Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem or anything associated with it.
A/N: Here's the next installment of Blue Wolf! As usual, fave, follow and enjoy with your buttered up popcorn!
"Hm..."=Regular talk
'Hm…'= thinking
"Hmmm…"=AncientLanguage/exaggeration/timeskip/meanwhile/etc./action/onamottapeia/I'm done…
XXXXX
The next day…
"Woo-hee!" Izuka yowled in glee as he prepared himself to go down the hall. "My best work yet is about to show its fruit! I cannot imagine the magnifications….A Royal Feral One of a sub-human! I must take notes for comparison!" he said to himself, grabbing his board. The man had a smile on his face that would scare ghosts away as he completed his preparation. He then went over to the hallway before a voice called out.
"M…..Izuka?" someone called. Instantly brought to a state of irritation, the scientist turned to see one of the soldiers pitifully standing guard at another hallway entrance.
"What is it, you useless imbecile? Don't you see I need to make records on my work? Not that a simpleton like you would understand the complexity of such great works such as mine," the purple-robed nut ranted, making the soldier sigh and roll his eyes in irritation.
Working duty under this guy must be the worst job in all of Tellius. "The new prisoner is on the hallway to that direction," the soldier said, pointing his finger to the hallway on the other side of where Izuka was about to go.
"Why is that, hm? Who moved him without my orders!"
"You ordered him there…." the soldier replied, doing his best not to deadpan.
"Ah, now that you say so...Yes! I did recall ordering the test subject to this hall. The pains of being an accomplished intellectual is rough on basic memory. In the matter of dealing with multiple complexities far beyond the average person's analytical capabilities, we forget the simplicity of making such basic decisions we slip on the smallest margin," he said, going to the other hallway.
As Izuka opened the doorway to the wolf's prison cell, he was pleased to hear a growl the moment he stepped in the corridor. "Excellent!" he said with glee as he quickly paced down to the cell. "The medicine worked exactly as it was supposed to! Now, let's see the-Ah, the brilliance!"
The wolf prince was clearly in agitation, his fur stood expanded and drool leaked from his mouth. "This...This is amazing! I must document these findings as soon as I finish experimentation!" Izuka exclaimed, quickly taking out the keys and unlocking the cell. As soon as he did, the wolf jumped at him in fury, only barely being held back by his multiple chains. "Now, my precious sub-human royalty, heel to me!" he called, before calling incantations for a spell. Out of the air materialized three purple spheres of pure darkness, surrounding the wolf before bursting, breaking the chains of the wolf in the process. Using another dark spell, he forced the wolf to stand on all fours and look directly at him. Another interesting development Izuka found was that unlike other Feral Ones, his eye color was not completely pink and retained some of its original properties. Possibly a side-effect of royal sub-human genes being powerful on a different scale than regular beasts.
"Now, will you bow to me?" the scientist asked, smirking as he knew the wolf had no choice but to kneel one of his legs to the mastermind. "This is wonderful! This is a scientific breakthrough advancing all before! Ashnard will be so pleased!" Izuka celebrated, turning around to leave the cell before another voice called out.
"Sure about that?" Eyes widening immediately, he whipped his body only to be shoved down to the ground against the wall. Gasping, he saw the wolf acting on its own autonomy.
"H-How can this be? The medicine's progression showed success!"
"I don't know, but I'm outta here!" the sub-human growled, before running towards the entrance of the door. Izuka's eyes widened in horror at the events currently taking place. "No, I cannot lose my greatest experiment! Guards, capture-" Before he could even finish his command, the loud sound of thumping armor echoed through the cavern before he heard the tower entrance being opened. "NO!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, rushing to the entrance to recapture the wolf by himself.
Unfortunately, by the time he got to the entrance of the tower, the wolf was already a large distance away, seconds away from escaping into the sea of trees. With a look of anger, he turned his attention to the soldiers that came to the entrance as well. "Don't just stand there, you lumbering idiots! Take the Ferals and catch my beautiful experiment!"
"Which Ferals?"
"All of them!" he yowled. "Cats, tigers, the birds, and a few dragons! Whatever it takes to get my prize back!" Ignoring their shock, the soldiers nodded and went to the cells to gather up Ferals for the retrieval squad. Meanwhile, Izuka begrudgingly re-entered the castle in order to write a letter of recent events to King Ashnard.
"This is a shame of all progressions to science!" he complained as he readied the ink for the report to the King.
XXXXX
Meanwhile…
Ike walked through the camp as he thought about the preparation he had just finished with Titania and Soren. After capturing the capital, the mercenary commander took a small group and investigated Palmeni Temple on the advice of Nasir, who betrayed them by letting a Daein general escape and attacking Ike while battling in Nevassa. Admittedly, it took much decision making to agree to the trip on the basis that they didn't know whether or not the traitor laid another trap for them or not. In the end, they went and uncovered a large chunk of this giant puzzle.
After clearing out some cowardly rogues that used the resident clergy as shields, Reyson stumbled upon a room with ancient writing on the walls. Deciphering it, the heron told the group that his sister, Lillia, was held captive here and had recieved aid from a blue-haired, blue-eyed Beorc. The two bonded, and Lillia entrusted the Beorc with the medallion, a keepsake of the Heron Tribe.
It just so happened the Beorc described in the Heron's writings had the name of Elena, who was Mist's and Ike's mother who died after taking the medallion away from Greil that fateful day.
Also, a fortunate boon came in the form of General Zelgius of Begnion and another large troop to aid them in their efforts. As the battle at the Daein capital was very rough, the army had to park there for a couple of weeks while clearing out some rogue forces that still remained. Two days before they decided to depart, the general in red-clad armor surprised the company with orders from the Apostle on the basis of Sephiran, the mysterious monk they had freed in Crimea who just so happened to be the Duke of Persis and a senior statesman on the imperial senate, whatever that meant.
With the unexpected bolstering of troops, the Crimean Liberation Army's morale increased greatly and they were on the next major location at Riven Bridge. During the meeting, they reached a consensus that a Daein battalion would certainly be there to bar the bridge connecting Daein and Crimea.
Even with that knowledge, Soren had decided upon a direct approach, going upfront and assaulting the bridge. The mage had already deduced to a near certainty of traps being prepared on the bridge for them, but with preparation, it shouldn't be too detrimental to the attack forces.
Ike simply sighed as he recounted all of the past events of the last month or so. And just now, they were about to lead the charge to return to their home soil of Crimea. As his stomach growled, he turned to go to the food tent before a voice called for him.
"My Lord Ike," Princess Elincia called. "May I have a moment?"
"Of course," he agreed. "What is it?"
"The soldiers say that tomorrow we'll be able to see the great bridge. Once we cross it, we'll have entered Crimea."
"That's what I've been told," Ike replied, already knowing of this information. The princess gave a small sigh as she closed her eyes.
"It feels like I've been away for many years. Crimea is the land in which I was born and raised," she confided. "To feel so removed now...at this late juncture, that I know almost nothing of my country. It feels entirely unreal." Ike nodded in agreement to the Princess' assessment of things.
"I know what you mean," he vocalized. "I don't have the feeling that we're on the brink of entering Crimea again, neither. I don't remember this area at all," he said, before thinking of something else. "Maybe it's because I was born in Gallia and raised on the countryside. But countries are connected like this all over the continent. I'm really in awe of it all."
"Yes!" Elincia exclaimed, as if finding the key to a door. "For one who knew nothing outside of the Royal Palace, the whole world is so...big."
"Big?" Ike echoed, curious until it dawned on him as well. This whole journey had really made him aware of so many things he had never experienced before. "Hmm….I guess you're right. When we left Crimea, it was the peak of springtime. The grass was getting greener every day, the days longer, and the weather getting warmer," he noted, taking note of every little thing of his life before everything changed.
"It's been close to a year since we departed," Elincia noted, and it was true. Since Daein first attacked Crimea, about seven or eight months had came and gone. "Only a year, but the distance that we've had to travel to get from there to here has been long and hard...It feels like so many years have gone by…." she repeated, putting her hands over her chest. "Even if this is the land where I was born and raised. Ah...My Dear Sweet Crimea…..Why do you feel so far away?"
"Crimea is my homeland, too," Ike said, walking up to Elincia for comfort. "We're almost there. Let's go home." Surprised, Elincia looked up into Ike's eyes and saw a fiery confidence in them that she found….inspiring.
"It is as you say, Ike," Elincia agreed, putting her hands in his. "Let's go home."
"Ooooh, what a romantic setting!" a voice suddenly said behind the two. "Makes it hard to make a good appearance. I guess I could just leave you two…"
"Hold on…" Ike said quietly, knowing that only two people could make that tone, and his brother wasn't at camp. "I know that voice!" he said, turning around to see Ranulf standing there with a smirk on his face and a happily swishing tail.
"Hey there, Ike!" the Gallian said. "Looks like we stayed alive long enough to meet again!" he joked. "Aren't we the lucky ones?"
"Ranulf!" he said, the commander's face brightening visibly.
"My Lord Ranulf!" Elincia cried as well, doing a small curtsy. "How nice to see you again!"
"You too, Princess! I'd curtsy, but the tail would make it look silly," he joked again, slightly making Ike guilty at the fact that he acted so much like Khimari.
"What are you so darned chipper about?" he asked.
"Once I heard news that the Crimean Army had taken the Daein capital, I ran all this way to greet you."
"How are things in Gallia? You're not involved in open hostilities with Daein, are you?" In response, the blue cat shook his head as a negative.
"Not yet," he said, stressing the 'yet,' to Ike's curiosity.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"In light of Crimea's recent success on the battlefield, the elders have finally agreed on something. Gallia will lend its full support to Princess Crimea's cause to liberate her homeland!" he announced, making both Ike and Elincia's eyes go as wide as saucers. "It's a done deal!"
"Really?" Elincia said, a look of pure joy covering her face.
"So, is the Gallian Army going to-"
"We're going to establish communications with them and created a united front," Ranulf interrupted like a certain wolf often would. "That being said, Gallia is here to support you. The Crimean Army will always be the center of the effort. Don't forget," he warned. Ike nodded, hearing a similar warning from Soren about Begnion.
"King Gallia is being most gracious," Ike said, making Ranulf raise an eyebrow. "That posture would allow Crimea to lay claim to any victories that we achieve."
"Don't say things like that!" Ranulf hissed, making Ike confused until the cat began to smirk. "I'm shocked that you would understand such subtleties! Who are you, and what did you do to the real Ike?"
"I don't believe you can talk to me like that," Ike returned. When Ranulf's grin disappeared, Ike's face gained one as he pulled one over on the Laguz. "Kidding. But Soren actually lectured me on what you just told me, only with Begnion instead."
"Of course. You were tutored by your little staff officer," he repeated in more….simplified terms. "Now I get it….Has he snapped yet? He was always really high strung." Ike honestly didn't know how to answer that question. Fortunately, Elincia jumped into the conversation with a question of her own.
"King Caineghis is always thinking of Crimea, isn't he? How may I ever repay him?"
"Princess…." the Laguz started. "Let's win your country back. When that's done, please rebuild the bonds of friendship between our two countries," he suggested. "That'd be the ultimate way to say thank you, wouldn't it?"
"Yes! Yes, of course!" she nodded, before taking her leave and leaving the two alone.
"So...Where's Khimari?" Ranulf asked, making Ike nearly freeze. "I'd love to catch up with that crazy son of mine before we went into fighting."
"...Come with me," Ike said, his mood doing a rapid nosedive. Curious, Ranulf followed Ike to a more secluded part of camp where no one could hear the two. "Khimari got taken by Daein," Ike revealed. The Laguz' attitude also did a complete turn, going from carefree to angry and distraught.
"What!?" he yelled. "How?"
"It was the middle of the night," Ike sighed. "He went off by himself and got attacked. When we found the scene, all we could find was his necklace he always kept with him."
"Who...Do you know who?" Ranulf asked, his eyes burning with a rage only a father could have.
"No, although it had to have been someone highly ranked. Very few people would be able to defeat him in a head-on battle."
"I see….Thank you for telling me, Ike," the Laguz said.
"We haven't given up, Ranulf. We still have every intention of getting him back, no matter what it takes," Ike told the cat.
"I wouldn't expect anything less. Just know, nothing will stop me from getting my child back when the time comes."
"Right with you," Ike agreed, before a voice he didn't wanted to hear started calling his name.
"Oh, Ikey-poo! Where are you!?" Aimee, one of the members of the caravan who had a crush on Ike, called. The mercenary commander froze up before looking at the Laguz, who had given him a confused look. "I have to hide. Don't tell anything about where I am." Before Ranulf could reply, Ike ran through camp, avoiding Aimee until he got into Soren's tent.
"Soren, are you in there?" he said, while peeking inside. The mage was reading a book, which he looked up from to see his commander in a frenzy.
"Yes…" Quickly, Ike bolted into the tent and closed it so no one would see inside. "Ike, what do you want? It's late…"
"Shh!" Ike hissed, making Soren flinch back in surprise and confusion.
"Um...Ike?" Soren started, wondering what the heck was going on until he heard Aimee's voice sailing through the air again.
"Oh, darn….How strange….I thought he'd come this way for sure. Hellooo?"
"...Isn't that the woman from the item shop?" Soren asked rhetorically. Ike nodded anyway, doing his best to remain silent as Aimee continued to call for him.
"Commander! Ike! Where have you gone, you handsome thing!?" Soren was utterly dumbfounded for a moment before he shook his head and sighed as Ike cursed under his breath.
"...Did you run in here to escape?" Soren asked, though it sounded more like a statement than a question.
"Look, when that woman corners me, it takes forever to get away. Let me hide in here until things simmer down a bit," Ike pleaded.
"We begin marching tomorrow morning…." the mage noted, knowing that many preparations were still to be done before then. "This is a waste of valuable time. I'll go chase her away," he decided, rising and leaving the tent despite Ike's protests.
Silently groaning, Ike hung his head in defeat for a while until Soren came back into the tent, a staff in his hand and a smirk on his face. "She is….unexpectedly generous," Soren noted, the smirk not going away. "I received something quite nice from you admirer, Ikey-poo! Thank you so much!" he mocked, sounding like Aimee to tease Ike.
"Hey, wait a minute! That's so…"
"She's gone now," Soren bluntly put it. "I'd recommend not letting my efforts go to waste….Unless she has a present for her Ikey-poo." Blowing loudly from his nose, Ike nodded before leaving the tent.
It had ended wasted a good amount of time, Ike saw as the dusk had set and everything was winding down. Before Ike could think of what to do next, his stomach growled, reminding him that he hadn't eaten yet. Sighing again, the mercenary commander went to the mess hall to get some food as everything else sorted out before tomorrow's march.
XXXXX
The next day….
"Ah, I'm free!" Khimari celebrated to himself again as he woke from his small nap. After escaping from Gritnea Tower, he ran non-stop for hours until he put a considerable amount of distance between him and any pursuers. "Now, according to this map, the bridge is….ah, only a half-day away! I'll be able to meet up with everyone by the early afternoon if I keep pace," he strategized, using a map that he borrowed from the tower in his hasty exit.
Just then, his stomach growled, reminding the wolf that he hadn't eaten for quite a period of time. "Well...I guess I'll have enough time to hunt. It should be hard for the soldiers to keep up with me," he internally argued before heading off to find some food. Silently creeping through the forest, Khimari kept alert until he heard something shifting through the grass. Lowering his tail, he focused his eyes on a squirrel that looked very fat and juicy. Crouching down even lower, Khimari narrowed his eyes in anticipation….then pounced.
The poor squirrel had no chance. The wolf struck fast as a snake, sinking his teeth into the animal's neck before it could completely register what occurred. Satisfied, Khimari started to eat the animal on the spot. He enjoyed cooked food, but eat freshly-caught food was hard to beat. Carving through the squirrel, Khimari devoured it until nearly nothing was left except bones.
"Ah, that was refreshing," he told himself, licking his pelt for a minute. "But it's time to get goi-"
"Get him!" a voice yelled. Instantly, Khimari took off running in the direction of the bridge to avoid his pursuers.
'How could they find me so fast?' he thought. He left no trails nor footprints that could be traced and took many twists and turns along the way. 'Welp, better for me to find out now,' he decided, stopping in a clearing so his chasers can reveal themselves.
First, a tiger Laguz burst out, his pink eyes and foaming mouth revealing he was a Feral. Behind it was three paladins, two wyvern riders, two more tigers, three cats, four hawks and….two dragons? "Now we have him!" the paladin in the middle said, before pointing his lance at Khimari. "Tigers, attack!"
Instantly, the three tigers from the pack pounced on Khimari. Seeing as they were the reason he got caught fast, running wouldn't be an option until those three were taken care of. Feinting to the left, he avoided the tiger that had chased him in the beginning and scratched another one that tried to pin him down.
He then had to jump back as the last tiger jumped at him, aiming for a killing blow. Eyes hardening, Khimari rolled out the way, making the tiger crash into a tree. In the tiger's quick daze, he left his belly open, something the wolf took advantage of. Taking his claws, he ripped the Feral open from his throat to the bottom of his belly. Turning back around, he slithered under the other tigers that tried to pin him before pouncing himself. Quickly maneuvering between the two Ferals, he killed one with a well-placed bite to the neck before jumping to the other one and repeating the same action.
With the tigers dead, Khimari didn't wait before running off to the bridge. Although the cats could still sniff a trail as well, usually they would separate in order to cover more ground, splitting the group a part. For now, however; his best chance of survival meant getting to Ike before all of them got to him.
XXXXX
Meanwhile….
Ranulf slightly grunted as he helped to put away a tent along with two wolf Laguz, one with red hair and another with orange hair. "So, who are you two characters?" he asked, breaking the thin veil of silence around the busy camp.
"I'm Rikari, and this is my big brother, Tora!" the little one replied with a lot of spunk. Ranulf smiled at him while the three prepared for the march to the bridge.
"And you are?" the taller one, Tora, asked warily.
"Ah, I'm Ranulf," he returned, waving his tail as he was using his hands at the moment. "I'm a warrior of Gallia."
"Hmm…" Tora grunted, not saying anything else. They fell into silence while finishing up camp and getting ready to march.
'Tough crowd,' the cat thought as Ike stood before the soldiers at the end of the clean-up.
"Alright, this battle will bring us back to Mother Crimea at last," he started. "Our path won't be finished, however we will see our homeland at last! Onward, soldiers!"
"Heh, that was a pretty good speech of his," the Laguz muttered as he fell in the march.
"Beorc Ike has grown much. It amazes Mordecai," a certain blue tiger said, coming next to him.
"Mordecai! Lethe! How are you two?"
"As good as we can be surrounded by stinky Beorc," the orange cat said, though her eyes held something else in their gaze….Humor?
"Was that comment I heard not filled with hateful spite and anger?" he asked sarcastically.
"Traveling has….made them more tolerable to me," she admitted, though she was still only telling a half-truth. Ranulf knew this, of course, but Lethe was very touchy about her pride and didn't want to seem soft. Instead of goading her further, he simply smiled and looked up. "How have things been in Gallia?" she asked after a period of silence between the three.
"Well, you already know by now, but the elders agreed to help Princess Crimea. King Caineghis is getting all the preparations ready for battle."
"How's Lyre?" she continued.
"She was doing fine, last I saw her," he answered. "She still is wet behind the ears, but she was quite determined when she joined my troop."
"Why would she do that?" Lethe asked much harsher than intended. "She's too soft for war."
"Well, she was rather worried about you. Maybe it's her way of keeping close," Ranulf suggested, shrugging his shoulders. "That, and with only Kyza around, she needs a new face to argue with after awhile." Lethe simply sighed at that.
"She shouldn't be trying to protect me. I'm good enough to take care of myself."
"Family worries anyway," the cat simply replied, his mind drifting off for a second. "Maybe you two should try to fix things up with each other. She is your sister, ya know."
"Mind your business," Lethe hissed, though she knew the older cat spoke from experience.
"Alright, alright," he ceded. "I'll let up."
"But….that aside," she continued. "With all of us out here, Gallia's defenses are weak and we may be liable for attack."
"You have a point. I'll bring it up with my superior officer," Ranulf mentioned, before going ahead and briefly blanking out. Lethe really had changed in the last few months. The very word of Beorc would set her off on a tirade, yet now she was "tolerant" to put it in her words. After a second, he simply smirked and shook his head.
"Khimari, I don't know how you do it, but it probably comes from your mother," he whispered, thinking of his mate that he hadn't seen in the better part of two decades. Even after all this time, he occasionally thought about the white wolf queen and all the time they spent together. She loved to battle, and he often found himself getting outright beat in a fight with her. They still helped each other out as much as possible.
Then…the wolves' disappearance happened. Unlike most others, Ranulf didn't simply move on with life as it may have seemed. He believed that she and the others still lived on somewhere else, but he simply couldn't go out and search for her because of his duties in Gallia. In a way, it was almost psychic, but he knew she was out there.
Then, if he could find his son, albeit through a rather completely random string of events including crashing into each other in Zarzi, it meant that she'd likely still be living out there. He sighed again, before smiling. That child of theirs had his amazing humor, but his battling style was just as amazing as his mother's. His blunt side also came from her as well, he saw. He chuckled at that; her humor was much less crafty, but she could easily infuriate someone if she so felt it. Then, a random thought made the cat feel red and highly embarrassed, though it stayed within the confines of his mind.
"...I wonder if Khimari wants a little sister."
XXXXX
A few hours later….
Ranulf had caught up with Ike during the march, and now the combined army was but mere moments away from the Riven Bridge, where their next battle would undoubtedly take place. At the front of the march, they could see the bridge the second they climbed the hill overlooking the landmark.
It was expansive, to say the least. The bridge looked ancient, yet sturdy.
"There's the bridge," Ike mentioned, an amazed expression on his face as well. "Wow...it's huge…." he voiced, saying exactly what was on the cat's mind. "I doubt Daein's going to let us cross over there without any objection."
"Yeah, I think that's highly unlikely," Ranulf agreed, smirking at how obvious the statement Ike made was.
"Titania!" Ike called. A few moments later, the paladin came up to the two at the front lines. "It's time to march. Make sure the troops stay alert and move with caution."
"Yes, Commander!" she said, before leaving to fulfill said task. Just then, Ranulf remembered something that he needed to check up on.
"Say, Ike," he started. "I've been meaning to ask you something."
"What is it?"
"I haven't seen Nasir around." He immediately noticed Ike's eyes harden, but continued anyway. "What happened to him?"
"He was declared an enemy combatant and was locked up," he said curtly, making Ranulf's eyes grow wide.
"What? Hey, I understand you being irked that he didn't mention testing you and all, but treating him like a criminal is too-"
"Testing us?' he interrupted with a look of confusion on his face. "What are you talking about?" Ranulf blinked, as he realized that he had just said too much and got caught in the act.
"Huh?" he did, pretending to act dumb. "Nice weather, eh?" he tried to redirect, looking down and kicking a rock with both his hands behind his back, much like a child who tried to weasel out of trouble.
Unfortunately, Ike's stern face told him that he couldn't get out of this mouse trap he set for himself. "We're going to talk. Now." Without any warning, the Beorc grabbed Ranulf's arm and dragged him off to the side. Well, not dragged, since the Laguz kept pace the whole time. Led would probably be a better term.
Rolling his eyes at his stray thoughts, Ranulf stood with Ike away from the rest of the troop so no one could hear them.
"Nasir was caught working for Daein. He was a spy," Ike revealed, shocking Ranulf to the core.
"Nasir is a Daein spy? No way!" he denied, knowing something was off. "He was our spy!"
"You're telling me he was a Gallian spy?" At the cat's nod, Ike shook his head in disbelief at all the twists and turns going on in this case. "None of this makes sense to me."
"He worked for us on behalf of the king," Ranulf explained further. "But Daein? As a Laguz, he wouldn't have a single reason to work for them."
"But...There was a Goldoan dragon named Ena who was working as a general for Daein," Ike told him, making Ranulf near shutdown.
"...Are you serious?"
"Yes, we were forced to fight her in the Daein capital. When we attempted to capture her, Nasir intervened and allowed her to escape. He betrayed us," he spat, getting riled up from retelling.
"Wait," the Laguz said, trying to make sense of this. Turning away from Ike, he started to do an external dialogue with himself, making Ike wonder about the full extent of the cat's sanity. "Hold on a minute…." he started, before his eyes widened and he turned to the side. "Maybe that was…" Ranulf then deflated, shaking his head and puffing his cheeks out. "If that was the case, then I could see why…" Once again, the cat turned around, his tail twitching randomly. "But no...even then, teaming up with Daein is just too much…" he continued, scratching his head.
"I hate to interrupt what you're doing," Ike put in, wondering if Ranulf was mentally stable. "But we've arrived at the bridge," he informed, motioning towards the start of the bridge where they had arrived at. They could already see Daeins on the bridge preparing for their assault.
"Let me speak to Nasir! Please!" he pleaded; however, Ike shook his head negative.
"Once we've finished the battle, we can go together. All right?"
Knowing that was the more sensible option, Ranulf calmed himself and nodded his agreement. "Of course." Changing course, he looked at the bridge to observe everything that was going on before their attack began. "And here we are! And there's the Daein army as expected!" he excitedly noted, doing a complete personality change from just a few moments ago. "They're already in battle formation and waiting to give us a warm welcome! How charming!" he smiled.
"That's just how I like it."
"Oh ho!" Ranulf said, impressed with Ike's tough talk. "Well said. And by the way, I thought I'd join you today."
"Not as a Gallian, but as a part of our army, right?"
"If it's a problem, I could always sit this one out," he said, shrugging his shoulders as if he got rejected.
"Of course not!" Ike quickly mended, only to internally huff when he realized the cat played a trick on him. "Thank you for your continued support, Ranulf!" In response, the cat made a small laugh,
"The pleasure's all mine! Now let's go carve us some Daeins!"Agreeing, Ike turned to the unit he had been in charge of.
"All right! It's time to charge!" he yowled. A chorus of shouts voiced their agreement as they began the battle for the bridge. Splitting into sub-teams, Ranulf found himself with Mordecai and a purple-haired mage as they all charged. Mordecai instantly jumped in the fray, pouncing on a horse knight nearby. The Daein cleverly avoided Mordecai's attack before attempting to retaliate. Transforming, Ranulf jumped and shoved his body into the horse, throwing the knight's aim off and striking nothing but air.
"Mordecai, now!" he said, looking at the tiger. Nodding his head, the Gallian rushed at the knight before pouncing….with his eyes shut? 'Why are his eyes shut?' he wondered, putting that in his memory bank for later.
All of a sudden, he got a chill warning him that something was about to happen. Looking back, he saw a ballista arrow being shot right at him. His eyes widening, he rolled out of the way as fast as he could.
Fortunately, before they could fire off again, a bolt of thunder came from the sky and essentially fried the archer at the post. Giving a purr of gratitude, Ranulf quickly turned his attention to the two warriors protecting an entrance to the bridge. Giving a battle cry, Ranulf rushed to them. Smirking, the man rushed forward as well.
….Only to fall into a pit as a part of the bridge gave out. In clear surprise, Ranulf stopped his attack to survey what was going on. Did a Daein just fall into a trap made by….the Daeins?
Clearing his head again, he attacked the now defenseless warrior, putting the idiot out of his misery before he could escape the pit trap. Hearing a shout, he turned to see another warrior charging at him. Narrowing his eyes, he jumped to the side to avoid the axe swing before raking his claws down the man's side.
As the warrior gasped in pain, Ranulf jumped at his throat, ending it with a final slash. Looking for new enemies, he found that everyone else was occupied, leaving him to go further into the fray.
"Release the Feral!" he heard. A few seconds later, a horrible smell hit his nose. Wondering what was going on, he quickly found out when two cat Laguz jumped from behind the sandbags.
They looked…..demonic. Their eyes were pink and crusty, and they foamed at the mouth. They looked out of their mind….gone completely insane.
"Hey, what are you doing with Daein?" Ranulf shouted. Instead of answering, though, the cats merely screeched and pounced on him. Having no choice but to fight, Ranulf feinted to the side, scratching the side of the first one before pinning him down and giving a killing bite. Before Ranulf could get out, the second cat crashed into him, throwing him off the dead first one and preparing to claw his throat out.
Using all his power, he threw the cat off him and ran towards him before jumping. Using his front paws, he crashed down on the cat's head and pierced it with his claws, killing them. Using the brief reprieve, he licked his wound on his paw before looking at the state of the battle.
The Daeins were being pushed back. Many of their soldiers retreated back to fortify their defenses at the other end of the bridge. "We have them on the ropes!" Ike yelled above the clamor of fighting. "It's time we put an end to this!" With another burst of energy, the Crimean Army burst forward. Ranulf rushed a sage, quickly dealing with him as Ike and the others went ahead.
Seeing Lethe come up to him, he reverted back to Beorc form to recover some strength. "Is the area clear?"
"Yes, all the Daeins are at the end of the bridge, and their reinforcements have been dealt with," she reported. Nodding, she and Ranulf took a small break while acting as a lookout for any other enemy soldiers.
"Lethe?" he called, making the orange cat turn towards him. "There were cat Laguz fighting for Daein. They looked...deformed. Do you know much about it?"
"I cannot say that I do. However, we ran into Laguz with similar conditions while in Begnion," she revealed, pushing Ranulf deeper into thought. "Let's go see if they have defeated the general yet," she said. Ranulf agreed, and the two joined the rest of the unit on the other side of the bridge.
As it was, they had slain the enemy general and had begun interactions with Crimeans that remained in the country after the takeover. He recognized the Beorc with blue hair as Lucia, who he communicated with about the efforts that had been going on. Walking up to the group, he couldn't help but grin slightly seeing Elincia's face change into one of joy at the news Lucia just told her.
"Oh, Lucia, do you speak truly? They have...acknowledged my existence….I never imagined….this day would come…" she said, about to break into tears. Comforting her, Lucia took her away for a while. Ike's gaze then turned to him, and he began to explain without even being asked.
"News of your actions in Daein reached the news of King Gallia because of Nasir. I then told Lucia, before she told the rest of the citizenry." He shook his head at the mention of the traitor's name. "Ya know….the thought that Nasir is a traitor just doesn't feel right to me. I can't believe it."
"You think I don't see that?" Ike snapped, before taking a deep breath to calm down. "Look at what we know about the medallion. We discovered it thanks to his hints. He's helped us through our entire journey. In that, at least, he wasn't false," Ike sighed. "Yet….if he won't speak, there's nothing I can do to save him."
"Let's go to see him. One way or another, I'll find a way to loosen his tongue." Ike nodded, and turned around to lead Ranulf to where Nasir was being kept.
"Follow me."
Going through camp, they arrived at a secluded part where very few soldiers were. "He's being kept in this supply tent," Ike explained as he went in first. "We wanted to make sure he was being kept away from the soldie….huh?"
"What is it?" Ranulf asked, seeing panic rush onto Ike's face as he came out the tent.
"He's….he's gone!" Ike near shouted. "He was just here this morning, I brought him breakfast….He was here…."
"How could he have slipped away?" Ranulf asked the disillusioned Ike. Ike simply shook his head, wondering the same thing. At that, the Laguz sighed. "Well, isn't that just peachy? At least we already dealt with Dae-" It seemed that Ranulf spoke too soon, as a soldier bombarded the two with news that seemed to come at the worst time.
"General Ike sir! We have report of a fight from outside camp!"
"What!?" he yowled. This was not a good day. "In what direction?"
"That one," he directed, pointing to the west. "Do you want a troop to be sent the-"
"No, we'll go handle it," Ike cut off. "Thanks," he put in before he and Ranulf went to go see what the disturbance was.
XXXXX
A little while ago…
"Ugh, I'm SICK of these guys!" Khimari hissed to himself. No matter what tricks he had done, they had managed to track him down, even after they would momentarily lose his trail. Now, he was starting to get really tired and irritated.
He had tried to get them to separate, however they wouldn't, making his job more difficult. Whenever they found him, instead of sending the ferals, they would all attack as a unit, making Khimari's job of surviving nearly impossible. He didn't know a single person that could take on two dragons, three cats, and three paladins all by themselves.
But he was at the end of the rope. And there was no other option left. Climbing a tree next to a small clearing, he waited to ambush the Daein search team in hopes of catching them off-guard. Since he put some distance between them, there would be some time before they came over this way.
That analysis seemed to be correct, as the Daeins arrived with the Ferals a few minutes after Khimari climbed the tree. "Where did he go?" The wolf decided that he should answer that question as soon as possible.
Putting the strength in his back legs, he dived off the tree straight for the cat, surprising the whole group. With no hesitation, he sank his teeth into the cat's neck before using his paw to bat the other away. Instantly, all the others of the troop attacked him. This put him on the defensive instantly, especially avoiding the fiery breath of the red dragons.
After a few long minutes, an opening came when a cat overstretched its paw. Eyes narrowing, Khimari slithered under the cat, splitting his belly open before jumping on the last one. Before he could give a killing bite, the dragon attack him, blasting a powerful breath in his direction. Jumping off, he saw the Feral cat yowl in pain as the breath surrounded it before it went limp, dead.
Gulping, he quickly shook his head as the paladins assaulted him again. Jumping in the air, he clawed at one paladin, knocking him off his horse. Taking advantage of the situation, he threw himself at the downed soldier, killing the Daein with a well-placed blow to the stomach. Turning around, his eyes widened as he saw a red fire blasting right towards him. With no time to avoid, he put his claws in the ground and braced himself for the blow.
After fighting Nasir and Ena, he found it unnecessary to think of something already obvious, but dragons hurt like hell. After being hit, he was panting heavily, hurting everywhere. "That's it, you're going down!" he said angrily. Roaring, he charged right at the dragon. He climbed its back, and bit down on its wing, making a blue puff appear. Roaring in pain, the dragon tried to get Khimari off, to no avail. The wolf jumped onto its hand and clawed it before jumping to slash its chest, blue puffs emanating from those strikes as well.
Putting as much strength as possible into his legs, he jumped up to the dragon's head and bit down on its neck as hard as possible. Khimari could feel the rough skin break under his teeth, but continued to bit down as hard as possible. The dragon roared in agony, falling down as blood gushed out from it. Khimari jumped off to see the two shocked Daein soldiers. However, that wasn't the problem.
The problem was the remaining dragon, who went into a frenzy seeing the other Laguz fall. It released a mighty roar, attacking everyone in the clearing. Attacking a swipe from its claws, Khimari watched as it knocked a paladin off his horse and into a tree with its tail, before breathing at the remaining one. That paladin was killed instantly as the breath burst with him inside it, the horse dying as well.
"Khimari!?" a pair of voices yelled. Looking behind him, he turned to see a familiar blue-haired Beorc with blue eyes and a blue-haired cat Laguz with purple and green eyes.
"Ike! Dad!" he shouted back with glee, though a roar from in front of him reminded him of one thing.
It was not the time for a celebration. Running forward, Khimari clawed at the dragon's leg. If it was hurt, he didn't show it as he swiped his tail at the wolf, throwing him a couple feet into a tree. While the dragon was occupied, Ike slashed at the same spot Khimari did, eliciting a cry of pain from the enraged Laguz. Turning toward Ike, it failed to notice Ranulf about to attack its right flank.
Scoring his claws down its side, the dragon's attention turned to the cat until Khimari, who jumped back in the fray, slashed its belly. In extreme irritation, it inhaled deeply. "Guys, get out the way!" he yelled as the dragon released its dragon breath.
Ranulf and Khimari jumped out of sight, though Ike wasn't fast enough and got caught in the blast. "Ike!" the wolf screamed, coming to Ike's side. The Beorc was still alive, though he seemed to be close to unconsciousness by the look of it. Red entering his vision, he roared at the dragon while he pounced. The dragon prepared another breath, but Khimari avoided it by feinting to the right. Jumping on the dragon's back, the wolf tore his claws into its wing, before jumping down, ripping it in almost two clean halves. Roaring in unspeakable pain, the dragon forwent its breath and swiped at Khimari with its hands. Undeterred, Khimari jumped on his arm before jumping on its neck. Opening his jaws, Khimari clamped down as hard as possible, just like with the first one.
The dragon screamed in pain, before its body finally gave out and collapsed onto the ground. Jumping off, Khimari exited his wolf form before running back to Ike, who started to shakily stand. "Ike! Are you okay?"
"I'll...be fine," he said, taking out a vulnerary to help with things. After he used some, he could stand much better, despite being a little shaky. Before they could talk more, Khimari looked to see Ranulf coming as well.
"Dad!" he yowled, going over to hug the cat. "How are you?"
"I think I should be asking you that," he shot back. "How'd you get captured by Daein?"
"I think...we should probably talk about this later," the wolf said. "We need to get Ike checked out first."
"I'm not a baby, Khimari," said Beorc at the comment. "I can take care of myself."
"Whatever you say," he replied, making Ranulf sigh at the two as they all made their way back to camp.
Could this day get any crazier?
XXXXX
A/N: And, that's a wrap! I really am like…..Idk, because this was kind of one of them what the heck chapters that turned out really well. Also, I hope y'all liked it! With that, I shalt see thouses folk later!
Blizzard, out!