Fire Emblem Awakening - Dreaming...

OOC: Oddly enough, this as well as another post yesterday was erased...so I'm reposting it. hopefully, it won'g disappear again.

"Chrom, we have to do something..." said a female voice on the spring of youth. It was airy and like that of a cheery teen; or someone far too perky in the morning. Trying to make out the figure was difficult with the onset of blurriness for the rising tactician, for the moment. Still the added footsteps and shadows cast assured the wanderer that she most certainly wasn't alone when it came to her current situation. Slowly ears picked up another voice; this one more smooth and masculine to listen to. The male voice was obviously concerned and possessed a truthful air of politeness that was rare in these times.

"What do you propose we do?" The male could be heard moving around; shuffling a second with a sigh. He no doubt wished he could help with how dazed the person still appeared to be upon the grass. He just couldn't. Trying to study him with this haze was difficult for the tactician - even if one could make out rather shiny blue hair casting over male features in the breeze.

"Er...Ah...I don't know!" jumped the female voice with a slight shrug of shoulders.

"Careful, milord. It appears she is waking up."

A third voice? There was respect positively seeping from said voice, if a little wariness.

"Stay calm."

That was even more unexpected. A fourth and final voice, perhaps? Strange 'trotting' echos could be heard in the background with this person; two echos to be exact.

At last however; there was light. The tactician could see the sun and blue sky. Not to forget those crowding around. There were a number of people nearby; but the few that stood out were close enough to appraise. The male who she had suspected possessed blue hair stepped forward into view with a smile across his handsome features; lips parting with that same smooth politeness from before. He was pretty darn tall all things considered and was wearing noble-looking armor that gleamed brightly to the eyes. A long, curved sword sat at the edge of his form and a white half-cloak rested around his left arm in a looping motion over his shoulder.

"I see you're awake now."

Blonde pigtails bounced into view and a rather pretty face giggled happily. A similar face at that. The two, outside of the hair color, looked startlingly related. She wore a frilly, soft looking dress that reached her feet and wrapped firmly around her with white cloth threaded into yellow. "Hey there...hah..." Another brief chuckle followed next to the girl and the blue haired male continued on with this words of his supposed sibling with his own. "There are better places to take a nap then on the ground you know."

"Take care, milord. This could be a trick."

Ah, there it was. The third voice from before.

"Suspicious much there, my Sir Frederick?"

...and there was the fourth. This was getting confusing.

Slowly the first man before her reached out with his arm and spread out his fingers in reach, focus never leaving his face. Chrom. The name of the man, perhaps? This was the name heard while in the swirling haze, right? There was nothing but a royal kindness and courage in the piercing eyes on this man. He meant no harm and only wanted to help, even with a simple thing as helping someone to their feet. Not even the flowing wind could break his gaze, or his smile.

"Give me your hand."

The world came into focus for the woman on the ground, her mind not following quite as quickly. She blinked a few times, just to confirm that what she was seeing was actually real, before reaching out her own hand to grasp Chrom's and accept his help. The back of her hand caught her attention for a moment, tattooed with some sort of strange six-eyed purple symbol – but her thoughts went no further as she was pulled up to her feet and found herself staring at Chrom, who was smiling at her, kindly, gently, beautifully.

Heat bloomed in her cheeks and over the bridge of her nose as she blushed. She stepped back and averted her eyes as she let go of his hand. The woman took a moment to observe the rest. To Chrom's left stood the girl who had hovered over her with as well, who had to be related to him in some way, shape or form. Younger sister, perhaps? Or a cousin? She was a pretty thing, bright and every bit as kind looking as her relative. Maybe mid to late teens.

To Chrom's right stood an older man, brown hair and stern expression, a full set of blue and white armor, clearly a warrior or soldier of some kind, maybe early to mid thirties. She had a hunch that this was the third voice she had heard, the one advising Chrom to be cautious. What had the fourth member called him? It had been Sir Frederick, hadn't it?

She only observed the fourth and final member of the group for a moment – pale hair, narrow eyes, maybe early twenties – before it occurred to her that she had yet to express her gratitude for the assistance. “Th-Thank you, Chrom.” She said as she looked him in the eye again, blush gone from her face, though her tongue tripped her up regardless. Gods, what a way to start a day, asleep in the middle of a field only to be woken up by strangers to whom she made an utter fool of herself.

...Wait, what was she doing there, anyway?

"You all right?"

Chrom asked; raising a eyebrow as he stared at her with piercing blue eyes. The blue haired man appeared undeterred by her general shy air; instead simply relaxing his stance and giving her a glance over to see if she was physically able. There didn't seem to be any wounds or show of fatigue on her so all in all he thought nothing of it. Still, that didn't explain why she was here in this field and showing no signs of movement. He arched his head up at the sound of his name being uttered by her; blinking once before lifting his hand in a show of confusion. "Ah, then you know who I am?" It wasn't that uncommon considering things; but one still couldn't take any chances. Huh, he'd been spending far too much time around a certain somebody to think that.

The blonde girl in the pretty dress next to him looked seconds away from either cheering that she was okay or giving her a hug. It was obvious that she didn't actually know her though; more or less merely being happy to see that a stranger was okay than any actual ties. A hand from the similar haired boy next to her urged near this excitable young woman and paused in the air; noting her to stay back as he spoke.  "Calm down, Lady Lissa. Sir Frederick might be a suspicious codger, but he does have a point. We don't even know who this girl is." The boy saying such was no doubt younger than the man in question; though what looked to be a bit older than the blue haired male, but it twas' easy to see that he was simply being a mixture of insulting and teasing.

"Oooooowh, lighten up a little. We should be helping her, Ledah," pouted Lissa to the narrowed-eye boy clad in a mixture of blue armor and leather seams. He just bowed his head to her in response and simple nodded; shuffling with the arrows still strapped to his back. Frederick just gave him a stare that could melt ice at the word 'codger' even being uttered; even if he didn't appear all that angered by it.

The woman nodded in response to Chrom's first question. She felt fine, for the most part. A bit stiff from laying on the ground for who knew how long and with a slight headache, but nothing worth worrying about. It was the second statement that gave her pause, her brow furrowing in confusion. "Ah...no...wasn't that what she called you?" She asked as she paused a moment to look at the young girl – Lady Lissa, apparently, and the other man Ledah – before meeting Chrom's eye again. "Should I?"

It would have made sense for her to know them. Chrom and Lady Lissa seemed to be some kind of nobility, based on how they were dressed and addressed. Probably minor nobility, if they were out in the middle of nowhere with only what she could assume were two guards for safety. If she was in their domain it would be probable that she'd be at least familiar with their names or faces, though it was clear by their words and actions that this was the first time they'd ever met. Yet she didn't know them at all. She only knew of them through the last minute or so she'd spent with them. Why was that? Surely she should be aware of what was probably common knowledge.

The woman's brow furrowed a bit further, her headache increasing slightly. She wished that her mind would cooperate with her.

"Curious. Ah, don't worry about such things..." Chrom looked like he was thinking something over for a moment before staring at her deeply. He studied her closely; to a point that one could wonder if there was something he wanted to - but didn't. He shook his head at her question in a slightly dismissive note and then finally looked into her eyes while rubbing his chin. Obviously he didn't want her to stress her head over such a thing like his name and made sure she knew as much. It was minor when compared with a woman perhaps in some danger of sorts. "Tell me, what's your name? What brings you out here?" The question; though a urging, was hinting a stubborn politeness that just refused to break.

Lissa suddenly peeked her head up over the shoulder of her brother and blinked, looking at the fellow girl with a worried pout. She skirted to the side while striding forward past the blue haired man while shifting in a way that had her looking a bit closer at the girl. "Are you okay?" she asked with that the same perky and cheery tone; as if trying to comfort her. All while the oldest male of the lot appeared to try and urge her away from stepping too close. Ledah, on the other hand, looked more or less like he was scouting the area while keeping one eye on the tactician.

"My name is..." The woman started before she paused. "It's..." She tried again, only to be met with the same dilemma as the first attempt. Her name would not come to her. Even more frustrated with her inability to think, she searched deep in her mind for what she was called.

Sharp, sudden pain exploded in the side of head. She winced, and held a hand to her temple as if that would ease the pain. Gods, what had happened to her give her such a terrible headache? She didn't remember-

She didn't remember.

The realization came to her all at once. She didn't remember anything. She didn't remember anything at all. Not where she was, not what she had been doing, not who these people were, not even who she herself was. Every attempt to bring a past memory or some sort of past knowledge to mind was met with failure and another stab of pain in her head. The knowledge just wasn't there. She just didn't know.

She didn't know anything.

"I...I don't know." She whispered, the words as much an answer to Chrom as they were to Lissa, though she looked at neither of them, momentarily oblivious to the world with her revelation.

"...You mean you don't know your own name?"

Chrom looked both confused and a little stunned. He silently stared at her for several moments until he began humming to himself in deep thought. It wasn't hard to see that she had startled the blue haired man; but he still wanted to help her. He just didn't exactly know how to react to such. It wasn't a common thing after all. Thankfully his sister appeared to have some idea how to respond as she stepped forward with a slight gasp and eyes widening with each second that passed. "Hey! I've heard of this! It's called amnesia, right?" Lissa asked; glancing behind her at one of the two males still standing idle behind the pair. Unsurprisingly, one of them looked weary and unnervingly dry with the idea that this girl had any sort of hazy memory.

Frederick resisted the urge to sigh and shake his head at the very thought. "It's called a load of pegasus dung." Really? Who did girl think she was with such things? He couldn't believe the audacity. Nor' the very notion that she expected his companions to fall to such trickery. "We're to believe you remember milord's name, but not your own?" He snorted lowly at the very image. Fortunately the blonde male next to him didn't appear strung on the same wavelength. Ledah shuffled and moved to adjust his bow; tossing a side glance at the tactician with those dagger-like eyes staring blankly into her own. The blonde, if anything, seemed almost keen to get one up on the older male and was downright happy to do so. "Give the girl a break. She said she overheard us talking, remember? Frederick the Suspicious strikes again."

"Either way we can't just leave here, alone and confused..." interrupted Chrom; cutting the conversation between the two. He shook his head and held up a hand; clenching his fist, "Really. What sort of Shepherds would we be then?"

Neither Ledah or Frederick had a response to that.

Lissa just threw up her arms in the air and grinned in victory;

"Let's bring her back to town then! There might be someone there who knows her."

The woman was brought back to the real world by Chrom's voice, but only responded to Lissa's suggestion, meeting the girl's eye with a shake of her head. "Ah, it's fine. If you'd be kind enough to point in the direction of the town I'm sure I can manage on my own."

In all honesty, she wanted to accept their help. She had no idea who she was, or where she was, and she was only a couple of notches away from a full-blown freakout. But she didn't know who they were either, and the fear of everything made her cautious. Her gut told her that these were all trustworthy people, as did her heart, but her mind told her nothing and at that moment it was overruling everything else. It would be best for her to go on her own, as Sir Frederick clearly wanted her to.

"Thank you, however." She added on, forcing a small smile to her face.

Chrom shook his head almost firmly and held up a hand with a sigh; glancing up to stare into her eyes. It wasn't hard to see that the blue haired male was taking a stand with such an idea and most certainly agreed with his sister on such. Still; he did sound more deeply concerned than demanding. "I would all be well and fine with letting you go on your way...if things were different. I can't leave someone in need here with little to no memory. Come on; let us at least escort you to the closest town and there you can decide on what comes next." He was making a good point at least; even if she was a stranger to him and the rest of his group. Slowly he extended his thumb and moved his hand up to the point of his shoulder; making a directing motion to the following road she could see in the distance.

"Please. I'm worried you'll get hurt!" piped in Lissa before the woman had a chance to respond. Those glimmering eyes were on the borderline of matching a puppy. If the female blonde had stepped any closer to her they would have been bumping heads. Once again however she too was making a good point. If only in a mood pouty tone that wouldn't have escaped anyone. Thankfully another male voice stopped the girl from doing anything more - like yanking her along by her arm. "Worse; I'm worried we'll get blamed for it," dryly said Ledah as he messed around with the saddle upon the nearby horse. He gave a grunt while wrenching himself up upon the creature; settling without a word. The horse itself was surprisingly young and looked smaller than the one next to it - coated in perfectly groomed dark-furred skin beneath it's blue armor-like equipment.

..and Frederick? Frederick just shook his head and brought a hand to his face.

"Just the same, milord, I must emphasize caution. T'would not do to let a wolf into our flock."

A loud groan and something -thumping- in the background could be heard as the Great Knight finished his sentence.

Chrom just sighed and looked aside; "Really? Even a pun like that can be fatal to him, Frederick. Why must you tempt fate?"

Strangely enough Frederick looked suspiciously pleased with himself at making Ledah fall off his horse.

The woman took a step back in surprise from Lissa suddenly being so close to her face. "Ah...Alright." She agreed without meaning to, though she was somewhat relieved that she did. Being alone at the moment was low on her list of things she wanted to happen. "Lead the way, if you would." She said as she looked at each of the strangers, taking an extra second to stare at Sir Ledah. Clearly she was missing an inside joke.

Well, one mystery at a time, she supposed.

...Sometime later...

"Bad puns aside; Ylisse still seems the same these days. So I doubt you'll have much to remember..." said Ledah as he rubbed the side of his face. A bruise could be seen forming on his skin - a frown doing nothing to help get rid of it. He was currently trotting along on his horse next to the opposite male riding on his own mount. Frederick and the blonde were the only two of the group currently on horseback; both of them at the side of the group and making sure not to overtake. The elder Knight looked distinctly smug with himself and took a few hidden glances towards the narrowed eye-archer when he wasn't looking. Chrom was just happy they were getting along enough not to cause even more of a ruckus for their new guest. Thank Naga for small things.

Lissa blinked and looked up at him while walking next to the others along the path. It wouldn't be long now before they reached the town that they had spoken about. Another ten minutes at the most. Or something like that anyway. Whaaat? She was never one for tracking the time. "What are you talking about? You went on one mission in the mountains; didn't you?" She actually looked a little confused about his words. "The great 'Halidom of Ylisse' too good for Mr Bow-Knight-in-Training now?" Her pout and furrowed eyebrows said everything. Everything. Still; she didn't stop herself from throwing a single arm around the only other girl of the group and using her other to point directly at him and the others,

"You guys are being rude you know. You've not even introduced yourselves!"

Chrom just gave her a utterly blank look but said nothing of it as he bowed his head to the girl; "I hate to admit it, but you have a point. My name is Chrom—but then, you already knew that. The delicate one here is my little sister, Lissa. Who likes to hide the fact that she forgot too." He flashed a brief grin as his sister yelped at the realization and blushed sheepishly. Still; he said nothing and made a gesture towards the others to continue on from where he left off. Before the others -could- actually do that though Lissa threw up her free hand and pushed out her tongue towards her brother.

"I am NOT delicate! N-Nor did I forget! I-I..just wanted you guys to go first. Hmph! Ignore my brother, please. He can be a bit thick sometimes. But you're lucky the Shepherds found you. Brigands would've been a rude awakening!"

"The Halidom of Ylisse...is that where we are?" She muttered, more to herself than anyone else. Was that a country, or a territory? Probably the country itself. The name sounded far too grand to belong to anything smaller.

She instinctively stiffened when Lissa wrapped an arm around her, but relaxed after a few seconds. Clearly whoever she was - whoever she had been - was not someone used to physical contact. She filed that information away for later as she resisted the urge to chuckle at the siblings' banter, but Lissa's final comment made her curious. "Shepherds? You tend sheep? ...In full armor?" Surely she was misunderstanding something. Regardless, she went on. "But it was very lucky indeed that I was awakened by you and not brigands, and it's a pleasure to meet you both." She continued with a small but genuine smile. "And you two are Sir Ledah and Sir Frederick, are you not?" She asked as she turned to look at each of them respectively. "It's good to meet you as well."

The woman became thoughtful. "I suppose if we're introducing ourselves I should also give you a name, though I don't remember my own. You can call me-"

(A brown bird with a red breast, a cheerful song as it alighted on an outstretched finger, a rare, true smile, "This is why-")

"Robin." She said quickly, before pausing and repeating it quietly to herself. "Robin..." The name sounded...right, somehow.

Chrom chuckled at the thought and took a glance up to the sky before continuing on along the path; "Heh, it's a dangerous job.." It was true. Sure; they weren't exactly tending sheep; but he was being mostly truthful. Even if that made them sound rather odd. Only a slight change of his words stopped one of their companions from flipping a table at that moment; or worse; falling off a horse. Again. "Robin, huh? Sounds strangely familiar..." he pondered while scratching his cheek in wonder. It wasn't a common name, but it wasn't foreign. Either way it allowed them to at least call this poor girl by something other than a simple title or symbol. Which was good in itself. "Ah, well. We can discuss it later. We're almost to town. Shouldn't be longer than a few minutes now; I can almost see the path..."

Frederick barely gave her a glance but did so enough to remain polite. "I have every wish to trust you, stranger, but my station mandates otherwise. Gods forbid one of us keeps an appropriate level of caution..." Safe to say; she had guessed right when it came to his name. He just didn't go into any more than that. He even went as far as to urge his horse a bit more forward as not to attract anymore of her attention. This left Ledah shaking his head and sighing to himself; "He's got a point - but not that much of one. Don't take it to heart..."

Lissa on the other hand was strangely silent as she stared off into the distance; only speaking up after the blonde archer coughed to break her gaze;

"You okay, milady? You look like you've seen a gh-"

Rapid running followed as Chrom suddenly surged past them; obviously shouting,

"Damn it! Smoke. The town is ablaze! Those blasted brigands, no doubt... Frederick, Lissa, Ledah! Quickly!"

Robin shook her head to clear her mind of thoughts of whatever misunderstanding she was having regarding Shepherds and focused in on the second part of Chrom's response. Robin was a familiar name to him? She wondered how. Was it in the same way that he seemed so familiar to her, perhaps? Almost as if she actually did know him...

Before she could think to inquire further Sir Frederick and Sir Ledah brought her thoughts elsewhere. "I understand." Robin said, the words a response to both men. It was a wise thing for him to be wary around a stranger who could potentially harm his charges. She might have said that she would do no less herself, if she knew anything about herself. As it was she simply focused her attention elsewhere as he clearly wanted her to do.

Like on the burning town.

A gasp escaped her as the sight truly hit. So much fire, so much smoke. It must have been started only recently, otherwise they would have seen it from a greater distance, the path straight and flat as it was. A blessing, but it would be a useless one if something wasn't done soon, as Chrom clearly intended to.

"What about me?" Robin couldn't help but ask when she noticed she wasn't listed with the people to follow him. Was she to be left behind? She wanted to help, if she could.

"Do what you will; but try to steer clear;" said Ledah as he gave a sudden urge with his horse and sped up on the mount to the entrance of the town. It wasn't that far away really so he quickly caught up with Chrom and stopped with an adjustment of the arrows on his back. He carefully paused his horse and suddenly reached behind him to unclip his bow; gripping the wooden weapon while prepping it ready. She could see his fingers darting out for an arrow and carefully plucking it into the thread - but not going further than aiming for one of the people at the back of the village. The village itself wasn't exactly a large one; having a populace that was outside of the capital and more or less governed by themselves. It would have been delightfully peaceful if not for the screams and disgusting laughter of those tormenting the townsfolk.

"Stay your hand..." Chrom instantly ordered; halting the firing of any arrow by the blonde.

"Chrom! What are you waiting for? We have to stop them!" stamped Lissa; who just now caught up with the two men. Her panting was obvious. She wasn't exactly cut out for too much physical activity; especially while trying not to trip in her dress. Still; she didn't appear to mind too much and was focused on helping those beyond the small gate. Surprisingly she didn't look frightened at the idea of fighting. If anything she wanted for it to happen.

A voice suddenly interrupted their discussion deeper in the town. The group could see a large fellow in rags and wielding a large axe taunting the burning settlement while standing across from a rather distressed looking woman in torn clothes. "Gwa ha ha! Get to it, lads! Grab anything shiny, and put the rest to the torch! We gots an example to set for these Ylissean types! Ain't that right, lass?" Another scream broke out and Frederick was the only one not to flinch as he finally caught up with his companions; readying his weapon. He had a grim look over his features but a pair of eyes that burned with cold fury towards those within. Only a glance towards Chrom and his ideals stopped him from going any further.

"S-stay away from me! Please! Someone! HEEEEEELP!"

The cry of another woman in distress. Lissa looked slightly pale.

"Chrom!" snapped Ledah; breaking his thoughts.

"Right! After today, these bandits won't be bothering anyone ever again!"

Not too long after the woman's cry of help, a helpless bandit was kicked in between the cowering citizen and the leader of the group out from the building behind her.

"Sorry...If all you're looking for is something shiny, the only thing you'll get is this." Said a voice as a blue haired woman steps out from the building, moving in front of the helpless villager with a sword at hand. Her hair was rather spiky at medium length, a blue shade lighter than her tunic/half kimono looking clothes. It was clear she wasn't from Ylisse from the clothing itself and the slight accent in her subtle way of talking. Her blade with no guard was then pointed in front of her towards the bandit as she challenges his gaze with her own pair of brown eyes.

"Sadly, I'm afraid to say you won't be taking this from me." She spoke again, trying to distract him for a moment to let the villager flee. "I'll be needing it to chop you men up into pieces once I'm through with you. Either way, you won't be burning down anything over my dead body!"

Steer clear? That was the last thing Robin wanted to do. Or intended to. She paused only long enough to steel herself before she was charging after the people who had found her. She was not about to abandon them.

Robin took stock of what she had to defend herself with as she ran. Under her robe she had a sheathe which held a sword, and in a large pocket in her coat she had a yellow book. A Thunder tome? Was she a swordsman as well as a Mage? The combination struck her as odd, but she had no clue as to why.

She drew her blade as she reached the Shepherds and swung it a few times experimentally, but only after she made sure she was well out of reach of her allies. The balance felt right, and the movements were effective and well-practiced. Clearly her body remembered battling with a blade even though her mind did not. It was mildly frustrating, but at the moment she was more glad for it than anything else.

The amnesiac sheathed her blade for a moment and pulled out the book. Just as she had guessed, it was a Thunder tome, worn with age, filled with notes and dog-eared in places. The strongest of the three basic magical elements, but the hardest to control and therefore the least accurate. It had no distinct advantage over any class of opponent. Robin frowned at the sudden knowledge that filled her head without prompting or memory of having learned it, as well as wondering why this was her spell of choice. Strong was good, but she felt that a weaker but sure-hit shot was better than a strong shot that missed. Perhaps she was an overconfident person? She did feel confident that she could use the tome, even without any real memory of using it. With luck she would have her answer soon.

It suddenly struck her as funny that Sir Frederick didn't think to check for and confiscate any of her weapons when he was so cautious a person.

With a shake of her head to banish the odd thought, Robin glanced at her allies, and her mind told her more things, though she had no clue where they came from. Sir Chrom fought in the manner of a Lord (clumsy), Sir Frederick a Great Knight (distractable), Sir Ledah a Bow Knight (in training, sword-capable) as mentioned earlier, and Lady Lissa a Cleric (no offense, delicate) if her staff was any indication.

She turned her eyes to the battlefield. In front of her and the Shepherds was what had probably used to be an open market, though only four stalls remained relatively in tact now. Behind the closest one was a swordsman (Myrmidon, fast hits, weak guard) who didn't seem to have spotted them yet, focused on his leader in the distance. Closer to the far stall was an axeman (Barbarian, strong, slow hits), and just before the bridge that led to the church was a Mage (Wind tome, inexperienced). On the bridge itself was another Myrmidon (overconfident, weak right leg), and not far from him was the leader of the ruffians (overconfident, careless, poor vision in left eye) who stood in front of some kind of church. The girl fighting him (Myrmidon, confident, no armor) seemed to be an ally for the moment, freeing the hostage that he'd held.

"We need to get to that girl quickly..." Robin muttered, just loud enough for the Shepherds to hear her, but not the nearby brigand. She didn't notice that she was thinking aloud. "She looks competent but if that swordsman on the bridge turns around then she'll be outnumbered. The brigand close to us seems distracted, so Sir Ledah could probably bring him down with a well-aimed arrow. Partners are always wisest in battle, so he should probably pair up with Lady Lissa, who seems to be his specific charge. Sir Frederick could go with Sir Chrom in that case, which would leave me on my own. For the best, doubtless. Sir Frederick and Sir Chrom could focus on the axeman, the latter as the main aggressor as swords generally beat axes in combat. Sir Frederick would do well to distract the brigand and keep him from being able to concentrate. Meanwhile, I could go to engage the mage, who would likely be somewhat overwhelmed as he seems new to this. While we fought Sir Ledah could come to my aid and fire at the mage while he was distracted fighting me, ending him. Lady Lissa could heal anyone who was injured and then we could all cross the bridge..."

Robin abruptly trailed off as she realized what she was doing, and blushed a deep red as she glanced at her allies. "I'm so sorry, I have no idea where that came from."

"Robin! You followed us! Why?" shouted Chrom as he drew his sword completely and gripped it with one hand; curling his fingers around the hilt. He looked a little put-off by her arrival but said nothing as the girl thought aloud. His eyes narrowed slightly and he bowed his head in wonder before glancing at the others for a single flightless second. Strength in numbers was one thing; but this girl was speaking as if she could size up the enemy at a glance. Would that be enough tho- Wait, was that a tome? She had a understanding of magic as well? Well, that was handy. He wasn't about to throw away a gift like this on the battlefield. "..Alright! Then we'll follow your advice. Shepards! Follow her lead and get ready! We haven't been noticed, so now is the time to attack."

Lissa looked a little unsure; only to be surprised as Ledah suddenly rode up next to her and quite literally yanked her onto his horse. The stunned glance she tossed him faded when she realized he was notching another arrow and  aiming at the closest brigade with one of his eyes shut. His finger-tips cupped the center point of the object and his arm pulled back with steady aim; his following nod being the only signal he gave the blue haired warrior close to him. Carrying a second person on horseback wasn't new to him. "Chrom. Time to tip the scales."

Frederick appeared unsure but sighed and raised his weapon next to Chrom, who gave the blonde male a slow piercing glance. Followed by a nod.

"Here's how it's done!"

That was the only warning that the brigand received before an arrow pierced straight through his back. His body hit the floor with a thud and those near him could only stare in shock at the sight of pooling blood. It wasn't exactly how things usually went for these bandits after all. The most threats they usually went up against were a few villagers who thought they were tough. They most certainly didn't expect this sort of retaliation. The speed that the arrow had been fired at pretty much assured that the man would die instantly - especially with how little protection he was equipped with. The arrow-head had pierced flesh like a knife through butter and severed arteries in one strike. A painful way to die - but instant nonetheless.

"Your end has come!"

Chrom jumped at the chance and Frederick immediately followed after upon his horse. To say that the blue haired male was skilled...would be an understatement. The man wielding the axe didn't have any idea what hit him as sword cleaved through his arm. The strange sword that Chrom was wielding met little resistance and the lance that Sir Frederick was using sent the bandit to a quick and brutal grave. The duo of blows sent out was overwhelming and trying to defend against such would have required more skill than the axe-wielding bandit possesed. Safe to say, he didn't stand a chance. Unfortunately Chrom and Frederick offered no pity for the pillager and simply focused on what was next.

The mage that the tactician had ponder over looked at them from the center of the bridge and appeared a little weary about the approaching numbers; but made no move to run as he brought out a tome. Beyond him was another man wielding a large blade; and another man that the Shepherds had no doubt dubbed the 'leader' of these savages.  Sadly the blue haired woman was still unreachable but they could hear them talking across the bridge.

"What'sa? A pretty thing and a bunch of sheep have come to the slaughter;" said Garrick, swinging his axe and raising it in gesture to the foreign woman. "Deal with this nuisance or al' have yar' head for lunch!"

The ruffian next to him holding the large bronze sword quickly responded and shot towards the woman with only one thing in mind. It seemed he didn't have much skill with that weapon he was holding; but it was more than those that simple villagers had. A Myrmidon turned bandit.

The woman blinks as she heard the Shepherds and Robin coming into the town. Her attention was divided, keeping track of Garrick and his lackeys all while seeing Chrom and the others fighting with effortless skill. Seeing Ledah's arrows hitting their mark so easily and the teamwork of Chrom and Frederick made it quite obvious they were who they were. The question is....did they see her as an enemy as well? She scoffs at the thought of fighting those Shepherds five to one. This issue needs to be dealt with before they had the opportunity to surround her.

Her attention switched back when she heard the leader speaking, seeing the Myrmidon running up to her. The woman could tell he wasn't a threat...the way he ran at her and held his sword proved much of that. It was as if he didn't see her any bit of a threat...or that he wasn't good with the sword. Although the steps he took were quick unlike the bandits attempting to fight the Shepherds, the way he held his sword was lacking.

"You're finished..."

Before he could have a chance to slice at her, she pushes off the ground, dashing at him in mere seconds before bringing her sword up to knock his own away from her. The woman pulls her sword back, standing her ground before plunging it into the bandit's abdomen. Planting a foot on his body, she forces him off her sword and swings off the loose blood before turning back to Garrick. "How rude. All I did was point my sword at you and you had someone else do your dirty work. Though thank you for the compliment...Anything else?"

“Follow my – wait! I don't – argh...” Robin let the hand reaching towards Chrom to stop him fall as the man sprinted away. Why were they following her suggestions? Her mouth had just decided to convey what was happening in her brain without her consent, not to mention she was a stranger with amnesia who they had met less than an hour ago. She was the last person who should have been in charge. So why was she in charge?!

Well, for better or for worse, it seemed that she was. The woman shook her head and concentrated on her part of the plan. She ran at the mage as she opened her tome and let out a blast of Thunder straight at him. It hit the young man, making him stumble back and cry out, but it didn't kill him. Robin's sword, however, did. The Thunder was merely a distraction to get close enough to send her blade through his neck, ending his life swiftly.

Robin stared at the body for a moment. There was no horror or disgust, as she might have expected there to be. Perhaps it was shock, or perhaps not. Either way she didn't give herself time to think on it too deeply, only bending down to grab the Wind tome which had fallen from his lifeless hand. “To the victor goes the spoils...” She mumbled before dashing off to meet the others at the edge of the bridge.

She paused there to again take stock of the situation. The blue-haired woman had taken out the Myrmidon on the bridge with ease, leaving only the leader alive. “If you're still letting me lead, I'd suggest that Sir Frederick and Chrom engage the foe head on while Sir Ledah and I provide support from a distance. The man has a poor left eye, so concentrate your attacks on that side of his body, but be wary that he's found a way to compensate for it. I find it unlikely that he has, but be wary nonetheless. Assist the woman however possible." Robin glanced at the Shepherds. "Again, this is merely a suggestion."

"Shall we?"

"As one!"

Perhaps it was a surprise for the young lady about to attack Garrick. Sir Frederick and Chrom had suddenly charged up along side her while focused on the rough looking man; firmly holding their weapons but making no move to attack. The blue haired man tossed her a glance and the older looking male atop the horse never once looked away from the axe wielder. He had nowhere to run either way. A pitch of light suddenly swarmed around the group in a emerald aura before briefly fading away; leaving only a single cheerful voice and the sound of a stamping foot. Lissa had long since jumped off the horse and had her staff raised towards her companions; her lips in a grumpy little pouty, "We'll see who's delicate! I may not be all that good at fighting like Chrom, but when you get injured? I'll be the one stitching your bones back together with my trusty staff. Now take down this meanie."

Ledah simply sighed and raised his bow towards the axe-wielding man; keeping him in his sights as he set up another arrow in the string. Completely surrounded. "Just give it up; you've nowhere to go." It was honestly true. At least the Shepherds were kind enough to warn the brutal man about such. Unfortunately said man looked like he was having none of it. The blonde could see the eye twitch on the thug and his hand curl around the axe with a snort that wouldn't sound out of place on a boar. Still, the bow-knight couldn't do a thing without the right word. "Chrom," he stated simply with a glance down towards the man that stood with his blade drawn.

"Here, sheepy sheepy! Come to the slaughter!"

Chrom's face quickly hardened and he looked towards the voice of the bandit.

"On my mark!"

Lissa raised her staff once more in ready;

"Go get 'em!"

Frederick adjusted his lance and narrowed his eyes,

"Allow me."

Ledah arched his bow and merely nodded,

"Stay calm."

A gulping sound actually echoed.

Garrick didn't look so sure now.

She was prepared for whatever Garrick was going to do, whether it was attacking at her full on by himself or sending any more lackeys he had hidden around the village if anymore.

She sure as hell wasn't expecting this.

The blue haired woman stood there in a slight bit of shock, seeing the Shepherds standing next to her as temporary allies. They were going to fight with her? Even though they don't know a thing about her? She felt wary and cautious, glancing at each of the Shepherds with a slight glare. Did they think she couldn't fight him on her own? Well if they did, they thought wrong...and she was going to prove it.

"I'm more than enough to take you down, bandit." she hisses angrily towards Chrom, bringing her sword up to her face and stood in a stance holding it with both hands. "And I'll cut down anyone who wants to get in my way! Don't underestimate me!" with those words said, she dashes forward towards the slightly confused Garrick, pulling the sword back to her side as she tries to deal two hits in quick succession towards his chest.

"Here's how it's done!"

Robin opened the newly obtained Wind tome (one of the basic elemental tomes, it had the weakest power of them all but it was also the easiest to learn and control, thereby making it the most accurate, and it was also highly effective on flying units) and held it up, once again confident she could use it even without true memory of it, and even if the knowledge had once again only just appeared in her head.

"Let's see who is truly the lamb to be slaughtered..." The amnesiac mumbled to herself as circles of runes appeared around her body and outstretched arm, signalling that she was holding the spell and ready to strike. She eyed the woman attacking the ruffian, but did not unleash her spell, waiting for Chrom's signal.

Ledah pulled back with the arrow and adjusted the point of the notched object until it was directly aimed at the arm of his opponent. His iron bow shook lightly at the force he was applying onto the curve of the weapon - but forever staying stable as he lined up the shot. His green eyes noted how the rough-looking bandit stood and moved; simply waiting with a tense breath. The girl lunging towards Garrick did nothing to distract the bow-knight; merely concentrating on maintaining where the razor-sharp blades that made up the arrow-head would achieve maximum penetration. Letting it loose while someone was in the way would be tricky even if it was possible. Unfortunately; seconds later Chrom shouted and the blonde finally moved to let the arrow loose.

Garrick wasn't prepared. The attacking girl was met with equal ferocity by his axe and he stumbled at the slashes into his chest; batting away the full-force of the blows aside with his weapon. It was common for a sword-user to beat those that wielded axes on sheer principle of human warfare. It was the triangle of basic infantry known by most tacticians. Swords were faster and simply more agile in nature and thus won when pit against the brutal and savage strength of it's rival. Thus it wasn't a surprise that the man looked increasingly nervous as he backed up and grit his teeth; looking seconds away from screaming bloody murder at the blue haired woman. He was panicking.

"Now."

The bandit leader only had moment of realizing who that voice belonged to before a spike of pain surged through his shoulder. Bone-marrow shook and flesh was cleanly opened by a burrowing metal tip that was let loose with dart-like nature. Chrom jumped at the chance as Garrick nearly dropped his weapon by sheer instinctive reaction and pain. The Falchion (the blue haired man's unique looking sword) cut into him with a blow that first sent the man flying backwards from the force; only to follow up with another slash towards the wound received by the bow-knight in the background. Surprisingly; that wasn't enough. "Ya' won't beat me tha' easy fancy-pants!" came the snapping voice of the criminal as he lashed out with his head and quite literally used his skull to interrupt the incoming Falchion barrage. Forehead met forehead in a matching of speed and Chrom saw stars; nearly dropping his weapon.

His blue eyes widened seconds later at the sight of the large axe approaching his face.

"I think not."

Frederick smashed his lance into the weapon mid-flight and Garrick was tossed like a damn ragdoll. Any normal person would have been reeling from the blow and be down for the count - even if the force of the attack hadn't actually touched them in question. It appeared the this rough looking man was used to such things however and made sure they knew it well as he stood up and firmly gripped his axe. Two clean cuts sat on his torso; one from the mysterious blue haired beauty and another one from the still rather dazed looking Chrom. The arrow still lodged in his shoulder was yanked out with a growl of pain and broken; revealing raw skin beneath the surface. It appeared however that it hadn't lodged correctly and thus didn't cause much beyond surface-damage.

"A messed up shot..." muttered Ledah under his breath; shaking his head at himself. That's what he got for trying not to hit bystanders.

"I got you!"

Lissa closed her eyes and suddenly aimed her staff towards her brother; letting loose a breathless chant as the same emerald light from moments ago pitched itself up around Chrom. The hazy echo around his eyes from the meeting of skulls quickly faded away and the man could be seen shaking his head rapidly in an attempt to wonder what the hell just happened. Rarely had he met a man dumb enough to counter a blade-stroke with a blow to the head...from a head! He couldn't quite tell if that was genius or just plain stupid. He was voting for the later...even if it had worked. "Thank you."

“Bwaaargh!”

Garrick looked like a rabid dog now. Frothing at the mouth as he charged them.

Frederick could only narrow his eyes in response at the atrocious behaviour;

"He reminds me of someone. Ledah, do you happen to have family we don't know about?"

Ledah just stared at him.

"Tch!"

Seeing the Shepherds attacking Garrick after her annoyed her greatly. There were too many people fighting against one man...a pitiful one at that. It made it harder for her to concentrate as she grips onto her sword.

"Out of the way! I can handle him with ease." She hisses at Chrom, seeing him proving her point when Garrick headbutted him. The blue haired prince probably would have had one nasty wound if it wasn't for his knight in shining armor...It didn't help that the bowman's aim was worse than a child playing catch with their father. Seeing Garrick charging at them while the yellow princess was healing her brother caused Zora to move out of instinct this time rather than a planned attack due to the risk they were left utterly helpless.

"You'll only get in the way....Here's how it's done!" She shouts as the woman quickly swings her sword towards Garrick's right side, hoping it would at least stagger him away from Chrom and Lissa.