Assassins Creed Awakening

Chapter 1: Robin

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"Chrom, we have to do SOMETHING."

"Well, what do you propose we do?"

"Uh…I don't know!"

Two voices, a male and female, greeted him when he opened his eyes. The light of the sun greeted him with the blue sky. Standing over him are two people. One is a girl with blonde pigtails who wore a yellow and brown dress and a white headdress. The other is a male who wore a dark blue uniform with a white cap hanging from his left shoulder. When he woke, they seemed to have noticed as they lean closer.

"I see you're awake now," The man said with a smile.

"Hey there!" The woman said with a small chuckle.

"There are better places to take a nap than on the ground, you know," The man said as he held out his hand. "Give me your hand."

He reached out and took his hand. As he pulled him up, he noticed a strange mark on the back of his left hand. He briefly dismissed that as he faced the strangers.

"You all right?" The man asked with a smile.

"Y-yes…" He replied. "Thank you, Chrom."

"Ah, then you know who I am?"

"Yeah," He said simply as he gestured to the girl standing next to him. "I heard her mention your name as I woke up."

"He's not wrong there," She chuckled.

"True," Chrom said. "Tell me, what's your name? What brings you here?"

"My name is…it's…hmmm?" He realized that he doesn't even know his name.

"You don't remember your name?" Chrom asked in concern.

"I'm not sure if…" He struggled with his thoughts before giving up. "I'm sorry, but where am I, exactly?"

"Hey… I heard about this!" The girl cried out. "It's called amnesia!"

"It's called a load of Pegasus dung," A third voice said. He took notice of the blue armored man studying him. He had a look of suspicion directed at him. "We're to believe you don't remember anything, much less your name?"

"The only evidence is my word, that is true," He said, much to his surprise. "I understand that you may not believe me, but I swear that I am telling the truth. If you don't believe me, then I won't waste my breath."

"What if it IS true, Frederick," Chrom asked. "We can't just leave him here, alone and confused. What sort of Shepherds would we be then?"

"Just the same, milord. I must emphasize caution," Frederick insisted. "It would not do to let a wolf into our flock."

"Right then," Chrom said with a sigh. "We'll take him back to town and sort this out here."

"I take it I have no say in this?" The amnesiac asked.

"Peace, friend," Chrom said with a placating hand. "I promise we'll hear all you have to say back in town. Now come."

Something told him that there is no room for argument.

"What will you do with me?" The amnesiac asked as they walked the road to town. Frederick rode on horseback in front while Chrom and the lady flanked him. Something was telling him that he had something to do. Yet he cannot remember. "Am I to be your prisoner?"

"Hah!" Chrom laughed. "You'll be three to go once we establish that you're no enemy of Ylisse."

"Is that where we are? Ylisse?"

"You've never heard of the halidom?" Frederick asked in derision from his horse. "Ha! Someone pay this actor. He plays quite the fool! The furrowed brow is especially convincing…"

"Sir Frederick I assume?" The amnesiac asked as he stopped to face him, brown eyes gazing at him with a hard look. The others stopped as well. "As I said, I will not waste anymore of my breath trying to convince you that I mean no harm. Yet I would like to point out that if you are suspicious of a person, you shouldn't voice them out so easily. It accomplishes nothing. If you want my advice, I would use the energy wasted in your rant to analyze the person and get some insight rather than put them on their guard. But if you want please… keep embarrassing yourself."

The amnesiac wondered where that had come from. Frederick had a gobsmacked expression on his face as the lady began laughing. "HAHAHA! He got you good Frederick!"

"Frederick, please," Chrom ordered before the knight can retort. He turned to the amnesiac. "This land is known as the Halidom of Ylisse. Our ruler, Emmeryn, is called the exalt. I suppose proper introductions are in order…my name is Chrom—but then, you already knew that." He turns to the girl. "The delicate one is my little sister, Lissa."

"I am NOT delicate!" Lissa protested. She huffed before turning to the Amnesiac. "Ignore my brother, please. He can be a bit thick sometimes. But you're lucky the Shepherds found you. Brigands would've been a rude awakening!"

"Shepherds?" The Amnesiac asked. He scanned their attire with a scrutiny gaze. "You tend sheep? In full armor?"

"Heh, it's a dangerous job," Chrom said with a smirk. "Just ask Frederick the Wary here."

"A title I shall wear with pride," Frederick said proudly. "Gods forbid one of us keeps an appropriate level of caution. I have every wish to trust you, stranger, but my station mandates otherwise."

"I understand Sir Frederick. I would do no less myself. My name is Robin," His eyes widened at what he had just said. "…I just remembered that. How odd. I suppose that's one mystery solved."

"Robin? Is that foreign?" Chrom asked. "Ah, well. We can discuss it later. We're almost to town. Once we—"

"Chrom, look!" Lissa cried with horror. "The town!"

Everyone turned to see what she's pointing at. In the distance, Robin could see smoke rising. He didn't need memories to tell that the town is being attacked.

"Damn it!" Chrom cursed. "The town is ablaze! Those blasted brigands, no doubt. Frederick, Lissa! Quickly!"

"What about him?" Frederick pointed at Robin.

"Unless he's on fire as well, it can wait!"

"Aptly put, milord."

"Let's go already!"

The three Shepherds run ahead, leaving Robin alone. In Fredericks's case, he urged his horse into a gallop. That left Robin in a crossroads. On one hand, he could take this opportunity to flee from them. But he didn't know the reason why he came to Ylisse and that would put him in a bad light with the Shepherds. Not to mention that it could prove Fredericks view of him.

On the other hand…

Overhead, a hawk flew across the sky. It swerved and changed course towards the burning town.

By then, Robin had vanished from where he had been standing.

"Gwa haha! Get to it, lads!"

The town is filled with screams as villagers attempted to flee the brigands tearing their town apart. Some carried torches to set fire to the buildings they have robbed. Every so often, they would cut down a fleeing villager.

This is all observed by Robin with cold disgust in his eyes.

He got to the town well ahead of the others by cutting through the forest. It would appear that he is quite the runner and acrobat. He used the trees to help speed through the forest unimpeded, with balance and grace like a cat. In no time, he reached Another mystery to his missing past solved.

Now he stood atop a building surveying the scene and studying the brigands. By his count, there are five ax-wielders, four swordsmen, and two mages. The mages appear to be the main contributors to set the town on fire. They held their tomes and cast gouts of flame on the buildings.

Another mystery to his past is his sight. He was able to pick out which is the enemy by the red aura they are enshrouded in. It was like he could see their strength, their weaponry, and the flow of battle. Though his vision has darkened, he can see well. He was also able to pick out the leader by the gold aura. He stood in front of a burning hall with a mage, two swordsmen, and two ax-wielders.

Robin planned his move carefully. Five of the brigands are in the marketplace, he already knew that straight-up fighting is not an option. If he could take out their leader, he can disrupt their chain of command. But that would also place himself at risk of the brigands coming down upon him. They would be unorganized, but he would be overwhelmed by the numbers.

Yet why was he so calm?

"Grab anything shiny and put the rest to the torch!" The leader shouted. Like his fellow ax-wielders, he wore brown trousers and an animal skin for a coat. His belly and face are smeared with red paint. A thin white scar ran across his face. "We gots an example to set for these Ylissean types! Ain't that right, lass?"

The leader is advancing on a defenseless woman. She held up a hand in defense as she cowered from him.

"S-stay away from me! Please! Someone! HEEEEEEELP!"

Stay your blade from innocents.

The moment those words popped into his head, Robin drew his hood up. He turned around and took off running. As foolhardy as it sounds, he couldn't let any more innocents die. Not on his watch.

The problem was that the leader is on the other side of a canal. The only way across was a stone bridge that is swarming with the brigands. Fortunately, his mind seemed to think of other ways. From where the canal exited to a forest, a tree from his side extended across the canal to meet another tree branch. Wasting no time, he quickly made ran and jumped across buildings.

Exiting the town and being careful to mind his balance, he made his way across several trees before getting to the one he wanted to reach. The tree branch sagged as he reached where they meet. Robin nimbly jumped off the branch and nearly missed his footing. Quickly recovering, he continued his course and made his way back to town.

As he reached the burning main hall, the sounds of the maiden being terrorized reached him. Gritting his teeth, he used his frustration to help him climb up to the roof. Crouching, he stealthily made his way to the edge and looked down. The brigand leader is towering over the maiden, an ax raised above his head.

In his mind, he ran his head through the weapons he carried when Chrom found him. A bronze sword and a tome with a lightning bolt on the cover. Noting the mage below, he made the option of selecting the tome with his left hand. With a deep breath, he leaped off the roof and allowed gravity to pull him. He crashed into the brigand leader's feet first, knocking him down before he could bring the ax down.

"What the—" The brigand leader cried as his head smacked against the cobblestone ground. Without hesitating, Robin jabbed at his throat with his right arm. With a flick of his wrist, a blade jutted out from beneath the leather bracer and buried itself up the throat and into the head of the brigand leader. Without a twitch, the brigand leader became dead.

"Rest in peace," Robin muttered as he respectfully closed the leader's eyes. He didn't know why he did it to a man who was so cruel and vile, but that can wait later.

"Garrick!"

Robin's head snapped up to see the mage took notice of him. Without wasting time, Robin drew power from the tome and let it flow through him. With a wave of his hand, a ball of electricity shot from his right hand and towards the mage. In his opinion, it was a weak spell. But if used right, it can end a duel in a decisive blow.

Like setting fire to the tome, the mage carried.

"Argh!" The mage cried out as he threw his tome away from him. Robin didn't waste this opportunity to draw his bronze sword and charge at him. He thrust the sword into the heart of the mage swiftly. It was like he was trained for this. Robin pulled away his sword to let the body fall to the ground.

By then, the other four surrounding him took notice of him. With a roar, the ax-wielders charged at him with their weapons raised. The first one brought his ax down, but Robin deftly dodged him. Bringing his sword up, he brought it down on the hand of the ax-wielder, cutting it off. The ax-wielder screamed in pain while Robin picked up his fallen ax. Twisting his body, he buried the ax into the neck of its owner whilst using his sword to guard a strike from the second ax-wielder. Extracting the ax from the body, he swiped it at the legs of the brigand. He howled in pain as he fell to his knees as Robin switched his sword to a reverse grip and stabbed it through his head.

Dropping the ax, he turned to face the two swordsmen. They kept their distance from him, their swords raised in anticipation. They saw him take down four of their number including their leader, they weren't taking any chances.

Unless…

Robin sheathed his sword and spread his arms wide. He smiled at their confused looks. A challenging smile.

"What's the matter? Chicken?"

That provoked a reaction as one of the swordsmen charged at him, his sword speeding towards Robin in a thrust. Robin pushed the enemy's arm to the side and thrust his right arm forward, his hidden blade digging into his heart. Then he pushed the body into the second swordsman, twisting the blade out of the dead man's grip. Without a moment's haste, he skewered the both of them. They fell to the ground.

"Rest in peace," Robin muttered to the fallen brigands. He moved to cross the bridge before he was met by familiar faces.

"Robin?" Chrom asked in surprise. "You followed us. But—"

He stopped when he and the Shepherds noticed the dead bodies of the brigands. Their blood is already spilling onto the stone. Robin glanced at the bodies before looking back at the Shepherds.

"I thought that you would need assistance?"

"Milord, please!" A villager said. "You must stay the night! We are simple folk of simple means, but we would gladly toast your valor with a feast!"

It took several minutes to clean up the bodies of the brigands, whom Robin learned are from Ylisse's western neighbor Plegia. Turns out, they send small bands of these brigands into Ylisse, hoping to instigate a war. Why is what he didn't know yet. From the way Chrom spoke in anger, this has been happening for some time and the townspeople suffer. Fortunately, they had the Shepherds to protect the sheep.

Speaking of the which, Chrom asked Robin if he would join the Shepherds. Frederick was skeptical about it, but Chrom said that he fought to save the lives of his people and it was enough to clear away doubt. Lissa is amazed that he was able to take down six brigands all by himself. Robin, with nowhere else to go, agreed to his offer of joining.

"A most generous offer, sir, and no doubt your hospitality would be grand…" Frederick said to the villager. "But I'm afraid we must hurry back to Ylisstol."

"Dark meat only for me, medium well, and no salt in the soup. I simply—" Lissa was listing the things she wanted for the feast before Fredericks's words finally sank in. "Wait, what?! We're not staying?! But, Frederick, it's nearly dark!"

"When night falls, we'll camp," Frederick said nonchalantly. "Eat off the land, make our bed of twigs, and the like…I believe you mentioned you would be getting used to this?"

"Frederick," Lissa deadpanned. "Sometimes I hate you."

"You've quite the stern lieutenant there," Robin noted dryly.

"Yeah," Lissa scoffed. "Well, the stern is one name for it. I can think of a few others!"

"Frederick only smiles when he's about to bring down the ax," Chrom added.

"Duly noted."

Frederick gave a not so subtle cough. "You do realize I AM still present?"

"Oh, we realize," Chrom said with a chuckle with Robin joining in.

"Milord remains amusing as ever," Frederick groaned. "Now then, shall we be going?"

"All right, all right," Chrom said. He turned to his newest Shepherd. "Ready to go, Robin? The capital isn't far."

Robin nodded. But as he walked with the Shepherds, he thought back to his fight with the Brigands. His body reacted in ways he chalked up to is instinct. The sight, the confidence, the fighting skills, the running, and even the hidden blade. It was as if he was trained to…kill.

Robin glanced at his right arm, where the innocent bracer is underneath the purple sleeve of his coat.

Who was I?

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I don't care what anybody says, I will continue this fic on my own time whether they like it or not. So, go ahead and comment all you want.

Anyway, with that off my chest, lets review. Robin has just woken up and demonstrated some interesting talents. What exactly is he and what is his past? What waits for the Shepherds and the future? Stayed tuned to find out more.

Thank you all for reading.