It only took Robin half a day to get better. Some well-deserved rest and two full meals brought her stamina and morale up very quickly. Robin had argued with Lissa the entire time she had been in the medical tent, trying her best to coerce her to let her roam about the camp grounds. It took till a quarter into the afternoon before Lissa finally caved.
"Gah! Alright, alright!" Lissa tied back the tent flaps to let the summer air in. "Geez, you're more persistent than Chrom and Gaius. I'll show you around, but after we're done, I'll do another check-up on you."
Robin's smile grew wide and she hurriedly threw on her boots and coat. Despite the war summer heat, Robin felt the most comfortable in her coat. It's one of the only things that ties her to her past. Lissa was waiting outside and hopped up to Robin's side as soon as she exited the tent.
"Alright," Lissa grinned. "I'll show you the mess tent first and work our way from there!"
Lissa chattered away, pointing out different tents that belonged to others, Robin surveying the camp around her. The camp was set up not too far off from the castle and outside from the town they were in a couple days ago. The only thing standing in their way from the town was the wall and gates that lead right to the castle. Robin's eyes flickered once more to the castle, it's ivory walls glimmering in the sunset. If only she could see what was inside. Lissa caught Robin's eye and stepped curiously in front of her.
"Do you like the view? It is the best spot to look at the castle." Lissa pointed to a building that stood out from the castle. "That's the Shepherd's barracks, we stay there when we're not marching about the Halidom. We're getting ready to set out in a couple days for a village near the border of Regna Ferox. So it should be a long march out there...hey, are you feeling alright?"
Lissa put a hand on Robin's arm. Robin jumped, her cheeks felt hot as she looked sheepishly at Lissa. "Sorry...I was listening, but…"
Robin stopped. Her mind seemed to be only focused on getting into the castle, but why? She couldn't think of a moment when she wasn't thinking about it. She chose to go to the village for food and shelter, but she wanted to get into the castle at some point. Was it for answers?
Robin shook herself out of her stupor and rubbed her cheek a little; now wasn't the best time to be thinking of such betrayal thoughts and tell her new friends. She thought of a quick excuse. "...I may be a little hungry. Let's hurry to the mess tent."
Lissa looked at her intently, before giving another smile and skipping towards the biggest tent in the middle of camp. Upon entering, a hot fragrance hit her nose. It's spiced, seasoned fragrance made Robin's mouth water. There were a few people cooking behind a counter table. One directing the few what to do and another cooking the main dish. Lissa guided her over, hurrying to see what tonight's dinner was. A woman with silky long, wind tossed hair saw Lissa and immediately stopped calling out orders.
"Lissa! Here to help with cooking duties?" She was a beautiful woman, her eyes sparkling and her posture set with confidence. She looked out of place as she looked battle-ready rather than cooking-ready.
"Sorry," Lissa giggled. "I'm just giving a tour for the night! Cordelia, this is Robin."
Lissa gestured over to her, Robin stepping forward to greet her. "Hello, it's nice to meet you."
Robin extended a hand to shake, stopping short as she caught the woman's eyes. It was the same look that both Frederick, Chrom, and Lissa gave off to her when she had introduced herself. A pained, confused look with a half-hearted smile. It appeared that the entire kitchen team had also stopped what they were doing to look at her too. Robin felt her stomach drop. Could it be that they didn't like her for some unknown reason? She felt her hand grow sweaty from extending it for too long. Lissa cleared her throat, causing the room to shift back into place and Cordelia grabbed Robin's hand suddenly.
"It's nice to finally meet you," She greeted, her voice sounded wobbly for a moment. "We heard about your fever and prayed you would get better and thank Naga you did. Lissa, Libra, and Maribelle have amazing healing skills."
Robin grinned sheepishly. "Thank you for your hospitality. I appreciate it."
"So, what are you guys making?" Lissa butted in. She hung over a handsome man as he peeled potatoes. His face was pink as he skillfully skinned them, going faster every second Lissa stood near him.
"We hunted down a bear a few days ago and marinated the meat," another man stated, his sleeves pulled up to his elbows as he stood by a steaming pot. "I figured we would slow-roast it and serve it before we head out on a grueling expedition and only have porridge and jerky for days on end again." He chuckled a bit before lifting the pot lid for Robin and Lissa to see. Steam poured out graciously from the sides and lifted into the air, bringing another waft of delicious aroma into the room. The meat was bigger than a pig's head, wrapped up in string to keep its posture and juice melting down it's sides. Some vegetables decorated its sides, soaking up the abandoned flavor around it.
Robin could feel the drool pooling out of her mouth as she smelled the meat. Her stomach grumbled to consume the beast, but before she could grab a bite, the man had already placed the lid back on the pot. Lissa began to whine. "Stahl! It smells so gooood!" She tugged at his sleeve. "Could we please have a bite? Just a little? I promise we'll be the last to be served if you let us have a bite!"
Stahl chuckled at Lissa's antics and shook his head. "If I let you have some, you could get sick! It may look fine on the outside, but it's inside hasn't been cooked yet and has a lot of icky bugs that could hurt you. I don't have much of my own concoction to hand around, so you're just gonna have to wait."
Lissa let out another whine, everyone around her began to laugh. Even the quiet man peeling potatoes let out a small snort. "Here dear," A woman with pink hair came up to Lissa and handed a bun wrapped in cloth. "I was prepping some ingredients and had time to make some rolls. These'll fend you off till we're ready."
"Yay! Thank you Cherche!"
She turned to Robin, a warm, sad smile stretched across her cheeks. "Here, for you too." She pressed another warm cloth in her hand. Cherche gave her hands one last squeeze before walking back around the tent corner.
Unwrapping her cloth, she found some cheese as well as her roll. The cheese had begun to melt around her bread roll as Robin frantically had given some of hers to Lissa, before it could get on the cloth. Lissa bid farewell to everyone before leading Robin back around the camp.
Most of the tents, Robin found out, were mostly the Shepherds tents. A few were missing as Lissa pointed out that they were getting extra weapons and items from the castle barracks for the trip ahead. As Lissa showed Robin around more, they ran into most of the Shepherds. Even as Lissa introduced each and every one, Robin couldn't help but notice the same expression. It bothered her as it kept happening again and again. It didn't take long before Lissa noticed her discomfort. Lissa led her to the edge of the camp, having her sit down on a nearby rock. The view of the warmly lit camp, soft distant voices with sounds of laughter and bustling activity echoed across the field. Faintly, Robin could spot a blue haired male in the crowd of diversity.
"Something's bothering you," Robin jumped, looking over to the blonde. Lissa, pulling her knees close to her chest, seemed so small and child-like. "I can tell. Come on, out with it! If you hold it in, it's just going to bite you back in the arse!"
Robin fidgeted with her coat buckles, biting the inside of her cheeks. The questions burned within her head, but which one was the right one to say first? It was silent for a couple of moments before Robin took a breath.
"Is everyone afraid of me?"
Robin heard Lissa's breath hitch, and her posture went rigid.
"It's just that," Robin continued. "Everytime I look at someone or say hello, they have such a frightened face! It's as if they have seen a ghost! I fear that I am not welcomed here or am judged by what I look like. I don't even know of my past. That fact makes me worried the most as I fear that someone in this camp must know me for evil deeds-"
"You're wrong."
Lissa's voice was uncharacteristically quiet. Her voice had a bite to it that Robin had not recognized in the past two days of knowing her.
"It's not that we don't trust you and no one is afraid of you. It's just that," There was a hint of hesitation on her voice and her voice began to break. "Someone very close to us all had fallen on the battlefield and we were all very heartbroken for a long time. We...we see a lot of him in you and it's making a lot of things hard for some of us."
Tears were falling from Lissa's face, but she wiped them away with her sleeve before Robin could do anything. "I-I'm so sorry...I didn't realize…"
"Don't be…" Lissa giggled, tears already gone and a smile to replace it. "You didn't know and we're all excited to have a new member of the Shepherds with us today."
Robin stopped. New member? Did she mean…? Robin looked at Lissa quizzically, opening her mouth slightly. Lissa saw her face and her eyes went wide, hands flying to her mouth.
"Oh! Wait! I didn't mean-look, forget about what I was going to say!" She got up, brushing her skirt of any excess dirt. "We better hurry back-"
A loud rumble quaked the earth and a crash sounded off from the woods behind them. Lissa stopped, her smile wiped off her face. Robin turned to look behind her. The sun had already set and Robin couldn't see very far into the woods.
"Lissa?" Robin heard her voice, it was almost quiet.
"Robin, hurry back to camp." Lissa's voice was hard and determined. Robin heard another loud crack of a tree go down and the earth rumble beneath her feet.
"What?" Robin turned to Lissa. "What are you talking about? I can't just leave you."
Another loud thud and the pair stepped back to hurry towards camp. Before Robin could turn to go, she saw a stone hand emerge from the top of the trees.
"Lissa?" Robin called out again, her voice emanating fear. The hand came down and Robin's legs finally moved and began to run grabbing Lissa's wrist in the process. She felt a strong wind come down behind her, the air pushing against her back and felt some leverage as she gained speed. It didn't last long as she heard a loud thud before she was knocked off her feet by the uneven ground. She felt Lissa's wrist slip out of hers and her scream flew above and behind her.
"Lissa!"
The ground came in contact with her back, knocking the wind right out of her lungs. She tumbled a few times before skidding to a halt. Looking up, she saw a giant stone figure before her. Sporting only two arms, a torso that held itself into the ground, and a flat stone with a depiction of a man as a head. Robin twisted her head to see Lissa sprawled on her side, her pigtails undone from the twist and pull of the impacts on her body. She noticed that she didn't have her staff or any kind of weapon on her. If she had gotten hurt or, gods forbid, killed, Robin wouldn't be able to forgive herself.
Robin stood up on wobbly legs and instinctively pulled out the tome that rested in her pocket. She had to protect Lissa. She felt her body and mind become calm as her heart accelerated, feeling a cool electricity flow through her veins as the book lay open in her hand, the pages flipping back and forth by themselves before deciding on a certain spell. Robin didn't have to read it as she knew which one it landed on, but this felt different. Bigger and stronger. The air buzzed with magic as she found the word to this new spell.
An orange glow surrounded her and a circle opened up in front of her hand. Nothing like she had ever seen before. Incantations spelled out around the floating circle with different symbols. Staring down the stone giant, she aimed her glowing hand towards it. Her head was buzzing with excitement, the magic inside her clearly ready to be put into use and be released from her body.
Building up the last of the magic she released it with one word.
Thoron
The spell erupted from her hand, blowing wind around her as it barreled straight towards the giants heads. The creature seemed confused for a moment before letting out one last final roar, the spell exploding the creature on impact. The surrounding area shone with light for a brief moment before going dark once again, leaving behind crushed remains of rocks and a carved out earth where it stood.
Robin could feel the electricity disappear from her hand, but the energy inside her bounced and buzzed within her body. Sparks flew and drifted towards the ground in a final spit, leaving silence in their wake. It was peaceful, before a dread washed over her. Lissa! Robin whipped around to help Lissa, but instead was met with eyes with several of the Shepherds with Chrom in front leading the group. Their faces showed clear disbelief and shock as they had witnessed a giant creature had been taken out by one critical spell.
Lissa was already propped up by Frederick, leaning against him, and she looked at Robin with a well-known smile and excited eyes.
Nelson grit his teeth together, chewing at his thumbnail with displeasure. He had gone all the way to another realm to retrieve that golem and now it was destroyed; by one blow of a spell nonetheless! He let out a growl, leaping down from his spot in the trees. The forest was thick enough to conceal their camp and proved it's worth when he found a good spot close enough to the prince's camp. He began to pace, his obsession leading him to chewing his nails to the bone.
"Nothing went as planned, did it?" a man said gruffly, shaking Nelson out of his stupor.
"Of course it didn't!" Nelson growled. "Who knew that the next vessel was so strong!"
"She did kill us once." He dropped some wood into the dying fire.
"I thought that to be a fluke! She wasn't even ready to become conscious yet. Grima thinks she is weak, but we are all underestimating her. If we don't take her back now Garrick, she will become stronger than Grima right now."
Garrick looked up at Nelson, his scarred handsome face scowling right at Nelson's slender looking one. "Are you saying we should defy our Lord, Grima, for a faulty plan of yours?"
"N-no! Of course not!" Nelson stammered. His features began to look sweaty and oily, like a fish out of water. "I am just afraid of what she'll do with her new-found powers! She could overthrow-"
"If FF1-C2 gets stronger," He interrupted him. "Then when Grima takes back control, he'll be the one stronger."
Nelson clicked his tongue, before looking back at the retreating forms of the brigade.
"Please enlighten me on how you conjured that spell, once again please."
"Wow-ee! You gotta show us how you did that!"
"Haha! Again, again!"
"Shoot that at the great Vaike! I bet that'll make 'im unbeatable!"
Robin laughed nervously as she sat amidst the campfire, surrounded by several people while holding the dinner Stahl and Cordelia had prepared. After being attacked by the stone giant, Lissa and Robin were escorted back towards the medical tent. A fussy woman with blonde curls both gave Robin and Lissa an earful of how dangerous it is to be walking by themselves after dark, spouting something along the lines of how "women are sheep among the wolves". Robin and Lissa both giggled at her care. Luckily, they both only had minor cuts and bruises. Nothing a concoction couldn't fix.
After she had let them go, people surged to Robin's side commenting how spectacular her spell was and how she made it look so flashy. Lissa did her best to shoo them away for a moment, but Robin was met with more slaps to the back and cheers as she entered the mess tent. Both Cherche and Stahl had piled on more than Robin could eat on her plate as she was served last, both commending her on the spell.
It took Robin only a moment to distract everyone with a commentary on how a soldier named Vaike could 'probably' beat her in a duel, before stealing away from the group that she could finally get some peace and quiet.
Her boiled potatoes and meat were already cool as she found shelter behind a secluded tent by the campfire group. She let out a breath as she watched them all from a far. Every soldier in this brigade had their own special talents and Robin could see that they each benefactor a victory in a battle.
Taking a bite of the bear meat, Robin sank into the crate she was sitting on. The past couple of days have been hectic, but Robin was unsure of what she'll do at this point on. She had the thought of going into the castle, but on what premise? Lissa had mentioned about becoming a Shepherd and the thought of it made Robin's stomach do a flip. Would she be able to direct and help them in battle formations and lead them to victory? What kind of enemy will they be fighting? Would it be like the monster she had faced earlier? There were so many factors to think about.
"Ah, Robin! There you are!"
Robin jumped and inhaled, a piece of meat flying back down her throat causing her to cough violently. A hand whacked on her back a couple times before it became unlodged. Coughing a couple more times, Robin looked up to see Chrom, a cup in his hand stretched out to her. She grabbed it, taking a long gulp of water.
"Th-thank you, Chrom." She handed the cup back to him, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.
"No problem. May I?" He gestures to the crate next to her. She nods and scoots over, even though there was plenty of room. Eyeing him, she noticed that the cape and shoulder guard he had on earlier were gone and he wore a blue tunic that only had one sleeve.
"I must thank you for earlier," He smiled. "If it weren't for that amazing spell, Lissa and you would have been goners."
"What was that thing?" Robin set her empty plate down beside her. "Is that creature common in this realm?"
Chrom's smile was pulled into a frown, a look that didn't suit his handsome features.
"We are unsure of what it was. None of us had ever seen something of that aptitude before. If it isn't the only one, it may be a troublesome creature to get rid of. Hopefully on our march to Regna Fox, we won't encounter anything like it."
"I pray we won't," Robin absentmindedly placed her hand where she kept her tome. "It seemed rather fit to fight back if I hadn't blasted it in one go."
Chrom stared at where her hand lay. "If you don't mind, may I have a look at your tome?"
Robin caught his gaze and pulled the book out. It seemed heavier than the last time she held it. "Of course," She held it out for him. "What for?"
Upon grabbing it, Chrom's eyebrows furrowed and he went quiet as he inspected it, flipping it over and turning the pages to look at each one individuality. It was only when he was satisfied, that he spoke again.
"I assume Lissa had told you about our fallen comrade?"
Robin went quiet, nodding to his response. "Yes, I am truly sorry for all of your losses."
"It's quite alright," He chuckled. "We all agree that you both have close similarities. It reminds all of us how the future could have been and how brave it was." His grip tightened on the book. "He...had sacrificed himself for my elder sister and it pains us all to think that we could have lost an Exalt, but we lost our Tactician and friend."
Robin paused. "I'm sorry, the Exalt?"
"Yes, my sister does her best to keep morale up in both our kingdom and our small brigade."
"No, wait, I'm sorry," Robin stammered, getting up to face this man. "You said your sister is The Exalt?!"
"Of course," He chuckled. "What of it?"
Robin felt the blood rush to head, getting down on one knee. "Ah-oh my gods! Forgive me, milord! I-I had no idea!"
How could she have let the Prince sit next to her, share a meal with her, or even talk to one another with ease? A sense of Deja-Vu washed over and it only took a moment before Chrom's laugh shook her body back to earth. Whipping her head up, she found Chrom holding his face in his hands, laughing into them. Her face felt hotter than before.
"Ah-hey! What's so funny? It isn't so great down here in the dirt, you royal highness!" She spit out the last part with a bite in her tone. If she had been intended to be a laughing stock, she would not have someone so noble above her let her be his jester.
"Forgive me," He chuckled. "It's just that...your reaction was the same as his. It's almost like you're the same person or siblings for that matter!"
He thumped her at the top of her head with her tome. "Don't ever change, Robin. I would like to personally recruit you to the Shepherds as I saw how brave and strong you were earlier. But if I think that you're anything like our last Tactician, I know you'll lead us towards victory."
Robin held the tome in her hands, staring at the cover. She had her doubts whispering deep within her brain, but her gut told her that this was the best opportunity for her. She could already imagine the battlefield in her mind, positioning others to their best abilities. It made her too excited to comprehend.
"I humbly accept, milord." She bowed once more, in a gracious way. "I won't fail you."
"Please, no formalities." Chrom held out his hand for her. "When it's us, just call me Chrom. I'm not used to such polite ways."
Robin hesitated for a moment, looking at his gloved hand. Would her dream come true if she touched his hand? How could she ever hurt him? It didn't matter anymore. If it was a dream, then let it be so. She grabbed it and he hoisted her up with ease, pulling her close to him.
His smile was pure and it almost made her freeze up.
"Welcome to the Shepherds, Robin."