"Ugh, what the hell happened?" I asked while slowly opening my eyes. I did a quick scan of the area and it seems like I'm in the medical bay… again. I guess that's what happens when you get stabbed in the shoulder again. Seriously, why is it always my shoulder?

I try to get up to a sitting position, but the pain in my shoulder is to intense so I sit back down. "Shit, I guess I'm out of commission for a while." I say to myself.

"Oh, you're awake." A voice said from the tent's entrance. I couldn't turn my head to see who was there but I'm willing to guess from the voice its Melissa. My suspicion was proven right when she walks over with a plate in hand. How come timing like this happens way too frequently, I mean think about it. Someone falls unconscious from an injury and then bam! The instant they wake up, someone happens to come in at that exact moment with a plate that has food on it at the same moment.

She put the plate down on a table next to my bed and sat down on a chair beside the bed. "How long was I out cold for?" I asked just to get question out of the way.

"A day." She answered in no time flat. "We plan on leaving for Plegia tomorrow, we just need to make sure we're supplied for the desert." She added.

"Shit, this is going to suck then. I can take intense cold, but the heat is another story." I complain.

"Well, you better suck it up because you're going to suffer it no matter what. Now make sure to eat the food I brought in, you're going to need it for tomorrow." She said before leaving the tent.

Damn it, the plate is to my left which means trying to reach it is going to be a pain in the ass. Couldn't she have handed me the plate or something before leaving. I decided to try getting up into a sitting position again, but I'm focusing on just using my right arm to get up this time. It puts more strain on it, but it's also less likely to cause my left shoulder to flare up.

Upon finally getting into a sitting position, and after suffering five or so minutes of struggling, I grab the plate off of table and now I'm faced with another problem. I'm left handed when it comes to utensils, and my left shoulder is heavily injured, fuck my luck.

I decided to just wing it and tried using my right hand. I grabbed a spoonful of the soup that was on the plate and tried to take a sip. Unfortunately, my damn hand was shaking the whole time and caused some of it to splash around (Thank whatever god there is that some of it didn't hit my clothes somehow).

After managing to finally finish my damn soup, I decided to proceed to eat what I believe to be a steak. "Fuck, I just realized I need two hands to cut this bastard." I say with an annoyed tone. I quickly thought over ways I could cut it and went with what could either be the stupidest or greatest idea ever. "Focus, focus…" I'm literally trying to cut steak with extremely small blades of wind. Now that I think about it, this could actually be a good skill to practice if I ever get captured or something like that.

I managed to cut the steak up into small enough pieces for me to just grab them and toss them in my mouth. I grab one of the steak pieces with my good hand, and ate it. It tastes pretty damn good, despite the fact my wind magic cooled it down a little bit, it's still warm and it's cooked in a way where it's still juicy. I don't know who cooked the steak, but whoever made it knows how I like my steak done.

After eating my meal, I used my good arm to get out of the bed and walked around the medical bay for a bit. I just have to say that it's pretty damn tidy in here. They managed to get some shelves in here that have basic tonics and antidotes as well as four beds in here for the injured. I would also like to bring up the rack near the entrance that is full of healing staves. I guess they can't afford to use the better staves unless it's in the midst of battle, but they should at least keep a few emergency mend staves or a recover staff. I'll bring that up to Robin the next time I see him, because he should be fully recovered from his illness by now.

"Hello? Is anyone in there?" A voice asks from outside the tent.

"Yeah someone's in here. What do you need?" I asked in response. With the damn cold outside and I currently lack a jacket, or a shirt for that matter, I think leaving the tent would be suicide considering the damn Feroxi climate. So I think I'll enjoy the warmth of this tent until tomorrow.

"Some idiots were sparring with real weapons and one of them suffered a nasty gash across the arm, we need a heal staff fast." The person outside the tent said. It was probably Kevin or Ryan then, they always prefer to spar against each other with real weapons. Something about it 'giving them more motivation to fight' or something like that. Either way, I grab one of the heal staves with my good arm and walk to the tent's exit. I made sure to keep a majority of my body out of the doorway and hand the staff to whoever was outside.

Once I was sure the person that was outside has left, I walk over and sit on the chair that was next to my bed. "Holy crap, there is nothing to do in here." I complain. If I could leave whenever I want, then I could care less about being bored in here, but I'm pretty much confined in here until someone comes in and tells me my shoulder is healed and I get a damn shirt. Wait, weren't we staying at a damn inn? Then why the fuck am I actually in the medical tent when tossing me in my room at the inn might be better. I'll ask the next person that comes in here.

*One Hour Later*

All right this is stupid, I would have at least thought that the person who borrowed the heal staff would have brought it back by now. It's been pretty much an hour and I am so damn bored that it's not even funny.

"I can't believe those two wouldn't stop their damn match until one of them won five matches." A voice said from outside the tent. Finally, someone is coming here. Any longer and I was considering just walking into the cold and letting myself freeze.

The tent flaps open and Alicia walks through while carrying a heal staff that has easily seen better days. "Hey dad, how are things here?" She asks while trying to hold back her annoyed tone.

"Boring." I answered. "Anyways, were Kevin and Ryan sparring with real weapons again?" I asked just to get the matter out of the way.

"Yes… Why do they always do that anyways? It's wasting our heal staves when one of them suffers a major injury from a lucky blow or they get to into the battle." She says with her annoyed tone returning.

"I have no damn clue. Anyways, who their injuries this time?" I asked, hoping at least one medic would be around to tell me I'm good to leave this tent.

"Me, I've been training to use staves in case of emergencies or something like this when no one else is around." She answered. Wait, no one else that can use staves is hanging around!? What the hell, I would have expected at least one of them to hang around because of my injury.

"So who's been teaching you how to use staves?" I ask while trying to hold back my rage at the lack of healers.

"I've been asking for help from Lissa on most occasions, but I've also been getting lessons from Anna." She answered. Something seems of with that answer, I can see her squeezing her left hand down onto her right arm while she was answering. Could that mean she's hiding something? If she is hiding something, is it somehow related to her mother? I won't make her tell me now, it's probably a touchy subject and making her tell me will only make her upset.

"Since you have some medical training, do you mind checking out my shoulder then? I would really like to leave this damn tent and actually walk around for a bit." I say in a slightly annoyed tone.

"I'll give it a quick look, but I think an opinion from one of our actually healers would be better." She said before taking off the bandages on my shoulder. I take a quick look at it and notice that there's still a small gap from being impaled by that lance but it has definitely healed. Alicia quickly grabs the worn down heal staff and uses it to finish repairing the wound. "All right, now try moving your arm." She requests.

I do as she says and move my left arm a little bit while making sure not to accidentally hit her. "Looks like your arm is good to go." She says.

"Good, now do you mind getting me a shirt or something? I do not want to walk out in that cold like this." I requested.

"Alright, I'll be back in a second." She said before walking out of the tent. In a few minutes, she returned with a shirt and my jacket. "Here you go." She says before handing them over.

"Thanks." I say before putting my shirt on. It's a basic blue shirt, but I'm not really aiming to stand out too much. I put my jacket on next and it looks like the burn marks on it were repaired… somehow. Fuck it, it's good to have for the Feroxi climate.

After getting my clothes on, I walked towards the exit of the tent and was getting ready to go outside. "Wait a sec, dad." Alicia said before I could walk out. I stop in my tracks and look in her direction.

"What's up?" I ask.

"How was your dinner after you woke up?" She asked with slight concern in her tone. I guess she made it then?

"It was good, did you make it?" I asked to get the matter resolved.

"Yes, it's been a while since I cooked anything but I wanted to make sure you had something to eat when you woke up so…" She started.

"You made me the meal just to make sure I did get something to eat." I say to try and speed things along.

"Right, but I will admit I wasn't confident in my skill. You're older self always said my meals lacked something, but he wouldn't tell me what." She said with a sad and annoyed tone.

"I think I actually know what 'I' was talking about, but I think that you included it in the meal you just made." I state with confidence.

"What was it? I made it the same way I normally do." She says with a confused look.

"I'm going to make you figure that out for yourself, but here's a hint. What was different about this situation when compared to the other times you could have made it for me when I'm older?" I ask before walking out of the tent.

I decided to walk around the area for a little bit. Just as I suspected, the medical tent was right next to the inn, so why did they toss me in there instead of my room at the inn? Did they fear a possible infection? Whatever, I'll make sure to ask the next person I see.

I decided to head inside the inn for a little bit, but I right before I opened the door I happened to notice Frederick at a makeshift grave. "Why did he make a grave? Wait, the commander from yesterday said he knew Frederick. Is the grave for that commander then?" I ask myself while looking from afar.

I waited until Frederick left the grave to walk up to the grave. There was an inscription written on it and I decided to give it a quick look. 'Here lies Felix, a good student and soldier who fell to the horrors of war.' I can't help but feel sorry for the poor bastard, he died for what he wanted to fight for even though it put him against his old allies. I gave him a quick bow of respect and walked back towards the inn.

"Even though he tried to kill you, you still show him respect." A voice stated behind me. I didn't even need to turn to know that it was Frederick and he was likely returning to the grave for some reason. I won't ask him though, I don't want to force myself into his personal life, although I do want to know how Felix died the first time.

"He was a soldier who fought for his own reasons, and I fought for my own. Our reasons just happened to lead us onto opposite sides." I say while looking away from Frederick's direction.

"This isn't the first time this happened either." He said with a slightly upset tone.

"I could tell, he seemed to show some malice towards you the entire time." I commented.

"That's because he died by my hand once before." He stated with a grim tone.

"I guess the situation was similar to this one?" I ask in a slightly more depressed tone.

"Yes, it happened a month after Felix finished his lessons. He joined a group of mercenaries to try and make Ylisse a better place until 'that' day happened." He started.

"I guess that was when Felix died?" I asked with concern in my tone. Frederick tensed up a little bit after I asked that question but he still answered it.

"Yes, for some reason his mercenary group was attacking a helpless village and the knights were ordered to deal with them. I didn't even realize it was Felix's team until… I killed him… with my own lance." He said, starting to show hesitation.

"What were his last words?" I asked. I didn't want to force him to drag the story for too long, it's obvious this still has an impact on him. Felix was one of his best students before my lessons and it was likely he was a good friend to Frederick as well and watching a friend die… it would really hurt, no matter how much you try to forget it.

"He said that his death wasn't my fault, and that I was only doing my job. It still upset me that a good person such as him had to die, and I decided to become more wary of the people I meet. I did this so I would not let an incident like Felix's happen again." He stated.

"I see what you mean. Felix was a good student and friend to you, and seeing him die made you shut yourself to others. I don't think that's what he wanted though. You're a good man Frederick and you should try to become more acquainted with others instead of letting your past drag you down." I stated.

"You're probably right, I should probably become more acquainted with the others." He said.

"Just make sure to give your best shot and don't be too strict with anyone and you'll do fine." I say in an attempt to encourage him.

"Alright, I shall take your advice to mind and do as well as I can." He said.

"I'm sure you'll do fine Frederick." I say before leaving to go back to the inn. Even though I've only been awake for something like an hour or two, I feel tired as all hell. Is sleep from fainting and voluntary sleep different or something. Either way I decided to actually put my damn room at the inn to use and started walking over to take a damn nap.

On the way up to my room, I happened to notice Robin up and about. It's against my better judgement, but I should probably talk to him about everything that happened up until now. "Hey Robin, what's up?" I ask while walking over to him.

"Hey." Robin says while shaking his head for a quick second.

"Not used to being able to move for a while?" I asked in a half joking, half serious manner.

"Yeah, being sick for nearly a week has made my legs weak. So, what happened while I was out cold?" He asked. I guess he was still asleep for the all-out battle royale for the capital yesterday.

"Well, I took over as a temporary tactician, we now have a few new recruits, and there was a battle royale for the capital yesterday." I quickly summarized.

"Wait, you took over as tactician while I was sick?" He asked with a slightly shocked look.

"Yep, and I have to say your job is definitely stressful. You have to not only prepare a battle plan for the battle, but you need to prepare for any unexpected outcomes on either end of the field and make an on the spot plan accordingly." I say with a sign of relief in my tone. I'm partially happy that I don't have to do this anymore because it was so damn difficult. Seriously, anyone who says this job is easy can go fuck themselves because it is anything BUT easy.

"Really, I thought this job was a walk in a park." He replied sarcastically. We both had a light chuckle before getting back to our conversation.

"So, now that I seem to have more insight on tactics, I want to have a little test." I say in a slightly serious tone.

"How do you plan to do that?" Robin asked with his left eyebrow raised.

"Why don't we have another game of chess? I want to see how I can do now when compared to our first match." I say with determination. That first match though, I was absolutely destroyed in five turns. Hopefully I can improve, even if I can last a few more turns I'll call it a success.

We both walked down to the lobby of the inn and set up a chess set at one of the waiting tables. Whoever made these pieces was definitely a fine craftsman or craftswoman, the pawns are designed to look like fighters and myrmidons for their specified teams. The knights for the white pieces are designed to look like paladins while black knights are designed to look like dark knights. The same goes on for the other pieces where one end is designed to be a darker incarnate of the other like how a bishop is a sage and sorcerer, the rook is a swordmaster and berserker, the queen is a falcon knight and dark flier, I don't know why, but the king is a general for both ends.

The match begins and Robin makes the first move, by moving one of his pawns ahead by two spaces. I made the next move, by moving one of my knights ahead. I never learned the technical terms for these spaces so it's going to be hard to understand Robin when he describes the space he moved to.

*One Hour Later*

I don't know how this happened, but I somehow managed to last an hour against him. I currently captured 4 of his pawns, a knight, a bishop, and by some miracle, his queen. On his end, he managed to capture 6 of my pawns, a rook, a knight, and a bishop. I think we're pretty much even, but it's obvious he has a trap set up for the next move I make. I scan the board to see if there's anything I can do to avoid the trap and I see one possibility.

I quickly take out his rook with my queen and put him in check. "Check." I say while trying to hold back any signs of overconfidence.

"Not bad." Was all Robin said before placing one of his pawns on my side of the board. Surprisingly, he changed it into a knight. Normally, I would expect someone to make it a queen because the movement possibilities. Just what are you planning? "By the way, that's checkmate." He said with a triumphant grin. I quickly scanned the board and realized that he was right, my king is perfectly trapped because of that move.

"Damn, I guess you win again." I say while holding my hand out. We both shake each other's hands as a sign of a good game and pack up the board. I will admit that the game could have been anyone's at that point, but I didn't see that second trap coming. I guess it's not a surprise when it comes from our master tactician.

Once we finished packing, we began to walk back to our rooms and call it a night. "You seem to be improving quite well." Robin commented while we were walking.

"I think actually doing your job for a bit helped me realize that my strategies in past games have been a bit too reckless." I say in response. Seriously, I should know better than to go completely gung-ho against Robin of all people.

"Just don't go thinking that succeeding for a few battles means you've become a master." Robin says with a serious tone.

"I'll keep that in mind if you remember you don't need to do this job alone. Even though you're supposed to make the strategies, don't be afraid to ask for some input from the others. It will take a lot of stress out of your job." I say before walking into my room. I decided to make my face well acquainted with the pillow and call it a day.

A/N: Ever have those moments where you plan to have some sort of scene implemented but you realize things might start to get a bit too long for your liking? Well that's my case with this chapter. While I do like to read long chapters every now and then, I don't want to make extremely long chapters because I want to put into account my readers' time for other things they might want to do.

Anyways, next time will be the desert and nothing will stop me this time. Now for my support update (yeah, those still exist.)

Tyler & Robin: Rank A

Tyler & Frederick: Rank A

With that, I'll see you next time.