Robin POV

I slowly open my eyes to find the sun glaring at me, stabbing its light into my sore eyes.

"Chrom, look! She's waking up!" a lady with blond pigtails yells to some guy with blue hair next to her, pointing at me.

He kneels next to me and smiles gently. "Hey, sweetie. Are you okay?"

I shake my head as it pounds with pain. "My head hurts." I whimper, rolling on my side to curl up and pull a cream furred teddy bear over my eyes, making the pain not so bad.

A hand on my arm makes me peek open one of my eyes, looking at the stranger, as he looks up at the blond lady. "Lissa, can you do anything to help her?"

She nods and kneels next to me, pulling out a rod with a glowing stone on the end out and waving it over my head. The pain goes away almost immediately, and I sigh, cuddling with my teddy bear. "Is that better now?" she asks, a frown on her face.

I nod and smile at them both. "Thank you, Miss Lissa." I mumble as I sit up, the man putting his hand on my back as I start falling back.

"Can you stand up?" he asks next, offering me his hand. I wrap one arm tightly around my bear as I take his hand in my other hand, finding a bandage on my hand, covering the back of it. I stumble a little as a clanking man walks over, wearing a full suit of armor. "Are you good now?"

I nod. "Yes, thank you, Mister… Chrom?"

The man frowns at me as I look his way, but talks to the man helping me. "Milord, you and Lissa should not go running off like that."

Chrom puts a hand on my head, pulling me slightly behind his leg. "I know that, but if a child is collapsed in a field, you cannot count on me not running off with Lissa to find out what has happened."

"Nonetheless, you should have stated what drew you here before dashing off like that." He looks down at me and I hide behind Chrom a little bit more. "And now that she is up and about, do you know what happened, or her name?"

He shakes his head and looks down at me. "We hadn't asked, but it looks like there was a fight here fairly recently." He grabs my chin gently and makes me look up at him. "What is your name?"

I blink up at him, then look around. "I… I don't remember." I whisper, then hear a metal clink from my bear. I find a thin silver chain with a little locket on it, engraved with something. I hold it up to Chrom. "What does this say?"

The man in the armor takes the bear instead, looking closely at the necklace. "'Robin, my little bird, be free- Mother.'" He looks at me with a look of pity as he offers the bear back to me. "That must be your name, Robin."

I take it back and hold it close, staying close to Chrom, as Miss Lissa comes to kneel next to me, holding a bag half my size. "Is this stuff yours?"

I look at it and recognize a second bear that matches the one I'm holding. "Yes."

"Is it okay if we look through this, so we can try to find your family?" the armored man asks, being much nicer to me.

I nod. "I don't care."

Before he can take the bag, Lissa pulls something purple out of the top of the bag, swings the strap over her shoulder, and grabs my free hand. "We can look when we get back to town, how about that?" The two men nod, and she drops a purplish jacket on my shoulders.

I shove my arms through the sleeves, and close up the front of the giant coat, seeing it pool around my feet and dragging on the ground. "I don't think this is mine."

Chrom rolls his eyes and finds a note sticking out of the pocket, reading it, then putting it back. "This says it's something from your mother, so it has to be yours. It may have been hers before though, so that could explain why it's so big on you." He then kneels in front of me with his back to me. "I'll let you ride piggy back for a while if you want?"

I smile and climb on, wrapping my arms carefully around his shoulders so I don't suffocate him. "Thank you, Mister Chrom."

He grabs my legs as he stands upright. "You're welcome, Robin. While we walk, can you tell us anything about what happened?"

I lean my head against his shoulder, humming in thought as our group heads over to the road. "I don't know, I think I might have been with someone else? I'm too young to be alone on the road, for sure."

The armored man looks at me with a raised eyebrow. "And do you know how old you are, Robin?"

"Um, seven, eight? I think I'm turning eight sometime soon." I blink at him, then look away. "Um, I never heard what your name was, Mister."

Lissa and Chrom laugh a little. "His name is Frederick the Wary, Robin."

"Why is he called 'The Wary'?" I ask, lost.

"Because he never lets his guard down." Lissa laughs.

I look around the forest, looking up to the sky. "Well, one of us needs to be constantly on alert, what with you two always-"

I gasp and point ahead of us, seeing smoke. "Mister Chrom, what is that?"

The others follow my finger and he drops me on the ground. "There must be brigands in the town." He looks at me sternly. "Hide somewhere around here, we'll come back for you once we take care of them." He then turns to the other two, watching him for some kind of orders. "Shepherds, let's go!" They all take off running towards the smoke, and town, before I can get one word out.

I go to the trees and hide behind one of them, and decide to go through the pockets of my coat. I find a yellow book with symbols I recognize and a yellow thunderbolt on the cover, and a bronze short sword hidden along the seam of the jacket. "How did they miss these? How did I miss these?" I ask myself, then shake my head and run out onto the road after them. "I can help them, I know it!"

I find their tracks and follow them towards the pillar of smoke, darkening the closer I get to it. I find Chrom, on foot, and Frederick, riding a horse with a ton of armor, trying to fight off a large man and defend Lissa, but he's too fast for them to land a hit on him.

Without thinking about it, I take a running leap at his back, knocking him off his feet and giving Chrom the opening to stab the man. Without taking another glance at them, I open my book and raise my hand, unleashing a weak thunder at the mage about to attack Lissa from behind, giving Frederick the chance to kill him as well. Without any new attackers for the moment, I go back over to Chrom, who stares at me.

"Weren't you hiding? Why did you follow us?" he asks gently, but the tension in his body tells me he's a little mad at me.

I cringe back and look anywhere but at my three friends. "I found a sword and a tome in my coat, and wanted to help. I can fight, and I can tell you how to get rid of the bandits faster than this." I offer my bear to Lissa. "Can you please put this in my bag?"

Frederick makes a funny sound as she puts my toy away. "I think we've found a tactician in training, Milord."

"And one with amnesia, at that." Lissa adds in, putting my bag under the ruins of a shattered fruit stall. "Tell us what your plan is."

I point up at the roofs of the buildings. "You and I get up on the roofs and jump from building to building so we can keep up with Frederick and Chrom on the ground. I can attack from a distance with magic to stun their stronger opponents, and you can heal them if they get close enough to the building so you can reach down to them, while I protect you. Chrom and Frederick can attack the majority of the bandits until we need to get across the bridge, so we'll join them on the ground when that happens, and move forward together."

They all share a look before Chrom grins. "I don't think she's in training, Frederick. It's a brilliant plan that keeps our mage and healer safe while still easily accessible and defendable."

Frederick nods in agreement. "Then let us use this plan and get a move on with this, we don't have all day."

We clear out this side of the town of bandits without any problems, and without me needing to really help, and only one healing on Chrom for a small cut on his shoulder. Once we reach the bridge, they catch us as we jump down from the roof, and we make our way to the lead bandit and the last of his band.

The leader of the band glares at me, which I return. "You were dead, I confirmed it myself, you little brat!" He throws one of his axes at me without warning, giving me no time to dodge.

Chrom steps in front of me and knocks the weapon aside. Frederick charges at the leader as Chrom follows the attack. "Your end has come!" he shouts, as he swings his sword straight into the enemy's stomach. "That was probably the stupidest thing you could have possibly done." He twists the sword, then pulls it out, releasing a disgusting smell and the man's blood to spill onto the ground.

The dying man laughs, staring at me the whole time. "It matters not, the girl dies one way or another." The light leaves his eyes, and he stops breathing, dying with a sick smile on his face.

I start shaking with horror, pulling out my book to attack a different bandit, when a sharp blade comes up to meet my neck. I scream as the bandit knocks the book out of my hands, then covers my mouth. They lift me off the ground and hold me tightly against their body, nearly suffocating me with a tight grip over my mouth and nose, hardly letting me breathe.

"Robin!" Lissa screams, terrified.

Chrom and Frederick turn around slowly, eyes widening as they see my situation. "Let the girl go!" Frederick yells, fear shining in his eyes as I struggle pointlessly in the bandit's grip.

He laughs as he moves his hand from my face to my throat, beginning to crush my windpipe. "I's got's dis one las' job, sheepy, an' 'ere ain't nothin' what can keep me from it!"

I try to claw at the hand on my throat, digging in with my nails as much as I can as the strength begins to leave my body. My eyes begin to fog up and darken as I go limp, my ears ringing and my head spinning. An impact with the ground barely fazes me, but the weight of a body and the smell of blood overwhelms me. As fast as I register it, the body is rolled away, and a set of gloved hands pull me away, into someone's arms.

I open my eyes, which I hadn't realized had ever closed, to find Lissa bent over me, staff in hand as she heals my hurts. "Can you hear me?" she asks, making me nod slowly back at her.

Chrom comes next to me and sighs. "I feared the worst when you weren't responding."

Clanking armor approaches Chrom, and a hand rests on my head. "The villagers are alright, Milord, but there is another pressing matter."

"What is it?" he asks, frowning before he looks away from me.

"The brigands had a Plegian accent, and some training, or they wouldn't have lasted nearly as long as they did. Add that to trying to kill Robin, I am going to assume someone powerful wants her dead." He puts down my bag and opens it up, returning my bear to me. "Is there anything else that you can remember, your parents or friends?"

I shake my head and squeeze the bear. "I don't remember anything." I hunch my shoulders up and bury my face in the soft fur of the toy. "I don't want to be alone, they'll come after me again. Please, don't leave me alone."

Chrom picks me up, and I wrap my arms around his neck. "We'll protect you Robin, I promise." He turns around as Frederick's armor clanks. "Were you able to find out if anyone in town knows anything about a missing child?"

"Nobody has heard, but they will ask any travelers that pass through to pass along the message that we have her."

"Chrom, I think we should rest for a while in town. Robin's going to need time to recover, and the villagers are offering to host us for the night." Lissa tells Chrom, almost begging him so we can stay the night.

He shakes his head. "We need to get back to Ylisstol Lissa, but maybe next time. I can take turns carrying Robin with Frederick while we walk. Though if they could spare us an extra blanket for when we make camp tonight, it would be much more appreciated than a feast and a real bed for the night." I yawn and turn my head more comfortably against his shoulder. "Rest Robin, we'll take care of everything else."

I obey him and pull my bear closer.

Chrom POV

I hold onto the sleeping child as gently as I can while we walk, trying to hold her securely but not tight enough to wake her up. Even as I adjust my grip on her, she just continues to sleep comfortably, despite her not so smooth ride.

"Milord, I think we ought to make camp for tonight." Frederick comments, glancing back at Lissa, who is trying to keep her complaints quiet.

"I second that Frederick! Besides, I'm hungry!" Lissa exclaims, making Robin shift before settling down again.

I sigh. "Lissa, you clear a campsite and watch Robin, while Frederick and I go hunt down something to eat." She immediately jumps into action, clearing away a layer of leaves before laying out the blanket we got from Southtown earlier. I set the small girl down, then follow Frederick into the woods, pulling out Falchion and keeping my eyes glued to the ground in a search for recent animal tracks. "Frederick, I'm worried about Robin."

"It's hard not to be, Milord. Those bandits had a job to kill her, and thought they had completed their job. It makes me wonder who she was before her amnesia."

I shake my head. "But I was able to carry her all afternoon without any difficulty, she was so light. I don't think she was someone very important, just a random target."

He gives me a long look before looking back at the ground. "While it is a possibility, we lost the chance to go through her bag while we were in town. Perhaps it will be something to do while you cook dinner?"

"A good idea, Frederick." I kneel down and trace a large print in the ground. "A bear, and fairly recent, if that pile of dung over there means anything."

A growl comes from behind us, and I rise, slowly turning around to find the bear on the edge of a clearing glaring at us. "I can agree with that thought Milord. How do we want to take it down?"

"Flank it, then use your lance to spear it, and I'll finish it off if necessary." We step back into the trees carefully without making any sudden moves or sounds.

Just as planned, Frederick's lance makes quick work of the large bear, without requiring me to assist in anything but gutting it and assisting in dragging the kill back to camp.

"Lissa, we've got dinner!" I call as we near the small fire she managed to start.

"Ooh, what is it?" she calls back.

I grin as we drop the carcass at the edge of the camp. "Bear, little sis."

She crinkles up her nose in disgust. "Seriously Chrom? How are you so excited about eating bear meat?"

I shake my head at her and kneel to skin the carcass and carve it up into meal sized portions. "You know I like fresh game meat. Besides, weren't you saying you were hungry?"

"But a bear?" she whispers as Robin stirs again with a whimper this time.

"Mama…" she mutters, and I see a small glint of light in a line down her cheek as I realize she's crying in her sleep. She opens her eyes and sits up, wiping her face and looking around in a daze, before stopping to watch me. "Where are we?"

"Halfway to Ylisstol, the capital city of Ylisse. We decided to camp out here for the night." I finish cutting up the meat and skewer the meat on a stick. "Are you hungry?"

Almost immediately, her stomach rumbles loudly, and she looks down in shock before smiling sheepishly back up at me. "Um, I think my stomach answered that one first."

"Indeed it did, Robin." Frederick comments, sitting down next to her with the bag in hand. "Would you like to go through this with me?"

"I… guess, if it's okay." She looks at the bag, holding her big bear close.

"I don't mind at all." Frederick says as he starts opening the bag. He reaches in, pulls out a second bear, this one with chocolate brown fur and a gold locket around its neck, and reads off, "'I will always be with my little bird- Mother.'" Without a word, he hands her the second bear, which she holds right next to her first bear. Frederick then reaches back into the bag, pulling out several sets of clothes, a couple of journals, and a box of writing utensils. "Nothing really out of the ordinary except for the coat you have, Robin."

She looks at the sleeve of the coat, which I never through much on until now. "What about it?"

"It has Plegian markings, and Grimleal ones as well." He looks at me for a moment before opening the journal. "'Today, I managed to get away from the village with baby Robin without alerting her father Validar and his priests. I had to simply wait until they went into the inn for the night before sneaking out of the headman's house. I could hardly believe that they were so willing to shelter me, a traitor to the faith and country, for the few days that they have with open arms. They knew the risks, but they still were willing to face the same fate I shall if I am caught within these borders. I must get out of here with Robin, or the world is doomed to die by that accursed dragon once more. If only I could get my baby under the protection of the Exalt, she would be safe, but he would kill her before providing her shelter. I don't know what to do anymore, now that I have abandoned the life I lead as the tactician for the new King's army.'" He puts the book down for a moment, staring into the flames as I put the first skewers of meat over the flames. "Milord, this is possible grounds for war, one which Gangrel has been itching for ever since Lady Emmeryn ended the fighting."

I shake my head. "We cannot let that journal or Robin fall into Plegian hands, or whatever her mother feared will surely come to pass."

Lissa wraps an arm around Robin's small shoulders, running her fingers through the knotted locks of white hair. "I wanna see what's in that other journal."

Frederick picks it up and turns to the first page, letting out a gasp, eyes widening. "This is amazing." He whispers.

Lissa leans over and gasps as well. "It's beautiful."

Robin smiles and touches the page. "I wonder who drew this, it's amazing."

"Frederick, let me see it please?" He turns it around, and I give a long whistle at the snowcapped mountain landscape with a sunrise in the background. "Now that is a masterpiece."

He turns the book so he can flip the page, and finds another note. "This says that Robin did this just a few weeks ago." He looks to our little companion next to him. "You must be quite talented in many areas."

She shrugs and cringes slightly, blushing in embarrassment. "I guess…? I don't know."

I pull the small chunk of meat away from the fire and set it to the side as I put several larger chunks over the flames. "Well, whatever the case, I guess you have a good hobby." After a moment, I pull her chunk of meat off the stick and offer it to her. "Eat up, I can cook you more if you're still hungry after this, but I'm only pacing you."

She takes the meat delicately with a small smile. "Thank you."

After a few more minutes of watching her eat her food very slowly, I offer some meat to both Frederick and Lissa, who politely refuse at the stench. "Chrom, did you seriously have to go after a bear?"

Robin giggles slightly. "It's not that bad, though it could use some spices."

I laugh at Frederick's disgusted expression. "I like it plain, but I wouldn't say no to some extra flavor, in all honesty."

Lissa POV

As I tuck Robin into her makeshift bedroll, Chrom looks around. "What is it?"

He shakes his head and tries to focus on the fire. "I don't know, something just seems… off. I'm sure it's nothing."

I glance around and realize what he means. "It's almost too quiet."

Frederick grunts. "And I was hoping it was just my mind playing tricks on me." As he goes to continue talking, the earth begins shaking under us, waking Robin again with terror in her eyes.

An orange glow in the distance catches my eye, and I gasp. "Chrom, Frederick, look!" I point in the direction of the glow. "Is that a fire?!"

"Damn it!" Chrom growls, climbing to his feet with a struggle due to the earthquake. "We need to get out of here now!"

As the shaking stops, Frederick grabs his horse's reigns and jumps onto his mount. Chrom grabs Robin's bag and runs over to us, while I try to get her to move. "Robin, we need to go!" I shout at her, only to get a small scream of fear and agony.

Chrom shoves the bag into my hands and shoves me towards Frederick. "Go, I'll carry her! Get back to the road, I'll meet you there!" He kneels down and shoves his arms under Robin's paralyzed body, lifting her and running after us as Frederick swings me up in front of him in the saddle.

I try to look behind us to see if Chrom is anywhere near us after a moment, but Frederick makes me face forward. "Milady, he will be fine. He knows where he's going."

I cling tightly to the little girl's bag and clench my eyes shut. "For both their sakes, I pray you're right."

Robin POV

After a while, Chrom stops running and puts me down against a random tree trunk, and uncovers my face. He rubs his thumbs over my cheeks and tries tapping my cheek to make me focus on him, his lips moving soundlessly for a moment before I begin to understand him again.

"-bin, you need to calm down, just take a deep breath." His voice dimly echoes in my ears, getting stronger and louder with every word. "Robin, look at me." I blink up at him and take a deep, shuddering breath. "That's it, just breathe."

I force my right hand to release one of my bears and grab his hand. "Fi-f-fi-ir-irre…"

His eyes widen and he pulls away the weird bandage, and he stares at the strange purple brand on my hand. "What is this?"

I take another breath, getting steadier. "I-it w-was ever-rywh-where… a ca-castl-le… a-and la-laughi-ing…"

"What was?" he asks, and I look at my hand. "The mark?" I nod. "But that means you have some kind of importance to the Grimleal. Can you remember anything else?"

I nod my head. "It w-was da-ark… an-nd e-evil… i-it was ho-ome…" I squeeze his hand tightly, scared to let go. "D-don't s-send me ba-back… please… He-he'll hurt me…"

He frowns and hugs me, rubbing my back. "I will do everything I can to keep you in Ylisse."

A rustle in the bushes makes me clutch at my bears, and Chrom pulls out his sword, tucking me under one arm and holding me against him. "Who goes there?!" A roar is all he gets in response, as a creature with red eyes and gray skin sewn grossly together charges out at us. It swings it heavy axe up in the air, and Chrom raises his sword to hold it back from us. "Robin, run!" He lets me go to use his now free arm, and I start to run, only to step out of the attack from another of the creatures.

It turns its head back around to face me, and it kneels on the ground, grumbling in what must be its own way of talking. I back up and look at the creature attacking Chrom, when my brand burns, making my head hurt like someone drove a nail into it for a second. The creature, whatever it is, gets up and attacks the one Chrom is fighting from behind. They swing their axes at each other and take off each other's heads, everything but their weapons turning into an evil black mist.

"Chrom!" Lissa shouts as she runs to us, when another one of the monsters charges up behind him.

As the axe swings down, somebody dressed in a blue suit and mask blocks it, holding on with a strong grip and stance. Their arms buckle the slightest bit as the force behind the axe increases, and he kicks it in the stomach. Before it can recover, Chrom swings his blade around and cuts off its head, ending the fight.

They both put away their swords as Frederick rides his horse back to us, looking everyone over for injuries. "Milord, Milady, are you alright?"

"Nobody was hurt, Frederick." Chrom assures him, calming the knight down a lot. He turns to look at the person in blue. "Thanks to you, anyway. What's your name?"

They tense up and turn their head my way. "You may call me Marth." He ignores the others and comes to kneel in front of me. "Are you Robin?"

I nod, biting my lip and pulling my bears up over my mouth. "Do you know me? Do you know where Mama is?"

He shakes his head. "I don't know, small one. But whatever you do, stay with these people, okay?"

"Where else would I go?"

He finally smiles a little bit, but it still looks really sad. He takes my hand and walks me back over to Chrom, who picks me up and holds me tightly. "I have only come to warn you of the calamity that will soon befall this world. Protect this child, and your family, and I pray that it never happens."

Frederick walks his horse to stand behind Chrom. "What calamity do you speak of?"

My sleeve slips down to my forearm, and Frederick sees the ugly mark. "One the child will be a major part of, should she fall into the wrong hands." He turns around and walks away, not even saying goodbye.

The three adults look at me with concern. Finally, Frederick pulls me into the saddle with him, wrapping an arm around me. "We'll do what we can. But for now, let's go meet up with Sully and that Virion person. They should have a new camp set up by now."

He turns his horse around and leads the others through the woods and to a small fire with two people sitting next to it, a woman with spiky red hair and red armor, the other with a frilly outfit and weirdly long bluish hair. "I've brought the others, Sully."

The woman turns around and starts to talk, a bit angry, when Frederick's hands cover my ears, sealing out the ranting of the redhead. I watch as Chrom and Lissa talk to her, calming her down enough to the point that she crosses her arms and closes her mouth. After a moment, Frederick takes away his hands and the guy with the light blue hair helps me down from the saddle.

"What an adorable child you've found, good sir!" the man fawns over me, holding me too tightly and pinching my cheek.

I get annoyed and kick him in the shin, making him drop me to my feet, and I jump away from him. "I'm not a toy."

"No, you're a fighter!" the redhead shouts, putting her hand on my shoulder in a gentle way that is totally opposite to her loud voice. "What's your name, kiddo?"

"Robin." I smile up at her. "What's your name?"

"I'm Sully, one of the Captain Chrom's Shepherds with Lissa and Frederick." She grins down at me and nudges me towards the fire.

I cringe back from the flames as the wood pops.

"Robin, run!" I turn around to find Mama yelling at me, scared at her tone, as she points for me to go down an alley. "Get home right now, and hide!"

I run to obey her, ducking into the alley as a blast of lightning hits where I was just standing. With a small shriek, I run as fast as I can, pulling out my own Thunder tome as I go. Before I know it, I'm hiding under my bed, covering my mouth as strangers walk through the house, yelling loudly and knocking over the furniture.

"Git yer li'l arse out 'ere, you li'l brat!" they shout over and over. I cry quietly as they come upstairs into the hallway, opening the closet and throwing the clean blankets and coats onto the floor in a heap.

"'at ole hag lied, she ain't 'ere. Put it to th' torch, lads." One of them shouts from outside. They run outside and a mage sets the house on fire. I crawl out of my spot and grab my blankets, tossing my bears, Mama's money and jewelry, and some snacks into the center of the blanket, tying the corners together and running into the burning hallway. I cough as the smoke gets into my lungs, and crawl on my hands and knees, trying to get to the cellar where all the tomes, potions, and food is, with the emergency tunnel. Just a few paces away, one of the ceiling beams pops, and it falls on me, still burning.

I scream in pain.

"-in!" Hands shaking me pull me back to reality. "Robin, just breathe!" I do as the voice says, trying to calm down my speeding heart, trying to focus on what I really see. "Chrom, I think she's coming around."

I look up to find Lissa's face right in mine, her hands on my cheeks. "Wh-what j-just ha-happened?"

Sully pulls Lissa away and sits next to me. "You started screaming for your mother and you were crying." She wipes off my cheeks gently with a handkerchief. "It almost looked like a panic attack, or a flashback."

"It was a fire, wasn't it?" Chrom asks me, curious.

I nod. "The bandits from earlier, they thought they killed me when they burned down the house. I was hiding inside, and they couldn't find me, so they thought Mama lied about where I was. A ceiling beam that was on fire fell on me when I was almost safe, and that's all I saw."

Done with my latest story, once again started in math class like all of my one-shots will be, and also like Saved From Fate. I swear, either I write this stuff on my calculator, or I might fall asleep every day in there, it's not even funny.

I do not own Fire Emblem Awakening, how many more times will I say it till I no longer am required to?