AN: Here is the second chapter. I have to say that I am extremely excited for this story!
Rebuilding the ruins of the village happened to be a pain because of the lack of resources around (since there was a recent drought, trees had died, and there was not much wood to use, and water had become scarce), but another attack had sent the recovering village into further damages and desperation. I fared perfectly well, as these Risen were not that hard to defeat anymore. But the soldiers were dying. One by one, they disappeared with the Risen. Even some women in the village tried to defend their children, as they were very worried about the future of the village. The village was already as small enough as it was, and not many village soldiers were there anymore. About half of the so-called army they had was no more, destroying many families and only leaving grief in its wake.
But not all was to be given up yet.
On the fifth attack against our village, with wonders of how we even survived the other three that happened recently, a miracle had happened.
"Shepherds, attack!" As I fight a Risen, I see a group of people, in all sorts of fighting styles, leap in and fight, protecting any stranded villagers. The person who had shouted the command was the blue-haired man. I believe his name was Chrom. He was known all over Plegia for being the leader of the Shepherds. Not only that, he was brother to the Exalt of Ylisse, who had just sacrificed herself to save the Fire Emblem and her people.
A quick scan told me there was Chrom, a man with white hair and a black robe, a brown-haired pegasus rider, as well as another red-haired one, a woman with short red hair on a horse next to a green-haired cavalier, a mage boy with an abnormally large hat with a woman in fancy clothing with a staff on yet another horse. There was a girl in a yellow dress with another staff, a woman in red hair who was a mage, a man on a horse who had a fierce glare in his eyes, a thief, and a monster-rabbit creature. Not to mention, there was also a muscular man with an ax (why does he have no armor on?), a woman with an ax (wait, that was a man! I think...), a woman dressed in very little black clothing and a solemn gaze (always seemingly watching the man with white hair in a robe), a blue-haired bowman, a girl who could become a Manakete, a mercenary with red/brown hair, a young boy with a pot on his head (is that supposed to be a helmet?)... there were so many people!
And why are Risen being killed by nothing? Wait... It's a person in bulky armor! How could I have not noticed that before?
But the last person I failed to actually notice until now was a familiar swordsman. He had dark hair with a blue myrmidon robe and black boots. His outfit was very similar to mine, except I had a dark green robe myself, and the designs were a bit different.
WAIT A MOMENT... He is Lon'qu! It is him!
I realized something was off about him. It wasn't that because he had grown older (six years), but his air... personality... it seemed to be very different now.
Careful there, Ke'ri. You can not let memories get in the way during battle. It'll only get you hurt if you get distracted.
I tried not to get off-track, but I ended up failing. I almost got slashed in the head by a Risen soldier. However, someone blocked the move off. Lon'qu had blocked the attack for me.
"What are you doing, woman? Fight!" he spat, knocking the Risen away.
"Um... yeah..." I snap out of it and fight. He didn't seem to recognize me... but maybe that was because we were in the middle of a battle.
My sword envelops in fire magic as I stab the Risen he had knocked down. I spin around and slash another Risen, successfully killing that one two in a critical hit. It chops the Risen in half, and it disappears in foul purple smoke. My black boots splash in purple, icky Risen blood. Kicking at another Risen behind me, I knock it down and slash it, while dealing with another at the same time.
Around me, I see many different fighting maneuvers. The brown-haired girl on the Pegasus swerves around on her mount, lunging forward with her spear. She has to fly up to avoid an arrow. Chrom, who works with Sumia, finishes off the Risen with a stab that goes right through it with his blade.
The woman in short red hair, a cavalier, shouts curse words at the Risen while running and trampling them, stabbing one with a lance.
Well, another way to use a horse...
The invisible man (supposedly invisible because the Risen happen to never notice the armor knight when he attacks them) is defeating more Risen with ease. The man with the ax brutally chops off a head of the Risen. The head falls to the ground and trips another Risen before it vanishes in purple smoke. He smirks in triumph as his ax hacks into the tripped Risen, making an instant kill.
"C'mon, Donny, you can do this!" the boy with the pot on his head shouts with confidence as he spears a Risen. The Risen and Donny exchange attacks until the boy makes the Risen drop his weapon. The bile creature is left vulnerable, and Donny stabs the Risen right in the chest.
The Manakete girl is killing Risen with ease since she can fly. She blasts the enemies with a blue flame, burning Risen on the spot. Below, the thief dashes through the masses of Risen, finishing any of those who are injured.
I am left thinking of one thing: These Shepherds are powerful.
You know, your fate is with the Shepherds... To fight evil and recreate peace in this world...
Is that why I'm here?
That is correct.
I don't know how many Risen I defeated, but I eventually finish off another Risen to find no more of them there. I glance back at the village to find that it's not severely damaged as I thought it would become. The Shepherds, villagers, and I defended it pretty well this time. Some women hush their crying babies, and others are retrieving the fallen villager soldiers. Scraps of wood are being carted away to be reused due to the lack of resources.
I see the Speaker (named because he is the one who communicates with spirits most easily) talking with Chrom, before he motions me to come over. I see the Shepherds in a group behind Chrom, some getting healed from the battle. The girl in the yellow dress and the woman in pink on a horse are healing the wounded with their staffs. I walk slowly up to the group.
The Speaker says, "I think you would be better off joining the Shepherds. They could always use an extra hand to help fight in the war against Plegia."
"But what about this village?"
"It should be fine. We will be moving to another village because this one is far too ruined to repair, and the drought is making things hard. We think that going to another village will help us greatly. The Shepherd's leader has decided to help us migrate to a new village for a new life. The march there, he said, starts tomorrow."
I nod. "That would be better. There isn't really anything here to help rebuild the destroyed houses." I turn to Chrom, who looks back at me. "Ah, um, Lord Chrom, my name is Ke'ri, and I would be more than happy to join the Shepherds if you want me to."
Chrom chuckles. "I was never one for formalities. Just Chrom is fine."
Nodding again, I see Lon'qu's eyes widen as his gaze falls on me.
He walks over in shock after the last of his wounds are tended to.
"Ke'ri?" Lon'qu has a look of shock on his face. "Is it really... you?"
"Lon'qu," I whisper, staring up at him. I'm almost a head shorter than him by now. He's grown a lot over six years. "It is me..."
He says nothing, surprise overwhelming his face. "B-but... you were d-dead...!"
"I was," I sigh. "But I was brought back to life."
Seeing it was getting somewhat personal, Chrom and the Speaker walk off a little more to talk.
Lon'qu lowers his head in shame. "I've failed... I let you die."
"I wanted you to live!" I say. "That's why I let them take my life instead of yours."
The swordsman raises his gaze to look at me. Pain clouds in his eyes. "I've... missed you... Never once did I think you would be able to be reborn... but you are living. Is this even real?"
"Real it is," I respond. "C'mon, where's that smile of yours?"
Lon'qu's expression does not change, not even the tiniest bit. By this time, many more Shepherds had come around to watch.
"Thought he was afraid of women..." the thief says.
"Is that true?" I gaze at the man, then look back at Lon'qu.
"He's been snappish towards women and hates to go near them-"
"Shut up!" Lon'qu hisses, and I frown. I feel the tiniest bit of shock; Lon'qu was never that mean. He was quiet and all, but wouldn't do that, ever.
"Was this because of... me?" I ask hesitantly, and he only makes a slight frown.
I take out my sword and whack his forehead with the flat part of my sword.
"What the- What do you think you're doing, Ke'ri?" Lon'qu says, yet I feel that he's not surprised.
I only laugh. "If you're not going to smile or laugh, then I'll do that."
Lon'qu only shakes his head, remembering that I did that when he was little.
"Ugh." Lon'qu grumbled. "It won't work! You can't just catch a dragonfly like that!"
"Yeah it will!" I say. "Have more faith in yourself! Look, I caught one with my hands already!" I whack his head with the flat part of my sword with my right hand, while my left hand holds the dragonfly's wings gently.
"H-HEY!" Lon'qu flinches. "Alright, fiiiinne. I'll try once more to catch it!"
"Remember?" I say.
"Yeah." he says, a ghost of a smile on his face.
I smirk. "I've made you smile a little!"
"No, you didn't." Lon'qu makes a straight face quickly.
"No lying." I say, attempting to whack his head again, but his blade clashes with mine. I back off, thinking of a way to get him to smile.
Aha! I suddenly grin. He's always been ticklish on the neck.
I take a few small steps closer to him, and he eyes me warily before I lunge and tickle his neck.
"K-k-Ke'ri!" Lon'qu chokes out a laugh as he stumbles and lands on his bottom. He tries to shove me away, but I only dodge before I keep tickling him.
"Now you're laughing," I giggle. All of the Shepherds look very shocked.
"Oh, my Gods..." The girl in the yellow dress gapes. "How...?"
I stop tickling Lon'qu, but he turns away from the Shepherds with a real smile on his face. "Using my weakness for your advantage... you know me too well, Ke'ri." He continues to sit on the ground, making a small chuckle.
"I've won, then." I say. "Now, you're more like your old self!"
I extend a hand, and Lon'qu hesitates for a few seconds before taking it. I help him stand back up, and he looks around to see the Shepherds watching him.
"What now..." he mutters.
"Interesting." the red-haired mage says to break the silence.
"So he does really smile or laugh," The green cavalier tilts his head.
"Duh, he's a human! Of course he can laugh or smile," the mage boy counters. "How is it not possible to do so?"
"The Teach has never seen a more shockin' experience than anything." the ax man says.
The brown-haired Pegasus girl comes up to meet me, but then trips. She instantly gets up before I can ask if she's okay.
"You must be extraordinary to get that guy to laugh!" she says. "My name's Sumia. And I always trip a lot. But I'm always okay!"
The others introduce themselves to me. The ax man was Vaike, the mage boy is Sumia, Lissa and Maribelle are the clerics, Sully and Stahl are the two cavaliers, Robin is the man with white hair in the robe, Nowi is the Mankete, Kellam is the invisible armor knight, and Virion is the bowknight. There are many other names to add to the list of all the other Shepherds, like Donnel, Miriel, and Tharja...
I see Virion about to say something, but someone slaps him. "Not now, dolt!" It was Sumia. "Forgive him. When he speaks, he's quite- no... always flirty. He'll flirt with basically any woman."
"Hey!" Virion glares. "Can't a fancy guy like me try to talk to a beautiful young woman who glows with stunning beauty even in the darkest of nights?"
I blush. "Umm... okaaayyyy?" I mean, honestly I find that red-haired girl, Cordelia, would probably be far more beautiful than me. People always said I was cute rather than beautiful when I was younger. I haven't really thought of looking at myself in the mirror to see how much I had really grown.
"Hey, don't go scarin' away the newest recruit 'ere!" Donnel snapped to Virion. Virion is also slapped by Maribelle, and given the evil eye by a few disapproving Shepherds, so he meekly backs away and shuts up for the time being.
I internally sigh in relief, while the swordsman at my side looks disdainfully at the flirt.
"Ha ha, it looks like Lon'qu has a new g-"
Lon'qu's hand went to the blade at his side. Vaike promptly shut up and backed away like Virion had.
"...Whoopsies..." Vaike whistled casually as he backed into Sully's horse. The horse then kicked Vaike, which made him fall on his face.
I cringe as Vaike stays on the ground a few moments, rubbing his head. "Yeesh..." I hear him curse. "Is this how life is with the Shepherds?"
"Hell yeah it is!" Sully said without any concern, while poking Vaike with a lance sharply to make him get back up. "We all have our quirks, but we're all one big group o' buddies!"
This is gonna be some time traveling with the Shepherds... I make a small smile.
Later on, tents are set up around the ruined camps. It was nearly evening, and I volunteered to help out with dinner. Frederick had killed a bear, so it was to be cooked under the fire. Tharja found a rabbit as well.
"Don't kill it!" I say as Tharja holds up the rabbit by the nape of its neck.
"Oh, no, I was planning to use it as an.. experiment..." she said, lowering her voice. She noticed Panne was standing nearby, but Panne had already heard. The Taguel came running over to Tharja and I.
"How dare you mess with a bunny!" Panne scolded, promptly snatching the rabbit away and petting it. Tharja hissed under her breath and went away (maybe to fetch another bunny in secret? Oh, no...)
"A bunny?" Lissa cried out, and Ricken came running up with the cleric girl. "Aww...!"
Panne, Lissa, and Ricken seemed to be greatly entertained by the bunny, while Tharja just pouted, and pointed to the sky, chanting a hex. A bird fell down, and she caught the bird, heading away (unspotted this time!) to do one of her torture trials- no, um... experiments!
The giant bear was being prepared to cook, chopped into slices. Lon'qu stood a little distance away from me, watching as I helped.
"Hey, remember the time when I cooked bear meat before?" I turn around and look at him. That was the year I had died in the attack, when I was ten years old. Lon'qu actually turned eleven at the time.
"That time, right? It actually was pretty good," Lon'qu responded truthfully, closing his eyes for a short while. "I never doubted your cooking abilities after that, of course."
I came home one day with a bag of raw meat.
"Um... what is that?" Lon'qu looked closely at it, and his nose wrinkles in disgust, seeing raw hunks of pink and blood in the bag. For all he knew, it could be a whale heart or part of someone's dead body.
"Bear meat! I got it by one of those merchants. It cost only a few coins." There weren't many bears in Chron'sin at all, and people didn't really eat this at all. The meat had come from overseas.
"You're going to... cook that?"
I nodded. "Right on!"
Lon'qu stood right by me as I baked the bear meat in the stone oven. "Are you sure that's safe? I'm pretty sure it's not safe for a ten year old to use the oven."
"I know what I'm dealing with! Why would I deal with fire if I didn't know how to cook? And besides, you're only a year older than me. You can't just say 'I'm pretty sure it's not safe for a ten year old to use the oven' when you just turned eleven yourself, Lon'qu!"
"Just... just don't hurt yourself, please. I'm sure that we're not supposed to even be in the kitchen, let alone use knives-"
"It's no different than sword fighting training," I remind him.
"Well... right. But still."
I finished adding a bit of salt to the bear meat and let it bake for a few more minutes. I soon took it out, not even burning myself. The baked meat smelled better than I expected it to be, and we let it cool. The aroma actually made my mouth water.
"Ke'ri, what did you just bake? You know you shouldn't be using the oven." My mother had come into the kitchen with a partially worried face, noticing the smell.
"I didn't burn myself, mom! Look! I got bear meat and cooked it!"
My mother smelled the meat again. "To be honest, though, it smells great. I wouldn't mind trying bear meat."
Lon'qu cut up the meat with a knife, and we all tried it. It tasted great, to my surprise!
"We have a little cook here, don't we," Mother smiled at me, and I blushed in praise.
"It was really good, Ke'ri," Lon'qu says, taking another portion of the meat. "Thanks."
"Hope it tastes great like that time," he makes a soft smile. I made a note myself that I should visit Chron'sin to see how my parents were doing.
"Well, this time there's a whole bear to cook! Never knew bears were so big, y'know." I say, watching while Frederick makes a bloody mess out of chopping up hunks of bear meat (fascinating anatomy, but gross, as Miriel claimed as she walked by).
Frederick searches around for something, and pulls out a pot. "This will suffice, am I correct?"
"Yeah. Thanks, Frederick."
He dumps the bear meat with a loud 'plop' into the pot. I use my Fire tome and my sword glowed orange.
"Magic?" Lon'qu sounds surprised. "Where did you get that from?"
"I use tomes and swords, which gives my blade more power," I explain. "I have Thunder, Wind, and Fire with me."
"We have to do a sparring match to see who's better this time," he reminds me.
"Maybe I'll win for once," I say. "You're always stronger. But I'll have an edge over our training matches now!"
A fire lit up the wood below, and I poured a bit of water into the pot to make bear stew. I mash up the bear meat a little more to break it up into little chunks, or they would be harder to eat.
After cooking the stew and adding salt to it, dinner was served. Everyone enjoyed it on a nice spring evening. Lon'qu sat next to me and tasted the stew.
"Just as good as before..." I see Lon'qu smile again, and I do too, and we laughed as we reminisced about our childhood days, sitting in the glow of the firelight of the beautiful, peaceful evening.
AN: Thank you for the favorites and likes! If you haven't noticed, I edited the first chapter recently. I will most likely edit this chapter later on when I go back to reading this. Review if you spot any mistakes, and have a good day! Thank you for reading!
* I would suppose Lon'qu had a much happier attitude before Ke'ri died. Perhaps he was still quiet and nervous at times, but was still much more kinder as a boy with his best friend, despite of living in the slums as a kid.