Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem Awakening or any of the songs I parody/use here, all rights to the owners.
Minor: Dark Flier, Immortal, Boxer (Pugilist), Exploitive, Swordmaster, Angry Cinnamon Roll, Tripping, Perpetual Cheer, Chef, Blacksmith, Pegasus Knight, Teacher, Librarian, Masochist, Literal-Minded, Authoritative, Middle Age, Wyvern Rider, Phobia, Thicc, Tsundere, Damsel in Distress, Gangrel's Child.
Standard: Elemental, Deaf, Foreign, Future sight, Tiny, Nurse/Medic, Valmese Tactician, Medusa, Amazon, Genderfluid, Gift from Validar + evil to good, Mind Control, Banshee, Dancer, Mimic, Emotionless, Crippling Overspecialization (Idiot Savant), Coward, ESP, POW, PTSD, Magician, Mute, Savage, Handicapped, Secret Helper, Crazy, Morpher, Dreamwalker, Motherly, Twins, Regenerating, Animal Whisperer, Naga/Tiki Assistant, Sleepless, Plant, Fairy, Deadly Touch, Mind Reader, Doppelganger, Arachne, D&D magic, Umbramancer, Horror Monster, Detective, No Sense of Personal Space, Shota, Dominatrix, Songstress, Kinky, Matchmaker.
Unlikely: Chrom's child, Minotaur, Paladin, Werewolf, Assassin, Future Soldier, Bounty Hunter, Weather control, Kleptomaniac, Druid, Steampunk, Shadow Familiar, Magic Augmentation, Lucky, Exile, Piper (Charmer), Gladiator, Witch Doctor, Centaur, Drunk, Demon, Punk, Harpy, Revenant, Luck Manipulation, Demon Summoner, Megalomaniac, Kitsune, King of Plegia, Mood Ring, Reverse Aging, Hammerspace, Prostitute, Demon Hunter, Cyborg, Maid/Servant/Butler, Deadlord, Rebellion, Einherjar, Trap, Yandere, Living Weapon, Size Shifter, Queen of Plegia, Gluttonous, Stretchy, Ninja, Alchemist, Protoss, Spirit Manipulation, Invisible, Plegian Honor Guard, Mecha, Kryptonian, Creator, Orc, Memory Stealing Respawn, Racer, Khan, Elder God, Misfortune, Vampire Hunter, Geokinetic, Imaginary Actualization, Death, Resurrection, Arachne, Force, Merchant, Background Music, Variable, Civilian, Natural Disaster, Mental Noise Projection, Hidden OP, Summoner, Cyclops, Teleporter, Cryokinetic, Genie, Judge, Intangibility, Fortune Teller, Future Vision, Serial Killer, Pervert, Stalker, Magic Fixit, Drakengard Restoration, Ying-Yang, Childhood Friend, Cyberpunk, Chrom's Mother, Obsessed, Berserker, Phase Shift, Gravity Manipulation, Hallucinating, Bladesoul, Zombie, Double Entendre, Shared Body/Two Souls.
Other: Pokemon Trainer, Self-insert, Second Generation replacement, Dimensional Walker, Cycle, Fates.
Wild Robin. Based roughly off the suggestion for a 'Savage' Robin by Guest.
Also, this chapter should illustrate why I usually don't write first encounters. They take up a lot of space and words, but not a lot necessarily happens. I want to show you all this at least once so you understand why I don't do them.
It's often said by attempted settlers and scholars alike that the Fey Jungle is untameable. The flora and fauna there are some of the most diverse in the known world, as well as some of the most dangerous in the known world. There are trees that eat people, flowers that can turn you into a mindless puppet, giant snakes that spew poison in the air as they bind their prey to stop others from getting close, and the feared dire bear that can knock down a tree and has hide so tough it has been compared to steel.
There have been many a book written that fantasizes about taming the jungle, but the simple fact is that there is still much not known about the flora and fauna. Every time some scientist braves the jungle they find something new, and usually something deadly. Some like to blame the dead scientists as being the fault of Plegia, as the Fey Jungle is part of the border and is technically shared territory, but Chrom knows better. The Fey jungle is no fit place to fight, it's more likely for you to alert something dangerous to come kill you.
So Chrom is understandably nervous at having to traverse the jungle to weed out some bandits that have been harassing Ylissian farming villagers. Travelling through the jungle is already terrifying, but fighting in it is a terrible idea… and that's exactly what the Shepherds are going to have to do.
"Careful everyone!" Frederick barks as he points to one of the trees positioned to the side of the path. "That is a hangman tree! Be wary of any vines on the ground, they might be traps to snare you. Push them away with your weapons if they impede your path!"
Everyone nervously skirts to the other side of the path to put as much distance between them and the tree as possible. Sumia uses her spear to poke aside some vines which suddenly snap back to the tree and startle everyone.
"I hate this place already." Lissa mumbles as she clutches her staff. "Even the trees try to kill you."
"I know Lissa. Just stay close." Chrom says with a grimace. "We're going to get this done and get out as quickly as possible."
They group continues their tentative walk down the path. Everyone is shaken by the hangman tree and is now suspicious of every twig or vine along their path. They still haven't seen a bandit or any sign of human activity beyond the fact that this path exists which is slightly worrying. They don't want to be going through all this danger just to find out they took a wrong path.
"Hold." Frederick suddenly holds up a hand to halt the rest of the Shepherds. "I saw something in the trees. It was large."
Chrom apprehensively looks up into the canopy. Large leaves sway gently in the breeze, alternatively blocking and allowing the sunlight to filter down to them.
Then a figure leaps across the prince's sightline. It bounds from one tree to another, latching to branches with great dexterity. A pair of yellow eyes stare back at Chrom a moment later, matching his gaze.
"There." Chrom says, pointing a finger at the eyes. "I see something."
"I see something." The prince's own voice echoes back at him. "There, something I see."
"What's that?" Lissa squeaks.
"That's what?" The figure responds back in Lissa's voice. The way it reorganizes words sounds slightly unnatural because it keeps the same intonation on each word as what Lissa said originally.
"Alright, what the hell?" Sully grunts. "Hey! Get down here!"
"Alright, get here!"
"No, you come here!"
"No! What's that?" This time Sully's voice is intermingled with Lissa's, and it's really creepy.
"Milord, perhaps we should move on." Frederick advises. "We cannot stop to converse with this thing."
"Hey! Thing." The figure says. It finally steps onto a branch where Chrom can get a good look at them. The prince was expecting something alien, maybe a parrot-like being. Instead he sees… a… uh...
What is that?
They're humanoid, with greenish-blue skin, eyes with diamond-shaped pupils, faint grey sclera, and yellow irises. Their navy blue hair is matted and long, and interwoven with a number of flowers. They also have a long, thin, tail which is coiled around the branch they're standing on, and wear a loincloth made of what looks like long strands of dead grass.
They are also, based on appearance, male.
"Hey!" The boy barks in Sully's voice. Then in Chrom's he says. "I see something."
"Does he actually understand us?" Sumia asks nervously.
"Understand you he does." Again the boy mixes voices. This time Sumia and Sully. "I see something."
The boy points off into the brush behind him, which is to the left of the path the Shepherds are following.
"Something." He says. At this point Chrom has come to understand that this boy can only mimic other people. The boy points at the Shepherds and whispers "You get."
"I think not." Frederick scoffs.
"I think you get." The boy repeats.
"Were these 'something' like us?" Chrom asks, recognizing the chance to get some information. "Like us but more dirty?"
The boy nods.
"See Frederick? He's talking about the bandits." The prince says. Looking back up at the boy he asks. "Do you know a safe way to get there?"
The boy nods again. He leaps down from his spot in the trees to land right next to the prince. Chrom is surprised to see that the boy is actually quite a bit taller than he expected. Maybe calling him a 'boy' isn't accurate, he's looks like an adult from up close.
"Here." The boy says. He bats aside some of the foliage and takes a few steps in before glancing at them to make sure they're following. No one else is super eager to follow this turquoise-skinned jungle man, so Chrom takes the initiative and starts walking after him.
Despite Frederick's obvious suspicion, nothing ill happens to the Shepherds from following the man. He deftly navigates the waist-high shrubbery, and occasionally bats away certain plants with his tail.
The most surprising moment has to be when he stops in front of a tree, growls, and lashes out with his tail. The bark-colored snake that had been camouflaged there is efficiently killed by the spike through its head.
A spike, mind you, that apparently protrudes from the end of Robin's tail. Even as Chrom watches the spike retracts back into the skin at the end of the tail, hiding itself once more.
The man does lead them to bandits though. He puts his fingers up to his lips in a 'shush' motion when they get close, and pulls back a large leaf just a bit so Chrom can see past into a clearing.
The bandits are all crowded around a fire pit, and some of them don't look so good. One of them looks like he has an infection in his arm because the skin is turning purple, and another looks very ill judging by the way he's hunched over.
Apparently the jungle hasn't been nice to them. They should have known better than to try and operate out of the Fey Jungle of all places.
The man taps Chrom on the shoulder. He points to himself, then to the trees up high. He leaps up in the air, silently latching on a branch, and makes his way up into the canopy above the men.
Chrom waves up the Shepherds, and they carefully spread out around the opening while hiding behind large leaves.
From above the man gives Chrom a signal, and the Shepherds all rush in at once. The man leaps down from above, with the spike of his tail piercing the skull of the bandit's leader in the first few seconds of the fight.
Despite being even in numbers, the bandits are disorganized. The fight is a incredibly one-sided.
###
"Milord…"
"I know Frederick."
"Are we actually going to allow this?"
"Why not? He helped us out."
"We cannot take in every stray you find Milord."
"Sure we can. It's worked out so far."
The knight sighs. "He needs proper clothes then."
"Yes, uh… right. Emmet!"
"What?"
"Find some clothes for… uh… the tail guy!"
The quartermaster raises an eyebrow but doesn't argue. "Sure."
"He really needs a name…" Chrom grumbles.
"Well it's not like he could tell us if he had one." Frederick grumbles.
"No had one." The man chirps.
"Alright then, I suppose we need to give him one then." Chrom says, glancing around. He settles on a red-breasted bird sitting in one of the trees nearby. Thankfully they're out of the Fey Jungle by this point, so it's just a normal bird. "How about… Robin?"
"Robin." Robin mimics.
"I think 'Parrot' fits better!" Vaike calls from the back.
Robin's eyes narrow.
"Yeah no, we're sticking with 'Robin'." Chrom coughs.
###
"And this is Robin." Chrom says as he gestures to the man standing next to him.
"I'm Robin!" Robin says in a combination of Chrom and Sumia's voice. Over the course of travelling with them to Ylisstol he's picked up enough words to have proper conversations, but his grammar is still a bit off and the fact that every sentence he says mashes together the voices of several people is fairly unnerving. "You are the Exalt, Emmeryn."
"Indeed, I greet you Robin." The lady says with a polite bow of her head.
Robin mimics the action and parrots back "I greet you, Emmeryn."
"He aided us in dispatching the bandits from the Fey Jungle." Chrom explains. "And wished to join us afterwards."
"Well, it would seem Ylisse owes you a dept Sir Robin." Emmeryn says with a smile. "Ylisstol is perhaps quite different from the Fey Jungle, but I hope you can find your home here for however long you wish to remain."
Robin bows again.
###
"Again." Frederick says as Robin pulls himself to his feet. The knight levels his practice sword. "Once more. Keep your guard up."
Training for Robin is a difficult process. He's used to using his tail and the natural dangers of the jungle to fight, not a proper weapon. It's a hassle to not be able to jump around and grab trees and branches and such.
Also, these clothes are annoying. Why does he have to wear shoes? Why does he have to wear this leather armor? Why can't he just run around like normal.
"Focus Robin!" Frederick barks as he swats the man in the arm with his wood sword. "Sword up, eyes on me."
"Focus Robin." Robin mimics sarcastically under his breath. "Sword up, eyes on me."
"I heard that."
###
Robin blinks owlishly at the book Maribelle hands him. "Story?"
"No, not a story." The noble huffs. "That is a book of everything a noble needs to know. It involves chapters on laws, economics, and most importantly: etiquette."
Robin makes a face, but opens the book. He pauses and says. "Words?"
"Yes, those are words." Maribelle says with a roll of her eyes.
"I can't read."
Maribelle stares at him for a second, then sighs and massages the bridge of her nose. "Right, of course you can't. We shall put your etiquette lessons on hold. Being able to read is an essential skill."
Robin grimaces. Great, now he has to deal with Maribelle for even longer.
###
"Cordelia!" Sumia's voice calls from outside the red-haired girl's tent tent. "Can I talk with you for a second?"
"Of course." Cordelia calls. She's currently in the process of making a new spear handle. "Come in."
She's rather startled when it's not Sumia that walks in, but Robin.
"Wha- oh, erm, hello Robin." The pegasus knight coughs. She's not the only one who has been startled by having Robin appear instead of the person they thought they were talking too. "What is it?"
"I need advice." Robin says, still speaking in Sumia's voice. "Can you help me?"
"Alright..." If Cordelia sounds unsure, that's because she is. She doesn't interact with Robin all that much. "What do you need advice on?"
"I heard you're smart." This time Robin's voice bounces between multiple people as usual.
"Well, I wouldn't say that's untrue." She coughs.
"Can you help me be smart?" Robin asks. For a moment Cordelia thinks he's making a joke, but the look on his face is genuine.
"You are smart." Cordelia says. "You didn't become our tactician by being a fool."
"Maybe." The blue-haired boy hums. "But this world make no sense to me."
"Isn't Maribelle teaching you?"
"She's teaching me to read and how to walk funny."
Okay, so maybe Maribelle isn't the most helpful to a person who knows almost nothing about the modern world. "I suppose I could help…"
"Really?!" Robin ask eagerly voice. "Can you explain money to me? Can you explain farming? Can you teach me to cook with the plants people use here? I don't recognize them."
"S-Sure."
"Thanks Cordelia!" He chirps in Sumia's voice.
The pegasus knight vaguely wonders what she's gotten herself into.
###
Robin favors the quarterstaff as a weapon, but that's not the most practical on the battlefield. Instead he has to settle for a spear. His tail provides a massive advantage over other people due to it effectively being another weapon that an enemy has to defend against at no disadvantage to Robin.
Also, when given the correct terrain, Robin easily becomes their best fighter. Thick shrubbery and and lots of trees is no hindrance to someone who can leap from branch to branch and strike from above. Even his skin color, the turquoise, can occasionally provide camouflage. Robin was absolutely insistent on his leather armor being painted green to help with stealth.
That stealth is problematic when he doesn't want to be found.
There's something else the others didn't quite realize about Robin until a dozen minutes ago: he's always on alert. Living in a jungle where half the flora and most of the fauna will try to kill you, Robin has incredible reflexes… and impulsively strikes out when he feels something slimy on the back of his neck.
It was just a frog, but Robin didn't know that. His tail had snapped out, spike extended, and stabbed Lissa through the stomach before she had a chance to react.
Robin had thought it was the tongue of some predator. He struck before even turning around, and was horrified to see that he'd impaled one of his friends after he did.
Lissa is alive. Maribelle responded quickly to the shouting and rushed over with a heal staff, and Robin hadn't hit anything too vital like the heart or spine so Lissa was even still conscious when the troubadour got there.
Robin doesn't know that though. He bolted immediately, and now Cordelia has to try and find him.
"Robin!" The red-haired girl calls out into the greenery. She's been out here several minutes already. "Robin, are you here?"
There's no response. A few birds chirp in the trees, totally oblivious to the stress of the people around them. Cordelia doggedly walks on, keeping her eyes glued to the forest canopy above her.
"Lissa is fine Robin!" Cordelia shouts, hoping the assurance will draw him out. "Please come out Robin!"
"No." The voice is Chrom's, but there's no way it's anyone but Robin. "That's a bad idea."
"Don't be absurd." The pegasus knight says firmly. She's looking around carefully now; Robin should be within her sightline even if he's hard to spot. "You protected yourself on reflex, you come from a dangerous place. The others will understand."
"Irrelevant!" He barks in Frederick's voice. "If it is a danger, it must be dealt with!"
"Now you're just being irrational." Cordelia huffs. "Come out, stop hiding."
"No."
Finally Cordelia spots the man perching between some branches to her left. She makes sure not to look directly at him so he won't run off. "Robin, trust me. I'm smart, remember?"
There's a brief pause, and then Robin mutters. "You're mocking me."
"Sort of." Cordelia admits. "Now get down here."
Robin does so reluctantly.
"Now." Cordelia firmly grabs the man by the arm before he can move away. "We're going back, and you are going to talk this out."
"No!"
"Yes."
"That's a-"
"-perfectly fine idea." Cordelia interrupts. "We're going back even if I have to drag you the whole way there."
###
"Robin, you have a bed." Cordelia sighs.
"So?" The boy mutters as he curls up in the branches of the tree. "It's weird and soft."
"It's comfortable, it's the entire point that it's soft."
"It feels weird."
"You're going to catch a cold like that."
"I've slept like this my entire life." He mumbles.
"And you need to stop. Ylisstol is a lot colder than the Fey Jungle." Cordelia scolds.
"But beds are weird."
Cordelia sighs. "You get used to then, and they don't hurt their back like sleeping on a branch."
"But branches are familiar…"
"And beds aren't familiar because you don't sleep in them." The pegasus knight reminds him. "Now go to bed."
"Fine…"
"You'll get used to this eventually Robin. Your lessons with Maribelle have been going well from what you've told me, and I know you're doing well with what I teach you."
"I know, I know… but beds, seriously? Branches are so good…"
This is a bit of a weird place to end, but I'm struggling to find a good end point for this chapter. I'll just leave you with this I guess.
I realize I'm having trouble choosing ideas for Male Robin because I'm saving so many of my favourite suggestions for Female Robin (because I like her more, it's easy to write romance with her, I am unabashedly fond of romance, and I love trying to mix in the powers with the romantic plotline). I don't wanna give up good ideas to Male Robin…
LoveGlutton: I'm leaning towards "not at all".
Guardian54: Sure it's a bit irresponsible, but Emmeryn would totally encourage it, and it's not like Chrom's sisters can't have kids of their own. Owain is still a thing, yes.
I mean… sure. If you want to call that necrophilia, go right ahead.
G: Shared body is fine, angry tree guardian thing is… very difficult, three fates wouldn't lend well to Robin being a tactician so I'm vetoing that. Rebellion Robin is fine, I think that's already a suggestion.
Don't worry, I know who Miss Fortune is. I've seen plenty of Skullgirls.
Roses: Glad you like it! I'm fond of Chrom/Robin myself! That's why I write so much of it…
Guest: :D
Wrathie Winsre: Hey!
Yeah, I took the general idea of aggressive Chrom and tried to incorporate it. It was somewhat difficult, I felt like Chrom was OOC.
Yes, I just retconned Lucina. It's not like she's vital to the plot or super popular or anything, right? :P
I considered that, but it felt more natural for it to not happen. The 'holding the gem to his heart' thing I mean. I didn't include the Shepherds talking to her after because the chapter was already a decent length and it wouldn't add much. It would be fluffy sure, but not really relevant to the highlight reel.
I think I really went overboard with Robin being dense. There's just no way I could have Chrom be forward and not have Robin figure it out in the first two seconds unless she was denser than rock. Chrom is not subtle, at all.
Oh, she did lose her accent. My bad. I'll fix that.
It's all you can really do: be conscientious, be polite, put up disclaimers so people understand the differences between fiction and reality, but don't let others dictate what you write.
Unless, of course, you're writing for profit. In that case cater to the public as much as possible!
Yeah, if we're going by the game then Gaius is definitely a sweets-first sorta guy. I tend to envision most characters as a slightly better version of themselves when I write them though. Not all the time of course (I still tend to write Frederick as a hardass) but the important characters tend to get the 'minor improvements' treatment. So in this case at least I envisioned Gauis being a bit more… loveable.
I wouldn't know if he's popular with that group, but he did place high in the popularity poll (which is how he got that swimsuit scene in the first place).
Hmm… alright. I don't usually shoot for bonus points, but I might be able to make that work. I think I have an idea.
Yeah, I understand. Motivation is a finicky thing. I'm lucky that reviews are my motivation, so as long as I get reviews I usually have a drive to continue. However it means projects I like that don't get attention tend to become boring really quickly.
Rereading/Rewatching/Replaying are things that I do very rarely because it gets boring for me very quickly. I wish I did like doing that, but I don't. There are a few exceptions, but they're few and far between.
Time is something I can sympathize with. I'm blessed with large amounts of free time, and I dread the day when that all evaporates. If I ever become an actual author (I'll need to get around to writing actual original stories if that's to happen) I worry that I'll never have time for Fanfiction again.
I considered that Emmeryn or Frederick would have taught him but… I mean it's really not something Chrom would talk about, and it's not something that would be obvious until Chrom actually got into a relationship. Also, it just made for a more fun chapter to write (even if the quirk suffered for it).
Do you really want Chrom to read Sumia's novels? I know I haven't stated it outright, but for the Sumia I write she tends to read a lot of smut and/or extremely steamy romance novels. I'm not quite sure that's what Chrom should be learning from… though it would be hilarious now that I think of it.
Harem ending huh? Hmm… It would be really hard to make it fit into a story, so probably not.
Yeah, I could have had Robin do that, but that feels anticlimactic to me.
Kiss her into submission? I'm fairly sure that doesn't fit Chrom at all. I'm trying to think of a male character it could fit for… hmm… Gaius maybe? Or Virion, definitely Virion.
'Tactically' putting herself in danger huh? I like it, I'm going to remember that. I can make that work...
See you next time!
Guest: Berserker Robin, Ninja Robin… you'll have to explain the others.
Cyberchao X: Aww, you should have hit every chapter. I like reviews!
bauers374: Eh, Henry's a good guy.
Yeah, I've been told the term by several people since that chapter went up, thank you.
No. Just… no. Proper time travel is a massive hassle. Paradoxes are inevitable, and it makes everything too confusing.