Author's Notes:
As promised, more pairing will be revealed! To be completely honest, I was supposed to have the chapter ready for upload slightly sooner, but I had a (extremely minor) writer's block for a little bit.
Southwestern Ylisse…
Robin felt himself return to the world of dreams for yet another time. This time, he recognized the location to be Southtown, near where he had originally been found lying in a field.
"Mother! Mother!" A young boy with white hair shouted as he ran through the gate of a small cottage. "I've delivered the books you've asked me to!"
A woman with white twintails of hair stepped out to greet him. "That's a good boy!" she smiled. "And do you have the money?"
"Uh huh!" the boy smiled and handed his mother a pouch. Katarina opened it to see some coins inside. She looked up at her son. "Very good! Come inside, dinner is ready."
"Yes!" the boy pumped his fist in the air. "I've been hungry all day!"
The woman smiled wistfully, and went back inside with the boy.
The scene changed, and Robin saw the boy, now a couple years older, writing calligraphy in a book. The boy's mother was sitting next to him, instructing him.
"Some day, you're going to have to make a living for yourself." his mother explained. "I don't have many skills, but I'll pass on to you all that I know. Creating tomes is a delicate process. Each line must be written carefully. One small error, and you'll ruin the entire page."
"Alright, mother!" the boy exclaimed. "How about this one?" he showed her mother the page.
Katarina gented felt the page, and the text began to glow yellow faintly. She smiled at her child. "Very good. This one will work. Now you have to repeat that forty times."
"That many?" Robin asked.
Katarina smiled. "What use is a tome that can only be used a few times?"
"You're right mother." The boy conceded. "You always are."
The boy immediately began to write a second page.
The scene changed again, and this time, the boy looked significantly older. Robin's eyes went wide as he began to notice significant similarities between himself and the boy.
The boy was crying next to a bed, with his very ill mother lying down in it.
"No, mother! Please!" the boy begged. "I'll go into town and buy the medicine you need. Please! Just let me go do that!"
Katarina smiled weakly. "No, Robin. If you do that, we won't have the money to eat for the next two weeks. I can't make you starve just for a chance to save me. I'm too sick." she coughed, clearly struggling to get the last sentence out.
"But…" the boy, now known as Robin, protested. "What will I do without you? I would be so lost."
Katarina managed to chuckle. "You've been the one supporting me for the past year, Robin. I'm nothing but a burden to you right now. Things will be easier once I'm gone. You will only have one mouth to feed…"
"That's not true!" Robin sobbed. "Please! Oh Naga, please!"
Katarina sighed. "Who would've thought that one day, I'd die like this: impoverished in a distant land? If only… I could see my brother again…"
She turned towards Robin for the last time. "My father sealed my fate when he sold my hand in marriage. Please, Robin. Remember to find someone that actually cares for you, to keep you company once I'm gone… I'm tired, and it's finally time for me to rest."
With that, Katarina closed her eyes, and passed on into the realm of the afterlife.
Robin stayed by her side, sobbing.
The scene changed once again, and this time, the Robin in the visions looked about the same age as the last scene. He was kneeling in front of a grave, which presumably was his mother. He placed some flowers in front of the grave.
"I'll make you proud... Mom." he muttered.
He heard shouting from the direction of the town and turned around. His eyes widened when he saw smoke in the distance. "Bandits?" he gritted his teeth and pulled out a tome and bronze sword and ran back towards town.
At this point, the scene, much like the last time, completely froze. Robin, expecting it this time, looked around, and saw the same shadowy figure approach him.
"We meet again, dear Robin." the Consciousness of Grima greeted.
"Was that… is that a vision of my past?" Robin asked.
"Hmm… that's actually a difficult question to answer." Grima replied. "Is it Robin's past? Yes. But is it YOUR past? Not quite."
Robin looked confused. "I don't follow."
Grima chuckled. "I'm sure you've met someone that has come from the future, no? Well in the future, there was a Robin as well. What you've seen today is a glimpse of his childhood."
Robin thought for a moment. "Last time, you said something about how the woman would've made it to the safety of Ylisse… so this one is the future me's past, and the last vision was MY past?"
Grima chuckled. "You're a smart boy. But I guess that's to be expected. Yes, your guess is fairly accurate. In fact, it's a shame that I can't show you more, but Robin eventually meets Chrom and joins the shepherds BECAUSE of these bandits. Remember what I said last time? Not all destruction is purely evil. Sometimes, some good things can come out of it. Keep that in your mind." he moved closer to Robin. "I'm sure this won't be the last time we meet. I'll be taking my leave now." A tendril of darkness reached out and touched Robin's forehead. When it did, a feeling of dread and panic washed over him, and caused him to jolt awake.
Robin sat up in his bed, panting. He could feel the swaying of the boat, and was reminded that they were currently making their way towards the continent of Valm.
"Wait a minute…" he muttered to himself. "The hierophant… Lucina coming back from the future… could it be?" He stroked his chin with one hand. "It would explain why he looked so much older than me… and why Tharja and Henry wouldn't have recognized who it was." He shook his head. "It's best not to jump to conclusions, but that definitely is a possibility."
"I'm gonna go clear my head outside." Robin decided, as he put on his cloak and headed towards the helm.
He found that he was not alone. As soon as he stepped outside, he saw a lone figure leaning against the gunwale. As he drew closer, he recognized it to be the figure of Lucina, gazing towards the night sky. She was dressed in her night clothes, which probably meant that it was a little chilly for her.
"Hey." Robin said as he approached her. "What are you doing out this late?"
Lucina nearly jumped in surprise. She turned to face him. "R-robin!" she squeaked.
Robin laughed. "Sorry, did I startle you?"
Lucina smiled. She really did like that laugh. "Maybe a little." she admitted.
She turned to face the sky again. "I'm just… dealing with bad dreams." she eventually said. "I'm still haunted by some of the memories of my past. It's something I constantly try to forget, but the more I try, the more I cannot."
Robin nodded. "I guess, in a sense, I guess we have completely opposite problems. I'm struggling with finding out the past that I do not know, while you're trying to get away from the past you DO know."
Lucina sighed. "Yes, I think that is an accurate summary. I just feel like… like everytime I close my eyes, I see the images of people dying around me. My mother, my friends, the citizens of Ylisse…" Tears began to form in her eyes. "And I always feel so powerless about it! Like I should've done something different to prevent all that. I couldn't save any of them."
She began to break down. "It… it just feels as if everything that's been going on has been my responsibility to fix! It's like I have to shoulder everyone's expectations myself… But I don't think I can do it. I think I've let everyone down."
Robin stood there in silence for a moment as he let Lucina cry. He wasn't exactly sure what he should do.
Finally, he moved around behind Lucina and wrapped her in a hug. He rested his cheek on top of Lucina's head. At that moment, he decided he should treat Lucina like a girl in need of comforting, and temporarily forget about the fact that she's Chrom's daughter. Lucina's eyes widened in surprise as she felt Robin's arms around her, but once the initial shock was over, she was rather happy about it. Having the hug from Robin was more than enough to make her night, and the extra comfort of his warmth was an added bonus.
"You must have had a lot of weight on your shoulders." Robin agreed. "But you don't have to worry anymore, because there's more of us to help you carry that burden."
Lucina stopped crying. She bit her lip and softly nodded. "Thanks…" she whispered.
They stayed like that for several minutes. 'She's not telling me to let go, so there's no reason for me to.' Robin reasoned. 'Might as well make the most of the moment. For all you know, this could very well be the last time you get a chance like this.'
Realistically, there's not a single reason Lucina had that would cause her to tell Robin to stop holding onto her. If she had it her way, she'd tell him to not let go. Ever. She'd be fine with spending the entire night in his arms. Although, she also wasn't comfortable enough to tell him that either.
The two of them stayed there, each enjoying the other one's presence. Lucina relished the warm feeling she felt in the tactician's arms. Ironically, both of them thought that they were taking advantage of the situation. The result was exactly what both of them wanted though.
"So I'm guessing that if you didn't see many sunrises, then you probably couldn't see the stars in the future either." Robin eventually said, still holding onto Lucina.
She nodded. "The night sky is pretty comforting to look at. Especially with the moonlight reflecting off of the waves. It's really relaxing. I never had chances like this in the future, because there was a constant overcast. Even at night."
"Hey I've got a question for you." Robin suddenly said.
"W-what is it?" Lucina asked.
"Do you know what happened to me in the future?" Robin inquired.
Lucina sighed. She could still remember the day the news was brought to her. She had been heartbroken. "You died…" she whispered. "You and father died in the same battle. Almost none of the soldiers that went off to that battle returned alive. The day I learned of it was the worst day of my life."
"Yes, losing your father must have felt that way." Robin agreed.
Lucina was startled for a bit. "Y-yeah." she finally said. Although she had indeed been very sad that Chrom was killed in that battle, she was equally as sad about Robin dying too. It was the combination of the two that had really pulled her over the edge. But of course, Robin would not have interpreted it that way.
'So that eliminates that possibility…' Robin mused to himself. 'But things still don't make sense…'
They stood in silence for a while longer.
"It's… been awhile since anyone has comforted me." Lucina admitted.
"Is that so?" Robin murmured.
Lucina nodded. "I got separated from everyone that I came back with, so I've been living alone for the past two years. I've been trying to find them, but to no avail. And before that… well, everyone could've used some comforting in my own timeline."
"Well," Robin began. "I may not be able to help you with your past, but I'll do my best to help secure the future. After all, you're with us now. Your parents are still alive. You don't have to be lonely anymore."
She nuzzled her head backwards, into Robin's collarbone. "Thank you, Robin. You have no idea how much this means to me."
She couldn't see it, but she knew Robin must have smirked. "It's not a problem. Not a problem at all. However…" Robin paused for a moment. "We also really should be heading to bed at some point."
"Yeah, probably." Lucina agreed. "But can we stay out here for a few minutes longer?"
"Two more minutes." Robin conceded.
"Fine…" Lucina pouted. She tried to relish those two minutes for as long as she possibly could.
Eventually though, Robin let go of her and returned to his own room. Lucina did the same once the tactician had left.
"Alright Robin." Robin told himself as he laid back down on his bed. "Don't get your hopes up. It'll just make it hurt even more once it crashes back to the ground." He turned over in his bed and fell back asleep.
In Lucina's room, it was a different story.
"I can't believe it!" she whispered to herself as she wrapped herself up in the blanket. "Robin actually hugged me, without me even having to ask! And we stayed out and looked at the stars, and had a conversation!" She vented her excitement by rolling back and forth across the bed a couple of times. "Maybe things are going great between us! Maybe it'll only be a few more weeks… or even days before we could get together for real!" She repeated fist pumped from underneath the blanket. Her mind was racing with the thoughts of Robin, and she struggled to fall asleep for the next hour.
At sea…
The next few days at sea didn't see anything in terms of combat. However, three extremely important developments occurred.
The first was that Donnel proposed to Maribelle. This one was a massive surprise to everyone except for Lucina, including the two people involved. Donnel wasn't even meaning to ask Maribelle. He was just talking to himself, but Maribelle managed to overhear him. Eventually though, the two found that they were extremely happy with how things turned out.
The second was that Gaius proposed to Cordelia. This one was also a surprise for mostly everyone, except for Robin and Lucina. The former had an inkling of it from his talk with Cordelia previously, and the latter had come from the future after all. Their daughter was one of Lucina's best friends, in fact.
The third and final development was that Panne and Frederick got together. Of the three, this one was the most outrageously unexpected one. Once again, everyone wished them well, and all but Lucina couldn't help but be surprised by it.
With Maribelle…
Maribelle walked down the stairs below deck. She was looking for the storage room in order to find the ingredients to make lunch. She could hear the noise of talking above deck.
Maribelle turned the corner, and saw Donnel. She was about to greet him, but stopped when she heard what he was saying. She decided to hide around the corner and let the farm boy finish monologuing.
Donnel was currently pacing around below deck, in a secluded location where he believed to be alone. He was trying to envision what Maribelle would say or do if he were to ask for her hand in marriage. Over the past two years, she had tried extremely hard to polish him into a gentlemen, but to little success. However, spending all that time together had allowed him to develop some feelings for the healer. The only problem is, he was just a country bumpkin, and she was a Ylissean noblewoman.
"S-say Maribelle?" Donnel spoke to one wall. "I reckon I want you to have this."
He immediately turned around to face the other wall. He continued in a rather inaccurate impression of Maribelle. "If you think a fake stone will win me over, you're outta yer… er… yer mad!"
Donnel returned to his regular voice. "The stone ain't real, but there's nothin' fake 'bout the way I love ya!"
Donnel then began his impression again. "Try again once yer not such a hick… er… once ya make somethin' about yerself!"
He finally stopped doing the impressions. "Aw horsefeathers! What the heck am I doin' here?" Donnel wondered to himself. "Maribelle'd never say yes to a darn pig slopper like me."
Maribelle finally decided to walk around the corner and confront him.
"Maribelle!" Donnel exclaimed when he saw her. He began to turn red. "How long have you been there?"
Maribelle shook her head. "Your portrayal of me was quite the princess. I can't say I'm flattered."
"N-no, that's not…" Donnel began.
"Let me see the ring." Maribelle demanded, holding out her hand.
Donnel obliged. "H-here, ma'am."
Maribelle took a moment to inspect it. "It is truly lovely. And you'd give this to me?" she asked.
"The stone ain't… I mean, it's a fake." Donnel admitted.
Maribelle shook her head and waved her index finger. "I'm not the sort to base a proposal's reply on the ring's worth, Donny."
"Then does it mean you're thinking about it?" Donnel asked hopefully.
"Will you ask me again?" Maribelle asked. "Properly, and to my face?"
"Course I will!" Donnel cleared his throat. "Miss Maribelle, will you do me the honor of bein' my wife?"
"Master Donnel, I would be delighted." Maribelle replied.
"Wait.. really?" the farm boy asked. "Even though I'm just a country boy?"
"You may not have noble blood, but you're a better man than a better half of the scoundrels and scallywags that call themselves nobility." Maribelle replied. She then tackled Donnel with a hug. "And I'd rather be with a man like you than some random arranged marriage with an unrefined nobleman! C'mon, let's go tell the others!"
Donnel chuckled nervously. "Alright, let's go do just that."
With Cordelia…
Cordelia had just got back from flying around the ships on her pegasus, Aurora. She considered herself extremely fortunate, because unlike most of the other shepherds, she has the freedom of flying around the air instead of being stuck on the ship all day. To be completely honest, she didn't think being on a ship all day was boring necessarily, but the thrill of flying around the ocean, not being able to see land regardless of whatever direction you look at, was extremely exhilarating. She'd have to offer Robin to come with her sometime. Or maybe...
Her thoughts were interrupted by the very man she was about to think of.
"Hey Cordelia?" Gaius asked her. "Do you have a moment?"
Cordelia brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "Yes, Gaius. What can I do for you?"
Gaius tilted his head and smiled. "Hey! You're wearing that ribbon I bought you!"
Cordelia giggled slightly. "You noticed?"
"Sure." Gaius returned the smile. "Although you look beautiful to me, with or without it."
Cordelia could feel her cheeks heat up slightly. "You know, Gaius, you can be extremely charming when you put your mind to it."
"Only to you, Cordelia." The thief smirked. "Anyways, could I see your hand for a second?" He reached out and grabbed Cordelia's left hand."
"Um… why are you clutching my hand?" the bewildered Falcon Knight asked.
"Just checking the size for this… riiiiight here." Gaius sneakily placed a ring over her finger with his sleight of hand.
Cordelia brought her hand closer to her so she could inspect it. "Oh, what a lovely ring!" she noticed that even though it did look rather stunning, it was clearly made by someone who didn't make rings as a profession. "Did you make it yourself?"
Gaius nodded. "Yup. But I wasn't sure about your size. Glad to see if fits." he scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "See, because I'm all cleaned up now, I was wondering that if you would… like to be with me?"
Cordelia looked at him seriously. "Is this a proposal, Gaius?"
"Look," Gaius grimaced. "I know I'm not Chrom, and I won't try to convince you otherwise. I also know that you have something against my old profession, but I'm a changed man. Every day, I try to find something I can do better in order to become a productive citizen for Ylisse. I know you have every reason you need to say no to me, but I couldn't live with myself if I didn't at least try to win you over. So what do you say? Will you marry me?"
"To be completely honest, I really disliked you when we first met." Cordelia admitted. "But lately, I HAVE noticed everything you've been trying to do to become a better person, and I couldn't help but become enamored by your hard work and effort. And besides…" she raised her left hand. "It was very sly of you to slip this ring on before I had a chance to argue… It IS very beautiful, and I'd hate to have to take it off again."
Gaius smiled. "I'll take a yes out of laziness. I'm not picky." he joked.
Cordelia laughed. "Yes, Gaius. I would be thrilled to be your wife."
Gaius winked and gave her a thumbs up. "Sweet! You won't regret this, Cordelia!"
Cordelia smiled at her new husband to be. 'I guess you were right, Robin.' she thought to herself. 'I'd find someone eventually, without even having to try.'
With Panne…
Panne was gazing off into the distance as she leaned along the gunwale. Never in her life did she expect to be traversing the ocean, with such a large group of man-spawn, no less. Nor did she expect to develop feelings for a human either. Over the past two years, she had gotten close to a certain Great Knight, and wasn't exactly sure how to deal with her feelings. After all, she was a taguel. There's no reason for a human to fall in love with her, right?
She was so lost in thought that she didn't notice Frederick approach her, which was rare, since her sense of hearing is so good she can pick up the heartbeats of others standing close to her.
"Panne, might I have a word?" The Great Knight asked her.
Panne almost jumped in surprise, but hid it well. "What is it?" she turned to face him.
"I no longer fear your animal form, and for this, I owe you a great debt." the knight explained.
Panne's eyes twitched slightly. "Is this the part where you tell me you no longer need my services? Where you return me to my rabbit hutch with an affectionate pat on the head?"
"My good lady!" Frederick exclaimed in shock. "You must never say such things, even in jest! I am deeply, deeply indebted to you. And what's more… I brought you this." He presented a ring that he'd bought earlier in Regna Ferox to the taguel.
"Is it…" Panne wondered, inspecting the item closely. "Oh HO! It IS a ring! Is this the man-spawn ritual where you ask me to be your mate and spit on all others?"
"Er…" Frederick grimaced. "We usually speak of it in more poetic terms, but yes. I am deeply in love with you. Panne, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"
"Your wife?" Panne scoffed. "I remember when you cowered at just the sight of me! Perhaps I am moving up in the world." she chuckled at Frederick's sad expression. "Oh enough. Do not make that face at me. In truth, I have begun to grow fond of you as well. I would be proud to be your mate. But I have to ask, why would you offer now of all times?"
Frederick sighed. "Well, I was thinking, that with the war on Valm looming over us, there is a good chance that one or both of us would not make it. Should that happen, the thing I would regret the most would be not finding out your answer."
Panne smiled. "Well then, Frederick. We'd better make sure we both survive then. I look forward to what the future might hold for us."
A short distance away from Valm…
Robin was above deck, gazing at the waves as they continued to travel closer and closer to Valm. According to the scouts, they would be reaching Valm harbor in about a day's time. Once they get some more detailed reports on the defenses of the port, he'll come up with a plan of attack.
He was distracted by the sound of an animal running across the deck.
"Panne?" he initially wondered. But immediately, he realized that it can't be right. He turned around to see a cute little dog floundering across the deck.
"Come here, Mr. Fluffles!" he heard Henry shout. A moment later, the Plegian sorcerer ran around the corner, chasing after the puppy. He scooped the little critter up in his arms. "Nya ha! You're a cheeky little fella!" Henry giggled.
Robin chuckled. "Where'd you get that?" he asked curiously.
"Oh, hi Robin!" Henry greeted. "I found Mr. Fluffles in an alley back in Regna Ferox. He hurt his leg badly, so I was taking care of him."
Robin looked at him skeptically. "You were going to take care of him?" he asked with a judgemental tone in his voice.
"Aww, don't be like that." Henry pouted. "I love animals! Actually, that reminds me. That pretty little lady also didn't believe me either. She kept saying that I was going to sacrifice him to my dark gods or something. How silly! Why would anyone do something like that?"
Robin tilted his head. "Pretty little lady?" he asked.
"Oh, you know, the one with the pink hair that dances." Henry replied.
"Oh." Robin nodded in understanding. "That'd be Olivia. Yeah, makes sense."
The two were interrupted by Frederick calling for Robin. Apparently, they had more detailed reports of the situation at Valm harbor, and he was needed for his input on the potential strategies they will use.
Robin sighed, and headed off towards the makeshift command room. Work was work, after all.
Half a day later…
Robin and the rest of the shepherds were gathered at the helm of the ship. Land was spotted a few short moments ago, and many of the shepherds were itching to get back onto dry soil.
"Remember the plan, everyone." Robin told everyone. "Basilio and Flavia will guide the rest of our troops and engage the other ships around the harbor. Our main goal is to get past them when they begin to fight, and land. Then the next objective is to take out their commander, a dark knight named Farber. Once we take him out, we'll be able to finish the rest of the Valmese off fairly easily. Our success will be key to our victory."
Everyone nodded, to show that they understood. Just as Robin finished, they could see many Valmese ships approaching from the harbor.
"Stay back!" Robin instructed. "This isn't our fight. Let the khans handle it."
The shepherds' ship didn't charge forward and engage any of the Valmese ships. They waited for some of their own ships to intercept their attackers, before sailing around them with the rest of their ships.
The Valmese began to realize that they hadn't sent enough ships to repel the attack, and so a second wave of ships launched from the harbor. Again, Robin and the shepherds allowed their other ships to engage them, before sailing around them once again. Once they made it past the last Valmese ship, they sailed straight for shore.
As they were approaching the shore, some of the Valmese launched arrows and spells at them. However, they were too far away, and the measly attacks didn't even scratch their ship, even when they hit it directly.
The shepherds laid down some planks to descend from the ship while Kellam blocked the incoming attacks with his shield. The armored units got off first, and began to form a human wall on the sandy shore. They fought off the few Valmese that charged them, in order to buy some time for the rest of the shepherds to get off the ship.
Shortly after, everyone was off the ship and onto the sandy shores.
{Lon'qu, Olivia, Tharja, Henry, Cordelia, Anna and Gaius, stay on the beach and take on the Valmese. They have some mounted units, so you will be much more mobile than them. Use that to your advantage. Everyone else, move upwards, towards the town!} Robin commanded.
The shepherds Robin called out stayed on the beach, while the rest of the shepherds moved their way up a set of staircases towards the buildings on the edge of the town.
"This place is crawling with the Valmese! It's pretty well fortified." Chrom noticed. "Wait… what's that?" he gestured to a woman being surrounded by some Valmese.
"An altercation?" Frederick guessed. "That woman… the Valmese are running her down!"
"Any enemy of theirs is a friend of ours!" Chrom declared. "Robin, shouldn't we try and save her?"
Robin nodded. "We'll split into two groups. Chrom, take Sumia, Miriel, Libra, Vaike and Donnel. Aim to take out the Valmese on our northern side and rescue that woman. The rest of us, we'll fight using our usual strategy, towards their commander, which seems to on the southern side of the town."
Chrom nodded, and immediately set off with the shepherds assigned to him. A Valmese Cavalier and Armored Knight stood in their way. Vaike knocked the Cavalier off his mount with a swing of his axe, and Miriel torched the Armored Knight in his suit of armor. The rest of them charged past the corpses of the Valmese towards the direction of woman.
Libra and Donnel each engaged in a Cavalier and General respectively, and although they weren't able to kill them on their own, they knew they had Miriel and Vaike catching up, who would be able to help them very soon.
This left Chrom and Sumia to be able to go straight for the woman, who was cornered by two Valmese Knights. Sumia blasted one of them in the back with her thunder magic, while Chrom engaged the other knight. The few Valmese that tried to run over and help were intercepted by the four other shepherds that had taken care of their previous opponents.
The woman, Chrom realized, was unarmed. She really wouldn't have been able to put up a fight against these Valmese knights. However, Chrom and Sumia proved to be much more difficult opponents, especially since the knights were certainly not expecting them. Sumia, after throwing several spells at her target, finally sighed as the knight died, and shifted her attention to Chrom's opponent. With a little help from her tomes, the second knight was also killed shortly after.
Chrom turned to the woman after the Valmese were killed.
"Prince Chrom of the Ylissean League!" the woman exclaimed. "You have my gratitude!"
"Ylissean League?" Chrom murmured, unfamiliar to ever being called that. "So you know of our cause?"
"Aye." The woman nodded. "My name is Say'ri, of Chon'sin. I would speak with you more, but first, perhaps…" she gestured towards the Valmese fighting the rest of the shepherds towards the southern end of the harbor.
Chrom nodded. "You're right. There's enough time for that once the fighting is finished. Can you fight?"
Say'ri grimaced. "Aye, but I've lost both of my killing edges. If you've a sword to spare, I'd be more than happy to fight for your cause."
Chrom nodded. "Donnel!" he shouted.
The farm boy in question turned to look towards him, while he blocked a strike from an enemy Cavalier's lance. "Yes, your majestfulness?" he asked as he cut down the Valmese with his axe.
"We need you over here for a second." Chrom called again.
"Yessir!" the boy replied as he hurried over as quickly as possible. "What is it?"
"Can you loan this woman your sword? Just for the duration of the battle." Chrom asked.
"Well, sure. Since Your Highnessness asked." he pulled out the steel sword strapped to his side and handed it over to Say'ri.
"Please, take good care of it. It may not be much, but I've had that sword for a while now." Donnel said, before turning around and rejoining the fray.
"Well, are you OK now?" Chrom asked Say'ri.
The swordmistress nodded. "It may be slightly heavier than what I'm used to, but I will make it work."
Chrom smiled. "Perfect. Now let's fight our way back towards Robin."
"Robin?" Say'ri asked. "Who is that?"
Chrom chuckled. "Robin is our tactician. He's currently leading the assault on the commander of these Valmese troops." he explained.
Say'ri nodded. "Their leader is a Dark Knight named Farber." she divulged. "He's an extremely powerful mage in the Valmese army. Almost no one was been able to survive a single one of his spells."
Chrom clenched his teeth. "Well then, we'd better hurry." They turned to help in the fight against the Valmese.
On the beach...
Lon'qu and Olivia lead the charge against the Valmese. The darted around the sands, slicing at their opponents wherever there was an opening. Gaius stayed close by, taking down any and all mages he saw with his bow. Cordelia also darted in and out of the fray, taking advantage of the immobile cavalry by keeping them at an arm's distance away. The armored Valmese made easy targets for Tharja and Henry to hit, and their opponents often were killed before they could get in range of the shepherd's dual swordmasters.
It didn't take long for the shepherds to clean the beach of the Valmese. Cordelia really admired how Robin was able to survey the situation, and instantly distribute tasks to those he felt best fitted for each role. The Valmese really had no chance against the six of them. They simply didn't have the same level of mobility over the sands as the shepherds did, leaving their formations extremely awkward. The mobile mages ran up to try and fight them, but were cut down by a combination of swords, arrows, and Cordelia's own lance. The reason they didn't have protection was because their front line soldiers couldn't move as fast as them. The only Valmese that even posed slightly of a threat was a Dark Knight, but he missed the first spell he launched towards Olivia, which allowed Lon'qu to run in and silence him with a swift slash to the neck.
Once the beaches were clean, Cordelia took the initiative to call to Robin.
{The Valmese on the beaches are taken care of. What should we do now?}
{Excellent.} Robin replied. {Backtrack towards the stairs we parted at. Come help us deal with the rest of the Valmese.}
The rest of the shepherds with her were also able hear what Robin said, and headed off back towards the stairs leading up towards the town.
With Lucina…
Lucina had to admit, she hadn't been in an organized battle too often in the past. The fights she had been in were usually led by her against groups of Risen, not people. As a result, the feeling of being under someone else's leadership, fighting against other human opponents was a relatively new feeling for her. However, the fact that the commanding officer was Robin was able to give her some much needed assurance.
She slashed her way past another Valmese mage. She snuck a glance towards her sides. Stahl and Sully were blocking a few Valmese with their horses and heavy armor. Kellam and Frederick were on her other side, doing something extremely similar. Virion, Maribelle and Ricken were behind her, free firing into the ranks of the Valmese.
Gregor and Panne, much like her, were filling the gaps, and taking out any Valmese before they got close to their back line. Fortunately for them, most of the Valmese mages were preoccupied with launching attacks at Nowi, who was flying overhead and distracting them. The Valmese really had no choice. Whenever they tried and target the shepherd's ground forces, Nowi would launch fireballs towards them, forcing the mages to respect her as a severe threat.
This gave the rest of the shepherds enough time to fight their way through the armored front line of the Valmese. Normally, it would've taken much more time for either side to gain an inch, with all of the heavy armor involved, but the shepherds had the distinct advantage of having mages that could actually target and melt armored units.
Pretty soon, the shepherds had taken out all of the Valmese fighters in the front. Lucina cut down the last Valmese Cavalier with her Parallel Falchion. She knew that the only ones left were the enemy commander as well as his elite platoon of mages.
At this point, she had taken Nowi's ability to distract the mages for granted. This made her position herself a little too carelessly, and gave the enemy commander, Farber, an opportunity to launch an Arcfire spell at her.
By the time she realized that there was a cone of condensed fire being launched towards her, it was too late to move out of the way.
'Not good!' she thought as she turned away and braced herself for the burning feeling she'd no doubt feel. If she was lucky, she'll get off with just a severe burn wound that would still be able to be healed by aunt Lissa. Worst case scenario, well Lucina wanted to think about it as little as possible.
Regardless, her life flashed in front of her eyes. 'Please Naga…' she begged. 'Not like this… I still have a future to save…'
Her prayers were answered as she felt the heat from the attack around her, but none of it directly made contact with Lucina. "Huh?" she wondered as she opened her eyes.
She was shocked by what she saw.
Robin had dove in front of the attack that had been meant for her. While it was extremely appreciated, and made her feel attracted towards the tactician even more, it was not what had surprised her.
Everyone, not just the shepherds, but the Valmese as well, looked at him with wide eyes. Robin had his back facing Farber with his left arm raised, protecting his own face by covering it with his left arm. He clenched a dagger in his left hand, and held onto his scythe with his right. However, more importantly, he seemed to be completely uninjured, despite taking a direct hit from Farber's spell. The only indication that he had even been hit were the glowing symbols and sigils interwoven in his cloak. They gave off a distinctly red glow where the spell had hit him.
"Im… impossible!" Farber breathed. Lucina, as well as everyone else watching, mentally had the same thought. They could recognize a powerful spell when they saw one. Not even Ricken or Miriel would've been able to cast a spell as strong as the one Farber had just launched at Robin. And yet, Robin managed to completely shrug off the hit as if it were nothing.
Robin turned to face the Dark Knight. He twirled the dagger around with his left hand and eventually slashed it across his right cheek, keeping his eyes on Farber the entire time. This made it even more eerie for the Dark Knight when the tactician's eyes began to glow reddish purple.
"D-d-d-demon!" one of Farber's mages exclaimed in fear. "R-run!" Some of Farber's mages ran away as fast as they could. Farber clenched his teeth. There would be time to deal with them later, but first, he had to worry about himself first.
Robin held the dagger out to his side, and caused it to disappear into the air. He took one last glance at the Valmese mages as his weapon began to glow the same color as his eyes.
Robin began to run towards Farber at a frightening pace. At this, some more of the mages decided that NOT abandoning their commander would mean death as well, and began to run away, following some of their other comrades. Robin ignored the rest of the mages, and moved straight for Farber.
Farber launched a few more Arcfires at Robin, but stopped when he realized that it was completely ineffective and damaging, or even delaying the enraged tactician. Reluctantly, he pulled out his silver sword and prepared to engage him in a short ranged duel.
However, Farber stood no chance in a swordfight. Not only did Robin's scythe have the superior reach, he was also infinitely more mobile in his enraged state than Farber, who was stuck on top of his horse.
At this point, both Chrom and Cordelia's group had rejoined the rest of the shepherds, and were just in time to see the spectacle of Robin fighting Farber. Aside from Henry and Tharja, everyone, even the ones that had already seen this side of Robin, had surprised looks on their faces.
And this was to be expected. Robin was handling Farber like he was just another training dummy. Farber truly was in a pathetic state. One of the best mages of the empire, forced to resort in using his sword because his forte was completely ineffective against his current opponent. He could do nothing but try his best to block the strikes that Robin made towards him.
However, while Farber did a decent job preventing Robin from slashing up his own body, he was unable to offer the same level of protection to his horse. Naglrath nipped the poor animal on occasion from Robin's wild swings, causing the animal to begin to grow weaker and weaker. Farber was too preoccupied to notice this, which is why it was a surprise when his horse fell over.
Farber screamed in pain as his left leg was crushed by the fall of his horse. Robin walked up to him. "I'll be more merciful to you than you deserve." the tactician told the Dark Knight coldly. He swung his scythe downwards, stabbing the Valmese commander through the chest. Farber's eyes widened as the amount of pain he was in suddenly magnified.
"I… may fall… but we are a legion... " Farber stammered even as the life was leaving his lips. "You… cannot stop… the Conqueror…"
Once Farber fell, the mages that were still remaining at the harbor turned and fled as fast as possible. The town was now clear of the Valmese soldiers.
Robin's wound on his cheek began to close up due to the quintessence he had harvested from Farber. His eyes slowly returned to a normal state. He made his way back to where the rest of the shepherds were gathered, including the newcomer, Say'ri. He glanced towards the harbor as well, and found that the Feroxi soldiers were in the process of landing. They had, without a doubt, taken care of the Valmese ships. As the rest of the soldiers were getting off the ships, Flavia and Basilio began to walk up the steps and towards the shepherds.
"Hell yeah!" Vaike exclaimed as Robin returned. "Did you guys see him!? He went Yahhh! And Yahh! And then the guy fell over, dead!" the axe man was making exaggerated movements with an imaginary weapon in his hands.
"We all saw." Lon'qu stated simply. "You should be used to surprises like these by now."
"But even YOU have to admit, that was pretty cool!" Lissa chirped.
"Mercy, friends! The tales of your strength were no exaggeration." Say'ri said, causing the rest of the shepherds to turn to face her. Seeing everyone look at her in confusion, she hurriedly added, "I am called Say'ri. I fight with the Resistance."
"So there's an organized resistance then?" Chrom concluded.
"Aye, of sorts." Say'ri replied. "Several groups formed to seek liberty from the Valmese."
"But I thought the emperor had stamped out all the dissenters…" Robin wondered out loud.
"He tries, but we Resistance members are a slippery lot." Say'ri conceded. "We strike hard, then vanish into the dark of night. Even now, various groups ride to the banner of dynasts across the land. United, we could pose a threat to Walhart, but for some time, I had struggled to bring them all together."
"What's stopping you, then?" Flavia asked as she joined the conversation with Basilio.
"Greed. Jealousy. Sloth." Say'ri replied. "All the weaknesses of man. The dynasts would all have freedom, but on their own terms. Some refuse to take up arms unless their own territory is threatened. Others thrive under the emperor's heel, and refuse to act unless there is profit in it. Liberty is a fine word, aye, but often not enough to unite everyone for the same cause."
"Then you're going to have to find a more convincing argument." Robin offered.
"Just so." Say'ri agreed. "Although, many refuse to trust me, because my brother fights for Walhart."
"Why does he support the empire?" Basilio asked.
Say'ri grimaced. "Would that I knew, good sir. Yen'fay was a good man once, but he is my brother no more! If we should meet on the battlefield, I shall cut him down like any other imperial." she looked back up at the shepherds. "Walhart is said to command over a million men now, perhaps even more. And he only gains more soldiers to conscript with each newly acquired territory. Sooner or later, he'll stamp out the Resistance entirely, if we do not unite now."
"Uh, Chrom?" Lissa asked nervously. "Did she just say a MILLION men?"
Say'ri laughed. "And what can a million men do against the Ylissean dogs of war? You stopped an entire fleet of their ships, did you not? Your daring strategy has awoken and inspired people all across Valm. Together, I know we can unite the Resistance and break the hold of the Conqueror over the continent! Please, help me, Exalt Chrom. I beg of you!"
Frederick turned to his liege. "Milord?"
Chrom thought for a moment before speaking. "I know that I have a halidom to save, and a future to win. I also know that there is a great battle ahead that I may not survive. Still, I admire your courage, and perhaps joining you on your mission is the best way to achieve mine. So yes, Say'ri, I will join my cause with your own. If I'm wrong, it's my life on the line… as it should be. Now, what will it take to unite your people?"
"Well, I do have one idea…" Say'ri began, but was interrupted by Basilio.
"Having an idea is good, but I say we make our way inland and set up camp first." the West khan suggested. "We're sitting ducks out here!"
Robin nodded in agreement. "Once we're set up, we'll have plenty of time to discuss our next move. It's going to get late soon, so we should get everyone settled in before nightfall. We'll have to leave our ships here, and hope that they'll still be in one piece by the time we return."
Flavia laughed. "Oh Robin! You're assuming we're going to win this war already? That's so very much like you!"
Robin smirked. "Yes, I suppose it is."
Say'ri nodded. "Aye… I will wait until you all set up first then."
"Oh, by the way!" Robin suddenly said. "I forgot to ask, how did your side of the fight go? Flavia? Basilio?"
Basilio laughed in response. "The Valmese ships that came at us were barely a quarter full. My guess is they scrounged up a few soldiers as quickly as possible in order to attempt to stop us. I guess they truly weren't expecting us. My big, brown arse ran circles around them."
Flavia nodded. "We only suffered a few casualties. Other than that, we actually had a pretty easy time. We tried out the formations you had suggested to us, and they really worked!"
Robin smiled. "Good. I'm glad."
The shepherds went off to go help their own soldiers, as well as the Feroxi with unpacking everything from the ships in order to move further inland to set up their camp.
Lucina took the opportunity to pull Robin aside.
"Uh… um… I just wanted to thank you." Lucina began nervously. "For saving me. I really appreciate it."
Robin thought back, and realized she must have been referencing him diving in front of Farber's attack. He smiled at her. "Don't worry about it! This may sound a bit arrogant, but it really was nothing for me!"
Lucina looked at him skeptically. "Really? That was a pretty powerful attack. Are you really unharmed?"
Robin laughed. "It wasn't like he shot some arrows at me. It was a magical attack, and I'm well able to fend them off. Really, I'm more than fine." he leaned down and looked closely at the Ylissean princess. "Why? Were you worried?"
"Yes!" Lucina exclaimed truthfully. "You blocked an attack meant for me, so of course I'd be worried if you got hurt!"
"The thought is appreciated." Robin told her. "But don't keep it on your mind for too long. It really was nothing for me. Come, we should go help the others."
He gestured towards the ships, and went off to go do just that. Lucina, happy and relieved, followed closely behind him.
Say'ri: HP: 80% Str: 55% Mag: 25% Skl: 65% Spd: 75% Lck: 45% Def: 40% Res: 40%
Class: Swordmaster
Age: 22
Lucina: Class Change: Great Lord