User blog:WarpyNeko930/FIRE EMBLEM FANON CHAPTER 4

Shadow sat isolated in a wooded area, atop a tree stump. He had an elbow on his knee, and the palm of his hand was beneath his chin. His eyes were closed. Those who would walk by would more than likely think he was asleep, but in truth, he was thinking deeply. About what? Well let Radical tell you. “Shadow? What are you doing all the way out here?” his friend asked, still in his night clothing. He had his back-up sword however, just in case something bad had happened to his friend. It would’ve been idiotic to take his spear into such a thick area, as there wouldn’t have been a whole lot of room to attack with it. Shadow jumped and whirled around, unsure of how Rad could’ve sneaked up on him without him noticing. “Ah Rad...it’s just you. You scared me.” Shadow told his friend, taking a deep breath to calm his frazzled nerves. “Nothing much, simply...thinking I suppose.” Rad took a seat next to his friend on the wet ground, leaning back on his hands and sticking his legs out through the cool grass. “Wanna talk about it?” he asked casually, though deep down he was actually rather worried for what his friend must’ve been going through. Shadow was silent for a moment before he sighed and looked down at his friend, pouring out what he’d be thinking about to him. “It’s just...all that’s happened is starting to get to me… In such a short time no less. My parents, my kingdom, this weird lady...being out on the road and not waking up in a bed. Everything in my life was so...SET, you know? Every day I would wake up, deny Warpy’s advances, eat breakfast, train alongside my friends...and now? I have no idea what my schedule is...I don’t HAVE a schedule. Everything is just so complicated…” Rad reached up and patted his friend’s lower back as comfortingly as he could. “Hey...don’t worry about it. We’re still way ahead of Venir! We can get those gems, then stop him easy! After that you can go back to the way things-” “Things aren’t going back to the way they are!” Shadow snapped, pushing Rad’s hand off of him in sudden anger. Rad’s jaw dropped slightly and he raised his hands, signaling he was stopping. They sat in silence for a moment before Shadow sighed and put a hand to his forehead. “I’m...I’m sorry for snapping at you like that. It’s not fair for me to take my anger out on you. I just...can’t close my eyes one time without seeing my parents… It’s awful.” Shadow explained, settling on the word “awful” because he didn’t wanna go into too much detail. Rad nodded in understanding and opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off as the two men heard a twig snap above him. Shadow whirled his head up towards the treeline, and watched as a figure leaped out of the trees and swung their blade downwards, the thickness of the blade evident in the moonlight. Shadow would’ve been six feet under… if it hadn’t been for his trusty friend reacting quicker than Shadow had managed and jump tackling the assassin before they could touch Shadow. The prince felt his heart begin to race quickly, and he shuddered at the prospect of being so close to death. The figure struggled to get up, but Rad impaled them in the throat before they could react to the strike. “Well...THAT was a close one.” Rad laughed, trying to shrug off the impending fear that was wrapping around him. Because seeing a friend die is...pretty bad. Rad stood up, pulling his sword out of the assassin’s throat. Shadow gulped and nodded, then heard the bushes rustle behind him. He froze, tensed up, then whirled his sword around to catch another assassin, armed with a knife, rushing in to kill while they were off guard. The assassin’s eyes widened beneath his dark cloak, and he leaped back and away from Falchion. Rad rushed over to Shadow’s side and the two friends stood side-by-side, looking out into the forest. More figures could be seen, moving in the shadows, silhouetted by the moonlight. Rad turned around, and his eyes widened promptly. He too, could see figures. Any second now the two were going to be surrounded, and from the looks of it their chances weren’t going to be too hot. The assassins wasted no time in rushing in. They weren’t organized like Plegians, they moved like mercenaries, with stances unorthodox and highly dangerous. Shadow deflected a blow from one of them, then stabbed him in his stomach, but was pushed back as another moved in. Rad was trying to cover Shadow from behind, and was doing a mediocre job, as he was inexperienced with the sword. Things weren’t going well, and Shadow realized if he died here, then everyone back at camp would never see him again. They wouldn’t possibly know what happened to them. What if the assassins were going to camp after they were done here?! What if they had already visited camp…? With renewed determination, Shadow continued to fight, wielding Falchion as though it was nothing more than a blur. He started dicing through his foes, but moved further away from Rad, leaving an opening for an assassin to run in and the ginger in his back. Rad fell to his knees, and the assassin grabbed him by his hair, pulling it back so his neck was exposed to the blade that was rapidly moving towards it. Shadow didn’t even notice...but someone did. Out of the forest, several meters away from a tree, a lone arrow flew, and sunk itself into the assassin’s arm, causing it to jerk away from Rad’s throat and momentarily save his life. The mercenaries noticed this and whirled around to face the direction the arrows were coming from. One by one, arrows flew, hitting their mark each time. Their mark? Right between the assassins’ eyes. More and more fell, leaving ten assassins left. Those who were left rushed into the treeline silently, ducking down to avoid the arrows. Shadow looked back to Rad and saw the position he was in before mentally cursing. “I’m sorry Rad I...I got distracted.” he said apologetically, lifting up his friend by his hand. Rad nodded, adrenaline rushing through his body at the feeling of the knife near his throat. They stood up and began to make a break back to camp, but then, an arrow embedded itself in the ground before them, almost hitting Radical in the foot and missing by an inch. Attached to the arrow was a rope, which shook as a sliding noise was heard. A figure rapidly approached, zooming over the rope with a bow. He had a black suit, seemingly for camouflage, and a hat upon his head. A quiver was slung across his back and he was tall and slightly lanky. He eyed them with a serious expression for just a moment before he let a cheeky grin flood his features as he laughed. “Holy shit! You’re Prince Shadow!” the stranger exclaimed. Rad and Shadow looked at each other for a moment before shrugging. They convinced the stranger to head back to camp with them, as they had to check and make sure the assassins hadn’t found their base. To their joy, they hadn’t. But that didn’t mean they wouldn’t come back. Shadow rushed to the bell they kept by the fire, which was slowly dying, and rang the bell. The camp bustled to life in a matter of seconds, each person emerging from their tent at their own frantic pace. “Shadow?! What’s going on?!” Aqua cried, holding her riding sword. Shadow pointed off into the forest. “Assassins! In the forest! We have to pack up and get moving!” he explained to the Shepards. “Who is THAT?” Tier questioned, pointing at the strange archer who had appeared from seemingly nowhere. The boy raised his hands defensively, and shook his head. “No, no! I’m not a threat! I’m a refugee, I escaped from Plegians a few days ago, I just saved Shadow and his friend here!” the boy told them, trying to appear as an ally, not an enemy. “What’s your name?” Warpy asked, holding her own sword in his direction. The bowman gulped, seeing as how it was a pretty sharp blade, and not too far away from his chest. “Advan. My name is Advan. Please let me come with you! I can fight!” the young man told them. “It’s true, he’s got some great archery skills on him! Whether or not he can be trusted can come later, right now we need to move!” Radical told the Shepards. There appeared to be some slight hesitation from some of them, but regardless everyone quickly packed up their gear and got moving. The Shepards set their equipment, such as tents and weapons up on the appropriate horses, before they threw water on the fire, coating them in darkness before they disappeared into the forest, under the cover of the night.