Chapter 3: Until the Clouds Come In

Cold air brought a shiver through Chris as he looked over his—now much lighter—shirt. "Are you sure this is safe? I'm pretty sure I remember learning that it'd be safer if you left it in there until I can get to a doctor—uh, someone who can heal it."

The tactician snorted. "Relax, I know what I'm doing… I think."

"Wait what?!" Chris almost jumped, only stopped by her hand holding him down, "What do you mean, 'I think?'"

"My memory is… a little foggy at the moment, though I know this is safe." She nodded, unwrapping more of their makeshift bandages from her hand.

"I—fine, but please be careful. I'm trusting you here…"

"You seem a little too easily trusting, we've only just met," she huffed, wrapping her hands around the arrow, "and hold still, I'll pull it out on the count of three."

" Got it, just make it quick…" he answered, taking a deep breath, "Ready."

"Alright, three."

"TWO!"

Another surge of pain ripped through Chris as he yelled, muffling the sound with his good arm a second later. Cool water rushed over the wound, stinging it the worst sunburn he'd ever had as she wrapped the wound up.

"Tighter," he managed to say through gritted teeth, "it needs to stop the bleeding, wrap it tighter."

Hesitating for a second, the tactician yanked on the bandage, another surge of pain rushed through him as she kept tying their makeshift bandages around the wound. The chilled air only barely managing to cool his nerves as he sat there, waiting for her to finish.

She backed away, finally done as she pushed back off of him. Chris looked over his shoulder to find the new wad of cloth sitting where the arrow had been. He tried stretching his arm and, while the movement made him wince, it didn't shift the bandage.

"Thanks for tha-AT," another small spike of pain rushed through from stretching his arm too far again, "I would've probably just left it there like an idiot."

"No worries, my sister and I had a situation with brigands before we got here," she answered back, "It's why she's like this now, dealing with them is quite tiring."

"Same for me," Chris laughed, a light blush finding its way onto his face. "Honestly, I'd rather not go through it again."

"Neither would I, but if we're going to be traveling alone then I suppose we'll have no choice in the matter," she said, gesturing to the chair in front of her.

Nodding, Chris took the seat, the old wood creaking under his weight. "These things must have been here a while," he commented.

She looked at the chair for a moment, then scanning the rest of the room. "You wouldn't happen to know when these forts were last used, would you?"

"Uh, no, I'm kinda new… here," he mumbled before shaking his head. "I'm Chris, by the way. Do you two have a name?"

"What do you mean by 'new here'? Are you a foreigner? And our names are Robin."

Chris looked at her, "Okay, Robin, but what about your sister?"

Robin sighed. "Her name is Robin, the same as mine."

"You… you and her," he pointed at the woman," both have the same name?"

"Yes, I find it strange as well, though it's what she told me. I trust her." She narrowed her eyes. "And you just dodged my question."

Chris leaned back, letting the chair's wooden back press into his bandage as he gave her a strange look. "What questio—oh! Right, yeah, I'm a foreigner. Well, you could say that."

"What do you mean by that?"

"It's, well…" He looked over at the sleeping woman in the corner, 'Robin,' the name still feeling weird to him, though only for the other Robin. "It's a long story, it'd probably be better if she woke up first."

"Fine," she sighed again, "but I will hold you to that."

Chris nodded again as the two sat in silence once more. The small fire next to them barely crinkling as it slowly smoldered. Its smoke was faint in the air, clearing out the dry dust he'd remembered from the other fortress with smoking pine and grass.

He noticed her eyes, her stare almost confused as she did so. "So, what are you two doing in here?"

She looked down at her sister, sighing a third time. "We were just traveling back home, to Plegia. That's what she keeps telling me at least."

"You say that like you don't believe it, any reason for doubting her?" Chris asked.

"No, it's not that I doubt her, she is my sister after all. I—well…" she trailed off, relaxing into the chair behind her. "Have I mentioned my, condition, yet?"

"No, wait, didn't you say something about your memory?" he asked, which she answered with a nod. "You're an amnesiac, right?"

She raised her brow. "Yes, is that common around here?"

"Uh, I don't—do not think so, I am just a good guesser I, uh, guess," he mumbled.

"Hm." She stared at him for a moment. "I suppose it doesn't matter. She keeps telling me that our home is Plegia; that we need to return there, but she hasn't ever explained why. It's strange, but I suppose it might be easier to explain when we get there."

Chris tilted his head. "Oh, and she never explained why she isn't saying anything?"

"Nothing, though as I said I'll probably understand when we get there, she did seem fairly tired today."

Chris nodded back before slumping into the chair, shoulder aching again from the light pressure as his back pushed into it. His foot slipped over some dust, the floorboards completely covered in a light grey snow of stones, probably from the walls and roof. Looking around the room more, he realized that nobody had probably been in it in years. He briefly wondered if he could remember anything from the game about it, but this seemed like too vague a subject for the game to mention.

What was important, however, were the twins in front of him. Both of them looked almost identical, from their white, flowing hair, coats, even their body shapes were identical. Everything about them was almost the same except for one important detail.

Their brands.

The Robin who'd helped him, her brand seemed almost like some kind of strange, purple tattoo. A weird choice in a style that wasn't too important to anyone without an understanding of the world Chris knew he was in. The six eyes focused on top of a spire, all connected by a central design.

Meanwhile, the sleeping Robin's brand glowed with a faint, purple light. The only reason he'd noticed it was when he'd walked into the room and saw her hand laying out next to her. Chris felt uncomfortable looking at the mark, almost as if it'd been staring back at him.

"Maybe that's what marks her as the body for Grima. So is the other Robin safe? What if I tried and—"

He shook off the thought, it didn't matter if one of them was more likely to turn evil, he wouldn't do anything to them. They hadn't done anything bad yet and hopefully never would, at least, he'd make sure of it.

With that thought, his eyes slowly fell, the fatigue of the day washing over him as he sank further into the chair. While it wasn't as comfortable as the bedroll, Chris wondered if he'd ever complain after the day he'd been having.

"Oh, Chris!" His head snapped up, her smile dropping as he did. "I apologize if I startled you."

"I, uh…" he glanced at the brand again, "no, you're fine, you wanted something?"

She nodded, adjusting her coat out from the back of her chair. "I was wondering who shot at you? I know you mentioned an encounter with some bandits today, but I assume you haven't been wandering around with an arrow in your shoulder all day."

He shook his head. "Right, no. I was being chased by Ri—er, monsters, I was being chased by some monsters."

"Monsters… that wielded bows?"

"They're like, uh, do you know what a zombie is?" She shook her head. "Right, well… they're a dead person, but not actually… dead."

She brought her hand up to her chin. "Really? Are those commonplace here?"

"No, they just showed up here for the first time this night."

"I see… and where are they now?"

Chris pointed towards the door. "Oh, they should be… uh, right there."

"Really?" she turned around, "And they're just standing around? Wouldn't they be trying to get in?"

Chris stared at her for a moment before realizing that the room was deathly silent. Only the sleeping Robin's breaths broke it as Chris slowly turned towards the open door.

He stood up, jumping at a creak in the floorboards. A shiver went down his spine as he slowly crept towards the barricaded doors, remembering the sharp banging and chopping that had scared him so much before. At the time, he felt that hearing dozens of undead creatures slamming through the only door in between himself and them was the worst thing imaginable.

Apparently not hearing them was even worse.

Stopping at a stool below the window opening, Chris rested his hand on its ledge. The stone was colder than the air around it, though neither were able to cool his nerves as pushed himself up to the ledge, eyes going wide at what was outside.

"Chris, what—oh gods, what are those things!"

The entire horde of Risen was plain to see. Their taut skin and muscles were lit by the dim lights of the distant forest fire, just like he'd remembered from his previous encounter with them. Unearthly moans spread out around the field they stood in, quieter than they'd been during their charge, but still unsettling.

What bothered Chris wasn't their looks though, or even their groans, it was what they were doing. The entire horde was spread out in a circle around the fort, keeping their distance but still ready to charge, as if they were waiting for orders. The question was though, what would be giving that order.

Or who…

He looked back towards the room where the other 'Robin' lay. His vision then snapping back to Robin's brand, her focus still on the horde outside as he stared openly at her own brand in its completely non-reactive state.

"Robin."

She snapped down at him, breaking from her previous focus. "Those are what shot at you?!"

"Robin," he repeated.

"I, what are those, things. Gods, they look far worse than corpses, and then those mask—"

"Robin!" he hissed, snapping Robin out of her thoughts. "I need to talk to you, upstairs."

"Why would we ever go on the roof?!" she snapped, "Didn't you just say that—"

"Quiet!" he hissed. "I need to talk to you, and we need to be quiet about it."

Staring at him blankly, she tried muttering a response before sighing. "Fine, but we are not getting close to the ledge," she answered, walking back over to the room before picking up her sword. "Those things have arrows and I am not getting closer to them, got it?"

Chis nodded, gesturing up the stairs. "I'll explain, uh… I'll explain what I can up there. For now, we need to go there."

He looked back at the room, shaking off a chill as he left the door behind him.

The dark clouds above Chris washed over each other in a constant swirling mass of black and grey. With how he'd compared the stars to a sea before last, well, this same night, it felt fitting to call this an ocean. As it'd completely blotted the stars out, despite how bright they were earlier.

He felt a tap on his shoulder, turning to see Robin gesture out to the walls around the rooftop. After he'd told her that they needed to talk up here, she decided to go along with it if they waited a bit to see if the Risen were going to do anything with them on the roof. And while Chris felt like explaining the literal demon beneath them was important, he also had no clue what the Risen around them would do, and agreed.

After a few careful steps, he set his hands on the gravelly rooftop walls and peeked over the ledge. The Risen were in the same position as before, having stayed still in the few minutes the two had waited. He turned back to Robin, nodding to confirm that they hadn't moved an inch.

"That's a relief then," she sighed, shifting back away from the wall. "So, are you ready to talk about those things down there? And why we're up here."

Chris hesitated, considering his options again. He'd already kept his knowledge about the future a secret from Chrom and the others, but this was different. Grima was directly under them, sleeping for whatever reason. If his knowledge of the future was needed for that, then that was more important.

"Well? Are you just going to stand there? If so I'd prefer we go back to the base level and as far away from those things as possible," Robin said, sitting down on a nearby crate.

"I understand, and that's why we need to talk up here."

"What, so they can't hear us?" she snorted, "I don't think being in the open air helps very much with that."

"It's not that," Chris shook his head, "It's because of… your sister, she's downstairs."

Her eyes narrowed to a fine point. "You say that like she has something to do with those things."

Chirs hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Because she does."

Immediately, she moved to respond before cutting herself off. Instead of shouting back at him as Chris had expected, she thought for a moment. He wondered if he'd rushed this too fast. Maybe if he'd danced around accusing Grima a little more he'd—

"I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt on this," she answered, her voice colder than before. "So tell me, what in the hells do you mean by that."

He slowly nodded, taking in another breath of ashy air. "Your sister down there, you mentioned that she was acting strangely. And not only is her name the same as yours, but she even looks identical to you, including those two marks. The only difference being that yours is more like a tattoo while hers glows. Am I wrong?"

"No," she agreed, "and I'll admit that our situation is unusual, but that isn't at all related to my sister somehow being responsible for those creatures down there."

"But how do you know she's your sister?"

"Because—well, because of exactly what you just said. Wasn't that your point?" Robin asked, giving him a confused stare. Which was at least an improvement from before.

"No, it's—" Chris cut himself off, taking another breath, "I know another explanation for your, similarities."

He took a step forward, straightening himself as he explained, "I know this will sound insane, but you need to trust me on this. I swear I have an actual explanation for this. The woman downstairs is, your future self."

He flinched back, waiting for Robin to snap at him. After a moment, he cracked his eyes open slightly. Instead of a furious glare like he'd expected, like how Frederick seemed to always be looking at him, he saw her just looking at him calmly, her hand on her chin.

He built up some more courage before hesitantly asking, "You… still aren't yelling at me?"

"No, I'm not," she answered. "You said you had some kind of reason for this. So before I call you insane for it I should at least know why you think that."

"That's—erm, that is fair. So, I would rather not go into how I know this right now. But the person down there is your future self possessed by a massive world-ending dragon known as Grima. In that future, Grima succeeded in ending the world, until some people from that time jumped back into this one to save it. Noticing this, Grima followed behind them inside your body."

"Those creatures—" he turned, pointing at the Risen "—are controlled by Grima. Undead soldiers that follow her orders. The only reason they are not storming in right now is that she is down there, preventing them from running in and killing me. I have no idea why she is here. But I do know that she will try and force Grima to possess you in this time too. So I am asking you, right now, to come with me and get as far away from her as possible, because if you stay. She will end the world, and most likely completely possessing of you as she does so."

Taking deep breaths, Chris carefully watched Robin, waiting for her decision. As she thought, he noticed the clouds behind her patiently moved, their black forms shining the distant firelight from behind them.

"Mhmm." She nodded. "So, to summarize. You believe that—sleeping below us right now—is a world-ending dragon, who is both possessing my future self and commanding those things out there." Robin listed off, dropping her hand after finishing. "You have no explanation for how you know about any of this, and the only evidence you have for this is that we look similar. That, and those creatures aren't moving in towards us."

Chris flinched. "Well, there's also your brands—"

"Ah, of course," she scoffed, "our brands. With her's glowing. Clear evidence of possession by a future world-ending dragon."

Chris took a step back. "Look, I know it sounds a little insane but, I need you to trust me on—"

"Trust you?!" she finally exploded, now gawking at him. "Why don't you trust me on this! My sister and I both have birthmarks, hers glowing from her higher skill with magic. While mine doesn't due to my own training focused on the sword."

She crossed her arms, nose crinkling from her scowl. "There, that's a far more rational explanation for all of this than whatever lunacy you're suggesting."

A breath leaked out of him as Chris stepped back again. "What about the Ri— er, those creatures down there? How do you explain that?"

"What about them?" she mockingly asked. "I've never seen them before, so maybe they stop attacking whenever they can't get to anyone."

"How does that make any form of sense?!" he finally snapped, flinching at his own harshness.

"It doesn't! But that's easier to believe than whatever you're talking about!"

Chris winced, moving to respond before stopping himself. He calmed down once again, asking, "Look, I am not asking you to trust me yet, I am just asking you not to believe your sister." He perked up remembering their conversation earlier. "Didn't—did you not say that she was acting suspiciously? If she really was your sister then why would she not just explain everything to you?"

"Yes I did," she nodded, "but even if she's acted strangely, you have no actual evidence for any of what you've said so far."

Chris whipped around, gesturing to the Risen. "Those are your evidence! It should at least be enough of one to consider this!"

She shot up, pointing down at Chris. "Why would I consider that?! Even if anything you'd said made any form of sense, why would I just leave my sister?! She's the only person right now that knows anything of my past, anything of who I was before this! If I just leave her behind then I lose that!"

Robin hissed under her breath. "And you know what? Even if you're right, I'll know of it now and be ready for it. So why would I risk going with you and losing everything about me." She scoffed. "Unless you somehow know about that too."

"Alright, here is everything I know about you," he immediately answered, adding with a shaky breath, "I know this will not be enough, but this is all true."

Another breath, the ash in the air ignored as the night air calmed him once again. "You were born into a cult called the Grim—grim-something or other. They wanted to raise you to become her, Grima, until you escaped. Eventually, you find the Shepherds, a group I can take you to right now, and find yourself a home there."

"...that's it?" Robin said. "That's all you have?"

"Yes, I know that isn't enough—"

"Isn't enough!? That's nothing! You could have made it up on the spot!"

"It's true! You just don't know it yet! Please, you just have to—!"

"Trust you, right?" Robin threw her hands out mockingly. "You're right, if I just trust you then I'll learn everything about my past and it'll make sense, of course!" She gestured back to herself, hand near her heart as she gestured around at the rooftop. "Everything about me from my sister's identical appearance other than her scars, to my loss of memories, to even—!" She raised her hand, tightening it into a fist, "—even this damned mark you keep obsessing over, all of it will make total sense!"

Robin stepped forward. "How?!" Robin asked as she shot her finger into his face. "Right now, even if you're correct, my only option for finding out who I am again is with her, my sister. How else could I make any sense of the complete absence of my life with only a faint dream and a day's worth of memories!"

"I…"

"Well! How?!" she repeated, forcing Chris back.

Chris stood where he was in shock. Thinking through everything he could until he saw her nod.

"Exactly, you have nothing, no proof, no reason. Now excuse me, but I'm going to go ask a few questions to my sister instead, since that might actually yield something." Robin said, snapping around towards the stairs.

"Wait!" he called, rushing forward to stop her, "Isn't there anything else? Please, I know you don't have any memories but maybe there's something from today, or that drea—!"

His eyes shot wide open. "The dream!"

"What is it now?" Robin sighed for an unknown time, turning around to face him again. "Some new event I have no memory—"

"You know who Chrom is!"

She froze. "...How do you know that."

Chris took in another breath to calm himself. "I do not—"

"And just stop talking like, whatever that is. How do you know about that," she snapped, making Chris flinch before he quickly recovered with a deep breath.

After a moment, he let the cool air out, and spoke. "I don't remember much of it. I haven't even thought of my, um, source in two years at least. It's why I can't remember much of it. But I'll try anyway."

"You and Chrom, a blue-haired prince with the big sword named Falchion, run up at… at a tall, evil-looking dark mage. You fight him using magic while Chrom fights up close. Eventually, you manage to kill him, but..." Chris paused to take another breath.

"... but you don't win, the mage takes control of you and forces you to kill Chrom. Stabbing him through the chest with lightning magic."

"That's the first thing you know, right?" Chris pressed, taking another step forward. "You know who Chrom is, I do too."

"You… " she sputtered, gazing back down the stairwell before snapping back up to him. "You know Chrom?"

"He's just across the field," Chris gestured out towards the other fort. "I ran here trying to get those Risen away from him."

She stood in place, stunned as she mumbled to herself. "But how could you… why would she…"

Robin looked up, fear in her eyes. "Oh god—" She grabbed at her head, screaming in pain as she collapsed to the ground.

Chris took a step towards her. "Robin, what's wrong—"

Pain. Searing, burning pain tore through his stomach. He slid to his knees, staring at the dark spike that appeared in his chest. Just as suddenly, the object retracted and his legs gave out, his hand rushing to cover the wound almost on instinct as he tried to catch his breath. His eyes shot towards the stairwell, the dark figure slowly rising from it stopping his pained breath.

"You!" Grima roared, "You thought you were clever?!"

Chris slowly pushed himself away from Grima as violet flames erupted out of her. Downstairs, a loud slam rang from below them, a sharp crack he remembered from the other fort.

"You, Christopher, assumed that this plot of yours would work?!"

She stood tall, Robin behind her still yelling in pain as she did so. He flinched as his back hit the walls, with nowhere else to go, he froze in front of the creature directly in front of him.

"You know well what I am, insect. I am the breath of ruin! The wings of despair! You thought you were able to slip under my guard? To sneak beneath my sight? To take my vessel, what is rightfully mine?!"

She laughed, a pained sound that sent a shiver through his spine colder than the stones he'd pressed up against. "I may not know how you've found me here, you should still be on the path to Ylisstol. Perhaps your knowledge was more of a threat than I assumed, but it matters little. On this day I both retrieve my vessel and remove a thorn in my side."

She paused, looking up past the wall behind him. "Or perhaps that can wait," she said with a frightening grin. Chris briefly wondered what she was looking at before another crash blew out from below. "I would much prefer you end these surprises you seem to be so fond of. Perhaps a, conversation, between us about your knowledge is long overdue."

"What—" Chris coughed "—what are you talking about?"

She glared down at him. "And there it is again, I cannot tell if this is some complicated lie you are creating to give yourself some kind of future shield or if you are honestly ignorant. That unpredictability has already come close enough to ruin my plans."

"Though that has ended now, hasn't it?"

She waved her hand towards the horde below him, a crack, much louder than before, followed it. "I know not where these Risen have come from, but frankly, I couldn't care less. They'll do well enough carrying both you and my past vessel back to Plegia."

"Although, there is no reason we cannot start with the questions now, Christopher," She leaned in, close enough that he could see himself in the reflection of her blood-red eyes. "What secrets of this future told you of my current plans?"

A stared at her. Gasping for breath before he could finally manage out, "Your, what?"

"My plan, to—oh, you contemptible worm. You almost had me there," she laughed.

"What are you talking about—" A flick of her wrist and Chris felt his left leg torn into as another black spike jutted out of it, darker than anything he could remember. Tears ran down his cheeks as a terrifying scream echoed around him, one he barely recognized as his own.

Grima looked down at him with a bored stare as she lowered her wrist, the spike doing the same. "You know my plan well enough, why else would you be here of all nights? You and Naga's blood should be along the Northroad as of now, why would you be so far from there unless this is some kind of plot against me. So go on, explain yourself before I make this night much better for myself, we have plenty of time."

Pushing himself back up against the wall again, he held the wound in his chest as he stared up at Grima. He opened his mouth, "I—" before snapping it shut. Looking up at the dragon in human form above him, Chris realized just what Grima had asked him to do.

She knew about the game, but still wanted him to tell her about it. She didn't know something. Something important enough that she was apparently willing to keep him captive.

And the only thing she had to threaten him with was his life.

He looked up at her, her eyes well focused on Chris as she stared him down. A smokey breath of air shot more pain through the hole in his chest. He ignored it, straightening out once again as he grinned.

"No."

"Ha! Fine then. I suppose I shouldn't have expected anything else. But I do wonder…" she leaned in again, Chris keeping his eyes on her as she did so. "How long until your answer changes? How many nights until that confidence of yours shatters to dust as you—"

A blurry flash of blue-green, black, and white was all Chris saw before a scream echoed out around him. The next thing he saw, Grima had a dark violet orb in her hand, clutching her left side with the other arm. She was challenged by a familiar white ponytail and coat, an orb of bright yellow lightning sparking against the dark roof's floor.

The two orbs shot out as Robin charged. Chris felt himself pushed away from the blast, followed by another slash and screech, the sound echoing in his head before a loud thud rang out. Looking back, he saw Robin staring down the stairwell before she snapped back over to Chris, rushing towards him.

"Alright, she shouldn't be getting up anytime soon." She shook her head, a pained look on her face before she opened her eyes again. "I hope she doesn't anyways. Where is Chrom."

Chris weakly pointed back towards the fort before pulling it back. "I—I'm not too sure, I jumped off of that fort over there and had those Risen follow me."

"Hoping that he'd run off to safety while you… what was your plan once you got here?"

Chris huffed a laugh. "I was thinking I'd burn it down with some oil, trapping the Risen in here with me."

"...there isn't any oil here."

"I noticed—" A loud crash from below interrupted him.

"You will not escape me, Christopher!" Grima roared, followed by the rapid footsteps of Risen.

"We need to get down from these parapets, now!" She picked him up, helping him shuffle over to the edge. "There should be some hay down there, I'll throw you down and jump."

"Wait," he asked, "since when was there hay?"

"That doesn't matter, now GO!" She tossed him towards the edge of the parapet, he hung on for another moment before shrugging and leaning over it.

The familiar feeling of falling washed over him again before he landed, the wounds that covered his body stinging in the grassy pile he'd landed in. A soft thump in the hay next to him reminded him of Robin, but before he could look she'd already taken a hold of him on his right side. His shoulder aching hard from the sudden pressure, though it was either that or walking on his injured leg.

She pointed at the line of trees next to the fort. "We can lose them in there, but we need to go, now!"

Chris didn't even need to nod as they charged ahead, each step a bolt of pain through his chest and leg. Every light dip and rise, small differences he hadn't noticed from his previous sprint, were each agonizing as he limped along, Robin provided just enough support to keep up their pace, but they were still slow.

He looked back, eyes widening as he saw the horde behind them. Each step the two took brought them closer to the forest, but the Risen were still gaining on them. He realized that he could even feel their mad rush towards them through the ground. At this rate, they'd catch up to them before they reached the forest.

Unless…

"Robin."

"Chris, we're almost there, just keep it up and—"

"Robin," he repeated, grabbing her attention, "we won't make it! Just leave me behind!"

"Not an option!"

"Robin, you won't make it out of here with me weighing you down, and frankly, you're a lot more important than I am."

"Chris, we're both getting out of here, and that's final. Once we get to the treeline, I can try and hold them off—"

Chris interrupted her, "You're planning to fight them?!"

She flashed a grin. "No, but I can deal with them long enough for you to find Chrom and… well, there are others with him, right?" Chris nodded, trying to blink off a strange blurriness that fell over him. She nodded towards the forest in front of them. "Good, then I'll have them follow me around until you get the others here to help."

"I—" A wet cough came out of him, his mouth tasting as if he'd licked a zipper. "I can't run that far."

She glanced down at him, her eyes now filled with worry before she shook it off. "If that doesn't work, then I'll just think of something else."

Another arrow thudded behind them. Whether it was that sound or Robin's tone that motivated him, Chris didn't know, but he pushed himself once more, his breath labored and half dry, half coppery and wet as the pair finally made it to the end of the woods.

Robin almost threw him behind a tree before another pair of arrows landed somewhere behind them. "They're aiming low," she murmured, looking back, "You need to go, I'll hold them off well enough here until you get back."

Another cough rang out of him, his throat hurting as he slowly pulled himself up. "I just—I just said you can't fight—"

"Chris, they aren't trying to kill us."

"Wh—what?" he asked, looking vaguely at Robin. For some reason his vision was getting blurrier by the second.

"They're only aiming to incapacitate us," she stated, dodging another thud somewhere around her feet. "That means I can fight around that, but you need to get the others, I can only hold them off for so long, now go!"

A pair of Risen charged at her as Chris grimaced, turned, and slowly hobbled away. He wiped his eyes again, expecting some more tears from the pain and for his vision to clear up, but instead found his arm as dry as before. Each step pained him as he limped away, the clanging of swords and shouts of thunder behind him as he marched.

Suddenly, he felt a few leaves fall on him. Looking over his shoulder, he saw both the white bandages from his arrow wound—something he'd need to get a doctor to look at—and some kind of brown mass. He focused on it, realizing it was a tree root.

"Oh, I tripped," he mumbled to himself, slowly pulling back up until he heard footsteps.

Chris whipped towards the source, the action making his head ache as his eyes focused again. Rapid footfalls, almost like running, were approaching him, and fast. He lifted his arms up as fast as he could, though they were too heavy at the time to really manage much for that.

The thing stopped in front of him, something blue waved behind their form, which itself was also mostly blue with a few golden outlines. "Christopher," they stated, their voice almost… shocked? Even worried.

"Who—" A hoarse cough left him as he slowly picked himself up. "You're not—" He shook his head, they weren't Grima, and that was enough. He weakly pointed back towards Robin. "Help her, Risen… please."

Whoever it was stood still before rushing away as Chris felt himself fall back down onto the grass. What felt like a moment later, something grabbed him. He briefly fought against them as much as he could until he heard them speak.

"Chris, wake up!"

His eyes opened, showing the same blue haze as before alongside a black and white one. Looking at them a second longer, he felt something glassy pushed onto his lips. Some kind of strange liquid filled his mouth with an egg-like taste, though he swallowed it anyways. The drink quenching a thirst he hadn't even noticed until he'd drank the entire thing as a dusty aftertaste filled his mouth.

"W-who, who's there?" he managed out, feeling the pain in his leg and chest lightening, though only slightly.

Two arms grabbed him, pulling him up as his vision focused again. He looked to his left, seeing a blurry Robin again, he briefly wondered how she'd fought off the Risen before he turned the other way.

A mask, the same shade of dark blue as their hair, covered the person's eyes as they looked at him. They looked like a slightly thinner Chrom, with a large, familiar sword strapped to their side as they held Chris up in what he remembered was a two-man fireman's carry.

He managed out a laugh, mostly at remembering what type of carry he was in. Though he felt like he should recognize the person next to him.

He shook his head, it didn't matter much right now. "Um—" he coughed, this time weaker than the last ones as he felt his eyes grow heavy again, as the rest of him became lighter. "Thanks for helping… helping Robin out."

Whoever it was answered him, their voice softer than Chris expected, though that was his last thought before his eyes closed and breathing slowed. Whoever they were, it could wait until tomorrow.

Robin slowly lifted Chris up as he stirred. "Um—" Chris' words were cut short by another cough, this one far weaker than he'd been having during their prior escape from the Risen. He turned to his right, eyes loosely focused on the mysterious swordsman who'd helped her fight earlier. "Thanks for helping… helping Robin out," he weakly muttered before going limp.

The swordsman caught him. "You're—It was nothing," he responded, his voice almost strained by something.

"Is he going to be alright?" Robin asked as she turned to her new partner. "I know you gave him that vulnerary, but still…"

"He will be fine," he answered, "though we must get you two back to the Shepherds at once."

Robin turned down to Chris again before nodding, lifting him up once more. Together, the two managed to as fast as they could from that fort. Her thoughts taking her back to its dark walls, where her sister—no, Grima, that was her name—where Grima had taken her in hopes of bringing her to wherever Plegia was. She should have doubted her story more, or at least considered Chris' explanation on its own more instead of completely disregarding it.

Shaking her head, she decided to drop the issue for later. She could reflect on what went wrong after they'd made it to the Shepherds. As of now, getting Chris back to them was more important.

At least she had help for it.

Turning to look at her companion more clearly, she first saw his broadsword, a highly detailed weapon that could easily be two-handed, if not for how he fought with it. The raw strength, speed, and skill he'd shown were far more than Robin had been expecting from most warriors, easily some of the best she'd ever seen, though that wasn't much of a milestone at this point.

Shaking that thought off, Robin noted his armor as well, well-polished steel shoulder pauldrons covering his indigo clothes. The rest of his clothing was padded leather that must have contributed to his blistering speed beforehand, though he could most likely handle some more armor if he had to.

She briefly realized that Chris might know something about him, not recognizing him from his clear fatigue and most likely blood loss. He wasn't able to talk right now, nor would she ask him to. He was clearly not used to this kind of action, so he could use the rest.

She'd just have to ask the swordsman personally.

"So, do you have a name?" she started.

He didn't even turn his head as they walked, making Robin doubt if he'd heard until he answered, "You may call me Marth."

"Marth, got it," Robin noted, as well as a tree root they'd pass in a few more moments. "Is there any reason for the mask though?"

After a moment, Robin looked back ahead and saw the forest clearing up ahead, which would mean fewer footholds to trip on. She also noted Marth's lack of a response as he stepped over the root, "His identity is a secret then. So be it."

The pair walked in silence once more, eventually reaching the edge of the small forest and walked out into the lush fields ahead of them. The short grasses swaying calmly in the dry wind that flowed out from the once-raging fires. While alarming to be so close to a previous fire, the warmer, dry air felt nice on her, almost familiar in some way. Maybe she was used to higher temperatures? It could certainly help if she'd ever have to fight in such a climate.

She made a mental note to ask Chris about that once he'd awoken, adding it to the now impressively long list of questions to answer whenever he woke up. Though for now, her focus was on getting him some kind of help. Grima's attacks had left him in terrible shape, his already torn, strange clothing covered in blood and dirt.

Remembering her own dealings made her head ache again. Whatever spell or attack she'd been put under by Grima had almost knocked her out, if that had happened, who knows what she and Chris would have had to deal with.

She sighed, leaving those unpleasant thoughts behind her as she turned back to Marth, "By the way, I don't believe I thanked you for saving me earlier. I doubt I would have fared very well against those Risen without you."

His gaze snapped towards Robin, "How do you know they're—" She cut herself off with a sigh. "He told you their name?"

Robin almost answered him before pausing, realizing the implication of his statement. "You know about Chris' knowledge?"

"I, I don't—" he stammered, quickly collecting himself again. "Yes, I do, though I will not be telling you of where it comes from."

"That figures," Robin huffed, "though thank you regardless. You tore through those things with enough strength and skill to impress anyone, I doubt I would have been able to fight them all off like that."

He paused for a moment, the rustling grass in the background briefly drawing Robin's attention before he answered, "I have much experience fighting those kinds of monsters, though tonight I was… motivated."

Robin raised her eyebrow, "Motivated, how—?"

"Chris!"

A loud shout—their voice deep and familiar—pulled their attention. In the distance, six figures approached them. Two mounted: one horse heavily armored in blue and silver, similar to its lance–armed knight, as well as what looked to be a cleric carrying two healing staves; the other and its rider both less armored in crimson red while a sky-blue haired archer rode alongside the woman. Next to them was a younger man who himself was running next to—

"Chrom…"

A few seconds passed as the two knights rushed towards them. The cleric, dressed in an armored hoopskirt and a thicker leather corset, jumped off the horse. She whipped her heal staff around and started working on Chris, healing him surprisingly fast for her age as Robin and Marth carefully set him down.

"It's you again," Chrom said, still catching his breath from his sprint, though he was fairing better than the purple-haired boy next to him, which was covered by a pot, oddly enough. "You managed to find Chris, and another as well."

"I'm Robin, and Chris here saved me from—" she paused, remembering his hesitation at explaining the situation even to her, "—from those things earlier."

The taller knight, even taller than herself, gave her a curious look as Chrom answered, "Ah, that's a surprise, he seems to have been fairly active with that tonight. Though I wish he'd have considered our opinions first before deciding to leap towards death with a mob of those things behind him," he answered, huffing after to add, "Then again, he managed to help you. So I suppose it wasn't so bad?"

"I would still consider the action foolish," the tall knight interjected. "He could have easily died from that maneuver, and from his current condition seems to have almost done so."

He looked over at Robin. Gesturing to her bronze sword. "I see that blade on you, I assume you did more of the fighting than he?"

A nod. "Yes, though Marth here certainly did his part."

The knight turned towards him as the rest of the group did the same, though the archer quirked his brow for an instant. "And you, did she say your name was Marth?"

"Wait," Chrom interrupted, "Like the Hero king?"

"The very same, however, who I am is not important as of now." He hesitated for a moment, as if doubting something before reaching around his belt, the knight tensed up before he noticed that he pulled out a letter. "I ask that you give this to Christopher, and as well that his eyes are the first and only to read it."

Robin noticed his tight grip on the letter as he handed it to Chrom. The knight gestured to it, "And why must he be the only one that reads its contents?"

Staring at Chrom once more, Marth's hand rested on the pommel of his sword as he answered, "I cannot tell you now, though I suspect that you will know of its content soon enough. Until then, I ask that you trust there is no ill will towards you within it."

"You saved my sister's life today, Chris and Robin's as well," Chrom answered, "while your request is far from usual, you have my word."

Marth nodded, about to walk away before stopping, turning back to them. "Be warned, this world teeters on the brink of horrible calamity. What you saw tonight was but a prelude. And while many such as I are fighting against it, others would wish it successful as well. You have been warned."

He dashed away, the group staring at her confused as the cleric stood back up. "Sooo, what was all of that 'horrible calamity' about?" she asked, looking up at Robin.

She thought about telling them of Grima for a moment but decided to hold on the idea. "I wouldn't know, but it might have something to do with those creatures from earlier."

Chrom coughed to get their attention. Turning to the knight as he reached down for Chris. "Frederick, could you help me with him?" The two lifted him up, placing him on the back of Frederick's horse.

"We'll want to get him to Ylisstol as soon as possible, would you be able to ride ahead with Lissa and make sure he gets taken care of."

The cleric, Lissa, loudly yawned. "Oh, good, I might be able to sleep then too. Though won't riding just make Chris' wounds worse, these are too much for me to heal past stopping the bleeding."

"If I might add my own opinion into this," the archer interrupted, flipping his hair, "leaving for the city of Ylisstol would provide him the attention he seeks from the Nagite war monks. I have heard of their abilities across the world, surely they would be able to heal him past what a day of riding would do."

"Oh, so you've heard of them?" the red cavalier barked, "I didn't think they were that famous. Though I guess you're probably smarter than you let on Ruffles."

"Why of course Sully, my dear—hold, what exactly do you mean by 'than I let on,' I do believe I have presented myself as nothing less than a scholar."

"Yeah sure, whatever," she said, "But yeah, that kid's probably going to need it. And a bit of work too. Outside of his legs, I doubt he has enough muscle to lift anything. You thinkin about putting him through your training Frederick?"

"Once he recovers, he will be joining both you, Stahl, and Donnel here," he added, gesturing to the boy.

The rest of them broke into conversation as Chrom walked over, "So Robin, will you be joining us?"

"I—well, only if you would allow me," she answered.

"Then I suppose I'll ask this of you now. You saved Chris' life tonight, and pardon myself for saying this, but I have a feeling I can trust you for this," he reached out his hand, a wide smile on his face, "Do you want to join us, the Shepherds? This will not be easy, but I ask it of you regardless."

Robin hesitated, but only for a moment before she saw his genuine smile. Despite everything that had happened, she had a feeling that she could trust him. Chris' words from the fort and her dream coming to mind as she came to a decision.

Nodding, she grasped his hand and shook it. "I suppose I will for now, I don't exactly have anywhere else I can go," she answered. Noticing that a few lights in the sky were peaking out through the clouds.

I thought the "Grima%" category for SI speedruns was underdeveloped; I haven't checked, but this seems like WR material.

Anyways, this chapter was the one that killed my pacing. The previous two were written within 1-2 weeks each. This one took almost a month after revisions. And from the quality of my work, I'd like to think it's where I started figuring stuff out.

As always, I'd like to thank Sushion (aka Bunni) for her wonderful beta work. This chapter specifically as she pushed me towards certain ideas which, rereading it now—or, er, Monday when I did it—made the story far better. So thanks to her for that.

And as well here I'd like to give a shout-out to Narwhal Lord and his story "All the World's a Sale" (or ATWAS) for both his help in concept checking, and as well in being a major inspiration in my writing. While his work is far more popular than my own, if you somehow haven't seen it yet, uh, do that, it's great.

As always, I'm still on the Fanfiction Treehouse (Discord code 9XG3U7a) to check both me and many other—and in my opinion better—writers. We talk about stuff and words constantly and it's easily the best place to get in contact with me.

Speaking of contact, I'd like to thank all of you for the wonderful reception PAtS has been getting so far! I was honestly content for this thing to die immediately, so this is a pleasant surprise. As always reviews are appreciated.