This is not-

Struggle all you want!

Promise me you will escape-

You cannot unwrite what is already written!

You're one of us, Robin-

Robin immediately shot awake, already seated in his the nightmare. His body was drenched in his own sweat, which led to his tunic sticking to his chest. It was the first time that he had a recurring nightmare since the attempt on Emmeryn's life. He only saw darkness and murderous thoughts were forced upon his mind by something unknown to him. Tonight, it was different. It was the first time he had heard voices in the nightmare. The voices were familiar to him but he could not put a face to them as their words cut out. He could not even tell how many speakers there were, but it was an ill omen.

Suddenly, an unbearable pain seared through the wound of the Risen captain inflicted on him. Robin pulled his tunic up slightly, taking a peek at it while gritting his teeth. Based on what he could tell with his limited medical knowledge, an infection was starting to settle in. It needed to be tended to immediately if he was going to go back to sleep safely. Unfortunately, it was the dead of night, and he had no clue on where Lissa or Maribelle were.

Slowly, Robin got up from the bed, approaching the window. He clutched his throbbing chest and stared out the window, hoping to find some sign of where the Shepherds were. The tactician saw smoke rising from outside the walls, but it was too far away. He glanced downwards and forced out a sigh of relief. Down below were the caravan wagons that transported their supplies, including healing salves. He thought it would be best not to travel far to wake his comrades up if the solution to his problem laid outside the inn.

Robin limped over towards the door, opening it slowly so Lon'qu, seemingly asleep, did not wake up. He left the door open and nearly stumbled down the set of stairs, fortunate enough to grab onto railing at the last step. The inn lobby was crowded with tables, the chairs stacked up on top, but was void of any living soul. The tactician made his way to the front door, grabbing onto one the chairs when he felt himself falling. He maintained his balance, but when he grabbed onto the door knob, he heard a thud of the chair falling to the ground. He cursed as he left the inn, hoping that it did not wake anyone up.

The wagons, three in total, were parked outside the inn, the horses taken into the stables for rest. Robin climbed into the back of the closest one, popping open the crates to find the salve. Unfortunately, most of what he saw were weapons and armors stacked into the crates. When he finally opened up the final crate, he sighed in disappointment, the pain surging. The tactician was unsure if he could push himself to search the remaining two wagons. The bitter cold of the night air and the searing pain of his wound were not a great pairing. He pulled himself up onto the edge of the cart where he sat down and look at the remaining two carts.

Suddenly, someone emerged from the back of the second wagon in front of him. Much to his immediate surprise, it was Cordelia, who held two javelins in her hand as if she was trying to compare it. She was faced to the side, returning the javelin to the ground, and turned around to see the tactician coiling up in pain. Her face showed worry for the fate of her friend as she holstered the other javelin, hopping out of the wagon and taking two steps toward him.

"Salve," Robin called out to her. "I need a salve."

"It's up at the front cart," Cordelia told him. "I'll get it. Just hang on for a moment."

Immediately, Cordelia pivoted around and ran towards the first cart, running as fast as her legs could take her. It may have been the intensifying pain affecting his judgement, but Robin could have swore that without her pegasus, she was not very fast at all. Still, she made up for some time by knowing exactly which crate the salve was in. The pegasus knight grabbed a container of it and rushed back to the tactician, offering it to him.

Robin quickly snatched it from her hands, popping the lid open and sticking his hand into it. With his hand now covered in salve, he pulled it out and stuck it underneath his shirt, rubbing it across the agonizing wound. It took about a minute or two, but relief started to come in. He sighed out in relief, setting the jar of salve on top of one of the weapon crates. Cordelia pulled herself onto the edge of the wagon, sitting next to the tactician and looking at him expectantly.

"After waking up from a nightmare, I realized how much pain my wound was and found out it was infected," Robin explained to her, taking deep breaths. "I was hoping to get some salve without waking anyone up, but with the way the supplies were organized, I was lost. I'd probably ended up collapsing in the snow if you weren't here."

"I just like to stay on top of things," Cordelia told him. "I came out here to compare the differences with the old javelins with the new ones we were supplied with. It's a good thing I remember where everything iss."

"You can keep track of all of our equipment in your head?" Robin asked, somewhat amazed.

"Of course," Cordelia answered. "I know that's one of your responsibilities, but with you out of action and us getting new supplies, someone had to keep our inventory updated."

"Even I can't keep track of the inventory in my head," Robin muttered under his breath. "You really are a genius."

"Do not call me that!" Cordelia exclaimed with a raised voice.

"I'm sorry," Robin quickly apologized. "I meant no offense."

Robin recalled that Cordelia had a similar reaction to the compliment the day before, right before they fought the Risen. He was unsure as to why she had such a negative response to the word genius. When the Shepherds complement their tactician as a genius, he accepted it graciously. However, when he tried to give it to the pegasus knight, she pushed it away. He was unsure as to why she did want her comrades to consider her as a genius.

"Of course you didn't," Cordelia sighed out. "Please forgive me. It's just that my superiors called me that the moment I joined the knights. It was very hard sometimes."

"It couldn't have been too bad," Robin thought out loud.

"Little Miss Genius," Cordelia said, her voice higher while presumably mimicking the voice of one of the knights that taunted her. "They called me that all the time."

"Oh," Robin sighed out, disappointed in himself for his assumption.

"They teased and taunted me," Cordelia continued. "They mocked me, too. They mocked my appearance and my javelin technique."

"I had no idea that members of the pegasus knights could be so spiteful," Robin commented, slowly placing a hand on Cordelia's shoulder to comfort her. "I assure you, when I called you a genius, I only meant it as a compliment."

"I know," Cordelia nodded. "I'm just overly sensitive, that's all."

"If you ever need to talk, let me know," Robin offered her.

"Well, since you offered," Cordelia pulled out her javelin and held it out to Robin, who was surprised by her reaction. "What do you think of the new javelins? I'm not sure about the balance myself."

"I meant if you ever needed to talk about, well, never mind," Robin yawned out. "It's late and I'm even more tired now. I promise to take a closer look at the javelins in the morning."

"Of course," Cordelia told him. "I'll make sure everything is set with the caravans and return to the Shepherds. Good night, Robin."

"Night, Cordelia," Robin replied.

Robin hopped off the caravan and walked back inside of the inn. The pain had been relieved but he would be sure to check with Lissa and Maribelle to see if the infection was still there. Before walking upstairs, the tactician sat the fallen chair back up on the table. Thankfully, no one had been woken up, meaning that in the morning, no one would realize what had happened.

After his conversation with Cordelia, Robin was relieved. He thought that she was trying to push him away when he told her she was a genius, but the truth was that it brought back bad memories. He was still finding it hard to believe that the pegasus knights mocked her. To the tactician, she was an amazing warrior and equally beautiful. With how exhausted he was, he could not push that thought aside, and drifted into a sleep upon his bed with her in mind.

A/N: Ten chapters after their first meeting, we finally reach the C-Support for Robin and Cordelia (slightly revised to fit the story). Yes, I am also leading up to a future installment. Whether I write it or not, I'm not too sure. I figured it would be best to leave hints just in case I do decide to go that route.

Warrior of Six Blades: I figured it was time to give Chrom some love in this story. For the most part, I've mainly been playing up the bromance between Robin and Gaius, which makes sense for the given scenario. I did list Chrom as one of the four main characters for this story, and it's not just because he's a main character of Awakening in general.

Guest: You know, even before I googled what the einherjars are, I was pretty sure I wouldn't use them. Not for dislike or anything like that, but simply because I don't know enough about them. I appreciate the idea.

Until next time.