"I am sorry for all of the pain that I caused, it was not supposed to go this way. I wish to explain why I took the actions that I did and give insight to the remaining trials ahead."
-A letter found in a ruined keep
"Robin, we have to keep up the pace. I know it's hard, but our pursuers are likely right behind us." Athea softly admonished her daughter. "We're so close, in less than a day we'll be safe." Taking comfort in her mother's promise, Robin managed to jog for a bit so that she could catch up to her mother's side. The young woman had grown tired from their flight and had been lagging behind for the last half hour of their hike. Upon catching up with Athea, the woman smiled at Robin and put one arm around her daughter in an embrace while the two continued in a comfortable silence. After a few minutes, Robin finally mustered the courage to ask a question that had been plaguing her since they had left their home.
"I know we had to leave home," Robin hesitantly started, "but why are we heading for Ylissitol? The Ylisseans there certainly have no love for Plegians. Wouldn't it be better to hide in a remote village instead?" Athea grimaced slightly at the reminder of the war that had engulfed the two countries fifteen years ago and glanced at the cloak that her daughter insisted on wearing despite the danger. Its sleeves were adorned with a stylized version of the Mark of Grima and was a prominent display of very thing that had sparked the recent war between the worshipers of Naga and Grima.
Athea softly sighed before responding, "That may be true. However, what I've learned about the current Exalt makes me think she is nothing like her father. In fact, everything I've heard has said that she is kind to a fault. I believe that once we are able to explain our situation to her, we will be granted the asylum that we need."
Robin simply nodded. Outwardly she accepted her mother's explanation, but she had her doubts that everything would work out as her mother was hoping. There was no way her father was going to let them go without a fight and no matter how kind the Exalt of Ylisse was, she almost certainly wasn't going to invite such conflict into her capitol. It was much more likely in Robin's mind that they would be cast out of the city shortly after they arrived. That being said, she supposed that the worst case scenario was that the pair would be able to rest in the city for a day before they continued their flight.
Despite her misgivings, Robin had to admit that Ylisse was their best bet for safety and she ultimately couldn't fault her mother's choice. Fleeing west would have lead them further into the unforgiving Plegian deserts, where they would have been easily followed and would have no chance of outside aid. North would brought them to the rough landscapes that the Feroxi live in and it was almost certain that they would have been turned back at the border. The final option would have been to charter a boat and sail across the sea to Valm, but it was unlikely that they could have done so without attracting notice. She had heard that the continent was currently undergoing military strife, so it wouldn't have been a good choice from that perspective as well.
Compared to their other options, Ylisse was almost idyllic. Its landscape was predominately farmable grassland that was largely still untouched by the halidom's citizens. Most of the population resided in small villages that were scattered throughout the countryside, where they lived peaceful lives of farming or craftsmanship. Even its temperate climate was preferable to the sweltering heat of Plegia or the harsh winters of Ferox.
Robin and Athea had continued their trek through the Ylissean countryside for about another hour when Robin suddenly collapsed, holding her head and screaming. She was vaguely aware of her mother shouting her name while Athea attempted to rouse her, but Robin was unable to do anything except writhe on the ground in pain. Despite her eyes being clamped shut, visions started to fill her sight and she suddenly found herself standing in a large room. Even though she had never seen this place before, the vision felt more like a vivid memory rather than a dream and the constant pain she was in enforced the idea that she wasn't merely asleep.
Another strange facet of the vision was that Robin's body was moving unbidden on its own. She was running alongside a man with blue hair that she didn't recognize and they appeared to be in a large temple. If she had been able to control her own movements, she would have stopped in horror when she saw the man that they were approaching. He had jet black hair with a goatee and was standing in the middle of the room wearing the dark purple robes of the Grimleal.
Validar. Her father.
"Thoron!" Came the cry unbidden from her mouth as a large beam of lightning formed in front of the yellowed tome that she was holding and shot forward. Robin thought her voice sounded oddly distorted in the vision, but was more interested in the spell that her body had just cast. She considered herself barely competent with Thunder and yet here she was using Thoron with more proficiency than anything she had ever seen from her mother. When the spell had been cast, there had been none of the normal fatigue that accompanied a spell cast, meaning that the casting had fully utilized the power stored within the tome rather than relying on her own strength. She hadn't even mastered that feat with the basic level Thunder.
While Robin had been musing about the spell's potency, it had continued its path and hit Validar squarely in the chest. Despite the mysterious pain she was still in, Robin was able to feel some satisfaction when she saw the injury that her magical assault had inflicted on her father: his immaculate robes were now covered in singes and he was breathing heavily. The Grimleal priest wasn't given a chance to recover as the blue-haired man reached him and used his ornate looking sword to stab the Grimleal high priest in his side. Surprisingly, the strike bypassed the defensive enchantments that Robin knew her father had on his cloak and had cleanly cut through the robes. Validar yelled in agony from the wound and collapsed in a heap on the ground with his robes pooling around him.
The swordsman took several steps back and calmly spoke, "Stay down. Surrender and we won't have to end you." Though Robin desperately wanted to tell him to finish off her father, her body instead mutely ran to the man's side despite her protests. The last thing she wanted to do was get closer to her father, even in his injured state. For several seconds the pair cautiously watched Validar, but the priest wasn't making any discernible movements and Robin started to think that he might have passed out from his wounds.
Suddenly, Validar swept back his robes with one arm and Robin could see that he had retrieved his own tome from within his robes' inner pockets. "This isn't over... damn you both! Face Grima's Truth!" At the command, a dark power shot forth from his tome aimed at the blue-haired man. Robin's body reacted instantly and pushed him out of the way of the spell, causing her to take the full brunt of it herself. The mental pain that she had been experiencing was joined by the ravaging physical pain of the dark spell as it engulfed her body and surrounded around her as a shadowy aura. The spell felt as if hundreds of knives were repeatedly piercing her skin and cemented the belief held by the small part of her mind that could still rationally think that this wasn't an ordinary dream.
"Robin!" The man besides her cried out in surprise and concern. He briefly gave her a worried look before steeling himself and once again dashed towards Validar. Unlike Robin's casting of Thoron, Validar's usage of Grima's Truth had severely fatigued the already injured man and he made no move to protect himself as the swordsman approached. This time the swordsman didn't aim for a nonlethal hit and instead finished the dark priest with a blow to the heart. After he withdrew his bloodied sword from Validar's chest, he experimentally poked the priest's arm with his sword. When the corpse didn't react, the swordsman returned to Robin's side and knelt down next to her. Thankfully, the effects of Grima's Truth had ended when Validar had been stabbed through the heart so Robin was left with only the splitting headache.
"Are you all right? That's the end of him," he said and gave her a small smile. "Thanks to you we carried the day. We can rest easy now... at long last." Despite his words of comfort, Robin wasn't so sure that it was over. She thought that she could hear her father's laugher echoing throughout the room and for some unknown reason her sight was starting to turn red at the periphery. Despite her worries, nothing else happened and she started to believe that the vision was simply ending and she would wake up in the field with her worried mother at her side.
Her hopes were dashed when Robin noticed movement out of the corner of her eye and heard a grunt of pain from the blue-haired man. She realized with a start that her body was still moving on its own when it turned to face him and saw that the swordsman had fallen to his hands and knees. Robin didn't see anything wrong until he pushed himself off the ground so he was sitting up once again. Now that she had a clear view of his chest, Robin was horrified to see that there was a jagged sword deeply embedded in his side. The odd-looking sword was crackling with electricity that arced across the metal and when her body looked down she could see similar sparks flickering on her outstretched palm.
Despite the the mortal wound, a smile was still visible on the man's face though it was quickly turning into a grimace. "This is not your..." he started to say, then stopped to grunt again. "Your fault. Promise me you'll escape from this place... please... go…" With that, he collapsed and Robin could hear her father's spectral laughter in the room got louder. Despite the man's last words, Robin's body didn't move and she was forced to stare at his unconscious form while the red at edge of her sight started to take over her entire vision.
Robin dimly thought she could hear her mother's voice, as if she was shouting from a great distance. Athea seemed to be yelling Robin's name and something about moving, but Robin couldn't focus on the voice and lost herself to the pain when the red finished taking over her entire sight. She felt only torment and couldn't even think straight enough to try to process the vision that she had unwillingly witnessed. Just when she couldn't take anymore, most of the pain subsided and she found herself once again standing next to the blue-haired man facing down her father. She could do nothing except watch in anguish while the scenario played out in front of her again.
And again.
And again.
There were occasional irregularities in the vision, such as hearing a familiar woman's voice yell out Thoron not long after she did and a sharp pain in her stomach that persisted from one vision to the next. When it first started, the new pain was accompanied by the same voice screaming her name. Or at least what she thought her name was. If the blue-haired man didn't shout Robin at her every loop, she numbly suspected that should would have forgotten it amongst the pain by now.
After what seemed like an eternity, new voices started to flit across her consciousness that sounded angry. For some reason, almost all of the pain she'd been experiencing from the visions had receded and she was able to hear most of their conversation despite still being in the vision loop.
"...upposed to 'apture 'er, not kill!"
"I know that! Couldn't see her… that witch! Not my fault sh…"
"...plain to Validar 'ow it's not yer fault when yer axe is in 'er gut!"
At this point Robin mercifully fell into unconsciousness and the vision loop ended. In direct contrast to what she had just experienced, her unconscious dreams were unexpectedly peaceful, though she couldn't focus on their contents. The one thing that she could tell was that there was a woman's calming voice, but even that slipped away from her and she knew no more.
Not far away, the relatively flat countryside was broken up by a small hill that served as a convenient vantage point. From it, one could see all of the surrounding plains that were empty apart from a nearby small town. A young man with short dark brown hair lay on his back atop the hill with what looked like a large black and purple blanket being used for a pillow. Three travelers and their horse were surrounding him and were trying to determine if there something was wrong.
"Chrom, we have to do something!" A girl's shrill voice exclaimed, layered with worry.
"What do you propose we do?" Came the response, this speaker another young man.
"I... I dunno..."
The young man on the ground groaned and started to sit up, opening his eyes to take in his surroundings. Taken aback by the situation that he found himself in, his eyes darted between the three people that were standing around him.
The person that was closest by was crouching over him and smiled upon seeing that the object of his concern was starting to rouse himself. "Ah, I see you're awake now. There are better places to take a nap than on the ground, you know." He was wearing dark blue colored light armor that covered most of his body, although his right arm was exposed. A sword was sheathed at his side that had a very ornate looking crossguard, but the thing that really surprised the man on the ground was that the other man had short blue hair.
Chrom.
The second person standing above him was a girl with yellow blonde hair in pigtails who had a concerned look on her face. Like the first, her demeanor improved when she saw that he was stirring and a shy smile appeared on her face. "Hey there!" She was wearing a yellow dress with large skirt and was holding a staff instead of a weapon.
Lissa.
The last of the group was standing several feet away and was to be keeping one eye on the young man on the ground and one on the surrounding area. Unlike the other two, he didn't say anything in response to the young man's stirring, and instead narrowed his eyes in suspicion. He had short brown hair and was wearing a full suit of blue armor and was holding a lance at his side.
Frederick.
The first man extended his arm out to the one on the ground, who grasped it with his own. "Thanks Chrom," he said as was helped to his feet.
"Ah, then you know who I am?" Chrom responded with a raised eyebrow and released the other man's hand now that he had finished standing.
"Uh, I don't think so? Didn't she say your name while you were waiting for me to wake up?" While he said this, the young man nodded in the direction of the girl in yellow while he stretched his arms.
Chrom chuckled softly and rubbed the back of his head at his oversight. "I suppose she did. This is my little sister Lissa and our ally Frederick." At Lissa's introduction, her smile grew and she waved. On the other hand, Frederick only gave a slight nod in greeting and returned to keeping watch on their surroundings. Chrom continued, "What's your name friend?"
"And…," the brown haired man started, then hesitated. "Er… you know, I can't actually remember! And to be honest, I'm not sure how I got here either..." As if to emphasise his point, he started looking at his surroundings with confusion plain on his face.
"Hey, I've heard of this!" Lissa chimed in, "It's called amnesia!"
Frederick snorted in response to the claim and turned to fully face the other three. "It's called a load of pegasus dung," he said with obvious disbelief. "What is that on the ground next to where you were lying?"
"I'm telling the truth!" The brown haired man insisted and turned to look down at what had been his makeshift pillow. "And I'm not sure... amnesia remember?" He bent down to grab the fabric while his comment earned another scowl from Frederick. Upon being picked up, the item unfurled and revealed itself to be a large cloak with the back facing him. "It's a... robe, I guess." He looked back up from clothing at Frederick, hoping that the harmlessness of the item would assuage the man's concerns. To his surprise, it had the exact opposite effect and Frederick tightened his grip on his weapon, shifting into a guarded stance
"Milord! Milady! Get back!"
Instead of doing as instructed, Chrom sighed. "Yes, I see it Frederick. He doesn't look or sound Plegian and there could be any number of reasons he could have that cloak. We have no reason to think that he's a threat. Besides, what would you have me do, just leave him here alone and confused? What sort of Shepherds would we be then?"
In response to Chrom's statement, Frederick grudgingly returned to his previous position. He continued watching the man in question and marginally relaxed when the supposed amnesiac made no move other than to slowly turn the cloak around so that he could see the other side of it "Just the same, milord. I must emphasize caution. 'Twould not do to let a wolf into our flock."
Lissa had been unfazed by the entire conversation and exasperatedly interjected, "Regardless of his fashion choices, we need a name for him!" She paused for a moment to think before she asked, "What about Anders? It sounds like that's what you were starting to say before!"
The newly christened Anders didn't think that the name sounded quite right, although it was better than nothing so he simply shrugged. "I don't think that's my real name, but it's good enough. You'll be the first to know if I remember what my name actually is." Having turned around the cloak, he inquisitively looked at the piece of clothing. The cloak's fabric was black with gold trim along edges and had several deep purple swaths of fabric that wound around the front and back. Overall, the only thing that struck Anders as notable was a design that looked like three purple eyes that were embroidered on both of the cloak's sleeves. "What do these symbols mean? That's what you were surprised by, right?"
"It is," Chrom confirmed. "If you truly don't recognize it, then that's a conversation that we should have back in Southtown." He gestured behind him towards where Anders assumed the town was.
Lissa looked in the direction he was pointing and gasped, "Chrom, look! The town!"
Chrom whipped around to look in the direction that he had just gestured in and saw several plumes of dark gray smoke rising in the distance. "Damn it! The town is ablaze! Those blasted brigands, no doubt... Frederick, Lissa! Quickly!" With that he took off running down the hill towards the town. Without any hesitation, Lissa followed her brother and started chasing after him, though at a slightly slower pace.
Rather than immediately following as well, Frederick paused, "What about him?"
"Unless he's on fire as well, it can wait!" Chrom yelled back without breaking his stride.
Frederick deflated slightly and muttered, "Aptly put, milord." He gave Anders a final disapproving look before he turned and purposefully strode away from the amnesiac. He quickly mounted the horse that had been grazing during their conversation and swiftly rode down the hill behind the pair.
"Wait, but I can't…" Anders started to say, then stopped when it was clear that the other three were already out of earshot. He looked down at the cloak that he was still holding, trying to figure out why he would have such an item, especially since it warranted concern from the only people he knew. It had to be important though since it was apparently his only possession apart from the plain clothes he was wearing. As such, he was in no rush to part with it despite the trouble that it might bring. Shrugging, Anders put on the cloak and after a moment's hesitation followed the trio down the hill towards the town.
Chrom grit his teeth in frustration as he reached the outskirts of Southtown and was assaulted by the sounds and smells of a village being attacked. Despite having not entered the small town's boundaries yet, he could hear the screams of the townsfolk under assault and could see that the air ahead was filled with smoke. Chrom was prepared to fight bandits whenever he went on patrol with the Shepherds, though he had hoped that they would be able to intercept this group before they had reached any towns. He glanced behind and was glad to see that Frederick and Lissa caught up to him and were waiting for his instructions. He idly wondered where Anders was, but there were much more pressing concerns at hand.
"I'm going to go that way to get behind the bandits," Chrom said, pointing to an alleyway to the north. "You two go east towards those screams and try to help any of the villagers that are being attacked. I'll start heading your way and we'll pincer the dastards."
Frederick frowned upon hearing Chrom's plan. "I don't think milord should be going-"
"We don't have time to discuss, just go! I can take on a few bandits by myself."
The knight hesitantly nodded and started riding in the direction that Chrom had indicated, glancing behind occasionally to make sure that Lissa was right behind him. The cleric told Chrom to stay safe and gained a determined look in her eyes as she started to follow Frederick. Though he had full faith that Frederick would be able to keep her safe, Chrom called out to the pair as they moved further into smokey streets, "Just… be careful Liss." At her brother's voice, Lissa turned around and gave him a hesitant smile and nod before scampering off to keep up with Frederick.
Sighing softly, Chrom unsheathed Falchion and started walking north as he watched intently for any sign of the bandits. Every instinct told him to charge forward and enter the fray as soon as possible to try to prevent further harm to the town, but he forced himself to maintain a steady pace. Rushing into enemies while by himself would only result in getting injured or worse and then he wouldn't be able to help any of the inhabitants. The alleyway he was walking down soon opened up into a larger market street and he spotted one of the town's invaders looting a merchant's stall.
The bandit's gear was of slightly better make than what Chrom had normally seen from other bandits that he had fought in the past. Although it appeared poorly maintained, he was wearing leather armor and had iron axe strapped to his back. While Chrom watched, the rough-looking man was fully engaged in his task of shoveling valuables into a sack and didn't appear to be paying any attention to his surroundings.
"I somehow doubt you paid for those," Chrom called out to the man. He likely could have snuck up behind the bandit and scored a free hit with Falchion, but striking a man in the back wasn't something that he wanted to stoop to. Even if the man in question was a criminal. At Chrom's challenge, the bandit immediately turned around and retrieved his axe with more speed than Chrom would have expected. Perhaps it was just as well that he hadn't opted for a surprise attack, the advantage could have easily been turned around on him if the bandit had heard his approach.
"Oi, we got a 'ero here, do we?" The bandit chuckled darkly, "I'll show you 'ow we deal with 'eros." The bandit darted forward with his axe raised and started a powerful downswing as he neared the Ylissean. Chrom jumped backwards out of the way of the strike and retaliated by swinging Falchion, hitting the man on his left forearm. The bandit's wrist guards absorbed the brunt of the attack so the axeman remained largely unharmed and merely cursed at Chrom. Despite this, Chrom was pleased with the result of their first exchange. Considering his foe's clearly aggressive style, Chrom took another step back and settled into a defensive stance. If he could continue to bait and counterattack, he could make quick work of the town's attacker.
His strategy was soon disrupted when he noticed that there was another bandit starting to approach him from the left. The second bandit had gear of similar quality to the first and was taking his time moving towards Chrom, apparently confident in their odds. The opponent Chrom had already engaged grinned at the sight of his ally and swung his axe again while calling out to other bandit. This time, Chrom wasn't able to fully sidestep the attack due to the distraction and had to block the attack with Falchion instead of simply dodging out of the way. While maintaining the overhead block, he pivoted so he could see both of his potential attackers at once and his back was once again to the alleyway that he had emerged from. Seeing that the swordsman was now entangled, the second bandit started to charge at Chrom from across the market street with his axe raised.
Chrom was starting to regret going off on his own. He was still confident that he could beat these two, but there were decent odds that he would be injured while doing so. Without Lissa or any of his other allies, the odds of victory would go down significantly if he got into another fight after this one. However, he needed to deal with the immediate threat first so he returned his full attention to the fight at hand. While maintaining his block with Falchion, Chrom kicked at the first bandit, making the axe wielder loosen his grip on his weapon in his surprise. Chrom immediately pressed his advantage by disarming the bandit with a flourish of Falchion that caused the axe to fly out of the man's grip and land several feet away. Satisfied that this bandit had been mostly neutralized, Chrom was starting to turn towards the quickly approaching threat when a woman's voice suddenly called out from behind him.
"Thunder!"
Time seemed to slow down as Chrom's mind raced. A third bandit? How had he missed the woman? He didn't know, but had no doubts that even if he survived this encounter, the verbal thrashing he would receive from Frederick would make him wish he hadn't. He had braced himself for the inevitable magical onslaught when the bolt of electricity he had been expecting to be hit by flew past and struck the second bandit instead. From the quick glances he gave them, the two invaders were as surprised by the spell as Chrom had been. Whether it was due to an injury the spell had inflicted or simply its unexpected nature, the Thunder spell had caused the bandit to stop his charge and Chrom allowed himself to breathe a sigh of relief. The newcomer wasn't one of their allies afterall.
Between the three melee combatants, Chrom the first to recover from the surprise and turned his full attention back to the disarmed bandit in front of him. He once again swung Falchion and this time the sword struck true, hitting the man cleanly across the chest and slicing through his disheveled leather armor. With a grunt, the bandit dropped to his knees and his eyes began to lose their focus while blood trickled down his front. Knowing this opponent was no longer a threat, Chrom pivoted to his left once again to face his second attacker head on. While he wanted to see his apparent savior, the swordsman knew he needed to dispatch the remaining enemy first.
The second bandit had resumed his charge towards Chrom, though he was still stunned by the electrical assault he had received so his charge was much slower than before. Seeing the man's slowed movements, Chrom reverted to his original plan for fighting a single opponent and waited for the man to approach. The mage behind him had other ideas, which was signaled by another command of Thunder. Once again a bolt of electricity flew past Chrom and struck the bandit, this time hitting the man in the head. The bandit's legs immediately gave out and he started convulsing on the ground. Satisfied that both bandits had been incapacitated, Chrom finally turned around to see who had saved him from the uneven fight.
Standing about fifteen feet behind him was a young woman with medium length white hair holding a Thunder tome. She was wearing the same kind of cloak that Anders had been found with, which made Chrom wonder how many friendly Grimleal he was going to meet today. Before he could put much thought into the strange occurrence, the mage suddenly doubled over and started wheezing as her tome fell from her hands, hitting the ground with a loud thump. Chrom hurried to her side after taking a quick look around to make sure that there weren't any additional bandits nearby.
"Thanks for the assistance, I was definitely in a bind there. Are you alright?"
"I'll… I'll be fine… had to run… to catch up… with you…" She slowly gasped out, "Don't… know why… two spells took… so much... out of me… Where are… Lissa and Frederick?"
Chrom was surprised that a woman that he had never met before had chased after him to his aid and that she knew the names of his fellow Shepherds. From her gear, he decided it wasn't much of a stretch to assume that she knew Anders and he had sent her ahead to help the Shepherds. Chrom still wasn't sure where she came from and where Anders could be, but decided that both of those questions could be answered later.
"They went in a different direction to try to help the townsfolk that were being attacked. I haven't heard any shouts in a while which is either good or very bad, so I need to go meet up with them. Are you well enough to walk?"
"You went off… by yourself? Sounds like you… really need a tactician… if that's the best… plan you had." The young woman was still speaking slowly and her breathing was starting to normalize. "And yes, I can walk… Just give me a second…"
True to her word, a moment later she reached down and retrieved her tome before hesitantly giving Chrom a nod that she was ready to move. He returned her nod with a confident one of his own before turning back east and slowly started towards where he hoped he would find Frederick and Lissa. He didn't see any more bandits in the immediate area which made him want to pick up the pace so that they could reach the other pair sooner. However, he didn't think that his new companion would be able to move any faster so he maintained their current speed.
Speaking of the mage, Chrom glanced behind him and was glad to see that she was keeping up with him. "By the way, I didn't catch your name," he called out.
"But we just… I mean, I guess a lot has happened…" Though she no longer seemed out of breath, her reply was softer than when they had been talking earlier and she was staring at the ground while she walked. After pausing for another second, she glanced up from the ground and looked Chrom in the eyes. "My name is Robin."
"Then you have my thanks Robin," Chrom replied, intentionally ignoring the first half of her statement for now. There were definitely things that he would need clarification from her about, but for now all he needed was an ally watching his back. "You mentioned that I needed a tactician, which is a sentiment I can't bring myself to disagree with. Would you happen to be one?"
Robin frowned slightly at the question. "I think so? I'm pretty sure I was at least training as one. But you know, amnesia?"
Her reply made Chrom stop in his tracks and stare at her incredulously. The fact that he had met two Grimleal on this side of the border in one day was highly unusual and frankly worrisome. The next thing that had struck him as odd was that neither of them had mentioned their God nor said anything concerning. Chrom thought himself to be a trusting person by nature, but to be honest he had expected to hear or see something that was morally questionable from cultists who worship a fell dragon. The fact that both of them claimed to have amnesia though? That was just outlandish.
Robin had taken a few steps beyond Chrom and stopped to return his questioning look, though she seemed to be wondering why they had suddenly stopped. "Robin…" Chrom slowly started to say, "What's going on here? I mean with you and An-" Suddenly a scream pierced the air and interrupted his query. While he had heard several screams shortly after entering the boundaries of the town, this one caused a chill to run down his spine. It was Lissa.
Yelling his sister's name in alarm, Chrom took off in a full sprint without checking to see if Robin was following him. He quickly came to the bridge that spanned the small river running through the town. On the far end of the bridge he could see Lissa standing over several injured townsfolk that she had presumably intended on healing with her staff. The reason for her scream was three bandits that were directly between the siblings that were making their way towards the terrified cleric. Two of the bandits were armed similarly to the others that he had fought, but the third carried an iron sword instead of an axe.
On Lissa's side of the bridge, Chrom could see Frederick desperately fighting off another bandit while his horse stood nearby. The knight had likely dismounted earlier to make it easier to fight in the town's narrower alleys and was trying to disengage from his opponent and rush to his charge's side. The bandit he was fighting must have been unusually competent and had so far been able to stall Frederick's assault. With the distances at play Chrom knew that there was no way that either man would be able to reach Lissa before the bandits did, even if Frederick had been able to turn and attack immediately.
"Get away from her you dastards!" Chrom yelled out in a desperate attempt to distract the bandits while he charged them. The bandit with the sword turned to face the Chrom while the other two continued down the bridge towards Lissa, the lure of an undefended healer too enticing for them to ignore. Chrom ruefully noted that his challenge had only made it harder for him to reach his sister. Now he needed to fight past one opponent to reach the other two that were threatening Lissa rather than being able to charge all three at once.
"Run Lissa!" Chrom shouted out as he crossed swords with the bandit that had turned to face him. However, the girl didn't move from the spot and continued to stare at the approaching bandits with her staff held in front of her as if it were a shield. Cursing his bad strategy that had gotten them into this mess, Chrom tried his best to dispatch his latest opponent with a quick thrust, but the bandit was able to turn the blade with a parry. Like the one that Frederick was fighting, this bandit seemed more experienced than the others had been and was slowly pressing him backwards with his relentless assault. Though this bandit was more skilled than the previous ones had been, the main reason he was successful in his assault was because Chrom was distracted by the danger Lissa was in.
"Thunder!" Came the cry from Robin, and Chrom watched in utter relief as the magical attack struck one of the bandits who was now only several feet away from Lissa. The thin bolt of lightning struck the bandit in the back, making him to jump and yell out in pain. "Th-thunder..." The second casting of Thunder was much weaker, both in strength of the evocation and the spell itself. The second bolt of electricity that came forward was much closer to a small jolt than a full on electrical assault, but the shock was enough to give pause to the second bandit who had been bent on attacking Lissa.
Thankfully, that was all that was needed. On the other side of the river, Frederick's horse had reared up on its hind legs and startled the bandit that Frederick had been fighting. The knight immediately took advantage of the distraction and struck the bandit's leg with his lance, causing the man to howl in pain and fall to one knee. As soon as his opponent was unable to contest his escape, Frederick swung back onto his horse galloped over to the bridge in a matter of seconds. Taking advantage of his speed and the halted bandit, Frederick ran the less injured of the two through the heart with his silver lance, killing the man in a single blow. He immediately turned his attention to the other threat after swiftly dislodging his weapon from the now collapsed man.
Breathing a sigh of relief that his sister was safe, Chrom turned his full attention back to his opponent and was finally able to retaliate in earnest. Over the sound of clashing swords, Chrom could make out an odd 'whump' sound from behind him, which he took to mean that Robin had dropped her tome again. Knowing that it was unlikely he would receive any assistance against this enemy, Chrom redoubled his efforts and slowly started to force the bandit back across the bridge. Unfortunately for the bandit, his foot caught on a raised cobblestone and he stumbled slightly, dropping his guard for a second. Chrom took immediate advantage of the misstep and pierced the bandit's armor with a final, fatal blow from Falchion.
As the man dropped, Chrom was glad to see that Frederick had dispatched his last opponent as well and was helping Lissa to her feet. "I can't thank you enough for the assistance Robin," Chrom started to say while he turned to face the tactician. He was shocked to discover that she was lying face down on the street, apparently unconscious. Chrom rushed to her side and gingerly rolled her over on her back to check for injuries. He couldn't see any visible wounds on the woman other than some scratches on her forearms, so she must have been able to break her own fall. Still concerned, Chrom called for Lissa who was already walking over to his side of the bridge followed closely by Frederick. With just a glance he could tell that she was shaken by her first exposure to battle from her unusually blank expression.
"You okay Liss? I'm sorry... I never should have left you." Chrom apologized when she approached. Although he was worried about Robin, he needed to make sure that his sister was alright first.
"I'm fine... I just got so scared when they started coming towards me and I couldn't move..." Rather than continuing, she knelt down next to Chrom besides the unconscious tactician with her staff at the ready. "Who's this?"
Before he answered, Chrom pulled Lissa into a hug that she fiercely returned. After several seconds the siblings split and Chrom explained, "I know her name is Robin, though not much else. I was about to ask her for more information but then we heard you shout and ran over. She cast Thunder twice just now and then must have collapsed." Chrom answered, his voice steeped with worry.
He glanced up at Frederick who had the guarded expression that had earned him his title: The Wary. Chrom sighed, knowing exactly what the knight was thinking and stood up to address his concerns. "Yes Frederick, I noticed her cloak. She's helped twice now when she could have hit me in the back just as easily. I truly believe she's not a threat. I haven't seen him in town yet, but I believe Anders is trustworthy as well. He must have sent her after us to help since she already knew we were here."
"Or she could be a well-informed spy milord. As I said previously, I must emphasize caution. Especially with this second strange appearance."
Lissa appeared glad for the distraction and had once again ignored Frederick's warnings while examining Robin with her staff with a confused pout during their discussion. "I don't get it Chrom!" The cleric interjected, "She's in perfect health, but has absolutely no energy. It's like she's finished one of Frederick's Fanatical Fitness Hours while using magic the entire time. Do you know why she would be so tired?"
"I'm not sure, I met her five minutes before joining back up with you. Can't you do anything for her?" Chrom implored. He didn't know that much about healing staves, but he was fairly certain that they could only treat wounds and was unsurprised when the cleric shook her head. "If there's nothing you can do for her, then you should return to treating any injured villagers. I think that was the last of the bandits, so it should be safe."
Lissa gave her brother a mock salute before standing and scampering off to find anyone that needed treating. Chrom was still standing by Robin trying to think of something he could do to help when he heard a soft groan as she started to come to. A few seconds later her eyes slowly opened and she shakily started to sit up.
"Robin! Are you alright? Gods, I was worried." Chrom said, extending a hand to help her up. Without answering she took his hand and let him slowly pull to her feet. While helping her stand Chrom noticed that there was a faded scar in the shape of the Mark of Grima on her right hand. Despite the apprehension that the symbol gave him, Chrom decided not to comment on it in an effort to not further alarm Frederick. Unfortunately, that was inevitable because as she stood, a bronze sword from within her cloak flashed in the sunlight and the knight's eyes narrowed once again in suspicion.
"Get back milord! She's still armed." Frederick barked and he gripped his lance once again.
Chrom's patience with his fellow Shepherd finally broke and he frustratedly turned towards the knight. "Frederick, she's clearly no threat! She can barely stand and Lissa herself said that Robin didn't have any energy. Even if she did mean us harm she's in no state to do so." To accentuate his point, Chrom sharply gestured towards the tactician who was currently leaning against a nearby building and was once again gasping for air.
"It's… fine… I'll… take off… my cloak… it weighs… a ton… anyway." Robin slowly gasped out while starting to remove off her cloak in a painstakingly slow manner. Eventually she was able to get her arms out of their holes and shrugged the cloak off, dropping it and all of the equipment that was stored within. As soon as the cloak hit the ground, there was a bright flash of blue light that caused both Chrom and Frederick to shout out and cover their eyes in surprise and alarm.
When they looked back up, the pair was astounded to see that Robin had somehow disappeared and Anders was standing in her place with a puzzled look on his face as he glanced around. "Uh… where am I?" Before either Shepherd could gather their wits, Anders eyes glazed over and he stood completely still. After a couple seconds the look in his eyes cleared and he adopted a shocked expression identical to the other two men. "Wait. What the fuck?"