DISCLAIMER: Fire Emblem: Fates and all of its characters belong to Intelligent Systems (and any other major parties involved in the making of the Fire Emblem: Fates games). I own the plot, Dakota, (Name)'s personality and the decisions she makes. I do not make any profit from this fanfiction; it is solely intended for your reading pleasure.
(Name) = Your name.
(eye color) = Your eye color.
(hair color)/(hair length) = Hair color / Hair length.
(Pet Name) = An annoying name that pisses you off, no matter who it comes from.
(Nickname) = A cute name that makes you blush.
Your P.O.V.
I cower low to the floor in the center of the main chamber of my den. My body refuses to stop shaking, even though I'm in my wolf form. I can hear my pursuer's heartbeat just very faintly, and their quiet footsteps. By scent alone, I know with absolute certainty that the person is Hoshidan, and is therefore not simply here to chat. Hearing footsteps enter the chamber, I concentrate solely on keeping track of the person's location. It's no surprise that I recoil when a harsh, blue-green light illuminates the room, considering how well my eyes have adjusted to the near total darkness. Thankfully, it only takes a few heartbeats for my eyes to re-adjust to the new source of light. Sheer panic sets in as I recognize the silhouette of my pursuer.
"We meet again, (Pet Name)," Takumi chuckles, his demeanor somehow different than our previous encounter. "Alone at last."
Something about what he just said sends an unnerving shiver up my spine, and just like that, it brings back the memories of my imprisonment. Leaping up onto my paws, I make a beeline for the emergency exit at the back of the cavern. I haven't even taken five strides before a pinpointed arrow meets my right flank, sending me crashing to the dirt floor as my wolf form fades away.
"No need to run, (Name)," Takumi whispers as he walks slowly towards me. "The sooner you accept it, the sooner it will be over."
Frantically, I try to get up and scramble away from him as fast as I possibly can, but he's faster. In a matter of seconds, he's got me pinned against the ground and none of my attempts to escape his hold end well. If anything, his grip tightens with every movement I make. My heart begins to race with an unusual rhythm as he leans in very close to my face.
"Don't you want someone to love you, (Name)?" Takumi purrs, his breath tickling my lips.
Though it doesn't sound nearly as tough as I'd intended, I hiss at him, "I'm no expert, but I think you and I have a different idea of what love is."
"We'll see about that," he chuckles quietly, his lips only millimeters from mine.
Closing my eyes is quite possibly the worst decision I could make right now, but I don't have any other option that's more appealing than watching Takumi have his way with me. Bracing for the disgusting feel of his lips against mine, I send out a silent prayer that somebody comes to put a stop to him. Miraculously, my prayer is heard, and Takumi jerks back at the sound of a thundering feral roar coming from somewhere within the cave. It sounds familiar, and if I had to guess, I'd put my money on Keaton and Dakota... Considering they're really the only friends I have now. My heart stops dead when I hear a deafening thud sound overhead. Takumi jumps back, fully releasing me from his grasp, which allows me to scramble away in the direction of the emergency exit.
Clutching my Beastrune tightly in one hand, I will myself to transform, and my wish is immediately granted. Now in my wolf form, I effortlessly slip through the emergency exit tunnel, narrowly escaping an arrow from Takumi's Fujin Yumi. While I crawl through the twists and turns of the upward sloping tunnel, I catch faint snippets of a raging battle back in the cave's main chamber. However, every fiber of my being is screaming at me to keep going, which I do until I emerge out into daylight. I jump two feet into the air as the ground begins to rumble with the force of an earthquake. Turning around, I can see the burly form of a Wolfskin trying to bring the entire cave in on itself. Padding across the snow-covered ground, I recognize Dakota's grey-white fur and red-amber eyes.
"Dakota what are you doing?" I shout as she slams both of her mighty paws down against the roof of the cave. "And where's Keaton?"
"He's still inside the cave," she replies, raising her paws again. "You should step back, (Name). I'm bringing this cave in, and I don't want you getting hurt."
"You can't do that," I wail at her, running up and trying to push her out of the way. "Keaton's still in there!"
"I know he is, (Name)," she replies, raising her paws again. "But in beast form, he's eight times more likely to survive than that gods-forsaken Hoshidan archer!"
"How likely is it that Takumi would survive?"
Dakota stops just before bringing her paws crashing down again and looks at me with a wide grin on her face. She needn't have said anything more for me to know the answer to my question. With a deafening screech of victory, she smashes her paws onto the roof of the cave. The ground shuddered with the force of the blow and gave way underneath us. I struggled to stay above the crumbling dirt and snow. Unfortunately, I get buried, and it happens in the blink of an eye. First, my tail gets caught, rapidly followed by the rest of me. My entire body is surrounded by snow and dirt, leaving me absolutely immobile. Taking in as deep a breath as my limited space will allow, I exhale heavily into the wall of snow trapping my muzzle, causing a little bit of it to melt. I repeat this until I'm able to move my whole head around. My ears can pick up the sound of digging somewhere nearby, which triggers my first instinct as a person.
"HEEELLLP!"
The digging stops for a while, prompting me to call out again. I keep calling out even as the digging resumes directly above my head. A female voice shouts angrily, stopping whoever's digging. There's a long moment of silence before light starts bleeding through the snow and a familiar scent floods my senses; Keaton. Two pairs of arms heave me out of the snow just as I come out of my wolf form.
"(Name)? (Name), speak to me!"
Blinking rapidly and rubbing my eyes, I do my best to refocus my vision. Keaton's face gradually comes into view, and my heartbeat falters. He's covered in blood that I know is not his own, but I still find myself panicking for some reason.
"Keaton, we have to go," Dakota says urgently as she shifts into her Wolfskin form and carries me bridal-style. "We're too close to Hoshidan territory."
Images flash across my field of vision as Dakota's words set in. Keaton. Cave. Blood. Takumi. Darkness. Fear. More blood. The broken Fujin Yumi. Keaton's lifeless body sprawled out on the floor of a prison cell... And the chanting of "Murderer! Murderer! Murderer!" coming to my ears as a whisper on the wind. There was no turning back now; once the Hoshidan royal family learns of Takumi's death, Keaton's fate will be set in stone.