Author's Notes:
Hello everyone, I am back! First, I must apologize, as I broke my upload pattern seemingly randomly. I was on a family vacation the past few weeks (with my family), and so I haven't had the time to write. I wanted to have this chapter finished before then in order to be able to give a warning, but unfortunately, I was unable to finish it in time.
That being said, many of the children chapters will be located in places that make sense for them to flow into the story. This means that some of the places where these things happen will be different than where the map appears on the Awakening World Map. Most of you readers probably don't care, but I feel I still needed to put this somewhere.
That's pretty much all for now. Enjoy Chapter 33:
With Robin…
As the shepherds continued to march towards Rosanne, Brady found himself the center of attention amongst the rest of the shepherds. They had gotten used to the fact that Lucina had come from the future, but the presence of Brady seemed to refresh this sentiment. And so for the past few hours, everyone had been pestering him, and by extension, Maribelle and Donnel.
Brady, who was never the incredibly social type, looked like he wanted to find a rock to crawl under. Lucina giggled at her friend's plight.
"What's so funny?" Robin asked, standing next to her.
"Brady has never liked being the center of attention." Lucina explained, still holding onto his hand. "And he tells me that's why he decided to become a priest. That way, he can support everyone without the need to be all flashy."
"That's admirable." Robin nodded.
"And he's really skilled too!" Lucina added. "At least, based on his age. Honestly, he's probably better with a staff than I am with a sword."
"Really?" Robin asked dubiously. "He must have an extraordinary amount of talent then."
"Well. he IS Maribelle's son, so I guess some of it has rubbed off on him." Lucina noted. "And he also learned a thing or two from aunt Lissa. And our parents... well, the shepherds really influenced the rest of us. And that includes you, Robin."
"And what do you mean by that?" Robin asked as he raised an eyebrow.
"Nothing." Lucina giggled. "Nothing at all."
"Well, that's quite helpful of you then." Robin frowned.
"I'm sure they'll all be willing to tell you the details if you wanted to ask them." Lucina smiled innocently.
Some Time in the Distant Future, In the Ylissean Castle Courtyard…
"I hate 'em! Hate 'em, hate 'em, HATE 'EM!" a young Brady exclaimed as he smashed his stick against the ground in anger. "They ain't never takin' me seriously!"
"What's wrong, Brady?" A voice called out to him. Brady looked up to see Robin smiling down at him, clearly amused by the seven year old's temper tantrum.
"It's THEM!" Brady complained. "Inigo, Gerome and Owain! They ain't never lettin' me play with 'em! They always tell me I'm weak an' can't fight for shit!"
"Brady…" Robin said sternly and gave the boy a look of disapproval.
"Sorry uncle." Brady immediately realized his mistake. "I shouldn't have said that. But it's what they told me!"
"Setting that aside, have you ever wondered WHY they keep telling you that?" Robin asked. "I mean, why do they only say that to you, and not to each other?"
"'Cause I ain't no good with a sword." Brady admitted. "Owan and Inigo would beat me in a fight in two seconds flat! 'Specially Owain! His ol' man trains 'im in the basics o' sword fighting, while my ol' Pops refuses to teach me! How is that fair!?"
"Well, not all boys are meant to be soldiers." Robin chuckled.
"Hey!" Brady complained. "Don't make fun o' me! I want to be strong like the rest o' 'em! I want to be able to beat down th' bad guys an' be the hero too!"
"There are many ways to be a hero, Brady." Robin smiled at the boy's naive thinking. "You don't always have to be a warrior in order to become one."
He frowned, finally noticing a large scrape on Brady's arm. It's clear that the wound had not been tended to by a healer yet.
"What's this?" Robin asked Brady, grabbing the boy by the arm.
"Oh that?" Brady looked at the wound. "Ain't nothin'! Just got it scraped earlier while I was playin' with the others."
"And why haven't you gotten it looked at yet?" Robin asked.
"Cause." Brady told him. "My Ma told me that it ain't worth her time to heal these kind o' wounds. She says I should avoid playin' too rough in the first place. An' so if Ma finds out, she'll swat me again. But it's fine. It'll heal up real good in a day or two."
"Brady, let me take a look at that." Robin pulled the boy's arm towards him. He took a good look at the wound.
"That's no good." Robin finally said. "If you don't get it healed up, it could get infected. Worst case scenario, you could even die from it."
"Yer jokin' me!" Brady protested. "It's not THAT serious! It's just a small scrape!"
"Small scrapes can still get infected." Robin told him sternly. "C'mon, let's go find Lissa. I'll make sure she doesn't say a word to Maribelle."
"Ya mean it?" Brady asked.
"Definitely." Robin nodded. "And remember what I told you, Brady. There's more than one way you could be someone's hero. Tending to the weakened and injured like Lissa or your mother is one of these other ways. If everyone's a fighter, then there's no one to turn to if any of you get hurt."
"All right, I'll think about it." Brady agreed as they began to walk inside the castle.
Brady didn't know it yet, but he was about to ask Lissa, and eventually his mother to teach him how to use a healing staff. Both shepherds were more than happy to teach the young boy everything they knew. Brady was talented in this area, and picked up almost everything in the next few months. It was a good thing too, because this was all the time there was before both his mentors were forcibly taken away from him. In a way, the ability to use a staff was the last thing his mother ever gave to him.
The 'Present', Later That Night…
It was currently dinnertime.
Robin was in the dining hall, sitting next to Lucina and Brady. Obviously, Lucina would be eating with him, but she had also asked Brady to sit with them as well. They hadn't seen each other in over two years after all.
They mostly chatted about everything that had happened to themselves during the two years in which they had been separated. Robin almost felt like he was intruding upon a personal conversation, but when he tried to get up and leave, he was stopped by Lucina. She had a look on her face that clearly read 'please don't go', and so Robin could only sigh and sit back down.
Brady didn't seem to have much of anything to share. He mostly found himself on the continent of Valm with very little way to make enough money to survive, let alone think about traveling back to Ylisse to find his parents. He eventually found a place at the Mila Shrine, where he could use his healing abilities to earn some coin and put some food in his stomach.
He was more excited about hearing Lucina tell him about the shepherds and their war against Valm. Of course, Brady already knew of what had happened in general, but now he could know some of the details, thanks to the fact that Lucina had now witnessed it for herself. Sure, it may have been slightly different than what had happened in their own timeline, but it couldn't have differed by that much.
Towards the end of their meal, Brady had a general understanding of what had transpired, and couldn't help but feel impressed by his parents and the other shepherds.
"So the two of y'all seem awful close." Brady noticed. "What happened? You two an item now or somethin'?"
"Y-yeah." Lucina admitted bashfully. She squeezed her hands between her legs and looked downwards.
"Ha ha!" Brady laughed. "Gawds, that's great! I'm happy for ya, Lucy!"
Robin didn't say anything, but scratched the back of his head. The two of them were almost talking about him like he wasn't sitting right next to them.
"How long have you two been t'gether then?" Brady continued.
"Just a few days." Lucina bit her lip.
"Well, uncle Robin," Brady finally addressed the tactician, but paused immediately. "Huh. I guess it's kinda weird to call ya uncle then… but no matter. You should know that Lucina's been wishin' for ya for quite some time now. I can tell she's happy as a-"
"B-brady!" Lucina protested. She stood up and reached across the table to cover her friend's mouth. Sure, she was used to all of the teasing from her friends, especially when it came to her crush on Robin, but usually it was Inigo, Owain, Cynthia and Severa who brought it up. And, not to mention, it was never in front of Robin himself. Needless to say, it came as a surprise to Lucina that Brady would bring the subject up at all.
"Oh yeah?" Robin chuckled. No matter how many times he'd be told, this fact would always come as a surprise to him, if he stopped to really think about it. He had to admit, Lucina seems cold and distant if you only saw her from a distance, but in actuality, it was really easy to get her all embarrassed and flustered.
Robin looked around and found that most of the shepherds had already left the mess tent. The only people left were Kellam and Miriel, who were cleaning the dirty dishes. It did make sense. After all, Brady and Lucina had been doing a lot of talking and not necessarily a lot of eating when everyone else was still here. He had finished a long time ago, but he remained seated next to them.
"We should hurry up." Robin reminded the second generation shepherds. "They've already started cleaning the dishes. It'd be a shame to bring them more things to clean after they already think they're finished."
"R-right!" Brady nodded and immediately began to wolf down the rest of his food. It wasn't that difficult for him to do. While certainly not a meal fit for a king, it was still better than what he was used to eating in the past couple years.
Lucina did something similar. Eventually, both of them finished, and the three of them brought their dirty dishes to the kitchen.
They stepped out of the mess tent to find that both campfires had already been started. While a familiar sight to both Robin and Lucina, Brady did not understand what was going on.
"What's happenin'?" Brady asked.
"Ah, the shepherds split into male and female groups in order to socialize by the fire after dinner." Robin explained. "It's not mandatory, but unless you had something extremely important to do, people usually don't miss it. The male campfire is over there." Robin pointed towards their left side. "I think I'm going to join them. If you want, I can take you there with me."
"Sure, that sounds dandy!" Brady agreed, and prepared to leave with Robin.
Before leaving, Robin held both of Lucina's hands in his own. He leaned down and pecked her on the cheek. "Sleep well. That's in case I don't get another chance to see you tonight."
"T-thanks, you too." Lucina mumbled. It was already fairly dark outside, so Robin couldn't know for sure, but he swore that she must have been blushing while she replied.
With that, Robin placed a hand on Brady's shoulder and guided him towards the campfire. Lucina couldn't hear too clearly, but they were talking about something, presumably about the details of their campfire.
Lucina sighed as she brushed a stray strand of hair away from her face. She was so glad that she was finally with Robin now. And to a certain extent, she didn't actually believe it was real.
"I'll have to make sure not to do anything that would make him regret this." She whispered to herself.
With that on her mind, Lucina made her way to the female's campfire.
The Next Day…
After having a decently large breakfast, the shepherds set out further into Rosanne again. They had crossed the border already, but they still had a way to go before they reached the city where Virion resides in.
"How much longer do you think?" Chrom asked Virion as they marched towards a small town. Seeing as there weren't any roads that went around it, Chrom led the shepherds towards the main street that went through the town instead. Robin could see all sorts of merchants and vendors doing business as the shepherds passed through the town.
"I'm beginning to recognize some of the landscape." Virion responded. "And according to my beloved Cherche, we are only about a day's march away from home."
"That's good." Robin nodded. "It must feel nice to return home."
"Indeed." Virion agreed. "There is much to do in terms of reparations, however. Walhart has ravaged the lands he conquered during his conquest, and it will take some time before things in Rosanne revert back to what it was like several years ago."
"I have no doubt that you'll be able to make it happen." Chrom patted the Sniper on the shoulder.
Suddenly, Robin noticed some of the vendors flash the shepherds some weird glances. It looked as if it were due to distrust, and even possibly fear. Robin furrowed his eyebrows. Without realizing it, his grip on Lucina's hand tightened.
"Is something wrong?" Lucina asked, noticing the uneasy look on Robin's face.
"It's nothing you need to concern yourself with." Robin quickly responded. "It's just… the whole atmosphere… it feels… not quite right."
He was jostled out of his thoughts by Chrom.
"The harvest must have just come in!" The Exalt noted. "I'd wager there's some good eating to be had!"
"Count me in!" Lissa immediately chirped. "I'm always ready to try some new foods!"
"This one over here looks pretty good!" Chrom had a smirk on his face as he approached a food stand.
"Ch-chrom..." Sumia sighed, but knew there was nothing she could do to stop her husband at this point.
The man running the stand greeted him as Chrom approached. "Hello Sir! Welcome to the-"
Suddenly, he seemed to recognize the man in front of him. The Villager's eyes widened as panic seemed to suddenly set in.
"ACK! Y-you're… you're the…" The man stammered before quickly packing everything up.
"U-um…" Chrom deadpanned, not knowing what was going on.
"I-I'm terribly sorry!" The man apologized. "But we're closed! Sorry about that!"
The man left as quickly as he possibly could have.
"Well that was… odd." Chrom muttered to himself. "I wonder what was up with that? I guess we'll have to try somewhere else."
However, regardless of which vendor Chrom tried to approach, the results were the same. Each and everyone in the village seemed to recognize him, and refused to sell their services to any of the shepherds. Not even Virion, who technically owned Rosanne, received a warm reception from the villagers. Chrom was understandably puzzled by all of this, and so the shepherds decided to take a bit of time to investigate why the villagers were acting this way. After all, this was the first time the shepherds had been in this particular town, so there wasn't a possibility that they've already offended them.
Frederick was the first person among the shepherds to have any luck determining the reason behind all of this.
"I did some investigating, milord." The Great Knight reported as he approached Chrom. "It seems that a nasty band of rogues have been harrying them without pause for some time. Apparently, they are led by a man… masquerading as you."
"Of course." Chrom sighed. "So that's what this is about. Any idea where they are?"
"It seems like they have taken up camp just north of here." Frederick replied. "In the forest."
"Then so shall we." Chrom said with conviction. "If they've been using my name to do harm to the villagers, then it's only right for us to set things straight. Let me go find Flavia. She and the other soldiers can afford to rest and eat in the town while the shepherds go and take care of this. I highly doubt we need an army to get rid of a band of brigandes."
"Aptly put, milord." Frederick agreed.
Nearby Forest…
A trickster who had facial features that closely resembled Chrom laughed to himself. Short of the Exalt's Blue hair, it was genuinely reasonable for someone who was not close to Chrom to mistake him as the rightful ruler of Ylisse. Though Ruger wasn't born into nobility, he at least at this trait. He and his band of brigandes have been terrorizing and profiting off of the nearby civilians, all while using Chrom's name.
"Another fine haul!" Ruger exclaimed. "Long live the great Chrom!"
"Chrom? Father? Faaaather!?" A young female voice called out. Ruger turned around just in time to see a teenage girl with blue hair dismount from her pegasus. "Pegasus Knight, Cynthia, returned from patrol, sir!"
"Out with it!" Ruger demanded. "What did you see?"
"A suspicious band of travelers have been making some inquiries in the nearby town." Cynthia replied. "And what's more, their leader is someone named Chrom! I suspect that they are imposters posing as you, sir. They must be stopped at once, father!"
Ruger frowned at the girl. "What did I tell you about calling me that in front of the others?"
"E-eep!" Cynthia flinched. "S-sorry father! I mean, Chrom! Milord! ...It won't happen again."
Although Ruger still appeared confident on the outside, he was actually absolutely terrified on the inside.
'If this is the actual ruler of Ylisse, and he comes with the intention of killing me for my crimes, then I may as well be done for!' he thought to himself in panic. However, his extensive experience in acting as a conman allowed himself to calm down and think things through rationally. 'Still, if he has found out about my existence, then I would have no choice but to kill him. He wouldn't let someone impersonating him run around freely, after all. Although, this may pose a problem when Ylisse finds out that the real Chrom is dead.'
Ruger thought through things quickly. 'That's a problem for the future. Right now, I just need to focus on defeating him and surviving. This girl though… if she finds out the truth… no. She won't. Chrom will be dead by the end of the day. Afterwards, we can just have the boys kill her and leave her body for the wolves. She'll have exhausted her usefulness by then, anyways. Ideally, we can have her fight on the frontlines, and with a little good fortune, she'll be killed by the enemy forces. Regardless, we'll get out of this one no problem.'
Reaching this conclusion, Ruger smiled. "Prepare the forces." He told to Cynthia. "You will lead them against these imposters."
"R-really!?" Cynthia exclaimed in excitement. "You're letting ME lead the battle?"
"Yes, yes." Ruger waved a hand at her. "I am quite confident in your abilities. Make me proud."
"Of course father! I mean, sir!" Cynthia saluted. "I'll set off to make preparations right away!"
With that, Cynthia flew off to rally the rest of the brigandes.
"Gads, she's dumb as a brick." Ruger muttered to himself. "Good thing her spear is sharper than her wit. Still… it's good she stopped ranting about hailing from the future…
"Ruger!" This time, it was one of Ruger's own men that called him. "We've spotted a band of mercenaries near our position!"
Ruger internally panicked. "Who is their leader? It's not Chrom, is it?"
"No." The man replied. "They're just some sellswords who happen to be in the area."
Ruger let out a sigh of relief. "It seems as if luck really smiles upon me today!" he said to himself. "A few pretty lies, and I'll have the lot o' them fighting for me!"
He went off towards the direction his man told him about. Ruger had some mercenaries to con.
Moments Later, with the Shepherds…
The shepherds were marching through the forest. Everyone had their eyes and ears peeled for any signs of the enemy. Technically speaking, while it wasn't irrational for them to do this, it was also somewhat unnecessary. Robin would pick up any lifeforms that could potentially be a threat with his Hekseer after all.
Sure enough, Robin soon saw many of the brigandes lying in wait.
"Everyone, there are hostile fighters right in front of us." Robin whispered to Chom and the rest of the shepherds. "We'll split into three groups. I'll lead one group that will charge ahead and draw our enemies' attention. Chrom will lead a group that will wrap around the left hand side. Frederick will do the same and wrap around the right."
"Sounds like a plan." Chrom nodded. "I believe in you, but it sounds like you will have the more dangerous job this time. Be careful out there."
"You don't even need to tell me that." Robin smirked before beginning to divide the shepherds into the three groups.
Ruger's troops were in for a surprise when Stahl and Sully suddenly charged into their formation. Even though they had been the ones to set up an ambush, their orders were to wait for a nobleman with blue hair to show up. Instead, they received two riders that sped forward without a care in the world, straight into their lying ambush.
Stahl stabbed downwards with his lance, impaling some of the brigandes lying in wait against the ground. A Sniper stood up and aimed at the rampaging Paladin, which was not a very intelligent move. This allowed Sully to swoop in and cleave her axe across the man's chest, killing him instantly.
Still, the brigandes found that it was impossible to retaliate against them while lying on the ground. However, as soon as they stood up, their positions were revealed, and they immediately began to get bombarded by dark magic, courtesy of Henry and Tharja. One of the Heroes managed to dodge out of the way, but the Flux spell flew past him and hit a Berserker instead. Robin also pitched in and threw out a spell or two, being careful not to cast them anywhere near where their allies were.
Stahl and Sully, along with the magical support they receive, were able to cause even more disarray within the enemy forces. With this much confusion going on, Lucina and Olivia were able to easily slip in among the chaos and silence some more of Ruger's troops. Lucina dashed in and slashed down one brigand after another with her Parallel Falchion, while Olivia moved around fluidly, slashing with her sword in one hand while stabbing with her dagger in the other hand. Libra, while moving slower than the two aforementioned ladies, rushed forward as well, and began to implement the hurt with the help of his silver axe.
Soon, the enemy forces in this area recognized that the situation was extremely unfavorable, and some of the brigandes began a hasty retreat. Although Robin, Tharja and Henry were unable to reach that far with their tomes, Olivia, who had run forward to be in melee range, simply pocketed her weapons and pulled out the bow strapped to her back. It was nothing fancy or heavy like Virion's bows. Arrows shot by him could shoot down a grown Wyvern. However, her bronze bow was lightweight and easy to carry and use, which was extremely useful for someone like her, who had to be able to move around a lot during a fight.
Although she wasn't able to kill many of the retreating brigandes, she certainly hit many of them. In some cases, the wounds they received from Olivia's arrows caused them to either fall or slow down severely. This allowed Stahl and Sully to quickly catch up to them and kill off their wounded enemies.
"Robin!" Lucina called backwards. "It seems we have a large amount of movement to our two sides!"
"I think it might be more enemies coming this way!" Olivia called out as well. She tried to hide it, but the pinkette was feeling slightly nervous at the prospect of being sandwiched between two large groups of enemies.
"Perfect." Robin calmly responded. "The plan is going just as expected."
"U-um… really?" Olivia squeaked. "N-not that I'm doubting you, Robin, but our group isn't very big. I-I think the reason we won was because we took them by surprise."
"Don't worry!" Stahl laughed as he and Sully rode back to meet up with them. "Weren't you paying attention? Chrom and Frederick are leading the other two groups as we speak!"
"I KNOW that, Stahl!" Olivia protested. "I was listening! But I'm just worried that we can't hold off all of them while the two other groups defeat their opponents."
"Nya ha! You've got the wrong idea Livvie!" Henry chimed in. Olivia blushed ever so slightly at being called a nickname in front of the others. "They're not fighting separate opponents! While our opponents might think they're surrounding US, we're actually the ones making a sandwich out of THEM! Nya ha!"
"Mmm…. Sandwiches." Stahl smiled dreamily at the mention of the food item.
"Focus, ya dimwit!" Sully exclaimed as she slapped her husband across the back of his head.
"All right, all right!" Stahl protested. "Message received!"
Robin chuckled at his friends' antics. "Still, Henry is right. Now, we just need to retreat a little bit. Our opponents will continue to rush towards this location, and once the two sides meet, we'll charge in again. They'll be under attack from three sides, and chances are, their communication and leadership will be nowhere as good as ours, so the two groups will probably be fighting separately instead of as a cohesive unit."
"Oh…" Olivia tried to picture it in her head. "I think I understand now."
"And that means we need to fall back a little." Robin continued. "At least for now."
Robin's small group did just that.
With Chrom…
Chrom had led his group and sneakily wrapped around to the left side of the forest. Although he could see a brigand or two lying in wait, he didn't make a move. It wasn't like they were difficult to find. They were quite noisy considering it was supposed to be an ambush, and there was no self control or discipline among them.
"Funny," Chrom whispered to himself.
"What is, Blue?" Gaius asked while lying down next to Chrom.
"A couple years ago, I would have charged forward by now. They're in a perfect position to get attacked right now. I would not have had the patience to lie here in wait." Chrom explained.
"I hear ya, Blue." Gaius nodded without taking his eyes off their enemies for a second. "Robin has thrown some bait into the water, an' it's really tempting to catch a fish or two with a fishing rod, but in doing so, you miss the opportunity to catch them all with a net."
"That…" Chrom deadpanned.
"What, too complicated for you, Blue?" Gaius casually popped a sucker into his mouth.
"No, but that's surprisingly analytical, for you at least." Chrom chuckled.
Gaius returned the laugh. "I'll be the first to admit I was never the brightest of the bunch. My previous occupation is a testament to that. However, if you look at Robin work, even if you can't grasp everything he's thinking, ya pick up a piece or two once in a while. That man truly is a monster when it comes to this kind of stuff."
"Too true." Chrom agreed.
"Don't be too loud." Nowi whispered from behind them. "The baddies will hear you, and it will ruin Robin's awesome plan!"
The two looked at each other. "You're right, Nowi." Chrom whispered back.
"My, we ALL have come a long way, it seems." Gaius smirked.
Suddenly, there was a commotion up ahead. The brigandes lying in ambush got up and began to move towards the direction of Robin and his group.
"That's our cue!" Chrom called out. "Take down as many of them as you can!"
Naturally, the opponent's frontline fighters were in the front. Well, at least they were where they thought the 'front' of the battle will be. In other words, they were on the side closest to Robin and his group. This meant that the Snipers and the rear support were directly in front of Chrom and his group, allowing them to pick up some quick kills against their unsuspecting enemies.
Gaius immediately stood up and shot a Sniper in the back, instantly killing him with his killer bow. Gregor threw a hand axe, which caught a Warrior between the shoulderblades, knocking the enemy down. Nowi went into her dragon form and began to cause all around terror with her presence, breathing fire at anyone foolish enough to stand up to her.
Vaike, along with Chrom, had instantly rushed forward to begin cutting down his opponents at close range. They were supported from the rear by Miriel and Anna. Fire magic and Levin sword blasts rained down upon their opponents.
In the air, Cordelia and Sumia, who had been flying high enough not to get noticed, descended in order to join the fray. Under Robin's orders, Chrom and his group and focused the bow wielding first, allowing for Cordelia and Sumia to be relatively safe from arrows. Cordelia proceeded to chase down lone enemies and run them through with her spear, while Sumia helped create even more chaos with her magic.
Chrom, who was currently engaged in combat with an enemy Berserker, was beginning to push ahead and give himself an edge in the fight. His sword simply moved faster than his opponent's axe, and soon, Chrom found an opening and stabbed his blade through his opponent's heart.
"You imposter!" Chrom heard a young girl shout. He barely had time to dodge out of the way before a Pegasus Knight dove him and a spear stabbed into the ground where he had been standing a second or two ago.
"What!?" Chrom asked in disbelief.
"Anyone who impersonates the great Chrom, ruler of Ylisse deserves to die!" A teenage girl on top of a pegasus yelled at him.
"N-now still your spear for a moment!" Chrom protested. "Just hear me out. You've been lied to!"
"Spare me your tales, brigand!" Cynthia exclaimed. "I've nothing to say to someone who would impersonate my father!"
"Your… what?" Chrom looked confused for a second. "Oh for the love of Naga… how many daughters are going to come back from the future to see me?"
"Huh?" Cynthia looked genuinely surprised. "H-how did you know that I…"
Chrom sighed. "I already went through this once with Lucina."
"What!?" Cynthia immediately got off her pegasus. "Lucy is here!?"
"In the flesh." Chrom smiled. "Well, not HERE, per se. She's over in that direction, fighting alongside Robin and some others. Although… she neglected to mention that she had a sister."
"Wait… then you really are..." Cynthia's eyes began to water. She ran over to Chrom and tackled him in a hug. "Oh, Father! I missed you SOOOOO much!" She practically screamed this to Chrom at point blank.
"My… ears..." Chrom complained.
"I knew something was fishy about that guy!" Cynthia exclaimed in hindsight. "He didn't even seem happy to see me at all! I can't believe I fell for that lying creep's lies! Oh, I'm going to KILL him for this! I'm going to plant a flying hoof right in his stupid lying face!"
"Don't go running off." Chrom told his daughter sternly. "We wouldn't want to ruin Robin's carefully orchestrated plan! For now, why don't you go join your mother and Cordelia?"
"Uncle Robin is here!?" Cynthia's eyes went wide. "And mother too!? Oh, this day is just getting better and better!"
"That's right, now be a good girl and go find your mother, all right?" Chrom told her.
"Yes sir!" Cynthia saluted before getting back on her pegasus and flying off to find Sumia.
"She's even flightier than her mother." Chrom chuckled. "I didn't think that was possible."
He looked back at his group. The fighting here was mostly done. Miriel was busy using a heal staff on Vaike, who had managed to get himself injured once again.
At this point, Chrom's group had already slaughtered most of their opponent's backline. The ones that had run further ahead were mostly Heroes and Berserkers. Chrom sighed, and ordered the rest of his group to begin moving back towards Robin's location. They still had to play their part in the plan, after all.
With Frederick…
Like Chrom, Frederick's group had executed their part of the plan and circled around to the right side. Once their opponents began to rush off, Frederick gave the signal and the rest of his group jumped out and began to beat back their opponents. Frederick and Kellam led the charge, and their heavy armor proved to be too much for their opponents to handle. Donnel, Panne and Lon'qu followed close behind, and they were supported by the combined efforts of Virion, Maribelle and Tiki.
Cherche descended, and began to cleave through her opponents with her axe and a bright smile. Lissa did the same, minus the flying part.
Soon, their opponents were in full retreat.
"Looks like Robin predicted all this." Frederick told himself. "Now all that's left to do is follow and encircle the ones that are retreating."
'Retreating? Maybe from us.' Frederick mused to himself. 'The brigandes' coordination is so bad that some of them probably think they're charging towards the enemy.'
"Hey!" the Great Knight suddenly was brought out of his thoughts by Lissa's scream.
"Milady! Are you hurt!" Frederick immediately picked up his lance and turned towards Lissa's direction. He felt one part panic and two parts relieved when he saw what had happened.
Lissa was standing over an enemy War Cleric. Her opponent had clearly been defeated, and looked up at Lissa in absolute fear.
"If your leader is trying to impersonate Chrom, then are you supposed to be impersonating ME!?" Lissa demanded. Upon closer inspection, she did look a little bit like Lissa. Just a little. However, it was nowhere near the resemblance between Ruger and Chrom. "Your portrayal of me made me QUITE the princess! All the townsfolk were scared just to see me approach them!"
"P-please! I only did what I had to do in order to survive!" The defeated girl begged. "Please don't kill me!"
Lissa's hand faltered, and she hesitated to bring down her axe. She still had a soft spot in her heart after all. Slowly, Lissa lowered her weapon. "Fine, as long as you promise not to ever do something like that again!"
The defeated War Cleric hit her smirk. "Oh I promise!" she told Lissa as she reached for her Tomahawk.
In one swift motion she got up and swung her axe in a last ditch effort to kill Lissa. However, when she finished her swing, Lissa was still alive and in one piece. The only thing that had changed was the look of horror on the genuine princess's eyes.
The War Cleric looked down at her arms to find that, while she had been holding onto her Tomahawk with a two handed grip, she most certainly was missing a pair of hands at the moment. She slowly turned her head to see Lon'qu standing next to her with his killing edge still in the air. Her hands and part of her forearms had been cleanly cut off, and were still clutching onto the weapon, which had fallen onto the ground.
The pain and shock finally set in as the War Cleric let out a loud scream.
"Be quiet." Lon'qu told her as he slashed her to death.
"L-lon'qu…" Lissa whispered.
"Don't worry. I will protect you." Lon'qu reassured her. "These brigandes do not deserve mercy. If you show any weakness or soft heartedness, they will abuse it."
"Thanks." Lissa sniffed as she buried her head into Lon'qu's chest. She wrapped her arms around his waist.
"Come." Lon'qu simply said. "We are not done yet. The battle is only half won."
"You're right." Lissa said as she wiped away a tear. "Robin is still counting on us!"
Eventually, things happened just as Robin had planned. The remaining enemy forces charged towards where they believed Robin, and the rest of their allies for that matter, were, only to find the dead bodies of their friends. The shepherds then proceeded to attack them from three sides, led by Robin, Chrom and Frederick. The morale of Ruger's troops took a severe blow, and they put up paltry resistance as they tried in vain to fight off the shepherds.
Robin looked out on the battlefield and smiled. Things were going according to plan. The brigandes had been corralled and were being slowly eliminated. Most of their Sages and Snipers had already been killed off, and so while the shepherds had the advantage in formation, they also had the advantage of having ranged units supporting their frontline fighters.
Chrom and Lucina were in the thick of things, slashing away at one opponent after the other. Gregor, Vaike, Donnel and Kellam were also in the front, hacking and slashing at their enemies. He saw spell after spell being launched towards their opponents, devastating the enemies with low magic resistance. Gaius and Olivia were also darting around, silencing anyone that became isolated in the fighting.
Suddenly, he heard Virion cry out in pain from their right side. Robin turned towards him, and found Virion on the ground with an arrow in his right side. A Ranger lowered his bow in the distance, clearly satisfied with his shot.
"Virion!" Cherche cried out in alarm.
Robin watched in surprise as a slew of mounted units rode towards them from directly ahead.
"I didn't see any cavalry units on my Hekseer!" he protested to himself. He quickly checked it again, and sure enough, there was now a large number of mounted enemies charging towards them from the north.
{Everyone! It seems to brigandes have brought in reinforcements!} Robin called to everyone. {They all seem to be on horseback. Do not be afraid. In terms of skill level, they are no better than the enemies we have already slaughtered. Don't overextend, and we will be able to eliminate them as well.}
His eyes narrowed on one lone unit to the far north of the Hekseer. "So this is where you are…" Robin smirked to himself.
{Gaius, Olivia, Cordelia, Sumia!} Robin called out. {I need you to go do something for me…}
Moments Later…
Unlike Ruger's forces, these mercenaries didn't have any attachment to actually willing the battle. Once their element of surprise was nullified, they were easily beaten back by the shepherds. Those that were not killed immediately went into full retreat. Pretty soon, the fighting was over.
Robin quickly rushed over to Virion, who was being tended to by both Maribelle and Lissa. The archer seemed to have fainted, or at least was unconscious at the moment.
"What's his status?" Robin asked the pair.
"The wound itself is not that big of a problem." Maribelle reported. "His life isn't in any immediate danger. However…"
"However?" Robin pressed.
"The arrow… it was poisoned." Lissa spoke up. "And not only that, but unlike the ones Virion uses, this one was barbed. It would cause more damage, and the poison would spread even more if we were to just yank it out. And even if we did, we wouldn't even be sure we could heal the wound. Some poisons act just like dark magic, and inhibit the effects of healing staves."
"Damn!" Robin gritted his teeth. Poisonous weapons were usually never used by organized armies. Most civilized fighting forces recognized the ethical conflicts with using weapons that cause injuries which cannot be healed by traditional staves. The only cure to poisoned wounds were medicine, rest, and hopefully a strong immune system. If anything went slightly awry, these wounds often ended up fatal. Usually, these types of weapons were only used by outlaws, criminals, and brigandes who have no sense of ethics.
{Chrom, Virion is in bad condition. I'm afraid we'll probably need to stay here for the night.} Robin told Chrom, but also the rest of the shepherds at the same time. {Cherche, fly into town and find Flavia. Tell them to bring the carts carrying everything to this location. We need to set up camp as fast as possible. Once they're here, prioritize setting up a medical tent.}
{R-right! I'm on it!} he heard Cherche reply. The usually composed Wyvern Lord seemed to be feeling extremely anxious, and to a certain extent, Robin could completely understand. It was her fiance that had gotten hurt after all. Although, of all the women in the camp, Robin was under the impression that Cherche was least attached to her significant other. He shrugged. That was not the important thing to do right now.
"I'm going to go collect whatever life energy I can from the corpses." Robin told the pair of healers. "I think I may be able to collect enough to heal him."
"Thanks Robin." Lissa smiled. "That skill of yours has really saved our bacon!"
"The ability to heal dark magic and poisoned wounds is extremely valuable, and the value is never lost to anyone who claims to be skilled in the usage of staves." Maribelle agreed.
"All right, I'll be back soon. Keep careful watch over him." Robin waved as he left them.
Chrom immediately realized what Robin was doing, and had Gregor and Vaike help him move some of the bodies closer to Robin. However, most of the shepherds froze and reached for their weapons when they saw some horsemen come out of the woods from the north.
"Naga, the have even more than before!" Chrom gritted his teeth.
Robin was the only one who seemed calm. "Peace, Chrom. They have no killing intent this time."
One of the Paladins dismounted. He approached Chrom and bowed. "My apologies, Exalt Chrom. Some of my men were… misinformed and were led to believe that you were impersonating the Exalt. They were promised a fair reward for helping out."
"I'm sorry, but who are you?" Chrom asked.
"Ah, my apologies, once again." The Paladin raised his head. "I am Dalen, the leader of the Riders of Dawn. We're a mercenary group that is currently on our way home from a mission."
"Well, sir Dalen," Robin said as he continued to work. He didn't bother looking up at him. "Were you aware that one of your men were using poisonous, barbed arrows?"
Many of the people around Robin who heard him gasped in shock. Especially the shepherds, who knew that Virion had been shot by an arrow earlier.
Dalen furrowed his eyebrows. "No, I most certainly did not." he turned to his men. "Spill it! Which one of you clowns were using poisoned arrows?"
Many of the Rangers in his group looked at each other.
"Tell me, or all of you are on latrine duty for a month!" Dalen exclaimed.
"They were given to us by the person who hired us." One of the Rangers finally said. "They aren't the ones we usually use, I swear! Who WOULDN'T jump on a chance to preserve our own arrow supply while earning some more money at the same time?"
Dalen looked extremely irritated and walked over to the man who had spoken. He proceeded to slap the man twice. "Idiot! Don't you know that you're tarnishing the name of the Riders of Dawn!?"
"S-sorry." The Ranger bowed his head.
"That's it. I've had it with you clowns. All the Bowmen who participated in combat against the Exalt's troops are on latrine duty for a week!" Dalten exclaimed loud enough for Chrom and the shepherds to hear before turning around and walking back towards Chrom. There were some grumbles among his men.
"I'm terribly sorry about that." Dalen apologized once again. "Is there anything we can do to lessen the amount of damage done due to their carelessness?"
"It's fine." Robin said coldly. "We can handle things from here."
Chrom nodded. "You mentioned you were on your way home. Go on then, we'll be staying here a while longer. Do you know who was the man that hired your Riders?"
Dalen turned to his troops. A Great Knight shrugged. "He just said his name was Chrom."
"So it's the impersonator…" Chrom frowned. "But that doesn't tell us anything."
"Don't worry about it, Chrom." Robin got up and faced him.
"And why not?" Chrom looked puzzled. "He's still out there isn't he? And as long as he is, he'll continue to cause trouble."
"I've already located him and sent someone to go deal with him." Robin explained. "Hadn't you noticed that a few of our friends aren't with us at the moment?"
The shepherds looked around and found that they were indeed missing a few people.
"Remind me never to become your enemy." Chrom chuckled.
Robin returned a smile. "While that's getting taken care of, I need to be sure I'll be able to heal Virion's wounds."
"Then I'll let you continue then." Chrom nodded as he continued to move bodies towards Robin.
"Allow my men to help you." Dalen was a little bit confused on what was happening, but he figured it was the least he could do. Besides, trying to get on the Exalt of Ylisse's good side is not a bad idea at all. With a wave of his hand, the Riders of Dawn dismounted and began to help move the bodies as well.
Further North…
"I have to get away from here!" Ruger exclaimed as he ran through the forest. "Those people are not men! They're monsters! How else can they defeat all of my men and all those mercenaries I hired?"
He ran further and further away from the battle. Finally, when he deemed it was safe enough to take a rest, he slumped down and sat up against one of the trees. He pulled out a canteen and began to drink from it.
"Just where do you think YOU'RE going?" Ruger heard a voice call out.
Ruger panicked, and tried to get up. However, an arrow flew towards him and lodged in the tree a mere inch from the top of his head. Ruger tried to roll to the right, but immediately stopped when a lance stabbed into the ground next to him. He looked up to see Cordelia standing over him. Ruger tried to reach for his Levin Sword.
"D-don't move." he heard a feminine voice tell him. "Unless you want me to slit your throat."
Ruger looked at his left side and found Olivia holding a dagger next to his neck.
"W-wait!" Ruger exclaimed in person. "There's been a misunderstanding! You have the wrong person!"
"Oh?" The original voice called back as he stepped out of the shadows of the trees. "Pretty sure we have the right one." Gaius told him. "Bubbles is usually always accurate when it comes to these types of things."
"No please, just hear me out!" Ruger pleaded. "I'm innocent! I had nothing to do with that battle!"
"Battle?" Gaius grinned as he squatted down in front of Ruger in order to make eye contact. "When did we ever accuse you of being a part of a battle?"
Ruger flinched, realizing he had made a serious mistake.
Gaius laughed. "Don't look so sad. We would've had other ways to figure you out anyways." the Assassin cupped one hand next to his mouth and raised his head, calling towards the sky. "Okay Stumbles! You can bring out Stumbles Junior now!"
The two pegasus riders descended from above the treetops and landed next to Ruger. Ruger's face paled when he recognized Cynthia.
"It IS him!" Cynthia exclaimed in anger. "You lied to me! You pretended to be my FATHER! All this time, I could've kept searching for him, but you LIED to me!"
"No, wait!" Ruger protested. "I-I can explain!"
"Save your breath!" Cynthia told him as she raised her spear. "Have a good time in the afterlife!" the Pegasus Knight brought down her lance and stabbed Ruger through the chest.
"I… wouldn't have… to have lived… like this… if only… I were… a… prince…" Ruger managed to get out before the life left his eyes.
"Well that was satisfying." Cynthia breathed a sigh of relief.
"Come then, we shouldn't cause the others to worry." Cordelia nodded. "Let's head back."
"Yes ma'am!" Gaius agreed. The pair mounted Aurora while Olivia got a ride from Sumia and Belfire. The three pegasus immediately flew back towards the rest of the shepherds.
Cynthia: HP: 65% Str: 50% Mag: 25% Skl: 60% Spd: 65% Lck: 75% Def: 30% Res: 45%
Class: Pegasus Knight
Age: 13