AN: This is the first time I've ever done something like this. I hope it isn't too bad. If anything, hopefully I can stick it out and improve my writing while working on this.
Chapter 1
The life I lead wasn't exactly extraordinary. I was very close to graduating college, and had just started to plan to branch out on my own. I was pretty much doing what I imagined someone like me was supposed to do: work out, pass classes, and hang out with friends. All in all, aside from the stress that comes with college life, I'd say I was doing very well for myself. I had job offers in line and was looking to start the next chapter of my life. Well, life has a funny way of changing your plans for you.
It was a pretty nice day for April, the sun gave me a welcome break from the rain that was normal for the time of year. I was going to take advantage of the nice day and go run some errands. I got ready to leave my apartment wearing my favorite attire: a black athletic t-shirt t, a pair of black sweatpants, and a pair of blue and black Nikes with black socks. To top it off, I put my Cleveland Browns baseball cap on, made sure I had everything I needed for the day, and headed for the door. As I put my earbuds in and put my music on, I turned the knob to open the door.
As I looked up from my phone, I almost dropped my phone in shock. Instead of a driveway with various cars and trucks inside, I was looking at a meadow in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere. The opening to Green Day's Brian Stew blasted in my eardrums as I looked behind me. The door I just went through had vanished into thin air.. My mind began to race as I processed the situation. I looked down at my phone: no cell service whatsoever.
"Oh shit," I said as I began pacing to calm myself down.
I began to really calm down once I saw a small stream close by. Remembering one of the many pieces of knowledge that I picked up from some stuff I read online, I decided to follow the flow of the stream. Ideally, I'd find some sort of village or town eventually. After a couple of hours of walking , I saw what looked like a medieval village in the distance. I became very curious as to just where the hell I was as I approached it. The straw roofs and stone roads made it very apparent that I wasn't in Morgantown anymore.
As I entered the village, I saw an old man walking by. I stopped him, hoping to get some answers about exactly where I was.
"Hello, sir. I got lost and came up to this village here. Do you mind letting me know where I am right now," I asked with a polite tone.
"Well, you're in Southtown, son," the old man replied. "One of the biggest towns this part of Ylisse."
"T-Thanks." I said as the realization hit me like a semi truck.
"You alright son? You look like you've seen a ghost!" the old man asked with a concerned expression on his face.
"Yeah, I'm alright." I said, blatantly lying as I walked away quickly.
Well, ain't that a bitch. I walked out of my apartment and into the world of one of my favorite games ever. However, the situation I've found myself in means I'm way closer to that world than what I would ever have expected. After thinking things over, I decided to try and find the church. At the very least, if the bandits were to attack like they were supposed to, then I could hopefully join up with the Shepherds. I'd be in the best company possible considering what's about to happen in the next few years, and I could probably even find a way back with them at some point..
I wandered the lively streets of Southtown for what seemed like an hour .Surprisingly, the village was more active than home. Then again, there weren't any cars here. Not only that, but this was probably a larger village as well. Foot traffic was probably high during the day. I had a bit of trouble navigating the streets, but they got a little easier to navigate once I began using the rooftops to mark my position.
After a bit of wandering, I finally found the church. It was a nice little building, and reminded me a little bit of home. I grew up in the country, but there were always nice churches that resembled the one that I was looking at. I noticed that the back door was open after walking around a bit, so I slipped inside and began my wait. After a couple of hours, I could hear some chaos starting up outside. My anxiety spiked as I began to prepare myself for whatever may happen. I looked through a crack in the door, and saw two men approaching me. One was tall, lanky, and had an ax strapped to his back. The other guy was average height, but was pretty muscular. Mr. Muscles, as I deemed him, sent the lanky guy to check for anyone in the building.
I frantically looked nearby for anything that I could defend myself with. There didn't seem to be very many options as I scanned the room. I went with a wooden step stool that seemed to have a little weight to it. I could hear the footsteps get closer. I tried to keep calm and quiet as my soon-to-be assailant swung the door open. The man stalked the entryway as he scanned the area. I crept close behind him, preparing myself to hopefully incapacitate him. I knew that doing so was the only way to ensure my safety. If anything, I knew that it was either going to be me or him walking out of that church.
I raised the stool and brought it down on the brigand's head with a grunt. He let out a pained groan as he fell to the floor. He was concussed at the very least, but I knew I was still in a great deal of danger. I tried to finish the job with a soccer kick, but he dodged at the very last second. The brigand grabbed his ax and began to charge at me.
Well, damn. Who would've thought that I'd be going out like this. Personally, I had my money on a heart attack or some kind of cancer. I guess getting the hours I spent watching game film on Tyrese Maxey cut in half is an interesting way to go at least, I thought as the brigand raised his axe.
"I'll gut ya, you sneaky little bastard." he bellowed as he began to swing.
The next ten seconds was probably the coolest shit I've done in my life up until that point. I somehow managed to just barely sidestep the attempted strike and land a hook with my right hand. I followed up with a nice right leg kick, which caused the lanky man to stumble and drop his ax. I then made the decision to hit the stunned brigand with a flying knee, which knocked him onto his back. I never thought my little bit of MMA experience would pay off outside of the sport, but then again being proven wrong seems to be a running theme today.. I swiftly grabbed the ax and buried it into its now-former owner's chest. After the deed was done, I stumbled back in shock.
"Oh, fuck." I gasped, realizing what I just did..
"Oi, Erick! Where the hell are ya at?", a gravelly voice bellowed as I glanced towards the doorway.
Mr. Muscles' mouth dropped in shock as his eyes darted around the scene of the fight his friend I had just finished. He first looked towards the lifeless corpse with the axe buried in his chest, and then towards me. His face began to turn red with anger, while I could feel my face turn white with fear. The brigand pulled out his broadsword with anger, a murderous glance in his eyes.
"You LITTLE BASTARD, I'LL GUT YOU FOR THIS!", he screamed as he charged towards me.
I dodged a stab attempt, and slammed my fist into his jaw. The bandit stumbled back a bit, but came at me again with the same ferocity as his first charge. I was shocked that he recovered so quickly. Usually, you'd be at least a little wobbly with such a clean hit, but he barely seemed fazed by it. Unfortunately for me, my slight pause was enough for him to recover and connect with his sword. I attempted to dodge, but he managed to slice my right pec open anyways. I felt the sting of the wound almost instantly, and clutched my new wound as I fell to my knees and curled over.
"You little shit, I still oughtta gut you, but I'll settle for cutting yer head off instead." the bandit snarled as he began to raise his sword to finish me off.
I panicked, knowing I had to do something quick or I'd be dead. As the bandit finished raising his sword above his head, I did the first thing I thought of. I reared my head back and hit him in the nuts as hard as I could. I was definitely a little stunned, but I bought myself enough time to recover. As I struggled to get up, I heard the sound of the brigand's blade clatter against the stone floor of the church. In one last desperate attempt to save my own life, I threw my entire body into an overhand left, hoping that it'd at least knock him out long enough for help to arrive.
Fortunately for me, I felt the punch connect soundly against his jawbone. We both fell to the ground..I grunted in pain as I painstakingly helped myself up using one of the pews. Using the pews as support, I limped hurriedly out of the church. After making it outside, I took a knee to try and gather myself. I looked down at my wound. It was bleeding pretty badly, and I definitely couldn't put up too much of a fight if another brigand found me. I stumbled out of the church and across the bridge, looking for any sign of shelter or a healer. As luck would have it, I would find neither of those things, but I did find another brigand.
This guy was definitely smaller than the other two. However, he wielded two small knives that he definitely looked like he knew how to use. I was on my heels as the man lunged at me with a flurry of slashes with the knives. I avoided all the attempted strikes he threw at me, but I didn't account for the crate that was a few feet behind me. I tripped over it and fell on my back, hitting my head in the process. I winced in pain and shut my eyes. When I opened them up a couple seconds later my vision was a bit blurred.
"You're mine." the bandit sneered as he stood over me, preparing to kill me.
I winced as I prepared to have my life cut short. I could have sworn that I saw my life flash before my eyes. However, the final strike never came. I heard the sound of steel piercing flesh, and the groan of my would be killer as the life left his body. As I opened my eyes, I saw a blue-haired man standing above me.. He had a strange shaped sword in his hand, and was definitely dressed like a fantasy character. I knew it was Chrom from the moment I laid eyes on him. I also knew that I wasn't gonna be in any better hands in this situation.. He had a look of worry on his face. I tried to get up, but to no avail. I was definitely suffering from blood loss.
"Lissa!" Chrom cried out.
"Hey… I think I'm about to pass out." I groan painfully.
"Don't worry, friend. My sister is coming. She'll take care of you"
"T-Thanks bud." I say, trying to keep awake.
"Chrom, I'm here!." Lissa panted after running to us.
"We got a casualty. He's not been hit in any vital areas, but he's bleeding pretty badly."
"Alright, I'll get him patched up as quickly as I can." Lissa said with a look of concern on her face.
I look over at her and her healing staff. I could see the end of the staff glow. I looked down at my pec as I felt the wound seemingly repair itself. The wound also had the same glow that the staff did as repairs were being made. I will say that I would've found it fascinating had it not been for the fact we were in a battle right now.
"There!" said Lissa proudly.
"Alright, you need to find yourself somewhere safe while we take care of the rest of these brigands." Chrom said.
"Wait a minute, I can help!" I exclaimed.
"Are you sure? We wouldn't want you to get hurt again." Chrom said with concern.
"Yes. I've taken out two of them already," I said with a look of determination on my face, "and you guys look like you could use some help."
It was then that a group of five brigands approached from the bridge. The one in front was a grizzled old man who'd clearly seen his fair share of fights. He was shirtless, and wore a sheepskin cloak. All five wielded axes, which wasn't a great sign. I grabbed a plank of wood with a couple of nails in it as it was the first weapon I could find. I joined Chrom in shielding Lissa from what was likely to be a charge by Garrick and his men.
"Well, well, well. Looks like we got ourselves a couple of Shepherds here boys.", the man in front joked. The four brigands behind him chuckled in response.
"You'll pay for what you've done to this city!" Chrom yelled angrily.
"Oh really, c'mon then little prince. I'd love to see you try, boy."
"I won't let you hurt anyone else here!"
"Once I'm done with you, I oughta take that pretty little thing that's standing behind ya. Name's Garrick, sweetheart"
"How dare you!" Lissa screamed, offended by Garrick's advance.
"Alright, then. Get em' boys." Garrick said while signaling for a charge.
The four lackeys charged at Chrom and I, while Garrick stayed mostly to the rear. Chrom was against two men with axes, while I dealt with a lance-wielder and a swordsman. The lance-wielder thrusted his weapon at my stomach, which I dodged pretty easily. The swordsman then swung at my head, trying to catch me off balance. I managed to just barely move out of the way before sinking the nails that the board contained into the swordsman's side.
As the swordsman clutched his side in pain, the lance-wielder tried to stab me in the stomach again. After dodging, I grabbed ahold of the lance and tugged it towards me. This caused the bandit to lose balance and stumble towards me. I took advantage of this by hitting him with a one-two combo followed by a right hook that knocked him out. I winced in pain as the right side of my chest seemed to ache in response to that.
Seems like I'll still need some recovery time to be 100 percent. I thought to myself.
I turned back around to the swordsman to see him lying there motionless. I froze as the realization hit me: I just killed three people. I felt my breath get heavier as I attempted to stay calm. My eyes darted towards Chrom, who seemed to be locked in a one-on-one battle with one of the axe wielders. Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my side.
As I looked down I saw an ax lodged in my side. I gasped in shock, and cried out in pain as I fell to the ground. I could see Garrick stand over me as I landed with my back against the side of the bridge.
"Well, boy. Sure looks like it's your time to die." he said cockily.
"No!" I could hear Chrom scream as he was kept occupied by the brigand.
As he raised his ax, I closed my eyes in anticipation for a death blow that never came. I heard what sounded like some kind of electricity. As I opened my eyes, I saw a man with white hair in a black trenchcoat with strange purple markings on it.
This has to be Robin. Won't be any other magic users here at this point. I thought to myself.
I saw Lissa sprint towards me out of the corner of my eye as I began to fade in and out of consciousness. Chrom defeated the last brigand and joined his sister at my side.
"Oh, gods" Lissa whispered to herself as she immediately began the healing process.
" Hey… I'm still alive somehow." I croaked.
" Save your strength," Chrom said, trying to reassure me, "Just focus on not going unconscious."
"I'll try, boss man." I mumbled jokingly.
The healing process took a lot longer this time. I fought like hell to remain conscious, but it seemed like it took a good bit of energy out of both Lissa and I. It really spoke to how badly Garrick had wounded me. After what felt like a day, Lissa had finally finished healing me.
"That was a close one," Lissa sighed as she stood up and wiped some sweat from her brow, "If I weren't close by, you wouldn't have made it!"
"Thanks for all the help," I said weakly, "That makes two times you've patched me up. Sorry I've been kind of a burden on y'all."
"No, you've been no burden at all!" Chrom exclaimed.
"Milord, did this man assist you in battle?" a stern voice asked.
"Yes, he was vital in holding off the bandits long enough for you and Robin to arrive."
I tried to stand up, but quickly fell back to the ground. I was definitely exhausted from the fight, and the fact that I was wounded twice wasn't helping matters in any way. I let out a deep sigh as I accepted that the ground was going to be my home for the time being. I began to fade out of consciousness again, but did so a bit more comfortably considering I wasn't bleeding out at the moment.
"Gotta ask, am I in? Sure did a hell of a lot of fightin' today. Hope I made a good first impression.", I mumbled.
I heard Robin make a sound of confusion as I began to pass out. The poor bastard probably was worried to death about me after getting rid of Garrick, and now I was asking to put myself in as much danger as I possibly could at that point. Then again, there's a chance that he didn't hear what I said. The last thing I heard before I drifted off was the sound of a conversation starting. If I didn't make it into the Shepherds. I knew I at least tried my damnedest to. My last thoughts were if they were even going to be in Southtown by the time I woke up.