Cheza ran down the street, as fast as she could. Past the scared people in their houses. Through an icy cold puddle. She would have winced at the pain, the sharpness of the rocks if she wasn't so worried.
Jaguara and her army advanced through the town on horseback. The closer she got, the harder her heartbeat. Fear crept into her heart as much as she wished it hadn't.
Cheza stopped when she finally came closer to Jaguara and her people. Her frazzled fearful expression was at odds with Jaguara's violent looking one.
Jaguara sat atop her horse, looking as regal and deadly as she has when they first met. She wore simple clothes but it was armor. A sword hung to her side, metal clanging and swaying in the cold wind.
She still looked ready to cut someone down Cheza thought worriedly that it may her getting attacked. Her horse whined softly, Cheza could talk to horses but they couldn't answer back. Not with words anyway, unfortunately.
A soldier grabbed her by the scuff of her shawl and knocked her off balance.
" Who do you think you are?" the soldier growled. Cheza's eyes flash with fear for life, though not for her own. She looks off into the distance and mouths the words, "No."
Jaguara's sharp lavender eyes widen ever so slightly before returning to their natural state.
She sucks in a breath, bites the bottom of her lip and jumps off her horse. She is regal, she is intimidating and, much to Cheza's excitement, she is talking to her.
" The Flower Maiden," Jaguara says. In a somewhat normal tone. Cheza realizes that deep down, this woman scares her. She realizes she is shaking. Thoughts of her and the wolves fighting each other invade her mind. She tries to push them aside with a nod and a smile. In truth, she feels a bit like screaming.
" We will speak in private."
She jumps her horse. Weapons and metal armor clanging against her.
" Release her," Jagurara says with a scoff. Her soldier immediately lets Cheza go, thankfully.
Jaguara starts walking. "Come," she mutters. Not looking back.
Cheza lingers, looking past all of the soldiers. At Kiba off in the distance. She smiles. He smiles back. There are other feelings behind their expressions. Darker, more emotional expressions. It's why she's doing this. So that one day they can live with just smiling. One day it'll be enough.
Cheza starts to walk. The cold chill hasn't left the air. It's started to snow. She doesn't look behind herself but she knows she's making prints. How long will it take for them to be covered again?
She follows Jaguara but they don't go too far. Under the shade of a sparse pine tree.
" What is it that you want?" Jaguara glares down at her. Her right arm is missing. The fabric at her side is pinned to her shirt sleeve. A chest plate and a flowing dress underneath it. Sharp looking steels. There's something about her that looks wilder than before. Yet more controlled. She looks angry, impatient yet calm in a way. Her hair is shorter, her eyes look tired. Does she have nightmares too?
Cheza tries not to think about the fact that she tried to kill all of them the last time they met. Or the fact that Kiba killed Darcia. Jaguara's twin sister dying on the plain. All the wolves bleeding badly. Countless humans injured and worse. Cheza's petals dancing through the air. Her song humming through the sky. Vibrating swords and screams echoing through the ground.
She can remember it all. And suddenly so much more. As if this had happened before. Her eyes widen. Wolves dying and her body withering to dust play out around her. A sea of blood and screams surround her yet again. Cheza almost drops to her knees. She breathes heavy gulps of air. The wind chill stings the wetness of her eyes
. Kiba's uncertain smile and serious yet reassuring words play in the back of her mind.
Cheza wills herself to stand. To succeed. Somehow she knows that if she doesn't, this will all happen again. It will not stop. So she will not stop either.
She smiles. Short lasting as Jagurara places her hand on the tree. Looks even angrier than before. " If you cannot find the words I will rip them from your th-"
She coughs and her eyes widen. Shakes her head and repeats her question. Her voice and facial expression softens a bit as if battling some unseen war inside herself " What is it that you want, Flower Maiden?"
" This one wants peace," Cheza replies as confidently as she can. Trying to channel Cher's swagger.
Jaguara laughs. Cackles really. She grins. Her eyes grow cold. Colder than they were before. All the pleasantness in her voice is gone.
" For who, little girl?"
" All… all of us. Aren't you tired of fighting? Have you not lost enough? This one is sorry for your loss. Lady Hamona and Lord Darcia should not have… they should not have died. You should not have lost your arm." Something sad flickers in Jaguara's expression as she hears her lost one's names.
Cheza lets out a surprisingly heated breath. It makes a cloud of fog in front of her. Suddenly, she can't seem to stop herself.
" Forgive this one for saying so… However, it was wrong of you… Wrong of you to kill all those wolves and the people of your city. The atrocities you forced them to endure. It was your job to protect your people."
And you failed. So you deserve everything that happened to you. A vengeful thought crosses her mind and she nearly winces at it. Steadies her breathing. Clenches and unclenches her fist
" It was wrong of you… We have all made mistakes. This one needs them to end. It has to stop and we have to be the ones to stop it."
Jaguara smirks. Cheza isn't sure if she's even heard a word she said. She still seems angry and almost amused, as if she's back to when she was attacking the wolves before.
" If I were to stand in your way, what would you do then? Would you kill me."
" No," Cheza answers right away.
Jaguara licks her lips. " Such nativity. Stupidly. You sort of remind me of her…" Something soft flickers through her eyes again. She bits her lip and it's gone.
She takes a step forward. " You will not change anything if you are dead."
Cheza stares up at her. she isn't so naive that she can't see she's being threatened, least not anymore. The words left unspoken, " if I were to kill you,' hang in the air. There's no way Cheza would be able to stop her. Not on her own. But she's tired of death.
"This one will not kill you. However, if this one were to come to harm, then it would be impossible to stop those who wish to harm you."
She gestures to herself and then looks off into the distance. Off towards her wolves.
" You think that you are protecting me, girl."
Cheza nods. Doesn't need to think about her wolves telling her they'd protect her. Kiba's fangs at Darcia's neck. They'd told her they wouldn't kill unless they really needed too. The thought scared her. She didn't want to cause any more violence. " Please do not take offense."
Jaguara smiles again. The ferocity behind her expression unhidden yet again. The coldness in her eyes.
" I would kill you and all of this would end. I could kill you and see this world burn away." Her hand curls around the hilt of her sword.
" The history between wolves, nobles and the Flower Maiden. I wanted it gone. When I see you smile like that…with that look in your eyes...it infuriates me. This whole… ordeal... infuriates me."
" This one is sorry."
" I find I do not care for apologizes. Yours most of all. A constant reminder of… my peoples' failings."
Cheza doesn't think it would do her well to apologize again. She holds her tongue and watches as Jagurara's eyes flicker to the side.
" Though perhaps your nativity is an act. It seems you weren't stupid enough to not bring some soldiers along with you."
Cheza follows the blonde woman's gaze and her eyes widen in excitement. She grins. Cher stands far off from the hillside. A man that she's never met next to her. She has some sort of small gun trained on Jaguara. When she and Cheza's eyes meet she smiles wider than she's ever seen before.
Cheza takes a step forward, involuntarily. How badly she wants to run to her side and hug her.
She smooths the edge of her cloak down and refocuses on Jaguara.
" If you were asked to leave these people alone, to lead a less violent life, to-"
" To atone for the sins of my people?" Jaguara cuts her off, smiling viciously.
" Yes. What would you do if this question were posed to you?
"Normally…? I would have stabbed whoever was talking to me in the throat by now."
Jaguara watches Cheza as she squirms involuntarily. Her eyes growing cold again before she closes them. With a sigh, she takes her hand off of her sword.
" You should consider yourself very lucky that I too have changed. For better and for worse I suppose."
Luck isn't something she knows much about. A human concept really. Fate, destiny, prophecy sure. Still, if luck does exist then she considers herself extremely so. There's still something so satisfying about solving her own problems.
Cheza makes a noise, trying to suppress her excitement in the matter. Gives up entirely when she sees Cher running towards her.
Hello and thank you for reading my Wolf's Rain fanfiction! Comments, likes and follows are appreciated. Things were pretty Cheza centric this time around I hope Jaguara wasn't ooc at all. Out of all the nobles to be alive now I hadn't expected it to be her.