Disclaimer: I do not own the FE9 Characters. The only character I own is Trigger, since he is my own original character.
Warnings: The following story contains plot spoilers if you have not played FE9 yet. It also contains my personal belief on the mark of the branded. Do not read this if you do not like original takes on the game's Branded race.
Second Warning: The Original Character (Trigger) that I have made is being related to a character in the game. If you do not like this sort of fanfiction, do not read on. As I have not learnt much about the character in-game, I thought it wasn't exactly changing history by making up this direct bloodline relation.
Copyright: The character Trigger, and his background, implementation into the storyline, and relations are all thought up by yours truly. If you take him, or his story, then I will transform into the Supreme Laguz and find you.
Description: Trigger, a young Branded, is found by Muarim in the forest while the Greil Mercenaries are there battling Duke Olivier (Chapter 17).
Extra: For all you FE9 Hardcore Fanboys/Fangirls out there, I have made up a stat list, growth, support conversation setup etc. If you wish to see it, you can email me at true 'underscore' pinoy512 'at' hotmail 'dot' com
Ratings applicable during this entire story: Gore, Angst, Violence, Character Death – More as the story progresses. I'll keep this part updated.
Please Read and Review. Enjoy!
EDITING PROCESS:
Aug 24, 2006; 5:03 PM - Revised chapters 1-2. Basically a little more detail; though I did change a few things around. Only minor changes; as this whole thing is just an introduction, anyway.
Yay! Put a small description of Trigger in the first chapter (since I barely ever reference his clothing, stature, or looks).
Aug 25, 2006, 07:46 PM - Edited Chapter 3 and 4. They sound better now, and have better logic.
Major change: I changed the fact that Muarim knocked him out, to a mage blowing a hole through his stomach. Revenge for the Random Enemy Mage that he assassinated.
Aug 25, 2006, 11:06 PM - Finished editing chapter 5. I found a couple of plotholes (Like, Muarim knew Trigger's name somehow; and that the soldier that went to call them to the castle suddenly disappeared and hadn't said a word).
I'm reading the start and liking it a little more. Even if it just a little beefier and refined; it sounds nicer. Maybe because I've forgotten the start; so it's a nice refresher. XD
Chapter 1
« Cold… everything is cold… so cold. And yet it burns. The Serenes ablaze like the fury inside of me. If I am ablaze why am I cold? Why did this happen? The beorcs… they… » The young child named Trigger said. He wore nothing more than a simple dark purple shirt, and black pants. His dark purple hair matched his shirt, and his eyes were nearly the same colour as his garments. He had two daggers tied onto his back; and clenched a hand on each hilt.
Sitting under a broken arch, the dark colours helped him blend in well with the small shadows. Trigger was a thief in the Begnion area; who took refuge in the Serenes. But now, there was something amiss in the forest.
"They are here again." Trigger said. "They intrude. They defile our forest, the forest of the laguz. They must not leave this time... I will not allow another calamity to take place; not here!" He said ferverently.
He watched as the Greil Mercenaries entered the forest with the apostle. He didn't know them yet to be these people; to him they were just another party of beorcs; beorcs who invaded the forest. Some were left behind as the bulk of them moved on inwards. He waited until the ones left behind sat and tried to relax, and then he began to move out from under the arch that he sat under.
Then battle cries were heard. The familiar clang of metal echoed through the night like a shriek from a banshee. Those left behind stood up immediately, fear in their faces. Trigger ducked behind a broken pillar, and soon the clang arose again. He gazed to its general direction, and growned.
« This is not right. There is no more need for battle in a place so desolate like the Serenes. Leave us in peace. » He thought.
He began to creep slowly towards the battle sounds, each ring stinging at his ears. Eventually, he had to resort to crawling into the darkness of the forest itself; but from here he got a better view. He crept along the edge; finding two different groups of beorcs fighting. One was easily recognizable as the first group he had seen; the one that had broken up.
« They fight amongst themselves in a place they banded together to destroy. Do they really wish to disturb the peace that has long been lost; and only temporarily replaced? The irony... » He thought.
He watched as the two sides clashed; and soon he realised that the first group were much more skilled. The other group; seeming to defend something, had no chance at all. The first one easily left a wake of defeated enemies; some of them dead, others gravely injured.
Trigger walked out from the shadows; seeing that the first group was now gone. He walked across the battlefield; horror flashing in his eyes. Only a few hours ago, this clearing was void of any life; and yet remained pristine. Now, it was littered with stains of blood, and bodies lying everywhere. Trigger, upon closer inspection, realised that most of the downed people were soldiers.
"O-Olivier… pro… protect Olivier…" A downed soldier said to Trigger. He must have been blinded by death, for he could not tell Trigger apart from other soldiers. Trigger spat on the ground by his head, and the man fainted. Or, he died; Trigger couldn't tell. But he didn't want to. He hated battles, and he hated wars. He hated having to watch people die in front of his eyes.
Like that night two years ago... That night when the beorcs came, and had burnt the village. Why? Over the death of their apostle. Whom they thought had been assassinated by the herons.
Trigger shook his head. What an idiotic excuse. The herons were peaceful, trying to live in harmony with all around them. They had no reason, nor incentive to assassinate the apostle. And yet, the beorcs couldn't accept that. They came, thinking they brought justice into their own hands.
All they brought was more pain. More suffering. And now, there was pain again. Over the man that the soldier cried for with his last breath.
«Olivier… that scum of a "nobleman"… » Trigger thought. He knew just who Olivier was. He was a Begnion noble; who lived in the area. He made the appearance that he was kind to people; but Trigger knew better. Olivier enslaved laguz, worked them to the bone; and was no better than anyone else.
Trigger spat again at the thought of slavery. Olivier shouldn't have deserved to been named a nobleman. Not when he enslaved laguz, as if they were inferior to him.
Slavery...
There was one person Trigger wanted to find. One slave that could have changed his entire past.
One slave, that Trigger looked for, in every spare moment of his life...
Chapter 2
"If these beorc fight against Olivier they choose a powerful enemy." Trigger said with a faint smile. Either, these beorcs were stupid enough to pick a fight with Olivier; when he had so many bodyguards, soldiers, and slaves at his command.
Slaves... How cruel, Trigger thought, it was to send a slave to fight.
Or was that why the beorcs were here? Were they here to free the slaves, under Olivier's hand? No, beorcs weren't like that. If they were here to free the slaves...
"They must want their own slaves." Trigger said. He clenched a fist, and followed the first group. "No more... no more slavery! Both parties here... I'll kill both if I have to!" Trigger said, determined. He knew that to be able to kill every single soul in this forest was nothing short of the work of the gods; but if he killed their leaders, he could at least have gotten to the point where they might give up.
He reached the next clearing and saw the first group running for an arch. He identified their leader easily; the blue-haired one who shot commands out. It appeared they ran instead of fighting; but they had already been seen by soldiers who guarded the entrance to this forest. He watched as the blue-haired leader shouted a command, when something caught his eye.
He watched as a sleek, orange cat and a lean, blue tiger walked up, and transformed into their beorc states.
Laguz. Who apparently followed the blue-haired one. Trigger frowned, and bit his lip.
«Are they allies to the beorcs? Or are they slaves, made to give up their lives to protect their "masters"… » He then saw a priest wave a Mend Staff at the blue tiger; who had a cut on his arm. The blue tiger nodded, and the two continued onwards. Trigger decided to take a roundabout way; there was a giant growth in the middle of the area and he didn't want to get caught.
As he rounded the bush, he watched as many soldiers sat here, in waiting; not even noticing that the group was making it's way past them. He edged into the growth in the middle, and peered out.
He watched as the group made it to the arch, blocked by only a few men. Laguz and beorc fought side by side, watching each other's back. Then, the entire group went through; leaving most of Olivier's men unharmed.
"They escape, leaving these men behind… Why? And the laguz… healed by a beorc… could it be he is not a slave? They fought side by side as if... as if they were true allies... " Trigger said under his breath. He cut through the trees, and dashed in the same path the group had gone. The soldiers didn't notice him, either.
He came into a clearing, and realised he'd made too much noise. He ducked into the trees on his right, and realised he wasn't the only one hiding. More of Olivier's soldiers were in hiding, ready to exit at any given time.
« They must be waiting for them- » He started to think. Then, a booming voice broke his thoughts.
"Greil Mercenaries! Surrender the heron!" One of Olivier's men said. He heard the blue-haired leader retort; but he couldn't exactly hear what. Then, the soldier made a small signal into the trees; and soon soldiers filed out from the brush.
« Heron? I had heard that Olivier recently acquired a heron… did those Greil Mercenaries rescuse him? These Mercenaries… who are they? » Trigger thought. Seeing that the forest was now open, he stealthily made his way over to the far corner of the clearing. On a map from a top-down view, it would seem he was in the bottom-right hand corner of the clearing.
Trigger crept upon a lone mage standing, not having seen the signal to exit. He was about to, when Trigger held him. He brought his dagger to the man's neck; and found himself to be a little smaller than the man, which made the feat difficult. He saw a low root and stood on it, giving himself better leverage.
"Why do you pursue these Mercenaries?" Trigger said in as low a voice as possible. He hoped to hide the fact that he wasn't very tall, or strong.
"I will say nothing to you!" The mage replied. The mage brought an elbow back; but Trigger expected the movement. He arced his body out of the way, and cut the man's throat with his dagger. He dumped the body in the bushes, and peered out from the brush. From this angle, he could see the Mercenaries working their way towards him.
The battle was taken at a cautious pace; and Trigger wondered why. The Mercenaries had make short work of the first two waves of enemies; what was the difference here?
A flash of golden locks alerted him. The blue-haired leader had a heron on his back. Trigger's eyes widened as he saw the blue-haired man trying his very best to avoid the smallest touch to end up on the heron; and he watched as the whole group went to defend him.
The Mercenaries made their way to no more than a few feet away from where he sat; and soon there was movement in the bushes near him. Trigger looked over; thinking more of Olivier's men were waiting in ambush.
Two people popped out; a child in yellow mage robes, and a tiger. The child looked mischevious and wild; but the tiger stood beside him, in beorc form, with his arms crossed over his chest. His demeanor was nothing less than intimidating; and yet he looked on with calmness and peace of mind. It was as if the child was ready to make his way into the battle; and that the tiger seemed reluctant.
"Ike! We've finally found you!" The young child said, running towards the group. Trigger watched as the child ran up to the blue-haired leader.
"So... his name is Ike..." Trigger said, perhaps a little too loudly. He watched as the tiger turned around, sensing something.
"Tormod! Hey, who else is there?" Ike had replied; not being able to see the laguz. Tormod motioned to the laguz, who stared at the brush. Trigger held his breath, and found himself nearly choking.
"IKE BEHIND YOU!" Tormod yelled back, as the Mercenaries turned around. Olivier's men had come out from behind them in full force. Tormod rushed to meet them, and the laguz started to move as well. Then, Trigger stood; but he broke a branch under his foot. The laguz stopped in his tracks, and whirled around. He stared directly at one point in the shadows, and Trigger stepped back; tripping over the same branch. The laguz began to walk in a striaght line. Straight at where Trigger sat in the shadows.
«He sees me…» Trigger said. As the laguz approached him, Trigger held up his dagger in defence. But he was shaky; scared to even move, and doubted that he would be able to defend himself if this laguz found a reason to strike.
Chapter 3
"Someone's here…" The laguz said. It began to walk over to where Trigger sat. Trigger held his breath, as the laguz passed into the brush. There, the foliage and the darkness would hide it from the sight of the Mercenaries. He could deal with it, without being caught.
"GET AWAY!" Trigger said, leaping at the laguz. He held his dagger straight, and aimed for the neck. However, his foot caught on a low branch and he fell forward. The laguz apaprently hadn't seen the attack; and only heard the voice.
"Are you hurt? This is a battlefield, you should not be here." The laguz said, walking blindly at Trigger. Trigger groaned a bit in pain, and looked up.
"This is the Serenes Forest! You must not be allowed to defile this place anymore!" Trigger said, standing up. He raised his dagger and pointed it at the laguz. It shone in the moonlight for a second, then he turned the dagger so it wouldn't alert the Mercenaries as to where they were. The laguz instinctively raised his hands to showed he bared no weapons; but Trigger knew that the laguz themselves were the weapons.
"I do not know what you mean by defiling this place. I have done nothing of the sort to do so. But listen to me; if you wish to make yourself our enemy, then so be it. We have enough as it is; you won't be making that much of a difference." The laguz replied.
"Are you ignorant? You all come in here, fighting, littering the ground with bodies; staining it forever with blood!" Trigger said. He still held his dagger up.
"And if you kill me here, would you not be doing the same?" The laguz replied. Trigger let down his dagger, and thought for a second. He shook his head, and brought the dagger back up.
"I'm different! I'm here to protect the Serenes! If I kill you, it will be a favour to the forest; for I'll stop further death! Trigger said. He held his stance and his dagger was still up. The laguz stepped forward; into a small bit of moonlight.
He was burly, and tall; and yet still held his hands up. He wore a bandana, that pushed back his green hair. He wore nothing more than a blue shirt and dark green pants, and looked down upon Trigger. The young boy couldn't tell what kind of face the laguz had; it was calm and yet serious; and it didn't seem to show fear, but understanding.
"I bear no weapons against you; I'm only here to help protect that heron." The laguz replied. He made no attempt at making a sudden move, and Trigger glared at him.
"Why do the beorcs come here to fight? Why do they kidnap the heron?" Trigger asked. He pushed the blade against the laguz' neck, but the laguz did not move back. Instead, the laguz pushed forward, Trigger's dagger on the brink of piercing his skin. Trigger brought his arm back slightly; not wanting to draw blood.
"This is not the time or place for you to ask the questions. I promise you, we will give you all the answers you like; just come with me. We cannot answer you in the midst of a battle." The laguz said, offering a hand. Trigger let down his dagger; and realised he let down his guard. He slapped the hand away, and walked past the laguz.
He looked at his dagger as he was about to exit; and realised that it was still stained with the mage's blood. He looked forward, and saw the mage in yellow waiting expectantly. Had he seen the laguz enter the forest?
Trigger whirled around, to ask the laguz to come out with him; to say nothing happened. But instead, he saw the laguz holding back a soldier. The spear held horizontally between both of them, the laguz turned his head.
"Run! Now!" The laguz ordered. Trigger nodded, and turned to run; but found a fist heading for his face. He fell to the ground with a sickly thud, and rolled to the side as a foot came smashing down for his stomach.
He rolled to his knees, drawing his daggers. He looked at his assailant, and looked striaght into the eyes of a mage. Dressed in red; he had thought it was the one he had killed before.
"You killed Bain! You'll pay!" The mage said, angrily. Trigger didn't understand at first, but then realised that the mage he had killed was named Bain. So why wait this long until attacking?
Trigger looked over again, and saw the laguz still struggling with the soldier. He proposed that the two had seen him kill the mage; but had noticed the movements of the laguz and the yellow mage in the trees. He then assumed they bided their time; because three on two wasn't a very fair fight.
Trigger glanced back to the mage; and found a fireball flying for his face. He raised his daggers in defence; as the heat struck his weapons. He still felt the heat around him; and felt his skin burning slightly. He brought them down and dashed forward at the mage; hoping to get in a strike before he made another move.
Trigger's dagger found a place in the mage's chest, and he smiled. He looked up, to see the mage smiling, and wondered why. He felt a hand on his stomach, and looked down; noticing the hand glowing a sickly orange. He drew his dagger out and moved back; but it was too late.
He felt his skin charring, and smelt the recognizable smell of something burning. Just like so many nights ago. Blood instantly rushed into his mouth, and the bitter taste rested on his lips. He stumbled back, and all of a sudden he didn't feel anymore pain. He felt the daggers drop from his grip, and he reached out to catch anything.
He started to lose consciousness on his way down. He tried to think to anything to stay awake; to make himself live through this. His thoughts raced back to that night when the forests were burning, and he couldn't do anything. Just like now.
Before he hit the ground, he felt arms behind him. They felt powerful and comforting; but he couldn't place them to a body. He looked up to check; but his vision left him before he could make sure.
«The Serenes...» He thought, before he passed out.
Chapter 4
When Trigger awoke, his stomach hurt. He looked down, and noticed that his shirt was burnt away; but his skin was intact. He checked himself by poking his stomach; and found pain rushing through his body. He started to get a headache; and suddenly thoughts rushed back into his head. What had happened? Who caught him? Where was he?
He remembered the laguz in the bushes, and the attack by the mage. He remembered how he should have been burnt in the stomach; but he was now fully intact. He shouldn't even have lived.
His mind had said not to trust anyone, to kill the laguz and get answers his own way; but when the laguz told him he promised him to get answers as long as he came quietly he didn't see the need to spill blood. He did hate killing, after all; but realised that he acted on instinct when the mage attacked.
He was ready to kill, but that was in defence, right? It was completely different from killing to get answers. It wouldn't change anything...
He sat up, and looked around. He was in a clearing near one of the entrances of the Serenes. He noticed that he had been lain on a broken pillar, and his back started to hurt. Not from the fire spell; but from the fact that the broken pillar wasn't a bed; and offered little in ways of support.
"Awake are you?" A voice said to his right. He tried to figure out who it was, but the pain in his head became a ringing and made the voice indistinguishable. He whirled to his right, and his vision blurred from the sudden movement.
"What happened? Did you drug me? Do something to me?" Trigger asked, his hand going to his back as a reflex. He felt the hilt of both his daggers, and they felt somewhat comforting. Then, he realised that he hadn't put the daggers there himself. Had the laguz placed them there?
"No, we would never do something like that. After seeing you take the spell directly to your stomach, I instantly grabbed your daggers, and brought you to our priest. It wasn't difficult to heal you after I had brought you to him." The voice said. It showed fear, and concern; but who would be concerned for him? Trigger made it a strong point to never associate with anyone.
He took a step over to the voice, and found himself crumpling to the ground. His legs were sore; though he couldn't tell why. He hadn't been hit in the legs...
A hand fell on his shoulder; and he snapped his head up. His vision blurred again; mixing in with the headache and the pain; and he shut his eyes tight. The voice laughed at him.
"It's a lot harder to move with someone on your back you know… I think I might have let you hit a couple of armour legs or something…" The voice replied. His vision started to correct itself; but he still couldn't see properly, the pain getting in the way. Someone carried him? Just who?
He felt his stomach rumble loudly, and soon the laughter continued; Trigger found himself laughing a little as well.
"It sounds like you haven't eaten in days." The voice said. Trigger stood up, the figure moving back to somewhere. Trigger watched him move to another broken pillar, and he sat down.
"I am a little hungry…" Trigger said, rubbing his stomach. His body betrayed his voice, as it growled even louder. "Okay, so I'm really hungry. I live in the Begnion area and come here whenever I can to make sure nothing is wrong with the forest. But then there was a scene at Olivier's mansion a while ago, and then one again recently. I haven't left for food in... a really long time. I can't even remember how long it's been..."
"That's good, because a friend of mine at the camp is a great cook and he'll whip you up something in no time." The figure said, jumping off of the rocky jut. Trigger's headache had now almost disappeared, other than the fact that he still couldn't remember many things unless he thought hard about it. That made his head hurt more, and he thus focused on the current situation. He then looked around and noticed something was extremely different. He didn't notice until now because his attention was diverted to remembering.
The Serenes was different now. Full of life and vitality, and colour as well. Birds sang and animals returned to the lush green forest. He stood in awe and looked closer at his surroundings. The trees had leaves, and butterflies flew. A calm, warm wind blew through the ground and he saw squirrels running across the ground; something he had never seen in the Serenes since...
So many nights ago before the incident. Trigger simply stared around him, his mouth agape. Once again, he heard the laughter of the voice.
"Yes, the Forest is back. There is much to be explained. For now, we should return to the camp." The figure said. Trigger looked at him, and noticed that he was the laguz that had found him in the forest.
Everything started to make less sense. The laguz stayed behind; but the rest of the Mercenaries were already at a camp? Why didn't he go back with them? And when did the forest return to it's original state?
There were so many more questions to ask, now. He'd have to get them at camp. The laguz started to walk, and Trigger began to follow; then the laguz stopped.
"Something wrong?" Trigger asked. The laguz took a final look at the beauty around him, and shook his head. Trigger shrugged, and the two resumed their walk.
Chapter 5
The camp was everything he expected, and yet nothing like he ever thought it would be. He knew that there would be tents and things pitched, but he expected hundreds of soldiers and such. Instead, the camp was composed of mainly a large tent, with three tents behind it. The eating area was beside the large tent.
Trigger and the laguz headed for the eating area, and were greeted by a soldier in green who stood by a pot. He stirred something intently, sniffing every few seconds and adding more herbs and spices as he did so. A horse whinnied off to the side, and Trigger looked at it surprisedly. It seemed to greet them.
"Oh, back already?" The soldier asked. The laguz nodded.
"This is Oscar. He's a fine soldier; and an even better chef." The laguz said. Trigger nodded towards Oscar, who had an outstretched hand. Oscar coughed, then took his hand back and went back to his stew.
"Why is the force so small? It barely seems like it could inhabit the group I saw." Trigger asked. Oscar handed him a bowl and he almost silently said thank you. He looked at it intently; as if checking for poison, and sat at a table right beside the fire.
"Everyone is inside the castle. However, a select few of us have decided to make sure that none of Olivier's men were foolish enough to come out and plot something against the apostle. Olivier himself was captured, but there are those always loyal to a reasonable amount of money." The laguz said. Trigger fell silent as he started to take a slurp of the soup
"This is good… uh Oscar right? You're an amazing cook!" Trigger said, holding out an empty bowl. The laguz hadn't even finished half of his bowl, and they had all noticed it. Oscar and the laguz simply laughed, and Trigger blushed.
"Haha, everyone says so. But only a few eat like you. Next time, savour my tastes." Oscar said, handing Trigger another helping. Trigger blushed redder, and took the bowl.
"Oh, but I did! The small pinch of rosemary added a nice light taste that stood out but didn't defeat the soup, and the mix of rabbit, beef and pork meats are really flavourful! You must have cured those and spiced those for a while!" Trigger said. Oscar looked at him wide-eyed, and the laguz nearly choked on his stew.
"What? Well, don't go telling all my secrets!" Oscar said, blushing. He laughed embarrassed, and then noticed someone running up to them. His face turned to sadness as he sighed, and closed his pot.
"Something wrong?" Trigger said, downing the bowl again. He let out a small burp and blushed. He realised that the pot was closed, and then the soldier ran towards Oscar. He whispered something, and Oscar looked to the laguz. Then, the laguz nodded, and stood; downing his bowl of stew.
"We're going to the castle. We're done here. But we'll have to pack everything and bring it back; since this is part of the camp that we use regularly. Though..." Oscar trailed off, trying to find a way to pack up the pot of soup. Trigger noticed that the soldier stared at the pot, and smiled.
"Well, since I don't have any actual things I'll carry the pot back, how's about that? I'll start already, since I'll probably be slower anyway." He said, taking the pot. It was heavier than he expected; and grabbing it, he realised that it was made of a very heavy metal. The handles were already hot from being over the fire, and that didn't help. It was full of the soup; he was sure Oscar wouldn't mind if he took a few ladles of it on the way.
"Really? You're genuinely nice and kind; it's hard to think that we found you in the forest being attacked. Why would Olivier's men pick on a child?" Oscar asked. Trigger nearly dropped the pot, if the laguz that had saved him hadn't caught the bottom of the pot. He wondered how the laguz didn't burn himself.
"It doesn't matter. What matters is that we saved him, drove Olivier's men out, and now we return to the castle. Come on, I'll guide you and help you with that pot." The laguz said, taking one side. He heaved it like it was nothing. Trigger was sure that he could have carried it with one hand, from the bottom; high above his head. He probably wouldn't have spilt a drop, either.
"I don't think he'll appreciate that." Oscar said with a smile. Trigger looked back and placed a finger on his lips in the shushing motion. Oscar laughed, and Trigger blushed again.
"Oh? Why not, it's quite heavy." The laguz asked. He lifted it up, showing Oscar how easy it was. Trigger found himself being lifted to the tips of his toes, and strugged to keep a grip on the side.
"He was going to empty it on his way there. He really likes my cooking." Oscar said, happily. The laguz looked down at Trigger, and Trigger looked back somewhat in fear. Then the laguz smiled. Trigger realised that he wasn't going to get punished, and blushed again.
He'd never been so red so many times in his life. What was this he was feeling, anyway? Being close to beorc and laguz at the same time never harbored any good feelings; but this was different.
"You'll get along just fine with many others, you'll see. Anyway, meet you at the castle Oscar!" The laguz said. Oscar nodded, and left to go pack up. Trigger noticed as Oscar went over to the horse, and whispered to it. He gave it a feedsack, and guided it to one of the smaller tents. So he was a cavalier?
"Besides, I didn't get that good of a taste yet. Maybe I can sneak one too." The laguz said, once Oscar had left. Trigger smiled and the laguz let out a chuckle, then they started their walk.
On their way there, as planned, they stopped a few times to get some stew. By the time they had reached the walls, a third of the pot was already empty. The pot itself was about three feet high and a foot in diameter; so that was a hefty amount of soup.
The walk to the city wasn't very long, but on his way Trigger became overjoyed by the scenery. The green had never been to lush and beautiful, not near the Serenes. The grass was usually brown, or even gray, and dead. It was usually wilted, and hardly blew in the wind. Now, as low, warm breezes brushed over the fields; Trigger watched as waves of grass bended with the winds.
Things sure had changed.
"Well. We're here." The laguz said. Trigger only stood in awe at the city.