I have my first chapter of my 3H au done but this monster would not leave me alone! Quarantine got me half dead, I'm still aggressively procrastinating on my thesis, and I want to express my undying lover for newmrsdewinter and everyone in the discord (arihime, ingrimasname, blarfshorgull) for keeping me tethered to what little patience I have ahahaha! Just a warning though: the final scene cut includes sex! Read at your own discretion.

This Risen Chief was just as massive and intimidating as the last one. While Chrom felt far more reassured about their greater numbers and improved battle-readiness, there was no denying the instinctual horror that took hold as the terrible beast loomed over them.

"Ready the shots!" he called out to the soldiers in charge of the onagers and ballistae. "Make sure we've got enough firepower to down that thing, and give it all we've got!"

Miriel had devised a rather ingenious weapon—explosives packed inside a layer of mud, then encased in straw—since before their departure from Ylisstol, and the town provided enough additional resources to keep their war machines stocked. They were better prepared to face the horrible monster with Miriel's indispensable knowledge of incendiary magic, and she personally inspected and lit every single piece of ammunition after it was loaded. Fireballs hurtled through the night sky with a loud whistle and left a searing orange light in their wake.

Cheers erupted when the beast raised its arms to shield itself, stepping back to avoid the fire. One of the few remaining smaller Risen was immediately crushed by a projectile, its agonised writhing disguised by flames wreathing the projectile.

Robin observed from a safe position behind a wall of armoured infantry. She really did look quite striking, with the way stray embers fluttered restlessly around her robes. A slight tailwind rustled the hem as she surveyed the fiery battlefield. She looked like a proper general.

And Chrom wondered: just how experienced was Robin? Her performance in Southtown was incredibly smart, but her skills truly shone through in the forest…not to mention her apparent capacity for magic of such a high level that even asking Emmeryn about 'Mjölnir' resulted in raised eyebrows. Emmeryn was rarely astonished by anything, and yet her only reply to his question was that she needed time to craft an appropriate explanation for him. An appropriate explanation from Emm! What on earth could that possibly even mean? Was it something he should worry about?

No—leave all the worrying to Frederick, expert that he was on that particular subject. If anything, Robin's skills also revealed a glaring weakness in the form of a lack of stamina. Yes, her attacks packed quite the brutal punch, and her defences were incredibly solid, but such efforts tired her easily. Chrom noticed Robin's quiet panting after training sessions in the castle's training yard. The brief wet sheen of sweat shining on what little skin he could spot under her robe, the way she gulped down cold well water offered to her after exercise. He suspected her exhaustion was rooted in how hard she obviously pushed herself, and though the effort was highly appreciated, the last thing the Shepherds needed was for their new strategist to wear herself out.

Chrom clasped Robin's shoulder firmly and turned to her. "Listen here, Robin…don't push yourself too hard."

"What do you mean?" When her head tilted in his direction, Chrom winced as the red glare from her eyes met his own. He had forgotten how intimidating and strange she looked, with those lights blazing from within the shadows of her hood, yet they somehow failed to illuminate the rest of her face. Whatever magic that was, or why it seemed to be triggered in combat was beyond his current understanding, adding further to the mystery that Robin presented.

"I don't want you using spells like the one you cast in the forest. It was incredibly useful that last time, and I'm not saying it wouldn't be useful now either, but the force of it knocked you clean out. It's best that we keep you awake during battle, don't you think?"

Chrom could practically Robin raising her eyebrows as a short, though not less incredulous, silence followed. "If it's what it takes to win, then it's not like we have much of a choice."

"You fell face-first into the mud and suffered from a raging fever that night. If I hadn't—"

Wait, a sudden thought cut through him. I haven't told anyone about…about Falchion speaking to me. Everyone else saw me drawing it and…and using it to heal her. I don't remember Falchion having any healing magic, and someone would've mentioned it before if any older ancestor like Marth had used it for that purpose. So what do I say? That my sword's apparently a pointy healing stave that can speak telepathically for some reason?

"If you hadn't what?" Robin's voice brought him back to the present.

"When you two are done fussing over each other." Frederick's louder reproach made them both jump. "Please try to focus on the beasts we are currently attempting to rout."

A soft blush warmed Chrom from cheek to cheek as he muttered an apology and gingerly shouldered his way to the front of the line with Robin in tow. Judging by the way she pulled her hood lower on her face, Frederick's scolding most likely had the same effect on her.

Suddenly, a strong gust and the sound of wingbeats from above alerted them to Sumia's presence, with the Pegasus Knight alighting before them. "C-Captain!" She stumbled over a tussock of grass but managed to right herself. "There's some movement coming from beyond the border—it looks like the Feroxi!"

"The Feroxi? But I thought part of the mission was escorting some of them back to Ylisstol," Robin said.

Frederick, squinting, hefted a heavy silver lance higher in his grasp. "That it is. Feroxi are renowned for producing strong and capable warriors. The issue now is if they are prepared to face monsters whose only weaknesses are to strong magic and fire…there are currently few such mages amongst their ranks, unfortunately."

Chrom swore. "Their fighting prowess won't help them, then! Sumia! Can you tell us how many are in their group and what they look like?"

The Pegasus Knight assented and took to the air immediately.

Robin surveyed the lone white speck in the dimly lit night sky, and though the unsettling red glow of her eyes betrayed no hint of emotion, Chrom could gander a guess at her current thoughts. "I'm sorry…she's the only one the Pegasus Knights could spare for us, what with the rest out on Phila's order's and Cordelia staying behind in Ylisstol."

"While I admit it would've been nice to have more aerial support, it's understandable." Robin turned back to the flames keeping the Risen Chief at bay; the rest of its underlings had all been vanquished by now, but it was proving stubbornly difficult to eliminate the lumbering nightmare, which started a retreat to the riverbank. "I do have to ask: how is it possible to be a Pegasus Knight and a Shepherd at the same time?"

"We have recruits from all sorts of backgrounds and skill sets. With our small numbers, we have to look for individuals whose talents can fill the gaps in our forces. And, as you said, having aerial support is extremely advantageous. It–it was my idea to have Pegasus Knights, actually. I asked Emm to loan us some fliers after we started the Shepherds, and she was kind enough to give Sumia and Cordelia permission to become full members." He suddenly felt very self-conscious over telling Robin that. Why did he need to say that it was his idea? Was he trying to one-up her in terms of leadership?

No, more like impress her, Chrom thought with a grimace. But surely Robin was already impressed enough with his role as it was. Or perhaps reminding her of his status would give her pause and prove a good enough reason to heed his warnings of not over-exerting herself. He hated pulling rank and treating others as though they were beholden to him, but…

"I'm really serious about what I said," Chrom remarked as he watched the Risen dodge another fireball. "I'm not going to force you to listen to me, but we, as Shepherds, can't afford to have you fainting on us again when we're fighting monsters like these."

Robin thankfully seemed to digest his words very carefully and merely nodded in response.

Sumia returned with a panting report of the Feroxi she sighted: "I-it's around seventeen people—there's a knight at the front leading three brawlers, three archers, four more knights, three swordsmen and two foot soldiers. There's also a dancer with them that I saw breaking off from a larger group that look to be mostly civilians and other dancers."

"They mostly likely spotted the Risen and are planning to engage it," Chrom cursed.

"Sumia," Robin called out as she snapped open a tome. "I need you to fly over and warn them about the Risen. That thing is close enough to the bridge that it can impede their crossing and, unless one of their fighters knows magic, then it puts them in a lot of danger. How fast do you think you can get there?"

The young flier started, not quite expecting Robin to directly address her (especially after the former's long period of self-imposed brooding). And yet, being entrusted with such a task prompted a brilliant smile, a gesture that made Chrom smile in turn. Sumia had been worried over her performance ever since joining the Shepherds. Her strength was lacklustre compared to Vaike, Sully, and Frederick. She had little magical aptitude compared to Ricken and Miriel, and it was no secret that she often compared herself to Cordelia, a prodigy in all sense of the word, who was often upheld as a paragon by Phila. Chrom sympathised with Sumia's insecurities. He was appreciative that Robin did not tsk over her as Frederick did, nor did she shower the poor girl with pity, the sort that often came with an ill-disguised lack of confidence that only furthered Sumia's feelings of inadequacy.

"Yes, Robin! Right away! Ah, no, wait, am I allowed to call you by your first name? S-should I address you as Lieutenant? No, that's Frederick…what comes after a Lieutenant agai—" Sumia began to ramble.

"Sumia!" Robin's sigh cut right through her words. "Time is of the essence!"

"R-right, I'm sorry! I-I'll get right to it!"

Henry materialised instantly, as though by magic (then again, Chrom thought, he probably did have the skill for it), tugging insistently at Sumia's sleeve. "I heard you're riding off! Can I come this time?"

Henry stuck to Sumia's side for almost the entirety of the trip; the two had grown somewhat close during the month spent in Ylisstol, though Henry was seen mostly in Robin's company. By the time the city gates were well behind their forces, he practically glued himself to Sumia instead. He was evidently a great animal lover, and his intense fascination over pegasi led him to pelter the Sumia with an endless barrage of questions about them. As…obvious as Henry's eccentricity was, Chrom approved of the strange friendship he had struck up with her. Though Sumia had friends in the Shepherds, Henry's admiration for her was quite unlike anything everyone else had seen, and it was doing marvels for her self-esteem. In light of it, Chrom understood why Sumia was far more welcoming of their latest recruits than the others.

Sumia, worrying her lower lip between her teeth, exhaled a gusty breath, her brown eyes flitting from Chrom to Robin and back again. "If you do, then we need to get a move on, and you need to hold on tight."

"Don't worry, I promise!"

"Hurry!" Robin admonished them, watching as another fireball was launched towards the Risen.

And so the pair scrambled onto Sumia's snowy white steed and rose high up into the air.

While all the normal Risen had been snuffed out by now, the Chief had proven to be a stubbornly resilient opponent. It realised the threat posed by the ammunition launched toward it and steadily picked its way towards the river, carefully (though slowly) navigating its way around flaming clumps of grass. Robin quickly shut down any notion of moving their armaments to follow it.

"It's smart for a creature like that. Following it with the ballistae means we won't be able to use them to attack, which gives it enough time to move in and swipe at us. We risk losing our arms as well as soldiers. But if we let it advance towards the water, then not only does it gain some form of protection against the fire, but it comes closer to the Feroxi and our shots lose power at this distance." The red glow narrowed as if she was squinting.

Chrom, wiping sweat from his brow, thought hard. The Shepherds had little resources to transport larger onagers and siege engines, but their current equipment could only shoot so far. "So what do you propose we do?"

"Some of the riders can take the mages closer, see if any are as good as handling fire as Miriel is. She, meanwhile, can light some arrowheads and direct the longbows to protect the former in between attacks. Since Libra is here that means we can also try to bless the arrows before lighting them. And you have your sword...funny thing, the Risen are afraid of it."

"I don't suppose you want to try lighting it on fire as well?"

A sudden, loud snort was quickly silenced by the mortified tactician. It was the first time Chrom had ever heard her laughter, and he grinned at his achievement. Could that mean he was finally getting closer to breaking down her walls?

"That is," he said, still grinning, "the most unattractive laugh I've ever heard."

And so it was his turn to be embarrassed. You just had to open your stupid, stupid mouth, didn't you? Chrom cringed as Robin gaped at him.

"Milord…you must learn to control your words. Now is not the time to be bandying about and insulting our strategist," Frederick sighed. Even Frederick!

"S-sorry. I didn't mean it like that—ah, forget I said anything! Let's go and get this over with! We've spent far too much time on that monster for my liking."

To Chrom's utter relief, Robin seemed to be solely focused on directing the troops instead of his horribly insensitive comment. The Risen Chief was easily baited into attacking the riders, drawing back when the mages accompanying them blasted it full of fire, but their manoeuvres were not enough to prompt it to abandon its current position. Robin was unsure of sending their forces farther out to surround it and try forcing the beast from behind, especially given its ever-growing proximity to the river. Libra was slower to bless the weapons than previously thought and no one wanted to exhaust his and the other precious few priests' energy. Despite Chrom's orders, Robin began to seriously consider throwing herself into the fray with a lightning spell like the last time.

"Absolutely not, Robin—you heard me the first time, and I'm not going to repeat myself a second time," he commanded.

Robin huffed, dry, hot wind rustling through the pages of her open tome. A fire tome, Chrom noticed, most likely supplied by Miriel now that they were low on lightning magic. "I don't see any other way. Your forces are tiring—"

"Our forces—"

"—and we can't keep chasing after the Risen for long. The Feroxi are coming closer and we can't risk them jumping into battle when they don't know what they're up against."

"The solution isn't knocking yourself out every single time we come up against a Chief!"

"Oh, so you have a better idea?"

Chrom chafed at her tone, not snippy or petty, but definitely snappish all the same. Everyone was losing patience, true…but that was no reason for her to be so reckless with her safety. Just as he was readying a retort, the distant sound of wingbeats drew nearer. The company raised their eyes to see Sumia's pegasus flying in a bizarrely jerky manner until it landed with a resounding thud before them.

"They—they just attacked us out of nowhere!" Sumia hiccoughed. "I'm so sorry everyone, but I couldn't keep Daisy there once the archers started firing!"

Her pegasus bore a shallow wound along its left flank; the creature, though mostly unharmed, was still stung enough over the injury that it was skittish and bit whenever others tried to come closer. Henry, however, was far worse off: an arrow had found its way into his shoulder, and the discovery had Sumia shrieking apologies.

"Don't you worry guys! Things like this aren't too bad and you can pull it out easily enough. But oooh, those Feroxi! They definitely weren't happy to see us! Why, the moment they saw me, they started yelling stuff about how I'm some evil devil puppeteer and they went pew pew pew!" Henry mimicked an archer drawing a bowstring with all the cheer of a decidedly uninjured person. That unfailing smile of his was reassuring to Chrom, yet he could not deny that there was something a bit fake and unnerving about it all the same.

Nor could he ignore the way Robin froze.

"What do you mean by 'devil puppeteer?'" Chrom asked.

Henry, shrugging, allowed a soldier to lift him up and start carrying him towards Lissa for medical attention. "Beats me, Your Princeliness!"

A distinctly brassy horn bellowed from clear across the river. The Feroxi, sporting the drab olive green of their armed forces, trooped together on their side of the border, and even the Risen Chief stopped, briefly, to examine the latest addition to the battlefield. The group parted to make way for a tall woman with closely cropped blonde hair.

"I am Raimi, commander of the Longfort Border Platoon!" So impressive was her voice that it carried quite clearly over the roar of the fire. Even Frederick, always so cool and unflappable, blinked in quiet astonishment. "By the Khans' authority, we are here to stop you Plegian brigands right in your tracks!"

Plegian brigands? Chrom's eyebrows screwed together. What was she talking about? While it was true that Plegia, Ylisse, and Regna Ferox shared a border space not too far from their actual location, banditry was far more common between Ylisse's border with Plegia. The intimidatingly long wall that kept would-be invaders out of Ferox proved to be much more work than mere criminals cared to take on. But to accuse them of being Plegian brigands?

Chrom suddenly remembered that the Feroxi guard attacked Sumia and Henry when the pair set out for them—Henry himself said that his presence provoked their ire. Chrom had already known that Henry was, beyond a shadow of a doubt, Plegian, and he highly suspected Robin was as well; he knew Plegia was not on the best of terms with either of its neighbours, yet that still failed to explain the denunciation of 'evil devil puppeteers.'

"I am Chrom of House Ylisse! By the Exalt's name, I seek to parley!" Chrom had to shout very loudly to get his message across.

"Not another step, my bold lad! I've lancers at the ready!"

Taken aback, the Shepherds exchanged confused glances, wondering why they were being treated to such hostility when Regna Ferox was a traditional ally of Ylisse. Was this Commander Raimi a touch too gung-ho over her duties?

Frederick was insulted by the treatment they were being subjected to, but the rude words directed at Chrom especially incensed him. "You speak to the eldest son of House Ylisse! Allies we may be, but we cannot abide by such unfounded claims, Commander!"

"Then do explain," Raimi laughed brusquely, "why you are travelling with a pair of Plegian sorcerers!"

The Risen Chief had been momentarily confused by the appearance of more humans; unfortunately, that brief lull ended all too soon, and they were back to dodging its rotting, grasping fingers. Foetid roars rolled over the battlefield as the opposing forces scrambled to make sense of the creature's newly erratic movements. The Shepherds thought the Feroxi would logically ally with them to defeat the horrid thing, but Chrom's heart lurched with a surprised, bewildered gasp as he watched them sidestep the Risen altogether.

They were moving right towards their group.

"Commander! What is the meaning of this?" Frederick immediately planted himself before his liege, lance at the ready. Chrom could spot the inklings of magic spark and sputter on Robin's fingertips as heavy armoured units surrounded them in a protective ring.

"I was told the prince has a habit of picking up strays." Raimi jerked her chin at Robin as they squared off, a loose formation blocking the Shepherds in, considering the rest of their forces were currently occupied with the Risen. "A noble attitude, to be sure. But altruism can only get you so far before it turns into gullibility. Those two are the very reason your lands are now plagued by such beasts! They've deceived you into taking them in, and it'll only be a matter of time before they take advantage of your goodwill for their own nefarious purposes."

"T–that's a lie! Robin and Henry's intentions are nothing but honest, and they're Shepherds now. We would have known if they were—if they're 'evil sorcerers' or whatever it is you're calling them, and we certainly don't appreciate such cruel accusations on your part!" Chrom's vehemence was nothing new to those who knew him. He was always willing to take up the cause of his comrades, always leaping at the chance to defend, to play the part of a chivalrous champion. Chrom could hardly muster any reasonable doubt over their character, suspicious or not (Frederick's incessant nagging notwithstanding). Whatever mystery there was waiting to be unearthed could be done so without any needless besmirching.

Raimi's eyes narrowed, darkened by smoke and grit. "If Your Highness wishes to be too open-minded for your own good, then so be it."

The Feroxi Guard mobilised on the spot. Metal clashed, deafening to everyone's ears, as Ylissean steel pushed back against their neighbours' weapons. A single motion from Chrom's hand was all it took for Frederick to understand the wordless order to pull Robin back and out of the fray. He rode straight to where Henry was being tended to and scooped him up as well.

"Hold, milady!" Chrom grunted as his heels dug into scorched soil. The Feroxi were renowned for their martial talents, and it was no wonder—the harsh realities of their frozen land, besieged by Valmese invaders from the sea, and ragtag clans whose constant warring had only ceased after their forceful unification a mere few centuries ago had proven to be a most formidable forge. "We are not your enemy! Exalt Emmeryn herself sent us to accompany you to Ylisstol! Please, if you'd just listen—"

"It is you who needs to listen!" Raimi's face was now obscured by a war-helm drawn down to her chin, an iron slit the merest hint to the presence of battle-hardened eyes. "Plegia snaps at your borders—our borders—and yet you give refuge to what are very clearly Plegian mages? How can you be so blind? Do you not see the danger they pose?"

Chrom pushed back from her shield with the Falchion's help and settled into a defensive stance. If the Feroxi would not heed his words, then his actions would have to do the talking.

Allowing themselves to be distracted by the Feroxi turned out to be a most egregious mistake: the Risen Chief took advantage of their divided attention to rush them, swatting the mages and their mounted escorts away easily, carelessly. Fire licked at its heels yet the foul monster now seemed to pay no mind. Their forces were scattered in the span of a mere few seconds, and the strength that came with fighting in numbers lost. The Risen howled triumphantly as everyone scrambled to regroup as best as they could with its hulking presence right in the centre of the field.

"Gods dammit!" Chrom swore, twisting to avoid Raimi's shield. She regarded him for the briefest moment before calling for two subordinates to block his path. And then she clanked off in Frederick's direction, leading Chrom to realise that the commander was personally targeting Robin and Henry.

Frederick did a good enough job of weaving in and out of the reach of any Feroxi who tried to engage him, yet it was obvious his worries lay with Lissa. A familiar blonde head was spotted running to Miriel's unit for help, but a cloud of smoke obscured Chrom's vision and forced him to stop in his tracks, bringing his cape up to shield his mouth and nose. Far too much was happening all at once, and the difficulty of organising his priorities—slaying the Risen, convincing the Feroxi, protecting Robin and Henry—froze him where he stood.

He hated those moments of indecisiveness.

Lissa called out to Frederick and her brother from somewhere in the smoke, as if she had read the men's minds. "I'll be fine! Robin and Henry need us now and we've got to act fast!"

Thunderous hoofbeats heralded Sully's arrival, resplendent in dirty, soot-streaked armour, and Chrom did not think twice before hoisting himself up on her mount, the two tearing off to find their companions. What Sully's stallion lacked compared to Frederick's horse's size was more than compensated by its impressive speed and breathtakingly aggressive disposition, and Chrom was grimly thankful for the way everyone parted to avoid its snapping teeth. Stahl joined them on his own ride to protect their backside, parrying off any incoming arrows with a swing of his lance.

They soon spied Raimi running right after Frederick. She was far slower in armour and on foot, but she had warriors with her threatening the lieutenant's horse with swords and spears, her massive shield from before proving to be a difficult obstacle.

Chrom called out to her, coughing on smoke. "Commander Raimi! Robin and Henry are Shepherds! It was thanks to them that we were able to defeat a Risen like this before, and we need them if we're to do it again! You don't have any mages in your company that know about the Risen like they do!"

"How convenient that you found them then," Raimi shouted back. "Just in time it seems. I'm assuming these monsters appeared right around the same time, didn't they? Naïvité like that would be endearing in a child instead of royalty tasked with protecting an entire nation, Your Highness. I'm not entirely sure how much more obvious it can get that these two are controlling the so-called Risen, but once we get rid of them, you'll see that your monster problem will be solved in an instant!"

Time seemed to slow to an almost treacly-thick syrup as weapons rained down on Frederick and his charges. Henry's impossibly placid expression betrayed not a hint of worry, anger, or any sort of preoccupation with their current predicament—Robin's expression could not be discerned at all, though Chrom wondered what sort of shape fear would take on her face as he ran to try and save them.

But then, he realised that time had indeed lost traction, briefly, and surprise brought him scudding to a stop.

Chrom was knocked off his feet by a powerful blast of air, and he looked up to see that Sumia had single-handedly yanked their beleaguered mages off Frederick's horse and onto her pegasus. The Shepherds cheered once they realised just what had happened, and shouted praises as the white speck in the sky flew a few meandering loops. When the trio touched down, the determined, windswept set of Sumia's face took him quite aback. That singularly un-Sumia-like expression disappeared almost instantly and she was soon back to fussing over her rescuees.

"A-a-are you both alright!? You didn't g-get injured, did you?" Sumia's hands trembled when they reached for Henry's robes.

He looked downright delighted and threw his arms around her neck. "Woooow, Sumia! You really did save our hides! Lissa patched me up pretty good back there, but if it wouldn't have been for you, then me n' Robin would've been shish kebab by now!"

"Kebab?" Sumia repeated dazedly.

Chrom's shaky laugh did nothing to soothe his frazzled nerves—too much going on, too little time to process it (just what had happened before Sumia swooped in?), too much smoke in his lungs making him dizzy and lightheaded. Robin grasped his elbow and he clung to the anchor she provided. He desperately needed some water to ease the crackly dry soreness of his throat.

"They're…" Chrom rasped to the Feroxi. Raimi's tight jaw, mirroring the death grip on her lance, prompted a painful swallow on his part. "They're our allies. Trustworthy. I don't know what else we have to say or do to prove that, not when we have that thing to defeat first."

A roar pierced through the smoke, and Chrom dug his fingers deeper into Robin's skin.

"Sumia, I need your help again. We're going after that Risen," Robin declared.

"Absolutely not," Chrom snapped, dissolving into a coughing fit. Frederick moved to his side instantly, hands hovering, hesitant over whether to pound Chrom's back for him.

"They said it themselves: they think we're controlling it, so naturally it should be up to us, or me, to prove them wrong. And besides, this battle has been dragging out for too long. We need to put it down, if at least to give the villagers some peace."

"We already had this talk before! You can't just charge headfirst into a fight, not with how things turned out last time."

"Then why give me the role of your strategist if I can't put my knowledge to use on the field, Chrom? I've got to pull my weight somehow. Let me kill two birds with one stone by dispelling their doubts and getting rid of the Risen. You must!"

His protectiveness could certainly be called irrational. Her qualifications being called into doubt had to be corrected. Chrom just wished the circumstances were less damned dangerous, silently cursing Regna Ferox for its overzealous border protection and Raimi's fervid belligerence. Damn it all for being so complicated!

Apparently, Robin was not asking permission so much as announcing her intentions. A smoky huff left her lips right before she turned heel and ran to Sumia, surprise flitting over the latter's face for just the quickest of seconds before she mounted her pegasus, hoisted Robin up, and spurred it into a gallop. Frederick's disapproving scoff at such blatant audacity did little to help Chrom's open jaw. Ylissean and Feroxi alike could only gawp as the women took off towards Miriel, stopping briefly to pick up two entire incendiaries.

Chrom's heart sunk. "They can't be planning what I think they are!"

"Looks like they are, boy! That takes guts!"

The new voice startled him—a muscled warrior with dark skin, wild blonde hair tied up into a haphazard tail, and a grin too toothy for his liking whistled appreciatively at the pegasus' tiny figure up in the red sky.

He squinted suspiciously. "It's too risky!"

"What, and everything before was safer?" She rolled her eyes; Frederick's blood pressure could be heard rising, bearing witness to his lord being openly defied by his subordinates, and now subjected to mockery from a Feroxi footsoldier. "You really need to get out and fight more if this is all it takes to get your knickers in a twist, little boy blue."

Little boy blue? Chrom jogged his memory in search of the term. Wait a moment…

Her grin grew wider.

"…Flavia?"

"Took you damn long enough!"

Raimi spluttered, caught unawares that the East-Khan herself had slipped into her company, and dropped to one knee, spouting apologies all the while. Flavia waved them off. Battle was her bread and butter, and to think that she would be anywhere besides the front lines proved to be an exceedingly foolish notion to entertain. A sort of greedy delight shone in her eyes as she watched Robin and Sumia circle slowly around the Risen, gauging an entry point.

"What are you doing all the way down here? Shouldn't you be in Aquileia?" Chrom asked.

Flavia's laughter was more of a bark. "I lost to Basilio in the tournament last month, didn't you hear? Ah, no matter. Figured I'd enjoy a nice little vacation in Ylisse for that festival Emm kept harping on about in her letters. And you, boy blue? Hurts to think that all it took was three years for you to forget my face entirely!"

"And here I thought three years would've been enough for me to outgrow that ridiculous nickname," Chrom huffed. Embarrassing himself with Robin before had been quite enough, and yet the gods above seemed to think he needed a little more humiliation for the night, subjecting him to Henry and Vaike's tight-lipped snorting.

"So…tell me about that new strategist of yours."

Worry churned his gut, hot and tight. The pegasus inched closer to the beast's swinging claws. Robin and Sumia were doing remarkably well despite the heavy load of the incendiaries balanced precariously on the mount's pack. Yet he could not help but gasp (and everyone else, he noticed, grimly) as a narrowly dodged swipe had them swerving into a hard roll. "She's new to the Shepherds."

"Come on Chrom, you can do better than that. Give me some meatier details. Why so overprotective over someone whose job is to plan out your every move in battle? Something happened?"

The crowd groaned lowly when the pegasus barely avoided another blow. It was tiring, Chrom realised, sending another spike of fear into his chest. "It's…a long story," he murmured unwillingly. His eyes never left the white blur careening, spinning, soaring hair-raisingly close to a dark and rotten maw threatening to crunch down any second. "I'm not quite sure about it myself, but it's a mystery I'll get to the bottom of soon enough, I hope."

Flavia's softened smile could be heard in her tone; almost fond, one would say. "You be careful, boy blue. You always did have a knack for overextending your sense of chivalry."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

She never got the opportunity to answer him, not when the sound of a detonation blew through the field. Robin managed to light one of Miriel's mud balls and pushed Sumia to fly them up to the Risen's face, chucking the shot right into its mouth at the last minute. Triumphant roars rose to meet the women as they stumbled, jelly-legged, off the exhausted pegasus, away from the ashen ring where the horrid creature once stood. Both sagged as soldiers rushed to carry them off in victory.

Chrom missed Flavia's toothy grin returning in full force as her ran to meet them, and his hands were already out to grasp and check for any injury.

Sully always loved parties: the drinking, the socialising, the heady notes of music, laughter, and cheer swirling through the night made for a deliciously intoxicating atmosphere. Defeating that thing was reward enough after the effort taken to kill it, but festivities sweetened the weariness dragging through her bones into something more tolerable and mellow.

And yet the mead in her mouth soured as she watched Chrom.

The villagers, ever so grateful to the Shepherds and the Feroxi for ridding them of the Risen threat, insisted on treating them to a feast. There was roast pheasant, freshly slaughtered cows cooking on spits, and entire barrels of alcohol rolled out for their pleasure. Chrom touched none of it. His eyes were practically glued to Robin for the entire night even as Khan Flavia bent his ear with news from Regna Ferox and Khan Basilio's state.

"You should eat more," Sully heard him urge, wheedling. "You need to recover your energy after your performance on the field."

"I'm fine, Chrom, but thank you. I don't think I can stomach another bite." Robin wiped her fingers delicately on the humble napkins provided for their use.

"Then have Lissa give you another look over at least."

Good gods, hearing them did a fine job of making her want to retch. His fussy, downright motherly attitude was grating enough, but the cute, demure little act on Robin's part did no favours. Sully swilled her drink around in her mouth and glared, hating Chrom's hesitant touches on Robin's arm.

She hated herself for caring so much over them dancing around each other so obviously even more.

"Everythin' allriiight?" A hot breath by her ear pulled Sully out of her reverie. Vaike's eyes drooped with the pleasured tiredness that came from celebrating, and his hand on her shoulder felt warm. His fingers made soft indents into her skin.

"Barn," she grunted in reply, curt and direct.

He blinked. A strand of hair fell over his face and he did not bother to push it back. "Well, if ya say so, but I don't have any gloves on me."

"I've got some herbs for tomorrow."

"Oh. Okay."

His much larger hand was loose and relaxed in hers as she pulled them out into the night, away from the headman's house and the main venue for the impromptu festivities. Their eyes still had some trouble adjusting to the dark after the hellfire illuminating the Risen battle, though their ears had no trouble discerning the sounds of other drunken couples giggling and shushing each other in their haste to indulge in carnal mischiefs.

We're not a couple. Sully's heart raced angrily. Her horse Milo nickered, deeply annoyed, at their intrusion into his stall, but she paid no mind. All she needed was a quick fuck to chase away the unwanted images of Chrom pushing food onto Robin's plate, Chrom's fingers at Robin's wrist, Chrom trying to peer beneath Robin's hood.

Alcohol did little to dissuade Vaike's libido, and a perverse, mean satisfaction curled low in her belly when undoing the ties to his braes revealed his half-sober excitement pushing high into his abs. Vaike's bragging to the Shepherd men during their drinking nights was boorish and crass, but Sully had half a mind to use his thick cock to pound her frustrations away.

"Oh! Oh—yeah, that feels nice," Vaike sighed into her neck with a kiss to her skin. Sully rolled her eyes. Foreplay often felt like a damned chore: his praise kink clashed horribly with her need for speed and efficiency. At the very least, his willingness for sex served well enough. His availability meant they met at least a few times each month, and they knew each other's style and pace intimately by then. Sully sucked in a harsh breath through her teeth as she grasped Vaike's cock and dragged it roughly between her spread legs after a hasty half undressing, wetting themselves thoroughly. Flowery preludes full of sweet nothings and tender touches were fantasies better confined to Sumia's cheap pulp novels. That still did not mean Sully went in dry.

At least he certainly painted an attractive picture sprawled into the hay like that, hair covering his eyes as she loomed over him, arms straining to hold up her weight. Her clothed breasts rubbing into his chest added quite the contrast to their naked bottom halves. Vaike's loud groans goaded Sully into picking up the pace, and then she moved her hands to his pectorals to force him fully down as she slammed her hips, punishingly fast, into his crotch. The wet slap of skin against skin disturbed Milo so much that the stallion moved to the far corner of the stall to try and ignore them. Gods, even my horse is giving me shit, was Sully's annoyed thought as she leaned back to press her knees into Vaike's sides. Changing the centre of gravity allowed her to angle her back into a more comfortable position. Switching her hands from his chest to his thighs worked better for their height difference anyways, and the friction she so desperately craved between her lips meant being able to let a little more loose. If Vaike's hands digging into her hips said anything, then he thought so too.

"It's so damned hot when you ride me like that," the blond slurred.

Sully growled at him with a flash of her teeth. "You talk too much when we're fucking."

Vaike put his strength to good use—finally, finally—when his large hands practically melded themselves to her bottom and hammered her up and down as fast as he could go. Sully's head lolled back. Her nails pressed harsh crescents into Vaike's thighs, their steamy breaths disappearing into the cold air as their pace turned frantic, and all his praise and encouragement fell on deaf ears. Sully reached down to rub her clit and welcomed the relief that swam up from between her legs to her stomach to her chest. She fell onto Vaike's chest, tired, and squeezed the juncture where his cock disappeared into her body to help him through his own pleasure.

The distant sound of festivities disguised their gasping. It reminded Sully of what exactly she did to escape it, and her irritation returned with a vengeance.

Gods dammit, she cursed.

"I missed this." Vaike smiled lazily up at her from the hay. He traced a finger softly up and down her thigh. The tenderness of the gesture made Sully nauseous. "I…I missed us. It's been a while, and I thought—"

"Not now, Vaike," Sully scoffed.

Sex was sex; if someone wanted cuddling, passionate embraces, and loving gazes shared in the afterglow of a secretive tryst, then she was the absolutely wrong woman for it. She thought Vaike understood that the first night they fucked. Well over three years had passed, and yet the poor sap still seemed to carry a torch. Sully had no idea what else to say to him to make it clear. He sat silently as she cleaned them off with a rag nicked from Milo's saddlebag and watched as she pulled her trousers up, laced up her boots, and dusted off the bits of hay that clung to her clothes.

Sully paused at the stall's gate. "I'm gonna turn in for the night. If you need anything, you already know where to find me."

"Sure." His pitiable hang-dog look hurt, but sleep was not something she was willing to forgo to comfort him. Her rules of engagement needed no more than a single moment to be explained, and he already had several refreshers at that point. "I'll…see you at breakfast tomorrow then."

"Yeah."

Relationships did not occupy a high space on Sully's list of priorities. She enjoyed sex, she liked the company of others and could reasonably say she had a number of friends, and her comrades-in-arms had earned her respect through their skills. Courtship meant giving all that up; she would not trade her lance for silly apron strings for screaming children to tug at, nor would she entertain the notion of her duties having to be juggled with a partner. Sumia brought up several other women whose lives she thought represented an accurate picture of 'having it all,' yet Sully dismissed it as one of Sumia's romantic fantasies. It was precisely the reason she ended her relationship with Chrom, after all.

Jealousy was not the feeling that motivated her distrust towards the hooded, soft-spoken new tactician thrust into their midst. Sully was not the type of woman to give into cattiness simply because a former lover started making moon-eyes at another. But she knew that soft-hearted fool was far too unguarded for his own good, and her desire to keep her cuts clean warred with a hard, protective surge that rose with seeing him trying to poke his nose into something that would undoubtedly bite back.

"Men are such fucking morons," Sully snarled to herself as she stomped away from the barn.

Goodbye, I'm gonna sleep for a thousand years. Did I also mention I'm procrastinating on Crimson Flower? I finished Verdant Wind and Azure Moon but I'm still stuck in CF's Zanado chapter hahaha…