"Are we almost there yet?" Corrin asked as he, his retainers and siblings made their way down the road to the capital, "I never knew riding on horses could be so uncomfortable."
"That's only because you're not used to it yet." Gunter said with a grin. "Your brother Lord Xander can spend entire days upon horseback. He even battles from atop his steed."
"People actually battle on horses!?" Corrin exclaimed.
"Why wouldn't they?" Leo cut in after overhearing the conversation. "Horses provide speed and mobility that simply can not be matched on foot. If we had not been riding horses, this three day journey would have been a three week journey."
"I could have gotten him here even faster on my wyvern." Camilla interjected. "It would have saved him from those terrible riding pains and would have given us quality brother-sister time."
"W-wouldn't that be dangerous?" Felicia interjected meekly, intimidated by the royals around her. "What if you got attacked?"
"That's why we're all riding together." Gunter answered. "If we do get attacked by bandits, they'll be the ones sorry."
"Well put Gunter." Xander said, "Against the might of all the Nohrian royal siblings, no bandits stands a chance."
"Everyone, look! We're here!" Elise cried excitedly, spurring her horse ahead of the others.
As Corrin and his allies looked into the crater that housed Windmere, a sense of excitement began to well up within the youngest prince.
I've finally returned to Windmere! Once I receive Father's blessing I'll be able to fight for the kingdom just like my siblings do.
"Come now!" Xander called to Corrin, who was now behind the others after admiring the capital. "Father undoubtedly knows we're here. We mustn't waste any time before reporting to him."
"Of course! Lead the way big brother!"
After a small stop at the stables to drop off their horses, Corrin's party went immediately to the throne room where King Garon was waiting. Everyone bent their knee at the base of the throne before Xander spoke.
"Father! We have returned from the Northern Fortress with our brother Corrin and his two retainers."
"Very good Xander." The King replied before turning to Corrin. "If you've returned to Castle Krakenburg, you must have completed Xander's training, correct?"
"Y-yes Father." Corrin replied. Speaking to his Father always made Corrin nervous. Garon had never been close to Corrin, but for as long as the young prince could remember, the King had always addressed him as though he had committed some unspeakable act which could not be forgiven. "Xander has completed my training by showing me Dragon Veins and how to activate them."
"And what of your swordplay?"
"While he is not yet an expert, he was able to hold his own against me." Xander interjected.
"Does this mean I'll be able to take my place in the royal court with you Father?" Corrin asked excitedly.
"Holding your own against Xander does bode well for your chances but there is one last test you must pass before I will be convinced you are ready." Garon replied gruffly. "Guards! Bring in the prisoners!"
At the King's command, a small band of Hoshidan soldiers were brought into the throne room in chains, weapons laying at their feet.
"Prisoners? What do they have to do with my readiness to me in the court?" Corrin asked.
"I wish to see your battle prowess firsthand before allowing you to assume the duties of a prince." Garon replied. Lifting himself up off the throne, he picked up a thick bundle of cloth which had been sitting next to the throne and handed it to Corrin.
"W-what is this?" Corrin asked as he unraveled the cloth to reveal a sword.
"This is the blade Ganglari. While not a legendary weapon like Xander's Siegfried or Leo's Brynhildr, it was forged by Castle Krakenburg's finest blacksmith and imbued with power by my one of my best generals: Iago."
"Thank you Father! This is a very generous gift!"
"Almost too generous..." Xander mumbled.
"Now, command your retainers and use the Ganglari to cut your enemies down." Garon cried. "Only if you are victorious, can you then take your place in the court."
"As you command Father." Corrin replied, brandishing his new blade in his hand. "Gunter! Felicia! Are you ready?"
"My lance arm may be a little rusty but I'm always ready to serve."
"I may not be great at housework, but battle is definitely where I shine!"
"Corrin appears to be ready. Leo! Unshackle the prisoners!"
"Of course Father."
A small burst of magic from Leo was all it took to release all six prisoners from their constraints. Each one quickly picked up a weapon but waited for the command of a young muscular woman and a handsome green-haired man.
"I am Rinkah!" The muscular woman declared. "A proud member of the Flame Tribe! Tell me your names so that I may know who's blood will be fueling my fire today!"
"I am the Nohrian Prince Corrin and these are my retainers Felicia and Gunter. We will be your combatants today."
"Prince Corrin!?" The green haired ninja mumbled with wide eyes.
"That is my name." The young prince replied. "Might I know your's?"
The ninja paused for a moment to compose himself before answering, "I am Kaze, a ninja of Hoshido and I will not fall today!"
"Neither will we!" Rinkah declared as the soldiers behind them cheered in agreement. "There are six of us and three of them use our numbers to your advantage!"
With that final thought, the band of soldiers began their charge toward Corrin and his allies.
"Let me be your shield milord." Gunter cried, stepping in front of his master. "Felicia can attack from afar to weaken them and you can finish them off."
"Got it!" Felicia said, kicking a dagger up from her shoe.
"Wait." The prince said quickly. "There's a Dragon Vein here."
"Do have any idea what it might do milord?" Gunter asked.
"No!" Corrin replied, stepping over to the Vein "But we don't have time to guess!"
With a burst of power, Corrin activated the Dragon Vein, reveling a fort in the middle of the throne room. From his throne, Garon nodded with approval, confirming this was the strategy he would have used.
"With this we can limit their attacks to two fronts." Corrin said, leading his allies into the fort. "Gunter can guard the west entrance while I block the east. If we face them one at a time, we can do this."
"Not only are maids proficient in daggers, but we can also use staves as well." Felicia said, as the three entered their formation. "I'll weaken our enemies and heal our wounds!"
"Thank you Felicia! Here they come!"
Taken aback at the sudden materialization of the fort, the Hoshidans split equally into two units with one led by Rinkah approaching from the west and a force led by Kaze in the east. While the two units attacked the fort simultaneously, the combination of the fort and the defensive formation held firm.
The first enemy Corrin encountered was a samurai who was killed without landing a single blow on the young royal. After being weakened by Felicia's dagger, it took only a single swing of the sword to finish him off. The samurai was followed almost immediately afterwords by a ninja, who proved much harder to dispatch. The ninja used his superior speed to continually dodge Ganglari while Kaze threw Shurikens from afar.
"Heal!" Felicia yelled activating her staff. "You can do this Master!"
All I need to do is remember my training. Corrin thought, narrowly dodging another of Kaze's shurikens. Just do as Xander taught you. Steady the hand, ready the blade and strike!
The next strike hit home, knocking the ninja off balance and creating an opening for Felicia to deliver the finishing blow.
Kaze threw a couple more shurikens before calling to his comrade, "Rinkah! They are too strong! We need to pull back and regroup!"
"On it!" The Oni Savage replied.
On the western front, Rinkah's forces had not fared as well as Kaze's. The first of her soldiers trying to enter the fort had impaled himself on Gunter's lance and the second was killed by the Great Knight soon after. Rinkah had at least forced the Knight on the defensive, but none of her attacks were penetrating his armor.
As the final Hoshidan units pulled back, Corrin and his retainers were on their heels to quickly restart the battle and push the advantage.
"I'll take Rinkah!" Corrin called. "You guys can handle Kaze!"
"You think you can handle me!?" Rinkah yelled, bringing her club crashing down in a vertical swing that left cracks in the throne room floor. "I'm finally fired up!"
Corrin brought the Ganglari down to try and pin Rinkah's club to the floor but was knocked back by her surprising strength as the club was swung at his head.
She's strong. Probably riding an adrenaline high. Corrin reasoned as he was knocked backwards by yet another strike from Rinkah. But that means she'll be sloppy. I just have to hold out for an opening.
After holding out for a solid two minutes, the opening finally presented itself. Trying to put more power behind her next swing, Rinkah, brought her club back too far, creating an opening for Corrin to attack. A swift diagonal cut from the Ganglari knocked Rinkah to ground and the club out of her hand.
Rinkah was soon followed by Kaze who had similarly been disarmed by the combination of Gunter and Felicia. The two lay defeated on the throne room floor. While they were riddled with small cuts and large bruises, they were both alive.
"You have done well my son." Garon said from the throne. "Now, kill them both!"
"B-But Father, they are beaten and defenseless!" Corrin replied. "Killing them now would be dishonorable!"
"This is no different from the others you killed mere moments ago. Kill the Hoshidans now or I will have you killed in their place!"
"The other soldiers were armed and trying to kill me. It was kill or be killed!" Corrin explained. "What harm would it do to try and show mercy?"
"So you insist on disobeying me!?" Garon exclaimed. "Xander! Kill Corrin and then kill the Hoshidans!"
"No!" Elise cried.
"Please Father, Corrin does yet understand our situation." Xander said. "He simply requires more time-"
"He has had his entire life to understand our situation!" Garon yelled. "Kill them now Xander! Or are you defying me too?"
"N-No Father." With a heavy heart, Xander drew his blade, Siegfried, and began to half-heartedly attack his brother.
Tired after his battle with Rinkah and Kaze, Corrin struggled to defend against his brother.
"Master!" Felicia cried, pulling out her staff.
"No! Don't interfere!" Corrin ordered before the maid could cast healing magic. "If you do, Father will see you as a traitor too!"
"A wise decision little prince." Xander said with a smile.
Putting a little more power behind his next swing, Xander landed a hit on the side of Corrins's armor which knocked the younger prince to the ground.
"I will give you one final chance!" Garon declared. "Kill the prisoners or be killed yourself!"
"I won't!" Corrin yelled defiantly.
"Then you shall die. Xander!"
The Crown Prince drew his blade back to deliver the final blow but before he could strike, a flash of light enveloped the prisoners, killing them.
"Must I do everything myself?" Leo said nonchalantly, revealing himself to be the magic caster. "I have dispatched these prisoners on the behalf of our soft-hearted brother. If you would spare his life, I'm sure Corrin could still be useful to our cause."
Garon thought for a moment before replying, "Fine. His life will be spared but Corrin will not take his place in the royal court. This transgression will not soon be forgotten." And walked out of the room.
"I'm sorry little prince." Xander apologized, offering his hand to help Corrin off the floor. "I can't disobey a direct order from Father."
"Its Ok Xander, I understand." Corrin said before angrily turning to Leo. "But how could you Leo!? They were defenseless!"
"Calm down." Leo replied. "The only way to save your life was to make it appear as though the prisoners had been killed and pleading your worth to Father."
"Appear to be dead..." The young prince mumbled before realizing. "You didn't kill them either!"
"Keep your voice down darling." Camilla said. "If Father finds those Hoshidans still alive his punishment will be even worse than it is already sure to be."
"Of course. But if you didn't kill them, where are the prisoners?"
"Shackled and chained in an old shed behind the castle. You can deal with them as you please now, I don't really care."
"Thank you Leo!" Corrin said before rushing off to the shed with Xander in tow. The two rushed to the shed where they found Rinkah and Kaze shackled as Leo had said.
"What do you intend to do with us?" Rinkah asked accussingly. "We're supposed to be dead. Are you going to experiment on us or make us your slaves?"
"No. I intend to let you go."
"Why?" Kaze asked as he and Rinkah's shackles were undone. "Why would you just let us go to likely take up arms against your kingdom once again?"
"Isn't that the right thing to do?"
"There's no doubt it's Him..." The ninja mumbled before darting off like a man on a mission.
"I won't hold back next time!" Rinkah declared, "We're still enemies you know!"
"I know, but do we have to be?"
The Oni Savage growled at the naïveté of the young prince before running off to her freedom.
"You know, an act of kindness will likely kill you one of these days little prince." Xander commented, proud of his brother for doing the honorable thing
"That's why I'm glad to have all of my siblings beside me. I know you'll always have my back even when acts of kindness come back to bite me."
"We will always be there for you little brother. But I don't believe we can protect you from Father's punishment. He still seemed very angry when he left."
"I know..." Corrin replied with dread. "But whatever the punishment may be, I'll handle it!"
"I know you will." Xander replied as the two began walking back to the castle. "I know you will."
AN: Chapter 2 complete! Not a lot changed here compared to the original, just a couple minor details which will play a part in the chapters to come. I hope you enjoyed!