Author's Note: I do not vouch for the authenticity or usefulness of any combat tactics and techniques used and/or described in this chapter. I am not an expert in this sort of stuff.

Hi guys. This chapter is a little short. Sorry about that. I swear there's a good reason! This chapter was originally supposed to be longer but I couldn't figure out how to segue from the first half of the chapter into the second half. Worry not, though! The second half of the chapter will be its own chapter! In fact, it shall be the next chapter! Since the two were supposed to be one chapter, the next chapter will be posted pretty soon after this one, since they were supposed to just be one chapter. Not sure how soon, but soon.

Now, onwards to the story.

Part One

White Clouds

Bonding

Jeralt was frustrated. You'd never be able to tell by looking at him, but he was. It had been months since he came back to Garreg Mach Monastery and he had dug up nothing on what was going on with Rhea. He was even starting to suspect that every mission he was sent on was just to keep him occupied and out of her business.

He was dwelling on this and writing in his journal when he heard a knock on his door. He quickly stashed away his journal in his secret spot behind the bookcase.

"Come in." He said.

The door opened and Byleth stepped inside. Jeralt found this a bit odd. Byleth rarely ever visited.

"Hey, Kid." He said. "What'd you need?"

Byleth faked looking wounded. "Is it so hard to believe that I just want to spend time with my father?"

"Yes." Jeralt said bluntly.

Byleth rubbed the back of her head. "Okay, fair enough. I do actually want to spend some time with you but I also need a favor."

Jeralt sighed. "Alright, what is it?"

"I want you to send a small, and I mean really small, contingent of Knights to monitor Remire Village." Byleth explained. "Tell them that if any of the villagers demonstrate mania or other similarly violent behavior, they are to quarantine them and then inform either you, Rhea, or Seteth. Whoever is easiest to get in contact with at the time."

"You're not going to tell me why if I ask, are you." Jeralt said.

"No, sorry." Byleth said. "I'm sure you understand. You've got your secrets, I've got mine."

Jeralt shrugged. "Fair enough. Is that it?"

Byleth sighed. "I really am serious about wanting to spend time with you. I mean, unless you're busy." She rubbed the back of her head again.

"I'm always busy." Jeralt said. He tilted his head to the side thoughtfully. "But… I guess I can spare some time. What were you thinking?"

Byleth raised her finger."Uh…" She lowered it again. "I… actually didn't think that far."

Jeralt stood up. "Tell you what, how about we spar a bit. I've been wondering how you've improved for a while now. Assuming being a teacher hasn't dulled your skills."

Byleth did her best not to show how that comment annoyed her, but she couldn't stop herself from instinctively clenching her sword hand. "Oh you are on."

Until this moment Byleth hadn't realized how much she missed sparring with Jeralt. There were plenty of opponents at Garreg Mach that could possibly rival Byleth (Felix, for example) but Byleth was still able to beat them. Jeralt, on the other hand, was the only person Byleth had never been able to defeat in one-on-one combat. He was, after all, the strongest mercenary in Fodlan.

His secret was that he was able to both keep his distance and never let up. Most people had to get up close and personal if they wanted to flurry attack, Jeralt had no such need. As a result, it was nearly impossible to get a hit in on him. The best you could do was parry and dodge and hope he didn't want to kill you.

In spite of all this, Byleth was still going to try her damndest to defeat him. After all, when presented with unbeatable odds, it's only natural to want to beat them.

Byleth's strategy was simple: keep Jeralt from forcing her backwards. Instead of dodging backwards when Jeralt attacks, she went sideways, rolling under swipes as needed. Thus, instead of being forced into a corner, she created a circle with Jeralt at the center.

It didn't take long for Jeralt to get wise to her strategy. Once he realized what she was doing he pulled back. Byleth had just enough time to flatten herself to the ground before he pulled off a spin attack, something that is quite difficult to do with a spear.

Before Jeralt could go in for another attack, Byleth rolled to the side and popped back up. She charged at her father, sword aimed for his heart. One might find it odd that Byleth seemed to be attempting to kill her father but that was only because a. She was using a practice sword and b. She was pretty sure he'd deflect the blow anyways. She was right.

With very little effort, Jeralt deflected the blow. You'd think getting up close and personal would decrease a spear user's options, and it did, but Jeralt still managed to make it word. He was easily able to deflect Byleth's blow, following it up with a jab to the stomach to push her backwards, once again leaving her incapable of countering his attacks.

Byleth ran at Jeralt again and this time she was able to get several hits in, though all of them were blocked. On the final strike, Jeralt sent Byleth's sword flying out of her hand and knocked her to the ground all in one hit. He angled his spear so that it was pointed at Byleth's throat.

Byleth held up her hands in surrender. "Alright, I yield."

There was a few second pause and when it looked like Jeralt was about to lower his spear Byleth grabbed it.

"Psych!" She shouted with a smartass grin.

Byleth attempted to yank the spear out of Jeralt's hand. Unfortunately, it was actually Jeralt who was psyching her out. When she tried to yank his spear out of his hands, he pulled upwards and ended up throwing Byleth across the training field. Byleth just barely had time to recover before she hit the wall, instead sticking a three point landing a little ways away from it and sliding backwards a bit, kicking up dirt. She came to a stop right next to her fallen sword. She quickly snatched it up.

"I was right." Jeralt said. "Your skills have dulled."

Byleth tightened her grip on her sword and grit her teeth. She ran at Jeralt once again but this time, instead of attacking, she slid down under Jeralt, popping up behind him. As Byleth went in for a strike, Jeralt whirled around. Unlike previous times, where he had just blocked Byleth's strikes, Jeralt demonstrated his second secret: the famous Blade Breaker Technique. As Byleth brought her sword down, Jeralt thrust his spear straight upwards. The spear smashed through the sword's blade.

Even though Byleth had seen him do this thousands of times before, she still cried out in surprise as the blade shattered completely. All that was left of the sword in Byleth's hand was the hilt. For a moment, she stared at it and then it fell from her hand. She fell to her knees, breathing heavily. She hadn't realized how much she had overtaxed herself during the fight.

"Okay." She said between breaths. "Now I yield."

Jeralt held out his hand to help her up and she took it.

"Good job, Kid." He said with a smile. "You really put up a fight."

"But I thought you said…" Byleth began, still breathing heavily.

"That your skills had dulled." Jeralt completed. "I didn't actually mean that, I was just saying it to get you riled up. The real truth is that this is possibly the best you've ever been."

"Of course." Byleth said, leaning against the wall and sliding down it. "Of course you were just saying that to get me riled up. When I'm angry, I get reckless and make mistakes." Byleth tried not to think about the last time this happened, which almost had catastrophic consequences.

Jeralt sat down. "Exactly." He said. "And I knew the best way to rile you up was to call your strength into question. You were always touchy about that. Whenever someone suggested you were weak, you would clench your sword hand. You still do."

Byleth shook her head. "I still couldn't beat you."

"Of course you couldn't." Jeralt said. "No matter how much of a prodigy you are, the fact remains that I've been at this way longer than you."

Byleth sighed. "Yeah, you're right." She looked up at Jeralt. "I'm not going to stop trying, though."

"I'd expect nothing left." Jeralt said, ruffling Byleth's hair.

"What was that?" Byleth asked, confused.

Jeralt shrugged. "I don't know, I just heard it's something father's do to their kids. You know, for bonding."

"Maybe we should stick to bonding by trying to kill each other." Byleth suggested. At that moment, with perfect comedic timing, Byleth's stomach growled. "And, maybe we can bond with food, too?"

Jeralt chuckled. "Maybe." He stood up. "Come on, I know a great place in town."

Author's Note: Did this chapter end with talk about food because I was hungry at the time? That is entirely likely.

Also, "Maybe we should stick to bonding by trying to kill each other." may be the greatest line of dialogue I have ever written.

Because this Author's Note isn't exactly that long, I get to talk about something I didn't address in the previous Author's Note: I told you what the four protagonists were doing for Halloween… but not what costumes they wore. What? You thought I was going to talk about something serious or story related. Anyway, yeah it's a little late but November is spooky month anyways so here we go.

Dimitri is easy. He's dressed as a pirate. It was almost definitely 100% Claude's idea. Speaking of Claude, I have two thoughts as to what he'd be dressed as. He's either dressed as Guise from Sentinels of the Multiverse or a humanized Fox from Star Fox. The reason behind this is that Joe Zieja (Claude's voice actor for those who don't know) has voiced both of them at one point or another.

Byleth's a bit harder. For some reason I've been considering Palutena but I think she looks a bit too close to Rhea for anyone's comfort (and also because I can totally see Cyril dressing as Pit). I don't know. How bout you guys give your suggestions and I'll list them in chapter 14 (I'd do it in chapter 13 but it's coming out too soon for that).

And Edelgard, of course, does not wear a costume because she stays home, like a smart person.