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Feedback Thread is here: Chapter I: Arrival in the Past We all know the basic story. Prince Chrom found the ex-Tactician of Plegia Lady Robin who was doing her best in fleeing from the Grimleal who at that point in time were beginning to prepare for the rise of Grima, the Fell Dragon although the reasons are not clear as to why she suddenly made to leave her home country and turn her back on the cult that she had significant ties to. What was clear was that she carried warning of a war that the Ylisseans were ill prepared for. However not everyone believed her and it took the death of the exalt to make them see her words were true. Even then some had believed the woman a spy until Prince Chrom revealed that she had been the one to save his life...she was the one that was behind the dramatic rescue of the Duke of Themis' daughter Maribelle and other tactical victories for Ylisse that they would not have had if Robin had not helped them. The fact that she had essentially been branded a traitor by King Gangrel on the battle field was enough to convince the council of her intentions. Although why in the same token she had chosen to turn her back on her people remained a mystery. However the assistance that she gave Prince Chrom and House Ylisse was more than enough in the eyes of some. When she gave birth to a small boy it had been quite a shock, as no one had known that she was carrying, let alone that she was with child as she some how was able to keep it from everyone. Even so she still continued to be an asset to House Ylisse to the best of her abilities. She named the tiny boy Caleb and made quite certain that he was trained to be her successor clearly. Everyone wondered why she insisted on training the boy in battle tactics and strategy. Most people didn't know about what Robin was actually planning, she knew that Grima needed a vessel in order to enter the physical world; it would be up to Caleb to complete the task she had undertaken should the worst come to pass and she was killed. She hadn't said it to him directly; rather she had been avoiding it as much as possible as she didn't want to face the reality of what was to come. She would not be able to stop the Grimleal...only her son could, he had the heart of Grima; the mark on his right hand was proof of that. He was what the Grimleal had been praying for and Robin didn't want that for her son. She wanted him to live in a world that was not tainted by the Grimleal's ideals, she wanted to give him a future of his own choosing; to see the world with an open mind and free soul. Robin knew however that it wasn't that easy. She'd gone to Libra, a priest of Naga in desperation to save the boy. Libra had been shocked by what Robin was asking of him, but he realised that Robin was being serious. Even with the help of Naga the curse of Grima remained. She'd never told Caleb of course. She didn't want him to have that burden to bare. However Robin felt it was best to take the fight to the boy's absolute nut case of a father. Validar's name sent chills down Robin's spine even though it had been almost fifteen years since they'd seen one another. Robin's plan was to end the man's life in the hopes that it would stop the Grimleal from trying to resurrect Grima. Even so, the fact of the matter was that despite everything that the young woman had done it was all undone the moment the Fell Dragon awakened. She had been blind-sided by the fact that the Grimleal already had a vessel and that vessel had been waiting for them to come. She and Prince Chrom were both killed, and in that moment the young Caleb experienced a head ache like no other. He had known that his mother had been killed, although how he knew was a different matter all together. No one believed him and it wasn't until Lady Maribelle struggled back to the palace with the Falchion injured to the point that healers knew she wouldn't be able to live much longer that they realised the boy might have actually known what happened. It was only as Maribelle told them the horrific news that the people looked at Caleb with a sense of pity. Ylisse's Grandmaster was dead as well as the Exalt. Both were killed by a hooded figure who Maribelle had never seen before and she had not been able to see the face of her husband's killer. It was shocking enough to see the figure kill Chrom without so much as flinching, but the death that was reserved for Robin was truly horrific. The woman wasn't just killed according to Maribelle; she was slaughtered, body ripped apart limb from limb while she was still alive and screaming... Caleb yawned as he struggled to get warm in the cold night air. The fact that he was awake even though it was cold was a miracle as he'd expected to have frozen to death by now, especially since there was nothing left to burn, save for some tomes, but those were needed in combat. It helped though that there was a young blue haired woman resting against his side in an effort to keep herself warm as well. Caleb had put the coat that his mother had given him years ago over her lithe frame in the hope that it would shield her from the bitterly cold wind that was cutting though their camp. Grima was to blame for everything that had happened. If not for that damnable dragon Caleb would have been able to have his mother and hear the wisdom her kindness provided. He wouldn't have felt so afraid with her voice to guide him. He looked over his sleeping companion. She'd been through so much that it didn't surprise him that she had nightmares, as he often had nightmares himself especially after what had happened when Grima came to destroy Ylisstol, both of them running for their very lives while Lissa bought them the time they all needed to escape. Even now Lissa's death troubled the young man. To see her be burnt like that...it upset him greatly. He frowned as he looked at his sleeping companion. She wasn't just his companion, she was Caleb's closest friend and it pained him to see her sleeping so uneasily and knowing that there was little that he could do to change the situation for her. He could see the pain on her face as the nightmares haunted her and it hurt. He didn't move but knew that it was almost time to change the watch. The young man sighed as he looked over the darkness slowly greying to a dull half-light that had been their entire world ever since Grima had been awakened. Sprawled beyond him were the others of their travelling group, shielded by Minerva, Gerome's wyvern. Caleb could see that Gerome was starting to stir, and knew that it would be a matter of time before the rest of the group stirred. His companion seemed to sense that it was time to wake as he felt her move. The journey that they had to make was far from an easy one. As the children had all but one of the gemstones needed to perform the awakening of Naga, they were told by the divine dragon that they couldn't stop Grima in their world. She told them that their only hope was to go back in time to prevent the Fell Dragon awakening. It was decided that they would have to avoid their parents entirely as they didn't want to force their parents to get together for their sakes; Caleb felt it wasn't the right thing to do as he was certain that they would easily become compromised unless they told the truth to Chrom and the elder shepherds of the past. They seemed to know though that things would change for better or worse once they crossed that line of time. Caleb followed Lucina as closely as possible, having heard Naga tell them that they could very well end up as much as twenty or more years ahead of Grima's awakening. Caleb was running as everyone tried to get ahead of Grima's risen that were following them. Caleb even managed to create a barrier that didn't last as long as he'd hoped. All the same they had to run...they had to get moving... The world that Caleb stepped into was a far cry from the world that he'd left. True there was fire, but this seemed to be rather pale compared to the destructive fire that Grima had made. It was more or less a fire that Caleb was scared of yes, but not terrified by. Close before him was Lucina and he raced to get towards his friend, “Marth!” He cried running forwards as “Marth” was holding back the axe from a risen that was threatening a very familiar figure. Caleb let out a loud battle cry and ran forwards, “Thoron!” the risen turned to see what had made that noise and as it did so it was hit by a blast of powerful magic. Caleb hastened forward and panted, “Lord Marth are you alright?!” Lucina looked at him briefly before realising that Caleb was using their code name for her. She responded with as masculine a voice as she could muster, “I am fine thanks to you Kris.” “I'm just relieved that I made it in time.” Caleb replied then he turn his attention to the figure whom Lucina had been protecting, “Are you alright, Milady?” he asked gently, “Uh...yeah...I'm fine...” the youthful cleric responded shakily, “That was quite an entrance.” Caleb turned to the sound of a voice that he missed so much that he almost felt like crying. The man that walked towards them was the man whom Caleb respected the most out of all the male shepherds; Chrom. Even though Caleb was a young man now Chrom still held the height advantage. A rueful grin hit Caleb's face, he sure was glad to see Chrom. Chrom looked at the two strangers that had saved his sister, Lissa. One wore blue clothing akin to what the Hero King Marth would have worn, the other had his face hidden by what was clearly a Plegian coat. The man under the coat seemed to be smiling at them then that smile faded, “Lord Marth,” He said turning to his companion, “There are more of them in the forest, what should we do?” The masked man appeared to frown in response, “Do you have a strategy Kris?” The masked man's voice sounded a lot higher than the hooded one's did. Perhaps the one with the mask was the younger of the pair, of course in that moment there was a thunder of hooves as two figures raced to join them, “Frederick! Robin!” Lissa cried suddenly and Chrom realised that he needed to talk to his new tactician, right away. Caleb watched as his mother took in the risen that had appeared, “Chrom, Frederick I want the pair of you to stay up front,” She said rapidly assessing the situation, “Lissa I need you to stay with Chrom to heal any injuries he might get...” Robin turned then to look at Caleb and he got the feeling that she was trying to assess him. He however felt Lucina grip his arm, “We'll take care of the creatures to the north,” Caleb spoke, “We'll leave this group to you.” Robin blinked taken aback by the young man's voice, “Very well.” was all she said before the pair raced off to the north. Caleb and Lucina easily cleared out the risen in the north. Caleb worked well with Lucina and the pair quickly over powered the beasts. They arrived to see if Robin's group needed any help and Lucina made no move to speak. Caleb looked at them and felt a pang in his chest. Here was his mother...but not his mother in the same token. She was younger for a start, her hair was a short bob with her fringe resting over her left eye that she'd lost escaping from Validar the first time, the coat that she wore didn't have as much wear, she seemed less experienced...Caleb halted his thoughts when he looked at her remaining eye. She was frowning at them, and Caleb recognised that particular expression. She was trying to read them, “It seems that we have vanquished the last of the creatures.” Frederick spoke waking Caleb out of his revere, “We have finished with them as well.” Caleb said, looking towards Lucina for guidance, she gave a brief nod, “Then it seems that we have slain them all.” The knight said, “Um, I never got to thank you two...for before...” Lissa hesitated slightly, still shaken from what had transpired, Caleb felt a stab of sympathy for her but did his best to keep his face straight, “So...thank you, you were both very brave.” Caleb saw Lucina's mouth twitch and he knew that she was relieved that her aunt was fine, “I want to thank you both for saving my sister's life, I'm Chrom. Might I ask what your names are?” Chrom asked, “You may call me Marth and my companion here Kris.” Lucina responded speaking for the first time, “Marth?” Chrom said looking at Lucina then to Caleb with a slightly confused expression crossing his face, “After the heroic king of old? You both certainly fought well, where did you learn to fight like that?” “I'm not here to talk about us,” Lucina said sternly, “This world is teetering on the brink of a horrific calamity. What you saw tonight was just a prelude, you have been warned...” Lucina turned to leave and Caleb hastened to follow her. They didn't speak for a good hour as they had a lot of ground to cover, “Lucy,” Caleb said softly, “Where to next?” He asked, “We need to find the others,” She said suddenly, “Do you think that they made it Caleb?” “I'm sure that they did,” He said calmly, “And we'll just have to do what we can in the meantime.” “Right,” She sighed, “To Regna Ferox to save the champion Lon'qu.” Caleb nodded and spoke, “We'll need some supplies, but that shouldn't be too much of a challenge.” Lucina nodded, “Alright then let's go!” And Caleb held onto the hope that they would actually make the future change. He would have to make sure that he did his best to assist Lucina in her task. He had to.