A large gate loomed in the distance. Behind it, a large castle could be seen, towering over the city that surrounded it.
"So this is Ylisstol! It's beauty and grandeur can not be only described with mere words. As expected when it is home to beautiful flowers such as yourselves. Ahead the man who Sully called ruffles was trying to talk up Lissa and the knight. Lissa responded with a laugh, but Sully proceeded to kick the man off of her horse, a cry escaping from the man as he fell. The other members of the group did not respond to the scene, already used to the man's antics.
"We have finally arrived, it does not seem that the capitol was affected by the recent events of the forest, Thank the gods for this fortune." Frederick looked relieved that no harm had come to the city.
"Yes, we must make haste to Emmeryn immediately. She needs to know what has happened." Chrom was urgently moving the group along to the city, glancing back and looking at me.
Gripping the blade in my coat, I could only nod. Sympathetic gazes were sent from the other members of the group. Even the wary knight himself did not speak up in this situation.
My grip only grew heavier. I understood that they were trying to be mindful for me, but I felt ashamed. It was my lack of foresight that led to this and now I do not even know the whereabouts of the man who called himself my father. Even though the memories were not there, the feelings I had could not be any more real.
If only I was a better tactician. If only I was a better fighter. If only I was a better daughter…
My thoughts were interrupted when I felt a weight on my shoulder. Looking over I saw the hand man who was just laying on the ground previously. This man, I think his name was Virion, had a more somber expression on his face.
"Your mind is in turmoil, but have confidence. Although I have not yet met the man who you call your father, I am sure that someone who has raised a fine lady like yourself would not let himself fall to such trivial things as these beasts." Letting go of my shoulder his expression once again regained its exuberance. "A frown does not suit you at all! We should only be graced to have your smile in preparation for when you reunite with him!" Looking at him, I could only laugh in response to how ridiculous he looked. Smiling, Virion jogged away moved to make some small talk with Sully, but immediately got whacked over the head again. I could feel the grip on both the blade and my heart lighten.
He is right. Terry is not someone who would die so easily. I am sure we will find him.
Passing through the gates, there were large numbers of people walking along with merchants lining the streets. Its liveliness a stark contrast to the troubles that occurred outside of its walls.
Despite that though, I could feel various glances from the people around me. Many of them curious, but some were definitely hostile.
"Welcome to Ylisstol! It's pretty big so its easy to get lost, but the people here are great, and Emmeryn is even better!" Lissa broke off my train of thought, looking excited to show off the city.
"Emmeryn?" I was not too familiar with the name and was hoping for Lissa to elaborate.
"Yes, Lady Emmeryn is a virtue that we are blessed to have as citizens of Ylisstol. Her presence represents the peaceful values that we strive to achieve and maintain in this land." Frederick did not hesitate to heap praise onto their ruler. The ever-faithful knight it seems.
"Yeah! And she is the best sister anyone could ask for!" Lissa almost shook with excitement just talking about her.
"Oh, she must be a great sister then…" I nodded my head along with her statement before the full realization hit me.
"Wait, WHAT!" My face must have looked ridiculous since Lissa began to laugh loudly. Looking towards Chrom he only waved his hand in response.
"It is no secret that milord and milady are the prince and princess of Ylisse. Are you so surprised at this knowledge?" Frederick shook his head in disapproval.
Swiveling my head towards Chrom I could only bow. "My apologies Prince Chrom! I did not mean trouble you so much!" Chrom only chucked in response.
"Do not worry about it, I was never one to care about such things and Lissa is much the same. Just treat us the same as you have been doing".
Ugh…this is so embarrassing.
Frederick could only sigh in response. "Milord, you have to be more mindful of your status."
Chrom only shrugged in response. "As far as I am concerned, everyone on the Sheperds are of equal status. Now lets get moving, we need to see Emm as soon as possible."
Standing in front of a large, elaborate door, Chrom greeted the two knights standing guard.
"Please let Emmeryn know that we have returned." One of the knights nodded before entering the room. He returned shortly after and nodded to the other knight and Chrom before opening the door to let us in.
Frederick saluted the knight who responded back in kind, but when I walked by, I could feel his gaze lingering on me.
There is that same gaze again. What is going on…
"Welcome home everyone. I hope the journey went well." A calm and resounding voice echoed throughout the room. Its owner a young woman sitting towards the end, dressed in a flowing green and white robe. Her resemblance to Lissa was easily visible, but the aura she exuded was a stark contrast, much more relaxing in comparison to the young bundle of energy next to me.
"It was good Emm. We were able to drive out some bandits that were troubling our citizens towards the south."
"Are the citizens safe?" Emmeryn looked expectantly towards Chrom.
"As well as they can be. We were fortunate to have the assistance of a couple of companions who I would like to add to the Sheperds. Chrom waved his arm towards Virion and I. The blue haired archer bowed in response.
"Both Virion and Robin here have shown excellent aptitude for combat and have risked their lives to protect the people of Ylisse." Emmeryn hummed in response to Chrom's statement.
Frederick stepped forward. "Milady, please forgive my intrusion, but the Robin's origins are quite dubious. She claims to have lost her memories and was conveniently at the location where bandits struck. She even bears the mark of the grimleal on her clothing. There is the risk that she may be an enemy trying to enter our ranks
I was shocked at the statement Frederick was making. Looking down at my robe, the markings on them did not mean anything to me, but it looked like it did to the people around me.
That must be what those people were looking at.
Although they made sense, I felt hurt that he would say that so boldly after what we had went through together. Gritting my teeth, I did not trust the tart words that I would have said in response to Frederick.
The other Sheperds in the room did not seem too please with the statement either. Chrom's expression looked grim, and Lissa looked worried.
Emmeryn looked over at me thoughtfully before glancing at her siblings. "Do you trust Robin Chrom?"
"Yes Emm, although our experience has been brief, I have seen enough to put my trust into both her skills and her character."
"And how about yourself Robin? Do you have anything you wanted to add?" I was surprised to hear the question directed at me and looked at Emmeryn who only smiled back.
"Well…to be honest I am not sure how significant my contributions are to warrant Chrom's trust. My memories have still not returned, and I have already made what I feel were many mistakes."
"Mistakes?" I bowed my head unsure of how to respond.
Chrom stepped forward. "Although he is not here, there was a third companion who called himself Robin's father. He was a skilled mercenary who also aided us in the subjugation of the bandits, but we had lost him during a battle with some creatures we had encountered in the forest."
"Do you fear the worst?" Emmeryn questioned.
"I do not. Although our meeting was short, I saw enough to believe that he is more than capable of surviving the ordeal. It is also my wish to search for him for Robin's sake
"I assume this is what Robin is referring to then." Gazing back at me, my silence alone seemed to be enough of an answer for Emmeryn.
"The result of this encounter I place no blame on Robin. In the face of an unknown enemy, she directed us well and has shown excellent aptitude as both a tactician and a fighter." Chrom was firm in his stance.
Looking up, it looked like Emmeryn had not moved her gaze from me, but her face seemed to take a more somber tone. Surprisingly she stood up and began walking towards us.
"Chrom spoke of you as tactician, someone who would control the lives of many people. Each life is precious, even more so the life of one that you would call your family. That includes both the one you call your father and Chrom and Lissa here. Placing my trust in you would be the same as entrusting the lives of my family to your words. Although you said earlier that you have already made mistakes, I see someone who is in turmoil over the possible loss of a single life." Standing in front of me now, her presence was much greater than I had expected. Her expression softened though into a small smile.
"Your thoughtfulness to your own actions and Chrom's words are already more than enough for me though. Pray that you hold each life with the same importance." Chrom smiled in response to her words. Emmeryn turned her gaze towards her knight.
"Phila has mentioned that there were multiple occurrences of these ghastly creatures appearing on our lands. She will do her best in forming a party to locate Robin's father." The knight, Phila, nodded and saluted in response to Emmeryn's statement.
"Frederick, I appreciate your diligence in the service of Ylisse. Please continue to do what is needed as Chrom and Lissa's guardian." Frederick bowed in response.
"As you wish milady." A snort can be heard from Lissa as she rolled her eyes at Frederick.
"Chrom, we have much to discuss with the council. You should join us so that we can determine our next course of action."
Chrom nodded. "Of course, Emm."
"Whew! I was worried that something was going to happen." Walking beside Lissa, she seemed relieved of the outcome. Frederick had excused himself, so it was just us two walking down the corridor.
Nodding in agreement I noticed a large number of knights patrolling around. Many of them nodding as we walked by. However there seemed to be one knight who seemed to be standing in the middle of the corridor his back turned to us. I walked around him, but Lissa did not seem to react at all and walked right into him, bouncing back.
"Ouch! What just happened?" Lissa rubbed her head while I just stared at her. The knight seemed unaware that someone had just walked into him, but turned around at Lissa's reaction.
"Lissa? Sorry I did not notice you there" The knight rubbed his head seemingly embarrassed at the situation.
"Kellam! You scared me!" Lissa looked shocked that Kellam was standing right there. The interaction seemed a little strange.
"Are you alright Lissa? Did you not see him just standing right there in the middle of the corridor?" Both of them looked shocked at what I had just said.
"You can see me!?" The man had grasped my shoulders in a panic and started shaking me around. I moved out of his grip and shook my head to clear my vision.
"Why wouldn't I? You have a pretty big stature so its kind of hard to miss you." The man looked like he was about to cry tears of joy which only made me more confused.
"Oh, don't worry about him. Kellam has had trouble with people noticing him sometimes." Lissa stated this like it was a common occurrence. I looked back at the large man in hulking armor crouched over to the side.
"I…see…well it is nice to meet you Kellam, my name is Robin. I was just invited to the Sheperds by Chrom." The man seemed to have recovered from his episode and was stood back up again.
"Oh, a new member? That is great! I am a knight in service for Chrom and the sheperds as well. Let me know if you have any questions during your stay here." I smiled and nodded.
"Thank you Kellam, I will let you know for sure if anything comes up." I could feel Lissa's gaze on me and she began to pull me along.
"Let's go Robin, I still have to show you the rest of the castle!" She was raring to go.
"Alright, hey how about coming with us Kellam?" I looked back for a response and saw only empty space where the large man once stood. Looking around there did not seem to be a trace of the man anywhere.
"Don't worry Robin! Kellam is always like that. He will show up eventually." My face must have betrayed my thoughts, but I shrugged and went along with it.
Heading back down the corridor we passed through a door and entered into what looked like a big courtyard. There were various knights training, but I saw a familiar knight in red sparring against another one in green. If it could even be called that. It looked like the man was barely holding on for dear life while Sully was beating down on him.
It seemed Lissa was following my gaze and looked at the two knights sparring. "Oh, that is Stahl. He is another knight in the sheperds."
"Do they always go all out like that?" It looked like the man was in trouble.
"Oh, its alright. Sully is tough so she always fights like that, but I am sure they are fine." I nodded absentmindedly but saw the man take a clean blow across the face and fall back in a heap.
"Well, if you say so…" The man looked far from okay, but I just accepted it for what it was.
In another part of the courtyard there seemed to be a man who was beating a training dummy with his bare hands. The sight looked a little strange since everyone else seemed to have a weapon at the very least. It looked like he noticed us looking though and looked at us.
"Lissa! Did you come to check out Teach in action?" I heard a boisterous voice yell across the clearing. Walking over I noticed Lissa crinkle her nose in response.
"Vaike back off, you smell terrible!" The man waved his arms in defense.
"Whoa calm down Lissa! What is a little sweat compared to these muscles!" The man starting flexing. Looking around I could see a lot of the knights shaking their heads or laughing at his antics. A common occurrence it looked like.
"Ugh whatever. I was showing Robin around the castle. She is our new tactician!" It felt like I was being shown off by Lissa.
The man stopped flexing and looked at me. Nodding his head in understanding. "You mean like those old geezers who play board games all day?" Lissa walked up and started hitting him on the head. "No, you idiot! She can fight too!".
The man shielded his head from the blows. "You should have said so earlier! The great teach will show her how the greatest fighter in Ylisse does things!" The man threw a thumbs up at me, but I was not sure how to respond.
"Greatest fighter? More like greatest moron if you ask me." Behind Vaike I could see Sully walking up. The green knight from earlier was also there was well, looking like he did not just go through a life and death struggle earlier. "Haven't seen someone try to beat a training dummy with their hands and call that training."
"Hey! Teach just happened to misplace my weapon so got to make do with what I have right?" The man tried to defend himself, but Sully only shook her head in exasperation.
I felt Lissa nudging me on the side. "Lets go, once Vaike and Sully get into it always takes a while." I nodded and we moved back into the castle.
"So, do you have any questions so far Robin?" Lissa looked at me expectantly.
I shrugged. "Well…not really at the moment. It looks like the sheperds have a lot of unique people it seems." Lissa nodded her head in agreement.
"Yeah, besides Vaike who is just a wierdo they are all great!" I chuckled at her statement. The muscle-bound fighter was definitely an interesting one.
We walked by several doorways. Looking through one of them I saw a large number of bookshelves.
"That is the library. Since you are a tactician, you are probably interested huh? I studied in there a lot when I was younger, but I am getting sleepy just thinking about it."
"Oh Lissa? It is rare to see your presence here by the library." A voice echoed out from the library and was quickly followed by a stern gaze from a woman holding several books. She looked at Lissa and then at me. "And who perchance is this individual you are with?"
"Yeah Miriel, this is Robin, our newest tactician for the shepherds!" Lissa started making a pose while waving her hands out at me, trying to make a spectacle. The woman seemed unaffected by the scene.
"A tactician you say? Fascinating, it would be prudent and logical to bring one to corral some of the more…wild members of our group. Were you perhaps interested in the royal library? I always welcome more individuals in the pursuit of knowledge." I nodded in response and explained my situation to her.
"Amnesia…how curious! A phenomenon that could be caused by a multitude of factors. But you say you have retained knowledge of tactics and your combat ability? Perhaps we should discuss this more in the future, your situation is quite fascinating!" Miriel seemed to be off in her own world.
"Here you are, I was just looking for you two." Behind us I heard someone walking up to us. Turning around, it was Chrom along with some of the people we met earlier.
"What is going on Chrom?" Lissa looked curiously at him.
"I just finished the meeting with Emm and we have decided to head to Regna Ferox. We believe their assistance would be very helpful in this situation we currently have with those creatures from earlier along with those bandits plaguing our lands."
"So…when are we leaving then?" Chrom chuckled at the question.
"Right now." Lissa had a blank expression on her face before falling over.
"I still had so much to show Robin…" Lissa was certainly dramatic if nothing else.
Chrom looked over to me. "I hope it would be no issue if we start moving right away. Emm told us that Phila has already setup some search parties and will notify us if they find anything of importance. I know a lot has happened, but I hope it is not too much to have you accompany us on your first task as a shepherd."
In truth, I wanted to wait to see if the search parties found something before doing anything, but it looks like Chrom had put some thought into this before requesting it.
What should I do…No! I cannot be indecisive again.
I nodded to his question. "Let me prove that your trust in me is not unwarranted.
Chrom smiled. "Much appreciated. Let us move out then"
Kind of wanted to have a short interlude with how things were going for Robin. Going to be swamped with work as usual so updates will probably be sporadic. Thanks for reading.