I am so sorry. This was a little rushed but hopefully it's not too bad. Can't say when the next one will come but surly not as long as this one.
Also if you don't mind, I have poll on my profile that may or may not have anything to do with my next story. Maybe next two stories. We'll see.


Chapter 7

My name used to be slave number 56. Our master refused for us to have names since that would just make us like people and that was the last thing we were to him. But we would have our nicknames for one another. Nicknames that even our master would call us by because they were really characteristics of us. I'm not really sure how old I was when I was given the name Ghost. Although at first I hated the name because of how easily I was overlooked; I could be standing right in front of someone and they still couldn't see me. But very quickly I realized that this was a gift because I could hide from our master when he felt like taking his anger out on one of us.

Others would have argued that this was a blessing from the goddess but I'm not much of the religious type. After all, if she really cared about us why would she allow some of us to become slaves?

It's true I'm a heron laguz, one of the most valued of all slave laguz. But I was worthless, hardly worth ten gold pieces. I wasn't as they would say a "pure blood" heron, in fact I'm a third generation slave born heron that had been mix breeding with other laguz. Because of that I'm slightly tougher than other herons but we still didn't last long in the poor conditions we lived in.

All that I knew about my parents was what others had told me about them. My father was a crow who had tried to escape causing an arrow to pierce his heart and my sickly mother died giving birth to me and my twin sister.

I could have easily escaped, there were just two problems: 1) I wouldn't know where to go and 2) I couldn't leave my sister Sky behind. It became less possible when she fell ill.

I tried to do her work and my own so she wouldn't get in trouble for it. But our master eventually found out and not only was I beaten for it but Sky was denied her food rations. So I would give her part of mine even though that wasn't enough.

At night when I'd fall asleep next to her I'd be afraid I'd wake up to her dead. If she died a part of me would die with her and I knew my time wouldn't be far behind. But Sky was tough, tougher than me. She fought her illness every day and told me she wouldn't be beaten by it. But soon I too began to fall ill, not as fast as Sky did.

Back then death scared the hell out of me and I hoped Sky and I could go together. With both of us not working we wouldn't receive any rations. Thankfully a green haired, tiger laguz was somehow able to sneak extra food out to us; in fact I don't think either of us would have survived had it not been for that laguz. Sadly we never learned his name.

I drifted in and out of consciousness so many times I'm not sure how much time passed but when I finally woke up I was in a white room in an actual bed. My first thought was that I was dead and I was in the afterlife but then I realized that I still felt like I did before I went to sleep. I had to still be alive. Then I horrible realization hit me. Where was Sky?

Sitting up with a jolt was a bad idea as I soon felt like dizzy, but I had to if I wanted to find Sky. As I began pushing my frail body out of the bed I noticed others in the room. Some were in beds while others stood around. Seeing me moving one of them rushed over and began to push me back into the bed. I swatted their hands away both out of urgency to find Sky and repulsion that a human was touching me. But being a sick heron a child could easily overpower me. Regardless, I struggled.

"Enough!" A stern voice ordered making the person release me. I looked at this man who was old with a long, thin beard. But a warning ran though my wings, something about this man was different; like he wasn't supposed to be there. He was no laguz, that was for sure, but he wasn't a human either. Just what was he? This man walked closer to me which just made my feathers stand on ends. "Fear not, your sister is well, she is simply in isolation. The two of you were at death's doors when we arrived."

He introduced himself as Adish, Grandmaster of Lynn. My former master had bought some of the people that were from Lynn as slaves and he refused to sell them back no matter how much the Grandmaster offered to pay. Then he made the threat to turn the rest of the people into slaves and so he was struck down. With him dead we were all free.

Free? I never thought I would hear the word let alone know how it feels. But what was I going to do now?

Then the Grandmaster explained to me that all the other slaves went their separate ways and since Sky and I were dying he brought us back here to receive the proper treatment and once we get our strength back they would take us to Serenes Forest, home of the heron laguz. I wasn't sure how to respond, I didn't even thank the Grandmaster, and so I just sat there.

I recovered in no time at all, but Sky was a different story. Because she had been sick for so long she became much weaker. It took several years for her to actually make any progress.

During that time my view on things changed. At first I hated Lynn just because humans and laguz lived together. I guess I held bitterness for all humans after how my slave master treated us and I think even to this day I still feel that but I slowly began to call them beorcs. Lynn will have that effect on people, it just grows on you.

But once Sky recovered enough to fly Serenes Forest was destroyed and all the herons murdered. It's bad to say but I didn't really feel anything for the loss of my fellow kinsmen, the only thing I felt was worry because that had been our plan; to go and live in Serenes. Probably since Sky was the only other heron I knew.

However I didn't really worry for too long because I realized maybe Sky and I could live here in Lynn. I had watched warriors during their training exercises several times, perhaps I could become one and then I could support my sister and me since we had been living at the mercy of everyone.

So when the Grandmaster called me to meet with him in his office I decided to take the opportunity to ask about that. I told him my intention to remain in this town and he seemed pleased by it and asked what I planned to do to establish myself here. That was when I told him I wanted to learn how to fight…and he laughed.

He laughed for some time but stopped he realized I was being serious. "A heron were not born to fight," he said. "I cannot allow you to do that."

I gritted my teeth as I said, "I am no normal heron. I was born a slave and have worked all my life." I fell out of my chair to my knees. "Please, allow me to repay you for setting my sister and me free. We can never repay you for all you have done for us!"

The Grandmaster stepped back from his desk and looked out the large wind behind him. "I will agree, you are no normal heron. But there is no reason for you to force yourself to do something out of your nature just to settle a debt with me. There are many other occupations that would be more acceptable for you."

I slammed my fist into the ground showing my anger, even though I may have broken a finger or two. But I wouldn't show this sign of pain. "Do not judge me by what I am but what I can do!" I shouted.

He was quite for a while and I notice that he was clutching a small statue on the windowsill. It looked like a dragon but it was shaped like a serpent with legs.

"You're right," he said softly and turned to face me. "Who am I to judge who can or can't. Me, who has lost all right to call myself laguz still fights. With a blade I will slay anyone who will harm Lynn and with my body I will shield it from any attack. I will not deny you of this but I stand by what I said earlier, you will not fight."

I was about to protest but the Grandmaster waved his hand. "What you'll be doing is much more rigorous; once your training is done you will think your time as a slave was cakewalk. You will become what your name is. Become a ghost on our enemies and find out their secrets. I will ask once more, do you want to become the eyes and ears for Lynn?"

/~/~/

A boot came in contact with the heron's side, waking him up instantly. "Damn homeless person falling asleep next to my shop." A gruff voice said that had to belong to the kicker.

Ghost rubbed his side, nothing was broken and he almost wanted to laugh because he had been kicked much harder when he was a kid. Instead he forced a smile under his hood and said, "My apology." And the laguz got up and walked out of the alley, which was beside a butcher shop, without looking at the man once. He hadn't realized that when he fund this spot to catch up on some much need sleep. He hadn't slept any during the whole Reinrag business and he was certainly not going to fall asleep around any of the others.

It may not have been the wake up he wanted but it worked, he had to meet up with Anna. So once he was away the heron very quickly slipped down another and instantly scaled up the building till he was on the roof. From there he leaped rooftop to rooftop with such ease he didn't need his wings.

The Grandmaster had been right; his training had been to hardest years of his life. He broke every bone in his body at least five times. It still sent chills down his spine when he thought about the time when his instructor tied his wings together so he couldn't fly and had him do what he was doing now. Needless to say he fell several times and shattered his body. Now his sister was going through this training and was close to completing it. It was funny, she described it the same way he did; a living hell. But in Ghost's opinion it was worth it.

Very soon he spotted a familiar white figure standing on a roof looking toward the castle that was just a few buildings away from the capital. He came up silently behind her but he knew this person would know it was him. The figure leaned against the chimney and said, "You're late."

Ghost just shrugged the comment away. Anna may not tease him about him sleeping like the others would but still. "So do you have a plan?"

Anna reached into her pouch and pulled out an object. She held out a small, dark sphere in her hand that had a wick at the end of it. "Before you say anything there's not enough time to think of a safer plan, not if we want the queen to survive."

The heron knew his eyes were wide. Is she being serious? That meant she planned to attack during the ceremony! That kind of stupid suicide plan might work for Ralik but with Anna's health problem…He didn't care if she did succeed, all he care about was her survival. And with this kind of plan her chances were slim. What surprised him was that she would even consider such a plan; she was always the careful one! But he sighed; there was no point in arguing with her. She did have a point; there was no more time to plan, not if the queen was to live another day.

"I'm just rather surprised you'd even consider this course of action," he finally replied. He too reached into his pouch only he pulled out a mask. It was just a plain white one with a straight mouth and small round eyes. "If you're going to attend a ceremony then it'll be best to make absolute sure people can't tell what you are." Ghost tossed the mask to her.

She examined it. "You didn't give Ralik one on his mission."

"Ralik never cleared his plan with me. Did you all honestly think I'd be okay with what he did?" Ghost didn't wait for a response and began to walk away. Once he was at the edge ready to jump he stopped. Without looking at her said, "I expected to see you back at the hideout when this is all over."

He heard an amused sound coming from her. "Perhaps we should pray to the goddess for success."

Ghost couldn't help but chuckle, "You know I'm not the religious type. Besides, I don't think she'd listen to me." The heron leapt off the roof and as he descended to the ground he thought, just for a moment, that he might just make an exception this one time.

/~/~/

"This just stinks. We come all this way just to babysit the brat," Shinon complained as he reclined his chair to two legs.

"Well what did you expect?" Titania asked sitting across from him with her poleax within arm's reach. "You're in no condition period to fight if something happens at the ceremony. Besides, someone has to watch Leila for obvious reason."

Ike had left them, Boyd and Mist to watch Leila. She wouldn't be allowed in the ceremony and even if she were it would be best if she wasn't in case there were people still after her. With Geoffrey's men here Ike could spare a few to watch over Leila. They stayed at a nearby inn and at the moment Leila was still in one of the rooms. It was still morning so they just let her sleep.

"Anyways, the ceremony should be starting now." Titania said.

"I'll go see if Leila's awake," Mist suggested and got up to go to the room. But once she opened it her shoulders dropped as did her head.

"The window's open isn't?" Shinon inquired.

"Yeah," she said weakly causing everyone but Titania to let out a groan.

The red head looked at the three of them, "How many more times has this happened?"

"Too many to count," Boyd mumbled.

Without warning Shinon stood up from his chair and marched toward the door. "Next time this happens the little brat better be captured or so help me…" Shinon didn't finish his sentence as he stormed out of the room causing Boyd and Mist to follow after him. Titania grabbed her axe, just in case, and rushed after the others. If Shinon got to her first there would be no telling what he'd say to her.

As they exited the inn they began their search by the window the young girl had climbed from, which was rather impressive that Leila could do that for her age seeing as they were on the third floor. They began down the street, asking anyone and everyone if they had seen a little girl matching Leila's description. Many just shook their heads and continued on their way.

But a stable hand came up to them saying he say someone that looked like Leila. He said he had been cleaning the stalls out in the stable by the inn when by chance he looked up and saw a little girl hanging out the window. Before he had a chance to call out to her she lost her grip and thankfully fell into the pile of hay. Just as he ran over to make sure she was alright she sprinted out of the hay and took off toward the castle.

Titania thanked him and the four of them made their way toward the castle. Once at the gates they asked the guards and asked if they had seen Leila to which they answered no.

So where would Leila go? Titania wondered. Was it somewhere that just sparked her curiosity or was it something she couldn't tell them about? As things stand now, she was leaning toward the first option. She must be in this area and if she didn't go through the gate then it was probably safe to say she wasn't in the castle. But as Titania looked at the wall that surrounded it she became a little uncertain. But then again security was tighter than ever, she had made sure of that yesterday. There could be no way a little girl could get past a whole army.

So they spread out in order to cover more ground, with the four of them one of them should be able to find her. Although Titania still worried about Shinon finding her first she no longer cared if it meant finding Leila.

It may have been an hour later when the red paladin looked down an alley way and spotted a girl with the same profile as Leila.

The girl saw her and began smiling and waving. It was Leila alright. "Good morning Titania!" Leila said in a cheerful tone.

"Leila, what are you doing out here?"

Her face did something it had never done before; eyes were wide, mouth was twitching as if struggling to form a syllable, and her whole body went stiff. After she was released from this trance she began nervously tapping her fingers together and looking at them instead of the paladin. "I-I…I just…went for a walk."

Titania folded her arms and eyed the girl. "Now Leila, I can tell you're lying. Want to try that again."

Leila shifted her weight on her other leg and then looked up at the roof. "I…I thought my friend was here but…I guess that was just my imagination."

A sigh escaped Titania's lips; she knew it was the first option. She closed the distance between them and placed her hand on her shoulder. "Look, you can't just run off when you please. At the very least you have to tell us where you are going. Didn't your parents ever teach you that?" But as soon as she said that she wished she could have taken that back. After all, this was the girl who ran away from home.

"Oh, daddy taught me that…I just…forget sometimes," she said so causally.

"Well come on, there are a few people who are worried about you. Let's show them you're still alive."

/~/~/

"Everything's clear on our end, sir," a soldier reported into Geoffrey.

He nodded, "Good, keep me posted." The soldier saluted and left the armory. Geoffrey turned to Ike and said, "So far so good."

"Do you really think these assassins will try anything?" Ike asked. "If I were in their shoes I'd be a little concerned about attacking." Grant it, Ike didn't quite understand assassins regardless of working with Volke during the war. Then again if someone scraped together enough gold the fireman would most certainly try, whether he'd succeed or not was entirely different story.

"Who knows, but I'd rather be safer than sorry."

"Well, have you been able to find a connection between all the men that have been killed? If you knew who they were targeting you'd just have to protect them, right?" Ranulf asked from the corner of the room. Somehow Ike forgot the laguz was here.

"It certainly would. Bastian has been working day and night trying to find something but these men didn't even seem to know each other." Geoffrey answered. "Anyway, shouldn't you be getting ready for the ceremony?"

The cat shrugged. "That's technically Giffca's job. I'm really just here to raise the laguz beorc ratio. Besides, I couldn't take listening to those nobles complain about the bird tribe being late."

"Wait, I thought this was just between Crimea and Gallia," Ike admitted.

"No, the ceremony's all about recognizing the laguz help we received during the war. We sent word to both the hawk and crow tribes and they said they were coming but they have yet to show up," Geoffrey explained. "Weren't you told all of this when you accepted this job?"

"The messenger only said Gallia," Ike defended.

"I'm willing to bet that the messenger thought all laguz came from the same place," Ranulf said but then added with a humorous tone, "Oh well, at least we knew you'd come regardless."

Ike just shook the cat's comments away. "You don't suppose something happened to them? It's not like them to be late," He worried especially since there wasn't really anywhere the bird tribe couldn't go.

"I doubt it," Geoffrey said but then added, "…but it is a little troubling. I know this is just pure paranoia that drives me to say this but I can't help but wonder if their absence is connected to the murders."

"You to worry like old ladies," Ranulf told them sounding a little irritated. "If anything, the hawks and the crows probably just got into a little squabble."

"Right," Ike mumbled. That seemed like likely. Besides, Ike couldn't picture an assassin taking out the hawk king anytime soon.

Suddenly the door and Geoffrey's sister, Lucia, poked her head in. "There you are," she said as she entered the armory with her hands on her hips. Sword was strapped on her side with her left hand just barely an inch away. "What are you all doing in here? The ceremony is starting already."

In just a few strides Geoffrey reached the door. "Sorry," he said to her, "Just some last minute preparation."

Ike and Ranulf quickly followed after the two siblings down the winding corridor until the throne room. Up in front on the slightly raised platform stood Elincia, her guard, some noblemen, the laguz representatives, and her adviser who was right next to her. The last of the citizens entered and the giant doors were closed behind them. Geoffrey and Lucia merged in with the others of Elincia's guard, Ranulf blend in with his fellow laguz, and Ike, when he spotted where the majority of his were, joined them. Soren, Mia, Oscar, and Rhys stood near the back, Gatrie was placed by the main doors, and Rolf was up on the second floor with the rest of the archers.

The kid looked uneasy being up there with men who had probably worked with a bow longer then he had been alive, although that wouldn't have been a problem if Shinon was here. But Ike had full confidence in him; his marksmanship had really grown during the war.

"You're late boss!" Mia exclaimed which cased those around her to shush her. But she paid no mind to it as she retained the same bright expression.

"Well, I'm here now at least," he told her. Then he turned to Soren, "Everything cleared?"

"All possible entries have guards stationed and all the guest have been checked for anything lethal, although the occasional knife did pop up but they were quickly confiscated," the young tactician reported.

"So now all that's left is to hope and pray nothing happens," Rhys added.

"No kidding. All of you know what to do. Stay sharp," Ike said to them as they branched out into the crowd. Their job was to get a view from below.

After some time passed, the crowd fell silent as Elincia stepped forward and began by welcoming everyone. She went on but Ike really wasn't paying attention, not because it was boring but because he felt something really bad was coming. It kind of felt like a storm was coming. He scanned the room, for what he wasn't sure. The others noticed this and began looking for anything out of place.

"-not only have our laguz neighbors fought against Daein but also-"

Something caught Ike's eye up in the rafter, like a gleam from a weapon. But when Ike looked up all he saw was the ceiling. Was all of this just a case of nerves? No he was sure she saw something. But then again he hadn't gotten a proper nights rest since that fight with Natsu. Maybe fatigue was finally getting to him.

"-we'll move forward with our new friends as my dear father and uncle dreamed to one day. If they were here today-"

There it was again but this time it was a shadow on the second floor. It could have just been a soldier but there was something about the way it moved. Ike very slowly began making his way in front of the crowd.

"-peace is what I strive for this country to achieve. Therefore-"

Suddenly a small orb rolled in front of the queen and for a moment no one seemed to notice. But when Elincia paused and a hissing sound reached everyone's ears and caused everyone to fall dead silent. A wick stuck out on the end of the orb and was very quickly shortening by a spark.

Before anyone could do anything the last bit of the wick was burnt away and Elincia, the people around her, and even the laguz were swallowed by a cloud of smoke.

The civilians were immediately thrown into a frenzy trying to escape whatever was going on; making it extremely difficult for the knights and the mercenaries to get a grasp for the situation.

"Some of you get these people out of here!" Ike shouted to the nearest knight. Worrying about everyone in the smokescreen so he turned back to his group, "Soren-" but the mage was already on it even though he was being pushed and shoved by people. His tome was open and after a short incantation a strong breeze entered the room. Within seconds the smokescreen was being lifted away leaving people on their knees coughing and gasping for breath. There was only one person that was left standing and it wasn't someone who was up there before the smoke.

This person was clad in white clothes with a hood and a mask covering his whole face. Only this guy's right sleeve was stained red and was standing over a bloody Mailliw. Once everyone who was in the cloud finally got enough fresh air they realized the assassin was in their midst. And Elincia was right next to him; she even had some of Mailliw's blood on her the assassin only gave her a passing glance as he dashed toward the crowd.

"Get him!" Geoffrey ordered as he tried to get on his feet but couldn't.

The assassin leapt off the three steps and his feet connected the nearest guard's face. Once they fell the assassin rolled forward and landed in the middle of the soldiers. He didn't surrender, instead began fighting.

Ike took the opportunity to check on Elincia and the others. He reached the queen first who was still on her knees. "Are you alright, Elincia?"

She nodded. "Yes, but…I can't move my legs."

"Since when do you get this scared?" Ike asked her.

"It's not like that!" She stated. "My legs just won't move."

Looking at the others he noticed no one else was getting up. Just what the hell was in that smoke? Then he saw the laguz, they were on all fours. They seemed all right but something was wrong with them.

Once some knights placed themselves between the assassin and Elincia, Ike went over to Ranulf. "What's wrong with you all?" Ike asked Ranulf.

"I don't know," the cat said. "I just can't transform."

"Nor can I," Giffca added.

What? How was something like that even possible? This was not good and their situation got worse when Ike looked back to see that the assassin had fought off half of the soldiers. He was unscratched but thankfully none of them seemed to be dead; just unconscious and some minor injuries that Rhys was already tending to. The only ones left to fight were his group.

Oscar swung his lance at the assassin but he simply caught the side of with one hand and punched square in the chest with the other. As Oscar fell backward the assassin ripped the weapon out of his grips and used it to trip Mia who was coming up from behind him. Then thrust the blunt end of the lance in Soren's gut, cutting off the incantation.

Now Gatrie was the only one left standing but before anything could happen, Ike was there with his sword out and brought it down on the guy. Only he was able to deflect most of the blow with his lance. It was sliced in half but the assassin was unharmed. He regained his stance and repositioned his hands on the broken weapon. Ike and Gatrie continued attacking but nothing as hitting the assassin, in fact a few times Ike had hit Gatrie but it was thankfully it was the armor he hit.

For a moment the assassin was still like he debating on whether to fight or flee. Before he made a decision Gatrie charged at him but the assassin dropped down and used the lethal one and cut a deep gash in his thigh causing him to fall to one of his knees. Then he threw the other one at Ike. It seems he decided on flight.

But out of nowhere, Ranulf had grabbed him from behind and tried to hold him still. However he was somehow thrown off and landed on Ike. Both of them scrambled off of each other as fast as they could but the assassin was already heading toward the unguarded exit.

Then by fortune an arrow soared through the air and inserted itself in the assassin's shoulder causing him to fall hard to the ground. He was surrounded by knights with spears pointed at him before he could get to his feet.

Ike looked up at the archers to see which one did it and to his amazement it was Rolf. The young archer was fixed in the same position when he released an arrow and all the other archers stared at him in disbelief.

A knight came with irons and clamped them on the assassin's wrist behind his back. Then two of them dragged him to the front where Elincia and the others were now managing to stand. His white tunic was now becoming more stained red as blood was running down his back.

There were a few civilians who had remained and they began to crowd around, but at a safe distance, to witness.

Once the knights forced the assassin to his knees, Geoffrey and Bastian came forward. "Let us take a look at that murderess face of yours," Geoffrey said as he began to reach for the mask. But the assassin pulled back and began shaking his head.

"I would think you've lost the right to remain faceless after what you've done," Bastian told him.

As Geoffrey pulled off the mask one of the knights that had a firm hold on him pulled the hood off. The room was filled with gasps; the assassin wasn't a he but a she.

Her mouth and nose was covered by another mask and had long silver hair in a lose braid that was coming lose. Then there were her golden eyes that looked at them with no fear. But that wasn't why Bastian hurriedly pulled the hood back over her head; she had ears. There weren't cat, Ike knew that, but they looked like wolf ears. Was there really another species of laguz Ike had never heard of?

Regardless the damage had been done. Everyone had seen her ears. And they were going to talk about how a laguz killed Mailliw.

"Get her out of here," Bastian hissed at the knight who immediately began dragging her toward the dungeon. The uninjured soldiers began guiding the rest of the people out but Ike's eyes were on the assassin or more importantly on her waist. There was a sash tied around her that he hadn't noticed till then. It was green around her but the part that was tied was dyed two different colors; black and red. Leila's words echoed in his head. "See in Lynn, when someone close to you dies you take a white sash and dye it a certain color. Like if your father dies you dye it black, if it's your mother you dye it red."

No it can't be! Ike didn't want to believe but why else would that woman have those colors. This meant either one of two things; 1) Geoffrey was right and Leila dose know more or 2) Lynn really was too dangerous for her.

Should he tell Geoffrey and the others about this? No, there was too much he didn't know or understand. For now he would have to watch and wait to see what happens, plus keep an extra eye on Leila.

Bastian called all of them to another room while others were going to move Mailliw body and clean the blood. "So much for prevent another death," Ike murmured to himself.

Soren heard him and said, "At least we caught the assailant. Now we have the chance to gain some valuable information." That was true but was it really worth a life?

Then Ike noticed his friend Ranulf. His face was beet red and his hand twitching. "Hey, you alright? You didn't get hurt when she threw you, did you? Or wait was it just your pride?" He joked, thinking maybe that was it.

He let out a nervous laugh. "W-well…I umm…just got a little too personal with her," he answered as he squeezed his twitching hand.

"Huh?" Ike had no clue as to what he was talking about.

/~/~/

"You call yourself a laguz?" The kid taunted. "I've seen mindless animals fight better than you."

He scanned the beorc camp when it hit him. Their cover was already blown, right? So all that matter was that the target died as soon as possible. With that in mind he licked his lips like the blood thirsty beast he was.

"Are you kidding? This was all found on her."