(And lo, another chapter was born. Hi everyone! Thank you for all the support recently! I really wasn't expecting much feedback writing a fanfic for a decade-old game, but all of your favorites, follows, and comments recently have been very encouraging.)

It had been a day since the Shepherds had arrived back in the capital. After they had arrived, Lissa had led Robin and Arthur to the Shepherd headquarters, introduced them to everyone, and shown them their sleeping quarters – a private room for Robin as the company's new tactician, and a bunk above Stahl for Arthur (much to his dissatisfaction). Arthur lay face-up on the bed now, thinking about the members of the Shepherds he had recently met.

Arthur had taken to Stahl immediately – the curly-haired knight had such a comfortable presence, he and Arthur had gotten along immediately. Arthur had not gotten to know him very well yet, but from what he had learned Stahl was a person of common birth (he had mentioned that his father ran an apothecary). Arthur was sure that Stahl's winning attitude was what had ingratiated him with the prince and earned him a place within the Shepherds.

Miriel had made a good impression as well. Once introductions had been made, she had immediately begun questioning Arthur and Robin about their talents and interests. Noting that Robin was a mage, Miriel had given her a monstrous tome titled Elementary Arcane Theory. When Arthur had expressed an interest in politics and history, she had loaned him her copy of Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light – according to her it was "the oldest extant primary source on the War of Shadows" and "an essential text for any student of Archanean history". He had tried reading it, but he couldn't get into it. It was translated from Old Archanean, and reading it Arthur realized that people 2,000 years ago had no idea how to write an engaging piece of literature. Even so, Arthur appreciated Miriel's friendly intent in giving it to him. He supposed it was her way of welcoming him and Robin to the Shepherds.

Much more interesting to Arthur was Sumia. Arthur couldn't help but like her after watching her trip on her face in front of Chrom (who she was clearly infatuated with). They had talked about books for a while the day before, and he had traded her his copy of Wyvern Wars (he had finished it on the way to Ylisstol) for a book of hers called The Princess of Plegia. Sumia had described it as "romantic fantasy", but paging through it for a few moments Arthur found that the fantasy was spread quite thin, and seemed to mostly be a backdrop for scenarios that he blushed to consider. He had stowed the book in his bag.

Arthur hadn't interacted much with the other Shepherds. He had listened to a few of Vaike's jokes – his humor was a bit crass for Arthur's taste, but he seemed a decent enough person. Arthur was still not quite sure why he didn't wear a shirt, but no one else seemed to find it abnormal so he hadn't said anything. Maribelle had only spoken a few words to Arthur before storming off over something Vaike said. According to Lissa, she would be visiting her homeland, the Duchy of Themis, for the next few weeks. The last Shepherd Arthur had met was Ricken. Arthur had been shocked by his youth (child soldiers in the Ylissean military?), but apparently he was a count's son, and he seemed like a nice enough kid. He had even watched Ricken practice for a few minutes, and the kid was seriously skilled with his wind tome.

Arthur rolled onto his side and leaned over the railing of his bunk as Chrom entered the room and called for their attention. "Listen up everyone!" said Chrom, waiting for a moment as the disparate group of Shepherds assembled in his vicinity. "We have an assignment. With reports of these creatures – Risen, we're calling them – throughout the Halidom, the council has decided that we should seek an alliance. We're marching north to Regna Ferox and appeal to the Feroxi for aid. Get some practice in and get a good night of sleep. We leave at first light tomorrow." Finished with his announcement, Chrom waved Vaike over for a practice bout and the rest of the Shepherds returned to their business.

Arthur noticed Robin standing in the doorway of her room, face looking troubled. He had not mentioned anything to her, but he had been worried about how she was doing since they had arrived in the city. She had seemed fine for most of the journey north, but for some reason it seemed to Arthur she had been feeling unsettled since they had arrived in the city. Perhaps it was just more difficulty adjusting to this new life. Whatever the case, he figured she could use some social engagement so he hopped down from his top bunk and walked over to her.

"Hey Robin," he said as he approached. He nodded towards the door to the practice yard. "Care for a practice bout? I can't have you saving me every fight."

Robin laughed lightly and rolled her eyes. "You're right, saving you distracts me from my very important role as tactician" she said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "Have you seen I have my very own room? I'm practically the tactician of Ylisse, so we'll have to cut down on those distractions.. How about we work towards me saving you every other fight? Then 1 in 3 fights, 1 in 4 fights, and so on… before long you'll be completely self-dependent!"

Now it was Arthur's turn to roll his eyes. He began walking out to the practice field, speaking to Robin as she followed. "I see how it is, Madame Tactician. But I'll have you know that I am a very capable swordsman against human opponents." He paused for a second as they reached the stand containing the practice swords. His tone grew a bit more serious as he thought back to their last fight. "Practice with my swordmaster didn't prepare me for that last fight. Those Risen didn't fight like anything I'd ever faced. No self-preservation instinct – they can do anything in a fight, because all they care about is killing their opponent, not preserving themselves." He shivered at vocalizing the thought.

"At least they're stupider than human opponents," said Robin, tossing him a practice sword and taking up a position at one end of the training yard. She continued talking casually as he took up position opposite her. "Sure, maybe they're strong and fast and vicious. So are bears, but bears don't rule the world. Humans do, because we can make use of technology and tactics, and we can learn from every battle." She brandished her sword and fell into a defensive stance. Arthur fell into stance opposite her. "Come at me," she said.

Arthur needed no further encouragement. He lunged at her with lightning speed – she was clearly surprised by his quickness but managed to frantically deflect the blow to her right and dodge to her left. Arthur mirrored her, moving to his own left, and they began circling each other, each eyeing for an opportunity against the other's defenses.

"You're quick," said Robin casually, still circling. "Where did you–"

With no indication, Robin lunged at Arthur mid sentence. He managed to dodge her strike and they continued circling each other.

"That was a nice trick," said Arthur in an equally casual manner. "Very tactical. Unfortunately my sword instructor used to do the same thing. I'm at my wariest when my opponent is mid sentence." Arthur stopped circling and prepared to strike. "When your opponent is talking is the most–" he feinted as though about to lunge with the same trick and saw Robin raise her guard, expecting it. Now he pulled back, and as he saw her realize it was a feint and drop her guard he truly committed to a forward strike, aiming for maximum speed, and struck a light blow against Robin's midriff before leaping back

"One to zero?" he gloated, tone sarcastic. "My my, how unfortunate. I guess next battle I'll be the one saving you."

Robin's eyes sunk and she let the point of her sword fall to the ground. Suddenly Arthur worried that he had gone too hard on her. He let his sword drop and took a step towards her. "Robin? I didn't mean to—" Suddenly he felt something hard against his chest. The point of Robin's practice sword.

"One to one, is it?" she said, looking up cheekily from her faux-sadness.

"That doesn't count! I was just…er…that's completely…It's against the rules!" Arthur said, still shocked by the success of her ruse.

"I don't see a rulebook anywhere, do you?" asked Robin "There are no rules in a real fight, are there? I, for one, think that we should train using the rules of real combat, which means that point was fair and square."

"Alright, fine! No rules. But you won't get me with that trick again!" Arthur took up position once again.

The two trained like this for another hour. In a straightforward fight, Arthur's speed and experience gave him an advantage. Robin, however, continued to augment her strategy with new tricks. Every time Arthur thought he knew her plan she had something new. She threw sand from the ground in his eyes. She threw her cloak at him and struck while he was tangled in it. At one point she picked up a smaller stick from the ground of the training yard and stashed it in her cloak, only to use it later as 'a training dagger' ("You never know when enemies will have extra weapons on them!"). By the end of an hour, they were still tied.

Arthur wiped the sweat from his brow and breathed heavily from the exertion. "It's getting late. How about we call it a draw?"

Robin nodded, seeming equally tired. "A draw it is." They stashed their practice swords and headed inside. "Oh, Arthur, I've been meaning to ask you" said Robin as they walked through the barracks. "What's that mark on your hand? The one that was glowing the other night?"

Arthur froze, suddenly fearful that his secret association with Dialga would be revealed for all the Shepherds. Luckily, looking around the barracks there were no other members within earshot. Arthur pulled Robin into her room and closed the door behind them. He turned to her once they were alone. "Could you…er…keep that between us?"

"Why?" said Robin, seeming confused. "What is it?"

Arthur had assumed she knew it indicated Holy Blood – it was general knowledge, after all, that brands were symbols of descendance from dragons. Now he realized, however, that Robin might not know that. "It's a brand. Like Chrom's. It means I have Holy Blood, but I don't really want anyone knowing about it for right now. It's not common knowledge that the Dukes of Pyrath have Holy Blood, so it's sort of like… a family secret, I guess. I'd appreciate it if you could keep it." It was not a lie, Arthur told himself. It wasn't the whole truth, sure, but it was not a lie. He saw that Robin was looking down at her own hand, encased in a black glove. Suddenly curiosity struck him. "Do you…have a brand?"

Robin laughed nervously. "Oh, no. I don't have anything like yours. I have….a tattoo…on my hand. But it doesn't glow or anything like yours! I'm pretty sure it's just a cultural thing, because…er…I saw some of those Plegian bandits had similar-looking tattoos. I think it means I'm from Plegia, so I guess I didn't want to put it on display when I realized it was associated with their country".Robin rubbed her hands together nervously, but also seemed relieved to share this secret with someone. "Anyway, I'll keep your secret if you keep mine. Deal?"

Arthur grabbed her hand and shook it. "Deal." He paused for a second. "I actually might be able to tell you a bit about those tattoos."

Robin looked suddenly curious. "You know about them? What do they mean?"

"Well, about 15 years ago Chrom's father led a crusade against Plegia, but we don't often talk about why that was. According to my father, it was because he had heard word of a Grimleal prophecy – something about someone with Grima Holy Blood who would bring back the Fell Dragon." Arthur lowered his voice, not wanting anyone outside to hear what he was saying. "Anyway, Chrom's father became obsessed trying to prevent that – so obsessed that he decided to 'Crusade' against Plegia and kill anyone with a Brand of Grima." Arthur paused and saw that Robin was listening, rapt.

"But the Plegians, they didn't take it lying down. Religiously, Plegia is pretty solidly Grimleal, and apparently they believed in this prophecy and wanted it to come true. They knew that they couldn't beat Ylisse's military, but they had to do something to protect those with Grima Blood. So they tattooed themselves – practically every Grimleal in the country tattooed themself in purple ink with a Brand of Grima. Apparently Grimleal parents tattooed their babies. In Plegian culture, the tattoos have become a mark of devotion, a mark that you would die for the return of the Fell Dragon. And lots of them did die, during the Crusade."

Arthur brought his tone down further. Some of what he would say now could be construed as treasonous. "Chrom's father was getting more and more frustrated, and eventually he simply ordered for everyone with a Brand to be killed. Real or fake. Military or civilian... adult or child. It was so atrocious most of his army deserted, and he died in Plegia. That's why Plegia raids Ylisse's borders. That's why we can't have peace with them. We struck the first blow, and it might have been an unforgivable one."

Robin stood in silence for a few moments, mulling over the revelation. "You know more about this world than I do…are…are we on the right side?"

Arthur considered the question for a moment. "I honestly think so. Ylisse has done some terrible things, but then again so has Plegia. That's the problem with history; it's a human story, and so everyone tends to be a little justified from their perspective. Forget the past – right now Emmeryn and Chrom want peace. King Gangrel wants violence. If we want any chance that these cycles of vengeance end someday, I think Ylisse is the right side to be on."

As Arthur finished speaking he realized he was still holding her hand – he must have been holding it since they had shaken earlier. Suddenly he realized his situation: alone with Robin in her room, holding her hand, sharing secrets. He felt his face heating up and let her hand drop, looking down and hoping she wouldn't notice his change in behavior. He glanced up at her and saw that she still seemed to be deep in thought over what he had said.

"Anyway, I'm sure you have a lot to think about. About the tattoo…I would keep it covered for now. Chrom might understand, but Frederick…" said Arthur, trailing off. Robin nodded silently, eyes still unfocused in thought. Arthur walked to the door and opened it. "I'll…er…see you tomorrow, Robin," he said, and left her to her thoughts.

Arthur, too, had plenty of thoughts of his own he needed to work through. The light was dim in the Shepherd's barracks, coming only from the few candles that still burned where Miriel was reading at her desk. Stahl was already asleep in the bottom bunk, and Arthur ascended to the top bunk as quietly as he could to avoid disturbing him. Once in bed, Arthur stared at the dimly lit ceiling and started to think in earnest – how did he feel about Robin? Complicated. He liked her – she was smart, he liked her sense of humor, and they shared a lot of interests. They had been vulnerable with each other. She was his closest friend so far in the Shepherds. Therein, of course, lay the problem. Would it be worth risking what could be a good friendship? How did she feel about him? He rolled over and pressed his face into his pillow, more thoughts of a similar nature bouncing around his head. It was another hour before he finally fell into a fitful sleep.

— The Next Morning —

The Shepherds had been on the Northroad since dawn, having been woken before first light by Frederick (who was of course a morning person). Arthur yawned as they walked, still tired from waking up so early and not having had a particularly restful night of sleep. Robin walked next to him. "So how is Regna Ferox arranged politically?" she asked. Since their discussion the night before, she seemed to regard him as her personal source of information on the world– not that Arthur minded. They had been talking about the politics and history of the continent for practically the entire morning, and she was still overflowing with questions.

"It actually has a very unique political system. It's a khanate – not very centralized relative to Ylisse and Plegia, but unique in that it's a meritocracy. There are two major khans – the Eastkhan and Westkhan – and they hold a tournament every five years which determines who controls the entire khanate."

"Interesting. And they're aligned with Ylisse? Why?"

"The two countries aren't really historical allies or anything – ordinarily internal divisions keep the khans quite occupied. Theirs is a martial culture, valuing strength above all else. So while the Westkhan and Eastkhan maintain an alliance of sorts, they also have to deal with their own subordinates, the underkhans that are constantly vying to gain a powerful enough following to mount their own claim to the title of Westkhan or Eastkhan. The Feroxi only really turn to foreign matters when they are attacked from the outside. Plegia made the mistake of starting to raid inside their borders a few years ago, and they've had a defensive alliance with Ylisse ever since."

"I see," said Robin. "And religiously? Do they worship Naga?"

"No, they have their own religion. They're not as religious as either Ylisse or Plegia, but traditionally they worship the Sky Dragon. For that reason they also don't value holy blood as highly as countries like Ylisse and Plegia, since the Sky Dragon has never entered a blood pact with mortals. If you ever come to Pyrath, I can show you a fascinating treatise in our library which hypothesizes a link between the presence of Holy Blood carriers in a society and the predominance of non-meritocratic government forms – it kind of makes sense, right? When you have people like Chrom and Emmeryn so visibly associated with the divine you would probably be more prone to structure your society as a monarchy. It's very interesting stuff." Arthur realized he had gone on a tangent. "Anyway…er…yeah, they worship the Sky Dragon."

"It sounds very interesting, although I might also think that the causation goes the other way. Isn't it possible that aristocratic societies value and preserve Holy Blood more by their nature? I would think societies that tend to preserve power in the hands of individual families would also tend naturally to value and encourage visual indicators of noble status," said Robin, ignoring his final sentence and answering his tangent. Naga he loved a girl who would engage with his obsessions.

"I'd never thought of that, but it's a fascinating thought," said Arthur, mulling her point over "Maybe you should be the one writing treatises, Robin," he said with a laugh. Much to Arthur's amusement, Robin's face reddened a bit from the compliment. Before he could prod her further, they noticed a commotion at the front of the Shepherd's travel formation.

Chrom held his hand up, calling for a halt, before shouting over his shoulder. "Risen, dead ahead! Everyone gather up here!" Arthur and Robin rushed forward to where the rest of the Shepherds were gathering. In the distance to their north, Arthur could see that a cluster of Risen, maybe 20 or so, were standing together in the vicinity of a bridge. "Finding another crossing will cost us hours and will leave the Northroad unsafe for other travelers," said Chrom to the assembled group. "I think we should take them out. Any ideas, Robin?"

Robin was looking at the group of Risen, deep in thought. She looked back at the group as Chrom said her name. "We have what, ten Shepherds here? There look to be about twenty Risen – I think we can take them. They're pretty unintelligent – if Frederick, Stahl, and Sully can lead them in circles then Virion, Miriel, and I can pick them off from here. Vaike, Chrom, and Arthur can stay with us in case any Risen break off from pursuing the cavalry, and Lissa can heal.."

Everyone agreed it was a sound plan and the cavalry started off towards the bridge. It was hard to see in the distance, but it seemed something went wrong – the Risen did not give chase as Robin had expected them to. The distant figures of Frederick, Stahl, and Sully wheeled around and returned to the other Shepherds. As they did so, Arthur saw that a long red gash ran across Sully's shoulder. "What happened?" said Robin, clearly worried.

Frederick debriefed her as Lissa attended to Sully. "They have archers," he said grimly. "These Risen… they're not like the ones we encountered earlier. They seem to be using tactics, occupying defensive positions. There is also one member of the group that is larger and seemed to be making purposeful sounds… perhaps a leader?"

Robin seemed troubled by this news. "That certainly complicates things," she said, pinching the bridge of her nose between her fingers. "We'll need a new approach. I think caution would serve us well here, since we don't really know what we're dealing with. I don't fancy assaulting them while they're in a defensive position. If we could eliminate those of them who can attack from a distance though, then they would have to come to us or let us tear them apart from a distance. Frederick, Stahl, Sully – get your javelins and try to pick off their archers from a distance. The rest of us will begin approaching more slowly."

Again, the cavalry mounted up and took off towards the stationary group of Risen. Meanwhile Robin, Arthur, and the other Shepherds without mounts cautiously approached the Risen's position, with Vaike, Chrom, and Arthur in the front. In the distance, they saw their cavalry members throw a few volleys of javelins into the group of Risen while remaining at a distance. Frederick raised his lance in the air – the signal to Robin that the archers were dealt with. Now their main group advanced closer to the Risen until they were close enough to fire their own projectiles. Miriel, Robin, and Virion unleashed a barrage against the Risen, felling several of them. Nearby the cavalry continued to harry the Risen with their few remaining javelins.

Now the brilliance of Robin's simple plan emerged. Caught between projectiles from multiple directions and with no means of returning fire, staying in their defensive position meant that the Risen would be slowly picked apart at no cost to the Shepherds. Their only option was to attack the Shepherds, giving them the advantage of being on the defensive. It seemed the large Risen reached this conclusion after several more of its subordinates fell to the Shepherd's ranged attacks. The creature yowled, and in an instant the dozen or so remaining Risen charged towards the group of Shepherds on foot. "Brace yourselves!" shouted Robin.

Arthur, Vaike, and Chrom stood shoulder to shoulder as the Risen charged – they were closing in rapidly, but several up them were dropped by the mages and archer in the back as they ran. When they were ten meters away, Robin unsheathed her sword and stepped into position beside them. When the Risen were close enough, Robin shouted "Charge!". The four melee fighters counter-charged the charging Risen in their last few meters and the two forces collided.

Arthur charged at one of the Risen, dodging aside at the last moment and slashing his sword rapidly across its knee, dropping it to the ground. Hoping that it would be finished off by Virion or Miriel, he moved to the next Risen in and performed a similar maneuver. Before battle Robin had advised them to target the Risen's mobility. It seemed from their previous battle tha, while spells could drop the Risen easily, physically only an attack to the head or dismemberment at the neck could kill them. This made them very hard to kill quickly, and thus dangerous – but dismemberment at the knee or ankle could effectively neuter their combat abilities, as could a good hit against their arms or hands. Armed with these new strategies, the Shepherds made quick work of the dozen Risen. Once their cavalry swept into melee combat, the remaining Risen in the charge were quickly disposed of.

Arthur turned towards the bridge and saw that one Risen still remained – the large one, the leader. Its eyes were a glimmering red, full of malice but also calculating, unlike the other Risen. It was unsettling. The creature held a longsword and a shield. It pointed its sword at Chrom and yowled into the air, clearly issuing a challenge. "I'll handle this," said Chrom, running at the creature with Falchion drawn.

"Milord!" said Frederick, clearly upset by his brash charge. Robin rolled her eyes as well and ran after Chrom. He engaged with the Risen for a few swordstrokes before Robin crept up behind it and slashed its head from the back, dropping the Risen instantly.

Chrom looked at Robin as the creature fell, confused. "Robin! That was a one-on-one duel! You can't just interrupt something like that… it's… dishonorable!"

"Are you kidding me, Chrom? It's a Risen. They don't have honor – it was just using your confused sense of honor to lure you into a fight where it might have a chance of killing you. I reduced that chance to zero – you're welcome, by the way."

Frederick chimed in supporting Robin. "I agree with Robin. It was not quite… knightly behavior, perhaps. But we owe these creatures no honor, Milord. We should use every means at our disposal."

Chrom clearly did not like the idea of employing 'dishonorable' tactics, but eventually agreed with Robin and Frederick that it was justified. While they were having this discussion, Arthur had been rifling through the Risen remains looking for anything of worth. Most of the Risen's weapons were very poor quality and covered in rust, but one of them had an iron sword that seemed to be in good condition. Arthur grabbed it, to give to Robin – it would certainly be an improvement over the bronze sword she carried. He was prepared to admit that a sword looted off a corpse wasn't the most romantic gift, but then again Arthur wasn't sure how much interest he wanted to signal, and the sword was something he knew she could use.

Robin sought out Arthur as they resumed walking up the Northroad. Seeing the sword in his hands, she questioned him. "Did you get that from the Risen? Also what do you need it for? Don't you have a fancy sword already?"

"Yeah, it's from the Risen" he said, smiling slightly at her tendency to ask several questions in succession. He held out the sword to her. "I thought you might want it. It would probably beat the bronze sword you've been using."

Robin's eyes lit up. "For me?" she asked him, grabbing the sword. She inspected it closely and seemed to like what she found, switching it out for the bronze one at her hip (which she put in her bag – a keepsake, perhaps? Arthur supposed the bronze sword was one of her few original possessions). "Thanks, Arthur!" she said, giving him a quick hug before releasing him and taking out the sword once again, clearly still reveling in having a new possession. "It's a very sweet gift. I'll think of you whenever I slice open a Risen" she said with mock sweetness, laughing loudly at the absurdity of her own words and stowing the sword at her hip once again.

"Uhh… great?" said Arthur, not quite sure if that was a good thing. She seemed genuinely happy with the gift, so Arthur figured it was a good thing.

"We're finished here, Shepherds!" shouted Chrom from nearby, breaking Arthur from his thoughts. "Let's continue north! We should reach the Longfort by tomorrow afternoon!" With his announcement made, Chrom set off, leading the group north once more. Arthur and Robin fell into step with the others and once again resumed their discussion on Ylissean history. The Longfort awaited.

(So we're going to be getting into their relationship soon, and honestly I refuse to apologize for any cringe. Sometimes relationships, especially at their beginning and especially with infatuated people, are simply mega-cringeworthy from an outside perspective. Thus any cringe adds to the realism. I am a fairly cringe individual myself, which I have come to accept and embrace – in order to reach spiritual peace, one must accept the cringe within their soul. Anyway I'm not sure I can write a romance without a bit of that leaking in, so if that's a problem I'm sorry. I will admit that I'm kind of bad at evaluating my own writing though, so let me know if you guys have any suggestions in terms of pacing or style or anything else really! This is my first fanfic so advice from more experienced writers is always appreciated!)