The trip to Ferox felt like it took months, even though it was only two or three days. During the trip, I tried busying myself by starting up the Shepherds' close combat training. They were about as good as I thought they would be. They had good strength, good balance and average form, but they were lacking a surprising amount of precision and speed. When not trying to fix these mistakes, I finally started my magic training with Robin, which actually went really well. I was slinging around basic spells before we were even in sight of the Ferox border, though apparently not at a level suited for combat. Doing all of this along with Sumia having given me an incredible book to read in my spare time and my guitar to distract me whenever needed was starting to cheer me up. That is, until we actually reached Ferox. Not long after getting there, we got a message from the capitol telling us that Emmeryn had been kidnapped by Plegians. Naturally, Chrom went into a bit of a panic. As soon as he heard, he ordered everyone to move out immediately. He was so intent on going right away that he tried to force everyone to leave before they weren't even close to being ready. We all attempted to calm him down, and were soon on our way.
Still a bit distraught, I volunteered for the night watch, seeing as it was a bit difficult to sleep. Several people gave me concerned looks, but didn't say anything. The day leading up to the shift wasn't all that interesting, but the shift itself…
"You sure you want to do this?" Robin was about to go to bed in one of the moving caravans, trying to dissuade me out of staying up late into the night yet again. "I can take over if you want."
"No, it's fine. Wouldn't be able to sleep anyway."
"Well… alright. Just make sure you get some sleep eventually. You know, before morning comes."
"We'll see. Goodnight, Robin."
"Goodnight…" She got down from the seat next to me and walked towards the caravan that had been turned into a on-wheels bedroom, glancing back once. When she was out of sight, I turned back towards the road and urged the horse onward. I slumped back in the seat and let out a huge sigh, peering up at the stars. It was slightly clouded over, so there were a few spots of pure darkness in the sky, but other than that it was a beautiful night.
"Not even you can console me this time…"
"Who're you talking to?"
"Wah!" Without a sound, a certain candy-loving thief had appeared next to me in the seat, looking quizzically at me. "Gaius?! Geez, no wonder you're a thief."
"Best in the business." He leaned back, arms crossed behind his head. "So, what's up, Strings?"
"'Strings'?"
"Yep." There was silence for a moment as I waited for him to elaborate, but it never came. Trying to ignore it, I continued on with the conversation.
"I'm just… having a rough time."
"Kinda figured. That last fight really did a number on you, huh?"
"Even though I only really got my sweater got singed, yeah."
"Really? Looks fine to me."
"There's some weird rejuvenating thing it seems to be able to do."
"Sweet." It looked like he was in thought for a moment, the ever-present lollipop in his mouth swapping sides. "Woulda figured that your girlfriend would have helped."
"My gir- how did you find that out?"
"It was pretty obvious. You two are around each other enough."
"I… I guess that makes sense. And yes, Robin has been trying to help me, but this is something she can't really help with."
"Guess killing all your life can't help you help someone deal with killing."
"No, guess not."
"Although, you're not helping much."
"Uh… what?"
"You said she's giving you help, right?" I nodded. "Then why aren't you taking it?" I stared at him incredulously. "Help's a two-way path. If she's trying to help, you have to try and accept it."
"Uh… I…"
"Even if you're listening, even if you're following her advice; you're not taking it to heart."
"... How do you know all this?"
"Look, kid, I was in a similar place once. Something happened, and I didn't let someone help. Look where I ended up; a thief gettin' by on candy."
"You… you do have a point."
"Always do." He stood up and stretched his arms, shifting the lollipop again. "Later, Strings." He hopped off the caravan and strode off into the night, leaving me impressed yet confused. Although, I was feeling a bit better.
"Who would've thought..."
"Odd one, isn't he?"
"Geez!" This time, a red-haired merchant appeared to my left. "Again? Really?!"
"What?"
"It's nothing, don't worry about it." She hopped up next to me and sat down with somewhat of a sigh.
"Today was not fun."
"I hadn't noticed."
"Did your business endeavour turn out to be a bust too?"
"What? No; I was talking about Emmeryn!"
"Oh, yeah. That happened today too. Definitely not the best day." Only the sound of the horse's hooves penetrated the silence between us, my previous feelings of sadness and discomfort replaced with pure confusion and disbelief. Just as my thoughts finally collected, Anna made a small jump and turned to face me, eyes beaming. "Oh! Almost forgot! You wanted to know more about the Outrealm Gates, right?"
"Uh… yeah…?" With that, my thoughts disconnected once more.
"Well, you've come to the right place!" Strangely, she placed a finger on her chin and managed to give off the most mischievous look I had ever seen. "So, whatcha got?"
"I…"
"Ha! Gotcha! Someone already paid for me to tell you, so no need to worry." They did? But who? And… why? "So, what did you want to know?"
"Well… as much as you can tell me, really."
"Strap in, then. This might take a while." It lasted the rest of the night shift.
By morning, I had more information about the Outrealm Gate than I had ever thought possible, which filled me with hope. I knew exactly where it was, what it seemed to do, most of how it worked, and everywhere that Anna had visited using it. And where to get the most out of my money in those places. I managed to fall asleep as the sun rose, any doubts I had lessening significantly.
When I awoke, the scenery had completely changed. The thick, lush forests had turned into arid desert, riddled with dilapidated ruins and sand-covered skeletons. The heat wasn't too bad yet, but I was noticing a slight amount of sweat on my forehead. Another strange thing was that the caravan had stopped. I poked my head out from behind the canvas to try and get a glimpse of everyone else, which was proving very difficult through the sand-filled breeze. I eventually spotted a few blurry shapes not too far away, and decided to go after them.
"Hope I'm right…" Especially since mirages are a thing. "Oh yeah; almost forgot about those." Thankfully, it wasn't a mirage. Instead, it was the Shepherds, calling across the desert to several shapes in the distance.
"Hold on! We'll come to you!" Chrom charged as fast as he could across the loose footing before Sumia came up next to him and offered a hand. With the pegasus' help, the two were the same shade of invisible as the shadows in the distance. Just before the rest of them could go and do the same, I grabbed Lissa's arm and half-turned her towards me.
"What's going on?"
"Morning, sleepyhead! We found some bad guys!"
"Oh."
"Only this time, they have a little girl captured."
"They do?"
"Yep."
"Then what are we waiting for?!" I pulled out my sword (that I now have in a sheath by the way), and followed the others in, Lissa following after.
"Gee, didn't know you would care so much!"
"Well, I do! Kidnapping a little girl is just wrong on so many levels!"
"Too bad you think that!" A plegian mage had come up to us, tome in hand. "Because you're in our way!" He sent an intense blast of fire at us, which we barely managed to dodge. When we did, I could've sworn I heard a small grunt of annoyance. Due to this, a stupid idea popped into my head.
"Nice miss!" I could see his whole body tense, and another blast of fire came at me, a bit less accurate this time. As I moved out of the way, I caught Lissa's eye and made as subtle a gesture I could to indicate my plan. It seemed to work as she slowly began to inch away. My full attention was returned to the mage. "You couldn't hit the broadside of a wyvern barn!"
"Oh yeah?!" Thank Gods I got the one with the volatile anger. Another blast of fire erupted from the man's hand, seemingly more wild and uncontrollable. I felt extremely epic as I sidestepped the torrent of flame, gaining a smug smile as I did so.
"Ooh, that was close. A few feet to the left and you might have hit the sand." Despite being an insult that was average at best, it did its job. The mage's face went red with rage, and he sent shots of magical fire in quick succession towards me, each one farther off than the last. I was practically standing still as the fiery vortex engulfed everything around me. As this was going on, I could see Lissa sneaking up behind him. When she was right behind the flailing Plegian, she raised her staff and slammed it down on the back of his head. It didn't quite work as well as I had hoped, as he only recoiled slightly before turning around to face Lissa. Then, as fast as I could, I glided across the sand towards his back, sword held high. With amazingly pinpoint accuracy, the pommel of my sword crashed down between his shoulder blades, knocking him out cold. Lissa grinned at me through the sand-strewn air.
"Whoo! We did it!"
"Yeah, we did! That was… surprisingly easy."
"I still need to work on my strength, though…" She glanced from her staff to the slowly forming lump on the back of the man's head.
"Nah, he was just more durable than usual. That hit probably would've knocked me out."
"You think?"
"Yep."
"I don't know… let's go find out!"
"With pleasure." We turned and raced towards the others, finally getting into the action. However, it didn't take long before I was interrupted by the sound of something… mythical. The roars of something very similar to a wyvern pierced the muffled winds of the desert. "...What was that?"
"Good question." Robin, who I had managed to inch my way over to during the battle, was scanning the sandy horizon for signs of what had made the cry. "Over there!" She extended a finger towards a spot in the distance that looked like nothing to me.
"How can you possibly see that?"
"You'll find out." She gave me a wink and ran off in her suggested direction.
"Hey, wait up!" I stumbled after her through the loose grains of the desert, barely managing to keep her in sight for most of the short run. Man am I glad she has that stand-out hair coulour… That thought was left to drift as we came upon the source of the noise. Hovering slightly above the ground in front of us was an enormous green scaly lizard with wings. In other words-
"A dragon!" Robin was in awe of the spectacle in front of us. While still extremely excited, the previous wyvern encounter had slightly dulled my senses to it; or, at least, enough that I was able of competent thought.
"But where did it come from?"
"Is not dragon; is little girl!" Just on the other side of the beast was an older-looking man with ginger hair.
"What do you mean?"
"A manakete!" Chrom had appeared next to us, equally in awe of the dragon. "I always thought they were just a myth…"
"Question! What's a manakete?" I emphasized it by raising my hand.
"Yeah, I'm… a bit curious too." Robin managed to tear her eyes away from the spectacle to look at Chrom expectantly.
"Well, if she would oblige, it's probably easier to show you." He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted up to the dragon. "Hello there! We're here to help! Can you please come down so we can talk to you?"
"Are all the scary people gone?" A little girl's echoey voice came from the dragon's direction, although the mouth didn't move. The head did, however, look down at us with fear evident in its eyes.
"Yes, they're all gone; we're all friends here!"
"Really? Yay!" The dragon closed its wings and landed on the ground with an enormous thud, sending mass amounts of sand into the air. It began to give off a green light that grew and grew until I had to turn away in fear of burning out my eyes. When the light and dust settled, there was a small, green-haired girl with very strange (and very little) clothing. In one hand she clutched a dark green stone that was only just small enough to fit in the palm of her hand. She reached around behind her to put the stone somewhere, then gave us an enormous smile. "Thank you! You guys are the best!"
"Heh. It was no trouble. I trust they didn't hurt you?"
"Hmm? No, I'm okay. That weird guy over there helped me too." She pointed to the ginger-haired man who walking over, sheathing his sword. She looked down at the ground and started drawing with her toes. "I'm sorry that I thought you were a bad guy."
"Ha! Is no trouble. Gregor understands why dragon girl did not trust his baby face."
"Baby face?" Robin tilted her head slightly as if trying to see him from a different angle.
"Yes, baby face! Gregor's face as cute as little baby, yes?"
"Hm…"
"Well…" Chrom scratched the back of his head.
"I wouldn't say 'baby'..." I tilted my head in much the same manner as Robin's.
"Regardless, everyone's safe. We should continue on our way." Chrom turned, but the little girl ran up and grabbed him by the arm.
"Wait! I want to go with you!"
"Are you sure? We're not the safest crowd to be around…"
"I'm a dragon! I can take care of myself!" She made a pouty face very similar to one of Lissa's.
"We don't even know your name."
"Nowi! Now let me come!"
"I don't think you're going to get anywhere with her, Chrom. Trust me, I have a little sister." I walked over to Nowi and knelt slightly so that I was eye level with her. "He is right, though. I know you can be a dragon, but it's a dangerous path we walk. I know that better than anyone."
"You don't want me to come, do you?"
"I'm not saying that. I'm saying that I want you to be sure."
"Yes!"
"Alrighty then." I stood up straight and looked at Chrom. "We have a new ally."
"So it would seem."
"Do not worry about little girl; Gregor will follow and make sure there is no harm. For price, of course."
"You're a sellsword?"
"Gregor has swell sword, yes. Also is mercenary."
"Welcome aboard, then." Chrom gave the smile that we had not seen in quite a while. "It's time we moved. Shepherds; let's go!"
We actually stopped to camp that night. It looked like even Chrom had managed to calm down after the last battle. I was sitting in my tent, reading, when Robin walked in.
"Hey."
"Oh, hey."
"How are you feeling?"
"Um… better." I bookmarked the page and set it down. "Thank you, by the way."
"For what?" She sat down next to me.
"For everything that you've been trying to do for me, including paying Anna."
"How did you figure out I paid her?"
"Who else would do that? Chrom, I suppose, but not in the state he's in."
"Huh. I see your point. But why the sudden thanks for everything else?"
"I had a talk with Gaius last night."
"Uh-oh."
"No no, it wasn't anything bad. It was actually really helpful. It… I can't find the right words, but all you need to know is that it helped."
"Well, I'm glad." She moved to leave, but I held her back.
"Wait, um… do you have any plans tonight?"
"I was going to go read for a bit, but otherwise no."
"Then would you like to stay and read with me?"
"I would love to. Let me go get my book." She made her exit, and I smiled. Taking initiative; very nice. Acting so mature today. She was back within a few minutes, strategy book in hand.
"Really?"
"Well, I need to be ready."
"Seeing how close we are to Emmeryn, I suppose I can't blame you."
"Nope. Scoot over." I did, and she plopped down next to me. I reopened my book, and we sat reading together. At some point, she laid her head down on my shoulder, and I wrapped my arm around hers. We stayed this way until we fell asleep, our bodies keeping each other warm. It was one of the most serene moments of my life.
A/N: Hey guys; it's been a while! I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter out, but I had a bit of trouble both making it less repetitive and finding the time to work on it (also I got Fates, so that's been eating up time). I've already PM'd them about this, but I just want to give another big thank-you to EuclidWriter, who helped me steer the direction of this chapter, and hopefully more to come. With that, I leave you in anticipation of the next chapter where some things will happen. As always, if you have any concerns, questions, comments or criticisms (yeah, I'm adding criticisms to that), be sure to PM me or review. Until the next chapter!