Chrom POV

Robin clings to me after telling us what she saw to cause her second panic attack of the night, and I honestly can't blame her for reacting like that. After all, she's so young and impressionable that she might actually be afraid of a simple campfire.

"Milord, can you try putting her to sleep?" Frederick whispers to me, not wanting to scare the poor child any further tonight.

I nod slightly. "Give me her blanket, and I'll try to get her to sleep for a bit." He hands me the blanket, neatly folded, though slightly singed from the forest fire. I spread it over Robin, who looks up at me with dull eyes. "You need to go to sleep, okay? We're not going anywhere for a while."

She releases my arm reluctantly and pulls the blanket closer around herself, curling up around her bears once more. "What if I have bad dreams?"

"Then we'll fight 'em off, that's what!" Sully shouts from across the fire. "Don't be afraid to fall asleep, Robin, we'll keep ya safe!"

Robin nods and lays down on the ground behind me, using me as a shield from the fire. "Okay. Good night."

Soon, her light breathing deepens into a relaxed, rhythmic pace that indicates she's fallen asleep once more. I turn to Frederick with a frown. "Emm won't like to hear about this, and you know how she could react to us bringing back a child with us."

"Her Grace can be talked around, I'm sure, though it may take a while to sort this out with her. Not to mention the possible scandals the court may come up with as soon as we enter the city." He rests his chin in his hand, humming in thought. "I'm not sure of how to address that particular matter though, should we wait until evening when few will be out, or just enter the city when we arrive around noon?"

Sully clears her throat, catching our attention. "If it's a scandal you want to avoid, Ruffles here can be the one to bring her in after us, or I could have her ride with me behind the rest of you." She frowns then, looking at Frederick. "I'm surprised you are so willing to trust her so soon though, this isn't like you."

He sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. "I don't trust her, but she is behaving well enough, and… hell, she can't even read. I trust her enough that she won't attack us if she is in as much trouble as I think she is."

"She's in trouble?" Sully asks, worry leaking into her voice.

I nod. "The bandits in Southtown claimed to have killed her, and they tried to finish her off, but we were able to keep her alive. I have a feeling that this… Validar person, supposedly her father, is still trying to find her."

Virion gasps, his eyes lighting up. "I think this is something akin to a rumor I heard in Roseanne about eight years ago, my good sir!" Lissa gestures for him to continue. "Well, around then the Grimleal in our continent were a bit restless, talking about the unfortunate disappearance of their High Priest's only daughter and wife in the dead of the night. It was in connection with the rebirth of their deity, the Fell Dragon Grima, and something about betraying the faith. Some of them claimed they would have died on the road as they escaped, or at least the child would have died, as she was not even a month old at the time. Some of them said they would have tried to get out of the country to a place where Naga would shelter them, or something along those lines."

A small whimper from behind me makes me turn to look at the small girl crying in her sleep again. I put a hand on her back, rubbing in gentle circles to attempt calming her down. "Rest easy, Robin. You're safe with us," I whisper. It seems to do the trick, and she settles back down fairly quickly.

I look back to Virion, watching as he stands up and steps behind me, kneeling next to Robin. "They said there was a way to determine the true child by a mark on the right hand." He lifts her right hand delicately away from her bears and raises it into the light, displaying the Grimleal marking for everyone to see. "As I thought, this is proof they live. Or at least, Robin is still alive. There is no telling where her mother is?"

I shake my head as he lowers her hand and tucks her more under her blanket. "She was alone in a battle torn field when we found her unconscious and wounded."

Sully shakes her head. "Then she's an orphan, essentially. What will you do with her when we return to the city, Captain Chrom?"

"I'll have a talk with Emm, see what our options are with her, and go from there. I would like to have her stick around in the capital, maybe even around the palace, if at all possible." I pull my hand away from the child behind me, pity making me reluctant to do so.

"Chrom, I know! The Shepherds could raise her as a great big family!" Lissa exclaims, a grin lighting up her eyes.

"Milady, I'm not so sure about that. We don't know much about her, and for all we know she could be the last person we ought to be sheltering," Frederick says slowly, cutting Lissa's joy short. "As much as I would like to agree, I just cannot say we can do so at this time. Not with the tension with Plegia at the moment."

I shake my head. "We're getting ahead of ourselves, you two. Let's drop it for now and discuss this with Emm tomorrow, where we can get a better idea of the political impacts of the final decisions. For all we know, if we shelter a Plegian refugee, it would give our country a better light in the eyes of other countries, and would make the Plegians rethink a war with the country protecting one of their citizens."

Virion nods in agreement, though with a look of distaste. "You ought to not use a child as a political pawn, as that is actually frowned upon by many nobles in power in Valm."

Lissa shakes her head and yawns widely. "Like you just said Chrom, we can discuss this with Emm tomorrow. For now, we all need some rest."

Robin POV

I lay under my blanket for a while before I push it away, figuring I might as well get up and add a stick to the fire. I find Frederick already up though, being really careful as he puts a log on the embers of the fire, using a long stick to stir them back up into a flame. I sit and watch him for a few minutes before getting up and moving to sit next to him.

"Good morning, Mister Frederick," I greet him, and he looks down at me with a frown, before a tiny light shines in his eyes.

"Hello Robin. Did you sleep well last night?"

I nod and hold my bears close. "Yup, I didn't have any bad dreams, just like Miss Sully said!"

He nods at me before poking the fire again. "That is good. Would you bring me your bag?"

"Why?" I ask as I get up and carry it over to him.

He takes it from me and sets it carefully on the ground, digging through it to pull out the journals. "I was thinking to read this from the start, just to know what we are dealing with."

I nod and sit back down with him, looking at the scribbles I know form words. "Can you teach me how to read, Mister Frederick?"

He blinks for a moment before he clears his throat awkwardly. "As much as I would like to, I am more of a weapons instructor than a teacher."

My hopes fall with that, and I look down. "Okay."

"But, I think there might be some in Ylisstol that would be much more capable than I would to teach you, namely Miriel."

I look up at him with a grin and hug his arm. "Thank you!"

Laughing comes from across the fire as Chrom sits up. "Frederick, I thought you said you were no good with children?"

He shakes his head. "I am no good with young children, milord, as in those four or younger."

"Yeah right, Frederick!" Sully yells, making me jump. "I've seen you watching the children for their mothers in the city, and they absolutely adored you!"

"Yeah, what she said!" Lissa shouts.

Virion groans and hides his closed eyes behind his arm. "Ladies, 'tis too early for such noise this day."

Lissa puffs out her cheeks and crosses her arms. "Don't you tell me what to do!"

Chrom laughs at them and gets up, scratching the back of his head. "Well, since we're all awake now, how about something for breakfast?"

Virion sits up straight at the mention of food. "Why, leave that to me! While I may be the archest of archers, cooking is another of my specialties! Allow me to demonstrate with breakfast, please!"

Frederick frowns at him, while I stand up and sit with Lissa and Sully. "I will allow you to cook while the ladies take a turn to wash up before we eat."

"Right! We need to get all this blood and dirt off of you still, Robin," Lissa says as she grabs my right hand, her and Sully getting to their feet. "Come on, the river isn't that far off."

They lead me into the forest, and before long Sully grabs my other hand, looking closely at the bruises. "What happened for you to get all these injuries?"

I shrug and look at Lissa. "I don't know, I didn't fight anyone that I can remember except in the town, and I didn't do anything that hurt."

She frowns and looks at Lissa. "Didn't you heal her?"

"My staff can only do so much. I healed the worst of it, but the bruises just wouldn't go away, so they have to heal on their own," she mutters, pulling out her staff from a holder on her back.

I squeeze their hands as we finally come to the wide, shallow river. "I'm okay, really. I mean, they're only bruises."

They both give me light smiles and Lissa pulls out a rag, towel, and soap. "While you won't have a full on bath out here, you are going to wash up the best you can before we head back, and I am going to wash your hair."

I pull my hair forward, looking at the long brown and gray stained hair in a mess. "Okay."

Sully helps me out of my coat and outer shirt, letting me keep on my undershirt and pants. I follow their instructions to lay down on my back with my hair in the water, then sit up so Lissa can attack my hair with the soap, getting it all foamy white before it gets all brown and gross. She makes me dunk my hair under the water after scrubbing gently for a few minutes, massaging my head under the water with her hand to get all the bubbles out before letting me sit back up, and deciding to wash my hair again, just to be sure to get all the dirt and stuff out. From what I saw of it floating in the river, my hair is a silvery-whitish color, but I didn't get a good look at it.

Once she rinses my hair out the second time, she drops the towel on my head, starting to dry my hair. Sully hands me the wet rag and I scrub at my hands, getting the dirt off in such a thick layer that my skin is really pale rather than tanned like I thought. She cleans the rag for me several times before I get all the dirt off my arms and face, when Lissa finally stops attacking my hair with the towel.

"I think this is as good as we'll get out here," Sully mutters as she gives me back my shirt and coat.

Lissa combs her fingers through my hair, trying and failing to brush out all the tangles she just put in from the towel. "Your hair is really pretty, Robin. But goodness, I hope you have a brush in that bag of yours!"

I smile and stand up as they splash water on their faces and scrub the sleep out of their eyes. "I don't see why I wouldn't."

"Hey, I know what we should do!" Lissa cheers as she dries off her face.

"And what would that be?" Sully asks carefully, leaning slightly away as she dries off her face and stands up next to me.

"We should let Frederick watch over Robin! I mean, he's got a thing for kids, and he can do hair better than me sometimes, so why not? Plus, Robin's starting to bond with him," she says, putting up her pointer finger to make her point.

Sully looks up at the trees in thought. "Only if Robin feels like it. Would you mind that, Robin?"

I shake my head. "I don't mind, he's nice."

We finally make it back to camp to find the men all serving food onto plates for all six of us, breakfast being bacon, fruit, and something that looks like grain. "Ladies, we have made oatmeal, bacon, and found a side of wild berries for a wonderful breakfast!" Virion cheers as we step out of the woods.

Chrom takes one look at me, then glares at Lissa. "What on earth did you do to her hair?"

"I washed it, that's all Chrom! I just didn't have a brush, so it looks a total mess right now!" she whines at him, waving her hands to try showing she didn't do anything.

Frederick sighs and digs through my bag, eventually pulling out a small brush with some white hairs stuck in the tines. "Come sit in front of me Robin, I'll set your hair in order while you eat."

I obey immediately and take the plate he offers me before he puts his hand on top of my head and starts untangling the knots. "Thank you for brushing my hair for me, Mister Frederick."

"You're welcome, Miss Robin."

I crinkle up my nose at the title he just gave me. "Don't call me 'Miss,' I'm not an adult!"

"I think you should just eat your breakfast, Robin," Chrom mutters, but he grins while he watches us. "He'll call you whatever he wants, whether you like it or not. Believe me, I've tried and failed to win that same argument."

I grumble and eat my food slowly as the knots vanish, and Frederick smooths out my hair, then pulls a couple chunks of hair forward and drapes them over my shoulders, before brushing the rest of my hair back into a high pony tail. I finish the last piece of fruit as he turns me to face left, working on the left side of my hair by weaving it into a braid and pulling it back into the pony tail before making me face right and doing the same thing again. A few strands of hair, shorter than the rest, floats down into my face, tickling my cheek.

As I blow a bit of air at it with a scrunched up face, Lissa chuckles. "You know you can just tuck it behind your ear, right?"

"But that's way too easy to do, and so boring!" I turn around and look at Frederick again. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now, settle down so that I can eat, then we really ought to get going." Instead of sitting next to him again, I grab the journal and sit next to Chrom.

"Can you read what's next in the journal while he eats? Please?"

"Sure, why not?" he says, taking the journal and finding the first page. "This is the oldest entry. 'Validar and I were overjoyed to learn that I was not ill, but simply pregnant. We had prayed to Master Grima for so long to have a child to continue his lineage, and now that we know he will have another child soon brought into this world, I can only pray that we do not bear the vessel. I want my child to have its mind and body all its own, rather than sharing it with our master. At least, I want my baby to lead a happy, safe life, even though most of what I know is war with the Exalt of Ylisse. I understand that he wants to prevent our master from being awakened to unleash endless fury on this world before beginning a new society, and I honestly sympathize with him. I fear the day that our master awakens, and I do not want my child to share the blame with him when it does occur.' The next entry is dated a few months later. 'I recently overheard Validar speaking with his priests, and I did not like what I heard. They claim that there have been omens of our child becoming the Fell Dragon, and changing our world forever. The worst part is that it seemed to change Validar from a loving husband into a man obsessed with preparations for the end. He prepares already the altar for the sacrificial ceremony to bond our child with the dragon, and it frightens me that he no longer resembles the man I married four years ago. Even though I promised myself to be a better follower, and have done so since knowing Validar, my faith has begun to shatter. I can't go on with life like this. I will leave soon after I bear my child and if it turns out that I will bear the Dragon's Avatar.'" He falls silent after reading this part out loud.

Virion clears his throat as my eyes and throat burn. "This confirms what I had only heard before. This could lead to a major political fallout with Plegia that Ylisse cannot afford at this time."

"No," Lissa snaps at them. "She's a religious refugee here because she was attacked. Her mother would be the difficult one to figure out, as she was the one that was the traitor to Plegia. And besides, since those bandits were hired Plegians to kill her, so Robin is here looking for asylum. There's nothing difficult about this situation."

I grab my bears from the blanket and curl up around them. "I'm not bad," I mumble into their fur.

Chrom rubs my shoulders. "We know, Robin, we know."

"It is just as I had feared," a voice murmurs from behind us. Chrom jumps up and draws his sword, aiming it at the person before lowering it.

"Marth? I thought you had gone?" Lissa asks, and I turn around to find the blue person standing there, hands raised slightly to show they mean no harm.

"I wanted to learn more of Robin if at all possible, to understand what made her so valuable. And now that I do, I must tell you how I know of her." He seems to look at Frederick for approval.

"You may join us to tell us the story," he mutters, settling back into eating his meal.

Marth sits down next to me, pulling out a thin silver chain from under his shirt and holding a locket tightly in his hand. "Where I come from, Robin was a famous tactician, a child prodigy in her field. From what I learned of her past, she had never settled down in any one place for long, her mother fearing that they would be found and brought back to Plegia. One day, her mother ordered her to run when a large group of bandits called them out on the road, and they never saw each other again. The bandits caught up to her and nearly killed her, leaving her alone in a field, much like how you found her yesterday, Chrom." He takes a deep breath. "As your group was marching past the field, she fell onto the road, half dead as she searched for help. Lady Lissa healed her, and took her to Southtown for the night, when the bandits attacked there. Events that I know have been slightly altered here, but are relatively the same, by the way. Sir Frederick wanted to leave her in Southtown the next morning, but papers found on the dead bandits swayed him to allow her to join them on the trip to Ylisstol, sort of like what is happening now."

"Hold on a minute," Sully interrupts. "Are you sayin' that you're from an Outrealm where all of this has already occurred?"

"I- in a manner of speaking, although events have been majorly altered due to the events of last night and Robin's amnesia." He clears his throat and bows his head to continue. "She was welcomed in Ylisstol, and was loved greatly by all the Shepherds, who came to be as her family. They raised her until her early teens, when events took a horrific turn. When things settled down, and I was born, she was given the role as Master Tactician and Grandmaster of Ylisse, and was as my elder sister. My father… he was quite fond of her, and was the one to have the biggest role in raising her, teaching her as though she were his own."

"You refer to them in past tense," Virion murmurs, settling his chin in his hands. "Is there any particular reason for this?"

He nods, and reveals the locket, identical to the silver one I have. "When I was not quite ten, there was a political matter that called the Shepherds to Plegia, where both were lost in the Awakening. This is all I have left of her, something she gave me to hold on to as a promise that she would return. She was said to have a golden locket as well, which the Shepherds found shattered and bloodstained on her pillow soon after their return from searching for them."

I sigh and hide my face in my bears. "Was it the Grimleal?"

He nods sadly. "Yes, their markings were everywhere I went. I traveled around to try to find even a single trace of you or my father, but I got nowhere. One day, however, I overheard the Shepherds talking in the strategy room, about the day you both vanished. They knew that there had to have been a great tragedy, and that you were both betrayed that day, by someone close. I have no way of knowing who until that time comes, but it was the ultimate betrayal that occurred. A couple of years later, they were all dead, and Naga sent me and a few others through a portal here, to prevent the same from occurring again."

A dark laugh fills the air as a gust of wind puts out the fire, knocking me to the ground. "Well put, Child of Naga. But I am afraid you have a few facts wrong. Allow me to enlighten you." A hooded figure steps out from the shadows of the forest, wearing a coat identical to the one I wear, but is much taller and more feminine in a much older form.

Marth draws his sword, the same as Chrom's, and runs at the person, aiming to kill. "Stay back, demon! I will not allow you to have your way once more!"

A sword materializes in the figure's hands and blocks the swing of the blade as the Shepherds rise to fight beside Marth, Lissa kneeling next to me as we stare at the scene unfolding. "Hm, you do pose quite the challenge yet, Child. But this is no place for a secret to be kept, now is it?"

"Marth!" Chrom shouts as he pulls the masked person out of the path of the blade that would have killed him. But he doesn't pull our ally out of the way fast enough, the tip of the offending sword slicing through the mask. Marth gasps as the pieces fall to the ground, the straps releasing long blue hair to cascade down their back. The mask is the only casualty, and I realize Marth is actually a girl, maybe a couple years older than Lissa, but much younger than the hooded stranger.

"Ah, I thought that was you, Lucy," she almost purrs. "Although I would have preferred it if you were Cynthia, I guess I'll just move up on my plans for you."

"Cynthia?" Marth asks, shocked. "Don't you dare bring her into this! She died at the hands of your Risen months ago!"

"A true shame, for I would have preferred to get rid of that nuisance myself," she drawls to the other female. "Oh, I can imagine that she died begging for you to avenge her, or to run with her dying breath."

Marth shakes in anger and raises her sword again. "I won't let her death have been in vain! I swore to live on for her, for all of them! Father above all!"

She chuckles again and raises her sword, one I realize is a Wyrmslayer. "Ah yes, the man I once revered. It was a most beautiful death he had, let me assure you. One you will now share on the same blade!"

As they charge at her, Frederick steps forward, running his lance cleanly through her stomach, staining their clothes and the ground with rich, red blood. "Agh!" she screams in pain, gripping the lance and dropping her sword. "Damn you!" she shouts, eyes glowing red before leaning forward, hand stretched out as if to reach for me. "This will not have been a trip made in vain!" she screams, and everything blacks out.