So, after looking through the Fire Emblem archives, I found that there weren't many stories with Panne, and even less where she was paired with the Avatar. So, I took it upon myself to create a story about the two of them. And also, Richard is the name of the Avatar in this. Please, enjoy.

Carrot Stew Confessions

Chapter 1: First Meetings

Richard was new to this place, that much was certain. Then again, he might not be, as he had no real way of knowing if he just showed up out of the blue, or if he had been in Ylisse his whole life and he just forgot all about that past life after... something happened. But either way, it didn't matter whether or not he was new to this world or if he lived here for his whole life. It would never change the fact that Ylisstol was one of the most beautiful places he had ever seen. The masonry and statuary on display were masterfully done, and the tapestries, though quite old, still seemed to be brand new, right out of the seamstress' loom. The carpets were lined with gold, and the exalt's throne was made of a dark wood and stood tall and proud in it's place. Truth be told, it was the most beautifully designed building Richard had ever seen.

It was a shame then, that assassins had come to murder the exalt, making it impossible to appreciate the architecture.

Richard, as master tactician of the Shepards, commanded a small regiment of troops on the left side of Emmeryn's chambers, preventing the enemy from climbing up the stairs at that area and breaking through her door. His forces consisted of Lissa, Kellam, Frederick, and Donnel, and he was pleased with this arrangement. After all, he had hand picked them to come with him. Yes, Lissa and Donnel could be considered weak links, but if they stuck close to Kellam and Frederick, they would both be fine.

Richard looked to his right and down the hall that lead to the exalt's chambers. He could see Marth, now protecting the exalt's doors from those who would wish to harm her. Past her, he could see Chrom on the other side, and he could also see that he was giving him the thumbs up, the signal that the battle was to begin. Richard reciprocated the gesture, and commanded the small group make their way down the stairs and route any enemies that came past. Sure enough, a few of the would be assassin's came up and started to attack.

The first was a theif, and a low ranking one at that. However, he was quick. Quick enough to strike Kellam, who was actually gashed by the cut rather badly.. Fortunately, since Lissa was nearby, she was able to heal his wounds before they got too bad. With a quick thanks, Kellam charged at the theif at the fastest speed he could, and thrusted his lance into the mage's stomach, killing him.

"Good job, Kellam!", Richard shouted in an encouraging tone as he went up against a dark mage. All it took was a couple of quick fire spells, and he was down for the count.

Kellam thanked Richard as he went over toward Lissa in an effort to protect her. Before he could however, Donnel stepped in and called out, "Don't you worry none! Ah'll protect 'er!"

As if to test this, a lone dark mage came up the stairs and ran towards where the two stood. He was about to cast Nosferatu, but before her could, Donnel cried out "YEEEEE-HAAAA!", before rushing toward the evil mage, jumping up into the air, and plunging his lance in between the mage's eyes. He then drew it out of the corpse's skull before looking at the wide-eyed group. He chuckled and said, "See? Told ya ya didn't have ta worry none."

Richard was the first to recover from the display and said, "Well then... I suppose the plan has changed. Frederick, go to the central staircase and rout the enemy before they can go up to Emmeryn's room. Kellam, take the left staircase. Donnel, guard Lissa with your life. I'm going to regroup with Chrom and see how things are looking with him."

Each gave Richard a salute and went onto their duties, Lissa and Donnel going back to the hallway to the exalt's chambers. Richard tried to follow Frederick closely, but the knight rode off before he could catch up. Richard sighed in exasperation, but he could still hold is own, and he continued onto his position. But as he did, he could hear Chrom shouting... something. It was hard to hear, but it sounded to him that he had come across another assassin, and by the sound of it a powerful one. As quick as he could, he changed course and ran past Fredrick and toward the stairs, hoping to protect his friend. He then came face to face with Chrom, who looked surprised to see his friend in a state of something akin to worry. Richard sighed in relief and said, "Thank the Gods... I thought that one of those assassins were giving you trouble."

Chrom looked slightly confused before he realized what Richard was talking about, "Oh, you heard that. Don't worry, it was only a false alarm. She's here to help us."

Now it was Richard's turn to be confused, "Who?"

Chrom pointed toward the room where he had just came from, and Richard looked to see two new people. One was a man in a bandanna with a sack over his shoulder and what appeared to be a belt full of candy. And odd sort, but obviously not the person that Chrom was talking about, due to the fact he possessed a Y chromosome (Not that Richard knew what that was.). No, the woman that Chrom was talking about was just a little bit right of the man in the bandanna.

Richard sized up this new helper rather quickly, and he could tell that she wasn't there to sit there and look pretty. She had a scowl on her face, as though she hated everyone within her vicinity. She was of a rather tall build, and she wore a purple breastplate and what at first appeared to be boots, but on closer inspection was actually what could be considered armored leggings, as she was barefoot. Her midriff was kept bare, and she seemed to be wearing brown shorts. All in all, she didn't seem to be particularly strong, but right now they needed all the help they could get.

Richard turned to Chrom and said, "Did she say her reasons for being here?"

Chrom shook his head and said, "So far, no. There was something about repaying a debt, but nothing other than that. Marth said she was here to help, and I have no reason to not believe her."

Richard nodded, "Yes, it would probably be unwise to doubt her, considering the circumstances..."

"I've given orders to leave her be.", Chrom said, "However, Frederick seems to think she should still be watched, so I promised him that I would have one of my most trusted compatriots keep an eye on her."

Richard knew where this was heading, "I suppose that I was the one who you wanted to keep an eye on her?"

Chrom smirked and said jokingly, "Actually I was thinking about Vaike, but thank you for volunteering."

They shared a chuckle before quickly parting ways as the battle commenced once more, Chrom double teaming with Frederick against a particularly nasty fighter. Richard however, was once again barely able to keep up with those in his charge, and was only able to get to her after she had temporarily stopped moving. It wasn't long before she noticed the master tactician and turned her head toward him. "Who are you?", she asked harshly, going into a defensive stance, "If you're here to harm the exalt, I will stop you."

Richard stepped back and raised his hands defensively, saying, "Easy, I'm only here to help. My name is Richard."

The woman looked at him, as though sizing him up, before moving out of her stance and saying, "Oh, yes. I've heard many things about you, man-spawn."

Man-spawn? What could she mean by that? Wasn't she human was well? But then Richard now realized that he didn't see everything there was to see about this woman. Her neck and wrists were covered in hair... wait, not hair. It was fur. He also realized that she wasn't wearing brown pants. No, she wasn't even wearing pants at all. The only thing that covered her unmentionables was even more fur, rather thick fur at that. Richard quickly turned his attention away from that and to her face, which had whisker like markings on her cheeks, and he wasn't sure if they were birthmarks or war paint. He then noticed another rather bizarre feature: she had no ears. Well, rather she didn't have human ears. Her ears were those of a rabbit's, and were being held down by some braided hair.

Shaking his head of those thoughts, Richard said, "I'm here to offer you my support."

"I don't need help.", she said curtly before continuing on into the next room. As she did, Richard couldn't help but notice the fact that she had a rabbit's tail to go along with the ears. Now he didn't know what to think. Obviously, she wasn't a human, but if so... then what was she?

Nevertheless, despite the fact she most decidedly wasn't human, he started to follow her. He started to go after her again, and said, "Be that as it may, I've been ordered to give you my support, and I'm going to help you whether you like it or not."

She stopped once more and turned around, saying, "You're not going to leave me alone until I agree, aren't you?"

He shook his head, "I'm not one to disobey orders, especially when my best friend is the one who's giving them out."

She sighed in slight irritation before looking over her shoulder to see a thief coming around the bend. She quickly turned her attention to Richard before saying, "Alright, but if you get in my way, you can consider our partnership over."

Well, Richard couldn't argue with that. But before he could agree with her on that, she had once more turned her attention toward the thief. Richard drew his sword, stood beside the woman, and took a stance, saying, "Alright, let's take care of him."

"I couldn't agree more.", she said, before going onto all fours. At first, Richard was confused by this motion. Then he was more confused when he saw that her entire body was surrounded by what appeared to be a gray-colored crystal-like substance. Then he was supremely confused when he saw that the crystal had shattered, and in the woman's place was a giant rabbit-like creature. Richard could barely keep his jaw from slacking as she bounded toward the would-be assassin and slashed at him with her sharp claws, killing him instantly. She then sat on her haunches before a bright light appeared, and she was once again back in her humanoid form. She almost immediately took notice of the tactician's amazed face, and upon noticing, she rolled her eyes and said, "I'm guessing you've never met someone like me before."

Someone like her? There were more people like her? If so, where were they? Richard's head was starting to hurt from all the questions he had about this woman. But for now, he tried his best to push them out of his mind before saying, "No... I have not."

"Not surprising.", she said before moving on again and leaving Richard in the dust. He sighed before running after her again. He quickly noticed her as she was now in the middle of her transformation, as evidenced by the shell of gray crystal. As fast as he could, he went beside the shell and drew out his sword as the crystal broke. Richard quickly sized up their target. A simple dark mage, and one that shouldn't be too much trouble. Still, he was thankful that... huh. What was her name? He never got one...

His train of thought was then interrupted by a cry of pain from the mage, who had a horrid looking gash across his abdomen. Yet he still wasn't down for the count, and cast a spell on the taguel woman, harming her while at the same time healing him.

While not significantly weakened, the rabbit monster was a little caught off guard by the successful attack, and it was just enough that it looked like the mage was going to get a second hit in. Richard couldn't allow this. He charged forward, sword pointed downwards, before raising it up and using it's momentum to create a sort of spin attack. This was enough to take down the dark mage, and keep himself and the woman safe. Speaking of which, he received a bit of a shock when he heard a reverberated voice saying to him, "Well... I suppose I owe you a debt."

Richard was startled by this at first, but he quickly realized who it was from. Still, it didn't mean he knew what she was talking about. So, he turned to her and said, "I'm sorry, but what do you mean by that."

The bright light returned, turning the monster-rabbit back into a humanoid shape. As she continued onto the next fight, she replied, "In the warren, we exchanged favors for favors. You saved my life, so I owe a debt."

"Oh.", Richard said. A favor? Well, that was... not what he expected. Usually whenever he did what he just did, all he got was a thank you and that was the end of that. Now he was supposed to have her pay off a favor he had no idea he was doing? After all, what would he ask? He didn't want to take advantage of it, but still he wanted some use of it. Then, an idea struck him. He asked, "So, I've thought of a favor."

The woman paused and gave him an irritated look, as though she was scolding him for thinking up of a chore for her to do so quickly. Still, a debt's a debt, even on the middle of the battlefield, and she took it humbly, saying, "What do you ask of me, then?"

"I want to know what your name is.", Richard said, hoping that this ploy would work.

She gave him another odd look before she said, "...You want to know my name?". It sounded almost as though she couldn't believe it herself.

"If it isn't too much trouble.", he added, "After all, we're in the middle of a battle."

She closed her eyes and looked thoughtful for a moment before saying, "Panne. My name is Panne."

Richard smiled at her and said, "It's nice to meet you, Panne."

She didn't really respond. She only gave a slight grunt of acknowledgment and continued on to the next battle. Richard followed behind closely, and from that point on, the only dialogue between them was him shouting encouragements while she gouged and kicked her way to victory.

Later...

The battle was won, and all of the assassins had either been killed, and at least one had been included into their ranks. All in all, a successful battle, and especially amazing considering that no one had been killed (Something that Richard always took pride in). But now that the fight was finished, Emmeryn could now thank those who saved her life. After a while, she went to Panne, and said to her, "Brave taguel, there are not words to express my gratitude."

Richard could tell Panne looked surprised, but she tried not to let it show. She instead said calmly, "So you know our true name?"

Emmeryn nodded in affirmation. Richard however was confused by this and asked her, "Sorry, but what's a taguel?". Of course, he knew that this was more than likely the name of her race, but he hoped that he could get more information about her through this question.

It was Panne who responded with, "I am a taguel.", but after a moment, she seemed saddened. Richard couldn't figure out why until she continued with, "The... the last taguel. We are shape-shifters.", she then went from sadness to what could best be called anger, "Most of your kind called us 'beast' or 'coney' in the midst of their hunt. I only helped you because my warren owes Ylisse a debt. Do not think us friends, you and I!"

And suddenly, Richard realized why she was being so cold to him. Humans took everything from her, and that would be enough to make anyone hateful. He couldn't help but feel sorry for her. He wanted to voice his apology, but he figured that it would only anger her further at this point. So instead, he opted to say, "I don't understand..."

He wanted to follow up by saying he didn't understand why humans would hunt her kind to near-extinction, but Panne interrupted him before he could finish his thoughts and said, "Yes, it's precious little your kind seems to understand.", she sighed, and anger started to flow into her voice once more, "It was man-spawn like you that invaded our warren and slaughtered my people."

Emmeryn looked shocked at this accusation and said, "What?! Is this true? Who would do such a thing?"

Panne's voice became bitter, "Ha! Do not act so shocked. You are all the same, right down to your base desire to ruin and destroy all you touch. Even each other."

Emmeryn looked saddened by what Panne said, but she only sighed and replied, "...There is truth to your words, perhaps. I'm told that in taguel society, everyone is treated as an equal. Mankind could have learned much from your warren.", she then bowed her head and said, "The words may come too late and mean too little, but I am deeply sorry. We have stolen your friends and family and made the world a lesser place."

It was then that Phila, the exalt's bodyguard, chose to make herself known and said, "Your Grace, you had no fault in this!"

Panne rolled her eyes after she heard Phila's statement and said, "You claim to be blameless, yet you would apologize? Pah! Your words are but wind."

Emmeryn looked down in genuine shame and said meekly, "Yes... but they are all I have."

Now, Panne looked as though she didn't know what to think anymore. Her tone became less harsh as she said, "...You seem sincere, man-spawn. You feel my pain as your own... I've never felt that before.". She then sighed and said, "Look at me. See what I am. I will never trust mankind. But you... perhaps you truly are not like the others."

Emmeryn smiled at Panne and said, "All I ask is a chance to earn your trust."

Panne looked thoughtful for a moment before she said, "Very well. I supposed if that's all you ask, I can stay for a while longer."

"Thank you.", Emmeryn said with a genuine smile. She then said, "The Shepards will be honored to take you into their ranks."

Panne didn't say anything, and only bowed to the exalt, something that Richard thought to be nothing short of a miracle. After all, she was only saying just a few minutes ago how much she hated humanity, and after an apology, she was bowing toward Emmeryn? The exalt was nothing short of amazing.

Emmeryn turned toward Richard and said, "Richard, would you please show Panne to her new quarters?"

Richard nodded and said, "Come with me.", before heading toward the camp with Panne in tow. The taguel woman looked impassive, but deep within she could feel a rather uncomfortable feeling. Until now, she always felt a hatred toward humanity. But now... what did she think of humanity? If someone like the exalt was so kind, couldn't others be as well? She barely registered that Richard had led her to a newly set up tent until he stopped and said, "You'll be sleeping here. Is that alright?"

Panne awoke from her stupor and said, "Yes. Yes this is just fine, thank you."

As she walked inside, Richard stood there for a moment, thinking about her. He couldn't help but feel sorry for her, but he didn't want to tell her that, lest she create another scar to go along with the two he already had on his face. Still, she fascinated him. He had no idea why, but he wanted to know more about her. But, the night was getting darker, and he felt exhausted from all the fighting, so he decided to save the questions for tomorrow.

As he trudged to his tent, Panne was in her beast form and was sleeping on the ground. It was how she had always slept, and how she would always sleep. Yet, she wasn't sleeping. All she could do was think. Thinking of how she was talked into helping Ylisse fighting their war, thinking of the exalt and her kindness, and thinking about what had happened all those years ago. But eventually, exhaustion began to take a hold on her, and she went to sleep, her thoughts silently slipping away into nothingness.

And here it is, my first Fire Emblem fiction. Please, tell me what you think of it.