Priam, Henry, and Panne: The Laguz

It was a peaceful evening on the Garden of Giants. The combined armies of Regna Ferox, Say'ri's rebelling forces, and the Ylissean Shepherds had taken the time necessary to fraternize with the new forces provided by the Radiant Hero Priam. But during that time, an interesting point was discussed.

Panne was a nocturnal creature mostly, despite the scheduling of the Shepherds, so she would spend these late night hours scouting around. It was not until night became day when she noticed Sir Priam rise and train all by himself. How odd, even Sir Frederick would not rise earlier than when the sun was high up in the sky. She decided to glance in the bushes.

"Hey, honey-buns!" Henry shouted behind her.

Both Panne and Priam winced.

"Henry, I told you not to call me that!" Panne groaned. "And to not sneak up on me!"

"I thought you could hear me from a mile away."

It was here that the two were greeted by a very confused Priam. All three of them exchanged a very awkward silence with Panne and Priam exchanging awkward glances at one another.

"Oh, hey Priam!" Henry finally exclaimed.

"Uh, hello," Priam responded. "Would you mind telling me what you two are exactly doing in the bushes?"

"I was making my watch guard rounds when I noticed you were up at this peculiar hour," Panne explained. "Then my mate here decided to startle me."

"Hey, I just wanted to say hi," Henry pouted.

"Mate?" Priam asked.

"Yeah, we're not married, but we've got eight kids back in Ylisse!"

"Eight?! Good Gods!"

Here, the sun rose to the point where light could finally bounce off the surface. Priam finally got a good look of Panne. He gasped as he widened his eyes.

"I don't believe it," he said under his breath.

"Have you not seen one of my kind before?" Panne asked.

"No, I have. You're a Laguz, aren't you?!"

"A Laguz? Naw, you've got the names switched up, buddy. Panne's a Taguel. Say it with me, Tag-uel." Henry tried to specify.

"Taguel? Never heard of those. Laguz, though, I've heard and seen plenty."

"Might I ask what a Laguz is for you, then?" Panne questioned.

"Very well," Priam simply replied. "Laguz are a race of people that can transform into two forms: man, and beast."

"Holy crow! That's exactly what a Taguel is!" Henry gasped.

Panne nudged Henry in the side so that he could stop with his commentary.

"Is that right?" Priam smiled.

"Yes. We Taguel are a proud race that rely on stones in order to switch between our two forms. My warren, myself included, happened to be rabbit beasts," Panne said with subdued pride. However, that soon turned into bitterness. "That is, until only I survived."

Priam's smile turned into a concerned frown.

"I'm…sorry about that," he said. "I won't ask you about what happened if you're not comfortable with it."

"You are quite considerate for a manspawn."

Ah, her use of the word 'manspawn' made it clear: humans had something to do with it.

"So what else do ya know about these guys, huh?" Henry asked.

"Well, there are three kinds of Laguz: the beast kind, similar to rabbits and other animals like lions and wolves, the bird kind, and the dragon kind. I assumed that Lady Tiki and those two other dragon girls were dragon Laguz."

"They are known as Manaketes," Panne stated.

"Is that right? Well, you learn something new every day. …What about the brown haired girl? The one who said she was Grima's vessel?"

"Oh, Anne? Well, it's weird with her. She's got the cold blood and the occasional hands of a dragon, but other than that, she's human," Henry explained.

"How does that work?"

"Years and years of eugenics, bud. At least that's what Anne told me."

"Huh."

A small silence.

"Any other knowledge you have?" Panne asked.

"Well, the Laguz were once held slave by people known as the Beorc. They had the strength of the Laguz, thanks to special weapons they wielded, but lacked the transformation into beasts. Over time, the Laguz were freed. And long before any of that, the two lived peacefully in a species known as the Zunanma."

"Wow," Henry mumbled. "Say, how do you know so much about this?"

"Back in Tellius, I've seen quite the amount of Laguz. Not sure about rabbit ones, but there were definitely wolves, birds, and lions."

"Oh my!"

"There are…more?" Panne gasped. "I thought that they-we were a dying race!"

"Maybe in Ylisse and Valm, but definitely not in Tellius. Heck, they have their own territories with a Laguz-based government," Priam said.

Panne nearly burst into tears.

"I'm…not alone. The children will not be the only ones, Henry!"

"Yay, more playmates!" Henry cheered.

"When this war is officially over, you must show us the way to Tellius."

Priam rubbed his hand on the back of neck.

"Gods, it's been nearly thirteen years since I left Tellius," he sighed. "And I don't really intend on going back…"

Panne frowned.

"But…my race!"

"I'll ask my second-in-command to draw you up a map, but don't expect me to go with you."

"Did ya do something bad?" Henry asked.

Priam turned away.

"I don't want to talk about it," he put bluntly.

Panne understood, and insisted that she and Henry leave Priam back to what he was originally going to do before the interruption.

"Thank you for informing me," Panne smiled.

"Ah, it's nothing," Priam replied.

Before they fully left, though, Henry stayed for a little while.

"So, you seem really interested in Anne," Henry snickered.

"Well, it's not every day you meet the apparent vessel for a godlike dragon," Priam said.

"You know what I mean."

Priam stayed silent, but a slight brush crept on his cheeks.

"How do you know?" He sneered.

"I was raised by wolves, and with a sniffer and ears as strong as mine, you can tell."

"That…sounds ridiculous."

"Maybe, but why did your heartbeat increase when I mentioned her?"

Gods, did it?! …IT DID!

With a newly flustered Priam, Henry cackled.

"Oh, I see. Laugh at me because I can't have her," Priam grunted. "Hardy-har-har."

"Well, I'm not saying you shouldn't."

"…Pardon me?"

"Like I said before, Panne and I aren't married, but we've got eight kids! And just because Anne's got Yen'fay's kid on the way doesn't mean they're married."

"They're not?"

"Nope! No official wedding. It's more of a title than anything. But yeah, if you do go for her, expect a lot of overdramatic outbursts. And lots of self-doubting. And her wanting to do the right thing."

"You make it sound as if these were burdens."

"Lots of guys would think they were. Wouldn't you?"

"I'll admit, it'd take a while to get used to it, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't be willing to try."

"In that case, I'll just let you know that me and Tharja, the scary girl with black hair, are gonna be on you and hex you to Hell if you do anything to hurt her."

"Fair enough."

"Aw, you're not making this fun! At least have a worried pause!"

Ending Commentary: I'm running this ship into the grave