Outside of Bulgar…
"Wait… please, can we take a short detour?" Lyn requested. "There is a sacred sword enshrined to an altar to the east of here… the people of Sacae go there to pray for safety at the onset of a long journey."
"Oh!" Sain exclaimed. "How quaint!"
"I have no objections." Robin shrugged.
"The teachings of Elimine have the most followers in Elibe." Kent nodded. "It's nice to see that, here at least, the ancient customs are still observed."
"So what is this sword?" Robin asked.
"It's the Mani Katti." Lyn replied. "It's quite a famous sword here in Sacae. Although… I'm not sure anyone not from this area would have heard of it."
"Regardless, there are many revered weapons all across Elibe." Kent explained. "It's not that surprising that the people of Sacae would have their own."
"Well, we're almost there, aren't we?" Sain placed a hand over his eyes to help reduce the glare. "Hey… there looks like there might be some sort of commotion… there are many people fleeing from the altar… I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that it usually isn't like that."
"What?" Lyn immediately noticed that something was wrong. She grabbed the arm of a fleeing woman. "Hey, sorry, excuse me. What's happening over there?"
"I beg your pardon, milady." The woman flinched upon being grabbed, but recomposed herself quickly. "Are you headed towards the east? To the altar?"
"Yes, we are indeed." Lyn replied.
"Then I beg you, please help the priest!" She exclaimed. "I saw a bunch of local ruffians head over there not too long ago… Everyone's fleeing so they don't get extorted out of their money… but they also seem intent on stealing the sacred sword!"
"The Mani Katti!?" Lyn exclaimed in horror as she turned to Robin. "We can't let them do that! Robin, can't we help them?"
"There are a total of six enemies." Robin stated as he analyzed his Hekseer. "Five with axes, one using a sword."
"How… nevermind." Lyn shook her head. This was not the time for explanations. "What do we do?"
"We take down the small fry first." Robin explained. "It seems that their leader is the sword user. He was probably the one after the Mani Katti in the first place. The others shouldn't be a big problem. If they're anything like the others we've fought so far, their numbers advantage shouldn't mean a thing."
"Shall we ride over?" Sain asked as he extended a hand towards Lyn. "It'll be faster than running."
"Good idea." Robin agreed as he expertly mounted Sain's horse.
Lyn suppressed a chuckle at Sain's dumbfounded face as Kent helped her onto his horse instead.
As expected of brigandes, the two tasked with guarding the entrance to the altar were not paying attention, and quickly swept away by Kent and Sain. After all, if they could not kill two unarmed and unarmored bandits who were also dozing off, they should probably return their title of knight.
Inside the main building, three brigandes brandished their axes, and swung them at Robin and Lyn, with complete disregard for the interior of the altar.
'If I were to fight back with everything I've got, we may end up doing more damage to the altar…' Lyn thought to herself. Robin recognized the look of frustration on the greenette's face.
"Geirdriful…" Robin pulled a tome out of thin air and began to chant. Behind him, four spears cloaked in dark energy formed from a magic circle and began rotating behind his back with their points facing his opponents. He flung the hand not holding the tome at the sword wielding bandit, and the four spears all flung themselves at a different target. Aside from their leader, the spears all hit their mark, instantly killing three opponents.
The lone survivor of the attack drew his sword. "Wh-who do you think you are? I am Glass, peerless with the sword, do you dare challenge me one on one?"
"There's no need for us to take any more risks than we need to." Robin shook his head. "Kent, Sain… please take care of him."
The two knights, although unmounted, were more than enough to deal with the lone swordsman. Even if Glass were able to strike them with his sword, he wouldn't have done much damage due to the heavy riding armor they were wearing, and that was if he could make it past the tips of their spears.
The passing of Glass was soon forgotten; all four of them had killed at some point earlier that day, and one more death wasn't really anything to get worked up about. Kent quickly found the set of keys that unlocked the rooms in the back of the shrine, where the head priest was imprisoned against his will.
Seeing that these travelers not only saved him but the Mani Katti as well, the priest gladly allowed Lyn to touch the sword in order to pray for a safe journey.
However, as soon as Lyn's fingertips touched the scabbard, the blade within began to glow.
"Wh-what did I do?" Lyn asked cautiously, with a hint of concern in her voice.
"Hm?" The priest looked confused for a second as well. "Ah… it's the power of the spirits. They have looked into your soul, and they call out to you."
"And what do they want from me?" Lyn asked.
"You are its rightful owner." the priest explained. "You are to wield the Mani Katti."
"No!" Lyn exclaimed. "I couldn't!"
"It is the sword's wish. If you require further proof, try and draw it from its sheath. The Mani Katti can only be drawn by those that are chosen to wield it."
"It… came out effortlessly." Lyn commented as she drew the sword.
"I never dared hope that I could meet its next wielder in my lifetime." The priest sighed. "I am indeed fortunate to see the sword reach your hands."
"This is… my sword?" Lyn asked.
"It is time for you to go…" The priest said as he kept mumbling to himself something unintelligible. "You face a great many ordeals. Grip this sword, and meet your destiny head on!"
"Yes!" Lyn exclaimed. "Yes, sir!"
On the way to Caelin…
"So that is the Manni Katti…" Sain snuck a glance at Lyn's new sword as they began to head towards Caelin. "A blade with no equal…"
"This is so unbelievable…" Lyn admitted. "One of the most famous swords in Sacae… in my hand."
"It's not so strange." Kent assured her. "In fact, legends tell of similar tales, where special weapons all over the land call out for their proper owners. When I saw you draw that blade… I felt something extraordinary. That sword was waiting for you. You were meant to draw it."
"Stop it!" Lyn blushed. "I'm nothing special!"
"Think of it this way, some weapons feel better in your hands right?" Sain asked. "Well that sword feels more comfortable in your hands. Does that make it any easier for you to accept?"
"I… understand." Lyn nodded. "This is my sword. I must care for it well."
The group did not make any significant encounters on the travels for the remainder of the day. As the sun began to set, they decided to pick a spot to set up camp for the night.
"So Robin, what was that magic that you used back there?" Kent asked as they ate around their campfire. "I've never seen anything like it."
"That's not too surprising." Robin shrugged. "I don't know of anyone else, that's still alive at least, that can replicate it."
"Robin's studying magic, so I wouldn't be surprised if he shows us many more things that we've never seen before." Lyn nodded.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but it doesn't seem like you're any ordinary student of magic." Kent furrowed his brows. "You seem way too experienced."
"Well, I did fight in, and live through an entire war… back in my homeland."
"So were you a mage in the army back then?" Sain asked as he munched on a small loaf of bread.
"No, no I was not." Robin chuckled. "I… was actually the tactician. The strategist for the army."
"Ah, so that explains a lot." Kent nodded. "Why you are so experienced, that is."
"So what did you think of us then?" Sain asked. "Compared to the soldiers you used to command?"
"Well, you have a lot of power, and to a certain extent, a lot of natural talent." Robin told him. "But it seems like that has caused you to focus less on your skill and precision in combat. Not to mention, and this goes towards Kent as well, despite being knights, you don't seem to have that much live combat experience."
"Yeah, believe it or not, today's been the first time either of us have actually killed." Kent admitted sheepishly.
"Well, I can't really blame you. Killing is a lot different than practicing with dummies." Robin shrugged. "And, actually, I think it's a really good sign. If the knights of a realm don't have combat experience, that means the country is pretty peaceful after all."
"Can't disagree with that one." Sain nodded.
"As for you, Kent, it's clear that you've put a lot of effort into honing your skill, but you lack confidence in your strikes in actual combat. But I wouldn't worry about it too much… experience is something that has to be gained over time."
"What about me then?" Lyn asked. "What do you think of m-me?"
"Actually, I think you have the most potential." Robin admitted. "However, it does look like you lack formal training. Without either practice or intense live experience, all you have right now is your natural talent. But given time, you could turn into a very powerful swordswomen."
"Hearing you say that makes me want to practice right away." Lyn clenched her fists.
"Well, if you're done eating, that may actually be possible."
"But, it's dark out!"
"Not to worry." Robin smiled. "Obviously we can't have live practice. You wouldn't learn anything by swinging at an opponent you can't see. But I can help you practice your form. You don't even need to see your swing, as long as you get used to motion. If there is something you're doing wrong, I'll tell you so you can correct it."
"OK!" Lyn got up and immediately went to go fetch her sword.
"The two of you should get some rest." Robin told the knights.
"But who will stand guard?" Kent asked.
"Ah, it's a relief to see that I'm not the only cautious one. Don't worry. I'll take the first watch. I'll get you guys when I'm about to head to bed."
"Can't complain about that one." Sain stretched before heading off to the tent set up for the knights. As Kent and Sain each had carried one of their own, they now could set up all three, so that Lyn didn't have to share one with the males.
When Lyn came back, Robin could see the eagerness and excitement in her expression.
The two of them stood in an open field.
"Show me a standard slash." Robin requested. "Imagine you have an opponent directly in front of you."
"Ok… like this?" Lyn asked.
"That swing was weaker than your usual ones." Robin noted. "Show me one that you actually would use in combat."
"I'm surprised you could notice something like that in the dark." 'I can't even see what's in front of me clearly, but Robin could notice the difference between my attack in the dark?'
Lyn took a deep breath before slashing forward with all her strength.
"That one looked a little better." Robin got up from the rock he was sitting on. "But there are a couple of points you could work on."
Lyn felt Robin's hands touch her shoulders and upper arm as he adjusted her stance. "Your swing is extremely fast, and against the unarmored enemies we've fought against today, it might be fine. But in the future, if you ever go against knights wearing any sort of protective gear, like Kent and Sain for example, you won't have enough power behind the attack to really cause them any harm. Try again this time."
"O-ok…" Lyn refocused and swung the Mani Katti again.
"Did you feel anything different this time?" Robin asked.
"Not really…" Lyn gave a nervous laugh. "I guess this second one felt better? But I couldn't really tell a large difference."
"Well, maybe it's hard to tell in the dark." Robin admitted. "But I can assure you, if you swung that way against an actual target, you give up just a little bit of speed, but there is a lot more power behind it. You're already naturally fast, so when you actually hit hard as well, it's really hard for anyone to beat you one on one."
"You talk as if you already know…" Lyn seemed surprised.
"Well, I've seen it before." Robin chuckled. "Back in my homeland, there are plenty of sword wielders all just like you: they are fast but are not as muscular. And so they need to find other ways to make up for the lack of strength."
"I see." Lyn gripped her sword even harder. "So if I adjust my swing, I can sit them harder without giving up too much speed, is that right?"
"Exactly. Now give me two hundred repetitions."
"T-two hundred!?" Lyn was once again surprised.
"Well, you can't change habits easily. And two hundred really isn't that much once you get into the rhythm. I think Lon'qu practices the same strike over a thousand times at a time… Let's just start with two hundred. Perhaps you'll even want to do more afterwards."
"I got it. Practice makes perfect, and all that…"
Robin sat there, watching Lyn swing her sword over and over. Once in a while, he'd give out a pointer or two on what she should focus on. By the time they stopped, Lyn's was tired to the point where she thought her arms might fall off. But, according to Robin at least, her swings have had a massive amount of improvement for just a single day of training. She thanked him for his guidance, and headed off to bed.
After a few long, uneventful hours of night watch, Robin went to go wake up Kent. After the two made the switch, Robin went off to bed as well, this time in a tent of his own.
The next day…
Robin awoke before the sun had fully risen yet. He got dressed and walked out to see Sain still on his shift. He had lit a small fire and was getting some food started.
"Yo!" Sain waved to acknowledge Robin's presence.
"Did you sleep well?" Robin asked as he sat down across from Sain.
"Yup! Kent always takes things way too seriously. Usually, a quarter of my shift is over before he even wakes me. But for some reason, it was almost sunrise by the time he came to get me today. I slept a few more hours than usual!"
"Oh? Did he overwork himself then?"
"Hardly." Kent replied as he got out of his tent. "More like you entered the rotation. And what's more, you took more than your fair share as well."
"Oh yeah, I guess so, huh? Three people is much easier than two after all."
Kent sat down next to Robin. "Is it almost ready?"
"You bet!" Sain smiled. "Just give it a couple more minutes."
At this point, Lyn got out of her tent as well. "Oh, all of you are up." she yawned as she rubbed the sleepiness away from her eyes. "Breakfast was started too… did I sleep in too much?"
"No, Robin and I just got up as well." Sain replied. "And technically, I was up anyways for my shift."
"Oh yeah…" Lyn facepalmed. "Did I sleep through my shift? Just come wake me next time."
"No, how could we let a beautiful lady such as yourself watch over us as we sleep? For these unpleasant tasks, allow us men to handle it."
"It's really no big deal…" Kent chuckled. "Y'know, before finding the two of you, Sain and I had to take turns through each night. With the addition of Robin, the load is actually easier to handle."
"Your practice also left you extremely tired as well, so it's good that you got to sleep in." Robin added. "I'd wager that your arms are feeling a little sore right now."
"Uh, now that you mention it, yes, I do agree."
Sain finished making the breakfast and the four of them ate in relative silence. Afterwards, they packed up and once again hit the road.
They took a small road through the mountains as they headed west, which eventually led them to a battered and run down village.
"Let's hurry up and pass through as quickly as we can." Kent suggested. "This place is giving me an ominous feeling."
"This entire area is in ruins." Sain observed. "Why doesn't the marquess do anything about it?"
"This is Taliver Mountain, home to a band of ruthless bandits." Lyn explained. "No marquess holds any power over this region. My village was actually near here… on the other side of this mountain. The Taliver bandits attacked us, and it only took one night… The survivors numbered less than ten, including me. They're soulless beasts! I'll never forgive them, never!"
"Lyn…" Robin had a sympathetic tone in his voice as he saw her eyes blazing in anger.
"Well, I'm not running away. I'll be back someday… I'll be stronger then, and I'll break their swords beneath me like twigs beneath a stallion's hooves. I will avenge my people."
"When that time comes, bring me with you." Sain pounded his chest.
"Sain…" Lyn looked extremely grateful.
"And don't forget about me either." Kent added.
"Well, if I'm around, I'll be happy to lend a hand as well." Robin shrugged.
"Thank you… thank you, guys."
As they tried to pass through the village, an argument arose between two parties somewhere in front of them.
"What's this?" Kent's hand reflexively moved towards his sword. "Be on your guards, everyone. There seems to be some sort of commotion ahead."
"That's… a pegasus…" Lyn noted as a winged horse came into vision. "Could it be?"
"Huh… so they have pegasi here too." Robin mumbled to himself.
"Florina?" Lyn asked as she ran towards the two parties. "Is that you, Florina?"
"Ah!" A young girl turned in their direction and blinked. "Lyn?"
"What are you doing in a place such as this?" Lyn asked.
"Lyn, is that really you? I… I…"
"Come now! No crying…"
"I'm sorry."
"So, are you acquaintances?" Kent asked.
"She's my friend." Lyn nodded. "This is Florina, a pegasus knight in training from Ilia. She's… a little bit uncomfortable around men. Tell me, Florina, what happened here?"
"Well… um… when I heard that you had left, I decided to follow you." Florina began. "Then I saw this village… I flew down to ask if they had any news of you. I didn't see these two… and… well…"
She gestured to the two ruffians that had been arguing with her.
"Did your pegasus land on them?" Lyn asked.
"Well… maybe a little…"
"You heard her!" One of the brigandes exclaimed victoriously. "She admits her fault! She stepped on my friend, and she's got to pay!"
"Did you apologize Florina?" Lyn asked.
"Yes!" Florina nodded. "I told them I was sorry many times over, but they just wouldn't listen!"
"Well, how about this?" Robin fished out a small bag of coins. "We'll pay for her mistake with this. Is that good?"
Robin tossed the bag at the brigande, who caught it.
"The hell is this!?" The bandit threw the bag at Robin's feet. "What kind of repayment is that!? This girl and her pegasus goes with us!"
"'Course, if this other lady friend of yours is willing to take her place, we wouldn't mind either." The second bandit replied, licking his lips. "We'll really take either of 'em."
Lyn, Kent and Sain, who had a gut feeling that the situation was about to take a turn for the worse, moved their hands towards their weapons.
"Quite unfortunate, actually." Robin chuckled, which sent chills through the bodies of not only the bandits, but his allies as well. "If you bastards were smart, then you could've gone out of this situation a little richer, with your lives intact. It's unfortunate that greed has caused your deaths."
"What now?" The first bandit asked. "What are you gonna do about-"
The bandit didn't get to finish his sentence. Robin swept his leg at the man's ankles, knocking the unprepared brigand onto his back. At the same time, he drew a yellow colored tome seemingly out of thin air.
Robin placed this free hand onto the fallen bandits chest, and electricity instantly coursed through his target's body. The brigand's arms and legs flailed around as he was electrocuted to death. The second brigand, seeing the situation had gone out of their favor, turned around and fled towards one of the houses.
However, Robin wouldn't let the bandit escape. He aimed his hand at the fleeing man's back, and a magical sigil formed in the air. Robin gave the newly formed thunder spell a slight nudge, and the spell shot forward, nailing the bandit in the back.
Around them, more bandits began to approach as they heard the screams of their fallen brethren. Lyn and the knights drew their swords.
"I guess it's my bad." Robin scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "But I couldn't stand people like that. Not to worry, since we're here already, maybe we can exterminate the bandit problem this village seems to have."
"Uh… L-Lyn… whose that?" Florina meekly asked.
"This is Robin…" Lyn replied. "He used to be a tactician, so he'll be guiding our swords. Don't worry… he's usually not so scary."
"Um… o-ok! If you say so!" Florina replied as she got on her pegasus and readied her spear.
"Kent, Sain, can you go hold that point right over there?" Robin pointed to a small area between two of the village walls. "If they want to approach us from our right side, they'd have to do it from there."
"As you command!" Kent nodded as the two of them headed in that direction.
"Lyn, I think there are some villagers still here… go tell them that there might be a fight out here soon, and that they should stay in their houses."
"Right!" Lyn immediately headed in the direction of a house.
"Florina, right?" Robin turned towards the young girl. "If you recently became a pegasus knight, my guess is you've yet to have much combat experience. If that's the case, I want you to only look for targets you can handle: weakened enemies and bandits with swords. If you try to fight someone with an axe, they could injure both you and your pegasus."
"U-um… ok!" Florina agreed.
"Over… there!" Robin threw a thunder spell at someone behind Florina. The bandit approaching them got hit, but did not die. "He's weakened! Let's see what you can do!"
"Right!" Florina flew into the air and dove at the injured bandit, stabbing the man through the chest, earning herself her very first kill. However, there wasn't much fight left in the bandit anyways.
"Did you… did you not kill him on purpose?" Florina turned back towards their tactician.
"No, no, you covered for my mistake, thank you." Robin gave her a thumbs up and a smirk.
Florina smiled back at him. However, something caught her attention from the corner of her eye. "An archer!"
"Where?" Robin followed the direction of her gaze, knowing full well how scared fliers were of enemies wielding a bow. He'd seen that look in Sumia's face way too many times, after all. What he found was Lyn running towards him with an archer closely tailing her.
"Robin!" Lyn gestured to the brunette behind her once they stopped. "This is Wil. He told me he'd lend us a hand if we were driving out the bandits from this village."
"Wil… nice to meet you." Robin stuck out his hand, which the archer shook. "I'm Robin… I'll be the one calling the shots, if you don't mind."
"No problem, no problem." Wil immediately nodded. "Just tell me where to shoot."
"Don't worry Florina, he's on our side!" Robin called into the air, giving the pegasus knight some peace of mind.
"You only have to be afraid of enemy archers, not friendly ones!" Wil also called, assuring their flying companion.
"Well, you're free to shoot anyone that doesn't look friendly if I don't have any specific orders for you." Robin told Wil. "Obviously, don't aim at that pegasus knight. Or me and Lyn for that matter… also, those two knights over there are off limits as well. That should be it."
"Got it." Wil nodded and pulled an arrow out of the quiver on his back.
"For now… Lyn, Sain and Kent look like they could use some help over there… please go support them."
"Got it!"
As everyone got into position, Robin checked his Hekseer. So far, there doesn't seem to be many bandits… there were only a handful or two. After his analysis, he looked up just in time to see Wil nail a bandit through his skull with an arrow.
'Nice shot!' Grima commented.
Immediately afterwards, Wil sent another arrow into the gut of a second brigand, which allowed Florina to go in for the killing blow.
"Good eye!" Robin nodded, genuinely impressed with the man.
"Ya like that?" Wil turned and gave Robin a goofy grin.
"I love those." Robin gave the man a thumbs up. "Let me see a couple more!"
"You got it!" Wil laughed as he drew another arrow.
It didn't take long for their rag tag group to clear out the bandits, especially since the later didn't really have any chain of command.
"I think that's it." Kent said after the fighting had stopped and everyone had regrouped.
"By the looks of it, they were Ganelon bandits, not Taliver." Lyn commented.
"What's the difference?" Sain asked.
"Well, for starters, they're not as strong, and not as ruthless." Lyn replied. "However, they have a reputation for keeping a grudge. Because we've slaughtered them here today, my wager is that we'll have more of them chasing us once the rest of them find out."
"Then we'll just kill them all again!" Sain grinned. "It wasn't even that hard."
"But we'll need to keep our guard up in the future." Kent nodded in agreement.
"Florina… why did you follow me? It's dangerous." Lyn asked the pegasus knight.
"D-do you remember the knighting ceremony for the Illian pegasus knights?" Florina asked.
"Yeah. You join a band of freelance soldiers to further your training. Is that what brought you here?"
"Well, sorta? I wanted to talk to you first before I set out, actually. But when I reached Sacae, I found out that you had already left with some strangers, and…"
"So you were worried for me? Thank you, but I'm actually more worried for YOU."
"Uh… me?"
"Listen," Lyn sighed. "Most mercenary bands are men, right? So I can't really picture yourself being comfortable around them."
"I know, I know…" Florina replied, slightly crestfallen. "However, I've always dreamt about being a pegasus knight… I imagined that I would just… work it out. Somehow. But after today… I'm not so sure…"
"Florina… don't cry…"
"Yes, there's no reason to give up on your dream!" Sain interrupted. "Lovely Florina, I have the most brilliant idea! You should come with us! With the addition of Wil here, we're a find group of soldiers, and freelance to boot!"
"Sain!" Kent exclaimed.
"Wait…" Wil pointed at himself. "Did you just include me?"
"Of course!" Sain wrapped an arm around the archer's shoulders. "We were destined to meet here! It's fate! Come now, Lyndis's band of mercenaries is just as good as any training group as you'll find anywhere!"
"Sain… this is no joking matter!" Kent warned.
"He's right though." Robin commented. "That would actually be beneficial for both her and us."
"Yeah." Lyn agreed. "I can give you the details later… but Florina, will you come with us?"
"Travel with you, Lyn? Truly? I would be…. I'd be happy to!"
"Why don't you get our horses ready, Sain?" Kent half commanded, half threatened.
"Ok ok!" Sain held up his hands in defeat. "I got it, I got it!"
"I beg your forgiveness…" Kent bowed when Sain was out of earshot. "Calling us mercenaries…"
"No, it's fine." Lyn chuckled. "We can't leave Florina on her own… but she'll require special attention… can I count on you guys?"
"Yes!" Kent replied. "You have but to ask."
Robin nodded in agreement.
"So uh… is it really all right for me to travel with you?" Wil asked.
"Sorry, Sain just pulled that one out of nowhere, didn't he?" Lyn gave him an apologetic smile. "But, if you're willing to, we'd be happy to have you."
"Actually, I'm very grateful for the opportunity." Wil admitted. "Truth be told, all of my money was stolen, and I'm… at a bit of a crossroads. I would be honored to count myself as one of Lyndis's Legion!"
"Lyndis's Legion?" Lyn chuckled. "Oh, this is getting weirder and weirder by the day, isn't it?"
Robin only shrugged as if to say, 'has nothing to do with me'.
"Let me just say goodbye to the villagers… they've been good to me." Wil explained.
"Sure, take your time." Lyn nodded.
After all was said and done, the slightly larger group left the village, and continued west towards Caelin…
New Characters…
Florina (Pegasus Knight, 16): HP: 60% Str: 45% Mag: 15% Skl: 65% Spd: 70% Lck: 60% Def: 30% Res: 50%
Wil (Archer, 20): HP: 75% Str: 60% Mag: 10% Skl: 80% Spd: 60% Lck: 45% Def: 35% Res: 25%
Author's Notes…
Here we are, another chapter completed at the speed of light. Technically speaking, FE7 had one of the longest introductions in the entire series, so we have not yet gotten to the 'meat' of the story just yet, which is why these chapters are somewhat short. However, I'll try and make it as interesting as possible.
As always, follow and leave a review!