Discovering the Meaning of Life Chapter 21: The Liger Queen, a Brave, 2012 + Rise of the Guardians Crossover fanfic

Disclaimer: "Discovering the Meaning of Life" is a non-profit fan fiction based on Tales of the Abyss © Bandai Namco. All characters and many other references belong to their rightful owner. Please support the official media. OR ELSE!

[Tales of the Abyss OST - Miserable Spectacle]

"That must be the queen," commented Ezra.

Merida glanced at the boy. "The queen?"

"Ligers live in packs formed around a giant queen," added Frost with Baby Tooth hiding behind his neck.

That was an understatement. After having fought liger upon liger on the way to the queen, Merida thought she had been ready for just about anything. And oh boy, she was wrong; the liger queen was easily three times larger than the grandest of the ligers he had seen in the woods and looked a hell of a lot tougher. She sat curled protectively around her nest, glaring dangerously at the intruders.

The cave in which she had built her nest didn't make the best of places to fight either, should she decide she was hungrier than she was talkative. The rocks were mossy and slippery, which made it hard to get, much less keep any decent footing. The lighting wasn't all that great either, but at least it was still good enough to see.

"Baby Tooth, can you go and talk to her?" Frost asked.

Baby Tooth timidly nodded. They watched the exchange between bell rings and animal growls until the liger let out a loud roar and sent Baby Tooth flying back behind Frost.

"Are you alright?" asked the Fon Master. Baby Tooth gave a shaky nod, clearly terrified of what the queen just said earlier.

"Hey, runt, what did it say?" said Merida.

"She says her eggs are about to hatch, so go away," Baby Tooth explained fearfully. "Her Highness is really mad that I accidentally burned down their home."

Merida looked at the monster with a surprised looks. "Eggs?! Ligers lay eggs?!"

"This is bad," Ezra commented, gripping onto his sword. "Ligers are more violent when they're guarding their eggs."

"So what, do we come back later?" asked Merida again.

"But if the liger eggs hatch, the young will likely swarm the village in search of food," said Frost holding his staff hard.

Merida raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

At this, Ezra rolled his eyes. "Liger young like human flesh, so people hunt down any near cities before they can reproduce."

Frost bit his lips. He glanced at the small fairy hiding behind him. "Can you tell her that I want to help?" he asked softly, hoping to ease her. "Tell her I want to help both the fairies and the ligers. Can't we find some other way?"

Baby Tooth slowly nodded and flew toward the liger, ringing the exact same thing that the Fon Master has told her. The respond was not what they were expected, because the liger queen stood up and let out an earth-shattering roar.

[Tales of the Abyss OST - Fang which wants blood]

The resonating echo shook the cave and loosed three small boulders from the ceiling. Merida acted fast, pushing Frost and Baby Tooth out of the way and flicking her bow into a staff to hit the rock away.

"Th-thank you!" cried the little fairy.

Although Merida cheek turned red slightly, he respond in an annoyed voice, "Don't get me wrong. I wasn't protecting you. I was protecting Frost!"

Baby Tooth flew backward so she could hide behind Frost again. "She says she's going to kill us and feed us to her children."

The Liger Queen roared at them again. Both Ezra and Merida stood in front of Frost and Baby Tooth. "Here she comes..." Ezra warned them. He glanced back at the two people they were protecting. "Fon Master, please step back with Baby Tooth."

Merida watched the liger's tail wags and saw a slight lump between its legs. Are those… eggs? The eggs! Her eyes widened fearfully. "W-Wait... If we fight here, the eggs might break."

"It may be cruel," Ezra said coldly, slightly glancing at the girl. "But that would probably be for the best. If we leave the eggs and they hatch, the young could easily wipe Burgess out entirely."

Frost gasped. "Look out, the Queen!"

The two fight looked ahead again at the furious Liger Queen. As Ezra activated his sowrd, Merida flicked her staff into her bow, yelling, "Damn it!"

…

This update is killing me.

You know what? Change target! While the goal to write everyday still continues, the standard is lower. I may miss some day, but at least I have to complete two episode of the anime.

And if this target also fail… I don't know anymore.

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