I do not own Fire Emblem Awakening or any of the characters.


Valmese Visitors

Corbin let out a slow breath as Megan sighed. She'd lost their mock battle, but this time, it had been close, close enough that Corbin had been afraid he'd lose for a moment.

"Guess I'm still not good enough," Megan sighed. "I'll go study some more."

"Yeah," Corbin nodded. "I think I will, too. You almost had me that time."

"Really?" Megan asked, eyes wide.

Corbin nodded, and Megan hugged him, then snatched up one of his books on tactics and ran off. As Corbin was cleaning up the pieces and map that they used for their mock battle, Chrom stepped into the room.

"She looked excited," Chrom smiled. "You let her win?"

"She almost won all on her own," Corbin smiled. "She'll be replacing me by the time any more trouble arises."

"It already has," Chrom said, smile fading. "Valm is sending troops to invade Regna Ferox. The khans have asked for our help."

Corbin nodded instantly, grabbing his sword and strapping it on before hurrying to collect his things. While he did, Chrom spread the word that the Shepherds were mobilizing, and everyone quickly gathered their things and met up outside. To Corbin's surprise, that included Cordelia, who was holding her newborn daughter in her arms. The newest royal family member was Lucina, tiny, adorable, smiling Lucina, who was barely a month old.

"Lucina's coming?" Corbin asked curiously.

Cordelia shook her head. "She'll be wet-nursed while we're away. I don't really want to leave her, but I'm going to accompany my husband, and it's become something of a tradition for members of the royal family to be raised by wet-nurses, for one reason or another."

Corbin grimaced. "We'll have to get you back before she knows the difference, then."

Cordelia smiled. "That would be the best scenario."

They all quickly got on their horses and headed off. The trip was silent, everyone keeping a wary eye out for Risen.


"May I present Lord Virion," the woman, who had long, straight, pale pink hair, interrupted Virion's rambling introduction. "I am his humble servant, Cherche."

She wore silver armor over a black bodysuit with her back exposed, the front and back of her upper legs exposed, and a pair of draconic wing-like decorations on the sides of her collar. Hung across her back was a poleaxe with a gilded shaft, black on the back end just before a decorative, arrow-head-like blade, and a massive, double-bladed head.

"Greetings, sire," she said to Chrom directly. "You honor us with your presence."

"Cherche, you stole my moment!" Virion snapped.

"A pleasure, Cherche," Chrom smiled, he, like everyone else, ignoring Virion. "Perhaps you could speak on your master's behalf?"

"That may speed things along, yes," Cherche agreed.

"Then please," Chrom invited. "Time is of the essence."

So, Cherche explained quickly. Firstly, she and Virion were from Valm. A small, fertile territory called Rosanne, where Virion was, in fact, the rightful ruler. However, as Virion began to aid Cherche with the story, they explained how Walhart the Conqueror transformed Valm the country into an empire spanning the entire continent of Valm. Virion had fled first, and taken the majority of the people of his house to safety. Cherche stayed to monitor Walhart's progress before also fleeing to Regna Ferox. And now, after completely conquering the continent of Valm, Walhart had turned his eyes on Regna Ferox and Ylisse.

Corbin liked Cherche. Her indifference to Virion's attempts at flirting with her, and her repeated turns of cutting him off and ignoring him made her a good match to Virion, as well as someone not afraid to put him in his place. The news of a continent's worth of an army coming to wipe them out within the next few days, not so much. Virion warned them that Valm's cavalry was the strongest in the world, and Corbin knew that the wheels began to spin inside of Robin's head as well as his. Once Chrom and the Khans had pressed Virion and Cherche for all the information they could, Corbin and Robin began to come up with a plan. However the first step was to figure out what exactly they were dealing with, which meant dealing with the first ship Valm sent as scouts as much as a show of dominance, which would reach the western shore of Regna Ferox within days. So, they all geared up and headed out.

"How long do we have?" Corbin asked Chrom as they rode toward the only port town with a large enough port to receive Valm's warship.

"Three days," Chrom stated. "Why? Nervous?"

"No more than usual, ever since a specific Risen made himself a recurring problem," Corbin said, glancing around, as had become habit. "But I seem to be able to tell when he's around, and right now, I'm not feeling anything. I was actually asking because one of the Feroxi scouts reported that there's an issue off to our right flank, a half-day's ride out of our way."

"What kind of issue?" Chrom frowned.

"Bandits," Corbin said. "They apparently ransacked a town nearby while the soldiers were out fighting Risen, and they're preparing to do it again now that Regna Ferox's forces are preparing for Valm, but the scout thinks he knows where the bandits' hideout is."

"Frederick?" Chrom asked.

"A small detachment should be able to make it in time," Frederick nodded.

"Alright," Chrom nodded. "Corbin, take whichever Shepherds you think you'll need, then meet us at the port."

Corbin nodded. "I'm taking Panne, Lon'qu, Olivia, Donnel, Vaike, and Lissa."

Chrom nodded, and Corbin gathered his forces and spurred the horse away, the scout that had reported the bandits leading them quickly. The hold they'd be assaulting was atop a small mountain, so they climbed it as quickly as they could. However, as they reached the top, they stopped, staring at the battle already raging. A boy with grey and blue clothes, a blue Mercenary shield on his left shoulder, and a silver sword was facing off against the bandits. As they watched, he jumped, spun, flipped, and twirled as he fended them off, felling the bandits surprisingly quickly.

"Who is that?" Vaike asked.

"No idea," Corbin shook his head. "But he needs our help. "Olivia, and Donnel, help him. Lissa, go with them. The rest of you, we're clearing the fort."

Everyone nodded, and they all sprinted forward. Bandits moved to meet them as well, and as Corbin rapidly deflected the blades and dropped the bandits, reveling in the ease of facing them compared to Lucina, he glanced over at the others just as Olivia pirouetted between a pair of bandits, slashing both of their necks with her blade before darting over to kill a bandit behind the boy they were trying to save. At the same time, Donnel speared the last bandit through the heart from behind.

"Are...Are you alright?" Olivia asked.

Corbin redirected his attention long enough to slay a pair of sword-wielding bandits, then leapt into the air, stepping off of a heavy knight's shield and stabbing down through his helmet. As he did, however, the boy shrieked and Corbin's head whipped around, only to see him blushing scarlet and recoiling from Olivia. Corbin shook his, turning back to the front as the heavy knight began to tip backward. As Corbin ripped his sword free and landed in a roll, Vaike raced past him, cackling excitedly as he butchered everyone he reached. He smashed his axe through a sword and killed its owner, he spun around an axe and lopped off its wielder's head, he hurled it into the chest of a spearman, then retrieved it in time to kill another swordsman. As the two of them passed into the fortress, they found that the fortress was formed from several long, narrow hallways, all of them cramped with bandits. The fortress was less fortress than a long, single building with an exit on the far side.

"It's just too easy!" Corbin chuckled. "Lon'qu, take the central hallway."

Lon'qu nodded, streaking down the hallway, flowing around strikes and slaughtering anyone who got in his way. However, as Corbin stepped into the far right hallway, he stopped, blinking in surprise at the Taguel blocking his path.

"Panne, this one's yours!" Corbin said.

Panne nodded, transforming and leaping over him, and Corbin turned, heading back to the hallway Vaike had taken, finding Vaike had been wounded several times, but was fighting no less savagely than before. Corbin charged, ordering Vaike to pull back, and as Vaike leapt backward, Corbin leapt into the air, flipping into a blue and delivering Lucina and Chrom's nearly signature opening strike to the heavy knight that Vaike had been struggling with, splitting him down the front. He lunged, slashing several axe-wielders before the boy they were there to save leapt over Corbin, stabbing downward into a bandit as he landed on him, then slashed up through another. And suddenly, the three of them were rotating, attacking a handful of bandits at once each rotation before the next swapped with them. Then, finally, they reached the far end of the fortress where Lon'qu had already slaughtered all of the remaining bandits, save for a pair of mages who were already chanting.

"I'll get them!" Corbin said, left arm rising, only for Panne to tackle one of the mages, crushing him under her feet.

And a split-second later, the other Taguel joined her, killing the last of the bandits. Then, both transformed back to their humanoid form. Where as Panne had long, wavy, dark-brown hair, patches of dark brown fur, and wore revealing, pale purple armor in her humanoid form, as she always had, the other was a tall, lean male with dark brown hair like Panne's hanging loosely just past his shoulders, but with a thick patch of snow white on top, and blue armor similar to Panne's.

"You recruited him?" Corbin asked.

"Of course I did," Panne said. "I am the last Taguel alive. For him to be here, he must be my child."

Corbin's eyes went wide. "Your..." he glanced at the Taguel, who nodded.

"My name is Yarne," the Taguel said. "I...can't remember how I came to be."

Corbin could tell at a glance that he had lied, but he wasn't the only one, judging by Olivia and the other boy's glance as he began to speak.

"I'm Inigo," the boy said. "I also can't remember anything."

"So many cases of amnesia," Vaike frowned. "Is that normal?"

"No," Lon'qu said. "Something must have happened to them both. Do you know each other?"

Both shrugged, and Corbin sighed. They hadn't sold out Lucina entirely, but Corbin would have to be sure.

"So, if he's your son..." Donnel began.

"Don't," Corbin said. "Let it be. Trust me, it's better not to question it for now."

Donnel blinked, staring at him, then nodded. "Okay. If you say so."

Corbin nodded, and they all turned, heading back toward the port village where they were supposed to meet back up with Chrom.


"So, you two are from the future as well?" Corbin asked in a low voice as he, Yarne, and Inigo rode at the head of the group, keeping a bit of distance between themselves and the others, though he knew that Panne would hear them. "Panne, say nothing about anything you hear."

Panne sighed just as Corbin looked back, leaning back and nodding to him from where she rode behind Lon'qu. Corbin looked back to the front, Inigo and Yarne both nodding.

"We are," Yarne confirmed.

"Did you come back with Lucina?" Corbin muttered.

"That was the plan," Inigo nodded. "But something went wrong when we went through the Outrealm Gate."

"We all got separated," Yarne explained. "I've been here for about two months. Lucina's been here for years. Inigo got here last week."

Corbin nodded. "If you were there with Lucina, do either of you know what happened to Chrom?"

Both of their expressions darkened before Inigo spoke. "We were a part of the battle, but we weren't nearby. Lucina was closer than anyone, except..."

"Except?" Corbin prompted.

"Except for you and Robin," Yarne said. "And of the two..."

"It was widely believed that the reason Chrom died was because you turned into a Risen and killed him," Inigo explained. "But like we said, we weren't close. Only Lucina was close enough to know what happened."

Corbin nodded. "I thought so. I'm not him, but he's been popping up from time to time."

Both nodded seriously.

"We'll let you handle him," Inigo promised.

"We're nowhere near you and Lucina's level," Yarne agreed.

"I'm not good enough to fight him, either," Corbin shook his head. "Not yet."

Both nodded, and they all fell silent, riding the rest of the way in silence. However, just as they arrived, they stopped, watching the Valmese commander murder a man from the port town for no greater a reason than that he was asking how the Valmese expected him to live if they surrendered all of their land, ships, and food to the Valmese.

"Let's fucking kill these murderers," Vaike snarled.

"Yeah," Corbin nodded. "Vaike, Inigo, and Lon'qu, focus on the dismounted troops. I'll work on the cavalry on my way to the others. Olivia, Donnel, and Lissa, you'll come with me to meet up with the others. "Panne and Yarne, you two will focus on cavalry."

All of them nodded, and they all sprinted into the town together. The others were already fighting, struggling to battle. Robin seemed to have made the choice to keep their own cavalry out of the fight, so Frederick and Cordelia were both fighting dismounted, and the rest of the Pegasus Knights were circling over the town, out of range of arrows and magic as they waited for an opportunity to attack. Corbin, Vaike, Lon'qu, and Inigo all separated as they reached the towns, each taking a separate street, as did Panne and Yarne a moment later. Donnel and Olivia, however, ran after Corbin. Valm's soldiers rushed to meet them all, but the primary fighters slaughtered their way through the troops easily. Even without seeing the others, Corbin could feel the others trying to race to the end of their alleyways and did the same. He one, blasted another, stabbed two. He borrowed an axe, a spear, a sword. No one could stand in his way, now, but as he exited the alleyway, it was at the same exact time as Vaike crashed into the last swordsman in his own, tying Corbin, but only for second place, as Lon'qu had already shredded his way through his own and finished several seconds faster. But a second after Vaike and Corbin finished, Inigo finished his own alleyway with an impressive, spinning leap that passed several soldiers, shredding them all. And a second later, Panne and Yarne burst out of their much longer alleyways and immediately tore into the cavalry before them all.

They'd reached the main port, a large open area where the bulk of the Valmese forces, which was seventy-five percent cavalry, were racing around, striking out at Chrom's forces rapidly. Despite knowing they'd be up against Cavalry, they obviously hadn't prepared very well. Corbin could hear fights further in town and guessed that it was Regna Ferox's forces. However, for the Shepherds, the fight was going poorly. A mounted spearman stabbed at Chrom, but he slashed the spear aside before Cordelia leapt into the air and spun, slashing the rider's throat, decapitating him. As she landed, she picked up the fallen troop's spear and hurled it, spearing another troop through the heart. Chrom slashed a pair of soldiers as they rode past, only for Morgan to tackled him to the ground, a sword breezing over them from behind. In an instant, Frederick and Cordelia had both impaled the rider, suspending him in the air for a moment. As Chrom and Morgan stood, Corbin's right arm snapped up as he finished his incantation, blasting a pair of Valmese soldiers, knocking them both from their horses.

Instantly, Virion shot both of them just as Megan leapt into the air, spinning and slashing a soldier bearing down on Morgan and Chrom, killing him. Then, as she landed, she brandished her sword, sending a bolt of lightning blasting into one charging Virion as Cherche was busy struggling to fend off several others as they passed.

Then, just as her poleaxe was knocked to the side, the wyvern she was seated on lunged, grabbing the horse that soldier was riding on and flinging it before the soldier could strike, the soldier being crushed under the horse before it slammed into another. Then, as that horse's rider began to struggle to stand, Panne raced past, slashing his throat with her claws, then spun, slamming her back feet into a horse, sending its corpse rolling across the ground, crushing its rider. Yarne took down a pair of cavalry soldiers similarly in a flash of movement, then pounced on a dismounted troop heading for Ricken, killing it and allowing Ricken to finish his spell, sending a tornado raging through several dismounted troops.

"If you two are back, then-" Robin was cut off as a Valmese soldier leapt from his horse just before Panne kicked it, slashing downward at Robin as he fell.

She grunted in effort, blocking the strike but falling to the ground, only for Corbin to flip over the soldier, slashing him across the back from above and knocking him off of Robin. She sighed in relief, standing and firing a pair of lightning spikes into a pair of archers on the ship. And just like that, as the last two archers fell, there was a flutter of feathered wings as the Pegasus Knights finally began their assault. All across the port town, pegasi dove between the buildings and Valmese soldiers shrieked in pain and dismay as they were slaughtered.

Corbin sprinted for Morgan and Megan, who were struggling to avoid being run down by several cavaliers at the same time as fighting back. As one began to swing around for another pass, Corbin leapt onto the horse, driving his sword through the soldier's chest from behind, then snapped his left hand up, his tome spiraling to his hand. A moment later, he fired a bolt of lightning into another of the soldiers' faces, killing him instantly.

Morgan finished his own spell, blasting a pair of soldiers with a bolt of forking lightning, and as the last charged, Megan slashed, only for the soldier's sword to meet hers, both swords shattering. Then, Robin's own Levin Sword split the soldier before she landed beside Megan, passing her the sword.

"Thanks!" Megan smiled, accepting the weapon as Robin drew her normal sword again.

"You're the last one, commander," Chrom said, walking up one of the Valmese ship's two gangways, Corbin walking up the other.

"You are nothing!" the commander seethed. "A speck of sand on the boot of the great empire!"

"We'll see," Corbin snarled. "Chrom, let's give him a warm welcome."

"Right," Chrom nodded, both readying themselves.

Then, as one, they shot forward. The commander spurred his horse into a gallop, charging Chrom, only for Chrom to smirk, launching himself into the air. The commander shouted in surprise, looking up after him, only for Corbin to close the distance as the horse stopped. Then, as Corbin slashed the commander's side, making him shriek in pain and fall to the side, Chrom fell past, his sword splitting him across the torso and severing both arms. Corbin sighed, looking around before walking off of the ship with Chrom. The rest of their forces were gathering from all over town, and anyone who could heal was going around treating whoever needed it.

"Is that all of them?" Corbin asked.

"Yes," Chrom nodded. "But victory's come with a price."

"This town's in shambles," Khan Basilio said, looking around at the destroyed buildings around them, "as is my army. There's no way we could repel them and defend our people. It would be a slaughter!"

"Ylisse is no better equipped to handle an attack from the sea," Chrom admitted darkly.

"What if we didn't let them reach land?" Robin asked, glancing at Corbin, who nodded instantly.

"We've been thinking," Corbin explained. "Cavalry are useless at sea."

"We could fight them on ships!" Morgan grinned.

"They wouldn't be able to use their biggest asset, giving us the advantage!" Megan added.

Basilio laughed. "It seems like Ylisse's genius tacticians have multiplied."

"Good," Chrom said. "We'll need them. Alright, where are we going to get ships? Ylisse has no warships, nor does Regna Ferox."

"We'd need the aid of a country that does," Basilio considered.

"You have something in mind, oaf?" Flavia asked.

"No," Robin said immediately. "No way!"

"Absolutely not!" Corbin agreed. "It's not happening Basilio!"

"Where?" Chrom asked.

"Plegia!" Morgan and Megan both realized.

"No," Chrom immediately refused. "Absolutely not. Out of the question."

"They have gold, boy!" Basilio argued. "Countless ships! And more importantly, we have a fart's chance in the wind without them!"

"The oaf is right," Flavia sighed. "Crude, but right. There's only one path forward."

"They summoned the Risen Corbin!" Corbin and Robin snapped.

"They killed Emmeryn!" Chrom snapped.

"Dad," Morgan said, resting a hand on Corbin's shoulder. "We have to do this."

"It's the only way," Megan agreed.

Chrom, Corbin, and Robin all shared a hesitant, less-than-pleased glance, then sighed heavily.

"Very well," Chrom sighed. "Send a messenger and request a summit immediately."

Corbin groaned. "This is going to be a bad decision. I just know it."

"If the Risen Corbin shows up, we'll kill him," Chrom said. "He won't escape again."

Corbin sighed, nodding. "If you say so."

"Let's pray their new king is more reasonable than their last," Robin said darkly.

Chrom nodded. "Let's see what we can do to help the people here while we wait for a response."

They all nodded and set to work beginning to try and clean up the town, their healers all going to check on the civilians from the town and to tell them the battle was over.


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