Chapter Text
“She doesn’t seem to be injured. Not visibly, anyway.”
Sitting back on her heels, Lissa pursed her lips in a thoughtful frown. In one hand she held a stave, currently inert, that hadn’t made so much as a peep in the magical sense, and Robin remained unconscious.
“What happened, then? How did she get here?” Chrom knelt at his sister’s side, taking in everything with muted worry. It had been more pronounced as the trio descended, but once they confirmed that Robin was, in fact, still breathing, the edge of the initial panic had dulled some. Lissa huffed.
“Why’re you asking me? I don’t know any more than you!” she chided, “It’s like… It’s like she’s just asleep, but normal people don’t fall asleep by the side of the road! Right out in the open! That’s just asking for bad stuff to happen.”
“I don’t like it.” Thus far, Frederick had remained cautious, hovering beyond with thinly veiled suspicion. “It’s too convenient. It stinks of a set-up to me.”
“As much as I appreciate your caution, Frederick, I really do, I truly think that there’s some greater mystery at work here,” Chrom sighed, “If only because there can’t possibly be danger at every corner. There is caution, and then there’s just paranoia. Sometimes an unconscious person by the wayside might be exactly what it looks like.”
“I’m being prudent, not paranoid,” Frederick grumbled under his breath, but let the matter drop. It didn’t stop him from shooting yet another look to where I currently lay quietly in the grass at Chrom’s side, taking in the whole examination with drooping ears and very mixed feelings on still being present. “This is your fault,” he hissed. I met his eyes and wagged my tail halfheartedly.
Rude of him to stare. I was just being helpful out of some sense of… I don’t know, practical-ism or pragmatism, or whatever. It was nice feeling like I’d made a meaningful contribution in a matter that needed absolutely no help in the first place. Because on one hand, I was struck with awe at the… plot, happening in front of me, but also fully aware that there was nothing keeping me here for it. Robin hadn’t really needed me to lead Chrom to her or anything, but… but? I was delaying myself.
Chrom was brushing a careful hand over Robin’s forehead.
“There’s no fever?” he said, the uptick to his words twisting the statement into a question, “I’m starting to think we’re not getting much done here.”
“We have to do something, though!”
“What do you propose we do?” The short silence was one of equal parts thoughtfulness (Chrom) and horror (Frederick.) Two enterprising sets eyes turned on the horse standing innocently nearby. Frederick blanched.
“Absolutely not—“
“We can’t just leave her here,” Lissa protested, and Chrom nodded.
“Southtown is only just ahead, and we’re Shepards. If we ignored this poor soul, it would be remiss of our duties—“
My ears pricked up midway through Chrom’s noble speech, because I’d heard a sound. A hitch of breath, in what had previously been a slow, unbroken pattern. Movement, as fingers twitched, curling in on themselves.
“…ah?”
It was the tiniest voice I’d ever heard, but I’d heard it. Ears flicked forward as I lifted my head. As did Lissa and Chrom, falling silent in surprise, but not for long as Robin slowly blinked in the sunlight, up at last.
“You’re awake!” Lissa said with very real relief— Chrom exhaled with equal relief as he gazed down, letting his posture slip some.
“Where…?” Robin’s voice— Robin’s voice— was soft, but thick with confusion. She was still coming to, I guess, but it didn’t seem to stop her from jumping right into things. With some struggle she braced her arms enough to reach a sitting position, swaying and still slightly crossed-eyed, not quiet able to focus. This was where Chrom made his move— a hand went to her shoulder to steady her, but also to keep her from moving too quickly than she could handle.
“Easy there.” His voice was… warm. “There are better places to sleep than on the ground, you know— you had us worried.”
Gosh. It wasn’t even directed at me, but there was an inherent sort of kindness to his tone that was relaxing me even as I lay still. Robin was not immune either; I’d heard, hell, had smelled the spike of panic as her pulse jumped, but a single word from Chrom and she’d hesitated. There was really something to be said of the… realness, of the people around me, in the way they held themselves and in their very voice— Matt Mercer had nothing on Chrom, as himself, as he stood and offered a steady hand to Robin, as he smiled— “Can you stand?”
Another trace amount of hesitation. But Robin took the offered hand, allowing herself to be hauled to her feet, swaying but ultimately steady.
“…thank you, Chrom,” she said slowly, her voice distant as she let the name slip from her lips. I couldn’t directly see Chrom’s reaction at this point, but I did see Frederick’s as he stiffened perceptively and narrowed his eyes.
“You know who I am?” said Chrom, curious, seemingly nothing else.
“I… maybe? I’m sorry, I don’t… I-I’m sorry. I know your name but I don’t know how…” she trailed away. “It just came to me…”
“Curious…” Gosh, but he was so noncommittal about this. “Then could you share your name with us? And how you came to be here?”
Robin tried to say so, she really did. Her mouth opened, the light was on, but mid-breath she froze, blanking out right in front of us. A full minute she seemed to struggle with it, before her mouth closed and I smelled her panic again, with an ever increasing heartbeat.
“I can’t remember,” she said, astonished, “I truly… I can’t remember.”
“You don’t know your own name?” ah, there it was— skepticism, even for Chrom, no matter how hard he tried to smooth it out.
“I-I’m sorry—“ Robin looked abruptly around. She looked at Lissa, jumped as she noticed Frederick, and for a brief second rested her eyes on me— a small thrill, as I made eye contact— but it was vacant and passed right over without a second glance. Predictably. Yet, I wilted; I’d stood when Robin did, happy and more than a little eager, but being so summarily passed over invoked a certain sort of sadness. I felt my tail and ears droop while Robin struggled to continue her train of thought. “Where am I, exactly?”
Lissa broke in with a gasp, here. “Wait, I know this!” she exclaimed, “It’s called amnesia! It’s where you lose all your past memories!”
“What?” said a mystified Robin; Frederick snorted loudly.
“It’s called a load of Pegasus dung,” he sneered, (…snrk. He really said that,) “And you really must think we’re fools if you expect us to fall for it.”
“W-What? I—“
“Come now. You remember milord’s name but not your own? Awfully convenient, isn’t it?”
“I-I swear it’s the truth!”
“As if—“
“Peace, Frederick.” Chrom halted conversation with a raised hand. Frederick quieted, but not happily. Poor Robin was flustered. Lissa looked between everyone with worry. Chrom scratched his head.
“So… you really don’t remember your name?”
“No…”
“Or how you came here?”
“I don’t, no.”
“Hm. Perhaps do you remember her?”
Her? Who, Lissa? Wait, no… not Lissa. Chrom was pointing at me. My ears perked up. I quickly sat, as Robin blinked.
“…No?” she said, a little more hesitant now that I’d been pointed out.
“A shame. She was the one who led us to you. I thought maybe she was yours.”
Sorry, what?
“Sorry, what?” Robin echoed in eerie harmony with my inner thoughts; now she stared at me, wide-eyed, tilting her head as she no doubt tried to drag up some kind of memory that would prove the statement true, while in the meantime I inwardly panicked that I was the only one in the group who knew it was, in fact, false. I hadn’t thought about that. I’d wanted to help, that was all— of course it would look like that, what with how I’d tried my best to be as doggish as possible; dog leading aid to downed owner? Shoot, that was a trope.
“If only from how concerned she seemed,” Chrom was saying, “And how she remains now… she seems too well behaved to be a wild animal.”
“I—I really couldn’t say,” said Robin, “Though if she helped me, I guess I should be grateful. Thank you.” The last part was directed to me. She said it so very earnestly. My tail wagged without bidding as I felt oddly very pleased, but… Robin as my, uh, owner? It wasn’t true. It felt weird, and I couldn’t really defend myself, and yet… and yet…
This was my in. Robin sure as hell couldn’t say otherwise, not with her full memory wipe, (and oh boy was that a whole issue I wouldn’t think about right now,) and I couldn’t say so, not as I was… was it selfish, I thought a little desperately, if I seized an opportunity like this? What else could I even do in this world—run off into the distance and live wild and free? Knowing everything I did, assuming it all even applied in the first place? The voices of the others washed over me— on memories, on what to do, on where they would go— familiar and yet so very alien as I whined softly.
Take advantage. Join a legend in progress. Run away. Escape responsibility that wasn’t mine to take in the first place. This was a damn video game, but it was also my life now? And I wasn’t keen to lose it again, not when I still had the whole fuzzy tangle of emotions to sort through on that issue. Why was it so hard to commit? Damn the stupid Other—
“Um. Uh, girl?”
Robin’s soft voice jolted me out of my inner monologue, and startled, I found that things had changed. Chrom and Lissa were a few steps off down the road; Frederick was currently hauling himself back into the saddle, and Robin was looking down at me over her shoulder because while everyone else had started moving, I’d apparently stayed where I was.
“Something wrong?”
“Oh. Just… uh, she? Wasn’t coming, so I thought—“ Robin bit her lip. She looked… haggard, I realized, worry creased between her eyes as she extended a hesitant hand towards me. Waiting for me to respond. I looked at the hand, back up at her, maybe a little surprised that she wanted to interact with me, until I saw something there in her expression, something that crumbled the longer I stood still.
And I couldn’t really wallow in self-pity anymore, at that.
She flinched anyway when I bumped my nose into her loose fist. But when I moved past and leaned against her leg, tail wagging as I went, Robin smiled for the first time since her awakening. A watery sort of smile, but a smile all the same as she brushed her fingers into the fur of my back.
“Okay,” she breathed, “Okay. Let’s go, girl.”
And we did.
---
Conversation carried as it did— Stilted and awkward at first, between people trying to find a common ground. Lissa pointed various things out, flowers and bugs and others, testing Robin’s memory to see how extensive her ‘amnesia’ was. Frederick had resumed his position at the rear, but his glowering wasn’t subtle, or even meant to be. Robin walked with rigid shoulders as a result, no doubt feeling his eyes burn into her back and acutely aware how easy it would be for him to surge up and flank her.
Meanwhile, I padded sedately at Robin’s side, and tried not to think about the smell of smoke wafting in from the distance.
Southtown, as expected, was on fire. However, it was not enough in distance for the human eye; the field had transitioned into scrubby forest and gentle hills, and a road that started sloping downward. Maybe there were plumes of smoke, but apparently not large or dark enough to be noticed or maybe the fire just hadn’t ramped up enough yet. This time I couldn’t run off and hope they’d follow as easily; Robin was one thing, but predicting the attack on a town… I wasn’t sure how to swing that. Especially if it might reflect on Robin now. I was still half-panicking that somehow the others would decide I wasn’t supposed to be here after all, or that Robin would specifically recall that she’d never owned a pet in her life let alone a wolf hybrid thing no matter how well behaved I was—
Speaking of, I guess I also couldn’t run off due to the forced pace I was stuck in. Robin’s fingers were entwined in my fur. It seemed she was taking some comfort in my presence; she aimlessly petted me every now and then, always resuming her hold before I could slip away, or when Chrom (or Frederick) asked her questions that she couldn’t answer. Especially when talk of prisoners came up, no matter how Chrom and Lissa assured her otherwise.
“Ylisse? Is that where we are?” she was saying, my ears flicking up at the familiar line.
“Ha! Someone pay the actress. She plays the part well,” Frederick scoffed. Chrom sighed up ahead, quietly enough that I was probably the only one who heard.
“Yes, that is the name of the Halidom we currently travel in,” he said, just loudly enough to muffle the Great Knight’s words. “Our ruler is the Exalt Emmeryn.”
“And… what is it you do, in Ylisse?” Robin asked hesitantly.
“Us?“
“We’re Shepherds!” Lissa chimed in, cheerfully twirling in place as she walked, impressive with her iron skirt. “And it’s lucky that we’re the ones who found you. Bandits would have been no fun.”
“Shepherds?” Robin puzzled over that one. “As in, you tend sheep? …fully armed?”
“We’re not the usual sort of shepherds,” smiled Chrom, “Seeing as we tend a certain kind of flock. Certainly it’s more dangerous, if you ask Frederick the Wary here.”
“A title I wear with pride.” For once, said knight sounded un-grumpy. “At least one of us should see fit to be cautious.” There was uncomfortable silence. My fur tugged as Robin clenched her hand some, then loosened.
“They’re lucky to have you then,” she said, a steady voice that masked the faint tremble her body couldn’t hide, “I can’t blame you for your caution when I… having nothing to vouch for myself, really.”
I wasn’t in a position to crane my head around to see Frederick’s reaction, but there was another short pause. Then—
“…I have every wish to trust you, stranger,” he said at last. “My station dictates otherwise. Until then—“
“No, I understand,” Robin said, but relaxed somewhat. “I can’t like it, but I can understand.” Some of the strange feeling to the air dissipated. I bumped my head against Robin’s hip (because I was just that tall) in solidarity, and was rewarded when her hand moved to scratch between my ears (oh yeah. Still good stuff.)
“Hopefully something of this matter can be cleared up soon, anyhow,” Chrom said. “Southtown is just ahead. It’ll be better than a field at any rate.”
The wind shifted right then. It had to be noticeable now, what with the acrid scent tickling at my nose and sticking to the back of my throat. This time it held true—Chrom stilled as the breeze passed him by, his attention abruptly shifting from Robin and back to the road ahead. A pause. Then a sharp intake of breath, because smoke was finally visible in the sky.
“Gods, no,” he breathed— “Frederick, Lissa, with me, now!”
Lissa started from where she’d wrinkled her nose, mouth open to say something, but caught on quickly. Frederick needed no other prompting; with a well-placed quick, his horse surged into action— “Yes, milord!”—quickly bringing him on point, but not without one last comment over his shoulder, a brief and fleeting look as he passed us by: “And what about her?”
“Unless she’s on fire too it can wait!”
And all three left us in this dust.
Me? I whined. Frantic energy swept through my legs; in that moment I wanted to run alongside the running people, some canine instinct calling for me to join the hunt, but I held myself back, and looked to Robin. The person who I’d have to defer to if I wanted to keep this charade up after all. She was staring open mouthed, shaken by the turn things had taken, and had done nothing.
Ha ha. She was at the same crossroads I’d just been at, and I could fiercely sympathize compared to before when it was so easy to follow dialogue prompts and let the story proceed as it did. I had none of that now… neither did Robin. She could, if she wanted, turn and run, run in the opposite direction and not look back. I don’t think I’d blame her if she did.
Robin closed her mouth, and I waited. Her hand left my fur, and went to her side instead— where her sword hung, as it had all along. The others had never taken it. And I hadn’t forgotten about the cloying scent of ozone clinging to her clothes, radiating from her other side, where a certain book hung.
“Right,” she said, “Right.” Her fists clenched. Her first step was sure. When she looked back at me, she didn’t look the same. Now there was… well, a spark in her eye. A solidness to her stance.
“Let’s go, girl.” The same words as before, but entirely different intonation. I wanted to answer her— Robin was brave, wasn’t she? I still questioned myself, knowing everything, while meanwhile she knew nothing and had made the decision all on her own… How could I turn away from that?
So we ran. It was easy keeping pace with smooth, loping strides as Robin picked up speed until she was flying down the road to Southtown, coat billowing around her sides.
“Wait!” she called as we sprinted through the city limits, trading dirt road from cobbled street— there were townsfolk cowering against the walls, coughing from the smoke that now hung heavy in the air. “Wait for me—“
“You!?”
Chrom. Up ahead, turning with wide eyes as Robin skidded to a stop, breathing heavily. “You followed us?” I heard a clank of steel, and a scream— apparently Frederick had gone way ahead. Oh geez, that was a person screaming—
“Don’t ask why, I couldn’t tell you,” Robin wheezed.
“Then why—“ Chrom started to say, but he was cut off from the words she tripped over in her haste to speak.
“Because I have a sword,” she said, “And I-I think I know how to use it. If I can fight— then I can help. If you’ll have me, that is. “
Rush finished, she wheezed, but looked Chrom steadily in the eye. Whatever he saw there, I guess he liked it. He nodded.
“Then we’re glad to have you,” he said, warmly despite the scenario, “Strength in numbers.”
“Yes… yes, of course!” she took a deep breath, steadying herself, but just as the other turned back ahead— “Chrom!”
“Yes?”
“My name,” she said, “It’s Robin. I remembered.”
Oh. gosh. Not once had Robin introduced herself, not like how I remembered. And I’d taken for granted that I knew her name anyway. Of course the others wouldn’t have the luxury. Chrom, though, on hearing it he smiled.
“Stay close, then, Robin,” was all he said, amidst the smoke and distant screaming as if we weren’t in an actual battleground.
Into the smoke we ran.