My name is Archie Burke. My name is Archie Burke.
I have to keep telling myself that since I can no longer hear nor speak my name.
Because I'm a wolf.
Because I'm a man trapped in a wolf's body dropped into a video game world.
I'd be foolish not to mention the advantages. For example, heightened senses, nimble movement, stronger than expected jaw strength just to list a few. I fully expected battle and war to find me, and this new body is far more acclimated to combat, even though I still have… issues with taking life from someone even in self-defense.
That might be a luxury I can no longer afford, simply due to the fact I'm now meeting, or more specifically, Bylteh and Jeralt are now meeting the main three lords of each house: Edgelord, Upside-down guy, and Petri Dish. Or as they're more seriously known as Edelgard, Claude, and Dimitri.
"We apologize for our intrusion," The Blue Lion's leader begins speaking before giving off a polite bow despite how urgent he sounds. "We wouldn't bother you if our situation weren't dire."
Dimitri is his name, and I take a second to look him over. He looks as much as one would expect of some medieval knight. Handsome, noble, and he did have the air of a properly knightly lord. That was a stark comparison to whatever pushes him off the edge with his few seconds reveal of his time skip persona. I might have to keep an eye on him even if Bylteh doesn't choose his house.
"What do a bunch of kids like you want at this hour?" Jeralt's tone showed obvious annoyance and some amounts of hostility despite them asking for help. Many in internet forms and comments easily compared Jeralt with that of Ike—a previous Fire Emblem protagonist—or rather, mostly to his father, Greil, a skilled mercenary with a 'colorful' history.
Due to patterns of developing stories, it's rather hard not to guess that Jeralt is going to meet a similar fate to that of Greil. I'd hope not, but fate seems to have some kind of vendetta against characters with living parental figures.
"We're being pursued by a group of bandits. I can only hope that you will be so kind as to lend support."
Edelgard continued after Dimitri. "It's true. They attacked us while we were at rest at our camp."
Edelgard, the only female lord among the three. I admit, she's gorgeous. I wanted to try her house first in my playthrough. The whole, Empire thing has usually always been seen as the big bad in most media, so I'm kind of surprised that you can choose to be part of the empire this time. As for her time skip version, the deep red despite being called the Black Eagles, makes me think of Walhart of Awakening. Do they also share similarities? I don't quite know her reasons for starting a war.
"We've been separated from our companions and we're outnumbered. They're after our lives, not to mention our gold." Holy Bat-Shark-Repellant! That's Claude? He is even more gorgeous in person than his artwork! What kind of adonis stands before me? By the gods! I am a straight man in the body of a wolf, and even I believe that Claude was sculpted from the greatest minds of the Renaissance! I thought I pitied those who found out that they couldn't S-support Claude with the male avatar, now I feel as if I witnessed some kind of wrong made against them.
Well to be utterly honest, even in the post time skip, Claude seems the most stable out of the three, not that was a hard accomplishment to begin with. If Byleth chooses his house, I feel like his route might be the most morally stable than the other two.
I'm snapped temporarily out of my stupor when my senses warn me that the bandits the three were talking about were making their way here, fast. However, a second before I warn them, Jeralt starts mentioning something about their uniforms. I end up interrupting him when my body tenses to a crouch and I end up growling and baring my fangs in the direction I sense the bulk of them coming our way.
"Whoa! Easy there, fido, we won't bite! … So please don't bite us!" Claude manages to be taken back, while the other two lords seem to finally notice my presence.
"Wait, is that?" Edelgard seems to eye me curiously before another solider comes in, claiming that there is indeed a large group of bandits heading our way.
"They followed you all the way here, we can't abandon this village." Jeralt looks over to Byleth. "Let's move, I hope you're ready."
She nods once and begins to move out with the lords following after her.
I remain behind. The others are alright with this, but me? Even now I still hope I am ready, even though I probably never will be when it comes to killing.
Jeralt is quick to mobilize the other troops. However, all of their items were in caravans due to the fact we were supposed to move out by morning to a different mission. Not only did they have to get their equipment ready again, but they also had to set up the defense and take care of the villagers. To those few that were ready, Jeralt let Byleth in charge of managing the few mercenaries ahead to meet with the first wave of bandits.
As Byleth started to move with what few men she has, she's stopped by the three lords, carrying their weapons along with them. Dimitri speaks first. "Wait! Take us with you! We have endangered innocent lives in this action and it would be appalling to sit to the side and let others finish this for us."
"Agreed," Edelgard holds her ax with firmness as a sign of her determination. "We simply must make amends beyond the pay of your services."
"Surprise, surprise, we're all in agreement for once," Claude twirls an arrow in one hand while holding his bow in another. "It would leave a nasty taste in my mouth if I let others suffer for this."
"Can you all fight?" Byleth asks the three who don't even need to nod to show their answer. She then continues. "Alright, but we're facing superior numbers. I will lead the charge, and you three are to listen to what I say, I do not want any of you straying away on a battlefield and getting caught."
Now they all nod and without wasting a second, Byleth walks ahead and I follow after her. A nearby mercenary tosses a blade before I catch it with my maw.
"Wait a second." I hear Claude speak while I could feel the red—who is also technically black— and the blue one has their eyes widen. "Did you just give a wolf a blade?"
"Come on, there are bandits to fight." One of the mercenaries tries to be serious, but I can hear the suppressed laughter in his voice.
The laughter is fully suppressed when the first wave of bandits charge right for the village gate entrance. Byleth doesn't waste time and dismantles half a dozen men with little effort, though to be fair, they all just rush at her practically one at a time.
No matter how many times I see it, she is an amazing fighter. I can tell the other three are just as impressed with her fighting skill. Everyone then follows after her and soon she motions everyone to stop by pushing out an open palm while looking beyond the battlefield. No sooner than she did, she jumped back before a volley of arrows and a few spells are launched where she was originally standing.
As the smoke fades, more bandits start swarming from uphill while their archers and some mages position themselves behind the second wave of fighters.
"Tch! For bandits they sure are organized. We can't break through that line with our current number, especially with their long-range support." I overhear Claude say this out loud. He does have a point. It would be hard to fight their close range if their back row is going to send a volley of ranged attack to wear us down.
There's also the added problem of the bandits forcing a fight inside the village. If a fight breaks out there, there's no guarantee the civilians are going to survive. Which means there's added pressure to engage them out into the open to their advantage.
Yet at that moment, Bylteh turns back over to me.
No one else can notice a change in her vacant look, but I know what this one means.
I know what is about to happen. What I've been doing for a little while traveling with Jeralt and Byleth. The few missions I've been with them, I have already learned to kill. It's not easy, and I know my mind and life before this has been taught over and over that life is sacred. It's to the point where when I had my first real battle, I almost froze completely as we attacked.
But I didn't. It was an accident, a curse, and maybe a blessing that with my fear freezing me to inaction, I found a way to get past all of that 'hardwiring' from my home society.
I stopped thinking.
When I stopped thinking, something else came up. My instincts—no. The wolf's instincts took over when my human mind failed. Some time passed before I realized I was clamping on to a bloody blade with some of my body drenched in the blood of my enemies.
Byleth moves, and I know what she wants me to do. I'm ready for it even though I don't want to, I must.
She points towards the archers.
"Sic 'em!"
My switch is flipped. Archie Burke takes a back seat. The wolf takes over.
The three lords watch with varying levels of awe and surprise when the silver wolf becomes like a blur and rushes alone towards the second, much bigger wave of bandits. Another volley of arrows is shot, but like water through cracked walls, everyone watches the silver wolf avoid them then meets with the close-range fighters.
Not even a second passes, and their war cries change into wails of pain. A few bandits fall against their will as some parts of one leg, their calves, their knees, their ankles, or the unlucky ones to lose both their legs are sent flying with trails of blood. But most of the bulk of the close-range fighters are left alone when the wolf passes all of them and reaches for the group of archers behind them who are more than unprepared at what was about to happen next.
A poor soul who was so awestruck was too late to react to the wolf speeding to him. He snapped out of his stupor and drew his arrow, only to feel a sudden loss of his ability to stand. As he fell, the enemy archer saw something silver—before nothingness came over him.
The other archers and few mages among the bandits were horrified. They had watched the wolf cut off the back ankles of that one archer, and before he even fell, moved like a bullet and stabbed his sword right through the neck of the man. He was dead before he even hit the ground.
But that was their mistake: they still were shocked and stupefied.
The wolf wasn't.
The wolf moved his blade to cut through the neck and didn't hesitate to pounce right for another unsuspected archer, then another, taking each out in a brutal but horrifyingly elegant way. When they finally snap out of their stupor, it was far too late as they try to reposition themselves and had some men retreat to kill the hellish hound.
"Charge! Their backline is crippled and their front line is in disarray!"
One fighter heard the voice and turned around, only to see a woman as scary as she was beautiful to bring down a sword to cut him in half.
The bandits fell like wheat to a farmer's sickle. Even though they originally outnumbered the mercenaries, something so small was turning the tide of their fight. Byleth and the three lords led the charge, defeating the remaining bandits with ease.
One of the bandit mages saw this and turned his back. "Screw this! I'm out of here!" However, as he turned, he froze in his step as he saw the silver wolf, bitting down on an iron sword that was drenched in the blood of his allies.
He gathered magic in his palm and launched a fireball at the wolf, only for the four-legged creature to have long avoided the attack with a leap.
However, instead of stabbing or slashing, the wolf bashed his head into the stomach of the mage with enough force to make the mage's lungs contract. The mage staggered and almost lost his balance as he turned away from the wolf.
He was going to make the stupid mutt pay for that, but when he turned around, he was met with Byleth who was already swinging her sword behind her head.
"Oh sh—" He didn't even get to finish his last words before Bylteh took him down with more ease than the first wave.
"What do you mean our men are being torn apart!?" Kostas looked over to where he should have seen his men starting to pillage the village. Instead, he saw a mercenary force not only driving back his force but utterly decimating them. What was worse than he could see their numbers, it was far less than what he had sent out! And he happened to spot, from the high ground, a silver blur pounce on another archer with enough force to knock him over before a pool of blood exited a wound from his neck. "The hell!? A mercenary group? They didn't say anything about that!"
Anger got the best of Kostas as raised his ax with the rest of his men. "Come on! There's only a few of them!" He yelled as he charged with the rest of his men.
He was wrong. Bylteh's attack gave Jeralt enough time to mobilize the rest of the mercenaries and even he was able to join the battlefield.
Kostas soon realized as his forces were dwindling faster, and with enemy reinforcements, he was sure to lose.
Alas, if only he was smart enough to realize this.
"You with the blank stare! Get out of my way!" The bandit leader charged for Byleth in a surge of anger. He wasn't as sloppy as the rest of his bandit gang, but Bylteh still had an edge in avoiding his powerful blows. He made another strike, only for Bylteh to sidestep him and leave him wide open to a Combat Art: the deadly Wrath Strike, a swing of the blade strong enough to create a gust of wind as the weapon rips through the very air.
The blow of the attack sent Kostas flying and crashing on his back. Most men would have died from the impact and shock, but even after a devastating blow, he jumped back to his feet almost a moment later. Though his breathing was haggard and his body seemed to be convulsing. It was more likely pure anger and adrenaline were all that was keeping Kostas conscious.
However, instead of fighting Bylteh again. His eyes caught Edelgard finishing off one of his men. Perhaps he thought it was infuriating for a dainty looking girl to kill his men, or perhaps he didn't want to fight Bylteh once more. Either way, he screamed and rushed right for her. The white-haired lord was caught off guard with her ax swung down and instead brought out a dagger she wielded and attempted to defend herself with it. Byleth rushed in to shield the girl while the wolf tried to race in from the opposite direction to pounce on Kostas.
Kostas brought down his ax—
The blow of the attack sent Kostas flying crashing on his back. Most men would have died from the impact and shock, but even after a devastating blow, he jumped back to his feet almost a moment later. Though his breathing was haggard and his body seemed to be convulsing. It was more likely pure anger and adrenaline were all that was keeping Kostas conscious.
However, instead of fighting Bylteh again. His eyes caught Edelgard finishing off one of his men. Perhaps he thought it was infuriating for a dainty looking girl to kill his men, or perhaps he didn't want to fight Bylteh once more. Either way, he screamed and rushed right for her. The white-haired lord was caught off guard with her ax swung down and instead brought out a dagger she wielded and attempted to defend herself with it.
Byleth rushed in front of Edelgard and knocked away Kostas' ax. A second later, the silver wolf bashed Kostas in the side with his speed, causing the bandit to roll away while holding on to one of his arms.
Jeralt came in a second later, while the wolf seemed confused as to what had just happened. "Hey did you just..."
Whatever he was about to say was interrupted by a horn being heard throughout the battlefield. From another hill to the northwest, a battalion of unfamiliar knights came from the other side of the hill.
When one of their flags was raised, Kostas had a look of fear-stricken over him. "It's the Knights of Seiros! Run for it!"
The bandits all ran away as the new group came in, along with one man shouting at the top of his lungs, "The Knights of Seiros are here! We'll cut you down for terrorizing our students!" However, his war cry, while impressive, was fruitless as the bandits were now all running before he could even begin his first word. "Hey! The thieves are running away! Go after them!"
The mercenaries and the lords started to relax as the fighting ceased. The lead of the Knights of Seiros came in and eyed the three lords carefully.
"Excellent! The students are unharmed and..." His eyes then fell on Jeralt. When they did his expression changed into one of stupor and shock. "My!? Is that who I think it is?!"
Byleth and the wolf, who calmed down as the fighting ended, both looked to the man atop a horse. Jeralt, on the other hand, whispered to himself.
"Ugh, why him?"
...My name is Archie Burke. My name is Archie Burke.
I have to keep repeating my name, or else I'd forget it. It's also a good mantra to tell myself whenever I go into… 'wolf' mode. The ingrained instincts of a hunter wolf, combined with the human subconscious of problem-solving, and I become some kind of killing machine with just a few words.
It's hard to think when I let the instincts come over, and because of this, it takes me a few seconds before I regain complete control.
I'm always horrified to use this. It is getting easier each time to get back to myself after a fight, but the thought of just one mistake and Archie Burke may as well die just like the bodies this wolf killed.
On one hand, it's super useful in a fight, I've seen what I can do and I amaze myself with how this body moves like an alpha predator. On the other? I'm afraid my will isn't strong enough to keep all of my new instincts in check, especially since I can't always stop myself from even the silly dog instincts. How much more could I control the more dangerous ones?
I need to keep working on this new 'mental state' of mine. I'll have to find a way to be in control of these instincts while not letting them overwhelm me.
One thing that did help me, sort of snap me back, was Byleth. I swore I saw her shield Edelgard and with how my mind slowed things down, I thought I wasn't going to make it in time. A second later, Bylteh was able to properly defend herself and Edelgard.
I don't quite remember that from the trailers. I did not go out of my way to watch all of the game trailers beforehand, I'm sure I missed several or more of them in the hopes I would enjoy whatever surprise would come. Like before, simple oversights have come to bite my ass once more. If this is catching me off guard on the first level, how much more for the rest of this journey? I'll need to prepare in some way.
I keep a mental pin on that while I follow after Bylteh, who stands beside Jeralt when the two meet the man who seemed to recognize the leader of the mercenary band.
"Captain Jeralt!? It is you!" The man smiles even brighter than his armor, not an easy fact considering looking at it a night still seems to annoy my eyes. "Goodness, it's been ages! Don't you recognize me? It's Alois! Your old right-hand man! Well, that's how I always thought of myself anyway. It's been twenty years since you vanished without a trace. I knew in my heart you were still alive!"
Huh, I like this guy. Quite the chipper fellow, isn't he?
"You haven't changed a bit, Alois. Just as loud as ever," Ouch. Though seeing as Alois is still smiling, I doubt he minds. "And drop that 'captain' nonsense. I'm not your captain anymore. These days I'm just a wandering mercenary. One who has work to do. Goodbye, old friend."
"Right, goodbye, captain. Wait! This isn't how it ends!" That was kinda sad until I saw Alois seemingly realizing what he had just heard. Hmm, I perhaps understand why Jeralt had that type of reaction to Alois even though he seems to mean well. "I insist you return to the monastery with me!"
I can feel something change in Jeralt as he says, "Garreg Mach Monastery..." It weirdly sounds like resignation. That sounds like a story. "I suppose this was inevitable." Correction, there is a story behind this, but I don't think it's a good one.
Alois then looked over to Byleth. "And how about you, kid? Are you the captain's child?"
Byleth points over to me. "He's the child of Jeralt, I'm just a bandit."
Alois bursts into laughter. "Oh, you definitely have the captain's humor that's for sure!" To be fair, I am hairier and bushier than even male Byleth. Compared to the fresh face of both genders, I could be considered more related to Jeralt, The Magnificent Facial Hair, than either of them. "I'd love for you to see the monastery too. You will join us, won't you?"
It's subtle, but I can spot Byleth seemingly light up at the offer. I've been with her for a few months and even then I could tell that she's always wanted more from her life even though she's never said it. I've always wondered why she seemed to get close to me very quickly despite some other pets around the village. I think she's still a little lonely even though she's in her father's mercenary group. Very few talk to her and even less spend time with her as she is a fearsome fighter and she might have scared others who don't know of her.
I've never really shown fear of her. I guess that's why she likes me a little more besides the fact I saved her life without question. Despite the fact I am a wolf, I'm technically all alone without my pack like her, even though she has her dad. In a rather sad sense, I am her first real friend.
Byleth nods, which makes Jeralt look even more resigned. He doesn't want to go back there, does he?
"Is something the matter, captain?"
"Even I wouldn't run from the Knights of Seiros." Not only does he not want to go, but it seems like he doesn't even have a choice in the matter. Whoa. I feel like I want to hear less and more about this story.
"The Knights of Seiros… they do seem rather skilled."
A new voice takes me, and Bylteh by surprise as we both look around, yet Bylteh seems more surprised at me than the voice.
"My that was curious. But it'll have to wait, it seems as if your presence is required!" That—that sounds like a little girl's voice. Wait a sec! Sothis! Right! The sleeping little girl from the trailers. She's here already!? And why did that sound like it came from By…
She motions me to follow after her as I do. We're then met by the three lords of the houses.
"I appreciate your help. Your skill was beyond question, and your father, is he perhaps Jeralt the Blade Breaker? Oft praised as the strongest captain among the knights of Seiros? Have I missed anything?" Edelgard begins speaking.
"How about the wolf that went past enemy lines and made mincemeat of those archers." Claude pointed over to me as I tilted my head. "You two gotta admit that was one of the wildest things I've ever seen. I even got some second hand hurt at how he attacked those enemy archers. Say, he doesn't do that to all archers, does he?" Whoops. I might have scared the Golden Deer leader.
Byleth answers. "Only the ones that attack me." She's monotone, but there's a small teasing nature in her answer.
Claud smiles in response, clearly liking the answer he got.
"I am curious, was that wolf trained to wield a blade?" Edelgard asks while putting a hand on her chin as she observes me.
"Not quite, one day we happened to watch this guy picking up fallen training blades and practicing them on our training dummies." She blinks as she notices the look of disbelief mixed with shocked on the other three's faces. "I'm not making this up."
"Wait for a second, does your do—wolf have a name?" To be fair Claude, I do act like a dog more often than I don't. So you'd probably not insult me by calling me a dog.
"Name?" Yeah, being called 'wolf' and 'mutt' for several months has been getting old fast. Why was this only brought up now!? I'd bring it up sooner, but I can't speak human anymore!
"Y-You haven't named it?" Edelgard seemed almost taken back by this. "But he listens to your word and you two fight so well together!"
"I just..." Byleth looks over to me and I can see a small frown. "I never thought of one."
"You know," Dimitri speaks up. "I recall there being a tale of a legendary knight and his companion that was a wolf."
"Hmm? Is it a Kingdom tale?" Claude looks over to his friend.
"No, at least, I don't think it was. Legend speaks during a period long before the empire, there was a giant of a man who served as a powerful knight. This knight went by the name of Sairot. His size matched his strength in the battlefield and was a force to be reckoned with. However, they say that his only company was that of a dire wolf, a wolf known to be bigger than today's depictions. The wolf was never given a name, but along with his master, the tales state they were a fearsome pair that defended his land from invading forces, some stories even suggest he battled wicked gods along with his loyal companion." I can't help but feel like that story took inspirations from Dark Souls. And if by some chance there are Dark Souls elements here in this Fire Emblem world, I might as well point my ass up and just let the universe call me their bitch. Not my most eloquent of comparisons, but I do not need more odds stacked against me right now. "Your fighting with those bandits this day has reminded me of those stories." Dimitri finishes.
"Ah, of course!" Edelgard spoke up. "Sairot, The Wolf Knight. I thought those were simply children fairy tales until this moment."
"Sairot..." The way the word rolls off her tongue as she looks to me, makes me realize she's taken a liking to name me after that. I mean, I don't mind but then again, who is going to tremble in fear when they hear off, Archie the wolf?
Alois comes to our right. "Alright, that's enough with the small talk. It's time to head back into the monastery!"
"I was so distracted that I wasn't able to propose you join the Empire," Edelgard spoke up after hearing the knight. "Perhaps we can discuss more on our way there?"
"What? I was about to suggest the very same thing, only for the Kingdom instead!" Dimitri commented. "It would be an honor to have you and your loyal companion to join the efforts of the Kingdom."
"Do you two have any shame?" So Claude says, but even I can tell he wanted us just as bad as the other two. "I was at least going to make friends with both our friend and her fine pet before asking, but since there's no more time for pleasantries, how about joining the Alliance? We can give the wolf all you can eat every day of his life."
Ah, good looks and a silver tongue, I can see why Golden Deer is a fan favorite.
"Move along kids, we're in a bit of a rush!" Alois says again before he starts to leave.
"A talk for during the travels then," Edelgard speaks before she and the other two leave after Alois.
"My, my aren't they in a rush? Still, each of those three is most unique." I look around again, only seeing Bylteh silent thinking to herself. "Yes, I thought the same, and what's more curious as that pet of yours might be able to hear me."
Byleth seems to snap out of her thoughts and look back at me. I don't know how to respond to a voice in her head that I can hear as well—for some unknown reason—so all I do is just stare back at her.
There's a yawn coming from someone who I think is Sothis. "I wish to learn more but I'm terribly sleepy. I may sleep… but… I..." And then she falls asleep.
Even with the lack of a third party, Bylteh looks at me with that blank stare of hers. I don't know how to read it besides some cues from before. But her only action, aside from staring at me, is that she raises her hand towards me. Before I could think about my reaction, the wolf body just moves up and rubs my head on her hand before she just gives a small smile and ends up petting me like she usually does.
She kneels and seems to hold my face closer to hers. "You're an even bigger mystery than those three, aren't you?" She asks.
I nod my head since I am fairly certain my set of circumstances are much harder to explain, even if I had my ability to speak again.
Even though I nod, Bylteh has long been used to the fact that I'm weirdly smarter than the average animal. However, any question she's asked, I've never been able to answer even if I could. Her only response to some questions beforehand was silence and equally awkward stares, most of the time both.
At this point, all she can do is turn those questions into rhetorical ones, never expecting an answer no matter how curious she and I are about them. "I never did give you a name. How about… Remus?"
Remus? Wait. I know that name from somewhere.
"Alright. Remus, it is then."
My name is Archie Burke, not Remus! … I don't have a choice in the matter though, do I?
Byleth stands back up and walks after everyone. "It seems I'm packed up for a different reason now."
I shake my head though as she leaves. I have a really, really bad feeling about this. And that's not even considering the future time skip where everything is beyond screwed, including the fact it's suggesting that Bylteh might be missing those few years somehow.
Not to mention, there's still the mystery as to how and why I'm in here in the body of a wolf.
I just hope, against all odds, things will work out well.
I sigh. I repeat my mantra of calming myself down. I can see myself doing this a lot in the future.
My name is Archie Burke. My name is Archie Burke.
...
My name is now also Remus the Wolf.
A/N: I wanted to see if I could squeeze in Bylteh choosing the house for this story, but after reviewing my notes on it, I decided to stall that to next chapter since there's like… a lot to cover. Plus, I'm not that well versed with all characters yet, so if any of them seem out of character, please don't hesitate to correct me.
So um yeah? Do you guys want more of this? I just, never had a story blow up like this before and it still feels unreal. Either way, I do hope this story finds you all well and that you enjoyed it. Peace out, readers. Have a nice day.
Fetch Two: Electric Boogaloo.
"I've never seen a wolf play fetch before." It's not like Claude was complaining since he held the broken half of the training blade and threw it over his head. It was hard for him not to smile as he saw the wolf, now named Remus, run ahead of them and with a leap catch the stick in the air before landing.
Byleth noted the smile on Claude's face looked far more genuine now, or at least like that of an actual child. As Remus came back in, he hurried back to Claude with the broken blade in his maw. Yet even through that, the not-dog was pacing back and forth and even jumping to try and climb the Golden Deer leader with a stick in mouth.
"Yeesh! Heavier than you look! You almost pushed back down the mountain, mutt." Despite his words, Claude and some others found it rather hard to stay mad at a dog-wolf smiling the way pets(?) do that just seemed so obliviously happy. Claude took the blade off, but that didn't stop the dog from getting off him and still have enough energy to run around in small circles. "Well aren't you a bundle of energy?"
To the three, there was a mental note that the pet seemed expressive enough for both him and his master.
Instead of throwing, Claude turned over to Dimitri. "Why don't you give it a try? I can't hog all the fun."
Dimitri was taken by surprise, but his hand unfolded which Claude was quick to pass the broken and slightly wet stick to him.
Yet, when the broken off sword fell into his hands, one grip and it shattered into pieces.
The blonde's reaction was to look bashful and seem to bow, of all actions, to a wolf that likes to roll in mud sometimes. "Gah! I apologize sincerely. I didn't mean to grasp it that hard—"
"Careful, Dimitri. Phrasing."
"Claude!" The blonde shouted indignantly despite his face turning to the color of the Empire.
"It's alright, sometimes he breaks those things when he catches them. I keep a spare or two with me sometimes since reforging them back to weapons takes too much time when you're on the move a lot." Byleth fished her cloak and showed Dimitri another half-broken blade.
However, Dimitri raised a hand out to stop the offer. "P-Please. I'm not that good with… fragile things."
"Says the guy who once snapped a silver lance when he was surprised! We're all fragile with that strength of yours, well except maybe the princess." Claude managed to get two people to glare at him with one sentence.
Before Edelgard could chastise her fellow leader, she was distracted when Bylteh turned over to her with the stick. "Would you care to try?"
"T-There's no need for me to do so." The white-haired girl answered. It was then all four of them heard the sound of a disappointed whine.
If Remus' whines of sorrow were weapons, they could pierce the thickest of armors. The wolf seemed to have the audacity to look heartbroken over something so simple as playing fetch.
The future empress believed herself of great will and conviction. Yet, it was at this moment it was truly tested when Remus laid down and buried his nose under his front legs…
"I do not..." And then she spotted his ears drop.
Claude's smile couldn't be any bigger as he saw Edelgard sigh and take the broken blade from Byleth. The moment she did so, Remus jumped back up and started to return to his energetic self.
The realization hit the future empress as she saw this action and she ended up glaring at the Canis lupus. "You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Her voice had some venom, but she really couldn't be mad at a creature that could simply be infectiously happy with just a broken weapon as a toy.
"Playing heartstrings to get what he wants? Remus would fit well in the alliance!" Claude nudged his elbow to Dimitri.
The blonde prince rolled his eyes, but an interesting thought came to him. "Funny, his success rate with plans seems to far outstrip that of yours in such a short amount of time. Perhaps he should be the Alliance's new master tactician?"
Claude laughed at the joke… until he started to realize that Dimitri was weirdly convincing as he asked that question. His laugh was far less genuine with it's last few gasps. "...What? I can't be replaced with a mutt!"
"I don't know, the idea has a certain appeal to it. I would find Remus to be a far more dangerous adversary." Edelgard was not going to pass up the very few times where one had verbal superiority over the silver-tongued leader of the Golden Deers.
Claude placed his hands on his hips. "What is this, gang up on the alliance day? Hey, I could use some back up here for once." Claude looked over to Byleth who just seemed to be impassively watching all of this unfold.
Edelgard noticed Remus coming closer to her again. "Alright, let's just get this over with." The imperial princess threw the stick—with far more speed and distance than that of Claude's throw.
Yet here was the thing. Their groups were currently moving up a mountain, as such, some areas had cliffs where one could fall for quite a distance.
In Edelgard's haste to get this over with, she neglected to look before she threw.
"Uh, Edelgard?!" Claude spoke up with alarm as both he and Dimitri had their eyes widened at where the thrown item seemed to be heading.
"There's no need to worry." Byleth seemed to be the calmest out of all of them. "Ever since the first time we've done this, Remus has been more careful with his surroundings."
The other three looked back and saw Remus ran ahead towards a tree that had grown protruding past the edge of that cliff. The wolf raced to the edge before turning, and with a powerful leap, catching the blade and landing back on the cliff.
"Oh. That's good to know—"
CRACK!
See, the ground around that tree was not as stable as it looked. With one leap, the cliff around the tree started to collapse and fell instead of Remus.
The four raced to the edge to spot the tree falling down a slope that was below that cliff.
The good news? The slope was mostly empty, there were no giant rocks and it would likely not cause an avalanche of any kind.
The slightly less good news was that both Jeralt's mercenaries and Alois' unit were both camped at the bottom of that slope for a break while trekking up to Garreg Mach.
Down below, two people near the end of the slope heard the sound of cracking and something moving at speeds that would cause much alarm. They both looked up.
The other man was about to warn his friend and the others to move until his stupefied ally shouted out a rather bizarre curse.
"BY THE TITS OF THE GODDESS!" "Wait, what did you just say—"
The four above watched as one fallen and rolling tree decimated two highly renown, and trained army units.
Byleth turned around to see Remus obliviously dropping the blade near her person. She picked it up and looked over towards the other three, rightfully horrified, house leaders.
There was an intense moment of Byleth staring right through their souls before she stood up and placed the stick back into her cloak.
"Tell me more about Garreg Mach."
That topic was discussed with great zeal.