Chapter 12: Falling Back into Place

"Ow. Uh sorry," Chris mumbled, careful steadying the bowl of soup in his hand.

The tall Feroxi soldier in front of him eyed him for another moment, with his hand hovering around his axe. Then, quickly brushing the side of his arm bracer Chris had just bumped into, he grunted and went on wherever he was walking.

Chris let out a sigh of relief, glancing at the wooden bowl again before continuing on his way. Despite the sea of Feroxi heads, their orange, grey, and black furs, and the general conversation that seemed to grow louder and quieter whenever it wanted, he'd managed to keep track of a few seats still open in the back corner, right next to one of the tent poles.

Taking a seat, he pushed himself back up briefly to check on Stahl again, wincing from a dull ache in his back. With a flash of dark-green hair through the Feroxi cooks that we're still helping him, Chris noted that Stahl was still definitely cooking, meaning he was by himself for now.

Plopping back down onto the seat, he shrugged, lifting a spoonful up and noting the rising heat he could feel from it. Instead of blowing on it though, he just set it back down and stared at the few chunks of fish and potatoes poking out of the mostly white froth.

"Hey, Chris!" He looked up to see Stahl walking over, another bowl in hand as he waved. "Thanks for saving me a spot."

Nodding, Chris pulled out the seat next to him before Stahl thumping down with a sigh. He tried to scoot it back under the table, but settled on just picking the thing up to move it. He nodded to himself, eyeing the single bowl of soup for another moment before looking slightly away from Chris.

"So, did anything interesting happen today?" he asked, pulling a spoonful up to his mouth.

"Oh, not really. Just Frederick's training." Chris joined him, almost forgetting to blow the heat off of it as he dug in. "I think Maribelle said something about healing practice too, but that's a few days off."

"Really? I think Miriel said something about needing to know what you heal before you heal it," he took another bite, "but how much do you really need to know before you can heal?"

"Just how the body would've healed it naturally," Chris answered, "It's why Maribelle's always telling me to remember every step. If healing goes wrong, it can accidentally heal over a part wound instead of healing the whole thing, which would just make it harder to heal next time." He paused to eat again. "Oh, there's also scarring, which isn't fun."

Stahl looked past Chris for a moment, nodding after a second. Chris must've missed his question, maybe it was about scarring? He shook his head. "I, uh, don't actually remember why scarring happens. I do know Lissa said healing needed to happen fast to stop it though."

"Is that why you were rushing out to heal us at that battle?" Chris quirked his head, pausing for a second before Stahl added, "With those Risen, when we were traveling up to Ferox?"

"Oh! No, I just wanted to help out." He took another bite, briefly wondering if there was some pepper in it for a second before he realized it was just whatever fish they were using. "But yeah, most people don't really like scars."

Stahl nodded. After another spoonful, he pointed over to the other end of the tent. "I'm going to get seconds, do you want any?"

Chris shook his head, watching as Stahl got up with his bowl and marched over. A slam pulled his attention away, now towards some knight—Raimi, actually—cheering with a few other Feroxi, Sully, and even Chrom laughing next to her. After a moment, Chris realized that he hadn't actually talked to Chrom in a while, since right before they'd left the arena, the last time he remembered anyway.

"Oh yeah, Chris!" Stahl called out behind him, now holding two different bowls. "Have I asked about, well, what do you think about all of this?"

Chris tilted his head. "What do you mean? Like, the Feroxi here?"

"Yeah, it's a little strange, right?" He sat down, taking another spoonful in his mouth, quickly breathing in and out after doing so. "That was from the bottom of the pot, wow—It just feels, I don't know, different. I'm not against them, but it's a lot more chaotic in here with them around." He paused, tapping a finger on the table. "Have we talked about this before?"

"Uh, I don't think so?" Chris thought to himself. "I think I asked Lissa on, uh, I think the first day? She said they were like Vaike and Sully, but like, a hundred of them."

Stahl snorted. "I guess she's not…" He paused again. "Do, uh, you not mind them, Chris. And think they'll help out in the future?"

He nodded, earning a chuckle from Stahl as he waved his hand across the table. "And you just wish they'd stop bumping into you—yeah, I think we've talked about this before."

"Oh, uh, what else is there to talk about?" Chris asked.

"The weather?" Stahl asked.

The two stared at each other for a second until Stahl snorted, Chris joining him as well as Stahl shook his head. "We really need more things to talk about, don't we?"

"I guess…" Chris took ate another spoonful. "We could also just, uh, sit and watch. See what happens?"

Stahl chuckled again. "You know, you'd think after saying you're some soothsayer from another world that we'd have more things to talk about, right?"

Chris shrugged, remembering what had been a few nights ago—or last night, no, it'd been raining. What had been however many nights ago.

"So, what do you think's happening in Ylisstol?" Stahl asked.

Chris turned over in his cot, shuffling in his sleeping pad to see Stahl across the tent looking at him. "Uh, I don't know." He yawned, smacking his lips together. "Hopefully nothing."

Stahl hummed, glancing over at the two other, empty cots. With Vaike and… whoever the new Shepherd was, outside the tent for some reason. "I guess," he said. "The pegasus knights are probably patrolling. I'm kinda hoping to see them again after so long."

"Well, they're out at Themis I think, but maybe they're done over there and already back at the capital."

"I guess… Wait, why are they out at Themis?" he asked.

Chris slowly tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes. "They're stopping that one attack on the place, preventing the war from happening," he mumbled, flopping down into his pillow and looking over to Stahl. Who was now staring at him with wide eyes. "What?"

"Wait do you mean by a war?"

Chris shook himself out of the thoughts of the past. "Yeah, sorry about not telling you."

"It's fine. I guess it's just a little strange to be hearing about someone knowing the future," he said. "Lissa said you were from another world, but I don't think she ever mentioned the whole, well, knowing the future part of it."

"Yeah, I guess…" Chris paused, wondering if Lissa actually knew about that. Maybe Chrom or Maribelle said something to her? "And are you sure you don't want to, uh, get the whole explanation?"

He shrugged. "I don't not want to learn it, but if you don't want to bring anything up then that's fine. You mentioned that you told Chrom, and if he hasn't said anything, then it didn't need to be said. I'll ask if I ever want to know something though," he said with a smile.

"Got it, and thanks. For being nice, you know." Chris tried to take another bite of soup, but realized he'd finished. "I think I'm going to go, actually. Maybe get stuff done."

"Got it. Sewing, training, or reading?" Stahl asked.

Chris quirked his head. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, you really only do those most of the time," he said. "That, and whatever you do whenever you leave the tent late at night."

"O-oh, is that, uh, bothering you? I usually thought you were asleep when I did that."

"No, it's fine. Just a little strange is all." His smile straightened a bit. "Well, I guess it's not as strange as whatever Vaike and Lon'qu have been doing."

"Lon'qu—oh, that's, uh, the new Shepherd. Right? What are he and Vaike doing." Chris frowned, correcting himself, "Vaike and him?"

"I'm not Maribelle, but both sound good enough to me." Stahl's brow furrowed. "I want to say they were dueling. I think I remember them—er, Vaike, talking about being rivals or something."

"Huh, good for them, I guess." Chris glanced at the door again, now seeing Frederick walk in with Robin behind him. She started to stretch her arms before her brown eyes landed on Chris.

She nodded to him, but after that Chris shook himself out of the moment. "Uh, right. I'm going to, uh, go try some more sewing. I'm almost ready to start with my pants, so I'd kinda like to get started there. See if I can finish by the time we get back to Ylisstol."

Stahl glanced between him and the door for a second, but nodded. "Alright, I guess we'll see you later then?"

"Yep, thanks for the food!" Chris said back as he walked away, giving a quick wave behind him. At least, until he remembered he'd left his bowl behind. He quickly returned it, and made his way out of the tent.

"Aaand done!" Lissa pulled the staff away, revealing Chris' thumb once again, only stinging a little now that the small pricks in it were gone. He pinched his thumb on his finger as she plopped back on her bed, stretching with a smile and resting her staff on her tent's wall.

He nodded, glancing between her and Maribelle to both of his sides. "Thanks, and I'm sorry you, uh, had to help with that."

"Think nothing of it, dear." Maribelle smiled, raising an eyebrow and gesturing at his thumb with her parasol. "If I may ask, though, how did you manage to do such a thing to yourself?"

"Or is it still a secret?" Lissa added, Maribelle looking over to her as she said, "It's not the first time he's had a bunch of holes in his thumb. So, what is it?"

"Oh, well…" He thought to himself for a moment, trying to remember why he'd kept that a secret.

Maybe he was getting too used to keeping those? It's not like he really had to though. It also wasn't their problem, but…

"Well… I was trying to, uh, sew my old clothes together," he said, earning a weird look from Lissa as he added, "They're the ones I came here with, they got kinda torn up when I got here and I, well, I kinda like them."

The two looked at him, Maribelle opening her mouth to say something before Lissa cut her off. "But, why'd you keep that a secret?"

"It, uh, really isn't something you guys need to care about, you know?" Chris scratched his head. "I mean, you guys don't really need to care about something like that, so I didn't want to bother you, you know?"

"I suppose I can understand that, though it seems unnecessary to withhold something so small," Maribelle said, glancing over at Lissa.

She nodded. "Yeah, I actually asked Maribelle what you were poking yourself for—since you guys talk sometimes, you know, outside of healing practice and stuff. She never mentioned anything like that, so I kinda thought it was a surprise or something."

"Oh, uh, no. I just wanted my old clothes usable again. Sorry," Chris said.

The three sat together in silence for a moment, at least, before Maribelle coughed. "Well, if that is out of the way, I suppose there is no reason not to spend our time practicing both of your healing, is there?"

Lissa nodded, while Chris thought for a moment himself. "I actually—wait, no, I think Frederick said something about putting off training for later today. Also Virion said he wanted to talk about, uh, something. Yeah, we can do this."

"Excellent, then Lissa." She turned to her, Lissa perking up a bit as Maribelle continued, "When you healed Chris' thumb, how exactly did you guide your healing?"

She nodded, eyeing the ceiling for a few seconds. "Well, I thought about how deep the holes were, then just focused the healing from the bottom up. That's how I handled it last time too."

"Last time—oh, of course. You mentioned healing him earlier." Maribelle nodded to herself. "Yes, I do remember that. As well, your process was practiced, but did you remember to try healing the bone? In case he'd managed to hit that when injuring himself."

"Nope, should I do that now?" Lissa asked, Maribelle shaking her head to answer.

"You would have seen his reaction if you'd accidentally healed over it. Especially after he'd pinched them together. It seems he missed the bone entirely." She turned to Chris. "In general, the two of you seem to only focus on superficial wounds, rather than those which may run deeper. The latter of which are often far worse, even though they are less obvious."

Chris perked up. "So, check for wounds on bone first, then end at the smaller flesh wounds?"

"Yes, though sometimes a far more serious wound may require you to heal the top of it first. Serious bleeding, for example, often has such an approach. Though it may complicate further healing—obscuring wounds and their severity—it may be necessary to do so and simply remember what the wound was prior to your healing." She looked away for a moment. "Though to be fully honest, I've thankfully never put such a thing to practice."

The two nodded, looking between each other before Maribelle turned towards the door. "Now, I do believe better practice would be put into place by example. While the Shepherds may not be training, surely at least one group of these Feroxi are in need of healing, what with their tendency to slam each other into everything they see." She let out a sigh. "I'd rather they act more civilized, but at the very least it will provide practice for healing bruises."

As she stood up, Lissa snorted. "I mean, they're pretty fun to have around."

"Wait, what'd you mean by that?" Chris asked.

"I mean it's kinda like having a bunch of Vaikes and Sullys everywhere, you know?" She stopped in place. "Wait, where'd my staff go…" she muttered, turning around.

"Yes, I've noticed such a thing," Maribelle added. "They have quite a tendency to be rude, but if such is the price for protection, then I suppose it is fine payment."

Lissa perked up from behind her cot, for some reason. "Huh, I didn't think you'd see it like that."

"Well, I did ask for them to be here," she added with a smile. "It would be improper of me to complain of something I myself requested."

"Wait, I thought Robin did that?" Chris asked.

Maribelle frowned a bit, but only for a second until she straightened it out. "No, though she did agree with the idea once I proposed it to Khan Flavia. In fact, the Khan originally denied it—as it would take longer than our return for her to mobilize any kind of force—before Robin suggested that they take the troops stationed at the Longfort for support."

Chris thought for a second, but nodded. "That makes sense. I just thought that was part of her plan or something."

"Perhaps if she were more open with her plans we'd have avoided such misunderstandings." Maribelle breathed out a sigh. "Though that matters little—Lissa, dear, have you found your staff yet?"

"Just got it!" she cheered from behind her bed, raising it above her head before swinging it back behind her. She stepped over her cot, turning to Chris. "Say, where's your staff?"

"Huh, uh… I think I left it in my tent, actually."

"If the Feroxi are still to the back of our group, then should we not pass by your tent on our way there?" Maribelle asked.

Chris paused to think before nodding. "Yeah, actually. That's how the camp is usually set up." He moved over to the tent flap, holding it open. As he did, he realized he'd probably be able to put away his sewing stuff while he was there.

Lissa hopped out first, with Maribelle following behind her and mumbling something about Robin.

"Uh, what was that?" Chris asked, causing her to snap straight up.

"Oh, nothing at all! Should we not get going, we've gotten off track enough for one day, have we not?"

Chris nodded, with Lissa leading the way to his tent as they moved off to, well, whatever Feroxi they could probably heal.

Virion's chess piece hit the small, wooden table with a soft clack as Chris scanned over the board again—and wondered to himself what the heck the 'pegasus' piece was supposed to do. He briefly glanced around the small tent he was in, trying to ignore the aches in his shoulder and legs from training just a little bit before.

The small, one-person tent Virion apparently had to himself only had a single, small cot in the back of it, some bags, and the small table they were playing chess at. Instead of an actual chessboard, the table itself had the board drawn on it, with small places for the pieces to slide into that Chris had noticed when Virion had taken the board out.

"So, Christopher. I take it you are handling the final few days of our travels well?" he asked, sliding one of the pawns forward and flicking some of his light-blue hair behind him.

"Yep," Chris scratched his head, "and, uh, my name's just Chris."

"It is? Ah! Yes, I do recall Madam Miriel having an interest in that topic for quite a while." He scanned over the board again. "Yet another interesting facet of yourself, would you not agree?"

"I mean, my parents gave it to me, so they'd be more of the interesting ones in that case." He moved a knight over, quickly shuffling the piece back when he realized he'd moved it a little too far.

He chuckled. "Ah yes, I'd heard of your tendency to avoid compliments, weaving through them as if they were the arrows of the field of battle." He drank from his nearby teacup, but Chris realized he didn't see any kettles he'd have filled it from. "Though even if you are right 'in this case', you cannot say you yourself are not interesting. The beautiful Princess Lissa herself has spoken highly of you. Much so in your capabilities as a healer."

"Really?" He moved another piece, a pawn. "She's way better of a healer than me. I just kinda know what to heal. She has actual practice."

He nodded, his brown eyes still looking Chris dead-on as he pushed a pawn of his own forward with his finger. "Yes, though perhaps if I spoke of you to Lady Maribelle she would have a different opinion on you, would she not?"

He shook his head again. "Probably not, she knows Lissa's better than I am."

Virion took a small sip of his tea and sighed. "I should have assumed you would be uninterested in them. It is your turn, is it not?"

"Oh, sorry!" He quickly scanned over the board, glancing up again and moving his queen forward a bit. He looked back up, seeing Virion's eyes widen as he placed his hand on… whatever the fluffed-up cloth he was wearing around his neck was.

"Ah yes, sending your queen into the fray without hesitation." Virion chuckled to himself. "A bold move, though not one without risk."

"Uh, yeah, I guess," Chris mumbled, looking off to the side a little. "So… you said you wanted to talk about something, didn't you?"

"But of course good sir. Though that does not mean we need to rush such a conversation, does it?" he said, slowly twirling his teacup in his hand. After another second, he pushed his bishop forward, taking a knight. "Though if you wish, I could perhaps hasten the pace myself."

He kept up his smirk as he continued, still looking at Chris dead-on. "The other day I had the pleasure of joining Lady Robin and Prince Chrom during one of their strategy meetings. And while I must say any kind of meeting with such a woman would always be a pleasure, I could not help but notice something—peculiar about how they were planning their actions."

"They were planning what looked like a counter to the Plegian invasion with what forces they had, specifically with the assistance of the fine Feroxi troops we have with us on this march. Robin herself asked that I be there to assist with them in planning these out." He took another sip, sighing as his smirk slowly dropping into a straightened face.

"Yeah, that makes sense," Chris said. "Did anything interesting happen there?"

"Indeed it did. You see, I could not help but notice the pure certainty with which the Lady Robin predicted some events of happening. As if they were simply a given. Now, I may not be a strategist of her ability, but even I know never to take such anything for granted. Predictions especially," he paused, the smirk rising again. "Yes, tactics are but a gambler's subject, not one for definite holds on the future. Yet, when I asked her why she claimed such events as certainty, she but briefly mentioned that they'd been told of Plegia's plans to attack Themis, and knew them to be of enough validity that she could be certain of their worth. After this, I asked what source she could possibly have such great confidence in."

Chris felt his stomach drop for a moment, but straightened himself up. "Would you be curious of her response?" he asked, but it didn't feel like a question.

"Did, uh—" He forced out a cough. Remembering to think through his next words as he said, "Did she say it was me?"

Virion smiled. "No, actually, she said nothing of the subject. It was Chrom who clarified such a thing." He chuckled to himself and took another sip of tea, setting down the now empty cup. "I may suspect why this would be kept a secret. Knowledge is power, of course. Though do know that I mean no harm to any of you for this. I simply knew I had to meet you, especially after what he mentioned you knew."

Chris paused, swallowing the lump in his throat. "What did you want to know about?"

"You know of the future. And thus, the future status of my homeland, would you not?" His smirk didn't fall this time, but Chris felt a shiver run down his back all the same.

"Uh—no, I don't think I do. Where is it?"

His smirk tilted. "You… what exactly do you mean you 'do not know?'"

"I don't remember most of what I know, mainly the bigger stuff. I didn't even remember you until I met you." He quirked his head. "Back at the barracks, right?"

"No no, it must have been…" Virion trailed off. "I do remember you healing me—back at our battle before the great Longfort—and knowing your name then. Surely it must have been before—" he cut himself off, waving his hand. "Ah, never mind. We can figure that out later. My homeland, Rosanne, please do tell me what you know of it?"

Blinking, Chris thought back for a moment. "Uh, I don't think I remember it."

"Nothing? Of how it fares against Valm? Against Walhart?" he asked, Chris perking up a bit, with Virion doing the same. "You do know of it then!"

"I, uh, know Valm invades at some point." He thought back harder, but shook his head. "That's it, sorry. I think I remember something about Walhart though, big red guy?"

Virion snorted. "If only he were but a 'big… red…'" he trailed off, his smirk slowly falling into a frown as he asked, "You say he invades, yes? Valm that is."

"Yeah, somewhere on, uh, the continent," Chris said, nodding to himself. "I don't think I remember where, but there's a fight there."

"Then… I see." He slowly deflated, shaking his head before forcing himself up again. "I should have assumed. Thank you, Chris."

"Uh… you're welcome?" he mumbled.

"Yes, thank you." He smirked again, a little wider than before, and… off, in some way. "Now, if you could leave. Our game can be saved for our next talk, of course. For now, I wish to… think. To myself."

"Yeah sure." Chris pushed himself out of the chair, stopping by the door for a moment. "Uh, are you okay?"

After a slight pause, Virion laughed, harder than he had before. "But of course I am! Enjoy what the rest of our travels back to Ylisstol bring you, my friend. And I do hope we speak again, if possible."

"Okay, sure," Chris said back before pushing himself out of the tent again.

After a moment of standing outside, he heard something pour in Virion's tent behind him, but decided to focus on what he should do next for the day. Eventually, he settled on getting some more training done, nodding to himself and marching away.

Chris propped himself up on his knees as he made it into the courtyard, just a little bit before the Shepherd's Barracks. The building looked smaller than it had before, its wooden frame and stone walls looking smaller than they did before they'd left for Ferox. Most of the windows for each of the rooms were wide open, with a few of the doors inside them open as well, revealing even more of the halls.

Glistening off of the roof tiles, the steady sunset behind the large building seemed almost strange considering how often Chris'd been either inside a tent or whatever Arena Ferox was called—he remembered one of those books describing it as a dungeon, but that seemed rude. Even with that thought, though, he couldn't really complain about the glistening sunlight on top of the barracks.

There were also beds in there, and after the longer march today, they seemed like the best thing in the world right now.

Pushing himself off of his knees, and seeing a few of the Shepherds were almost caught up with him, Chris took another deep breath before crossing the courtyard. With someone right behind him—Lissa, he heard from her panting—he finally made it to the door and pushed.

Only for the doorknob to stay shut.

"Well?" Lissa asked, gasping for air. "Is it—are you gonna open it?"

He jiggled the handle again. "Uh, it's locked."

A few other Shepherds appeared behind them. "What do you—oh, we got here too fast, didn't we…"

Suddenly, as a few groans came out from behind Chris, the door opened up. A massive blue hat popping out from the barracks as Chris saw a familiar face.

"Oh! You guys are back!" Ricken said. "I knew the pegasus knights said they spotted you, but I didn't think—"

Instantly, the door was flung open as Lissa almost threw herself inside, Ricken barely managing to dodge out of the way. The other Shepherds walked in slower than her, but still faster than a walk. Chris himself only gave Ricken a shrug before walking inside himself.

With everything looking the same—the usual mess of papers, tables, chairs, and that pile of stuff in the corner—Chris plopped himself onto the nearest chair he could find. Ricken quickly walked by behind him, down one of the halls as Chrom and Frederick made their way in. Robin followed behind them, gazing around the room as she followed behind them. She gave Chris a nod and what looked like a smile, one he returned.

"Shepherds!" Chrom shouted, pulling everyone's attention from the scattered chairs they were in. "Now that we're back, I'll be meeting with Emmeryn to discuss what we're doing next. In the meantime, take it easy, you have whatever's left of the day to relax, and tomorrow as we—" he tried to continue, but was cut off by Frederick shaking his head.

"Nevermind," he corrected. "Take the rest of the day off. We've done well, thank you all for your help."

Everyone let off a groan-like cheer as Chrom turned around, Frederick following right behind him as they left. Chris waited for Robin to follow behind them as well like she usually did. Instead, she made her way over to the seat next to him.

"Oh, Robin! Do you, uh, want something?" he asked.

"Yes, you said you wanted to be told about what we were planning, right?" He nodded. Robin smiling at him as she took out her notebook. "Good. I'm not certain that nothing will change tonight—and I still need to get most of my other plans in order—but after being told of the pegasus knights' success in Themis we can finally confirm something with Emmeryn."

Chris' head tilted. "Wait, when did the pegasus knights show up? I, uh, did I miss it?"

"Earlier today, did nobody tell you?" she asked. "I know Stahl came up to talk with one of them, I just assumed he was with you. And yes, the pegasus knights showed up to say they'd repelled the attack on Themis. What we do next is up to Emmeryn, and I'll tell you tomorrow if I can."

"Y-yeah, thanks!" he beamed, thinking to himself for a moment. "Uh, when can we talk about it?"

She tilted her head. "Like I just said, tomorrow would be most likely. I'll see if there's some time when I'm out of planning with Chrom. Frederick would probably know about that better than he would." She pushed herself out of the chair, her ponytail flipping over her shoulder as she did. "Until then, goodbye."

"Oh, right. Yeah, sure! Thanks for that, then!" he said with an eager wave, which she nodded to before leaving, the door clacking shut softly behind her.

Immediately after that, Chris' attention was pulled by hard footfalls coming from one of the halls. He looked over someone in a suit of armor—probably one of the Feroxi soldiers, still here for some reason—and noticed Ricken skidding to a stop, a cluttered bundle of papers falling out of his arms as he looked around.

His eyes focused on Chris eventually and he marched over to him. "Hey, do you know where Robin went?"

"Yeah, she went off with Chrom and Frederick to, uh… talk with Emmeryn, right, that."

"She… dang it!" he cried, plopping down on one of the chairs at Chris' table. "I got all of these done while you guys were gone, and for nothing!"

"What's wrong?" Sumia asked behind Chris, having come in from somewhere. "Oh! Are those the maps you asked for from the library?"

He shook his head. "Nope, they're copies I made. I had to get a little help with them, but I thought Robin would appreciate the help. They mostly cover my lands to the south, and she said she needed them at some point for figuring out tactical stuff down there, so I thought I'd help as much as I could."

"Oh, that's cool. And she'd probably like it then," Chris said, Sumia nodding next to him as she pulled a chair out for herself.

"I guess, I wanted to ask her her thoughts on some other areas as well, but for now I just thought this would be helpful." A map fell off of the pile, which he leaned down to pick up until Sumia did it for him. "Oh, thanks. But I'm still not sure what to do until she can see these."

Sumia perked up. "I'm sure Miriel is at the library, maybe she'd be willing to talk about magic with you while you wait!"

"Oh yeah, she probably knows some stuff I forgot when making these!" Ricken said, hefting them up again as he stood back up.

"Would you like to come with us, Chris?" Sumia asked.

He turned to her, standing up to join them until the ache in his legs came back. "Actually, uh, I think I'll try and get some sleep."

"Okay, you have a good rest then." She turned back to Ricken, who was already at the door before she perked up. "Oh, hold on Ricken! Goodbye Chris!" she said back with a wave.

He waved back. "Yep, and, uh, thanks for talking, I guess. I'll tell you the next time Robin's open!" He paused. "Or, er, I'll tell Ricken."

He saw her smile at him one last time before closing the door behind her. With a quick push off of the table—and another ache coming from the motion—he made his way back to his room, briefly noticed that not much had really changed from last time, and plopped into the bed for the day.

Howdy! It's, uh, been a while. Two months, give or take. And as you can tell by the different start of this AN, this is going to be a different one.

So, to put it bluntly, I'm putting PAtS on hold for the time being. This most likely won't be indefinite, but at the very least for quite a while. Writing this thing has gotten far harder for me to make myself do than I'm willing to force myself to, since if that happens I doubt it'll be as good as it has been.

And if I'm allowed to toot my own horn for a second, I do believe this has been good so far. Not perfect, or even great, but good. I'll certainly be working on other projects, mostly Fire Emblem for the time being, and do hope to get something else out sometime soon. For the time being though, this'll be the last you hear of PAtS. Well, until it isn't.

If this does ever come back, and I certainly hope it does, I may feel like rewriting the whole thing to work better, I may just carry on, I might have a completely different direction I want to take with it. I don't know, I'm not future!Tim, he probably has some kind of idea.

If you'd like to know how my writing is doing, or just want to hang out with a group of genuinely fantastic writers to talk about fanfiction/gaming/general shitposting, the discord code for the Fanfiction Treehouse is: 9XG3U7a. Feel free to ask me there or in my discord dms about how things or going or whatever else: UDtimburrhog#2280.

In the meantime, I'd like to thank Bunni (AKA Sushion) my beta reader for all of her hard work in seeing PAtS and my writing, in general, become quite nearly competent, something I'd have had far more difficulty in doing had she not helped me on this journey. Please do go check out her fic Pale Blue Awakening, as it's quite a wonderful read and somehow isn't doing as well as PAtS, which is a damn shame and should be rectified at once.

As well, and though a more recent help, Ghep and his fic Detachment are quite great, and his help as a second beta reader was certainly appreciated. Do try and check his stuff out, as he's a far better writer than I—despite my best efforts.

So, uh, yeah. See y'all whenever this AN gets updated with a big ol' redacted sign. Until that, good luck with reading, and thank you all for the support so far.