We didn't stay in Southtown for much longer, much to Lissa's audible chagrin, though we did make sure to stock up on the necessities before we left. It also became very apparent to everyone, including myself, that what I was wearing simply would not do for long term travel, especially if we got into any other fights. Thankfully for me, the villagers were more than willing to give me a fresh set of clothes that weren't caked in the blood and guts of my victims. Granted, it was basic leather armor and a shirt with a collar, but it would more than work until we got to Ylisstol. Also some fresh boots that would serve me way better for traveling compared to the worn out work shoes I had been wearing earlier. Finally, to go along with the axe I had collected from one of the bandits, the villagers were kind enough to give me a compatible leather sheath for said axe.

All in all, I felt like one of those early level JRPG protagonists or MMO players before they started getting cooler gear.

"How does the new gear fit, Victor?" Chrom asked as we finally began to make our way out of town.

"Bit more stiff than my old outfit, but that's just to be expected I guess," I said, moving and flexing my arms and legs to test the flexibility of my outfit. "I haven't worn armor before, so it'll be a learning experience."

"An experience that you would do well to learn quickly if you wish to stay alive, Victor," Frederick added. "If you cannot hope to move around in the lightest of armor, you will find yourself easy pickings on the front line."

This coming from the guy wearing full plate armor like it was nothing, I mused. Seriously, it was like Frederick was born in that damn suit of armor, and I'm pretty sure he'd die in it too if given the opportunity. On the one hand, I honestly could admire how loyal Frederick was to his duties, I stood to learn a thing or two about him in terms of motivation. But by the same token, I sincerely wondered how Frederick was able to move around and mount his horse as quickly as he could wearing all that armor, but I ultimately chalked it up to Frederick just being used to it. He was more or less the Shepherd's tank so naturally he had to get used to moving around in heavy armor.

"You've certainly quite the stern lieutenant, Chrom," Robin laughed nervously, noting how Frederick didn't seem to be laughing back.

Chrom let out a chuckle. "Don't mind him. Frederick only smiles when he's about to bring down the axe, or when he's getting a campfire started."

"Can I just ask why we're opting to camp out in the cold, dank wilderness?" Lissa asked, irritation dropping from her mouth. "They offered us food and beds! Warm beds might I add! It's at least a day's ride to Yisstol from here!"

"I believe it was you who said that you would "get used to this", milady. And besides, there is nothing wrong with learning to live off the land, bugs and all," Frederick countered with a smile.

"Frederick?" Lissa growled. "Sometimes I really hate you."

We all shared a good laugh as we went on our merry way, only stopping as soon as it began to get dark. That was our cue to start making camp right away. Chrom handled the tents while Robin and Frederick tended to getting the firewood. Not content to sit around, I opted to help Chrom with setting up the three tents in our possession. And I had to say, as someone who hadn't ever set up a tent before, it definitely felt like a hassle to set one up now. Chrom was more than patient enough to teach me, though my first few attempts earned some laughter from Lissa. But eventually I got the hang of it as we finished the second tent.

"So you've never had to pitch a tent before, Victor?" Chrom inquired as we finished setting up the third and final tent.

"Nope," I answered frankly, "I've never even been camping before. Mostly just lived in a city all my life, so this is a learning experience for me."

"Well, hope you like sleeping in the dirt and bugs," Lissa groaned. "Seriously, I think I nearly swallowed a bug on our way here! Who actually goes around and does this for fun?!"

"Come on, Lissa, hardship builds character," Chrom smiled. "Besides, camping's fun! Warming yourself up by the campfire, looking into the stars, there's plenty to love about the outdoors."

Lissa's eyes narrowed. "You keep telling yourself that, Chrom. But where are Robin and Frederick? Hunting and gathering firewood shouldn't be taking this long, should it?"

As if waiting for an auditory cue, Frederick's voice came from the treeline in front of us. "Milord, milady, my apologies for the wait! Finding dinner proved to be a touch tricker than expected, but I believe this shall suffice?"

Robin pushed through the bush first, carrying two bundles of fairly heavy firewood under her arms with relative ease. I had to say, I didn't expect Robin to have that kind of upper body strength, especially after the fight we had just been in. But maybe that was just the Grima blood in her doing most of the lifting in that department.

"Sorry we're late!" Robin chirped. "I think this should be enough for the campfire! As for our dinner…"

That was when Frederick entered the scene and Lissa's face paled. Evidently the animal on the menu tonight would be bear meat, as Frederick had found an average sized bear in his hunt. I was more of a pork or beef guy myself, but food was food. Lissa, however, did not see that way as her nose scrunched up on instinct as she looked over to me and Chrom with a silent but pleading look in her eyes.

"Sounds fine to me," I said, standing up. "Haven't eaten anything all day."

If looks could kill, then Lissa would have killed me about ten times over in that moment.

The bear was actually a lot better than I was expecting it to be. Even with only some basic salt for seasoning, the meat came out well cooked and even had a slight smokey flavor to it. Honestly, I had no idea why Frederick barely touched his own meal. Granted the smell wasn't the best, but the actual taste was damned good. Gamey, but a good kind of gamey. Even Robin dug in, literally and figuratively in her case. Though like me, she probably hadn't eaten anything at all today, so just about anything would taste good.

Eventually we all dispersed to our own little spots in the camp. Chrom and Frederick were busy going over a map and discussing the fastest way to the Ylissean capital, while Lissa was busy fumbling around with her staff, "maintenance" she called it. That left Robin still sitting on a makeshift log near the fire, staring right into the dying embers. It looked as if she was deep in thought.

"You know," I said with a hint of cheek, "fire's liable to burn you if you just keep staring at it."

Robin jumped in surprise as she spun around to see me chuckling at her expense. With a "Hmph!", she turned around and pouted just a bit. "If you think sneaking up on a lady is the perfect way to get her attention, Victor, then I'm afraid to say that you're terribly mistaken."

"Wouldn't say I was sneaking up on ya," I shrugged, "you did know I was here, right?"

"No, that's not what I was-" Robin stopped herself and pinched the bridge of her nose in uncharacteristic annoyance. "Whatever, is something the matter, Victor?"

I plopped down on the log right next to her, doing a little stretch with my back. "Well, you seemed pretty melancholy, just sorta staring into the fire and all. I just thought that something was wrong, that's all."

Robin turned away from me and continued to stare into the now mostly dead campfire with a more wistful expression. "I… suppose I am, truth be told. My memory seems to be selectively returning to me in small doses, but only memories that involve combat. From what I can gather about myself, I am a woman skilled in tactics, swords and sorcery. But beyond that? Nothing. It's as if my memory begins with waking up with you in that field."

I wouldn't say Robin looked scared, but she definitely looked troubled by her lack of memories. It painted a very different picture from how I remembered what little personality Robin had in the game proper. In the game, it felt like she adjusted to her role as the "tactician" pretty quickly. But here? Robin clearly felt troubled that all she seemingly knew how to do was kill people and find new, creative ways of killing people. She probably didn't even know how she got to Ylisse in the first place.

Well, at least I could sympathize with her on that last point.

"It probably isn't much, but at least I can understand how you feel about that last part," I said, watching as Robin turned to me. "Granted, I might not have amnesia or anything like that, but I don't know how I ended up in that field with you either. In fact, as far as I'm aware of, Ylisse doesn't exist on any of our maps back home."

Curiosity gleamed in Robin's teal orbs as the topic of my home came up. "Ah, that's right. Something about an identification object or something of the like, yes? What is your home country like?"

Christ, ain't that a loaded question? I thought. Where the hell do I even begin?

I highly doubt I could've gotten away with telling Robin about cars or any kind of current tech we had back in my world. I mean, maybe if I phrased it as a carriage that didn't need a horse to drive it, but that just seemed a touch too unrealistic from her point of view. But I could talk about Miami, about the culture, what it was like growing up, the works.

"Well," I began, "the country I came from is known as the 'United States of America'. It's basically a collection of local governments that answer to a larger government, all working together for the good of everyone. Hence the 'United' part of the name." I couldn't help but mentally roll my eyes a bit at the "good of everyone" bit, but I digressed.

"Ah, so not entirely unlike Ylisse and her local lords."

Robin and I jumped as we realized that Chrom, once again, had snuck up behind us. Seemed as if he had finished his little meeting with Frederick and decided to test to see if he could give us both a heart attack once again.

"C-Chrom, are you determined to keep making us jump like that?!" Robin asked in an exasperated tone.

"Hah! I certainly didn't mean to, I simply just found a good opportunity to chime in, that's all," Chrom laughed, taking a seat right across from us. "But please, do go on, Victor. It's not often I get to hear about a country I've never heard of before."

Probably because it's from an entirely different dimension, your highness.

"Well, I can't really speak for the rest of the country, but I grew up in the southern part of it," I continued. "namely a city called 'Miami'. Hot, muggy crowded to hell and back, but it was home. You got a lot of different people from different walks of life there too. Fishermen, artists, entertainers, the works. It just kinda attracted a lot of people from different walks of life."

It was around this time that Lissa and Frederick had opted to join us around the dying campfire of truth. Lissa looked considerably brighter than at dinner, listening to my story with rapt attention while Frederick eyed me still with a hint of suspicion.

"Oh, oh!" Lissa piped up. "What's the food like in Miami? It's gotta be wayyy better than crusty old bear meat, right?"

Chrom gave Lissa a confused look. "What's wrong with bear meat, Lissa? It's rich, plentiful and you won't go hungry."

Lissa didn't bother to answer Chrom with words, instead opting to stick out her tongue in a defiant, teenager-like fashion, despite the fact that Frederick was the one who hunted the bear. It'd been a while since I've experienced a more wholesome aspect to sibling bickering.

"Varied, just like the people," I continued. "Sandwiches made with thoroughly cooked pork meat, pies made with citrus and cream, and that's just the tip of the iceberg." Honestly, even though I had just eaten a chunk of bear meat, I couldn't help but think about having a decent pulled pork sandwich right about now. A small pleasure to be sure, but I wanted to take them where I could.

The descriptions of just two of Miami's dishes were enough to make Lissa's mouth practically water. Frederick, by contrast, remained as stoney as ever. "What of your previous occupation, Victor? Unrefined as your style may be, it is clear that you are far from helpless."

Oh right, that. As much as I didn't want to dwell on the day's events, I probably needed to explain why I knew about basic defense, huh?

"Well," I said, "I used to be a bouncer for a club. Basically my job was to look tough and keep the trouble to a minimum. If anyone was getting violent, I had to throw them out and away from the normal customers. To that end, I've tried to take decent care of my body and all that junk and I took up boxing."

"A 'club'?" Frederick asked, before his face lit up in realization. "Ah! You mean a tavern, I believe. Yes, I could see how such an occupation would benefit all those involved."

I nodded, before my mind drifted back to home. Had someone already noticed I was gone? Boss probably noticed my empty car in the parking lot, called the cops and all that, but aside from Boss? I really had no one, did I? I barely talked with my neighbors, my coworkers were all but strangers and my mother - well the less said about her, the better. I had always just kinda went with whatever my gut told me, waiting for something to happen to me. And all of this? Well, something certainly had happened alright. That still begged a question though; why was I even there to begin with?

A gentle pat on my shoulder caused me to jump. "You doing okay there, Victor?" Chrom said, though his voice sounded a bit farther than it probably was.

"I… guess I could be better," I admitted. "I'm still not even sure how in the hell I made it here to begin with. And I know my story might seem really out there and I completely understand if it is but-"

I stopped myself from rambling any further, taking a deep breath to calm myself down. My nerves were completely shot, and for the first time in a while, I felt like an honest to god mess. The reality of my situation hadn't just caught up with me, but it slammed right into me with the speed and force of a runaway steam train. Ending up in a fictional world, killing not one but two men with a blunt axe and being drafted into a militia to eventually fight a world-ending Satanic dragon? I was a bar bouncer; how in the hell did anyone expect me to survive that?

Christ, you're pathetic.

I looked up, expecting to see judging or harsh faces for my moment of weakness but found none of that. Chrom, Lissa and Robin looked fairly concerned and Frederick, while still looking ever wary, did seem to soften just a small bit.

"You needn't worry, Victor," Chrom said, now smiling. "To some, your story would seem a touch outlandish, but you provided us evidence and identification of your country's existence. On top of that, you laid your own life on the line for Ylissean citizens. To me, you're already an ally."

"Yeah!" Lissa nodded. "Don't worry about it. You're a Shepherd now, and we always watch each other's backs!"

"Wary though I am," Frederick began, "know that I do not intend to make light of your plight. As long as you pose no threat to milord or milady, I shall consider you a comrade."

Robin turned to me with her own smile. "I may not have known you for very long Victor, but I can tell you are of a fine stock. You had no reason to help us, but you still came to our aid regardless, risking your life. It's an odd feeling, one that you share with Chrom. I believe you are trustworthy."

They… actually trusted me? Well okay, Frederick seemed to be a bit more wary of me, but Robin, Chrom and Lissa? Why? Is it just because I risked my own life when left with no other alternative? Honestly, I couldn't help but see Frederick's point of view, I was a total stranger with an odd backstory, Chrom had every reason to not trust me. I just did not get it.

"Well, the hour is late, milord," Frederick said, allowing a yawn to escape his mouth. "We best hurry to bed so that we may reach Ylisstol by tomorrow."

"A fair point, Frederick," Chrom nodded. "We'll rotate in shifts for the night watch. Would you mind terribly if you took the first watch then, Frederick?"

"It would be an honor, milord," Frederick said, bowing his head.

"Right then, Shepherds," Chrom began. "We start moving at sunrise on the dot, so get some good rest, yeah?"

"Can and will do," Robin yawned, "I feel as if I've ran several marathons in succession."

"Roger that! G'night Victor, Robin!" Lissa said, crawling right into her tent without any time to breath, Robin following soon after. I had to wonder where Frederick was going to sleep, but I figured I'd just let him use my tent when the time came for me to take watch. So I crawled into my tent and before long, I was out like a light.

Everything around me was a ruin. Cars had been flipped over and crushed like they were made of paper, the road ahead was sporting a massive hole in the middle, as if an explosion had gone off. Shop windows had been smashed, buildings had been set ablaze. The people ran around me in all directions, screaming and sprinting like headless chickens.

This was Miami, or rather the neighborhood in Miami that I grew up in. Cautiously, I took a step forward, only now realizing that my weapon was gone.

Ahead of me, standing amidst the flames, was a feminine figure. She stared right into me, before a faint chuckle escaped her lips. She looked very familiar, but from this distance it was hard to make out any details.

An earth shattering roar echoed from on high, a massive clawed hand smashing through one of the buildings with a thunderous echo that threatened to knock me over. As I looked up into the sky, my throat seized up in pure abject horror. Six blood red eyes stared into my soul, as if sizing me up for the kill. The creature screeched again, and this time I knew exactly who I was looking at.

Grima, the Fell Dragon.

My vision was red, my body was sweating, convulsing in panic. I quickly crawled out of my tent and to get some space to breathe. I still found myself trying to process what I'd seen in my dream. That was undoubtedly my world, but that was also undoubtedly Grima. Just because I hadn't played Awakening in a while didn't mean I couldn't recognize the dragonic bastard when I saw 'em. I almost retched up my own dinner, but managed to get a hold of my stomach before that happened.

I plopped down onto one of the makeshift seats with a sigh. What in the seven fucking hells was that all about? How could Grima be in my world? Was that just some kind of glimpse into an alternate timeline or something? Why was I seeing this?

"I take it that sleep did not agree with you?"

I turned to see Frederick walking towards me, still in that damned suit on armor. Seriously, how the hell did he go about sleeping in that thing?!

"Uh, you could… say that," I replied, my voice still uneven. "Just some really bad dreams, that's all."

Frederick opted not to sit on the log, but heard me out regardless. "If I might ask, just what did this dream entail, Victor?"

Well I couldn't just say "Oh I dreamed of the Fell Dragon coming down and taking a massive heaping shit all over my home and screaming in my face with the force of a hurricane", now could I? On top of just being horribly unrealistic, it raised the question of how I knew about the Fell Dragon when I'm not even from Ylisse. But did I have the skill to pull a convincing lie out of my ass?

"It was about the battle today," I said, "I'm no stranger to a scrap but that was the first time I've actually... killed someone. I know they were bandits and all, but they were still human just like us, you know?"

For a minute, I thought there was no way that Frederick would've believed me, or that he would tell me to grow a spine if I wanted to be a proper Shepherd for "milord." But to my surprise, Frederick's face seemed to soften just a bit from my confession.

"I see," he said. "My apologies then, Victor. It was not my intention to bring up uncomfortable thoughts. Taking a life is not something to be taken lightly, and seldom do we ever forget our first kill. In fact, I still remember mine to this day."

The image of my hatchet burying itself into the bandit's skull came back to mind, causing me to shudder instinctively.

"But with that said," Frederick continued, "Death and battle are part and parcel of our lives as the Shepherds. If we do not act, innocents will suffer for our inaction. And sometimes that action requires taking a life. The life of a soldier is not one to be accepted lightly Victor, never forget that. We must be the beacon that the people of Ylisse can rely on to shine through the darkness when all else fails."

And on that note, the grateful faces of the woman and her son flashed in my head.

I honestly felt a little embarrassed with myself for thinking Frederick would think any less of me for showing human emotion. For whatever faults he might've had, the man was a true knight through and through, for all the good reasons at that. I couldn't help but look up to the man as an example of what I ought to strive for if I was stuck in this world.

If I had to be honest, Frederick was probably what I should've been back home from the start. A real man, not some lazy bum who got by on the bare minimum.

"Yeah, I know," I answered. "That's why I wanna be better, do better. If I'm gonna stick with you and Chrom, I wanna make sure I keep up and be a real man. So if that means having to take a life to keep people safe, that's… just what I have to do." There was a hint of hesitation as I came to my conclusion. There was no way I would ever be totally "okay" with having to kill enemy soldiers, but I was just going to have to suck it up. Couldn't afford to be a Batman.

Frederick seemed pleased with my answer however, nodding with a hint of a smile. "Very well then. But your training will not be easy. You've had little practical weapon experience from the way you fought today, so you will have to begin from the basics of swordplay. But if you are truly determined, I will acquiesce."

I didn't mind. I'd just have to actually work hard for the first time in what felt like a good couple of years. I knew it wouldn't be easy in the slightest, but that was just the reality I lived in now. A bandit wasn't gonna apologize for slicing up a family of three if I just smacked him hard enough. No, we would be playing for keeps. And I intended to keep living.

"By the way…" I looked up to see Frederick looking around the camp. "Have you seen milord or Lady Lissa perchance? I know for a fact that it was milord's turn to take the watch at this hour, but he should've returned already."

Yeah, it was weird to see not even an inch of Chrom around, let alone Lissa. That's when I realized something else; the trees had gone quiet. Just a few minutes ago, the sounds of birds chirping and other similar noises could be heard quite clearly, but then it was as if the sound had been physically ripped out. Something was horribly wrong.

That's when the ground began to quake.

Violent tremors sent me sprawling to the ground in a confused heap, Frederick cursing as he struggled to stand upright. "What in Naga's name is going on?!" he cried, using his silver lance to keep himself steady. We could barely hear Robin's confused cries as she rose from her tent in a confused heap, her tactican's robe half-on.

"Victor, Frederick!" she cried out, "What's going on?! Why is the ground shaking?!"

"Beats the hell out of me!" I cried out, finally finding the leverage needed to get to my feet. It felt like the world was ending, which it technically would later on, but that was neither here nor there. I attempted to remember what in the shit happened around this point in the story, but everything was moving far too chaotically for me to think; my brain just couldn't keep up.

Having finally found the strength to move, Frederick ran towards his armored steed and untied it from its makeshift hitching post. He rode up to me and Robin with an urgent, commanding look in his eyes. "You two, find your weapons and hop on! We must ride now and find milord and milady!"

The both of us raced toward our ruined tents, Robin fishing her thunder tome and iron sword quickly. I quickly found my damned axe under a pile of thin blankets and sheathed the thing onto the axe sheath I got from Southtown. Robin mounted Frederick's horse first, easily climbing the thing as she offered her hand to me in turn. "Now you, Victor! Hurry!" she urged. It took me a few seconds, the horse was fucking massive for starters, but I eventually got myself seated behind the white-haired tactican, only just a touch worried at falling off. With the both of us on, Frederick gave the reins a good tug.

"Ride, Ares!" he commanded. "Ride as if your life depended on it!"

Like a bat out of hell, Ares bounded away from the campsite. It didn't take long into our little ride for me to realize just how much I fucking hated riding horses. Maybe it was just because Ares was dashing with all the speed he could muster, but the sensation was causing my stomach to perform kinds of fancy tricks that I didn't even know it could do. And I wanted off.

The other thing I realized, something that was a fair bit more embarrassing, was that I had to hold onto Robin's waist for support just so I didn't go flying off the damned horse. Robin didn't seem like she noticed, what with having to hold onto Frederick's waist herself, but the last time I'd been that close to a woman was my ex-girlfriend. Needlessly to say, I felt awkward. Mercifully, no one looked in my direction so I was spared that little embarrassment.

Eventually we arrived at a clearing in the woods, two lone figures could be spotted in the distance. Whether they were Chrom and Lissa, I couldn't tell. But that didn't stop Frederick from racing toward them.

"Milord, milady! Are you unharmed?!"

Before the figures could spare an answer, the sky split open, making way for what appeared to be some kind of portal. Realization soon dawned on me, as I realized just what was coming next.

Crap.

-

Just remembered I should've been doing this from the start, oops. We have a Discord, come and say hi.

Don't worry, we don't bite.

/ 9XG3U7a