Ylisse High (Fire Emblem: Awakening fanfic)

Learning about Ylisse

"So, anything I should know?" I ask, still savouring Stahl's hand so close to mine. "Seriously, I feel so out of the loop." Chrom scratches his chin thoughtfully.

"Hmm... Well, bathrooms are--" I cut him off with a laugh.

"Things other than that. I figured that out with a map."

"Ah, right! Heh... Well, Club Day is coming up." His eyes light up with realization. "Oh! That reminds me! A couple of us are coming together to make a new club. Names are still being thrown around, but we've got a few really good ideas." He leans in as if what he was about to say was a huge secret. "I like the name 'Shepherds' best." I raise my eyebrows, not getting the connection. Then again, I don't actually know what they do...

Suddenly, I hear rather large footsteps in time with ours. Glancing up, I see Frederick towering over us, his arms folded behind him carefully and subserviently.

"Milord, are you sure we should allow her into the Shepherds? We only just met her, after all." He didn't even lower his gaze to meet ours, instead staring ahead into the masses of students chatting by lockers. Chrom rolls his eyes.

"Frederick, you don't have to call me milord. And half a day isn't 'just' meeting her."

"But, milord..." The blue-haired boy sighs. His tattoo-like mark bounces up as his shoulders heave dramatically.

"Fine. We'll--" A scream interrupts whatever he was about to say. His eyes narrow for a second and he tenses as if there was about to be a battle.

"Chrom! We have to help them!" I say, feeling kind of like one of those over-girly characters in video games that don't do much and hating the feeling. Chrom looks down, his smile back.

"Of course! We're Shepherds, after all!" With that, he breaks into a run down the hall, followed by the other three. Stahl turns back, smiling, and waves for me to follow.

Tripping over myself, I try to sprint after them. By the time I manage to get with them, a large crowd of people have collected around where the scream originated, though nobody seemed inclined to help. Suddenly, I hear Chrom's bass cut through the clamor.

"Hey! Stop!" Another scream. I push through the students to see my friends--when did I start calling them that?--holding a rabid-looking boy away from a group of girls who had huddled up together against the wall of lockers in terror. Chrom appears to be trying to calm him down--in vain, I note. Just as I burst through the wall completely, another student does as well.

He's got blue hair, combed into a similar fashion of a character I once saw--what was his name? Etchworth?--and a very Romeo look to him, set off by the red rose set in the lapel of his deep blue jacket. He had a blue, formfitting vest over a finely-crafted white dress shirt that looks like it's worth more than is in my bank account. Oddly, he has...ruffles. I think it's called a cravat? Yeah.

Grinning like a fool, he poses as if he has a spotlight on him whipping the rose out of his jacket and raising it like a video game character and an item.

"Fear not, fair maidens! I, Virion, have arrived to save you!" he says, an unplaceable, somehow European-sounding accent coloring his voice.

'Who...' I think.

'Who is this fool?'

Finally, he cracks open one eye, breaking his overdramatic pose. His eye(s) land on Sully, who had joined the effort to restrain the attacker. I swear, I see cartoon-style hearts flare up around him.

"Beautiful woman! You have stolen my heart!" He kneels, offering the rose.

This won't end well.

"What will it take for a humble man such as myself to get a lovely lady like you to go on a date with me?" Sully quirks her eyebrows, clearly not impressed--not that Virion notices.

"Nothing." Virion's head lifts immediately as if pulled by a string. I admit, wasn't expecting that... "'Cause I'll never go out with a sap like you." I can't help myself. I snicker, then try to disguise it as a cough.

It appears a lot of people needed to cough at that moment.

"I swear, I will never stop pursuing you until you accept, my lady--"

"'My lady?' Are you ****ing joking me?!?" Trust Sully to have the most convenient curse word available... "Do I LOOK like a ****ing lady to you?!? Pfft!"

I could literally hear everyone trying to project their thoughts to Virion:

Let it go, man. You're toast.

Apparently our thought projection isn't very effective.

"Yes! Yes you do! I can imagine you and I, dancing as in a fairy ta--"

WHACK.

Virion drops the moment Sully's brutal kick connects with his cheek.

"Man," I mutter. "If that isn't a rejection, I don't know what is."

Sully glares down at Virion's limp body.

"If you really want to stick around, ****ing help, for ****'s sake!" There's a collective moment of 'oh yeah, that's what we're doing here' as she says it. At the very mention of what he probably perceives as a chance, Virion 'magically awakens' and begins to try to talk the boy down.

It all strikes me as...pretty inefficient.

"Hey! Guys!" I call. "This...really isn't working. How about..." I look around. "Chrom, Lissa, Stahl and I will stay here. Sully and Virion," I hear a distinct groan, "You go get the principal." They really need to become better friends... But probably JUST friends. "Maribelle, you stick around and make sure nobody gets hurt." They nod--except for Sully and Virion, that is, who appear to be in a completely one-sided wrestling match. "Okay? Go!"

Chrom and Lissa automatically take the boy's left arm, leaving Stahl and I to work on his right.

Sully and Virion dart off, our long-distance attack team of sorts.

Suddenly, the boy starts fighting again, apparently gaining a second wind. He struggles against our hold so violently, he almost breaks free. In a spilt second, I catch the expressions of the other three: wide eyed and obviously as caught off guard as I am. My head starts racing with possibilities and plans for what we could do ne--

THUNK.

Chrom brings his elbow down fiercely on the almost possessed ceremony boy's nape. Instantly, he slumps, as if he were a puppet whose strings had been severed. He's still moving slightly, but he appears to be right on the precipice of unconsciousness. I glance over at Chrom, admittedly a little shocked.

"How..."

"Lessons in a couple of things when I was younger." He smiles, slinging the boy's arm across his shoulder to keep him up. "Anyway..." He looks over at Frederick, who's parting the crowd like the Red Sea to get through. "Hey Frederick! NOW do you think she could join the Shepherds?" Frederick glances over, still gesturing for the people to calm down--though it looks to me that they're pretty calm already. He sighs slightly.

"Fine, milord. But perhaps not as a full Shepherd..."

"Oh, Frederick..." He sighs melodramatically, then turns to me. "So, then, Becca...

" Welcome to the founding group of Ylisse High's Shepherds!"