The Kitsune Hamlet was a beautiful forest, full of life and vegetation the likes of which Corrin had never seen before, but it was also a thoroughly eerie place. While he could see ahead of him thanks to the moon and the woods themselves weren't creepy, he, and the others very likely, felt a spine crawl down his chill as he advanced deeper into the forest, and he sometimes swore that he could see other beings looking at him.
The ambiance caused Niles, usually the flippant one, to shut up for once, and even Shura looked deadly serious, giving out his orders via hurried whispers and looking everywhere around him to spot intruders. The slightest noise that they made felt like it made about as much noise as a volcanic eruption, and Corrin grasped his sword to try to prevent the metal from making any noises. He didn't need to hold unto the orb since it was in a small bag strapped on his back, so he could use his other hand whenever he needed it. Luckily, so far, their path involved merely walking through the woods, so he didn't need to do anything that'd require his two hands, or even a morphing.
Then, Corrin heard some sounds ahead and decided to raise his hand slightly, having seen Shura do it. Luckily, the outlaw noticed it, and the entire group stopped ahead to glance at the prince. "I… I'm hearing some noises in front of us, like people running." He said.
"Hm, you do? Nice ears." Complimented Shura. "In what direction exactly?"
"A bit to the right."
"Alright, let's head left. If it's getting any closer, warn us."
Corrin smiled slightly, glad at being of use, and the group continued their little direction. He could hear the sound above, but faintly, so it must be occurring pretty far ahead. He could hear multiple footsteps, indicating that it was probably a chase of a sort. He wondered who could be making those noises, but he guessed that those were Kitsune.
More of the weird trees awaited them, but he ignored them, though it was hard for him to do so. Most of the skulls belonged to people who probably got lost or who genuinely had no idea that the Kitsune could ever get so dangerous. Sure, perhaps a few were poachers who wanted to acquire their hides, but… Ah, it was unwise to get lost in thoughts when he needed to spare that much brainpower to focus on whatever was happening to him.
He could hear, in the distance, the footsteps get much closer, prompting him to raise his hand again. "They're getting closer."
"Duck."
The group instantly got on their bellies and crawled into the nearest shadows, hoping to trick the patrolling foes that would be passing over them. They were close to a small open field, being only separated from it via a bunch of brushes. Corrin turned to glance through them, noticing that the sounds were coming out of it, and almost gasped in horror when a bloodied ninja burst into the field, weakly holding a broken arm. Blood was gushing out of two large bites wounds on her shoulder and face, and her armor and mask were both thoroughly tattered. She was running towards the Nohrian's location, perhaps hoping to hide in the bushes. Shura left out some colorful language, but neither he nor Niles readied their bows. Their position was far from optimal, after all, and both knew that the woman would not be reaching their position anyway.
The woman yelled some Hoshidan words, that Corrin translated as pleads for mercy, but the black figure that emerged out of the woods with the swiftness of the wind did not care to hear her out, and slammed into her quite harshly, toppling her and causing her to fall forward painfully. The moonlight revealed the aggressor to be a fox, though it was quite larger than the average member of that species and had a different fur, along with a much larger tail. Without any hesitation, the fox bite into the woman's throat and tore a huge chunk of it, killing her immediately. Victorious, the Kitsune howled at the moon and promptly left.
"It just killed her…"
"Who cares? We're going to do that to a lot more Hoshidans. Come on, better not get sniffed out."
The group departed, crawling on their stomachs to be safe. On the way out, another Kitsune came to drag the woman away. It failed to notice the rest of the group as well and went back the same way as the other. Corrin tried to peer at the presence of any light, but realized that this would slow the group down and decided to continue, heading down a long path.
The deeper they got in, the more wildlife appeared, seemingly not scared of the humans.
"What were those Hoshidans even doing here?"
"Probably trying to ensure that we wouldn't try to do what we're doing." Said Shura. "And the Kitsune are unwittingly helping us out."
"I see… It makes sense. But I thought that they'd know how to avoid them."
"They do. But the Kitsune are on the warpath with our little spat, and the Hoshidans somehow didn't figure that out. It's good for us that this woman died. Now, let's just continue sneaking around, or else you're going to join her pretty soon."
Corrin nodded to Niles. The deeper they got in, the more they could see more troubling signs of what the Kitsune did to intruders, such as armored carts devoid of people, with a skeleton sitting at the driver seat in a morbid mockery of life. This failed to upset the team bar the prince. Just how bad were things with humans if the Kitsune hated them this much? Would they be joining them? The prince knew that his teammates were quite strong, and he could become a full-on dragon, but their little intimidation tactics were slowly getting to him.
"Don't panic." Said Beruka. "We should be halfway there."
"Yeah. It's the hardest part but we're close to getting out of those parts. It'll be smooth sailing." Shura whispered. "And we'll be able to go back to our favorite little hobby."
"And leave those barbaric Kitsune behind while we forge a trail of blood and death through the country." Said Niles. He perhaps aimed to make Corrin relax, or simply wished to annoy him, so the prince kind of huffed a bit faster than usual. He could appreciate the attempt, perhaps. He then retrieved part of his cool and continued to explore the forest with the others.
On the way, Shura stopped and pointed at a little hole in the wall. Niles sighed. "For the love of… a burrow." He said.
"Let's get away from it immediately before the parents come in."
Corrin wondered how cute baby Kitsune looked like, but an attempt to inspect on the pups would be ill-advised, so he followed the group along. However, before he could turn around, someone tapped him on the shoulder. Confused, the prince turned around to glance at Beruka, silently addressing her with a nod… and widening his eyes in disbelief when his question was met with a quizzical stare.
"Why did you tap me on the shoulder?"
"… I didn't." Said Beruka.
"Shit." Concluded Shura, fittingly. Before the Nohrians could react, several figures swooped in, descending upon them like an eagle upon a weak prey and very quickly surrounding them. Shura and Niles were quickly caught, but Corrin was swift enough to leap out of the way, though several more attackers leaped out of nowhere to pin him down on the ground. As he slammed into the ground, quite easily shrugging off the impact with damp grass despite everything, he couldn't help but wince. The orb was quite solid, but he wondered if the shock would be felt by the people inside.
Beruka was also quick enough to get out of the way, leaning out of an attack meant to seize her. In doing so though, she walked right into another human Kitsune, who quickly got a hold of her and wrapped his left arm around her neck. His freed hand, he held it up to her face, particularly the long, nasty claws on it. They were more akin to dagger than actual claws, and she could see her face reflected on them as the hybrid chuckled.
"Don't make a sudden move." He warned. "Or your lady friend and that… odd man bites it!"
Coming in last, a fox, larger than even the specimen that saw murdering the woman, leaped out of the dark, transforming into a man midway through his little leap and making a skillful landing on his feet. He looked rather… unintimidating when out of his fox form, and his face couldn't quite convey the fear that he meant to instill in his victims. From Corrin's opinion, he looked like a fun-loving guy placed in the worst context. From Beruka's opinion, he just looked like a fool.
Whereas his goons wrapped themselves in cloths, he wore more relaxed clothing and didn't see the need to cover his face. He didn't look like their leader at all.
"Hey there." He greeted. "Name's Kaden! Sorry for the rude interruption to your little nightly trips, folks!" He scratched one of his animal-like ears. That, and the tail, showed his true origin even when he had a human form. "But we're going to have to put a stop to it! Annddd probably your lives, sorry about that one!"
Shura seemed to grimly accept his fate, sweating a little as the Kitsune surrounded him. Niles, meanwhile, looked ready to try his luck but stopped when he saw some transformed foxes in the darkness, patiently waiting to pounce on their targets. Niles, Shura, and Beruka were all quite formidable warriors, but not even they could fend off such a large amount of hybrids. The archer didn't quite put his hands up, since he knew that he'd be killed regardless, but he seemed to be thinking rather intensely about his next move.
Beruka, for herself, kept her cool, even when the fox-man seemingly attempted to try to cause her to panic by slowly getting his claw closer and closer to her face. Kaden looked at her in awe, and then at Corrin. "Whoah, your lady friend is pretty impressive! The other soldiers up to that point all screamed… Hey, are you Nohrians?"
"Y-yeah." Said Shura. "They all hail from Nohr, you know it?"
Kaden sighed and began to walk around, tail swaying in the air. "Well, duh! I mean, I've been alive for 680 years, I know a bit about them both! You know, I was even around to see Nohr before all the nonsense with that invading country!" He said. "It had pretty nice places. Nohr nowadays is just so cold! I feel like my tail is just shedding whenever I step into it. It always does so, right when I-"
"Milord." Spoke a soldier.
"Right, right. Well, folks, I've been traveling the world for a while and I know of your war. I also know that it's getting close to our little hamlet!" He said. "So, you gotta understand, we're being a little cautious! Lots of humans who are trying to sneak through the forest at night." He sighed. "You're pretty sneaky though. Took us a while to get your scent!"
"We don't want your kind any trouble, sir Kaden." Said Corrin. "We're not dragging the war to your hamlet, we will settle the conflict and move away."
"Oh, that's a bit naïve of you, unknown mister with the weird blue hair! Battles spread! And there's a huge battle coming! Lots of projectiles and arrows and maces and… you know crashing right into our little forest home. It harms the wildlife, it eats on our available territory and it causes all kinds of damage that the forest will take ages to recover from!"
"I know, I know! But… we'll help with that if we can."
Ever single Kitsune laughed rather loudly at that statement, and Corrin bit his lips. "Help? Nohrians would help us? Oh boy, did you trade your brain for those funky ears, mister? Nohrians have always been war-like, but ever since the old war, oh boy! They've been attacking a lot with those ugly creatures of them, and a lot of them just wander into our Hamlet!" He lost his chumminess a little and walked up to Corrin, kneeling in front of them. "If Nohr could even repair stuff, instead of destroying or acquiring it, I'd maybe consider your offer… But I know for a fact that you humans are all a bunch of savages, anyway. You've been breaching into our domain just to get our fur." Kaden moved to stroke his tail. "You're sounding nice for now, because you're in danger, but if we let you go, oh boy, you're going to sound very different when you come back with torches and those ugly spears meant to kill us. I mean, you're not human, but heh, close enough."
"Well, I'm being genuinely nice." Said Corrin. "Please, let me go or I'll be forced to defeat you."
They laughed, again, but Kaden interrupted it. "You're not in danger, heh? Confident for a… what are you? I think Manakete? Hey, are you a Manakete?"
"I don't even know what that is."
"Heh. I'll check later. Kill the girl, Tsukumoto."
Tsukumoto snarled and began to cut into Beruka's cheek, digging the claw into her cheek and slowly began to carve a wound into it. Seeing this, Corrin's eyes widened a little and he began to get up. Seeing this, some of the Kitsune pressed down on him with all their available might… and yet failed all the same. The combined weight of about eight of them was, for the young man, seemingly equal to that of a feather and he easily got on his feet, knocking over all the Kitsune.
Seeing this, "Tsukumoto", as he was called, stopped his little act, too shocked to react, and Beruka reacted, bashing him in the ribs with her elbow and then turning around to smash him in the nose and jaw with her palm. He confusedly swiped at her with his claw, but she grabbed his arm and quickly broke it with a vicious attack with her knee. The hybrid screamed, but was cut off halfway through his screech by a punch to the head, sending him off into the dreamland.
Shura was a bit more straightforward, and just grabbed two of the hybrids before bonking their heads together, knocking them out easily. Niles went for a simpler attack and swept aside his attackers with a mighty kick, mounting forth a surprising amount of physical strength to topple his attackers. Their enemies out of the way, both archers headed for Beruka, to try and form a united front against more attacks. Kaden, observing his companion's defeat, howled, causing his transformed goons to step into the scene, baring their large fangs and claws while menacingly approaching the intruders who dared to thread on their sacred ground and, even worse, attacked their allies.
"We still outnumber you! Don't think that knocking out a bunch of us is going to get the rest of back down! We've been standing up to humans like you for centuries!" He said. The leader of the bunch moved his hand to swipe a stone and held it up. "And we-"
Whatever boast he meant to say never quite got through, thanks to a rather surprising punch to the jaw. Corrin lunged forward and, without allowing Kaden the slightest chance to react, simply decked him across the jaw. The eccentric hybrid stood still, with a look of utter confusion in his face, and fell over, though the prince was gentle enough to grab his hand to prevent him from falling into the grass in an undignified manner. Seeing this, the transformed soldiers quickly lost interested in three normal humans, and turned towards the prince, though his easy victory over their leader (even untransformed) worried them to an extent, as attested by their stance.
"Yeah. I'm a dragon." To demonstrate, Corrin grew some black wings and agitated them a little. Luckily for him, there was just enough space for them to deploy at the very least. "And that means that I can spit fire if I'm angry. You wouldn't want me to do that, right?" While the Kitsune didn't respond, they took his threat rather seriously, taking two to three steps backward. "Good response. If you cross me or my friends again, I'm going to take my full dragon form and… burn down the forest. So you better be careful and get out of the way, alright?"
One Kitsune found her courage and took three steps closer. "L-liar! You wouldn't…"
"Do you want to bet on that?" He said, putting forth a very impressive sneer. "Heh… Maybe I'm too harsh. As long-lived as you are, Manaketes like me must be rare, right? You probably never got to see one in action. Well, fear not. I'm just going to assume my dragon form! And you'll see for yourself just how real my threats are!" As he said that, he began to morph a helmet over his head, as if he was about to transform without a stone.
"N-no! Wait! We'll leave you alone!" Pleaded a younger Kitsune. "Please, we… we never meant to anger you, oh great dragon! Allow us to recover our wounded and we'll get out of the way!"
"Good." Said Corrin, before sweeping his hand at the ground. "You may get that trash out of my sight. Do not attempt to do something like warn Hoshido of my presence, by the way. You don't want to get on my bad side, right?"
"Y-yes! Hey, give me a hand!"
The transformed foxes quickly grabbed their unconscious companions and fled the area, yelping while doing so. Corrin, who stood with his arms folded over his chest, waited for them to be gone (and used his hearing to make sure that they were gone) before dropping his persona to quickly run over his allies. "Oh god!" He said. "Are you alright? I'm so sorry, I…" To his surprise, the Nohrians (and Kohgajin) seemed more surprised over his acting than anything else.
"Well, kid. If that prince business doesn't quite work out for you, there are a few theaters that'd love ya." Whispered Shura, though he glanced away to ensure that they wouldn't listen. "Good job getting rid of that canine trash, Lord Corrin!" He then said, much more loudly.
"You really ought to talk like this to me sometimes, I felt shivers down my spine, you know?" Said Niles. Seeing Shura's little act, the outlaw decided to join in. "Oh Lord Corrin, if those foolish soldiers come back, please don't crush or burn them all! My curtain made out of human skin need a fitting companion."
"T-thanks?" He said, before looking at Beruka. When he noticed the gash on her face, he gasped. However, the stoic assassin simply plucked a vulnerary out of her pocket and downed it. The life-granting magic within made its action, healing her wound, though it was deep enough to leave a small scar behind. "I'm sorry, they harmed you because I…"
"No. Don't worry. You dealt with this situation rather exceptionally. I'm proud of you, Corrin." She admitted. He stared at her, not knowing what to do, and she just smiled a little at him. After a few seconds of this, Shura decided to tap the young man on the shoulder.
"See? Tapping works better than coughing. Anyhow, I hate spoiling a scene but there's a thousand goons with bows, swords, maces, and the likes at hand so I'd rather move in."
"R-right." Said Corrin. He couldn't help but feel a bit elated over the praise, and just how… powerful he was when he negotiated with the Kitsune. He felt bad for threatening their home but it scared them away enough for them to leave immediately, without wondering why a dragon with such power would feel the need to sneak around an army or attempt a suicidal last charge to protect their home.
In a way, he felt good because he wasn't being the one trashed for once. It was… cathartic, yeah, he felt catharsis over being yet again at the winning end of both a fight and the following discussion. The subsequent praises also more than reflected upon the young prince. The timid answer to the approval of his companions (and especially Beruka's) was naught but a lie. Inside, he felt like buffing his chest before hitting it as hard as he could, accompanying the sentence with an "Of course!" that'd make shockwaves across the forest.
The group began to get going again, but Shura upped the pace significantly, navigating across the woods with his little posse with much more swiftness than before. With that level of speed, and with the defeat of the Kitsune, the dreadful mystic of the hamlet had all but vanished, and while the Kitsune's skull "constructs" and other intimidations tools were present, he didn't feel scared at all over them anymore. Perhaps because he laid flat the strongest of them with a single attack and single-handedly convinced the rest to leave his friends alone? The sugar sweetness of victory made him feel like he could take on anything.
If Ryoma, out of nowhere, emerged out of a bush with his sword in hand, Corrin wouldn't feel the slightest fear and would even happily engage him in battle.
"Why are we picking up the pace?"
"We're only doing that for a few minutes. We got to make up for that lost time with the fox men." Said Shura. "And since they've been scared of, for now, it's wise to use that to our advantage by leaving as fast as we can. If they even get the guts to come at us again, we'll be long gone by the time they return."
"Yeap. But we will need to speed down eventually. Remember that Hoshidan ninja? They probably sent a whole bunch of scouts just in case we Nohrians were crazy enough to try to flank them from the hamlets. Sure, the Kitsune won't discriminate on who they kill, but if a single ninja spots us and make it back, things could get a bit complicated. And while we did good fending these freaks off, well, now that they've retreated, the Hoshidans folks are going to have an easier time getting deeper into the forest."
"Perhaps, Niles. Corrin, use your enhanced senses to try and spot any Hoshidan saboteur. Warn us if a ninja is coming. If they spot us, they will certainly be on the look-out, and deploying the army will be harder."
"Don't get yourself all fired up now." Warned Shura, he slowly slowed his pace, after having run for a couple more minutes than before. "We were deep into Kitsune territory for that one. Hoshidans usually avoid that one, so there shouldn't be any of those deep into the forest. And if they are, well, they're probably being chased by the Kitsune, so no need to worry." He said. "We're out of that area soon though." He pointed forward. "We haven't seen those vehicles with the charming skeleton drivers for a while, haven't we?"
"Do they even have villages down there?" Asked Corrin.
"Probably. But nobody even got close enough to figure it out. Anyway, it was fun, but how about we cut on the chatter? Going by my previous experiences, we should be getting close to a point where we can start to unsummon people. The battle's going to start soon."
"Right."
As they sneaked more and more into the territory, their eyes sometimes glanced at lights in the distance, way past the tree line. Corrin, thanks to his eyes, could vaguely perceive campfires and even some figures around it.
"We're close." Said Shura. "Bit too much."
The group continued onwards. The vehicles with the skeletons were long gone by now, and the Kitsune was a memory from that point. The actual threat? Whatever Hoshidan scouts with the bravery to wade into the forest. Corrin couldn't identify footsteps other than their own though, and as they moved furthermore, the camps themselves vanished from sight, leaving them alone with nature once more.
Hours passed, and boredom settled in enough for Niles to casually reach for a plant. He briefly caressed it, causing Shura to swear slightly and turn around. "What the fuck are you doing?"
"Calm down, old man." He said. "It's a moment of weakness. I'm not used to seeing a plant that's not either withering away, aggressive, or struggling to live away." Niles continued. "Forests like this are impossible back home."
"That's sad to hear," Shura said quickly enough. "But we've got to move quickly. There might be traps, it might be some kind of Hoshidan plant that poison you if you touch it, don't touch the stuff unless it's in your way and you can't find an easier way through!"
Niles turned around. "Hey, Beruka, take my side here." He whispered. "Forests like these are an impossibility back home. Isn't it unusual to wade through one like these."
"… I never took you for someone who takes an interest in nature." Said Beruka.
"Hey, I'm a man of many faces." Retorted the one-eyed outlaw.
"Yes. Regardless, focus on the mission. That forest we're wading through is secondary to that objective. Do not make Lord Corrin regret his decision to hire you for this task."
Niles sighed, and Corrin just wondered how Beruka and the others felt about it. Many of the Nohrians in the army grew up in the slums but those who didn't also rarely got to see a forest like that or even walk into it. They suppressed their desire to wade into it because of their assigned task at the times, but he wondered how many Nohrians would be going back home once the business with Hoshido would reach its end. Few would run back to the blight lands of their old home so eagerly after all, when they could simply get a house within much greener pastures.
He wondered what Nohr would look like after this. Would it still be a poisoned country or would they be able to dig deep within Hoshido's library to try to get magic that could be directly combined with Nohrian spells to reverse the curse? Corrin hoped that they'd be able to do so. There were plenty of things to fix in Nohr, and while the nobles were a big obstacle, making the dusk country a place where people can live without needing to hide behind huge walls was a priority.
He contemplated asking the others what they'd think of that but, aware that they still ha a mission to undertake, he opted not to say anything for now and continued on his little journey. Eventually, the black sky above slowly began to find an orange color as the sun rose on the horizon. After looking up, the rest of the group sighed slowly. "It'll be a battle by dawn, right? We don't have much time. Corrin, is there a place that'd be wide enough for our group to emerge? We're also going to need everyone inside to be prepared. A group this size, we can't just hide it in the forest. I'm going to need everyone to go once we're set."
"Got it." Beruka simply opened Corrin's little bag and extracted the orb. Luckily enough, it hadn't been damaged by the Kitsune's jumping attack on them. The assassin sighed a little in relief. "I'm going to enter it to warn them and ensure full availability. Find a place in the span of… ten minutes. The battle will start soon, after all."
"Right. Well, better hope that those guys didn't get lazy inside. Mobilizing an army in ten minutes is a pipe dream."
"I'm aware of that." Replied Beruka, coldly, before entering the orb.
Once inside, Beruka came face to face with a rows of sharp spears all pointed at her, though they lowered greatly upon noticing that it was, in fact, none other than the stoic assassin. To her agreeable surprise, it seemed that the army was ready.
"Beruka?" Said Xander. "I assume that the time to deploy is now?"
"Yes. In accordance with the schedule. Though I've given them about ten minutes to find an open space where we could come out easily." She said, unfazed by the army in front of her. A lot of the soldiers were standing at the side but some had been relocated to the walls or inside of buildings to make proper space. Even then, the realm was obviously as its limits with the sheer numbers of soldiers. Adding just one more soldier to it would probably make the palace collapse or something ludicrous. One could speak greatly of the Nohrian discipline when it allowed the soldiers to hold this kind of stance for hours, especially because none of them reacted negatively to the news that they might need to wait for just a few more minutes.
"Good. I trust that the trip wasn't too harsh? We've felt some light tremors at a point, unfortunately."
"It was quiet. The Kitsune was only a minor problem in the end." Beruka was lucky that Xander was leading the charge, since Camilla was on her wyvern up in the sky (one more way to make space, perhaps). Had she noticed the scar, she may have thrown everything aside just to try and dote on her retainer in front of a small army, minutes away from a decisive battle that would make or break the great offensive on Hoshido. It was awkward enough to have to "lead" the army, by waiting patiently for ten minutes in front of an entire army of hardened soldiers right before turning around.
As she did so, staring into the white void that would lead her outside, Beruka wondered what in her life led her to be the one to "lead" an army out of a castle within an alternate dimension. An unlikely destiny, for one such as her… But now wasn't the time to think about that. Now was the time to try and lead that army to victory in a ploy to conquer Hoshido. Well, she'd only be showing them the way out, so perhaps it'd be overly prideful to suggest that she was going to lead them to battle. Regardless, Beruka walked out…
Right into an open field. Near her, Niles and Shura were making sure that foes weren't nearby and Corrin was flying above, though he tried to hide behind some trees while using his superior eyesight to see nearby enemies. The assassin stepped aside in time for Xander and some paladins to emerge, and Corrin flew down to meet the former. "Hey!" He said. "How was your trip to the p-wait, not the time. Alright, so… there's a great big "wall" of Hoshidan soldiers, but there are several smaller "walls" nearby. The archers and such seem to be positioned at the back, they're protected by heavier armored units and some flying knights but we're at a position where we can reach them before the others can move out to protect them, and they should be easy pickings.
"Good." Said Xander. "I've made my speech. Corrin, you'll lead the charge but don't get greedy. There are a thousand soldiers ahead. We need to stay together and focus on taking out the important targets to avoid being overwhelmed. Be as brutal as possible and avoid scattering." He said. "We'll need to wait for the others to make their charge before it starts, but it should be occurring-" Nohrian war horns resonated in the air, being so loud that they almost made the nearby trees crumble. Corrin quickly covered his ears. "… now. How close are we to getting the army out? The charge will commence."
A decent bunch of people were already present, too much not to be noticed. Corrin could see some figures in the wood hurryingly running towards the Hoshidan soldiers, prompting Xander to grunt and draw his sword. "We will lead the charge. The soldiers will know what to do once they're out, attack!"
"W-whoah!" Said Shura, falling on his backside as the Nohrian army roared and set out. Corrin, who was leading the charge with the others, drew his stone and transformed into a dragon, diving through the forest to quickly clear a path open for the army. Dashing out of the forest, the dragon jumped straight into the air, using his wings to enhance his altitude by just a little, and then slammed down on the group of archers and mages, blowing them all away with the intense shockwave. Scattered and disoriented, the already vulnerable fighters proved themselves hardly a match against the charging Nohrians and were quickly taken out, being either trampled by the horses or cut down while in the middle of preparing an attack.
Of course, the Hoshidans weren't foolish enough to put all their eggs in one basket, and already a few long-range combats units were moving to attempt to blast away at the Nohrians before they could attempt to move on to them. However, Corrin created a water projectile from the tip of his "mouth" and blasted it at a crowd, before doing so again. The impact was, once more, strong enough to toss people away and prevent them from taking any further action, though since they were allegedly facing a thousand people, they would certainly end up taking enemy fire.
Luckily, the Generals moved ahead in time, positioning themselves in front of the Nohrians that were gathering near the defeated Hoshidan archers and mages. Positioning their shields, they intercepted the inevitable onslaught of magic and arrow, though the former projectiles's superior power threatened to break the line, they nonetheless held fast, aware that letting go could ruin their little strategy.
"Good job!" Praised Xander. Meanwhile, Neo nodded to Corrin and willingly left the safety of the metal wall to hide beneath the dragon prince, who crouched to cover Leo with his body. The magical projectiles stung him a little, but he didn't need to spend much time covering for him, since the young man used the sheer power of his mighty Brynhildr tome to alter gravity in front of him, instantly making it much heavier. The various projectiles dropped to the ground rather pathetically, with even magic having to somewhat follow the invisible force's rules.
The metal wall of the General opened up and then Xander and the others led another charge. Leo quickly dispelled the gravity field, allowing his soldiers not to end up crushed by the gravity spell. Surprised by the sudden charge, the archers and mages struggled to ready their projectiles again while spear masters and units more apt at close-range decided to directly run in and engage the prince's offensive. However, Corrin sped past them and rammed into their backline, quickly preventing another assault, and the Hoshidan's attempt at engaging the Nohrians head-on proved ill-advised, since they were too confused to adopt (or even remember) the proper stances needed to fight off such a charge. Xander and the others once again crushed their foes in a swift victory.
Up above, Beruka was doing her job with Altena, coldly cutting down sky knights with Camilla and the others. Hoshidan's aerial units were in trouble despite their great numbers, owing to the same confusion that was gripping their grounded counterparts and the support of Nohrian archers units, who assisted their winged allies by using fierce arrows to strike down their rivals. Furthermore, Wyvern riders from Tello's unit also charged in, as promised by him, and brought some assistance. While they weren't completely dominating the fight, as attested by some of the dead wyverns amongst all the corpses on the ground, the Hoshidans were on the back foot.
And Tello himself came at the right time, bravely leading his troops forward as he tore his way out of Goemon's Trap. More Nohrians were also pouring out from behind, splitting off from the others to take on other parts of the Hoshidan army. As numerous as they were, the Hoshidans were being sandwiched, and all those numbers meant that they struggled to shift their units.
But while they were on the losing end, the men and women of the dawn country fought fiercely and attempted to take down as many Nohrians as they could. A particularly brave Swordsman, for instance, was using his fallen comrade's sword and his own to ruthlessly cut some invaders down to size, fearlessly continuing his rampage despite his wounds and only meeting his end at the hands of Beruka, who opted to cut his head off from above using a tomahawk. And, somewhere else, a particularly determined great master of Hoshido was using the apex of his combat skills to both heal the wounded and strike at the Nohrians, only going down when he was impaled in the back by Shura.
"Sorry, bud." He said, not particularly disgusted of his action. Swiping the fallen man's staff, the outlaw made his way across the battlefield. In the confusion of the battle, Corrin had decided to switch forms since he didn't trust himself not to accidentally kill off his fellow Nohrians while transformed. Thus, a human Corrin was in the middle of the melee, using his sword to carve through the hardiest Hoshidan armor as if it were mere butter. Plenty of enemies were specifically targeting him, some of them packing those deadly swords, but whenever one of them approached, Xander trampled them, or Camilla swooped from above to rake them to pieces with her wyvern's talon, or they ended up battered away by a sudden magical spell…
Not that he needed the help, though he appreciated it. In his hyper-focused state, he felt as if the world was moving in slow motion. He could see the droplets of sweats, or the much larger flow of blood, everywhere around him in the air. He moved with such haste that he could very well decide to stop and contemplate the way sunlight reflected upon the armor of his fellow soldiers, and then simply continue on his little slaughter without any fear of being caught. He did, however, see the approaching Shura and decided to approach him, casually cutting down a Hoshidan samurai who was about to deliver a death blow to a distracted Nohrian.
Shura stopped when he noticed Corrin's speed, but the circumstances caused him to quickly stop worrying about that. Using his experience with staves, he lit it up with healing magic and the prince's wounds from the magic barrage vanished. After glancing down briefly, Corrin nodded and leaped past Shura to kick away a ninja who was sneaking behind him! Both men then turned around to glance at one another and decided that any conversation should be postponed until after the end of the fight. Shura, quite aware that his bow wouldn't be of any use at such a close range, plucked the fallen ninja's sword and prayed that his ninja training with such weapons hadn't completely atrophied before swinging back into the melee.
High above, Beruka was firmly establishing herself as the superior warrior, endlessly plowing through hordes of sky knights. Arrows were being shot endlessly at the air by either side in an attempt to help the flying riders. Regretfully though, arrows didn't come with an "if hit ally, bounce back" feature (useful as it would be), so a large amount of pegasus and wyverns fell, perhaps because of their allies, and crashed upon the horde. In some cases, the rider didn't die, and promptly managed to get off their fallen mount before continuing to fight, though plenty of soldiers on the ground were eager to pluck those fallen riders before they could become threats again.
Beruka, while she had been skillful enough to avoid all these arrows (she'd need to remember just who raised Altena, the wyvern was quite the obedient little soldier), had been struck once or twice in battle. Blood was oozing down from a wound on the side of her head, courtesy of a glancing blow from a Hoshidan spear, and she had an arrow lodged in her left leg, though her armor prevented it from going all the way through. She couldn't quite identify to whom it belongs, and she was aware that its owner was probably already lying in a pool of his blood, so thoughts of vengeance faded from her mind.
Adrenaline was keeping her together by now. Many wyvern riders would desperate at just how endless the hordes were. For every sky knight cut down, after all, about ten more seemingly sprung to continue the fight in their stead. But Beruka simply killed those ten, and when a hundred sprung to carry on their legacy, she simply killed a hundred. Even as her arm ached, and even as her axes eventually ended up worn from overuse, or broke upon hitting too hard, she simply picked another from a stash on Altena and resumed her duty. It was essential for Corrin and Camilla to win this, and one dead soldier on the other side just brought them a bit closer to that coveted victory.
Her mind was tunnel-focused on intercepting threats and taking them out. She didn't know how the others were doing in the middle of all this, and if they ever were alive, and focused on winning her battle first and foremost. Most of the time, she simply dispatched the soldiers themselves but sometimes she struck their mount and left them to the tender care of the Nohrians below, or simply allowed Altena to use her mighty fangs to complete her work.
One of these fallen soldiers happened to fall right next to General Tello, who was fighting back-to-back with Xander. The tall general, who had some deep gashes on his head, howled upon seeing the fallen soldier and brought his mighty hammer down upon their head. A samurai lunged for him, since the big man needed some time to get back into a proper stance, but he was blasted to smithereens by Xander. The bald man grunted and swung his hammer, dispatching nearly a dozen Hoshidans with a single strike. Not seeing this fight for their survival as a contest, but being too proud to let himself be undone, Xander used his mighty sword Siegfried to cut down about as many enemies and used its beam to strike the ground near a bunch of enemies, further destabilizing them and allowing Selena to leap straight through the smoke and stylishly cut them down with such speed that the red-headed woman's enemies probably failed to realize that they had been cut down until their bodies gave up on them.
Selena then continued on her merry way through the battlefield. Whereas everyone else was fighting for their lives, she didn't look like she was trying that hard. Oh, she wasn't underestimating the circumstances at all. She didn't quip or attempt to slow herself down with needless movements, and in fact, held a poker face that would make Beruka proud through her little run. However, the retainer effortlessly dodged the feeble attacks thrown her way and never needed more than one blow to fend off her attackers. When flying units dropped from the sky, she simply casually moved out of the way, slicing down more foes throughout her manoeuver.
She ran past Kaze, who was clad in a Nohrian suit of armor to avoid being under fire from his side. It barely slowed him down as he shoved his weapons up someone's jaw, before throwing them aside. He then moved to kick a target away from Odin, who was currently dishing out some magical firepower. While the other mages were scrambling to try to distance themselves from the chaos, the eccentric Nohrian was right in the middle of it, using his magic powers to bring some assistance to his allies. His spells were expertly crafted to only ever hit enemy units, but unlike Selena…
"Ah! A most daring blow! My fell hand-feed upon the carnage and draw an unholy strength from it! One that I must use lest my body perishes along with my SOUL!"
Expertly dodging a stab from a very angered Hoshidan spearman by skillfully jumping above the spear that was meant to kill him, the young man then grabbed the weapon and threw it away without even looking, though that didn't stop him from nailing an enemy anyway. He then continued his spell-slinging, never allowing an enemy to hit him even once. A few kilometers away, near the Kitsune hamlet, Arthur wasn't doing as well, as the wounds on his body could attest. Nonetheless, his heroic will carried his body and he continued to strike at his foes with wild, inaccurate strikes that somehow managed to land when the enemy inevitably ended up slipping on the corpse of a fallen soldier or simply mistimed the timing needed to dodge. Effie was right next to Arthur, and while wounded as well, her foes found, to their dismay, that she could still easily overpower them. Elise's retainers worked well together. When the plucky sidekick slipped up, she finished his work with the help of a very powerful shield bash and when she ended up having to readjust her position after striking, he was always present to cove her back.
Otherwise, though, the retainers weren't exactly fighting side by side. They had tried, but the sheer chaos going around meant that only Arthur and Elise had stayed bonded. Niles was a good distance away from Odin with other Nohrian archers, plucking arrows from his quiver or, failing that, a fallen soldier's quiver and quickly shooting the deadly projectiles at the nearest enemy or a flying unit. When a soldier got too close, he retaliated with a powerful kick to the face but never let go of his weapon, unlike Shura, though he sometimes had to use his weapons up close.
"How many fucking Hoshidans are there?!" Yelled Charlotte, well away from Niles, as she brought her axe down on a spell caster's hand.
"There were about a thousand." Said a Nohrian "hero", standing close to her, and watching almost in awe as she continued her rampage.
A third Nohrian, clad in a bony armor and wielding an intimidating axe, slammed a man away with a mace "There must've been m-" He tried to say, though he found himself tragically cut off when his distraction allowed a mace-wielding soldier to avenge his comrade by bashing his face in, destroying his skull-like helmet. The very same soldier than swung his mace at the other Nohrian (who raised his shield just in time to get thrown off his feet instead of outright killed) and then at Charlotte's axe, destroying it on impact.
Charlotte yelled, but not because of her seemingly imminent death. "Fuck you! You know how much money I had to pay for that axe?!" With an indignant cry, she bashed the offender in the face with enough strength to topple him, and then leaped on top of him to deliver a killing blow with her fists.
Once done, the blonde grabbed his mace and got back into action.
The fight stretched on for hours and the sun slowly rose over a blood-soaked battleground. Plenty of brave men and women fell, and by the sixth hour of battle, the Nohrians seemingly took a decisive upper hand, massacring the Hoshidans that hadn't fled by now, though the wounded soldiers from the dawn country were doing their best to cover the retreat and fought fearlessly to buy as much time as possible, sometimes jumping into groups of armed Nohrians with naught but a katana. Others simply drove their blades through their chest, in a bid to avoid capture. While many tried to stop them, if only to gain potentially useful information, a lot of the more tired Nohrians were fine with leaving their enemies to finish themselves off. In some portions of the battlefield, the healers were already exploring the area, healing the wounded.
Corrin stood in the middle of a hellish mess. Everywhere he looked, he could see dead men and women of either nation laying on the ground, some with their mounts. The constant barrage of magical spell had transformed the battlefield into a charred mess, carving smoking craters into the ground and killing off the grass beneath their feet, or even burning it in some cases. As a result, he couldn't even see the sun above the horizon, since the smoke blocked it from view.
Thanks to his enhanced senses, he could also hear the moans and cry for help of the wounded, growing more and more desperate as the overwhelmed healers struggled to help everyone. Sometimes, to his relief, a call for help would be answered and the soldier's friends would cheer at his survival. Sometimes though, they never were, or the medics were too late, and a soul would be snuffed out desperately crying out for any help. The fact that some of those voices were Hoshidans bothered him even more: For those, there would be no help.
And sometimes, people would call out for their friends in the confusion of the battle's end, and would receive no answer or would have it presented to them directly. Like the case mentioned above, such calls ended up surprisingly happy, but while friends and (perhaps) lovers were reuniting in the aftermath of the war, quite a few calls still went unanswered, or the calls would abruptly end, as if the soldier stumbled upon their friend's body.
Corrin himself stood there, in silent contemplation. Once the thrill of battle and adrenaline had worn off, he realized just how many victims he made throughout the battle, thanks to his draconic power and martial prowess. Sure, he certainly didn't cut down that thousand-strong army all by himself, but he still significantly contributed to the downfall of many of its members. And while other soldiers would perhaps relish the idea of wielding so much power, Corrin was almost fearful at the raw might that he had available, almost shuddering as he contemplated his dirty, blood-soaked hands.
Then, he heard his name being called, many times over, by many people. He recognized the voices of his siblings but he could also hear Shura, or Felicia, or Gunter or even Beruka. His name was hard on everyone's lips (The siblings would often call out to each other) but he did hear one or two soldiers say it as well, with genuine anxiety in their voices. They thought that he had died? Hardly surprising considering
Snapping himself out of his funk, Corrin decided to go meet up with some of the people who were clamoring for him and walked towards the person who'd be the closest to him. Fate had decreed that Beruka would be the one, so the young man decided to head for her first. It was a bizarre experience to walk across the battlefield. Beside the cries and the crackling of nearby fires, it was oddly… silent and the smoke emanating out of the fires cast a heavy smoke on the area, darkening it and causing nearby humans to transform into nightmarish silhouettes.
Now and then, a soldier would emerge with their face covered in soot, though less lucky individuals amongst them also had nasty wounds on their faces. Most were heading out towards a medic or could move on their own, but a few were staring at nothing in particular, with their eyes wide open. Corrin stopped to briefly stare at them, unnerved by just how wide and unblinking the soldier's gaze was. But before he could move to try to reassure them, they'd bolt away, and he elected not to give chase to scare them further.
It was hard for the average person to move around the battlefield because of the smoke, but Corrin easily identified Beruka's location and moved to see her. She had elected to walk across the battlefield, concerning the prince and causing him to pick up the pace just a little more, fearful that Altena may have been killed. "Beruka, are you al-" He started, though his speed quickly ended with a gasp of pure shock.
Beruka had managed to get rid of the arrow in her thigh (though she'd need to remove the arrowhead later) but some blood was still coming off her head, though she used a piece of cloth to bandage it. Her face was covered in scratches of all kinds but the more pressing matter was a wound on her left eye, which forced her to keep it closed. Seeing that last injury caused Corrin's reaction, but the assassin didn't seem to mind it too much, simply greeting the young man with a nod.
Her armor had taken some heavy blows as well, and her walking indicated a small form of limping as a result of the arrow, certainly.
"Hello, Corrin." She said. "It seems that you've gone through this battle without many injuries."
Corrin stammered for a little while before firing back with a worried "W-well, you didn't! Beruka, are you okay?" He said. This seemed to annoy Beruka a little, and she folded her arms.
"I'm fine." She said. Her body then immediately decided to disprove that by making Beruka lean forward and backward, almost as if she were able to fall. Knowing that she wouldn't appreciate being "helped" but also not wishing to just let her fall, the young man went for the latter and put his hand on her shoulder in an attempt to help her with standing up. The assassin grabbed his arm to support herself as well, and briefly shook her head before standing up straight. "… I'm still fine."
"Y-yeah." He answered. "Where did you even find the time to put on that armor, by the way?" Asked Corrin, out of the blue. "A-and where's Altena?"
"I just put it on over my previous clothes… As for Altena, she was sent to fetch some staves and potions for the healers. Fear not for her fate and concern yourself with yours." She used her finger to touch the center of his chest. "You seem to be troubled."
"W-well, of course, I'd be." Corrin accompanied his reply by sweeping at the battlefield with his free hand. "Look at this… All these deaths…"
"… I see." Beruka frowned and briefly looked down at the ground before looking up at him. "I don't understand though. You weren't this affected by the other battles, right?"
"Y-yeah but." He glanced everywhere around him and decided that it'd be wiser to look at Beruka right in the eye. "I mean, at Port Dia, I was defending people, same for Macarath, and Cheve, well, I did get into a sort of coma and…" The young man stammered a few more explanations. "It's my first time in a battle of such a scale. A-and there will be more of these, though."
Beruka nodded. "Do you fear that?" She asked.
"Y-yeah… Well, I'm not afraid of dying or losing, but all that demise… You know, whenever I fight, I get into a zone. I just stop caring about killing and do it." Beruka seemingly knew what he meant. "I just become the very demon that I'm accused of being, an-and you know what? I-… n-no, I shouldn't…"
"You should."
"… I feel like I should be like this even out of battle. I still have a lot of reluctance in me even after all this, and… and…"
"If you were to do this, would you truly free Noh from its oppression? If you push aside your feelings." She pondered on the irony of her, of all people, telling this. "… Then you will eventually simply stop having problems with that. And if you eventually do, you will eventually slide down a path that will lead you into becoming like the men you despise."
Corrin remained silent, so Beruka, aware that a hug may not cut it, raised her left hand to put it on his cheek. "Keep your mind free from doubts in battle, but don't lose sight of yourself."
"R-right." He spent a while looking down at the ground and then realized that he and Beruka were still holding unto each other, instantly distracting him from the current topic. "O-oh, my bad! I just…"
"It's fine." Said Beruka. "I may… need help to find a medic. Would you wish to help me? It's fine to do it here. The smoke will cover us."
"Of course." Said the young prince. She grabbed on his arm. "I'll be leading the way!"
"Good." Answered Beruka. Corrin smiled slightly, though his joy was dulled significantly by the circumstances, and they both hopped away from the battlefield, praying that someone like Camilla wouldn't find them.
..
N/A: Pam, end of chapter "19". We're gonna get into the Wind Tribe soon. I think we're a bit past the halfway mark right now!
Ohhh, noted for the weapons name! I'll change it later but it's well-noted! And yeah, I figured I'd keep it a Nohr vs Hoshido thing instead of having Kaden be the star. I hope his hands won't mind his appearance here, it's not glamorous, haha! But I don't dislike the guy, he's fine.
What did you think about the infiltration and the huge battle? Reviews are quite welcomed!
See ya later!