I know, we're still not at the bridge yet. Next chapter, I swear.
Chapter 63 – A Troubled March (Lone Moon)
The Church's march toward the Great Bridge of Myrddin entered its second day as the soldiers and knights reached the outskirts of Tarren Village. The village was little more than a few houses and two farms that straddled the border between the Alliance and the Empire. The villagers, seeing the approach of the Church's army, hurriedly took shelter in their homes. Seeing the villagers afraid of them dampened their spirits.
"Talk about a warm reception," Cia said with dulled sarcasm.
"Why are they afraid of us?" asked Alicia.
"It's because they don't want to get involved with the war," said Anna. "This place is close to the border and they're afraid of Imperial retribution if they help us."
"I can kinda relate," said Bernadetta. "It's like me when I hide away in my room."
"Shall we send someone to parley with them, Lady Eisner?" asked Seteth.
Byleth paused for a moment and then said, "No. Leave them alone. If they don't want to get involved with us, I won't force them."
"As you wish."
"I will speak with them," said Ferdinand. "We should at least let them know we mean no harm."
"Very well," said Byleth.
As Ferdinand moved to speak with the villagers, Cyril pointed and said, "Lady Eisner, over there."
Byleth looked to where Cyril was pointing to see a force of Alliance soldiers heading their way. 500 men and women were escorting four carts filled with components that Byleth recognized as siege weaponry. Two of the carts had Onager parts, while the other two had components for several Ballistae.
At the head of the Alliance column were two familiar faces, the larger of which waved his arm at the Church soldiers as he and his best friend approached them.
"Hey, Professor!" shouted Raphael.
"Right on time, you guys!" Leonie said as the two met up with the Church's soldiers.
"Professor Eisner, it's been far too long," said Ignatz. "I'm glad to see you and the others are alive and well."
"Same here, Ignatz," said Catherine.
"What's all that stuff in the carts?" asked Lana.
"Siege weaponry," Ignatz answered. "The Great Bridge of Myrddin is a just as much a fortress as it is a historical landmark. It will be difficult to seize without some heavy ordinance. I just hope we won't have to damage the bridge too much."
"It would be a terrible shame if we did," said Linhardt. "But it will probably be a necessity."
"Well, I hope your guys know how to use those things," said Brigitte.
"You needn't worry about that, Miss Brigitte," said Ignatz. "My men have plenty of experience with them."
"Hey, you don't need to add that 'Miss', you know? Just 'Brigitte' is fine."
"I am ever so grateful to see you both again," said Flayn. "Especially you, Ignatz."
"Oh, um, good… good to see you too, Flayn," Ignatz said as he nervously glanced at Seteth, worried that the advisor might glare back.
At that moment, the group heard an elderly man shouting, "Go away!"
They turned to see one of the villagers angrily waving a walking stick at Ferdinand.
"We don't want nothing to do with you soldiers!" said the old man.
"Sir, please, calm yourself," said Ferdinand. "We just–"
"I don't wanna hear it!" the man interrupted. "I won't have you dragging us into your damn war, one way or any other!"
Ferdinand tried in vain to calm the old man as other villagers started looking out their windows at the scene, their faces rife with disdain toward the Knights of Seiros.
Seeing Ferdinand's failure, Dorothea muttered to herself, "Still such a useless bee."
"You just turn around and get out of here!" the old man ranted. Then, seeing Ignatz and Raphael, the man shouted, "You! You're with House Riegan, right?! Get these Church hounds out of here!"
Ignatz hesitated to say anything, knowing the old man wasn't in a reasonable state.
"We're not here to cause a fuss, mister," said Raphael.
"I said get them out of here!" shouted the old man. "Right now!"
"HEY!" Raphael said loudly. The old man, intimidated by Raphael's shout, finally quieted down.
Ignatz, with newfound confidence, then said, "Sir, we do not seek to trouble you or your village. Please, return home. We will gladly leave you in peace."
The old man grumbled to himself, showing he wasn't convinced.
A few seconds later, a younger woman came rushing up to him and said, "That's enough, father! Please, leave the soldiers alone!"
The woman led the old man away as he continued to mutter curses under his breath.
Seconds later, another man came forward and said, "My sincere apologies for all this. He's been like this for over five years."
"How come?" asked Raphael.
"Back in 1179, two bands of mercenaries fought here. The town was nearly destroyed in the clash. They left Tarren in such a mess that he's hated soldiers ever since."
"Well, we're not here to cause trouble," said Caspar. "We're just passing through the area."
"Please see that you do. The last thing we need is for the Empire to know you were here."
The man went back into Tarren Village as the others decided it would be best to move on.
But as the others continued to chat, Dorothea looked to see Byleth fighting not to show a look of shame on her face.
…
The combined 3,000 strong army made its way southeast, moving away from Tarren Village. Yet they only walked for another few hours before the sun started to set on the horizon.
"Anybody need something to eat?" asked Raphael.
"Raphael, is this really the time to be thinking about your stomach?" asked Ignatz.
"Hey, I'm hungry, but I'm not just suggesting it for my sake, little buddy." Raphael turned to the others and said, "You guys must've been marching all day by now. I'd guess you're pretty tuckered out."
"We need to reach the Great Bridge of Myrddin as soon as possible, Raphael," said Lysithea. "Any delay runs the risk of our force being spotted before we arrive."
"Well, I don't know about all of you," said Lana, "but I could really use a rest."
"Yeah, me too," said Bernadetta.
"Same here," said Cia. "My feet are killing me."
"If you have energy to gripe, you have energy to walk," said Felix. "We shouldn't be stopping until sundown."
A few voices of protest came from the crowd of soldiers.
Then, just as Seteth was about to address their concerns, Byleth said, "We'll stop here for tonight."
"Lady Eisner, we should keep pressing on," said Seteth.
"We're still about a half-day's march from the bridge, and the closer we get to it, the more likely that nearby patrols could spot us once we stop. We'll rest here and resume our march at dawn."
Seteth wanted to protest, but he could tell he wasn't going to convince Byleth to keep going.
Sighing, the advisor said, "Very well." He then turned and shouted, "We will set up camp here for tonight."
The soldiers immediately got to work setting up camp, with Shamir assigning men to sentry duties and Judith organizing the distribution of food and water.
Letting out a loud sigh of relief, Lana said, "Thanks, Lady Eisner. I'm not really good at long marches like this."
"It'll do us no good if we arrive at the bridge too tired to fight," said Byleth.
…
It only took the soldiers about a half hour before they were fully situated in the camp. Only a small number of bonfires were lit in order to keep any enemy scouts from spotting them. At one of them, Raphael eagerly feasted on a large sandwich, complimenting Alicia for the bread between mouthfuls while Leonie enjoyed her own sandwich with a pint of beer. Petra, meanwhile, returned after a short hunt with some rabbits, which Felix, Caspar and Lysithea all enjoyed with her after the meat was pickled. Lana and Cia, meanwhile, helped themselves to a Vegetable Pasta Salad made by Dorothea, a meal both twins could appreciate.
Having finished her own meal, Dorothea decided to go and look for Byleth, who hadn't joined them for dinner. Passing by the soldiers, Dorothea received several small praises and respectful nods, to which she smiled and waved in reply.
Eventually she found Byleth at the edge of the camp starring out into the darkness to the northwest.
"There you are," Dorothea said as she walked up to the Archbishop. "Aren't you going to join us for dinner?"
"In a little while," said Byleth. "I'm just… thinking about the past, that's all."
"What about it?"
"You heard about how two mercenary bands nearly destroyed Tarren Village?" Dorothea nodded, so Byleth said, "One of them was my father's band."
"Wait, you were there when it happened?"
"Yes. It was before I met all of you at Garreg Mach. We were contracted to escort a shipment of gold to House Gloucester. When we reached Tarren Village, we came under attack by another band of mercenaries. Their leader was a woman named Berling."
"I've never heard that name."
"She was an up-and-rising mercenary captain. That is… until I killed her."
Dorothea said nothing, allowing Byleth to continue. It was clear to the diva that the greenette found the memory unpleasant.
"Berling attacked us when we were still in Tarren Village and set fire to the place. Father and I fought back. We wiped out her entire company that day. They never stood a chance. But even as they fell, they kept fighting to the end."
Byleth shut her eyes as she remembered one of the mercenaries in particular: a purple-haired girl who wielded two swords. Yet that girl, like the others, had been no match for her.
"I cut so many of them down that day… as if they were nothing. When I struck Berling down, she called me a monster. I still wonder if she was right."
"Byleth…"
Byleth sat down and put a hand to her temple as she said, "I still think back to how I was before I met you. An emotionless killer who people called a demon. I still hate it. I hate how I was back then. But… I never had so much uncertainty back then, either. It was always giving priority to the mission. And Father… he was always the one making the decisions then."
Byleth sniffled for a moment as Dorothea sat down next to her. The diva put a hand on the Archbishop's shoulder as Byleth reminisced about Jeralt.
"I miss him, Dorothea. I wish Father was still here. He always knew what to do. Me? I keep second-guessing myself these days. Should I have stopped us here for the night? Should I have accepted Claude's plan?"
Dorothea paused for a moment, thinking of what to say.
"Sorry, I shouldn't be burdening you with all my troubles," said Byleth.
"Don't worry about it, Byleth," said Dorothea. "I'm glad you're willing to share this with me. And I'm sure if Sir Jeralt were here, he'd be proud of you."
"You think so?"
"Absolutely. There's no way he'd be disappointed in how you've been doing so far."
Byleth found Dorothea's certainty almost jarring. How could she be so sure of what her father thought?
But at the same time, it was a great comfort to hear her say such things.
Smiling, Byleth said, "Thank you, Dorothea."
…
Shamir sat at the edge of the camp, finishing off a small skewer of meat as Catherine sat nearby.
"Did you really have to take guard duty tonight, Shamir?" said Catherine.
"Why shouldn't I have?" Shamir replied.
"Because I was hoping to get a little time for ourselves."
Shamir then felt a familiar hand grasp at her right breast. Fighting back a blush, Shamir slapped Catherine's hand away and said, "You're drunk, Catherine. Go sleep it off."
"What? I've only had one beer tonight. I'm not gonna get drunk just from that."
Shamir was about to berate Catherine again when she saw something move in her peripheral vision. She immediately raised a hand, signaling for Catherine to stop and keep quiet. Catherine, seeing the signal, realized something had to be wrong from the expression Shamir was giving her.
The Dagdan archer turned to look where she had seen the movement. She squinted for a second, and in doing so she caught the gaze of someone looking back at her in the foliage of the woods.
"There!" Shamir hissed as she rapidly drew an arrow and raised her bow.
Realizing he had been spotted, the Imperial scout bolted upright and turned to flee. But he barely made it four strides before Shamir's arrow soared into his back, piercing through his liver and sending him toppling to the ground.
The scout, knowing he was mortally wounded, turned over and nearly let out a loud shout when Catherine reached him and slashed his neck with Thunderbrand. The scout took only a few seconds before death claimed him.
"Dammit…" Catherine hissed. "That was close."
Shamir and Catherine both peered into the darkness of the woods to try and find any other Imperial scouts. The forest was silent and unmoving.
After a few seconds to confirm there was no one else around, Shamir said, "We'll need to report this back to Byleth."
Catherine nodded, knowing the threat wasn't over. Even if they had killed the scout before he could send out a warning to whoever else might have been in the area, the Imperials would know something was wrong once the scout failed to return.
…
"You're certain there were no other scouts?" asked Judith.
"Absolutely," said Shamir.
Sighing, Judith said, "Well, I think we can safely say the defenders at the bridge are going to be at least on alert." Turning to Byleth, she asked, "So, what's your call, Lady Eisner?"
Byleth thought it over for a moment. Staying in their position for the night risked the enemy becoming fully aware of them before they arrived at the bridge. If that happened, the defenders would surely send for reinforcements, of which Byleth had no idea how large and how close they could be.
But as she looked out at the camp, seeing the smiles and laughs of the others enjoying themselves by campfires, while others began to doze off after eating, she knew she could only make one choice.
"We march out at dawn," said Byleth. "Everyone here still needs their sleep. But when morning comes, we need to reach the bridge before noon. Understood?"
Shamir and Judith nodded in reply, despite that they disagreed with the decision.
Not a whole lot to say about this chapter, to be honest. It's primarily more set-up for the upcoming battle.
That said, this should at least give a hint to how Byleth and Shez met in my timeline.
Next chapter, we'll definitely reach the bridge, but the ones defending it may not be who you expect.
EDIT: I made a change to this chapter so that Ferdinand is the one who tries to speak with the villagers. This is meant to help a bit with subsequent chapters.