Invisible Ties | Fire Emblem Awakening (Novelization)

Chapter 3: Unwelcome Change

Robin

As the sun dipped below the horizon and darkness started to fall upon us, we veered off the main road towards a forest that lay to the side of it. We stopped when we were just within the cover it provided. The densest cluster of trees in the distance created huge silhouettes against the fiery red sky.

"We'll break here for the night," Chrom announced. "Robin and I will take charge of dinner. Lissa, get up. You can help Frederick gather firewood."

Lissa had sat down the moment we'd stopped and was now getting herself comfortable with her back against a tree. "Must I?" She stretched her legs out and winced.

"Not if you would rather eat our game raw."

The wince grew into a look of disgust.

"Good," Chrom said. "Robin, we'll go this way. Stay behind me."

He set off into the trees with no further warning, and I hurried after him in an attempt to catch up with his long-legged strides. The laughter of our earlier walk was gone, and every time he glanced over his shoulder to check I was with him, I saw that concentration had settled into his features and hardened them.

I remained silent, not wanting to intrude on his thoughts. He was, after all, the one who was really in charge of finding dinner. I wasn't even too sure which animals were considered to be appropriate food.

Besides, there was plenty to occupy me. The lack of conversation amplified the sounds of wildlife around us, and every new noise brought a small piece of information back to me. The sweet music coming from the trees was the sound of birds. The quiet rustling of the leaves were squirrels. I knew the facts, and yet it felt as if I'd never experienced such simple things before.

I was so lost in my awe that I didn't identify the lack of one set of footsteps until my face slammed into Chrom's back.

"My apologies," I whispered.

Chrom's eyes were trained on a huge brown bear that was shambling around the forest ahead of us, sniffing the ground. For the time being, it had not spotted us.

"How do you feel about having bear for dinner?" he asked.

My stomach growled, and my cheeks heated. "Hungry."

***

The bear meat was back at camp and roasting nicely an hour later, filling the cooling air with a smell that made me feel sick with hunger. Frederick also looked nauseous as he lifted our dinner from the flames, but his repeated glances of accusation between the bear and me suggested that it was for different reasons.

As soon as I was handed my share I clamped my teeth around it, resisting the urge to moan with satisfaction. For a few minutes, the rest of the world was a blur as I feasted. Then I finally slowed down and looked back up.

The first thing my eyes fell on was Lissa, staring at her untouched food with a forlorn expression. I glanced at Chrom, suddenly wondering if I wasn't supposed to have started, but he was eating with almost as much vigour as me.

"It's been too long since I last had bear," he said with a grin when he caught me watching.

I raised an eyebrow and glanced at Lissa in reply.

It was amazing how quickly his expression changed from bliss to concern. "What's wrong, Lissa? Are you unwell?"

"I will be if I eat this," she snapped. "Couldn't you have brought us an animal that normal people eat, just this once? Who even eats bear?"