Robin pocketed his fire tome with a less-than-pleased face. Huffing out another breath of air, he turned to see how his partner was faring. The red-haired knight drew her lance from the fallen Risen with a grunt, the creature dissipating into black dust. Cordelia caught Robin's concerned gaze, nodding a confirmation of her well-being.
Robin felt relief flood through him. Ever since he had realized his developing feelings towards the knight, he had tried adamantly to force a gap between himself and Cordelia. Frederick, due to his sinister sense of humor or pure chance, had managed to place Robin with Cordelia in future battles. The tactician usually handled such matters himself, but due to some convincing by Chrom he had let the task fall on the stalwart knight. Robin had cursed him ever since.
A panicked shout from across the field caught Robin's attention. Across the waving grass and over a large roaring river, the tactician could see Lissa being cornered by two Risen. To the left of her, a seriously injured Vaike clutched his arm desperately, attempting to block some blows by the monsters.
Robin clenched his teeth. This was bad. He couldn't get across the expansive area before Vaike and Lissa would surely die. With a sigh of resignation and a determined face he turned to Cordelia. "Cordelia!" He called in a commanding tone. The knight immediately flew to his side, her pegasus' wings beating loose dirt in a cloud around them. Without waiting for the knight's oncoming question, Robin pointed to the two blondes across the field. Cordelia scanned the area and nodded, passing her lance into her left hand and lowering her right to Robin.
Normally something as simple as having that brief contact with the knight would cause Robin to become flustered and quite awkward, but this was serious. Robin was determined to not let anyone else die, not after his abysmal failure to save Emmeryn. Catching her hand, the knight pulled Robin onto the saddle. "Grab on!" Cordelia called and without warning whipped the reins, urging the pegasus forward.
Robin almost fell off at the sudden change in velocity, but managed to snake one arm around the red-haired knight's waist. This time, Robin could not stop his heart from racing slightly faster or his face to become a shade of pink. He let his hand become slightly loose around her waist, not wanting to do anything that would be considered too forthcoming or otherwise. Robin reached into his coat and pulled out his fire tome, opening to the correct page and readying himself. The Risen closest to Vaike had hefted its axe high into the air, intent on bringing the blond brawler down.
With a twirl of her lance, Cordelia sent the weapon flying. At the same time, Robin had muttered a few words of magic and launched a fireball directly at the other Risen. The two already-dead monsters collapsed and dissipated into black smoke, leaving a shocked Lissa and a relieved Vaike.
As Cordelia swung her pegasus around for another pass, Robin pocketed his tome again. "Was that weapon really meant to be thrown?" Robin asked curiously. Cordelia giggled briefly, god how he loved that sound. She replied; "No, not quite. It was a simple lance."
Robin raised his eyebrows. "So...how did you manage to throw it that far?" He asked, already guessing that it did not matter to her, since she was already perfect. "Adrenaline, I suppose?" Cordelia spoke it as a question.
The pegasus landed swiftly beside Vaike and Lissa, the latter attempting to keep the man still whilst she began to heal his cuts and torn muscles. Robin remained still while Vaike eyed the man, giving a thankful nod and a wink. Robin was initially confused at the gesture, until her remembered who he was holding around the waist. With a blush, Robin unwrapped his arm and dropped unceremoniously onto the ground. Cordelia swung her leg across and gracefully eased onto the dirt. "Everything alright?" She asked with a serious tone.
"Yep!" The cheerful princess replied, swinging her staff nonchalantly. Vaike stood and rolled his arm, testing the muscles. With a satisfied grin he turned to the tactician. "So what's up Robin?" He spoke happily. Robin gave a grunt in reply and looked over the battlefield from the elevated position. Below, he could see the other Shepherds rounding up the final Risen and killing them. A completely successful mission, with one injured Vaike.
Lissa was animatedly talking to Cordelia, the princess' hair bouncing comically as she spoke. Beside Robin, Vaike edged in closer. "So...Cordelia, huh?" He said with a jab to the white-haired tactician's side. Robin rolled his eyes and brushed off the comment, yet his face betrayed him. Vaike noticed the hint of redness seeping onto the man's face. With a smile and a slap on the back he muttered a quiet, "Good luck."
Robin, realizing that his charade was useless around the blond brawler, sighed loudly. He turned to face 'Teach.' "Vaike..." Robin began in a solemn tone, "I don't have much hope for...that." He said with a vague gesture towards the knight. The tactician looked into the dirt, examining the small blades of grass that poked through the earth.
Vaike shook his head, "Nah, you got this." He said while slapping his back again. "I believe in you, Robin!" Vaike turned and marched down the hill towards the rest of the Shepherds, an exited Lissa in tow. Cordelia walked beside Robin, eying the coming sunset. "What was that about?" She asked.
Robin coughed, "Nothing. Just Vaike being Vaike." He hoped that answer would suffice, and fortunately it seemed to as Cordelia fell back into silence. Some time passed as the sun began to set. The two watched the Shepherds march back to camp. Beside him, Cordelia let out another one of her sighs as Chrom sheathed his Falchion.
"This is quite romantic..." Cordelia trailed off, leaving the statement hanging in the air awkwardly. Robin's heart began to beat faster than it already was. The tactician managed to splutter out an agreement, watching Cordelia gaze at the prince through the corner of his vision.
Robin huffed and began to walk down the hill towards the rest of the Shepherds. "You want to ride down on my pegasus?" Cordelia called to him. Robin shook his head, "No thank you, I would prefer to walk." He said solemnly.
Cordelia stared into his retreating form, a confused expression played on her face. With a shrug she turned back to her pegasus and flew off to join the Shepherds.
Robin watched as Cordelia tried to garner the attention of Chrom, much to the prince's obliviousness.