The wall stood in their way, separating Ylisse from Regna Ferox. The two nation's borders met here, at the longfort. Oddly enough, only the Feroxis had such a defensive structure. The approximately 10 meter high wall would stop anyone from crossing it, regardless of where they approached from. The border guards were ready to stop anyone in case they brought in a ladder big enough to climb it.
"That's not good" muttered Robin, finding the situation too tense for her liking. Call it tactician's intuition, but she had a premonition that something was soon to go awry. However, nothing had happened yet, but she would need to ask later. "So this is the border wall?"
"Yes. It stretches along the entirety of the Ylisse-Ferox border," Chrom helpfulled answered, adding: "it continues on the Ferox-Plegia border."
"So how are we going to cross the border? Did we have a er- passport pass-something we needed to bring?" Hugo asked, unable to find the correct words in Ylissean. He adjusted his glasses and continued eyeing the guards, wary of any sudden movement.
"Passport?" the prince looked at him for clarification.
"A piece of paper with pictures that can identify you as a citizen of a nation so you can travel."
"We don't have anything like that. Is that something from the continent you hail from?"
Hugo nodded.
"It's an interesting concept I suppose," Chrom mused, "although I'll have to discuss with Emmeryn if we would need to implement such a thing."
"Back to the main point, how are we supposed to gain passage?" Robin asked, eyeing the guards warily.
"We simply ask. I have proof that I am the prince right here." The prince tapped his shoulder with the brand. "Diplomacy isn't my strong point but I don't think any trouble will arise."
"I'll follow you just in case." Hugo said.
"What about you, Robin?"
Robin thought about it, calculations going through her mind as she looked at the Feroxi guard massing on the wall, all with weapons in hand. There were far too many defenders. Plus, they didn't have any way to breach the wall. She saw a few archers scattered among the soldiers, shutting down the potential usage of their sole pegasus.
"If it goes wrong then it's really bad. I don't like the numbers we're up against, especially if we only try to incapacitate them. The wall is impossible to climb up and I don't see any entrance we can take advantage of. There are two side doors that I see but those are definitely locked and reinforced." The snow haired tactician concluded.
"We'll just have to make sure to not do anything wrong then." Chrom gestured to Hugo, beckoning him to follow.
As the two men approached the castle, Robin's mind returned to the promise made a few days ago.
"Damn it." she thought, briefly hovering her hand over her tome holster. After a moment to organise her thoughts, she began ordering to order the Shepherds around. She needed them in position in case they were forced to fight.
Chrom and Hugo marched in step, approaching the massive wall that separated Ylisse and Regna Ferox. The wall was high, much higher than anyone could hope to climb. It was made out of solid stone brickwork, only minor signs of age. Nothing short of massive siege works or modern munitions could hope to breach it. In addition, the guards stood at the battlements, eyeing their every move with weapons at the ready. No one had drawn a bow nor readied a javelin yet, but it seemed like they were ready to fight at any moment.
Hugo looked to each side, finding the wall manned only near the gate. There were only a few sentries further down watching them with interest. They probably weren't the first people to try to gain entry in the last few days, if some of the arrows stuck in nearby trees were to be believed.
Now that he took a proper look at the structure, he felt that Julien's remark was accurate. It did feel like the Great Wall of China.
He continued walking alongside the prince, finding every passing moment more and more tense. It shouldn't have been like this. Maybe the relations have deteriorated between the two nations. Chrom assured him the nations were friends beforehand, but he now doubted the information was up to date.
A breeze whipped by, briefly fluttering Chrom's fur cloak.
They looked up at the battlements above the gate, finding a soldier was looking down on them. From the battlements, a large metallic toilet bowl topped by the head of a blonde karen popped out between two merlons*.
"Halt! Who goes there?" The woman yelled from the top of the wall. When the two men didn't stop immediately, she continued: "Not another step! I have archers at the ready!"
"I am Prince Chrom of the Halidom of Ylisse! I request an audience with the Khan!" The man shouted. "We were sent by the Exalt Emmeryn to discuss matters of mutual interest!"
"You do know that impersonating royalty is a capital offense, brigand? You weren't the first ones to attempt to cross the border!"
Hugo saw a frown on Chrom's face. He probably needed to pull his weight now. "You want to let me try something?" He whispered.
"Are you sure?"
"Well do you have any better ideas?"
The prince shook his head.
Hugo took a deep breath, turning towards the border guard. "We can prove that he is Prince! He has the brand of the Exalt. Just let the two of us come closer so you can see it."
The woman leaned back, disappearing behind the walls. She probably went to discuss with the other border guards.
Hugo clicked his tongue. "I have a bad feeling about this."
"Why did you have to say that!?" Dominic complained from the background, having somehow heard his comment.
"Dominic shut the fuck up!" Hugo replied irritatedly.
Some time later, she reappeared with a javelin in hand and a manic grin on her face.
"If you're so sure about it, prove yourself as the prince by beating me, Raimi, in battle! Not that you'll be able to reach me in the first place!" She laughed.
"So it will be a duel to decide if we are granted passage?" Chrom asked.
"When I said beat me in battle, I meant it!"
Both men fell silent at the declaration. Hugo internally pondered if he should suggest they return home.
"Emmeryn won't like this." Chrom muttered, sharing a glance with Hugo before he looked back at the guard. "We accept your challenge!"
"Should we give her a warning shot?" Hugo whispered, wary of the odds. Getting past the walls would be tough.
"Do you think it would intimidate her?" The prince replied, unsure of using a show of force.
"Don't know, but I think it's worth a try."
"Alright. Tell him to do it."
"Julien! Fire a warning shot!"
"Julien give them a warning shot!"
Julien lined up his sights next to the guard. The bark of his rifle would be his reply.
Something hit the merlon* next to her, tearing apart a chunk off the wall and throwing the fragments onto her face. A great gash was now prominent on the defensive structure, betraying the power of the unknown weapon. No arrows could break that stone. Magic, perhaps, but not at this range, Raimi thought.
"That was a warning shot. Send a few people down to double-check the brand and let us through, or else the next shot won't miss."
"Soldiers, throw javelins! Archers, fire!" She ordered. These bandits probably only had one use of that magic. They probably hoped to intimidate them into submission. That wasn't going to happen.
The Feroxi warriors next to her threw their javelins towards the imposter prince and his assistant.
"That should keep those bandits away." Raimi said to no one in particular, a grin coming to her face as she watched them panic.
"OSHITOSHITOSHIT" Hugo cursed, running towards the nearest treeline. The javelins were already mid-flight and he had precious few seconds to spare before they could get into. Even worse, Chrom was there staring like a complete idiot until he began dragging him. It lost them time they didn't have. Both of them were now running away from the hailstorm of arrows and javelins, but the projectiles were approaching very quickly.
Hugo took a glance as they ran.
Not enough time.
He dove to the ground right before they hit the treeline. He was still exposed but most of the bombardment should miss him. Beside him, he heard a thump as Chrom did the same.
He prayed to god nothing would hit him.
TINK-TINK-TINK-TINK
A suit of armor towered over both of them, protecting them with a massive metal kite shield. How the person could even carry it befuddled him, but his question lay in the fact that no one wore that specific type. Frederick had something different. The arrows and javelins harmlessly bounced off the sudden metal wall, protecting them from all harm.
"Chrom, who the fuck is this guy." Hugo blurted out, confused.
"Wait. Kellam, you were here the entire time?" Chrom realized.
"Uh, yes sir. I was trying to make you notice me. I was waving my hands trying to get your attention."
"Well you certainly have our attention now."
Hugo, deciding that he didn't want to stick around and get shot at again, got up and made the final dash to cover. He was quickly followed by the others.
He would ask about the mysterious asian man later. "Chrom, can we shoot them?"
"Go ahead. I don't think we're going to be able to use normal diplomacy to get our way out of this." Chrom answered grimly. "I hope the leader of Regna Ferox doesn't take this too badly."
"We'll have to see." Hugo turned towards Julien, who was staring at him, silently asking for permission. "Julien! You can shoot them but try to not kill anyone!"
He saw the rifleman mutter something and nod.
BANG - BANG - BANG
Around her, panic arose as the unknown weapon knocked down two soldiers. One of her archers now sported a massive open wound on his left arm. Another soldier, a heavily armored knight, had something slice clean through his shoulder. The projectile punched through his shield, shoulder guard and managed to exit from the other side. She swore when she thought she saw a bit of bone jutting out the back.
Raimi looked around for the projectiles, but among the chaos on the battlements, there were no signs of anything that had actually passed through him. Whatever magic these people wielded wasn't something they could use only once. They were either really well-equipped Plegians with magic she never heard of, or it really was the prince's cohors and she had misjudged.
Raimi muttered another cursed when someone tried to peek over the wall and was cowed back by a reverberating crack over his head.
Robin saw the Feroxi guard flinch the moment the rifleman began targeting them. The archers on the walls did not dare peek above their wall lest their heads get taken off.
She looked at the wielder of the rifle, the man having set up on a fallen tree trunk with a good view on the wall.
Taking account of the state of the Shepherds wasn't hard. They were all hunkered down in the forest on the left and right of the road, waiting for orders.
The two cavaliers they had had already detached their horses from the wagon and were waiting with Frederick. Virion and Lissa were chatting amicably behind the cover of a fallen log. Chan Sung and Dominic hid behind trees. Somewhat surprisingly, Vaike and Garrick were actually taking proper cover. Miriel and Sumia were waiting next to the wagon, where the mage observed Sumia calming the pegasus after the gunshots frightened it.
They weren't going to be able to simply scale the wall or enter by an alternate entrance. The wall was too high to simply climb and the alternative was to go through a small chokepoint that was probably locked.
Robin put her hands on her sides, contemplating how they should go about this problem.
She looked at the massive wall, then the pegasus, then the rifleman currently keeping all of the feroxi soldiers pinned down. It was kind of odd, seeing Sumia seemingly 'friends' with the newly-acquired animal.
"Sumia, do you know how to fly a pegasus?" She inquired, curious.
"Yes, I'm able to. What do you need me for?"
Robin grinned when an idea came to her head. She sprinted to her comrade and began explaining her plan, waving Chrom and Hugo over as she finished the draft in her head.
"May I have an honest opinion about this plan?"
"Go ahead. Any input would be helpful."
"I'm no tactical genius but I can tell that this is stupid risky. I've never flown on a pegasus before."
"I know, but it's the best plan I have in case we want to avoid killing anyone. You don't have to participate if you don't want to. You're just the best bet we have for this."
Hugo sighed. "Alright sure, I'll do it. But I really hope you know what you're doing."
"Of course. I won't let you down." Robin turned towards the next person in her plan. "Sumia?"
"Y-yes?" The brunette answered. She jumped when a gunshot echoed nearby. She glanced around, visibly nervous.
"Are you ready?"
Sumia soothed her pegasus, calming the flying horse from its own shaking. "A-As much as I will be."
Accepting the response with a nod, she turned towards the prince. "Chrom?"
He approached them after a few moments to finish a conversation with Frederick, who was sweating profusely, probably out of fear and concern. "Yes, I'm ready. I was just reassuring Frederick that I'll be fine."
She took a deep breath. "Alright. Let's do this."
Hugo clambered onto the back of the pegasus, weapon slung over his shoulder. Since horse saddles didn't quite work on pegasus because of strap placement, there wasn't any place where he could take a proper seat. He looked at the 'pilot'.
"Err… Do I hold onto anything?" He asked.
Sumia giggled. "Don't worry, she's gentle. Hold onto me if you need to."
With no time for the passenger to feel consolation, the steed rose into the air with impressive speed. Hugo was startled but managed to hold steady on Sumia's waist as she rode toward the bastion's entrance.
Hugo felt the air whip by him as they ascended towards the top of the wall. It buffeted his relatively light clothing and ruined his hair, but he could handle it. It was actually better than what he expected. He was jostled when the pegasus changed direction with a flap of the wings, but it shook far less than when shells hit the ISS San Pellegrino. He didn't understand how or why the horse had wings, but he would need to question it later. Right now, he had to do his part of the plan.
The landing, compared to the flight itself, was not as graceful. Confident in his balance, Hugo dropped from the pegasus sooner than intended as it tried to descend with relative levity. Had he been more careless he would have crippled himself for sure, but he sprang back up hastily with self-confiant vigor.
Right now, he couldn't show weakness. His landing was barely short of awkward and he had to make a recovery.
Hugo shot a round in the air. The crack reverberated through battlements and summoned the eyes of every single feroxi warrior there.
"May I have your attention please?" He said, glancing back at the incredulous stares. He kept his weapon pointed up at all times to try to convey peaceful intentions. When no one attempted to charge him or shoot him with a bow, he took that as a cue to continue.
"I am here on the wall to deliver the message that it is indeed prince Chrom. We come in peace and would like passage into Regna Ferox."
"You sure are insistent that the imposter is the prince." Raimi countered.
Hugo took a moment for that to set in, turning his eyes towards the woman clad in armor. The same one who he had spoken with earlier, and the one who had ordered the initial attack.
"What if he really was the prince? You would be committing regicide and break any potential ties to Ylisse.
"We already had half a dozen plegian bandits pose as 'prince'. Good soldiers died because we let them in."
Hugo paused. He felt that he was getting a better grasp of this woman's character. She was awfully stubborn, that much was evident of her personality. He could probably do something with it to buy even more time. Or maybe ratify something in the previous conversation with the border guard, if his hunch was right.
He could hear wings flapping now, Chrom must be close.
He felt the glare of archers as they took aim at him. He just needed to stall for some more time, and perhaps set up the entrance.
The blond man stared at the woman with the karen cut. "You were the person who issued the challenge, correct?"
"Yes, what about it?" Raimi replied, looking as stubborn as before.
"You said that to prove he is the prince, all he has to do is to beat you in battle?" Hugo drawled on, putting on his best poker face.
"Yes. but I do not see him anywhere near."
"Do you honor the agreement?"
"Do you take us Feroxi as liars? We would not stoop to the level of petty bandits." She replied, clearly insulted.
Taking a deep breath, Hugo shook his head. He looked at the Feroxi soldiers to the side, their attention suddenly snatched by something behind him. He noticed a shadow loom over him, and idly remembered the sun was behind his back. One of the Feroxi pointed upwards and yelled something he didn't catch, but he didn't care.
He had an opportunity, and it wasn't going to last.
Hugo levelled his shotgun towards Raimi. "But you never said it had to be a one-on-one duel."
As he felt a gust of wind hit him, he fired.
Chrom felt bad sending in Hugo first. He was alone up there and it didn't help with the impression of a good employer. However, now wasn't the time to think about that.
He held Sumia tighter, doing his best to stay steady as the pegasus took on a steep climb. His cheeks held a pink tinge at the implication that he was literally hugging her for dear life, but the billowing hair constantly slapping his face made that far less romantic than could have been suggested.
He turned his head to the right, watching the grey bricks fly by him. He didn't have time to see the details of each one. They were all blurred as they sped by, reaching for the sky.
The pegasus lurched as Sumia directed it towards their target. As they rose above the battlements, Chrom felt his grip slowly loosen. His cold hands were beginning to slip from her icy pink armor.
They hadn't even made it into the fortress yet.
Chrom briefly looked down at the far away ground. A chill ran down his spine.
However, as if sensing his troubles, a soft hand landed over his. It warmed his frosted fingers and moved them back into place, resecuring their hold on the other rider.
Sumia looked back and smiled warmly. She then nudged him a little on the side of his sheathed Falchion. Chrom could only stare back dumbly, blindsided by Sumia's reassurance.
Inhaling a shaky frosty breath, he felt the cold numb away slowly. He nodded, a warm feeling coursing through him, returning his strength.
He unsheathed his sword and took in their situation.
Hugo was standing alone. The blond mercenary's weapon was already drawn and pointed at the border guard they spoke with earlier. Probably the captain, he presumed. In response, every archer nearby had their sights on Hugo. And although some were turning towards them now, far too many were aimed at the man on the ground.
A sudden flash of light made him blink, the following gunshot echoing loudly.
Chrom tapped Sumia's shoulder. The moment she turned and acknowledged his gesture towards Raimi, he jumped.
He saw the woman stagger greatly from the buckshot, shield thrown aside by the sudden impacts. However, she seemed relatively intact. The shield had taken the brunt of the damage and now had a few holes in it. Needless to say, that shield was never going to be effective again.
But in spite of the non-existent damage, his comrade gave him an opening. Chrom swung his sword overhead, putting as much power into it as possible.
He grinned at Raimi's expression when she saw him barreling down on her with the sun behind his back. She tried to move out of the way, but it was too late.
Falchion made contact.
A painful shockwave travelled through Chrom's arms as it did. However, recoil from the fall-enhanced power swing was something he expected, so he gritted his teeth and pushed on.
He was rewarded with the sound of metal groaning as his sword dug into the Feroxi's armor, denting the massive shoulder guard inwards. Raimi had no reply for the prince's bold strike; the man was already within her guard, well past the tip of her spear.
Chrom landed with a loud thud, his armored boots cracking the stone underneath. He continued his assault without pause, pulling her forward using the embedded sword then shoulder checking her with his arm guard.
Raimi fell down, thoroughly unbalanced.
Chrom quickly pulled his sword out of her armor and put it to the woman's throat. She stared back at him defiantly, even when pinned to the ground.
"Will you grant us passage? We have beaten you in battle." Chrom declared, internally wincing when he heard Hugo scream behind him. "You did not say it was a duel, so I assumed this was fair game."
Raimi remained silent under him, continuing her stare.
He stared back, doing his best to match her stare. Internally though, a panic was starting to take hold.
If this wouldn't work, he'd need to help Hugo hold the feroxi soldiers off while Sumia would go to get reinforcements. Holding off against five to ten times their number would be tough, but it was better than trying to jump off. Add in Hugo being already injured and the odds seemed impossible.
The feroxi warrior under him laughed.
"I haven't seen anyone fight like that! No plegian would dare try this, nor pull it off." Raimi said, baffling Chrom. "'Lads, stop the fighting! This man is the prince!"
The feroxi border guards lowered their weapons, backing off from around him.
Seeing this, Chrom slowly lifted himself off of Raimi, Falchion still in hand. He glanced around, making sure there were no sudden attempts to attack him before turning his attention towards Hugo.
The blond man sat up, bleeding against the battlements. His face was contorted in pain as he clutched one of many arrows embedded in him. The shotgun lay discarded on the ground, forgotten in his attempt to avoid getting shot. Although there were around a dozen projectiles that missed, judging by the many arrows on the ground, four still made it into him.
Chrom cursed. He sheathed his sword and ran towards Hugo.
As he rushed to the man's side, he quickly waved to the pegasus rider shadowing them from the skies. "Sumia! Get Lissa here as soon as possible!" He yelled desperately, not knowing how much time it would take for Hugo to bleed out. Those wounds weren't sealing themselves at all.
The flier waved back and dove beyond the wall.
The prince searched for a jar on himself, but couldn't find the vulnerary he kept on him at all times. He must have removed it before embarking on the pegasus. He cursed again for his mistake. Chrom began pulling out one of the arrows, but Hugo swatted his hand away.
"Don't fucking pull the arrow out!" Hugo said, coughing up some blood. "It's only going to bleed more!"
"Your wounds aren't going to heal if you keep them in there!" He protested. The word the blond man added in afterwards was definitely a curse word of some kind, but he had no clue what it meant, nor wanted to right now.
"Just keep them there for now! Do you have anything that can stop the bleeding?
Chrom scowled and shook his head. He only usually carried his vulnerary, after all. He didn't actually know how to stop bleeding without healing, a vulnerary or a bandage, in all the times that he fought. In retrospect, they always had a healer nearby, whether it was his sisters or one of the palace clerics, so he never actually learned how to.
When he hesitated, Hugo stared irritatedly. "Are you going to help or not?!" Hugo asked, blood pooling beneath him.
The prince struggled to formulate his words. He wanted to help, but didn't know how to. He didn't want to make the injuries worse, or even kill the man by accident. The four arrows were already a few many a normal person could take. He didn't want to test Hugo's limits.
A concerned Feroxi soldier stopped next to him, the man's face cringing as he saw the pile of blood. "Sirs do you require aid?" The guard asked politely.
"Do you possess something that can stem the bleeding?" Chrom asked in the stricken man's stead.
The Feroxi guard looked at his own equipment, then took a quick glance at the other onlooking soldiers. The bearded man shouted something to his comrades, feroxi which Chrom only barely understood. After a moment, an archer ran towards them, a vulnerary in hand.
Hugo stared at the pot in mild confusion. He glanced at Chrom for an answer.
"Drink this. It should ease your pain and hopefully slow the bleeding." The prince said, pushing the vulnerary towards Hugo.
The blond man eyed the jar suspiciously, leaning back slightly to take a better look. "Are you sure? Don't think drinking something's going to stop me from bleeding out." He gritted out, his breath raspy.
"It's… hard to explain. Just trust me, please."
Hugo gulped, putting his lips on the icy cold ceramic. Down went the bitter substance, and as it coursed through his body he felt the pain numb slightly. However, it seemed to have little effect in closing his wounds. The blood continued to pool under him, the edges slowly turning into ice. He felt his body slowly grow cold with every breath.
"Fuck's sake, could you please just put pressure on my wounds?"
"How do you do that?!" Chrom exclaimed, watching the man growing paler by the moment.
"Put your hands on the wound and press! It's that simple!"
The prince hesitantly put his hands around a wound, the shaft preventing him from properly blocking it. "Now what!?"
"Just push and hold it! Jesus!"
Chrom confusedly obliged, putting pressure around the arrowhead. He shivered at the feeling of cold blood under his palm. When Hugo grimaced in pain he let go, but quickly resumed when more blood began oozing out of the injury. As he slowed the blond man's bleed, two feroxi guards moved in to help, putting pressure around the two remaining arrows.
"Is this how you do it?" Chrom asked, hesitant.
Hugo nodded weakly. "Yeah, kind of."
The flapping of wings resounded next to him, marking the entry of their sole healer.
"What in Naga's name happened here?!" Lissa shrieked.
Robin waited impatiently for the gates to open. Apparently, the plan had worked. They were now able to cross the Longfort, and into Regna Ferox.
However, that didn't stop her from thinking about criticisms she now found with the plan. The plan had assumed a few things for it to work, and assumptions were not always true.
When Sumia almost crashed near Lissa to pick her up, something was amiss. Even if someone was wounded, they shouldn't be such a rush to get a healer. Unless, the person was mortally wounded and only had minutes to live, but normally people succumbed to their wounds rather quickly.
Robin nervously fidgeted with the buttons on her intricate robe, hoping that none of Shepherds were critically injured due to an oversight on her part.
"They'll be fine," Garrick gruffly remarked, noticing Robin's apparent concern, "the prince is pretty good. 'Pretty sure the one with the boomstick can handle himself too."
The moment the gates creaked open, she dashed inside past the two confused feroxi guards pushing the door open. A set of stairs nearby led her up to the battlements. The moment the battlements came into view, she saw Sumia and Chrom standing around a crouched Lissa. Any questions about where Hugo went was answered when she moved next to the prince. She saw a pool of frozen blood beside him, and the man's blood soaked clothes made the owner obvious.
Robin saw Lissa's scrunched up expression.
"How bad is it?"
"He's actually fine, somehow. He isn't bleeding any more, I managed to stop that. But he isn't healing up correctly." Lissa flashed her staff over Hugo's body again, to little effect. "Look. My staff heals him really slowly. Normally, Hugo should be patched up by now."
Robin nodded in acknowledgement.
"Look, can we move this conversation elsewhere? I'm not bleeding anymore." Hugo said, trying to lift himself up. His slow rise to sit-up position was promptly interrupted when Lissa gently pushed him back with her staff.
"Don't move by yourself. You're technically still injured because I can't tell how much I've actually healed you!" Lissa scolded, before turning her attention towards others: "Brother, Robin, could you two carry him to the wagon? Sumia I don't mean to offend you but I can't have him hit his head on the way there."
"I understand." Sumia nodded, given her odd tendency to trip on almost anything.
"This way." Robin nodded her head towards the staircase.
Julien looked at his weapon, uncertain. He heard a crack earlier during the firefight, but didn't know if it was a stick or the wall breaking. It definitely wasn't a gunshot, though.
He checked his weapon. Everything seemed fine.
He shook it a bit, and heard a light rattling inside.
During the fight, his battle rifle performed just fine. The little accuracy it had didn't deteriorate and the shots easily punched through the thin metal armor the Feroxi wore.
He examined his weapon another time, performing a second cursory check.
'Probably just the magazine acting up.' He mused.
Hugo was carried down the stairs without much issue. He had some complaints about being able to walk on his own, but decided against voicing them.
He climbed inside the wagon and made himself comfortable leaning on one of the vehicle's low walls. Chrom and Robin were outside discussing with the border guard he shot earlier.
Idly, he hoped Raimi wasn't going to hold anything against him for shooting her.
When the voices stopped, he heard the wagon creak. Robin climbed on board before sitting opposite of him.
She grimaced. "Er… Sorry for putting you in that situation. I didn't think they were still waiting on the walls. I assumed that they would come down and try to target Julien, and that the battlements would be manned by a skeleton crew. I shouldn't have made such an assumption."
"Look. It's fine. I agreed to the plan in the first place," Hugo groaned, adjusting his sitting position, "and you can't really send in the Chrom first. He's the prince. It made sense, well for the most part anyways."
"Yes, but sending you in alone was not a great idea. I sent you alone because I overestimated what your 'firearms' can do. I should have remembered that you're only a single person and that I should have had a contingency plan in case you couldn't hold back all of them."
"I was actually planning to just surrender to them if things went wrong. And I did manage to delay them long enough for Chrom to arrive just by talking to them."
Robin facepalmed. "I should have just made ourselves surrender and have them check Chrom's brand."
Hugo blinked. "Well that was pointless." He remarked.
"I'm sorry for-"
"Look it's fine. It already happened. Go talk to the prince about where we're going next or something," he insisted.
Robin sheepishly left.
Hugo woke up groggily, blinking a few times to try to restore his blurry eyesight. His hands roamed around on the seat he was on, trying to find his missing glasses.
Someone called out to him before he could find them.
"Hey you, you're finally awake. You were trying to cross that border, right? Walked right into that Feroxi ambush, same as us, and that prince over there." The bearer of the voice pointed towards its right, where a blue haired man sat.
Hugo ignored Dominic, sighing in resignation.
He heard a snicker. Now he wanted to hit the scotsman, but decided against it in the presence of the prince. After a bit of searching, he felt something being pushed into his hand. Hugo muttered a thanks as he put his glasses back on.
"Alright. Did I miss something? I know I'm a heavy sleeper but I don't remember you riding in the wagon last time."
"No you didn't. We should be there soon." The prince replied, stretching his legs.
"Where were we going again?"
"To the stronghold of the Khans. Castle Ferox."
"Alriiight," he yawned, "how long is it gonna take us to get there?"
Chrom peered outside the front of the wagon. After muttering something to the driver, he sat back down. "We're here."
Hugo blinked. "Already?"
"Yeah. You slept through most of it."
"That's convenient."
The prince rolled his eyes. "You got lucky."
"Well, what can I say?" The blond man smiled.
Dominic and Chan Sung hopped off the wagon first as it came to a stop. Lissa followed shortly afterwards, giving her brother a pat on a shoulder as she left.
Left alone, Chrom helped Hugo get out of the wooden vehicle.
"Sorry for not saying this earlier, but thanks for not letting me die at the wall." Hugo said, feeling a small spike of pain as he climbed off.
"Why would I ever leave anyone to die? Especially when you basically belong in the Shepherds. Even if you're technically not in it, I consider you a brother in arms."
"You're really quick to trust," Hugo said, "also I don't need to be supported. I can walk."
"Right then." Chrom acknowledged, letting him go. "I had a feeling we'd get along well. I haven't regretted hiring Robin so far, and I don't regret hiring your group either. I don't think we would have survived that one night without either of you."
Hugo shrugged. "Maybe you could have. Never know."
"Maybe someone could have gotten grievously injured, or even killed. I'm not going to discount either of your contributions." Chrom gestured towards the massive castle that went unnoticed until now. "Anyways, are you ready to meet the Khan?"
Hugo blinked at the size of the castle. It was bigger than the one in Ylisstol, and this was built in the middle of a cold country. Up close, the exterior walls looked just as tall, if not taller than the Longfort. He could barely make out a couple of sections jutting out from the center past the exterior walls.
He whistled. "Damn. This thing is massive."
"Yes." Chrom said, a chuckle escaping his lips.
"...Huh. Well that kinda makes sense I guess."
"This way." Chrom gestured to follow. The other Shepherds were already at the gate, guided there by Raimi.
A navy blue carpet led the Shepherds and terrans into the throne room of Castle Ferox. Raimi excused herself to summon the Khan after guiding them in, leaving them to wait inside.
Robin took in the surroundings, idly comparing it to the better lit and far more decorated interior of the castle of Ylisstol. Instead of windows to let light in, standing torches were lit for illumination. The windows were far smaller and far fewer, and because the room lacked decorations besides the carpet; it looked less pleasing to the eye but felt more functional. She also felt much warmer here than outside the building, whether it was because of the choices in construction or the torches providing some warmth.
She took off the hood of the fur cloak, letting her two white pigtails flow freely. Following her example, the Shepherds took theirs off too, glancing around curiously at the sparse decorations. It wasn't long until idle chatter took hold between most people, finding a way to pass the time due to having few things to gawk at.
"What do you think of Castle Ferox?" Chrom said, casually sliding next to her.
Robin hummed, checking the pair of windows past the throne. "Mostly utilitarian. It doesn't feel like they value decoration much."
"Well," Chrom chuckled, "battle is politics for Regna Ferox. Strength here matters more than wealth or titles"
Her gaze turned towards the prince. "You've been here?"
"No, I have not. It's my first time here. Normally my sister handles diplomatic trips and meetings. She told me about them."
"Where do you think the Khan is?"
"Training, I'd wager."
"Isn't it possible that the Khan is occupied by another meeting?"
"Yes, but I don't think they have many of them. The snow here makes travel hard so the villages mostly self-govern. Plus, their ruler is a warrior."
Robin nodded, suddenly amused with the idea. "Then I'd imagine the Khan as a giant of a man of unparalleled thew, his broad chest covered in hair..."
"Am I now? Please… do go on!" A new voice said, one that was distinctly not of a man.
Robin sputtered, quickly turning towards the newcomer.
A dark skinned woman with a short blond ponytail stood there, an eyebrow raised. The person wore a white metallic segmented chestplate and arm and leg guards with red highlights. She was of a much lighter build than expected, although her muscles were still well defined in the few areas that armor didn't cover. A sword rested on her shoulder, uncaring that it was unsheathed in front of foreigners.
The unknown woman laughed. "I'm Flavia, the East-Khan. I think you'll find me quite different from your expectations. I'm not quite a man of unparalleled thew nor do I have any chest hair."
Chrom recovered from his own shock after a moment. "Er, you are the khan? I presume?" He said awkwardly, "I'm Chrom, the prince of Ylisse. Sorry for suddenly barging in on your border without prior notice."
Flavia didn't respond at first, instead sizing him up and making him squirm in the process. "You just didn't quite expect a Khan to look like this?"
"Well… Yes." Chrom said sheepishly.
"It's fine. Everyone has different ideas of what a Khan looks like." Flavia shrugged indifferently before changing topics. "And on to official matters, I apologise for the border incident, Prince Chrom. Ylisseans are welcome in Regna Ferox.
Recently, there were Plegian bandits posing as Ylisseans to cross the Longfort and ransack our villages." She explained, an eye twitching at the mention of the desert nation. "We found documents proving Plegia's direct involvement in instigating such a thing, and our border guards have been on high alert ever since. The Mad King must have seen benefits in raising tensions between our nations and would have almost got away with it if our guards managed to injure you."
"One of my men almost got killed because of it," Chrom accused, still slightly agitated from the incident, "but we managed to get the situation under control."
"Again, I apologise on behalf of our border guards. If it weren't for the Plegians this would have never happened."
"Damn them. Forgive my breach of formality, Your Grace."
"Well put. Damn them. And damn manners too," Flavia snickered, "you can stop being so up-tight with your speech. Here in Regna Ferox we don't value delicacy very much."
"Then you should have a word with your damn border guards. They should be able to recognise the brand of Naga or avoid unnecessary violence!"
"That's more like how we do diplomacy here! I like you already!" Flavia laughed heartily, before a more serious expression took over. "So what brings you here anyway?"
"You've undoubtedly seen or heard reports of shambling manlike creatures with glowing red eyes. Ylisstol has already called them Risen, and they've begun appearing in our countryside and threatening our people, from nowhere. We are here to request some troops to remove them as Ylisse does not have a standing army."
"Guess I have had a few odd reports from villages as of late. Sadly, I cannot provide the Feroxi troops you need."
"How come? Your border seems to be well garrisoned." Robin asked, suddenly inserting herself in the conversation.
"I lack the authority." Flavia stated simply.
"But you are the Khan, correct?"
"As I said earlier, ONE of the Khans. We hold a tournament every few years to determine which of us gets total sovereign authority over Regna Ferox. The West-Khan won the last tournament, and I am the East-Khan. So, I can't forge an alliance or anything of the like, much less sending troops."
Robin processed the information. If they could get the East-Khan to win then they could officially create the alliance. She tapped the prince's shoulder. "Hey Chrom, how much time do we have? If we can help Flavia win, we can secure the troops."
The East Khan answered her instead: "Fortunately, the tournament is due in a few days, and I am in need of champions to represent me in battle." She glanced over the Shepherds, some still gawking at the room while others were listening intently to the conversation. "Would you like to represent me? I will provide you with the Feroxi troops if you win."
"I had assumed Ylisseans had no place in Feroxi traditions." Chrom said.
"On the contrary, the khans themselves do not fight. Only their champions do."
"Why?" Robin asked, curious.
"What do you think would happen if one of the Khans is 'mistakenly' killed in battle? That rule is in place to prevent blood feuds and infighting between us. It also keeps the deaths relatively few. Mercenaries and tournament fighters tend to stop fighting once they feel like they've been outclassed. No reason for pointless slaughter, after all. It is more of a show of power than fighting for a throne." She explained, before adding in her opinion in a false whisper: "Plus, it's entertaining to watch."
"That makes sense."
"What? Did you think we were just burly, brainless men?" The East-Khan jokingly remarked, getting a few awkward glances in response. She rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, those words do not hurt us."
Chrom chuckled wholeheartedly. He threw a glance at certain members of the Shepherds. "Well I know a few of them." He remarked.
"Back to the topic of the tournament. I don't think I've ever seen foreign royalty participate. but I don't think the West-Khan will have any problems with it."
"Then we shall represent you in battle, Flavia."
"What are the rules for the tournament? All of them, just so we don't miss anything." Robin asked. She didn't want to get caught with her plans unable to be used because of something they missed.
"Each side has five champions per round, and are free to swap with other representatives as they please. You can surrender in case you feel too injured or tired to continue fighting. Anyone unconscious or unable to stand is automatically out of the fight. There will be three rounds of fighting, each taking its own day. The side with the most rounds won by the end of the tournament wins the position of reigning Khan."
"Sounds simple enough." Robin said, nodding in acknowledgement. "What about equipment? Any restrictions on what you can bring to a fight?"
"We've seen some sides bring weird contraptions occasionally. Never worked, but it sure hasn't stopped some from coming up with stranger things yet." Flavia said with some amusement, before shrugging. "Surprise me. I'm sure the West Khan won't mind either."
Robin smiled enigmatically. "I will."
"Since you shall represent me in the tournament, there is logement in the colosseum itself. There is some food there offered for champions. Near that, there are training facilities if you wish to use them. I'll have Raimi escort you there soon."
"Thank you." Chrom said.
Merlon*: The rectangular blocks on top of a wall meant to protect people on the battlements.
Also updated Chapters 1 and 2 with better grammar and some other changes