Bright Stars and an Azure Moon

The Knights of Seiros

Rushing into battle with a group Finn didn't know unnerved him slightly. He knew he had trust issues, and a group of armed teenagers seemed to be the worst group to trust while still groggy from sleep and his encounter with Andrea. Worse off, he didn't even know their names.

He recalled them calling each other Claude and Edelgard, but still he wasn't sure. The blonde had even told him that "introductions would have to wait" when he asked who they were on their way to the battle. At least their opponents seemed to be few in numbers.

Generic bandits, they were. Vagabond thieves wanting to spill blood over gold and other sparkly items that weren't theirs. They were all armed, so stupid bandit plus pointy object equaled bad times. Finn knew that one from experience.

The teens fell into place behind Finn, with Larkspur covering them from behind. He had little time to access the situation before he heard their leader shout the command to attack.

Finn knew his weapon triangle well; lance beats sword, sword beats axe, and axe beats lance. He would have to use that. Unfortunately, he still didn't know names, so stepping in as the tactician for this fight would be difficult. "Lance, flank right! Axe, start left, towards the trees! Bow, with me!"

Thankfully, they understood and followed his instruction. The tall, lance wielding boy ran right to cut off the enemy swordsmen, the haunting axe lady ran left for the trees, and the archer stayed close behind him. "Hey, thanks for helping us out!" The archer called to him as they advanced. "It really means a lot, you saving our skin!"

"No problem!" Finn replied, taking up the central area to cut off enemy axe wielders. Larkspur kept to the rear, backing up the axe girl in the trees.

Finn's blade had been hungering for another fight since they had finished their last mission a few days prior. He was always glad to swing it. Finn blazed through his few bandits with the archer's help guarding his blind spots. He could see Larkspur and the axe girl smashing through lancers, and the blonde boy cutting down swordsmen with barely an effort. Finn swore he saw something glow and flash with some of his attacks.

They pressed onward, steel clashing with steel and the bandits dropping like flies. Despite the group he was battling with being so young, they seemed pretty unphased by the harshness and gore of battle. Troubling, though he didn't know their pasts.

The bandit leader was soon the last one standing before them. He was a gruff, overgrown-faced man who looked ready to pop a blood vessel. He was short, stout, and brandishing his axe at the unusual group of five. "Dammit!" He spat as Finn approached him with the other Almyran close behind. He blocked Finn's first offensive strike, shoving his blade back. He could not counterattack, needing to dodge a well-timed arrow Finn's new acquaintance loosed. From behind, his terribly powerful acquaintance of a lancer attacked, causing the man to block again and counterattack back at him. His axe grazed the boy's flesh, though mostly deflected by a well-timed parry.

Finn struck again, his blade making contact and causing the bandit to stagger. He heard the hairy-faced man swear again, swinging around and countering on Larkspur. The axe girl defended her, blocking and parrying before landing a vicious kick straight to his gut.

The bandit fell back, grunting and groaning. After making sure he was down, they all relaxed and lowered their weapons.

"Hmph." The girl snorted, walking over to the group of boys. "And that takes care of that."

Finn noticed the bandit's subtle movements, looking over at him. He flipped himself back to his feet, grabbed his axe, and charged at the woman who kicked him. She hastened to unsheathe a dagger she had on her hip, an accessory Finn had missed earlier.