Once more, Robin found himself on a pegasus soaring through the sky once more. Back at Breakneck Pass, he was able to adjust himself to be comfortable enough while flying through the battle. He was able to hold onto Cordelia while casting spells from his tome. The tactician did not even need to think too much about how close he had been to Cordelia, focused on blasting Plegian riders out of the sky. It was his first time flying into battle, which was an experience he looked back fondly on.
Today, there was no battle to fight in, and the flight was much more awkward than the tactician liked. With nothing to distract them, he started to realize just how close he had to be to ride with a knight, his cheeks burning red at the thought. He tried to put some distance between himself and Cordelia, careful not to scoot too far back as to fall off the pegasus and down to the earth far below. The tactician stretched his arms out, placing them on her shoulders loosely rather than around her waist. He was confident that if they were attacked right now, the initial ambush would be enough to send him crashing down. He cursed Gaius' name, blaming him for the awkwardness that he was creating.
Rather than focusing on Cordelia and the nervousness of the ride they were on, Robin looked down, watching the changing land below him. The vast plains expanded out for miles with little signs of civilization asides from a few farms and traveling merchant caravans on the dirt road. They were passing above the rural region of Ylisse, which was sparse given how far north they were. Farms were more common in the south, but the closer they traveled to the Feroxi border, the more cold it was for the farmers.
As they continued to travel north, the green fields were slowly blanketed with clean, white snow. In the distance, Robin could make out the tall and grand mountains that marked the borders of Ferox several miles ahead of where they were. The tactician saw a small town with high walls, standing out clearly in the snow. Thankfully, this region would most likely be the last to be targeted by Plegia, meaning that the Shepards could find safety within those walls.
"We're here," Cordelia announced, looking over her shoulder. "Now all we have to do is fly lower and find Sir Frederick."
"Sounds like a plan," Robin nodded. "Well, you can take us down now."
"Are you sure you don't want to hold on tighter?" Cordelia asked, somewhat concerned. "It's going to be a bit of a drop. I wouldn't want you to fall off."
"I'm holding on already," Robin told her, hesitantly tightening his grip onto her shoulder. "We're not going to go too fast, right?"
"Not like this," Cordelia shook her head. "Don't worry about it. I'll have Aurora take us down slowly."
Cordelia pulled on the reins of her pegasus, starting to descend down to the forest below. Even though she claimed it was going to be slow, the fall was more rapid as if they were free falling. Robin held back a yelp, his hands immediately wrapping around the pegasus knight and locking themselves together. As they neared the ground, she pulled up on the reins, the descend coming to the stop as they flew forward once more. With how close together the trees were, she had be careful with guiding her mount, now flying slower.
"You call that a slow drop?" Robin asked, take a deep breath as the adrenaline started to fade away.
"Oh, I can go by a lot faster," Cordelia told him. "If you were holding onto me like now, I could have showed you."
"Well, uh, I guess I grabbed onto you when we started falling," Robin blushed, thankful that Cordelia was too busy navigating the trees as he brought his hands back to her shoulders.
"Are you scared of heights or flying?" Cordelia suddenly asked. "You seem different than how you were yesterday."
"Wouldn't the point of me being scared of falling be me holding onto you more securely?" Robin pointed out. "I can assure you that if I was afraid of heights, we wouldn't be having this conversation."
"What if you're just trying to put on a brave face?" Cordelia brought up.
"Look, I held onto you closely yesterday because if I didn't, one hit and I would end up falling into a chasm," Robin explained himself. "Out here, I don't have to worry about an attack to knock me off, and if I do accidentally fall down, your pegasus is fast enough to catch me."
"I guess, but if you fall down now, you're going to break something and I won't be able to help," Cordelia warned him. "What about flying? Is that something your nervous about?"
"Quite the opposite, actually," Robin answered. "Flying is pretty amazing once I settle on seeing what's around me. I really get to enjoy it then."
"If you're not nervous or afraid, then what's the matter?" Cordelia asked, looking back at him as they passed the final tree and entered a snowy clearing.
"Well, it's kind of hard to explain," Robin sighed, thinking of an excuse. "I guess it's because I have only started flying. I'm still trying to get use to it."
"Well, you'll get used to it eventually," Cordelia told him, smiling. "I think I have an idea for tomorrow. I'll tell you about it later. I think that campfire up ahead is where Sir Frederick is waiting for us."
Sure enough, at the campsite just ahead, marked by smoke, Sir Frederick gazed towards them dutifully. He sat down upon an old stump, sharpening his javelin while keeping his horse tethered near the fire for warmth. They grew closer to the knight with Robin picking out the grim expression that marked his face. The walled town was in sight, so the tactician could not be sure why he looked even more serious than before.
Aurora came to a stop with Robin and Cordelia hopping off of, turning to face their comrade.
Frederick opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by a loud and familiar scream coming from the forest. They all turned to face it and Robin could not help himself but smirk, already knowing what to expect. Another pegasus broke through the treeline, soaring faster towards the campsite than anyone had expected. It came down to a landing as it approached the camp, slowing down just enough to slide down next to Aurora. Sumia held onto the reins of her mount, keeping a cheerful expression and remaining oblivious to the emotions of her passenger. Gaius was holding onto her very tightly, panting as the terror he was overcome with started to fade away.
"And she makes the landing!" Sumia announced, turning back to face Gaius. "You can let go now."
"When I say we should go faster, I didn't mean for you to go so fast that we'd nearly crash on about a dozen trees," Gaius panted out, his arms sluming down onto his sides. "I saw my life flash before my eyes so many times today, Stumbles. I should only see it once per day."
"Well, I'm sorry, but at least we didn't crash," Sumia pointed out while dismounting, where she promptly fell head first into the snow.
"Sumia!" Cordelia rushed off to help Sumia from the ground.
"Well, it looks like you had fun with there, Gaius," Robin taunted.
"You're a lucky man, Bubbles," Gaius told him, hopping off the pegasus and onto his feet. "If it isn't for the you-know-what, you'd be sorry right about now."
"The you-know-what?" Sumia asked as Cordelia helped her up from the ground.
"It's nothing, don't worry about it," Gaius told her, casting a worried glance at Robin.
"Ahem," Frederick coughed into his arm, all heads turning to face him.
"Ah, sorry to keep you waiting, Frederick," Robin apologized. "What's wrong? We can rest at this town a stone throw away, yes?"
"I'm afraid not," Frederick grunted. "I tried to tell them that the prince was preparing to pass through, but they wouldn't budge. They are preparing to defend against the Risen. Two groups are coming this way, one from the east and one to the west."
"Well, with those walls and this weather, they may very well hold out," Robin analyzed. "How many fighters do they have?"
"They have around a dozen, but their skill is less than that of Donnel," Frederick reported. "It's not the town that I'm worried about though. A group of travelers seeking to escape from the war tried to seek entrance not too long ago, but were turned away. They made camp in the forest to the south, but I fear that once the Risen come, they will be made targets."
"That's bad news indeed," Robin nodded in acknowledgement. "And when will the Risen attack."
"From what the cowardly guards at the gate told me, by midday," Frederick answered. "To be exact, two to three hours."
"Can the rest of the Shepards get here on time to defend them?" Cordelia asked, glancing at Robin.
"Give me a moment," Robin started to calculate away in his head. "For the sake of this plan, I'll assume that Chrom is leading everyone at an above average pace. If Sumia can fly as fast as her pegasus can take her, and if Chrom leads a small forward band in a force match… it's going to be close, but they'll be able to make it in time to make a difference in the battle."
"Sounds like a plan," Sumia started to pull herself back onto her pegasus.
"Gaius, go with her," Robin ordered. "If the Risen have archers and try to attack on the way there, she'd be defenseless."
"No way, Bubbles," Gaius shook his head. "If she's going at full speed, you can't get me to go. You can go yourself if you feel that the Risen are going to attack."
"I need to stay here and get a lay of the land to come up with a battle plan," Robin reasoned. "It's a strategic move."
"You're going to need me to fly you up then," Cordelia told him, starting to climb on Aurora.
"Now that I think about it, that's a great plan you got going on," Gaius interrupted before Robin could get a word in."Me and Stumbles will go get Chrom. You two can look down on the region. Sounds great to me."
"What about me?" Frederick asked.
"Remain on guard duty, and try not to get in their way," Gaius told him, pulling himself behind Sumia. "Stumbles, please don't kill us."
"I'll try not to," Sumia smiled. "We're coming, Chrom!"
With a flick of her wrists, Sumia sent her pegasus galloping, and not too long after bursting out into the run, soared into the sky. Even with them fading away, the screams coming from Gaius were music to his ears. Hesitantly, Robin pulled himself back up onto Aurora, placing his hands on the side of Cordelia's shoulders. She brought her pegasus up to the sky slowly and had her mount fly in a circle. They were not in as much of a hurry as Gaius and Sumia, giving the tactician time to think properly about the battlefield.
A river divided the land in two with the clearing and town towards the north of it and the forest to the south. Two stone bridges had been constructed to cross over the stream and were several meters across from each other. Although Robin could not make out details within the forest, he saw smoke coming from near the river, which indicated the villager's presence. Towards the south west was a mountain with a path leading away from the town, an escape path.
Robin started to brainstorm a plan, doing his best to memorize the battlefield. Several ideas popped in his head with various differences, but they all had one thing in common. Getting the townsfolk away from danger was their top priority, and the mountain passage was the key to that. Yet, the tactician struggled on settling on the plan. There was too much to think about that he did not know such as who Chrom would bring or how much Risen there were. There was something else on the back of his mind as well, growing even more urgent. He pushed anything irrelevant to the battle away from now, even if it did not help him think clearly.
"Do you have a plan?" Cordelia asked, looking over her shoulder once more.
"Not yet," Robin shook his head. "There's just so much that I don't know like manpower for both sides. I need actual numbers-"
"Work with what you have right now," Cordelia interrupted him. "At the very least, you have me and Frederick, and you know where the Risen are coming from. Can you come up with a plan from that?"
"Of course I can," Robin answered after some hesitation. "Still, three people against an army-"
"Is the plan something that you can build off of once you know what Shepards we have available?" Cordelia continued her questioning.
"Actually, yes, that's brilliant," Robin muttered under his breath, coming to the realization. "Cordelia, you're a genius! That-"
"Don't call me that again!" Cordelia nearly lashed out, turning back. "Oh, well, I mean, if you have a plan, you should probably relay it to Sir Frederick. I'm taking us down for a landing."
Robin only nodded in response to what she said, unsure of if he should ask the immediate question in his mind. He gave her a sincere compliment and she all but yelled at him for it. Doubt started to form in his mind about their budding friendship, thoughts he pushed aside for now. They tugged at his mind but the tactician had far more important matters to attend to. The battle had to be won and that can only be done with a plan. As Aurora started to descend towards the camp, he was already thinking about how the plan would turn out depending on who Chrom brought with him.
A/N: Happy New Years, everyone!
Now, I hope that you're all thinking "Archer, where have you been for the past year?!" but I have accepted that most of you are probably thinking "Who is this guy again?" 2017 was a rough year on me as I started to learn more about the true selves of my friends and family. With all of the developments, I ended up taking a hiatus which I never informed you, my readers, about. For that, I am deeply sorry, especially to those who have shown an expressed interest in the story I am writing.
It was always my intention to get back into fanfiction writing. I was just not sure as to when. It was only after I finally managed to finish NaNoWriMo and reach the word count that I knew that I was ready. I had to overcome many different challenges over the past year, and I struggled through some of those hurdles. I would like to believe that even though I hate mostly everything that happened to me on 2017, I came out a stronger writer for it. I hope that I can stick with my weekly deadlines, a challenge that I now know is not as hard as I use to believe it was.
Many of you liked and followed me, and when I saw that email, I knew that it was because of this story. I will address any reviews made from this chapter moving forward. However, I would like to take this time to thank all the loyal readers who waited for this moment. I don't think there's a lot of you, but for those of you that do fall into that category, I thank you for your patience.
Until next time.