#since robin’s eighteen and chrom’s seventeen

[iturbide]

Tell me about prisoner of war au plz!

Okay so with the understanding that this one is more conceptual than anything at present (I have very little solid plot for it but I really enjoy the general idea of it):

Prisoner of War is basically a what-if AU: what if Chrom’s father didn’t die, and in fact managed to siege and finally capture the Plegian capital? If Validar kept quiet about Robin’s birth, allowing the information to be known only among the cult, it’s entirely possible that Plegia might fall, since I tend to think that news of the Heart’s birth helped give the army a morale boost and allowed them to withstand and even repel the Exalt’s forces; even in canon, where Robin’s mother flees and the Heart goes missing, I think the fact that Grima’s Heart had returned to the world makes them fight harder because they know that their divine is somewhere, even in hiding, and they want to see the day when the fell dragon returns to them. But without that boost, the halidom’s forces might have reached the capital and finally stormed it after a long drawn-out siege, and from there the people scattered, as did the remnants of the army.

This is the world Robin and Chrom both grow up in. Robin is raised in a broken nation that has suffered nothing but war since before she was born; she’s raised in hiding for her own safety, but the community she’s brought up in is, effectively, an army brigade. With their central command gone, Plegia’s resistance to the halidom now comes in the form of guerilla camps hidden throughout the country, raiding Ylisse’s army for necessary supplies, performing ambush assaults at every opportunity, baiting soldiers and vanishing in order to pick off large forces bit by bit. These fighters end up creating communities, but ultimately every member ends up as part of the fighting force — and that includes both Robin and Henry (himself not only an orphan, but a victim of the halidom’s cruelty; he was rescued from an Ylissean outpost, and his scars and pain tolerance both are the result suffering he endured at their hands). Chrom, meanwhile, is raised in a nation coasting on the exultation of its victory, where the anti-Plegian propaganda has reached a fever pitch and the nation at large is baying for the complete annihilation of the Grimleal nation. He’s trained from a young age for combat and command both, and his father intends that his only son will follow in his footsteps and, as necessary, complete the eradication of Grima’s followers and the fell dragon’s memory; to this end, he publicly bypasses his eldest daughter in the line of succession and names Chrom his heir apparent.

While many oppose the notion of Robin taking part in the efforts to defend her home and her family, General Mustafa (the man in charge of their particular camp) allows it on certain conditions: that she never be alone (and she never is, because she always has Henry) and that she never enter an Ylissean camp (she toes the line on that one a lot, and he knows but can’t prove it). Meanwhile, the Exalt makes a point of bringing Chrom into the fray, granting him command of a battalion and charging him with rooting out the Plegian resistance in the southwestern woodlands. This is how the two end up meeting: the guerilla forces attack the halidom’s troops in the dead of night, raiding supplies in the chaos and vanishing into the dark — but Chrom happens to see a stranger rushing off into the dark and gives chase alone while the other troops tend to the fires before they can consume the camp entirely. He finally manages to corner the pale-haired Plegian in a clearing deep in the forest and far from the camp...and realizes, far too late, that he’s the one who’s been led into a trap. Immobilized by magic, he’s quickly bound up and carted off on the back of a wyvern, and none of his struggles or snarls make any difference — but he’s taken aback by the fact that this young woman goes out of her way to check his bonds when he shows signs of discomfort, and openly apologizes as she loosens them, citing that her companion has trouble gauging how tight things should be due to his own lacking sensitivity. Neither of them seem to mean him any harm, and when he demands answers she openly admits that this is only for bartering: the halidom’s soldiers certainly won’t talk to them otherwise...though she is sorry about putting him through this.

Robin actually has no idea of who she’s caught until she and Henry get back to their camp, a warmly lit den at the heart of a twisting honeycomb of caves. Mustafa is shocked and deeply concerned when he sees the Brand on Chrom’s arm, but knows that what’s done is done (and can’t deny that it’s potentially a great stroke of luck on their part). Chrom ends up...ostensibly being a prisoner, but one with significant freedoms, and finds the Plegians to be amicable if understandably wary; Robin and Henry keep him company quite often, and he gets frequent visits from Robin’s mother (especially early on, since she’s the one who treats the rather nasty welts his struggling in Henry’s over-tight binding left behind). Nothing he finds bears any resemblance to the stories of his childhood, and he finds it difficult to reconcile the truth from the fiction he was fed growing up; when it finally comes time to face the Exalt, Chrom realizes that he’ll likely face the hard choice of siding with his father and the nation of his birth...or the friends he’s grown so close to and a nation far different from the one he thought he knew.

[shibyn]

in the spring, we are such fools

fe heroes drabble collection Kiran can summon town heroes, thieves, lone survivors, emperors, hero-kings, legends, the god-chosen, and the lost– Kiran realizes that they’re all just people in the end.

alm - timeline

And of course, this all hits Kiran when a newly summoned Alm, wielder of Falchion, son of Emperor Rudolf of Rigel, Saint-King of the One Kingdom Valentia, tells them that he's the newly appointed leader of the Deliverance and he's amazed by all of the things he's seen in the Askran castle so far. 

It's very strange to speak with someone who's unaware that they're a hero-king later in their life. It usually wouldn't be too much trouble since Kiran's really just only met them, but when other people who know them when they're the hero-king meets the one who doesn't know, it gets rocky and very, very complicated. Kiran wishes each hero could be pulled out of a single point in time in the same timeline, instead of Briedablik just pulling random from bag of marbles and chucking whatever it's got right at them. And of course, this all hits Kiran when a newly summoned Alm, wielder of Falchion, son of Emperor Rudolf of Rigel, Saint-King of the One Kingdom Valentia, tells them that he's the newly appointed leader of the Deliverance and he's amazed by all of the things he's seen in the Askran castle so far. It's weird as hell. Kiran gets all of what they know from these heroes straight from history books in the castle's Royal Library, and they really only tell of these heroes when they're already heroes-- and not before that. It's very strange to see Alm, who may or may not have defeated Chancellor Desaix in his timeline (Kiran isn't sure), act very similar to a country bumpkin when it comes to being here. Kiran hates Briedablik sometimes. Really hates it. They're not sure if it's better to pull someone out of their universe in the middle of wartime, or in the middle of peace, or before it's all happened, but god forbid it pulls comrades and companions and enemies from the same point in time. Kiran had to intercept a over-the-moon Tobin, who is from after the Deliverance confronted Jedah for the last time and was about to give Alm the hug of the life time, and Clair, who was ready to congratulate him on his marriage with Celica, from talking to him initially. It's not easy in the slightest to keep certain people to be wary of what they say to their friend, because Kiran has no clue what would happen if Alm is sent back with the knowledge he's Rudolf's son and Celica's soulmate when he hasn't even seen Zofia castle yet. Well. Regardless of that dilemma, it very, very cute to see a doe-eyed Alm meeting different people and seeing different places. "--and Athena thought I cussed at her when I said 'britches,' so I had to awkwardly explain to her that I wasn't trying to say a derogatory word... Y'know, I didn't think I used what people would consider 'country slang,' but I guess I have been living in an isolated village my whole life..." Alm says absently, scratching his cheek sheepishly. Kiran shrugs and grins, stretching out their arms. "Well, that's just kind of an Athena thing! She comes to me every now and then and asks me what some words mean. Some of them are kind of cute mistakes, and then... well, we do have some really loose-lipped people around." Alm grimaces at the thought. "And I thought some villagers were pretty brash... the things some people say around here are... kinda..." "Definitely not for children's ears, and honestly-- we have a few running around!" Kiran leans back, scrubbing their hands over their eyes and whining, "I don't need Nino or Kana running up to me and asking what some heinous word means!" Alm tries to stifle a laugh but doesn't succeed much at all. Kiran points a finger at him threateningly, eyes narrowed. "You can't laugh about this, buddy, you try explaining a word that no one's mother wants to hear to a wide-eyed child or a very threatening lady with a very sharp blade!" He bursts out loud with laughter instead. "Sorry, sorry! I can only imagine it-- Especially with all these people from all over, there's got to be crazy, outlandish curses being thrown around." "Don't remind me," Kiran scrunches their nose, "Barst gave me a whole list of curse words from Archanea, and I felt like a prude right then and there." Alm whistles in amazement. "I'm surprised, that takes a lot." Kiran snorts at him. "Sure... Hey-- are you calling me vulgar? I'm not half as bad as some people around here!" Alm looks away innocently, whistling in a coy manner. Kiran rolls their eyes. "Ah. That's right-- you asked me earlier for a place to practice, right?" "Yeah," Alm sighs exaggeratedly, resting his chin in his palm, "There are just times were I'll hear my grandfather-- Sir Mycen-- scolding me in my head to practice, but sometimes I don't want to bother anyone in sparring with me." He shrugs nonchalantly. "Did you happen to find one?" Kiran looks upon him for a second before speaking. "I have. But-- Tobin wields a sword, right? He wouldn't mind sparring with you, yeah? He even trained with you under Mycen, so it'd be the same training regime." Alm frowns, hunching over ever so slightly. "He does. Well-- it's strange to sword fight with Tobin. The Tobin I know uses a bow rather than a sword-- it's just a little off putting, y'know?" He puts in the effort to grin at this, but it droops at the corners. "And... ah... he seems strangely on guard around me? It's weird to think that he's from a different timeline, however that stuff works, but I didn't think I've done anything to make him like that. He's the same, I guess, snarky and stubborn, but he'll occasionally hold back on things he'll say." It's obviously something he's thought about for a long time, with the way he fidgets and refuses to make eye contact with Kiran, probably due to confusion and nervousness. "Do... Do you know why?" Kiran leans back till their head hits the wall. "Well. In the same way he's not the Tobin from your timeline because he wields a sword rather than a bow, he's different because his time line is... well, further along in the future than yours. Basically, he's already gone through the things you're going to go through in your timeline." Alm's eyebrows raise, but he keeps quiet. "Usually this doesn't matter," Kiran continues, "Like with Lukas-- he's close enough to the time you're from that it doesn't make much difference. But with Tobin and Clair? It's... a huge span of time and events. Huge. I specifically asked them to hold back things they say, because, well-- your adventure's a wild one, and it's kind of a spoiler to learn how things turn out, right?" Kiran grins briefly. "I'm trying to keep the knowledge of what happened in their worlds from returning to yours, worst-case scenario it throws everything off course and causes disaster." Snorting, Alm says, "Surely it can't be that bad to throw everything off?" Shrugging, Kiran says cryptically, "A single change is one heck of a thing. I'm not gonna try my luck and risk your world." To this, Alm nods understandingly. "Alright. That's fair. I, uh, I guess I'll try to keep that in mind when Tobin starts acting a little too old for his age." Kiran scowls at him. "All of you act a little too old for your age, I swear to god. You're what, eighteen? Seventeen? And you're leading a resistance group a couple of months into joining it!" "And you?" Alm counters slyly, "You started leading an army a couple days of popping up all the sudden, if I've heard right." "Yeah? And? I'm not the one with the sharp blade, thank you very much," Kiran folds their arms, "Besides. I'd like to think I wasn't the fastest appointed leader-- Robin was basically put up as tactican the moment Chrom looked him in the eye. Ah, let me show you the practice room before I forget again." Alm grins, to which Kiran thinks, Yep. A seventeen year old! Seventeen! "Yeah, thank you!" Alm says, and asks, "Is it alright if I show Tobin the practice room, too? I think we're both tired of fighting with someone who's learned the same skills." "Have at it," Kiran waves their hand, rising to their feet from the bench the two of them were on, "Just no spoilers, yeah?"