Chapter 29: Robin
Robin froze. He knew the futility of this rescue mission even before the marched out of Ylisse. He thought about the terrain, he thought about the soldiers, he thought about the resistant they'd get. Even the possibility the moving corpses might had ties to Plegian dark magic did cross his mind. He anticipated everything. He prepared for everything. He sent spies into Plegia to scout the routes and leave some supplies. He bribed the few chieftains he could so they'd get their men out. He even divided their armies for the counter-attack.
He never anticipated this.
So he froze, unable to move nor blink his eyes as Emmeryn fall closer and closer to the golden sand dyed with patches of red and black.
Emmeryn disappeared beyond the wall of corpses and men. Soldiers, dead and alive inched towards him in ranks do tight he couldn't even see past the second file. Robin gripped his sword tightly and raised his shield. He thought he heard Chrom's scream, but he ignored it, choosing to put his trust on Frederick instead.
Robin's eyes hunted through the surroundings, every fiber in his brain for a way to punch through the wall made from flesh and steel. Even with an escape route already planned, it wouldn't mean a thing if they could not get out. He scrutinized every inch of the enemy's shield wall but failed to find any spot for them to pierce through, at least not without losing a few on their side in the process. The living soldiers had their shield arranged together so tight they looked like a continuous sheet of metal moving forward. Robin ground his teeth as he did what he does best.
Calculating.
He calculated the odds of at least half of their ranks would make back to Ylisstol. He wondered who would be good as the vanguard. Would Kellam be able to withstand the onslaught while Lon'qu and Vaike pierce a hole in Plegia's defense? He clicked his tongue when he remembered horses were useless on the soft sand, else he'd just send Sully and Stahl behind the line to open a route from the back. Maybe he could send Gregor and Nowi, the newcomers they picked up on their journey here. No one in the Sheperds would mourn them if they were to die here, and if they were spies from Plegia, that would be one less thing for him to worry about. Then Robin cursed himself for actually forgetting the details of their encounter with the pair.
Nowi could fly.
Robin looked up. The sky was blue. Clear, without any indication of the bloodbath taking place on the ground. No flyers would even think of taking to the sky after what happened to the pegasus knights earlier. His eyes went wild looking for the group of archers. If he could get Nowi to take care of them, he could send Cordelia and Sumia along with the mages to the sky, then they might had a chance of going home alive. His work was done for him a few moments later, when an arrow, as if it knew he was looking for them, flew straight at him. Robin spotted the flying arrow and blocked it just in time. He smiled.
The archers were lined in one of the trenches he had made during his last campaign with Plegia. His eyes met with the eyes of the soldier that shot him. Even from the distance, he could make the look of awe on the boy's face, no doubt questioning the odds of his move earlier. The soldier just stood there for a moment, brows frowned together and jaw hanged low, when he finally realized his exposed position and jumped back inside the trench.
Robin sighed, then screamed her name at the top of his lungs so she would hear him among the clanking steel and painful groans.
In seconds, Nowi appeared before him, with a twitching risen in her mouth. Robin jumped on her back and ordered the Sheperds to stay their ground and wait for his signal. He instructed Nowi to head for the trench, and she followed, despite the protests.
He jumped down as soon as they arrived over the hole on the ground, thrusting his sword down and stabbed the archer that was getting her bow ready. He now stood face-to-face with the boy that shot him earlier. And Robin sensed fear in his eyes. The fear that turned into cold, questioning stare as Robin sunk his sword inside him, while he was still fumbling with his knife.
The other archers had their arrows pointed at the sky, towards the red dragon that dove down and hurling fireballs at them only to fly back up when their arrows left their bow,
Robin sighed. The were so occupied with Nowi they failed to realise the obvious. Gripping his sword tight, Robin slowed his breathing and recalled the fire that burned his home and adopted parents to ashes. He summoned the raw stench of blood that dyed the snow red the day the Sanctum fell. A memory he hid deep inside him, along with Morgan's jagged breathing. He was still seeing Emmeryn's tears as she fell to her death just moments ago. And he played them over and over again in his head until his heart ached and his gut burned. A heat that spread rapidly through his lungs and to his throat and to his eyes. He was done calculating.
It was time for killing.
Robin directed Nowi to fly to the back of the Plegian soldiers when the shot to the sky again. She opened their attack with a fireball right to the center of the ranks. The living soldiers scattered away while the walking corpses were cindered black as they swung their swords and axes blindly. Then flashes of white joined them in the air. Cordelia had Ricken riding with her, while Miriel flew with Sumia. And both mages already had their tomes opened and their fires primed.
Thus the Sheperds counterattack began.
Mages and dragon hurled fireballs behind enemy lines, while Kellam and Lon'qu and Vaike approached the assault upfront, focusing on the thinnest part of Plegia's shieldwall where fire burned the brightest. Chrom shouted and screamed as he swing Falchion blindly at the soldiers unfortunate enough to be in his way. Frederick stuck close to his lord, stabbing the enemies away while Panne kicked and bit the enemies nearby.
Gritting their teeth, the Sheperds finally punched through Plegia's defense and made way for their escape route as Robin and the fliers kept bombing the enemies tailing behind.
For the day they went through, the journey to Midmire where they would then cross the border to Ferox was uneventful. They expected some kind of ambush along the way, but the road was void of anything, living or dead. Chrom was convinced it was because of Emmeryn's speech, that in her dying moments, she was able to reach some of the Plegians to give up their arms. Robin thought it was because Gangrel needed all his armies in the capital, and this part of Plegia had not seen any fight for a while there were no bodies to re-animate, but he was in no mood to argue. The sooner they get out of Plegia, the better.
The Sheperds marched in silence as the weight of their failure haunted them. Lissa's cry had turned to sobs as Maribelle consulted her in her arms. Chrom couldn't even get his eyes off the ground, and had to be guided by Frederick and Sumia just so he would not stumble on the hard rocks that made the region. Walking beside Robin, Cordelia could only stared at the Prince's back in silence.
Approaching the MIdmire, they were greeted by Mustafa and his men, weapons gripped tightly in hands. "My condolences, Prince Chrom."
Hearing the Plegian general, Chrom finally lifted his head. He tightened his grip on the Falchion, and only stared at him.
"I am sorry it had to end that way. And it may be hard for you to believe it, but Lady Emmeryn was-"
"Shut up." Chrom pointed at Mustafa with his sword. "Don't you dare speak her name, you, you Plegian."
Mustafa let out a regretful smile at Chrom's choice of word. "So you would call us that too? I guess after what happened, it is understandable." He paused, and straightened his face once more. "Are you going to fight us?"
Chrom was livid. Robin knew that much. His eyes were bulging out of their sockets. His knuckles turned white just gripping the Falchion. Robin could hear the jagged breaths alongside the sound of grinding teeth. Chrom let out a scream and smashed Falchion hard to the ground. "Get out of our way, and you'll live today."
Mustafa looked for a moment and moved a few steps to the left. He motined at his men, and they moved to left and to the right, clearing an opening just enough for the Sheperds to go through, where another group of people waited at the back. Mina was among them, standing at the front and center with two small children hugging her blouse. Behind her were a pair of Plegian mages, a white haired man and a black haired woman who had a small bundle of clothes hugged tightly to her chest. There were a few more young men and women behind them. Some had children around their legs, in their arms, and on their backs. Some stared at the Sheperds as they cling to their parents' clothes, others slept peacefully like nothing mattered.
"If you seek a safe passage out of here, it is yours to take. All I ask, is for you to bring them with you. Gangrel will arrive before long, and he would kill every single one of us if we let you go, you might as well do the job for him. At least we know yours will be swift."
An overbearing silence lingered following Mustafa's words.
"Suits yourself." Chrom walked straight ahead, ignoring the frowning crowd at the back. And the Sheperds followed.
Robin turned towards Cordelia and said, "look after them for me." She stared at him, nodded, and went to the group. She said something to the now crying Wilhelmina, took the two children and mounted them on Aurora. Mina ran forward and pulled Mustafa into a tight hug.
"I'm sorry, Lord Mustafa. I have been chasing the parents in my dreams all this years, I never realize I should just wake up and do this a long time ago," she said between sobs. "Thank you, for everything, father."
Mustafa smiled. He pat and kissed the top of her head. "Be safe, child."
Wilhelmina nodded. She wiped her tears, looked at Robin for a few moments, and ran back for Cordelia. They both disappeared among the crowds making their way towards Ferox.
"You think she would still say the same thing if she know I killed her parents?"
"Who knows. Men are fickle things. Sometimes we refuse death, fighting with only teeth and nails if we had to, only to welcome it with open arms the next day."
Mustafa chuckled. "That hits close to home."
"Don't do this. Come with me. We could use more good men."
"And go where? Midmire is our home. Who else will fight for it if it's not us?"
"Does it matter? Dead's dead."
"It matters to them." Mustafa pointed at the empty road leading towards Ferox. "We fight today so that they may live. So that they may come home tomorrow with their heads held high, knowing we did the right thing."
"I'm sick of people throwing away their lives so others could live. Why not cling to dear life, and die together for once? All the great stories have those too."
"And yet all everyone remembers is the heroes sacrificing their lives for their love ones. You may not agree, or even the feel the same way as us, but you of all people know the value of what we're doing now."
Robin chuckled. "I had one," he finally broke his eyes away from the muddy road and looked at Mustafa, "someone I would gladly throw my life away just so she could smile another day." He paused. "She thought the same thing about me."
Mustafa put his hands on Robin's shoulders, and squeezed them tight. "Then we shall pray. All of us, to the end of our short breaths, that you'd find that someone again. Life is too lonely to walk it alone."
Robin smiled. "Thank you, Lord Mustafa. It was an honor." He gestured a hand towards him.
Mustafa shook his head. "I'm afraid a handshake won't cut it this time, boy." He grabbed Robin, and pulled him into his arms. "The honor's all mine. What I wouldn't give, to serve a commander as brilliant as you, one more time."
The old friends broke away from one another, and smiled as they shook hands, as the rain poured heavier and heavier, and as Plegia's war drums beat louder and louder.
"You need to go. Now."
Robin nodded. He looked at Mustafa and the rest of his men, some he knew from his time before in Plegia, one last time, and gave them a long, silent bow.
"Is it true? They say you'll retire? This is you last?
"Why does everyone keep asking me that? Is it so hard to believe a guy doesn't want to do this forever?"
"I think they're just dreading who will replace you. I mean, who can replace you?So, what's next?"
"I don't know. I always wanted to travel and see the world. Al said there's a valley full of wyverns, and a tree big as a mountain in Valm. Seems like a good place to start. That, or, I don't know. I have a few coins saved over the years. Probably enough for a house and a small farm somewhere."
"You seem happy. That's, that's good. So, that's it? You'll just, I don't know, let everything go and be a wanderer or a farmer somewhere?
"Probably not, no. I think it's the prospect of trying new things is what excites me. Fifteen years is a long time to be living with a grudge. I couldn't even get rid of it if I wanted to, not even after this one. But you know what? I think it's time to move on. Al did, Without glancing back once. It's about time I do the same."
"Do you, do you think you have some space for another one on the cart? Or in the small house in the farm?"
Robin woke up a sore neck and rigid back. Ferox's harsh wind stung his face and made him shiver. He put on his cloak and lighted a rolled tobacco instead of closing the window in front of his desk. Taking a deep breath, he took out the ring he inherited from the birth mother he didn't even know. It was a simple gold band with clouds engravings running the whole length. He rolled and twisted it in his fingers as he puffed out the smoke from his lungs. Catching the light of Ferox's evening sun, the ring revealed the engraving written in Old Plegian on the inside wall. He read it over and over again as he rolled it in his finger and puffed out another white trail of smoke. Then the door of his room slammed open so Robin tucked the ring dangling from the silver chain back inside his shirt and looked back to find Chrom, jaws clenched and eyes red, glaring at him.
"Out, now," he spat and disappeared into the hallway.
Robin put off the tobacco, grabbed his sword on the bed and followed.
The sun was already setting when they arrived at the training ground, dyeing the white snow around Castle Ferox a fine shade of red. Someone had butchered all the training dummies there. One laid motionless on the ground with stab wounds all over it. A few more were still standing, but without their limbs. Many were scattered around the area, in pieces. Robin rolled a head with his foot and kicked it to the side when Chrom took out Falchion and pointed at him.
"Draw."
Robin stared at the prince for a moment before sliding his sword out. "First blood?" Chrom tightened his grip on Falchion in silence. "To the death, then."
Chrom screamed, raised Falchion high above his head and lunged forward, a clunky move not even a squire would make that Robin parried with ease as he took one step back. Chrom screamed again, and followed with another haymaker.
"Have you gotten some rest since we get back?"
"Shut up." Chrom was barely able to lift his sword, yet he swung anyway. "You, you said she's going to be fine. Look where she is now." He He punctuated each sentence with a slash, a stab, and then another slash.
Robin stopped the last one with a simple block from his sword. "You should get some rest."
Chrom was kneeling on the ground. The Falchion laid flat before him. "Now she's gone." He raised his head to look at Robin, "I couldn't even get her body home." Tears finally flowed out of his bulging eyes. He lied on the ground and laughed as he stared at the sky.
Some of the Sheperds and Ferox's soldiers came out to see the commotion they made. "Chrom." Lissa and Sumia walked towards the prince when Robin stopped them.
"What should I do? How can we get peace like Emm says, if I can't even look at him without wanting to thrust my sword down his throat?"
"Then kill him."
Chrom's eyes bulged even bigger, this time from surprise instead of rage. He pushed the back of his head against the ground to look at Robin.
"Don't flatter yourself, Chrom. You're not Emm, so don't even try to do things her way. You said it yourself. In another time, she would make a great leader. But this is now. The present is cruel to that kindness." Seeing the hesitation in Chrom's eyes. Robin pushed further. "But don't be as your father either. You are you. You're killing Gangrel because of what he did to you, not for some delusion of saving the world, because the world doesn't need saving. It had been here long before we came, it will be here long after we're gone. And if Gangrel's death brings peace to this land, that is just a… happy coincidence. That's all there is."
Chrom's tears had finally stopped. He was sitting now, still staring at Robin. A pregnant silence lingered after Robin stopped talking. The Sheperds and the Feroxis and the Plegians all had their eyes on the two men surrounded by pieces of chopped wood and cut straws and old leathers.
"My father was a young man like me once. And like, he was just seeking justice for someone dear to him. But he was alone. And the road of vengeance was dark and twisted he took a wrong turn along the way. Will you walk this path with me? So that when the road goes dark and I took the wrong turn, someone could drag me back. Or at the very least, to have a friend at the end of it all."
It was Robin's turn to stare in silence. The day had turned to night and the snow sparkled from the full moon in the clear sky. "Get up."
Chrom tried to do as instructed, but stumbled just as he straightened his legs. Sumia and Lissa helped him rose to his full height as he stabbed Falchion to the ground trying to steady himself.
:Just so you know, I've only done this once in my entire life." Robin pointed his sword at the prince, raised it high and flipped the tip downward. He thrusted it with all the strength he had left and buried half the blade into the ground.
Grabbing the hilt with both hands, the Plegian kneeled before the Crown Prince of Ylisse.
"In the name of the Silvers, I am bound to you, my brother, my captain, my… king, until I deliver Gangrel's head, or the land claims me."
With shivering hands, Chrom raised Falchion and touched it to Robin's left shoulder, and moved it to the right. "And I shall be bound to you, my brother, my shadow, as my equal, until Gangrel sleeps in his grave, or I'm in mine." He then let the blade dangled in front of Robin.
Robin took the edge in his hand and pointed the tip at his throat as he kissed the blade. Chrom took back the blade, kissed it's hilt and dropped it down to use as his cane again. Robin finally stood up, wiped the sand off his sword on his boot, and put it back in its sheath.
"You should get some rest. It will be along day tomorrow."
I'm back? Can't believe I actually finish this one.
Anyway, sorry for the long hiatus. I really didn't want to write this because it was too depressing. And believe me, this was edited down, but I think it made for a stronger chapter for because.
Many thanks for those of you that is till reading this. Your support means a lot to me.
And special thanks to RoranReflet who made me want to continue this thing again.
