Robin's Remorse

"Shit! Shit! No! Damn it, come on!"

Kiran was hauling ass and screaming his lungs out, the sounds of the lance cavaliers tearing up the dirt to get to him making him feel like a mouse being followed by two giant, spear-wielding cats.

Damn Cecilia! Damn Clarine! Screw the entire world of Binding to hell and back!

Man, he'd watched Nino get stabbed to dust like it was some Infinity War bullshit! Sweet, innocent, Three Star Nino went poof! No one else was any help! Not Henry, who was busy screwing around with his crows and getting stabbed right in the face, not Fae, who was still rolling around in the grass looking for beetles, and Robin?!

"Kiran! I'm sorry!"

How in God's name did the tactician of Awakening get shoved in a corner by Clarine and Cecilia?! Why could tomes not attack the person right in front of you?! What is this video game bullshit?!

"If anything," he called out, Clarine having fun poking him with the butt of her staff, "you're doing really good by running! You can probably tire them out eventually!"

"You expect me to out-stamina two horses?!"

Robin was quiet for a dull moment where Kiran barely managed to keep his ear when a lance came for it. Kiran hit the ground hard enough to send him rolling straight into the water around the small area where they were fighting, where he was given a face full of cold water for all of his troubles and disorientation slapped him harder than the fish that he spooked.

Kiran broke the surface for air, spitting out the frog that decided that his mouth looked like a nice home, and almost took a lance between the eyes for his trouble. It cut off a few hairs as he splashed away gracelessly, only taking a breath when he was finally safe from their range. The cavaliers looked disappointed that they didn't have the range to stab him, and he flipped both of them the bird.

"Oh, thank you video game bullshit!"

"I've got him," Cecilia muttered atop her horse, apparently finding that Robin had literally no chance in beating her and forgetting about his presence altogether.

To give him credit, Robin attacked the woman the instant she moved into range, but Fire Emblem said no and dealt her zero damage.

Cecilia strode forwards on her horse, a smug grin on her face. She took one look at Fae, who had finally found a beetle, and zapped her with the tome in her hand. The Manakete exploded, and Kiran's brain went into overdrive to try and figure out a way to not get torn to shreds by whatever tome she had. Robin had already proven that tome users could only attack someone two spaces away, and the area he was in had to be much bigger than two spaces. All he had to do was swim up an-

OW! DAMMIT! INVISIBLE WALL BULLSHIT!

He pounded against the invisible barrier in the pissiest mood he'd ever been in, swearing things that couldn't be said in a T-rated fanfiction. Cecilia was attempting to stifle her laughter as she advanced towards him, but Clarine was laughing her ass off.

"Don't worry Kiran," Robin shouted from the other side of the battlefield, "I have a plan!"

Kiran squeaked as bladed wind shot at him and he felt wounds form on his back. It hurt so damn much that Kiran almost stopped wading water, but the power of pure anger kept him afloat.

"Where was that plan when Fae popped like a balloon?!"

His demand seemed to spark Robin into movement. He sprinted towards Cecilia with a determined look on his face. His speed was intense enough that Clarine hadn't realized that he'd moved, the Troubadour blinking in surprise.

Kiran watched as Cecilia's face turned grim and she turned to strike him down. Her eyes widened in horror as Robin's arms shot up into a very familiar pose and he let out a roar that made all Robin mains sigh in relief.

"ARCFIRE!"

And nothing happened.

Since when did Robin believe that he had a red tome?! Was he really this dumb?!

"This isn't Smash, you fucAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

The last thing Kiran saw before Cecilia shot him into the sky was Robin sweating uncontrollably with a meek look on his face and getting stabbed by the cavaliers.

Kiran hit a bird.

Robin, tactician of Ylisse, currently hated himself.

They'd been planning the attack for ages. What little Kiran could bring to the table with his Summoning wasn't quite used for combat. The black haired boy had been adamant that he could likely bring a powerful hero to their side if they just had the Orbs to do so, but it was shot down by Commander Anna.

Robin still shuddered at the possibility that his Anna could end up like her. Seeing a no nonsense Anna was weird.

He'd tried to work out a group. Fir had wanted to join them in their fight, but the fact that the cavaliers could tear her apart with ease had made it an easy decision. That Raigh kid that sat in the library sometimes, gazing vividly at Nino from the windows, was no help either. He was too big for his britches to follow his or Kiran's command.

And honestly, he sometimes forgot that Matthew existed.

This was his fault. He couldn't be the honorable tactician he was supposed to be in a world unplagued by the Grimleal. Here, he felt entirely useless.

"Robin? Are you alright?"

The white haired tactician glanced up to see Kiran there, looking worriedly at him. Robin couldn't stand to look into the boy's eyes, especially after he'd failed so horrendously. This was the Phila situation all over again...

"I… I'll be fine."

A scoff from his companion made him wince.

"You literally made a chair of trash, and are currently sitting in it," he pointed out. Robin glanced to his pile of broken weapons and Sharena's old bedspring that made a great throne and sighed. Kiran must have heard, because he sat down and asked, "What's up with you, High Deliverer?"

Robin grumbled to himself, but needed to get something off of his chest to his fellow male.

"I… I was supposed to be a Five Star, no?"

Kiran blinked, and his eyes looked the slightest bit colder. The first thing Robin heard when he was Summoned was the person in front of him letting out a scream of joy that quickly became a choke. Robin had dwelled on that moment every night since he'd appeared, and every time he heard mention of a Five Star, he flinched guiltily.

"I feel like I'm wasting you a spot on the team," Robin muttered to his fellow cloaked figure. "I'm useless compared to the others of the group. It shows in battle."

He was a tactician. No matter what Chrom, Lissa, or anyone else said, he wasn't a fighter. Not in this world.

"What?"

Robin blinked up to Kiran's confused face. It felt like an insult to the tactician's tattered pride.

"I'm worthless in a fight. You saw that fiasco today."

Kiran blinked again, and some snark began to show on his face, along with the beginnings of a grin. The snow haired Plegian wished he could have the ability to smirk like that in this kind of situation.

Kiran spared him no time to pity, eyes holding an uncharacteristic warmth to them.

"You mean the fiasco where Henry couldn't pay attention long enough to kill his target? The one where Fae was more busy playing than attacking Lance Cavaliers? Where Nino almost took one of them down before Clarine came out of nowhere to heal? That one?"

"The one where I couldn't do anything to help… you got hurt because of me, Kiran, don't try to wave that off. I can see how stiff you're standing," he pointed out to the male, who grumbled under his breath at being found out.

"Okay, I'll admit that I'm pretty pissed that you cornered yourself and were a laughingstock, but you were also at odds with the Weapon Triangle."

Was he trying to make him feel worse?! Giving him an excuse didn't help!

"That doesn't change the fact that I failed you and Askr!"

"Dude, it was one bad fight. No one was prepared."

"That's supposed to be why I'm around. So we can be prepared."

The tactician looked away miserably, taking note as Kiran groaned and left without a word. It was for the best. Askr needed heroes, not mages who couldn't remember what tomes they were carrying around.

He should ask to be sent home. At least then he'd be of some use. He'd read from the books of a time long past that if Breidablik was to be used to send someone back to their world, the hero's essence would remain in the form of feathers used to help other heroes grow.

He would do it the first chance he could. Kiran would probably disagree with the decision, but sometimes sacrifices had to be made. Robin would have to be one of those.

Robin jumped when he heard what sounded like screaming. It was male, and demanding to get something that sounded almost like a name. The tactician strained his ears to listen harder and was met with the sound of someone new shouting as a window was smashed. Furthermore, from what he remembered from Vaike's mishaps around the Shepherd's Barracks, something sounded suspiciously like a door being torn from its hinges.

Kiran came back, obscured by a large sack of animal skin. His balance was off as he staggered back and forth, trying to adjust what he held to not drop it.

"Kiran?"

The white robed man dumped the large bag onto the Tactician's lap and aimed Breidablik at him. Robin briefly wondered if it was part of the ritual to send someone home and he just knew the Plegian was going to ask when the relic pointed at him discharged and the man's senses were filled with light.

Imagine his surprise when he remained seated on his trash throne, yet surrounded by smoke. The sack Kiran had left on him was gone. Robin felt weaker, but… different. As if he had more potential. Something he hadn't felt in a very long time.

"Summoner?" He asked,his tone laced with concern. The cloaked figure before him gave a playful tut and a wag of his finger, his brown eyes glittering.

"It's Kiran, mister Five Star. Go hit up the Training Tower if you're that desperate to be an asset to the team. I expect a lot out of you."

Eh?

Wait, did he really-?!

"You just wasted twenty thousand feathers on me?!"

Where did he get the feathers?! How in the world had he managed to get so many in such a short time of being Askr's Summoner?! If he was right, he'd been here for three weeks, which wasn't nearly enough time to collect that many!

"It wasn't a waste, Robin. It was a problem that you had, one that I had the answer to."

Robin's retort died in his throat. Kiran looked actually mad, like someone he cared about was hurt. The Plegian forced that observation back before he said something that could lead to the end of their conversation. One he found himself thoroughly enjoying.

"You may not have been a Five Star Robin. That doesn't matter because you're my Robin."

Robin balked. It felt for a split second that he was talking to Chrom, asking if he should really be fitting in with the Shepherds. He only realized it was Kiran because Chrom wouldn't ever poke him on the nose.

"Don't be too hard on yourself man. You're more important than you give yourself credit for."

Kiran smiled once more and walked off, spinning his weapon dangerously on his finger. Robin watched him go and pondered the conversation they just had.

He was… important?

Robin smiled. He liked that feeling.

"You wasted all of our feathers on that birdbrain?!"

Anna shook the Summoner with strength she didn't know she had and resisted the need to put her axe into his head forcefully.

"Yeah," Kiran stated, looked miffed and nauseous at the same time. Anna smacked him across the face with her satchel of cash and ignored his pained shout, grabbing the boy by the collar and slamming him against the wall.

"WHY?!"

The boy glared back at her with what felt like enough heat to cook an egg. She hadn't realized he'd turned the tables on her until she felt the stone of her wall come to meet her back instead of his. Kiran's hands were balling up her cloak and using it against her, and his eyes, normally playful and fun, were cold.

"Because we needed firepower and I like making people feel better about themselves!"

"What about me?! Do I count?!" She basically demanded. It was childish, but dammit, she needed this! Askr needed strength, and she was powerful!

Something changed in him. His eyes widened in surprise and he let go in an instant, seemingly shocked about what had happened. Anna growled and shoved him back, and the edge returned to his eyes, but duller this time. She didn't care; he was scrawny and she could easily take him.

Kiran seemed to know this as well, because he turned on his heel and stormed away from the Planning Hall with a purposeful strut, letting one last retort fly over his shoulder.

"You can count when you have some kind of value that isn't lording over someone about which Anna is best!"

The over the shoulder shout was bad enough, but to bring her rivalry with her sisters into it? That was going too far!

"Damn it Kiran, I wanna be a Five Star too!"

"You can be a Five Star when I've gone mad enough to promote you into a Three Star!" He wailed in return from the hall. Anna ground her teeth together and punched a wall.

Dammit! If he wasn't the wielder of Breidablik, she'd pound his face in and sell the organs!

She just sighed and looked at the naked Feh, the bird looking terribly cold without its feathers. Despite the chill, the bird seemed happy about what had happened.

Great. Even the birds were taking his side...