Corrin was quietly lurking in his now dark room, sitting in front of a plate with some of Izana's "god dessert" on it. After eating some of it, he could confirm that it was indeed worthy of the praise of the Archduke. However, the young man had some further things to think about, so the matters of the sugar delicacy had to be tucked away from his mind at the moment.

He had received the rather unexpected blessing of Izana in his quest to try to explain just why his now-ruined clothes were now torn to shreds. Since Beruka had been rather unreceptive to the idea of an ambush by a deadly slug, the young man was in quite a pickle… at least up until the leader of Izumo decided to greet them at the gate of the castle.

"Hey folks!" He remembers him saying. "I trust that you've had fun running around! If you guys need help, I've got some spare clothes for you in those two nearby shacks! You should change quickly though! I've had to delay the dessert for quite a while, and oh boy, I can tell you that everyone in here is craving for our famous sugar treats!"

"How did you… hm, right. A seer." Beruka sighed. "I trust that you've come with an excuse?"

"Huh… not at all! But we'll think of something"

They simply went with an "Azura was feeling overwhelmed, so we decided to take a small stroll to help her feel better. We know that you'd have wanted to help but she wouldn't have been able to focus will all the noise". Admittedly, it was a rather long walk, as Leo pointed out, but asking questions and maybe lightly arguing in public would not have passed, so the family "accepted" it, Camilla shoved the rest of the food in Azura's plate to try to make up for all the meals that she missed and they ultimately concluded the dinner in time, though the Hoshidans were a bit more suspicious by the night's end.

The Nohrians went back to their rooms afterward. It was said that the Hoshidans would leave in the first hour of the morning, since both royal families leaving together could lead to… unpleasantness ensuing. As a result, they would be gone by the morning, and since Hoshido had their warp staves, they could be to the capital by the time the Nohrians themselves are even out of Izumo. It didn't bother him that much, since he wished to fight them later, after taking some more time to ready himself to the possibility of having to face them.

Gunter had been quietly placed in the castle, where Lilith kept him company, and Beruka and Azura had opted to leave for their rooms as well, leaving Corrin alone. The princess proposed staying behind a little to try and help Corrin deal with the recent news, but the prince merely said that he could tackle that news alone. After some hours spent loitering in his room, he couldn't help but realize that he had overestimated himself a little. Sleep wasn't coming to him as easily as he thought it would, and he felt like he could, in fact, probably do three laps around the entire castle… no, perhaps the entire city, before even feeling a little winded.

He couldn't help but think back of those undead beings and Gunter and Azura's secret mission to get rid of them. He'd need to stop thinking of these soon, since he was now about to fight living opponents, but he felt perhaps a little upset at being lied to again. Azura perhaps had some right to keep him in the dark (in all honesty, he either would not have believed her or would have been reluctant to help), but still… it had been a rather dangerous mission to undertake. Azura had to fight on nearly two fronts in Cheve, for instance, and as tough as she was, he couldn't help but worry for his friend's safety, alone against those invisible soldiers.

And what about that song? It seemed to hurt her when she used it too much, after all, and had a weird interaction with those visitors… Well, more like those demons. He did wonder why the yokais would try and visit the corporeal world though. Were they out to cause chaos? That hooded man mentioned a sort of leader and seemed to panic upon recognizing the song. Furthermore, they were quite a long way from the lake when the attack occurred, and the sword Ganglari reacted rather… oddly to contact with the mysterious undead, as if they were tapping into the same power source.

Was Azura lying to her again? As much as he hated to admit, it was likely. He had bigger problems to deal with at the moment, so he wouldn't ask for a while, but… five, maybe six years after the war's end, he'd ask her just what was going on, who sent those beings and who they were serving. Corrin nodded and sat up. Yeah. For now, they'd focus on more regular matters. He could ask it earlier, without a doubt, but truth to be told? He didn't want to find himself entangled in another conflict so soon after this one.

Having found a satisfying, if temporary, way to end his little undead dilemma, Corrin's mind diverged somewhere else and he lazily began to finish his cake, preparing himself to go to sleep and praying that the excellent taste of the cake would somehow knock him out. He thought about what happened just after the battle on the lake with Beruka, and what she meant to say to him. Somewhere, he knew what she meant to say (or hoped that he knew, at least).

And he wondered how he could try to even follow-up on it. Beruka had seemingly been convinced that he was dead after the blast, and was coming off a battle, so she was a bit more open than she was most of the time. Perhaps he could try to… ask her out? No, what if she just saw him as a good friend? He'd just embarrass himself in front of her by doing that, and if he waited for Beruka to propose, then he'd need to get himself into yet another violent fight where they could both die. On one hand, the current situation loaned him plenty of such fights on the horizon. On the other hand, it was a rather unhealthy way to engage in a relationship. He knew she was an assassin but…

Corrin sighed, got up from bed, and, after putting on some more clothing, decided to head out to smell the fresh air. He just couldn't sleep, and staying put just made him even more contemplative. On the way to head out, the young man glanced at his weapon, Yato. Even with his draconic powers, it had been pretty difficult to fend off these monsters. He wondered how things would have went if he packed it before the battle? Would it have been easier for him to fight their leader?

He felt a bit stronger whenever he held the weapon in his hand. It was like being… in tune, sort of. Letting go of it wasn't painful to him, nor did it truly bother him, but whenever he grasped the weapon, he felt like he could split mountains in half and effortlessly intercept the fastest projectile. W-well, he wasn't going to try to see if he could do these things, but he sure felt a bit mightier and more confident. And in those troubled times, when he, despite his bouts of confidence, always ended up hesitating, he sure appreciated that little boost to his ego that the sword offered. And there was the obvious security of carrying a weapon around oneself.

Sure, it'd be a nice, small walk, and it was silly for him to drag his weapon around when he was probably going to stay well within the castle, but he had seen fights happening twice on the same day within Izumo. In case some invisible undead ninja decided that it'd be a good time to target him, Corrin wanted to be protected. He just grabbed the weapon, twirled it a little, and put it in its sheath before leaving the room, stepping off into the dark hall. Somewhere in the distance, some of the Izumians were still having fun in the castle, right at the middle where they probably wouldn't bother both families. Few wanted to deal with the wrath of a sore Camilla, after all.

The young dragon closed the door leading to his room, sighed, and then began his slow walk. To avoid being heard, he nearly tip-toed around the hall, trusting that he wouldn't be confronted by either Leo or Xander at the turn of the corner. Regrettably enough, he didn't want to see anyone else for the duration of his walk. Not because he disliked them, of course, but because he just wanted to enjoy a quiet little walk without being interrupted by anyone.

The gods decided to honor his request so far, and the young man was pleasantly surprised to find that he was being left alone so far. Nothing but the distant laughter in the horizon as an agreeable background noise, or some crickets, or some heavy snoring coming out of certain rooms. It was a very agreeable ambiance for him, and he smiled as he walked down the wooden halls, heading off a bit further than he intended within the castle.

His path took him towards the garden. On the way, he noticed the room where he held the meeting with his brothers and sister from Hoshido, all barred-up because of Zola's lightning spell within it. He promptly looked away from it and put it out of his mind, simply enjoying the quiet. After a little walk, his path led him down some wooden stairs that brought him directly into the grass floor itself. Deciding to further extend his little nightly journey, Corrin took the stairs and walked in the garden. The feeling of the grass on his bare feet was surprisingly agreeable for him, and he decided to look up at the starry sky.

He remembered that a few legends, both Hoshidan and Nohrian, treated of the stars. The sky is just a roof that the dragon creators use to keep the heaven and the earth separate from one another. The souls of the dead, upon climbing up, went past that roof. Well, the "good" kind of dead. Criminals were either doomed to spend an eternity of suffering deep below the earth or were granted the right to reincarnate into a kinder person.

Anyway, if one was good through their life, they could access the heaven and forever enjoy a life of pleasure, without the misery and sadness that may have plagued their earthly selves. However, quite a few of the souls were sad, because when they were beyond the roof, they couldn't see their loved ones anymore. This bothered the dragon gods, since people weren't enjoying themselves as hard. Fortunately, they found a quick solution.

The dawn dragon first carved a very large hole into the universe using his nail, and then set it ablaze to provide some light. The sun, as it was called, could be used by the dead to peer down at the universe and see their loved ones from up above. The dusk dragon, meanwhile, was a bit lazier, so instead he pierced the roof at the speed of light multiple times over, and told the dead to gaze directly through those to see how the world that they left was doing. Well, the Nohrians mythos had the Dusk Dragon create the sun and the stars himself, and the Dawn Dragon did both himself as well, but that was just how he interpreted the myths.

So, the stars were ways for the spirits of those who passed away to contemplate on their legacy and see how their children were doing. And since the people above glowed a lot and tended to group in front of the holes (in an orderly manner of course), this meant that the holes were full of light. Corrin, by looking up, wondered if his parents were looking down on him right now. Well… maybe not his true father, who was maybe down there, but he imagined that both Sumeragi and Mikoto were looking down on him from one of these holes.

So, he smiled and waved at the sky. It was a dumb gesture, and it was very unlikely that the stars were magical holes for dead people to look into, but after spending a night fighting magical cadavers, he figured that perhaps those myths were true in some manner. He wondered how they'd look back on his future actions but he decided to block that off his mind for the moment, and just resumed his walk. He'd be reaching the Hoshidan "side" of the palace soon, and since he knew that the ninjas were there, he contemplated turning around before either of them angrily confronted him about what he was doing outside.

In his defense, he was walking around with a sword, so he couldn't blame them for being suspicious. Sighing, the young man turned around, figuring out that he could find a way to extend his walk, but his enhanced senses the sound of someone treading upon the wooden floor, and he turned around rather quickly to peer at whoever could be making such noise, already preparing to swing his sword at whoever would attempt to attack him. This time, he was being a bit too paranoid though, because the figure nearby was unarmed and seemingly not even aware of his presence.

Unluckily though, the figure in question was Takumi. It was hard to recognize the young man without his signature hairstyle, akin to a pineapple (as described by his retainer). Without it, his long white hair was almost trailing down to the ground, and he was dressed in a white kimono. The light of the moon above revealed a look of conflict on his face, but the young dragon didn't wish to investigate it any further. Out of all the siblings, or even out of all Hoshidans in particular, Takumi was the one royal who hated him the most.

The prince wheeled around and prepared to leave, but Takumi's alert senses allowed him to detect the presence of someone else, and he immediately turned to point an accusatory finger at whoever passed. "Who dares?" He said. If Corrin simply left, there wouldn't be many consequences perhaps. It's not like the prince could simply get his retainers on high alert and attempt to warn the entire castle, right? Nevermind, he could. Sighing, and already punching himself for his decision, Corrin quietly turned around and gazed at his brother, spreading his arms wide. "

"It's me, Takumi." He said. Upon realizing this, Takumi grimaced, as if he found himself in the presence of trash, and waved his hand at his brother in the most dismissive way he could muster.

"It's you, huh? Go away." Ordered the prince. Corrin prepared to just do so, but then the archer's sharp eyes noticed the sword and he raised his hand. "What's that sword?" He asked. "And why are you snooping around our quarters with it? Do you intend to finish what your dwarfish underling started?"

"No. I don't want to kill you, Takumi." Said the prince. He intended to just leave it at that, but then he took a few steps at his brother. "And, were it not for me and the other Nohrians, you wouldn't be here to insult me."

The white-haired man made a distasteful grimace. "What, do you think I'll thank you? You're leading an attack force on our country. I don't want to buddy up with you." He said, before leaning back slightly. "It took this day for the others to make peace with the idea that you've truly become a son of Nohr, but I always knew that you were up to cause troubles. The very day I saw you back at the castle…"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm a traitorous prince and an unworthy son of the queen." Said Corrin. "I think you made that clear the previous times you tried to kill me."

Takumi drew back in indignation. "You'd talk so casually to me after what you've done? Surely you understand the reason for my rage, Corrin. I've lost my mother and plenty of my people to your blighted country and its machinations. In knowledge of that, you'd still toy around with me?"

"Takumi, I'd undo what had been done in an instant if…" He said, before putting his hands on his head and groaning. "Ah, forget it. Takumi, we can't do that dance forever. Look. I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry for everything that happened. You've suffered a lot, and running off to join Nohr after that affected you. I'm sorry. But I can't let Nohr collapse, and I can't fight the people I grew up with." He clenched his fists. "I grew up with Xander, and Camilla, Leo, Elise, Gunter… and, well, after that I met some people. I can't just kill or harm them."

"So we're unimportant to you? Are you angry because we pretended to be your family? The Nohrians did so for your entire life."

"No." He said. "But you did pretend to be my "true family" and you did constantly mock and berate my Nohrian siblings for doing what you just did. We're not bound by blood. We never were."

"Hmph… Either way. You're right that such talk is futile. The next time I'll see you, there won't be such a dialogue, Corrin. I'll simply pluck my arrow directly into your brain, and once you die, I'll move on to the rest of your family and army. You got that?"

The blue-haired young man smiled in answer to the threat, and didn't answer. This angered the archer, but he attempted to keep some composure, and spoke the next words rather imperiously. "What's with the smirk? I'll make good on that threat, you'll see."

"How will you do so when I have this at my side?" Said Corrin, casually pulling Yato out of its sheath and holding it up. Takumi drew back further, at first scared of the idea that his treacherous brother would attack him in the dead of the night, but when he noticed Yato, his features twisted into an expression of utter rage and incomprehension, and he walked back unto his previous spot, gripping the wooden bar separating him from the garden with such rage that he snapped it in half.

"W-what trickery is this?! What have you done? To undo the dam" He stammered at that. "Explain yourself immediately! This can't be Yato!"

"It's not Nohrian magic, Takumi. It's Yato." He held out the sword and twirled it a few times. "Shadow Yato, more exactly. Reborn into a stronger form. In the end, destroying it didn't do much." Corrin almost gloated. It felt good to be the one to hold the upper hand for once. "And I didn't need it to beat you into a pulp the last time, right? Ever since Cheve, I've only grown more powerful and skilled, Takumi. When the time comes, you won't even have the time to shoot that arrow." Promised Corrin. "I'll take you down and you won't even have the time to realize you."

The young prince turned around. "You better work on your insults, Takumi, because you're only going to be able to yell ineffectually at me from your cage after I'll be done with you."

"Can't be… can't be…" Takumi was slumping to the ground now, and to Corrin's surprise, he was crying actually. His compassionate side encouraged the prince to walk up and console the Hoshidan archer but he knew that his aid would be rejected. So, he just shrugged, sheathed his sword again, and quietly left. He both felt bad, but also greatly empowered, as exemplified by his much more confident swagger as he reached his room, and the smirk that came along with it. He had defeated Takumi in their little verbal brawl, and he'd defeat him again in the future battle that would pit them one against the other.

…

The Hoshidans, as promised, left very early in the morning and were accompanied by some scouts that would ensure that they'd have the time to retreat before being ambushed by the Nohrian army. The Nohrians, after waking up, spent some hours waiting for them to establish as much distance as possible before heading out as well.

Before leaving though, Izana insisted to see the royals one last time. While he promised that it "wouldn't take long, barely a minute!", the Archduke still arrived at the scene rather late, since he said that the gods had expressed some very urgent wishes and he needed to talk to them. For the siblings, this was a rather blatant attempt at trying to give the Hoshidans just a tiny bit of time to establish distance, but they nonetheless gracefully accepted this.

Once he finally arrived, Izana quickly embraced all members of the family (or, in Elise's case, gave her a high five) and waved at them. "We'll hold Zola prisoner for now! Don't worry, we won't be doing anything too harsh on him, party pooper as he is. The soldiers who assisted him directly will also be imprisoned, of course. We'd capture more, but we'd need to do a whole looottt of questioning and stuff, so… up, up and away, and we'll see about that later!"

"Thank you, Lord Izana. Your gracious behavior is well appreciated and while terrible things have happened at the hands of a Nohrian, I do hope that in the future, the bond between our countries will only grow deeper." Assured Xander, remaining courteous.

"Sure thing! We'll hang out again!" Izana then turned towards the others and snapped his fingers at them before pointing. "And I'll be seeing you all as well! Promise!"

Since the group was eager to go, they laughed a little and left quickly enough. This left them blind to the strangely bitter smile that emerged on the Duke's face as he waved away at them, looking over at the blue-haired woman. He sighed heavily and, once the Nohrians got out, turned towards his people. "Alright, what day is it? Oh, tomato day? Hm-hm! Very well, let's shower this place with tomato sauce, people!"

…

While the Izumians were engaging in a legume war, the Nohrians resumed the conflict. After all, while they spent the day at the castle, the war was still on-going. Xander, Camilla, and Leo were sitting at a table at the wagon that was leading the army, studying a map, and some letters that were sent to them yesterday. Corrin was also present, though Azura and Elise were away for now. None of the troops has had any real trouble getting up from bed, thanks to their discipline, but Azura still sang the melody of her song to the army, using a wind tome powered by Elise's magic to carry her melody across the troop and reinvigorate those who faltered.

While a lot of them weren't tired, the melody still had a positive effect on their morale, so the royals weren't about to stop them at any point. Besides, they had the map to deal with.

"Our forces broke through the first lines of defense easily, and a few Mokushujins units are accompanying them into Hoshido itself as well." Said Leo. He pointed the tip of a cane at the east of Hoshido. "The mages in each unit have considered sending out the beasts ahead, to better soften up the opposition."

"Hm…" Xander studied the map. "Up ahead, there is the wind tribe. It would be bad if the inhabitants of the tribe had to deal with the Faceless"." Said Xander. "And we're still close to Izumo. Even if the gods decided to smite them, the average guards would be very unprepared to deal with even a single roaming Faceless."

"I don't get it. Why are the Faceless so wild?" Said Corrin. "Why not make them obedient to avoid such things?"

"Iago." And Leo sighed heavily when the name came up. "He and his goons have focused on making strong magical beasts, but they haven't worked on the spells to control them. As far as they knew, a Faceless was meant to roam around and cause thoughtless destruction on Hoshido anyway. As a result, a mage can only really point at a direction ad the Faceless will follow it… for a while." The magician prince grunted.

"We'll need to pass through the Wind Tribe as well." Pointed out, Camilla. "The Eternal Stairway is a direct shortcut towards Hoshido. It'll lead us directly towards a fort though. However, since the six of us royal wielders are here." She continued. "We have a good shot at taking it compared to the other units. Some might even follow our lead and take the Stairway to reach the fort, and use it to continue the direct attack unto the capital while the rest will take over the cities and lesser forts."

"We'll need to hurry up a little with that. Some units are in front of us, though we'll catch up with them soon enough." Leo assured. "But speaking of that. The Wind Tribe is involved with Hoshido, aren't they? They might try to fight us."

"Quite correct." Continued Camilla. "We fought the Fire Tribe's very own princess back at Notre Sagesse. And the Ice Tribe has already attempted to rise against us. Why would the Wind Tribe be different?"

"Fuga, the leader of the Wind Tribe, has fought with our father in the past, and has always been neutral with Hoshido. He should be willing to grant us passage." Explained Xander. "But if we can't, then we'll need to walk around them."

"This might be dangerous. Hoshido's army is very large and their famed ninjas will be running amok to try to wear us down. While we have the upper hand, for now, they could likely wear us down and prevent us from effectively laying siege to their strongholds." Leo warned. "And speaking of those, we'll have to deal with the wall of Suzanoh at some point. We will need the help of the other available Nohrians to break through it."

"Yes." Said Corrin, deciding to pipe in. "I heard that it hadn't been broken through ever since King… well, King Suzanoh built it. We're going to need a lot of manpower to defeat it. A-and beyond, there's the capital too."

"Correct. But we need to win. Or else, Hoshido's counter-offensive will be devastating." Said Leo. "Quite truthfully, I don't think that they could muster the power to take over Nohr if we manage to get far enough into the invasion. But since Garon poured all our available resources into it... I fear for the stability of the country if we fail. It may not look like it, but we're about as desperate as the Hoshidans."

"We will succeed." Assured Xander. "Some of the finest warriors in the continent are walking amongst us, and I think that it would be fair to say that all of us are as good as them."

"Well, except maybe little Elise!"

"Y-yes, Elise. Well, speaking of that, we will need to ensure that she's watched. Everyone will need to be surveyed closely." He said. "The ninjas will be sending their very best to attempt to take us down, and our duty will be to resist their desperate assault. I will request that you keep close to your retainers and perhaps a few hand-picked soldiers, and remain careful all the time."

Xander glanced at Corrin. "Oh, speaking of that, I've managed to hire Jakob." Said Xander, causing the prince to sit straight in surprise. "He's been working for other families, but has… passionately described his frustration with those, and seek to work with you again. He should join us soon, though he said that he had some of his own business to attend to at Nohr."

"But how will he join us in time? There's the canyon and, well, Hoshido to cross first, right?"

"You know Jakob." Said Leo. Corrin nodded. "Now, there's another problem…"

A voice sprung out of nowhere, loudly interrupting Leo. "Sir!" It said, banging on the door so hard it could almost knock it off its hinges. While they had no reason to think that they were under attack, the royals still grabbed their weapons, and Corrin, who could shrug off a blade if he needed, made his way towards the door to open it. He did so with eerie timing, and the messenger who stood beyond the door accidentally knocked on his face as a result.

The fist hit Corrin's face, but while Corrin merely drew back in surprise, the messenger was the one to get hurt, yelping a little and caressing his fist. The young prince reflected a little on his durability and then looked at the man. "Hmm, sorry about my face hitting my fist." He said, earnestly. "Is there something that we need to tell you?"

"Y-yes, milord!" The messenger bowed immediately. "Immediately! It's a huge urgency! I need to make you aware of it as soon as possible! It's so urgent I shouldn't even…"

"Yes, yes. Please, do mention it." Invited Leo. The messenger closed the door and ran into the room. Foregoing politeness, he slammed his finger down at a part of the region in front of them. "Goemon's Trap", as it was called, because of the gentleman thief that used the narrow passage to surprise noble and steal their money to deliver it to poor people.

"There's a trap." Said Leo. "Right?"

"Y-yes! A lot of soldiers!" The messenger gesticulated widely. "A thousand soldiers! Maybe more! Awaiting us with enough weapons to cloud the sun!"

"Calm down dearie." Said Camilla, patting the man in the back. "One of the scouts told you, right? Well, you did a good job reporting it! You should go ahead and check that crystal ball while we deal with this!"

"T-t-t-thank you." He said, glancing at her a little but then realizing that all three of her brothers were staring at her. He checked into his pocket and put a small envelope on the wooden table. "Here, a report! I shall now… go check the crystal ball."

"Yes. We'll send someone else to take care of informing our scouts, go, my little messenger!" She said, while he departed with such swiftness that he could have left afterimages if he went just a little faster. Then, Camilla got the actual envelope, opened it, and read the report, passing it along briefly.

"Hmm, it seems like our apocalyptic boy was not lying." She said. "There's a whole lot of soldiers positioned near Goemon's Trap. Well, we knew there'd be a lot but this is a lot."

"Yes. They must be desperate to get us into costly fights early on." Said Leo. "Besides, Ryoma and the others knew the path that we'd take to leave Izumo, so it makes sense for them to leave such considerable numbers behind."

"Can't we just go around the Trap and flank them?" Said Corrin. "Or just… errr, go around?"

"You'd be right." Said Leo. "But the land nearby is home to the kitsune. They're rather similar to that man, Keaton, in that they can transform into beast forms. We outnumber them, and we have weapons effective against them too… But unfortunately, they're swift and tricky and we cannot afford pointless skirmishes. They're rather territorial too, so they'd certainly react negatively to a human army stepping into their home."

"Leo's right. We're going to need to walk into that trap, and it'll be a bottleneck… There's already another unit headed for it, I propose that we regroup to pool our numbers together first." Said Camilla. "But we can't charge together. Our great numbers would be negated by the Bottleneck and while our fliers will be unaffected, Hoshidan archers will have no trouble with them."

"Could we wear them down with Faceless?" Suggested Leo, though he seemed to cringe slightly at proposing the use of those beasts.

"No. They likely have traps. It'd take a lot of Faceless to breakthrough." He said. "Hm… we could attempt to use a magical spell to attack from afar, perhaps? They'd likely have ninjas to try to assassinate the mages though, and we need to be quick about our invasion. The more time we spend swamped at the fort, the more time they have to plan out traps, gather more soldiers, and summon their considerable resources to their advantage. They have the upper hand with those, after all. Even with the backing of those countries…"

"Hm…" Corrin pondered. "I could take on my dragon form and engage the enemy if you wish. I'm impervious to regular weaponry in this form, and I can certainly fight them for a long while. Enough to have your assistance on it."

"Ah… yes, I meant to come to that. Corrin. Remember those weapons at Mokushu? The ones that could somewhat harm you more than regular swords?"

"Huh? Yeah." He shuddered a little. "Nasty things."

"Yes. Well, those "nasty things" are Wyrnslayers weapons." Said Leo. "They're weapons meant to kill draconic creatures. They're difficult to craft, but Hoshido has access to the material needed to produce them and since Nohr is famed for its wyvern riders, well, there's a lot of them around."

"Wyrnslayers? Oh, so they're meant to…" Corrin grimaced. When he was even grazed with that damned sword, he felt as if his wounds were being salted and then set on fire. If the enemy specialized in them, then he was certainly going to cover himself with some armor.

"Yes… Because your draconic nature was identified by the people of Hoshido, they've been building these early in the war." Corrin sighed sadly. He knew that it was the right decision from a Hoshidan perspective, but he was uncomfortable with the thought that Ryoma or even Yukimura would order some weapons specifically to kill him in particular. Well, the latter was more likely. Yukimura had been a loyal advisor to Mikoto through the years, and Corrin had defeated him in combat when he made his choice, way back during that fateful day. It was likely that the Hoshidan tactician did hate him enough to decide to just do that.

"It would be dangerous to let you fight an army like that. Your power is considerable, but going through a thousand men and women like that would take you to your limits, and it'd take one hit from those weapons to injure you… and while you're more resistant, magic in enough quantity could bring you down. I understand and appreciate your devotion, but I can't send my brother to his death."

"What are the odds that they would all pack wrynslayers, though?" Said Corrin. "They can't produce enough of these to arm that entire army, right?"

"Quite correct, but it would be logical to assume that the Hoshidan soldiers would have those weapons available. After all, they know that you'll be coming with the rest of us." Camilla shook her head. "Now, my dear, I would love to see a draconic rampage like the one you did in Macarath. Seeing you just tear through those soldiers was a rush! But I can't just send my poor little brother to fight all those barbarians and their weapons meant to neutralize him. Not when he's alone."

"But if I don't go in." Said Corrin. "Then others will die."

"Unfortunately, but war is that way. We can't just let you die, Corrin. You're our brother and a prince of Nohr. It doesn't automatically make you more important than the men and women who are fighting in this war, but it does mean that you need a different… treatment."

"It's just a different way to put that I'm more in… S-sorry. I got a bit upset." Corrin, who nearly rose from his chair, chuckled a little awkwardly and crossed his legs. "Hm… I do have an idea that could let us launch an attack." He said, opting to switch subjects.

"What would that be?" Said Xander, sounding curious.

"Well. That orb could be used to release the army." Said Corrin. "It can get a lot of people within itself after some upgrades. I think that we could try to put a part in the army in it, sneak someone across Kitsune territory, quickly release the army and launch an attack on their flank."

"Hm… that'd rely on not being spotted by their scouts or assaulted by the Kitsune. And besides, it'd be a small portion of us. Even if the surprise attack goes flawlessly, then we'd still have to deal with a thousand soldiers."

"We could launch the attack while the others are preparing theirs. The Hoshidans will be surprised at being flanked, and I'll be using my dragon form to provide some firepower." He raised his hands. "I know, they have those weapons, but with you and the others around, I'm not going to be in danger of getting overwhelmed."

"You want to use that stone, huh?"

"It's powerful." Explained Corrin. "And I can control myself enough now. O-of course, desperate times call for desperate measures on that one. I'm not going to use it if there's no need for overkill."

"It does make sense. One must use the gifts bestowed upon them. In your case, it means becoming a huge dragon!" Quoted Camilla. "But we'll need to be quick about it"

Corrin smiled a little, eager that his plan was accepted. It was true that he felt a little pushy on being a dragon but so what? It was a powerful form and its weaknesses could be negated with the proper support. Besides, he felt stronger when he was in this particular shape. He was just free of going around and knocking away all those people… Of course, a part of him thought that killing was still wrong, but he had mostly accepted it now. It would be stupid to spare soldiers when they numbered at a thousand. Though he'd have to stop that once the battle ended.

"Let's meet up with General Tello. He's leading the assault as well and ought to be informed on our little ploy… However, if I may say so, I recommend having someone to accompany whoever will be carrying the orb through enemy territory. After all, if the person gets incapacitated, then we will be stuck in the crystal, or at least, we will be forced to emerge in hostile territory, well away from the fight."

"I could fly but if you want, hm… Maybe we could get the cooperation of someone like Beruka?" Said Corrin. "I'll carry the orb, and she'll watch out for me. She knows how to navigate through hostile territory too."

"A wise choice!" Camilla raised her thumb.

"Yes. But we must also be prudent not to simply put Beruka to protect you. I am quite sure that she can do her work efficiently, but I'd rather be careful. Who else should be assigned to help?"

"Niles is also quite good at navigating through hostile environments." Said Leo. Simultaneously, Xander, Corrin, and Camilla shook their heads a little and waged their fingers, prompting a defensive reaction out of the wizard prince. "Yes, he's an eccentric man, and I know that his behavior is quite… special, but he's an expert at what he's doing and I'll have a talk with him about this. If we want a tracker, then he could be good."

"Hm, good. Now we need a third person." Said Xander. "I'd put in more, but the group would need to be in small-enough numbers to avoid being caught by the Kitsune or Hoshidan scouts who'd be on the lookout."

"Shura, maybe?" Suggested Corrin. "He's a rather experienced ninja from Kohga after all."

"You'd put your life in the hands of a pirate? While we accepted to recruit him, Corrin, I would not trust this man's loyalty."

"I know, but… When the uprising with the prisoners started in Mokushu, he fought with us. Erm, he had a little motivation, but he still went to see me afterward, instead of just fleeing while we were all busy. And… and I think that we can trust him in navigating through dangerous environments. I'd just need to consult him, if you don't mind." He said, rising from his seat.

"Very well. Then I'll warn Niles."

"And I'll go warn General Tello to stay put and wait for us. I'd tell him what we do, but there's a genuine chance that the Hoshidans could catch our letter… And if we told him of our plan to sneak into a crystal ball and sneak across the land of the Kitsune, I think that he'd think that we haven't quite shaken off the, erm, ambiance of Izumo." Both men rose from their seats and headed out, leaving Camilla and Corrin alone.

"I should go talk to Shura."

"Oh, good idea! And as for me, I'll go tell my retainer about this! Oh, she'll be glad to be working with you for sure! I'm so glad that you and her have been able to hit it off!" She leaned in slightly. "Pray tell though, I've got an urgent question!"

"Well, do tell it?"

"Goodie! Corrin, how attracted are you to my dear Beruka?" At that question, Corrin nearly jumped from his seat, his face turning beet red. Camilla chuckled softly. "That's a yes, in my opinion;"

"W-well, I could just be shocked by that question! But… yes." He glanced at the closed door. "But since we're in a war, I don't think that I should try and tell her now. She's a serious woman and all, so she probably won't entertain romance while we have to deal with this crazy stuff."

"Ah, that's a good point. A shame, because I can swear that she acts different around you." She said. "I've known her for about a decade now, so trust me when I say this."

"I-I know. And I'd very much like to act on it, but there's the whole war business, as I said." He stammered. "L-love can't bloom on the battlefield, right?"

"Well, I think it can! People fall in love when they do something together. Like knitting, fishing, running, slaughtering hordes of eastern barbarians out to crush our precious country, dining… Ahhh, the pleasure of love." Camilla moved away. "Don't worry, I won't be telling her this. But I might try to set you up once this silly little spat reaches its end. You're just cute together! Really!"

"T-thanks!" Said Corrin, eager to have the conversation end. "And… and by the way, erm, thank you for being gracious about it."

"Oh? Ohohohoh, I'm furious about this! When you'll get your wedding cake, I might just pop out of it and attack her!"

"It's a bit early to talk about wedd-And it's not funny to say that either!" Said Corrin, gathering all the indignation he could muster. Camilla laughed, unconcerned by that. "Sse-see you around Camilla."

"See you around, my cute little brother!"

Once she left, Corrin sighed and then followed her out of the wagon…

…

Shura was present in the castle within the crystal, feasting upon some steaks in the restaurant. Corrin observed him from his spot, having elected to sneak in, and coughed politely once. When that failed to make any effect, he coughed again, and this time, Shura reacted on time.

"Why'd you cough in my fa-Oh, Corrin!" He said, laughing amusedly. "Ya could have just tapped me on the shoulder instead of just coughing milord."

"Yeah… But well, I got your attention." Said the young man, with a polite smile. He sat down at the table as well. No one was occupying it, owing to Shura still being, in their eyes, a pirate. His origin as a shinobi also didn't do wonder for his reputation. Kohga was quite different from Hoshido, but in the eyes of the Nohrians, all ninjas (and, in some cases, the countries they hailed from) were interchangeable. Just faceless mooks trained to kill Nohrians at birth, treated by their sadistic masters like actual weapons to be sharpened in preparation for war.

Shura ate a lot of the food on his plate, burped (though he was polite enough to cover his mouth), and stretched his arms. "Well, what can I do for you my lord? If it's for the boots, they ain't for sale. Sorry about that."

"The boots are good but I'm looking for their owner." He said. "I may need you to accomplish an escort mission. Success during it could ensure an important Nohrian victory."

The outlaw stared flatly at Corrin. "Heh, trusting me with such an important job? I appreciate it, but are ya sure that the other royals are fine with having some low-life like me be tasked with such a mission?"

"Well, you've proven yourself loyal. And there's going to be Beruka and Niles." Shura grunted at the mention of these two.

"Well I'll be in a pleasant company… Well, let's talk about this somewhere else. I need to talk a walk after eating this much."

Corrin agreed, and both men left the building. Admittedly, Corrin wished he'd have said yes, and tapped his thigh rather anxiously, but he wouldn't want to force his soldiers and throw his weight around. It'd feel Iago-ish of him after all. He sure wished that Shura would stop taking the time to put a straw into his mouth before speaking up though.

"Yeah. I'll do it." Said Shura. Corrin stopped all of a sudden, having expected some lengthy conversation to happen in its stead, but got a hold of himself.

"Wonderful news! I'm glad you accepted so quickly!"

"Well, it's not like I can say no, right? In Kohga, obedience towards a worthy superior is a virtue. I mean, sure, knock down your superior if they're being an ass or incompetent, but otherwise, you're going to say "yes" with as much enthusiasm as you can… Even if they're asking you to scrub their toilet clean. Heh." Said Shura. Then, he pointed at Corrin's hand. "Oh, and you were kind of losing your patience, no? I noticed it."

Corrin immediately rose his hands and folded his arms over his chest, in an attempt to stop it. Shura chuckled and stroked his chin. "Heh, telltale signs. You're going to start to look for them in the business… Anyway, I still wanna ask, why me? Why not the Hoshidan guy, Kaze? He knows the region and pathways."

"Yes, I was thinking about him as well. But I don't think the others fully trust him. I mean, consider our position. We'd be close to a huge Hoshidan army and we'd all be in some easily captured crystal balls. Kaze has been a reliable friend and has fought alongside us throughout the war with devotion… whentheylefthimoutofhischales but it's a tall order."

"Heh, make sense. I'm surprised you even recruited him. Hoshidan ninjas are taught that the country's all that matter. Deflectors are forever scorned." Said Shura.

"As for you, well, you probably know the Kitsune, right?"

"Yeah. Eccentric buggers but they'll rip out a man's throat before he can draw his sword. We're crossing their territory, right?"

"Yes. Well, since you operated in Eastern Dreiz, you probably know your way around them, right? You've sneaked around their forests in the past."

"Well, most of the time, no. The best tip to survive the Kitsune is not to enter their home, flat-out. But you're right that I had to enter it a few times, to fend off pursuers and the likes. They're deadly, for sure, but I know how they act." He smirked. "The thing with all those long-lived species is that they rarely change their habits, you know? They always patrol the same way, stick to the same place... If those assholes wanted to, they'd probably be the leading population of the world, instead of having to concede so much territory to us mayflies."

"Yeah… I heard that they're long-lived. But are you sure that they won't be changing their habits with patrolling? There's an army close to their territory after all."

"Wise point, but I know what we should do. We've got the right number of people to accompany you and any of the people you've picked are stealthy enough to do the job… The concern being, are you stealthy enough?" The ninja pointed right at Corrin. "Armor isn't great to sneak around and you're not used to stealth missions, aren't you?"

"N-no… But since I have those abilities, I thought I could more easily survive an offensive by the Kitsune."

"Good point… But be careful. You'll follow my lead, or the murder lady's." He said, smiling. "After all, you and my little retainer seem to be in touch."

Corrin grimaced. "Y-yes. Anyway, I'm glad to learn about this. I'm going to report this to the others quickly. We might need to move out soon-enough, since we're going to need to put everyone into the crystal first. Or, well, half of everyone. Still a huge number."

"Yeah. Well, good luck kid. I'm going to prepare myself for Kitsune country." Shura tugged at his cape. "I won't let some stupid fox kill me, that's for sure."

"Glad to hear that!"

…

Goemon's trap was a small narrow cliff, ideal for a bottleneck strategy. In the past, the famed thief and his men would climb on the cliff before rolling down huge rocks to block the way of some of the greedy merchants and, in some of the less charitable retellings, crush their bodyguards. They'd then jump unto the traveling merchants before stealing their gold and wares. Goemon, in all versions, knew that merchants of lesser status passed through though, and rolled up the rocks that he used, with particularly glorious myths explaining that while his entire gang would push a rock back where it belonged, Goemon would be able to do it all by himself, and would do it fast enough to assist his men.

The thief was eventually caught and sentenced to death, via being boiled alive along with his accomplices. The Nohrians would perhaps not have such a… fancy manner to succumb, but today, a lot of them would join the thief in oblivion throughout the attack. The gorge was too narrow for the soldiers to easily progress in, and projectiles of various kinds, magical or not, would easily reach the soldiers. Attacks from above would circumvent the powerful defenses put forth by the attacking army, and ninjas would harass the backlines and pick off the scant survivors. Even after breaking past all of these, then the Nohrians would find themselves facing thousands of skilled Hoshidans, who'd swarm them with numbers and who would could very well further set up traps to thin out the offense just a bit more.

"And that's all for now." Said General Tello, after pointing at the map. "They outnumber us by a lot, they know the battleground, they had the time to set up traps, they know exactly who we could deploy… Luckily, it appears that none of the royals are amongst the army." Said the bald man, sighing. "We'd be in even deeper trouble if they were."

"I see… General Tello. Do we have an estimate for the number of lives that we'd lose trying to take over?"

"We're going to need a hundred graves at least." He replied, dryly. "We can break through if we pull out all the stops, but that's what these bastards want. For us to tire out when we're just at the gates, and then wear us down before we're even close to Suzanoh."

The royals and Tello stood at a tent, close to the gorge. The Nohrian squads were slowly regrouping near the gorge, in anticipation for the coming battle. It was the first "important" battle of the War. A touchstone in the conflict that would determine which country would hold the upper hand. Nohr fails, and they will run out of steam, allowing Hoshido to come down on their rivals with the power of a sledgehammer and successfully stop the invasion. Deprived of several elites, it would then become easy for Nohr to fall into chaos or eventually collapse.

Nohr break-in and they will be free to cruise through the country and go farther than all the other invaders in the history of Hoshido and mark a very important event in the story of the war.

"Are there other ways to break in?" Asked Elise, sheepishly.

"Unfortunately not. There's a whole bunch of traps that they built in anticipation of an invasion. Goemon's Trap is the easiest way in… So, Prince Xander, with all due respect for the royal family of course, what do you propose we could do to break past that wall?"

"My young brother, Corrin, has access to an orb of a sort. It can fit in a good number of soldiers." Said Xander. Tello looked doubtful initially, but then realized that his prince probably wasn't kidding and, out of respect for his prince, chose not to speak up. He carefully folded his arms instead. "We will sneak soldiers within the orb, and sneak past though the Kitsune woods. Once we'll be in a good position, we're going to attack them from behind. This will certainly spread confusion and allow your attack to go through smoothly."

"Hm… I believe you." Said Tello, after taking some time to consider his opinions. "It's admittedly far-fetched, but members of Prince Corrin's army did show up in Macarath even when they were supposed to be kilometers away from it. I guess I'll trust that orb." He said. "We will need to launch an attack at the same time though. Even with all five royals gathered and the advantage of surprise, taking out a thousand soldiers on your own will be costly."

"Agreed." Said Xander. "We may need a signal of a sort…Though I guess that the sound of a charging army will do nicely."

Tello chuckled a little. "Well, true. We won't attack immediately to give you the time to go around them, milord." He said. "We are planning on easing our burdens by sending some men to disable traps and kill the scouts. I doubt that we'll be able to eliminate them all, but it will make it easier for us."

"You're right." Said Leo. "We do have an Hoshidan defector amongst us. If you wish, he could help you hunt for the scouts. Fear not, we've placed a spell upon him to ensure that he will not attempt to betray us."

"A defector?" Said Tello. Leo nodded.

"A ninja, more precisely."

"How curious. I was led to believe that they would never switch sides… Well, I will have to assume that Lord Corrin has chosen the right words. When will you be deployed? It will take us quite some time to be optimally deployed for such a large scale conflict, and for you to enter the orb." He paused, minding just how ridiculous the statement was. "It will take us minutes to cross the gorge but if you manage to disable the archers and mages in time, our fliers will be able to immediately provide some support. And if we're successful in removing the scouts, we could move some soldiers forwards so that they'll be able to come and assist you faster."

"We appreciate it, sir. I'd also like to make it known that I can feel a dragon vein in the area. Should we happen to find it, we'll trigger it."

"Of course… But I may ask. What about the Kitsune? They're dangerous and crafty."

"We will have Corrin and some hand-picked elite soldiers accompany him. The Kitsune are powerful fighters but our brother has gone toe-to-toe with Hoshidan royals on several occasions, and as you can see, has lived to tell the tale."

"Oh yes. I heard that. You went at it against Lord Ryoma himself, the rumors say."

Corrin, who was looking absent until now, turned to finally acknowledge Tello's presence. Few could miss such a large man, especially one clad in an armored uniform almost comparable to what one of the heavier armored units would wear, but the severity of the current situation and their rather unorthodox solution had distracted him for a moment. Aware that he was being quite rude in doing this, Corrin turned towards the general. "W-well, it was nothing." He said.

"Fighting the high prince of Hoshido is nothing? Haha! You've got guts! Saving Macarath fully convinced me of how much of a Nohrian hero you, milord! Anyway! We better prepare up!"

"Good. We put the soldiers into the orb already, so it won't take long. May we live to see the sunrise on a Nohrian flag on Hoshidan soil, general Tello."

"May we all bury it in."

…

Beruka awaited outside of the tent with Niles and Shura, leaning against a wooden structure with her arms folded, in ignorance of what the two men nearby were talking about.

"You look like you could get hurt doing something like this, old man." Said Niles, glancing down at Shura and smirking. "Please, don't start to complain about your medications halfway through. It'd be embarrassing."

"Hmph. I'd say that you're about to see an actual pro step into action and show you how we do things compared to a slum rat, but I fear that you won't be able to see it." Said Shura, before tapping his eye. Surprisingly enough, Niles showed some actual irritation at the insult, but cooled off quickly enough.

"Oh, the actual pro who got caught by the entire army? Oh, I'm certainly not going to see it to spare you the embarrassment, old man."

"Pft. If it weren't for Lord Corrin, I would've walked out of that one." Boasted Shura. "So don't get all cocky."

"Please, you would've slipped on something and your neck would've snapped eventually."

"Asshole."

"Dumbass."

"Cyclops."

Corrin entered the scene in time, noticing that most of the soldiers in the camp were rather urgently avoiding the two men. The confused young man, having perhaps heard the discussion, coughed rather harshly. Shura turned around and sighed.

"What did I tell you about tapping on my shoulder?"

"Please, a mere tap and your shoulder would end up all broken."

"Pfttt, yeah, and even with that broken shoulder, I'd still do a better job than you."

Beruka took two steps forwards, and the two men decided to back down for now. Hiding her little triumphant smile, she looked up at Corrin. "I assume that they are all within the orb?"

"Ye-yeah." Said Corrin. He was dressed to sneak around, and Beruka was pleased to know that he listened to her little advice, since he wore dark blue colors and wore nothing else on his outfit. The only part that bothered her was the sword, but she guessed that he'd feel safer with Shadow Yato on, so she decided not to bother him. The outfit itself was boring but practical, merely consisting of a rather skin-tight shirt, a regular pair of pants, some gloves, and boots. Everyone else was on a fairly similar level of practicality.

"Good. We should go now. It will take us a while to do our job, and even more to properly finish it. It's not something we can do at the last second."

"Aw c'mon, there's excitation in doing something at the last minute. We're going to witness the bloody beginning of the battle as we desperately attempt to finish what we started, and in the heat of the moment, when all is lost, finally we'll…"

"Shut up."

"Fair, Beruka."

…

Upon arriving at the edge of the woods, the esoteric little group turned towards the chief of the group of "Rat Catchers" in charge of preventing ninjas from sneaking in, a tall person clad in a dark robe, with naught but a black bird mask on their face. The magician, upon noticing the arrival of the nearby infiltration agents, raised his hands and two cronies of his opened the barrier slightly, allowing the four of them to pass along smoothly.

"Good luck. And let the blood that will feed the trees of this land belong to Hoshidans."

"… Yah, good night to ya too." Said Shura.

The "woods" of the Kitsune was an odd world. It was teeming with life but it somehow felt unwelcoming towards the small group as they entered. When they stepped within the darkness, being barely lit by the moonlights or the nearby fireflies (pretty as they were though, it was poor lightning), they felt like children stepping into that room of the household that had always been locked until now.

From the edge of their vision, they could see one or two shadows. Or at least, they hoped those were only shadows.

"Alright. Follow my lead." Said Shura. "I want to warn you. With the gathering armies, the Kitsune may be more on guard. They're certainly going to notice them happening. We may not see 'em early in the trip, and near the end, but in the middle, things may get dicey."

"Alright," Beruka whispered, and the group quickly settled out, following Shura's trails. Corrin glanced at the forest life now and then, but Beruka, who decided to get behind him, was always quick to bring him back to the reality of things with a quick tap to the shoulders.

"Concentrate." She whispered once.

"Hm… Yeah, they're definitely on the lookout." Noticed Niles right afterward, glancing upwards. Corrin dared to sneak a peek at where he was looking, and while he didn't stop, he nearly let out a sigh, only being stopped when Beruka put her mouth on his hand. Up above, near the survivors, stood a tree. Human skulls had been stabbed into its branches, and there were enough of them to cover a fair amount of the branches in each case.

"Whoah…"

"Heh. Kitsunes are nasty things." Said Shura, smiling. "Quite honestly, I'm fearing them more than the thousand bloodthirsty Hoshidans in front of us." He quipped.

Niles simply put his finger on his chin.

"I find that quite artistic in fact. It's a nice deco-"

"Shut up. Move up."

"Yes ma'am."

…

N/A: Heyoh! A bit of a filler chapter after the wild ride, but the Kitsune chapter will be short! I hope that Kaden's fans won't mind his appearance though, because it miighhtt not be glorious!

Here's your Takumi and Corrin meeting, with the scene that Romeo and some of you guys must've been waiting for!

Things are going along nicely for now. Leave reviews and the likes, because I love 'em!

See ya!