Someone's So Tired He Can Barely Function

[It's still startling to be here. There were any number of knights that Claude could have asked for, but instead he evidently sought out Ashe by name. Everything else was almost arbitrary. Really, Ashe isn't certain what the scheme was this time, but Dimitri seemed confident that Claude only has good intentions.

It isn't that Ashe lacks trust in His Highness, but even Ashe can't help but be a little skeptical of someone whose name during a war was the Master Tactician.

In any case, Ashe finally arrives at the designated area, just a few miles outside of Fodlan's Locket. If nothing else, it'll be interesting to explore a new country and its culture. Helping Dedue out in Duscur has allowed Ashe to learn much about the people, and he does look forward to exploring a bit about Almyra.

He looks up and sees a small team of wyverns with riders on the horizon. The knights with him tense up.]

Hold. We're not being attacked, remember?

[It's been a miserable time for all, such is the nature of war. It still weighs heavily on Ashe's heart to know that Dedue is gone; he remembers fondly how tenderly the large man tended to the garden. How gentle he was, how kind and delightfully confused he was at the prospect of friendship with anyone. The world feels a lot lesser without him, and no doubt his death was the final blow dealt to Dimitri's suffering.

With Byleth's hands full as they are, Ashe takes it upon himself to go to the monastery at night, bringing a tray with him.

Dimitri is right where he expects, moodily glaring over the rubble that crowds the space. If nothing else, the man is easy to find right now.]

Your Highness, I have dinner.

[The time spent as a professor to the academy has been a strange road for him, but then his life had stopped being simple ever since his birth parents died. Still, that doesn't mean he's ever really allowed every terrible circumstance he's experienced keep him from looking at the silver lining whenever he can; instead, he tries to make sure he can indeed improve the lives of other people, even if he doesn't exactly trust Rhea.

Still, for all the things Jeralt has taught him, dancing's not really one of those things. He's found he's had to rely on Sothis for that in order to give additional instruction to Annette.

So, he finishes up with Annette, hopefully giving her the confidence she needs to win the competition that's coming in a couple of weeks. She's one of the few most excited to fill the role, so he felt it was the most fair to let her do it.

Leaving the courtyard outside of the classrooms, Ashe lets out a small breath he didn't realize he'd been holding.]

I'm surprised I pulled that one off... Fighting and strategies are one thing, but dancing.

[You did fine! Goodness, you could stand to have more confidence, you know, Sothis says to him.]

[The first and last time Ashe had met Dimitri, it had been confusing and difficult. In retrospect, no doubt more for the prince than Ashe himself; he could only imagine the horrible things he experienced and saw at the Tragedy of Duscur. Dimitri had seemed so withdrawn during their meeting, but still polite of course. The amount of trauma he experienced was not lost on Ashe, but he also had no way of knowing what else he could do but sit quietly with the prince. It didn't help that not long after, Christophe had been executed, blamed for taking part of the Tragedy.

The betrothal is really meant as a way to keep the people of Faerghus fed, and brokering peace over the unrest of the Tragedy. Gaspard might be a small village, but its farms produce adequately in comparison to a lot of the Kingdom which truly can't be underestimated. So though they lack a crest, the lands are more fertile than the colder and rockier parts of Faerghus. More than once Ashe's legitimacy has been called into question, having been once just a commoner, but Lonato had adopted him all the same and has no other heirs other than the children he'd kindly brought in from the streets.

It's certainly not the life he'd ever imagined for himself. Going from a starving thief, stealing to feed himself and his siblings, not even knowing how to read until a noble was generous to him. Now he's going to Garreg Mach for the academy, betrothed to Prince Dimitri, and trying to draw little attention to himself. He hasn't had a chance to speak with Dimitri yet, but news of his return after the skirmish by Remire Village at least comes as a relief.

So he approaches when he feels bold enough, trying to keep his nerves down.]

I'm glad you returned safely, Your Highness.

The fall of snow is so gentle despite how dangerously cold it is outside. It isn't quite a blizzard, but it is like a blanket of white falling down, muffling the sound and beautifully quiet. There shouldn't be anything out here new or unusual, as there has not been for ages.

Yet, on this evening, there is a light in the distance that Sylvain will see. A dim lantern, hanging in the middle of the snow, like it'd always been there. It is more than staked into the earth, as if somehow it'd grown out like a plant and made its life there.

Half-buried in the snow is the lithe form of a man with pale hair. A ragged hood is covering his head, his arms and legs armored -- yet the rest of him is wearing clothing that was once, perhaps, elegant yet has been worn away. By use or age, it's difficult to say.

Clutched in one hand is a wickedly curved blade, and in the other a pistol. Not that Sylvain would have seen one before.

Though Garreg Mach has its own marketplace, one cannot find all of the possible bargains at one place alone. That and the merchants are beginning to grow wise to Ashe's haggling, so sometimes he takes a trip down to the village nearby the monastery. The market down there is often visited by church staff and academy students alike, so it's not out of the question for them to go to town.

He doesn't expect to see Balthus on the way, but he gives the large man a bright smile and a cheerful wave before he keeps going on his way. One doesn't have to look very hard to see Balthus' kinder notions, the way he and Hilda laugh together or when he sneaks an extra pastry for Lysithea. Ashe has a pretty good opinion of him, even if they aren't very close; he's lent money and the occasional snack without expecting to be paid back. Hapi's remarked to Ashe once or twice that he lets himself get walked all over, but Ashe prefers to think that a little kindness can go a long way. Besides, he knows how to be frugal with his own money and not give more than he can spare.

Almost to the market, and Ashe hesitates. He knows this feeling from having spent a good year dodging people which included village guards. He's being followed.

The young archer turns around and finds himself face-to-face with a couple of scruffy looking men.

"You're not here to rob me, are you?" Ashe asks kindly. "I know times can be hard, but I'm sure I can spare some coin."

The men look at each other, briefly confused as Ashe is digging into his pouch.

"Hang on, I think I have enough to give you both a hot meal or something," Ashe mumbles to himself.

"We're not here for your money, kid," one finally growls.

"Oh. ...I guess I've made this a bit awkward, huh?"

The other sighs. "Let's just grab him and go."

That's about when the brief scuffle breaks out. Ashe will kick himself for it later, but he drops his pouch of coins in the midst of it. He manages to bean one of them in the head with his bow and stab another with an arrow, but beyond that Ashe hadn't truly been expecting to end kidnapped of all things. Isn't that usually for nobles or something?