Birth and Re-Death
Chapter 18: Kellam Goes Full Chad
"Everyone! The town is being set upon by bandits! We are moving in to stop them before it's too late!" Chrom shouts behind him to the rest of us.
Yup. My dumb ass walked us into a paralogue.
Up by the gate into the town, the fighting has already begun. While the bandits stand atop the wall firing arrows down on those closer to them, Ricken, Miriel, and Robin lob magic attacks up at them in response. With all the heat and light being thrown up, the archers have a tough time aiming and aren't having much luck hitting anything. Meanwhile, I see Virion climbing atop the wooden weapon supply wagon and take aim.
"Have at you, fiends!" he cries, letting an arrow fly. It finds its mark, striking one of the bandits and sending him toppling off the wall and crashing in a heap on the ground. The others soon follow, clearing the wall and making entry into the town possible.
Robin calls everyone together. "Alright Shepherds, the name of the game is speed and coverage. We get in, we take out the enemy, and we do it before they can harm the townsfolk if possible. I want small strike teams, each with a healer and a ranged attacker. The rest of the team will be melee attackers. Cordelia and Sumia, I don't want you two taking to the air today; there are too many potential vantage points for an archer to fire from, so dismount for today. Let's go!"
The Shepherds scramble to form teams, with groups quickly forming around each of the healers. Looks like we've got four groups of mostly five, except for one team that has to go without a medic. I was unsurprised to have Frederick make a beeline for me, no doubt still not trusting me to be on my own in combat. The others on my team are Cordelia, Donnel, and Virion.
I glance over at Maribelle, who's with Stahl, Panne, Gaius, and Ricken. She's currently fussing over the young mage, straightening out his clothes and such while he visibly protests. We haven't spoken today, but I guess there wasn't really a chance to with all the mountainous trudging we had to do. I decide to walk over.
I place a hand on her shoulder. "You alright?"
She doesn't look at me as she says, "Yes. Don't fret; I am sure it will be fine."
"Uh, right. Be careful, okay?" I say.
"I will. You do the same," she replies.
I nod and rejoin my group. Looks like Virion will be riding with Frederick again today. Cordelia looks fairly confident, with her lance resting at her hip while we await orders. Donnel looks like he's doing his best to imitate her, but when he does it, it looks kinda goofy. Points for trying, I suppose. That leaves me the coveted position of fifth wheel.
We form up at the gate, where Robin stands with Chrom, Vaike, and Sully, apparently making up the healerless team. "Okay everyone. Spread out and keep an eye on each other. If we can do this in one sweep, that would be best. Lon'qu, you lead your team up the west side of town. Frederick, your team will handle the east. My squad will move up the center of town. Stahl, your team will focus on clearing out anything we've missed on the south side of town. Let's go!"
We form up, with Cordelia and Donnel up front where their lances will be most effective and Frederick taking the rear position. From atop the horse, Virion can safely fire over our heads if the need arises. I'm right in the middle, presumably where it's safest.
We march carefully up the wide road, checking briefly in each corner and alley for any sign of the enemy. Suddenly, a door bursts open on the right side of the road, and a woman scrambles through the doorway, falling onto the ground outside the building. She crawls frantically away, and a second or so later we see what she's running from: a pair of bandits are chasing her, swords in hand.
"Aww, come 'ere, beautiful. I'll be sure to treat you real ni– guh!" one bandit says, interrupted by the impact of an arrow entering his shoulder. While Virion readies another arrow, the bandit snarls, snapping the shaft of the arrow in his shoulder and starting forward. Noticing me, the uninjured bandit brandishes his sword at me and rushes forward. Before I can raise my staff to defend myself, though, Donnel and Cordelia both leap between me and the bandit, raising their lances in what looks like it might have been a pre-rehearsed maneuver.
"Rragh!" Donnel shouts, swinging the end of his lance out to knock against the sword's blade and take the balance and power out of the swing. Before the bandit can regroup, Cordelia is following up, jabbing with precise, calculated movements once, twice, and on the third stab Donnel joins in to finish him off.
The bandit is very quickly very dead.
Meanwhile, the one with the arrow in his shoulder has foolishly decided that Frederick will be his opponent. The bandit attempts a stab at Frederick's horse, but the Great Knight swings his axe down and hooks the blade's crook around the sword, then twists, pulling the sword from the man's grasp. He manages a brief "Yeep!" before Frederick relieves him of his head.
"Good work, all. Remain diligent, however. Doubtless there are more ahead," Frederick calls to us.
The townswoman we saved from the bandits looks up at him with borderline reverence. "Thank you sir, thank you all! These ruffians have spread all over town, plundering our belongings and taking our folk as prisoners! Please help rid us of these monsters!" she cries.
"Worry not, madam. The Shepherds will clean up this mess posthaste," Frederick replies.
"Thank you again! Gods bless you!" she says, then runs back the way we came, no doubt to get out of town while the getting is good. I definitely don't blame her.
As if on cue, four more bandits round the corner up ahead and notice us. Virion starts opening fire, but one of the four is an archer as well and wastes little time returning fire. Donnel takes a hit in the abdomen and drops to a knee, gasping for breath.
"Donnel!" Cordelia shouts. She turns to me. "I'll hold them off. Help him!"
I nod. "On it," I say, and lay Donnel on his back while Frederick gallops past us and Cordelia rushes ahead. I tear the fabric of his tunic to get it out of the way, but I can't do anything about the chain mail that the arrow has penetrated. This is going to be a messy removal.
Nonetheless, I grasp the shaft as closely as I can to the abdomen. "Ready?" I ask. He nods with a grimace. Aaaand pull! Fortunately, I feel the arrow dislodge from his body, but it's still tangled up in the mail. Donnel gasps in pain. I get my staff ready. "Almost done. Just a second," I say gently, and let the magic flow. I would only later reflect on how second nature a simple heal like this feels by now.
The pair of us spend a few moments twisting and yanking the arrow until it finally comes loose from the mail. I turn to look at the action up ahead, and find that by the time we were finished, the trio up ahead has dispatched all the bandits.
I cross over to them while Donnel gets himself in order. "Anything?" I ask.
Virion nods toward Frederick. "Sir Frederick has sustained a leg injury, Randall." I come around the horse and see it's no lie; Frederick's thigh must have taken quite a blow from someone's blade.
I raise my staff. Frederick growls as I close up the leg wound, though whether in pain or in disdain, I cannot be sure. Looking me sternly in the face when it's done, he says, "My thanks, Randall. If Donnel is ready, let us keep moving."
The battle more or less continues in this way. It seems like we caught the bandits off-guard when they were ransacking the town, so there isn't a lot of cohesion on their part. Instead, they're all broken up into groups of two to four, which makes taking them out a lot easier for our squad of five. We were fortunate to show up when we did, at least as far as keeping the Shepherds safe goes. Of course, whenever we pass by a slain resident of the town, of which there are more than a few, it's a reminder that it certainly isn't a perfect solution. Ideally, we could've been here before the bandits even arrived.
As we move farther and farther up the street, I wonder faintly how much faster we could have gotten here, and if it could have made a difference. I come to no conclusions for the time being.
At last, we come up to where the street opens up into the square on the north side of town. Already, Robin and Chrom's team is engaged with a bandit with a somewhat familiar face.
Oh! It's, uh… it's either Victor or Vincent. I won't lie, I can't tell them apart. Regardless, he and his axe-wielding henchmen are going blade to blade with Robin, Chrom, and Vaike, while Sully circles the skirmish on horseback and takes stabs when she can, keeping the bandits in a tight spot while Chrom and Robin use their longer weapons to dominate the pace of battle.
If it weren't for the surprising speed and power of the twin, the battle would have been over quickly. As it is, Robin's squad has needed to be careful, as they lack a healer, and that axe looks like it hits like a truck.
Fortunately, that's where I come in. However, just as we're about to go out into the square to help out, Virion cries from the back of Frederick's horse, "Behind us!"
I barely have time to turn my head to see what he's yelling about before a group of about a half dozen bandits smashes into us from the south. Virion is knocked off the horse, and it looks like his leg has been hit. Frederick, despite staying ahorse, looks like he's been jostled too. Donnel and Cordelia turn quickly, but they can't reposition quickly enough to get to the enemy before they get to me.
Block! Now duck the second swing! Bring the staff around and hit him, then pull the staff away before he can grab it. While he's off balance from the attempt at the grab, right hook to the face. Now his sword is low to the ground; kick his wrist, hard. There goes the sword, and he's disarmed. Now, get ready to take him out.
Wait, no, now raise the staff just in time to block the horizontal swing from his friend. Fortunately, there's Donnel, stabbing him in the side while he's preoccupied with you. The first guy is scrambling over to get his sword. Kick him in the side; now he's on his back. Bring the staff down on his face. Crack his nose. Swing again. That probably broke something in his temple. Swing again. Again. Again. Once he stops resisting, stomp his face.
That probably did it. At the very least, his own mother wouldn't recognize that face after today. I choose for now to believe he could have survived that.
The others are cleaning up nicely as well. Despite our initial surprise, Frederick rallied quickly, and once he regained control, the bandits' time was limited. That said, there isn't a person among us that didn't take some significant damage. Virion probably broke his leg somewhere, Frederick is bleeding freely from several gashes, Cordelia took an arrow to the thigh and is clutching her limply hanging shoulder, and Donnel looks like someone just broke his jaw. When the thrill of adrenaline starts to wear, I realize that at some point I too took some cuts. Oops.
I take a swig of vulnerary that Cordelia brought with her, then get to putting everyone back together. Meanwhile, Frederick asks, "Where did those bandits come from? I'm sure we didn't miss that much on the way up the street."
Once Donnel's jaw is put back in place, he says, "Ow! Sir Frederick, could it be that these here bandits weren't with the others we fought on the way in? Maybe they invaded the town, just like us."
Cordelia nods, gritting her teeth as she waits her turn to be healed. "I agree. We might be looking at a second invasion force."
Virion looks concerned. "Should the team led by Stahl not be holding back any enemies to the south of us? How could this many foes have broken through?"
I blanche. "Maribelle." I get to my feet. "We have to go make sure they're okay!"
I take off running down the street. I need to get to them now. Sooner than now.
"Hey! Randall! Aren't you forgetting someone?" Cordelia calls after me.
"Unless you're dying, it can wait!" I yell back over my shoulder.
If they say anything else, I don't hear it. I'm probably being less cautious than is appropriate, not checking any corners or alleys as I run, but honestly, if someone is already dead, then getting taken out by a bandit isn't a bad option.
Finally, the street opens up into the south side of town. There are a lot more bodies here than there were before. Where are the Shepherds, though…?
There, I can see Maribelle's blonde drills. Thank Christ. She's kneeling over something. Or someone. Oh fuck.
I sprint over to her, and before she turns to me, I can hear her sobbing as her Mend staff glows brightly.
"Come on, come on! Not you, please not you!" she wails, shaking the staff in frustration.
"Maribelle? What's happened?" I ask as I approach.
She turns to look at me. "Another force showed up at the southern gate. Their leader carried a massive axe. He was yelling something about his brother, I think." So it looks like the other twin showed up too. That's not how I remember it going. Wonder what's up with that. "There were so many. Everyone else had to fall back to keep pace with the invaders. But… we weren't fast enough." I come around and see she's trying to heal Ricken, who's taken several severe blows to the chest. He's not moving.
"Is he…?" I ask.
Instead of an answer, she sobs again and turns back to his prone body. "Please, gods, not him! He's just a boy! Please!"
I gulp, my gut tightening as I put the situation in perspective. It seems like that's a wrap for this run, then.
I'm already thinking of the next step for myself. First, I need to make sure she doesn't follow me. "Maribelle, I need you to stay with him. Keep trying to heal him. Can you do that?" I ask.
She turns back to me, her puffy red eyes contorted in a half-quizzical look. "Where are you going?"
"I'm going to get help. Just stay here, okay? I'll be back," I say, already moving away from her.
"I… Okay," she says, uncertain. Good enough for me. As soon as she turns back to Ricken, I start running. I need a surefire way to get this done. I nearly trip over a fallen bandit, bringing me to a stop. I look down at him, and next to him is his dropped shortsword.
That'll do.
I grab the sword and sprint for the side streets. I need a place where no one will find me and, God forbid, heal me after I fall unconscious from blood loss. I duck into a small alley and find a door to one of the buildings that line the east side of town. Fortunately, it's unlocked, so I slip inside.
Looks like this is a bar or restaurant of some sort. I look up, and see there's a sort of loft that overlooks the main floor of the bar. I can't see much of the back wall from the door, so that means if I get against that wall, that should provide ample time. I climb the small staircase and lean against the back wall. For the first time I really look at the sword in my hand. I realize with a start that every time I've died so far, it's been someone or something else doing it for me. I've never had to straight up commit seppuku before.
How hard can it be?
It turns out, quite. I raise the blade and point it at my chest, but that's as far as I get before every fiber of my body starts screaming at me not to do what happens next. It would be so easy; just pull your arms in as hard as you can, and the rest will take care of itself.
I suppose I should clarify. In freshman high school biology, when we did our blood unit and were testing our own blood types, it took me a full minute to convince myself to prick my finger to get the blood sample. My body is apparently super hardwired to be reluctant to let itself come to any harm at all. Even now, when I know how important it is that I do this, I hesitate.
I hear a galloping outside. That must be Frederick riding to the south side of town to see what the problem is. I'm running out of time.
I breathe once, twice. I angle the blade so that, hopefully, when I stab it in under the ribs, it will penetrate the heart or at least come close and hit an important vessel or two.
I think of Ricken. He's a good kid. He doesn't deserve to die, not in a war like this, and certainly not to some lowlife bandit paralogue losers.
I think of Maribelle. How devastated she looked. The way she sobbed over his body. I can prevent this. I will prevent this.
I'm going back.
My brain lights up in panic as the sword enters my chest, pushing organs and vessels out of its way as the cold metal seeks my heart. I'm not exactly sure if it finds it, as the adrenaline fortunately numbs the pain of this catastrophic blow pretty effectively. I do, however, lose almost all of my remaining energy in seconds, so I fall against the wall, my back leaning on the sturdy wood before I drift off to the side and slide down to a sort of fetal position on my side.
More enemies are coming from the south. The other twin is coming. Remember that.
The battle has more or less wrapped up, from what the others are saying. A few straggling bandits have yet to be taken down, but they're already on the run, so the day is won.
At what cost, though? I can't seem to bring myself to move from this spot, even though I put down the Mend staff a while ago.
A gentle hand touches my shoulder. "Maribelle?" It's Lissa. "We should meet up with the others and make sure everything else is okay. People are going to need healing."
I give a most undignified sniff, wiping my eyes with my sleeves. Got to pull it together. "You're right. Let's make sure everyone else is alright."
Randy said he was going to get help, but he didn't come back. I hope he just got caught up somewhere else and had to start helping another group.
We meet up with the others. There's Chrom and Robin, standing over the body of the leader of the second force.
"I should've seen this coming when the one called Victor mentioned he had a brother," Robin says sourly, rubbing her arm gingerly. Wordlessly, I approach and close up the relatively minor axe wound in her forearm. "Thank you Maribelle," she says.
I patch a few people up, taking stock of those still around. Got to make sure everyone else is still safe, at least. As if reading my mind, Robin says, "A few of us aren't here. Stahl and Panne went chasing after the ones who fled, but they were both fine from what I saw, so I'm not worried about them just yet."
Once I've counted those still here, I turn to Robin. "And Randy? Where is he?"
Robin's eyebrows fly up. "He wasn't with you? Frederick said he bolted for the south side of town to find you."
"No. I mean, yes, he did find me, but he left just moments later. He said he was going to get help. Did he never find any of you?" I ask. I can feel my chest tightening in panic already.
Robin looks at Chrom, who shakes his head and looks equally alarmed. "We never saw him."
My hands drop to my sides. "Oh gods." I start running for the east side of town. That was meant to be where his team was fighting, so I would expect he would take that path again.
The streets are choked with the bodies of bandits and townsfolk alike. "Randy?" I call. "Randy! If you're here, call out to me! Randy!"
I walk up and down each alley and side street, calling for him. Eventually, down the road I can hear Robin and Chrom calling for him as well.
I start trying the doors of buildings. Most buildings are locked up, but every once in a while I find an unlocked door and search the interior of the building. I find nothing, except occasionally a body of a resident or, even more rarely, a bandit. Still no sign of him.
I enter an eatery of some sort. Though no one seems to be on the main floor, I spot a staircase to the upper floor overlooking the rest of the restaurant. There's no reason for him to be up there, but at this point, in my desperation I'm checking every corner of every room.
I climb up the stairs. At first it looks like there's nothing.
No, what's that dark shape against the wall?
I walk over slowly, shaking hand outstretched.
I touch the shape. Fabric. Familiar fabric.
I turn the shoulder slowly so the body faces me.
My hands automatically leap to cover my mouth.
It doesn't help.
This can't be happening. This can't be. Not him. Not Ricken and him in the same day. I lose control of myself. My mouth opens, and I scream. I scream so hard and so loud that my ears ring painfully, and I can feel my throat thrashing itself from the inside as air and sound rip out of me with no regard for anything else but the man curled on the floor in front of me.
I drop to my knees, throwing his hands, still wrapped around the sword's handle, aside. I wrench the blade out of him with a sickening squelch as the suction of the blade finally lets go. I raise my staff.
"Please no, please no, please no! No! NO!"
The door downstairs crashes open. "Maribelle, are you alright?" Chrom calls from downstairs.
"Not this! Don't do this!" The wound won't close. It won't close. Why won't it close? I know I was angry with you, but I don't want this. We were going to work things out. You were going to learn to trust me.
"Oh gods," I hear Robin say as the pair of them ascend the staircase.
I'm sobbing openly. This is too much. The gods are too cruel.
"Is there anyone left around?" Chrom asks. "Are we still in danger?"
A moment later, Robin responds, "No, I don't think so. We are safe. No one else is here."
I turn to her, brows furrowed in anger. "How can you say we're safe? Look what's happened!"
She looks past me at Randy's body. "It is strange, though. No blood anywhere else. No sign of a fight in here. Was someone chasing him? Why would he take cover by himself in an empty building rather than trying to get to his allies? Where did his killer go?"
I spring to my feet. "Who cares? You're obviously missing the point! He. Is. Dead. He said he was coming back. He said he was going to get help. But he… he…" And just like that, the tears resurface. I fall to my knees. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
Chrom takes a knee next to me and wraps his arms around me. The gesture of kindness just makes me cry harder. I bury my face in his shoulder and wail.
I hear Robin walking away from us. "I'm going to take a look around. I need to make sure that if there's a killer still loose in the town somewhere, that we find him."
Chrom looks back at her. "I'll come with you," he says, loosening his grip on me and starting to get up.
Robin responds, "No, Chrom. If we're both going to search, we should split up. We will cover more ground that way."
I'm still looking at the floorboards as Chrom speaks. "If you say so. I'll check the buildings north of here, and you check the south, then?"
"Right. Let's move quickly."
They start to move toward the staircase. I remain on the floor. I turn back to Randy's body. I can't read his expression. What he may have been thinking as he…
I hunch over his body, grabbing fistfuls of his robes as the sobs return.
"Ugh, I forgot about that."
I didn't get the proper night's sleep I would have liked on account of the second watch last night, so when I wake up today for the second time, I'm reminded how tired I was. Am. Whatever.
I get over it quickly, though, when I remember what's coming up today.
At first I was wondering if maybe I should tell Robin we should skip town after all, but recalling all the townspeople I saw lying in the streets, I let that idea go quickly. Plus, shouldn't we have met an Anna (or two, if the Victor and Vincent paralogues really did get smashed together)? Were we just too late to save her?
Therefore, instead of trying to dodge the battle, my new idea is just the opposite: we need to get there even earlier.
That's why I'm going from tent to tent, shaking everyone I find from sleep and telling them to get a move on.
When I get to Maribelle and Lissa's tent, I find the former arranged at such an odd angle that it's a wonder she can sleep that way at all. Meanwhile, Lissa's mouth is hanging wide open, drool spilling out the side of her mouth and down her cheek. Very princesslike.
I shake the pair of them by the leg to try and wake them up. Lissa just sort of moans her protests about waking up, but Maribelle gives me a not-gentle kick with a socked foot for my trouble. Well thank you very much, duchess.
Once she actually wakes up, though, she changes her tune a bit. "Oh, Randy, it's only you," she says, sitting up. "Wait a moment. What on earth are you doing in our tent?" She attempts another kick, but I move back enough to avoid it.
"I'm just here to wake you up and make sure we get an early start," I say, raising my hands conciliatorily. Lissa moans again.
"What do we need an early start for?" Maribelle asks.
I make something up quickly. Or I guess half make it up. "Robin wants to make sure we can avoid the weather she thinks is coming our way later on today."
Maribelle scowls. "Oh, well if that's what Robin wants, I suppose I'm in no position to disagree." She crosses her arms.
I raise a brow. "Something the matter?"
She looks away from me, down at Lissa. "Nothing, nothing. Just go wake up the others."
"Uh, alright," I say, closing the tent flap behind me. I go around a few more tents, waking up their occupants, before running into Robin.
"Oh, good morning Randall. What are you doing?" Robin asks as I duck out of Stahl and Kellam's tent.
"Just making sure everyone's up and about. We should probably get a move on, right? You were worried before about making good time," I reply.
She nods. "Right. We should. Thank you for that. While you're making sure everyone's up, I'll start getting the caravan ready to move."
I could swear she was looking at me for a bit after I walk away from her.
You know, there was something about that conversation I had with her last night that isn't sitting right. I'm having a difficult time putting my finger on it right now, though…
Oh well. There's bigger things to worry about now. Like getting our asses to Darros Town as soon as possible.
Fortunately, once everyone's gotten the sleepies out of their system, we get moving pretty quickly. Last time we did this trek, I wouldn't say we were slow, but we definitely weren't in a rush. Today, however, the 'let's just get to town so we can enjoy some actual civilization' mood spreads like a virus, and soon everyone is chomping at the bit.
That said, I'm still tired as hell from last night, not to mention irritable on account of having to do this entire day's hike for the second time, so after a while I steal away into one of our supply carts to take a breather.
After a little while, it seems I wasn't the only one who had this idea, as Lissa climbs into the wagon behind me. As she brushes the snow and dust off her, she squeaks in surprise when she looks up and sees me.
"Randy! You jerk," she says, flopping down on the crate next to me.
"I don't follow," I reply soberly.
"You scared me," she says, pouting.
"I think you scared yourself there, actually."
"Whatever. Anyway, what's up?" She drops her pout.
"Just taking a breather. This Feroxi weather is no joke. Not to mention the terrain."
She chuckles. "No kidding. I forgot you've never been to Ferox before. You were with Maribelle last time we had to come this way."
"Speaking of the duchess," I say. If anyone would know what's up, it's Lissa. "She's been kinda short with me today. Know what's up with that?"
She shrugs. "I guess I noticed? If you don't know what you did to irritate her, it probably isn't that big of a deal, to be honest. She's the type to get cross at something as small as a misaligned button, so at some point I learned to just let her be annoyed sometimes."
My shoulders slump. "Fair enough. I feel like it only came up when I mentioned Robin's orders this morning. Maybe that means something."
To my surprise, Lissa laughs. "Yeah, that sounds like her. She's totally the jealous type, I mean. If she feels like you've been spending too much time with Robin, it's not surprising to hear that she's in a poor mood with you."
"Well what the hell? Does she not trust me or something?" I ask, incredulous.
"Trust me, it's not you, it's her. Well, unless you and Robin really are up to something." Her eyes narrow. "Are you?"
"No!"
She raises her palms, as if to say 'well, that's that.' "Then yeah. Although, can you really blame her? Robin's kinda got it all. She's pretty, and smart, and really funny when she wants to be. If there's someone to get jealous over, she could do worse."
"Pff. Robin's as neurotic as they come. She'd drive me insane if we were, you know, together or anything. She's the queen of the Type A personalities."
"You do spend a fair amount of time with her, though," Lissa points out.
"I mean, yeah. We're friends. She's easy to talk to. It seems like she understands others almost intuitively. But just because we've gotten to be pretty good friends doesn't mean anything untoward is going on or anything," I retort. It's no wonder she can support with everyone in the game, I think to myself.
"Fair enough. Anyway, as long as you're not actually doing anything bad, I'd say you should just give Maribelle some time. Or if she's up for it, maybe you should take her on a real date for once."
I frown. "It's not like there have been a whole lot of opportunities out in the middle of nowhere."
"I know, I know. Just a thought," she says, getting up to hop out of the wagon. Not long after, I follow suit.
I'm not sure how much earlier we arrive back at Darros Town, but it's at least early enough that the attack hasn't begun yet. While we're still at a good distance from town, a man comes rushing out toward us.
"Are you the military?" he asks.
Chrom speaks for us. "We're the Shepherds. We represent the country of Ylisse."
"Good enough for me! There's word that a group of bandits has set its sights on our town! Please, please help us!" the man pleads.
"Of course, sir. We won't let anything happen to you and yours," Chrom declares. He turns to us. "Shepherds! To arms! We're going to make sure this town stays safe from harm!"
I breathe a sigh of relief. We made it in time. Now all that's left is to not die. And make sure no one else dies. You know, easy stuff. I wonder briefly if there's time to grab a nap.
Looks like that won't be happening. I can see down the hill to the northwest that the bandits are already approaching. I guess we made it with almost no time to spare.
Someone else comes out of the town as we approach. Oh hey, I recognize that hair. Hi Anna!
One of the twins (I still don't remember which one it is) leads his men toward the town.
Anna calls out to them, "Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I'm afraid this village is closed."
The twin calls back, "Well, aren't you a fetching young thing? And fetching young things fetch good coin. In fact, the gold you net from the slavers will build Vincent a fine home!"
Aha! This one is Victor. That's been bugging me for a while.
"Careful, love. Us traders are known to make some very deep cuts," Anna replies, sliding her sword out of its sheath and pointing it at Victor. I will say, even if I knew that line was coming, it still sounded pretty badass. Even though Anna is smiling, everything else about her body language promises violence if he takes another step toward the town.
Victor raises his arms, and the bandits behind him charge at the gate. It seems that this time it's going to be a much more straightforward battle.
The Shepherds scramble to form a lineup, but by the time the bulk of the bandit forces get to us, we've gotten more or less organized. Those that can tank a hit or two (Chrom, Frederick, Kellam, Stahl, Sully, Vaike, and Panne) make up the front line, while our more DPS soldiers (Miriel, Lon'qu, Ricken, Virion, Gaius, and Donnel) take advantage of the gaps by either sneaking in a stab or lobbing over a projectile, and the healers and I hang back and try to mitigate damage as much as possible without getting in the way. Meanwhile, Sumia and Cordelia can take to the skies much more safely out here, so they're doing their best to keep the bandits boxed in while avoiding any archer fire from the enemy.
While at first Anna seemed determined to open up some bandits herself, once she sees how efficiently our war machine is working, she opts instead to take on a healing role with the Heal staff she carries with her. It definitely takes some of the strain off Lissa, Maribelle, and me to have another healer with us.
With the archers preoccupied by our fliers, the enemy has no real ranged support of its own, leaving their melee attackers basically without any recourse except to keep pressing forward and hope to split a gap. However, there isn't really any hope of breaking through our tanks with all the healing support the four of us are able to give them. Whenever one of the bandits breaks off and tries to go around us, one or two of our mages are ready to vaporize them from behind.
It all feels very satisfyingly 300, overall. Even though we are outnumbered by a pretty good margin, it doesn't matter if none of them can break through our wall, and they can't. Pretty soon, all that's left is Victor, who looks more than a little shaken at the thrashing his men were just given.
Anna strides forward before any of us can make a move on Victor. "If you please, Shepherds. He's mine. He and his associates have been harrying me and my sisters for quite some time now. I'd prefer to put an end to this myself."
He looks like he's about to shit himself. His eyes constantly flit around, looking for some kind of way out.
Chrom speaks up. "I'm not opposed to the idea, but if he tries to bolt, my mages will cut him down. Agreed?"
Anna nods. "As fair a deal as I've ever heard. Well then, Victor. Shall we proceed?" She flips her blade confidently in her hand.
Victor swallows, and grimaces. "Rrgh, fine! The gold I loot from your corpse will make Vincent a very rich man!" He springs forward, axe raised.
Anna dodges his first strike easily, hitting his axe with her sword more as a taunt than anything. He recovers quickly, swinging for her neck, but she sees it coming a mile away and ducks, giving his leg a small cut as she sidesteps away and stands up again. Victor barks in pain.
"What's the matter? I thought you were going to make a 'fetching' slave out of me, isn't that right?" Anna asks.
Through gritted teeth, Victor replies, "Not anymore. Now I just want to scalp you and keep that pretty red hair for a trophy!" He leaps forward again, taking another massive swing at her. Again, she dodges, nicking his arm for good measure. She's having way too much fun with this.
Victor raises his axe again, but this time feints in one direction and quickly swivels to the opposite side, catching Anna in the shoulder with the blade and making her cry out in pain. Now it's her turn to grit her teeth.
Still, she has her strong arm left unharmed, so she recovers quickly enough to get in a strike on his back before he can get away again. This fight is taking a lot out of both of them.
Victor growls, charging at her and throwing his axe at her, forcing her to put enough attention on dodging it that she can't prepare in time to avoid him tackling her, knocking her sword loose from her grip.
The pair struggle on the ground for a moment, with Victor throwing punch after punch and Anna struggling to get his hulking body off hers. A few Shepherds start forward to try to intervene, but Chrom holds up an arm to stop them.
"She asked for this. Let her follow through."
Finally in an advantageous position, Anna brings her knee up straight into Victor's crotch. A few of the men, myself included, cringe at the sound it makes, and Victor squeals in pain. He's disoriented just long enough for Anna to get out from under him. However, instead of going for her sword, she just whips around and gets on top of his back, pulling something from her boot as she does so. It's only when she cuts Victor's throat that I see it's a small knife she kept near the top of her boot.
"That's what happens… when you come after my family," Anna says between gasps for breath. Victor tries to stay up, but between Anna's weight on top of him and his own wounds, he collapses in seconds. Anna wipes her blade on his shirt and stands, picking up her sword.
She walks up to us healers. "One of you fine folks mind closing me back up?" she asks. "If you do, I'll make the healing I did for your guys on the house."
Lissa takes over, closing up Anna's wound. "That was amazing!" she says.
"A girl tries her best," Anna says, smiling a knowing smile. "Still, I have to thank you as–"
"VICTOR!"
Everyone turns at once toward the source of the noise. A little ways away, there stands Vincent, along with his own troop of bandits.
So it looks like we really are handling two paralogues' worth of enemies today. Fun stuff.
"That traveler was right! Victor was in trouble! I wasn't fast enough!" Vincent sobs toward Victor's corpse. Then he turns toward his men. "TAKE THEM APART!" he shrieks.
The bandits spring into action, more quickly than we can get back into formation. If we were still trying to hold them back from getting into town, we would've lost for sure. However, it seems these guys have no interest in taking the town at all; they just want us dead.
By the time the Shepherds get our bearings, we are surrounded. The tanks are doing fine for the most part, but now our squishier allies are having to fight for their lives too. Naturally, the healers have a much more difficult job now, as we have to juggle a lot more people that need healing in addition to having enemies coming right for us.
As I close a particularly nasty shoulder wound on Lon'qu, I feel a searing pain in my lower abdomen. Ah, I've been stabbed in the back, I realize as I fall to a knee. At least I can tell he missed the spine. Before the guy can finish me off, though, Lon'qu whirls around and blocks the sword before it can come down on my head. As best I can, I turn around, hitting the side of his knee as hard as I can with my staff. It gets the job done; he falls to a knee as well. He's too busy blocking the next swing from Lon'qu to avoid my staff connecting with his head, knocking teeth loose and sending him toppling over. I look up and see that Lon'qu is already preoccupied with another guy trying to take a swing at a wounded healer (that's me) to handle this guy on the ground, which leaves him to me. This stab wound is already taking a lot of strength out of me, I realize as I hold the staff over my head. Using my whole body's weight, I bring the staff's point down onto the bandit's chest. It gets the job done. The guy isn't moving anymore.
As my vision starts to blur, I realize I'm getting dangerously close to losing consciousness. This is not the time or place for that, no matter how close we might be to the finish line. Gotta find something I can use.
Before my hand even approaches his sword, though, I feel the sharp, itching pain of healing. It hurts like a bitch, but I find my vision actually clears as the healing magic passes through me. Looks like I didn't pass out from the healing for once.
And now someone is helping me up. Oh, it's Anna.
"Thanks. I owe you one," I say once I'm on my feet again.
"Careful about saying that kind of thing around me," she says with a wag of her finger, then she leaps back into the fray.
Though the battle is certainly no picnic, soon we have whittled down their numbers to a scant few. Unlike with Victor, no one is taking any chances with Vincent, so he's currently fending off attacks from Chrom, Robin, Lon'qu, and Stahl all at once, putting him at such a hilarious weapon disadvantage it almost seems like bullying as he gets taken down by a precise slice from Lon'qu. The remaining bandits don't last much longer than their leader.
As the last man falls, everyone takes what feels like a collective deep breath. A few people sit down exactly where they were standing the moment Robin calls the all clear.
I look beside me at the people nearest to me: Donnel and Cordelia, who are taking turns sipping lightly from her vulnerary.
"That was… I'll say less than fun," I say at last.
The pair of them look at me for a moment, and after a moment a burst of tired laughter escapes all of us.
We made it. All of us. The town is safe. Victor and Vincent are both defeated. We can finally, finally rest.
"Does it really count as a date if most of the rest of the Shepherds said they also plan on going there?" Maribelle asks, eyebrow raised.
"I think so! We'll get a separate table. I think someone said they have a separate VIP room or something," I say, smiling earnestly. "Besides, everyone in town has been saying that if you stop in Darros Town, then eating at Maria's is a must."
"I suppose I have heard similar rumors about its relative quality…" she says slowly. "Fine, then that is what we'll do."
"Woohoo!" I shout, giving her a quick peck on the cheek. "I gotta go make sure we get a spot in the VIP room, so I'll come get you later!"
She places her fingers on her cheek. "Alright, Randy. Be back soon."
"You're just in time, mister," the lady I assume is Maria says as she fills out something near the bottom of a sheet of paper she's got with her. We're standing outside the building on the street, where Maria (or whoever this is) has been taking reservations for the VIP room inside the restaurant. "That was the last table. All yours for the evening."
I hear a thwack and an 'Ow!' behind me. Oh. It's Vaike and Sully, the former of whom is rubbing his shoulder.
"I told you we'd need to get here faster to get a spot, Vaike!" Sully reprimands him.
"I'm sorry! How different could the first floor be?" Vaike asks defensively.
"It's the principle of the thing," Sully growls.
"Alright, alright. Next time I'll make the reservation super early, then."
She raises a brow. "Oh, you're already talking about a next time. That's some confidence, axeslinger."
He smiles. "You know me."
She rolls her eyes. "Oh boy, do I. Why am I doing this again?"
Maria clears her throat, and I realize I've been staring at them. I turn back to her.
"So, table for two at sundown, then?" I ask.
She smiles cordially. "You've got it."
Excellent. Now I just have to tell the fetching troubadour.
Hahaha. Oh man. You've gotta be kidding me.
This is Maria's?
THIS is the VIP room?
I stand at the top of the stairs, trying not to look at the wall I died leaning against a little while ago.
"Randy? Are you alright?" Maribelle asks, standing on the stairs behind me.
Remembering myself, I shake my head. "Uh, yeah, no problem. It's just really nice up here, so I was taking it in."
"Well make way then, and let me see," she says, climbing the stairs to my level. "You're right! What a charming little loft!"
"Right. Let's see… our table is over here," I say, gesturing to one of the small tables near the railing overlooking the main floor. We take our seats. Maria (or whoever) quickly emerges to take our orders, then retreats to the lower floor.
For a moment, we don't say anything. It's as if I can feel the stress of the last few weeks slowly seeping out of my body. Based on her expression, I'd guess she feels the same way.
I give a nervous laugh. "You know, it's been quite a few months since I've been on a real date," I say at last. "I don't know if I remember what to do, exactly."
She flushes. "I, um… I've never really… been on one at all, actually."
I'm startled. "Whoa, really? Never? I would think the daughter of a duke would be quite the popular girl with the lads."
She gives a small, half-hearted chuckle. "I thought something similar, in truth. I suppose it was a few things that have kept me single all these years, though. Firstly, the same reason you stated: my station. Even if technically social custom these days dictates that people can romance whomever they choose, regardless of class, in truth it can still be difficult for those of lower standing to pursue someone of higher wealth. Additionally, I suppose… well, you could say my particular attitude toward the lower-born might have been, shall we say, less than cordial?"
I raise a brow. "Should I tell you I don't have more than the clothes on my back and the money in my pouch to my name? If that's a dealbreaker up front I'd prefer to know."
She lifts her hands. "No, no! I admit, if you had met me at an earlier point in my life, you might have had… poorer luck. But these days I am doing my best to treat even those with little material wealth with respect."
I smirk. "How magnanimous of you, then."
She scowls. "Well excuse me. I did say I'm trying, did I not?"
"I know, I know. Just teasing you a little."
"You're certainly fond of that, I notice."
I shrug. "It's my personality. Plus, you make it so easy." I reach over to pinch her cheek, but she swats my hand away.
"Anyway, as I said, that was one cause of my perpetual singlehood. The other major one was simply a lack of people to even consider. Oh, thank you," she says as Maria brings us our dinners. Mine is a simple (read: cheap) roast and potato dinner, while she has ordered some garishly decorated poultry bird of some kind. My meager wages cry in my pouch. She stabs her bird absentmindedly with her fork as she goes on, "I spent much of my youth training to be a healer, you see. For the most part, it was other girls that kept me company during those years. Even when I eventually moved to Ylisstol on a semi-permanent basis, I did not meet many eligible bachelors, as my administrative duties kept me busy most of the time. I mean, outside of… Well, no matter. The point is, I had neither the appropriate attitude, nor the opportunity to meet a man that I could have gone on any romantic outings with."
I take care to swallow the whole bite before giving my response. "Wow. So in that case, even if the date goes terribly, it's still the best date you've ever been on? That's a relief."
She laughs quietly. "Yes, I suppose that must technically be true."
"So, what did you always imagine a date would be like? Your ideal date." I lean forward a little.
She considers for a moment. "Well, firstly it was not meant to be in the middle of a war. So that's already a departure. I also admittedly never pictured a small, out of the way town like this for the setting. I suppose I always imagined a fine, sophisticated luncheon at a diner in Ylisstol, followed by a stroll through the royal gardens. Perhaps we would go on a ride on horseback, or a short excursion on a gondola down the Ifrain River for a while. We would return to town, where after a modest supper he would escort me by the light of the moon, the stars, and the torches lining the streets back to my home. If it had gone especially well, I will admit I picture a kiss goodnight. Then we would part for the evening." By the time she's done speaking, she's gone quite red.
I suppose I shouldn't be surprised her ideal date is so… fine, I'll admit it. Stereotypical. If you've never been on a date before and your only experience with it is stories you've read or heard, I could see where you'd build up an image like that in your head. Looks like I've got a big order to fill.
"That sounds really nice," is what I actually say.
"Have your dates in the past been anything like that?" she asks a little apprehensively.
Oh boy. "Umm… kinda? Some of them? I've never been on horseback on a date before." How on earth do I explain how a dinner and a movie date works to someone who wouldn't be able to conceive of what a movie is? Oh wait, I know! I'm a moron. "A lot of the girls that I have dated have been really fond of seeing plays on stage, so that was a pretty frequent date location for me."
"A 'lot of'? How many girls have you dated?" she asks. I can't read her expression.
Oh balls. I misspoke. "N-no, I meant, a lot of dates that I have been on with girls have ended up at places like that."
"So you've been on a lot of dates, then?"
Damn, girl, cut me some slack. "Over the years, I guess I'd say… more than a few?"
"And yet you were still single and nomadic when you met the Shepherds," she says levelly.
"I mean, yeah, that's right."
"What became of all those relationships?" she asks.
I shift in my seat. This is not how I meant for this conversation to go. "Well, you know. Things change. People's priorities change. Sometimes it becomes evident that your life and the life of the person you're dating are going in different directions. Sometimes one person is much more committed than the other, so much so that the dynamic falls apart. Lots can go wrong."
"Were you the one that has trouble committing?" she asks. Jesus Christ, she's sitting there like a sniper, taking shot after shot.
"Sometimes, yes, other times it was the girl that didn't want to commit to me," I say. "Can we talk about something else? I don't know if you know this, but this is hardly first date conversation."
She blinks, as if something clicked in her head. "Oh. Of course. How silly of me. My apologies, Randy."
I breathe a sigh of relief inwardly. "So, how's the, uh, dinner?" I ask.
She smiles for the first time in a while. "It's surprisingly excellent, actually. I had admittedly worried about the ability of a small rural town like this to produce such quality food, but it seems my worries were unfounded. And yours?"
"After the day we had, I think I'd have happily eaten a boot. That said, this is really good too."
"That's true as well. We did have quite the day. Such a large pack of bandits! I don't believe I've ever seen a group of ruffians of that size before," she comments, punctuating the thought by taking a bite of bird.
"And the fact that we came out on top is always a nice touch," I say.
She chuckles. "Of course. Otherwise this restaurant would no doubt look much different right now."
I glance at the wall. My food sticks in my throat for a moment.
"Randy? Are you alright?" Maribelle asks.
I swallow, hard. "Yeah, I'm fine. My food just picked the wrong tube for a moment."
Her expression shifts. "You know, I saw what happened today. With that bandit, I mean. You had to… dispatch him. Are you alright after that?"
I point my fork at her. "Pro tip for you: that too is not exactly first date conversation material."
"I'm serious!" she protests. "If you need to talk to anyone about it, or anything, please come to me. Alright?"
"Maribelle, I have no idea what you mean. I'm fine. It was in the heat of battle. I needed to keep Lon'qu safe. He was a lowlife murderer, and it had to be done to keep the Shepherds, and this town, safe. That's all there is to it."
"But there's nothing lingering on your mind? I want to help!"
"I appreciate it, but there's nothing I actually need. I promise, I'm fine. If I have to kill again, I will be able to, no problem," I say, exasperated.
"That's not what I'm talking about!" She's raised her voice to what I'd call inappropriate levels. "Just talk to me!"
"I am! There's nothing I'm going through that I need you to worry about too!" I match her volume. Honestly, I'm getting tired of this.
"Why don't you trust me?" she demands.
"I do! I literally have no idea what you're talking about!" I say, my voice pained, as I just want this argument to end.
She doesn't say anything for a moment. "Fine, then. I'm sure you'll just lay out all your worries with Robin later, regardless. She must be such a better listener."
What the hell? Does she know about what Robin and I discussed on watch last night? How could she have heard all of that? "Maribelle, is something the matter?" I ask.
She stands up. "No, nothing is the matter. I'm going to retire for the evening, I think. Good night, Randy." She starts to make for the stairs.
I grab her hand. "Maribelle, hold on! What's going on?" I ask a little desperately.
She jerks her hand away. "I just want to go to bed. Please don't follow me."
I stand in stunned silence as she stalks down the stairs and out the door. I look over the railing down at the main floor, where most of the rest of the Shepherds are sitting at a long table eating together. As the door shuts, quite a few Shepherds turn to look at me. I quickly sit back down and tear viciously back into my roast.
How did she hear about what Robin and I discussed? Did Robin herself tell her? That doesn't sound like something Robin would do, unless she thought she was helping. I guess I never expressly told her to keep it a secret. Even so, what is she so upset about? That I had a conversation about killing people with Robin? That I didn't want to talk about it with her just yet? She's the one constantly worrying about everything! I just wanted to spare her some worry when I could. I don't understand what I did wrong, if anything.
After a while, the roast is gone. Maria appears at my shoulder, taking my plate.
"I take it you're paying for the pair of you, then?" she asks. I think I hear the theme to Curb Your Enthusiasm in my head.
I begrudgingly agree, pulling some gold out of my pouch. I don't allow her to take Maribelle's plate yet, though. She left quite a bit of her dinner behind, and I'll be damned if I let that go to waste on top of everything else.
God damnit, it does taste really good.
I glance over in the corner briefly, where it looks like Miriel is doing something really weird with her face. Oh wait, no, I just didn't see Kellam over there as well. Aaaaand they're currently leaned over the table, sucking face, without a care who sees. Great. It looks like Miriel might also be taking notes on the experience while they're doing it, perhaps to comment on their performance later. I try not to look at them anymore.
After a while, Kellam and Miriel, along with a lot of the Shepherds, have left Maria's. I didn't want to endure the shame of going downstairs with so many of our comrades watching, so I've stayed camped out at the table, waiting. When Maria appears to ask when I'll be heading out so she can clean this table, I snarl, "I reserved the table for the whole evening, didn't I?" Taking a hint, she backs off.
Still, I can't stay here all night. I descend the stairs and take a look at who's left. Sully and Vaike are sitting across the long table from each other, talking about some battle or other. Stahl and Donnel are sitting by each other, discussing different horse feeds or something. I turn around and take note of who's at the bar. Along with a couple strangers, Gaius and, of all people, Sumia are seated on barstools.
Wait! I just realized! This restaurant has a bar! That means I can finally get a God damned drink!
I take the stool next to Gaius. The bartender looks me over, cleaning a glass. He's not a terribly large man, but he makes up for it with an impressive Honest Abe-style beard.
"Gotta say, mister priest, I don't get a lot of men of the cloth coming to me for a drink," he says.
"I don't doubt it. All the same, I'm no priest. I just think the robes are neat," I say.
He shrugs. "Fair enough. What'll it be?"
I have no idea which kinds of liquor actually exist in this world, I realize. I can always pass it off as an 'it's a Valmese thing' if he doesn't have it, I suppose. "Got any whiskey?"
"How strong you want it?" the bartender asks.
Gaius intervenes. "Did you see that blonde who went stomping out of here a while ago? That was his. He needs a strong one for sure."
I scowl at him, but I guess I can't say he's lying.
"Hah! I saw her alright. Tell ya what, buddy. If you promise to stay for at least two more after this one, the first one's on the house. Everyone needs a loosenin' up after a fight like that," the bartender says, already pouring a glass.
I should really say no. We're gonna be back on the road again by tomorrow, I remind myself. If you're hungover on the road, you're in for a bad time. This is a bad idea, frontwards and back.
Instead I say, "Hell yeah, I can't turn that down. But only if Gaius hangs around for just as many."
Gaius claps me on the shoulder. "There we go, Bear! Bouncing back is half the game!"
I take a swallow from my glass. Oof, that is some stiff stuff. "Anyway, Sumia, I didn't really picture you as the drinking at the bar type, to be honest."
She leans forward so she can see me. "I'm not. I'm only here because Gaius said he wanted to show me what honey mead is. We may have had a little, um… mishap, with honey before, you see. So he said to put that behind us, we have to have some honey mead to show those bees who's boss."
Uh huh. Sounds to me like Gaius just wants to get you drunk, Sumia. "Well, just be careful about how many you're putting away, there," I say.
Gaius turns to me. "Do I detect a hint of suspicion in your tone? Are you suggesting, sir, impropriety on my part?"
I lightly slap the bartop. "Not so, sir! I merely caution the young lady on the potential hazards of inebriation! Especially for one already so afflicted with coordinative deficiency."
Gaius sips his own drink. "Hmm, a point most deftly made. Yet still, in the company of her trusted compatriots, she need not expend mental labor concerning herself with the potential consequences of said inebriation, for she can presume the goodwill of said compatriots."
I take another swallow of my whiskey. "Perhaps 'twould be so, but for that I submit to you that not all compatriots in present company have surely led a life of propriety thus far. Did you not, sir, once engage in certain illicit activities, perchance of the larcenous variety?"
Gaius takes a mighty swig. "Good sir, you go too far! To impugn the honor of a man merely for the stains of misdeeds in years gone by!"
Sumia raises a hand. "Um! What are you two even talking about?"
Gaius and I look at each other for a moment, then burst out laughing.
Once I recover, I say, "Oh boy, I needed that. Thanks, Gaius."
He raises his glass to clink it against mine. "Anytime, Bear."
"I went up to my chamber, all for to take a slumber
I dreamt of gold and jewels and for sure 't was no wonder
But Jenny drew me charges and she filled them up with water
Then sent for Captain Farrell to be ready for the slaughter
Mush-a ring dum-a do dum-a da
Whack for my daddy-o
Whack for my daddy-o
There's whiskey in the jar!"
Remember how I said Gaius is probably the best singer in the Shepherds? It's still true even when we're several drinks in. I never thought I'd get a chance to bust out some of my old Irish drinking songs, but fortune has cut me some slack near the end of the night, I guess. Also Sumia sings along. She definitely does not get better at singing when fortified with mead. Not that it matters.
Besides, the spirited singing from the three of us rouses the passion of the other bar patrons, and soon we've got the whole bar singing about Captain Farrell and the deceptive Jenny together. No one except Gaius is very good at this point, and no one cares.
True to my word, we have gone through three drinks. And then a couple more. What? I'm really stressed about the whole Maribelle thing, not to mention everything else that's been going on. I needed to unwind for an evening.
To her eternal credit, Sumia tried her best to keep up with us, drink for drink. She ended up falling behind a few drinks in, but since she's a dainty flier woman, I'm pretty sure she's enough of a lightweight it barely mattered in the end. She's currently semi-shouting at us despite that we're sitting right next to her.
"I didn't choose to be so clumsy! I just am! Evvver since I was a kid, I was always tripping over this, or falling over that, and it was always like 'Sumia! Just don't fall over stuff!' Annnd I'm like, 'Oh great! I'm sooo glad you told me that it's as easy as just not falling over stuff! What a relief! I'm fixed!'" she slurs.
I lean forward. "That's some old bullshit, I say," I say.
Her eyebrows shoot up. "Right? A load of pegasus plop!"
Gaius giggles between us. "'Pegasus plop'? Thass the most adorable profanity I ever heard, Stumbles."
"See? He calls me Stumbles! Whassup with that?" Sumia asks.
"I think it's his way of showing he knows everyone. Like, when he gives you a nickname, it shows that he cares enough to remember something about you," I say.
Gaius nods sagely next to me. "Thass right."
Sumia shakes her head slowly. "Annnyway, I think I should go to bed. It's getting late, and they're gonna wanna get moving tomorrow." She tries to stand from her stool and promptly falls on her face.
To our credit, neither Gaius nor I laugh. We help her to her feet, and it looks like she's mostly unharmed. As we help her out the door, I call behind me, "Thanks man!" The bartender gives something between a salute and a wave as the door shuts behind us.
It takes quite a bit of effort to get Sumia back to the inn (graciously provided by Darros Town after today's save; we each get our own room tonight!) and even more effort to keep her relatively quiet, but somehow we manage to do both. Once she's good and tucked in (and there's a vomit bucket beside her bed, just in case), we both depart for our rooms.
Outside Gaius' room, we pause. I clap a hand on his shoulder. Quietly, I say, "Hey. I know you were looking out for me before. Thanks for letting me be a third wheel tonight."
He laughs. "You kept me on good behavior. That's all the payment I need for my service."
I nod and start shuffling toward my room. "Night, Gaius."
"Night, Bear."
I don't think of much of anything as I flop onto the bed, fully clothed and very warm despite the Feroxi wintry weather.
For once, I don't dream of anything, either.
When I wake up, I find that someone has pulled off my boots and pulled the blanket up over my shoulders. Or maybe I did it myself and just don't remember. Either way, fortunately my head doesn't hurt too much as Lissa makes her rounds, waking up all the Shepherds and telling us to get ready to leave town.
As we get the supplies loaded up and ready to go, Anna approaches us.
"So hey, I've been thinking," she says. "Are you Shepherds in need of some mercantile assistance? Maybe I could tag along with your lot. You'd never take a financial loss if you've got me on your side, I guarantee you."
Chrom and Robin eye each other for a moment. Chrom turns back to Anna. "You know what? I saw the way you stood by yourself to defend the town yesterday. And when you fought against that bandit chief, you weren't about to shy away from fighting alone when the fight really mattered. I think you've got the makings of a Shepherd." He smiles that charismatic leader-y smile of his. "Okay! Welcome aboard, Anna."
"Alright! Let me just get my cart…"
And just like that, there's one more Shepherd in our ranks. From there, we hit the road. The cold, unforgiving road.
We should arrive at the Feroxi capital soon. From there, shit's really gonna hit the fan.
Oh boy. I can't wait.
A/N: Hello again! Isn't summer great? I had time to celebrate the end of my junior year by writing by far the longest chapter of the story so far! Lots of stuff happening now. I considered breaking the chapter in half, but on consulting with my roommate and my beta reader, we collectively agreed there wasn't really an organic place to do it. So, instead y'all get the mega chapter. Hope you liked it!
Speaking of my beta reader, Syntaxis really needs a shoutout! You should definitely check out "An Odd Awakening," as it's taking a lot of interesting risks with the old SI narrative. The boldness alone warrants a read. The story is still relatively young, but I for one am excited to see where it's going. Also, thanks a ton for some of the fixes that went into this chapter, Syn. I know for a fact it's better for your having looked over it.
Additionally, I would like to thank everyone that takes the time to review, especially to tell me which elements of my story I've been neglecting or approaching in an odd direction. It helps to keep me grounded and put my story back on track when I get perhaps too ambitious for this stage. In particular, Ace of Spades and A-non-knee-moose, thanks for the frequent feedback!
As always, comments and critiques are welcome. See you next time!