Robin - Private Quarters

Robin screamed as he found himself waking up in the middle of a cold sweat. In spite of the cool Spring breeze blowing through his room, the young tactician was glistening like he was back in the Hotrealm. Robin shakily got to his feet as he grabbed a prepared towel from a nearby stool. It had been three days since the Blue Lions' victory in the mock battle, and every night since then, Robin had the same recurring nightmare. He found himself back on the Dragon's Table, seeing a hooded figure standing before the altar. Whenever Robin tried to get close, the figure would whip around, revealing six glowing red eyes under the hood. He would then proceed to blast Robin with a powerful surge of magic, forcing him out of the Table. No matter how Robin tried, he couldn't get close to the figure. All he knew was this had something to do with the appearance of his Brand during the battle.

As he mopped off his sweat, Robin went through a mental checklist of the day's activities. He would have class with the Lions for most of the day so any personal business would have to wait until after. A quick glance out his window reminded the tactician it was still early in the morning. He'd have about an hour or so before classes would start. A relaxed smile began to emerge as Robin thought about getting in a quick training session before class. It would be the perfect way for him to forget about the nightmares for a bit, and re-adjust his focus. With a quick motion, Robin grabbed a training sword and set off for the training grounds.

"Hah! Take that!" The sound of someone shouting echoed through the empty training grounds. As Robin entered, he saw a young silver haired boy striking a training dummy with an axe that looked much too big for him. Robin recognized the boy immediately as Ashe Ubert, one of his students. The boy had scored rather poorly on his magical aptitude tests, and had even declined being considered for the mock battle. From what he knew, his main weapons of choice were axes, but something about Ashe's build made Robin suspicious. Ashe was so absorbed in his training, that he failed to hear Robin approach. "Not bad form, Ashe," said Robin, causing Ashe to jump in surprise.

"Oh! P-Professor! I'm sorry I didn't see you before." Ashe hurriedly set down his axe, his muscles relaxing from no longer having to carry the weight of the blade. Robin took careful note of Ashe's body movements. "Is there anything I can do for you, Professor? I'm just getting some rounds in before class."

Robin shook his head as he walked over to a bin of training weapons. "Oh nothing really. I actually came up here to practice a bit myself. Would you care to humor me for a moment? There's something I want to try." Ashe barely had time to react as Robin pulled a training bow out of the bin and tossed it towards him. Ashe caught the bow in midair and looked at it in confusion. With a smile, Robin also tossed a quiver of arrows at Ashe, "I want you to shoot at me. I'll deflect the arrow"

Ashe's face went pale. "What are you talking about, Professor?" He looked from the bow, to the quiver, and back at Robin.

"I'm saying, I want to see how good you are with a bow. See, I've been watching you over the last month. You've actively avoided archery training with Dimitri and the others during class, and you choose to focus on wielding a weapon that isn't well suited to your body type. You have powerful back muscles and those only come from years of working a bowstring. You can try and hide it, but a good professor is always three steps ahead, Ashe." At this, Ashe began to blush and he lowered his head.

"The thing is... I used to be a very skilled archer. I don't know if anyone in the Lions has told you, but I'm not actually the son of a noble. In fact, I'm nothing more than a commoner. My parents both died when I was young and I was forced into crime in order to provide for my siblings. I taught myself archery since my father's hunting bow was the only weapon in the house. I knew it was wrong, but I couldn't stop after seeing my siblings smiling. Then... I decided to rob a local noble's manor, and was discovered by Lord Lonato. Rather than turn me over to the king's guard for my crimes, he offered to adopt me and my siblings. He even recommended me for the Officer's Academy personally. It was when I came to the academy that I swore to follow the path of a knight. The bow is seen as the weapon of rogues and thieves." Ashe smiled meekly as he turned the bow over in his hands; his deft fingers sliding over the wood.

Robin smiled and sat down. "Hmm... Well if that's how you feel then I can't stop you. Now that I think about it, have you heard the legend of Sir Donnel the Tinhead?" At this, Ashe's head perked up. Robin smirked to himself as the boy replied that he hadn't heard of any such legend.

"Well it's a famous tale where I come from. Donnel was a young boy who lived on a farm with his mother. On the day he turned sixteen, his village was overtaken by bandits. Donnel fled the village and chanced upon meeting a young man who turned out to be the prince of the kingdom! He appealed to the prince for aid, and he ended up leading the charge to liberate his village." The tactician gestured dramatically as he narrated the story. Ashe was so enthralled that he found himself sitting and listening with rapt interest. "The prince was so impressed with Donnel's bravery, he offered to let him join his own private militia and be trained as a knight! From there, Donnel went on to become one of the foremost knights in the whole kingdom! Legends of his bravery and skill are as vast as whole continents! Some claim he married the prince's sister after saving her from an attempt on her life. According to some of the tales, he challenged an evil emperor from a foreign land to single combat and defeated him with merely a stick!" Robin continued on like this with Ashe hanging onto every word.

"That's an amazing story, Professor. I have to ask though, what does this have to do with me using a bow?"

"I was getting to that," Robin replied. "Do you want to know why he was called the Tinhead? It's because in place of a helmet, Donnel would only wear a dented cooking pot his mother gave him when he left his village to join the prince's militia. Other knights laughed at him, but he continued to wear it. He didn't care that he was called a commoner. Many of those same knights came to respect him for his skill and prowess in battle."

"So you're saying it doesn't matter what weapon I carry? So long as I stay true to my dream of becoming a knight of Faerghus?" Ashe looked up at Robin, his eyes starting to brighten with hope.

"Exactly." Robin stood up and pointed to a target. "Now show me what you can do!"

In a matter of moments, Ashe was on his feet and stringing the bow. Robin heard the hum of the bowstring as it released the arrow. There was a loud thunk as the arrow hit the bullseye.

Corrin - Dining Hall

Corrin sighed in relief as she found a seat. After a long morning of preparing lesson plans for the next week, she had been getting hungry. Thankfully it was already lunchtime, and the dining hall had prepared fried crayfish! Of all the dishes Corrin had discovered since arriving in Fodlan, she couldn't get over how tasty the crayfish was. The best part was the dining hall was never full when crayfish was on the menu so there was always plenty for her! As she was about to dig in, Lilith sat down in front of her, exhausted herself from a morning of training with the knights.

"Rough morning?" Corrin asked her sister through large lumps of crayfish in her mouth. Unfortunately, the girl's mouth was so full that what came out sounded more like, "..Ugh M'ning?"

"If you're supposed to be asking me how training was with a group of muscle-bound knights while you sat in a classroom and simply wrote notes for several hours then yes. Yes it was quite rough," Lillith said as she gently poked at the parfait sitting in front of her. Not that she'd ever tell Corrin, but being human definitely had advantages, such as being able to eat without shoving her face into everything. As Corrin continued to eat, Lilith noticed something... different about her sister. Cocking her head to the side, Lilith squinted as she tried to determine what was bothering her.

"Uhm... Why are you staring at me, Lilith?" Corrin hesitantly put down her utensil as she made eye contact with Lilith's gaze. She'd seen that look on the dragon's face before. It usually mean there was something dangerous looming.

"Your... eyes, Corrin? Have they always been that color?" Lilith realized what had finally gotten her attention. Corrin's right eye, usually a pale red in color, was now a strange golden amber hue this morning. The left eye was still mostly red, but flecks of the same golden color could be seen around the edges if Lilith squinted hard enough. Suddenly, the dragon remembered where she'd seen a color like that before, and she shivered as a chilly fear ran down her spine. It couldn't be... Corrin had always been unique, but she'd never displayed sings of having HIS power before. Even if she had, Lilith would have been able to sense it from a mile away. There was no way she could have used it with Lilith's knowledge.

"Erm... I have to take care of something..." Lilith picked up her parfait and quickly left the table. Meanwhile, Corrin was left trying to process what had gotten into Lilith's usually calm demeanor. Realizing she had more pressing issues, Corrin turned back to her crayfish and was about to chow down when she saw another blue haired girl eyeing her from across the room. Looking up, Corrin waved to Marianne and gestured for her to take a seat. The girl timidly blushed for a moment as she realized her professor had seen her then quickly moved to another table, leaving Corrin alone.

"Why is everyone avoiding me today," Corrin asked to no one in particular as she turned back to her meal. While she continued to eat, Marianne returned her gaze to Corrin as she rubbed a hand along her left forearm. There, covered by the long sleeve of her uniform, was a Crest. The skin surrounding it was rubbed raw, as through someone at literally tried to scrape the thing off of her skin. As she felt her skin burn slightly under the rough material of her sleeve, the blue-haired girl wistfully uttered a prayer to the goddess.

"Dear, Goddess. You sent someone like me... Thank you."

Byleth - Greenhouse

Byleth turned the leaves of the Adrestian Sunflower over in his fingers, inspecting it to see if it had caught any diseases in the past week. Naturally, he'd been informed the Garreg Mach greenhouse was charmed in order to keep any foreign pollutants from harming the plants, but he couldn't bring himself to just leave the matter alone. Years of travelling with his father had taught the youth the need for certainty. Of course, the Black Eagles were going to need these sunflowers in order to produce medicine for their mission next week. Despite not being viewed as an 'essential' course in the monastery curriculum, Byleth had taken it upon himself to ensure that his students all had some skill in making medicine when preparing for combat.

"Can't rely on healers to do all the heavy lifting..." Byleth muttered as he pulled out a bag of pegasus blessings and began to spread them over the roots of the plants. As he knelt down and absorbed himself in the task, he got the distinct feeling he was being watched. With a sigh, he turned to the corner of the greenhouse where Hubert stood watching him with an icy glare.

"You know, I'm not exactly posing any threat if I'm doing work to save lives here right?" Byleth turned to face Edelgard's retainer as he decided it wasn't worth trying to slip away.

"Maybe not, but it's my duty to ensure Lady Edelgard's safety, and I've yet to determine whether or not you pose a threat to her majesty. You may have saved her life, but that alone will not clear you of suspicion. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some gardening of my own to do." With that, Hubert turned and knelt in front of a clustery of thorny looking plants tucked away in a corner of the greenhouse. The plants had beautiful vibrant purple and black petals which seemed Hubert stroked with the utmost care as he tended to each individual plant. From within the folds of his cloak Hubert produced his own bag of pegasus blessings and began to spread them over the soil of the plants. Byleth found himself suppressing a smirk as he watched Hubert's almost tender devotion.

"Of all the Eagles, you'd have been the last person I'd expect to care about plants," said Byleth flatly.

"All the plants in this greenhouse could burn for all I care," Hubert replied. "These are the only ones I have any need for. They are called Vestra Thornweavers. The Thornweavers are a special kind of plant that is cultivated in my homeland. On their own, they are harmless, but..." Hubert plucked one of the petals off the Thornweavers and squeezed it between his fingers. A wicked grin came over the boy's face as a drop of nectar fell to the stone floor. No sooner had it touched the cobblestones, than the floor began to sizzle on contact.

"A single concentrated vial of thornweaver nectar is potent enough to kill even the mightiest of wyverns! As a result, my family considers it a valuable tool in the field of assassinations. Merchants have been trying to steal the secrets of Thornweaver cultivation from House Vestra for years, but it's one of our most guarded secrets." Hubert smiled wickedly as he produced a silver dagger and began to cut strips of petals off of the thornweavers, placing them in a vial. As he stood, Hubert turned to his professor and a dark look came into his eye.

"I warn you now, Professor. If only Lady Edelgard asked of me, you might find my hand slipping over your evening wine..." Hubert mimed pouring out the vial of Thornweaver petals, trying to get a fearful rise out of Byleth. When he didn't resond, Hubert just sighed in resignation and turned for the door. "I wouldn't recommend trying to steal any of those petals for yourself, Professor. I have already placed multiple curses around that patch to protect them. A certain red-haired merchant broke in last month and walked away with a lock of singed hair as a result."

Byleth silently waited as Hubert left before turning back to check his medicinal plants. Once he was assured that everything was in order, he made plans with the greenhouse keeper to have them harvested by the next week so he could begin preparing them for vulneraries.

Hello, everybody! Sorry for the shorter chapter this time around, but September has been a bit of a hectic month for me... I'm back at Uni now so progress has been a bit slower, plus online classes are a pain. Hopefully I should be able to make something longer once I have some free time next month and I can get back into the Fire Emblem world. That being said... I thought it might be a bit fun to interact with you guys a bit, and do an AMAA (Ask me (Almost) Anything) for the story. If there's something you want cleared up or you'd like to see if I'll spill any future plot details, then leave a review or PM me with your question. If you do leave a review, then specify your question apart from the review so I don't get confused. With all that out of the way, I hope you guys enjoyed and I'll see you in the next chapter!