Rhajat was taking a stroll around the monastery, trying to familiarize herself with it. She had gotten lost a few times, but she felt she had pulled it together. She had just managed to get from the cafeteria to the library. As a leader, she felt she should know her surroundings. She peeked inside, and saw an older woman who seemed to be upset. She was crying softly. Rhajat had a habit of being blunt, but she wasn't heartless. She couldn't leave someone who was crying to themselves because it wasn't her problem. She walked inside. "Hey. Are... you okay?"
The woman looked up and pulled herself together. "I'm fine. I was just stood up... again."
Rhajat did feel a twinge of pity for the woman. She was pretty, she couldn't imagine why someone would do that. She wasn't that interested in romance, but she knows anyone who stood her up would face her wrath. She noticed a few bottles of alcohol in the room. The woman seemed to also be suffering from a hangover. "My condolences. Perhaps you'll have been luck next time."
The woman sighed. "It's always next time, never this time..."
Rhajat peeked outside to see what room she entered, and was surprised that this was the infirmary. This woman needed a doctor before she could treat anyone else. "Are you the nurse?" She asked, slightly changing the subject.
She nodded, and took a good look at her. "You must be a student. Sorry that this was your first impression of me..."
Rhajat shrugged. "I've seen worse."
"Aren't you sweet?" She replied genuinely. She needed kindness after having her heart broken again.
Rhajat looked away, flustered. "Not really..."
"This is normal. I just gotta hope that I'll find a good man one day..." She said changing the subject. She wondered why Rhajat got flustered, but decided not to push it.
Rhajat accepted the change of topic. "Some men can really be trash..." Rhajat didn't particularly like women better. She had met her fair share of awful women too. She just thought that might have been the better option to say at the moment.
"Ha! I hear that. They see your body and that's all they care about. Once they see your sloppiness, then suddenly that's a deal breaker." She said with venom in her voice.
Rhajat searched her mind for what people usually say to others during this time. "There's someone out there for everyone I suppose. You just have to keep looking." Rhajat wasn't interested in romance herself. She wasn't sure if she'd ever find her soulmate, nor was she sure she cared.
"Yeah... I can't give up. Thank you. What is your name by the way?" She looked like she felt a bit better.
"I'm Rhajat Hoshino." She said introducing herself.
"Ah, I'm Manuela Casagranda. I'm one of the professors here as well." She was still a bit embarrassed about being a wreck in front of not just a student, but a house leader, but she decided to push that down.
"Damn, you must be busy then. I couldn't do that." Rhajat mused.
"I do, but it's worth it." Manuela loved taking care of the students. Be it emotionally or physically.
"Mm, I can't say I understand."
"Maybe one day. Thank you again for your help Rhajat." Manuela smiled at her.
Rhajat's heart fluttered a bit, causing her to blush. "It's no big deal... but I'm glad I could help." Rhajat turned around and quickly walked off.
She pulled her fingers through her hair. She had to admit, there were a lot of beautiful women at the academy. She had come across some good looking men too. She suddenly felt a bit grossed out. She wasn't sure if she could be checking out women the way she has been. Rhajat both knew and accepted that she was attracted to men and women. That didn't mean she was particularly happy about it. However she wasn't here for crushes, regardless of gender. She had a goal and she had to reach it.
She decided to spend the rest of the day alone looking for tools through the kitchen and the garden. She got to work on her next hex, involving a voodoo doll shaped like a faceless. Just as she was about to put the finishing touches on it, she heard a voice.
"Hey!"
Rhajat slammed her hands on the table and got up. She walked outside, and looked down to see Claude. He waved and caught her attention. "Rhajat! The houses are going on an "outdoor activity." At least that's what Alois called it."
Rhajat sighed. "I'm busy!"
"I hear that, so was I! But it's required. So come on!" Claude then walked off. He didn't seem to feel too guilty about this.
Rhajat facepalmed. She figured she could at least wrap up her current project before leaving.
She walked up to her vat and started stirring it up, and dropped the doll. A skull and crossbones popped out.
"Let's cause a mess, come forth faceless!" she exclaimed, casting her hex. A green hand came out of the container, and the thing fell over. A faceless made it's way outside, and Rhajat laughed evilly. She had finally managed to recreate the Nohrian menace. Another faceless came out, and yet another until there were 8. She told the faceless to follow her, but one only punched her, knocking her back. She glared in anger, and the faceless left her room. She ran after them, her anger slowly being replaced by anxiety. She seemed to have messed up. She'd be in huge trouble if someone found them. She searched the monastery, but couldn't find them. She ran to the entrance, and saw the gates open. She wondered if the others were okay. She ran outside to see if she could find them.
If they were hurt, it'd be on her head. Scared, she started calling for them. She refused to be responsible for the deaths of innocents. Her introversion flew out of the window. She heard a hey back, and followed the sound of their voice. She found Claude along with Dimitri and Edelgard resting at a campsite, alongside the other houses.
"Hey Rhajat? What's the rush, that desperate to get out of the monastery?" He asked snarkily.
"Claude, please." Dimitri said. "There's clearly something wrong here."
"Indeed." Edelgard added. "What's the problem? You seem frightened."
Rhajat panted a bit, trying to catch her breath. "Okay, have you of you seen large green men with masks."
Dimitri blinked. "Are you playing a game?" He had never heard of anything like that.
"That's a Lethian creature. A faceless right? We haven't, why?" Claude had done his research on Lethe, he figured it could be important.
"There's no reason why something like that would be in Fodlan, right?" Edelgard raised her eyebrow.
Rhajat looked guilty. The three of them looked at each other then back to Rhajat. Before Claude could ask anything, they heard a man yelling. "Hey!" They all looked up, and saw some sort of brigand. "It's my lucky day... Noble brats! I'll be paid quite a pretty penny for taking you all out...!"
Rhajat looked around, and saw that the knights weren't here. Some students looked nervous, while others looked excited. The brigand charged for the house leaders, prompting Claude to run.
"Claude!" Dimitri exclaimed.
With no other choice, he and Edelgard ran as well. Rhajat wasn't sure if this brigand was after her too or not, but she was going to play it safe and run. Some of the other students tried to chase after the brigand, but were stopped by others from presumably the same crew.
Rhajat caught up with the trio. Dimitri looked to his friend. "Do you have a plan Claude?"
"Yeah, to get the hell out of here!" Claude exclaimed. The four ran for a bit, before coming across a village.
"Look! Maybe we can get help here!" Edelgard suggested.
"It's our only shot..." Rhajat agreed.
They stopped running to catch their breath. "Hey, what's wrong?!" One of the villagers asked.
"We're... being chased! By bandits! We could really use some help!"
The man nodded and ran inside one of the buildings. Edelgard looked behind them, they seemed to be safe for a bit. "I hope we'll be able to find help here..."
Claude nodded. "Yeah." Despite his casual demeanor, even he seemed a bit shaken.
They heard a scream, and looked behind them. Rhajat realized she had nearly forgotten about the faceless wandering around. They had begun to attack the village. An older man clad in orange from his clothes to his hair and a young woman with dark green hair, short shorts, a dark top and tights came out of the building. "What the hell is going on here!?
"Please forgive our intrusion. We wouldn't bother you were the situation not dire." Dimitri began.
"Where did these monsters come from!?" The man looked frustrated.
"We're being pursued by a group of bandits. We're not sure about the faceless though. I can only hope that you will be so kind as to lend your support." Dimitri seemed desperate, and the others couldn't blame him.
"...Faceless?" The young woman tilted her head.
"Bandits?" He asked as well.
"It's true. They attacked us while we were at rest in our camp." Edelgard explained.
"We're outnumbered. They're after our lives…not to mention our gold." Claude added. If it were just a few they could probably take them on alone, but they had no chance of victory at the moment.
"I'm impressed you're staying so calm considering the situation. I… Wait. That uniform…" The older man seemed to recognize where they were from.
"Bandits spotted just outside the village! Damn… There are a lot of them." A mercenary interrupted.
"I guess they followed you all the way here. We can't abandon this village now. Come on, let's move. Hope you're ready." He turned to the young woman, who only nodded.
Everyone took battle positions. "Let's take care of these fools before they overtake the village. Take down the enemies in front first. That should take the wind out of their sails." The older man theorized.
The young woman took a look at Rhajat, who seemed out of it. The young woman tapped her on the shoulder. "Pay attention." she told her.
Rhajat sighed and became more alert.
"We'll handle the bandits, the rest of you can handle the monsters. I can tell just by looking at them that they're not too strong. The bandits are no doubt the bigger threat." The older man explained.
"Leave it to us!" Edelgard yelled as they began their assault. The faceless noticed Claude and started to charge at him, he fired an arrow at it, but it continued to charge. Dimitri stabbed it with his spear, and Rhajat finished it off with some magic.
"One down... many to go." Claude snarked.
Edelgard ran towards another faceless and smashed its mask with her axe. It immediately fell and faded away. Dimitri followed her example and threw his spear into another faceless' mask. It screamed in agony, and Dimitri using the opening removed the spear, and stabbed it in the leg, making it fade as well.
Rhajat watched in awe, and Claude put his hand on her shoulder. "No time to gawk Rhajat!" He teased.
Rhajat rolled her eyes, but had to admit he had a point. She blasted another spell at the nearest faceless. The faceless didn't notice her at first, when struck it turned around and started running towards her. Dimitri stabbed it from behind, making it fade away.
Rhajat looked over to the mercenaries, who seemed to be doing well as well. The green haired mercenary took out another bandit with ease. Rhajat was a bit unnerved by how she had no expression on her face. No determination, no anger, not even pleasure. Just a blank face. Continuing the battle, Rhajat threw a fireball at one of Claude's arrows. The two fused piercing through another faceless. Dimitri crouched down, and Edelgard stepped on his hand. Dimitri threw Edelgard in the air, who smashed down onto another faceless with all her strength.
"There should be three more!" Rhajat exclaimed.
"I don't see any!" Dimitri yelled back. If there were more, he was concerned.
"Look!" Edelgard pointed at the bandits. It seemed they were attacking the mercenaries as well now. The four looked at each other and nodded before rushing to the mercenaries' aid. The younger mercenary didn't notice the faceless creeping up behind her. Edelgard threw her axe at its arm, stopping it from punching. The mercenary, hearing the screech, turned around and sliced it in half with her sword. The bandits were lessening in number as well. The five quickly came together.
"...Thank you for the help." Rhajat said softly. "We still have more work to do. Don't get cocky."
The mercenary nodded in understanding and acknowledgement. The house leaders and mercenary ran to the older mercenary's aid, who just took out another faceless. The only two left were the head faceless and the head bandit.
"Kid, can you handle the bandit? That faceless looks stronger than the others. I'll take em on myself." The older mercenary seemed rather confident.
"Yes." The younger simply answered.
"You with the blank stare, out of my way!" The bandit yelled with venom in his voice.
The mercenary slashed at the bandit, but he jumped back to dodge it. While he was distracted, Rhajat threw another fire ball at him. He took damage, but not much. He seemed more angry than hurt. He ran towards Rhajat, who just attacked with another fire ball to slow him down. Dimitri and Edelgard both threw their weapons at him, and Claude fired off a barrage of arrows. The bandit still stood, and sliced his axe into Rhajat's stomach. Rhajat gasped for air, but was otherwise okay. The mercenary ran up to the bandit and stabbed him in the arm. She then removed it as slashed as his face. He blocked the second attack with his axe. Despite the team's best efforts, he was rather strong.
Just then, he was pierced by a spear. The man fell over, seemingly killed. Jeralt looked down at the corpse, and looked up at the recently formed team. He smiled at them, before lowering his spear. "Good job everyone, looks like the job is done. I'll go check for stragglers. Protect them Byleth."
The mercenary, seemingly named Byleth, nodded again. The older mercenary ran off on his horse. The bandit laid on the ground, seemingly defeated. Suddenly, he jumped back up, and charged at Edelgard before most of them could react. "You'll die!"
The mercenary ran to Edelgard's side, and blocked the blow with her sword. The axe went flying away, as did the bandit. The other 3 house leaders ran towards Edelgard and the mercenary. "Hey-over here!" Claude said. The house leaders looked at each other fondly, happy that they seemed to have made it out alive.
The older man looked rather confused himself. "Hey... Did you just..." Interrupting him, the knights catch up.
Suddenly, a bit too late for Rhajat's tastes, the knights arrived. "The Knights of Seiros are here! We'll cut you down for terrorizing our students. Hey, the thieves are running away! Go after them! The students seem to be unharmed. And...who's this?"
The older mercenary'smentality seemed to match Rhajat's, but for different reasons. "Ugh... Why him?"
"Captain Jeralt?! It is you! Goodness, it's been ages. Don't you recognize me? It's Alois! Your old right-hand man! Well, that's how I always thought of myself anyway. It must have been 20 years ago that you went missing without a trace. I always knew you were still alive!" Alois said a bit too loudly. Rhajat had heard of him, but this was her first time actually meeting the man.
"You haven't changed a bit, Alois. Just as loud as ever. And drop that 'captain' nonsense. I'm not your captain anymore. These days I'm just a wandering mercenary. One who has work to do. Good-bye, old friend." Jeralt turned around, clearly not interested in this conversation.
"Right... Good-bye, Captain. Wait! That isn't how this ends. I insist that you return to the monastery with me!" Alois replied. Rhajat rolled her eyes. She wondered if the man ever heard of boundaries.
"Garreg Mach Monastery... I suppose this was inevitable." For a second, an odd emotion flickered in Jeralt's eyes, but no one noticed.
Alois turned towards Byleth. "And how about you, kid? Are you the captain's child?"
"I'm a bandit." She replied.
Alois laughed heartily. "Great sense of humor, this one. Clearly cut from the same cloth as the captain. I'd love for you to see the monastery too. You will join me, won't you?" Alois seemed rather insistent. Byleth nodded, prompting another smile from Alois. He seemed to then notice how out of it Jeralt seemed. "What's troubling you, Captain? You aren't about to run off again, are you?"
Jeralt sighed. "Even I wouldn't dare run from the Knights of Seiros."
The mercenary looked spaced out, then suddenly looked startled. Rhajat raised an eyebrow as she walked towards the four of them.
Edelgard was the first to speak up. "I appreciate your help back there. Your skill is beyond question. You're clearly an experienced mercenary. And your father...that would be Jeralt, the Blade Breaker? Former captain of the Knights of Seiros. Oft praised as the strongest knight to ever live. Have I missed anything?"
Byleth tilted her head. "The Knights of Seiros?"
"You haven't heard of the Knights of Seiros?" Edelgard seemed surprised. "The most famous order of knights in all of Fódlan?"
"Hey! You are coming with us to the monastery, right? Of course you are. I'd love to bend your ear as we travel. Oh, I should mention that the four of us are students of the Officers Academy at Garreg Mach Monastery. We were doing some training exercises when those bandits attacked. I definitely got the worst of it." Claude explained.
"That would be because you ran off." Edelgard said with irritation.
"Too true! I was the first to make a strategic retreat. Everything would have worked out if these two hadn't followed me and ruined everything. Because of them, every single one of those bandits chased after us. Utterly ridiculous." Claude argued. Rhajat figured he was at least partially joking, but it was hard to tell with him.
"Ah, so that's what you were thinking, Claude. And here I thought you were acting as a decoy for the sake of us all." Dimitri seemed a bit disappointed.
"How selfish." Rhajat added.
"His intentions were as clear as day. You will prove a lacking ruler if you cannot see the truth behind a person's words." Edelgard criticized. Rhajat figured that was more so directed at Dimitri.
"Hm. You will prove a lacking ruler if you look for deceit behind every word and fail to trust those whom you rely on." Dimitri criticized in return.
Rhajat facepalmed. "Gods, here we go..." She wasn't in the mood to listen to them squabble.
"Oh, joy. A royal debate between Their Highnesses. I wonder how being completely predictable affects one's ability to wield power." Rhajat was glad that she and Claude were on the same page, even if she was still a bit annoyed with him. "Personally, as the embodiment of distrust, I'd say your little exchange smacks of naiveté."
"Me? Naïve? Tell me, are you actually incapable of keeping quiet, or is your lack of self-awareness a condition of some sort?" Edelgard was rather offended.
"In any case, forgive our digression. I must speak with you, if you can spare a moment. The way you held your ground against the bandits' leader was captivating! You never lost control of the situation. It showed me I still have much to learn." Dimitri was going somewhere with this, but to where Rhajat wasn't sure.
"Your skill is precisely why I must ask you to consider lending your services to the Empire. I might as well tell you now. I am no mere student. I am also the Adrestian Empire's-"
Dimitri cut her off. "Halt, Edelgard. Please allow me to finish my own proposition. The Holy Kingdom of Faerghus is in dire need of exceptional individuals such as yourself. Please, do consider returning to the Kingdom with me."
"Whoa, there! You two sure are hasty. Trying to recruit someone you just met. Tactless, really. I was personally planning to develop a deep and lasting friendship on our journey back to the monastery before begging for favors. But it seems there's no time for niceties in this world. So, capable stranger, let's get right to it. Where does your allegiance lie?" Even Claude seemed to be interested in the mercenary.
Rhajat had to admit, her opinion of these three were dropping by the minute. "We don't even know her name, and you're already asking her things like this?"
"It's fine." Byleth dismissed. "I suppose Faerghus."
"Understood." Dimitri said with pride. "Faerghus is a noble and distinguished kingdom that has always valued chivalry."
"All right, that's enough with the small talk. It's time to head back to the monastery." Alois exclaimed.
"Looks like we'll have to pick this up another time." Claude seemed a bit disappointed.
Byleth had quickly formed her first impression of the four. She started thinking about them. "Edelgard… She is a refined young woman… But I feel as though she is always evaluating me… Dimitri… He seems quite sincere… But I sense darkness lurking beneath… Claude… His easy smile is striking… But that smile doesn't reach his eyes… Rhajat… She seems caring despite her exterior, but she seems to be perpetually irritated as well..." Not wanting to fall behind, Byleth caught up with the others.