Knock knock knock
The sound of metal hitting the wooden door woke up Robin abruptly. He was still half asleep but he managed to get up. The knocking on the door continued as well which with every knock, made him more annoyed. As Robin opened the door, he let out a big yawn as he noticed the cerulean knight smiling menacingly towards him.
"Good morning Robin, I hope you slept well. Are you ready to start your first day of physical training?
"Robin looked out at the window. The sun was not even rising at all and the skies were still dark.
"What time is it?" he rubbed his eyes to the remove the eye boogers.
"It is about to be 4:30 tactician. The perfect time to start a morning workout."
Are you serious? He grouchily thought.
Robin tried very hard to make an enthusiastic face even though he was annoyed that he was they had to begin this early. "I can't wait to get started!"
"Excellent, get yourself dressed and meet me at the training yard."
He watched as Frederick walked down the lit-up halls. To his surprise, a couple of maids were already up cleaning the knight armor and paintings on the corridors. He went back inside his room to get himself dressed. Gently, he brushed his hair to remove any knots and signs of bed head. Next, he smoothed out the wrinkles on his cloak that he just washed yesterday, though there were still a couple cuts and small holes. Robin did not want to arrive late because of Frederick's disciplined attitude. He rushed out the castle towards the training yard where Frederick was patiently waiting. It was quiet except for the chirps of the crickets. The temperature was just right with a cool breeze flowing in the area.
"Since this is your first day of training. I decided to cut you some slack by waking you up and letting you come here at your own pace. From now on, I expect you to be here on your own and on time, any tardiness will result in punishment. It is good to see that you are in your battle attire, that will help you improve your movement and training. I want you to push yourself when performing these activities. My goal is to get you disciplined and in shape and since you will be one of the commanders of this war, I want you to set an example to your comrades through respect, intelligence, courage, and wisdom. Once you can convince me that you have these attributes. I will let you train with the group. Do i make myself clear?"
"Yes sir." he nodded.
"Good, then let us begin with some stretches."
After stretches, Frederick ordered to follow him to the outside of the kingdom. Once they arrived, he told Robin that he must do a five-mile run along the road and follow him.
"Ready? Start running and don't fall behind."
The stretching paid off as his body was able to withstand the first mile but soon after. His legs were beginning to give out. His lungs followed soon after as he started to struggle breathing and took long gulps of air. Frederick took notice of this and began yelling at him.
"Don't slow down! Come on, keep running! If this was a real situation, you'd most likely be dead or slow down the group."
"That's a … realistic way… of putting it." Robin spoke between each breath.
It does not help that he is carrying an iron sword on his waist and a tome inside of his cloak. These items are slightly slowing him down. He accelerated and got back to his normal speed but it was short lived as he got tired again.
"Was that all you can muster? It's a wonder how you manage to survive this long. This run is mere child's play. Run faster!"
I take it all back. Those stretches did nothing for me.
Frederick's attempt to motivate Robin was not having much of an effect on the tactician. They have not even pass the halfway mark. Every second that passed, he slowed down more and more to the point that he was only speed walking.
"Stop walking!" he scowled at him.
"I'm sorry Frederick…. I'm just not fit enough… to run nonstop…"
"I can see very well how badly in shape you are. At least try to jog and recollect yourself. At the rate this is going, we will finish this run after the sun rises."
Pretty disheartening considering the run is the first exercise.
"Robin calmed his breathing, air circulating inside his lungs. His body rejuvenated itself until he was ready for another go. He signaled at Frederick to pick up speed and was able to pace himself. The roads were a tad bit rough with the unlimited amount of pebbles on the dirt road. Even his tough leather boots, he could feel the lumps on the bottom of his foot When it came to running, he figured it was all mental. A battle against body and mind, to not let them succumb to fatigue. Fortunately, he figured that the best way get through this run was by distracting himself. This time, instead of looking at the long steady road. He observed at what the environment had to offer. To his right were lush trees and bushes with wildlife scurrying in the small open areas within the trees. To his left were trees too but was more open that you could see through it. He took a glance at Frederick who looked poise jogging alongside him. Now thinking about it, Robin remember how careful Frederick was with pebbles. The knight remained vigilante on the path he was treading. Robin still remembers what Frederick told him on the way to Regna Ferox. "A single pebble can lead to disastrous effects. Milord, or any of you would trip and cut themselves, break, a bone, get head trauma, or worse when he falls an assassin would jump out of the trees are attack him." Looking at him again, he could tell that Frederick was vigilantly looking towards the grounds trying to avoid the minuscule rocks. Even with that, I'm running while he is jogging with that heavy hunk of metal. How fast is this man or am I so slow?"
"Just a little more, you're performing much better."
Good, because I don't know how long I can keep up.
Mustering his limited supply of energy, he pushed on until his feet were running on solid concrete. Upon arriving at the castle gate, he bent down with his hands on his knees. Oxygen flowed through his lungs. Small drops of sweat dripped down his hair and splashed at the ground. The morning sun was barely peeking at the horizon.
This is going to be a fun morning. He thought to himself. Robin composed himself and readied himself for the next activity. Frederick walked up to the tired tactician.
"I must say tactician that even though you performed exceptionally well when you started running again, your maximum run speed is an embarrassment. Do not fret though, once your body adjusts to my training regimen. You will see that your body's condition will improve dramatically."
"I'll be looking forward to it Freddie."
Robin's statement caused Frederick's eyebrow to twitch. "Freddie?"
"Sorry, you don't like nicknames?"
"I humbly ask of you to refrain from using nicknames. Address people properly and with their respective titles, especially those in royalty."
"Understood sir. Frederick why did you decide to become a knight? Just curious is all."
"Ehem, my family have served and protected the royal family for countless generations. It has been an honor that my parents, grandparents, great grandparents, and so on have held proudly. I followed the tradition that every firstborn in the family was chosen and trained to become a knight."
"Do you have any siblings?"
"Unfortunately, no. My parents died in battle protecting the former Exalt when i was still a teenager. From that day forward, I vowed to fulfill my training and respect their memory by honoring our tradition."
"Being both Chrom and Lissa's retainer must be rather tiring is it not?"
"I never tire. However, in my youth. I was tasked with tasked with raising Chrom and Lissa when their parents passed away. I raised them to the best of my ability teaching them etiquette,history, sword fighting with the prince and taking care of the sick with Lissa. Even though there were nights where it was just too much to handle. I never faltered and worked diligently to help them become the mature people they are now even though they still do have a childish or reckless attitude at times. Ever since then fatigue has never been a problem to me as I have trained my body to handle any situation. Whether it is protecting the royal family, training recruits, delivering messages, washing laundry, or removing every pebble on this field. I will give it my all to see them satisfied."
"That seems very strenuous. Do you ever get any chance to relax or have a day off?"
"Of course, but I spend most of my free time helping the recruits and fixing any issues that come to light."
"Chrom and Lissa are really lucky to have someone like you watching over them. You go above and beyond to see them happy."
The compliment caused the knight to smile.
"It's nice having someone else praise my efforts. Many people believe my behavior to be eccentric but i call that duty. Enough chatter though, it is time to continue our training."
Robin was glad he got the chance to have a nice conversation with Frederick. It sad that he is possibly the last of his family. He has struggled at an early age but continued walking forward. It's no wonder why everyone respects him so much. The info will help him with his roster. With possibly more recruits on their way, he must speed things up if he hopes to finish the roster. Only one question remains for now.
Can Robin survive through Frederick's exercise sessions without dying of exhaustion?
A/N: This is the first of many supports that Robin will have with his peers. These sub chapters are skippable and do not have much of an impact to the main story. In the beginning, I was wondering whether i should post these on its own separate thing and not with the main story but i figured it would be much of a hassle for those that do want to read them and go back and forth between these sub chapters and the main chapters. At the beginning of each sub chapter. I will place a warning in bold stating. "This is a sub chapter and can be skipped if you want to head to the main story." sub chapters are mainly for fun and extra interaction between Robin and the Shepherds. Chapter 7 is just about completed. I intended it to feature two main events but i soon realized that I would just be going all over the place. I decided to split it so i can respectively focus on each event. So be expecting the 7th chapter very soon.