Chapter 6: Letting the Dust Settle
The clatter of metal on wood next to him shook Chris out of his search. He quickly pushed himself out of the way, hoping that another collapse wasn't about to come down on him. He looked up at the pile, the towering wooden crates not having moved at all, with the sound having only been an axe, one with the name 'Teach' written on top of it, right above a crossed-out 'The Vaike.'
It shouldn't have been this hard, and there's no way what he was looking for had gotten too deep into the pile. From what he'd heard from Stahl, it was mostly there because nobody wanted to clean it up. Or as he put it…
"Well, Frederick tried to get rid of it once, but… we don't like to talk about that week anymore."
Sighing, he put the axe back where it was and kept up his search. He pushed himself closer to another section of the pile—one he knew he hadn't gotten to yesterday. The cool stone floor under him slowly chilling his legs as he pushed himself over, a sword next to him catching his eye as some sunlight reflected off of the blade.
He stared at the sword for a moment, wondering how heavy it might be. Though that thought was shaken off before he grabbed at another crate. His eyes scanned the ground and cracks in front of him as he scratched his legs again, his new pants still uncomfortable on him despite having easily spent more than a day in them.
Another frustrated sigh leaked out of him as he moved everything back into place. Even though he felt like what he was looking for wasn't here, he also didn't want to go searching in the trash pit, which felt weird to think about until he remembered the world he was in again.
That, or they were burned, but he really didn't want to think about that option.
"You must be Chris, right?" a soft voice behind him said. He turned around, noticing another Shepherd, one he still didn't recognize slowly walking towards him. "I have something for… what are you doing?"
He turned around again, noticing that he was still on the ground and probably looked weird before shaking his head. "Oh, yeah, I was just looking for… a thing."
"Oh, what are you looking for?" She slowly got closer, allowing Chris to get a good look at her. Brown, almost silver hair flowed down her head, with two braids of it tied in twin bead bands. A soft, gentle smile rested on her face as she got closer. Her purple dress flowed a little as she stopped a step or two behind him, carefully moving through the mess around the barracks. Now even closer, Chris realized that she was wearing armor, mostly on her chest and shoulders, but it was still real armor.
"I—well, it's… it's nothing much, just a personal thing that I think someone tried to throw out." He turned back to the pile, lifting up one of the crates and quickly checking under them. At least, until he remembered he'd already checked that one.
"Well, I can help you look for it if you want," she asked, her footsteps slow as she got closer.
He shook his head again, both at her and at not having found it again. "It's a little embarrassing that I'm looking for it honestly, but thanks for offering to—hey, wait, you don't need to help!"
"It's fine, I wasn't doing much anyway," she answered, kneeling down and starting to dig through the pile. "And besides, weren't you looking for this last night too? It must be important if you're putting so much effort into looking for it."
"I—" he let out a sigh, moving a crate back where it was as he stood up, "fine, I'm… I'm looking for my old clothes."
She quirked her head. "Clothes? Why are you looking for your clothes in here?"
"I used them for—" the fort flashed in his head again, something he quickly shook out as he continued, "for, uh, bandages a few nights ago. But I think someone threw them out when I got these." He gestured to himself, though really it was the same pants and shirt he'd been hoping to have gotten used to by now.
"Oh, but if you used them for bandages, you'd have needed to wrap something up in them. Wouldn't they be easier to just replace?" She perked up, her eyes lighting up for a second. "I could take you shopping, I'm sure there's something in town that you'd like better."
A snort bubbled out of him, one he immediately wished he hadn't let out as she gave him a confused look. "What? Did I say something?"
He quickly shook his head, raising his hands as he pushed down the familiar rocks in his stomach. "It's not that, it's just… well. I can't exactly just get something new. They're—" his throat tightened, and he swallowed, "they're from home."
"What do you mean home—" her eyes shot wide, as fast as doors forced open by a storm, "Oh, you're the new Shepherd! Lissa said you were from another world and all but I didn't even think you'd want your clothes. Gosh, I'm so sorry. I'm sure we can find them somewhere if we just keep looking!"
"No, it's fine! You didn't know!" Chris raised his hands up, feeling even worse now than before, "You're already helping me out here, just, if you really want to help then I won't stop you. But didn't you have something you were doing?"
"What I was doing—oh! Gosh, I completely forgot! Chrom managed to get you permission to get into the library. I, well, Frederick said you might want some help finding it and that he wanted to talk to you after that. I think he mentioned something about armor, but..." She paused for a second, burrowing her brow before perking up, "Frederick might actually know where your clothes are too, so you can talk to him about that then as well!"
"Oh, that's great! Thanks, I'll just—" he glanced at the pile again, "I… you think Frederick knows where they'd be?" She nodded. Chris hesitated for another second before unclenching his fists, and realizing he'd had them clenched at all. "Alright, yeah, reading sounds nice right now… uh, what's your name?"
"Sumia," she answered, pushing herself away from the pile, "and I think Lissa said you were Chris, right?"
"Yeah, and thanks for doing this then, and helping me look through that pile."
A gentle smile crossed her face as she quickly walked to the door, forcing Chris to pick up his pace as she answered, "It's fine, I just help out most people anyway. And, well, I'm always open to more people going to the library."
"Really? Why would—oh, you mean that you like people reading." She nodded, opening a door for Chris as they walked out into the shade of the Barracks. "Well, I'm not really much of a reader, but I do kinda like history. It's why I'm going there, actually."
"Oh? I'm not as good with those kinds of books—I'll have to introduce you to Cordelia at some point— I actually think I can recall some about Ragna Ferox she recommended…"
Our raft flowed down the River Ferros, small sliver whitecaps clashing atop it as we made our way through its fridged waters. The guides to my side slowly pushed us along, watching carefully for any and all patches of ice that could pierce our canoe's thin hull, spelling a far colder fate than what my poor coat was ready for. The day marched on as the sun reached its noonday apex, the waters clearer than I'd ever seen as we neared the port town. Finally, with far fewer stops along the way thanks to the new spring's warmth, we'd made it, nearly a day from the height of my journey, Arena Ferox.
Chris slowly set the book down, recalling everything he'd read from the thin, rough, leather skin book in his hands. And even though it was all new to him, he seemed to be burning through them. Or this one, at least.
Looking at the library around him—having split off from Sumia a while ago when he'd found the book in front of him—he realized he'd barely gotten to appreciate everything inside the library. While it looked more like a church than anything, he hadn't taken the time to actually look around at any of the finer details.
And he'd have looked into it more if a familiar coat wasn't walking closer to him.
"Chris," Robin started, looking at him for a second before a sigh left her, placing what looked like rolled-up maps down on the other side of the table he'd settled down at. "I wasn't expecting to see you here, you're reading a… novel?"
He nodded, looking at the cover again for the name. "Eolas' Journals of Feroxian Winters. I was thinking about reading some history stuff and, well, Sumia suggested this. It's actually a lot better than I'm used to back—er, than what I'm used to."
"I see, though is there any reason you're looking through them?" She rolled out one of the maps, a familiar landscape showing itself covered in symbols of trees and mountains, with a few names as well that Chris couldn't make out from where he was. "I'm a little preoccupied with relearning all of this at the moment, but I'm still wondering what you're up to."
"Oh, yeah I'm just… uh, comparing some stuff." He nodded his head over to the book. "Apparently this is how people learn about other countries here, so I was just looking through what I can find." He picked up the book, quickly flipping through it with a light smile. "Honestly though, I just picked this one because it was the first one Sumia picked out earlier."
"Really? You're not reading up on Ferox because we plan to go there?" she asked, not looking up from the map in front of her as she took out her notebook.
His smile dropped. "Oh, yeah, that'd probably be more helpful, wouldn't it… no, I just wanted to read something."
"I see, though it's not entirely useless—" Robin cut herself off, taking in a breath after a second, "I've been putting this off too long."
"Putting what off?"
Robin paused for a moment, clutching the edges of the map in front of her before rolling it up. "Back at the fort," Chris tensed up, forcing himself to calm down as he listened, "While you were explaining… everything, to me," she continued, "I should've reacted better than I did."
"You mean my, uh, explanation?"
She nodded. "Yes, I'll be the first to admit that you were, well, unconvincing to say the least. But despite that, I should've held less weight on what I thought I knew. Though that's not the point I'm getting at."
She closed her eyes, letting out another sigh before opening them again. "I can excuse not believing you because of just how absurd everything sounded, and honestly, still sounds. But, how I reacted to you there was uncalled for. So for that, I'm sorry." She gripped her hands together over the table, letting the library's silence fill the room.
"Wait, for what you—oh!" his eyes snapped open before he asked, "Why are you apologizing for that? You didn't really say anything that bad."
"Didn't say anything—do you not actually remember what I said up there?" she asked, "I threatened and insulted you! Even after you had evidence of your foreknowledge!"
Chris scratched his head. "I mean, I guess… but it's not like you didn't have a reason to."
"Regardless of if I had a reason or not, I shouldn't have reacted like that, and that's not the only time I've treated you poorly." Her grip on her hands tightened. "I should've been more tactful yesterday, when I took over the explanation that is. And as well when you were telling Chrom and me about it the night before, frankly I don't believe we've had a conversation so far where I haven't been rude to you, so for all of that, I'm sorry."
"Oh, then I guess, I still don't think you need to apologize for any of that," Chris answered with a shrug. "I mean, you only got like that because I didn't remember everything well enough. That and I should've been better at explaining what I did know, so honestly I should probably be apologizing to you."
Robin straightened up, eyes widening as she stared at him for a full second. "You…" a sigh, "Chris, if you were at fault for not remembering that, wouldn't I be more at fault for having the worst possible timing for my amnesia?"
She let out another sigh, cutting off Chris before he could deny what she'd said. "Anyway, whoever would be more at fault for what happened doesn't matter. My point is that I was rude, regardless of why, and I'm sorry."
"I—fine, but I still should've been better at explaining all of that, and everything else too."
Robin nodded, starting to uncurl her map before pausing. "You know, you really don't need to apologize so much. Frankly, you've done nothing wrong so far other than being imperfect."
"What do you mean by that?" he asked, straightening up in surprise, "I feel like I've been a lot worse than 'imperfect' about everything so far."
"That's fair, but also consider that you weren't prepared for any of this, and still we're in a better position because of you. I'll stand by that you could've handled the situation better, but then again I could've also done that." She nodded, taking out her book as she finished, "And even then there's no reason to apologize for what you aren't, so try and take it easier on yourself in the future, okay?"
"Oh, Chris! And Robin too!"
Sumia's voice broke through their conversation. As she walked up, Chris noticed she was walking next to someone as they moved around the table. A massive blue hat covering them until it lifted up slightly, revealing a slightly familiar face and outfit.
Despite everything, he could still almost remember the boy in front of him's name. Ricky? It didn't matter. He loosely remembered that back in the game he'd been a mage, and from the hat and blue robes he wore he definitely looked the part. That and the green book he was holding, one which reminded him that magic was definitely a thing here.
And a sandwich in his other hand, weirdly enough.
Sumia stopped to Robin asking, "Have you met Ricken yet? I know you're both new but I'd assume you all might get along."
"I believe we talked last night," Robin said, her mood completely different from before as she tapped her finger on the table. "Though I don't believe we talked much, you were fairly invested in what you were researching with Miriel. So in that case I don't think we've actually been introduced properly." She extended her hand, looking up at him as she said, "My name is Robin, and you are?"
Chris quickly added, "I'm, uh, Chris. I don't think we've actually met though."
He nodded, taking in a small breath as he answered. "I'm Ricken Calahar, and it's nice to meet you, both of you. Chrom mentioned that you're the new tactician of the Shepherds, right?"
"Yes, and if I remember the name Calahar right," she quickly looked down at the map, pointing to what Chris could see as the lower part of Ylisse, "mmhm, you're nobility there, right? A hierarch?"
"That's my father, but yeah." He sat down, moving his robes a bit as Chris eyed his book again. He looked back when Ricken continued, "I'm from Port Ylisse specifically, but those are our lands. I'm pretty sure those maps you have mentioned that we're under hard times recently."
She shook her head, giving him a confused look as she pointed at the map. "But aren't you—no, nevermind, there're probably reasons for why that is. I haven't found anything yet that's actually gone into depth on the subject." She gestured to her notes. "Most of it's been on maps and everything else. That and planning for—"
She cut herself off with a cough. "—I mean, just general planning. Though I'd certainly appreciate knowing more about this. It might be helpful if we ever need to go down there."
"Right, I can probably explain a few things. I've actually been interested in tactics recently so it'd be nice to see how good you are. Here, let me just..." Ricken stood up, making his way around the table as Chris realized that Sumia wasn't at the table anymore.
As he did, he finally looked around. Tall bookshelves he'd walked through earlier lined the walls, stretching out from both levels into the central area he was sitting at. A few mages walking through them with arms filled with books, their dull colors blending together the further away some of them were.
Dozens of desks, chairs, and other tables crowded around the center of the room, nicer than the one in his room, but still with their own marks and scratches. Almost all of them were cluttered with browned, old-looking papers and books which made the place look surprisingly lively. Something he could still smell in the air despite having been in there for the better half of the day.
His eyes wandered, following the intricate staircase up to the second level, looking just like the shelved part of the first, but now with even more mages than before. Eventually leading to the massive painting spanning the entire ceiling.
The memory of his trip to the state cathedral flashed through his head, alongside everything he'd remembered of those other famous religious buildings. After a full second of awe, he finally began to take in what the painting was showing, instead of the massive collection of colors he'd initially seen and stared at.
An army, silver armor, shining in what looked like sunlight reflected off of whatever light the real sun provided from the windows. All of it charging with a single, blue-haired person at the front. Their sword—a distant, painted Falchion, he realized—pointed towards a mass of other creatures, with a dark form behind them in a shape he recognized, the mark of Grima.
At that he shook his head of the thought, looking back down at the table as he overheard distant whispering of everyone else in the library. Which was overshadowed by Ricken and Robin's talk, something Chris realized he probably should've been paying attention to the whole time.
"—they were awful, apparently. I was born after they were over, but that's why it all fell apart," Ricken finished, making Chris push down the heat in his cheeks as he realized he'd probably missed the entire conversation.
Robin nodded, shooting Chris a quick look before focusing on Ricken again. "I'd assume so, though I'll have to read into that conflict sometime soon; it'll be good to know about it in the future."
"Yeah, I guess. Wait," Ricken gave her a confused look, "why would that be important? Is something happening between Plegia and Ylisse?"
Her eyes shot open as she froze, coughing into her fist. "Yes, as a tactician I need to be prepared for the possibility of a conflict like that, not to mention…" she paused, glancing around quickly before she sighed. "There are some things I know that I shouldn't be saying, but yes, there may be a conflict with Plegia soon."
"You mean that—" In an instant, he quickly picked up everything he had before Robin opened her hands to stop him. "What? We need to do something about this!" he whispered, a little louder than everything around them.
"I understand, and right now we're working on a plan," she explained, waving for him to get closer. "We're already preparing for their planned attack on Themis, and I doubt they'll change their target to Port Ylisse from our actions." Chris' eyes widened, shocked at what she'd just told him for a second as he forced himself to ask about it later.
"And how would you know that. There's no way you could know where they were going to attack with that much certainty?" Ricken asked, leaning closer as he almost hissed, "Isn't it your job to make sure you're ready for this kind of thing?"
"Yes, though I'm also considering some things a given." She raised her hand before he could respond. "And before you ask, no, I cannot tell you how I know this, but I know for certain that they won't attack Port Ylisse." She glanced over at Chris, him taking a second to think before nodding to confirm what she'd said.
Ricken stared at her for another moment before glancing at Chris as well, littering out an angry sigh before picking up everything he'd collected. "Fine, but I want to help with the planning. And I can definitely do it too!"
"I don't think that'll be necess—" she stopped for a second, tapping her finger on the table again. "Actually… I'll consider it."
"Oh, that's that then." He turned away, taking a few steps before turning around again. "And, thanks for that," he finished, walking off to one of the library's aisles and taking a bite of the sandwich as he did.
Chris shook the thought off, leaning closer to Robin and tapping in front of her to get her attention. "Why'd you tell him about that? I thought you didn't want other people to know about what we know?"
"I normally wouldn't have, but I think he might actually be helpful with planning in the future." She nodded, pausing for another moment before looking back up at him. "And didn't you say we could trust the Shepherds?"
"Well yeah, but, well…" he tried to figure out why it was weird, but just shrugged when the words wouldn't come to him. "it just felt weird for you to do."
"Hm, I'll keep it in mind for the future." She sat her notebook back on the table, scanning over the map again as the library's silence took over.
Chris shook his head, picking his book up again and opening it to wherever he'd been. After a second he perked up, making a mental note to focus on books from Ferox in the future. Though with how interesting the one in front of him was, he couldn't say he was against doing that.
An axehead thudded onto the ground next to Chris, making him jump a little before he could calm himself down. Its owner stomped towards both him and Lissa, his loud voice bellowing out a laugh as he briefly expected the axe's handle; tapping it on his metallic, brown arm plating before, weirdly enough, pounding it again on his shirtless chest. He picked up the axe, either not noticing Chris or ignoring him as he turned back around.
"And this is why Teach can't take ya to school without Vaike Jr! Anything else just falls apart, I mean, what else could stand up—" he flexed a pair of arms covered in dirt and built of a shocking amount of muscle "—to these two mountains!"
He walked back over to the knight—who Chris hadn't figured out the name of yet—keeping his arms flexed as he did so. For a moment, Chris wondered how they'd gotten him involved in their sparring match after taking a break from reading to eat lunch, but then remembered Lissa's words about practicing healing. At that, he couldn't really find any excuse not to watch it.
"Or maybe you can learn how to use an axe right," the knight in front of him said, twirling her lance between her fingers. "At least keep an eye on your own for longer than five minutes. Either or ain't the hardest things in the world, Vaike." She whipped a hand through her red hair, looking at it for a second before flicking it away. "And yet you somehow managed to make me work up a damn sweat."
"Oh? What's that?" Vaike put a hand up to his ear, a large grin on his face. "You're strugglin' to keep up with The Vaike? Did I hear that right? You heard that too, right Lissa? Right, er… I don't actually remember your name yet kid. Huh, that's rare for me."
"Well, if you thought about anything besides fighting for a second, you might've heard me when I told you about him!" Lissa giggled, using her staff to give Chris a quick and light tap on the head. "He's still Chris. I don't know how you've gone so long without anyone saying anything about him. He's been here for a few days now."
"Well hey, maybe Teach doesn't need to know everything going on," Vaike answered back, "Might be why I just avoided learning about him till now. Gives me a little more surprise when I take him on later!"
The end of a lance crashed down on his head, with the knight from before smirking as Vaike yelled, "Hey! What'd ya do that for, Sully?"
"I did that 'cause you didn't pick up he's a healer; from the looks of it, he can barely hold up a good sword." She brought her lance back behind her, taking a step back as she looked Chris up and down. "Then again, the squirt over there packs a damn hard punch, and I'm not forgetting the last time Maribelle heard me call her the wrong name. Maybe I'm wrong to assume about that."
Chris forced a cough. "Well, you're probably right about me. I'm not that much."
"Hey, don't sell yourself short like that!" Lissa argued. "You helped Chrom out with those bandits, right? And Robin too!"
"Eh, I'm not sure how much you are now," Sully added, waiting a second to stretch before she continued, "Still, that doesn't mean you can't get better. I've known Chrom long enough that you wouldn't be here if he didn't think you were good enough. Just give it time and you'll be better than you thought you were. It just takes effort." She turned back around, moving her hands along her lance before grinning back at him. "And besides, you won't be 'not much' for long after what Frederick'll do to you."
"I—" Chris forced out a cough. Gripping his staff a little tighter as he looked back up at her. "I guess I'll try, but I'm—"
"And also quit it with the pity party you've got going on. You'll get better, but not if you sit there complaining about it all day," she turned over to a bush Vaike was digging around in, "you finally found that damn thing yet? I'm getting bored of waiting!"
Lifting an old axe out of the bush, Vaike pulled himself out. "Got it! Now we can get back to the good stuff!"
"Yeah, me kickin' your rear back into the ground, now come on!"
Vaike charged, only giving Sully a second to step back as he swung his axe, Sully parrying it at the last second. Taking a step forward, she pushed back, taking multiple stabs at his shoulders until he pushed the lance aside and struck back, Sully dodging again and kicking him away.
The two kept pushing and pulling, almost like… well, Chris couldn't think of anything like it, and a seesaw felt wrong. But it was interesting to watch, especially whenever Vaike would shout something before rushing in again, only for his charge to get stuffed out by another poke from Sully. The two's weapons occasionally clashing, the sound of wooden shaft striking metal echoing around the courtyard, kicking up the loose dirt as—
"So, what's your world like?"
Jumping a little, Chris quickly calmed himself as he turned to Lissa. "I—uh, why are you asking?"
She leaned forward, pigtails shifting as she turned over to him, leaning on her staff. "Well… I dunno. I think it's interesting, you know."
"What do you mean it's interesting?" Another clash rang out from the pair, Chris flinching from the sound as he pushed through it. "I mean, we could just watch the fight."
"Yeah, but they fight every day," she leaned back onto the grass, resting on her elbows as she continued, "but, well, it isn't every day when I get to meet someone from another world, you know."
"So you're just wondering about where I'm from," he mumbled. "Yeah, I guess I can talk about some stuff, what do you want to know?"
"I don't know, anything really," she looked down at her staff, perking up after a second, "Oh! Didn't you say you guys don't have magic?"
"Yeah, we don't. It's why I still don't get how I can do the, uh, healing thing. I'm still not even sure if I'm ever doing it right."
"Right, you just learned about healing at Southtown. Guess that explains why you left Frederick's leg like that," she said, looking off at the two in front of them as Sully slammed her head into Vaike, echoing out a loud crack.
"Wait, what do you mean I left—oh the fort! Did I mess that up? I'm sorry if I made it worse or some—"
"Hey, you did fine. Well, for your first time healing through armor anyway." She sighed, propping her head up with her hands. "It actually took me a bit to learn how to do that right. Had to go through weeks of training to figure out how much mana to put in. Maribelle's way better at it anyway."
"Oh, a couple of weeks, huh? That's… that's a longer amount of time than I'd like."
"Oh, you'll get there eventually. It's what I did anyway," she pushed herself up again, "and you'll probably get some practice. Right, about… now."
As she finished, Sully yelled out, drawing Chris' attention to the fight. All he could notice was that their weapons were gone and that Vaike was on the ground, a bruise swelling up on Sully's head.
"One headbutt wasn't enough for you, huh? Had to go for another?" Sully asked.
"Aw come on Sully," Vaike laughed, "ya gotta be prepared for the Vaike special!"
Lissa pushed herself off of the grass, dusting off her dress as Chris followed behind her. He had to push himself off of his staff to get up, ignoring the light pang through his leg as he got near them."
"I'm used to them at this point, I can kinda tell about how long they'll be going for." Lissa turned back to him with a shrug, getting down beside the pair and looking them over. "Yep, just the headbutts?"
"Ya mean the Vaike—"
"Yeah, just the headbutts, cause this," Sully shot her thumb out at Vaike, "idiot thought that'd be a good idea."
Lissa nodded, pulling out her staff as Chris wrapped around to Vaike. "Got it, there are some cuts on you, too, so I'll just get those and you can get back to wacking each other again." Before Sully could say anything, she got to work, light flowing out of her staff just like Chris thought he'd be used to by now.
Shrugging, he looked down at Vaike, took out his staff, and got to work as well. Bringing whatever he remembered about healing, first aid, and magic to mind, he first focused on the bruises swelling up on Vaike's head. Slowly, he managed to push the light out, taking only a second to remember how he'd done it back in Southtown. A familiar feeling built up inside him for a moment, but it wasn't important at the time.
Slowly, the bruises went through a small rainbow of colors before slowly fading back into a normal forehead, with a small handful of scars already on it from… something. Remembering the cuts on Sully that Lissa had mentioned, he looked around and found one or two on his arm and leg.
None on his chest though, somehow.
A moment later, everything was patched up as Chris stepped away, only to see that Lissa was already done and waiting for him. "Oh, sorry for taking so long."
"Hey, it's why we're here," Lissa said, nodding over to the grass as she took a big step closer to it. "Now come on, I don't like being nearby when these two really get going."
As Vaike and Sully got back to hitting each other with their weapons, fists, and heads, Chris couldn't stop himself from smiling. Mostly at having healed again, and having done a decent job of it at least.
"So, how long do you think this'll take?"
He sat down, turning to her before he remembered what they'd been talking about. "Right, uh, I'm not sure, how long are you thinking?" he said with a smile.
"Well, Sully's angry now because of that—I could tell when I healed her—so I'd think… like a minute and a half?" A loud crack rang shot out, followed by a thud. "A minute."
He shrugged, watching Vaike stumble up and charge in again. "I'll just go with your guess, you seem to know what you're talking about."
"I mean, it's no fun if you don't guess…" she pouted, slumping into the grass. "Come on, give it a try."
"It's fine, I can just sit here and watch them."
"Yeah, but you staring off at the wall has to get boring at some point. And besides, you do that all the time."
He shook his head, giving her a confused look. "No I don't, and how would you even know that anyways?"
"Well, I don't think I've seen you so focused on anything other than the floor or that bear meat the other night. So unless you wanna talk about something else then I'd pick a time and wait to be wrong about it."
Chris hesitated, eyeing the two as they slammed their weapons into each other's for a bit before letting out a sigh. "Two and a half minutes."
She snorted, shaking her head as she said, "That's way too long, it's been like a minute and they're already almost done."
"No they aren't—" a familiar thud came from them, with a loud laugh following it from Sully.
Chris felt a blush come on as Lissa just got up and smirked at him. Just like she did before, she swung herself off of the ground, Chris following behind her, getting next to Vaike again for another round of healing. Though this time it felt like it was a little easier to actually push the light out, though it might've just been in his head.
Chris leaned into pushing the door open, Frederick following right behind him as he marched forward to wherever they were going. Slowly they passed by Stahl, who stopped cutting what looked like peeled potatoes to give Chris a small wave. He returned it with a slow nod as Frederick kept walking, now to the other half of the Barracks.
Another pang of hesitation went through Chris as he followed behind Frederick, the healing session from before still tiring from how long they'd been at it. At least until Frederick had yelled at Sully and Vaike to stop headbutting each other before pulling Chris aside to…
He forced a cough, pulling Frederick's attention as the pair walked down the hallway. "So where are we going?"
"Did Sumia not tell you?" Chris shook his head, Frederick shaking his head in response. "That figures, she seemed eager after I told her to inform you of your allowance into the library. Regardless, I will be fitting armor to you. This time making sure it fits you properly. I've no clue who found those clothes for you, but they clearly never took care to find a fitting set."
Chris could only nod as they walked down to the end of the hallway, marked by another wooden sign, this one with a shield on it. He followed as Frederick pushed open the door, walking towards the surprisingly neat-looking leather armor pieces as Chris walked over to the lines of swords on the walls.
"Chris, if you may?" Frederick nodded over to the leather… gloves? They were called something fancier, but he just didn't know what. "I'd rather these fit you, especially after what happened with your clothes."
Chris nodded, taking a seat in one of the wooden chairs of the room—all of which looked the same as the ones in the main room—and waited. Watching Frederick as he unlatched a few straps and wrapped it around his arm, a light wince leaking out of him as Frederick unhooked it.
"That was too tight then?" he asked to himself, pulling down another pair—these ones a lighter brown than the others as he wrapped it around Chris' arms. Frederick nodded. "Yes, these will do much better. Keep those by you, or try strapping them on yourself. The chestpieces should be over here if no one has moved them…" he trailed off, looking through a box of vests nearby.
Meanwhile, Chris slowly lifted up the armbands, or whatever they were called. "Hey Frederick, what are these supposed to be called?"
"Arm bracers. I doubt you've need of genuine gauntlets, and those will provide necessary protection." He picked up a large vest, shaking his head and setting it back down in the box. "At the very least against any bandits or Risen we may stumble across on our way up north."
He nodded, strapping the 'bracers' on his arms and pulling them tight. "Got it, and you guys are calling them Risen now?"
"Ah, this must be a fit," he muttered to himself, holding a brown leather vest as he nodded. "Yes we are, the name seemed to have stuck once you mentioned it at yesterday's meeting. Though with your claims we'd have come to it regardless—here, if you could," he handed Chris the vest, "It is known as a jerkin, though referring to it as a vest is not far from the truth."
"Got it, and thanks for this." He slipped the thing over his head, struggling with its surprisingly heavy wood-brown leather before he noticed the black buttons on the inside. A blush crossed his face as he slowly unbuttoned it, trying his best to ignore the look Frederick was definitely giving him as he warped it around himself.
"If it fits, then consider it yours. Armor is worn to protect during combat, and it never hurts to be prepared for combat on journeys," he lectured, pausing for a moment to put down some large, dark leather boots. "Especially one close to Ferox, though I have no fear of rumors."
Chris quirked his head, eyeing a particularly cool-looking pair of light brown boots before Frederick put them back on the ground. "What do you mean by rumors? Don't you know what's up there?"
"No, not entirely," he said, picking up another pair of darker brown, thick boots. He hummed, setting the pair next to Chris as he said, "Yes, try these on, will you. And we've little contact with Ferox, my only understanding of them is from Sumia's talks on literature. Which I cannot say is a reputable source, especially for a diplomatic mission."
"Oh, because of the distance, right?" Frederick nodded, Chris taking the boots in his hand as he continued, "So you guys don't know much about Ferox? I mean, you've got a whole library on stuff like that, I thought you'd know more about it."
"I spend little time there myself unless I need to fetch Ricken or Sumia for their training," he answered as Chris slowly swapped out his shoes for the new boots, feeling their new weight and leaning into them. "And as well, my own knowledge of the north is limited to rumors of their barbarism, though again, Miriel would be a better source for this."
Chris nodded, tying the back laces on the boot as he stomped down on it again. "Got it, and thanks for, uh, all of this. I still don't think I'll be able to help much though, even with this stuff," he said, lifting up the loosely fitting vest before letting it fall.
"Oh no, your duty will mostly be comprised of healing wounds away from the front."
"Wait, what? Why?" Chris asked. "I thought I'd be up front with you guys?"
"In the worst case, you will. Though unless that is the case, you will be far from the main fighting, and away from a stray sellsword or archer," he explained, nodding to the door. "I've many doubts of your abilities in combat situations regardless, so until those are remedied, you will be under both my own training as well as Lady Maribelle's supervision until that point."
"But I—!" Chris cut himself off, following Frederick to the door. "Right… got it."
Frederick nodded, stopping at the large door and gesturing to the left, revealing a mirror that had apparently been across from him the whole time.
The same brown hair fell down his face, leading to the dirt-brown leather vest he'd been given. A few scratches ran across it while the small, thin black buttons dotted down its center. It felt as heavy as before, its weight surprisingly comfortable as he lifted it up and let it plop back onto his shoulders.
He moved his arms forward, the darker leather of his new arm bracers shining slightly in the window's light behind him. They didn't really feel right on top of the rough, wool shirt he was still finding annoying to wear, but at least they looked good on their own. And the soft brown boots under him looked fairly good as well. Even if they were a little too big, they were probably still better than his other shoes, even though he liked them more, just like his other clothes from—
He perked up, turning back to Frederick as he asked, "Oh, uh, Sumia said you knew where my old clothes would be."
"Your old clothes—ah, those. What do you want with them? When I last saw them their condition was quite poor," he answered.
Chris felt his cheeks heat up again, slowly looking down as he stumbled out, "Well, I just wanted to see them again. They're… I don't have much from my world with me anymore so—actually, nevermind. I'm sure that—"
Frederick held up his hands, nodding to the door as he opened it. "I understand. There is nothing wrong with homesickness." He walked through the door, continuing, "If I am correct, then they should be with the other spare rags we have, and therefore within the servant's closet. You can find it near the bathing room, do you know where that is?"
"Yeah, Stahl told me last night. Or two nights ago, er, whatever." He shook his head, looking back up at Frederick. "Anyways, thanks for, uh, all of this. It means a lot."
"It is no trouble to me," he answered, waving his hand in front of him. "And I look forward to seeing your improvement." His eyes narrowed as he added, "You will be joining us in our training when capable again, yes?"
Chris' eyes widened, a smile crossing his face as he had to stop himself from shouting. "I'll get to join you guys in training?! Y-yeah! If it'll help then sure!"
Frederick huffed out a laugh, a strangely concerning look in his eyes as he nodded. "Good, then with that, I bid you farewell until we leave tomorrow," he said, moving off to the courtyard as Chris waved behind him.
Letting out an excited breath, he quickly turned down to the other hall, focusing on the bath sign. Each step a little more rushed than they usually would be with a smile on his face. He could figure out what to do with the rest of the day later, but for now, he had some clothes to fetch.
One day I'll figure out how to actually end these chapters well, until then, this is what you're getting. And in case you're worried about the slower pace of the chapter, things are happening, you just can't see them yet.
Regardless, it's time for my weekly thanking of Sushion (AKA Bunni) for her wonderful work in making this chapter what it is. And if you'd like to meet her, me, or any of the other fantastic writers and people on the Fanfiction Treehouse (Discord code: 9XG3U7a) then go put that code in and have a blast there!
I'd also like to thank all of you for the great support PAtS has been getting so far, and would like to comment that yes, I'm well aware of Chris' self-esteem problems and how annoying they can be. Despite that, it's an important part of his character and isn't something I'm likely to change. Unless I did a full rewrite of PAtS, something worth considering in all honesty, but that's for future!Tim to decide.