Preparing was a pain for Robin, his sister was planning out the route with Chrom. Raven had shown an affinity for terrain usage Robin hadn't thought about before. This left Robin to take inventory the morning they left. They were to get a headstart, so the sun was barely up. Food, weapons, and even horses were all to be accounted for when the sun rises.
Robin had to start his work with Chrom only giving him a list and a location. Although Robin wasn't alone in the job, he felt rather uncomfortable on who he was with for a duty of inventory. Two others were attempting to make sense of the whole inventory and its order.
"D-Does it go here?" Sumia's nervous voice asked herself while she struggled to find a place for an iron lance in the one wagon they had.
"Naw, Teach says it goes here!" Vaike took Sumia's lance with that phrase and set the lance to a random spot in the wagon next to a sack of grain meal. Robin could already see the disaster happening. The moment their wagon hit a bump the lance would cut the grain sack, leaving a trail of uncooked grain meal to lead any form of animal or person to their spot, or flat out starving their steeds. Robin stormed over to the area and picked up the wooden bronze-tipped pole with one hand.
"You're both wrong, it goes here."
Both of Robin's scatterbrained assistants gave a long "oh" before a much delayed apology. He did admit Sumia had done a great job with the animals. Sully's horse had nearly trampled Vaike which forced Sumia to calm it down. Robin was rather concerned about the assistance that had chosen to help early in the morning.
After a couple hours of agonizing work for Robin, he slumped down by the cart and gave a sigh of relief now that Vaike and Sumia had left to go prepare their things. Vaike almost hadn't retrieved his axe apparently. Robin was about to take a nap when Chrom came walking up to Robin. Frederick wasn't far behind, but the stern second in command seemed to be observing Robin's work. When Chrom asked Robin how his job had been, and Robin replied with a brief, "Painful."
The young prince laughed at Robin's situation briefly before apologizing. Robin rolled his eyes sarcastically which he noticed made Frederick's glare grow more intense. The white haired tactician felt a shiver crawl down his spine before pulling himself up and explained to Chrom how he had organized the wagon. Impressed with his new tactician's work, at the early crack of dawn the company was moving along.
During the march, Lissa and Raven used grain bags as pillows while the rest marched. The sun had been high in the sky for around two hours when the sound of a running horse was heard from behind. The group looked behind with great curiosity.
A head of wavy hair was seen and that's when Sully called out, "Heya Stahl! About time you hauled your ass over."
Stahl came to a hault at the middle of the line. Raven poked her head out of the wagon to see the green armored cavalier.
"Sorry I'm late. Why didn't anyone tell me about the mission?" Stahl asked quickly as he came up to a trot beside Chrom and Robin.
"Vaike, wasn't it your job to tell the rest about the mission?" Lissa called out from the wagon, poking her head out with Raven. "Did you forget again?"
"The Vaike never forgets!" the musclebrained fighter declared. Then he looked away shamefully and said, "It...just slipped my mind."
"Thank you for catching up with us Stahl," Chrom stated.
"Yeah, I had to skip breakfast. There were muffins and bacon and...well I can tell you the rest along the way," the green cavalier nervously mumbled. Chrom then turned to Robin and said, "This is Stahl, one of our finest cavaliers."
"Nice to meet you," Stahl greeted the white haired tactician. He then turned to Chrom to say, "Miriel will catch up with us shortly. She had some things to sort out."
Right after that, Sully came running up to Chrom and said with great alarm, "Captain we've got a problem."
Once they reached a distance from the bridge to cross a river that Sully was at, Chrom, Robin, and Frederick all looked across the fields to see a number of the same walking corpses they had fought the other night. Many carried axes and swords. A few road equally grotesque horses and sitting atop a stray ruined fortress was an archer.
"Gods, have the Risen spread this far?"
"Risen?" Robin asked curiously to Chrom.
"We gave them a name at the War council. Since they appear to be risen from the grave, that's what we call them."
"I see…" Robin muttered, putting his chin in his hand. He looked over the fields and thought for a moment. "Well at the very least we can put them back in the ground." With a turn towards the rest of the group, Chrom and Robin gathered the rest of their troop at the end of the road in front of the caravan.
"Alright everyone, we have Risen ahead. Remember that only lethal blows affect them. If you cannot kill one, hold it until someone who can comes along," Chrom announced. "Robin, Raven, guide our swords!"
Frederick stepped up due to the last sentence and voiced, "While I consider Robin and Raven excellent tacticians, Your Highness, I do not recommend giving them full control. It would be wise if we do not rely upon them too much."
Chrom was about to say something, but Robin stepped forward and said, "You're right Frederick. I'm not omniscient, but a plan is better than no plan. Decisions often need to be made in the heat of the moment. I would be grateful if everyone could make their best decisions."
"Excuse me, I didn't mean to offend you."
"No offense taken," Robin said with a gentle smile. He then turned back to everyone, "Alright. Sully, Stahl, I want you to cover our flanks. Should the enemy prove too much, retreat towards the caravan and have Lissa support you. Frederick, I want you as the rearguard, if any strays come through it's your job to protect Lissa and Virion. Vaike, Chrom, you'll act as the vanguard. Raven and I will do what we can to support."
"Alright, Teach and his trusty axe'll-" Vaike said reaching behind his back. "What, where's my axe? I just had it!"
Chrom gave a hefty sigh and ordered, "Vaike, stay in the back lines! Everyone, in formation, they're coming!"
Raven hopped out of the wagon with her sword in hand. Lissa followed Virion as Frederick kept a close eye on their surroundings. As Sully and Stahl rode out to the flanks to meet the infantry charging ahead, the Risen's own cavalry came out to meet Chrom. Three horses with glowing eyes filled with hatred mirrored by their riders rode forward. Lances raised and ready. Chrom prepared himself, but the first rider was picked off with an arrow to the head and its steed vanished in the same smoke.
Chrom awaited the next rider. Once the beast approached, the prince gave a mighty slash and the horse's head came clean off. The beast vanished in a puff of smoke and the rider stood up. It gave a gutteral war cry in frustration, but it ended up getting stabbed in the back by Robin.
The axe wielders were catching up, but with a very fast and agile sprint, Raven went up to meet them. Chrom watched with fascination as she seemingly danced around their axes giving a mixture of slashes and fire spells which kept them occupied.
"Chrom, watch out!" Robin shouted to the prince. Chrom's attention was pulled back to the final cavalier charging for them. It was different from the last two though. This one bent its body forward as it thrust it's lance, giving reach far beyond the horse's head. Chrom dodged out of the way and Robin fired a thunder spell.
The spell hit the cavalier in the head, but it only twitched for a couple seconds as the horse continued forward. The beast rammed straight for the tactician. Robin was knocked aside and the rider had finally gained enough awareness to steer its beast for the back lines.
Yet, it was intercepted. Vaike, wielding a large iron battle axe gave a spinning slash, knocking the steed and rider straight into the dirt. Frederick came riding up and finished the horse with his lance, but the rider came up to avenge its steed. Suddenly, a fire spell crashed into the rider, setting it ablaze as if made of tinder.
Without a moment to waste, Virion shot the undead soldier in the head, killing it near instantly. Vaike ran up to join the front lines, and Miriel took a stance by Robin to support the efforts. Raven watched as arrows embedded themselves in her distracted targets and waved thanks to the womanizing archer.
Stahl and Sully finally cleaned up the sides and came crashing down with a vengeance from either side of the swordsmen now approaching the vanguard. That spelled the last of the Risen on their side of the river and as Sully moved up to Stahl she gave him a punch to the shoulder with a grin.
Chrom smiled at Robin who gave a nod in return as they waited for the rest to regroup. That had been far easier than most of the missions Chrom ever went on. He watched as Raven walked over, twirling her sword as she approached with a smug grin looking at Robin as she took up position beside him.
"What next?" Chrom asked the two. Raven looked past the river and frowned slightly. She noticed two old defensive towers on either side of the bridge.
"Well, the defensive structures will be a problem. The bridge is a choke point, and the hills are obscuring our enemy's numbers. It would be reckless to charge straight through. I'm not sure we can draw them out though."
Raven gave an expectant look to Robin who nodded and picked up the rest. He looked at the old towers and nodded to himself. Once he had his thoughts gathered he explained his plan. The plan was to push past the bridge and set up a defensive head after taking the towers. Virion and Miriel would fire spells and arrows from the top of either tower and report the enemy's movements or numbers. Then it would be a straight shot to clean up the North Road from there.
Upon approaching the bridge, soldiers began charging, but after facing off with Vaike or Chrom and clearing the bridge, the three cavalry units rode out to allow the rest of the Shepherds to cross. Raven and Virion climbed up one tower while Vaike and Miriel took the other. Almost as soon as the archer and tactician took the tower, Raven came running down to Chrom.
"Chrom, we have a problem. Cavalry units are advancing around the hill. We've identified a few others waiting between the hills. It's a pincer attack waiting to happen if we charge forward."
"Understood. Thank you Raven," Chrom then ordered everyone into a defensive position around the towers. They waited for the mounted units to advance and Virion rained down arrows as Miriel pelted them with fire. With the mounted units weakened, they were finished off swiftly. Finally, the last few at the end of the road were picked off in a cavalry charge and the North Road was clear.
"Great work everyone, we'll take a break and continue later."
The break was relatively short, but it had provided some good bonding time for the rest of the group. For Robin, he became swamped with questions from a rather studious mage.
"That was a splendid display of tactical superiority. May I inquire how you acquired such skill? You would put many of the finest Commanders and Tacticians to shame," Miriel questioned Robin with a notebook in hand. Caught off guard some, Robin stared at Miriel in some disbelief. Her speech definitely was different from the rest of the Shepherds.
After a short moment of silence with great patience shown by Miriel, Robin gave his answer, "I don't remember."
Miriel looked up with a raised eyebrow as she stared at Robin's face. "I see, given your facial expressions, dilation of your pupils, and direction of gaze, I can accurately conclude you are not lying. May I inquire about the cause of the lapse in memory?"
"Amnesia."
Suddenly, Miriel's pen was scribbling furiously. The pale haired amnesiac stared in awe at the speed. After a few moments, she eyed him again. Stating to herself, "Fascinating, despite having amnesia, the subject appears to have the necessary knowledge required to wield magic and make in depth analysis of enemy formations."
Robin began to open his mouth to speak, but he was interrupted yet again.
"Does your sister also suffer from the same condition?"
"Yes."
"Truly fascinating," Miriel stated as she scribbled in her notebook more at high speeds.
The inquisition continued for some time, and when Robin looked around for help, everyone seemed to turn a blind eye immediately. Clearly not wanting to interrupt Miriel or get dragged into the conversation. Eventually, by the time they were ready to continue, Robin felt drained from Miriel's thorough interrogation of him.
Robin for the next while, decided that he would join his sister in the wagon and nap. Unfortunately, he missed the event where the company encountered a pegasus. So when Robin woke up to see a large white horse with wings staring very, very intently at him, he was grateful Sumia was close by to calm the creature down before it damaged the wagon in its attempt to suddenly attack Robin.
BEHOLD, I live three years later!
Well, anyways, I must say the last three years had been going like a god damn Sin/Cosin function. Dog died after a trip to Yellowstone, go to College, get used to college and start kicking ass just in time for cancer to make a return to someone I love which subsequently got slammed with Covid-19 and me changing my major.
Well, on several notes. Awakening is pretty old now. But I refuse to write ANYTHING for Fates. God I hate that story, I'm not touching it with a 10 km long pole. And of course I played Three Houses. But, that will have to wait until this monstrosity is finished up. I'm a bit out of practice, but I hope I can continue a little more now.
Still have to finish up this semester, then take a summer semester to finish my Gen Ed requirements, then it's full steam ahead with the major. Don't expect regular intervals of chapter releases...probably. My mom's off to the other side of the country to receive treatment, and I'm taking a grand old load on my major.
Now then, I have other projects that may or may not be in the mix. Projects to kind of help out my lack of non-action writing.
Welp, see you when chapter 6 gets finished. It's started, I just hit a slump with it. Slump should be over by now.