I do not own Fire Emblem Awakening or any of the characters.
Monsters
Corbin frowned as he stirred. Of the five that had been present when they'd first set up camp, two were missing. Chrom and Lissa seemed to have gone for a walk. Corbin lay his head back down, trying to focus on the bear meat filling his stomach for the first time in what had felt like days even before he'd woken up when the others had found him, but something kept nagging at him. The hairs on his arms, the backs of his neck, his legs, almost his whole body, were standing on end. Like there was a static charge in the air. He pushed himself to his feet, his tome obediently taking its place behind him as he picked up his sword, strapping it to his side as he looked around. He reached up, absent-mindedly brushing his hands through his messy white hair until it lay relatively flat. Something was off. He could feel it, but he wasn't sure how.
"Robin, Frederick," he intoned, both waking instantly. "Get up."
Frederick looked around, then quickly stood, lifting his spear. Robin took the hint instantly, grabbing her own tome and sword and quickly got herself ready for anything.
"Where are Chrom and Lissa?" Frederick asked.
"Not sure," Corbin said, drawing his sword. "You feel that?"
"It's so quiet," Robin said, looking around warily.
"Something's wrong," Frederick nodded. "There are no birds or insects. Almost like they're hiding."
"Or they've fled," Corbin said. "We need to find Chrom and Lissa."
Frederick nodded, looking around. "Should we split up?"
Corbin closed his eyes for a moment, listening. It was dead silent. He had hoped he'd hear them walking through the woods, or maybe Lissa complaining, but there was nothing. However, as he opened his eyes, he found his gaze drawn off to the side, having to force himself to look around.
"This way," he said, following his hunch and heading in that direction at a fast walk, Frederick and Robin following.
Within moments, however, the ground began to shake, first only subtly but quickly becoming violent. Then, ahead of them, trees began to topple over as something began to rise. Without a moment's hesitation, Corbin sprinted toward it. Somehow, he knew. That was where they'd find Chrom and Lissa. Before them, a massive section of the ground broke apart and rose, sending a tsunami of magma into the air. Massive balls of fire rained down into the forest, igniting it, but still Corbin ran, following whatever pull was guiding him as he weaved around raging fires and falling balls of molten rock and flame. Finally, he slowed to a stop, staring at the sky. Hundreds of small white lights formed, then all swarmed into a single point. For a second, the sphere of light remained there, hovering in the sky. Then, it burst outward, forming a massive spell circle and what looked like a smile made of massive, white crystals. However, a second later, the crystals spread open like eyelashes, revealing a turquoise eye inside complete with a slit pupil in the center. It filled Corbin with dread, and he couldn't force himself to look away. Then, something grew out of it, two objects, then plummeted to the ground. Corbin shook his head, sprinting toward the objects. Dread filled him. Something wasn't right, and the closer he got, the more the hairs on the back of his neck stood upward until they stung. Then, just as he neared a clearing, Lissa screamed from just ahead of him.
"Lissa!" Chrom's voice shouted.
A second later, just as Corbin raced into the clearing, there was a metallic crash as the clear enemy's axe slammed into the blade of a stranger who was shielding Lissa. The stranger had short, dark blue hair, much like Chrom's, a dark blue, butterfly-shaped mask, a dark blue tunic, a long-sleeved, black undershirt with large, white cuffs, black pants, blue, fingerless gloves that reached up under the shirt's sleeves, cuffed, thigh-high, dark blue boots, and a dark blue cloak with red inside. They were facing Lissa, holding their sword across the back of their shoulders to block the axe, but they were struggling under its wielder's strength.
"Help!" they shouted, looking to Chrom, only for Corbin to sprint past him.
Corbin streaked past the attacker, who had dark grey flesh, glowing purple irises, and dark, barbarian armor, black smoke curling out of their mouth, as well as out of the gash Corbin slashed into their back. Except, aside from staggering to the side from Corbin's momentum when he slashed them, it didn't react to the wound at all. It turned its gaze toward him, snarling and expelling a burst of smoke from its mouth, but before it could charge him, the stranger spun, their sword, which was identical in every way to Chrom's, slicing through its torso. This time, the creature stood motionless for a moment before dissolving into dark smoke and vanishing. Corbin sighed, straightening himself and looking to the stranger. There was something about them. They seemed so familiar, even without holding an exact replica of Chrom's supposedly unique sword, the Falchion.
"Quite an entrance," Chrom said, staring at the stranger as they sheathed their sword. "What's your name?"
The stranger stared at them in silence for a few moments, then turned to them, only to fall silent as Robin and Frederick finally arrived, Robin dropping off of Frederick's horse and landing at a run.
"Milord, Milady!" Frederick said urgently. "Are you hurt?"
"Corbin, are you alright?" Robin asked.
"I'm fine," Corbin said as Chrom and Lissa likewise reassured Frederick.
Just that, a low groan echoed from the woods, everyone spinning and spotting more of the same strange creatures stumbling toward them through the trees.
"Are such horrible creatures commonplace in these lands?" Robin asked.
"They're not from Ylisse, that's for sure," Chrom said seriously.
"I'd doubt they're from this world at all," Corbin said, turning toward the creatures. "Gods know where that portal led."
"Portal?" Robin asked.
"A big eye-looking thing," Corbin said. "Two of them came from there, but I didn't see where these came from. They look like people, except..."
"They're rotting," Chrom finished. "They're corpses."
"Undead?" Robin asked, then narrowed her eyes. "Then there's no reason to look for alternatives to killing them all."
"Agreed," Frederick nodded. "If they are, indeed, dead men risen again, they must be sent back to their graves. I am glad that no one was injured by these creatures."
"It's all thanks to that masked man," Lissa said, looking around. "If not for him, I'd be...Hey! Where'd he go!?"
"We can worry about him later," Frederick decided. "After we put these...things...to the blade. Eyes open, now! We know nothing about this enemy!"
"Right!" Chrom nodded.
"The two from before were strong and fast, unusually so, but they didn't fight like they were using any technique, just trying to overpower their prey," Corbin said. "Sound about right, Chrom?"
"Yeah," Chrom nodded. "It's like they fight based purely on instinct and brute force."
"Then we can use that," Robin said. "Everyone be careful to move quickly. Stick to hit-and-run tactics. If they only try to overpower you, they probably won't be good at parrying or countering."
"A wise deduction," Frederick nodded. "Still, be careful. We don't know if that holds true for all of them."
"Agreed," Corbin nodded. "Frederick and I will go in first to test our theory. He can escape easily enough on his horse if we're wrong, and I can use magic to do the same."
Chrom nodded and Corbin and Frederick charged, Frederick keeping his horse beside Corbin for a moment before Corbin gave him the order to charge. Frederick raced on ahead, one of the creatures roaring and moving to meet him, axe pulled back. However, as it swung, Frederick pulled his horse's reins hard, the horse rearing and avoiding the axe before planting its hooves again and allowing Frederick to drive his silver spear into the creature's chest. Except, as he withdrew it, the creature readied its sword again. Frederick slashed with his spear, its blade-like spearhead severing the creature's neck. Another charged to meet Frederick, but before it could, Corbin passed him. It swung hard, but Corbin sidestepped the axe, then slashed, splitting the creature's torso, then again, killing it.
Another moved to charge, only for Robin to blast it, killing it instantly, as Corbin did as he blasted the next. However, as Chrom carved his way through a pair of them, removing one's head and splitting the other's torso nearly in half, killing both, more began to emerge from the bushes around them. Corbin narrowed his eyes as the four combatants formed a circle around Lissa.
"There's a lot of them," Chrom growled.
"And they're annoyingly durable," Corbin said. "Try for strikes that are instantly fatal. Heart or head."
"Right," Robin nodded, drawing her sword in her right hand.
As one charged, this one wearing clothing and a shield-like pauldron that was more typical of a mercenary and wielding a sword, charged at them from off to their left, the bushes behind it suddenly burst apart, a female knight in white and red armor with short, red hair riding out of them astride a brown horse and speared the creature through the back, swinging it to the side to throw it off of her spear.
"Captain Chrom!" she shouted. "Wait! I'm coming!"
A pair of sword-wielding creatures charged at the main group as the one the newcomer had speared rose, but Chrom blocked one sword, allowing Frederick to stab it in the head as Corbin blocked the other blade. He grunted in effort, struggling to hold back the force of the blow, but Robin slashed it before it could force him back. It staggered backward, then groaned out a cloud of smoke, pulling its sword back again, only for Corbin to leap forward, slashing off its sword arm and stabbing it through the heart, the body dissolving instantly. A moment later, an arrow plunged into the back of the wounded creature's head, finishing it as an archer in blue and silver clothes and with long silver hair emerged from the trees ahead of the knight, forcing her to stop mid-rant about where she might plan to stick her lance.
"Hold, milady!" the archer called out to her. "Life may be long, but attraction is fleeting. Would you leave me in your sweet dust? Leave war to the warriors, dear bird! A beauty such as you need wage only love!"
"The hell are you!?" the knight demanded.
"Hah!" the man laughed. "Is the lady intrigued? Of course you are! It's only natural. I am myth and legend! I am he who strides large across history's greatest stage! The man who puts 'arch' in 'archer'! My name, dear lady, is Vi-"
He stopped, blinking in surprise as she spurred her horse past him, charging into battle with the others as the creatures finally broke into a charge all at once.
"Sorry, Ruffles!" the knight shouted. "No time for this now! Onward!"
Corbin ducked aside from an axe, slashing the creature before deflecting a sword off of his own, redirecting it away from himself and removing the creature's head as Robin finished off the one he'd slashed before. She sent a spear of lightning magic into another creature's face, shattering what Corbin realized was a mask, as all of the creatures seemed to be wearing. Beside him, Chrom parried a strike from a sword-wielding creature and stabbed it through the heart, killing it. Another leapt at him, only for Frederick's spear to impale it through the side, allowing him to carry it away for a moment before hurling it into another creature, both of which Corbin blasted with an Elthunder a moment later. As he blasted them, the female knight stabbed one of the creatures with her spear, then ripped it out only to plunge it back in again, finishing the creature off. Robin sprinted past her from behind, slamming her sword into the side of an axe to knock it to the side and slashing the creature across the front, then spun behind it, slashing it across the back to finish it. As she finished her spin, she used the hand holding her tome to point at a creature, blasting it with a cast of Thunder and severely wounding it, only for the archer to finish it a moment later.
"Virion!" he shouted, looking confused and distraught at having been cut off earlier. "Er, my name. It's Virion." He blinked as Robin ignored him, charging at another pair of creatures as Corbin charged from the other side. "Wait! Where are you going!?"
The two creatures, both wielding axes, roared and pulled them back, only for the incoming siblings to blast them both with thunder, stunning and weakening them before finishing the pair with their swords a second later.
"Pray, at least tell me your name!" Virion all but begged the female knight as she and Frederick skewered a creature together from opposite sides, killing it.
"It's Sully!" she snapped at him. "And I'm a Shepherd!"
"Sully!" Virion beamed. "How divine! A starkly beautiful name, as befits its owner, truly!" He paused to send an arrow into an incoming creature's eye, killing it instantly. "Will you marry me, my dearest Sully?"
"Will I what now?" Sully demanded, slashing a creature's throat with her spearhead, hers being a more traditional spear than Frederick's, then stabbing it in the heart to finish it. "Oh, wait, I get it. This is a joke, and when I put my boot through your face, that's the punch line!"
"Would you two focus!?" Corbin finally snapped, deflecting several strikes from the trio of sword-wielding creatures swarming him.
Chrom raced past behind them, slashing all three across the back, and as they stumbled from the force of the blow, Corbin spun on the spot, slashing all three across the chest. As he did, an arrow breezed past his head and he yelped in surprise, staggering backward and looking around. One of the creatures was an archer, but no sooner had he seen it did Robin send a spear of electricity into its chest, killing it. Then, just as Chrom finished off the next to last of the creatures did the last let out a loud roar and charge him. It was slightly bigger than the rest, a mountain of a man, if it were actually a human, and dressed like a barbarian, holding a large axe and with long, messy hair. It rammed headlong into Chrom, lifting him off of the ground and slamming him into a tree, then held him there with one hand as it pulled its axe back with the other. Corbin shot forward, slashing it across the side, and it roared, dropping Chrom, but swung the axe regardless. Chrom dove aside, barely escaping the attack, and as he rolled to his feet, he turned as it swung again. He deflected the axe, but the force sent him stumbling backward, his sword being knocked out to the side. Frederick galloped past, stabbing the thing in the chest, but the spear was knocked from his grasp as it halted there, though it tore free of the creature and landed on the ground.
Sully moved to charge, but was forced to break off when the thing took a powerful swipe at her horse with its axe, and it blatantly ignored the arrow Virion sent into its chest. As it turned on Chrom again, Robin and Corbin both reached it. Corbin acted first, slashing it down across the chest to draw its attention, then ducked aside from its attempt to split him in half. A second later, Robin slashed it as well, sending it staggering backward. Then, as it turned toward her, Chrom leapt high into the air, sword pulled back. It began to turn toward him, roaring in defiance, but as its arm began to swing its axe around, Robin slashed it off at the elbow. Then, Chrom brought his blade down hard, splitting the creature down the center. The things halves began to fall outward, separating entirely, but disintegrated before they hit the ground.
"Damn!" Chrom sighed, straightening up as Corbin passed Frederick his spear. "That one was tough!"
"It must have been the leader of this group, if they have leaders," Robin said.
"It was the last one, though, right?" Corbin asked, everyone looking around.
"Hey, look!" Corbin said, pointing.
Off to one side, the masked man from before was standing among a trio of disintegrating corpses, sheathing their sword. Corbin and the others jogged over, the masked man turning away, but hesitating.
"Um, I never got to thank you...for before," Lissa spoke up. "So...thank you. You were very brave."
"You saved my sister's life," Chrom smiled. "My name is Chrom. Might I ask yours?"
"You may call me Marth," the stranger said, Corbin frowning as she identified herself by a male name, despite something about her, along with her feminine voice, betraying her as female.
"Marth?" Chrom frowned. "After the heroic king of old? You certainly fight like a hero. Where did you learn your way with a sword?"
"I'm not here to talk about me," Marth replied. "This world teeters on the brink of a horrible catastrophe. What you saw tonight was but a prelude."
"There are more of those things, aren't there?" Corbin guessed.
"There will be," Marth nodded. "Many more. You have been warned."
Then, she turned, walking away. Corbin frowned, staring down at the ground.
"Huh?" Lissa asked. "What's teetering where, now? Hey, wait!"
"Not much for conversation, is he?" Robin asked.
"She," Corbin corrected her, everyone staring at him strangely. "What? It was a girl, wasn't it?"
"We should get moving," Frederick advised, looking around carefully. "But I'm sure we'll hear his name again."
"Her," Corbin corrected him again, everyone ignoring him this time.
"But for now, I'm more worried about the capital," Frederick continued. "We should make haste."
They all agreed, continuing on their way quickly, leaving the battlefield behind and making their way through the forest as quickly as they could, all of them keeping their eyes roving, searching for any more of the creatures.
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