Chapter 6
Arya stumbled along behind the man that had introduced himself as Robin, warily watching the man as she struggled to stay on her feet. Robin just ambled on, humming tunelessly as he led her into the small woodland to the east of Themis, where the Shepherds had historically been forced to evade the Plegian army in the early days of the first Plegian Liberation War. Arya eyed the man again, squinting a little as she tripped and stumbled on an exposed root.
"We're almost there," Robin said encouragingly, not even bothering to look behind him. "At least, I think we are… been a while since I've been through this way. The forests this far south all look the same to me."
Arya didn't dignify his comments with a response, instead focusing on staying on her feet, the man's advice about not falling on a battlefield still fresh in her mind. After a few more minutes of walking in the weak dawn light they came into a small, well-hidden clearing, where a roaring campfire and the smell of fresh food were waiting.
"I'm back!" Robin sang, halting and indicating that Arya go ahead of him.
"Well it's 'bout damn time," a scary looking man with a scar over one eye, wearing black robes growled, lurching to his feet. "You got any idea how long I's waitin'? Dinner's gonna be- aw hell, Boss, not another one."
The scarred man stopped when he saw Arya, groaning and running a hand down his face as he glared at Robin.
"What?" Robin shrugged, pushing past the robed man towards the fire. "She can help us."
The man eyed Arya like a piece of meat for a moment before sighing and giving her a light shove towards the fire.
"Y'look like hell, kid," the man said, his gruff voice now surprisingly kind. "I'm Brady, a priest. Why dontcha have a seat and eat somethin' 'fore ya pass out."
Arya nodded, taking a seat on a fallen log next to Robin as the priest pressed a big bowl of what appeared to be oats into her hands. She glanced up slightly as another man shifted across from her, wearing a similar coat to the man and woman from the previous evening and smiling at her before going back to his reading.
"Eat slow," Brady instructed. "Ya ain't eaten in a while, yeah? Yer body's gonna need time to readjust, so eat slow."
Arya nodded, resisting the urge to inhale the food presented to her and carefully spooning the thick porridge into her mouth. It was surprisingly good, if a little sweet.
"Gah, did Gaius get at the food again?" Robin exclaimed, making a sour face as he lowered his own spoon.
Brady blinked a few times before spooning a little out of the pot into his own bowl and tasting it. His face scrunched up before he forcibly set the wooden bowl down and leapt back to his feet.
"Dammit, Gaius!" Brady shouted to the forest. "What'd I tell ya!? Leave my cookin' alone!"
Robin snickered a little as Arya continued to eat, feeling new life beginning to pass through her limbs as her body took in much needed sustenance. She looked up as there was more rustling from the forest and a skinny ginger-haired man stepped into the clearing, grinning unabashedly.
"If you could cook, I wouldn't need to fix your food," the new man said.
"I don't care if yer a first-generation Shepherd or not," Brady growled, levelling his ladle like a sword at the scrawny man. "Don't go messin' with another man's cookin'!"
"Alright, alright, enough already," Robin laughed. "Gaius, this is Arya. Arya, that's my… er…"
"Thief," Gaius stated simply. "At your service, Squirt."
Arya nodded slowly as Robin shifted a little, putting his now-empty bowl aside.
"Where are the others?" he asked curiously as Gaius moved to sit across the fire, as far away from a still-fuming Brady as possible.
"Panne said something about hunting," Gaius explained. "Van's had his nose buried in that book all night. And Naga only knows where Fae is."
"Behind you," a new voice said in a whisper, making the thief leap into the air off his log as Robin and Brady burst into laughter.
A smiling, laughing girl with long purple hair stepped into the clearing from the forest, winking at the flustered Gaius. She wore a simple leather vest and a long, flowing white skirt over her sandals, but still maintained a regal, ethereal air as she sat where Gaius had been, the thief moving to perch next to Brady.
"It's nice to see someone do that to you for a change," Robin laughed at the thief, making his frown deepen.
"How'd you go in town?" the woman, Fae, asked Robin, her smile never faltering as she cast a curious gaze over Arya.
"Good," Robin shrugged. "No casualties. The others should be back soon, and I hopefully got us a guide. This is Arya, by the way."
"Hello!" Fae said cheerfully. "Nice to meet you!"
"L-likewise," Arya responded, bobbing her head a little.
She looked around as the group began to talk amongst themselves, Robin giving the other four a basic rundown of his mission in town the previous night as Arya finished eating her food. She looked down at the empty bowl, wondering how much just that one serving of porridge was going to cost her, when she realized that the strangers had stopped talking.
She glanced up, her gaze meeting Robin's as he smiled at her.
"This must all be pretty over-whelming, yeah?" he asked her. "If you have any questions to ask before we get to what I wanted to ask you, go ahead."
Arya nodded, choosing to ask the first and most pressing thing that came to her mind.
"Who are you people?" she asked seriously.
"We're the Shepherds," Robin answered matter-of-factly, earning a squeal from Fae.
"Eeeeeek! I'm a Shepherd, too!? No way!" she cried happily, bouncing up and down in her excitement.
Arya scoffed.
"Yeah right, you're the Shepherds," she said sarcastically. "And I suppose you expect me to believe you're actually Grandmaster Robin the Godslayer, too?"
She had seen her fair share of con-men and grafter pretending to be members of the elite Ylissean force in Old Town, usually just men trying to get free drinks of mercenaries trying to get work. Why would the Shepherds even bother with a no-name street urchin like her, anyway? They had better things to worry about.
"Former Grandmaster," Robin shrugged. "And I know it's hard to believe, but it's the truth. Godslayer does have a nice ring to it, though…"
"Great, just what he needed," Brady groaned. "Another ego-boost."
"All hail to the mighty hero-tactician!" Gaius declared mockingly.
"Hail to the Godslayer!" Van added, and the three other men descended into their own fit of laughter.
Robin rolled his eyes, looking back at Arya.
"Anything else?" he asked kindly, pointedly ignoring his comrades.
"What do you want from me?" Arya asked, taking a deep breath and preparing herself from the worst.
"I'd like you to lead us through the Rommel Merchant Clan's villa and help me find some stuff," Robin said nonchalantly. "Then, I want you to come with us and train to be a tactician as my apprentice."
Arya blinked a few times before chuckling a little at what had to be a joke, looking to the others around the fire to see if they were in on it. Serious yet kind gazes were what met her, making her stop laughing and look back at Robin.
"Wait… you're serious," she said slowly. "Are you… really him?"
Robin nodded, grinning.
"You don't have to believe me right away," Robin, the Robin, said. "But if you stick with us then I can at least offer you better than scrounging for scraps in alleyways. It's a hard life, but it's worth it."
Arya's eyes widened as she looked at her savior with new found awe, but he seemed to notice this and clamped down immediately.
"Don't start with the whole hero-worship thing, please," Robin sighed. "I hate that. I'm just a man, okay?"
"That slayed a dark god," Gaius said playfully across the fire.
"Yes, that slayed a- I hate you guys sometimes," Robin sighed as the other four began to chuckle.
It wasn't until around lunchtime that the last group from Old Town returned, 'Marth' leading Galle and Mari'ko into the clearing and pulling his mask off with a tired sigh. Galle and Mariko had bee-lined right for Van, the surly Plegian boy giving his Ylissean counterpart a full debriefing as Mari'ko watched on as silent as ever. Severa, Owain and Anna had returned not long before, followed closely by Kowrowa and Ita, all of whom were now lounging around the campfire waiting for night to fall again. Panne, too, had returned, bringing fresh game she had caught to supplement their travelling rations. Something about a Taguel carrying a copse of dead rabbits in her mouth had rubbed Robin the wrong way, but he'd chosen to remain silent on the matter.
"Hey guys," Anna greeted cheerfully, before pressing a finger to her lips and motioning over to the cart. "Keep it down, our new recruit is resting."
Lucina nodded as she placed her mask in her pouch, reaching behind her head and undoing the complex braids that held her long hair in place as she crossed the camp to where Robin was sitting, stirring a pot by the fire.
"This does not bode well," she said with a tired smile. "It is never a good sign when you are entrusted with the cooking, my love."
"Har. Har," Robin said sarcastically, dropping the spoon to give his wife a quick kiss. "I'm just watching it while mister Grouchy-Priesty-Pants gives the new girl a check-up."
"I hoped she would reach you safely," Lucina said, relief evident in her posture as she sunk to sit at her husband's side. "How is she?"
"Alive," Brady said gruffly, appearing behind the couple and snatching his ladle back from Robin. "Barely. She's restin' now. Gimmie that before ya hurt yerself."
"What's 'alive' mean?" Robin asked as he and Lucina shifted to let Brady sit.
The priest heaved a sigh as he began slowly stirring the stew that would be lunch and dinner.
"I seen it before a bunch recently," he explained. "It's a sign'a the post-war times. Poor kid's been through hell. I don't even wanna think about what she's been through. Wounded bad in the past. Lots'a scars. Couple'a broken bones that didn't set right. Serious long-term malnourishment. You wouldn't tell just by lookin' at her, but she says she's sixteen, almost seventeen. And those're just the physical injuries. I can treat those, but… She's been livin' on the edge too long."
"Naga," Robin breathed. "I thought she was only twelve at the most, if not younger."
Lucina looked at the ground between her feet, frowning. Of course defeating the Dark Dragon didn't undo all the injustice and evil in the world, but it had been nice to think so. There was still poverty and suffering in every nation, not just Ylisse. Without the threat of war looming over them the world had slowly begun to get better, but for people like Arya it mustn't seem to be happening very fast.
"Well, for all that she's got a good head on her shoulders," Robin declared. "I extended an invitation for her to join us as my apprentice after we finish up in Themis."
That statement got Galle and Mari'ko's attention across the camp, both tacticians glancing up at their former teacher with renewed curiosity.
"Sweet," Gaius said with a shrug, Panne barely even registering the new addition and giving a grunt.
"She was a coward," Ita growled, chewing on one of the rabbit leg bones that Brady had discarded. "She ran when she should have fought. And you reward such behavior?"
"Silence, Ita," Kowrowa shushed. "The alpha has made his decision to welcome her into the pack. We will protect her."
Ita rolled her eyes at her partner's tone and went back to ignoring the humans and gnawing on her bone.
"I think it's a great idea!" Fae said excitedly. "I was hoping we'd make new friends!"
"It has better than leaving her on the streets," Severa shrugged. "I don't know. We had it pretty bad in the future, but I guess we don't really know much about how people have it rough here yet."
Owain nodded sagely, amazingly remaining silent as he sharpened his sword.
"Pretty rough in some circles," Van supplied. "Depends on where you're from. Orphans in particular have it pretty bad. Isaac got lucky when the Knights picked him up because of who his mom was. Most don't. It's not a great life, and it's only gotten worse since the wars with Plegia and Valm."
A momentary silence descended, each Shepherd lost in their thoughts, before Brady spoke up.
"Are we even gonna tell Ma we're here?" the priest sighed, running a hand through his short blonde hair.
Brady's mother, Maribelle, was the noble-born daughter of the previous Duke of Themis, and one of the most influential people in the City State, second only to the current duke, her cousin Commander Roark. The fact that old friends of such social standing as Robin and Lucina were passing through without presenting themselves to her was considered exceedingly rude, and Robin could tell that Brady was worried about hurting his mother's feelings, but Robin couldn't afford the delay. Maribelle would understand and forgive them. He hoped.
"I'd really rather not tell your mother we're in town until after we leave," Robin said with a shudder. "You know she'll rope us both back into etiquette lessons again."
Brady's face actually paled as his eyes widened, nodding profusely as the others that were in on the joke of Maribelle's prim and proper behavior laughed along.
"Besides," Robin chuckled. "I don't intend to stick around Themis much longer anyway. As soon as we find out what they've been up to, we can move on to our next target. Hopefully as early as tomorrow."
"Is that going to be enough time?" Lucina asked, placing a hand on Robin's arm.
The tactician sat up straight, closing his eyes and holding his hands out. A few ropes of dark mana danced between his fingers, snapping at one of the digits and drawing a few drops of blood before the spell calmed and became a slight glow about his hands.
"They're still at least three days away," Robin reported, dispelling the mana and opening his eyes. "If we're in and out tonight we can be across the border and in Plegia before they even know we were here."
"That means we're going to be playing distraction again tonight, doesn't it?" Galle asked in a defeated tone.
"Yes, but in Themis itself this time," Robin said excitedly. "There'll be much nicer stuff for you guys to break, and actual city guards to evade. Consider it a test of the skills I taught you to not get caught."
Galle leaned with his back against Anna's caravan, waiting while she and Mari organized the distraction teams' equipment for that evening's raid. He watched intently as Robin outlined his plan as simply as he could for Arya, who had tentatively agreed to help them. She was still on the fence about becoming Robin's apprentice, but in Galle's experience no-one could say no to the charismatic man for long.
"Kinda brings you back, huh?" Van asked, coming to stand with Galle. "Makes you think about when he picked us up."
Galle grunted non-committedly, his mind flashing to a time under the blazing sun when he had been close to death from thirst and mana exhaustion, a kind, if not strange, man leaning over him and giving up the last of his water with a smile on his face as Galle's searching came to an end…
"What are the groups for tonight?" the Plegian boy asked, shaking the memory out of his head.
He had made peace with the ghosts of his past years ago. He didn't need the distractions on the cusp of a mission.
"You, me, and the Princess in there," Van said, thumbing towards the wagon and using Mari's nickname from back at the School.
Galle scoffed a little at the nostalgic nickname; Rance and Isaac had started calling her that behind her back because of her proper Chon'sinian attitude and bearing soon after their first meeting, and the nickname had stuck. Not that Galle had ever used it, or that she appreciated it much…
"Robin, Gaius, Arya and Ita are the main infiltration team," Van went on, oblivious to Galle's wandering thoughts. "Panne, Brady and Kowrowa are being held in reserve in case one of the teams is disabled or apprehended and need rescuing, and everyone else is in pairs for the distraction teams."
Galle nodded absently, already running numbers in his head. He disagreed with his old teacher bringing the girl, as did a few of the others, but in the end it was Robin's call to make; it wasn't that Galle didn't trust her, but that she was still damaged. He had seen all the signs before, and she really wasn't field-ready in the least. He honestly doubted if she ever would be, given how nervous and jittery she was. At least it wouldn't take long for the wolf and Taguel to reach any point in the city if they were stationed at the-
"So how long have we known each other now?" Van asked, interrupting Galle's thoughts.
"What?" the Plegian boy snapped.
"You and me," Van shrugged. "We weren't in the same class, but we graduated together. And now we're working together, but I still don't know much about you."
"And?" Galle asked after a moment of silence.
"I like to know the guys that have my back," Van said with a sheepish grin. "You don't talk much, so there's not a lot of chances to ask."
"If I didn't know any better I'd swear you were coming on to me," Galle deadpanned, earning a snort from within the wagon.
Anna's head popped out from inside the canvas shell of the wagon horizontally, her long red hair falling down at a right angle to her head.
"If this goes any further I might need to sell tickets," the merchant giggled as Mari dropped out of the wagon, holding three bundles of supplies.
"Good timing," Galle muttered under his breath, accepting the small bag of rations and other items he might need that evening.
Mari simply gave him a neutral look and a quick nod before she was off and giving Van his own bag. Galle noticed with a sinking feeling that there were vullenaries and even an elixir in the bottom of the bag; it wasn't a scout loud-out, it was a full-blown soldier's kit.
"Hey-hey, cool! Elixers!" Van said happily, holding his own bag up.
Galle rolled his eyes as Anna giggled above him.
"Do try not to need them," the merchant cooed. "They're expensive, after all."
That evening Lucina watched from her perch in the shadows of the steeple of one of Naga's churches as a squad of city guard rushed by on the street beneath her, nodding once and placing the blue mask back into place over her eyes. This mission, distracting the guards, would involve hurting good people. Honest people trying to make a living and protect their families. She couldn't do that as Lucina, but as Marth she could do what was necessary. The entire reason that Robin had gone to find her old mask in the ruins of their home had been because of that thinking; he knew that Lucina was a proud woman just as dedicated to her homeland and its people as her father was, but that they would have to do less than scrupulous things to bring the Rommel clan to justice. No one would recognize Lucina as long as she hid her brand, but the mask was almost a comforting presence as she walked down the stairs to the church floor.
"The children have made their move," she said, dropping her voice and assuming her Marth persona fully. "We need to act now."
Anna grinned up at the disguised woman as she turned from the small window and descended into the empty church, the merchant resting on one of the pews in the front row. The priest, apparently an old acquaintance of Anna's aunt, had offered them sanctuary for as long as they needed it before retiring to the back rooms, leaving the two women to their work.
"So what's the plan?" Anna asked, bouncing to her feet. "Are we going to go to the guard garrison and start randomly beating guys up?"
Lucina stopped, looking over her shoulder at Anna as her mouth opened a little. Her slack face became a grin and she set off with renewed vigor.
"That wasn't my first thought, but it's a much better idea than I had," she admitted.
Anna blinked a few times before sighing and hurrying to catch up with the other woman.
"Me and my big mouth," the redhead muttered, shaking her head. "And Robin married this woman? Sheesh… I feel sorry for him sometimes…"
Galle sighed a little as he walked through the bustling streets of the evening markets in Themis, his hood drawn low and shoulders hunched as he tried to make himself as conspicuously inconspicuous as possible to the guards looking for people trying to be inconspicuous. Beside him Mari was doing the same, her own hood pulled low over her face as they walked together through the crowd.
Galle sighed again, rotating his neck a little as he stepped into an alleyway. Mari moved with him, shooting him a questioning glance as he tugged his hood back.
"This isn't working," he growled. "We need to… I don't know, blow something up."
They had been wandering around all evening, to no avail. Galle had even 'tripped' a few times and stumbled into the guards wandering around, and been completely ignored. Well, he'd been cuffed upside the head and shoved away, but otherwise ignored.
"No explosions," Mari deadpanned, repeating the same instruction that Robin had given them.
"But if we just made one little-"
"No. Explosions," she insisted, pulling her own hood back and frowning at him.
Galle rolled his eyes as the third member of their party stepped into the alleyway, pulling his own hood back.
"Aren't we supposed to be trying to act suspicious?" Van asked, tugging his favorite yellow scarf down from where it covered the bottom half of his face.
"Mari won't let me make any explosions," Galle said matter-of-factly.
"Well, that would get us noticed…" Van muttered jokingly as if he were considering the suggestion, the grin on his face giving his true position away though.
"No explosions," Mari repeated, rolling her eyes. "What is with you boys and explosions?"
"I think that's the most I've heard her talk all week," Van muttered to Galle as Mari turned to survey the crowd.
The Plegian tactician grunted in agreement, both young men earning a glare from Mari'ko for their joking at her expense. Galle sighed and tugged his hood back into place. Just as he was about to suggest they go back into the crowd and try to attract some attention again he was stopped by a meaty hand on his shoulder.
"Excuse me," the man wearing thick white Themisian Guard Plates said with a frown, the four other men behind him crossing their arms threateningly. "We'd like to have a word with you three."
"Well," Van shrugged, pulling his own hood back into place and backing away. "That was easy."
"Scatter!" Mari shouted, and Galle tugged his shoulder away from the man and darted into the crowded street.
Owain sighed, clenching and unclenching his fist around his swords sheathe. He looked around anxiously, watching as people went by, going about their daily lives with no clue to the cancer hiding within their midst. Severa huffed at his shoulder, crossing her arms and sinking to a hip as they watched over the Rommel Merchant Clan's base of operations; the Rommel Villa in the Merchant Quarter of Themis. Even at this late hour there were workers in abundance, moving to and fro going about their duties and offering the perfect audience for what Owain had in mind.
"I know what you're thinking," Severa muttered, pinching between her eyes in frustration. "And it's stupid. And moronic. And let's just get it over with so I can get a good night's sleep again."
"Heh, you always could read me like a book, my fated companion," Owain said, striking his favorite pose with his hand fluttering before his face. "And fortunately, Sir Gaius isn't going to stop us this time."
"I really wish he would," Severa sighed, leaning around Owain to get another look at their opposition.
Before the red-haired girl could make any other comments Owain pulled her back into the shadows of the alleyway, her heart leaping into her throat for a brief moment before the fear of being spotted was replaced by a different type of excitement when Owain pulled her close to him, bringing his lips to hers for a brief moment before stepping around her.
"For luck," was all he said, winking and stepping out onto the torch-lit street, leaving a very flustered Severa standing with her mouth gaping.
"Gentlemen!" Owain announced in a loud, displeased voice. "I wish to talk to your manager about returning something I bought from you! This sword, right here! Come, take a closer look!"
Severa blinked a few more times before sighing, a fleeting smile rising to her lips as she jogged to catch up with Owain.
Robin let out a small sigh as he dropped into the Themisian storm water drain behind Gaius, the small magical flame dancing above the tactician's palm sending flickering shadows dancing out in all directions as the others followed him.
"I'm getting to old for this crap," he muttered, wrinkling his nose at the stink of fetid water.
"At least it hasn't been raining," Gaius commented offhandedly.
The thief shielded his eyes from Robin's spell as he scouted further up the tunnel, eventually disappearing into the darkness. Behind them a heavy iron grate stood between the Shepherds and freedom; past the gate there was a sharp drop that led to the outskirts of the city. That would be their out if things went poorly. The grate was old and heavily rusted, clearly overlooked by maintenance people in the confusion of rebuilding the city. All it would take to displace the grate would be one swift kick.
Ita dropped into the drain last, hauling the heavy iron cover back into place before she descended.
"What an amazing new smell you manspawn have created," she growled, wrinkling her nose in discomfort.
Arya shrunk away from the shape-shifter, drifting a little closer to Robin as he sighed.
"Yes, we know," he groaned. "You have enhanced senses. Congratulations. I never heard Panne complain about hers, you know."
"The Coney is used to life among the manspawn," Ita spat petulantly, crossing her arms and taking a few steps after Gaius.
Robin let out another sigh before looking down to his newest protégé. The girl looked nervous, but she had a determined set to her features that he had only seen on experienced soldiers before. His heart broke at the thought of what the poor child had been through, but hopefully he could begin to set things right for her. He just had to trust that Maribelle, Roark, Chrom and all the others could do the same for the others like Arya.
"Nervous?" he asked to break the silence.
Arya jumped a little, looking up at him in surprise before shaking her head.
"No, sir," she said hesitantly.
Ita scoffed, her tail swishing irritably.
"Really?" Robin chuckled. "'Cause I sure am."
"You?" Arya asked, confusion evident in her features even in the low light.
"That is confidence inspiring," Ita grumbled sarcastically.
"Sit," Robin said over his shoulder with a grin. "Stay. Be quiet like a good girl and I'll give you a treat when we get back to camp."
"I will kill you," Ita growled, wandering further into the darkness. "And then I will piss on your grave."
Robin snorted, trying to laugh quietly. His failed attempts to hold his laughter echoed around them for a time before leaving him and Arya standing in silence again. The plan was to wait until Lucina and the others made their distraction.
After a few more moments of silence Arya fidgeted, looking up at Robin again.
"Are you… really nervous?" she asked shyly. "Even after… everything you've done?"
Robin cast a glance down at the girl, smiling kindly.
"After everything I've seen I think it's actually worse," he admitted. "But you always get nervous before a mission of any kind. The day you don't is the day you get lazy. And the day you get lazy is the day you die."
Arya nodded, looking down and huddling up under her cloak.
"I'm nervous," she admitted after a moment of indecision. "No… I'm terrified. I don't… want to go back. I don't want them to hurt me again…"
"They won't," Robin assured her. "Ita has specific orders to protect you. Not like she needs a reason to ignore me… But I won't make you do this if you're not up to it. You already showed us the way in. If you want to head back to the camp and-"
"No!" Arya said desperately, her cry echoing around the empty drain.
Her eyes widened after accidentally shouting and she clamped her hands over her mouth, looking up at Robin in horror. The tactician's shoulders shook as he desperately tried not to burst into laugher, holding his own mouth as tears rose to his eyes and his face turned red.
"Geez, kid," he chuckled once the laughing fit had passed. "You're gonna kill me with laughter, you know that?"
"S-sorry," Arya said quietly. "But… I need to do this. I need to face them. To… prove that they didn't break me."
Robin nodded, placing a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder.
"We're going to punish them," he promised. "For all the evil they've done. For all the people they've hurt. You keep that fact close to your heart, alright? You get scared, think that you're doing this to stop them from hurting anyone else like they did you, and that'll keep you going."
Arya nodded and Robin gave her shoulder a squeeze before separating from the girl.
"Ah, I always hated waiting for an op to begin," he sighed, sinking down to sit against the rough stone wall. "I really am getting to old for this."
"We're not even thirty yet," Gaius muttered, reappearing into the circle of light. "Stop talking like that. You're starting to make me feel old, too. C'mon, show's already started and I found us a way in."
"But I just got comfy…" Robin grumbled, forcing himself back to his feet.
Robin stuck his head up through a sluice grate in the Rommel complex's stables, barely getting a glance in before Gaius yanked him back down with a dirty look.
What he had seen looked like any other stable, empty and dark during the night. Gaius pulled a dark purple balaclava over his bright hair, peeking up over the edge of the grate before silently pulling himself up into the stable.
Robin huffed and crossed his arms, grinning at a frowning Ita and a nervous-looking Arya. Admittedly, he wasn't quite taking things seriously yet. But he took a deep breath, which was difficult given the stench wafting up from the sludge around their feet, and steeled himself the way he always used to before a mission.
Gaius reappeared, indicating that they follow him up. Robin went first, offering his hand back down to assist the girls with Gaius. Arya took his hand and let him pull her up, while Ita just grunted and launched herself past a surprised Gaius to land gracefully in a crouch, her nose twitching as she tested the air for threats. With a slow nod the shape-shifter gave the all clear and Robin breathed a sigh of relief. With quick, practiced movements the four Shepherds undid the cords around their ankles, shedding the soiled skins that had been protecting their feet and boots from the waste in the drain. Gaius passed around a small pouch of black powdered charcoal which Robin and Ita began to rub small amounts of on any spots that had been splashed to hide the scent of the sewer. Arya hesitated for a moment before emulating them, rubbing the black powder onto the knees of her pants.
Gaius nodded in approval before quickly patting himself down with the powder and putting it back into his larger pouch. The thief kicked the skins back into the open grate before silently lowering the heavy steel bars back into place.
"Stick close," Robin whispered to Arya. "If something happens Ita makes a distraction and we get back here as fast as we can. Understand?"
The girl swallowed and nodded, and Robin gave her an encouraging pat on the shoulder. The tactician spun and nodded to Gaius, who disappeared into the dark building. Robin held the others back for a moment before moving forward, his footsteps silent compared to Arya's soft and tentative movements. Robin felt he was a little out of practice; his coat occasionally brushed his leg or he sometimes scuffed his boot on the ground, but after training with Gaius for so long he was still basically a shadow in the darkened hallways. Which was good, because Ita was making more than enough noise for the three humans by tromping along with heavy footfalls and sniffing continuously; the only saving grace was that she was bare-foot, otherwise the whole Villa would have known they were there.
In the distance Robin could hear the sound of excited voices shouting, Owain no doubt having the time of his life distracting the Rommel Guards. Robin hesitated for a moment, wondering if he had just heard someone shouting about their sword hand in the distance or if it had been his imagination.
Hin'rath fumed as he stomped through the villa towards the receiving dock, his usually gentle face pulled back in a brutal scowl. He looked composed outwardly, but inwardly he was raging, and the stiffness of his movements conveyed that.
Someone was attacking the Villa. Of course it had to happen while the Mistress was away on business and he was in charge. So far this week had been nothing but screw-ups under his authority, and he was officially at the end of his patience.
First an important deal with the Anna merchants had fallen through. Then the girl had escaped them with knowledge of his Mistress' dealings, not to mention insider knowledge of the entire villa itself. Now this.
"Ah, this week just keeps goin' from bad to worse, don't it?" Maurice asked, echoing the steward's thoughts as he came alongside the smaller man.
Hin'rath glanced across to the old soldier, the larger man already in his light armor and gripping his sword confidently. Something that Hin'rath had noticed recently, though, was that the veteran had started to have a hitch in his step; a slight limp on his right leg.
"There's reports coming in all over town," Maurice grunted as they rounded a corner. "There's some fracas in the markets tyin' up the City Guard, so we're on our own here."
"I have had my fill of failure. Kill whoever it is that is attacking us," Hin'rath growled, flicking his wrists.
Two small daggers, kunai throwing knives from his homeland, slipped into his waiting hands. He had countless more hidden up his sleeves and in his robes, not to mention the multitude of other blades strapped to his body. It wasn't often that he indulged in battle himself, but he needed the stress-relief after this week.
In that, he thought as he and Maurice entered the receiving dock, this attacker had good timing.
A number of House Rommel's other soldiers were already on the scene, the frightened workers close to stampeding as they struggled to escape from the threat of imminent violence. Maurice immediately started shouting above the crowd, calling for order and calm while Hin'rath pushed through to where the other soldiers were.
He passed the crowd, his gaze falling on a blonde man in Feroxi clothes and a red-haired woman that bore an uncanny resemblance to Ylisse's Wing Commander. Both had weapons drawn, but it was the blonde man swinging his sword around wildly that was the main concern at present.
"I said this blade is cursed!" the blonde man roared, swinging the sword again.
Adrik cursed among the soldiers, stepping backwards into Hin'rath rather than get too close to the blade.
"Look!" the blonde man cried. "My sword hand hungers! I cannot control it!"
"Idiots!" Hin'rath roared.
The line of soldiers grew deathly still, Adrik jumping forward as he realized who he had stepped on. The blonde man's face broke into a momentary grin as he spotted Hin'rath before it dropped back into a frown.
He's playing us, Hin'rath realized with a spike of anger.
"Are you the master of this house of liars!?" the blonde man asked. "How dare you sell me a cursed blade!? Why-"
Whatever else the madman was going to say was cut off as he was forced back a step, bringing his 'cursed' weapon up to deflect the kunai that Hin'rath had thrown at his face. Clearly the man was well-trained; a mercenary, then, sent to disrupt the Rommel's business by a rival Merchant House.
The blonde man's serious face split into a mad grin now, all pretense gone as Hin'rath stepped into the open space before the soldiers.
"Are you worth my blade, sir?" the blonde man asked.
Hin'rath glowered before turning to bark over his shoulder.
"Kill the woman. I will deal with the showman."
Robin resisted the urge to sneeze as he and Arya followed Gaius down another abandoned hallway. The Villa was a lot bigger than it had looked from the outside, and apparently the Head Merchant's office was on the second floor of the squat building. They had just climbed the stairs, but Robin didn't want to make the others play distraction for too long and press their luck, so his signaled for Gaius to pick up the pace.
The thief nodded, surging ahead silently, leaving Arya and to breathe a little gasp of astonishment at the older man's ability. Gaius was like a shadow, easily one of the most dangerous people that Robin knew when he wanted to be.
"Are we far?" he asked Arya.
She started, glancing up at the man before shaking her head.
"I've only been there once before, but it should be just around the corner," she whispered.
Robin nodded, glancing back at Ita.
"Stay here," he said. "Something comes up those stairs scare it off."
The shape-shifting woman grinned, turning on her heel and standing in the middle of the hallway with her arms crossed.
"Clearly the time for subtlety is over," Robin muttered, rolling his eyes.
"With all the noise the sword-hand is making downstairs I don't think there was ever call for subtlety," Gaius shrugged, reappearing at Robin's shoulder.
The tactician and Arya both jumped, earning a chuckle from the thief.
"Found it up ahead, exactly where the kid said it was," Gaius reported, grinning all the while.
"Ita, stay," Robin said over his shoulder.
"I will kill you, manspawn," the shape-shifter growled as they disappeared around the corner. "I swear it. One day I will end you."
Robin was struck, once he stopped laughing at Ita's reaction, at the sheer opulence of the hallway he found himself in. It was on-par with some of the palaces he had seen over the years with its plush carpets and tasteful paintings and sculptures lining the walls. Clearly this was the hallway that important visitors were brought through as a show of the Merchant House's power in wealth. It seemed silly to Robin, but the way that Gaius was eying a few of the sculptures there had clearly been a lot of money invested here.
"Later," Robin muttered, giving Gaius a little push when he slowed in front of a particularly beautifully-carved sculpture of Naga.
The thief huffed, giving the statue one final longing glance before moving forward with Robin and Arya. The tactician snuck a glance at the girl out of the corner of his eye as they moved down the hallway, making sure she was still okay. Clearly she was struggling; her lips were pursed tightly and she jumped a little at every small sound, her own eyes darting around everywhere.
"We're almost done, kid," Robin promised her. "Just a little more and-"
The trio froze, Robin halting mid-sentence as a door further up the hall opened. Without thinking he grabbed Arya, the girl giving a little squeak as Robin bundled her into the nearest room, quietly closing the door behind them. He hadn't seen where Gaius went, but assumed that the thief would simply blend into the shadows like he usually did.
Arya fidgeted in his grip, whimpering a little beneath Robin's hand clamped over her mouth. The sound of rushing footsteps receded and Robin let out a breath as he released Arya.
"Sorry, kid," he apologized hastily as she re-arranged her cloak. "I had to make sure we were safe."
She nodded once, not meeting his gaze as they stepped back into the hallway the same time Gaius dropped from the ceiling.
"Did you just…" Robin half-asked before shaking his head. "Forget it. Nothing you do any more surprises me. Let's finish this and-"
There was a blood-curling scream from back up the hall as the Rommel worker found Ita and Robin cursed, running a hand down his face.
"I can't believe I forgot Ita was there," he muttered, turning to Gaius and Arya.
The thief simply arched a brow as the girl began to panic, her breathing speeding up as she looked back and forth between the two older men.
"Forget subtlety," Robin ordered, not even bothering to whisper any more. "Get what we need. Ita! Make some noise!"
The tactician's shout was met with a loud animalistic howl that made Arya shudder even more. When they looked back Gaius was already gone, no doubt making sure there were no more surprises up ahead.
"Where's the office?" Robin asked Arya.
She glanced up at him, her eyes momentarily clouding in confusion as she mumbled something incoherent.
"They… they'll f-find us…" she mumbled. "Hurt… not again… no… no…"
"Kid, focus," he said, gripping her shoulders. "You don't wanna die here. I don't want you to die here. We are both far, far too pretty to die. Now where's the office?"
Arya blinked up at him, the light coming back to her eyes as she tried to process the tactician's silly joke.
"Up… up ahead…" Arya said, swallowing. "Around the next corner up… the end. Can't miss it."
Robin nodded, grabbing her wrist and pulling her along after him. He'd be damned if he was going to leave her in a place like this, but also cursed himself. Two mistakes now; he should have known she wouldn't be able to take this, and he should have known Ita wouldn't hide. Robin was starting to think he really was getting too old.
Gaius reappeared then, making Arya jump.
"Rest of the floor's clear," he reported.
"Good," Robin nodded. "Now let's get what we came for."
"What are we looking for?" Gaius asked as they rushed down the last stretch of hallway to the gilded doors at the end.
"Shipping manifests," Robin said, throwing the doors open. "Purchase receipts. Credit logs. Anything that'll give us an idea of the Rommel's movements or future plans. A journal, look for a journal. Gah! Is my office this messy?"
They rushed into the office, Robin going for the desk while Gaius moved to the cabinets on one side of the room.
"So… boring stuff," Gaius shrugged. "Gotcha. Can I at least grab that statue on the way out?"
"Gaius, focus," Robin sighed, flipping through papers.
Arya stood uncertainly in the middle of the room for a moment before approaching Robin at the desk. He was just about to tell her to watch the door when something caught his eye.
"Hey Arya," he asked excitedly. "Is there a reason that the Rommels would be procuring large amounts of land in Regna Ferox?"
She shook her head shakily, glancing across the desk at the sheaf of papers Robin was holding.
"I… I don't know," she answered.
"Paydirt?" Gaius asked, looking up from his own work.
The thief had a bundle of papers under one arm, roughly going through the remaining cabinets. To Arya's astonishment he had already covered nearly two thirds of the cabinets in the minutes Robin had been rifling through the desk.
"Maybe. You find anything useful?" Robin asked in response, scratching at his head.
"Maybe," Gaius shrugged, freezing as he looked up. "Uh… Bubbles, your head's on fire."
Robin glanced up, quirking a brow and opening his mouth to speak before Arya began panicking.
"He's right!" she shouted, leaping back.
Robin reached up, a thin wisp of smoke rising from the side of his head where…
The tactician's eyes widened as he shoved the papers into Arya's hands. With quick movements he drew his rapier a little from its sheathe and touched his thumb to its blade to draw blood before muttering a quick incantation and holding his hands apart. He closed his eyes for a moment, a dark purple glow appearing between his hands before winking out when his eyes snapped back open.
"Abort mission," he said urgently. "We need to be gone, now."
"Securing an exit," Gaius said without hesitation, shoving his own stack of papers into Arya's hands and breezing out of the room.
Robin stepped out from around the desk, moving past Arya and drawing something from his coat's pocket. Arya shrunk back a little as Robin tied his hair back from his face, revealing a particularly nasty scar above his eye.
"What's happening?" she asked, hurrying to keep up with him.
"The Villa's owner is back," Robin said in a dark tone of voice. "And I really don't want to have to fight with that psychopath any time soon. So we're leaving."
As soon as Robin stepped into the hallway he turned and made for the closest window, pulling a small cylindrical signaling device that Miriel had developed during the war against Plegia out of his coat.
Owain grimaced, deflecting yet another throwing knife as he danced around the robed man's attacks, again failing to close with him. He had stopped grinning some time ago as he and Severa had been forced back and out of the receiving dock, back onto the street outside. They were causing a commotion, though, and it looked like the entire Rommel Villa had turned out to watch. Exactly according to plan.
Behind him Severa grunted, fending off the other Rommel soldiers on her own. The older men were clearly all war veterans, but she was using the younger ones as shields, positioning the inexperienced men in the path of their allies and dancing through the press of enemies with a grace and skill that made Owain's heart ache in admiration of her beauty.
The blonde man cursed his distraction as another throwing knife flew by his nose, barely managing to throw himself back in time.
"You are indeed a worthy opponent!" Owain announced, saluting the robed man.
"Stop talking and fight already!" Severa shouted exasperatedly, parrying a blow from a man nearly twice her size.
Owain chuckled, grinning at the robed man standing silently watching him. The man, clearly from Chon'sin judging from his appearance and fighting style, was good. But he was no Owain Dark. He had survived a forsaken hell of a future to travel back in time and save this world, and he would not be undone by a man wearing clerk's robes.
"Dammit, she's just one woman!" the robed man shouted at the soldiers. "Can't you idiots do anything right?"
The soldiers bristled, advancing on Severa again. However Owain used the momentary distraction of the man shouting to rush him, his blade flashing heroically in the darkness directly towards-
Stumbling, Owain struck at air as a familiar searing pain erupted in his ribs.
"You're good," the robed man admitted as they separated. "Most men wouldn't have been able to evade at the last second. I'm curious, tell me who trained you?"
"My father," Owain grunted, pulling the small knife out of his ribs and dropping it to the street.
There was a hushed whisper that rippled through the crowd at the sight of first blood being drawn, and Severa cast him a look equal parts worry and annoyance as she continued to fend off the blows from the soldiers.
"I believe it's time to end this farce," the robed man said impassively, flicking his wrists and bringing two more daggers to his hands.
Owain looked up, his face growing serious once more as he spotted the signal Robin had put up. Or more specifically, the location of the signal. A large jet of green sparks was shooting up from the window of one of the Villa's top floors, easily spotted throughout the entire city. Robin's team was only supposed to signal from the Villa if things went badly, meaning of course…
Right on cue the crowd of workers and soldiers in the receiving dock began to scream and panic behind the robed man as Ita crashed out of the main building and howled, tearing into anything within reach with reckless abandon. The robed man turned, his face going slack as he witnessed a horse-sized wolf appearing out of seemingly nowhere, as did the rest of the soldiers, giving Owain and Severa their chance to escape.
The duo silently pulled back, disappearing into the alleyway they had come out of. Once they had gotten a few blocks away Owain stopped, leaning against the wall of the closest building and clamping a hand to his ribs. He hadn't noticed before during the fighting, but the wound was really deep and bleeding profusely. Severa spotted this, too, and sighed, pulling a small container full of healing salve out of her pouch and slathering Owain's wound with it before shoving an elixir into his hands. Judging from the searing agony the salve caused in Owain's flank, it was Severa's mother's recipe.
"Can you keep walking?" Severa asked as Owain upended the elixir into his mouth.
He nodded, tossing the empty bottle aside and wiping his mouth clean on the back of his hand.
"Why have you stopped, manspawn?" Ita asked, appearing behind them. "We are far from safe here."
"What happened in there?" Severa asked as they started to jog in the direction of the city wall.
The shape-shifter shrugged, her tail swishing irritably beneath her cloak now that she was back in her human form.
"I don't know," she admitted. "I was told to make noise. I made noise. What you manspawn do doesn't concern me."
Owain let out a weak chuckle, clutching his side as he ran.
"Leave it to Robin to hog all the fun on us," he muttered.
Severa just rolled her eyes and urged them to run faster. The sooner they were out of the city and Brady got a look at Owain the better.
"Okay, calling this place a Villa is a little much," Robin complained. "I mean really; this is a small palace!"
He, Arya and Gaius were running full-pelt along one of the hallways that would bring them back to the stables, the girl panting as she tried to keep pace with the two veterans. Judging from the sound outside Ita's distraction was in full swing, meaning that they still had a window to get out before things went truly pear shaped.
What bothered Robin was how Maris was returning so fast… It didn't make sense. The warning curse he had put on the lock of hair that had burned up was fool-proof, and the scrying hex he'd placed on the Rommel back in Regna Ferox under the guise of torturing him had made following the man's movements a breeze, but…
As they came into the stables Robin's coat was blown back and they were all buffeted by a strong blast of wind, forcing him to shield his eyes. When he looked up, though, everything became clear.
A large, fully-grown gryphon had landed in the middle of the stable with a man wearing full Themisian heavy armor atop it. Only instead of the usual crisp white coloring, this armor was jet black.
"Gaius, get the girl into the hole," Robin said urgently. "Arya, do what Gaius says, but don't drop those papers or everything we did here was a waste."
"Right," Gaius nodded, placing himself between the gryphon rider and Arya, giving Robin one last sideways look.
"Try not to get dead," the thief grinned.
Arya was silent, literally quaking with fear as Maris tore his helm off and threw it aside. Gaius slowly backed them around the pending confrontation towards the grate, his hand kneading the grip of the dagger on his belt.
"Tactician!" he roared, brandishing his sword at Robin. "You dare!? You dare to invade my home!?"
Robin resisted the urge to wince when he caught sight of the former knight. His beard and hair were ragged and unkempt, and the light of madness had taken over his eyes. Robin needed his full attention though, so that Gaius and Arya could escape. Deciding not to remind the other man that this was basically exactly what he and his cronies had done in Regna Ferox, Robin decided to use mockery to stall for time.
"Maris!" he said, throwing his arms wide as if greeting an old friend. "I like what you've done with your… gryphon. How'd you make him so big? Mine's still the size of a dog."
"Do not mock me!" the other man snarled, the gryphon beneath him hissing in time with his master's ire.
"Okay, okay, sheesh," Robin placated. "I guess you want to skip right to the part where we fight?"
"I wish to skip to the part where I kill you and feed you to Invincible!" Maris declared.
Robin glanced around the gryphon, his face breaking into a grin when he saw that he and Maris were alone in the stables.
"Okay, one that's a stupid name for a mount," Robin said, sinking to a hip. "And two, I'll pass."
With a flare of mana Robin activated the teleportation spell in the ring on his index finger, the red stone glowing bright before he disappeared, leaving a raging Maris alone in the stables.
When Robin reappeared he did so just as Gaius was kicking down the storm grate bars, directly behind the thief and Arya, still clinging desperately to the sheaf of papers. The girl, fearful tears in her eyes, leapt a little at Robin's sudden reappearance, but Gaius barely glanced over his shoulder.
"And I didn't even draw my sword," Robin boasted with a grin, giving Arya an encouraging wink.
She nodded and sniffled, wiping the tears out of her eyes with one shaking hand.
"You did well today, kid," Robin said. "Let's get out of here. Down the pipe."
Arya nodded again, wordlessly moving to slide down the pipe that would take them to the city outskirts. Once she was out of view Robin keeled over, dry-retching as he steadied himself with one hand on the drain's stone wall. Gaius was at his side instantly, holding the tactician up as he heaved.
"What the hell happened up there?" Gaius asked quietly.
"It's…" Robin managed, straightening and pulling the cord out of his hair, letting it fall back and cover his scars.
"The magic," he managed after a few deep breaths. "The magical resonance that was permeating the gryphon. It… it was Grima."