With Robin on board, the travelers entered the eastern forest, their next destination Ylisstol, the capital of Ylisse. Robin didn't think it was all that clever a name, but who was he to judge? Unfortunately, the attack on Southtown delayed them so that the sun began to set bare hours into the journey.
"Geez," Lissa complained, "I still think we should have stayed in Southtown for tonight. Especially since we have to camp in these creepy woods."
Lissa sighed again and immediately began to splutter and choke as a bug flew into her mouth. "Ugh, I thinkp I sthwallowed a fly!"
Chrom smirked. "Now, now, Lissa I thought you said that you'd be getting used to this. Or were you just spewing hot air?"
Frederick, not wanting to sit through the impending banter, spurred his horse further down the path. Lissa, for her part, just wanted to argue.
"No, I am getting used to this! I just thought we could reach Ylisstol faster if we rested, maybe even got horses from the village."
Chrom hadn't expected something well-reasoned, but he fired back all the same. "Well, we rarely have the luxury of such things. Besides, all it proves is that you're too delicate to rough it."
Lissa took umbrage and began to rant at Chrom. Robin chose to ignore them. Instead, alone to his thoughts, he took in his surroundings.
I seem to have a theme with what I can remember. I know how to fight, how to use magic, and I'm adept at tactics of all things. And now, it seems I know what to look for when trying to make camp.
His search was cut short when Frederick, ever dutiful, returned to announce he'd found a campsite.
Conversation ceased as they followed the knight and began clearing the area. The silence was short lived though, soon Lissa was groaning about rocks and Frederick decided to make an announcement, as if he couldn't just speak normally to his three companions.
"I fear we're short on rations. We have enough water to make the capital, but foraging and hunting will be required this night."
Chrom sighed, that was just great. "Well, the only one of us with a horse is you Frederick. Lissa and I will go forage."
Lissa groaned once more. "Come on, can't we just let Frederick do his job?"
Chrom smirked at her. "Why? Do you want to be the spoiled girl resting while good people work?"
Lissa erupted once more, Robin chuckling at the sight. If their band is half this entertaining, I'll never be bored.
Then his mind went back to its thoughts, his actions automatic.
I wonder, though. I'm obviously trained in battle, but, who trained me? Do I have comrades, friends looking for me? Do I have a family waiting for me?
The imaginings hollowed his mood, but any imaginings did nothing for his memory. Trying to imagine friends and family did nothing but make him focus on his lack of memory. A crunch brought him back from the prison of his musings.
He was alone now, his companions off in the forest. A dry twig had been the source of the sound, but its color drew his eye. It was darker than the surrounding wood, chestnut hued if his fractured memory was right, and he picked it up.
What's this doing here? I asked Chrom if anything interesting grew around here beside oaks, but this isn't oak.
He pulled it in for a closer look when a sharp, spicy scent invaded his nose. A barrage of images bombarded his mind. They flew too fast for him to make out but for the briefest glimpse. A house, a ravine, a river at night, heart-pounding contortions he didn't dare try to name, and a ridge. As the images flashed, brief sounds, snippets of conversation, and names, accompanied them.
'...And you are?'
'That's too kind of you.'
'Thanks for being here.'
'Hey, stop that!'
'Well aren't you a charmer?'
'Go get daddy!'
'I love you.'
The images and sounds were gone as soon as they arrived, but one thing stuck with him.
Red. A beautiful, blazing scarlet. It was all he could conjure up, regardless of how he tried. But, when he finally regained control of both his mind and body, he found the bark's pieces lodged in his palm.
Damn it! Whatever that was, it gave my memory a boost, but everything it showed me is already starting to fade. Everything, except that color.
He shook his head and set about his task once more, Chrom and Lissa's voices slowly growing as they returned. Shortly after, Frederick joined them with his catch. Robin and Lissa stared as he pulled down the bear's carcass.
"A bear, Frederick?!" Lissa screeched, "Couldn't you have caught something normal?"
Frederick dragged the bear away from the indignant girl, a friendly smile on his face. "This was the closest game I could find. Thus, I brought it here."
Lissa huffed and sat next to Chrom.
Chrom waved Robin over, "Hey, mind helping me start this? Maybe blast it with some of your lightning?"
Robin sighed. "Sure, if you want all that wood to go flying everywhere."
Chrom rolled his eyes. "You showed plenty of control just a few hours ago. Why not now?"
Robin shrugged. "That was aim, nothing more. The smallest orb I can make is the size of my head, and even then, I don't have all that many pages left in my tome."
Chrom nodded. "Good point," he turned to Lissa, "do you have any of those small branches on you?"
Lissa held up a stick as if presenting it to a king. Robin laughed at her ham acting while Chrom snatched the stick and set to work with his kindling. A few minutes later, they had a fire.
"I've finished dressing the game."
Just in time, too. Venison was skewered and roasted, while Robin practically drooled as he waited for his portion. Another realization he'd had after being assaulted by the bark?
He was starving.
Minutes felt like hours as he watched the meat slowly brown, the aroma driving him mad.
"Ugh, this stuff smells. It's like old, moldy boots."
Heresy! Burn the she-witch!
Chrom's chuckles pierced Robin's maniacal haze. "Ah, come on, Lissa. Meat is meat and you must eat!"
Lissa groaned, that rhyme was just bad. Frederick was sipping at his flask, but even Chrom could see the knight smirking.
Chrom laughed, "Ah, you're no fun, Lissa. The only time you're ever laughing is when it's at someone. You need to learn to laugh at yourself."
Lissa huffed again, "Oh please. I can laugh at myself just fine, it's Maribelle that needs to learn that lesson."
Chrom shook his head. "A tad on the nose, but true. Anyway, food's done. I'll just..."
He paused at the sight before him. Where once there were a good nine skewers of meat, only five remained. Confused, he looked to see Frederick and Lissa both ogling their new companion.
Chrom turned to his left and blinked. Robin not only had the four skewers in his hands, he was almost done with them!
Lissa sighed as Robin slurped up the last morsel. "Well, I guess that's what hunger looks like. I don't think Stahl could have eaten that fast."
Frederick snorted, "A bold claim, milady."
Lissa adopted a contemplative face before giggling. "True, true. The day someone out eats Stahl is the day I start singing opera."
Robin, his hunger-crazed mind settled, stretched. "Well, I don't know who you're talking about, but I'm tired. Hope you don't mind, but I'm going to sleep."
He heard mumbles of acknowledgment as he hauled himself away. He stretched out on the ground and listened to Lissa mocking Frederick for not eating his own portion. Robin tried to listen to them, to keep his thoughts clear, but his mind wandered.
Chrom's certainly strange. I feel like a leader is supposed to be in command at all times and command absolute obedience. Or, that's what I remember it being called. But, he's so casual with those around him, no matter what it's about. I mean, Lissa's understandable; they're siblings, but he and Frederick trade barbs more often than I expected. Then, there's me. He treats me like a friend when I don't know anything outside of some fragments, all having to do with battle. Perhaps... he's just a different kind of leader?
Robin's mind stored his thoughts for later. He was tired, his bones weighed him down while fog rolled through his brain.
His eyes finally closed.
Then, his mind bloomed scarlet.
"Huh!" Chrom gasped, jolting awake. He sat up and looked at his companions, sleeping peacefully. After a moment of silence, he got up to look around, inadvertently waking his sister.
"Uh... What's up, Chrom?" Lissa asked, still groggy.
"I don't know, Lissa. I felt something... strange."
"Did one of those millipede's crawl on you again?"
"No, not that, something ... sinister" Chrom answered hurriedly, hand on Falchion.
"I'm going to patrol the immediate area, stay here," he said. Lissa already had her staff in hand though.
"No, I'll come with you!"
Chrom, seeing her famous bullheadedness surface once more, nodded before pacing into the forest, Lissa close behind.
Their trek through the forest was devoid of all conversation. Initially, they tried to keep their camp in sight, but Chrom felt pulled to go deeper. Lissa, stubborn to the end, followed along. It wasn't until they'd long since left the camp that Chrom froze.
"Wait," Chrom commanded, stopping his sister with his off hand, "something's wrong here." He gripped Falchion's hilt hard.
"Yeah... now that you mention it..." Lissa began to look around until she registered the utter silence, "Hey... Chrom... where did all the cicadas go?"
Chrom tensed, pushing Lissa behind him.
The ground quaked violently. The siblings stumbled, barely keeping their feet. The earth before them cracked and soared skyward.
"Lissa, run!" Chrom screamed at his sister. Despite his words, they both stared at the rising wall in shock.
"I said run!" Chrom screamed again, this time pushing Lissa away from the wall. Back to her senses, Lissa ran the way they had come as fast as her legs could carry her. Chrom joined her not a moment later, liquid fire bellowing from the sundered earth and raining meteors of flame.
"This way!" Chrom roared at his sister, jumping into a large ravine out of the fire's path. Lissa stumbled as she turned, jumping into the ravine with a screech right as a large ball of flame crashed into the ground.
Out of harm's way, Chrom gave Lissa a once over for injuries. She'd rolled her ankle from her fall, but was otherwise fine. She whined when he prodded her ankle, but gasped as she looked behind him. Lissa pointed at whatever it was, voice panicked.
"Chrom, what is that?!"
Chrom whirled around, staring at several runes swirling in the open air. The runes froze before forming a large circle. A moment later, a line cut across its diameter, opening into a large, crystalline eye.
"Lissa, stay back," Chrom warned as he drew Falchion. Sluggishly, two figures were birthed from the glowing eye before falling to the forest floor with sickening thuds.
Inexplicably, the things rose from the ground and looked at the siblings with glowing red eyes. Chrom tensed as the figures, holding rusted axes, came closer to them.
Monstrous. That was the only word Chrom could use to describe these creatures. Their skin was ash gray and peeling, glowing red lights glaring from sunken sockets, noxious fog leaking from their mouths.
They were corpses. Old corpses.
One roared at Chrom and charged him with surprising speed. Chrom, caught off guard, was able to meet the creature. It could barely use an axe, just raising the weapon to swing, leaving it wide open to a slash from Falchion.
Chrom thought he'd killed it, but saw no blood. He looked back at the creature, which proceeded to turn its head around with a sickening crack. It swung at Chrom, but he leapt over it, if barely.
Landing on the other side of the creature, Chrom rammed his shoulder into the creature's body, knocking it to the ground. He finished it with a thrust through its skull. It let out a hideous groan, dissolving into a noxious purple smoke that quickly dissipated as Chrom looked for Lissa.
He heard Lissa scream, turning and sprinting in the direction of the noise. Bare moments later, he saw the other creature looming over Lissa, its axe ready to strike.
Chrom cursed, urging his legs to move faster, to save his sister. In his haste, he didn't notice three figures exit the closing eye. The first to make it out almost floated in the air, landing directly in front of Lissa. The monster swung down but its axe clanged off the man's sword.
Chrom stopped short, surprised to see his sister rescued. The other figures dashed into the forest unnoticed.
"Help!" The stranger shouted. Chrom regained enough of his wits to charge, roaring in anger. The noise caught the creatures' attention, taking the force off the other's blade. They took advantage and swung at the creatures' belly in perfect sync with Chrom's own strike, making it dissolve.
Now that the danger had passed, Chrom turned to look at the other swordsman, who'd already sheathed their blade. "I must thank you, friend, for saving my sister's life"
Chrom kept Falchion bare though. Frankly, he was in no mood for another surprise this day.
The stranger didn't reply giving Chrom a chance to look at them properly. His hair was short, dark blue like Chroms. He wore a butterfly mask to conceal the top half of his face. Chrom hesitated at the noble Ylissean clothing he wore, albeit gold where Chrom's was adorned with silver.
Finally, the stranger spoke. "I have only done what I must, Sir, you owe me no thanks." His deep voice sounded false to Chrom, like they were trying to keep their voice at a lower octave then it actually was.
"Well, in any case, you have our thanks, stranger. If you hadn't arrived..."
Lissa chose then to pipe up. "I'd be nothing more than a bloody smear on that rock!"
She giggled, a grateful smile plastered on her face, though the swordsman was unmoved.
"I came for one reason, to warn you, these things are but the vanguard." The swordsman turned away from them and began to move toward the forest. Chrom tried to stop him, but froze at the sound of a horse thundering through the forest. Chrom turned to face Frederick and Robin, both alarmed but still half asleep.
"Milord, milady, are you alright?" Frederick asked. His face didn't show it, but he was in an absolute panic.
"We're fine, Frederick, thanks to this... Where did he go?" Chrom answered, turning to introduce the swordsman who'd disappeared.
"I tried to stop him, Chrom, but he'd only give me his name." Lissa informed Chrom. "He called himself Marth, after the old Hero-King."
Lissa cradled her head, sighing. "He's kind of dreamy too"
Chrom was having none of this. "And you're sort of dreaming!"
Robin clapped for their attention. "While I enjoy seeing you two bicker, we've a much greater problem at hand."
He waved to the field before them. A large pack of the creatures that had attacked Chrom and Lissa were approaching them.
"You're right. Everyone, ready yourselves!" Chrom barked, Robin studied the battlefield for any advantage.
"Chrom, what is that?" He asked, pointing to a large tower of stone and wood that rose out of the forest.
"That's one of the abandoned forts in this region; they're dilapidated, but useable."
"Good. Let's get everyone over there. Unless, you fancy taking all of them at once." Robin grinned.
Chrom shook his head and led them to the fort. Well, calling it a fort was a tad generous.
The stone walls were crumbling and most of the wood had rotted, but the gate was thin enough to block. It also didn't offer any footholds should the creatures prove to be smart.
Robin sighed when he saw its disrepair. It'll have to do. Not much else around.
He waved Chrom over, "I'm guessing that Frederick won't take orders from me, not that I blame him, so here's what I'm asking you to do."
Chrom nodded and left to inform Frederick of his role. Robin and Chrom would hold the fort entrance while Lissa would heal them if needed. Frederick would use his mobility to break up groups and kill stragglers. It wasn't perfect, but having all of four people, and one that couldn't fight at that, wasn't ideal.
Robin took a deep breath, "Ok, is everyone ready? I don't know about you, but I'd like to see new sights."
Lissa laughed, the sound hollow. "Everything you see is new. How's that fair?"
Robin shook his head, wanting to reassure her, when a noise that wasn't the growling dead met them
It was a loud, feminine voice to the left of their position.
"Captain Chrom!"
Chrom obviously recognized the voice, running to the top of the wall. He searched around for a moment before pointing towards the forest. "Sully! Frederick, Lissa, it's Sully!"
Robin, curious to see this 'Sully' scrambled to join Chrom.
Sully was a masculine name, so Robin could be forgiven for being rather shocked at what he saw.
Sully was, first and foremost, a woman. She also happened to be riding a lightly armored horse, wearing red and white armor similar to Fredericks, if much lighter. She galloped toward them brandishing a steel lance.
As she drew closer, Robin drew in a sharp breath. Sully had red hair, cropped short and messy, and he could almost imagine she had similar eyes. He forced himself to exhale after a moment. Her hair was closer to burgundy, not the bright scarlet that shone in his memories.
She wouldn't know him.
Sully finally spotted Chrom waving her down. She started towards them when yet another voice joined them, this one clearly masculine.
"Hold, milady, let sweet Virion handle these awful creatures in your delicate stead!"
The voice was weird, Robin noted, furrowing his brow in thought.
Who talks like that? They sound... like... something?
He truly cursed his amnesia at this point. It was keeping him from creating witty comparisons.
A figure was drawing closer to Sully, and them, but all Robin could see was the bow slung over their shoulder. Once they were closer, Sully turned and started yelling at the figure, the archer, Robin corrected.
A moment later, Sully rode toward them while the archer picked himself off the ground and jogged after her.
Odd, that was the only possible way to describe the archer. He had straight, teal, hair and a deep blue shirt on. A small shield and plate sleeve covered his right arm and Robin grimaced at what he could only describe as a bib around the man's neck. Outside of that, his dark pants and boots were almost plain. But, what really made the ensemble of blue strange was the silver bow slung across his back.
The man finally pulled aside Sully while she was trying to talk to Chrom.
"Captain Chrom! I came as soon as I saw the fire and picked up this floozy," the cavalier pointed at the man, who introduced himself as Virion the 'Archest' of Archers. "Along the way. I'm glad I found him cause it seems you need some help."
By then the horde of creatures were beginning to enter range and Robin could make out their rusted iron weaponry. They were moving with purpose now that they sensed prey.
"That's ok, Sully," Chrom called back, "Robin here is going to direct you, and before you ask, he's our new tactician."
The growls of the horde were even louder now, forming a steady vibration in the air.
Robin waved Chrom down to the gate, calling to Sully while he was at it, "The one on the horse is Sully and the other's Virion, right?"
"That's me, boss man! Where do ya need me?"
Robin pointed to the fields. "Join Frederick and charge any groups you see! Try and break off stragglers before eliminating them. If you see any loners, be wary!"
Sully saluted with her lance before riding off. Virion stepped forward, "And what would you have me do?"
Robin glanced around the walls of the fort, trying to find a good spot. "Take that wall on the right of the gate! Fire at will on anything you see, but leave any that make the gate to us!"
Virion bowed and jogged into the fort, clambering to his position with ease. Robin joined Chrom back on the ground and took his position, the eyes of the enemy clearly visible.
Here goes nothing.
"Now!"