Author's Pre-Chapter Notes:
This story contains large amounts of violence, descriptions of gore, and crude language. Reader discretion is advised.
Also, this story assumes that readers have played Fire Emblem: Awakening all the way through. If this story is to be completed, there will be heavy spoilers on a per-chapter basis.
Lastly, this story is also heavily inspired by RoseWarden's Cycle, which is hosted right here on fanfiction-dot-net. I implore you to check it out if you haven't already. And because this story is so inspired by said work, I will try my best to make many differences between this story and that one so it doesn't seem like I'm ripping it off now that I've admitted how inspired I am because of it. Trust me, this story will go in a different direction than Cycle.
Cover art by me. It's pretty bad, but I'm not an artist, and I'd rather use something original than try and stick a screenshot of Chrom's mug onto the story cover. Maybe I'll clean up the lines, colour it, shade, ect. someday.
Enjoy.
He was emerging from darkness within his subconscious. As light beckoned, and his awareness awakened, he noticed a hum of voices in the background fill in.
"Chrom, we have to do something," a young, lady-like voice said, far off in the background.
"What do you propose we do?" said another, this time a man, the voice getting closer. He began to open his eyes.
"I... I dunno," the lady said.
"Agh," he moaned, hissing as sunlight hit his retinas. He threw up his arm to try and block the light, and suddenly all he could see was brown. Then he realized it was just from the sleeve of the garb he was wearing, and flinched, trying to stretch his muscles and get rid of the overarching pain that seemed to linger. When he tilted his head up from the ground, he noticed two figures standing more or less over his torso, at the moment talking to one another, but then they turned to him as he shifted. It was a young man and a teenaged girl, the former wearing what he guessed was was some sort of knight's coat, all blue with golden linings, as well as two silver belts that crossed his chest perpendicularly, a ridiculous but suave grey cape, and a fancy sword put away in its sheath hanging from his hip.
The girl beside him wore a yellow dress that would almost fit a maid save for the leather corset that rounded her torso. She stared at him with grass green eyes, her blond hair tucked into two pigtails that hung above her head and behind her ears, and held a stick with an orange, reflective crystal dome stuck on the top.
He looked to the right and also spotted a man equipped with a large set of blue armour - pauldrons and boots and all - and had an intimidating edge to his gaze. He could feel the blue-armoured man judge him with a steady grip on the lance that the armoured man held, blunt end on the ground.
Then, the caped man broke into a smile. "I see you're awake now."
"Hey there," the girl said, softly as to be kind and gentle as to not be distressing.
"God damn it," he groaned, rolling the other way. His head was pounding, his mouth dry. He was at least thankful that he could smell the dust he was kicking up from his movement on the parched ground. How long had he been out for this time, he wondered. He suddenly found a white-gloved hand thrust into his vision.
"There are better places to take a nap than on the ground, you know," the caped man said.
"Just," he said, lightly batting away the offered palm. "Give me a few seconds. Not ready to get up yet. Agh, too much pain still."
The caped man frowned, then stood straight up and looked expectantly at the girl. Their eyes barely met before she took a step forward, both hands holding her staff, and tilted the wood towards the person on the ground.
"Where are you hurt? I'm a healer, I can help," the girl informed him.
"Not physical," the man on the ground grunted. "Magical. Hard to explain."
The caped man and the girl looked at each other, confused. The blue-armoured man put a hand to his hip impatiently.
"I've never heard of magical injuries before," the girl said. "I mean, I've heard of injuries caused by magic. Is that what you mean?"
"Not exactly," the man on the ground said.
After another moment, he used his right elbow to sit up, his other hand wiping at the bottom of his eyes. He took a gander at himself and found himself to be a mess, which was par for the course. His grubby, tattered brown overcoat sat on top of his grubby, tattered brown t-shirt above worn-out cargo pants and big, clomping, steel-toed boots, where the lases were tied triple and pulled so tight the only way to get the footwear off was to cut the bindings or to amputate. Scratched-up fingerless gloves were equipped to scabbed and calloused hands. There was dirt and matted mud all over him. A fresh layer of clammy sweat covered what the dirt couldn't. He idly touched his face and found even more dirt, along with a mat of medium-length, straight hair that stuck up everywhere and didn't seem to quit in the face of poor upkeep. Suddenly, he gasped, and his eyes widened. Then, he pawed for something on his chest, and breathed a sigh of relief when in his fingers he grabbed a single ruby pendant shaped like a three-bladed circle, the jewel giving off a slight crimson glow.
He shifted again, bending his knee and planting a foot on the ground to get up, when that same gloved hand was shown to him. He looked up and searched the friendly smile that the caped man gave him. His lips were set into a fine line as he took the hand, then suddenly he had to adjust his sense of balance as he was brought up with a surprising amount of strength.
"Are you ok now?" the caped man asked.
The man with the dirtied overcoat rolled his shoulders and head, wincing. "Good enough to stand. Just shaking out the last of the pain." He took a quick look around. They seemed to be standing at the side of a light dirt road that traveled north and south. It was a rough road; an old road, with stones littering the path. He could make out faint wheel tracks that split out four feet from each other. Trees were littered around the path, sprouted tall with green leaves swaying in the southern summer breeze. Speaking of which, he tugged at the collar of his shirt, noting how hot it was outside for a late afternoon. Small mountains in the not-so-far distances rolled in waves against the horizon.
"It's a bit odd, finding someone lying in the middle of the road like that," the caped man explained. "What's your name, what brings you here?"
"Ah, it was a bit of a magical mishap of the sorts. As for my name," the messy man said, pausing ever so slightly. The blue-armoured man narrowed his eyes. "Well, you can call me Fairen."
"Fairen, huh?" the caped man said, one eyebrow slightly raised. "Is that foreign?"
Fairen scratched the back of his head, giving a bashful grin. "Well, I definitely think I'm not from around here. Not sure where 'here' is exactly, anyway."
"You're on the southern road, in the fair kingdom of Ylisse," the caped man said.
Fairen folded his arms. "Doesn't ring a bell," he said, closing his eyes in thought.
"Milord, if I may interject," the armoured man in the back stated, taking a step forward. "I'd heed caution speaking to a man as such. If he has injuries of a magical origin, whatever effects that have harmed him may still be active."
"Who made you the expert in magic?" said the girl.
"No, no, he's right," Fairen said, "well, I mean that he's right in being cautious."
Although he could afford to lighten up, Fairen thought, the scrutinizing glare of the blue-armoured man stuck in the corner of Fairen's eye. Then, the girl and the caped man took a step back, slight suspicion their faces.
Fairen waved his hands back and forth. "No, no, no, don't worry. I'm fine. No magical fallout to worry about. Anyway, who are these fine folk who have rescued me along the roadside?"
The caped man smiled. "You didn't appear to be in any immediate danger, but thank you. My name is Chrom. That's my little sister over there, Lissa, and my retainer, Frederick."
"Well then," Fairen said. "Chrom, Lissa, Frederick. Nice to meet you all."
"You too!" Lissa said, leaning in with a grin. Frederick just gave Fairen a sideways look.
"Perhaps the side of the road is a poor place to make long conversation. There is a small town just north of here," Chrom explained, gesturing up the road. "How about we discuss the details of your magical mishap once we get there?"
Fairen smiled in return. "Sure. That's a good idea. Let's go."
The four advanced north along the road, trees passing by.
"So, what brought you all out here anyway?" Fairen said, trying to make small talk. "Out on a quest?"
That gave Chrom a chuckle. "Of the sorts. We are the Shepherds. We're out on a scouting mission south of our capital."
Fairen gave a wary look around. "'Shepherds,' eh? What kind of 'Shepherds?'"
Chrom bore a sly smile. "The kind that searches to aid others in any way we can."
"Ok," Fairen began, confused. "Do you have 'sheep' that you tend to?"
"Yes, we do. It's a dangerous job. Just as Frederick the Wary here."
"A title I shall wear with pride," Frederick added. "Gods forbit one of us keeps an appropriate level of caution. I have every wish to trust you, Fairen, but my station mandates otherwise."
Fairen simply raised an eyebrow, eyeballing Frederick's lance while he rode a large, armoured warhorse. "Just keep the sharp end of that thing pointed away from me, and I think we'll be alright."
Frederick's frown seemed to deepen at Fairen's words.
"Yes, well, we're almost to town," Chrom cut in. "Once we—"
"Chrom, look!" Lissa shouted, pointing off in the distance.
Everyone turned to look. Cresting the top of the hill, the four peered down to a cluster of grey brick buildings in the middle of the plain with the dark plumage of smoke clouds rearing up from different parts of the town.
"Damn it! The town is ablaze! Those blasted brigands, no doubt," Chrom said, turning to Frederick. "Frederick, Lissa! Quickly! We must get there at once!"
Frederick held out his hand out to let Chrom grab on and hoist himself onto the back of the horse, helping Lissa on after.
"What about him?" Frederick asked.
"Unless he's on fire as well, it can wait!"
"Aptly put, milord," Frederick said. Fairen clenched his fists as he stared at the smokey town, teeth grinding under frowning lips.
"Let's go already!" Lissa cried. Suddenly, the three raced off towards the town, leaving Fairen behind in a small cloud of dust.
"Wait!" Fairen said at the last second, wincing and waving away the dirt in his face. The others didn't turn around for him and continued swiftly down the trail. Fairen opened his right hand and took a good look at the palm. Motes of blue electricity ran up and down the life lines etched into his skin, and a few blue sparks blossomed forth before quickly dying out. Fairen hissed through a clenched jaw. Then, he looked back at the town, watching as it was slowly being burned to the ground.
"Injury be damned, I gotta help out!" Fairen told himself, and started to run in the direction of the others with a supernatural speed.
The outskirts of the town came quickly upon Fairen. The houses and shop buildings were relatively tiny, some above two stories tall but not very wide. The road at some point had become tiled cobblestone that barely held together as the weather and years wore on it. Several structures were already ruined, either by a all-consuming blaze or somehow by sheer force, where entire walls were seemingly taken down and collapsed away from their building. Square windows were shattered, stores were looted, and there was a dangerous sense of chaos that flew along the smoke that blanketed the town's sky.
Fairen had taken a few steps into the village, finding himself alone on the street for the time being. He found a few slumped figures near a couple of buildings. When he squinted he could make out men, women, and even some children lying in their own pools of blood, unmoving. His eyes widened, and he had to lean back and steady himself, holding the back of his hand hand over his mouth as he stilled his breathing to focus.
So this is the kind of world I've stumbled into, he told himself after, letting out a big sigh. I didn't actually think that it'd come to this. But, I guess the Shepherds' swords and staves weren't for monster-hunting.
As he continued further down the path, keeping a lookout for Chrom's party or any survivors, he found some brutish-looking warriors collapsed here and there, most with open wounds in the form of slashes and stabs along their bodies. They tended to be bare-chested, only wearing rough, worn fur coats of some unknown animal across their shoulders and back, the dead skin pulled over the back of their heads like a hood with the skull of some sinister creature sitting atop like crowns. Fairen could spot red body paint splashed across the chest and arms of the barbarian.
There was a high-pitched scream, and Fairen crouched and peered over to a simple two-story building with it's door missing. Out came a woman in a green dress with a pink hat, stumbling over something blocking the bottom of the doorframe as she sprinted forth, her face stricken with fear. A large, imposing man step out from the darkness behind her, his face covered in tiny scars with a crooked, bloodthirsty smile sitting above a jutting chin. He had a large metal battleaxe hoisted over his right shoulder, balanced by his right hand holding the handle.
She scrambled over to the side of the road next to some bowled over produce stands before falling over with a yelp. The man laughed and took long, slow steps towards her in a taunting swagger that suggested overwhelming power.
Fairen growled, then searched his immediate area. There was a battleaxe lying next to the brigand that was slain next to him, and he bend down and attempted to pick it up, grunting with exertion from not expecting the weapon to be so heavy. He shifted his left foot behind him as he leaned back, getting the massive head of the axe off the ground. Looking uncomfortably over his shoulder towards the man advancing on the woman on the ground, he juggled the handle once in his grip before turning and tilting into a full-on sprint towards the two.
"G-Get back!" the woman said, holding up one arm in self defense as she skittered back helplessly. Every time she tried to get up she would wince as her left ankle failed to support her weight and she fell back to the ground. "Everything's in the house! Just take whatever!"
"Oh, but I've already taken everything of worth," the barbarian said, holding out a medium-sized, filled money pouch before tying it back to his backside against his belt. "There's just one thing I would like to know. What's in that little safe of yours in the basement? Has to be something special if it's in the dinky little rut you call a house."
The woman's eyes widened in utter terror. "I don't have the key! My father had it, a-and he's gone! He died with the key in the war! I don't have it!"
"Are you sure I can't convince you otherwise that you do?" the barbarian said, a few feet away from the woman. "Maybe you have it hidden somewhere under that dress of yours, eh? Hiding it away so you can claim it after everything's said and done, after we've plundered every inch of your sad little town, eh?"
As silently as he could, Fairen dashed towards the barbarian, hoisting the axe behind him. The barbarian turned a split second before Fairen reached him and managed to jump back before Fairen's horizontal swing could cleave his target in two. Fairen looked at the barbarian directly in the eye, then with a growl swung again, the barbarian dodging.
"Better teach yourself how to lift more than a pound of flour before swinging an axe, runt!" the barbarian said with a taunting grin. Then, he brought the axe he was resting on his shoulder over Fairen. Fairen deftly side-stepped the blow, leaving the head of the opponent's axe between him and his weapon. With a different speed altogether, Fairen threw his foot out, making contact with the barbarian's chiseled stomach.
"Oof!" the barbarian grunted, not expecting Fairen's sudden agility. Then, Fairen picked his axe back up, and with a battle cry, swung it over his head and aimed to chop the barbarian clean vertically. The axe head smashed into the road, and when Fairen lifted his head up he saw the barbarian a few steps away from where he targeted, staring at the decently-sized crater that the axe left.
Damn, I'm not fast enough! Fairen thought. He bore his teeth and lifted his weapon to the ready once more, only to find the axe had gotten substantially lighter because pieces of the axe's head were strewn about where Fairen had struck. The axe was now just a very sharp and short pole, save a few jagged edges keeping hold of the iron's neck, and Fairen's eyes widened in shock.
The barbarian laughed. "Don't got the best luck in the world, do ya lad?" Then, he rose his own axe up to his shoulder, drove a step forward, and swung across.
The barbarian couldn't catch what happened next. He could have sworn that he caught that oddly clad runt, but when he shifted his gaze down he found the runt had ducked completely underneath his attack. Then, the runt looked up, fire in his eyes, and the barbarian's blood ran cold. He jumped away as his warrior's instincts screamed danger, and not a moment later, the runt had slashed his iron staff across where the barbarian had been.
Fairen glared at his target, visibly gritting his teeth. He felt a familiar magical energy openly flow through him, and he used his plateauing anger and frustration to drive the energy further, lifting the weight of the iron weapon off his tired arms. Then, he suddenly let loose a flurry of swipes, forcing the barbarian on the defensive as he continuously dashed back. When the Barbarian's back met wall, he rose his axe up to catch Fairen's assault. Fairen felt the metal pole vibrate under the blocked strike, then backed up to restart his combo. The barbarian abruptly and desperately threw himself to his left and tried to swing at the same time, aiming to catch Fairen's hip with his axe. Fairen deftly caught the blow, then reflected the barbarian's strength, sending the barbarian stumbling back. Then, Fairen crouched down and waited a moment, watching the Barbarian intently. When the barbarian caught his balance and looked down, Fairen let loose a ferocious axe-kick backflip that had the point of his foot careening with the barbarian's jaw, forcing it shut and snapping the barbarian's tongue in two as he bit down a scream.
The barbarian found himself sprawled on his rear end, a terribly pain emanating from his mouth as what left of his tongue tasted blood. As he looked up he could only see the runt as a shadow leaping high into the air, spinning counter-clockwise with the axe-spear held firmly in his two hands. He could see the focus and power emanating from the runt's eyes as the runt drove down the pointed end of the pole into the barbarian's stomach.
Fairen landed with impact, pushing the air out from underneath him as the barbarian's scream gurgled from the blood flowing from his mouth. Then, Fairen twisted the pole, mixing the barbarian's insides with the ruined axe head, and then lifted the end of the pole and shifted it up, stabbing further into the barbarian's chest, getting right underneath the rib cage. The barbarian began to writhe, his whole body twitching in pain, his eyes empty to the world as he drowned in the red liquid spilling from his tongue. Fairen held the axe in place until a visible puddle of blood gathered underneath the body. Then, he stood up.
He turned to look at the woman he just saved, only to find fear on her face as she sat staring at him. Blinking twice, he tried to relax his face and look friendly and approached her. "Are you ok?"
She too had a moment to think, but couldn't meet him in the eye after. "Y-Yes, I am. He didn't lay a hand on me."
"Can you walk?" he asked, holding out a hand.
She winced, then took his hand. She was almost surprised at the ease with which he pulled her. Standing, she tried leaning on her twisted ankle, then sucked in a breath.
"It hurts, but I think I can walk on it," she told him, holding onto his arm for balance.
"Good," Fairen said. It's not like I can cast healing right now anyway. "Do you know where you can find safety? Maybe where other survivors are holed up?"
"Yeah," she said, albeit a bit hesitantly. "The mayor set up a meeting place at the town center."
"Ok. Go ahead and see if it's still there." Fairen craned his head to see what was up north. "There's a party clearing up the baddies that I'm with. I've got to catch up to them. Do you think you'll be ok on your own?"
The woman looked down at her foot and tried testing her weight again, with some success this time. She was able to bounce on her foot a bit without too much soreness. "I think so."
"Alright. Just make sure you exercise caution. Don't go out in the open. Stick to side streets and move from house to house. If you have to cross the street, check the rooftops to make sure no one is spying from above, then check both ways, then go. Do you understand?"
She nodded. He held in a grimace; if he could, he would pick her up himself and carry her to her destination. A long, long ago memory crossed his mind, one where he did the exact same thing during what seemed to be a lifetime ago. "Don't push yourself too hard. If your foot hurts too much, stay in a house and hide. Use your ears to figure out what's going on outside. If there's silence, that's a good thing. Do not show your face unless you recognize someone. Ok?"
She gave a light smile. "Ok."
Fairen gulped. "Ok." He turned his attention back up the road, surveying the trail of destruction that was led both by the barbarians and hopefully by the party that saved him only an hour ago. He heard the woman escape, and he took two steps towards the downed man with the pole through his chest. As he bent down to pick up the axe that was lying behind the barbarian, Fairen looked into the dead empty eyes of his foe, which he found to be a mistake. He frowned, shook his head, tsked, then vowed to focus on finding the others for now. He grabbed the battleaxe, the weapon feeling a bit lighter than the one before it, and headed north through Southtown.
The closer he got the the center of town, the closer the buildings hugged together. Fairen could easily imagine villagers of different sizes, classes, and genders traversing the tiled roads had it not been for the recent raiding. Most of the citizens seemed to have evacuated at this point, and the destruction seemed to slow down. As he traveled, he spotted a path of dead bodies with various slashes and stab wounds on them, all fresh, all inflicted within the last thirty minutes he thought, and all were made of the same ilk as the previous barbarian he fought. The other bodies that did not look like barbarians Fairen forced himself to ignore. He could recall a time in his past when he had to ignore fresh dead around him, but wished it hadn't been so long that he had forgotten the feeling. To him it seemed like he became soft in the days of peace he'd experienced since then.
He crossed over stone bridges that went over tiny waterways that barely passed as rivers, the blue water reflecting off the clear sky, the bottom of the bank visible from above. Boats were tied to wooden posts at docks dotted here and there throughout the town, forgotten and abandoned at the moment. Once he spotted a mess of broken wood and paddles stuck under a bridge, where a mass of boats tried to get away at the start of the barbarian's attack. He kept a careful eye out for any signs of movement from houses, trying to hug walls of buildings so he could not get easily ambushed from both sides of the street, avoiding windows by crouching beneath them. At this point, he was really starting to regret his lack of magic.
Eventually, he came across a market square where two rivers crossed. The stalls still had fresh produce left on display, but were abandoned, with some tents completely ruined with their payload spilling onto the road. The number of bodies had thickened at this point, and he wondered both how many barbarians invaded the town and how the Shepherds were going to fight their way through so many numbers. Just then, he heard a clashing of metal, and turned towards the noise. It came from behind a wall of market stalls, and Fairen rushed around the wood to see what was going on.
He spotted Chrom engaged with a barbarian wielding another large metal axe, Chrom sporting one or two visible injuries on his persons but still outpacing his opponent in combat. The barbarian bore a wild grin as he charged Chrom and brought the end of his axe down on the earth. Chrom easily jumped back, then lunged forward with is blade, trying to catch the outstretched arms of the barbarian. Fairen took a step forward before noticing a second barbarian heading right Chrom from his flank, stomping forward with iron axe in hand and an equally insane smile as his comrade. Fairen opened his mouth, then his breath hitched as he leaned back, gritting his teeth as Chrom drove forward on the advantage with his target stumbling back.
Fairen broke into a sprint, his legs striding forth with all his might as he raced to catch the barbarian approaching Chrom. Chrom deflected the head of his opponent's weapon, waving his blade to the side with trained grace and professional strength, using his balance and momentum to bring the blade back into a slash, cutting across his opponent's chest. Then, he rose his blade, and his opponent watched with wide eyes as Chrom got close and drove his sword through the gut of his opponent. The barbarian ganking Chrom lifted his axe behind his head and propelled it over himself and through the air, targeting Chrom's sword arm. Just then, Fairen pushed forward, his eyebrows furrowed, and let himself drop to the ground with his feet leading as he transitioned into a slide, dragging his axe behind him. He blew right into the knees of the flanking barbarian, making the barbarian scream in pain as he dropped to the ground, the bottom of his legs twisted in an unnatural manner. Chrom turned his head to look over his shoulder. Using the continuation of his speed, Fairen stuck out a foot to catch it on the road, letting physics pull himself up as he brought his axe up off the ground and behind him. With a fitful shout, he made an overarching swing, putting his whole body into the movement, letting the heavy weapon guide itself through gravity, and struck across the downed barbarian's neck.
When he checked, Fairen found Chrom releasing his weapon from flesh and staring at Fairen's head in surprise. "Fairen. I see you've followed us."
Fairen tried to give a friendly, toothy smile despite the gruesome execution he just committed. "I did. Couldn't stand idly while a village burned like that. Just wish I told you guys fast enough so I didn't have to hoof it alone over here."
"Well," Chrom began, turning towards Fairen and putting his sword back in its sheathe. "I'm sorry that we did not wait for you to catch up. But it's clear to me that you are no stranger to combat. The way you handled that axe was impressive."
"Not really," Fairen said.
"Regardless, we are happy to have you. There is strength in numbers, after all."
Fairen stood up, taking a careful look around the ruined marketplace. "Where are Lissa and, uh, that other guy, anyway?"
Chrom chuckled. "You mean Frederick? I had those two take the western side of the market. They shouldn't be too far off. Follow me. We should rejoin them."
Fairen nodded, and as Chrom turned in the direction he was talking about, he spotted a certain armour-clad horse run towards him with a stalwart paladin and cleric riding its back.
"That's convenient," Fairen noted as Frederick and Lissa caught up to them, the horse stopping at their location.
"Milord," Frederick greeted Chrom, giving Fairen the side-eye. "I see our charge has caught up to us."
Lissa jumped off the horse with practiced ease, firmly gripping her jeweled staff in her right hand. "Fairen! It's great to see you join us! Have you been fighting a lot?"
Fairen opened his mouth, but Chrom beat him to the punch. "Fairen actually saved me from a barbarian that was attacking me from behind. If it weren't for him I would have been in a bit of trouble."
Fairen went wide-eyed at Chrom's sudden admittance and kindness, while Frederick shifted in his horse's saddle, agitated.
"Milord, I warned you about heading off the western side of the block alone. It is too risky to attack an unknown position without someone else there to assist you!" Frederick said.
"I'm sorry, Frederick," Chrom said, bowing slightly in apology. "I'll try to keep that in mind next time. I'll be more careful."
Fairen subtly rose a single eyebrow, and even though Frederick gave a nod and was neutral Fairen still didn't buy that Frederick was convinced. Then Fairen thought about the party dynamics and how Chrom was clearly the leader in it all. If Frederick had been so adamant against Chrom going alone yet let it happen, there was either a lot of trust in Chrom, or there was an unwavering dedication to the leader's commands, Fairen mused.
"Thank you so much for saving Chrom!" Lissa said. "Are you injured? I could fix you up in a jiffy!"
Fairen could only think of the sweat and effort he lost when he put up that awful performance against that earlier barbarian. "No, I'm fine Lissa, thank you.
Lissa turned to Chrom and opened her mouth, but he simply shook his head and waved his hand. "We must find the rest of the barbarians and put a stop to them before they cause more damage."
"Milord, I managed to garner vital information from one of the brigands," Frederick said. "Their leader has taken watch in front of the cathedral."
"Great," Chrom said, grinning. "If we take out their leader, the others will surely disperse." He turned north, where Fairen noticed not far off in the distance was the roof of the cathedral they were speaking about. "Onwards, Shepherds!"
The four of them made their way north around the market stalls, Fairen chewing the inside of his cheek at Chrom's leadership skills. He was off-put at Chrom's finality about the barbarian forces collapsing without a head, and thought he was enjoying calling everyone "Shepherds" too much. Regardless, they made due time, managing to avoid any other encounters along the way. Shortly, they came to a wide bridge crossing a waterway, and after was the cathedral, sizable in its splendor for a town church, a circle of painted glass windows above the double doors that arched the stone steps leading to the entrance. Fairen could already make out a figure wielding a large axe idling next to some crates beside the building.
"There he is," Chrom stated, one hand on the pommel of his sword.
"Are you sure?" Lissa asked. "It's hard to tell all the way back here."
"Well, we'll just have to go and see." Chrom said.
"Milord, if you'd hold for a moment," Frederick said, putting a gentle hand in front of Chrom from horseback. Fairen watched Frederick give the bridge a careful eye, and he had to keep himself from rolling his eyes. "Allow me to cross first."
"What? Frederick," Lissa protested, frowning. "There is no way the bridge is booby-trapped! Let's just go together."
"One must not be too careful when handling brute savages," Frederick said, looking Chrom in the eye for approval. Chrom simply nodded his head, his lips a thin line. Frederick gave one last glare at Fairen, as if he regretted leaving the other two with him, then started his trot across the bridge.
Frederick was not fully across when Fairen crossed his arms and glared at Frederick, not feeling satisfied at having to shoot daggers from his eyes to back end of Frederick's horse. Tapping his right foot a few times, Fairen shook his head then started swiftly stepping out onto the bridge too.
"Fairen?" Chrom said, giving Fairen a questioning expression.
"Come on," Fairen said, turning around and motioning forward. "Fred's worrying way too much. Let's go."
Chrom hesitated for a moment before Lissa, with a happy hop, joined Fairen, holding her staff closely in both hands and grinning. "No complaints from me!" she said. Chrom had to follow after that.
When Frederick reached the other side and turned around to tell the others that the coast was clear, his frown spread across his cheeks when he found Fairen leading Chrom and Lissa.
"I thought I told you to wait," Frederick stated, specifically looking at Fairen.
"We can't stand around for long," Fairen said defiantly, throwing his own glare at Frederick. "There's caution, and then there's just being too orientated towards safety."
Frederick turned his gaze to Chrom for recognition, Chrom just shrugged and turned the other way. Lissa tried to hide her giggle behind her gloved hands.
"I certainly hope your gung-ho attitude will not be the end of you, Fairen," Frederick snidely remarked.
Fairen rolled his eyes then pointed towards the cathedral. "Look, the guy's just right there. Let's figure out if he's the leader, take care of him, and if he wasn't we keep looking. Ok?"
"Right," Chrom said, balling the fingers of his right hand into a fist. "I will deal with him. Frederick, Lissa, Fairen, you all cover me in case any reinforcements appear."
"Chrom," Lissa began, somewhat exasperated. "Remember what happened literally five minutes ago? You went alone into battle and almost got an axe to the back!"
"This time, however," Chrom said, Fairen imagining an invisible finger that was being chidingly waved by Chrom, "You three will stick close to me. If he has back up in the cathedral, I'll need you all to distract them."
I didn't even think about the possibility of there being more in the cathedral, Fairen said to himself with shock and self-shame.
Before anyone could say anything else, Chrom headed forward, forcing Frederick and Lissa to go after. Fairen took a moment to think about how bare bones their plan was before shaking his head and following suit, still carrying that big heavy axe with him over his shoulder. If he was honest, he wanted to be the one to fight the big bad, but was in no condition to do so, and Chrom was probably in a much better state to handle things than him. Fairen shook his head, then started jogging to catch up.
Chrom lead the trail, with the other three behind a few feet. As they approached the large steps to the cathedral, Fairen heard a shout behind him. He turned around and found two other barbarians coming up from behind, their weapons out as they ran at the party. One had an axe, while the other was slimmer in build and wielded a sword.
"Milord!" Frederick cried out. Fairen found Lissa and Frederick looking back too. "We've got more of them coming from behind!"
"Got it!" Chrom shouted back. Fairen saw the leader at the cathedral had noticed them by now and drew his axe, holding his position near the holy building. "You all cover me! I got the leader!"
Just then, Fairen was buffed by a gale of winds from his right side. He had to dig his heels in the ground, blocking his face from the air forces with his arm. A blue glow emanated around his figure for a moment before dispersing just as the wind did. He brought his head up to see a man standing across the river from the east wearing red robes and what he could only describe as a stereotypical wizard's hat. The wizard stared at him in shock, holding a sizable green book in one hand, then took a step back and channeled some sort of energy into his right hand.
"Drat! A mage!" Frederick said, gritting his teeth. Lissa only looked at Fairen in great surprise. "Fairen! We must not allow the mage to interfere with Chrom's battle! I will handle these two! You must go and stop the mage!"
"Got it," said Fairen, nodding. He checked the edge of the pavement right before the river for a bridge, only to find one back near the intersection where they crossed. Fairen got buffed by winds again, and he guarded himself, grunting, the blue glow surrounding him once more.
Going all the way around's too slow, he thought to himself. Guess I've got to take the hard way then!
Fairen planted the blunt end of his axe firmly on the ground and chanted a single note. The air around him mysteriously picked up speed in a perfect circle around his figure. Lissa had to pry her attention away as she got on Frederick's horse as a azure aura of flames slowly smoldered from Fairen's form. Only the mage across the river could see Fairen's blazing blue eyes. He took a hold of the axe with one hand near the bottom, started to rapidly spin himself while holding the axe out, tilting towards the river, and finally with a resolute shout he threw the axe with all his might, almost invisible magical flames erupting from his fingertips as the axe left his grip.
The mage went wide-eyed as the axe flew at him at an incredible velocity, and he barely managed to duck in time to avoid the whirling weapon of death. The mage heard a great crash and looked up and behind him to see the end of his hat lying on the ground cut in half, and beyond it a freshly caved-in wall of a building.
Fairen got into a runner's position on the ground, his right foot back with his toe pressed against a piece of the cobblestone road that was sticking out. A short second after, he huffed, looked up, and bore his teeth, a blue inferno still reflecting off his eyes. Without warning, he took off, the air around him caving in as he created a large draft in his wake. When he reached the ledge to the river, he leaped, his raw speed carrying him through the open air and over the water. He managed to reach the other side with little inches to spare, crouching down upon landing to absorb the impact of gravity's force.
Then, he turned his attention to the mage, who was even more surprised to suddenly see the insane axe-thrower over the river beside him. Fairen rushed forward, bringing his fist low. The mage panicked, fumbling with his book and quickly slinging a green spell from his right hand. Fairen deftly dodged the projectile, the wind magic leaving dust and cut-up stone where it landed on the road, and reached the mage, shouting, his fist glowing blue as time seemed to freeze in that moment: the mage utterly frightened by Fairen's furious face just a measly half-foot away.
Fairen delivered a punch with a crack, sending the mage several meters up into the air before he fell limp into the river with a splash that kicked water high enough to reach the road's edge. Fairen had his eyes closed, his head tilted down while his fist shook. He growled as the last remnants of his attack flew upwards in black cinder, like a small fire dying out. Static started lancing up and down his punching arm, and he had to hold it to keep it from shaking, pain lancing up and down the shocked limb.
That felt good, Fairen thought. Real good. But I think I overdid it a bit. Probably shouldn't do something like that for a while.
"What the?-"
Fairen looked up. Emerging from the entrance of the alley was a monster of a man, arms filled with muscle, body hair lining up and down his limbs and open chest. The small tussle of hair on top of his head had the consistency of dried hay, and stuck up every which way. There was a constant murderous gleen in his eyes despite his shocked expression, stubble dotted around his lips and over the edge of his sharp jaw. He adorned the same clothes as all the other barbarians, albeit three sizes larger to make up for his astounding build. He was reaching behind his back with his calloused, blood-dried hands to grab a worn, solid, and clearly steel axe.
"I leave for three bloody minutes," the man said, bringing his weapon to his front, "and everything goes belly up! What in the name of Grima happened to my men?"
Then, the man's gaze met Fairen's. Immediately, the man's expression went from shock to determination, with a smirk fueled by bloodlust.
Fairen felt the blood drain from his face. He whipped his head to look over his shoulder, finding Chrom in combat with the brigand at the front of the cathedral, who was increasingly looking not like the leader of the town's raiders. Lissa and Frederick were fighting off one other opponent that he couldn't clearly discern.
When Fairen brought his attention back up front, he only had a breath of a second to dodge the incoming slash aimed at his face.
Fairen slid to a stop a few feet back, trying to find his breath, only to have to dodge a second strike, then a third, all horizontal attack aimed at cleaving him in two. He couldn't believe how fast the man was for his size!
The brigand leader slowly approached Fairen, almost gleefully. "You don't happen to be the one to orchestrate this counter-attack, did you?" He took another swipe at Fairen, forcing Fairen to retreat further. "Maybe you know the dastard who did?" Another swing, another dodge. "Couldn't be the town's doin', we cut up the sorry lot they called guards just fine."
Fairen lost his balance on a slanted cobblestone tile in his backstep, and he had to duck under the next swipe the leader threw. Breathing heavily, he could not catch a break, nor find an opening long enough to gather his stamina.
The attacks seemed to get faster and faster, forcing more urgent movement out of Fairen. He felt himself heat up as sweat beads rolled down his temples. When the leader reeled back for a brief second before his swing, Fairen tried throwing a sideways punch at the leader's cheek. The leader daftly shoved the haft of the battleaxe up, deflecting the blow and throwing Fairen's arms up, leaving him wide open. Fairen watched in horror as the leader sneered, then ducked down to charge his power.
The axe blade swung right into Fairen's torso sideways, landing between his ribs and hips. As the metal seemed to cut into the cloth of his shirt, a blue glow emanated between the axe head and Fairen. A light blue barrier appeared over Fairen, then suddenly a brilliant flash of light exploded out, followed by the sound of shattering sheets of glass. The leader stumbled back, screaming and holding his eyes, while Fairen was blasted back in a gale of force. He tumbled toes over head as he bounced thrice against the ground, landing a few meters away on his stomach.
He struggled to get up, having to dig deep to find the strength in his arms to prop remove himself from the ground. When he was at least on all fours, he froze, his breath hitching in his throat. Frantically he patted down his stomach with his right hand, then looked down at his body as he sat up on his knees. His other hand joined the searched, and after a second of self-examination, he paused, his chest heaving for oxygen, his expression stricken with intense fear.
"What in the bloody blue blazes was that?" the leader groaned, rubbing one eye with a knuckle, the other giving a dirty look at Fairen. He stood hunched over, knees bent, his steel axe at his side. "Some kind of flashy mage shit? Damn wizard, I'll carve a hole out of your skull!"
Suddenly returning to the moment, Fairen got on his feet, knees shaky, and slowly and carefully backed up from the leader. The leader shouted out a scream of pure rage and charged Fairen, raising his axe high up in the air. The gap was closed in mere seconds. Fairen shut off his mind, couldn't think, couldn't analyse in such a short amount of time, and let his body move for him. The leader leaped up in the air and descended rapidly onto Fairen. When his opponent got close, Fairen dashed under the barbarian leader, rolled onto his back and planted his hands above his shoulders on the ground behind him. The leader watched Fairen move and swung his blade lower to match Fairen's maneuver. Fairen flattened his head against the pavement, sucked in his stomach, and brought in his legs before shooting them out in a powerful double-kick aimed at the leader's torso. Fairen's feet connected against chest, winding the leader, but the leader still attempted to follow through with his swing, aiming down. Fairen pushed and launched the leader over himself as the axe barely missed him and passed between his legs.
The leader landed on his back but then rolled to a stop, managing to turn around and face Fairen in a crouch with his left leg sticking out to stabilize himself. He wiped scattered saliva off the corner of his lips, skin tugging on his stubble, and growled.
Fairen worked to get up and then stared ahead at his opponent, hunched over. He knew that what he was doing wasn't working, and he was getting fatigued, and fast. His mind raced for viable combat strategies. An idea occurred to him, and he forced his breathing to calm despite his racing heart. From within, he took power that was emanating from his body and limbs, and began to pull it inward, forcing it to the core of his being with trained precision. Heat warmed his blood and muscles, and his vision seemed to focus, but emotion filled a well that was previously occupied by confusion and anxious desperation.
The two combatants met gazes.
Then, with a scratchy battle cry, the leader charged forward, his axe dragging behind him as he hoisted it back for a blow. Fairen rose his fists in a fighting stance and let out a breath between pursed lips, trying to match his breathing with the leader's surging footfalls. Suddenly, the leader dashed forward from his sprint and threw his axe down vertically. Fairen dodged at the last second, and the leader eyeballed him in a fury, blood vessels visible in his eyes and converging on his irises. Another quick swing from the leader almost caught Fairen by surprise, and he deftly evaded once again. He could feel the flow of battle fuel his efforts to drag energy within himself, and the effects of his channeling multiplied.
The leader, more drool leaving the ends of his maw, was heaving with each and every breath as he swung again and again and again, and the damned freak-mage dodged every single attack. He grit his teeth as he watched Fairen's speed seemingly increase, agile movement spurred on by some strange acceleration originating from Fairen's lower body. The leader hunkered down and was about to twist the hand holding the axe handle for a quick upward blow.
Suddenly, Fairen jabbed in an instant, attacking the leader's gut and leaving the leader breathless, eyes bulging. The leader tried to throw out the butt of the handle but Fairen dexterously hopped back then immediately forward and let out a one-two punch at the leader's nose, followed by a roundhouse kick that sent the leader careening back.
The leader landed in a heap a few meters away, his nose bleeding, but Fairen watched as the leader got up once again. Fairen could feel the energy course through him. It filled his head with a buzz, and his eardrums vibrated with a low hum that seemed to drive outward through his entire being. There were sparkles in his eyesight, the colours were all saturated and tinted red, and he could feel the air being pushed in and out of his lungs sweep past the walls of his throat and the roof of his nasal cavity and mouth. It was power, his power. He built it up quickly, no, too quickly, he thought, and he fought to contain the murderous rage growing inside him. The sensation was growing into a mixed pain, and Fairen felt his instincts were suddenly screaming at him to release it all.
Fairen curled his right hand into a fist and brought it close under his chest. Then, he bent his knees and began to focus on that one spot. The leader stared at his opponent as a visible flaming aura emerged from Fairen's being. Fairen audibly hummed as he gathered some sort of supernatural strength, and blue lighting started to jump up and down his arms and legs between intermittent pauses. The leader shouted, spewing spittle and blood, grabbing his weapon firmly as he raced forward, desperate to prevent whatever his opponent was pulling next.
Fairen looked up from his hand, teeth bared, eyes furious and emitting a sky-shaded light. The leader hadn't even gotten close before Fairen reeled back, sliding one foot back behind the other, right arm bent with his fist holding red energy and his left arm out before him for balance. He shot forward and gave a cry, throwing a punch with enough force to carry the rest of his body forward a few inches. A circle of air distorted light around the space where Fairen's punch traveled through, and a crashing boom rang out, the ground slightly shaking. A faint blue cylindrical light blasted forth from the end of his fist, and Fairen had to hold onto his punching arm with the opposite hand to stabilize. The light hit the leader squarely in the chest, shooting the leader back hard into the building behind him.
Still looking at the leader, Fairen's eyes fluttered as he sagged and tilted. Suddenly, more electricity shocked his figure and he gasped in agony before collapsing on his back. A ring formed from his splayed out limbs, where static jumped freely to and fro. He winced, vision blurry and partially blinded by the setting sun.
Damn, that hurts, Fairen thought. I think I over did it again.
There was silence, and a ringing in his ears. He was too weak and in pain to move, exhaustion sapping the strength from his body. All he could do was observe the smoke from the town's burning buildings mingle with the stray orange-tinted clouds in the sky. Then, he became aware of an odd scraping sound that was headed towards him. Out of the corner of his vision, he could see a figure stand over him to his left. His vision began to fix, and he realized with reigned horror that it was the brigand leader, chest and upper belly blackened with a large bruise, blood dribbling out of the leader's fat red lips. His arms hung limply at each side, except Fairen noticed the handle of the axe still being held in the right hand of his opponent.
Fuck, he's still alive? Fairen thought.
The leader narrowed his eyes, then grabbed the axe's handle with both hands and brought the weapon around himself to his back, his arms pulled over above his shoulders. Fairen still couldn't move. He managed to lift his head up and crane it so he could have a better view of the leader about to kill him. The leader grunted and his arms began to shake as he tried to lift the axe up and above and over him.
Abruptly, Fairen could hear rapid footsteps coming from some ways away, then was surprised to see a body ram right into the leader from behind. The shining blade of a longsword was sticking out of the leader's torso from his back, and the leader gurgled before he left go of his axe, losing all strength. Fairen tilted his head to the side to try and see who just was behind the leader. The blade was pulled out with a shink and the brigand's now lifeless body was pushed to the side.
The wonderful figure of Chrom, hair a bit matted and face a bit dirty, filled Fairen's vision as Chrom pulled his attention away from his kill.
"Fairen," Chrom began, taking a step forward and kneeling on the ground. "Are you ok?"
Fairen flexed his arms and legs, and found he could move them again. "Just about, I guess," he croaked.
Chrom lent out his hand for Fairen, which Fairen gladly took, and Fairen was quickly pulled up to his feet, his senses going for a loop as blood rushed from his brain.
"This situation feels familiar to me," Chrom quipped with a soft grin.
"Deja vu," Fairen agreed, eyes slightly crossed. He could only see stars, and he coughed. "We've got to stop meeting like this.
Chrom's smile only widened further before Fairen stumbled forward and Chrom moved forward to catch him. He let Fairen balance against him for a moment, then got under a single shoulder. Just then, Frederick rode up to Fairen and Chrom from the road, Lissa on tow behind Frederick.
"Milord," Frederick greeted, coming to a stop near Chrom.
"Frederick," Chrom said back. He motioned with his head towards the dazed Fairen. "I guess our road straggler here has more than proven his skills and loyalty, eh?"
Frederick gave Fairen a sideways look and frowned as he said nothing. Lissa hopped off the horse, clutching her mending staff firmly.
"Fairen!" Lissa called out. Fairen managed to focus enough to look back at her glowing, wide yellow eyes. She kept her staff close to herself until she reached Fairen, then extended the staff out above Fairen's head. The top of the staff began to glow with a fairy-blue light. "That was amazing! How did you do all of that?"
"You saw that?" Fairen said, trying to look at Lissa from around the staff.
"Most of it. I saw you fight after we dealt with our barbarians," Lissa said, looking for something on Fairen's figure that Fairen couldn't figure out. "Chrom was already headed towards you, but we still got here as fast as we could. I'm sorry we couldn't help you fight that guy."
"It's ok," Fairen said, wincing with one eye as he shuddered from remaining motes of soreness.
"You did a fair job regardless," Chrom complimented, looking from Fairen to Lissa. "All of you."
"It is but my duty, my lord," Frederick said.
Fairen gave a bleary-eyed look at Chrom, to which Chrom only smiled back at.
"Hmm, that's odd," Lissa began, pulling her staff back and letting the magic die down. "I can't find any physical injuries on you. Are you being affected by those 'magical' injuries of yours again?"
It was Fairen's turn to smile. "You catch on quick." He leaned away from Chrom to which Chrom sensed and allowed, getting away from Fairen's shoulder. Fairen bounced on the ends of his a couple of times, testing his balance and strength. "I just need some time to catch my breath, that's all. Got a bit conked out in that fight."
"That barrier you did earlier was awesome," Lissa said, glowing. "I didn't know you could cast magic without a staff!"
"Yeah, my magic's probably a lot different than the magic you know, Lissa," Fairen said.
"What was all that glowy-blue stuff you did against the brigand leader?" Lissa asked.
"Adrenis magic," Fairen simply said. "It's hard to explain."
"If we could adjourn the discussion on magic for the moment, I highly suggest we check the town for survivors and notify them of the situation," Frederick said, interrupting.
Chrom nodded. "If there are any stragglers, we'll be able to shoo them away too." Then, Chrom bent down and picked up the steel axe lying on the ground. "If these dastards have even a lick of sense to them, they'll see their leader's weapon and know that the gig's up."
"Good idea," Fairen commented. "I heard from a lady I rescued that most of the villagers are probably at the town center. We should check there."
"Sounds like a plan to me!" Lissa said, excitement radiating from her standing on her tippy toes and her balling up her fists. Fairen couldn't help but smile, the sunset progressing smoothly. As the group walked away, Fairen experimentally rolled a shoulder and tried to hide his resulting flinch. He thought about how even though everything seemed to turn out fine he'd have to stretch out some sore muscles later in the very least. Worse was the state of his stamina: He was fatigued, and normal breathing took conscious effort from him as his muscles seemed to sag and falter. Above all else, however, was the sensation, or lack there of, of magic from his being. His protective charm was gone, the one that he kept up for so long, and he didn't know when he could be capable of casting the next one. He grabbed a hold of the swinging ruby pendant swinging from his neck and clenched his fingers, hoping that he'd be able to gather perseverance from himself for the tasks ahead.
Author's Post-Chapter Notes:
I'm very familiar with fanfiction writing, and am a veteran at it, but I'm not too familiar with the fanfiction-dot-net website specifically, so I hope that I can navigate everything on the necessary webpages smoothly.
Don't expect updates too frequently. I have been writing this for literally months, which is sad because I've actually barely begun to write anything. The only reason this is out is because I pushed myself to actually finish it after reading too many fan fictions that I think suck and feel like I can do a lot better. Gotta release something to actually put my money where my mouth is, though, which is why this is published now.
I will try and write on a regular basis for this story, but I have a life, I have school, yadda-yadda-yadda. Writing fanfiction is a hobby, and I haven't done it consistently for around four years now, so don't get your hopes too far up. That being said, My motivation to write will either skyrocket or bomb depending on how much feedback I get.
I have an idea about how I want this story to go, but I haven't written an outline yet. I will get to that eventually, probably before the next chapter is released, because if I have learned anything from writing, it's that writing novel-length works without a story outline is really, really shitty. Your writing will probably be really trash as a result because you can't possible keep track of every single plot detail that goes into your works, especially if you've writing a chapter over several days/weeks/months.
Are there proofreaders on this website? Aren't they called beta readers? Can anyone explain that to me?
One last thing to note are the end-chapter level-ups I'll be giving to the main character. This is just a fun little thing I'll be doing as the story progresses.
LEVEL UP!
Fairen
Class: Explorer
Level: 1 + 1 = 2
HP: 18 + 1 = 19
STR: 4 + 1 = 5
MAG: 6 + 1 = 7
SKL: 5 + 1 = 6
SPD: 7
LCK: 1
DEF: 5
RES: 6 + 1 = 7
MOV: 5
Level-up Quote: "I'm going the distance."
WEAP. LVL: Sword = E, Axe = E, Lance = E
Skills Equipped:
- Scrapper: Can use any melee weapon, but gains no weap. exp.