(A/N: All righty, everything important in this author note and future ones will be in bold, so make sure to read those! First things first, characters, events, and some other things will not be written exactly as portrayed as canon due to my memory, plot convenience, or because I consider this a minor AU. I feel that I should note that the kids you see—the teenagers who become the main protagonists—are the children born during/after Awakening. I will also note that this story is much like the original Mini Shepherds in terms of plot, with most events being similar and some details and materials (like oneshots I wrote and are particularly fond of) being added. On a chapter-related note, there are two kinds of chapters in this story: regular and bonus. Regular chapters are crucial to the story and update on Mon/Wed/Fri until the story's completion, whereas bonus chapters can be skipped as they won't hold extremely vital plot information and will be posted on Tues/Thurs/Sat throughout the story's run. A bonus chapter will be called "Bonus: (name)"instead of just the name. Chrobin is also established for my personal convenience only, but no other pairing is specified. That's all, though! You can now enjoy the story.)
Ah, May. Arguably the best month, in Morgan's biased opinion. You could eat two different birthday cakes in one month, the weather was usually nice, and obviously Morgan's birthday was on the fifth.
Unfortunately, there were also the cases where Chrom didn't want to put the staff through the trouble of making cake, it was thundering outside for whatever reason, and it was past Morgan's birthday. Alas, the joys of May were short-lived.
Morgan jotted down tactic notes while he lamented the rain outside. Some of them were relevant to the book he had in front of them—most were general notes, musings, questions, or joking strategies for stuff like avoiding Lucina and Owain's weird habits. All but four or five of said notes stayed in his room, later being used as bookmarks for his collection of tactical textbooks and story novels that he kept in his room.
He glanced outside, mainly to frown at the rain disapprovingly just to see if it'll stop. It didn't, so Morgan sighed. About the same time he noticed Frederick and some of the staff coming in and out of the castle, there was a knock at his door. "Give me a second!" Morgan called to whoever knocked. "There's a ton of books in front of the door."
"I can wait," Lucina's voice replied.
Morgan went to his door, stepping over the books on the floor and moving some of the chairs to clear a path (he almost always accidentally trapped himself inside whenever he'd move something), then cleared away the books near the door so his sister could come in. He smiled when he opened the door.
"So, what'cha need?" Morgan asked cheerfully. "Are we holding the tournament inside somewhere, or is it canceled?"
"That's why I came to get you," Lucina replied. She had her own little smile. "Frederick decided that he needed to make sure we could do it outside, since there's not a good place indoors and Father doesn't want to cancel. I was asked to bring you to the training area so everyone could hear your 'planned speech.'"
He gave her a feigned hurt expression. "Aw, don't sound like you don't believe that I've been rehearsing."
Lucina didn't offer a response aside from a chuckle. "Come on; Cynthia might start before you do."
Morgan laughed and followed her outside and to the training area. Frederick had, as Lucina said, apparently started covering the training area with thick blankets and fabrics that somehow didn't droop from the weight of the water (possibly because Miriel seemed to be discussing it and providing input). Chrom was outside watching, offering an amused word or two.
"Frederick, remind me why I haven't forced you to retire?"
"I can't recall, milord. Ah, but do you think this covering will be sufficient?"
"It's just the Shepherds and the kids; that'll do, Frederick. Thank you."
"I do not mind, milord. I shall retrieve blankets for the ground."
As Frederick left, Chrom turned towards Lucina and Morgan. "About everyone's here," Chrom said with a smile. "We can get started when Frederick comes back; go ahead and greet your friends."
Both of them nodded, and went over to where the Shepherds' children were. The Shepherds—the original few (that being Sully, Stahl, Sumia, Maribelle, Miriel, Vaike, Kellam, and Ricken if you're not including Chrom, Lissa, and Frederick, who live at the castle)—and their kids were visiting for a mock tournament that Lissa decided to hold for Chrom's birthday. It was the day before and if the guests weren't here then they were coming, so the adults decided to hold it today.
Morgan paid greeting to Cynthia, the only non-family Shepherd's child that he was familiar with (the rest were mostly Lucina's friends; Kjelle trained at the castle sometimes but didn't entertain a lot of conversation, Laurent spent whatever time he had at the castle looking through the library and thus ignoring anyone trying to talk to him, and Brady was just…weird. And a bit vulgar). When Owain came by, Morgan gave a little I-haven't-seen-you-since-breakfast greeting and the three fell into a nice conversation.
When Frederick came back and laid the blankets down so everyone could sit down on something dry, it came time for Morgan's cue. Being alerted by Robin, who just gave him a simple nod, he went to the center of the training area and happily began the little speech he's been planning for a month or so.
"Welcome and hello to everyone!" Morgan announced. "For those of you who had to travel, thanks for coming—and for those who live here, thanks for making it to the training area. Today we're having a mock tournament involving all of the original Shepherds and their kids; first the kids'll go, then the Shepherds, and the best of both afterwards. All battles will be stopped after twenty minutes or when three hits are landed on the opponent; there's an actual referee this time, so it'll be accurate. Wooden weapons for everyone—the kids who can't wield a non-magic weapon yet will just use a weak tome; all battles and tiers are based on strength, to make it as fair as possible, with weakest going first. There'll be a few-minute break in between each battle, and ideally the kids matches will end in time for lunch, the adults for dinner, and the best of both will be held tonight or tomorrow. Any questions?" When no one spoke up, Morgan smiled, adding cheerfully, "All right then! Without further ado, please enjoy the mock tournament!"