A little project I came up with while playing Warriors. We'll explore the first battle, and by extension first kill, of all the Nohrian siblings. It will be four chapters, going from youngest sibling to oldest.

Fates is not my strong suit in terms of writing. There might be canon errors, simply because I've played Conquest once and don't know the world as well. I hope you can look past them and enjoy this project.

Elise
Dusk Falls

"Milady, I don't think—"

"Hush, Effie! Don't ruin the fun!"

Both snapped their mouths shut as footsteps passed their hiding place. The smell from the kitchens intoxicated the youths, serving as their motivation.

Effie's stomach growled loudly, and Elise marveled at how that didn't give them away. She loved her friend, truly she did. But the girl could eat and never stop.

"Okay, I think we can—"

The doors of the closet opened. Elise and Effie tumbled out, their limbs tied together.

"I thought I heard something in there," her older brother sighed. Leo ran a hand through his hair, exhaustion and mild irritation arrayed on his face. "Were I a gambling man, I'd have wagered it'd be you two in here."

"I'm sorry, milord." Effie bowed deeply. "Please don't punish me."

Despite his disposition, Leo chuckled. "Effie, you're not my retainer. It is not my duty to punish you. That would be the responsibility of the girl whom has yet to find her feet."

Elise had gotten tangled in her skirt. At long last she extracted herself from the floor and stood, blowing a raspberry at Leo. "Way to ruin our fun, big brother!"

"What was it this time? Last time I found you stealing one of the guard's halberds—"

"I only wanted to see if they really were taller than me!"

"—so I can't imagine what shenanigans you've gotten up to now."

"Milord, we were going to pilfer some food from the kitchens," Effie answered.

"Traitor!" gasped Elise as she dramatically rested a hand over her heart.

Leo nodded with approval towards the older girl. "Well, a little more harmless this time. But Elise, you can order the servants to bring you food at any point. Why hid in a servant closet and try to steal it?"

"For fun, dummy!"

Leo sighed the sigh only older brothers could. "Well, I can't say I know what to do with you. Effie, do try to at least keep her safe, yes?"

"Of course, milord. It is my sworn duty." Effie bowed again.

Leo nodded. "Elise, father sent me to find you. He's given you lead to visit Corrin at the Northern Fortress."

Elise bubbled with excitement, then paused. "I didn't ask father yet, though."

"Camilla and I did. We know you've been itching to go for a while now. And Xander is there, and it's been a long time since you've seen him—"

Elise leapt on Leo, clinging like a magnet to her older brother in embrace. Leo broke off his sentence with a gasp as his sister lovingly assaulted him.

"Elise!" gasped Leo as he rocked back and forth. "Elise!"

Leo toppled over while Elise still squealed with delight. Effie tried to smother her chuckle.

Servants in Krakenburg walked past them without more than a second thought. Such a display was rather typical of the youngest two scions of Nohr.

-X-

Elise hummed along to the clacking of horse hooves while Arthur yammered on to Effie behind her. A few more royal guards rode behind them, but they kept to themselves. She absent mindedly tapped on the orb of her staff.

Leo had wanted a large escort for her, but Elise had refused. Originally she'd just wanted Effie and Arthur, but even Camilla had shut her down on that. And one does not argue with Camilla.

"Lady Elise, Effie and I have a question for you!" Arthur called out through Effie's audible groan.

"Hmm?" Elise slowed her horse down so her retainers were on either side of her.

"Effie and I were wondering whether it was just to steal food from the kitchens. After all, it would not do to steal!" Arthur said.

Effie fixed Elise with a look that said 'save me', and Elise answered. "Well, the food technically belongs to the royal family, so I wasn't stealing. But Effie however…"

Arthur gasped and looked at Effie in betrayal. "Effie, how could you!" The retainer groaned and reached her armored hand up to pull at her hair.

Metal hit metal as an arrow plinked off the plate armor and landed on the road.

Elise's eyes fell onto the small shaft of wood and Arthur was already moving, spurring his horse in front of Elise's. He raised his buckler and another arrow ricocheted off.

"Bandits!" cried one of the royal guards before an arrow found purchase in his throat.

"Protect your princess!" yelled Effie whilst hurling a javelin. Rewarded with a scream from the trees, she leapt from her horse.

Elise's horse shrieked as an arrow struck it and took off. Galloping with speed, it put distance between not only the bandits, but Elise's guards.

"Stop!" screamed Elise to no avail. The horse had its first taste in combat and decided it was not a fan.

A javelin flew from the forest. It missed, but as it found a home in the ground, Elise's horse threw her from the saddle.

It wasn't a long fall, but for a pampered princess, it hurt. Elise groaned in pain, still holding her heal staff.

Footsteps. She opened her eyes and saw a thin, lanky man above her. He was dressed sloppily in rags. A bandit, for sure.

"They sure do make 'em pretty in the capitol," he muttered through a grin. "Get up, girlie."

"I-I can't," Elise whimpered. As she tried to move her leg, pain throbbed through it. The injury was worse than she thought.

"Girlie, you're gonna stand up now, or else I'm gonna show you what bandits do to girlies they find," he threatened. The bandit took a step towards her, waving an axe.

I wish Camilla was here. Or Xander. Or Leo. Or…anybody! Elise used her heal staff to slowly stand.

"Sometime today, girlie," snarled the bandit, roughly yanking her to her feet. Elise cried out as he began dragging her, the wounded leg pulsing with pain on the dirt road.

Elise swung her healing staff at the bandit. He dropped her as it made contact with his skull. He fell to the ground, dazed.

Scrambling to one knee, Elise brought the staff above her head and smashed it against the bandit's skull. The orb cracked. Ignoring the pain in her leg, Elise brought the staff down again on the same spot. The orb shattered.

And the bandit didn't move.

Numbly, she dropped the staff. The pain was an afterthought now. She'd killed a man.

Horse hooves resounded nearby. Elise looked up and saw Effie riding towards her. Relief surged through her body as she blacked out.

-X-

"…her horse ran ahead?"

"Yes, milady. An arrow struck it, and it ran off with her still on it."

"And you found her with a dead bandit in front of her?"

"And her staff smashed, yes. I believe she beat him to death."

"Thank you, Effie. You're dismissed."

Elise cracked an eye open. From her bed, she could see Camilla in the doorway. Xander stood with her, looking regal and poised as ever.

She snapped her eye shut as the two entered the room, closing the door behind her. The weight of their gaze fell on her.

"She's twelve and already killed someone," Camilla said. Her bed shifted as Camilla sat down.

"We were all young when we killed our first man," Xander said. "They were just bandits, right? Not Hoshidan?"

"If they were Hoshidan, I suspect father wouldn't take this as lightly as he did," Camilla replied.

Xander began to pace. "Father has called on me to lead a skirmish across the border. I'll leave Elise in your hands."

Camilla said nothing.

Xander continued. "Sister…I give you permission to hunt down these bandits. Make them hurt for attacking our baby sister."

Elise didn't need to open her eyes to see the cruel smile playing out over Camilla's face. "With pleasure."

The door opened and the Crown Prince of Nohr left the room.

Elise passed back into sleep as the door closed. A time later, her eyes opened.

"Camilla?"

Her older sister, whom had moved to a chair, jolted out of her rest. "Elise!" Her arms were around the younger sister in seconds.

"Where am I?"

Camilla stroked her hair in a motherly way. "The Northern Fortress. How are you feeling?"

"My leg hurts," Elise said with a shrug.

Her older sister nodded and loosed her arms around Elise. Only a little.

"And…?" Camilla looked unsure how to approach the subject. It was an uncommon look to her.

"I don't really remember anything," lied Elise. "The last thing I can remember is falling from my horse, then I woke up here."

For a brief moment, Camilla's relief want unhidden. She smothered it as she hugged Elise again tightly. "There's nothing to remember. Effie came and saved you. And what matters is you're safe now."

"Tell Effie I would like to see her later, then," Elise said.

Camilla paused, then nodded. "I'll go let her know. Will you be alright on your own for a few minutes?"

"Yes."

Camilla slinked away and left through the door. Elise stared at the door, dropping the mask. She killed someone.

And didn't feel a thing. Oh, the shock was there, but the guilt wasn't.

She wasn't ready to die. So she stopped him from killing her, or worse.

The thought eased her, and a small smile came back to her face. No need to worry her siblings.

A knock hit the door. "Elise?" It was Effie's voice.

"Come in!" she said cheerily.

Author Notes: I want to make a quick distinction. These are the ages I have in mind for the characters at the beginning of the game.

Elise: 13
Leo: 16
Corrin: 18
Camilla: 23
Xander: 25

These ages might not be right. Who knows, maybe I'm completely wrong in this reading of them. But for this story, these are their ages per the beginning of the game. We'll be looking in the past of each of these characters, and I'm using these a reference to how old various siblings would be at the time.

Writing Tunes: Radiant Dawn OST

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