#loooooooooong

It was a bright, sunny day, ‘round the middle of May. The vales out by a certain border village were as green as they could be, and there was nothing out of the ordinary as far as the eye could see.

Nothing, that is, except for a sixteen-year-old boy laying face-down in the otherwise empty dale. He wore a dark blue cloak whose hood nearly covered his strawberry blonde hair, along with a plain white shirt and brown trousers. His soft snores easily merged with the zephyr in lightly caressing the meadow, gently coaxing the blades of long grass around him into a waltz.

Walking down the nearby path came a group of three travellers. The first was a stone-faced, brown-haired man wearing plate armour and mounted on a well-barded steed. His gaze remained straight forward, not stopping to look even once at the field nor the person sleeping in it. The second was a young girl in a frilled dress with a spiked frame. She, on the other hand, noticed the boy in the grass and called the other member of the little group. This third traveller was a tall, handsome young man with blue hair, who wore some light armour and carried a gold-coloured sword.

“Frederick, hold.” He commanded the older man, who nodded and reined his horse to a stop before dismounting and watching with mild disapproval as the younger two ran to the unconscious boy.

“Chrom, we have to do SOMETHING!” The girl exclaimed, gesturing to the teenager laying on the ground who groaned and rolled onto his back.

“Well, what do you propose we do?” Chrom asked calmly in response.

“I… I dunno!” She replied, a bit flustered. Just then, the boy’s eyes opened.

“I see you’re awake now.” Chrom stated.

“Hey there!” The girl chimed in cheerfully.

“There are better places to take a nap than on the ground, you know. Give me your hand.” Chrom leaned down and extended a hand to the recently-awoken teen, who accepted it and got to his feet. “You alright?”

“Y-yes… Thank you,” The boy blinked, finding that a name spoke itself in his head as he looked at the unfamiliar young man, “Chrom.”

“Ah, then you know who I am?” Chrom inquired, as if this would in no way surprise him.

“No, actually. I… It’s strange… Your name, it just… Came to me…” The other boy replied, looking more than a little confused.

“… Hm, how curious.” Chrom commented. Seeing the younger boy’s discomfort, he offered a warm, gentle smile as a gesture of reassurance. “Tell me, what’s your name? What brings you here?”

“My name is… It’s… Hm?” The younger grimaced a little in pain as he tried to remember.

“… You don’t know your own name?” Chrom asked.

“I’m not sure if…where am I, exactly?” The redhead looked around, trying to figure it out.

“Hey, I’ve heard of this! It’s called amnesia!” The girl shouted excitedly.

“It’s called a load of Pegasus dung.” The armoured man, who had just approached, opined. “We’re to believe you remember milord’s name but not your own?”

“B-but it’s the truth!” The boy protested.

“What if it IS true, Frederick? We can’t just leave him here, alone and confused.” Chrom stated. “What sort of Shepherds would we be then?”

“Just the same, milord, I must emphasize caution. 'Twould not do to let a wolf into our flock.” Frederick replied.

“Right then— we’ll take him back to town and sort this out there.” Chrom decided, announcing with a distinct air of finality.

“Wait just one moment. Don’t I have a say in this?” The boy asked, not very much liking the idea of being stuck with the somewhat-hostile man with a spear.

“Peace, friend— I promise we’ll hear all you have to say back in town. Now come.” Chrom said.

“What will you do with me? Am I to be your prisoner?” The younger demanded, feeling some rising panic at the thought.

“Hah!” Chrom chuckled. “You’ll be free to go once we establish you’re no enemy of Ylisse.”

“Is that where we are? Ylisse?” The boy inquired, a look of honest curiosity appearing on his face.

“You’ve never heard of the halidom? Hah! Someone pay this actor. He plays quite the fool!” Frederick stated. “The furrowed brow is especially convincing…”

“Frederick, please.” Chrom gestured for Frederick to calm down. “This land is known as the Halidom of Ylisse. Our ruler, Emmeryn, is called the Exalt. I suppose proper introductions are in order… My name is Chrom— but then, you already knew that. The delicate one here is my sister Lissa.” Chrom indicated the girl, who looked annoyed at the statement.

“I am NOT delicate!” Lissa protested with an indignant harrumph. “Ignore my brother, please. He can be a bit thick sometimes. But you’re lucky we Shepherds found you. Brigands would have been a rude awakening!”

“Shepherds? You tend sheep? … In full armour?” The boy asked as he felt his eyebrow try to escape his face.

“Heh, it’s a dangerous job. Just ask Frederick the Wary here.” Chrom indicated Frederick, who merely smiled.

“A title I shall wear with pride. Gods forbid one of us keeps an appropriate level of caution.” Frederick replied.

“Appropriate level of caution? But… But you just said you’re shepherds!” The boy protested.

“Nonetheless, it is never remiss to take care.” Frederick explained dourly.

“Riiiiiight…” The younger rolled his eyes, biting back a laugh as they continued walking. Awhile later, something caught his attention and he turned his head just in time to see a robin alight on a high branch. Images and scenes flashed through his mind, blurry but understandable. Most featured either an oddly-dressed man in a costume and sharp-eared cowl or a middle-aged, bespectacled man in a beige coat— both addressed him by the name of that bird. “A robin… Robin. That’s me. I’m Robin.”

“Robin? Like the bird? That’s a nice name, if a little odd.” Lissa commented. “Are you— Chrom, look!” Before Lissa could finish her question, she froze in shock and pointed to something in the distance. Chrom followed her hand, squinting to see further, and gasped.

“The town, it’s on fire!” Chrom shouted. “More than likely brigands. Come, let’s go!” Lissa and Frederick nodded, the latter mounting his horse and the former climbing on behind him. Chrom ran after them, and after a moment’s hesitation, Robin followed.

“Robin? What’re you doing here?” Chrom asked as he noticed the redhead coming behind him.

“I came to help out, just like you. Is that a problem?” Robin shot back, feeling mildly defensive. Chrom looked over the younger teen.

“Hm… Apparently you’ve got a sword, and… Is that a tome? No, no problem at all. You can fight, right?” Chrom inquired, pointing to the bandits running amuck.

“I… Think so. How does this work?” Instructions popped into his head, and Robin drew the tome from its place in a pocket of his cloak and opened it. The odd, fluid runes on the page sorted themselves into a script he found he could understand, and he read them aloud in a surprisingly steady chant. “Gather, lightning in the air, to smite my foe in a thundery flare!” He made a (shockingly familiar) motion as though throwing something at the swordsman he targeted, and a blast of electricity tore through the air. The bolt hit the bandit squarely in the chest, and Chrom rushed forward to ensure the job was finished before he even hit the ground. Frederick surged forward on his mount, dropping off Lissa so she could check Chrom and Robin for injuries before thrusting his lance cleanly through a magic-using bandit.

“Chrom, circle and switch!” Robin shouted, indicating his idea by pulling out his sword and swiftly making some motions in the air. Chrom caught on easily and ran around to the other side of the axe-wielding ruffian Robin was facing. Before Chrom could get in position, however, the brigand attacked, his axe biting into Robin’s off shoulder. Once the attacker jumped back to avoid an immediate counter, Chrom lunged forward, slashing the bandit’s side open. Before the thug could recover, Robin had managed to stab his neck.

“Robin!” Lissa ran over to the injured teen’s side and raised her staff. A soft light came from the crystal and coalesced around Robin’s wound. He sighed as a cool wind seemed to take away most of the injury. When the light dissipated, it wasn’t even bleeding anymore and hardly hurt. There was no physical evidence it had ever been there save for the blood on the bandit’s axe.

“Woah…” Robin murmured before shaking himself out of his amazement. “Thanks! Now then,” he looked at the five remaining bandits, “I think we can get to kicking their butts.”

“Let’s do it!” Chrom agreed, charging the nearest axe-wielding bandit. He slashed, burying his sword in the brigand’s side and swiftly pulling it out. In response, the bulky axe-user lashed out with his weapon, giving a huge gash in Chrom’s leg. Immediately Robin countered, chanting the incantation again and throwing the imaginary projectile. The bandit fell backwards, dead. Meanwhile, Frederick ran another Mage through, and Lissa ran to her brother’s side. She healed the blue-haired young man almost flawlessly, leaving the formerly large wound instead a small (but still present) cut.

Not a minute later, the fight was over. Chrom stood, panting, over the bandit leader’s cadaver. He smiled as Lissa praised Robin and the younger teen expressed discomfort at the attention (or possibly at her overwhelming enthusiasm), and as Frederick told the two to stop dallying so they could move out sooner. They hadn’t even met for a day, but Chrom could already see that Robin would, if he chose to, make an excellent Shepherd.

Later, after several hours of walking down the dusty road to Ylisse’s capital, the group had passed out rather quickly in their camp for the night. In the middle of the night, Chrom woke up, getting a foreboding feeling. He went for a walk in the nearby woods; unbeknownst to the young swordfighter, Lissa followed, having been woken up when he rose.

It all happened in an instant. The sky was filled with fire and smoke, and mysterious (but obviously inhuman) creatures tumbled out of a huge, glowing eye. After them came a young masked mancarrying a sword, who immediately went into action, fighting the zombie-like humanoids along with Chrom and defending Lissa. As lava began pouring into the forest, however, the three ran to a clearing. Robin and Frederick, the latter having woken the former up when he noticed that Lissa and Chrom were gone, joined them moments later.

“Get these kinds of things a lot 'round here?” Robin asked.

“Not once before! These creatures definitely aren’t from Ylisse.” Chrom shouted back. “Any brilliant plans like earlier?” The prince was half-joking, but wouldn’t have been surprised him if Robin’s answer to his question was affirmative.

“Haven’t got a clu-oh wait a minute… Yes, yes I do. See that river of glowing liquid death? It means we don’t need to go through the trouble of killing these things ourselves, assuming we CAN kill them. Do whatever you can to knock them into the fire!” Robin called. Frederick and Chrom nodded. Almost instantly the veteran knight was beside the lava-filled ravine, having used his lance to sweep three into it. Chrom wasn’t nearly as swift, but he was efficient, batting one into another with Falchion and thereby knocking both into the deadly fluid before ten seconds passed. Robin stayed by Lissa, protecting her when needed and slinging spells to set Chrom and Frederick up for more convenient attacks.

“Captain Chrom! Argh, I knew I shouldn’t'a left 'em!” A redheaded knight rode onto the field, followed by a blue-haired archer.

“Milady, a dove such as yourself should surely find a better place than this far afield; but fear not— I, Virion, he who puts the arch in archer, shall protect you!” The archer promptly felt an axe whiz dangerously close past him, and found the obvious leader of the group of monsters charging towards him.

“I’m Sully, and I’m a Shepherd. I can damn well protect myself, and fools like you for that bloody matter.” Sully swore, not knowing or caring if the archer heard her, as she thrust her spear into the lead monster. Robin did his part by singing the monster with a spell. It wasn’t dead (or would it be re-dead?), though.

“Hey, take a hint from Chrom!” Robin advised her, indicating their fearless, blue-haired leader before pushing Lissa out of the way of an arrow. The arrow’s sender soon found himself/herself/itself with one of Virion’s arrows sticking out of its eye and more than a bit singed from one of Robin’s spells. The knight, meanwhile, nodded and used the body of the leader (impaled on her lance) to knock another monster into the chasm.

“Well, seems we’re done here.” Robin commented after using his sword to shove the last monster into the lava.

“Aye. This young man took care of the others.” Frederick agreed, pointing to the mysterious masked stranger. Chrom turned towards him.

“You saved my sister… Thank you for that. My name is Chrom. Might I ask yours?” Chrom asked.

“You may call me Marth.” Marth gave a small bow as he sheathed his sword.

“Marth? After the heroic king of old? Well, you certainly fight like a hero. Where did you learn to wield a blade?” Chrom extended his hand, which Marth shook.

“I’m not here to talk about myself. This world teeters on the brink of a horrific calamity. This was but a prelude; you have been warned.” With that, Marth launched himself into one of the remaining trees, and some rustling was heard as he left into the night.

“Not really one for a chat, is he?” Robin quipped. He felt something… amiss with the other, like he didn’t belong here; truth be told, he had gotten the same sort of feeling from himself ever since he had first used magic hours earlier.

“No indeed. His skills seem to lie elsewhere; I’d wager we’ll hear his name again. But for now, my concern is the capital. We should make haste.” Frederick advised dourly.

The next morning, our heroes, now six with the addition of Sully and Virion, arrived in the capital of Ylisse. Sully and Virion went off somewhere, so it was just Lissa, Chrom, Robin, and Frederick for the moment, though.

“So this is the capital of Ylisse. I’ve never seen so many people! Not that I have a comparison or anything, seeing as this is a good ten times the size of that village if not more…” Robin mused.

“It seems the capital was spared the calamity. That quake must have been solely in the forest.” Frederick observed.

“Look! It’s the Exalt, come to see us!” An elderly citizen exclaimed. Robin followed his gaze, and saw a serene-looking blonde woman clad in green.

“The Exalt… You said that’s what your ruler is called, right?” Robin inquired, to confirm his memory. Frederick nodded. “Is it safe for her to be out and about, just in the crowd like this?”

“Yes, her name is Emmeryn. And it is safe, most assuredly. She is a symbol of peace— loved and welcomed by all the citizenry.” Frederick explained.

“With our neighbour Plegia poking at our borders, the people need her especially. She calms them, reminds them of the value of peace when some might otherwise call for us to strike first.” Chrom added.

“Then this country sure is lucky to have her.” Robin noted. Lissa nodded enthusiastically.

“She’s also the best big sister EVER!” She exclaimed. Robin chuckled.

“Yes, I bet she… Wait a minute… She’s your sister?!” Robin asked as he registered the meaning of what Lissa said. He was met with three nods. “Wouldn’t that mean that you’re…”

“The prince and princess of the realm, yes. You recalled his name and not this?” Frederick replied, traces of an amused smile playing onto his face.

“You said you were, and I quote, shepherds!” Robin, for his part, was still shocked.

“We are, in a way… We just have a LOT of sheep.” Chrom answered amicably.

“Chrom… Say, if you’re a prince, shouldn’t I be calling you 'sire’ or 'your royalness’ or something?” Robin quipped, now past the shock phase. Chrom laughed before giving a response.

“Just Chrom is fine. Lissa and I both prefer being treated normally; neither of us has ever been much for formalities.” Chrom replied, smiling. “Hey, it looks like Emm is returning to the palace. Would you like to meet her?” Before Robin had a chance to answer, the other three started towards the castle, effectively not giving him any choice in the matter. He shrugged and followed.

The throne room was amazing, with banners on the walls, splendid white columns, and a dais at one end of the grand hall that had on it the throne (which managed to look both regal and modest, as thrones go). But the room itself wasn’t what amazed Robin most— no, that was the Exalt herself. Emmeryn was stunningly beautiful, but, like her throne and palace, she didn’t look extravagant. She wore a pale green dress with long sleeves and a golden hem, and over it a forest green poncho with a dandelion-coloured ribbon around the top. On the ribbon were written various combinations of the letters I,V, and X (though not all three at the same time), in bronze-coloured thread. Her crown was a simple golden wreath, supported by a wire to seemingly float just above her pale blond hair. It was as though that was her halo, and Exalt Emmeryn was an angel.

It took a nudge from Lissa to make Robin realize he was staring. He apologized, flustered. To his surprise, Emmeryn didn’t seem the least bit offended. In fact, she smiled warmly.

“Chrom! Lissa! Welcome home. Oh, and good day, Frederick. How fared you all?” Emmeryn greeted.

“Well, we won’t have bandit problems for awhile.” Chrom replied.

“Wonderful. And our people?” Emmeryn inquired.

“Safe as they can be, Emm. But we still need to watch the borders; the brigands crossed over from Plegia.” Chrom stated. The armoured woman standing beside the dais chose now to speak up.

“Forgive me, milord. My Pegasus Knights should have intercepted them.” The lady bowed her head slightly, clearly ashamed.

“No, Phila. Your duty is here, protecting the Exalt.” Chrom shook his head, giving her a reassuring smile.

“And besides, we had plenty of help!” Lissa added cheerfully.

“You speak of your new companion. Who might he be, Chrom?” The Exalt asked.

“M-My name is Robin, your grace! It’s an honour to meet you!” Robin answered quickly.

“It is a pleasure to meet you as well, Robin.” Emmeryn replied.

“We met Robin yesterday, in a field outside Sutherton. He has no memory save his name and the past half day or thereabouts.” Chrom explained. “He fought bravely against the bandits, and I’ve decided to make him a Shepherd.” Seeing the younger boy’s discomfort at the statement, Chrom quickly added, “Should he accept the post, of course.”

“It seems Ylisse owes you a debt of gratitude, Robin.” Emmeryn said.

“Not at all, milady!” Robin replied instantly.

“If I may, milady, Robin claims to have lost his memory, but it is only that—a claim. He could be a bandit himself, or even a Plegian spy.” Frederick opined dourly.

“And yet you still allowed him to enter the castle, Chrom?” Emmeryn asked. Seeing the somewhat nervous look on Robin’s face, she gave him a consoling glance to assure him this was more a test for her brother than agreement to Frederick’s suspicions.

“Robin put his own safety at risk for that of our people, Emm. He has earned my trust.” Chrom replied resolutely. Emmeryn smiled.

“Well spoken, brother.” Emmeryn praised. “Robin, should you choose to join the Shepherds, know that you have my blessing. But thank you for your prudence as always, Frederick. My siblings are fortunate to have so tireless a guardian. Now, Phila, I believe we should move to the other matter.”

Phila nodded, “Yes, Your Grace! Prince Chrom, know you aught of the monsters that over the past two days have began wreaking havoc on the halidom?”

“I do. We fought some last night, some ways west of here, in fact. What are we going to do about them?” Chrom asked.

“We are to convene shortly and discuss just that. Chrom, Frederick, please join us.” Emmeryn rose from her throne and walked through the door behind it into another room, with Phila, Chrom, and Frederick following her.

“I think that’s our cue to leave, Robin! Follow me, there’s a place I wanna show you.” Lissa ran out of the palace, and Robin followed after a few seconds. He didn’t really want to wait out there for the meeting to finish, and it couldn’t hurt to see whatever it was that Lissa wanted to show him.

After some walking (Robin convinced Lissa not to run the whole way), they came to a huge stone building in the hills awhile outside the city. It wasn’t too impressive; pretty big, but nothing fancy and certainly no great feat of architecture. There were clearly some parts missing from the crenelated parapets on the roof, and as they got closer Robin noticed a rather large hole in the wall near one of the corners.The boy mused to himself that it must have made winters rather uncomfortable, and thought about whether Wind magic (like the kind one of the bandits had used) could be used to fix it over at least the mean season without having to renovate that section.

“Robin? Hello, Robin? We’re here!” Once Lissa had gotten the boy’s attention, she went through the door ahead of him and spun around. “Ta-da! Welcome to the Shepherds’ garrison! Make yourself at home.” Robin looked around. They were in a large, simple room, with a few tables and quite a few racks of weapons. They were alone, until a blonde young woman in fancy clothes carrying a parasol ran in and started fussing over Lissa.

“Lissa, my treasure! Are you alright? I’ve been on pins and needles!” The woman (who looked maybe Chrom’s age— not that much older than the princess) exclaimed, in a high, almost prissy-sounding voice that intensely annoyed Robin, as she continued to fret over Lissa.

“Oh, hey, Maribelle.” Lissa greeted, smiling.

“Oh hey yourself! I’ve sprouted fourteen grey hairs fretting over you!” Maribelle semi-scolded.

“Aw, you worry too much. I can handle a battle or two! … Though I could do without the bugs or the bear barbecue…” Lissa replied as a man with tanned skin and blond hair walked in. Over one shoulder he carried a large axe, and he wasn’t wearing a shirt.

“Hey, squirt! Where’s Chrom? I bet he had a hard time without ol’ Teach and his trusty axe!” The man said in a large voice.

“Oh, so you’re Teach now, is that it? Hee hee!” Lissa giggled a bit. Robin internally laughed as well, as he could already tell that this man was unlikely to teach anyone anything.

“I know I’ve got little experience with the world, but I’d think someone would be born lacking intelligence. Can it be taught?” Robin teased. Lissa high-fived him, though she quietly complained the tactician had stolen her line.

“Lesson one, kiddo: never doubt the Vaike! … Wait, was that an insult?” Vaike scratched his head. Before he had a chance to ponder that too much, a dark-haired woman entered, tripping as she came in. Robin winced inwardly; she had fallen flat on her face, which looked like it’d hurt a lot. Suripsingly unfazed by the fall, she got back to her feet and brushed herself off.

“Beg pardon, but when might we see the captain?” She asked.

“Poor Sumia. She’s simply been beside herself with concern… Her eyes were scanning the horizon all day during training— she might’ve earned fewer bruises fighting blindfolded!” Maribelle razzed. The dark-haired woman, Sumia, turned cherry-red.

“Sumia, that’s so sweet of you to worry about Chrom!” Lissa smiled. “The two of you are always so nice to each other… I wonder if there’s an ulterior motive?” The second part she said in a whisper, mostly to herself, but Robin could hear it as well. Despite her innocent appearance, she apparently had a few less-than-innocent thoughts about her brother and the clumsy… knight? Trainee? Robin wasn’t quite sure what Sumia was, but she was wearing some armour, which implied she was some sort of physical combatant.

“I… He’s our captain and prince, of course I’d worry!” Sumia stammered.

“So, who’s the stranger?” Vaike asked in an attempt to change the subject, gesturing towards Robin.

“No one’s stranger than you, Vaike… But allow me to introduce Robin! Chrom’s made him our new tactician. You should see all the tricks he’s got up his sleeve!” Lissa gushed. Robin blushed. In his own opinion, he’d just thought on his feet and done what was needed.

“Oh yeah? Can he do this?” Vaike burped loudly.

“Well, it seems there is something you could teach me, 'Teach’.” Robin laughed. Maribelle, on the other hand, was not nearly so pleased.

“That was abhorrent! Must you baseborn oafs pollute even the air with your buffoonery? And you, Robin! Don’t encourage him! I’d hoped you were cut from finer cloth.” Maribelle sniffed, spun on her heel, and left the room. Robin felt an urge to stick his tongue out at her, to show that he’d much rather be a so-called baseborn oaf and treat people with some degree of respect than a supposedly well-bred jerk, but decided against it.

“Don’t take it to heart, Robin. She just warms to people slowly.” Sumia opined, since she noticed Robin looking at Maribelle as the aristocrat left.

“Or burns too quickly!” Lissa chimed. “But yeah, she’ll come around, just give her time.” Right then, Chrom entered.

“Captain! You’ve returned! I was— I mean, we were so—” Sumia didn’t finish her sentence because, as she rushed towards Chrom, she tripped and landed flat on her face. She got up soon afterwards.

“Sumia! Are you alright? … Those boots of yours again?” The prince asked. Sumia blushed.

“N-No! I mean yes! I mean…” At this point Sumia gave up on coming up with a good explanation and simply sighed. Chrom nodded, giving the girl a reassuring smile.

“All right, listen everyone: in the morning we’ll be marching to Regna Ferox.” Chrom announced.

“Regna Ferox?” Robin asked.

“A kingdom to the north of Ylisse. Inhabited by barbarians, from what I’ve heard.” Sumia replied. The latter comment earned her a mild reproving look from the prince.

“Warriors are what they are, and we’ll need their strength to quell this new menace. Typically, the exalt would request such aid in person. But given recent events… Well, the people might worry should my sister suddenly leave the capital. So the task has been passed to us.” Chrom explained. “Now, this mission is strictly voluntary. So if, for any—”

“I volunteer!” Lissa, Robin, Sully, and Virion chorused.

“Me too! You’ll be needin’ ol’ Teach along for such a delicate mission.” Vaike declared. Various people, Robin and Lissa chief among them, chortled.

A dark-haired man in several layers of heavy-looking armour spoke up, alerting the others to his presence. “I’ll go as well…” He trailed off as he saw Robin looking at him curiously. “What? I’ve been here the whole time!” Robin nodded, and made a mental note to remember that he was there.

“I… I, um…” Sumia started hesitantly. Chrom smiled at her and gave her a gesture asking her to continue. “It’s just… I don’t know if I’m ready for a proper mission yet, especially not one this big.”

“Well, you could stay behind the main group, and if a battle is met, just watch and learn? Your choice, of course. But some lessons can only be learned on the battlefield.” Chrom opined gently. Lissa internally smiled, while Sumia nodded. “Just stay by me and you’ll be fine.” Robin sniggered quietly as he noticed Sumia blush.

“Can I come too?” Robin turned to find the voice’s owner, a small, coral-haired boy who couldn’t have been much over fourteen, if that. Chrom sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, implying that this was a common occurrence.

“Ricken, we’ve been over this. You’re just too young.” Chrom’s tone was kind, but he was evidently exasperated. Ricken nodded dejectedly, taking off his abnormally large blue hat and walking out the door. Robin felt kind of bad for him, but he had to agree with Chrom— there was no way such a young kid could be ready to face those monsters from last night, not to mention any other foes that might come along.

Suddenly, Robin let out a gasp of pain as a memory forced its way into (or, back into) his head. He was looking into a mirror, where a little boy, maybe eleven or twelve years old at the most, beamed back at him. The little boy, presumably Robin himself as a child, was wearing a strange, colourful outfit and bouncing on his toes.

“I can’t wait to go and fight the bad guys with Bruce! Finally…” The memory did a flip away from the mirror and into a large cave filled with metal contraptions Robin vaguely recognized but couldn’t quite identify. “This is the best day of my life!” A tall, shadowed figure started to approach him, but the memory fled Robin’s mind as abruptly as it had come.

“—at’s wrong? Robin!” Chrom and the other Shepherds snapped back into focus as Robin’s vision cleared.

“I think my memory was trying to come back. I saw something… But it got pushed back out.” Robin shook his head. “I’m fine now.”

“If your memory started to come back on its own, maybe we can do something to bring it back!” Lissa suggested brightly. “Let’s start now!”

“It can wait.” Robin replied.

“But—”

“It can wait.” He insisted. “Now, do you know anything about the weather in Ferox? If it’s the cold season we’ll need cloaks and blankets.” Frederick and Robin walked out of the room and around the building, discussing what supplies they would need and how to transport them.

~~

“Is everyone ready?” Chrom asked as the Shepherds regrouped about half an hour later outside the garrison. “We’ve got a long march ahead!” A chorus of yesses sounded, both from the Shepherds and from the volunteers who were manning the supply convoy.

“W-Wait for me!” A voice called. A young man with messy green hair, presumably the voice’s owner, rode over on a brown horse.

“Stahl?” Chrom addressed the rider.

“Why am I the last to hear about the expedition to Ferox?” Stahl half-whined jokingly.

“Huh?” Lissa cocked her head in confusion. “But Vaike was supposed to… Vaike! Did you forget to tell Stahl about our mission?”

“The Vaike never forgets!” Vaike replied indignantly. “I just… Don’t always remember, is all…” Lissa sniggered, and Robin would’ve as well if not for the fact that Vaike’s neglect had this time almost cost them a soldier. If Stahl hadn’t found out from, well, whoever he found out from, then someone whose life he could’ve saved in a future battle (and Robin was expecting a battle— between Risen (as the monsters from the day before had been dubbed), bandits, and potentially the people of Regna Ferox, it was almost inexorable that they’d be fighting someone on this mission) might have been lost.

“Ugh… I swear, you’d forget your own name if you weren’t constantly saying it yourself! Speaking of which, are you SURE you remembered your axe this time?” Lissa put her hands on her hips to accentuate the obvious fact that Vaike was quickly burning her fuse.

“Good to have you here… Stahl, right?” Robin half-greeted and half-asked the horseman a ways further along the road.

“Oh, I forgot to introduce you. Robin, this is Stahl, one of our finest.” Chrom gestured to the man on horseback, just in case another person came running in at that point.

“Hello, Robin. Miriel told me we had a new Shepherd. Er, Miriel’s one of our mages. She should catch up once she’s finished with those preparations she was doing.” Stahl stated. Robin nodded, and they walked and talked awhile more.

“Marching, marching, marching… Bored… How far is Ferox?” Robin asked a few hours later. He turned to see who he was talking to, as he hadn’t really bothered looking first.

“I’ve never been before. But I think it’s about… Maybe five days to a week, depending how early we start, how late we set up camp, how many unforseen hindrances we run into, et cetera. Depending how far into Ferox the capital or wherever it is we’re going is, maybe as much as a fortnight.” Stahl shrugged. “But I’m just a knight, and a pretty average one at that, so who am I to say? You might do better asking the captain, or maybe one of the other nobles in our group, like Lissa or Sumia.”

“Your estimate’s as good as any to me, Stahl. But… A fortnight? That’s two weeks, right?” Robin paused. “Say the capital’s as north as it’s possible to build a city that can be lived in. Is a fortnight minimum or maximum? And how many hours a day would we have to pull for that to be the case?”

“If the capital is that far north and we have to get there in a fortnight, I think we’d be better off measuring how many minutes or seconds a day we don’t march.” Stahl replied. “Gods, I really hope it’s not…”

“I’m with ya, pal!” Vaike chimed in.

“Gwah! When’d you get there, Vaike?!” Robin jumped and turned around to see the warrior. The air had gained a bit of a nip in the past half hour or so, but he still hadn’t put a shirt on. Robin was pretty sure that would come back to bite the guy later.

“Just got here, actually. I was talking to Lissa and now she’s mad at me, so—” Vaike’s assuredly (not) intelligent statement was cut off as an evidently infuriated Lissa came from behind them. “Yeeeeah. I’m just gonna quietly go away and we can pretend that never happened, right Lis? Right. Bye!” By the end, Vaike was practically squeaking. He dashed off with seemingly impossible speed ahead of the main group.

“VAIKE!” Lissa yelled, charging after him.

“Should we go after them?” Stahl asked. Robin looked at Lissa, who hadn’t quite gotten out of view yet, and chuckled.

“Nah, I think he can take a few hits from her. If not, he really needs to consider a career change.” Robin quipped.

“You know, Lissa’s actually pretty strong. Gave Ricken — our youngest, a mage maybe a year or so younger than you in case you haven’t met him — a concussion once, completely by accident.” Seeing the confused look on Robin’s face, Stahl continued, “I’m not exactly sure how it happened either.”

“Got any more stories? It’d be nice to—” Robin was cut off as a scream tore through the air. He ran forward and saw Lissa and Vaike. Lissa had collapsed to her knees, her staff clattering to the ground and rolling a small distance away, and Vaike was standing statue-still. They were justly aghast at the sight before them.

It was a small village, that much was clear— or it had been one, anyway. A few smouldering skeletons of structures and fences remained, but little else of the country hamlet itself. Of its villagers, some were still there, though they were anything but well; bodies of people who presumably had been the village’s inhabitants littered the ground, some bloody with various weapons sticking out and some who had evidently died in the fires.

“Gods… What happened here?” Robin asked. As if in answer to his question, some low sounds that seemed somewhat like a combination of moaning and growling began. The sounds drew closer, and the Shepherds saw a horde of Risen charging towards them.

“I’m betting it had something to do with them. Shepherds, prepare for battle!” Chrom ordered.

“Uh, captain?” Vaike raised his hand. “It seems I dropped my axe somewhere…”

“You’re kidding, right?” Robin looked the taller young man over. “… You’re not. Vaaaaaaaaaaiiiike…” The tactician shot Vaike a warning look, mentally telling him that this conversation was not over, before taking out his spell book and throwing an imaginary projectile (which formed itself of lightning) at one of the approaching monsters. It didn’t reach, meaning that, luckily, the pack was still far enough away that they had time to make a plan. “Vaike, Sumia, Lissa, get back with the convoy. Ninja-guy with the armour, protect them if any Risen get past us. Stahl, Chrom, we’re weaving; strike fast, strike hard, and get the hell out of there hopefully before they can effectively counter. Choose targets wisely— don’t go for the well-armoured ones, and try to avoid those with better reach like lancers or range. Sully, Frederick, you two are spearheading; go right in, and once you reach that bridge where they’ve formed up: attrition. Wear them down; from your dodging and armour versus theirs, they’ll give long before you so much as tire. Hold the bridge. Virion, while we’re working on clearing this side of the river, try to find a narrow section and shoot across it. Ford if you can. The rest we can make up as we go. Let’s go!”

“What’s a ninja?” Kellam wondered before running to the back with Sumia and Lissa. Vaike followed them dejectedly.

Everyone set to doing their part of the plan. Chrom ran to the right, going in a wide arc that would put him somewhere around the middle of the oncoming horde when he reached them, and Robin and Stahl paralleled him on the left. Sully and Frederick surged straight ahead, lances ready to thrust. Finally, Virion ran to the right, arcing around in a wider pattern than Chrom to get to the river a bit downstream from the bridge.

Frederick got the first hit of the battle in, thrusting his lance into a Risen and receiving the weakened retaliation directly. The counterattack didn’t faze him in the slightest, not even denting his armour, and he finished his opponent off without difficulty. Beside him, Sully was exchanging blows with a sword-wielding Risen, both occasionally missing. She got the upper hand when it was distracted by a bolt of lightning going past it and hitting a lancer behind it, and the redheaded cavalier was able to push her lance through its neck. The two knights pushed through the messy ranks the Risen had formed, and soon enough found themselves at the bridge.

Chrom was fighting Risen axemen, while protecting Virion. Nobody involved was quite fast enough to launch an attack and either launch another one or retreat before a counter came (not that the Risen were likely to be smart enough to do that anyway, at least as far as Robin could tell), so they were teaming up to double their chances of taking their opponents out before either was too badly injured. Chrom had taken a few hits, and though most were, fortunately, glancing, the prince was bleeding quite a bit. The upside was that they were down to the last Risen in their group of adversaries, but if Chrom took a full hit just then, he would almost certainly die.

As the final axeman hefted his weapon and prepared to bring it down, Virion pushed Chrom out of the way, taking the blow in his stead. The axe was diverted somewhat by the archer’s pauldron, but it still hit him in the arm. Chrom quickly got up and plunged Falchion into the Risen’s chest.

Seeing that the others were quickly clearing the battlefield, with some help from Miriel who had arrived sometime during all this, Chrom took a bottle of healing salve out of Virion’s bag and applied it to the archer’s arm before wrapping a spare piece of cloth around the injury. Triage had never been his forte, though in this case he could easily tell that his own wounds were more severe. If anyone confronted him, he could just say that he felt it was more pressing to be able to have Virion shooting without bleeding too much than to tend to himself, as the various cuts riddling his body didn’t make him too much less able to wield Falchion. The prince then took a potion out of his bag and drank some of it, feeling most of the pain from his injuries leave. He knew it would be temporary, and that he’d still need to get Lissa to fix him up later, but it would probably last to the end of the battle.

Meanwhile, Stahl, Robin, and the newly-arrived Miriel were helping Frederick and Sully. Stahl would pick a target and move in, and Miriel and Robin would launch spells to keep the Risen on either side of Stahl’s opponent occupied. But one Risen had managed to dodge most of Robin’s attacks, and was coming around to attack Stahl from the side. Robin decided warning Stahl would probably just distract him, and the tactician instead drew his sword, diving towards the sword-wielding Risen that was about to attack Stahl. Robin used his sword to parry the attack, and slashed at the Risen. He made a gash in his enemy’s side, but it was still standing and struck his leg before Miriel hit it with a fireball to the chest. Robin brought his sword up and thrust it through the Risen’s neck.

Once Stahl was through with his opponent, Robin examined the battlefield. There were few Risen left in the pack, and all on the other side of the river. None of the Shepherds were without injury, though.

“Lissa, armour guy, come forward!” Robin ordered. Lissa ran towards the main group, first to Stahl (who was bleeding from at least five places despite his armour), then to Robin. “Where’s… what’s his name? The guy with a ton of armour.” Robin asked as Lissa healed him.

“I’m right here. And my name is Kellam, nice to meet you.” Kellam replied. Robin jumped.

“Gah! How the f***ing hell do you do that?!” The tactician shook his head, storing the topic away for later. “Never mind. Kellam, switch places with Sully so she can come back for healing. Stahl, same for Frederick.” Kellam nodded, heading forward (though rather slowly, probably because of all the armour) towards the bridge. Stahl followed, being much faster on his horse, and stopped to let Kellam get on behind him. Robin had no idea how the horse could carry both of them considering their armour, but again put the topic away to wonder about later. “Vaike,” Robin called, “come take an axe from one of the Risen here!” Moments later, the axeman arrived and rushed towards the many dead Risen, examining the corpses to try and find an axe.

“Robin, we could use some backup here!” Stahl called. Sully and Frederick had already come back for healing, but the latter had insisted that Lissa take care of Chrom’s wounds first, so they were waiting a good distance away from the river. Robin looked towards the bridge and saw that a few more Risen had come and were attacking his friends.

“Miriel, let’s go!” Robin ran up to the bridge, launching a lightning bolt at the closest Risen. Miriel did the same, but with a blast of flame. Chrom, who had been fully healed by Lissa, had apparently forded the river along with Virion and was attacking the Risen from the other side. Sully and Frederick joined them soon after, and moments later the bridge was clear. Lissa ran up and checked everyone over for injuries, setting to work both healing Chrom and scolding him for being reckless. Now only one Risen remained, but this one was a lot bigger than the others. More than likely, it was the leader. It gave a fierce, loud battle cry and charged. Robin looked at its axe, and his eyes widened. It was a throwing axe, the same type the bandit leader at Sutherton. He opened his mouth to shout a warning, but it was too late. The axe flew through the air, headed straight for Lissa. The princess managed to avoid it, but it did damage just the same; Stahl felt a surge of pain as the weapon embedded itself in his clavicle. It seemed to have hit at least a couple arteries, by the amount of blood that was dripping out even before he fell off his horse and caused the weapon to get dislodged.

“Stahl!” Just about everyone shouted. Lissa immediately started using her staff on him, but it wasn’t helping him faster than he was losing blood. Robin stared for a minute, and a memory spanning a few seconds returned to him.

The memory wasn’t recent, judging by how tall the still-thin trees lining the path seemed. If Robin were to guess, it’d probably been two or three years before, at the least. All the memory showed was a teenager (maybe Robin’s current age), bleeding intensely. He had been wearing a black outfit with a blue, vaguely v-shaped design on his chest and going along his arms. He had been awake and obviously in pain, but had tried to give what had probably been meant as a reassuring smile. Robin had looked him over, panicking a bit (though the memory didn’t come with a why).

“Robin, press on the wound to staunch it.” A gruff voice had ordered. The memory ended there. Robin shook himself out of his daze and saw that Lissa was still having trouble closing it with her staff because of all the blood pouring out. She seemed to be pouring all her energy into her magic, so she couldn’t ask anyone for help.

“Someone, press on the wound, try to plug it! Anyone got bandages?” Robin called.

“There should be some in Stahl’s saddlebag. But I think we ought have some of us to get rid of him”, Chrom pointed at the large Risen charging at them, “rather than all standing here.”

“Right. Sully, Frederick, Vaike, attack him from different sides. Vaike, head on, Frederick and Sully, split and pincer.” Robin ordered before turning back to Stahl. Kellam was applying pressure to the wound, and covering it with some bandages. “Lissa, take a breath, it’d be no good if you passed out from using too much magic at once.” Robin had no idea if that was actually how magic worked, but Lissa seemed to accept it and took a deep breath. “Should we try any salves or potions?” Lissa nodded, tossing him a blue glass bottle, and set back to work. “Wait, I don’t know how to use this! … Chrom, I don’t suppose you know how to use this… Whatever this is?” Chrom shrugged and shook his head.

“Fear not, for I, Virion, can save the day once again! Merely bequeath unto me yon elixir, and watch as I work miracles!” Virion proclaimed. Robin mentally sighed, but gave Virion the bottle as requested. The archer poured the contents of the vessel over the wound, and moments later the clear liquid glowed the same blue as Lissa’s staff.

When the glow faded, there was a small, crystalline shell around the gash, preventing more blood from escaping and holding some of the blood that had come out in place. Noticing this (though Robin had no idea how, as the petite cleric had been apparently oblivious to the rest of them while healing), Lissa put her magical implement closer to Stahl, pouring more power in to make it glow brighter. The simple staff started to crack from the strain, but continued to function. Robin watched in awe as the blood trapped by the potion actually flowed back into Stahl through the wound before it sealed up. The potion turned into threads of light, which then proceeded to apparently weave into Stahl’s skin. Lissa turned around and gave Robin a smile.

“Some day, let’s sit down and have a long chat about how magical healing works.” Robin decided. “All that and you’re not even winded? After casting three or four thunder spells, I start feeling like I wanna fall face first into a very cold river.” Seeing as he had, in the recent battle, cast nine or ten at least, the tactician looked at the nearby stream and decided he was going to do just that. “Now, that group of Risen are taken care of, Stahl’s gonna survive, and Sully and Frederick just finished up with the leader, so I’d call it a pretty good day. See you in a few.” Robin started towards the stream, but stopped when he heard Miriel call after him.

“I would recommend letting your body cool down naturally. It is very likely that, after casting that many thunder spells in quick succession with your low level of experience with magic, you may electrocute yourself.” Miriel warned. Robin sighed and thanked her, returning to the rest of the group.

“So, do we keep marching? And if so, what are we going to do about…” Robin gestured to Stahl, who was still out cold.

“I can guide his horse.” Kellam offered. Chrom nodded.

“I think that’d be best. The sooner we get to Ferox, the sooner we can get back to protecting Ylisse as we should be.” Chrom replied.

Sometime a few days later, Lissa wandered into a field. The sun was just rising, so they hadn’t quite started the day’s march, and they had just finished taking down their camp a short distance away. Chrom, being the overprotective big brother he was, decided to follow Lissa, and Robin and Sumia followed Chrom. When they caught up to the girl, they saw what she had been excited about. There in front of them was a pure white horse with three-meter wings. Chrom approached it, only to for it to rear up and try to bite him. Sumia started towards it after him, but the prince put an arm out in front of her.

“Stay back, Sumia, this beast is crazed!” He exclaimed, a bit dramatically in Robin’s opinion. Still, the tactician had to agree that Chrom’s concerns were not unreasonable as Sumia slowly walked forward, tripping once on her way. To his surprise, she managed to walk right up to it, stroking its mane and murmuring sweet nothings to it. It whinnied happily and nuzzled against her.

“How did she calm it so quickly?” Robin wondered aloud.

“That’s amazing, Sumia!” Lissa cheered.

“I’ve never seen anything like it.” Chrom added. Sumia blushed.

“Oh, it’s… It’s nothing, really. I guess I just have a way with animals.” Sumia replied, still petting the Pegasus. “See, she just had some thorns stuck in her side. That must have been why she was so grumpy. You all can go on ahead, and I’ll catch up once I’m through dressing her wounds.”

“We can make time to wait for you.” Chrom offered. Sumia shook her head.

“Thank you, captain, but I can manage. Every moment is precious when all of Ylisse is in danger.” Sumia reached into her bag and took out a little bottle of something Robin recognized as the thing Lissa used to clean wounds, applying it gently to the Pegasus’s side.

“Right, then. Be safe, Sumia.” Chrom started to head towards the rest of the group, who were on the road passing by the field. Lissa and Robin followed him.

“As you command, sir.” Sumia replied, giving a small salute.

Not too much further down the road, the temperature dropped like a stone. To no one’s surprise, Vaike began shivering like crazy, and Robin made a mental note to see if they could get him a cloak in the next town. Before reaching another town, though, they came to a large stone fortress, apparently a gate (probably one of many) in a very long wall. Excited at the milestone, the teenager quickly finished his conversation with Stahl and jogged up to Chrom at the front of the group.

“So, this the border?” Robin gestured at the massive wall in front of them.

Chrom nodded. “Yes, just about. The Longfort stretches across the border of Ylisse and Regna Ferox.”

“But why?” From what Robin had seen so far, Ylisse was quite peaceful, barring Risen (which seemed to be a recent development) and bandits (mostly in the south, according to a book he had read in the garrison). It definitely didn’t seem like Ylissean invasion was a looming threat by any stretch of the imagination, and evidently this was a Feroxi stronghold. “It seems like a complete waste of resources, considering what a peaceful and benevolent leader the Exalt is.”

Chrom and Frederick exchanged glances, before jointly deciding to not tell Robin anything just yet. The topic really wasn’t something they broached unless absolutely, completely, or-else-we-all-will-die necessary; of course, seeing as there really wasn’t any situation in which it would be pertinent to that level, it would probably be more or less accurate to simply say they didn’t talk about it, which, as I said, they didn’t. Ever.

“The Khans that rule Ferox have grown quite wary of foreigners,” said Frederick instead, which was true. “Still, don’t mistake a lack of hospitality for outright hostility. This merely calls for a bit of diplomacy.” The knight motioned to Chrom. Robin looked the prince, who really wasn’t much of a diplomat at all, and sighed.

“Negotiation’s not my strong suit,” Chrom admitted somewhat sheepishly, “but I’ll do my best. Remember, everyone, our actions reflect back on Ylisse.”

“Chrom, look over there! The guards are moving out!” Lissa pointed to the top of the wall, where archers were taking positions.

“What?! Why?” Chrom looked at the guards for a moment, then ran towards the wall. Robin, Lissa and Frederick immediately chased after him.

“Chrom! You idiot! What in the world are you trying to do?!” Robin shouted after his friend. As they neared the bottom of the fortress, a heavily-armoured figure called to them from atop the crenellations.

“Halt! Who goes there?” Robin was fairly sure the voice would’ve been threatening if not for the fact that it was barely audible over the winds and vast distance. “State your purpose!”

“In the name of House Ylisse, I seek an audience with the Khans!” Chrom yelled back, using his hands as a slight amplifier.

“Not another step, my bold lad! I’ve lancers at the ready!” The guard commander replied harshly. Robin looked back at the other Shepherds, still a decent distance away, and motioned for them to pause. With luck, they wouldn’t have been spotted just yet; if it came to a battle, which was looking more and more likely, they would have a slight element of surprise.

“What?” Robin asked Chrom. “I thought you said Ylisse and Ferox weren’t enemies?”