Fire Emblem: Crimson Flower

Chapter 16) The Red Canyon

Artist: fajyobore343

They had finally managed to obtain all of the useful information that was possible for them. Before long, the entire class saw themselves within the large indent of the canyon. This was one that had an unusual structural appearance, however down below, it stayed true to what the normal level of the ground would have looked like. Around the main ground, lay broken structures of what seemed to be old gardens, temples, and even possible houses. They were few and far between, but one could only wonder as to what purpose these buildings used to have.

From where the students had managed to climb down towards, was a man made bridge leading to the main area. Further from there, were two more bridges going to the north and east of the area respectively - however, they all led to the same location, which was directly where Kostas was meant to be waiting.

As they looked amongst themselves, Byleth was the first of the group to speak. "From here on out, I want everyone to stay in a large group, up until I say otherwise." He issued hand signals, which the class followed immediately. "Bandits normally have far too much pride to loan out information easily. Do not be fooled by trusting the information we were given immediately."

Everyone nodded their heads towards him. At this point, Byleth was far more of an experienced tactician to allow for failure, and his words spoke more truth to them then they would otherwise have thought of.

Their group arrangement was simple, but thought out. Byleth and Edelgard stood upfront, whilst Beleth had protected the rear end of the line when crossing the bridge. In the middle of the line was Petra, Dorothea, Bernadetta, Linhardt, Caspar, and Hubert tucked across them.

Not much had happened whilst crossing the bridge. They were spotted by two immediate bandits, to which Byleth responded with a quick command. "Bernadetta, draw an arrow!" In mere seconds, a bow had been fired across the horizon of the huddle of students, ending off with a skillful shot towards the Bandit's stomach. "Good. At least now I can ascertain your abilities in this way. Is there anything worthy of note that you would like to tell me?"

As Edelgard skillfully took out the second bandit across the bridge, Bernadetta stammered for a response. "Well- I... think that's about it. I can't exactly counter from a close range... not that I'd need to." Bernadetta looked over at the lone arrow pierced through the bandit. Her breath escaped her for a moment. "I really don't think I gave him much of a chance..."

Rather than taking time to assure her, Byleth simply noted this piece of knowledge and ordered the class to move on. Everything was fine, up until Beleth was forced to stop following after the class. From behind her, Bernadetta was left, picking up the arrow that had originally been fired. Almost in a trance, she stared at the blood encircling it, with fearful eyes.

"You OK?" A pat was given on her shoulder. "Come on, Bernadetta. Let's carry forward. I'll treat you guys after this!"

Rather than answering in a nervous state as she usually would, Bernadetta moved along in pure silence. Beleth could see her head facing down at the arrow in her hands as she passed by, very much refusing to put it into the confines of her quiver. "Doesn't matter what I'm offered to be doing this, I still want to go home." Only those words being uttered, was enough to shake Beleth.

At this point, Beleth was the one to stop moving along with the group. As she watched Bernadetta reluctantly catch up, her hands clenched one another in annoyance. With a final look at the corpse of the bandit, she whispered so nobody could possibly hear her. "Stupid Brother. Do it on me, but leave the children out of your idiocy for once." She knew Byleth could not hear her, but her heart still ached to talk. "At least have some idea of what we're going through!"