"I wanted to ask. Where are we currently traveling to?" Lunearc inquired, uncertain of where he was being brought this time.

"Ylisstol! It's the capital of the country! It's a great place, so I'm sure you'll love it there. It's not too far of a walk from here!" Lissa exclaimed, brightly touting the city to the interested party.

"Ah, that name is rather easy to remember. Ylisstol in Ylisse, that makes thematic sense. Very clean." was what Lunearc had said before he had started repeating the names of two locations alternatively in a rhythmic tune to etch the names into his mind.

Lunearc had been walking with the Shepherds for some time, but it hadn't taken long for him to notice how much the atmosphere had changed from when he had first met this motley crew.

During his guided walk to Southtown, he had been subtlety trapped inside the formation, unable to escape for fear of having a lance delivered directly unto his back by the towering Frederick, with the two siblings a medium distance ahead of him at all times.

Now, though? Judging by the fact that Lissa was currently walking side by side with him, poking him in the shoulder in a bid to gain his attention, with Chrom smiling good naturedly as he looked on? Lunearc could easily deduce that they saw him in a new light.

Even Frederick had stopped pointing his lance precisely in Lunearc's direction. How much of that change in behavior was Frederick's own choice versus a concession to Chrom, Lunearc was unsure.

Lissa had kept on energetically poking Lunearc in the shoulder, and eventually resorted to waving her other hand around his face haphazardly.

"What is it, Lissa?" Lunearc acquiesced to the prodding, curious as to what she wanted to say.

"It's about your sword. It's so pretty, like a gemstone! I've never seen anything like it." Lissa reminisced about the sword, seeming to be very interested in its distinct visual appearance.

"I can say the same as well, I've never seen anything like it either." Lunearc agreed, but was quick to add an addendum, "Granted, I can't recall too many blades due to my memory being lacking in all departments… but the color and transparency strike me as unique, at least."

"It's as blue as your eyes! And mine too, in fact! See?" Lissa exclaimed, opening her eyes as wide as she could to emphasize their color while locking them with Lunearc's.

…Cute.

While absorbed in the cute demeanor for a moment, Lissa's comment about Lunearc's physical appearance reminded him of something rather important: he didn't even know his own appearance!

My eyes are blue? What other physical characteristics do I have? Could that perhaps give me a hint as to who I was before, or at least my habits regarding maintaining my body?

Before Lunearc could think of a solution to his mental tangent's query, Chrom decided to chime in about his opinions on the sword.

"Your weapon is most certainly one of a kind, I can say that for sure. News of a sword made entirely of what seems to be a blue gemstone would travel very quickly, and it is far too noticeable to be missed." Chrom answered, before adding his own question in to the mix, "What exactly do you think your sword is made of? I have my own theory, but I wish to hear what the wielder of the blade believes it to be."

"…That is a very good question. When I first laid my eyes on the sword, I had believed it to be made of glass." Lunearc responded, calmly explaining his preliminary observations, "However, the color and the crystalline structure made that highly unlikely. Soo… my best guess would have to be diamond, as crazy as such a thing sounds."

"Made of diamond?! Wow, incredible! I want to see it again! You know, just to confirm, and totally not because I love shiny things!" Lissa exclaimed, with her speech pattern growing faster, quieter, and more difficult to understand near the end of her statement.

"You really want to see it again so soon? Sigh… very well, I'll let you hold on to it for now." Lunearc unholstered the blade in a deliberately slow and non-threatening fashion, and then handed it over to Lissa.

Holding the sword close to her body, Lissa's eyes widened in amazement as she gawked at the sword's beauty.

"Shinyyyyyy….. this diamond is huge… and so shinyyy."

She totally just wanted to look at it because it's a shiny gemstone…

"If it's confirmed that this truly is diamond, there's just something I can't understand at all. It just raises even more questions..." Lunearc stated, bewildered.

"And those would be?" Chrom questioned.

"There's so much I can't even list it all. First off, how the heck did this thing survive combat without a scratch? Diamond is a hard material, but brittle. A single swing from an axe should in theory have smashed it into a million tiny shards. Not to mention, how could it possibly have sustained that flame without the diamond itself burning into dust…? Nothing about this blade makes any sense…" Lunearc ruffled his hair with his hand as he began listing the oddities of his sword.

Chrom interjected, wishing to assuage his thoughts. "I don't have the answers you seek, though I may offer an anecdote. There is said to exist a sword blessed by the Divine Dragon, whose blade never dulls no matter what rigorous battles it may witness. It is known as the Falchion."

"That's interesting, but… how do you know such a mythological blade truly exists? Have you seen it personally?" Lunearc skeptically inquired, not wishing to take mere legend at face value.

"I might have seen it in passing." Chrom discreetly tapped his hip, resting his hand on the very same sword he had been describing, while sporting a wry smile while Lunearc watched on none the wiser. "What I'm trying to say is that I am sure there is some reason as to why your blade has its strange qualities, but you shouldn't be so worried about what it can or cannot do. It obviously functions well as a weapon, and the sword's wielder isn't too shabby either."

"Hey! I think I'm a little bit better than "not too shabby"!" Lissa puffed her cheeks out, still holding the diamond sword she had been so enamored with.

"Quite sure he was talking about me, the actual owner of the sword." Lunearc stifled a laugh as he responded to Lissa's goofy reaction.

"That is of course assuming that you are the original owner in the first place. For all we know you may have filched it from an unsuspecting victim." Frederick insinuated with an invisible smile.

"Have there been any robbery reports of a diamond sword in the news? I do recall Chrom stating that such a sword would be "far too noticeable to be missed"." Lunearc replied with a broad smile still on his face, knowing that this was Frederick's attempt at being humorous. Or at least, he hoped it was.

Before Frederick could return with a snide remark, Lissa interrupted the group by beginning to wildly swing around the diamond sword.

"I wonder if I can produce magic with this sword too?" she asked, continuing to wave around the blade like it was an extremely heavy magic staff. "Hey Lunearc, how did you do it last time? I want to try it out too!"

"I-I don't know." Lunearc replied truthfully, as he had no idea as to how it had triggered. "But it's probably not a good idea to swing that around all willy-nilly like that! Please, don't hurt yourself. And please don't accidentally burn us all to a crisp."

"Aww, fine. You win. If you don't understand how to control it, what chance do I have?" Lissa acquiesced, returning the sword to Lunearc. "But I want you to promise me that once you do understand, you'll tell me all about it! Got it, mister?"

"Ha! Alright then, I ever so solemnly swear to show you how the sword's magic works, once I manage to figure it out. Is that good enough of a promise for you?" Lunearc's voice cracked into laughter, barely able to string together his final words.

"Hey! I was being serious." Lissa attempted to respond through gasps of giggling, spurred on by Lunearc's merriment.

After the laughter had died down, Lunearc decided to scope out the current landscape. To his left, many fields for farmland, seemingly growing wheat, corn, and other dietary necessities. On his right, he spotted a small, clear pond.

Jackpot.

Without a word to any of the Shepherds, he briskly marched directly to the outer edge of the pond. What he was about to do was far too important to take the time to justify his sudden absence.

Learning forward and viewing into the pond, he had found exactly what he had been meaning to look for. A reflection. His reflection, to be precise.

To make sure that this was truly him, he waved his arm around in a very specific movement. The reflection waved back. He opened his mouth, feeling each of his teeth. The reflection did the same. He put his hand on his chin, pointed the other hand outwards, and struck a pose. The same pose, reversed, appeared in the reflection. Yes, this reflection was most certainly him, and not some twisted prankster playing him for laughs.

Taking a good look at himself, Lunearc was pleasantly pleased with what he saw. He seemed to be around twenty in terms of age, plus or minus a couple of years. He assumed his height to be around average, as he had noted that he was the same height as Chrom, but quite a large amount shorter than the towering Frederick. Perhaps Frederick was just a large fellow.

Looking at his eyes through the reflection, he could indeed see the blue color that Lissa had said he possessed. Looking to his hair, he saw short, straight brown hair. The distribution was rather uniform, with the hair on the back and side being only slighter shorter than the top. Perhaps the reason he preferred short hair was because it was easier to manage and didn't get in the way during combat? He also possessed very light facial hair, with only a few days' worth of stubble, or so he estimated. That would suggest he shaved himself periodically.

What about his body? Taking off his abused and nearly scrap iron chest piece armor, he took a glance at his torso's reflection. Even under his raggedy shirt, he could easily realize that he was quite muscular. His chest and back were very noticeably brawny, giving him a V-shaped upper body. His biceps were decently strong looking, though nothing compared to his triceps. Poking his pointer finger into his core and flexing, he felt rock hard abs. Too bad they were under a small layer of extra excess weight.

Grr… I'll have to get around to losing that.

Next stop, legs. Taking off his shabby iron leggings, he saw frayed pants beneath. His leg muscles were solid in size and presumably strength, clearly stronger than most legs. However, it was obvious that his chest and back were the strongest muscle groups proportionally.

Overall, this view of his body had reinforced what he had learned during the battle. He was very muscular, able to use brute force to his advantage against the less physically imposing, malnourished brigands. However, the extra weight on his stomach had made him tire faster than he had expected. While not in terrible cardiovascular shape, it was clearly his largest physical weakness.

"Soooo… what exactly are you doing? Is there an interesting creature in the water? Are you about to dive in to go get it?" Lissa curiously poked her head in from Lunearc's right side, attempting to view what he had been so engrossed in.

"Gah! How long have you been there for?!" Lunearc jumped in surprise from Lissa's sudden appearance from behind, which moved his momentum forward. Forward, directly into the pond. Lunearc' face and open mouth contorted in all manner of comedic expressions as he drew ever nearer to falling into the pond.

Lissa, for her part, did try to stop him from falling in. She was unsuccessful, as when she sought to grab on to the remains of his undershirt to pull him back, it merely ripped a piece of cloth off the rest.

With a loud splash of water, Lunearc plopped face-first into the pond. Behind him, he could hear Lissa cracking up.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that! But it was just so funny, I can't help but—"

As Lissa's laughter grew in volume, a snort could be heard escaping her nose, and quite a loud one at that.

"—Ah!" Lissa exclaimed, as she started recoiling and blushing in embarrassment.

Upon hearing the snort, Lunearc couldn't help but chuckle as well. As he climbed out of the pond, soaking wet from his dive, he turned to Lissa.

"Was that a snort?" Lunearc asked, interested in her answer.

"No! …Maybe. Yes." Lissa had initially responded in the negatory, but quickly changed her answer when she saw Lunearc staring her directly in the eyes, unbelieving.

"How long were you watching me for?" Lunearc inquired, shaking his arms and legs in an attempt to flick the water droplets away.

"The entiiiire time. Including the funny pose that you struck dramatically." Lissa laughed, then perfectly mimicked his "funny pose".

She saw that? Oh Gods no no no. Do not want her telling anyone about that.

"Oh… so you saw all that? Hmm… let's make a deal. Forget about the pose and the lake dive, and I'll forget you ever snorted." Lunearc negotiated, wanting to bury all knowledge of the event.

"…Deal! But really, what were you doing?" Lissa quickly agreed, before curiously digging in to Lunearc's intentions.

I thought I said to forget this happened? Well, it wouldn't hurt for me to tell her this, I suppose.

"I was taking a rather in depth look at my own reflection. Like most memories, the memory of my appearance has escaped me. I thought that perhaps seeing what I look like would spark something – anything – in my memories."

"And did it work?" Lissa asked, tilting her head expectantly.

"Besides now knowing what I look like – both dry and wet, thanks to a certain someone – it didn't give me any sort of epiphany." Lunearc rebuked, regretfully explaining the lack of change on that front.

In the near distance, Lunearc could see Chrom and Frederick waiting for them to return. While he could see Chrom laughing it up, Frederick was not so fond of the delay.

"We should get back on the road. Frederick is looking impatiently at me…" Lunearc suggested, as he began to re-equip his armor. In its current state of disrepair, the armor was most certainly almost more of a hindrance in battle than a benefit. Almost. For now, Lunearc would have to make do with the armor that looked as though it had been scraped by razor sharp claws and charred with some sort of purple flame.

"That's what happens when you go on detours without telling him first!" Lissa teasingly chided, waving her pointer finger back and forth to the side.

"Says the person who followed me immediately." Lunearc rebuked back, playfully calling out Lissa's hypocrisy.

After a few moments of awkwardly walking in his still damp clothing, Lunearc waddled back to the main road, where Chrom and Frederick were waiting. Chrom could be seen with a wry smile before opening his mouth, looking like he had something to say.

"Enjoy your bath?"

"Please don't tell me you saw all of that too." Lunearc glared as he put his hand over his face, trying his best to hide his shame.

I am never going to live this down.

….….….….….….

For the next couple of hours, the group traveled without incident. The roads were rather quiet, as it had seemed most civilian travelers had already shut in for the night. A couple of merchants in horse-drawn carriage transporting goods had been spotted, and the group would give a polite wave to them as they passed. The merchants would wave back in respect, but they were moving in a rushed fashion, clearly wishing to locate civilization so they could deliver their goods and find a soft place to sleep.

The sun had already set, giving way to its polar opposite, the moon. With it came a cool dampness, as opposed to the high temperature day.

"I told you we should have stayed the night in Southtown! —it's getting dark already! …Ech! Now the bugs are out!" Lissa began to complain about traveling so close to sunset, and the pests that become active directly after it.

I can't say I blame her. I've been spending most of the last half an hour splatting any bugs that get too close.

"Noisy, disgusting bugs that buzz around and crawl all over and bite you when—" Lissa had begun listing all the reasons that she absolutely abhorred insects, when a member of the Insecta class decided to give her another one, free of charge.

"Agh! Won plhew in mah mouph! Ack! Anptother won! Bleck! Ptooey!"

Multiple of the little buggers had flown directly into her mouth. Her reaction to them was highly animated, with her shaking her head around from side to side in disgust, an unconscious reaction to expel them.

"Aw, come on now, Lissa. Hardship builds character." Chrom stated, doing his best to encourage his sister but not quite able to keep a straight face as she struggled with the bugs. "Want to help me gather firewood?"

"Tpht! Tpht! Yeeeeuck!" Lissa had attempted to spit the bugs out, only to become even more disgusted. "… I think I swallowed one…"

With the situation of the bugs resolved, though not in the way Lissa had hoped, she turned to respond to her brother's offer. She looked less than pleased with the suggestion, with her energy going back into overdrive as she responded.

"I'll pass on finding firewood, thanks. I think I've built QUITE enough character for one day!" were the words she irritably let fly as she raised her arms. The words had flown out of her quickly and decisively – unlike the fly she had swallowed.

At this moment, Lunearc's stomach made a growling noise, much to his surprise. He opened his eyes wide, and stood straight up, before staring down to his torso.

When was the last time I've eaten? Certainly not in the time latter to the onset of the amnesia, whenever that had occurred. So at least a day. Let's hope I haven't forgotten how to eat as well.

"Do you think it would be fine if we could find food? I feel as though I haven't eaten in an eternity, so I'd eat just about anything that we could find." Lunearc asked.

"Not bugs! Don't try those! If anyone tells you bugs are part of a balanced diet, they've never tried one themselves. Yuck!" Lissa loudly remarked, sticking her tongue out to show her disgust.

"Yes, I should think a little hunting and gathering is in order." Frederick agreed.

"I'll take care of the hunting. Lunearc, you want to come along? Hunting is better as a two-person job." Chrom stated, before turning to Lunearc and asking for his assistance.

"I'm not sure how much help I'll be, but I'll do what I can." Lunearc responded, trying to recall a time he had gone hunting in the past. No memories of that, either.

"Good then, let's get going! We need to get back before it's pitch black. Time is of the essence! Frederick, please take care of the gathering of firewood." Chrom exclaimed, while grabbing Lunearc by the shoulder and practically dragging him into the woods before Frederick could interject with a complaint.

….….….….….….

Chrom and Lunearc had been walking in the woods for about twenty minutes, hoping to find suitable prey to hunt and bring back to camp. So far, they had only found small prey, such as rabbits and owls. Far too fast, cute, and small to consider wasting energy hunting down.

Suddenly, Chrom went to a quick stop, holding his arm out to block Lunearc from moving forward. Lunearc was confused from this sudden stoppage, until he observed the small clearing directly in front of him.

"A bear… You want to go for that?" He whispered with an unbelieving look in his eyes, to confirm that this was truly Chrom's target for the night.

Directly ahead of the two men was a typically sized black bear, which was currently pouring the meat of a fallen deer's carcass into its stout maw. A prime example of the circle of life in the wild. If Lunearc had to guess, this specimen was around 200 pounds. It seemed to be completely absorbed in feasting from the deer, not currently vigilant of possible threats.

Keeping his mouth shut, Chrom simply nodded before unsheathing his sword as silently as he could.

A bear is a dangerous prey to hunt. Normally such a maneuver would be too risky, but if I don't eat soon, I think I'll simply keel over from starvation. I'd best prepare myself mentally, or else I will incur the worst possible outcome.

Taking a moment to mentally prepare himself, Lunearc mirrored Chrom by unholstering his own blade. He had a plan. It wasn't the best, but it should be good enough to take down the bear without having to fight it head on.

"You move to one side, and I'll go to the other. We strike at the same time, disorienting the bear and cutting off its escape route." Lunearc whispered, noting his plan of attack.

Taking a moment to process the possibility presented, Chrom soon concluded that this was a fine plan. He gave a quick nod before beginning to move to the right side.

There's no backing out now. I've got to be brave…!

Lunearc moved as silently as he could to the left side. The bear hadn't reacted to their movements yet thankfully, still happily chomping down on its last supper.

Eventually reaching a spot directly to the bear's side, Lunearc realized he hadn't specified what signal they would use to charge the bear. A rather major oversight, one that he would need to chastise himself later for.

A few moments passed as he tried to think of something that would signify when to begin the attack. In the end, he realized these thoughts had been pointless.

Chrom had started his charge on his own, without any signal!

Not the most subtle way of doing things.

With their cover blown, Lunearc too charged forward, blade in hand, to strike at the black bear. The black bear raised its head in alarm, suddenly being beset from two opposite directions.

Due to being attacked from multiple assailants, the bear had a difficult time processing which of the two men it should focus its aggression upon. So much so, that its flight response triggered, as that option gave it a higher chance to survive than fighting.

The bear tried to move forwards, scampering over the carcass of the deer it had been eating from only a moment ago. The bear's movement was slowed, as it fumbled in its steps, attempting to navigate around the carcass.

This slight delay had been all that was needed for the two men to each land a strike on the bear. When struck, the bear roared as it assayed to lash out with the claws on its front feet, but it was too poorly positioned to land a blow as the two men simply dodged behind it.

Twisting his arm with sword in hand, Lunearc aims to strike at the neck of the bear, but misses his mark, instead striking the bear in the upper back. Still probably a successful action, judging by the baleful roar the bear emanated gutturally. Or perhaps the action had simply enhanced the bear's fury.

The bear bucked backwards in an effort to discharge the blade, quickly dislodging it and causing Lunearc to tumble back, completely off balance. If Lunearc had been alone, this would be the point where the bear could have turned and mauled him without a moment's hesitation. He'd have been mincemeat, and his inexperience would be solely to blame.

That seemed to exactly be the bear's plan, as it pivoted to face him, growling menacingly. Thankfully, Lunearc was not alone. While he had diverted the bear's attention, Chrom took advantage of the chaos to accelerate forward and stab his blade in a potentially vital area.

For a brief moment, the sound of metal piercing flesh was all that could be heard in the forest, as Chrom's sword had connected brilliantly into the bear's neck. The bear had a vacant expression as it heaved heavily, soundly defeated before it collapsed into a pile only a few feet away from the carcass of the deer.

The circle of life would once again be fulfilled. But this time, the bear was the prey.

….….….….….….

Finished with retrieving the bare necessities of sustenance via their hunting trip, Lunearc and Chrom were trekking back to camp, each hauling as much bear meat as their shoulders could bear.

Before heading out, they had checked to see if there was any worthy meat left on the deer's carcass, but they had not been pleased of its state when they appraised the remains of what had once been prime venison. It was far safer to take only the bear's meat, due to the freshness of the kill.

Lunearc still recalled just how shocked he had been when Chrom had procured two razor sharp knives from his pocket, tossed one to him, and then began slicing into the bear's carcass immediately after it had been felled.

Chrom quickly explained that he was planning to field quarter the bear, leaving its guts intact, while extracting the meat in manageable pieces. When Lunearc gave a look of confusion, Chrom taught a practical lesson, explaining each step along the way. Thanks to the fact that the guts and entrails were untouched, it was a far less messy process.

Shortly after, Chrom had turned to Lunearc and said: "You give it a try. Make an incision and cut some meat."

Lunearc did his best, though he was raw and unpolished in his movements. Still, meat is meat, even if not well cut.

It did not take long for the two to finish harvesting the bear, though Chrom made most of the progress in this regard.

As Lunearc had been replaying these memories back to himself, he momentarily realized that they had already arrived back to the campsite.

He could see a fire already lit in the center, with spare wood to the side. Lissa could be seen resting on her backside near the flame, likely due to the smoke's protection from pesky wandering bugs. Or perhaps she had just been cold.

Nah, it's definitely to avoid the bugs.

Looking at her resting like this, he realized that this was the first time he had seen Lissa staying – mostly – static in motion. She had been hopping about all day hyper-actively, almost seeming like her wellspring of energy never dried up.

On the other hand, Frederick could be seen diligently preparing the campsite, moving any larger rocks out of the way. When Chrom had told him to gather firewood and set up the site, he had gone overboard, as the area looked nearly spotless of rubble and other natural debris.

"We're back, Lissa, Frederick! And you will absolutely love the haul we've hunted today." Chrom loudly spoke, as he nodded his head to motion to his arms, filled to the brim with bear meat.

"Milord! You've returned! I am glad to see you safe." Frederick seemed relieved, before beginning to fret over Chrom once more. "You are simply carrying too much, let me carry it for you in your stead. You'll injure your back if you are not prudent with your load."

"You worry yourself too much Frederick. This much weight will only make me stronger! Besides, it's not like there is much more distance I need to carry this." Chrom replied, kindly shooing away Frederick.

"Wow, you really weren't kidding when you called it a haul! How did you get so much?" Lissa bounded up; her energetic personality fully restored.

"It took some muscle, but we managed to fell a right beast of a mammal." Chrom boasted, flexing his arms as if to prove his point.

"To say we "felled" it would be generous to us. That entire experience was absolutely horrifying, I thought I was going to die. I never want to do that again." Lunearc sighed, the bear's bare ferocity still fresh in his mind.

"Oh, you did fine! The first time hunting a bear is always the toughest!" Chrom encouraged, dropping the name of the beast they had felled in the process.

"Wait! D-did you say b-b-bear?" Lissa perked up in apprehension at the mention of the species of animal Chrom had corralled Lunearc into hunting with him.

"You heard him right. A black bear, to be exact." Lunearc clarified, confirming Lissa's worst suspicions.

"Oh, brother. Why do you always hunt the most bizarre animals…" Lissa mournfully griped, coming to terms with the fact that her brother had strange tastes.

"Save your judgement for after it's cooked. Maybe you'll enjoy it." Was all that Chrom said in reply.

….….….….….….

Thirty minutes later.

The bear meat had been fully cooked, and Lissa's opinion on the matter had not changed in the slightest. She really wasn't looking forward to eating this.

Bear meat. Why did it have to be bear meat? It'd be a strange thing to eat even if this had been professionally prepared, but out in the wild? On a campfire? With no spices? This was going to be a culinary disaster.

Chrom had been adamant about cooking up the bear himself, something about "hunter's duty", though Frederick had managed to butt in a few times to prevent the meat from becoming charcoal. Lunearc had wordlessly viewed the entire situation, seeking to process whatever was currently going on in his head.

That's something she kept noticing about Lunearc, actually. There would be bursts of time where he would be quite talkative, but when not actively speaking he would completely zone out into his own little world. If his account was to be believed, the entire reason he had been so interested in the pond was because he had forgotten his own visage. It would explain his hilarious maneuver when he was looking at the water. Anyway, the reason for his zoning out must be because of the amnesia, somehow.

Hilarious reactions aside, she couldn't help but sympathize with him. To wake up one day and suddenly forget everything and everyone you've ever known was something Lissa would not wish on anyone. Especially not a friend.

A friend?

It was strange. Lunearc had only been with her, Chrom, and Frederick for under a day, yet his presence already felt weirdly natural. Like he was meant to be here, as a member of this motley group. Was it a coincidence for him to show up when he did? For him to run into the battlefield a moment before her demise, to be there at the exact perfect moment to save her?

Or was it something else entirely?

Hmm...

Whatever brought him here doesn't matter. What matters is making sure he stayed. He was traveling with the Shepherds now, but… he never confirmed if he was going to become the tactician. He had only said he'd give it thought. So, what if he decided to leave? What then?

I'll just have to make sure he joins us! And I already know brother will do all in his power as well!

Speaking of Chrom, it seems he had finally completed his… err… "masterpiece". He had started removing the meat from the fire and was tossing chunks to each sitting at the campfire. Finally, he took a large chunk for himself.

Lissa turned her head downwards to take a closer look at the meat Chrom had tossed into her lap. It smelled like old boots and looked about as appetizing. Was this edible?

Turning her head to watch her brother, she could see that he was absorbed in chewing into the freshly cooked culinary massacre. He looked absolutely delighted about current events, somehow.

"Mmm… It's been too long since I last had bear meat. Delicious!" her brother proclaimed between bites, savoring each. All Lissa could do was stare disbelievingly at him, which he eventually caught on to. "…What's wrong, Lissa? Dig in."

Dig in. Really? Into THIS? Is he serious?

"Pass! …Gods, couldn't you spear us an animal normal people eat for once?" she protested, giving her very best theatrical pout as her stare bore a hole into the meat on her lap.

"Well, there had been a deer carcass in the area." Chrom began to explain.

Then why didn't you get that instead?

"But the bear got to that first. No quality meat left on it." He answered the question before Lissa had an opportunity to ask out loud.

Oh. That's why. Still doesn't explain why he chose BEAR of all animals to hunt.

"Even so, come on! Who eats bear?! You're meddling with the food chain." Lissa pointed out, striving to argue that her brother's hunting habits were unorthodox.

Deciding that asking an impartial observer their input on the matter would further drive the point home, she asked: "Right, Lunearc?".

Instead of an immediate answer, Lunearc had not responded to her query.

"…Uh, Lunearc?" she once again queried for a response, as she began to turn towards him.

… Only to see him even more embroiled in the process of eating the bear meat than her brother had been. Dang, he was eating fast. He was like a starving pack of lions that had just found the feast that would be their lifeline. If he had been eating any more ravenously, he'd choke on his food. It was a wonder he hadn't already done so.

Perhaps he had not eaten in days after all? It's not like Lissa could just ask him when his last meal was, on account of the whole amnesia thing. It's impossible to be a picky eater when your life is on the line.

"I suppose a person would enjoy just about anything after not eating for what we could presume to be days… but it doesn't make your habits any less outlandish, Chrom." Lissa sighed, conceding only slightly before reiterating her point.

"Just eat it, Lissa. Meat is meat." Chrom stated, smiling as he attempted to peer pressure his sister into trying it through sheer repetition.

She really didn't want to eat it. Not even a little bit. The meat in her hands was about the least appetizing she had seen, as she was accustomed to well-prepared meals from professional cooks. With normal food. Bear meat, by all accounts, was not "normal food". But she had to admit that she was a bit hungry. She hadn't eaten since lunchtime, and so much had happened since then.

… Maybe she'd give it a small taste, just to get Chrom off her back about all of this. If she liked it a tenth that Lunearc did, maybe that would be enough to not have her tastebuds keel over.

Raising a small chunk of the meat to her mouth, she hesitantly bit into it.

It was worse than she had imagined. First off, the meat was tough. To even eat this, she would have to bite into it HARD. But hey, at least the meat made up for that by being as greasy as a slippery fish. Oh, wait. That's also a terrible quality for meat to have. Speaking of fish, the fat of the bear had a bit of a fishy taste, literally. If the term "you are what you eat" qualified for this bear, it certainly ate a bucketful of fish in the days before.

How exactly had Chrom enjoyed this? It was awful. Her initial thought of the meat smelling like old boots had been much too accurate.

"Plhew, pah, bleck!" Lissa spat out the meat, not willing to give it any more of a shot. "Since when does meat taste like and have the rubbery strength of old boots?! Wait, I take that back—at least boots aren't greasy!"

"Every experience makes us stronger, milady. Even those we don't enjoy." Frederick stated in a teaching tone, yet the meat in his hands was completely untouched. His words did not line up with his actions, and Lissa had the full intent to call him out on it.

"Really, is that so? Then would you mind explaining why I don't see YOU eating, Frederick?"

"Me? Oh, well…" Frederick began by delaying a direct reasoning, obviously attempting to find some excuse to get out of eating bear, "I'm not hungry. I… I had a large lunch! Yes, quite."

Reading when Frederick was telling the truth or lying was always a very simple task. Frederick was the type of person to always give instant, direct, and confident responses in his statements when speaking fact. However, with fiction he'd always take time to think of some excuse or another and would even clutter his words a bit.

In simple terms, he certainly told a bald-faced lie. No doubt!

"Yeah right, Frederick! You are terrible at lying." Lissa exclaimed as she called out Frederick's bluff. Knowing Frederick, he was never going to admit to this embarrassing secret. Attempting to dig into this point would just cause him to dig his heels in more.

At least she had something to tease him about now: his absolute distaste for bear meat. Not that he was wrong – the bear tasted awful – but she had at least tried a bite of it, unlike him.

As Lissa turned her head back to the smoky fire to get her mind off the putrid aftertaste of the meat, she could see Lunearc on the other side of the circle. He was out like a light, sprawled on his back breathing peacefully.

"Is he… already sleeping?" she asked, amazed at how he had fallen into dreamland so abruptly.

"Quite efficient, isn't he?" Chrom lightly yawned, before continuing. "The moment he finished his meal he fell asleep. Just looking at him is making me tired as well."

"Perhaps he has the right idea, Milord. We should get sleep sooner rather than later, so that we will be able to return to Ylisstol early. We should sleep in shifts."

"Ahhhh, I can't wait to get home. I just want to curl up into my warm bed and sleep soundly without fear of bugs flying all around. I think I've earned it!" Lissa sleepily exclaimed, as she laid on the grass next to the fire.

Once she closed her eyes, sleep found its way to her, the chaotic events of the preceding day simplifying the process, even with the substandard bedding accommodations.

….….….….….….

Near the Ylissean/Plegian border…

Grass rustled in the wind, temporarily displaced by an agitated entity. A lonesome shadow, moving to a location they had remembered the directions to by heart. They were moving with urgency, attempting to remain secretive and unnoticed from any possible onlookers – or Gods forbid, spies.

They were the sole survivor of a failed incursion, living only because they had been resourceful enough to stay out of the fight. The others had simply been idiots, and far too brazen for their own good. The fools only focused on chaos and overestimated their own abilities, and that led to their demise. At least, that is what the figure told themselves. Perhaps their own personal decisions had some element of cowardice, as it and resourcefulness often overlapped.

With the location they had been traveling to in sight, they briefly stopped to investigate the status of the building. The building was an ancient fortress, neglected and left in disrepair over many years, in an obscure location surrounded by mountains that government forces rarely trekked. For those of lesser morals, this was a perfect place for a hideout.

Judging by how the building looked its usual decrepit self, and not in flames, the entity decided it was safe to sneak closer to it. Approaching the main gate, they halted before preparing to speak to what appeared to be no one in particular.

"Let the snake devour the light, for the axe is darkness incarnate."

There was a brief pause in activity for a few moments, but then the gate began to slowly creak open.

The malevolent figure swiftly entered the narrow opening, with the gate closing the moment after they had breached the walls.

Inside the compound was a flurry of activity, though not quite the most active the figure had seen. It was likely that some of the other members were out "patrolling" as well. Or a more ominous thought, perhaps other groups did not return either?

In any case, the top of the main central structure was the shadowy figure's destination, and the entire reason they had returned in the first place. The building was extremely old, but still standing by some miracle of engineering might. It was four stories tall, with stairs leading up to the top. The bottom three floors were used for highly important functions, such as storage for spare weapons, storage for food, and priority housing for the best "members". Food, housing, weapons. What more could a ne'er-do-well need?

A leader. Someone who could run the operation and keep all "members" in check – by violence, if necessary. The leader of this group was a particularly nasty specimen, and one who frowned heavily upon failure – but even more on cowardice.

As the nefarious figure climbed the stairs, they could not help but quake in their boots from nervousness. As the sole survivor of the incursion who fled to survive, would their head be on the chopping block next?

Finally at the tallest floor of the building, a large, foreboding double-door could be seen from the hallway. At the sides of the door, two "members" were guarding in the loosest sense, as they were clearly bored and attempting to find something to do to pass the time. It seems they'd set up a low stakes game of blackjack. As they saw the figure approaching, they inquired as to their reasons.

"Whaddya doing here? Looking fer an audience with the boss?" The one on the left stated, recognizing the figure's face but completely clueless on remembering the face's name.

"Y-yes, I've come to report to the boss about the incursion mission in Southtown." The figure stated, giving the reason for his attempted audience.

"Why'd they send you instead of Garrick? Ain't you just a grunt?" The one on the left scathingly inquired, thinking that someone more important should have been sent.

"Well see… that's the exact problem. They all went and got themselves killed. I'm the only one left." The figure explained, "So there's certainly not any other options."

"Hmph… fine. Go and see the boss, We don't care enough to interrogate ya further."

As the two lackadaisical guards went back to playing blackjack, the figure opened the left double-door, and immediately entered the "throne room". This area was the one that the boss used as his main headquarters. There were multiple rooms connected in this area, some served as his meeting space, and other, smaller rooms served as his bedroom and private storage.

Once the figure arrived in the main headquarters, they could see that the boss was currently present in the room, fiddling with a knife in his hands as he sat, bored, atop a makeshift and rustic throne.

His appearance was befitting for a bandit king, with his long jet-black hair loosely hanging from his head, and a large physique that would make even a horse quiver in fear. He had some faded scars on his adult face, from battles long past. His aura radiated a ferocity that made it clear that his time was not to be wasted on trivial matters.

"Hm. What do you want?" the boss impatiently asked, noticing the appearance of the figure, "You know, I don't have all day. Out with it."

"B-boss… I'm here to give a r-report on the results of the Southtown incursion…" The figure nervously stated, stuttering at points due to their apprehension.

"Ah, the Southtown incursion. Must have been an easy job, seeing as how they've sent… what's your name, to give the report, instead of Garrick." The boss recalled the plan, hoping for good news on its conclusion.

"Ah, I apologize boss! I should have given you my name before! M-my name is Dorkus." Dorkus stuttered, afraid about delivering the bad news to come. "The truth is that… umm… err… the mission failed."

"What did you say? The incursion failed?" The boss inquired, a glint of anger forming in the corner of his eye.

"Y-y-yes, that would be correct. The entire squad was killed, not counting m-m-m-myself…"

"You've got to be fucking with me. An entire brigand group taken down, only for you to survive. You look none the worse for wear, so tell me: why is that?"

Beads of sweat were now forming on Dorkus' brow. If he lied here and now, he'd surely be cut down. If he told the truth… the same would likely happen.

"Ah… well… I might have, sort of… fled?" Dorkus responded, his speech trailing off as he admitted to his wrongdoing.

"Ah, a coward who abandoned his troop." The boss' eyes grew dark, as he began to brandish his knife in an ever more increasing threatening fashion, "You have one second to explain why I shouldn't peel your hide and feed you to the fishes."

"Wait, please! I'll explain… Everything in the incursion was going great at the start, but t-then… they appeared." Dorkus revealed, mentally recoiling from the sheer intimidation factor of the group left purposefully vague.

"They?" The boss questioned, confused as to who had interfered with the attack.

"The S-shepherds. There were four of them in total."

"Damn… didn't expect them to get involved. And here I thought your sorry lot had all had been killed by rowdy villagers!" The boss stewed, frustrated by the retribution of the Shepherds. "Doesn't change the fact that you are a coward, whose head will be removed as a lesson for the rest who even think of fleeing."

"W-w-wait! I have good news… so please… let me continue…" Dorkus pleaded, grasping at his final straw, his sole chance of survival.

"Explain. This had better be amazing, or you're already dead." The boss deadpanned, knife still firmly in grip.

"O-one of the men in the group wielded a very interesting sword. A v-vibrant blue color, shining like a g-gemstone. A diamond sword, I know it. What's more, the sword itself is capable of magic. It ignited into a massive p-pyre and sliced through all in its path. I saw it with my very own eyes, I did. I'm sure you can imagine the possibilities of t-this…?"

"A diamond sword, huh… How unbelievable." The boss disbelievingly restated as he stared directly at Dorkus. "It's such a specific and off the walls story, yet I see no trace of lie on your face. If such a thing exists… that would indeed be very good news. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt for now." The boss started thinking to himself, greedily imagining just how much money he could make from a sword made entirely from a gemstone. And a magic one, at that.

"Thank you, boss, thank you for sparing me...!" Dorkus groveled on the ground, profusely praising the king of the bandits.

"Who said I was sparing you, entirely? I want you to retrieve that sword for me. By any means necessary. I will supply you with the manpower needed, so you better not disappoint me, or else. If you fail, I think you already know what happens next." The boss insinuated, growing a deranged smirk from the corners of his mouth.

"W-what… I… I understand boss." Dorkus hesitantly answered, "I will fulfill the task you've given me."

….….….….….….

(11/17/2022) This was a fun chapter to write, and I liked it so much I released it a couple days earlier than I said I would!

I've got a pretty busy weekend coming up, so that's part of it too.

Awakening was not the first ever Fire Emblem game I played (That goes to Sacred Stones, which I got for free via 3DS Ambassador Program), but it was the first one I bought and beat.

I played through the FE:A demo first before buying it, and honestly the campfire scene was the part that had me 100% sold on it.

I'll be truthful: I was rather disappointed when there were no more campfire scenes in the story.

There's just something about deep conversations by a crackling fire that just... speaks to me on a visceral, you know?

Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter, and thanks to everyone who've been offerring interesting insights and reviews!

Apparently FFN has made it so subscribers don't get email notifications for any stories unless they opt in in the settings, so I guess that's a thing we have to do now...?