Crisp night air rustled nimble tree branches and swept through Wolfskin Peak. Human bones of bandits and trespassers are entrenched in earth pathways. Murky darkness cloaks dense forests –to humans a hostile place but to wolfskin it's a paradise. Keaton, leader of the wolfskin in Nohr, discovered a group of humans upon his lands.
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A bone-chilling howl is followed by more. Corrin's army is instantly surrounded by flashing teeth and glowing red eyes. Thinking quickly, he disarms his troops to show that they mean no harm to the wolfskin and are just trying to go to the castle. Keaton's eyes gleam warily but he lets the humans pass.
Until King Garon interferes. Mages hidden in the mountains cast a spell, framing Corrin's army and killing a wolfskin.
Keaton signals to attack.
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"Don't attack!" Corrin shouted. "Mages! Show the wolfskin that I'm telling the truth!"
Sparkling magic surrounds and confused wolfskin. Keaton sees events retold in Corrin's view. King Garon's hatred for his own son, Corrin's arrival in Hoshido, and the attack that killed his mother. Enraged, Corrin transforms into a dragon and is brought back to human form by a dragon stone. The final images are his shock at having to choose loyalty between Nohr and Hoshido.
Corrin is a shapeshifter like me. Keaton clenched his fists angrily. And King Garon betrayed his own son! He killed one of my pack mates!
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The vision vanished. Keaton and the wolfskin are in the forests again. The wolfskin leader howled and they heeded his signal. The wolfskin backed away. Keaton glanced at Corrin. The army tensed as he briskly walked up to the dead wolfskin. Keaton crouched besides his fallen pack mate. A hooked claw cut a small scar on his other hand and Keaton drew a symbol on the corpse's forehead. "May the brightest full moon watch over your hunting grounds brother wolfskin."
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A few heartbeats later, Keaton stood on his feet and faced Corrin. "You're on a noble mission?"
He nodded. "Yes. We would've never come here if other roads had not been obstructed."
"I'm afraid King Garon did that on purpose," Kaze shook his head.
Keaton's eyes glinted and his voice shook with passion. "For my pack I'll get revenge! Nobody uses us like that! I will bring down King Garon and his forces!"
The wolfskin howled and cheered.
"I will help you, Corrin."
The dragon shapeshifter smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Keaton."
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Keaton held a small burial ceremony for the dead wolfskin and offered to help Corrin's army across Wolfskin Peak. He's never been far from home before but his vow to his pack propelled Keaton onward into the unknown. Looking back he chuckled at the Hoshidans stumbling blindly in the dark. With Keaton's sharp senses he never gets lost. Eyes dissect the uneven pathways like a human walking in daylight, ears catch the faintest sounds, and his nose can tell how many living creatures are running in these woods.
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"This way! For an army," Keaton easily jumped over gnarled roots and scaled boulders. "You guys are clumsy on your feet!" Ears rotating he listened to what sounded like blade sharpening. "Bandits," he hissed.
Kaze soundlessly jumped down next to him. From the trees they can see down below golden lights of campfires. Smoke gathers in the air thick of cooked meats and smiths working industriously on broken weapons.
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"There must be hundreds," Kaze guessed.
"How should we approach?" Jakob asked. "Should we fight them or sneak past their camp?"
"Hah, they'll be easy to attack from here," Takumi drew his bow. "We're up high and they're down there."
Corrin weight the options. They've already spent too much time looking for an entry into Nohr. He wielded his sword. "Let's fight."
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Sprinting out from the trees they ambushed the bandit camp. The beaststone gleams white-hot as Keaton transforms. Corrin runs by, his sword swinging killing three bandits. Rinkah tackles two, her club clearing the way for the rest of the army. Kaze and Jakob throw flashing knives and kunai, separating half of the camp into a trap. Weapons hitting weapons and bloodthirsty war cries ring deafeningly in the night.
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Arrows sail overhead. Some miss but two stab Keaton. He roared and barreled over three bandits.
"A wolfskin?!" A bandit's voice laughed. The Hoshidans see a stout man wearing heavy plated armor, a long pelt, and carrying a tall axe. Keaton and Corrin recognized the pelt of a wolfskin, its head wrapped around the leader like a hood. "The shapeshifters don't leave their homes. It must be my lucky day," he grinned. "I'm Hugart and you'll be the next of my morbid trophies!"
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Hugart lunged, his tall war axe closing the distance. It met Corrin's sword and sparked as the weapons collided. Corrin's quick attacks ring as it strikes armor, hardly doing any damage. The axe blade hacked at Corrin's side and sent him flying.
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Keaton roared and tackled Hugart. Heaving his axe it narrowly missed Keaton's face. Claws sink into Hugart's armor. Teeth bite the axe, twist and pull, disarming Hugart. The wolfskin throws the axe away.
Transforming, Corrin kept other bandits from attacking Keaton.
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Hugart swung his muscular arm up, dagger in hand, and stabbed Keaton.
Bloodlust muffles the sounds of combat and Keaton focuses on his only opponent.
"Did you figure out that King Garon sent me? He knew you didn't stop the Hoshidan army and for that you must die. You're a failure, just like Corrin is to Nohr!"
"I never promised that heartless monster king anything!" Keaton roared. Jumping up high into the air, he shreds Hugart apart. The dead bandit leader drops to the earth as blood pools beneath him. Terrified of their leader's death the rest of the surviving bandits flee.
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The two shapeshifters transformed and the Hoshidans stare sadly at Keaton. He holds onto the wolfskin pelt, fighting tears. He tosses the pelt into a scorching campfire. The tall flames highlight Keaton's grieving features. Corrin's light footsteps treaded a few paces away. Keaton didn't face him but his tired voice asked, "Are we to be hunted to extinction? Do we have no other value but to be tacky trinkets?"
The Hoshidan leader put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Of course not. I promise that I will do all I can to protect the wolfskins."
"Right," Keaton nodded and drew his gaze from the fire to Corrin. "We shapeshifters have to stick together. You're army…I didn't expect them to be so selfless. Most humans are afraid of us shapeshifters but these guys? They seem just like us."
Corrin grinned. "They're an exceptional group. I owe them my life."
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"Everything has been cleared!" Felicia called before tripping over some crates. Jakob sighed and helped her up.
"Are we going back to the castle?"
"Castle?" Keaton asked.
"You'll see. It's pretty cool! Lilith!" Corrin waved and a blue light bobbed lively in the air.
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"Whoa…" Keaton eyed Corrin's castle. He's never seen a floating castle before! It has a Hoshidan theme, watch towers, and a whole city below the throne steps. Trees outline the city and a pond rests besides Lilith's temple. "It's so big! But where's the bones? Where are the piles of dirt? Why is it so bright here?"
Corrin laughed. "It's very different from Nohr. But feel free to decorate how you want. Ask Lilith I'm sure she can help. Would you like a tour?"
"No," he looked at everything, his tail wagging. "I'll go on my own for a while."
"Okay. Dinner will be at night. The tavern is by the statues. See you then, Keaton."
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Keaton felt a lonely pit in his stomach. He missed the other wolfskins. But the Hoshidans are just as loud and hearty. Many of them had questions about wolfskins and Keaton proudly answered them. A beautiful moon hangs over in the starry sky as he marches to the tavern. He sits at a table and watches the servers supplying food to hungry soldiers. Keaton hurriedly took food from every dish.
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His mouth watered. Steaming rice, raw fish, honeyed peach slices, and the best of all –steak! But this is different. Keaton poked the seared steak with a clawed hand. "You don't eat raw beef?"
Corrin laughed. "No."
Keaton sank his teeth in and chewed, licking the juice from his lips. "This isn't bad. But it's better fresh, the blood tastes great, especially after a hunt."
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Soundlessness cloaks the night as Keaton sits by a pond. Fish swim in circles. Their scales flicker prettily in the dark waters.
Someone sat next to him but Keaton didn't lift his gaze. His senses immediately tell him who it is.
"You okay?" Corrin asked.
"Of course I am!" But Corrin sees through Keaton's halfhearted smile.
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He sighed. "When King Garon is defeated, will there be peace?"
"There will always be new dangers and new wars but I'll do all I can to make sure peace lasts."
"The wolfskins die so horribly. I remember each death like a stubborn thorn in my hand, Corrin. It feels like I can't change a thing."
"But you are," Corrin said. "You're a crafty fighter and you honor the fallen. And this," he unfolded his arms as the Hoshidan army moved around the castle. "Is a start. You're the first wolfskin I know that decided to leave his home and help fight king Garon."
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Keaton's dark eyes gleamed empathetically. "It must have been hard for you too, right?"
Corrin nodded. "King Garon kept me locked up in a tower most of my life and one day, when I finally thought I was free I wasn't. He used me as a replaceable weapon. I never wanted to choose between my Hoshidan family or my Nohrian family. But I wanted peace. I saw what happened to both nations with my own eyes and I didn't want people to suffer like I had anymore. Now I will do my best to bring peace to Hoshido and Nohr."
"Peace between Hoshido and Nohr…" Keaton stared at the pond again thoughtfully. "This world is a lot larger than I thought. But if it is for my people I will do anything."
The Hoshidan prince smiled. "So will I."
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To try and cheer up Keaton he decided to ask about the wolfskins. "How did you become leader, Keaton? Is there a ceremony? A trial? What's it like living at Wolfskin Peak?"
Keaton's somberness faded to pride and cheerfulness as he retold stories of his days at Wolfskin Peak. "It's a long story, Corrin. Where should I start? Okay, yeah, this story is a good one. So one day me and my friends were out in the woods chasing a deer when…"