It's just one of those days where you wonder 'why me'.
-N/A.
"It looks very quaint." complimented the Fon Master as Anise walked by his side and nodded her head in agreement.
Having decided to make their way through the outskirts of the town, the group of four continued on their way. Jade had taken the lead on this dirt path while Reyna took up the rear. While the two younger ones took to chatting about Engeve and all the produce that would be there, Reyna kept her focus on their surroundings. Even if they might have been close to the town, that didn't mean a monster weren't far off.
"Excuse me!"
They all turned around to see a girl waving her arm back and forth as she trotted up to them. She was a brunette with a slender build and her garments indicated she must travel around quite a bit. However, one thing that stood out was the necklace she wore. This necklace was in the shape of half a heart with a tiny embroidered flower and if she was correct, the metal was gold. If must have been expensive, which didn't offset her and almost gave a balance to her appearance in a way.
"You're going to Engeve too, right?"
The boy smiled and nodded his head. "Yes we are. Who might you be?"
"Azaelia Hilt, but you can call me Zae!" She gave a slight bow before grinning at the group. "Do you mind if I walk with you guys?"
Reyna's eyes narrowed, observing the girl to get more of a feel for her. Nothing seemed off about her, but that didn't mean she couldn't be dangerous. Though, with how excitable the girl become once they agreed to let her walk with them, it made it difficult to think badly of her.
The girl was like an overexcited puppy, to be perfectly honest.
"Thanks!" Bouncing over to stand on Reyna's side, she continued. "Though I must admit, you guys look a little fancier than the people from around here. Where might you all be from? Oh! Let me guess! You're..." Zae put a finger to her lip, a thoughtful expression. "…super spies?!"
A large smile appeared on her face.
Feigning surprise, Reyna caught the girl's eyes. "How did you figure us out?"
Zae's mouth formed an 'O' and she was about to say something when Jade turned to add his input. "Now, now Reyna. We can't let everyone know we're on a top secret mission."
Anise jumped right in.
"Yeah Reyna! We're probably going to have to kill her..." It took so much not to start laughing right there, especially with the expression Anise wore at the words she just said.
"Are you guys serious?" Zae whispered, almost like she was afraid to speak out loud.
The older Guardian thought about telling her it was just a joke except Jade seemed want to poke fun at her one more time. "Quite serious. We're going to have to take you in for questioning before-"
The girl waved her hands around, literally bouncing on her feet. . "Oh, no no no! I can't be taken in! I have to meet up with my...betrothed." She said this with such a dreamy look, Reyna nearly rolled her eyes. "The only one that has my heart and I have his. So you see! I can't be kept away from him!"
Like it was the most obvious fact in the whole world.
That actually got the boy to laugh as he finally revealed the truth to her. "It's alright. They were just joking around. We're not going to take you in or anything."
Zae's eyes widen while Anise let out a chuckle. "Yeah, we're just kidding! But anyway, you have a fiancé?" With a nod of her head, Anise pestered her more about it. "Ohhh! What's he like?"
Almost instantly, Zae went into great detail. "He is the most handsome man I've ever met and he's definitely the most perfect person for me!" Zae cheeks flushed as she let out a small squeak and went on about a man she had recently become engaged to. He apparently was a traveling merchant of small trinkets, but he dreamed of becoming a novelist. She went on and on, with Reyna tuning her out as she began to go into the story of them meeting 'by fate'. While Anise seemed to eat it up, the Fon Master listen happily, which didn't surprise her all that much and she had only just caught a bemused smile on Jade's face.
Finally, they arrived just outside of Engeve when Zae stopped mid-sentence. "Ah! We're here already? That's great then! Thanks for letting me tag along, but I need to go find my Anthony!"
Waving, the girl quickly wandered off.
"That one has too much energy for her own good..." Sighing, Reyna could only shake her head.
Jade shrugged. "Oh I don't know, she was an interesting one, to say the least."
Anise added in her own two gald. "I wish I could have met her fiancé. I bet they act all lovey-dovey."
"She was very nice. I liked how her story-telling very much." And there was the Fon Master being nice and all.
Their encounter with Zae over, the group continued on. Reyna kept a watch on their surroundings, but it seemed relatively safe. Still, even if they were in Malkuth territory, Reyna couldn't let her guard down. It wasn't long before they arrived at the market place, which obviously was one of the busier places here. Jade mentioned that the one in charge of the hamlet was a woman by the name of Rose and that her house should be nearby.
However, like in Grand Chokmah, their presence didn't go unnoticed.
"Is that the Fon Master?"
"Can't be. Why would he be here?"
"Well two of them are wearing stuff Order members would wear, right? They must be from Daath!"
"'Cept tha' one in blue and wearing glasses. He's from the Malkuth military."
It wasn't a surprise that they were attracting attention. It didn't seem to bother Jade too much nor the boy. For Reyna and Anise, they kept on high alert, despite the fact that the younger of the two was smiling and talking to the boy. It wasn't likely they were going to be attacked, but one couldn't be too careful with the Fon Master around.
"Hey! Tom, I heard Kelly sayin' the storehouse was raided again." Her eyes searched for the source of the voices. To her right were two men talk and already walking away. This didn't escape the boy's attention either. "It was probably those thieves! C'mon, let's go check it out!"
"Jade." said the Fon Master. "Is it alright if I go check out the storehouse that they were talking about?"
"I don't see a problem with it." The colonel gave his attention to Reyna. "Of course, if Miss Milas has an objection...?"
"Whatever the Fon Master wishes." Reyna replied back, not missing a beat.
"Then I will go on ahead and set things up with Rose."
Nodding his head, the Fon Master took the lead as Jade went forward. Anise and Reyna both hovered closer to the boy as they followed the men to this storehouse they mentioned. Wondering if they would find anything, Reyna hoped that this wasn't a bigger mess they were getting themselves involved in. Though, it couldn't all that bad, could it?
It would be nice if they could kill two birds with one stone.
As the trio arrived, Anise was the first to mention that there was already a crowd. At this point, Reyna took the lead to push a way through for the boy while Anise would take up the rear. There wasn't too much shoving, thankfully, and when they got to the door, the Fon Master took talking to the man closest to them.
"Excuse me, are you Kelly?"
Opening his mouth to reply, he stopped. Perhaps because they weren't civilians and were definitely from out of town or maybe this guy knew it was the leader of the Order he was talking to. Regardless, he stuttered out a reply. "Y-yes, I am. Do you need something?"
The boy smiled, hoping to ease this Kelly guy. "I hope it's not too much, but if I may have a look inside, I would be interesting in helping out in finding who the thief is."
Taking note of the boy gripping his staff and Anise close by with her hands on her hip, Reyna almost laughed as she realized her arms were crossed casually. It was a wonder what they appeared like to this man and the people around them.
"Oh! Please don't trouble yourself by this, Fon Master."
Ah, so he did realize who the boy was.
"It's fine, really. Would you please just let me have a quick look?" And there was those puppy eyes at work. So maybe the boy had no idea he had them, but when he became earnest, it was almost impossible to deny him his requests.
Plus, who wanted to argue with the Fon Master?
Mohs, probably.
Leading them inside, the group passed the front counter and with a quick survey of the area, the commander noted that this building acted as an inn of sorts. She saw a couple of rooms that had beds in them and a small rest area. It was an interesting set-up, not all that surprising either. How many people actually stayed here, she wondered.
When they passed through another door, Reyna immediately saw the damage that was done to the storage room.
It was a mess and a good chunk was obviously missing. Without missing a beat, the Fon Master was already checking out the scene while Anise helped him out. She took a step closer, trying to see if anything stood out. Who would do such a thing to this place? Did they want to disrupt the flow of food getting to around the world? That might certainly do the job, considering the fact that source of income from this town was everything they grew and raised, plus exporting it.
No wonder it was such a big deal, all of these thefts.
"I wonder if there are any clues here..." the boy mused to himself, continuing to work. Anise was already searching another part while Reyna took a few steps around as she continued to search herself.
"Anise." Reyna said, calling the girl's attention. "Will you go ask around and see what's all been stolen, not just today but since this has started?"
A pout followed, but she nodded her head. "Okay, but you better not take your eyes off of Ion or he'll just go off on his own!"
"Anise..."
The girl was already on her way as the other two went on with their search. This went on for a couple of minutes before the boy let out an "Oh!" and Reyna made her want over to him as he picked something up from behind a crate. "Look, it's cheagle fur."
Well then.
"You don't suppose it was cheagles that did this, did you?" Surely it was just a coincidence, though she didn't know if she could rule out that the people of Engeve had added to raising cheagles for Auldrant's cuisine. "That would be quite strange..."
"I believe it must be and it would make sense. They live in this area from what I read." A sudden look of determination appeared on his face. "We have to do something then. Cheagles are sacred to the Order, plus they're herbivores. They shouldn't have to steal human food. Why would they?"
Why indeed. Shrugging, she added, "Perhaps it wasn't cheagles. It's possible one was just in here when-"
"There's more behind that crate. It wasn't just a cheagle, there was more."
Reyna raised a brow at him, not used to him cutting her off. Holding the fur in his hand, he looked convinced of this.
One hand on her hip, she sighed. "Perhaps it would be best to inform Rose then. She's the one in charge of this place, isn't she? She'd know how to deal with it."
Green eyes met her steady gaze. "Shouldn't we do som-"
Now it was her turn to interrupt. "We're on a tight schedule, Fon Master. Unless, of course, you want to put cheagles before war. It's in our best interest to report to Rose this evidence and let her take care of it." She could see that her words had come out harsher than she intended, making her feel bad just a bit. However, she would stand her ground. "We need to focus on our current task."
Lowering his head, he said, "I suppose you're right."
Damn it.
"We should go meet with Jade. It's likely he's with that Rose woman."
Nodding his head, he finally looked up at her. "What about Anise?"
"We can tell the man, Kelly, to tell her where we're going. She'll find us, I'm sure." Besides, it would take longer if they waited for the other Guardian to show up. It would be best to just head over to where Rose lived and hopefully find Jade there. "Let's go."
Exiting, the duo noticed that the man from before was gone. The Fon Master looked to her and she could only shrug, mentioning she had faith in Anise to find them. With not much else of a choice, they headed out.
Once outside, Reyna was glad to see that the crowd was gone. She kept close to the boy and though they stopped briefly to ask where Rose lived, they mostly kept to themselves. She lived in a house on a small hill, not too far from where they had parted with Jade. It grew quiet between them while their walk continued. The Guardian kept her guard up, glancing around every so often and keeping the Fon Master's movements in mind.
Not too long later, did the boy break the silence.
"Reyna?"
"Yes, Fon Master?"
He hesitated, gripping his staff tightly and kept his gaze ahead. "What I'm do is the right thing, isn't it? I don't exactly regret leaving Daath, but is this something I can really do? Stopping a war from happening?"
No answer came immediately, losing herself in thought of what he just asked. Funny, how she only now realized she wasn't the only one that had doubts about leaving Daath. Even when Jade and Malkuth showed no ill intentions and their cause was truly for the good, it still bothered her. Deciding to answer as best she could, Reyna said, "If there is anyone I put faith in, it's you. After all, you are the Fon Master."
He turned to catch her eyes. His eyes and face remained passive, unreadable. "Yes, you're right. I am the Fon Master."
It grew quiet between them once more.
At long last, they found a path that lead to Rose's house. Seeing the house not too far off, she did notice that it was larger than the rest of places around her. Perhaps not as fancy or anything like to that extent that indicated her importance, but it had more of a homey and cozy feel to it. It gave her an idea of who this woman may be as a person, though her thoughts stopped when both her and the Fon master noticed a couple of men at the front the door that was plainly open, as if they were watching something.
"What do you suppose is going on?"
Shaking her head, she gestured for them to continue on.
When they were close enough, they could hear the commotion.
"-the Dark Wings have been chased off by the Malkuth military to the other side of Rotelro bridge." This came from a female, at least Reyna thought so.
They got closer and Reyna was tall enough just to see a bit beyond the men. She was only able to catch a glimpse of someone with brown hair, their back to her and also, someone with red hair next to said brunette. She tried to see who else was here, but was unable to, though she did hear Jade's voice and that meant that Rose had to be there, else he wouldn't be in her house, right?
It was then that the Fon Master, who had been listening intently to the conversation, stepped forward. "Besides, it appears the thieves aren't human either."
The group of men turned and when they noticed who it was, moved out of the way. Reyna kept close to the Fon Master as he moved into the house. This was when she received a full view of the girl she believed to have spoken and the other one, a red-haired boy. Meeting the gaze of the girl, the Guardian had a moment where she seemed familiar and for the life of her, Reyna couldn't place how she knew her. Her clothes gave off a distinct Order feel to it, but to which division she was from, she hadn't a clue.
And that didn't explain why she was next to the redhead, whom she checked on next. His clothes were not from around her, most definitely and she was pretty sure they weren't Malkuthian either, but who was she to say as such? She was used to Daath's clothes and styles.
"Fon Master Ion." Jade said, before his eyes went to her. She gave a nod, but said nothing.
"I investigated the food storage with Anise and Reyna and I found this in the corner of the room." Reyna was the boy's shadow as he moved forward to give Rose the fur. Her eyes remained strictly ahead and on the boy, even when she could feel the brunette's eyes on her. Later, if permitted, she would find how who this girl was. It would bother her otherwise.
Placing the fur in her hand, Rose took a closer examination of it and said, "This is the fur from a sacred cheagle."
The boy gave a nod in confirmation. "Yes, it was probably a cheagle or rather, a group of cheagles that raided your storehouse."
"See! I told you I wasn't your stupid thief!" Turned her head just as the boy did, they caught the redhead as his attention were on the men from earlier, who looked embarrassed at this moment.
Reyna also saw a brief look of irritation flash across the girl's face before she added in a scolding manner, "But you did eat the apple without paying. You need to learn not to do things that'll make you look suspicious."
"How was I supposed to know? I didn't know I had to pay." Reyna raised an eyebrow. Who didn't know that you had to pay for things from a market?
Rose clapped her heads together. "Alright, alright, alright. Now that we know the truth, let's get back to work." The older woman seemed to want to get things back on track and while the men went to apologize and leave, Reyna turned her attention back to the Fon Master, who was in conversation with Jade.
"And you're doing alright, Ion?"
Nodding his head, he elaborated on their findings and added that Anise was likely still checking things out for them. By this point, everyone had left and the Fon Master took this opportunity to asked, "So is the letter here?"
"Not yet. It appears it will be delayed until tomorrow." Jade shrugged. "When, they're not exactly sure."
Rose smiled and offered, "Since you have to wait until tomorrow, you all could say at my place."
Looking at Jade, the man offered a smile to Rose. "That is a kind offer and we'll take you up on it."
"You're very kind, Rose.
The plump woman let out a chuckle. "I welcome you to my humble abode then."
They all sat down at a table, chatting for a bit. Rose went to go get tea for them when the door flew open. "ION!"
She heard the taps across the floor before Anise appeared in her view. "Reyna! How could you leave without telling me where you two went?! I thought the you two had got lost or-"
Reyna did her best to try to calm the girl down as Rose came back to check in after Anise's loud entrance. All the while, she could see in the corner of her eyes that Jade was thoroughly enjoying this.
Reyna did her best to tune out Anise's outburst while drinking her tea but Jade's chuckle made her glare at him. He was enjoying this, wasn't he?
.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
.
"Is he asleep?" With a nod of confirmation from Anise, Reyna relaxed. "Good."
"Rose has a really nice place, doesn't she?" Anise asked while they walked into the living room. With a slight bounce in her step, the younger continued to happy chat with her. Since Reyna had promised to buy her sweets when she got back to Daath, it wasn't surprising for her to be happy. One of these days, she was going to have a talk with Oliver and Pamela about their daughter's sweet tooth.
"I suppose." Pausing, Reyna touched her head. Anise caught this and gave her a look of concern. "Sorry, I just have a small headache."
Anise still looked worried and open her mouth to probably say as much when it was someone else that spoke instead. "That doesn't sound good. Perhaps you should lay down, Reyna."
Both Guardians turned to see Jade, a smile on his face. How long had he been there?
"Mm, I'll be fine. I might try to go to bed earlier than I intended."
"You're used to going to be pretty late, huh?" Anise crossed her arms and looked like she was thinking on something. "Probably because of Stephen, right? He's always getting into trouble, so you have reports to do on him. Jeez..."
A snort followed. "Pretty much, but he's not the only one. I remember when you did damage to the dining hall and you hadn't even been with the Guardians for a week."
"Boo!" Huffing, she placed both of her hands on her hip. "That's not playing fair, Reyna! Besides, I wasn't the one that 'accidentally' exploded one of storage rooms!"
Reyna put a hand to her face, not forgetting the incident. Oh how Stephen and Uresa had paid that day...
"Oh do continue. It seems the Order has its fun moments, doesn't it?" Reyna glared at Jade as he pushed up his glasses.
While Anise went on for a bit about the other Guardians, Reyna rubbed her head. Maybe Jade was on to something about her getting rest. She had been on edge ever since she decided to come along on this trip and thus, she had been neglecting the need to rest as often as she should. It was worse than the first few weeks as a new commander. A part of her didn't want to complain, having to get used to working under this pressure. Another part of her chastised this idea since she would want one of her Guardians or the Fon Master to get more rest when they needed it.
"Reyna?"
Brought back, her eyes landed on Anise. "Hmm?"
"You kind of zoned out there. Why don't you head to bed early? I'll keep watch over Ion for a bit before I head to bed myself." Anise almost sounded grown up. Sometimes Reyna forgot that most of her Guardians grew up so fast, either by circumstance or because of the Guardian program. Maybe she was forcing them to grow up like she had to, all these years ago...
"If you're sure. It might do me some good to get some rest."
The pig-tailed girl grinned. "Exactly! I'll keep the Colonel company too!~"
"You have fun with that." With a roll of her eyes and wave at the two others, Reyna walked down the hall to the bedroom her and Anise would be sharing.
Getting ready for sleep didn't take very long and soon, she was lying in bed. However, sleep was not coming. She tossed and turned before finally sitting up. Reyna was becoming frustrated with herself, especially as of late. It wasn't like her to have uncertainties, especially after so long and the fact that she couldn't sleep because all of these doubts bothered her.
Was she against the idea? Was she beginning to see where she had been wrong in her morals? But what could you expect? No matter how many years passed, the deep and burning desire never left her and the Guardian had made the decision to follow her own path. While it may have crossed with others, Reyna never felt the need to hesitate. She kept her head forward and never stopped to look back.
She couldn't, not after that day.
No, she had no more doubts. She was going to decide that right here, right now. There might be moments were she might stop, but to keep her head high and her face forward, there was never to be worries in her actions. She made this choice for herself and no one else was going to give her reason to doubt this.
Reyna knew who she was.
With that mindset, she laid back down and tried to get some sleep.
.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
.
Braiding her hair as she sat on her bed, she heard shuffling from the other bed Anise occupied. As she finished with her hair, Anise came into view as she rubbed her eyes. "You're already up and ready? But the sun's barely even up!"
With bedhead and in her night clothes, Reyna let out a chuckle as the girl yawned. Closing her eyes, she hugged Tokunaga closer to her body.
"I'll check in on the Fon Master. You can lay on my bed for and sleep for another ten minutes."
"Just ten?!" she whined before flopping onto Reyna's bed. Not even a minute later, with her body curled up, there was light breathing coming from Anise.
Sighing, she moved from the bed to a nearby chair to put on her tabard over her underclothing. With everything else ready, Reyna gave one last glance at Anise's sleeping form before she smiled. She was grateful to the other Guardian, since sleeping early had helped with the headache. She felt refreshed and more convicted than before.
Leaving the room, she walked down the hallway. Just as she went around the corner, Reyna ran into Rose. Still in her night clothes, the moment the older woman caught sight of her, she smiled.
"Good morning, Miss Reyna. You're certainly up early."
"Mm." With a nod of her head, she elaborated. "Duty dictates me to do as such. I have to check in with the Fon Master and attend to him as his Guardian."
A gentle and warm laugh left Rose. "You're very dedicated. It's good to see someone like you with the Fon Master. The other one too. She's so young, but it's clear she's just as dedicated to this job as you are. You must both care deeply for him."
Reyna's lips parted, but there was a pause to consider her words. It was hard to define what she was feeling exactly at this moment. Rose had caught her off-guard.
"He is the Fon Master." Her reply was simple, but she was quick to change the subject. "If I may inquire, though, why are you up so early yourself?"
"Oh yes. I was going to check in on everyone and it appears that Colonel Curtiss is up and ready! I thought it would be nice to have some tea and breakfast made for you all." Jade was already up? Surely he had gone to bed later than her, hadn't he? If he was up before her, this just proved that she needed to work harder to keep her endurance up. "If the Fon Master is awake, I'll set out an extra cup for him and you as well."
"Thank you, Rose. Let me go check in on him." Leaving it at that, Reyna passed by Rose on her way to the boy's room.
She didn't think that the Fon Master would be awake, but she had to check to be sure. Arriving, she open the door and peering in, Reyna's eyes going to bed.
However, when she saw it empty, she froze. Pushing the door open and walking in, the Guardian rushed over to the bed, pulling the blankets apart. Checking under the bed, in the closet, and just about everywhere else in the room, the Fon Master wasn't there. She cursed, until she finally noticed the window was ajar.
After checking it, she came to one conclusion.
Damnit!
She whipped around, walking out of the room and down the hall until she came to where the living room and kitchen met. Seeing Jade and Rose turn to give her their attention, Jade had only just started to open his mouth to say something, but Reyna beat him to it. "He's gone."
There wasn't time to notice their looks of surprise before Reyna elaborated. "I checked his room, every corner and he's not there. I noticed the window was open, but I'm unsure if he left on his own or if someone came into the night."
Though if someone had kidnapped the Fon Master, why leave the window open? Surely he wouldn't...?
"We should check the house fully before proceeding to ask any of the townsfolk if they've seen anything." Jade was quick to focus on the matter at hand as he stood from his chair. Grateful, the Guardian left to wake Anise from her sleep. They would need her too, though Reyna couldn't tell how she would react once she heard the boy was gone.
An hour later, they had gathered back in Rose's kitchen. From what they heard from a farmer, the boy had asked where the Cheagle Woods were before he headed off in the direction. While Reyna was angered that the man would just allow the Fon Master, of all people, to just wander off like that, there probably wasn't much he could have done. Annoyed and impatient, she had begun to pace the room. Anise looked concerned, but the older Guardian paid her little mind. Not too often did she allow herself to become like this since, rarely, she could herself in this kind of situations.
Jade had finished talking to one of his men as said soldier saluted after the colonel dismissed him. Taking this chance, she walked over to him. "We're going, right? We've already wasted an hour here. We wait any longer, who knows what will happen to the Fon Master."
"There is a report that the letter is on the way and it should be here soon."
Anise pursed her lips before asking, "How soon is 'soon'?"
Jade shook his head, making Reyna want to sigh out of frustration. They were stuck between a rock and a hard place on this one. If they left, there was the possibly that the letter may fall in the wrong hands. Not that Jade or either one of the Guardians didn't trust the crew. You could just never be too careful with this kind of mission. However, the longer the waited, the more likely the boy might find himself in trouble and that did not bode well with the commander.
"Fine, you two wait here then. If the letter will arrive soon, that doesn't mean we all have to be here."
Anise was the first and only one to object. "Wait, why do I have to stay here?! I'm a Guardian too! Ion's personal Guardian at that!"
"I need you to stay here in my plac-"
"That's a dumb excuse."
Reyna glared at the girl, only barely catching Jade's look of amusement in the corner of her eye. She didn't have time for this and above all, it was wasting more time. At this point, Anise stood her ground, and didn't seem to be backing down any time soon.
"If you're in a hurry, I suggest settling this soon." Jade commented, causing Reyna to roll her eyes. "Either way, I'll be staying here until the letter arrives."
Agitated, Reyna finally gave in and snapped at the other, "Fine! You can come, but we're leaving right now."
Nodding her head, Anise was by Reyna's side in an instant.
"We'll be going. Hope to see you soon, Jade. With the Fon Master with us, of course."
And who knew, maybe they would get him back before the letter arrived. She could only hope for the best possibility and expect the worst outcome. Leaving Jade, the Guardians left Rose's house and set to follow the road that lead out of Engeve before heading off to the Cheagle Woods.
AN: Welcome to the end of another chapter! Again, sorry for the delay. Things have gotten a bit busy on my side, but I shall do my best to keep this going! As a note, this chapter is also different and very much so near the end. As I was rewriting this, I realized how ridiculous it would be for Anise to stay behind and some inner Anise just was like 'NOPE' and so that's that.
I don't believe there should be much of a difference besides Anise meeting Luke early, but then again she wouldn't know he's a noble? So she might be a bit mean to him at first. You'll just have to wait and see. Anyway, any reviews help and I'll try to upload this at a good pace, alright?
Chapter 5: Into the Liger's Den- When Reyna and Anise are reunited with Ion at the Cheagle Woods, they are surprised to find him in the company of Luke and Tear. It is here that the two Guardians learns about the situations with the Cheagles. Deciding the best course of action would be to help out, both Guardians agree to head to the liger queen with the others.