Story resumes from cliffhanger now!
…but she didn't.
The liger queen let out a rumbling growl, but it was nothing like her huge roar.
"She says you fight dirty, but she'll listen to what you have to say," Mieu said. Wow… I really had not expected that. I thought for a minute. What could I ask the ligers to have the cheagles do that would be more fair…? And help keep Engeve safe?
"Tell her… tell her that maybe instead of having to bring the ligers food or be eaten, the cheagles could help them rebuild their territory in the northern forest, plant new plants, set up traps around the forest to catch things the ligers can eat, and assist them in moving back up north once the forest has recovered enough from the fire," I said. It sounded reasonable enough- and if they were moving away from Engeve, they'd be less likely to go that way for food. Mieu nodded, and relayed my message. Luke and Tear just watched, probably worried that they would mess things up if they got involved.
The liger queen responded with another low-pitched sound.
"She says that it's a deal, with the condition that once it's over and the ligers have finished moving back to the northern forest, no cheagles can go to that forest again so there won't be another fire," Mieu relayed back, blinking up at me.
"Tell her we agree. Even if that was unfair, which I doubt it is, if it'll get her to agree to the new arrangement, then it's worth it," I said. Mieu gave a couple of short 'mieu's, and the liger queen moved back to where she had been, laying beside her eggs. She looked up, and gave a quiet, soft roar.
"Whoa… that was unbelievable, Ion!" Luke said.
"Wait. She says she respects your intelligence, and wants you to take one of her eggs with you and teach the baby to be as smart as you are," Mieu said, hopping to get my attention.
"Me…?" I asked, though of course she meant me. Duh.
"Yeah. She wants you to come over there," Mieu said. I gulped, hesitant to approach the liger queen, but I stepped forward, not letting my nervousness show.
"Fon Master, that's dangerous…" Tear started, but I was already approaching her. She moved aside slightly, and I could see that there were at least twenty eggs in the large nest. She nudged one on the outside edge.
"She says to take that one," Mieu said.
"Okay. Tell her I thank her for this opportunity, and I'll raise this liger to the best of my ability," I said. I knelt down, and carefully took the smooth, dry egg into my arms. The blue cheagle 'mieu'-ed the message to the liger queen, and she gave a slight nod as I stepped back.
"We should go tell the other cheagles about this," Mieu said.
"Right. That way, the new arrangement can begin at once," I said. I turned, and began to walk away, Mieu following at my heels like a puppy. A smaller liger that I hadn't noticed was in the room darted out past us, giving a sharp meow as it passed.
"He's going to tell the other ligers what happened so they don't try to hurt us," Mieu explained.
"Man… Ion, that was awesome! You just coolly stood your ground, came up with that idea all at once, and even got her to agree… you didn't even look scared, and you were right in front of that huge monster!" Luke exclaimed. "And you got that egg… man, you weren't even shaking!"
"Fon Master, that was extremely reckless… but I must admit, the way you handled the situation was impressive," Tear said. We exited the liger den, and though we got weird looks from the ligers we saw, none of them attacked us. They mostly just stayed out of our way. As we were crossing my log bridge…
"My, what's this? Tear, and Luke, and the Fon Master carrying an egg?" a familiar voice said.
"Jade! You won't believe what just happened!" I said, going to him at once.
"Oh… it's that guy," Luke muttered. Tear elbowed him. "Ow…"
I quickly explained to Jade what had happened, not giving any details on Talia's death even though I did mention it, and finished with, "So we have to go tell the cheagles what happened."
"Hmm. I suppose I could let you go with them to explain things to the cheagles. You shouldn't do things like this, though," Jade said, giving me a stern look. "You're lucky I wasn't particularly fond of Talia. She always referred to me as 'darling'."
At that moment, a distraction occurred in the form of Anise running over.
"Thank goodness you found him, Colonel!" she said on seeing me. "…Why does Ion have an egg?"
"I'll tell you later. Anise, can you do me a favor?" Jade said. He leaned over and whispered in her ear.
"…Sure thing, Colonel!" she said before darting off. Oh yeah… Luke and Tear were about to get arrested. Oops.
"Well. Shall I accompany you to deliver the message to the cheagles?" Jade said with an amused smirk.
"Of course!" I said, before Luke could whine. Tear didn't seem to care, and so we walked off, back to the huge tree.
I swear, it looked even bigger the second time around.
Jade looked up, and casually remarked, "My, that is a rather large tree." …yeah, Jade does that. A lot.
"That's what Ion and I said," Luke sighed. Soon, we were back inside. I let Mieu do the explaining- he could probably pass the message on better than we could anyways. After a bit, Mieu looked up.
"The cheagle elder says that even with this solved, I still have to be punished. So he wants me to come with you and help you out for a cycle of seasons, mister Ion," Mieu said.
"I don't mind it. You could come in handy," I said, letting myself smile. No Mieu for Luke.
"Well. With that settled, shall we be going?" Jade asked. Everyone nodded, and we left. I was still carrying my liger egg, and Mieu trotted along beside me while we stuck to the back of the group.
Soon, we had arrived back at the entrance to the cheagle Woods, where Anise and a few Malkuth soldiers were waiting. I purposely trailed a bit further behind, so I wouldn't get involved.
"Hi, Colonel! We brought the Tartarus around like you said to," Anise said.
"Good job, Anise," Jade said to the short dark-haired guardian. He then turned to the soldiers. "By the way. The redhead and the light-haired girl? Arrest them, they're the ones responsible for the burst of Seventh Fonons."
"Whaaat?" Luke exclaimed as his sword was snatched away and his hands held behind his back.
"Please don't hurt them, Colonel," I said from behind Jade.
"Oh, I won't… assuming they don't resist," Jade said, before leading them out to the landship.
Now things are starting to go towards the more interesting section of the story...
