to the baker, papyrus/sans personalities, and unicorn ideas. Pap/Sans is not being used because… well it's not really Lucina then, is it? She's no prankster; heck, she explicitly has no sense of humor.
And I assume by "cyrokinesis" you mean "cryokinesis".
Darkness is complete: Those are two very different ideas. One is just moving the story to a different age, and the other is making Ylisse a technological powerhouse and probably way stronger than anything else in the world. I'll note them both down.