When a bed was wobbly, it usually meant I had drunk too much. When a bed was so wobbly, it literally threw me off of the mattress? Yeah, that was because of a ship.

After an awful amount of time marching through the thick forests and barely paved paths into the harbor, we already had a ship waiting for us. Loading it was quick, and the Shepherds didn't waste time setting sail. That was how I found myself in the middle of a blue liquid landscape, sloshing through the thick wooden planks that kept us afloat.

Though I would be glad if it didn't make me splat against a wall.

I rubbed my elbow, the main recipient of the blow, and promptly stood up. It took me a moment to get my sea legs going, but with how many times I had found myself on a ship back then, those came quickly. I was just salty about the fact I wouldn't be able to rest for a little longer than usual.

No, that wasn't supposed to be a pun.

I let out a yawn, put my clothes on—except for the goddamn hoopskirt—and aimed for the upper deck of the ship. While the place was big, it still could only count as a large boat more than anything. When you were used to ferries that went beyond the normal speed of what such a big vessel should go, navigating through this one was a cinch. The only thing that made things slightly annoying was the constant grunting of the crew that steered the ship in the right direction and the flapping sails.

I should probably be more thankful than I am at the moment.

Shaking my head, I ignored the crew and leaned on the railing. The stars in the sky were long gone and only the colour blue permeated the skies. There was a small glimpse of the sun rising from the sea in the distance, but it wasn't enough to discolor the scenery.

I took a deep breath, and let my nostrils flare under the humid but refreshing air. I couldn't remember the last time I had smelled the sea, but seeing how… similar it was evoked a sense of nostalgia.

Even if the sea didn't look the way I remembered it.

I leaned my head on my arm, staring at the horizon and patiently waiting for the sun to rise while the wind gently tossed my hair. It was the only way I knew how to pass the time on a ship. I had little to do here anyway.

"Lady Theresa," I heard from my right side and tilted my head, spotting Frederick without any armor on. I hummed before resuming my staring contest with the rising sun.

"Hey, Frederick."

"Up and early again, are you?" he asked, taking a spot next to me and eyeing the same scenery.

"No, the ship wrestled me out of my bed and I wasn't tired enough to go back to sleep," I said, glancing in his direction. "I could ask you why you're here, but I feel like that's a pointless question."

He eyed me with a raised eyebrow. "Don't be so quick to assume, Lady Theresa. Everything I do is with a purpose in mind. Hence why I'm here."

I let my resting hand fall limp. "With me? Of all people?"

"Everyone is asleep and you're one of the few who is an early riser so I thought I could get this out of the way first."

"Oh," I exclaimed. "Then what is it?"

"I wanted to applaud you," he stated, fully turning to me. "I'm surprised how quickly you grew into your position. Even with the few hurdles you had, it would be foolish of me to downplay what you were able to achieve so far."

Did… did I hear him right? Praise? From him? I knew he was a stone face, but I would be lying if I said there wasn't a hint of smugness hiding behind my surprised expression.

"I mean, if it weren't for you, I'd probably be struggling, but," my eyes glided down at my feet. "Thanks."

Frederick slowly nodded. "Again, I'm surprised how milord does it. Finding people with seemingly no visible talent and yet they can reach their potential under the right circumstances."

I gave him a flat look. "You could've left that part out."

"Take it as a compliment, not an insult," he admonished. "You were able to prove me wrong, that's important."

I still didn't know whether he was a sore loser, or just liked being right about everything he said.

"But," his shoulders sagged ever-so-lightly, turning his head back at the sea. "The mission ahead concerns me."

My eyebrow quickly shot up. "How so?"

He breathed a sigh. "I know the Shepherds will be able to handle this mission, one way or another. The real issue is you."

I couldn't help but let out a mirthless chuckle. "When am I not the issue? Almost every time you talked with me, it was always about lacking something. It gets kind of repetitive."

"Yes, I do realize that myself."

A frown formed on my face. "You could be less forward about it at least. I know I'm far from what people would imagine, but I just don't have the energy to explain the nitty-gritty every time. Feels like I'm talking to brick wall after brick wall."

"Certain perspectives clash more often than others, and it seems you fell from a world none of us could fully understand," Frederick said, turning his head back at the sea. "The more time you spend here, it only highlights the differences between us."

"But I don't want to be different," I buried my head into my arms, leaning on the railing. "All my life I've been fed lies about me being special. It's even worse here just because of how much of an outlier I am."

"Special?" Frederick parroted, but once I saw the look he was giving me—the one with a raised brow—I instinctively jolted my head away.

"Please, don't look at me like that," I whispered before turning away and aiming for the doors leading inside the ship. "Forget I said anything. I'm going to check on the supplies."

It only took a single step for Frederick to reach out with his hand and tightly grab my shoulder. My face scrunched up and I tried to peel his fingers away, but they didn't budge.

"You know you can't leave now without explaining," he stated. "Who do you think you are?"

I clicked my tongue. "I still feel like an outsider, trying to act like a Shepherd that only manages boxes of crap."

Frederick lowered his head, and eventually let go but still decided to block my path with his large form, forcing me to look up into his brown eyes.

"That is true, I have nothing to prove that otherwise," he admitted. "But I thought I had told you many times over how important your station is. Don't downplay it so breathlessly."

"How can I not when it still feels like I'm not contributing much of anything?" I retorted. "I thought learning how to wield the staff I found would at least help me cope and have more to offer, but it feels like I'm only avoiding the overall issue altogether."

He raised an eyebrow. "And said issue is?"

"I don't know!" I shouted at him, recoiling at how loud I was. The crew stopped in their tracks, all sounds were silenced except for the roaring sails and sea. I turned my head back to the deck with the crew, and instead of prying further, they continued their line of work.

"I just… don't know."

Frederick took a deep breath. "Then I'm sorry I can't be of any help. It's hard to solve a problem when we don't even know what it is."

"Yeah, I get that," I admitted. "I guess I became too reliant on you to help me steer the ship that's my life at the moment."

I glanced up at the open sails, flapping against the wind. "Figuratively speaking anyway."

"Then it's up to you to find a map," he remarked. "Maybe this mission will give the answer you are looking for, but that might be too optimistic."

Frederick dug into one of his pockets before finding a small leather sheath with a poking handle. He unclipped a button and took out a knife. It wasn't anything special, the only thing that made it stand out was the silver armguard that barely covered his hand.

"But you must make sure those thoughts don't weigh you down on the field. Many things can happen, and you must stay sharp," he tapped the railing with the knife once, leaving a small dent behind.

A reluctant nod was my answer. "Yeah, I know but I don't feel prepared at all."

"Hence why I'm here," he stated before putting the knife back into its sheath and offering it to me. "Take it."

My eyes widened for a moment and I instinctively took it. "Why would I—"

"Everyone needs to have something to defend themselves with," he said. "At least a knife isn't as alien to you as a sword. I saw you handling the food well compared to what I saw back in the barracks."

"If you get the jump on somebody," he then tapped his neck once, "aim here. It's the quickest way."

My breath hitched under the thought and the knife suddenly became heavy. "...please tell me I won't have to resort to that."

He shook his head. "There is no guarantee, Lady Theresa. Have it as a precaution. Gods know we're going into hostile territory."

I stared at the handle of the knife, refusing to look up into Frederick's eyes. "Can't I just… sit this one out?"

"Frankly, you could. But now, since you've shown aptitude with a staff, it's only natural for Robin to deploy you as well," he explained, putting his hands behind his back. "I'm sure he will try to keep you safe as best as he can, but being able to rely on yourself is extremely important."

"I…" I paused, eventually gritting my teeth. "I don't know if I'm actually ready."

"None of us ever were," he remarked. "A battlefield is the greatest and yet the most dangerous teacher. And sometimes it makes us realize what we want to do with our lives."

I lifted my head, but was unable to say anything. I was scared, extremely scared, but if there was a person I knew I could trust with whatever they say, Frederick was one of them.

Well, and everyone in the Shepherds for that matter.

He eventually put a hand on my tight grip around the knife. "I think it's only beneficial to you to come with us. Fighting through your fears is never easy, but it just might be the thing you need."

I let my hand fall limp. "I know what doesn't kill us makes us stronger, but my problems weren't on this kind of scale. The worst that could happen was missing a class, or being scolded by my—," my arms went rigged and began shaking. "...by my old man."

He glanced down for a moment before switching his gaze back to the sea. "You truly hate your father, don't you?"

A scoff escaped my lips. "You don't even know the half of it."

He tilted his head to the side and let out a low hum before turning his back. "Then I think the first thing you need to do is to let go."

"W-what?"

"I've taken enough of your time," Frederick stated without divulging further. "The island shouldn't be that far off, so make any necessary preparations. We're counting on you, quartermaster."

I was too stunned to speak back while Frederick disappeared inside the ship. What was he trying to say by 'letting go'? No matter how much I tried to interpret his words, not a single answer came to my mind. In fact, it only made things foggier than they already were.

I looked down at the knife still in my hands, its gleaming edge reflecting the sunlight. I took a deep breath and tightened the holster around my thigh.

"Ow! Not that much!"

Too tightly, in fact.

{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}

Once we landed on the island, I could instantly tell why it was called the Farfort. The 'far' part was just lazy, but 'fort' instantly smacked me in the face.

Despite the whole island being visible under the naked eye, that fort loomed over the entire plain by sheer size. Even when we landed in the port town, the fort was always visible. It was poorly maintained, and there were large chunks of walls that some trees had trouble hiding. It looked like one giant wreckage after an earthquake.

Actually, it wouldn't have surprised me if an earthquake had done it all. What I didn't understand was why somebody would want to build such a fortress in the middle of nowhere. It just didn't make any sense.

Thankfully, the port itself was surprisingly defendable. According to what Chrom told me, after the bandits arose, most of the residents gathered inside this town to hold out as long as they could with makeshift defenses. Wooden walls, and dug-up pits with spikes, among other things.

The usual for this era. Or at least, as usual as it could get in a world with magic of all things.

But enough polemics, I had stuff to do.

"So, we're going to form two groups?" I asked Robin, who gave me a set of plans with required supplies for each team.

He nodded. "Yes. Since we don't know how many bandits are on this island, we need to scout out the entire place for any sentries. If all of us banded together, it would only alert them."

A hum escaped my lips while I gave Robin a nod. "Alright, everything should be in the carriage. It shouldn't take long."

"That'd be great," he thanked. "We have to move out once it gets dark after all."

I paused in the middle of standing from my chair, looking at Robin with raised eyebrows. "Pardon?"

"You heard me," he remarked before opening the tent flap. He looked up into the sky where the sun was still at its apex. "The moon will give us enough light. Besides, those bandits are going to walk with torches anyway."

He exited the tent, and I swiftly gathered the documents he gave me before I followed him outside. "Wait, how can you be so sure?"

"I just know how bandits think," he said, not fully turning to look into my eyes. He marched towards the largest battered house in this town, but before we were even remotely close to it, he stopped. "Go and take care of those supplies. I need to talk with Chrom and the mayor."

"Oh," I exclaimed before nodding. "Right."

Robin didn't even acknowledge my reply. I just stared at him until he disappeared inside the largest house in this town and closed the doors haphazardly behind him. Was he as worked up as I was? It was kind of hard to believe since he always remained calm.

A sigh escaped my lips. Maybe I'm looking too much into this.

I reached the caravan holding our supplies before I sorted everything Robin needed for both parties. It was manageable since I was the one who packed these boxes, but once I opened one of the weapon crates, it felt a little emptier than before. One of my eyebrows instinctively rose and I began counting all the weapons inside, only to realize I was one axe short.

Did I miscalculate them? No, the amount of stuff in here could be counted on just two hands, there was no way I could be that bad.

Well, at least the things I needed from the weapon crate were there, but this just rubbed me the wrong way. First, Sully was the one who took that spear back in the barracks without even asking and now, I was one weapon short.

While a little angry, I stored all of the supplies in four large rucksacks before marching towards the makeshift training grounds where most of the Shepherds were practicing. Stahl, Sully, Vaike, Virion, even Sumia were there. I would have liked it if more were present, but I had to take what I could get.

None of them had noticed me yet, so I cleared my throat and clapped my hands twice as loudly as I possibly could. They all stopped whatever they were doing and, almost in unison, turned their heads to me.

While I wasn't the best when it came to having all of this sudden attention to myself, I still crossed my arms. "Can I have your attention for a moment?"

"Eh? And what for?" Sully was the one who answered first, leaning on her spear. "We're kind of in the middle of something here."

"I know you are, but it'll be quick, I swear," I said while my eyes darted from person to person. "I just need to know who has taken an axe out of the caravan. I'm missing one."

While the silence was more momentary than I would have liked, Vaike suddenly raised his hand with surprising eagerness. "Ah, right. I took it because I lost one on our way here. Hope that ain't a problem."

My lips formed an unamused frown before a sigh escaped my lips. "Could you come here? I need to tell you something."

Vaike's confused face didn't help my frown in any way. He shrugged and eventually walked up in front of me, waiting. I had to look up since our height difference couldn't be more apparent, but that didn't matter to me.

I suddenly grabbed one of the chains sticking out of his metal collar and pulled him down. Thankfully, it was easier to do with how surprised he was, and now, our heads were at eye level. I could stare him in the eyes properly.

"While I don't understand how you could lose an axe, that isn't the issue," I said, keeping my grip on the chain.

"H-hey! I was about to tell you—," I pinched his ear and gave it a good old twist. "Ow! Ow! Stop it, it hurts!"

"Were you? Because I'm pretty sure you'd have forgotten about it if I didn't come by. I'll say this only once. If you're going to take anything from our supplies, you'll tell me beforehand. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes! Fine! Whatever! Can you stop pinching my ear already!?"

Well, if he had asked more nicely, I could have let go, but I gave it just one more second to accentuate my problem with what he did. Then, I simply lifted my hands up.

"As long as it doesn't happen again," I said before I crossed my arms.

Vaike rubbed his ear, trying to ease the pain. "You could have just said what was wrong from the start."

I shrugged. "I don't think I would have gotten the same results if I didn't."

My head snapped to the rest behind Vaike who were either snickering or had nervous smiles on their faces. "And that goes for all of you too. Don't think Vaike is a special case."

They still stared at me, and while I could see a few hums or nods of agreement, they waited for me to finish.

I waved my hands dismissively. "That's all, you can go back to whatever you were doing."

While they all returned to their activities, I found myself a haystack near their training grounds and promptly sat down, even if it was difficult with that stupid hoopskirt.

Did I mention I hated the hoopskirt or was it apparent enough already?

A sigh escaped my lips as I lazily stared at the rest doing their training. With everything already prepared for the mission, I had nothing better to do. There weren't any boxes to sort, no papers to write—that would come later—or any mindless task to do to kill time. With nothing keeping me occupied, a sudden knot twisted my stomach.

It was minor at first, but it grew worse each time somebody swung with their weapon, or a piece of a haystack fell to the ground. My hand reached for the knife strapped to my leg under the hoopskirt, and its weight was almost too much for my hands. I was shaking, the blade wiggled in my unsteady arms before my grip slowly loosened on its own.

The thud the knife made was as loud as thunder before a thought pierced my mind.

I can't do this…

I hid my face inside my arms, gripping the skin like a lifeline. Cold sweat started to pour down my temples accompanied by short breaths.

Suddenly, an arm grabbed my shoulder and my head snapped back to see Sumia through my fingers and hair.

"Are…" she paused, choosing her words carefully. "Are you alright?"

All the activities around me came to a screeching halt and yet I almost couldn't hear her. That sudden gain in attention from the Shepherds turned my stomach, and I couldn't help but forcefully pry Sumia's hand away with a slap.

I quickly rose from my seat and bolted towards my tent while I heard her shout my name, but I didn't dare stop. Once I saw that seam in the tent's fabric, I hid inside before covering myself with a blanket, holding onto it for dear life.

"I just… can't," my voice was shaky, trying to convince myself this was a bad idea, yet the internal struggle made my entire body feel numb.

What do I want for fuck's sake!?

My eyes darted towards the table filled with papers and a quill resting inside an ink bottle, thinking of anything to keep myself occupied, but again, there was nothing to do other than just wait.

Wait… yeah, like that's a good idea!

Everything was fine until I was alone with my thoughts and none of them kept me sane. All that time I could spend was wasted inside my head, and it was the worst place to be in.

It sure is when I can't even hold a damn knife! I already was in a fight! What's so different from this one!?

My right ear suddenly rang, and that knot around my stomach was getting tighter, to the point it started to choke me. I tried to take a deep breath, but it felt like I had something stuck in my throat, and I started to claw at my skin.

And I even wanted to be useful!

Once that lump finally allowed me to breathe, my eyes darted towards the staff leaning against the table. My legs pushed me closer, and once it was within reach, I grabbed that staff with an iron grip, to the point nails dug into my palm. A trickle of blood coated the handle, but I didn't pay it any attention.

I just wanted this to end.

Please… help me.

The edges of my vision began to blur, and I was barely able to keep my eyes open, but then, something warm started to envelop me.

Something that made the pain more bearable.

I looked up and saw the staff glow a pale blue light, accompanied by sparkles. They started to circle me in a mesmerizing motion, and once they slowly dissipated into nothingness…

Everything went dark.

AN: Well, it's been a while, hasn't it? Half a year, to be precise.

As you may have noticed, this chapter is a bit shorter than the rest I've released so far. I've realized that I tend to avoid longer chapters nowadays. As such, from now on, chapters will be around 3-4k words, but in return, they will come more often.

I know I haven't kept in touch, but with the fact that I've been releasing my other Fire Emblem fic, Under A Wing, with an upload schedule of all things. I know, very smart of me, but it helps me put up a healthy writing schedule. To that end, Extra Branch will be updated whenever I have a chapter ready. I can't promise when they will come out, but they will eventually.

Now, with that rant out of the way, I'd like to thank Cavik for beta reading today's chapter, as well as the Fanfiction Treehouse Community. They are great people to be around. If you want to join the discord server, here is the link: u89gs745fn

Thank you for reading today's chapter.

God's speed.