Chapter Six: Shank or Shiv?

(Hershel's POV)

I walked out of the tent Chrom and I had met in and looked around the camp, I noticed that there were quite a few more people than I remembered being with Chrom. I chalked it up to his ability to trust people too much, and continued on my way.

As I was leaving the campsite, I glanced over my shoulder one last time and noticed that Robin was staring at me with a wary look. When he noticed that I was looking at him, he gave me nod and walked away.

Weirdo

I left the camp and started making my way through the forest until I found a clearing in which to make my own encampment. I built a fire and then just sat there, staring into the flames and thinking about my life thus far.

Let's see, I woke up in the middle of the woods a few days ago, got smacked in the face with a log, traveled to Ylisstol with Chrom, unintentionally got hired to help with an assassination plot, and started traveling towards Ferox in hopes of getting a lot of money…I really need to do something that doesn't make me seem like a total scum bag. Maybe if I save some orphans, or babies, or baby orphans.

Step 1: Find baby orphans

Step 2: Make sure they're in danger

Step 3: Save them

Yeah, that's a solid plan right there. Well, better get some sleep so that I'll have enough energy to save those baby orphans tomorrow.

"HAH, HYAH, HIYAH."

I had woken up fairly early that morning, and quickly repacked my stuff, after which I decided to train with my sword. I thought I was doing pretty well; I could hit the tree almost every time!

I'm so awesome

"Um, excuse me."

I whirled around to find the source of the voice, and was shocked to find that the voice came from a man standing behind me that looked exactly like me!

"Who are you, and why do you look like me?" I said as I gripped my sword a little tighter.

"What?...Oh, I'm sorry, just give me a second." He said

Before my very eyes, he started to…change. It was as if his entire body was just melting.

Nasty.

When his 'transformation' was complete, he looked completely different; rather than the outfit he was wearing when he looked like me, he now had on a blue long sleeved shirt, over which he had on some light chainmail and over THAT he had a leather jacket that was tight around his torso, but then seemed to flare around the waist.

He had white leggings with brown boots, silver knee guards and around his waist he wore two blue belts.

I don't think there's anything more excessive than that.

In addition to all that, he had accessories, specifically jewelry, which included: three silver rings on his right hand, two on his left, small silver studs in his ears, three necklaces that were red, blue and purple, a simple silver chain around his neck, and to top it all off, there was a long silver chain wrapped around his head twice like some kind of headdress.

I stand corrected…

And lastly, I noticed that his skin was extremely pale, his eyes were blue, and his hair was strawberry blonde, but it could easily be mistaken for orange.

"Uh, hello?"

I was snapped out of my thoughts by the mysterious stranger.

"You've been standing there and staring at me for the past few minutes. Are you okay?" He said with a raised eyebrow

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine, it's nothing."

Curse me and my genius, over analyzing mind.

"But that's beside the point; why did you look like me and then not look like me?"

"Trade secret." He said with a smirk. "By the way, I'm Frey Ferris."

"Hershel Wile." I responded as I shook his hand

"…But anyway, I approached you because I seem to have run out of water and 'cause I….."

"What? I couldn't hear that last part."

"I need a travel partner." he said quietly

"Ehhh, no." I replied

"What? Why?!" He said, surprise evident on his face

"Because I don't need you dragging me down."

"Do you at least have some water you could spare for me?"

"No, but there's a lake about five minutes to the west if you want to get your own water."

"Ah, I see, thank you. (Douche)"

"What was that?"

"Nothing, don't worry about it."

"Whatever you say. See you around."

And with that I continued on my way, determined to get to Ferox soon.

Two day later

Ah, this must be Ferox, it's a little chillier than I expected, but at least I'm here.

The last two days had gone by uneventfully. All that had happened was training every morning and night and a lot of walking.

Ferox was a lot different than I expected, I thought it would be more like Ylisse, but it was totally different. There was beautiful snow everywhere, and it was at least two feet deep in every direction. To either side of the road there were dense forests of evergreen trees capped with snow. And in front of me, I could see a stone structure coming up and I assumed it was probably the gate into Ferox.

I wonder what the people of Ferox are like; I hope they're like the Ylisseans.

"Hey, you, stop where you are!" A guard yelled as he ran towards me.

"Oh, good day. Could you direct me to where the man in charge is?"

"You're under arrest, scum."

….What?

"I must have misheard you; I thought you said I was under arrest."

"No, you heard me right. Now, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way."

"Can I at least ask why I'm being arrested?"

"Playing innocent, huh? Fine, there were over thirty eye witnesses who saw you leaving the West-Khan's residence last night with a bag full of valuable goods."

Well, this is a fine mess. I wonder if I can trick him the same way I tricked the guards in Ylisse.

"Hey, what's that behind you?!"

Well, the Feroxi guards are obviously better than the Ylissean guards. I can't believe he didn't even turn around…Ferox sucks.

I was currently sitting in a dark prison cell, and as far as prison cells go, it was pretty nice. The floor was pretty clean, there was a mattress on the bed, and the walls were a soothing shade of grey.

Now that I'm done admiring the room, how do I get out of here? Let's take a quick look around; there are bars on the window, so that's a no-go. The walls are made of stone; I don't think I can get through that. And the door is made of thick metal. Hm, I wonder if I can make a prison shank out of one of the legs of the bed…wait, is it a shank or a shiv? I should probably know that now that I'm in prison.

"Wow, I'm surprised you haven't made a prison shank yet" A voice whispered through the little window in the door.

Aha, so it is a shank…wait a minute.

"Who are you?" I answered back in confusion

"It's me." The voice responded

"That doesn't answer my question."

"It's Frey Ferris."

"Who?...Oh! You're that one guy that was wearing my face…you know, come to think of it, that was a real douche bag move."

"Yeeaah. But anyway, I'm here to bust you out." He said with bit of nervousness in his voice

"Two questions: Why and how?"

"I've impersonated one of the guards and I stole the keys. As for the why, well, it might be my fault that you got arrested in the first place…" He answered, with a nervous chuckle.

"How is it your fault?" I asked

"Well, I might have kinda used your face while I was fleeing from the scene of the crime." He responded, guilt lacing his voice.

"…Scum bucket…"

"Yeah, umm, oh, hey look, the door is open now."

"Yeah, whatever, let's just get out while we can."

(?'s POV)

How interesting. It seems that no one but Marth knows what I'm planning, or even that I'm the one planning them! Sometimes I have to wonder if it's worth all this effort just to destroy creatures that are this unintelligent, but then again, it would be merciful to obliterate them.

On a different note, I would love some company right now. I wonder if I can seal someone in here with me. Hmm, I'll put some thought into that later…

A/N: I apologize for the lateness of this chapter, but in my defense, I got mono, and then my dad and my sister both went in for surgery. That's a good excuse….right?

Okay guys, I need to your input; should I put the Einherjar in this story? Let me know through PM or review, I would also appreciate feedback on how I'm doing with this story.

Thanks for reading!