Plans had been made prior for Chrom to spend the afternoon with the Shepherds and Robin, so it left Lucina and Morgan to tell the other children. Lucina had decided it would be easiest to tell them as they left the dining hall, and they all agreed to meet in the training area. No one seemed to leave with a frown.
There was still on-and-off rain, but the weather that had taunted them the day before had mostly subsided—at the very least, she wasn't going to mention anything being damp lest someone went out of their way to make minor changes for her own comfort. No one else seemed to mind, at least; if anything, some of them beamed despite it. Morgan was the most noticeable of those—even if it seemed like he kept on trying to suppress it.
When all seven of them came—it didn't take long, really—Lucina opted to repeat what she had been told earlier. "You've all been told about Morgan's idea about recreating the Shepherds by now," she said. She noticed that her brother smiled a bit more after hearing her credit him. "As of our last meal, we've gotten our parents' approval. So, as long as you're all willing, we can consider this our initial meeting." When no one protested, she said, "First things first, we need a name. One at a time, please."
A few immediately began spouting off names, which Lucina was sure they had been considering since they heard of the idea—although considering that they had all last night and all that morning to think about them, some were…mediocre.
"Seven Koopalings! Then we can have nicknames! Oh, but Kjelle and Lucina are definitely having the extra masculine ones."
"Nope! Justice Cabal! Doesn't that sound cooler?"
"That already exists. I was thinking about something…simpler."
"Is it better than Justice Cabal?"
"Better than my name?"
"Maybe not better, but… I don't know. I was just thinking about Mini Shepherds instead."
When the almost-quarreling group heard it, they stopped to look at Morgan. Apparently not expecting his idea to be the one they paused with, he explained a bit shyly. "We're recreating the Shepherds, and 'mini' is like saying we're not to their level."
Laurent pushed up his glasses. "Well, considering that all other names are a stretch to even call 'below average,' it would be a logical choice—and as Morgan pointed out, we are less than the original Shepherds."
"I dunno," Brady said, frowning. "Seems kind of…immature to me."
"Hey, it's better than whatever those two were coming up with," Kjelle replied, gesturing to Owain and Cynthia. "I'd take it. Maybe if this lasts for a few years we can move up, but I'm not disrespecting the original Shepherds by taking their name as soon as we get everything settled."
"It may be best to make it clear we're not an exact replacement for our parents," Lucina agreed. "So in that regard, are we decided?" They were murmurs of agreement, and she nodded. "All right, then. At least for the time being, we'll be the Mini Shepherds."
Cynthia barely let them fall into silence, quickly saying, "Okay, now we need to figure out the veryimportant second matter!" Gaining some confused looks from the oldest few of the seven—including subtle confusion on Lucina's part, as she was only told to decide on a name and who would be acting as what—the pegasus knight smiled. "Captain nicknames, obviously! Chrom was 'Captain,' so we need something to call Lucina! It's only fair."
"No one calls Chrom 'Captain' anymore," Kjelle pointed out bluntly. "Maybe except for Sumia, which is…probably why you're insisting on it."
"Hey, my mother's pretty good," Cynthia retorted. "As long as she doesn't trip, anyway."
"You're one to talk," Owain muttered with a snicker.
Cynthia glared at him before anyone else had the time to chuckle. "Not the point! The point is, Lucina needs a nickname! Captain Luce should be good!"
"I don't see why I need a special title," Lucina said simply.
"Aw, come on—think about it!" Cynthia replied cheerfully. "Just imagine: 'have fun and let Luce!' 'Luce'n the ropes, we're breaking free!' 'Luce—"
"My first act as captain will be to ban nicknames if you won't stop using mine as a pun," Lucina said, only half joking. When Morgan started to chuckle, she looked at him and offered a quiet, sarcastic, "Well, I'm glad you're finding some amusement out of this."
"Oh, Cynthia's puns are terrible," Morgan replied, pausing in his laughter for a minute. Cynthia's face fell for a moment before she shrugged and started spouting off more jokes. "The best part is always your reaction. Always, undeniably, without fail, the best."
She was able to genuinely smile, at least, before looking back at Cynthia. "Although, sincerely, pleaseconsider stopping," Lucina said.
"You're just Captain Lucina, then!" Cynthia decided cheerfully.
After that matter was settled, they went on to decide what roles each one would take. Owain argued a bit over it—even falling to his last resort of "A grand person would need someone of similar but lower prestige to be their second! Allow me to be that second! I-I can fight with a sword better than him anyway!" which was a variation of his typical protest whenever he wanted to be chosen over someone else—but Lucina eventually settled on Morgan. She favored him because he hadn't said a word throughout the whole thing, if not because he could actually provide input should they get into a battle.
By the time they had all of that decided—Lucina was the commander, Morgan was her second, Owain and Kjelle were main attackers should they get into any battles, Cynthia and Laurent would support them with distractions for any people they may fight against, and Brady would act as the medic as much as he was able—the Shepherds came back. They came to the training area, apparently having made some bet or another, and Chrom and Robin helped them work out how they would function as a group while three of the Shepherds fighting against each other.
The Mini Shepherds would take on small tasks like rounding up minor thieves in an area or giving supplies to a Ylissean town; in the future, if all went well, they may be able to visit Regna Ferox—and if they were especially fortunate, Valm. (Plegia was, for the foreseeable future, not a reasonable option; mixed in its population were those who supported Ylisse's efforts to destroy the fell dragon and those who opposed it, and it was the only nearby nation that Lucina had never visited.) They would go on trips every month unless they were needed at home, and they would exercise caution above all else. No one opposed it, and they would set out for their mission the next day.