Hilda woke up with the sun blinding her delicate eyes. Her blinds were pulled wide open, and someone was tugging on her blanket. The tiny and furious Lysithea was attempting to pull Hilda from her slumber.

"Hilda, get up! How dare you waste a morning such as this?!"

"Mmph, Lys," Hilda muttered, "Give me 5 more minutes, would you?"

There was a moment of silence, and Hilda felt her sheets return to her control. "Leonie had mentioned a couple of tricks to get you out of bed," Lysithea began, "Though I'm not sure I'm capable of that…"

"Hmm," Hilda's eyes shot open, "Wait, who did you-" She felt the full brunt of the small girl slam onto her. It was more ... jarring, rather than reeling after the forceful way that Leonie would wake her up. "Lysithea… you might be a tad too small to push me off the bed." Hilda couldn't help herself; the mage girl always hated her height, age, and stature being pointed out, which pressed all of Hilda's 'teasing' buttons.

Lysithea gave her a look that would've put Hilda in permanent purgatory, rather than just outright kill her. "If you are quite finished poking fun at me, breakfast is ready in the dining hall."

"Yeah yeah, no hard feelings?" Hilda asked. Her outfit slamming into her at full speed was enough of an answer for her. "Okay, I'm sorry! Please don't run off!" She ran into her bathroom. "Let me get ready, you can have some of the cookies that I keep in my desk!"

Lysithea's ears perked up. "Alright, if you insist. I'll accept your apology…" Her hands hovered over the desk drawer, relishing this moment in her day.

A few minutes later, Hilda came out, looking somewhat ready for the day. "Okay, Lysithea, I'm ready to go! … How many cookies did you eat?"

"I ate exactly seven, I'll have you know!" Lysithea was immediately on the defensive, "Three seemed like too few, and six is an even number, and you know how much I love prime numbers; it just seemed like the perfect amount to take!"

"Alright, alright!" Hilda interrupted, "Let's just get to breakfast." The pathways leading to the dining hall were filled with other heroes getting their day started. "Why are you picking me up anyways?"

"Claude wished to have breakfast as a unit and wouldn't stop knocking on my door," Lysithea replied harshly, "Plus, someone had to get you out of bed."

"Loving the implication there, Lysithea."

As the two turned the corner and entered the Main Hall, and came face to face with Seteth, who seemed concerned. At least, more concerned than usual. He noticed the two and approached. "Good morning, Hilda and Lysithea; have either of you happened to see Flayn this morning?"

Lysithea shook her head, but Hilda tilted her head and smiled. "No sir, but I did talk to her yesterday! She was thinking of joining me and checking out the sewing club later!"

Seteth paused, "Ah, I see," he replied, "Perhaps I shall also… 'check out'... said club. It seems intellectually stimulating. Thank you very much, Hilda." And with that, he walked off stiffly. Lysithea caught a little smirk on Hilda's face.

"So, was that just a blatant lie?"

Hilda tilted her head. "No, Flayn did mention that she might be interested… before she was taken away by a group of princesses."

"So, why steer Seteth in that direction?"

Hilda smiled again, "Oh, just doing a favor for some friends."

"Hard to imagine you with a bunch of new friends." Lysithea muttered.

Hilda faked being offended, "I could say the same about you!" The two were now getting food. Both of them, of course, opted for the pancakes. "You want to come by the sewing club tonight? Could be fun!"

"I'll pass, though I do appreciate the invitation," Lysithea replied, "I already have some plans with my friends."

"Well, well, well!" Claude's voice came from a nearby table, "I'm glad that us Golden Deer are still getting along!"

"As well as we can, Claude," Lysithea said, "Why did you call on us? I have research to do, and Hilda has… whatever Hilda has to do."

"Mostly sleeping in." she admitted.

Claude rolled his eyes. "Well, I wanted to talk about what the Princess and her Gloomy Pal are up to."

"Edelgard and Hubert?" Lysithea asked, "Hubert was working for those two strange dark mages…"

"Yeah, I've met Henry before," Claude remarked, "Nice guy, though he's a bit strange. Who's the other one?"

"I didn't really listen to her name, Claude," another forkful of pancake was shoved into the mage's mouth. "I was busy grabbing my own books. Pass the syrup, Hilda?"

"Of course." Hilda handed it over, and turned to Claude, "So, what's your plan?"

"Plan? Moi?"

Hilda rolled her eyes. "Yes, you. You always have something cooking up in your brain."

"Maybe you should check my temperature," Claude wiggled his eyebrows, before his expression turned serious. "I have a couple of ideas swirling around in my head, yes. Hilda, I've heard about an exclusive group; you have to be an elite axe wielder to join."

"Guess that counts me out!" Hilda sighed. "I dunno, Claude, you know how I feel about work."

"I know, that's why I'm offering…" he closed his eyes, as if the next thought gave him physical pain, "5 favors of your choice." Lysithea and Hilda both nearly choked on their breakfast.

"Claude, are you mad?!" Lysithea shouted, "Hilda will eat you alive!"

"Yeah, Claude!" Hilda looked uncomfortable, "You've never been willing to owe me anything! Is this really that important?"

Claude looked serious. "Yeah, as much as it pains me to admit, Edelgard got the jump on me in terms of information gathering. I can't get all this info by myself, so I'm willing to owe you a few favors if you help, Hilda."

She pondered this for a moment. She certainly did not enjoy the idea of extra work, and gathering intel was always so boring. But… the prospect of Claude buying her some chocolates, maybe doing some of her work when Seteth inevitably found a way to give them some… "Deal, but no complaints when I come to collect, alright?" She gave Claude a wink that made Lysithea shudder.

"Uh… what do you want me to do, Claude?" The mage asked hesitantly.

"Just keep working with the mages you've already met," Claude answered, "Let me know if you discover anything interesting."

"Interesting and pertinent to your interests?" Lysithea asked, earning a shrug from her house leader.

"Anything really. You know how much I love a good bit of gossip, Lysithea." This earned a sigh of resignation from the mage. She was well aware. "I have some places I'll be looking through myself, so I'll also be a busy bee."

"More like a busybody." Lysithea replied snarkily, "Well, I have some research to do, if you will excuse me." She stood up quickly and walked off. Claude looked back at Hilda.

"Is she… upset with me?"

Hilda shrugged. "Well, Claude, perhaps you should offer to do something for Lysithea too!" She cozied up to the house leader, "Tell you what, how about you only owe me 4, and you do something for our work-a-holic mage as well?"

Claude sighed. "These 4 favors are just going to be worse than usual, aren't they?"

"I hope you like sparring!"

The library was as busy as Robin had ever seen it. Volunteering to be a librarian was usually really nice: You talk to some people who are checking out books, then you spend the rest of the day reading books of your own! Well, usually you could, but today -

Another pile of books slammed onto the counter. Robin looked at the small mage behind said books. Lysithea had only been here a day or so, and she was already tearing through the library. "Excuse me, Robin," she said, "Can I have these checked out?"

"Didn't you just check out a bunch of books yesterday?" Robin asked, incredulously.

"Oh, I've already returned them, as I finished them last night."

Robin squinted. "You finished several books on magical theory in one night?"

"... Is that so strange?"

The tactician shook his head. "Of course not! I think it's wonderful that you're so well-read-"

Lysithea huffed. "- For my age, I assume. Well, I would like to continue with my education, please." Robin stamped each book out, and Lysithea stormed over to a nearby desk. It wasn't just her, either; Lute and Delthea were tearing through books as well, not to mention.

"My, my, she's a curt one." Tharja peered over the counter, looking at Lysithea with what Robin might call a greedy look. "Are you hurt, Robin? Do you yearn for my comforting embrace?"

"I'll get a comforting embrace from my wife later, thank you for the offer." Robin replied dryly. "I thought we were done with that, by the way."

Tharja pouted, "Aversa said you enjoyed being teased." Her visage darkened, "I'll repay her in full later…"

Robin sighed. He loved the extended family drama. "Anyways, you've been spying on that girl for awhile, Tharja. I haven't seen you this obsessed since… well..."

"Oh come now, Robin, take a good look at her. She clearly is brimming with magical power for some reason or another."

Robin frowned. "She looks like she could use a nap or maybe some food."

Tharja rolled her eyes. "Well yes, but what can we do about that?"

"... That's the difficult one to take care of?"

Tharja's eyes shifted. "It is not exactly my forte." She shrunk further behind the counter.

"What's not your forte, Aunt Tharja?" A perky voice asked. Morgan leaned over the counter, spilling pastry crumbs on its surface. "Why are you hiding?" Robin rubbed his chin. It was a long shot, but maybe Morgan was exactly what was needed.

"Hey, Morgan," he said, "Have you met the new girl?" He pointed out Lysithea, "Her name is Lysithea."

Morgan looked over at the mage, then at her own clothes. She clicked her tongue in disappointment. "I'm wearing my studying robes." She muttered.

"Considering her demeanor, I don't think she'll care." Tharja commented. "Though I'm sure your mother appreciates you keeping up appearances."

Robin ignored the pointed barb aimed at Cordelia, and smiled at his daughter. "She checked out 'De Floris Mysticis' today, didn't you just read that?" He saw Morgan's eyes light up.

"Father… just because someone reads the same books doesn't mean they could be … best friends," She held down a big smile. "Buuuuuut… I suppose it couldn't hurt to check…" She sauntered away slowly, as if she was planning some mischief. As Morgan left for the table, Robin turned to Tharja, who was smirking silently.

"Enjoying yourself?" Robin asked bluntly. Tharja nodded, covering her smile with her hands. "You know Cordelia wouldn't say something like that about you."

Tharja rolled her eyes. "Clearly you don't know your wife, Robin."

"Yes, clearly you don't." Cordelia placed two lunches on the counter, smiling with the same childish smile that Morgan would frequently wear. "What was said about me, I wonder?" She looked down at the dark mage, who was now grimacing.

"... I said you would be pleased with Morgan keeping up appearances."

Cordelia chuckled a little. "Well, I'm not sure why you're saying that, considering how much time you spent on your winter festival outfit." Her smile widened as Tharja's eyes darkened. "Oh, do you recall what that looked like?"

"Do not continue that line of thought," Tharja warned, "What do you want?"

Cordelia handed a bag of food to the mage. "Sumia, Cherche and I wanted to have some lunch with you, and I figured that you would be here while Robin's on duty."

"A veritable detective, you are," Tharja muttered, "I'll join you in a little bit. I'll find you, by the way, so no need to let me know where you are."

Cordelia closed her eyes and smiled again. "We're looking forward to it!" She said, before looking at Robin. "And here's some lunch for you." Her voice was sing-song-y, which made Tharja roll her eyes again. "I hope you enjoy it!" With that, Cordelia pecked Robin on the cheek. Both of them stared at Tharja, who was making gagging noises. "I'll see you later, Robin!" With that, she walked off, looking back flirtatiously at the tactician.

"You two are distressing." Tharja commented. She stood up and stretched. "I suppose my fun will have to be put on hold."

"Hold on, Cordelia mentioned a winter festival out-" Robin tried to continue speaking, but couldn't make a sound. Tharja was glaring daggers through the tactician.

"Not. One. More. Word." She hissed, before grabbing her lunch. "Why don't you take some time off of asking questions." The dark mage then stormed off, leaving behind a silent Robin. He sadly pulled out his lunch, and began to eat. At least the food was good.

Hilda yawned. Breakfast only served to make her even less eager to work, but Claude had offered up quite the tempting deal. It didn't take her long to find her target, a group of burly men chopping up various things with axes. She could hear the grunting and yelling from a long distance.

"Ha ha!" A man with a large mustache shouted. "You are quite impressive, Emperor!" Hilda paused. Emperor? "Knocking down Dorcas is no small feat!"

"He provided quite a challenge, It has been awhile since I broke a sweat!"

Hilda recognized Edelgard's voice, and she groaned. Of course she would be here to make her life harder. "Wow, you really have improved, Edelgard!" She announced. Best to act as if she was friends with the Emperor now, rather than cause a big fight. Edelgard looked straight at Hilda, her fiery eyes gazing through the girl. "Ha ha… You looked… really strong there!" She continued awkwardly.

Edelgard's eyes drooped, keeping an unimpressed gaze on her counterpart. "Hilda, apologies if we took a napping spot away from you. I thought you preferred the indoors for your slacking off."

"Hey!" Hilda protested. "Maybe I wanted to work out and train as well! I don't slack off every day, you know!"

"Edelgard, who is this?" A burly voice asked from behind the two bickering women. His short blue hair was slicked back and he gave off an aura of a man who could casually win any fight he entered. "A friend from your homeland?"

"Ah," Edelgard paused and looked at Hilda, who immediately gave her a pleading puppy-dog look, "... Yes, I suppose so, Lord Hector."

Hector laughed. "Well, if every person from Fodlan fights as well as you, then this girl is welcome to join C.H.O.P.!"

"..." Hilda looked at Edelgard. "C.H.O.P.?"

"Community of Hatchet Operating Persons!" The mustached man interjected. "Commander Anna made it just for us when the Summoner started the Clubs Association!"

Hilda looked perplexed. "So… you just train together?"

"In Anna's words: 'CHOP gives axe-wielders a place to train together in a safe environment with little to no chance of monetary damages occurring'."

"Ah." Hilda thought about it for a moment. It made sense to have a separate place so that things don't get damaged. But that still raised the question of why Edelgard wanted to work with them… She looked at the young Emperor, who just looked back smugly. Hilda sighed. It was probably something related to Fodlan, and now she was caught up in Claude's mess. "I'm going to make each one of those 4 favors count, you jerk." She muttered, before regaining her composure. "Well, I would love to join as well! What are the requirements?"

"Requirements, you say?" A strong voice spoke up from behind.

"How about we test your worth first?" Another voice rang out as well. Hilda and Edelgard turned around slowly. One woman seemed to be cut from granite, her red and white hair accentuating her wildness. However, she was less frightening than the woman next to her. Her green armor at first concealed her rabid intensity that permeated her visage. While the first woman seemed merely interested in the two newcomers, this one had already gauged them, observed them, and was watching their movements with hawk-like precision. Hilda had seen eyes like that before in her house leader, when he was planning a particularly nasty scheme.

When was that? She thought.

"Lady Echidna, Lady Rinkah!" Hector bellowed in both a frantic and eager voice, "This is Edelgard …"

"Von Hresvelg." Edelgard quickly finished, before curtseying politely.

Hilda quickly followed suit. "And I'm Hilda Valentine Goneril! Pleased to make your acquaintance!"

Echidna snorted. "A curtsey? Aren't both of you just prim and proper!" She walked by both, patting them both on the back. The blow startled Hilda, just a bit. "Alright, both of you grab an axe and come with us."

After a few minutes of walking, which Hilda found rather tedious, they arrived at a rather inconsequential section of woods. That's where Rinkah slammed down her club into the ground.

"Alright you two. Hector and the others tend to be pretty soft, so don't expect any preferential treatment." She barked out. "The test is simple: Turn one tree into usable planks."

Edelgard and Hilda looked at each other. "This seems rather… unorthodox." Edelgard started.

Echidna laughed. "CHOP is more than just a bunch of burly people yelling at each other," she explained, "We're here to do philanthropy as well. This wood will help the neighboring towns rebuild after the attacks from Muspell. In this way, not only can we heal and restore an injured people…"

"You can also help the reputation of CHOP." Edelgard finished, "Quite shrewd."

Rinkah scowled. "Are we just gonna flap our lips all day, or is some work going to be done?" She pointed to two trees that sat near each other. "How you take these down will determine your place here. Do you have the fiery will to succeed?!"

Edelgard turned to Hilda. "I'm sure Claude won't mind you backing out of this, Goneril."

Hilda ignored her and began to chop away at the tree. "Claude," she grunted, "you," CHOP, "JERK," CHOP, "YOU ARE," CHOP, "GOING TO," CHOP, "DO ALL MY CHORES," CHOP, "FOR A MONTH!" Edelgard frowned. Of course Claude had made a deal with Hilda, why else would she be here? The Emperor began to chop at a fervent pace. She wasn't about to let the local slacker outdo her.

The next 30 minutes was a flurry of wood, steel, and immense effort. Edelgard wiped off her brow. It wasn't her best work, but at least she was-

"DONE!" She heard Hilda shout excitedly, "What a workout!" Edelgard turned to the axe-wielder, who looked more like mush than a person. "Ha ha, Claude, you are so dead!"

"Impressive, both of you!" Echidna stated, "I'll be the first one to admit I didn't expect much, but both of you might be as strong as Hector!"

"That's quite the compliment, thank you." Edelgard responded, "Is there anything else we could help you with?"

Rinkah smirked. "You can follow us and accept your official invitation to CHOP." Hilda raised her arms in a victorious gesture.

"Hilda! Hilda! Hilda!" She chanted in an exhausted and nearly monotone voice. "I did it!" She turned to face Edelgard. "Say, Edie… could you carry me, perhaps?"

"Why should I do that?" But before Edelgard could get away from the pigtailed layabout, Hilda was already halfway up.

"Thank you… thank you…" she blubbered, while Edelgard looked at the other two for assistance. They just looked amused.

"That kinda begging certainly takes guts." Rinkah remarked.

Echidna laughed heartily. "I suspect there's more to that act than meets the eye!" She said, before leading the way back towards the castle.

"Say, what are you up to, anyways?" Hilda whispered. Edelgard grunted. So this was her game. Get close enough to interrogate. "Claude's always scheming stuff up, but you and Hubert are usually very straightforward."

"I like to think we're more subtle than you expect." Came the harsh reply.

Hilda stifled a laugh. "Subtle. Claude told me about the time you ranted for like, an hour during your underground adventure about the Church."

Edelgard blushed furiously. "I have my principles!" She shouted, "What is wrong with standing up for something?"

"Nothing at all!" Hilda replied, "I was just saying that you are as subtle as… well… me!"

"We are hardly alike."

"In pretty much every other category, yes. But both of us know what we want, and we tell everyone what we want. It's not our fault if others don't listen!"

"... I think you are much trickier than you claim, and I have more subtly than you prescribe me with."

"Flattery might get you somewhere."

Edelgard grit her teeth. This is why she hated dealing with most of Claude's friends. Notoriously annoying with their words.

Lysithea was attempting to ignore the girl sitting across from her. It wasn't too hard; the girl was just reading her own book, but she had purposely sat here. The only occupied table.

Suspicious.

She kept reading, and from the corner of her eye, she saw the girl look over her own book quickly.

Suspicious…

"Ah, you're reading Niime's "Texts on Astral Spells"! I'd recommend skipping chapter 5 and going back to it after Chapter 9." The girl piped up, "She mentions concepts in later chapters that really help contextually." She paused for a moment. "Ah! I'm sorry if you didn't want to be bothered, I just… I like studying with others!"

Lysithea sighed. "Chapter 5, you say? I'll make a note of it." She put the book down. "What book is that?"

Morgan looked at her own grimoire. "Oh, this? It's just a collection of hexes my Aunt put together. I don't really practice it, but the applications are fascinating!" She looked a little mischievous as she spoke.

"Ah, you come from a family of mages as well, then?"

"Yeah!" came the exclamation, "The name's Morgan!" She turned to see Robin trying to 'shh' her, but failing as the sound didn't leave his mouth.

"... The librarian seems rather familiar with you." Lysithea noted.

Morgan chuckled, "My father," She explained, "Anyways, you haven't told me your name!"

"Lysithea," came the short response, "You were right, this chapter is rather confusing." Lysithea scanned over the pages. "Why would you not make an annotation showing where your concepts are written?"

"Right? It's an amazing read, but a little confusing. Maybe that's what she wanted when she was writing it."

Lysithea continued to read her book, not looking up at Morgan. "So… Morgan," she began, "Why did you come over here and speak to me. Claude says that I give off a rather unpleasant aura when I'm studying."

Morgan shrugged. "I haven't seen anyone else here reading that book, for starters. And I… I've always kinda wanted a study buddy."

"Study buddy." Lysithea repeated. It was like something Annette would say. Or Hilda when she didn't want to study at all.

"Yeah!" Morgan looked a little sad. "You've probably already met Lute and Delthea and company, right?"

"Yes, they are quite the informative group," Lysithea said, "Wait… I don't remember seeing you there at last night's meeting…"

Morgan rubbed the back of her head. "Ha ha… I got a little caught up in a personal project." She explained. "I'm usually there, don't worry!"

"I am immensely worried." Lysithea retorted, "And if you have them, why do you need a separate 'study buddy'?"

Morgan slammed her fist on the table, her face contorted in pain. "Because we only meet once a week! How does anyone work alone for such extended periods of time!" She nearly shouted. Lysithea's eyes widened at this sudden burst of emotion. "Oh. Hello, father." Robin was standing over Morgan, frowning and crossing his arms. "I'll go back to being quiet now."

Lysithea chuckled as Robin left. "Your father is rather quiet, is he not?"

"He's been hexed," Morgan commented quietly, "He really doesn't like it when he gets hexed, so let's not try to bring it up too much." She pauses. "He tends to cry in mother's lap all night afterwards."

"Is 'mother' the brooding one that was peering over the counter at me?"

Morgan looked confused. "You mean Auntie Tharja?" she asked, "No way! My mom is a great pegasus knight! A ruler of the skies!"

"Oh," came the response, "I just assumed with the whole 'magic family' thing…"

Morgan shrugged. "Father, Auntie Aversa, and I count, right?"

Lysithea squinted. "I met Aversa last night. She's your aunt too?"

"Well… she's the only one related by blood." She looked at Lysithea's confused face. "It's a long story."

The mage huffed. "Well, we're getting off topic. You've read this before, so how does this concept work?" Morgan grinned, and began to talk away.

Seteth looked at the large door in front of him. Over his life, he had learned to trust his inner senses. The ones that screamed 'danger'. The few times he hadn't… well, he didn't like to dwell on it too much. But now, in front of what Goneril had claimed was the Sewing Club's meeting spot, he got that feeling again.

To be more precise, he had been feeling this way ever since he had been summoned here. After meeting some of the other heroes, he was still cautious; but the feeling persisted. Perhaps it is merely a paranoid response to a sudden change of location. Seteth reasoned to himself. He enjoyed that; much easier to talk to someone you know is as rational as you. He carefully knocked on the door.

The alarm bells in his mind immediately clanged loudly as the pink haired woman with a wyvern themed maid outfit opened the door. Her gaze eminated a terse friendliness. Rather like Manuela after a bad date, or, he shuddered, Lady Rhea.

"Why, you must be Seteth." She said in the most measured and kind voice. The kind of voice that came from years of practicing with someone who touched every nerve. There was no threat coming from it, but Seteth knew that voice when he heard it. "Flayn has told us a lot about you!"

"Ah," Seteth replied, taken slightly aback, "I assume that Flayn is here, then?"

"She went out for a minute, but I'm sure she'll be back shortly!" She backed away from the door. "You're quite free to wait for her here!"

Seteth walked in cautiously, the room was filled with cloth and various sewing projects. As I suppose a sewing club room should have, He thought. The room only had a few people in it, strangely. The pink haired woman was with another woman garbed in orange, as well someone with long lavender hair and black armor.

"By what I researched, the Sewing Club has more than 3 members." He said, as if he was caught in a den of lions. "Where is everyone?"

"Ah, everyone is still getting used to the schedule again." Came the explanation from the blue-haired woman. "By the way, we haven't introduced ourselves. I'm Oboro. This is Cherche," The pink haired girl waved pleasantly. "This is Camilla." Oboro's face contorted for a moment, which Seteth noted. Camilla waved as well. Everyone in this room, Seteth noted, had a threatening aura about them; but they didn't seem to want to threaten him in particular. "You seem guarded," Oboro noted, "We don't bite!"

"My apologies," Seteth responded, "This is an unfamiliar place, and I do worry about my little sister."

"Ah, I understand that feeling," Camilla said, "You're quite the devoted brother."

Seteth gingerly took a seat. "Thank you for the compliment," he replied. He saw a bolt of white cloth that felt very familiar. "Where did you find this cloth?"

Cherche thought about it for a moment. "I believe Flayn picked that one out before she went out."

Seteth smiled. It looked so similar… "So, Flayn will be back shortly?" He asked as he sat down and began working. "I will wait here, if you don't mind."

The three smiled. "It would be a pleasure to spend time with you, Mr. Seteth!" Oboro said.

He had considered leaving, but Seteth had a feeling that these three wouldn't just let him go, and besides, maybe he could make something for Flayn… It had been quite awhile…

"Princess Lissa, where are you taking me?"

"You said you wanted adventure, Flayn! It's time for the most exciting event of the month!"

Lissa dragged Flayn to the training grounds, where torches were already lit, and a sizable crowd had gathered. The archery targets were out, and 6 people were standing in front of them. Flayn recognized two of them immediately.

"Claude!" She shouted, "Lady Shamir!"

She heard the unmistakable laughter of Catherine as well. "Doing well, Flayn? Manage to ditch Seteth, I see!"

"What is this?" Flayn asked Lissa.

"Weeellll," Lissa began, "Every month or so, there's a competition of some sorts. And the winner gets a sizable pot of money! It's always a fun time!" Lissa started to back away. "You should cheer on your friends, I have someone I'm cheering on as well!" She ran off, shouting at the black-haired girl on the other side of the training grounds fence.

"Look at you, already making friends," Catherine noted, "You're pretty good at that, Flayn."

Flayn shook her hands in excitement. "Thank you, Lady Catherine, I am endeavoring to do my best!"

"Hey, Flayn," Claude called over, "Could you tell Shamir to back out of this contest?"

Shamir smirked. "Afraid to lose, Golden Fawn?"

Claude's face dropped a little at the nickname. "Honestly, that's exactly what I'm worried about."

"Come on Claude! Where's that fighting spirit?!" Hilda was being carried by Edelgard, who looked like she had been doing such a thing for a while. "Go Claude! Go Claude!"

"Stop shouting in my ear or I will drop you again!" Edelgard threatened, before looking at Claude. "What is this idiocy?"

"Archery contest," Claude was immediately back to his confident self, "Came here to see me beat Shamir?"

Edelgard glared at the two Knights of Seiros, then grinned at Claude. "I know better than to support a lost cause," she retorted, before lowering Hilda to the ground. "But I suppose I can stick around."

Catherine grinned and nudged Shamir's shoulder. "Two of the House Leaders against you, Shamir! I don't like those odds!"

"Only one of them has a bow," came the short retort, "and I feel pretty confident about my chances in that regard." This time, Shamir was back to her colder self. "Catherine, look to you right, sixty degrees."

Everyone looked in slightly different directions. Hilda waved while lying on her back. "Echidna! Rinkah! Over heeere!"

"Are you still resting?" Echidna asked, astonishment in her voice, "We're going to really have to work on your stamina…" She turned to Edelgard. "How are you faring, Edelgard?"

Edelgard grimaced. "A little sore, but nothing I can't handle." Came the reply.

Rinkah grinned. "That's the kind of fire I like to see!" She turned to Catherine and Shamir. "Speaking of…" she sized the two Knights up. "Both of you look like you know your way around a scrap."

Catherine chuckled, "Takes one to know one, I guess! It's been awhile since I've seen muscles like yours! Name's Catherine, and this is my partner, Shamir!"

"Rinkah, and this is Echidna."

Echidna waved to the duo. "So, it's a bow competition this month." she commented. "Well, you have your work cut out for you, then." She pointed towards the end of range, where a woman with long blonde hair stood. The summoner, a lavender haired woman, and a girl with dark purple hair were talking to her.

"Yeah, we exchanged glances," Shamir responded, "I liked the focus in her eyes."

"That's Clarisse, the Summoner's personal bodyguard. She got that role for a reason." Echidna explained. "I'm rooting for you, though, we could use a new champ!"

A bell rang out, and the ecstatic princess Sharena stepped in front of the crowd.

"Good evening, everyone! Welcome to the Askrian Monthly Challenge! Will a new marksman finally take the crown? Or will we have our first 5-time champion?" She pauses before the stands next to Clarisse. "Let's meet our competitors: Our 4-time champion, the Sniper in the Dark, Clarisse!" Clarisse waved, and said something to the lavender haired woman. "A longtime competitor, Prince Takumi!"

"Hey, you should try to hit more than one bullseye this time!" Came a comment from behind the Prince. Leo laughed as Takumi glared back at him, and Hinoka rolled her eyes.

"Next, we have a first time competitor: Nephenee!" The halberdier rubbed her head shyly.

"Next, we have Noire!" A large contingent of heroes began to cheer for the obviously overwhelmed black-haired girl, who just waved meekly.

"Popular girl." Catherine commented.

Sharena moved on to Shamir. "For the first time, we have Shamir!" Catherine and Flayn cheered loudly. "And last but not least, we have Claude!" Flayn also cheered loudly, as well as Hilda. Edelgard clapped half-heartedly.

"Each of you have 6 arrows, and the 3 highest scores will move on to a second round! That will be the final round, and the highest score there will win!" Sharena backed out of harm's way. "The first round starts… now!"

Shamir unloaded her 6 shots quickly and efficiently. 5 bullseyes and one slightly off. She frowned, but backed off. She looked across the way to see Clarisse had done the same, but had made 6 bullseyes.

"Feeling a little tense, partner?" Catherine leaned against the fence separating the two. "I haven't seen you miss your first shot in awhile."

"I missed the first one?" Shamir asked. "Thanks for noticing. I'll try to relax a bit." She looked over to the others. Nephenee was clearly not an archer by trade, but she didn't do too bad. A couple of bullseyes and all arrows on the target. Takumi and Noire were certainly practiced, but the former seemed to have lost composure, and missed the target once entirely. He was already being held back by a taller redheaded woman while the armored blonde boy rolled on the floor, laughing and wheezing. Noire had hit 4 bullseyes, but she had hit the first ring twice as well. She seemed to be in the middle of a coaching session from a pigtailed girl. Shamir turned to Claude. Claude had a similar looking target as Noire, but one of his targets seemed on the line between the first and second ring. He looked a little disappointed.

"Tch, can't believe I missed my first shot that badly." He said. "Sorry Princess, looks like I'll have to impress you some other time."

Edelgard chuckled. "I could never hit a bullseye with an arrow, let alone 4 times."

"Oh? A compliment?"

"You need it more than myself, so yes." Edelgard grinned, satisfied with the small victory.

Sharena stepped back onto the range. "So, it looks like our three moving on are: Clarisse, Noire, and Shamir! If you could please condense into the 3 middle targets, we can move onto round 2!"

The three competitors complied, placing Noire in the middle of the two intimidating snipers.

Clarisse huffed, "So you're the new archer, huh?" She smirked. "You seem a peg or two higher than the other heroes."

Shamir looked her over closely. Everything about Clarisse screamed "assassin". She was just as silent, and her eyes followed small movements in a way Shamir had only seen in herself. "How long have you been training?" She asked.

"As long as I can remember," Clarisse replied, "As long as it's worth remembering."

Shamir gave a quick smile. "Likewise."

Noire raised her hand. "Ummm… Princess Sharena… I feel really out of place between these two, can I sit out?"

Clarisse glared at the girl. "We've been training for weeks, Noire. You have a chance to win, so don't be intimidated." Noire grimaced. Shamir put a gloved hand on the girl's shoulder.

"As harsh as it sounds, she's right." She said. "Just think of you and the target."

Noire put down her hand and looked at the two. "Why are both of you glaring at me?" She asked.

"Glaring?" They replied simultaneously.

"Yes, glaring!" Noire's voice raised a little. "I didn't travel through time to be glared at! I didn't lose everything I cared about to be belittled!"

"Oh boy." Shamir heard a voice from the crowd mutter.

"I WILL BEAT BOTH OF YOU! BLOOD AND THUNDER!" Noire cried out, as she nocked an arrow and let it fly.

A bullseye. And then another. 6 bullseyes in a row, before Noire, panting and exhausted, took a seat on the ground. Shamir and Clarisse looked at each other, then started to shoot as well.

Bullseye

Bullseye

Bullseye.

After 5 shots, both of the archers had been perfect, but when Shamir got to the last shot, she hesitated. She thought of herself, younger and a little more frightened. Loathe as she was to admit it, but winning this didn't really matter. She had proven that she was one of the better shots here, which would likely help her earn some coin. She lined up the shot…

Her arrow was shot out of the air by another arrow, and she heard Clarisse curse loudly.

The whole archery grounds went silent, before Sharena finally spoke.

"I- I- We have a new archery champion! Noire has won her first competition!"

Noire looked confused, looking back and forth between Clarisse and Shamir as people patted her head and cheered. "I-I won? I won!"

Shamir nodded her head. "Good job," she said, "That was a good run."

Clarisse frowned. "Yeah, good work." her words were short, and she stormed off without another sound. Shamir moved to follow, but was stopped by a pair of strong arms hugging her tightly.

"Damn!" Catherine shouted over the rest of the cheering heroes. "That's some bad luck, getting hit by her stray arrow!"

Shamir grimaced at the tight embrace, but turned slightly. "You know as well as I do-"

"That that shot was intentional?" Catherine replied. "I'm not stupid-"

"Jury's out on that."

"-But that girl doesn't need to know." She tilted her head towards Noire, who was being carried off by all the other heroes, including a suddenly active Hilda. "And besides, you were planning on doing the same, weren't you? Lucky for you that Clarisse girl is a better actress."

Shamir smirked. "That obvious?"

"Only to someone that's known you for awhile." Catherine put down Shamir. "Come on, they're gonna have a little celebration in the mess hall for our victor, you should make an appearance too!"

Shamir lightly punched Catherine's shoulder. "Sure thing, partner. But you have to do most of the talking."

The two continued their light banter as the moon hung high over the Castle, the excitement of Noire's victory hanging high in the air.

Thank you all for reading! As always, comments and questions are loved and appreciated!