Unwelcome Change.
Barely a day in Ylisse, and Cassandra had already ended up joining the Shepherds, a militia of volunteers led by Chrom. Cassandra expected to just sign up and become a regular soldier, but looks like fate had other plans for her. While on the march to Ylisstol, night falls. The darkness made it hard to see, and the forest didn't exactly look safe to travel through during the night. Lissa made her opinion very clear.
"I told you—it's getting dark already! ...Ech! And now the bugs are out! Noisy, disgusting bugs that buzz around and crawl all over and bite you when—Agh! Won goph in mah mouph! Blech! Ptooey!" She said as she began spitting in disgust.
Chrom only smiled in amusement "Aw, come on now, Lissa. Hardship builds character. Want to help me gather firewood?".
"Tpht! Tpht! Yeeeeeuck! ...I think I swallowed it... I'll pass on finding firewood, thanks. I think I've built QUITE enough character for one day!" Lissa declared.
"We should probably think about food. I don't know about you, but I'm starving" Robin said.
"Yeah, I could use a bite myself. Been a while since I ate something" Cassandra said... before her stomach loudly vocalized it's agreement with what she just said. Making the young lady blush in embarrassment.
Chrom had to fight a strong urge to laugh "Indeed. Food must be a top priority".
"Yes, I should think a little hunting and gathering is in order. Now, who wants to clear a campsite?" Frederick asked.
"Guess it falls on me and you, Lissa" Cassandra said, earning a groan from the younger girl.
"I will help too" Robin said, and everyone got to work.
After some clearing, hunting and gathering of wood, the group has finally built a nice enough camp fire. Chrom and Robin were eating their dinner. Which turns out to be bear meat... Yes, bear meat. These people were becoming less and less normal the time Cassandra spent with them. Back home, the only meat she ate where fish and if possible some meat from local life stocks.
"Mmm... It's been too long since I last had bear meat. Delicious! ...What's wrong, Lissa? Dig in" Chrom said.
"Pass! ...Gods, couldn't you spear us an animal normal people eat for once? I mean, come on! Who eats bear?! You're meddling with the food chain. Right, Robin? ...Uh, Robin?" Lissa asked only to see Robin was to busy stuffing his face as much as he could, making her sigh "I suppose a person would enjoy just about anything after not eating for days... You agree with me though, right Cassandra?".
"I've never had bear meat before... But when hunger strikes, one can't afford to be picky..." Cassandra said before finally taking a bite out of her own slice of meat... It took some tugging since the meat was rather tough and chewing it wasn't much easier "Gods this stuff is strong!"
Chrom smiled in amusement before looking back at his sister "Just eat it, Lissa. Meat is meat".
Lissa glares "Since when does meat smell like old boots?! Wait, I take that back—boots smell better!".
"Every experience makes us stronger, milady. Even those we don't enjoy" Frederick said.
Lissa gave him an suspicious look "Really? Then why don't I see YOU eating, Frederick?".
"Me? Oh, well... I'm not hungry. I...I had a large lunch! Yes, quite" Frederick said.
"Yeah right, Frederick!" Lissa said, not convinced.
Cassandra rolled her eyes, it was clear as day that Frederick didn't like bear meat either, and just made up some dumb excuse to avoid having to eat. Bear meat wasn't great, but better than going hungry, so Cassandra ate as much as she could. Once everyone where finished eating, it was time for some sleep. The peaceful slumber didn't last as Chrom could sense something was wrong and quickly sat up.
Lissa: Yawn as she sits up "What's wrong, Big Brother?".
"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you, but... Something is amiss..." Chrom said
"Define something" Lissa said with some concern.
"I'm not sure... I think I'll have a look around" Chrom said as he stands up.
Lissa gets up too "Not alone, you won't! I'm coming too".
Chrom smiled "Heh. Thanks, Lissa".
"I'm coming too" They looked and saw Cassandra getting "Sorry, didn't mean to evesdrop. But I too have a strange feeling that something really bad is about to happen".
"Very well, thank you Cassandra" Chrom said as they began their search.
Chrom , Cassandra and Lissa walks deeper in to the forest. It was deathly quiet... far to quiet. Cassandra was constantly looking around, feeling like something was nearby, but she had no idea what it could be. She was not the only one who felt like this either, Chrom and Lissa were getting more tense by the moment. They knew something was up.
"It sure is dark. ...And quiet. Where did the birds go?" Lissa asked, growing more and more worried.
"Something is wrong here..." Chrom said with narrowed eyes.
Suddenly, the earth starts shaking! Everyone were immedietly on high alert.
"Aaah! Chrom!" Lissa yelled in fear.
"Gods, what— Agh! What is this madness?! Lissa, stay close!" Chrom ordered.
The earthquake makes several trees. Cassandra was struggling to hold her ballance, while Chrom was shielding Lissa with his body. However the destruction through the forest was rapidly approaching their position, if they don't move quickly, they're done for!
"Lissa, Cassandra, run" Chrom ordered.
Lissa looked confused "Huh?".
"I mean it! Go!" Chrom shouts as Lissa quickly runs to safety, Chrom and Cassandra soon catches up with her; the ground on where they were splits as lava floods the area and incoming fireballs burn more trees "Hey! This way!".
Chrom jumps into a gap, with Lissa and Cassandra following him. At a further distance,the group stops running to catch their breath. Cassandra was startled and confused. What just happened? Where did that massive earthquake suddenly come from? Unfortunately, she had little time to think about that.
Lissa suddenly notices something "Chrom, what IS that?!".
A portal appears in the sky, which almost resembles a eye. After that, two horrific humanoid looking creatures named Risen appear and drop to the ground. They soon get up and let out hideous sounds as black smoke flows from their mouths. Cassandra held her sword and shield ready... What ever those things are, it's clear they are a threat.
"Lissa, you'd better stand back" Chrom ordered.
Chrom prepares to fight the Risens. One of them starts to attack him, Chrom quickly slices through it with his sword in a strike that should've cut it in half. But afterwards, the Risen recovers, seemingly unharmed, turns his head fully, and attacks again; Chrom blocks an attack and after a brief struggle he broke of, shoulder bashed the monster in the back, making fall on the ground. Chrom leaps in to the air and stabs the Risen in the back, finally killing the monster which evaporates in to smoke. However Lissa's scream catches his attention.
"Lissa!" Chrom shouts as he hurries to find her.
The second Risen faces of with Cassandra who barely blocks it's inhumanly strong attacks. She kicks it in the chest before stabbing it with her sword. Once again, a normally instant kill strike failed to finish it right away, as it punches Cassandra in the face, as she wasn't prepared for it to survive her attack. The Risen quickly focuses on Lissa, and quickly corners her. The portal glows again, and a mysterious masked swordswielder appears from the portal and blocks the Risen's attack with their sword, while struggling to maintain the block, Chrom is surprised at the turn of events.
The mysterious sword fighter grunts "Help!".
Chrom snaps out of his shock "Right!".
The two sword wielders team up and quickly kill the Risen, who vanishes in smoke; The newcomer then sheathes their sword.
"...Quite an entrance. What's your name?" Chrom asked as the mysterious figure silently looks at him.
Before he could press for an answer, the rest finally showed up.
"Milord! Milady! Are you hurt?" Frederick asked in clear concern. "Frederick! Robin!" Lissa said in relief.
Cassandra smiled "Thank the gods you're here".
Robin looked to see more Risen coming towards them "Are such horrific creatures commonplace in these lands?".
Chrom shook his head before glaring at the monsters "They're not from Ylisse, I promise you that".
"I would be really concerned if they were. They reek of pure evil" Cassandra said.
Frederick gave the siblings a quick look over "No one is injured, then? Thank the gods...".
"Thank the masked man who saved me! If it wasn't for him, I'd be... Hey, where did he go?" Lissa asked as she looked around, noticing her savior had vanished.
"We can worry about him later, AFTER we put these...things...to the blade. Eyes open, now. We know nothing about this enemy" Frederick said.
Chrom nods in agreement "Right".
The battle with the Risen broke out. Cassandra noticed something in the distance, the sword fighter from before was fighting some Risen alone. Given what she had just witnessed, Cassandra had a feeling fighting a whole bunch of these creatures alone. But she couldn't just run of without informing the rest.
"Chrom, our new friend are fighting these things alone!" Cassandra called out.
Chrom looked back at her before speaking "Don't worry about us, we can handle these things on our front. Go help him".
Cassandra nodded and rushed to help their new ally. He was good, cutting down Risen from let to right, only needing to break of his attack when to many tried attacking him at the same time. But as one Risen charged at him, Cassandra suddenly stabbed it through the head, which proved an effective way of killing it quickly.
"Came to offer you some help. Hope you don't mind" Cassandra said as she and the swordman stood back to back.
"I had this under control, you should help the prince and princess" The Swordman said, holding his sword ready.
"Don't worry, now that Robin and Frederick are there to aid them, they will be fine. I couldn't let someone who helped us fight alone. Like it or not, I am helping you" Cassandra declared as she got ready.
The Swordman was silent for a moment before he sighed "Very well, I will accept your aid. Just please try not to get hurt".
Cassandra smiled "Don't worry. They caught me by surprise earlier. But now, I am ready for them".
With all that settled, they proceeded to fight the rest of the Risen. Cassandra blocked a strike and stabbed up and through the Risen's head, she then avoided a strike from another Risen before stabbing the the chest, struck it in the face with her shield to keep it from counter attacking, and with a swift motion, she bisected a part the Risen's upper body from chest to head, successfully killing it. The swordman was impressed by what he saw, before delivering several strikes to a Risen, killing it quickly before leaping in to the air to avoid a swipe from an ax, before coming down with an over head strike which sliced the dark creature clean in half.
"These things sure are stubborn. Takes a lot just to keep one of them down" Cassandra said as she struck a Risen with her shield before slashing it several times with her sword to make sure it would die.
The Swordman finishes of two more "One strike is rarely enough to kill them. Make sure they are gone before you turn your back to one".
"I noticed" Cassandra said before she shield bashed a Risen to the ground and stabbed it through the head and twisted her blade a little to make sure she caused enough damage to kill it. However, another Risen rushed her from behind, ready to stab her through the back.
"NO!" The Swordman shouts before quickly slashing the Risen several times, more times than necessary, but he really wanted to make sure it was dead.
Cassandra looked at him in surprise before she smiled "Thank you. It almost got me there".
"Please... be more careful..." The Swordman said... almost sounding scared.
Cassandra wasn't sure why he seemed to care so much about her, but she wasn't going to confront him on it, not yet anyway "Sorry, I will be more careful from now on".
"Good..." The Swordman said before looking around "They are all dead. We should head back to your friends".
Cassandra nods "Good idea".
When they returned, the others had already finished up on their end, thanks to the arrival of a armored woman and a noble looking man. Cassandra had a feeling she would learn more about them soon enough.
"It seems all the creatures are vanquished. Cassandra and this young man took care of the others" Frederick said
"Um, I never got to thank you...for before. So...thank you. You were very brave" Lissa thanked the swordman with a smile.
"You saved my sister's life. My name is Chrom. Might I ask yours?" Chrom asked.
The swordman was silent for a moment before he finally spoke "You may call me Marth".
Chrom looked surprised "Marth? 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. This world teeters at the brink of a horrible calamity. What you saw tonight was but a prelude. You have been warned" Marth said before he walks away.
"Huh? What's teetering where now? Hey, wait!" Lissa called after him but he soon vanished among the trees.
"Not much for conversation, is he?" Robin asked.
"Maybe not, but he has a good heart. He was genuinely worried about me earlier. I have a strong feeling we can trust him" Cassandra said.
"It appears his skills lie elsewhere. I wager we'll hear his name again... But for now I'm more concerned about the capital. We should make haste" Frederick said.
Getting no arguments from the others, they all began heading for the capital. However, Cassandra lingered for a little bit to look in the direction where their new ally had gone. For some reason, she felt like she should know him, but had no idea why.
Shaking her head, she hurried to catch up with the rest.
However, behind a tree, the swordman was leaning on it while shaking. Turns out, this wasn't a man at all, but a young woman in disguise. Tears ran down from under her mask and down her face as the feelings she struggled to hide from the others were finally allowed to come out.
"I... I did it... I... I really made it to the past... Father... Mother... They are alive... They are alive... they are alive..." She repeated several times while sobbing uncontrollably "I will change their fates... I swear I will...".
She had a long and difficult journey ahead of her... But she will endure any hardships if it means preventing the horrible events that was awaiting them. She will challenge her fate and she will win! Or die trying.
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And there is the second chapter done, finally giving this story a proper beginning. I am so excited to show you all what I have planned for this story, but until then.
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Tell me what you think.