Author's Notes:
So it turns out I had a lot of extra time today to finish this chapter, so it's getting uploaded even earlier ahead of schedule.
I know for some people, the fact that it follows the canonical storyline so closely is a bit of a turn off. I understand this, but I still think that the best way to write this story is to stay pretty close to canon… at least in this first story. I'll leave you all to wonder what I mean by that.
However, I also would love to hear feedback and/or questions in the form of reviews. For those that do not write, it makes me feel nice to receive reviews, even if they're short. As for questions, I will answer what I can, but will try not to give away any spoilers.
That being said, here is Chapter 4:
In the streets of Ylisstol, Capital of Ylisse
"So this is Ylisstol…" Robin wondered aloud. "There are so many people!"
"It appears that the capital was spared from the chaos we encountered, thank Naga. I see no evidence of a great quake, so it must have been limited to the forest." Frederick observed. "That's a relief!" Lissa wiped her brow with the back of her hand.
Nearby, the voice of an old man shouted "Look! The exalt has come to see us!"
Robin turned towards the direction the man was pointing in. He saw an elegant woman with long blonde hair wearing a light green and gold garment of a sage. "So that is your exalt? She is your ruler, yes?"
"Yes." Frederick replied "Her name is lady Emmeryn.
"Is it safe for her to walk amongst commoners like that?" Robin wondered. "The exalt is the symbol of peace, Ylisse's most prized quality." Frederick explained. "Long ago, at the dawn of our age, the fell dragon and god of destruction, Grima, tried to destroy the world. But the first exalt joined forces with the divine dragon and god of creation, Naga, and laid the beast low. Exalt Emmeryn reminds everyone of the peace we had fought for then."
"With Plegians poking at our border, the people need her." Chrom added. "She's a calming presence, when others might call for war." Robin nodded. "Then the Ylissean people are indeed lucky to have her."
"She's also the best big sister anyone could ask for!" Lissa chimed in.
Robin laughed. "Yes, I imagine-" Suddenly, he made a realization. "Wait… if she's your sister… then that makes you two…" He pointed at Chrom and Lissa. "The prince and princess of the realm." Frederick finished for him. "You remember milord Chrom's name and not this?"
Robin scratched his head. "So when you said you were shepherds… the sheep you were referring to were the people of Ylisse?"
It was Chrom's turn to laugh. "Yes. We have a LOT of sheep."
"C-Chrom! I mean, prince Chrom! Sire! Forgive my dreadful manners!" Robin quickly stammered. Chrom just scoffed. "Just Chrom is fine. I've never been one for formalities."
"The prince and princess…" Robin thought aloud. "That explains why Frederick tolerates all of the teasing, huh?"
"Indeed." Frederick said with a smile. Then his face turned extremely serious. "Oh, the sacrifices I have made for the sake of the realm…"
"It looks like Emm is returning to the palace." Chrom interrupted. "Let's go meet her!" With that, the four made their way through the crowded streets towards the royal palace of Ylisse.
Inside the royal Ylissean palace
When Chrom and Lissa walked into the throne room, they were greeted by the Exalt herself. "Chrom! Lissa! Welcome home! Oh, and good day Frederick. How fared you all?" she asked.
Chrom scatched his head. "Well… we shouldn't have many bandit problems for a while now." "Wonderful. And our people?" The exalt asked. "Safe as can be Emm. But we still need to be careful of our borders because the bandits crossed over from Plegia."
A falcon knight with short, light blue hair stepped up to the prince. "Forgive me milord, my pegasus knights should have intercepted them." This caused Chrom to shake his head. "No Phila, your duty was here with the exalt." "And besides, we had plenty of help!" Lissa chimed in.
Emmeryn smiled. "Ah, you speak of your new companion here?" Chrom nodded. "This is Robin. He fought bravely with us against the brigands. I've decided to make him a shepherd."
"It sounds like Ylisse owes you a debt of gratitude, Robin." the exalt said to Robin, causing him to scratch his head and smile sheepishly. "No, not at all!" came the reply.
Suddenly, Frederick spoke up. "Forgive me, Your Grace, but I must speak. Robin claims to have lost his memory, but that's just a claim. His clothes are Plegian, which could mean he's a Plegian spy."
"Frederick!" Chrom exclaimed angrily. "You saw how he risked his life for Lissa, and he also saved my life as well. Why would he need to do that if he were a spy?"
"Not all Plegians are evil, Frederick." The exalt chimed in. "Most of them want peace just as much as we do." She turned back to Chrom. "Does this man have your trust?" "Yes. I swear on my life." came the instant reply. "He risked his life for me and our people. That's good enough for me."
Emmeryn smiled at Robin. "Well, it seems you have earned the trust of Chrom, and as such you have mine as well." Robin bowed. "Thank you, milady." She then turned back to Frederick. "Thank you Frederick for your prudence, as always. Chrom and Lissa are blessed to have such a tireless retainer. I hope they do remember to mention it from time to time…"
Frederick grinned. "They do occasionally express something akin to gratitude, Your Grace. Phila, I assume you've heard about the undead creatures we've encountered?"
The falcon knight nodded. "Yes milord, we've had reports of their sighting all across Ylisse."
"Chrom, we'll just about to hold a council to discuss this matter. I was hoping you could join us." said the exalt. "Of course." the prince replied.
"I think that's our cue Robin!" Lissa exclaimed as she grabbed Robin's hand, causing the tactician's cheeks to turn pink slightly. "C'mon! I have a place I want to show you!"
With that, Lissa pulled the blushing tactician away.
A few moments later…
Lissa pulled robin into a building on the edge of town. "Here we are! The Shepherds' garrison. Go on, make yourself at home!"
As Robin walked in and began to look around, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at him.
A girl with blonde hair done in long curls ran up to Lissa. "Lissa? My treasure! Are you all right?" the girl exclaimed. "I've been on pins and needles!"
"Oh hey Maribelle!" Lissa replied with a smile. "'Oh hey' yourself! I've sprouted 14 gray hairs fretting over you!" Maribelle retorted.
"Aw, you worry too much!" Lissa insisted. "I can handle a battle or two! … Although I could do without the bugs and the bear barbeque... "
"Hey squirt!" Another voice interrupted. Robin turned to see a shirtless man wearing an arm guard yell from across the room. "Where's Chrom? I bet he had a difficult time out there without 'ol Teach an' his trusty axe!"
Lissa giggled. "So you're 'Teach' now? I thought people were just born lacking wits. It can be taught too?" The man grinned. "Hah! Never doubt the Vaike! ...Wait… was that an insult?" This resulted in a chorus of laughter throughout the room.
"Beg pardon," A new voice, this time belonging to a brunette with light pink armor, said. "When might we be able to see the captain?" This earned a chuckle from Maribelle. "Poor Sumia, she's been beside herself with concern... Her eyes were scanning the horizon the entire time during training. She actually might have earned fewer bruises fighting blindfolded. And I thought I was the one that worries too much."
Lissa smiled. "Aw….. Sumia, that's so sweet of you to worry about Chrom."
Sumia's cheeks instantly flared pink. "W-worry? Well… I… He's our captain and our prince-of course I'd worry!" she managed to stammer.
"So who's the stranger?" Vaike said, changing the topic, much to the relief of poor Sumia.
Lissa giggled again. "No one is stranger than you Vaike! But if you must know, this is Robin. He's the new tactician for the Shepherds! You should see all the tricks he's got up his sleeves." Robin smiled and waved at everyone.
Just then, Chrom walks in. "Ah! Captain!" exclaimed Sumia. "You've returned! I was-I mean, we were all worried about-" at this point, she begins to walk towards Chrom, but trips on some loose papers on the ground. She gets up and dusts herself off, feeling incredibly embarrassed.
"Sumia? Are you all right?" The prince asked. "Those boots of yours again?"
"No!" the girl in question exclaimed. "I mean, yes, I mean…" she sighed in exasperation.
Chrom turned to everyone else. "All right everyone." he declared. "Rest up, because in the morning, we're marching to Regna Ferox." "Regna Ferox?" Robin wondered aloud. "A unified kingdom to the North of Ylisse. It's inhabited by barbarians, or so they say." Sumia told him.
Chrom nodded in agreement. "Warriors are what they are, and we're going to need their help to quell this new menace. Typically the exalt would go and petition for aid herself, but given the recent event… Well, the people might panic should my sister suddenly leave the capital. So this task has been passed to us. Now this mission is strictly voluntary. So if, for any reason-"
"I volunteer!" Lissa exclaimed, not allowing for Chrom to finish. Chrom frowned at his sister, but several of the other shepherds all followed her example, declaring that they volunteer one at a time.
"I.. I… um…" Sumia started. "Yes Sumia?" asked Chrom politely. "It's just that… I'm not sure I'm ready for a proper mission yet… I think I might just get in the way…"
Chrom smiled at her. "Well you could stay behind the main group, and if a battle is met, just watch and learn? Your choice, of course. However, some lessons can only be learned on the battlefield."
Sumia blushed. "Well, if you think it wise captain…" Chrom patted her on the back. "Don't worry, just stay by me and you'll be fine!" This only caused for her blush to deepen. "O-Oh… Yes!" I mean… Yes sir, I'll do that!" she managed to stammer.
Afterwards, Robin went around and got to know some of the other shepherds. He knew that these people will be his future coworkers, so he approached the task with a lot of enthusiasm. Robin would chat with one person, and when the conversation died down, he'd make his way to the next, until the entire room was exhausted.
When it came time for dinner, Robin followed everyone to the dining hall. He got his food from Maribelle, who was on chef duty tonight, and found an empty table to sit at. Shortly after, Lissa made her way over and sat directly next to him.
"So what did you think?" she asked him. "I was right, right? Each shepherd is extremely unique in their own way!"
Robin chuckled. "Yes, indeed." A couple more shepherds came and sat down next to him. A cavalier named Stahl and a mage named Ricken, Robin remembered. Then, to his surprise, Virion came and sat down with them as well.
"So have you become a shepherd as well?" Robin asked the archer. "Ha! Virion, the archest of archers has decided to give in to altruism and lend a helping hand." he then paused, and a look of sadness flashed across his face for a split second. "Although, to be quite honest, I have nowhere else to go as of right now. So I asked Chrom to join and he accepted.
"That's great! Welcome to the team." Stahl exclaimed.
They chatted for a bit more as they ate their meals.
When everyone finished eating, Lissa got up and grabbed Robin's hand. "C'mon, let me show you where you'll be sleeping tonight." she exclaimed. Robin could feel his cheeks heat up a bit, but decided not to think too deep into it.
Lissa led Robin by the hand to an empty room at the end of the hallway where most of the bedrooms were. "Most of the rooms are full right now, but there's a bed in here: The library!" she declared. Robin frowned. "You have a bed in your library?" he wondered. "Well…." Lissa began. "It wasn't originally a library, but we started moving bookshelves from other rooms here to make space, and eventually we decided to just leave it like this. We call it the library because it has all the books in here."
Robin smiled. "Well I don't think there could have been a better room for me." Lissa clapped her hands together. "Great! I knew you'd love it! Well I'll leave you in alone then, I'm sure you're tired after not really sleeping at all yesterday." She winked at him playfully. "Try not to stay up too late, because we have a mission tomorrow morning!" With that, the princess walked back in the direction they came from to go to the girls' side of the dorms.
Robin made himself comfortable in his new room. The bed was a little bit hard, but Robin hardly noticed, especially since he had just been sleeping on the ground yesterday, and possibly a few days before that. He began to look through the bookshelves for any books that sounded interesting.
Engrossed by all of the new information at his fingertips, Robin read for the rest of the evening. After it became completely dark, Robin lit some of the candles in order to continue his reading. Eventually, he led out several large yawns. Sure enough, Lissa was right and Robin was extremely tired. He flopped down on his new bed and instantly fell asleep.
The following morning…
The shepherds gathered in front of their garrison. Robin counted ten people in total. Chrom, Lissa, Sumia, Vaike, Miriel, Stahl, Sully, Virion, Frederick and himself.
Chrom turned to address everyone. "Is everyone ready? We have a long march ahead." Seeing everyone's nods of affirmation, Chrom lead the way and the group made their way northward.
As they marched, the shepherds passed the time by chatting. Lissa told the rest of the shepherds the magnificent feats of Robin at Southtown, greatly exaggerating the details to make him look better.
Vaike tried to get Stahl to compete in a belching contest, but like all the others, Stahl simply ignored him.
Sully talked to Frederick about maximizing efficiency of movement in combat.
Everyone was having a decent time considering all they were really doing was marching. It had already been a few hours since they originally set out. Suddenly, Chrom stopped. Lissa, not paying attention, ran face first into his back. "Ow!" she exclaimed. "Why did you stop?"
In response, Chrom pointed to the undead creatures wandering about aimlessly in the field in front of them.
"Gods, have the Risen spread this far?" Chrom asked aloud. Robin scratched his head. "Risen?"
Frederick nodded. "We needed a name for this new threat, so the council gave them one."
Chrom turned to everyone. "Everyone focus, remember what we're up against! Robin, what's the plan?"
In response, Robin pulled out his Hekseer. "Everyone besides Chrom, Lissa and Frederick, come touch this one at a time." he ordered, and the shepherds lined up in order to fulfil the command.
After he binded the tool to everyone, Robin studied the map closer. "It looks like this battle can be divided into two parts." he started. "There is a short bridge ahead of us. If two people fight side by side on it, they can hold back an entire army by themselves. This means, the first part is to route all the Risen on our side of the bridge. Once we take control of the bridge, we can draw the Risen on the other side to us, and pick them off one by one. The second part will be to clear all of them that are one the other side of the bridge." he paused, realizing everyone looked baffled.
"What's wrong?" he asked everyone. "To summarize concisely, everyone is simply bewildered by the sheer amount of insight that is being provided to us currently." the female mage, Miriel explained. Stahl scratched his head and chuckled. "Yeah, with Chrom, usually the battle plan is to run in, and hit things until they die." Everyone laughed at this, much to the chagrin of the blue haired prince.
Robin then turned serious. "Alright, focus everyone. Frederick, Stahl, Sully and Chrom will be our frontline Chrom pair up with Frederick, and Stahl pair up with Sully. Draw out the Risen on this side of the bridge one by one. Miriel, Virion and I will support with ranged attacks from a distance, and Lissa will stay behind us, healing anyone that gets hurt. Sumia and Vaike, you two protect us in case any Risen gets by our frontline."
A series of affirmations ensued. Vaike was the only one grumbling. "Why do I have to stay to the back?" he muttered. Robin placed a hand on his shoulder. "You don't have as heavy armor as the rest of our frontline. And besides, you have an important job. My life, as well as the lives of Virion and Miriel are in your hands."
At this, the axeman brightened up. "So that means you're trusting me with an important task?" Robin nodded, which caused Vaike to punch the air in joy. "Hell yeah! I'll show you that you can count on ol' Teach!"
Everyone was about to turn and face the enemy, when Robin suddenly spoke up again. "Oh! I almost forgot!" he exclaimed. {I can talk to you all using my Hekseer} he spoke into their minds, scaring mostly everyone, barring Lissa, Frederick and Chrom. {Don't be alarmed. I'm able to communicate with everyone even if I'm far away. Also, as long as I have Hekseer open in battle, I'll be able to hear anything you guys say. If you have a question of what to do in battle, just ask and I'll provide you with the best guidance I can.}
"Damn…" was all most of the shepherds could mutter. Sully bumped her fist on Robin's shoulder. "And here I was wondering what qualifications you had to be our tactician, but it looks like you know exactly what you're doing."
Robin smiled at her, before turning back to everyone else. "Alright, that's all I have to say. Let's execute this plan now."
With that, Chrom paired up with Frederick on their left flank, and Sully and Stahl paired up on their right. "Frederick, charge into the Risen on the left side, you can draw the attention of them and stay relatively safe with your heavy armor. This will buy time for us to slowly take out the ones of the right. Sully and Stahl, bait them out."
The two pairs immediately began to carry out the order. Frederick charged forward with Chrom closely behind, impaling an undead mercenary through the skull. The Risen on the left side of the field immediately took notice and charged towards the pair.
"Vaike, take Lissa and tail them from a distance. Holler if any Risen come towards you two. Lissa, heal Chrom and Frederick if they get hurt." "On it! You can count on ol' Teach to get 'er done!" came the reply from the axe fighter, as he slowly made his way towards Frederick and Chrom with Lissa in tow.
Meanwhile, Stahl and Sully hollered loudly and waved their weapons in the air, causing the Risen on their right side to take notice and close in. The two closest were an undead brigand and an undead mercenary. "Sully, intercept the mercenary. Stahl, back her up. Miriel and Virion, concentrate fire on the brigand in 3...2...1…. Now!"
A volley of arrows followed by a fireball and a thunder spell from Robin all barreled towards the charging Risen simultaneously. They exploded, turning the target back into black smoke.
At the same time, Sully charged the undead mercenary. She stabbed the undead's sword arm with her lance at max range, keeping herself out of slashing distance. This gave Stahl enough time to close in and lop off the monster's head with his own sword. After the Risen disintegrated, Stahl gave Sully a cheeky smile, which was returned by a thumbs up from the redhead.
Robin took a quick glance at his Hekseer. "There are a few spear fighters coming at us on the right side still. Let Sully intercept them, but make sure to stay careful. Virion and Miriel, take out the closest ones as quickly as possible." He ordered. {How's it going over there?} Robin asked Chrom and Frederick. {We're going OK at the moment} he heard Chrom reply in his head. {But if you could hurry up on that side, I don't know how much longer we can hold them back}
Robin thought for a moment. "Sumia, run to where Lissa is, and help defend her." This earned a nod from the female spear fighter as she rushed off towards the princess. {Vaike, Sumia is going to cover your position. I want you to move forward and help out Chrom and Frederick.} {Hell Yeah! Finally, the Vaike can get some action!} he heard the axeman exclaim.
At this point, Robin looked up to see Miriel and Virion working together to take out a spear fighter, as Sully and Stahl worked together to dispatch a second. He smiled, happy that his plan was coming together.
Suddenly, he heard a scream. It was loud enough to be heard from a distance, as well as in his head through the Hekseer. Robin turned and saw Sumia holding her lance out horizontally, blocking a chop from the Risen. It looked like she was having difficulty defending against the attack. {Vaike! Turn back and help Sumia!} Robin ordered as he aimed a thunder spell. The spell nicked the Risen on the shoulder knocking its arm away slightly, simultaneously decreasing the amount of force applied by his axe, much to the relief of Sumia.
Vaike ran back from the frontlines and slammed the blade of his axe down on the Risen's skull, saving a struggling Sumia. "Th-thank you!" the spear fighter exclaimed. Robin smiled in relief. {Robin,} Miriel reported. {The Risen located to the East of our party has been successfully exterminated} {Thanks, Miriel. Sully and Stahl, rush over to relieve some pressure from Chrom and Frederick. Virion and Miriel, make your way towards them as well, but be careful to keep your distance.}
As the four began to execute his plan, Robin started running towards the other side of the field as well. In the distance, he saw Frederick fending off a Risen with his lance while Lissa tended to a wound on Chrom's arm. Once Stahl and Sully arrived, everyone began to fight back harder and began to exterminate the Risen one by one. Virion and Miriel got into range soon after, and began to throw ranged attacks at the unorganized undead.
However, the two ranged units didn't notice a spear fighter charge at them from the direction of the bridge until it was only a few meters away. Thankfully, someone else had noticed. "Not so fast!" Vaike declared as he ran in with his axe held high. "You're tryna stop the Vaike from doin' his job, an' that's something ol' Teach cannot forgive!" Vaike intercepted the Risen and chopped it in half with his axe. Miriel, who was closer to the Risen, gave him her thanks. "I give you my gratitude." This earned her a smile from Vaike as he flexed his biceps. Pretty soon, all the Risen on the left side of the field were dead as well.
Robin made his way near the bridge, and stood about 50 meters in front of it. {Alright. Everyone group over here.} he commanded as he shot a bolt of thunder into the air. Everyone slowly but surely made their way over to the bridge.
Once they all arrived, Robin showed everyone the map on the Hekseer. "Alright, so there's a brigand and a spear fighter on the bridge. Stahl, I want you to take care of the brigande with the support of Sully. Frederick, I want you to do the same to the spear fighter, but with the help of Chrom." The four nodded, and sped off. "Virion and Miriel, I want you two to stand behind the two pairs, and prepare to throw attacks at any Risen that charge at them from a distance." he continued. "Everyone else, stay towards the back and be careful of any Risen that might appear from behind, which would sandwich us."
Stahl charged up to the brigand and slashed the Risen across the chest. It roared in anger and tried to swing at the cavalier, but instead got its arm impaled by Sully's spear. Stahl finished by slashing the monster across the throat. Meanwhile, Frederick shoved his lance through the spear fighter's gut. Chrom went in for the killing blow by stabbing the monster through the chest.
"Heh, we're getting better at this, huh?" Stahl said as he grinned at Sully, which only earned him a scoff from the redhead. "Careful," reminded Frederick. "There are more Risen charging at us. We have to keep them from crossing the bridge."
"Right!" the green and red cavaliers exclaimed.
They disposed of the Risen methodically. One of the frontliners would take the brunt of an attack, while Virion and Miriel finished them off. Anyone that got hurt moved to the back to be healed by Lissa while their partner took their place for the time being.
After several repetitions of this process, only the Risen leader was left. It ran at the group with a short axe held high. It threw the axe, but Frederick blocked it with his shield. "Take him out, Stahl and Sully!" Robin ordered.
The two knights in question charged at the Risen Chieftain and disposed of him in a whirl of slashes and stabs. "Heh, we make a good team." Stahl chuckled with a smile. "Not so fast, stallion." Sully interrupted. "There were many instances when we were fighting that you exposed yourself to potential danger. We're going to have to fix that during training." This earned a groan from the verdant cavalier.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief that the fighting was over. The group took a moment to rest up and allow Lissa to finish tending to everyone's wounds. Thankfully, nobody got seriously wounded, so everyone was soon patched up by the combination of some vulneries and Lissa's healing staff.
Everyone sat around, with the sweet feeling of a flawless victory still in the air. "Haha! Did you see us out there? It was like we were invincible!" Stay exclaimed to everyone. Sumia nodded. "Even little old me had a way to be useful." "I knew from our very first battle that Robin is quite the capable strategic thinker." Added Virion.
Vaike came over and wrapped an arm around Robin's shoulders and gave a massive grin. "The Vaike can be even Vaikier with this guy leading us! I'm sorry I ever doubted you." "Indeed." Miriel chimed in. "I believe with complete sincerity that even an acclaimed bibliophile such as myself could not have proposed a strategy as sound as that." "I told you guys he was good!" Lissa exclaimed. "To be honest, I thought she was just exaggerating," Stahl began. "But now I think she was not giving you enough credit!"
Robin scratched his head, his cheeks blushing from all the praise being thrown his way.
After everyone had rested up, the group began to march again. They traveled for a couple hours, before they passed through a field with a strange animal in it.
"Well what do we have here?" Chrom wondered aloud. "Is that what I think it is?" Lissa chimed in.
"It looks to be a pegasus." Robin said. "And from its appearance, it seems like its been injured. Let's just have a look here…"
As Robin approaches the creature, it suddenly becomes extremely frightened. The startled animal started kicking its front feet up, being extremely wary of the tactician.
"Woah!" Robin exclaimed in surprise. "Go no closer Robin, that animal is crazed!" Chrom exclaimed.
"It's OK captain, I can handle this…" Sumia began. "Shh…. easy girl, I won't hurt you" She approached the pegasus, and the majestic beast instantly calmed down.
"H-how did it calm down so quickly?" Robin wondered aloud. "That's amazing, Sumia!" Lissa exclaimed. Chrom shook his head. "I've never seen anything like it."
"Oh… it's nothing…" The spear fighter started. "I've just always had a way with animals I guess. You all go ahead, I'll catch up with you guys as soon as we're able." She said as she began to dress the animal's wounds with a vulnery.
"We can wait for you…" Chrom began, but Sumia shook her head. "Every moment is precious when Ylisse is in danger. Thank you captain, but I can manage." Chrom sighed. "Alright then, but stay safe Sumia." the girl in question nodded. "As you command, captain."
With that, the rest of the shepherds made their way past the animal, and allowed Sumia to tend to it. They began to move further North towards the kingdom of Regna Ferox...
Sumia: Class: Spear Fighter
Age: 17
Vaike: Class: Fighter
Age: 19
Miriel: Class: Mage
Age: 20
Stahl: Class: Cavalier
Age: 19