Fire Emblem: Past and Future Bonds (Private)

[thelonegrunt]

Severa looked on to the others, all of which in their late teenage or early adult years like her. She kept her arms crossed and gave them scornful looks whenever they made direct eye contact with her, but for the most part this didn't happen as these "pupils" were just conversing while waiting for their instructor, which Severa didn't see...

She finally realized where she was, however, when the woman wrapped her arms around the girl's waist, causing her to squeak. She obviously wouldn't retaliate, as turning her head around made her notice who was there. "M-mom! Don't sneak up on me like that!" Severa replied, fidgeting a bit.

[Diapee Girl]

Not being able to help a small giggle, Cordelia stepped back and released her daughter. "Sorry honey, I couldn't resist." She replied, incredibly happy that Severa actually did show up. "I'm just really glad to have you here..." The crimson-haired woman wanted to ask her what made the girl change her mind, but she knew that Severa would probably either avoid answering or make something up, so she let it go.

[thelonegrunt]

Blushing after having squeaked like a little girl, the girl waited for the woman to release her before crossing her arms and pouting to help defend her image. "Yeah yeah... gives me something to do today, I guess..." Severa pouted, rolling her eyes before looking back up at her mother. "So what are you doing with these recruits again?"

[Diapee Girl]

Cordelia's pegasus, recognizing Severa's familiar scent, trotted up to the girl and curiously sniffed her. This had been the mount the crimson-haired woman had rode during their entire struggle while in the shepherds, so the winged steed and the time-traveling girl had spent a good amount of time on the battlefield together.

Smiling at this, Cordelia patted the creature's muscular neck. "Well, currently they're getting prepped for aerial combat drills. You can't be a proper pegasus knight if you can't fight on a pegasus now, can you?" She explained. "I'm going to be leading them in practice for dodging arrows, throwing spears, and lance combat. Should be a heck of a show."

[thelonegrunt]

Severa backed away a little bit, shivering down her back at the sensation of the winger beast's blowing warm air through its nostrils at her. However, the girl relaxed a bit and managed to gently rub the bridge of its nose. Considering that Cordelia and Severa were usually fighting side by side with one another during most of their battles, the girl was somewhat acquainted with the pegasus.

"Huh... sounds cool, I guess..." Severa stated, now propping her elbow up against the winged horse's back as if it were a wall she could support her body against. I'm sure an audience of one won't be too distracting for any of you, huh?"

[Diapee Girl]

Her mother chuckled. "I'd certainly hope so. In fact, I'd think having a pretty young girl watching just might get these rookies to perform a little better than usual..." She joked, playfully ruffling Severa's hair a little bit. "And I'll definitely try to give you a show worth watching as well..."

Cordelia was about to speak again, she was interrupted by another person walking up to her. He saluted her before saying "The troops are ready ma'am."

"Excellent, Marcus. I'll be right over." She replied to him. As the man walked off, she turned back to her child. "Well, looks like it's time for me to start..."

[thelonegrunt]

At that though, Severa groaned under her breath and quickly stroked her fingers through her hair to account for the ruffling. After the exchange between Marcus and her mother, the girl sat down with her legs crossed and her fingers interlocked and resting underneath her chin. "Well then, I'm ready for the show..."

[Diapee Girl]

Giving her daughter a quick wink before she departed, Cordelia proceeded to mount her pegasus and trot over to the new recruits.
"Attention!" She commanded, prompting a quick silencing of the general chatter amongst the troops, and a salute. "As instructed yesterday, this morning we'll be practicing combat drills using a pegasus. Your skills as a mounted warrior are what defines you as a pegasus knight. If you wanted to keep your feet on the ground, you've enlisted in the wrong branch of the military."

Pointing to a line of archers nearby, armed with rubber practice arrows, with her lance, the woman continued "Today to start off, we'll be focusing on dodging enemy arrows and mounted combat. Other than strong wind magic, nothing will fell your pegasus faster than a well-placed arrow to the wing. So, each one of you is going to take turns hovering above the safety net we've installed while our archers slowly shoot arrows at you, and you dodge them. They're rubber arrows, obviously, so don't expect to die today. However, just because they don't pierce doesn't mean they won't hurt like hell. If your mount takes too many blows to the chest, or shot or two to the wing, expect to be bucked off. That's why we have the next in place. Just stay above it, and the fall will be nothing.
Now, watch my example."

Giving her pegasus the command, the snow-white creature beat it's mighty wings and rose into the air, a few inches off the ground. After another few wingbeats, however, Cordelia was high in the air and on her way over to the nets. Once she was above them, she signaled the archers to begin.

Firing in random combinations from all sides every time she gave the signal, Cordelia dodged every single shot with the grace of an acrobat. Of course, after all she had been through in actual combat, this was child's play for her. Not one arrow came even close to connecting.

[thelonegrunt]

As expected, the recruits watched in awe as the woman gracefully dodged every single arrow while maintaining her form and hold on the winged creature that served as her mount. The skilled flier's daughter, however, looked absolutely unimpressed as she rolled her eyes and feigned a bored yawn. Admittedly, it was very interesting the first time she saw it, but that thrill had long since down considering that they had did much side-by-side battling. She, however, never found herself mounted onto a pegasus, insisting on staying as a ground troop for Chrom's group.

[Diapee Girl]

It was only towards the end of the demonstration where Cordelia truley started to show her skill set. Ordering all the archers around her to start firing at will, the crimson-haired knight weaved through the endless barrage of arrows with ease, using her lance to swat away a good amount before they got close. Eventually giving the signal for the archers to end their storm of arrows, the woman then took her lance and held it parallel to the ground, aiming it at a target resting on the field. With a mighty heave, along with momentum from her pegasus, she threw it through the air like a spear; the weapon impaling itself dead in the center.

While Severa might have grown used to her mother's skills as a pegasus knight, the new recruits had never truly seen her in action before. Cordelia certainly lived up to her hero status, amazed and impressed whispers breaking out among the watching troops as she performed. They were awestruck.

After she threw her spear, the woman in question descended and retrieved her weapon before returning to the troops. Allowing time for the archers to restock arrows, Cordelia spoke. "Don't worry; that was more of a demonstration than anything. Your training will begin much slower and easier to learn from. Only a few archers will ever be shooting at a time. Now then, form up! Malloy, you're first up! Mount your pegasus and fly to the designated location." She commanded, interested as to seeing what these new recruits could do.