Fire Emblem: December Prompts

Mug

17th of the Wyvern Moon, Year 1180. Byleth (Golden Deer)

The upcoming Battle of the Eagle and Lion motivated my students more than any past mission had before, and we've been on ones that were life or death! Although, I suppose the Acadamy was in dire need of a morale boost after Flayn's kidnapping.

My students were more well-behaved as of late: always listening intently during lectors, following my combat instructions, and not once did I hear a complaint in regards to attending weekend seminars! Who were these people and what did they do to my students? Was this what Hannaman and Manuela experienced every day with their classes? The Golden Deer were the rowdiest bunch, after all.

Hilda didn't complain about her work, Marianne participated more in class, Ignatz hyper-focused on training, Raphael spent more time doing assignments, Leonie remained mostly the same, training all she could with my father. Lysithea cut down on patronizing people, Lorenz focused his energy on work and not flirting -- Sylvain and Dorothea doing the same, Flayn was still adjusting to being a student, and Felix, well, he was still Felix.

The one who surprised me the most was Claude. That sneaky little trickster had not executed one scheme since the beginning of the month. He was planning something, I knew it. I just didn't know what...

"So as you can see, using a battalion to temporarily detain a foe could be the deciding factor between winning or losing a fight. Any advantage you could gain, no matter how small, is one you should grasp. Are there any questions?"

Ignatz's hand shot up, to which I nodded to him. "If there's a whole line of enemies coming towards you, what is the better option: attacking head-on or fleeing?"

I turned back to my chalkboard, which was a mess of words and example formations. I found an empty green area and began to draw the situation the young merchant depicted. "Ignatz brings up an excellent point. While it is important to fight as much as you can, there is no shame in falling back temporarily," I began, chalk squeaking against the board. "However, this is also a good time to deploy a battalion. In doing so, you can defend yourself while dealing damage to your enemy. If you use the correct gambit, you can even stun oncoming attackers. Does that make sense?"

"Yes! Thank you, Professor!"

I cracked a small smile at the boy's enthusiasm - although, I wasn't much older than him. "Moving on, other ways to use battalions are-" I was interrupted by the school bell, its chimes echoing throughout the Monastery. Without skipping a beat, my students began to pack their things in preparation to leave. They may be more attentive than usual, but old habits never died. "I suppose that's enough for today. We will pick up where we left off tomorrow. If you have any other questions, feel free to see me after class."

Half the class was already gone by the time I finished. Can't say I'm not surprised. I walked over to my desk, materials scattered about the surface. Sitting right in the middle of the chaos was a stack of ungraded papers, my absolute favorite. However, I noticed that the mug of tea I brought was still steaming. I completely forgot about this! How is it still warm? Well, no matter. It'll be nice to have something to drink while I finish working.

As I sat down, a certain Golden Deer decided to bug me. "That's quite a lot of work you have there, Teach," Claude teased, leaning against the desk. "Maybe you could lessen that load by giving us fewer assignments."

"Not happening," I sighed, taking the first paper off the stack. "This class just has the most students, that's all."

"And more coming. I overheard Bernie talking to the one and only Ferdinand von Aegir about transferring to this class."