Disclaimer: I don't own Shield Hero, I just write the story.

Chapter 1: A Plummeting Start

S&DS&DS&DS&D

"Master, I'm out of food." Filo called.

"I filled your feed bag ten minutes ago." Naofumi sighed, glaring at the back of the bird's head. "You cannot possibly be hungry already." The filolial craned her neck back to stare soulfully at him, the cloth bag around her neck looking as empty as a discarded sock. He considered this for a moment, then sighed. "Okay, fine. This is you were talking about. But you shouldn't be."

"That's not fair, master." Filo whined. "It's not like I want to be hungry. I just am."

"Yes, I know that's how it works. But can't you wait until we reach a rest stop before we fill it up?"

"Fine." The enormous bird pouted. He had no idea how she managed that with a beak, but she did.

"Thank you—Gah!" Naofumi yelped as the giant bird abruptly stopped, making the wagon jerk as it bumped into her and nearly pitching him headfirst off the seat. He heard a thud behind him as something in the wagon fell over. Hopefully that hadn't been the crate with the crystal balls in it…

"We've stopped, master!" She chirped happily. "Now we can fill up my bag!"

"Filo!" he barked, pushing himself back upright. "Don't just stop like that!"

"Master Naofumi!" Raphtalia stuck her head out from the curtain, nearly headbutting him in the process. "What's wrong?! Are we under attack?!" She was clutching her sword looking around wildly for the threat.

"No." He grunted. "Filo's just hungry."

"Oh." Raphtalia lowered her sword. "I thought there was an emergency."

"It's an emergency to Filo…" the bird grumbled.

"You be quiet." Naofumi chided, glancing at the her before turning back to Raphtalia. "Is everything alright back there? I thought I heard something fall."

"Yes…that was me." She admitted, raising a hand and rubbing her head gingerly. "I was taking a nap on top of some of the crates and rolled off when the cart stopped." She winced and pulled her hand back.

"You alright?" Naofumi asked, not unsympathetically. Not everyone could have a defense stat so high they could walk off a cliff and walk away without a scratch.

"It's nothing."

"Hmm. Well, climb up here." He scooted over on the bench to make room for her. She obliged, clambering through the curtain and taking a seat beside him.

"How much farther till we reach the shrine the queen told us about?" Raphtalia asked.

"Not certain, but I don't think it should be much more than an hour. Provided somebody gets moving again." He answered, shooting a glance Filo.

"But Filo's still hungry."

"She also just ate." He snapped back. Filo stared at him with beseeching eyes, he stared back, unimpressed. He'd explained this to her multiple times that he did not, in fact, have an unlimited supply of food hidden in his pockets, but she just never seemed to believe him.

"Okay..." Filo sighed, bowing her head and beginning to trudge forward while giving off an almost tangible cloud of gloom. Naofumi sighed.

"Filo?"

"Yes master?"

"Toss me the feed bag." He said wearily. "I'll find something in the back to fill it with."

Filo perked up. "Really?"

"Yes, really." He sighed, reaching up with one hand to catch the bundle of cloth before it slapped him in the face.

"Filo will I'll pick up the pace!" she chirped happily, breaking out into a jog and jolting the wagon back into faster motion.

Raphtalia hissed, her hand moving back to her head. Naofumi raised an eyebrow. Had her fall really been that bad? It was almost comical to think about, considering he'd watched her behead demons without breaking a sweat.

"Want a healing potion?" he asked, rifling through the various pockets in his armor. He knew he had a draft of minor health restoration somewhere…

"No, it's fine." She answered, waving a hand dismissively.

"You sure?" Ah, left back pocket—why had he put it there? if he sat on it, it might break... He pulled out the glass vial out of one of his pouches and held it out to her.

"It's better you save it for something important."

"I think making sure you're not in pain is important." He answered, matter-of-factly. It wasn't like he couldn't make more. Raphtalia stiffened and looked at him wide-eyes. That could not have possibly been a surprise for her to hear, could it?

"Er… well. If you insist." She took the vial and pried out the cork, staring glumly at the liquid inside.

Oh. So that was it. "I know it doesn't taste great, but that's just the way it is."

"I'm sorry, it's just… it tastes like liquefied grass."

"You're a big girl. You can take it."

"Don't treat me like a child. I'm not a kid!"

"That's exactly the kind of thing a kid would say."

She glared at him, but nonetheless tilted her head back and downed the contents.

Naofumi smirked, turning to climb into the back of the wagon. He pried off the lid of the rations barrel and sighed, only about one fourth full. It was easy enough to forage in Melomarc if you knew where to look, but it was time consuming. They'd had to do a lot more of it recently, just to keep Filo fed. It was either that, burn through all his money on food, or turn Filo loose every couple of hours to go find food for herself—that last one was definitely not an option, she'd definitely wander onto some farmer's field and eat his entire crop if someone wasn't watching her.

Maybe if they were lucky, they'd get attacked by monsters—didn't matter what kind, that bird was a garbage disposal on legs.

"Filo, catch." He called, throwing the bag once he climbed back to the front. The filolial's head shot up, neatly snagging it out of the air.

"Thank you, master!" she chirped, half muffled by her beak already being stuffed in the bag.

"Uh huh."

"So," Raphtalia said, already looking more awake as she handed him back the empty vial. "What exactly did the queen want us to retrieve from this cave?"

"Not sure," he sighed. "She was strangely vague about it."

"DIdn't she say it would be critical to the survival of the kingdom?"

"Yeah, that's why the vagueness was odd." Naofumi shrugged. The queen had been pretty insistent, but it's not like he had anything else planned at the moment. Things were going pretty well with the village and he could spare a few days to run this errand for her.

"I suppose we'll just have to see what's so important when we get there."

"Guess so." He nodded, leaning back and shutting his eyes.

It was two hours before they arrived, and it turned out they weren'tthe first ones there.

"Naofumi."

"Hey Ren." Naofumi sighed, nodding to the sword hero. He glanced at the other people; he'd seen Ren's companions a few times, but he'd never bothered to learn their names. A couple of them, a female monk and male wizard looking guy nodded politely towards him, so that was nice. The lot of them were standing before a big stone door embedded in the side of a cliff. It was right by the side of the road and honestly looked pretty out of place. Naofumi's gaze slid back to Ren.

So… one of the other Cardinal Heroes just happens to be exactly where the queen had sent him?

What a coincidence.

Ren crossed his arms. "What are you doing here?"

"The queen sent me." He answered, climbing off the wagon. "You?"

"The same," Ren answered, "She told me there was a treasure here meant to empower the heroes if they were capable of retrieving it." He narrowed his eyes. "Did she send you here to babysit me?"

"Nope." Naofumi answered. "Matter of fact, she didn't mention you at all." What did she think they were? Children who needed to be tricked or bribed into behaving? Well… okay, considering the other three heroes, that was fair. But…she didn't view him that way? Did she? It wasn't his fault the other three were so ridiculously shallow and annoying.

"So," he said, looking to escape that train of thought. "What are you all doing standing in the road? Having trouble getting in?

Ren just stared at him, probably trying to determine how likely Naofumi was to steal his thunder or something equally stupid.

"Okay. Fine." Naofumi sighed. "I'll just figure it out myself. I see you're standing in front of a door." He gestured with a finger. "It's a big, dungeon-y looking door. And it's closed. I'm guessing it's locked?" The wizard guy nodded. "Have you tried beating down the door?" That seemed like Ren's kinda thing.

"We were just about to try that when you showed up." Said the monk girl.

Ren glanced back at her, annoyed. "The queen stated that it would open when presented with a cardinal weapon," Ren said grudgingly. "But it hasn't worked."

Naofumi examined the door. There were four gems embedded in the center, one of which was glowing and projecting the glowing shape of a sword into the air.

Experimentally he held out his right arm, immediately the gem in the center of his shield ignited and a beam of light shot out of it. It connected with one of the dark gems, which ignited and began to project a glowing shield.

Something rumbled behind the door and a crack appeared in it, slowly the door began to move. Parting in the middle, each side slid into the ground, revealing a cavernous space beyond.

"…Of course." Ren sighed. "That over-powered shield opens it in an instant."

"Actually." Naofumi answered patiently. "I think it was that there needed to be two of the weapons to open it."

"…Oh." Ren said flatly, looking back toward the opening. "A Co-op dungeon."

"Looks like it." Naofumi nodded wearily.

Now it was becoming clear. The queen was still insisting that he work together with the other three heroes. Clearly, she wasn't satisfied with his efforts so far—which, if he was being honest, was fair—and had decided to create a situation where he'd have to team up with them.

Well… It could have been worse, he supposed. If he was going to work with one of the other heroes, he might as well start with Ren. The guy wasn't… terrible.

Well he wasn't Motoyasu, at least.

"So…" he began, turning to look at his fellow hero. "Hey!" Ren was already some distance away, marching resolutely down the road. "Where are you going?"

"I don't appreciate the queen's efforts to deceive me like this." Ren called back, "Besides, I don't really do co-ops."

…Okay. Not being terrible didn't mean he was great. No doubt the queen wouldn't be too happy if he just let Ren walk away like this. He thought quickly, how to get the swordsman to come back? What did he know about the guy? He had this whole edgy lone wolf thing going, he was competitive…

"Oh," he called innocently. "You're just going to let me get all the loot?"

Ren stopped mid-step. He turned his head, giving Naofumi a sidelong look, one that said he knew exactly what Naofumi was trying to do. "Do you really think there's going to be loot in there worth taking? This is clearly just an effort by the queen to make us cooperate." He spoke the last word like it had eight hairy legs and fangs.

"Oh, I'm sure that's part of it." Naofumi nodded. "But think about it, she's told us we all need to get as strong as possible, as fast as possible. Do you really think she'd waste our by sending us on a wild goose chase?" he pointed to the door. "This door required two of the legendary weapons to even open. Can you imagine the kind of enemies that are going to be inside? And the level of gear they are going to be guarding?"

Ren turned around, frowning at the cavern opening. Naofumi could see the temptation in his eyes, but it looked like he would need another push.

"Actually, never mind." Naofumi shrugged. "I bet I can handle them myself." He rubbed his hands together. "Come on, Raphtalia. I bet you and I can clear it no sweat." He winked at her.

"Oh." She blinked, then nodded. "Of course. I have… uh… been looking to acquire a high-level sword."

Ren made a funny little noise, halfway between a scoff and groan. "Fine." He said curtly, marching back toward the opening. "I'll play the Queen's little game. Maybe that will get her off my back." He glanced at his companions. "We're going in."

"We're right behind you, Lord Ren." Said the wizard guy.

"Well alright then." Naofumi nodded. "Raphtalia, Filo. Come on."

There was a poof of smoke as Filo turned into her human form and slipping out of her harness. "What about the wagon, master?"

"We'll just leave it here for now." He answered. This road had been pretty much deserted and if someone did come along and steal it… well, he'd had a tracking spell installed on it. Worst came to worst; he'd put Filo on their trail and have her go to town.

"Try not to get in our way." Ren said as he stepped into the cavern.

Naofumi sighed. Oh yeah, this was going to be fun.

Naofumi groaned.

It had taken all of ten seconds for him to lose sight of Ren. The guy had immediately run ahead into the tunnel and disappeared around a bend. He could understand wanting to move quickly, but the swordsman had even left his companions behind.

"Does he always run ahead like this?" he asked, glancing at the monk girl. She didn't look particularly concerned.

"Lord Ren has always been one for speed." The wizard guy sniffed. "He who strikes first, wins."

"Right… By the way, what are your names? Sorry, I don't think I ever learned them."

"I am Kýla." The girl said politely. "That's Galdur." She gestured to the mage.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Naofumi. That's Raphtalia and Filo." Raphtalia waved a hand, the other busy holding up a ball of glowing light. That was another thing, this tunnel wasn't lit. Did Ren have a source of light? Was he just feeling his way along the walls or something?

He was spared from having to ask when the tunnel opened up into a broader chamber. It was empty and lit with a several mage light torches lining the wall. Besides that, the chamber was empty save for a pedestal in the center of the room, a grey bell-shaped object was suspended over it and Ren was standing in front of it.

"Finally caught up, have you?" he said, glancing back at them.

"Yeah." Naofumi sighed. Glad to see you didn't fall into a spike pit.

"Galdur." Ren said, "Come over here. There's something written on this pedestal, but my sword isn't translating it."

"At once, Lord Ren." The mage hurried over to the sword hero and pent over the pillar. "Let me see…" He cleared his throat. "It says: "Come, oh heroes, with divine power bring. Bare your weapons, if you dare, and let the stone bell ring."

"Riddles?" Ren scoffed. "Is this going to be one of those dungeons."

"I'm… not even sure what you mean by that." Naofumi said, raising an eyebrow. "But this one seems pretty straightforward. I think it's just saying we need to hit the bell with our weapons. Of course, it might be a trap."

"There is no other exit to this room." Ren answered. "So, our options are to either ring the bell or turn back." With that, he drew his sword and swung it in a fast arc into the bell. A sharp ting split the air, reverberating unnaturally loud around the chamber. As the echoes began to fade, a glowing ball of light descended from inside the bell and came to a stop over the pedestal.

Naofumi raised his shield, ready in case Ren had just done something monumentally stupid. But the orb just bobbed up and down in the air.

"Galdur, what is this?" Ren demanded, tapping the side of his head. "My HUD isn't telling me anything."

"I'm… not sure, milord. Some kind of magical construct."

"This unit is identified as Ragna." They jumped as a mechanical voice, like an autotuned set of chimes spoke. The orb flashed several times. "Scanning… detecting presence of cardinal weapons sword and shield. Levels identified. Calibrating level of trial for balance."

"Well, it looks like this place really was designed for the cardinal heroes." Raphtalia said.

"Hm." Ren snorted, "Well, then hopefully it truly will provide an adequate challenge for me. I'm not particularly hopeful, though."

The orb flashed. "Traits of Arrogance noted and catalogued. Readjusting level of trial to remediate."

"Uh…" Ren blinked.

"Ren, quiet." Naofumi barked, alarmed. If this thing was really raising difficulty from a display of poor attitude, then…well, it was a good thing only one of the other three heroes were here.

"Don't tell me what to do." The swordsman shot him a dirty look. "Well, Ragna, can we get started? Or what? I didn't come to this world to deal with loading screens."

"…Query: the sword hero wishes to begin the trial immediately?"

"Obviously!"

"Request acknowledged. Skipping tutorial."

"Wait—" Naofumi began.

"Beginning Trial." The orb shot out several beam of light that hit the ground by their feet and flashed across the floor, leaving each person standing in a circle of light. "Isolating heroes now."

Naofumi's eyes widened, and he spun toward Raphtalia just in time to see her vanish in a flash of light.

"Raphtalia!" he turned, but Filo had vanished too. It was just Him and Ren in the room.

"Trial begun." The orb chirped.

And then the floor vanished and Naofumi began to fall.

S&DS&DS&D

And that's the end of chapter one. For anyone who's interested, don't worry, we'll be seeing Raphtalia and Filo again. I'm writing this story because I love the characters of Naofumi and his daughters. I'm not going to just leave any of them out of it.

That said, my number one goal is that everyone be as in character as possible. I hope I've achieved that so far. Let me know if you think I'm succeeding.

Till next time!