A Skirmish at Dawn

The mercenaries rushed towards the village gates, cursing at the number of bandits approaching. Byleth mustered her courage and drew forth her sword..

"Take down the front first, it should take the wind out of their sails!" Jeralt's voice boomed over the crowd of fighters. The mercenaries roared their battle cries and charged, but as Byleth followed suit, she felt her father's hand on her shoulder. "Byleth, I need you to protect them." He gestured to the three who had spoken to them moments before.

"But I can help take out the front lines! Please, just-"

"Byleth, I have to go join my men. Please, can you do this for me? You know I can't stand those kids." A small smile graced her father's face, and she nodded begrudgingly.

"Fine,"she said reluctantly, and he clapped her on the shoulder and mounted his grey horse, riding away to fight. She was left alone, standing in the back with the three who supposedly couldn't defend themselves. They were talking amongst each other when Byleth approached them.

"Thank you again for your kindness. I can only hope to repay you someday." The blond boy smiled at her, but the brown-haired one punched his shoulder.

"Now is the time for battle, Dimitri, not chatting with ladies. I'm Claude, by the way." he winked at Byleth. She merely nodded at them.

"Fight now, talk later, boys," the girl in red replied, dashing past them and charging into battle.

"Wait, I'm supposed to…" Byleth cursed her stupidity and raced after the three, desperately trying to spare them from getting impaled on a bandit's spear.

After several long minutes of fighting back to back, Byleth shouted to the three, "We have to advance while protecting ourselves from the enemy! We can use the forest as cover!" They nodded and sprinted across the battlefield towards the cluster of trees as per Byleth's request. As they knelt among the leaves, she could feel an enemy's presence nearby. She held a finger to her lips to silence the threes' useless chatter. It's as if they've never fought before. But that can't be, they all have weapons. Where did they come from? Who are these people?

"There's the bandit leader there," the girl in red spoke, pointing at the clearing in front of them. It was out of the protection of the forest, leaving them open and vulnerable to attacks. But it was their only option unless they wanted to retreat.

"Alright, here's the plan. We should all approach at the same time and surround him so he can't flee. Then we can take him down together." Jeralt had never allowed Byleth to command the mercenaries, nor had she wanted to, but she figured now was as good a time as any to try it out for herself. She had listened to her father's plans, tactics, and had trained with a sword all her life, and she was confident she would be able to pull through.

"Sounds like a good plan." Claude mindlessly twirled his bow in his hand, completely nonchalant about the fact he was about to go and take down an enemy commander.

Dimitri merely nodded nervously. "I'll follow wherever you lead," he replied.

They emerged from the trees slowly and quietly, watching each other's movements carefully. The bandit leader stood, discussing plans to attack the village with another bandit. Byleth watched Claude ready an arrow and aim it directly at the man's throat. He took a deep breath and readied himself. Once everyone was in position, Byleth raised her hand slightly, and Claude let the arrow fly. The man fell to the ground, dead. The bandit leader looked up, his eyes alight with rage. Then his face changed into a smile and he spoke, his voice rough and ragged.

"Come on out, little mercenaries. I didn't think the likes of you would be hiding out in a village like this, but I guess you learn something new every day." He laughed, the sound echoing through the night. On Byleth's right, the girl in red bristled, anger filling her eyes at the taunts. Before Byleth could shout, the girl leapt from the trees, bringing her axe down in a wild arc towards the bandit leader. It struck him, but merely glanced off of his armor, causing him to fall to the ground. The axe flew from her hands, landing a few feet behind the bandit leader. The girl grinned, assuming the battle was done. But the bandit leader quickly righted himself and stood up, rushing towards her with a ferocious growl. He took her axe from its place on the rocky ground, and charged. All the girl had left was a dagger, and she stumbled back in fear. She looked up in surprise as Byleth rushed towards her, shielding the girl with her body. She pushed the girl back and felt the axe tear into her, crying out as everything disappeared.

Byleth's eyes opened slowly. She felt the ghost of pain on her back and stood up. The world around her was dark, and as she looked around, a voice echoed around her.

"Honestly! What are you accomplishing with that little stunt?" Byleth whirled around and saw a large throne cast in an eerie green glow. Atop it sat the small girl from her dream with an angry look on her face. "It's like you're trying to get me killed, you fool!" the anger surrounded her for a moment, and then she sighed. "Well, it's fine. After all, if you don't know the value of your own life, you're not going to protect it very well, are you?" Byleth narrowed her eyes angrily.

"You don't know what happened, If I hadn't-"

"Of course you won't protect yourself." she clapped her hands together and smiled. "Then I guess it's up to me to guide you from now on. Right?" Byleth stared at the girl, wondering if she was insane. Is she even real? No, of course not. I'm dead. The girl stood up and walked towards Byleth. "You can call me Sothis. But I'm also known as 'The Beginning'."