They were able to make some progress the next day. Around midday, however, the rain picked back up again and they had to stop.
"Let's set up camp," Eisso suggested, turning to the others. Everyone nodded and started getting everything out.
"Watch out!"
Eisso was shoved out of the way by a man wearing a dark cloak with the hood pulled up. Seconds later, an arrow lodged into the man's arm—close to where Eisso's chest would've been.
Everyone else stood there for a few moments until the source of the arrow revealed themselves; several bandits came into view, equipped with swords, axes, lances, and bows.
Morgan was one of the first to react. "We're surrounded," he said.
The man who had pushed Eisso out of the way looked over at him. "Sorry about that. I was in the next town over and I miiiiiiiiiight have accidentally led them to you." His gaze stopped at Morgan for a few moments, then he turned to Lucina and looked at her. In fact, he looked over the entire mini-army—the only ones he didn't pause on was Kenzie and Eisso.
"It doesn't matter," Morgan said. The man didn't seem to be completely listening. "I can't easily see a number, but I don't think these are all of them. We need to break through the back and—"
"That won't work," the man said abruptly, cutting Morgan off. "They look like normal ruffians and thieves right now, but these people are genuine Grimleal. And Grimleal won't go easy on you. You'll be killed in an instant. It would be best to pair up in groups, and try to take them all out. Disable them, round them up, and interrogate them—that would be the best strategy, if you can do it while keeping your distance."
Morgan looked at the man for a few minutes. "…you're right. Everyone, try to do your best to only disarm or disable them."
Everyone started dispersing. Eisso watched Kenzie go to Brady while the others went into groups. Morgan, Lucina, Eisso, and the still-cloaked man fought together, with the latter using magic with one hand and a sword in the other.
It felt like the battle took forever. The rain made it hard to see much farther than the line of enemies in front of them. Metal clashed against metal, short cries of pain from both sides inspired Eisso to work harder to get it done faster.
Eventually, the rain stopped completely and they made more progress. The enemies started retreating, and Kenzie and Brady started tending to everyone's wounds. The Grimleal that they had disarmed were healed as well, but were gagged until Eisso felt ready to interrogate them.
That, however, could wait.
The man still had the arrow in his arm, as well as several other small wounds. Eisso, Lucina, and Morgan sat around him; out of all of them, though, the man had the least serious injuries. Even without any bandages, he would heal in a week or so—the rest of the army, from what Eisso had gathered by looking around him, could've been fatally hurt.
"Was that your first battle?" The man asked. He looked like he was in pain, despite the wounds looking minor.
"Our first real battle," Lucina replied. "But can I ask your name?"
"M…alin. My name is Malin," the man said, holding on to the 'm' a bit longer than needed the first time. "Let me guess—you're Lucina, Morgan, and Eisso? Then the brown-haired girl healing everyone is Kenzie. And that's Owain, Severa, Yarne, Nah, Inigo, Kjelle, Brady, Cynthia, Laurent, Noire, and Gerome." He pointed to everyone as he said their names.
"Can you take down your hood?" Eisso asked.
"Oh, right," Malin said. He took down his hood, and he…actually looked a lot like Morgan, but he couldn't be any older than Robin, if not younger than her. Morgan himself looked mildly unsettled. "So! What brings a bunch of teenagers here? Did you come on a mission or something? Why were a bunch of Grimleal willing to waste men trying to fight you?"
No one readily answered him.
"If you need proof you can trust me," Malin said, "I know Robin personally. We were…close. Then I left the castle a while after Morgan was born. Lucina might remember me, actually." He reached into his bag and pulled out a homemade- and leather-bound book, waving it a little. "I don't remember my childhood, so I write stories about how I imagined they went—they aren't usually happy, but they're the best substitute to memories I have. I wrote a few things based on Robin's childhood too. I'm also well-taught in swords, magic, and tactics."
"I don't think I've heard of you," Morgan said. "Not by name, at least." He looked at Lucina and Eisso. "Either way, I don't think he's lying. He took some of the fatal blows for us and barely bled. At the very least, we can provide shelter."
"Alright," Eisso said.
"He's getting his own food, though," Lucina added. "We don't have enough food to add one more person to the eating list. We have enough to support ourselves and that's it. He can hunt for it or buy it, it doesn't matter as long as he does it himself."
"Perfectly understandable," Malin replied, nodding. He put the book back in his bag. "I swear, you won't regret the decision."
(A/N: As of this chapter, this story officially takes place in it's own AU. Why? Because I'm poking canon waaaaaay too much. That was probably obvious with Lucina's meltdown a few chapters ago.
And for clarification, Malin isn't an OC. He's like Inigo/Laslow, Owain/Odin, and Severa/Selena. A future kid under a different name. And now that I said that, it's probably obvious who it is, right? If not, don't feel dumb. As the writer I assume EVERYTHING in my stories are super obvious /shrugs/)