Chapter Four: Preparations
(Hershel's POV)
Oh no oh no oh no oh no. What am I gonna do? I just unwittingly got hired to help assassinate the Exalt, and if I don't follow through with the job, they'll probably hunt me down and kill me. On the other hand, if I tell Chrom and friends, I'm sure Chrom will be forgiving, but Frederick will throw an axe through my face before I can finish explaining myself.
It had been nearly two hours since the assassin had left and I was still nowhere near to finding a solution to my problem. The best solution I had found so far was taking a boat to a remote island, but that plan seems to end the same way as the others; with me dying an early death.
Okay, just calm down. First, I need to get out of the palace gardens, but how? The front gate is probably closely guarded due to my incident earlier, but I can't just scale the wall. *sigh* I guess my best bet is the front gate.
All right, jump down from the tree….ACK, didn't realize how high up I was. Ooh, that's gonna bruise.
Back to the task at hand. If I remember right, the front gate should be around this corner and down the path a bit…Ah, there it is. Now, how do I get past the guards stationed there, hmmm. Maybe if I hide in the shadows as I sneak past, but they'll be expecting me to walk in the shadows, so perhaps I should walk in the well lit areas to avoid their gaze, but then again, they'll be expecting me to expect them to be watching the shadows, so in reality, they'll be watching the well lit areas, ergo, I should walk in the shadows. But what if they're expecting me to expect that they'll be expecting me to walk in the shadows? But if they are then-
Wait, where am I? This isn't the royal gardens, this looks like the middle of the street…..Hmm, I really need to figure out how I do that.
Well, at least that's one problem solved. Now I need to find somewhere to stay for the night, but how am I going to find an inn when there's no one around to ask? And more importantly, where am I going to find the money to pay for a room? Maybe I can just beg for a free room, no, that'll never work. What am I gonna do?
"Hi, Hershel." A voice said right next to me
"GAH! Where did you come from, Lissa?
"Well, we saw you standing in the middle of the street and we decided to say hi."
"Against our better judgment." Frederick added
"It's good to see you too, Frederick."
"Where did you go earlier?" Robin asked
Oh, what do I do? Should I tell them? If I don't the Exalt is going to be killed, but if I do, they'll probably suspect me of being a conspirator, and then I'll get arrested and or executed...errrr...I guess for now I'll just keep it to myself and make sure to tell them later, hopefully in a situation where they don't all have weapons within their reach.
"Well, I was, uh, you know, doing stuff." I answered. I was rewarded with a suspicious glare from Frederick.
"Have a good night, Hershel. I hope we see you again." Chrom said.
"Oh, uh, yeah, you too."
I watched as they walked away until they appeared to be nothing more than specks in the distance. Suddenly I remembered that I had nowhere to go tonight.
Dang it! Why didn't I follow them? They probably have somewhere I could've stayed. *sigh* I suppose an alleyway isn't too bad a place to sleep.
(?'s POV)
As my consciousness floated in this empty void, I once again contemplated my downfall at HIS hands. How had he beaten me? I, who had powers that surpassed those of even a god. How had he destroyed my centuries of hard work and my perfect plan? It was unthinkable, it was impossible, and yet he had done it with nothing more than a few so-called friends and a couple of dusty relics. No matter how many times I run it through my mind, I still cannot even fathom how he had done it. But one thing was for sure, I needed to make preparations for my escape from this void, and when I escaped, I would wreak havoc upon the world he had fought so hard to save, and it was going to be delicious.
(Robin's POV)
Chrom, Lissa, Frederick and I had finally arrived at their destination.
"Here we are! The Shepherds' garrison." Lissa said with a smile.
-Time-Skip-
Well. I thought to myself. The introductions last night went well, I suppose. They're a strange lot, to be sure, but I suppose I should get used to it, seeing as I'm stuck with them now.
I wonder what I'll need to bring on the trip to Regna Ferox, I guess I'll just bring my sword and my thunder tome, I mean it's not like I'll need anything else, right?
(Hershel's POV)
I was awoken early in the mornig to the sound of someone grunting and coughing. When I looked around to find the source of the noise that interrupted my extremely manly dreams that definitely had nothing to with rainbow ponies and pink clouds, I found that a man was being beaten and or mugged by two twigs of men.
How does that happen?
"Um, excuse me, sirs. Do you mind? You kinda interrupted my sleep."
One of the two thugs turned to me. "Oh, I'm sorry. Here, let me make it up to you."
ACK! Okay, got kicked in the stomach, was not expecting that.
"Now back off, kid." The thug said
Okay, I can stand being called kid, or getting kicked in the stomach, but when both of those things happen at once, it means someone's gonna get hurt.
"All right, guys, I'll be on my way. But first, I need to tell you a secret, c'mere."
Just as I had hoped, they both fell for it, and they both came closer to hear the 'secret'
Morons.
Once they got close enough, I gave the both of them a nice, healthy knuckle sandwich. Once they were on the ground, I gave them both a sharp kick to the stomach, just so that they could have the experience of feeling it firsthand.
I'm so nice.
Once the two thugs had run away (were they really that weak?), I helped the beaten man up, and I was able to get a better look at him. His skin was very well tanned, He had a long, dark brown ponytail, and his eyes were an electric blue color. He was wearing a simple shirt and pants, a leather duster, a wide brimmed hat, and a pair of worn leather boots.
"Hmph, I could've taken care of it myself." The man grumbled
"So why didn't you?" I replied
"I have my reasons, now go away."
"A 'thank you' would've been nice." I said as he was walking away.
"Fine. The tournament to decide the head khan of Ferox is going to be soon, and I hear the khans will pay well for strong fighters, so if you have talent with a weapon, I suggest you go. That's my thank you."
"What makes you think I need money?"
"…You were sleeping in an alleyway."
"Point taken."
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to be going." And with that, he left.
Well, I don't exactly have talent with a weapon, but I've got no better choices, and I'm sure I can practice on my way to this 'Ferox' place. But before I can leave, I'm going to need to get a map, a weapon, some food, a waterskin, some new clothes and anything else that might be useful.
I have to wonder, though; who was that man?
A/N: Well, another chapter finished. I didn't like this one quite as much as the last one, but I guess it was okay. And I'm sorry Robin's POV was so short, I just didn't want to do the entire scene with Robin being introduced to the Shepherds, but I wanted to show that they got to the garrison and that the introductions and the announcement of the trip to Regna Ferox happened.
Also, I would appreciate it if you guys could send in some ideas for a new title for this story, because I'm not really satisfied with the current title, but it was the only thing I could think of though.
Please tell me what you thought of this chapter through either review or PM.
Thanks for reading!