Cold green eyes slid open to the light pitter-patter of rain.

The moment Byleth awoke, he shot out of bed, jostled Beleth awake, and ran to his change of clothes as fast as possible, tunic already over his head by the time Beleth groggily peered upward.

"What is it?" Beleth mumbled in a tired voice, words slightly slurred and muffled from the pillow. A cot rustle signified to Byleth that she had no intention of getting up from the warm embrace of her blankets.

Byleth smirked and began counting time in his head. "Saw Sothis."

And then Beleth's eyes immediately shot open, all traces of fatigue gone in an instant. Within the next few moments, her cot was thrown wide open, bed hair was hastily straightened out, and two feet were already hitting the floor running. She followed her brother's example and hurried to get dressed, equipping well-worn gear that contradicted their age.

Byleth, already packing two bags, glanced over at Beleth hopping to put on her boots through half-assembled armor. "Took you long enough."

"Yeah, yeah."

The timing always varied by a few months, but one thing remained constant through all the lives they lived.

When a sleeping, lime-haired goddess on a throne appeared in their dreams, a battered boy the same age as the twins would soon follow, stumbling into their lives like clockwork.

The Eisner twins ran outside as soon as they were dressed, snagging two iron swords propped up against the tent wall as they exited the encampment. The cool autumn air hit their faces as they zoomed past Jeralt, only sparring a cheerful "Good Morning!" and "We'll be back before breakfast!" before dashing into the nearby woods.

Jeralt, already used to the twins' antics, merely sighed and took another sip from his ceramic cup.

The sky was covered by a blanket of clouds, and the thick foliage made the forest floor all the darker. The leaves were damp from the morning dew, making only a near inaudible rustle as the twins navigated through the trees. An earthly musk filled the air, the air's humidity cool and moist against the running figures in the forest. It was a perfect day for a certain someone to be making a daring escape from bandits.

They ran for a few more minutes, weaving through the underbrush and leaping over small streams. As they approached a small clearing, they were rewarded by a familiar yelp, as a black-haired boy stumbled down a sudden dip in the earthen floor.

"Starloon!" the twins simultaneously shouted with glee. Beleth bounded forward to meet the figure, tossing a piece of wrapped bread as she ran. Byleth merely dipped into a walking bow, a small smile adorning his face.

The boy looked up, his face splitting into a smile of recognition. "Eisners!" he called back. He caught the parcel and began tearing at the loaf. As he ate, he got up, brushing away the dirt from his thin cotton pants. He looked just like he did the last few iterations, messy hair framing a face with an almost carefree smile that didn't quite reach haunted eyes. He was shorter than the twins, only coming up to their eyes, and would not change much in height over the next few years, much to his annoyance. He shouldered a battered iron ax with an air of familiarity as if he has already spent years with the weapon.

The touching moment was interrupted as a Starloon's ax shifted to block an incoming arrow. His eyes rolled with mild annoyance as the trio took cover among the trees, weapons drawn and minds running. "Ah, right," he muttered with a distracted tone. "That's a thing."

Stowing the bread away, he glanced at the enemy formations, then at the Eisners with a slight shrug, and signaled the plan with his hands. Waiting only momentarily for conformation, he burst out into the clearing, ax deftly deflecting any incoming missiles. Meanwhile, the Eisners crept stealthily along the treeline, small bodies making the most of the dotted cover and shadowy enclaves. They darted from archer to archer, leaving slit throats and bleeding bodies in their wake. Relieved from the pressure, Starloon burst through the opposite tree line, his ax's momentum tearing through the first axeman with terrifying brutality. He swung again, using the ax's momentum to compensate for his weaker body.

The trio regathered at the edge the next clearing, attempting to counter push against the bandits. As they hid from the next volley of arrows, Starloon chuckled, "I see you haven't gotten rusty!"

"Naturally," Byleth's cool voice cut out over the underbrush. "Surprised you can still wield that thing though. You look as if you haven't eaten in days." Without waiting for an answer, he continued skirting around the clearing, crouched low and sword drawn.

Beleth tossed a bow and quiver to Starloon, who caught it with practiced ease and shot two arrows outwards, pegging one of the archers between the eyes, the other in his heart. "Too true," he said to no one in particular. "Just can't seem to get a good meal these days, yeah?" He chuckled at his own joke.

Beleth merely rolled her eyes and picked up another bow and quiver from a fallen bandit to join the assault. "How close were you last iteration?"

The crisp twang of Starloon's bow slowed for a moment, as his smile became slightly strained. "They made progress on their new experiment. But I fear that once they perfect one thing, they'll move on to the next, until my eventual demise." He gave a theatrical sigh and absently twisted his wrist lightly, no doubt thinking about the horrors he was put through. He jumped at the sound of a particularly large impact followed by muted gurgling, as a body was pushed out into the clearing, Byleth following with bloodied clothes. He gave the hand signal for "all clear" and returned to the group.

Starloon waved the concerned look Beleth was shooting him, hands already searching the bandit's bodies for anything useful. "Drat," he muttered. "No tomes." The trio gathered any weapons in decent condition, placing them aside to be carried back later. Rinsing his hands in a nearby stream, he pulled out the bread again, finishing it with large bites. Pocketing the cloth, he clapped his hands and said, "I suppose we should figure out how to convince Captain Jeralt to let me stay, hm?"

The walk back was filled with stories from the twin's previous timeline, choice weapons from the pile slung over their back.

"Still can't believe that Claude actually has the guts to backflip off of a wyvern," Beleth's smiled, laughter spreading through the warming forest. "Perhaps I should run Golden Deer again sometime," she trailed off, eyes defocusing onto the forest canopy. As the sun came up, the local animals began to wake, making the forest come alive.

"I taught him to Windboost last time," Byleth said, a hint of pride escaping from his naturally deadpan exterior. "Sothis knows how many flips he performed after that."

"Count?" Starloon queried. It was impossible that-

"I think the highest he got was 23."

Heck. That was definitely higher than his eight flips. "Bet," he smirked. He had a score to beat.

Without giving the twins any sort of warning, he clamored up onto the nearest tree. After getting about fifty feet high, he unslung his bow and jumped.

"Yoink."

That was a terrible idea. A very, very terrible idea. He motioned for his wind spell, before promptly realizing that he was a small child that had zero magic tolerance. He vaguely heard the twins yell something, and felt the beginnings of Wind being cast on his body.

Should he still go for the arrow? He already climbed up here, might as well do with what you got. He let loose the arrow at a tree about 70 feet away and returned to flailing his arms wildly. He tried to send Wind downwards, but it wasn't much better than what the Eisners were doing.

And there was the sharp impact- oh? Nope, still falling. He must have hit a branch or something.

"Ack!" There was the sharp impact. He let out a groan. He was not waking up happy tomorrow. On the bright side, he wasn't dead.

"What were you thinking?" Beleth hissed.

JK he was totally dead.

"Sorry, sorry," Starloon mumbled. He must have looked only slightly apologetic, because Beleth started glaring harder. He turned up the apologetic-looking meter and chuckled for good measure. "Forgot I'm not quite up to speed yet." He flexed what limited muscles he still had, testing his strength. He snapped, creating a small flurry that switched to sparks and then to a dancing flame. "You know I don't always live through my childhood, unlike you two."

"Still," Beleth huffed. "You could at least show some care for the life we just saved."

"That was an excellent shot though," Byleth mused. Starloon turned to Byleth, who was examining where the arrow hit. the vine hanging on the tree trunk now split in two. "I am assuming you meant to hit this?"

"I'll take it," Starloon mumbled dejectedly. Claude: one, Starloon: nill.

*Insert Author's Note Here. (I'll think of something later).