A/N: This story will be slow updates but as a celebration of the Tales of series 25th anniversary as well for the upcoming Tales of Arise having been announced, I thought about this story which will be a big project of mine.
However, the author of the fic 'Tales of a Crossover' has had his account hacked and I am about to tell you that he has taken a new account to continue his stories. If a new author goes to publish the same story then you'll know that is the exact same person behind it and not a copy cat. If you don't believe me then contact Nerf585 for more information.
It was a beautiful day in the kingdom of Ylisse. Chrom couldn't help but smile at the peaceful atmosphere despite the somewhat bickering from Lissa as they walked towards Southtown as they patrolled. Despite the Shepherds being made a while ago, he was glad that Emmeryn agreed to create the small militia to take care of their home under the tension with Plegia after the senseless war over ten years ago. It helped his desire to help his people by his own choice and actions, it was a great feeling. He was still reluctant to have Lissa in the Shepherds but with Federick accompanying them, the prince knew she would be safe whenever they fought. But the only problem is that Chrom wasn't that great when it came to tactics and truly needed a tactician fast if the Shepherds would take on bigger missions.
However, as they walked on the big pathway, a strange but beautiful blue butterfly flew around them.
"Look at this pretty butterfly!" Lissa pointed out, holding out a finger where it landed.
"I believe it is a rare species." Frederick replied. "What species it is, is out of my expertise." The butterfly suddenly started to shift colors from blue to red, surprising the trio a bit.
"Even I know a normal butterfly can't do that." Chrom pointed out. Three more came and the now red butterfly joined them before they flew in a different direction. Lissa started to run after the butterflies in curiosity, "Lissa, wait!"
Chrom and Frederick quickly ran after her, not wanting her to get into trouble and get herself hurt. The two eventually caught up with her as the princess had stopped in her tracks, much to their relief.
"Lissa, don't go off running like that." Chrom scolded her.
"I-I'm sorry, Chrom." Lissa apologized a bit guilty, "But I couldn't help myself. I mean, look at this!"
"What do you…" The older brother stopped himself when he saw the sight in front of him, "...mean?"
In front of them was a magnificent sight. Butterflies were everywhere. On the nearby trees and branches, on the blades of grass on the ground but they were all blue compared to the cluster of the red version on something under a tree nearby. The red butterflies looked like they were hiding something underneath them all but Chrom couldn't make it out what it was.
"By the gods…" Frederick gasped in slight amazement.
"I've never seen anything like this before." Lissa said with a big smile.
Unlike his sister and retainer, Chrom subconsciously walked toward the cluster of red butterflies under the tree. He didn't know why he was so curious about it but the closer he got, he started to reach out his hand to touch them. The moment his gloved fingers brushed the butterflies' wings, all of the beautiful insects suddenly flew away at the same time and Chrom quickly put his arms up to protect himself. Once the force of the big cluster of butterflies settled down and the remaining butterflies that didn't fly away just fluttered around, Chrom slowly took down his arms and gasped at the sight in front of him.
On the ground and sleeping against the tree, was a girl around his age. Her extremely long raven black hair was styled in a big braid down her back and a smaller one over her left shoulder, both tied with what looked like bandages. Her bangs were swept to the left naturally, leaving it like a curtain over her closed eyes. Her clothes, on the other hand, showed a lot of her skin and were more like rags put together than actual clothes. The scarlet corset hugged her chest neatly while still showing much of her midriff, her black pants were in tatters all up her legs. Belts and some armor pieces decorating the rather showing outfit and metal boots. What caught his attention was her left arm, it was covered in layers of bandages up her arm for some strange reason. A tattered black coat of an unknown material finished the look.
However, Chrom couldn't help himself from staring. The woman in front of him was like a personification of beauty. Sure, he was friends with a few women and grown up with two sisters but this woman was breathtaking to say the least.
"What is it, Chrom?" Lissa asked as she walked over to him before noticing the sleeping girl, "Is she okay?!"
"I don't know…" Chrom answered slowly before going on one knee, looking closely to see the girl's chest rising in a steady rhythm. "She's breathing alright."
"Milord, I suggest being cautious." Frederick pointed out suspicious. "This could be a trap for all I care."
"Your advice is much appreciated as usual, Frederick." The prince replied before turning back to the woman, placing a hand on her shoulder before shaking her gently. "Hey, ma'am. Can you hear me?"
The woman moaned and stirred in response, much to the royals' relief that she was alive. It took a few seconds before the woman slowly opened her eyes, blinking a bit before looking up at Chrom and Lissa. The blue haired swordsman stared into her gold colored eyes that were filled with emotion and a hidden fire within, but he also noticed something else. Emotional pain. The woman looked around confused before setting her eyes on Chrom and Lissa.
"Hey, there." Lissa greeted with a smile.
"I see you're awake now." Chrom pointed out as he stood up, reaching out his hand for her, "Can you stand?" The woman accepted the offer and took his hand before getting help up.
"Thank you." The woman mumbled while taking a second to stand as she almost lost her balance.
"Mind if I ask why you're sleeping here? Alone?" Chrom asked her worried.
"I was in a fight and then…" The woman said with a hand on her brow before her eyes widened in panic, looking around frantically. "I'm not supposed to be here! Have you seen a boy with blond hair and yellow eyes anywhere?!"
"No. We find you here alone." Lissa answered confused as the woman walked away slightly, brushing her hands through her hair.
"No, no, no. I can't be here without him! Then, what we did was for nothing-!" The woman exclaimed hushed to herself before turning to face them again, "Do you know of the Holy Midgand Empire? The Far continent?"
"I'm afraid we have not heard of any such land." Frederick answered, not believing her. "How do we know you are not lying?"
"If I was making this up, it would be obvious." The woman retarded with an irritated look and crossed her arms of her chest. "Can someone please tell me where I am?"
"You're in the Halidom of Ylisse, on the outskirts of the capital of Ylisstol." Chrom answered truthfully which shocks the woman before looking down in confusion.
"Where in hell did I end up?" She asked herself hushed. Chrom walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"I might not understand your situation…" The prince told her, getting her attention. "But I can see the panic and confusion you have. And I wanna help in any way I can."
"Milord!" Frederick exclaimed in disbelief.
The woman rolled her eyes, "You want to help a complete stranger out of the blue? You're far too naive for your own good."
"That's how I live my life, helping people." Chrom answered sheepishly while scratching the back of his head. The woman glanced at him a bit curious. "My name is Chrom, captain of the Shepherds." He didn't notice the glare the woman was giving him as he noticed Lissa coming over to them. "This is my little sister, Lissa."
"Hi!" His younger sister greeted happily. "Nice to meet you, excuse my brother. He's simple minded at times."
"Lissa!" Chrom exclaimed, a bit irritated.
"So you're the older sibling, too, huh." The woman mumbled a bit sad.
"The Wary one over there is Frederick." Chrom introduced the knight.
"A title I bear with honor." Frederick said before looking at the sky.
"Mind if I ask for your name?" The blue haired man asked with a smile.
The woman took a few seconds before answering, "Velvet."
Velvet didn't know what to think. One moment, she was consuming Innominat the same time he did with her despair. And the next, she wakes up to sapphire blue eyes staring at her. But somehow, this place felt very different from home so far. Velvet hadn't sensed any domain at all since Chrom woke her up.
Speaking of Chrom. He was a rather peculiar man. His blue hair and matching blue eyes wasn't something common among people unlike malakhim though she hasn't met a water malak face to face, but the mark on his right shoulder was rather strange. She hasn't seen a mark like that in her life and doesn't seem like a tattoo either as it was just a shade darker than his own skin. His blue and white clothing was rather… odd. It covered almost everything in a mix-match fashion with only his right arm that had the mark without anything covering it. A strange sword was strapped to his belt that didn't seem to bother him much. Now that Velvet thought about it, their clothes were the complete opposite in every way. However, Velvet knew he had a kind nature from the few interactions she had with him. Just like Eleanor in a way.
Frederick, on the other hand, was just as wary as his title. He hadn't let his gaze leave her which contained a lot of distrust. She couldn't blame the heavily armored man for not trusting her, after all, she was just a stranger to them. That, however, didn't stop him from making camp for the night and even hunted beforehand which was now getting grilled in the fire.
Velvet was leaning against her knee as she stared at the flames of the campfire, recollecting her thoughts and tried to find some kind of explanation to why she got here in the first place but got nothing out of it. Her gaze traveled to her left arm, still wrapped in the usual bandages as before. Wanted to confirm something, Velvet started loosening the bandages around her wrist in order to see what was under it. Much to her disappointment, instead of normal skin, it showed the pitch black skin with luminous red lines that she had been used to seeing for three years.
'No matter where I go, I'll always be a monster.' Velvet thought solemnly as she stroked her thumb on the unnatural skin.
"What are you doing?" A girl's voice asked and Velvet quickly put her hand over the unbandaged skin and looked to her side to see Lissa close to her. Too close.
"Nothing." Velvet answered, turning away to fix the bandages back on.
"You know, I've always wondered why you have bandages over your arm." Lissa pointed out concerned. "If you're hurt, I can heal it for you with my staff."
"You can use healing… magic?" Velvet asked and the blonde girl sat down next to her.
"Yep! But I need my staff in order to do it." Lissa explained. "Chrom, on the other hand, didn't want me in the Shepherds because he's scared of me getting hurt for being delicate."
Velvet gave a small grin at this, "He's just worried about you as a big brother should."
"I know, okay!" Lissa exclaimed. "I just hate being called delicate." The therion quickly stifled her chuckles, being reminded of Laphi's constant irritation of being called that nickname. Lissa certainly reminded her of Laphicet quite a bit. The blonde girl's eyes traced her long black hair laying behind her. "Your hair is so long and pretty, Velvet."
"Thank you, Lissa." Velvet thanked her a bit embarrassed. "A lot of people tell me that but it's not because I'm self conscious about my appearance, I don't think I'm that pretty."
"But it's true!" Lissa pointed out. "I'm so jealous of you. You're what I imagine a lady is supposed to look like."
"I'm not a lady." Velvet explained with a slight blush, "I'm just a simple village girl, far from being a rich lady."
"Nobility is overrated." Chrom pointed out a bit irritated, having listened to their conversation. "Most just think of themselves than the bigger picture at play. That's not what I want for Ylisse's future."
"Sounds like you have big dreams." Velvet pointed out.
"That's just it, a dream." Chrom told her before grinning, "but at least I have something to live for. I have friends and allies who are ready to fight for the cause, I trust anyone who will fight to protect Ylisse. It doesn't matter what they are or where they come from. Only if they help protect this kingdom. Do you have any dreams, Velvet?"
"No. It was destroyed three years ago." The Lord of Calamity answered as she looked back at the flames. "I'm all alone now and have nowhere left to go."
"Then why don't you come with us for now?" Lissa asked politely, much for the therion's surprise. "Maybe you can join the Shepherds too."
"I'll think about it." Velvet answered slowly.
"I hope you know how to fight!" Chrom told her with a grin.
"You'll be surprised." The black haired woman replied with a smug grin.
She didn't know why but Velvet had started getting a strange warmth in her chest from the siblings, mostly from talking to Chrom. It was strange. They had just met and yet, here she was. Not acting like she was when first meeting everyone else back home. However, Velvet didn't want to get too attached to them when she doesn't know what to do from here on out. One thing Velvet had already decided was something she didn't want to do.
And that was to return to a world where she isn't welcomed anymore.
The next morning, the group continued going down the road and later took a short cut over a plain. Chrom couldn't help but glance at the newest member of their little group. Velvet was a very interesting woman as far as he knows and not just from her appearance alone. The black haired woman noticed him staring at her before turning back to the road.
"What is it?" Velvet asked, snapping the prince out of his daze.
"Huh?" Chrom let out.
"You've kept staring at me." Velvet pointed out. "It's starting to creep me out."
"Oh, sorry." Chrom apologized. "I was just curious about something."
"Curious about what?" She asked.
"When we found you." The blue haired swordsman lied which had caught her interest. "To tell you the truth, it was possibly the strangest but most beautiful thing I've seen. There were a ton of strange butterflies… protecting you. They seem to change colors as well which is very odd. I didn't think they could do that and I have seen weird things before."
"I have no idea how I got here..." The black haired woman said, "but I'll give this place a chance. It's not like I'll have anything to go back to."
Chrom's eyes softened at this. By the tone of Velvet's voice, she was sad and regretful when she said those last words. It got him worried. Hopefully, in the future, Velvet would trust him enough to tell him what happened to her before she was sleeping by the tree. The comment that she was in a fight before she got into a panic, Velvet must have been through a lot to have that kind of reaction.
"Hurry up, you three!" Lissa called out to them. "I want to get some real food before we go back home and sleep in a nice bed!"
"Spoiled much?" Velvet smirked at Chrom, who had a slight annoyed look on his face.
"That's an understatement." Chrom grumbled. "Lissa is a nice girl and all but it was her decision to come with us on this, she would expect all of this outdoor activity."
"The hard responsibility of older siblings." Velvet told him. "They never seem to listen unless it interests them."
Chrom chuckled slightly, "I take it you are familiar with this?"
"Younger brother." The strange woman answered with a smile. "He might be smart but he never listened to me one bit. I could leave the house for a minute and I see him doing the opposite of what I told him."
"That I completely understand." The two laughed at this but they blushed quickly when they stopped, looking away from each other.
"Come on, already-!" Lissa was walking backwards to look at the rest of the group to see if they were catching up until her heel hit something behind her, causing her to fall on her rear. "Aaaah!"
"Lissa!" Chrom exclaimed and the trio quickly ran over to her, "Are you alright?!"
"Owww! What did I trip on?" Lissa asked before she saw what it was, "C-Chrom! Someone has collapsed here!"
When the three got to her, they saw a person lying on the ground unmoving. They were dressed in a heavy purple coat with light purple marks around it with the ones going down the sleeves having the shape of eyes. Seeing as they were lying on their side and had their hood on, they couldn't see who the person was.
"I didn't mean to trip on them." Lissa defended herself as Chrom helped her up on her feet. Velvet quickly got down and moved the person onto their back, causing the hood to fall off and show the face of the young man with a mop of pale blond, almost white hair on his head.
Velvet placed her fingers by the unconscious man's throat before saying, "His pulse feels normal at least."
"You mean, he's like… asleep?" Lissa asked, a bit confused as the black woman stood up.
"He must have fainted or something before we got here." Velvet concluded, "He is breathing alright, that's all that matters." The black clothed woman walked over to Frederick in thought.
"Is something on your mind, Velvet?" The knight asked which shocked her since this is the first time Frederick had talked to her directly.
"That man…" Velvet began, "I sensed something from him. It's weak but… familiar in sense."
"Chrom, we have to do something." Lissa told her older brother, not noticing that the man on the ground was starting to regain consciousness.
"What do you propose we do?" Chrom asked.
"I-I don't know!" Lissa exclaimed before they heard groaning underneath them and saw the man had opened his eyes, looking at them.
"I see you're awake now." Chrom pointed out, Velvet getting nostalgia from it.
"Hey there!" Lissa giggled and the man nodded as a greeting.
"There're better places to take a nap than on the ground you know." The captain joked a little before reaching out his hand to the man on the ground, "Give me your hand." The man took his hand and Chrom helped him on his feet.
"Ouch." The man breathed out while grabbing his head in pain.
"You all right?" Chrom asked a bit worried.
"Y-yes…" The man replied before making eye contact with him, showing amber colored eyes. "Thank you, Chrom." This caused confusion to everyone, how did this man already know Chrom when he clearly showed to not recognize him.
"Ah, then you know who I am?" The swordsman asked, a bit cautious.
"No, actually, I… It's strange…" The man tried to explain, massaging his brow with a confused look on his face, "Your name, it just… came to me…"
Chrom hummed, "How curious. Tell me, what's your name? What brings you here?"
"My name is… It's…" The man tried to answer but only got more confused and Velvet crossed her arms at this. This was like with Laphicet a bit, but it only brought her concern.
"...You don't know your own name?" Chrom questioned, starting to get worried if this man was really alright.
"I'm not sure if…" The man replied slowly before looking around. "I'm sorry, but where am I, exactly?"
"Hey, I've heard of this!" Lissa exclaimed. "It's called amnesia!"
"It's called a load of pegasus dung." Frederick said, not trusting the man at all. "We're to believe you remember milord's name, but not your own?"
"B-but it's the truth!" The man defended himself.
"I know it's hard to believe that amnesia is real, Frederick." Velvet told the knight. "But I believe him. Amnesia works differently on everyone."
"I agree with Velvet, what if it IS true?" Chrom agreed with the black haired woman. "We can't just leave him here, alone and confused. What sort of Shepherds would we be then?"
"Just the same, milord." Frederick answered. "I must emphasize caution. 'Twould not do to let a wolf into our flock."
"You're more suspicious of an amnesiac man than a woman covered in butterflies while sleeping?" Velvet questioned with a raised brow.
"Don't think I trust you yet, I follow Chrom's judgement until I've drawn my own conclusions of you." Frederick answered simply.
"Fair enough." Velvet replied with a satisfied smile, causing the leader to smile at this.
"Right then-" Chrom decided seriously to his friends. "We'll take him back to town and sort this out there."
"Wait just one moment." The man cried out in a slight panic. "Do I have a say in this?"
"Calm down. I met these three yesterday, and what I learned from them is that they only want to help." Velvet explained to the man with a gentle smile. "Just take it easy. Even amnesia can take a toll out of you."
The man seemed shocked at her kindness before smiling gratefully, "I'll be all right, thank you for your concern."
The group began walking again and soon walked back onto the road. Chrom and Velvet were very curious about the young man with them, especially the unusual circumstances surrounding him. Right now, the white haired man felt very uncomfortable as he walked with them. Something that caught Velvet's attention was the purple mark on his right hand that he tried desperately to cover up with his other hand but failing, the mark itself had the same eye pattern as the sleeves of his cloak.
The young man then suddenly stopped with a serious look before asking, "What will you do with me? Am I to be your prisoner?" This made the rest stop too.
"Hah! You'll be free to go once we establish you're no enemy of Ylisse." Chrom explained before looking at Velvet, "That goes for you, too."
"Since when did you say that?" Velvet asked a bit irritated, crossing her arms. "As far as I can remember, I chose to go with you because I had nowhere else to go." Lissa giggled at this, it wasn't often she saw someone talking back at Chrom for his oblivious nature. She's definitely liking Velvet's character.
"Is that where we are?" The amnesiac asked. "Ylisse?"
"You've never heard of the halidom?" Frederick questioned and chuckled slightly. "Someone pay this actor. He plays quite the fool! The furrowed brow is especially convincing..."
"Ignore him." Velvet said in disbelief to the man. "I don't really know this place either."
"Frederick, please." Chrom said to his retainer. "This land is known as the Halidom of Ylisse. Our ruler, Emmeryn, is called the exalt. I suppose proper introductions are in order… My name is Chrom but then, you already knew that." The blue haired man then looked at Lissa. "The delicate one here is my little sister, Lissa."
"I am not delicate!" The blonde yelled irritated and Chrom rolled his eyes. "Ignore my brother, please. He can be a bit thick sometimes."
"That's an understatement." Velvet pointed out with a little amusement, earning a glare by the prince. "My name's Velvet."
"But you're lucky the Shepherds found you." Lissa told the young man. "Brigands would've been a rude awakening!"
"Shepherds? You tend sheep?" The young man asked, confused. "...In full armour?"
Chrom chuckled slightly, "It's a dangerous job. Just ask Frederick the Wary here."
"A title I shall wear with pride." Frederick said with his unmoving expression. "Gods forbid one of us keeps an appropriate level of caution. I have every wish to trust you, stranger, but my station mandates otherwise."
"I understand, sir. I would do no less myself." The young man agreed. "My name is Robin." This surprised the white haired man a bit, "...I just remembered that. How odd. I suppose that's one mystery solved."
"Robin? Is that foreign?" Chrom asked curiously. "Ah, well. We can discuss it later." Lissa noticed something from the corner of her eye and looked at the path ahead. "We're almost to town. Once we-"
"Chrom, look!" Lissa cut him off in a panic while pointing in the direction of the town, "The town!"
Everyone turned to the way the blonde pointed at and was shocked. Smoke was coming from the town further ahead. Chrom got instantly worried, they were supposed to have been there by now and stopped whatever was happening right now. He knew exactly what was going on in a glance.
"Damn it! The town is ablaze!" Chrom growled in anger. "Those blasted brigands, no doubt. Frederick, Lissa! Quickly!"
"What about these two?" Frederick asked.
"Unless they're on fire as well, it can wait!" Chrom cried out quickly.
"Aptly put, milord." The heavily armored knight replied.
"Let's go already!" Lissa exclaimed really worried. The trio of Shepherds then ran off, leaving Velvet with Robin in a hurry.
"Hey!" Velvet yelled. "You can't just run into a fight like that without a plan!" Velvet sighed in annoyance, feeling like she was treated as a defenseless girl all together.
"Looking at the smoke from the flames… There's a few more brigands in the village than two men and a Cleric can handle." Robin mumbled, seemingly calculating something. "Especially considering Lissa seems to have no way to protect herself..."
"I knew something was different about you." Robin jumped a bit in panic before looking at Velvet.
"I-I understand your skepticism but believe me, I don't remember anything past meeting you all." Robin defended himself quickly.
"Don't worry, I believe you." Velvet told him, much to his shock.
"You do?" Robin asked, confused before noticing something, "Have we met before?"
"You can sense it, too then." Velvet pointed out. "But no, I don't know you. I'm not from around here." She watches as Robin checks his clothing, Velvet noticing a sword strapped to his side underneath his cloak as he quickly puts on a pair of fingerless gloves that cover most of the back of his hands. "Can you fight with that sword of yours?"
"I believe so, although I think I may be a novice." Robin told her unsure before taking out an old yellow book with a lighting bolt on the cover, "However, I should be able to come up with something."
Velvet nodded, "You ready?"
Robin nodded in agreement before they ran towards the town up ahead, planning to help out those who decided to help them. Robin was very curious about the black haired woman, not only because he sensed something strange but familiar about this woman but also the fact he couldn't figure out what she was good at or if she really had a weapon to determine her fighting style. That could be a problem if his plan would work, there was only one way to find out.
Arriving in town, Velvet and Robin immediately came to the sound of a woman crying out. Robin was catching his breath when he saw the black haired woman running in the direction the cry came from, wasting no time to follow Velvet despite being tired from all the running to town. Somehow, he managed to lose Velvet somewhere but Robin caught sight of Chrom and Frederick fighting some brigands. Frederick fights from on top of a horse in armor, taking care of the bandits with an iron lance further away with a stab in the chest. Chrom, on the other hand, was dealing with a brigand with a few dead on the ground around him. Robin could only watch in amazement of the two, he now understood why they ran head into battle like they did.
"Chrom!" Robin called out, getting the blue haired man's attention once he took down another brigand with a stab in the stomach.
"Robin!" Chrom exclaimed in shock as the mysterious man joined him. "What are you doing here? Where's Velvet?"
"I lost her on the way here." Robin explained quickly. "But I'm armed and I know my way around a fight, if you'll have me."
"Of course, strength in numbers." Chrom agreed a bit stressed, "Just stay close!" That was until he noticed the book in Robin's hand, "Is that a-"
Robin then noticed something behind Chrom, "Duck!" The swordsman immediately did what his new ally suggested, he dodged a sword swing from behind that was aimed at Chrom's throat just in the nick of time. Robin quickly opened the book in his hand, runes swirled around him and he yelled, "Thunder!"
A charged bolt of lightning shoots from Robin's outstretched hand and hits the brigand that was behind Chrom, the myrmidon was struck by it and fell to the ground, twitching as sparks of electricity appeared around him. Chrom slowly got up to look at the white haired man, who looked at his hand in somewhat recognition, in disbelief over what just happened.
"Robin, you know magic?" Chrom asked in shock, knowing that the book in his hand was none other than a tome, a sacred script that allows one to use magic.
"I… believe so?" Robin replied a bit unsure.
"You believe so?" Chrom repeated a bit nervously. "Perhaps I'll just keep a few paces behind you for the time being…"
"No, I can control it, I'm sure." Robin quickly defended himself. "Wait a minute. Where's your sister?"
"She went to check a few of the villagers to see if any of them were injured, she should have been back by now…" the swordsman explained before they heard an unfamiliar scream a bit away, "Lissa!"
The two ran toward the scream with Frederick close behind. With Lissa, she was running while dragging a terrified woman with one hand and her staff in the other. Behind them was a pair of brigands chasing after them through the village. The two brigands then split up as the women continued running before the second brigand managed to stop them in their tracks, causing Lissa and the woman to have nowhere left to run. Lissa hid the woman behind her but she knew that she couldn't fight back like she wanted. Unbeknownst to them, Velvet was running on the rooftops nearby and noticed what was going on, starting to jump from the roof she was on to another to get closer.
Lissa was holding out her staff and trying to seem like a threat but the brigands just laughed at the girl trying to scare them off with a healing staff that was shaking. The trio was running toward the area where they were. Chrom was extremely worried about Lissa's safety, not willing to lose his younger sister. Suddenly, Velvet came down from the sky, her legs covered with green wind and landed hard onto one of the brigands and created cracks into the ground from the force underneath the brigand. Lissa saw the long raven black braid accopained by green wind flowing in front of her.
'Wind… magic?' Lissa thought in shock of what just happened, looking at Velvet with fascination. The trio of men saw this and stopped in their tracks, staring confused at what happened just now.
Velvet stood up slightly before taking out the blade out of her gauntlet and turned around just in time to block the blade of an incoming sword, her not struggling much at all to get the upper hand. Smirking slightly, Velvet took out the hidden blades in her boots as she kicked up. This sent the sword up in the air while a slight slash wound appeared over the brigand's chest. Velvet took this moment to kick multiple times with her foot blades while covered in a dark purple aura before shoving her gauntlet blade in his heart, making sure he was completely dead as the body dropped to the ground. Everyone was staring at black haired woman in utter disbelief. They had no idea that Velvet had her weapon hidden in her clothing or that she was this experienced in combat to bring down two brigands in so short of a time limit.
"Are you two alright?" Velvet asked Lissa as she retracted her blades back in their hiding places.
"Y-Yeah." Lissa stammered as she started to calm down with the village woman looking a bit nervous at her. "Thanks to you, Velvet." They heard the running footsteps of their comrades coming forward.
"Lissa, are you alright?!" Chrom exclaimed extremely worried since it was a really close call.
"I'm fine, brother." Lissa replied and rolled her eyes. Robin walked over to the man stuck to the ground from Velvet's very strong kick, having landed hard into the brigand's chest with enough force that she broke the man's rib cage and squashed his lungs and heart.
"Incredible." Robin mumbled to himself a bit nervously, never expecting someone with Velvet's build to be this strong and just with one kick alone.
"We can't sigh in relief just yet." Velvet pointed out seriously. "These brigands will keep coming until we bring down their leader."
"I suppose you already know where their leader is." Frederick guessed, causing the rest to look at the black clothed woman, who had her hand on her hip.
"He's at the church in the center of town. A man named Garrick." Velvet explained before a small smile appeared on her lips and a malicious look in her eyes, "I have a way to make people tell me what I want to know, they say lots of things when you do it the right way."
"We better hurry before they cause anymore chaos." Chrom told them, everyone nodding in agreement.
"Frederick. I want you to protect Lissa from now on as she is our main healer at the moment." Robin told the knight, who nodded in agreement of his choice. "Me, Chrom and Velvet take care of Garrick." The other two nodded in agreement to his plan before they ran toward the church to end this, however, Robin asked Velvet, "How did you know to look for information like that?"
Velvet chuckled quietly at this, "Your mumbling. I knew that these three would go with a frontal assault like this and thanks to what you managed to predict that there were more than what they could deal with, I dealt with the attackers at the border of the town to make sure no surprise attacks would happen." Robin looked at her surprised, this woman clearly knew what she was doing in a situation like this.
"How did you know they were at the border?"
Velvet answered simply, "Experience. And a solid hunch."
Robin chuckled silently himself. This woman is full of surprises and he didn't think she was finished yet, wherever she came from must have prepared her for anything. Velvet isn't a normal person at least. But the way she was fighting, Robin couldn't understand what the green wind came from that surrounded Velvet's legs earlier. It was a strange sight indeed, but felt as though it was a special technique combined with mana. The more Robin thought about it, the more confusing it became to try to explain what happened. The only way to know for sure is to ask Velvet directly once this battle is over.
Once getting back to the town square, Frederick with Lissa behind him on his horse dashed toward the mages that were part of the brigands, whose possibly the primary suspects when it comes to the fires. Seeing that a swordsman was running toward him, Robin quickly unsheathed his sword to block the sword from hitting him but he was struggling with the strength the swordsman was putting on. Velvet, acting quickly, swung her arm and unleashed her gauntlet blade incased in fire. The swing sent a projectile of the fire and hit the swordsman on top of Robin, the brigand yelling in pain. Robin took the chance to push the brigand off him, both him and Chrom swung their swords at the same time and the myrmidon fell dead on the ground in between them.
"First wind, and now fire?" Chrom pointed out cautiously and turned to look at the black haired woman. "How are you able to use magic without tomes?"
"You don't use artes?" Velvet asked, a bit surprised.
"We can discuss this later." Robin told the two, getting their attention. "We've got company." The trio heard someone walking over to them and got immediately on guard.
"Here, sheepy sheepy!" A man with a big axe in his hand and a toothy smile teased, "Come to the slaughter!"
"So, this is their leader." Chrom pointed out.
"Velvet." Robin said, getting the mysterious woman's attention. "Can you use that fire attack again?"
"You mean Searing Edge?" Velvet asked a bit surprised, "Yeah, I can. What about it?"
"I want you to use it to take Garrick off guard." Robin announced, a bit confused by the name. "Enough to give Chrom an opening to strike."
"You think it'll work?" Chrom asked a bit unsure as he raised his blade.
"Trust me." Robin pleaded with them. "I know what I'm doing. Garrick has a throwing axe, he'll be able to throw it with accuracy."
"There's one way to find out." Velvet pointed out as Chrom dashed forward, Garrick being focused on the captain as the black haired maiden took the chance to run behind the brigand.
Garrick prepared his axe to aim at Chrom's head and was going to throw it until Chrom slid to the ground to reveal Robin, who had his Thunder tome in hand, cast a bolt of lightning right at Garrick's hand that held the axe. This caused Garrick to immediately lose the grip of his axe in pain. Velvet had just arrived behind the leader of the bandits and swung her gauntlet blade coated in fire at him, the projectile hitting him in the back before he could even think about trying to pick it up in time to deliver a strike. Chrom, not having stopped dashing, quickly dealt the finishing blow with a big slash across Garrick's chest and the lifeless body fell to the ground.
"Well, that's the end of that." Velvet proclaimed, walking back to her comrades.
"Lucky for the town, we were close by." Lissa pointed out as she joined the trio. "But holy wow! You two were incredible! Robin with swords, sorcery AND tactics! Velvet with those moves and kicks! Is there anything you can't do?"
"You're certainly no helpless victims, that much is for sure." Chrom said while looking at Velvet with a questionable look.
"Indeed. Perhaps you might give us an insight to your sorcery?" Frederick asked with caution to Velvet. "I've never seen someone capable of using magic the way you do, the fact that you need a tome or a magic weapon in order to perform magic is especially concerning." Velvet sighed at this as she placed both hands on her hips.
"They're called 'artes', arte with an 'E' at the end." Velvet explained, trying to not seem annoyed by the fact that artes didn't exist here, "They are elemental magic skills native to my homeland. They are based or combined with the four basic elements of nature. Earth, Fire, Water and Wind. My blades are made with mana infused materials to help focus my mana, that way, my battle style looks a lot different than most. It's an innate talent most are born with but it takes training and dedication to just use them in battle, especially when your fighting style is unique then the artes are specifically made for that very fighting style. It'll be more complicated to explain, but let's just say it is my only way to use magic."
"And the names?" Robin asked, a bit confused.
"It's a way to extinguish between them as most use the same element, they are like martial arts in a way." Velvet continued simply, "They are adapted to its user, so the names of the different artes naturally pop into one's mind without much thought. There isn't much to explain that."
"Interesting…" Chrom said hushed.
"That would explain a whole lot of the attack, or 'artes' in this case, that you used on the brigands earlier." Robin pointed out. "It was just instinctual for you to use them."
"Says the natural tactician." Velvet replied with an amused smile. Robin chuckled slightly.
"I admit that it is suspicious but I'm being honest that I can't remember, I have no idea as to why some things have returned to me." The amnesiac stranger told the group, seeing as Frederick gave him quite the stare. "Believe me, I've shared all that I know."
"You both fought to save Ylissean lives." Chrom stated with a soft expression. "My heart says that's enough."
"And your mind, milord?" Frederick asked cautiously, "Will you not heed its counsel as well?"
"Frederick, the Shepherds could use someone with Robin's talents." Chrom replied. "We've brigands and unruly neighbors, all looking to bloody our soils. Velvet has already demonstrated that she's formidable and skilled in combat, her experience may give us the edge we need. Would you really have us lose such an able tactician and ally? Besides, I believe their different stories, odd as they may be." This surprised the two a lot, they've just met the blue haired man not too long ago and here he is, defending two strangers. One of whom isn't from this world.
"Th-thank you, Chrom." Robin thanked him as Velvet crossed her arms in disbelief.
"You're really an odd one." The black haired woman stated which made Chrom a little embarrassed.
"So how about it? Will you join us?" Chrom asked the two.
"Like I said yesterday, I have nowhere to go really." Velvet replied nonchalantly. "I'll join you guys but don't think I'm trusting you right off the bat."
"And I would be honored to join you." Robin replied politely.
"Then it is settled…" Chrom announced, "Welcome to the Shepherds."
Velvet didn't know what to think really. Sure, she just joined with a couple of strangers and their group that had the exact same name as the man that made her life a living hell. But why she did what she did, Velvet didn't know. Her heart and instincts told her to trust them, but her mind said the opposite. Right now, she wanted to see how it goes onward. Just because they share the same name and concept to protect their people, that wouldn't mean that they had the same method of going through with the problem at hand. Hopefully, they won't go through with the same extreme measures like Artorius did. Besides, Velvet wanted to get to the bottom of why Robin felt so familiar when she didn't know him and the fact that the mysterious man had lost his memories.
Frederick cleared his throat to gain everyone's attention, seeing as he could not change his charge's mind on the matter, "Now to the problem at hand." The ambiance got serious at this. "Did you notice, milord? The brigands spoke with a Plegian accent."
Velvet was about to ask but Robin was faster than her, "Plegian? What's that?"
"Plegia is Ylisse's westerly neighbor." Chrom explained to the newcomers, "They send small bands into our territory, hoping to instigate a war."
"And it's the poor townsfolk who suffer!" Lissa exclaimed worried. "Totally innocent, and totally helpless…"
"Sounds like you're in a real bind." Velvet pointed out, seeing the dire situation for a tactician.
"They do have us, milady: Shepherds to protect the sheep." Frederick stated to the blonde girl. "Do not be swept up in your anger. It will cloud your judgement."
"I know, I know…" Lissa replied, getting back her cheerfulness. "Don't worry. I'll get used to all this."
"Milord, please!" A villager called out to the group, turning to a young man and other villagers. "You must stay the night! We are simple folk of simple means, but we would gladly toast your valor with a feast!"
"A most generous offer, sir, and no doubt your hospitality would be grand…" Frederick kindly pointed out as Lissa started to order what she wanted, "But I'm afraid we must hurry back to Ylisstol."
"Wait, what?! We're not staying?!" Lissa exclaimed in disbelief. "But, Frederick, it's nearly dark!"
"When night falls, we'll camp. Eat off the land, make out a bed of twigs and the like. I believe you mentioned you would be 'getting used to this'?" Frederick asked, the polite smile still present.
"Frederick?" The youngest asked a bit nervously before accepting her fate, "Sometimes I hate you."
"You've quite the stern lieutenant there." Robin pointed out a bit nervous.
"Yeah, well, 'stern' is one name for it." Lissa explained. "I can think of a few others!"
"Frederick only smiles when he's about to bring down the axe." Chrom told them, causing Robin to take a step back and Velvet raised a brow at the statement.
"Duly noted." Robin mumbled to remember it in the future.
"Frederick reminds me of an old comrade of mine." Velvet told them. "The only excitement he'll get is on the battlefield other than alcohol."
The knight once again cleared his throat to gain their attention, "You do realize I AM still present?" This caused them all to laugh at the heavily armored rider, who didn't find it amusing in the slightest.
Chrom calmed down before saying, "Oh, we realize."
"Milord remains as amusing as ever." Frederick stated, his face remaining unfazed. "Now then, shall we be going?"
"All right, all right." The captain answered before turning to their new members. "Ready to go? The capital isn't far."
"Of course." Robin answered and Velvet nodded as they started to head toward the path they came from.
However, Velvet stopped for a second to look at her bandaged therion arm. The very thing that started the whole mess back home, her monstrous true self. Clenching her covered fist in determination, Velvet hoped that she wouldn't have to use this power for a while. Otherwise, she fears they'll see her for the monster she is and try breaking all contact with her after seeing her claw. The black haired warrior didn't want that happening since this might give her a new chance to live a real life again but now that she had a group of warriors to help protect their kingdom. Velvet sighed, what kind of situation had she put herself in now. It didn't matter, Velvet could use them until she can sort her new chance away from Innominat. Now knowing what she'll do for now, Velvet ran to catch up with the strangers she had joined for now.