Chapter Five: Battle for the Northroad

(Hershel's POV)

Whew, just barely made it. I don't understand what they're so bent out of shape about, I mean, it was just a waterskin…and a bit a jerky…and a sword…and I might have borrowed a couple sets of clothes too, but it's not THAT big of a deal. And I'll make sure to pay them back later...probably…maybe.

Earlier that morning, I had 'borrowed' a couple sets of the same outfit, and man, did I look good. I was wearing a simple white shirt with a leather vest over it, a pair of black pants, a pair of black steel toed boots, a black hooded cape and a pair of fingerless gloves. Also, I had my white hair slicked back.

Now that I had my supplies, it was time to hit the road, and hit the road I did. For reasons unknown to me, Naga had seen fit to make me trip on the smallest pebble in the road, which in turn, made me go down for a spectacular face plant.

Pretending that it never happened, I stood up, brushed myself off, and I was back on the road, albeit with slightly less enthusiasm.

As I walked down the road, I took this moment to appreciate the nature. There were trees off to either side of the road with sunlight filtering through the leaves, there was a rabbit hiding in a bush, there were deer grazing in a field behind the trees, and there were birds chirping in the trees. Everything looked perfect.

I walked for a little while longer when suddenly there was a rustling noise in the bushes off to my left. I drew my sword from the scabbard at my waist and slowly made my way towards the bushes. When I got close to it something jumped out of the bush. I swung my sword wildly in an attempt to defend myself. My sword hit something and I felt victorious. As I stopped swinging in order to see what it was, I found myself face to face with a Pegasus…I didn't feel quite so victorious, all of a sudden. As I inspected the Pegasus further, I noticed I had put a gash in its leg.

"Oh, heh, sorry about that." I apologized

The Pegasus snorted and promptly attempted to trample me.

"Gah! Hey, I said I was sorry! Could you please stop?!"

It finally ceased its attempts to kill me, after which it flew away.

What was that all about? Oh well, there's nothing life can throw at me that can ruin my optimism.

Oh how wrong I was.

I had been walking through the forest, minding my own business, when I happened upon some guys with red glow-y eyes fighting Chrom and some of his friends. I figured I would just walk around the battle when one of the weird guys spotted me and decided I was a prime target. I drew my sword and waited for him to come to me.

He's raising his axe, and now it's coming down. Dodge to the side, and stab the chest. Hah, no match for me and my superior skills.

I slid my sword out of his chest and let his body flop to the ground. I began to walk away, when something grabbed my ankle. I turned around in horror and found that the guy I had just stabbed was still alive.

…..KILL IT WITH FIRE!

I panicked and did the first thing that came to mind; I kicked it in the face, after which I proceeded to cut its head off. As soon as I finished, its entire body dissolved into purple smoke.

What is going on?! What was that?! Was it some kind of monster? Where did it come from? Why was it here?

During my fight with that thing, Chrom and friends had finished off the rest of them. Given the circumstances, I decided that it would probably be best to get as much information from Chrom as I could.

"Hey, Chrom, wait up!" I called as I ran towards them.

"Who goes there?" Chrom said as they all drew their weapons and looked towards me.

"Whoa, take it easy there, guys. It's just me."

"Hershel?" Chrom said, recognition showing on his face.

"Yeah, it's me, and I have a couple of questions that I need answered."

(Robin's POV)

Who is this Hershel, guy? I met him back when I met Chrom, but I still have no idea who he is, or if he's even an ally. From what I've seen, he seems to be on our side, but that could change at any moment. For all we know, he could be an assassin, planning to murder us in our sleep. Ugh, I'm starting to sound like Frederick.

But it's still frustrating to not know anything about him. I can't make any plans or take counter measures without knowing his fighting style or knowing how he thinks. He hasn't done anything yet, but he could try anything at anytime.

I still don't understand how Chrom can trust him so implicitly. But then again, he did the same for me without second thought, despite Frederick's paranoia. So I guess I should give him a chance like Chrom gave me. But I'm going to be keeping an eye on him regardless.

(Hershel's POV)

"So, what questions did you want to ask me?" Chrom said as he sat down.

After we met on the battlefield, we had decided it would be best to make camp for the night.

Currently, Chrom and I were in the tent used for meetings.

"Well, first off, I would like to know exactly what those things were."

"Those are undead warriors that we have dubbed 'The Risen'. They're more resilient than humans and they appear to want to kill anything and everything."

No crap, Sherlock.

"Where did they come from?"

"We don't know exactly where they came from, but the night before we met you, we witnessed them coming through a giant blue…thing in the sky."

Well that helps a lot.

"Just one more question; why do you trust me as much as you do?"

"Well, I've been given no reason to distrust you, and you don't seem to be an enemy."

"Right. Well, I thank you for answering my questions, but I must be on my way."

"What? Where are you going?"

"I have places to be and things to do. And so, I bid you farewell." I said as I started walking out of the tent.

"Uh, okay. Goodbye."

Yeeeaah, I didn't sound shifty at all, no siree. Not the tiniest bit.

(?'s POV)

Hah, I have finally found a way to watch the outside world from this prison of solitude.

Hmm, so far things seem to be progressing well, if things keep going at this rate, my plan will come to fruition and I will be released back into the world. But there is one minor problem; it seems this 'Marth' person is trying to interfere with my plan. But no matter, I'll just send more presents to interfere with his plans.

A/N: Sorry that there wasn't much action, but I promise that there will be action at some point.

Also, I was wondering what pairings you guys want me to put in here, because I don't know which ones to do. So let me know through PM or review, which pairings you want.

Thanks for reading!