Happy Holidays, everyone!
Just a bit of a warning here everyone, there's some pretty serious violence in this chapter. Because red is a Christmas color! ;D
Enjoy!
Chapter 6: First Mission
"Ben, look out!"
I grin as my opponent's blade blurs above my head, lashing out with my axe and forcing him away. "She likes me best, you know." I taunt Chrom cheekily, prompting him to roll his eyes and open himself up for another split second.
Chrom catches the haft of my weapon with the blade of his own, and slides swiftly towards my fingers, aiming to disarm me. I respond by swiftly twisting my weapon to the side, just barely catching his sword and pulling it away. My fingers tingle as his blade grazes the hair on my knuckles, and I grimace at the distracting itch of it as I dance away.
Chrom nods approvingly, before his face settles into a taunting smirk. "Any favoritism Lissa shows you is purely on the basis of your hair, and you know it."
"Hey, if you got it, flaunt it." I chuckle as we re-engage. "Even if I fail this test, I can at least rest easy knowing I'm prettier than you."
"You wish!" he laughs along with me as his swing is blocked and I'm sent skidding across the dirt, barely keeping my footing.
We act in high spirits, but I can't help but wince internally at the misplay. I should have deflected, to conserve energy, but Chrom's sword moves so damn fast I can't position myself properly. Hopefully the judges don't dock too many points for that.
Chrom's going easy on me, but as a soldier he's still far beyond my skills. I mean, good luck finding a Shepherd who isn't aside from our healers, but damn if the gap isn't huge here. I have yet to land a clean hit on the prince, and we've been fighting for several minutes.
I need to make something happen here, because if I don't I will be stuck on house arrest for another month and I've already started to go stir-crazy. As a former basement dweller you'd think I'd be used to staying in one place, but holy shit is it ever boring without the internet.
Chrom's sword comes for my side and I narrowly deflect it, stomping forward to attempt a charge, but thinking better of it when his sword blurs between us. I thrust forward instead, catching his sword on the flat of my blade and knocking him a pace back with a grunt.
Well, at least this is going better than some of my matches. Sully doesn't even pretend to hold back against me, on the grounds that she has better things to do than coddle men's egos (which is fair). And the one time I was talked into sparring with Vaike he broke three of my ribs. Thank fuck for healing magic, that's all I have to say on that merry fucking misadventure.
Chrom is far more willing to give me time to act, but damned if it isn't frustrating all the same. Other than Stahl and maybe Robin I've sparred with him the most, but I have yet to find an exploitable weakness.
Welp, there's one weakness all men share, I suppose.
The next time he swings for my side I block the blow, and manage to pin the sword to my side with an arm. Chrom frowns in concern as I hold the blade for a moment, then gasps in sudden fear as my leg snaps up towards his groin. He frees himself in time to escape, but the motion gets him on the back foot as I rush in. To my right I hear Lissa and Sully laughing hysterically at the move, and grin as I force him on the defensive.
"Gods!" Chrom grunts as he blocks my attack. "That's hardly sporting!"
"First rule of a good brawl: cause as much pain as you can as quickly as you can." I grin sadistically as I swing for him again.
"One problem." Chrom's eyes glint dangerously as he catches the blow and drags my weapon aside, aiming to disarm me, "This is a duel, not a brawl."
I barely hold my axe in my left hand, abandon the right as a lost cause, and use my now free arm to grab him by the shoulder and headbutt him in the nose. "Anything is possible if you only believe!"
"Augh!" Chrom grunts, staggering backwards.
"Wooo!" Lissa cheers in excitement.
Chrom swings blindly with one hand, clutching at his bloody nose with the other. Since I barely have a hold on my weapon I'm forced to retreat and re-arm myself. I take my eyes off of Chrom for a moment while I readjust my grip. In the split second I look away, he vanishes.
A shadow flitting across my eyes alerts me to what's just happened, and I look up in horror to see Chrom spinning at me like some sort of bladed fucking cannonball.
Jesus fuck, that move is real?
I barely bring my axe up in time to block the attack, but Chrom's a heavy motherfucker, so the weight forces me to take a knee. Seriously, I thought that was just some sort of anime thing, not that it was a thing people did around here!
I push the sword aside and haul myself back to my feet, and Chrom falls back shakily. Is he dizzy from the spinning? Has he seriously never done this before?
Chrom shakes his head to snap himself out of it, recovering just as my foot sinks into his gut, knocking the wind out of him. He staggers back with a wheeze, but still manages to swat my next swing aside, sending my arm flying wide again. Looks like he's not holding his strength back any-oh fuck.
Chrom's fist plows into my jaw hard enough to send me flying. My head protests as I spin disoriented through the air, and land on my back hard enough to drive the air from my lungs.
I blink in shock as my vision swims, and when I've recovered, I'm looking down the point of Chrom's sword. He glares down at me grumpily, his nose and mouth a mess of blood, and makes his demand.
"Yield."
I open my mouth to reply, and hiss as it doesn't quite respond. Is it dislocated? Chrom certainly hit me hard enough to do it. Thank fuck I'm concussed right now or else the pain would probably be unbearable. As it stands, all I feel is a weird fuzziness.
"Iuh… still… hrettier." I grunt out loudly, before slapping my hand on the ground to signal the judges. I give up.
Chrom drops the practice sword in relief, sitting down next to me with a huff. "Gods that was annoying." He gasps, wiping blood off his face. "Sorry about your jaw."
"Eh." I grunt, not trusting myself to be particularly eloquent at the moment. "Ha-hens." This sort of thing doesn't actually happen to me often of course, but after breaking his nose I won't hold it against him.
"Geez you two, that was a bit much at the end there!" Lissa laughs as she jogs up and starts healing my jaw. "You're not supposed to actually try to kill each other, you know."
"Absolutely barbaric." Maribelle scolds, tending to Chrom's nose. "Like watching Neanderthals."
"Ah, cripes." I gasp as my jaw clicks back into place. "Had to do something, he almost had me with that disarm."
"And here I thought you to be a gentleman." Maribelle looks back at me sternly.
"I am a Canadian." I respond with a grin. I give Lissa a conspiratorial wink as she starts tending to my bruises. "We're like gentlemen, only fightier."
"'Fightier' is not a word, and if it was, they would be mutually exclusive." Maribelle sniffs.
"You're mocking my culture right now Maribelle. That's hardly something a proper lady would do."
Chrom snorts at this, which turns into a cough as Maribelle's glare swivels back to him. He shrugs innocently and gestures to his now unbroken nose. "It's the blood." Lissa and I burst into laughter.
After a few more minutes of sitting patiently while Lissa and Maribelle tend to us, Chrom and I are finally given a clean bill of health, and he helps me up to go face the music.
"Seriously though, what was that crazy fucking jump you did back there?" I chuckle as we head to the judges. "That has to be the most impractical thing I've ever seen."
"I was a little annoyed after the headbutt." Chrom replies sheepishly. "I decided to embarrass you by beating you in a flashier way than usual."
"Ah, wanted to style on me, did you?" I nod sagely, thinking back on fighting games back home.
"Is that your term for it?" Chrom chuckles. "Your people have the most unusual sayings."
"Yeah… coming up with nonsense like that is something of a specialty where I come from." God bless the internet era, host to the mighty Memelords.
"Sounds like an interesting place… Ah hells." Chrom trails off, and I follow his gaze towards the castle, from which a page is rushing towards us. "That's never a good sign." He claps a hand to my shoulder. "I'll go see what's happening. Tell Frederick you have my approval."
"Oh! Uh, sure, thanks!" I'm caught a bit off guard by the sudden vote of confidence, and Chrom strides away to meet with the page.
I turn back towards the assembled Shepherds and crack my neck to hide my uncertainty. Acting face on, show no unease. If the others think you lack confidence in your performance that could tip the scales against you.
Along with Chrom, the other people judging me are Frederick, Stahl, Sully, and Robin. Five people seems like a bit much to me, but since this is to determine whether I'll be safe in the field Frederick thinks it's a justifiable precaution. Sure wish my reading and magic training was going better, I have a feeling that there would be far less fuss if I wasn't slated to be a frontline fighter. Unfortunately, while I have proven to be capable of using magic, Miriel is of the opinion that my channeling power is to weak.
In game terms: I have the proficiency, but my magic stat is trash.
"So, Chrom has voted yes." I stand at attention in front of the judge's panel.
"I expected as much." Frederick sighs. "The prince is of the opinion that the battlefield is the best educator."
"Depends on your definition of best I suppose." I shrug. "I certainly learned a lot the day I met you all, but I also nearly died, so…"
"Yes, that would be why we have been hesitant." Frederick sighs.
"Speak for yourself, I'm with Chrom on this one." Sully chuckles. "If it wasn't for you I'd be nice and crispy right now. You've got a lot of work to do, but I'm willing to give you a shot."
I keep my face straight, but inside I'm sighing with relief. Of the remaining judges, Sully was definitely a concern. She's got a similar attitude to Chrom, but she's far less willing to mince words. If I was significantly lacking, she'd let me know. I suppress a shudder at the memory of our sparring sessions. Vaike may have hurt me worse, but Sully does far more damage to my pride. When she hits me it's not some bullshit grudge, it's just pure inadequacy on my part, and that's a bitter pill to swallow.
"Very well." Frederick muses, before turning to Stahl and Robin.
"He's got my vote." Robin nods immediately. "I've been training with Ben nearly every day for the past month. His combat skills are still weak, but he's improved a lot. And he has a good head for strategy." Sure do, courtesy of a certain game series back home.
"I approve as well." Stahl shoots me a smile. "You're not as in shape as the rest of us, but you know your limitations and act accordingly. That's more than can be said for some of the Shepherds. Just keep doing what you're doing and we have nothing to worry about."
Stahl's a bro. He really is. Ever since I was put on this probation period he's been the one to spend the most time training with me. We have similar strengths, even if our weapon of choice differs, so I learn a lot sparring with him. I also tend to get paired with him on cooking duty, since he's way better at handling the seasoning than I am and I'm better at prep work. We make a pretty damn good team, if I do say so myself.
Alright, four out of five judges agree, Ben is ready for fieldwork. You'd think that would be it, but everyone here knows Frederick is the one with the final say. All eyes are on him as he holds my fate in his hands.
Please say yes dude, I really can't stay locked up in the barracks anymore. I don't know how Sumia does it!
Frederick barely seems to take notice of the attention on him, giving the others barely more than a flick of his eyes before focusing on me. "Before I give my answer, several questions."
"Shoot."
"What was the intention behind that kick?" He seems to glare at me as he asks, and I can't help but shuffle under his gaze.
"Well, I wasn't really getting a proper opening to act that I could see, so I decided to make one. I didn't expect the kick to hit, since any guy knows to watch their groin in a fight, but I also didn't think Chrom would expect me to take the shot. So I figured throwing a quick kick would catch him off guard and give me a chance to hit him properly."
"You like your mind games don't you?" Robin frowns and shakes his head. I can't help but smirk at that; he's normally pretty cool with that sort of thing. He's probably just not a fan when the mind games involve the family jewels.
"All's fair in love and war, don't get your britches in a twist!" Sully chuckles, nudging Robin with an elbow.
"Be that as it may, regardless of today's result, I expect you to refrain from such attacks on fellow Shepherds in the future." Frederick glares at me.
I look at him levelly. Seriously, I know royalty is expected to carry on the lineage, but it's a bit ridiculous to get so worked up about a harmless kick. Well whatever, I'm not looking to step on any toes. "I'll hold off if it means that much to you."
"Hm. Second question, why did you stand still while Chrom threw an obviously telegraphed attack at you?"
"I was so utterly dumbfounded by the impracticality of the attack that I was overwhelmed by the sheer nonsense in front of me." I grimace. "Seriously, that was just mind-bogglingly stupid."
"True." The corner of Frederick's mouth twitches at that, though he maintains his stern demeanor. The guy has a hell of a poker face. "I'll be having a word with Chrom about that, don't you worry."
"Awesome." I grin again at this. "So I'm assuming you have one more for me? Rule of threes and all that."
"Indeed." Frederick pauses for a moment, seeming to think about how best to word his question. I watch him cautiously, wondering just what he's pondering to make him hesitate like this.
"Why do you want to be a Shepherd?" He finally asks.
I blink at him in surprise. "What?"
"Why do you want to be a Shepherd?" Frederick gives me a look of open curiosity. "I'm sure you know that we would be willing to help you find your way home whether you risked your life for our cause or not. We are not so callous as to abandon you in your time of need. So why do you wish to join the Shepherds, to fight for a country that is not your own?"
"Uhh…" I blink at that. "That's a big question… give me a second here."
"Take your time."
Okay… so what do I say to that? The biggest reason I joined the Shepherds is to ensure that I am on the only available roadmap for what's coming, so that I have a better chance of surviving the wars to come. But I can hardly say as much to the people here. I remain adamant in my decision: I will not let anybody know that I have knowledge of the future. There is no scenario where that ends well for me.
So the truth is out. But this isn't something I feel confident in lying in. So is there another option? Another truth? Well, if I were to pick something… I suppose this is a good time to make use of that philosophy course I took back in university.
"In my homeland, there is something missing from everyone's lives. Something absolutely essential, that only the tiniest percentage of people ever manage to grasp, regardless of social status or what country they're from. Can you guess what that is?"
"Geez, um, is it magic?" Stahl looks caught off guard by the gravity of the question.
"Can't be, in his world magic is mere fantasy. It's missing from their world, but not in a way that would affect people." Robin muses.
"Why fuss about guessing, we don't know enough about his world to get anywhere." Sully shrugs. "Speak up Ben, don't dance around the issue."
"It's purpose." I shrug.
"Purpose?" The others murmur at that.
"Our world has come a lot farther than yours has in a lot of ways, but it fails in one fundamental way. Our society has crafted great works, but in doing so we've stripped away what it means to be human. People are not seen as individuals. Not anymore. They're cogs in a machine. Pieces of a greater whole, which sounds very pretty until you consider the effect that has on a person's identity.
"My world wages war just to invent enemies for us to fight. It tells us to buy things just to fill the gaps in our hearts. We all agree that the world needs to change, but can't agree on how. The old see the young as the problem, the young see the old as the problem. We all hate our politicians but don't want the other side to take control either so we just argue around in circles hoping something will finally give and we have something to fix right now, instead of setting things up for people that won't be born until long after we're dead. The smartest people in our society know what needs to change, but they can't be heard over the fountains of bullshit spewing from everyone's mouths. Nobody wants to sacrifice what they have for the sake of the future, so they fight against change despite knowing it's doing no favors to anyone.
"We have no direction. That's what it boils down to. Nothing to fight for, nothing to achieve, no ideals to strive for save for ones that have no visible payoff. Entire generations of people left with nothing to live for besides… living."
I gesture towards the south. "In my first day here, I saved the lives of five people. That is the most meaningful thing I've ever achieved in my life. By a long shot. Seriously, nothing I've ever done has come close. I'm on the verge of fighting alongside characters from a storybook for the sake of protecting innocent lives. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there's less savory aspects to this deal, I'm not some idealistic twit. But whether you're champions of justice or just a glorified militia, I know the Shepherds are fighting for something. And I want that!"
I stop, panting for breath. That may have been the most I've ever said about my world. Or my general viewpoint on life. It's also definitely the most worked up I've let myself get outside of a fight in years. I'm usually all for keeping my opinion to myself, not ranting about my pessimistic attitude to people.
The others all stare at me blankly, proving my worries to be true. "Was that too honest? I feel like that was too honest." I turn to where the other Shepherds are listening in, and they look just as stunned. "Huh. Yeah, I said too much. Look, just forget all that, I got a bit carried away, and I can be pretty pessimistic at times. I made all that sound way worse than it actually is. Got all worked up because I wanted to get out of the barracks."
"It's a bad reason." Frederick finally says.
I blink and turn to face him. "What?"
"It's a bad reason to join the Shepherds." With the things he's saying I kinda expect him to look sterner, but I'm really not sure what to make of his expression.
Also not sure what to make of what he's saying. "It is? I figured this was the sort of thing people ate up, honestly. Becoming a soldier to save lives and seek out fulfillment in life is what recruitment programs are all about."
"Well, yes." Frederick admits. "You're not wrong in that regard. But there's a critical difference at play here. You wish to find a purpose while you strive for a way home. The two goals do not mix. Should you succeed in finding a purpose here, you will simply be forced to abandon your purpose when you finally go home. And if you go home before finding a purpose then your time in this, a deadly and demanding job, will have all been for nothing."
"Oh." I grimace as his words hit me. What was the most important thing to remember again? Don't get attached. I intended to get out of here before the war with Plegia started, but the sudden obstacle of learning through a language barrier has slowed me down far too much. Fucking hell, only took me a month to start slipping on this shit.
"So, that's it then, I'm out?" I grimace. "If I amend my answer to 'I want to get out of the barracks will that change anything?"
"Not at all." Frederick shakes his head and gives me a smile. "After all, you are already qualified to join."
There's a pregnant pause. Which is abruptly broken when everyone suddenly shouts "HUH?" at the same damn time. In retrospect I will likely look back on this as one of the most anime moments of my life, but for now…
"What the hell? What was the point of all that then?" I protest irritably. "You just fucking with me or something?"
"Not at all." Frederick's smile drops and he looks sternly at me. "I felt it was an important thing to establish. I have had my doubts about why you were doing this ever since the day we met. When Chrom asked you to join the Shepherds you seemed… overwhelmed. I was worried you may have been caught up in the flow of things."
"You could have asked if you were worried. Or trusted that the guy with next to zero combat experience wasn't stupid enough to join a militia in a foreign country just because he was asked!"
"Oh, I was sure you had other reasons." Frederick nods, looking satisfied with himself. "And you already know my opinion on them now that I've heard them."
Well fuck, he's got me there. "But you're letting me in anyways."
"It would be cruel of me to ignore your hard work for such a reason." Frederick smiles. "The reason I asked you this is so you could take the time to think about it properly and come to an answer that you may ultimately find fulfilling. You are hardly the only person whose goals for joining The Shepherds are in need of rethinking. That is why I asked you all this in front of an audience. As long as you are a part of the Shepherds, I want you to think about the things you're doing, and why you are doing them."
He turns to the rest of the Shepherds. "This goes for all of you, of course. We are no simple militia. The Shepherds are not an army, we are an ideal. Chrom created this group because he has a dream for our nation. He does not expect all of us to share in his perfect dream, but he desires, as I do, for us all to find a reason to work together. To strive for a better nation as a single unit, and to better ourselves as we do. This will not be an easy path for us, and I know that with the addition of our three newest recruits, none of which are Ylissean, there are some of us who feel tension.
"Most of us have known Chrom all our lives. Most of us are Ylissean citizens, born and raised. But now that Naga has seen fit to bless us with an outsider's perspective, we can broaden our horizons. You all have your own reasons for being here. You all have your own questions that need answering. I can't promise we'll find all the answers, but as long as we keep an open mind and continue to improve upon ourselves, we can become more than we are now. We are Shepherds, watching over the flock that is Ylisse, but we must watch over each other as well! That is what it is to be a team!"
There's a long pause as Frederick finishes his speech. Then Stahl starts clapping, followed shortly by the rest of us. I have to resist the urge to dab my eyes with my shirt sleeves, knowing that I'm absolutely filthy from sparring right now.
"Hell of a speech, man!" I call, trying not to choke up. Sully claps a hand to Frederick's back hard enough to send him staggering half a step forward, then Lissa tackles him in a tearful hug that nearly knocks him over completely. It would seem Frederick's incredible passion is working in his favor this time around, he's usually kinda… off-putting. Right now though, he's getting swarmed by the others, all riding the feel-good vibes lingering after his little monologue.
As everyone cheers and laughs, I catch Vaike's eye across the crowd. He stares at me with an unreadable expression, then scowls and stalks away. I wonder how much of Frederick's speech was intended for his sake? Vaike's probably wondering the same.
A hand claps me on the shoulder, snapping my attention away from the retreating fighter. Robin grins at me, with Virion and Sumia not far behind. "Welcome to the Shepherds, man!"
"Thanks!" I grin over at Virion as he passes me a handkerchief, and use it to wipe the emotion from my eyes and get some of the dirt off my face. "It'll be good to finally get out of the barracks."
"I'll be sorry to see less of you!" Sumia replies with a wistful smile on her face. "You've been a lot of help while the others have been out."
"Eh, knowing my luck I'll get myself injured on our first mission and just end up benched again." I shrug and laugh.
"You made it in then." Chrom walks up beside me, looking troublingly serious. "Just in time, too."
"What's the word?"
"Bandits in the south." Chrom sighs, then gives me a half-smile. "Looks like once again, you get a trial by fire. We leave tomorrow. For now… congratulations." He looks up at Frederick, who is still getting glomped by Lissa. "Do I even want to know?"
"Our boy Frederick seems to have discovered his talent for motivational speaking." I grin. "At the very least, morale won't be an issue for us any time soon."
"That's good to hear." Chrom brightens a little as he takes in the mood of the group. "Well then, I'll spread the word. We set out tomorrow, but for today, let's celebrate the success of your training."
"The growth of the Shepherds." Robin supplies. "It'll match the theme better."
"I like that." Chrom smiles fully. "The Shepherds have grown, and now we set out."
"Let me just say, I appreciate everythin yer doin fer us, sir!"
"Donnel, buddy, I am many things, but I am not a sir." I roll my eyes and try to keep the grin off my face.
I've found the lack of game logic working in an unusual way once again. In a world where you can't take a break in the middle of a diplomacy mission to march all the way to southern Ylisse, Paralogue number one seems to take place very early in the timeline. I honestly can't even remember if the mission is available by this point in the game.
The timeline shenanigans have led to a couple of strange things, the biggest being that Maribelle is here as well. She hasn't been called back to Themis for family business yet, and so we tackle this mission with two healers, instead of the usual one I always had when playing it as a game. Of course, since this isn't a game, we also have to deal with the fact that these bandits are rather spread out in their plundering as they ransack the nearby village.
This has led to a splitting of our forces. Chrom is leading the bulk of the Shepherds into the Far Fort to take down the leader of this group. Meanwhile, a smaller group, led by Frederick, is clearing out the gang attacking the town. This group mostly consists of himself, Sully, and Stahl, since their mounts aren't much good in the overgrown, over crowded fortress. With them are myself and Virion as a reserve, and Maribelle as a healer for emergencies. Donnel is with us as well, since a world without game logic has Chrom doing the smart thing and keeping the untrained farm boy away from the front lines of a battle.
This has led to myself watching over the healer and the civilian, while Virion scouts and our knights run rampant over the bandits. It's a little vexing to be stuck in the back after all the work I did to be included in the team, but I'm not so childish that I can't recognize what an important job watching the healer is.
"Really? Aren't you a knight though?" Donnel lifts the pot off his head and scratches at his hair in confusion.
"The Shepherds aren't like that, we're just a bunch of random shmucks that Chrom found and adopted."
"Hmph. Speak for yourself, Benjamin. I am hardly a shmuck, and refuse to accept your labelling me as such." Maribelle sniffs disdainfully at the idea.
"Alright, a bunch of shmucks… and Maribelle, who is a proper lady and is to be referred to as such." I smile over at her. "There now, I've made nice. Now please stop calling me Benjamin."
"I was given the impression that Benjamin was your proper name. You did tell me that was the case."
"It is my name on official documentations, that does not mean that it is my preferred one. I've been asking people to call me Ben since I was like… five."
"I don't rightly see what all the fussin is about. Benjamin seems like a right good name to me. Sounds all proper and fancy-like."
"Precisely!" Maribelle smiles over at Donnel. "You have a fine understanding of the value of proper titles, Donnel."
"Well shucks!"
"How are we faring, my friends?" Virion's appearance makes for a welcome distraction. "No trouble with the enemy, I hope."
"All quiet back here." I nod. "Any word from Chrom's group yet?"
"You forget that this is our base camp." Virion tuts. "If Chrom sends us a message, you will be the first to hear of it. At any rate, the fort these ruffians have made their claim upon is rather well-defended. I fear it may be some time before Chrom has routed them."
"Right." I sigh. "Is the cleanup going well down here at least?"
"All is proceeding without a hitch." Virion smiles. "It would seem good Sir Frederick is suffering from a bout of separation anxiety. The man does so dislike to be separated from his charges. He vents his frustration upon the bandits as we speak."
"Golly." Donnel winces at that. "I sure wouldn't want to get on the bad side of that fellow."
"Probably wise." I nod along. "Still, we should be careful. If Frederick scares them too badly we'll have a lot of runners. They could rush right into us."
"A rather small chance of that, is there not?" Virion looks over at me curiously.
"Yes, but I'm notoriously unlucky." I nod sagely.
"So you continue to tell us, and yet I have yet to see any sign of this." Maribelle scoffs.
"Back home, my friends and family used to say I was cursed." I chuckle. "And this is despite the fact that my world was without magic." Of course, said curse mostly applied to cars, but that's a minor point.
Maribelle and Virion pause to take that in. Donnel shrugs. "Well, shucks, I'm not sure what you mean with all this curse stuff, but if we're worried about people stumbling across us I reckon I can do something to help with that."
"Oh? Do tell, my young friend!" Virion looks over curiously.
Donnel fishes around in his pockets for a moment, then makes a soft 'aha' sound and reaches back to pull a length of twine off his belt. "I've got some twine here for settin' huntin' snares. Reckon I can use this to set a nasty surprise for any bandits what come runnin' our way."
"A fine idea!" Virion nods in satisfaction. "Well then, I shall leave you to it. For the time being I must return to my post. Virion away!" He turns with a flip of his hair, and rushes back into the night.
Donnel smiles over at me. "Don't worry none about that curse, Mister Benjamin. I'll have us a nice trap set up for us in two shakes of a donkey's tail!" He scurries away before I can protest.
"Mister Benjamin?" I groan and turn to Maribelle accusingly. "Look at what you've started."
Maribelle smiles innocently at me. "I'm truly baffled as to why you hold such contempt for your proper title. Benjamin is a fine name."
I sigh and run a hand through my hair. "It's… fine. I'm sure you've gathered as much from how I speak, but my world has a far more… casual attitude towards conversation and titles and whatnot."
"I did notice as much, yes." Maribelle smirks. "You may be the only member of the Shepherds who I haven't seen fuss even once about calling Prince Chrom by name."
"Yeah, see, where I come from that sort of thing is normal. Our culture tends to look at titles and long names as a sign of arrogance. Not that having them is bad, mind you. But insisting on people calling you by a full title is considered poor manners. And names are usually shortened as well for a similar reason. Really, the only time anybody called me Benjamin back home was when they wanted to give me grief for something."
"Oh, I see." Maribelle gives a guilty sigh. "Well I apologize Ben. I failed to consider the impact our cultural differences might have on how you received my words. It was not my intention to offend."
"I know. I'm not offended, not really. It's just a personal issue I try to work around. All the same, I would appreciate it if you just called me Ben from now on."
"Of course." Maribelle smiles fully at me, before pausing and looking into the trees. "My goodness, Donnel's been a while, hasn't he?"
"Yeah, I'm not sure about the exact unit of measurement here, but I figure we have to be up to at least three shakes of a donkey's tail by now." I chuckle. "Maybe we should go check on him?"
"I'd like to… but if we leave this clearing then the others may have difficulty finding us in the event of an emergency." Maribelle frowns and looks off into the darkness.
"And if we split up there will be nobody to protect you if the bandits do find us." I sigh, running my hands through my hair in exasperation. "No choice but to wait for him then. Damn, should have stopped him from running off."
"There is little good in ruminating on 'what-ifs'." Maribelle chides. "I'm sure Donnel will be perfectly alright."
"Right."
I try to take her words to heart, but as the minutes drag on I become increasingly agitated. Tell me I didn't just get one of the strongest Shepherds killed before he can even try to reach his full potential!
"I must confess, this is growing rather troubling." Maribelle sighs. "Perhaps you should go check on him? I'm sure I can handle myself if only for a moment or two."
"Not yet." I look around anxiously. Our 'camp' is little more than a small clearing in the woods nearby the village, with the hope being that the thick underbrush will be enough to cover the few markings we have to alert the others. We have no fire, for obvious reasons, but there's enough moonlight streaming through the trees for us to see a little. Still, there's plenty of room for people to sneak up on us.
I think on things for just a moment longer. "Maribelle, untie your horse and head for Virion. Something's wrong here."
"I wouldn't be doing that if I were you."
I have my axe up in a second, drawing Maribelle behind me as I turn to face the source of the voice.
"Ah, ah, ah, wouldn't be doing that either." I grimace as two bandits emerge from the undergrowth.
Now, the month of training has done well for me for the most part. I'm hardly on par with a trained soldier yet, but I've been taking lessons from the best Ylisse has to offer. So under normal circumstances the two bandits wouldn't be much of a challenge for me. The one on the right has a visible lance wound on his leg, meaning the fight could be turned into a one on one situation without too much difficulty.
But in this case, I can't even entertain the thought, since the two of them have an unconscious Donnel dangling limply between them. The bandit on the left is holding him up while the one on the right holds his axe to the kid's neck.
"You'll be dropping that weapon now, pal." The one on the right snarls, pressing the axe closer against Donnel's throat. "Unless you want the kid's blood on your hands."
My mouth starts moving before I even realise what I'm saying. "Well that doesn't make much sense, my hands aren't anywhere near his neck. If you cut him open his blood will just get all over you."
"Ben!" Maribelle hisses fearfully. "What are you doing?"
The two bandits turn to each other in confusion, before looking back at me. "You stupid or something?"
"If I was stupid, I'd have dropped my weapon." I shrug, lowering my axe as I do so. "See, I'm just going to compromise here. You and I know full well that if I put my axe down there's going to be a lot of death around here in a hurry."
"I wasn't asking for a compromise here!" The one on the right snarls. "Drop the weapon!"
"Oh shut up Rodney." The other one sighs. "He's already said he knows we'll kill him. We ain't convincing him."
"I can be convinced to compromise." I reply. "See how I'm not brandishing an axe right now? Hell, I'm sure I can be convinced of a great many things as long as it involves as little death as possible. Get my drift here? Because if you hurt that kid I have no reason not to take your limbs off."
"And if we let the kid go we have no guarantee we walk out of here alive." The calmer bandit replies. His eyes dart around the clearing, before flicking back to me. "That horse. Let us take the horse and the kid lives."
"Absolutely not!" Maribelle gasps in outrage. "The very thought of a troglodyte such as yourself putting your filthy hands on my horse is-"
"Infinitely preferable to the thought of them killing a kid in front of us Maribelle." I reply loudly, cutting her off. She flinches at this, likely having only protested out of reflex and nods in assent. I keep my eyes on the bandits and pat her arm comfortingly before continuing. "Hell, they can hardly fit three people on the horse anyways, so if they take it we're guaranteed to get Donnel out of here safely."
"And cooler heads prevail." The calm bandit nods in satisfaction. "You have a deal."
"But-"
"We have a deal now, Rodney. Shut up." He jostles Rodney with an elbow, and the two start circling the clearing towards Maribelle's horse, giving us a wide berth. They inch along slowly, so as to not antagonize me, and I feel a sense of relief wash over me at the thought that I might salvage this situation.
"Ben…" Maribelle looks over my shoulder fearfully. "There's a problem."
"Maribelle, we'll get you a new horse, just drop it."
"My horse is specially trained Ben, it won't accept another rider." I grimace at that. If they can't take the horse and get out of here there's no telling what these two will do.
"That's alright."
I look back up to the calm bandit, who's stopped on the opposite side of the clearing from us. He drops Donnel unceremoniously on the ground and draws a sword, smiling coolly at me. "I didn't actually want the horse anyways. We'll take the girl though, she'll fetch a pretty penny, even after we're done with her."
Normally a comment like this would be the sort of thing that gets my blood boiling. But something about his smile makes my blood run cold. He's too confident. Why is he suddenly changing his tone like this? Unless…
He's achieved what he needed to just by drawing my attention in this direction.
I've hardly looked away from these two once since they showed up.
"Damn!" I whirl around, grabbing Maribelle and throwing her to the side, bringing my axe up with a free hand. I'm expecting another bandit to jump me.
Instead, an arrow hits me in the shoulder and nearly knocks me off my feet. The archer who fired it sits far back amongst the trees, only visible to me because of the brief glance I saw of where the arrow came from. As I recover my footing I hear footsteps rush towards me. Looks like Rodney and the calm bandit are coming at me now that my back's turned.
Oh man, I'm totally fucked here. They played me like a fucking fiddle. I feel the sudden clawing of despair in my mind. I should have known that guy was too calm not to have something planned. And now he's going to kill me, probably kill Donnel, kidnap Maribelle, and have his way with her.
Ah, rage filled adrenaline, there you are. Nothing like a rapist to make me want to hack a man into ground beef. I snarl as I grip my axe. These FUCKERS better hope they kill me fast.
"VIRIOOOON!" I bellow at the top of my lungs, spinning around and swinging my axe with all my strength. The calm man sees me and dodges back out of reach, but Rodney is either too stupid or too injured to stop his momentum.
My axe hits him just above the ear, splitting his head like a melon and nearly popping his eye out. I see his working eye blink in bewilderment for a brief instant before the force of my swing sends him tumbling.
The calm man lets out a low whistle. "Not bad. That's a good axe you have there." He approaches slowly, likely to give his archer friend time to reload. "I might have to take that when we're done here."
I decide it's not in my best interest to let him stall any longer, and rush forward with a snarl. The man grimaces, immediately on the defensive. Looks like dodging our cavalry might have worn him down a bit. For all that his attitude favors him, the guy doesn't seem to be any tougher than the average untrained thug.
The problem here is definitely that fucking archer. As I think this, I hear the telltale twang of a bow and duck low, letting another arrow fly over my head.
"Shit." The calm man winces, clearly having been hopeful that the second arrow would finish me off. He capitalizes on my ducking by catching me on the bicep with his blade drawing a small line of blood. I'm suddenly irrationally thankful that I decided not to wear my clothes from home to battle, because this shirt is going to be ruined.
I get a hit on his leg, but the pain in my shoulder throws off my swing, so I only manage to hit him with the flat of the blade. It's enough to make him stagger, but I was hoping to take his foot off. He gasps in pain, jumping back from my clumsy follow-up swing and limps backwards. I take two steps after him when the third arrow hits me in the lower back.
"ARGH, FUCK!" I collapse to my knees. "You shit fucking taint sucker!"
"Wow… rude." The calm man pants. "Think I'll kill you for those hurtful words."
"Don't you dare!" I look up in surprise just in time to see Maribelle swing the tip of her parasol into the man's eye.
"AH!" He staggers back in shock, clutching at his face. His other arm lashes out blindly, catching Maribelle across the chest with his sword.
Her scream is hauntingly short.
"NO!" I roar in horror, trying to get to my feet. The problem with back injuries though, is that they are horribly debilitating. A strained muscle is enough to make walking torturous, so an arrow is easily enough to render me incapable of moving for the moment.
"Ah, damn it!" The man spits as he realizes what he's done. "Shouldn't have done that." He turns back to me, though I can barely be bothered to look in his direction in favor of searching for some sign that Maribelle's alive. I think her chest is moving? So she might be breathing, or it might just be the pain blurring my vision.
"I'll see you die slowly for that, asshole." The man's sword in my face brings my attention back to him, and I note with some satisfaction that his eye is swollen shut and bleeding. Maribelle gave as good as she got. Won't be enough to stop this guy bringing this sword through my neck though.
Well, no way the universe is going to fuck this one up. I'm definitely going to die this time. The man's sword comes up above me, as if to prove my point.
He's about to bring the sword down when I hear movement behind me, and he looks up in shock. "Aw come on."
A figure flies over my head and clashes swords with the calm man, sending him staggering back. I blink in surprise, trying to figure out who it could be.
"DON'T YOU TOUCH HIM!" I wince at the shrill voice that comes from the newcomer. Well, whoever this is, that's definitely a woman's voice. I manage to straighten up enough to take a proper look, and my jaw drops.
Well this isn't right at all, but there's little doubt in my mind.
"Severa?" I feel like I have to be mistaken here, but the way her back stiffens as I say the name is rather telling. Her hair is also the same bright shade as Cordelia's from the game. And the voice sounded similar.
Wasn't she supposed to show up two years from now?
Well, she's early. No mistaking that. Unfortunately, she's not in much better shape than me. Judging from the direction she came from I can only assume she just dealt with that archer, but it looks like he got a lucky shot before dying. I can see the shaft of an arrow sticking out of her hip. The fact that she's fighting like that at all is crazy to me, but the calm man is acting… decidedly less calm now. He's using his superior weight and her limited mobility to his advantage, battering at her relentlessly with heavy blows.
Severa is giving as good as she gets, but that hip injury is screwing up her footwork badly. Her blows don't have enough strength behind them to do more than superficial damage, and she can't guard properly either. I try to move again to help, but the pain in my back nearly causes me to black out, and I have to stop. Nothing I can do but sit and wait while a teenaged girl does the fighting. My manly man machismo is suffering dearly on this one.
Luckily enough Severa isn't the only one in this fight. She's aware of it before I am, lashing out to drive the calm man backwards several steps, then taking as big of a leap back as she can. Both the calm man and I pause in confusion at the weird move. And that's when Donnel swings a solid tree branch into the bastard's head so hard it snaps in half.
He hits the ground senselessly, and Severa immediately capitalizes on the opportunity by cutting his head off. "Gods, that was annoying! Couldn't you have done that sooner?" She snaps at Donnel loudly as she wipes her sword on the dead bandit's pants.
"Well gosh, I'm sorry!" Donnel staggers as he looks back. "I wish I could have helped more, but I was unconscious until just a moment ago…" He trails off and looks down at the headless bandit. "Golly…" He mutters softly. Then he rushes to the bushes to throw up.
Virion chooses that moment to arrive, bursting into the clearing and looking around in shock. I can tell at a glance that he's been in a fight or three himself; he's covered from head to toe in dirt and nursing a wound in his side. The dagger in his hand is dropped in astonishment, and he looks to me in horror. "Mercy me! Ben, what has happened to you?"
"Forget me." I gasp out. "Maribelle. Help Maribelle!"
"Mon dieu." He whispers as he spots the still form of Maribelle across the clearing. He's at her side in an instant, pulling a blue crystal bottle from his belt. "Ah, a blessing! The wound has avoided her vitals! Then this shall suffice" He lets the contents of the bottle drip down onto the wound, then raises it to her lips, forcing a small amount more down her throat.
"An elixir." Virion explains at my questioning look. "It is a mixture of healing herbs and divine magic. Most potions are simply invigorating, but this one is a true marvel. They are a treasured creation from my home country. Remarkably effective, too. Look, she stirs!"
"Thank goodness." Severa mutters under her breath.
"Well darned if that isn't the best news I've heard all night." Donnel groans weakly from the bushes. "I don't suppose we can use that elixir stuff to fix up those arrow wounds what Ben and… erm?"
"It's… Severa." Severa gives me a brief glance as she speaks. Debating using a pseudonym like Marth, perhaps? I'm glad she didn't. I'm terrible with names, so if I had to remember a fake one for her I'd be sure to fuck it up. Maybe my future self told her that.
"Ah, how careless of me!" Virion raises a hand to his head in shock. "So shocked was I by the state of my companions that I failed to notice yet another fair maiden in distress has joined us!"
"Oh please, spare me." Severa grimaces, hobbling her way over to me. "Your friend Ben here is in worse shape than I am, so let's get these arrows out so you can put that elixir to good use."
"Ah, my dear, perhaps you should wait for one moment."
"Severa, please don't do what I think you're about to-"
"There!" She grabs the shaft of the arrow in my back and yanks it out in one swift motion.
"Oh my." Virion cringes at the sight.
"A-ahhhhh… fuck." I whimper.
Severa looks at the arrow and blinks as her actions seemingly catch up with her. "Uhh… whoops?"
My vision darkens as my eyes roll back in my head.
"Ben, my friend, hold on now, I'm coming with the…"
I black out.
Yeah, so we're now past the part where I stretch things and jumping right into the part where I break them. Sure didn't take me long to get bored with the whole 'novelisation' thing, huh? Yeah, I keep coming up with fun ways to just tie the story in knots as I brainstorm, so expect more curveballs where this one comes from.
