Mozu and Donnel - Aptitude

Day 215, daybreak

On the field of battle, there were two creatures.

One of them would be known as the living. Quite in keeping with their title, they were in fact, alive.

Of course, that could account for Risen too, in a way. They were autonomous, if not intelligent creatures despite their decrepit appearance.

The other character on the stage of warfare would be the dead. Also in keeping to their title, they were not, in fact, living

And then there was Mozu.

She was living, no doubt, but baffled by that fact after every battle. If the calculations were correct, and gods bet they were, she should've been the Hoshidan equivalent of a pincushion from day one.

Dwarfed by her own weapon, the young farmer girl felt as if she walked amidst the footsteps of divine beings and as such, was not very comfortable being a liability when it came to combat. Shying back to the rear lines, the Hoshidan did not do much besides fire off the occasional arrow or swipe clumsily with her iron naginata at Risen wandering about.

What she did do well however was farm, so every field the Shepherd's camped in bore the slight scars of her cultivation. At every transit, she would be hard at work bringing potted plants to resettle in the soil, only to be transported to their next site with her, essentially giving her a mobile farm alongside the Shepherd encampment.

So even as the early risers in the army were out and about, they saw the friendly, timid, yet diligent Hoshidan villager hard at work with her crop.

"Mornin' Lord Xander uh Lord sir..."

"Mozu. Good morning to you."


Day 216, daybreak

"Lord Ryoma! You are looking pale!"

"Hm? Ah, it's just the morning light, Mozu. Thank you for your concern."


Day 218, daybreak

"G'mornin' Master Tacticioner Robin sir!"

"...Good morning? Farming again?"

"Of course, sir! We're looking at a good yield this week!"

"That's what I like to hear. Your work is just as important as everyone else. Never forget that."


Day 220, daybreak

"Lady Corrin ma'am! How are you?"

"Haha, I'm well rested as usual Mozu, what are you up to?"

"Just planting some here rice and millet for the road!"

"Well, good work! I'll see you around."

"Of course Lady Corrin!"

And so her day progressed, toiling hard in her personal field and at the same time reflecting on her progress in the army.


Day 221, dawn

As far as she was concerned, Mozu had gotten a lot more coordinated and certainly a bit stronger, easily drawing back a bow and swinging a 10 pound polearm that was far more lithe in stature than she. However, when compared to gods amongst men such as Frederick who could easily carry his horse alongside the trio of silver weapons he wielded, or Corrin who could uproot trees when angered and or dragon, or even Felicia, whose clumsy disposition always ended up with the brutal slaughter of Risen by the dozen.

Who was she to fight alongside them? She couldn't even throw her weapon without hitting herself in the face.

Her kill count was just as minuscule as her age, and she was pretty sure she was on the receiving end of more enemy arrows and friendly staves than she should have.

At least she could conjure up some mean miso soup.

With a sigh, she finished watering her plants and picked up the naginata from her side, giving it a few clumsy swings before setting it back down and returned her gaze to her plants.

"Golly, I haven't planted myself some millet in a while! Looks like you're gon' git a good crop!"

Huh?

Mozu turned around to see a hulking mass of flesh and muscle rippling at every movement staring at her intently. Said behemoth was not even close to casting the shadows Frederick did but was arguably more muscular than 'The Vaike.'

"H-hello there uhh..."

"Donnel! But most everyone here calls m' Donny!"

Mozu raised her gaze to see an unusually youthful face accompanying the strange voice, and for some reason, a battered beyond-belief pot lay atop his head, no doubt bearing the scuffs of a thousand battles. His ruffled purple hair lay matted alongside his head and his clothes were simple and patched. His face and neck bore countless scars, trophies from countless enemy engagements of which he was the victor.

"...Donny?"

"Yup! I was a farmer muhself before I joined this here army! Was fixin' to grow some millet and barley during the next cycle matterafact!"

"You... You were a farmer?!"

"I am a farmer, miss! Not everyone is born a killer like Chrom! Nah, I grew us Shepherds some cranberries a whiles ago actually! Some bloke keeps eating me tomatoes though..."

"But... You look like you've seen so many battles..." Mozu breathed upon Donny in awe, curious beyond belief on how a simple farmer like him could have been transformed into the embodiment of war itself...

"I guess I have! I mean, Chrom found me two years ago, back when bandits attacked our village... I took care of their leader with his help!" Mozu shuddered, her story not so fortunate.

"Bad guys got my village too... But they killed everyone..."

"Oh gawds," Donnel whispered, taking off his pot in reverence. "I'm sorry, ma'am..."

"It... It's okay. Lady Corrin rescued me so I could fight on in their memory... She's my hero, and I wanna be just like her... Strong, humble, courageous..."

"I reckon you could! His Kingliness Chrom was my hero too until he told me that he was my equal! Shook me up to the core, it did, but it drove me to train even harder to be worthy of his standards... Anyway miss, did I catch your name yet?"

"Mozu," Mozu clarified, smiling slightly.

"Moss Sue what?"

"Mozu!"

"Mozu..."

"Anyway, how did you get so strong? Surely you weren't this... massive... When you started out!"

"Oh golly, of course not. But then again, swingin' a sickle is no different than swingin' a sword, that's what Chrom told me. Fight and grow stronger, he says to me, so I did just that. And the more I trained, the better I got! It's not about skill, it's potential! And I believe us farmers have the best potential of them all! Trust me, stick with us and you'll be just like Lady Corrin! And not just in her pretty princess form either! I bet you could throw dragons double her size given time!"

"D'you think so?"

"Of course! Robin says it's some sort of aptitude or somethin' towards combat that us villagers have... Maybe it's b'cause we don't have much know-how in actual fighting until war starts... We're not soldiers until we need to be, if that makes any sense..."

"I think so. I mean, I never thought that I would've fought alongside Nohrian and Hoshidan royalty!"

"Me neither! And here I am, chatting with his Kingliness like it's nothing! Sure makes me feel obligated to protect his kingdom even more!"

"Yah... Thank you, Donny."

"For what?"

"I think I know what I must do now!"

"Will you fight on?"

"Of course! I'll fight, farm, and grow, just like my crops! And when the time of harvest comes, I'll be strong enough to make my whole village proud!"

"Aw, they already are, Mozu. Now c'mon! I'll teach you some tricks I learned over the years!"

"...They're proud of me," Mozu said with a smile, her naginata just as prepared as the orphan wielding it.