Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem: Awakening/Kakusei
Author's Note: I think that I may make this FanFiction my primary project. I dunno, it's fun to do it. Anyway, thanks for all the views and such. It helps me a lot. Anyway, last time when we left off, a strange man has won a rather intriguing chess match. Who is this man? Could he possibly fill in the role of the Shepherds' new tactician?
Hopefully, you enjoy!
Much love,
~SAYONARA~
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Inigo glumly walked on the dusty road, rubbing his sore elbow. The sun rested just above the horizon, on the brink of setting. Morgan walked slightly behind him, her face downcast similarly to his own. Captain Chrom walked ahead of them, clearly in a sour mood. Inigo could faintly hear Chrom mutter things to himself. Whatever he was talking about, it wasn't pleasant.
Inigo slowed down a bit and matched his pace with Morgan's. She looked up at him, her eyes widened for a moment before she looked away. He sighed.
"I-I'm sorry." Morgan said, keeping her head low. "I didn't mean to rat us out..."
Inigo shook his head, his hair swaying. "It's fine... It doesn't matter anymore..."
Chrom still walked ahead, rubbing his head.
"Do you think the Captain is going to get us in trouble?"
Inigo gave Morgan a strange look. Despite her brilliance in other fields, Morgan was rather childish in some aspects. She could think three steps ahead in the field of battle but when it came to social cues, there was something Morgan lacked. Did it have to do with her amnesia? Or did it have to with her constant studying?
No... Robin studied much harder than her yet he was blessed with social grace...
"Well Inigo?" Morgan whispered. "Do you think so?"
"I don't know if we can actually get in any more trouble than a good scolding for losing our target..." Inigo said, shrugging. "We're pretty much adults at this point Morgan. We'll settle it as so."
Morgan's face lit up slight and she grinned. "I think that's the first smart thing I heard from you."
"I'll let you know that I AM actually quite smart." Inigo shot back, a playful gaze set in his eyes.
"Buuuut, you always blow it for yourself by wasting your time on girls."
"It's not wasting time!..." He paused. "My mother taught me do that to overcome my shyness!"
"And did it work?"
"I'll bet it on my good looks that it did."
Inigo saw Morgan laugh quietly to herself. He couldn't help but smile as well. Even though she was a bit childish, even though she was a tad bit naive, something about Morgan was so captivating to Inigo.
She must take it after her mother... And Robin...
"Stop."
Inigo saw a hand extend and stop him from moving forward.
It was Chrom.
He kept his hand there. Inigo saw Chrom's eyes dart around the area as if he was looking for something. It looked like he was scrutinizing over every little detail he saw in his field of vision.
"What's wrong Captain?" Morgan asked, keeping her voice low.
"Shh." Chrom said, bringing his hand to his ear, cupping it around the lobe. "Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Inigo asked. "I didn't hear anythi-"
Then, Chrom jumped in front of Inigo and unsheathed his sword, Falchion. He swung his blade upwards in the air. Inigo was confused as to what was happening. Then, he saw a wooden shaft, cleanly cut in half, land onto the dirt road in two. One half had feathers. The other had a sharpened steel tip, it's razor-like edge glinting the with sunlight.
It was an arrow.
"What the-?!" Inigo exclaimed, exasperated.
Chrom swung his sword and turned his head in all directions. "I thought I heard someone... Get out here! Now!"
There was a rustling within the bushes nearby. Inigo looked for where the sound came from but it seemed to be all over the place. He couldn't tell if the sound was behind, above, left, or right of him. His heart pounded with each passing second.
He then felt someone pull on his sleeve. Turning around, he saw Morgan, her eyes wide and darting around the area. It was the second time Inigo saw sheer fear in her eyes.
Then, from behind a tree, a man emerged. Behind him, four other men followed. They were dressed in plain clothes.
"That was impressive." The man from the tree, clearly the leader of these ruffians, said. "It's not every day you someone evade an arrow from me."
"Who are you?" Chrom demanded, holding his ground.
"Me? You haven't heard of me?" The man asked, flabbergasted. "Why, I thought I was the talk of the town!"
"Seems like you thought wrong." Chrom said, eyeing down his adversary. "Why are you doing this?"
The man chuckled as he brought his hand to his face. "I dunno? Why don'tcha ask that girl behind ya? Ain't that right?"
Morgan pointed at herself, "Me?!"
"You were there in that tavern t'day." The man said aloud. "You saw my chess match."
Inigo and Morgan immediately recognized this man after he mentioned this. He was the man from before, the one who lost to that mysterious hooded man. They had forgotten about him.
"And you never EVER walk out on MY chess match!" The man exclaimed. Inigo could see the spit fly out of his mouth from a distance.
"But you lost..." Morgan said.
"It was a stalemate! You said it yourself girlie." The man barked. "That means that there was no clear winner, am I right?"
Morgan bit her lip.
"And like I said, no one EVER walks out on my matches." He said. "You'll all have to pay reparations."
"What?!" The three exclaimed.
"I overheard what the boy and girl were talking about when they were coming to me table. You's got yourselves quite a bit of coin, eh?"
Inigo and Morgan recoiled slightly. It was true. They did happen to talk about their chess winnings aloud in the tavern.
"Tell you what," The man said. "Since I'm feelin' extra generous t'day, you can simply give me everything you've won today and we will let you go."
"And if we don't?" Chrom said.
Inigo slightly grimaced as Captain Chrom said that. He tried assess the situation at hand. Currently, there were five bandits mugging them for their winnings. Two, including the leader, were armed with bows and the rest had swords. Inigo didn't know whether there were more of them hiding amongst the vegetation but it was a safe assumption to make. IF that were so, Chrom, Morgan, and he were at a severe disadvantage. Inigo slowly moved his hand behind his back.
"Then we'll simply have to kill all of ya." The man said, grinning fiendishly.
"All of this over a chess game?" Chrom asked, exasperated. "Is that how much you'll go for your pride?"
"Battle ain't over until there is a clear winner." The man said. "I plan to be that winner today and wipe my slate clean."
Chrom gritted his teeth and turned to see Morgan and Inigo. Inigo could see the conflict in Chrom's face. Giving these bandits what they wanted was a mistake, it would show a sign of weakness and allow them to continue in their malevolent affairs. But engaging a fight with them would also equally be a mistake. Although they saw five enemies, there could be more lurking around the area. They had to assume the worst case scenario and come to the conclusion that they were surrounded.
"Well? What's it going to be?" The man demanded.
We could take them on... Inigo thought to himself. But that would be too dangerous... Gods... What to do?
"Here."
Huh?! Wait a minute!
Morgan held the pouch filled with winnings in front of her. It jingled with all the riches inside. Inigo could see the sudden shift in the bandits' eyes as they saw the bag they wanted to badly. Inigo also saw that Chrom was taken aback as well.
"Finally!" The man exclaimed. "Someone is thinking straight."
Morgan stepped forward. "You said it yourself. If we give you these winnings, you'll leave us alone and go back."
"That I did." The man said, grinning. He stepped out from the bushes and towards the three.
Morgan briefly glanced at Inigo and Chrom. She could see that they were both rather appalled by her decision. Morgan felt Captain Chrom reach out to her and grab her shoulder.
"I don't trust him. You sure about this Morgan?" Chrom whispered.
Morgan nodded. She turned around and walked towards the man.
She stood mere centimeters away from him, her bag in her hands. Morgan could feel her heart race but now was not the time to allow her emotions to get the better of her. She saw the man outstretch his arm.
"The bag if you will." He said, motioning to Morgan.
Morgan slowly lifted her bag and handed it to the man.
As the bag entered his grasp, the swiftly grabbed Morgan's wrist and pulled her towards him. Morgan yelped in pain as the man roughly locked her in his grip.
"Hey! What in blazes are you doing?!"Chrom said, marching towards the two.
"I wouldn't get so close if I were you!" The man said, pulling out a dagger from his sleeve. "Unless you want to see fine strips of meat peel from her face."
Although alarmed, Inigo held his ground compared to his captain. He felt his fingers behind his back curl around the grip of his hidden blade. He had picked up some skills from Severa's father, Lon'qu. He would use them here to get Morgan out. He could see that Morgan was afraid but kept her composure.
"I'm changing my offer!" The man yelled, holding the dagger dangerously close to Morgan's face. "I'm going to take the girl along with me!"
"You bastard!" Chrom yelled, the fury in his voice. "If you knew who we were, you'd better let her go this instant!"
Captain, don't push it... Inigo thought to himself.
"Enlighten me, blue-boy."
"We are the Shepherds. That should be enough for you to get through your head."
The man however, was unaffected by what Chrom had just said and laughed instead. "The Shepherds? Never heard of them."
Inigo then saw one of the ruffians lean in on their leader. He was whispering something to him. Inigo tried to eavesdrop on whatever they had to say.
"... Elite fighting force... Royal Exalt... Halidom of Ylisse..." Inigo managed to catch those words from afar.
"I could care less if you were the Hero-King himself!" The man said, taking a step back. "If I want something, I WILL get it!"
"Don't press your luck."
It was Morgan.
"Wha-?"
There was a high pitch whistling sound that sailed through the air. Inigo felt something fly over his head and whiz past his hair. Whatever it was, it traveled incredibly fast.
There was a loud thunk as the object came to a sudden stop. The man let out an anguished cry as he let Morgan out of his grasp. From where he was, Inigo could make out an arrow shaft lodged into the man's shoulder, breaking through the armor he was wearing.
Inigo ran forward and caught Morgan.
"Are you alright?!"He asked. Morgan was shaking a bit in his arms.
She nodded. "He's given you the chance, take advantage of it!"
"Huh?"
Suddenly, from the bushes, a hooded figure emerged. Armed with the bow, the figure leapt into the air and fired several more shots. Each arrow the person fired found their mark, each of them sailing into the chests of the bandits. Without much struggle, each bandit fell to his knees, clutching his heart.
Inigo froze. The entire ordeal lasted a mere three seconds. He subconsciously counted. Whoever this person was, they just saved their hides.
The hooded person rose back to his feet and dusted himself off. He slung his bow over his shoulder and faced the three. Just like Inigo, the rest of them were shocked and grateful at the same time. None of them knew what to say.
Then the hooded person spoke.
"When did you see me?"
Inigo sort of recognize this man's voice. He saw a tuft of silver hair escape from the hood's coverage and a faint scar lining down his cheek
It was the man from the tavern!
Morgan straightened up and stood on her own, pushing herself up from Inigo's arms. "I heard some footsteps following us as we were walking through the forest... And when that man grabbed me, I saw a glimpse of you on that tree over there."
Inigo looked where Morgan pointed and saw that that was where the man emerged from.
"How did you know I would help you?" The man asked gruffly.
"I had to get your attention somehow... So I used your tactic... I'm sure you noticed by now."
Tactic...
Inigo thought back to what Morgan had done. If this was the man from the tavern and if Morgan was talking about tactics, then it must have been the chess move the man had done.
"You were the bishop." The hooded man said. Inigo could hear that the man's voice had lightened, no longer rough or rude. "You used yourself as bait in order to get the enemy king's attention."
"And you were the rook." Morgan replied, grinning slightly, noticing the subtle enthusiasm in the man's voice. "You finished the game."
"I knew you were the right one to follow after…" The man said, taking off his hood. His silver hair streamed down the sides of his face. "You were the one who watched my chess game."
Morgan nodded.
Chrom stepped forward. "Although I thank you for saving us today, who are you?"
"Me?" The man said, pointing at himself. "I'm just a drifter. Getting by and by, going from here and there…"
Chrom leaned over to Morgan. "Are you sure this is the guy that won that chess match?"
Morgan nodded. "I said that he used the very tactic, remember?"
"Well, yes. But-"
"Bah! Take his word for a grain of salt!"
Everyone turned to see where the voice came from. Shockingly, the leader of the bandits was still alive, barely. The arrow still jutted out from his shoulder, its shaft broken in half. He leaned against the trunk of the tree for support. Inigo could see the previously hooded man's jaw line tighten slightly.
"I get why you wouldn't know me." The man said, his words coming out in blocks. His face was plastered with pain. "But if you don't know who HE is, SOMETHING is wrong."
The hooded man armed himself with the bow again. He took out an arrow from his quiver and set it on the bow.
"And now you're gonna shoot me, ain't cha?" The man exclaimed, blood specks spewing from his mouth.
"Stop talking." The man said, raising his bow. "One more word, and you're gone."
"Don't you threaten me you son of a-"
The man let go of his bowstring and the arrow flew straight. The other man did not even have time to react. The arrow went clear through his armor and into his heart. Everyone could hear the arrowhead break through the armor on the man's backside. He fell to his knees, blood spurting from his mouth. Morgan gasped. Chrom gritted his teeth. Inigo simply looked away.
With the life he had left, the man stared down the hooded man. "We… h-had… a… d-d…"
The man fell to his side, blooding flowing from his mouth. His knees crumpled over. His eyes had become glossy as the life faded from them.
Everyone but the hooded man was a loss of words after watching the grisly scene. The man reslung his bow and closed his quiver shut. He turned to face Chrom.
"I overheard that you guys needed a recruit."
"Y-yes, but I still haven't caught your name…" Chrom said. Inigo could tell that he was a bit shocked by the scene. His voice lacked the usual confidence it withheld.
The man re-donned his hood.
"The name's Zexus. You can consider me hired."
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(A/N): Sorry for such late updates! I was so busy. Who is this Zexus guy? Why is he so eager to join the Shepherds?... Wait, could that be called eagerness? I don't know, I think I need a thesaurus… ANYWAY! I hope you guys enjoyed it. Leave a review or something, it helps me help you. Stay tuned for more!
Until next time,
~SAYONARA~