Just Roll With It
Chapter Two
The Road To Ylisstol
It has been around four hours since our group left Southtown, Chrom and Frederick walk side by side speaking casually about the normally three day journey ahead of us. However, since Robin and I are not exactly in peak physical condition after our battle it may take longer. Robin walks beside Lissa, every so often the younger woman tries to pry into Robin's past to only be met with a resounding, "Hmm, I would know that if I remembered anything."
And as for me, I am sat rather uncomfortably on top of Frederick's horse, whose name I now know to be Freya. The injuries I sustained in my foolhardy attempt at helping back on the bridge were a tad more debilitating than Robin's. Turns out magic really takes it out of you, who would have thought? Lissa has assured me that when we stop to rest tonight she can focus more on my wounds, and God willing be back to one hundred percent.
Over the past hours I have taken the time to reflect on how I am clearly very far from home. I'm in a country called Ylisse, which I'm almost positive is not on earth, or at least the earth I know. The Brigands we fought apparently spoke with a Plegian accent, according to Frederick at least. I didn't take the time to hear much of what any of them had to say, because I was stuck in a perpetual cycle of fight or flight. Seeing as I am just as confused as when I started, I decide to just make the best of what cards I have been dealt.
A slightly amused yet still stern Frederick brings me back to reality, "Nikolas, off the horse," he points to a clearing beside the road, "we're making camp."
"Oh, of course I'm sorry I was stuck in my thoughts." I reply embarrassed of my aloofness.
Frederick offers me a shoulder to help get off of his horse. I only realize now that my legs are numb from the ride. I stumble for a second when my feet touch the ground but quickly regain control.
The area we've broken camp at sits adjacent to a small brook, a large oak tree stands alone next to a clearing where Chrom, Lissa, and Robin are working hard to set tents up. I turn and retrieve my newly bought tent from Freya's back, and get to work trying to set it up. Labored breaths leave me as I struggle to get the tent upright. I get about halfway and desperately need a break. If I ever get into another situation like that Chrom is on his own. Like clockwork Chrom approaches me to help. He doesn't say anything he just gives me an understanding nod and starts to put my tent up.
After a few moments he speaks, "You haven't been on the road much in your life, have you?"
"How'd you guess?" I half chuckle, "was it the poor attempt of putting up a tent? Or maybe almost dying at the first sign of trouble?"
Chrom looks taken aback for a moment, "I was just talking about the tent," he scratches the back of his head and smiles, "but you shouldn't feel any sort of shame about what happened in Southtown, you did just fine for what I assume was your first fight."
"But… I know I could have done more," I sigh, "You and Robin almost died on that bridge and I couldn't do anything."
"So you feel like you need to get stronger?" Chrom inquires a half smile coming to his face.
Why do I feel like I'm walking into a trap? Oh well best to just roll with it.
Chrom takes a seat beside me. "It's not just that, I don't know where I am, how I got here, or even what to do next…"
The shepherd contemplates for a second then responds," If that's the case then how do you feel about joining up with us?"
I knew it was a trap.
Honestly I'm not too sure how to respond. On one hand I barely know these people, or for that matter what they even do. But on the other hand they're the only thing I have other than the clothes on my back. They seem trustworthy enough, at least they haven't given me a reason not to trust them. Yet.
"Might as well seeing as I have nowhere else to go." I reply offering Chrom a handshake.
"Glad to have you and Robin on board, the others are gonna be thrilled!" Chrom exclaims.
"Robin joined too?" I half ask.
"Yup," Chrom's eyes beam with something akin to pride, "she's to be our tactician."
Flashbacks of the battle earlier send chills up my spine. She's gonna kill us.
I sigh, "I guess it couldn't go worse than last time."
Chrom claps a hand on my back and stands up. I'm left sitting by myself for a moment before I get up to seek out Lissa. I find her by Robin's tent, when she sees me approaching her hands fly behind her back in a futile attempt to hide something.
"Hey Nik, I d-didn't see you there." she stammers, "what can I do you for?" a sheepish smile crosses her lips.
Choosing to ignore what I just saw I reply, "You said to come find you for healing when we made camp."
Her face calms, "Of course, just meet me by my tent in a moment."
I turn to walk away, a devious grin spreads across my face. "If you're going to mess with Robin, you may want to not be so obvious about it."
Lissa gasps, I don't turn to see her reaction. I just snicker to my self and make my way across camp to Lissa's tent.
A few hours have passed since my healing session with Lissa, the daylight has faded into a zodiac sky, to say I feel amazing would be the understatement of the year. The pain that plagued my left flank was gone. I helped Lissa gather firewood while Frederick and Chrom hunted for meat, all the while Robin was finding stones for our fire pit.
The rest of the shepherds and I sit around the fire now. Everyone has a slab of meat on a makeshift stone plate. I have no clue what kind of meat it is, but I eat it greedily, only stopping to get a drink of water every so often. The meat is gamey but not in an unfamiliar way, I'm used to meat like this from all the hunters back home. Robin sitting a few feet away is eating as veraciously as I am. Lissa and Frederick look on us, disgusted with their portions, as for Chrom he's eating at a moderate pace.
After a while of silent eating Frederick breaks the silence, "Nikolas, where are you from?"
Momentary panic hits me, "Umm, I don't know if you'd believe me." I say carefully.
"Nonsense, It couldn't be too far from here." He replies.
I exhale, "I'm from Maryland, a state in The United States of America."
Everyone turns their gaze to me, I'm not a shy person, but this feels different. The looks on their faces tell me that they've never heard of it.
I sit for a moment stewing on my next words, "I think I'm from a different world."
Chrom and Lissa laugh hysterically, Frederick doesn't have a discernible reaction. Meanwhile, Robin just casts a curious gaze my way.
Between laughs Chrom manages to get out, "Wow, Nik I never took you for the jester type."
Frustration creeps into me, I push it down quickly. I mean if someone told me that I know for a fact I'd laugh at them as well.
"I'm serious, when I told you I don't know where or what Ylisse is, I wasn't lying!" I spit not really meaning to be rude.
Chrom's laughter ceases, "Well, say you are from a different world, why are you here to begin with?" Lissa nods in agreement next to him.
"I don't know, I just woke up next to Robin, I don't remember anything leading up to that." My reply barely above a whisper.
Chrom opens his mouth to speak but is cut off by Robin, "Does that mean I'm from there as well?"
The tension that hung in the air is replaced by Robin's curiosity.
"I don't think so," I point to her tome, "There's no magic where I'm from."
Lissa is dumbfounded, "How do healers treat wounds then?"
"Medicine and surgery." This seems to satisfy the blonde for the time being.
Chrom speaks up next, "What about your family? Shouldn't they be missing you?"
His words hit me like a ton of bricks, I never even thought about my family back home. They probably don't even know I'm gone yet, it's only been a day, and it's not unusual for me to not talk to anyone for a few days.
"Not yet, it's only been a day," I reply running my hands through my curly hair, "Do you all think we could keep this as a secret?"
"Why would we do that?" Frederick asks incredulously, "Why not be forthcoming with this information to begin with?"
His words sting, but I know he's right. After all, these people saved my life. From a situation I so expertly put myself in.
"It's not that I don't want to be honest with people, just don't want everyone I meet here to look at me with skepticism." Frederick doesn't look happy with my response but, a sharp look from Chrom keeps him from pressing further.
Chrom gives me a nod "We'll keep your secret, just know that it's gonna be hard for you to blend in if you know nothing of our customs."
I return his nod, "Thank you Chrom, I'll keep that in mind."
Silence envelopes our group, I catch Robin stealing glances at me every so often; however, before I can say anything a yawn erupts from Lissa.
Chrom looks to her, "It is getting late we should rest up, It's another day and night before we reach Ylisstol."
With that we all move to our tents, only Frederick remains at the fire to keep watch first. Sleep doesn't come easy for me, thoughts of the battle this morning fill my mind. I see the archer I killed, his eyes just before I took the dagger across his throat haunt me. They were pleading with me not to kill him. It doesn't matter in my mind that he had probably killed innocent people, who was I to take his life.
When I wake up the next morning the sun hasn't risen yet, my entire body is stiff from sleeping on the hard ground. I must've only slept for around four hours, fuck me. Deciding sleep isn't possible I get up. When I move from my tent I see that Robin is the only other one awake. She looks tired. I walk to the other side of the tree she is sitting against, and take a seat.
"Couldn't sleep?" I ask sleep still in my voice.
She scoffs, "There were bugs in my bedroll… I hate bugs."
Memories of Lissa standing in front of Robin's tent crash into me, I laugh quietly.
"That would be Lissa." I respond.
Robin kicks a pebble, "Figures, she was asking me all sorts of weird questions on the way here" she stifles a yawn, "I'm gonna get her back eventually… and you're gonna help me."
My eyes widen, "And why would I do that?"
"You knew that she was planning something, and you didn't tell me what was going to happen; Therefore, you are an accomplice."
"And how exactly do you know that I knew anything?" I ask defensively.
She sighs, "You just said that you did?"
Realization hits me. Duh Nik, You just told her Lissa did it. No shit she'd piece together that you knew something. Stupid smart Robin…
A long exhale flows from me, "Fine, but you get to take all the blame."
Robin snickers, "Deal."
The next day of travel is boring to say the least, the only thing that's happened all day is Frederick running ahead of the group to gather pebbles only to place them on the side of the road. Occasionally Robin and I would ask questions about Ylisstol and the other Shepherds, but overall a quiet day. As we crest a hill a forest comes into view, trees sprawl for miles in either direction. We continue into the forest for some time before dusk arrives. Chrom decides that he's had enough walking for one day, and chooses a clearing just off of the road to make camp.
I manage to get my tent set up on my own tonight, a small victory but one I'll take happily. Frederick cooks once again tonight, it's that same gamey meat that we had last night, when I asked what it was a scowl came over his face as he said bear. When it came time to sleep, I fell asleep easily, but the same brigand stayed in my mind.
My eyes shoot open as the ground beneath me tremors. I get out of my tent to see Frederick looking desperately for what I can assume could only be Chrom and Lissa.
A disheveled Robin pushes her way out of her tent, "What's going on?" she asks rubbing sleep out of her still half closed eyes.
"Chrom and Lissa are missing." Frederick states, His eyes drifting toward the forest.
Robins eyes widen, the sleep once clouding them disappear completely. A moment later he takes his lance, mounts Freya and takes off into the forest. Robin and I grab our weapons and take off after him. A bright orange glow emanates from the direction we're heading. The temperature climbs as we get closer. We break into a small clearing, it becomes clear that the glow I was seeing was directly related to the quakes. Lava flows freely from cracks in the earth, setting fire to the foliage as it creeps by.
In the light of the fires I see Chrom and Lissa. They're fighting a group of people armed with axes. Something seems off, those people move unnaturally. A third person fights alongside them, slashing furiously through their assailants.
Frederick spots them and doesn't hesitate. Swiftly he bowls into the line of fighters making a hole for us to get to Chrom and Lissa's side. Running faster than I ever thought possible Robin and I push through the line. Turning my head to get a better look at what we're up against as we pass, I see something that makes my blood run cold. These people aren't alive. Glowing red eyes pierce through the rotting faces of these… Zombies? What kind of world is this? I need to get home, and soon.
I skid to a halt behind Chrom arrow drawn. I release it, the arrow squelches as it enters one of the zombie's chests, slowing its advance.
Not able to hold back my terror I shout, "You all have zombies here?!"
Chrom replies after cleaving through one of the undead's neck, "No, we don't"
Robin silences our conversation with a shout "Frederick! What is that building across the field?"
"Abandoned forts," He impales a zombie, "Used in the last war."
"We need to make our way there!" Robin shouts and tosses a bolt of lightning at the growing hoard of undead.
Frederick nods then lets out a guttural roar, "For the Exalt!"
Frederick presses forward, slashing at any of the undead that are unfortunate enough to cross his path. Chrom and the mystery man follow closely behind keeping Lissa close. Robin draws her sword and runs after them, I follow suit grab my dagger and start cutting our way through. The last thing I want to do is get close to these monsters but, I don't have the time to knock and shoot arrows. God forbid one of us get bitten. As we push through the crowd, my legs begin to ache. I need to slow down. I perish the thought.
In my moment of thought I'm separated from the group, quickly I find myself surrounded on all sides by the encroaching masses. Panic sets in as I plant my feet and prepare to lash out with everything I have. A sword makes a hideous arch toward my head. Barely dodging, I sink my dagger into the zombie's head. The monster crumbles to black ash. An axe sails towards me now, clumsily I parry the blow, Only to lose hold of my dagger. My face blanches.
I'm surrounded and alone… I guess magic world was cool while it lasted.
A lightning bolt crashes into the undead as it's about to cut me down, the zombie crumbles to ash in front of me.
An annoyingly familiar voice shouts from the nearby fort, "Don't just stand there… Fight!"
My senses return, I scramble for a weapon. Finding the sword of the undead I had killed. I take it in two hands, grit my teeth and launch my self into the fray. Cutting down one, then two more undead with uncoordinated slashes. More and more lightning crashes around my position More fill their spots as I trudge towards the fort. I'm gaining ground but with each slash I tire more and more. I feel the bow strapped against my back tighten. All hope leaves me at this point, I've done my best. I turn my head to see a zombie holding my bow at the grip. It gives a sharp tug and pulls me onto my back. I close my eyes and wait for the inevitable.
No way out now.
I'm all but resigned to the bloody end I'm about to meet, when I hear hooves approaching me quickly. A loud thud and metal hitting dirt echoes next to me.
"Hey dumbass," an unfamiliar voice calls, "Get up, we gotta get to the others!"
My eyes shoot open. My savior is a thin yet strong looking woman, her hair is short and ruby red. She's clad in armor of a similar color. An annoyed look stains her face. On foot beside her is a man, who is about as underdressed as I am for the occasion. His hair is an unnatural teal color. A bow is in his hands, arrow at the ready.
The redhead growls, "Ruffles, get him up we gotta get going."
He moves quickly, hoisting me to my feet with no effort, "My name is Virion, my fair lady."
I collect my self quickly and cut through the undead with renewed vigor as we rush toward the fort. Virion launches arrows with the speed of a practiced archer. The red-headed woman fights like a beast, spearing through anything that comes within an inch of her lance. Within moments, we reach the gate of the abandoned fort.
The door creaks as Chrom and Frederick work to push it open. In seconds my saviors and I are in the fort helping to close the gate back. Robin meanwhile, works to deal with the ones that made it in. When the gate is closed Frederick and Chrom bar the door with a wooden beam. We're safe for the moment.
I lean against a nearby wall and exhale, I'm one for three when it comes to surviving in this world. Granted the one was a guy who was electrocuted moments prior. A sharp slap pain on my face brings me out of my thoughts, I look up to see Robin glaring at me, her eyes full of fury.
"Do you always fuck up when it matters the most?" Her words venomous.
Anger wells up in me, I match her tone, "You fucking bitch, If you must know, I don't have much experience in dealing with undead hordes!" At this point I'm screaming, "What would her majesty suggest I do next time?"
Robin just stares at me, her eyes are I open my mouth to speak, but a firm hand on my shoulder silences me. I look over and see Virion, he doesn't look angry. He shakes his head and grabs my wrist and leads me to the bottom of the lone watch tower within the fort.
"Seeing as we seem to be the lone archers here," he gazes to the top of the tower, "We will take our post up here."
"Fine." I grumble and make my way up the tower's ladder, Virion close behind.
As I reach the platform at the top I see barrels. Curious I lift the top off of one and see the most arrows I have ever seen in my life. Why would an abandoned fort still have so much ammunition?
"You're gonna wanna look at these, Virion." I mutter still infuriated from speaking to Robin.
A sly smile spreads across his face, "The archest of archers is in business. Time to go to work boy."
I look at him Incredulously, "My name is Nik."
Virion and I nock our bows and look out into the horde of undead. There seems like a lot less from up here, maybe one hundred of them trying their damndest to break down the gate and make their way in. The others in our group wait in front of the gate. Listening to Robin tell them what tactics we'll be going with. I scowl as she points to the barrels near the far wall of the fort. Better not fuck up guys, or you'll end up with a sore cheek too. I know my anger at her is childish, but at the same time I'd cut my nose off to spite my own face.
I turn back to the horde of the walking dead, and draw my bow and loose an arrow. I shoot a few more before I realize Virion isn't shooting.
"Umm, you gonna help?" I inquire.
He answers my question with his own, "You are not an experienced archer are you?"
I shoot another arrow, "How did you guess?"
"You are not relaxed, nor are you drawing your bow to its fullest extent." he answers matter-of-factly.
"Kind of hard to be relaxed right now." My bowstring slaps into my left forearm, "Fuck that hurt."
Virion takes a breath and draws his bow back, his string twangs when he releases the arrow, "Just breathe, and shoot."
Growing tired of conversation I sigh and nod. If I am going to die here I'm not gonna make my last actions telling this guy how stupid he is. Taking a deep breath as I draw another arrow back, I pick out a zombie with a lance and exhale when I release the arrow. It flies right into the temple of the undead lancer. Maybe he isn't an idiot.
Half of an hour passes as Virion and I rain arrows down on the undead horde, We're running out of arrows. From the bottom of the tower I hear a voice shout "Nik, Virion!" I look to see Lissa, hands cupped around her mouth to amplify the sound, "Get down here!"
Virion climbs down ahead of me, when I start the descent I see the gate to the fortress buckle. I see the rest of the Shepherds waiting anxiously weapons at the ready. When we reach the bottom of the tower, the gate lets out a creak as if it had been through enough and collapses a pile of undead on top of it, slowly rising to their feet. In moments all the undead are within the fort.
"To the wall!" Robin shouts to everyone, and launches a bolt at a barrel near the far wall of the fort.
The barrel explodes, creating a fiery hole in the wall, Frederick, Chrom and, Lissa run through first. Following closely is the red head, Virion and I rush through next, passing more presumably explosive barrels. Robin is the last one out, as she leaves her body whips around, and she launches one last bolt at the pile of barrels in the center of the fort igniting them.
A deafening boom echoes through the forest. The sky lights up, I see the forms of the undead fly through the air. The watch tower Virion and I manned just moments ago crumbles to the ground. Soot flits down from the sky, the undead's ashes mixed in. Like a twisted version of snow. The group stands in awe as Robin emerges from a nearby column of Flames… and promptly collapses.
Lissa rushes to her side staff at the ready. Chrom directs the rest of the Shepherds to split into groups of twos and clear out any remaining 'Risen', Apparently zombies still don't exist. The swordsman Marth or whatever he called himself made what they were clear before he departed, so there's an odd man out. Virion and the woman whose name I now know to be Sully are paired up, Chrom pairs with Frederick, and of course that leaves me to keep watch on Lissa while she tends to Robin.
Time passes slowly when the others leave. Lissa And I sit in relative silence. Every so often I steal a glance in her direction to see how she's getting on. I feel bad for what happened to Robin. Not bad enough for apologizing. Her scheme and a wild stroke of luck is what saved us after all. Soon sputtering coughs erupt from her prone form. Robin shoots to an upright position, eyes wide and ready to fight.
"Calm down, It's over now." Lissa reassures.
Robin relaxes, "Oh…" she breathes looking around at nothing. However, when her gaze lands on me, she quickly turns away.
Not my problem…
When the sun finally rises we are on the road again, a tense silence hangs over the Shepherds. After our experience with the living dead last night, to say we were exhausted would be an understatement. I've been athletic all of my life, from soccer and football, to MMA classes. But nothing ever left me as sore as this, walking the rest of the way now definitely doesn't help in the slightest.
After about an hour or more the silence is broken by a happy squeak from Lissa, "Look, you can see the city from here!"
And sure enough there in all of its glory stood Ylisstol, smaller than any city by modern standards. It stood like a beacon in the golden morning light that reflected off of what I could only assume was a palace in its center. I don't know why but just looking at the cities walls filled me with an overwhelming sense of relief.
Thank you for reading, not much to say from me. I have some ideas to hopefully make this story interesting, I'm still very new to FanFiction (the website) as an author, so If anyone would want to give me a few pointers then I would love to hear them. Also, if anyone would like to Beta for these chapters just shoot me a PM.
-Dratwer
