Well, here we are with chapter 5.
First of all, sorry this chapter is late. But since I write this part before I actually write the chapter and then just come back and add more or edit bits as necessary, this statement may actually be outdated by the time this chapter is finished, seeing as this could be done before Wednesday or after it – I have no idea.
Anyway, first blunder worth noting is the fact of my apparent laziness in the latter scene with the Dawn Brigade – specifically, not mentioning Ilyana, Aimee or Kurth at all for the sake of speeding things along. Yes I was lazy and no they didn't jump off the face of the earth or anything; quite the opposite in fact, as I've always liked Ilyana and she'll be getting some attention during Part One, and then some more later on. Pairing options for her are a complete unknown to me, should I want to pair her off at all.
Secondly, this chapter is the first chapter with base conversations (as per the game, that is). While I'm certainly not about to take each conversation word for word and senselessly turn them into a conversation at the beginning, it is my plan to include them in one way or another. I hadn't really thought about it before now, so I suppose I'll just go about this chapter as I have the other four and do whatever seems natural when it comes time to worry about it. We'll see.
The Greil Mercenaries take control of the Teran region within a matter of a few hours. This movement forces Begnion forces to retreat entirely from the Crimean border, instead fortifying themselves closer to the capital to respond to the frequent uprisings. The lack of fresh supplies has an immediate result in Begnion's Occupation Forces, and it is with great disdain that Jarod orders the retreat of many of the forces stationed between the capital and the Desert of Death in order to secure as much food as possible. The Dawn Brigade goes unopposed in their march toward the desert, following a lead stating that a liberation army is forming deep within it, and that the son of the late King Ashnard is their leader.
Meanwhile, the Greil Mercenaries take their attack toward the Begnion border, stopping any attempts to retake Teran. The city becomes a restricted area within Daein where the people's lives show noticeable improvement. Word spreads like wildfire of a small group led by a blue haired man liberating the city, and so the Greil Mercenaries wisely flee the area and continue on toward Odyn, where a large prison is holding many civilians captive.
The two groups work in unknown unison to liberate Daein from the tyrannical hands of Begnion's senators – the Greil Mercenaries protect the people while the Dawn Brigade seeks to eliminate Begnion as a whole, restoring their country. These two forces are destined to cross paths in a battle that no one can predict...
Odyn prison was a large place, by any stretch of the imagination. Similar to the Daein Keep in essence, many feared its very presence and sought to avoid it at all costs. It is for that reason that it had so far gone as being a fortress that could not be captured – the large slopes leading toward it made for a difficult fight that was made no easier should anyone actually reach its looming walls.
The Greil Mercenaries dared to challenge this claim, camping at the base of the hill before the massive prison. All were seated around a small fire – a fire any larger would have revealed their presence – with their eyes drawn toward Soren who seemed to be in deep thought, looking from his lap to the prison and then back down again constantly. Not that anyone else looked any less troubled – the prison would be a difficult structure to capture given their numbers, even with the night on their side.
"Shinon, how are your eyes for scaling?" Soren lifted his eyes at last, staring at the auburn haired archer warily. The archer in question wore a look of indifference instead of his usual scowl as he looked up from the fire, seemingly pleased with himself. It was no secret that he took pride in any and every skill he had – and he had many – and having those around him gush over his talents gave him a sense of fulfillment that the other mercenaries found themselves lacking. Now, if only his skills could give him a lifestyle befitting of their worth...
"They are good enough. Am I going to be climbing up there and letting you guys in?" he replied, no traces of disdain noticeable in his voice, which came as quite a shock to those around him – he had, for the most part, had a grudging attitude toward what he did with the group.
"Yes," Soren replied without hesitation. His eyes drifted toward Ike as he said, "You should go with Shinon. If he leads the way you should have no trouble, and he'll need the support for his ranged fighting." Shinon was absolutely loving the prospect of being superior to Ike at that moment. The smirk on his face as those words left Soren's mouth was missed by none.
"I agree," Ike said at once; he was not so petty as to dwell on the rivalry Shinon had tried to spark with him. "Then the rest of you will wait outside the gates – once we're in we'll let you in, and then we aim for the cells."
In hindsight, the plan had been a good one. Even climbing up the slightly spiked walls of the prison hadn't been unreasonable, and reaching the top hadn't required any vast amount of effort with Shinon's experience in the matter. But when they reached the top and found themselves looking down upon a prison interior with more soldiers than they could try to count, with only a large descending staircase separating them, the merits of the plan got a bit of rethinking.
"We're breaking through... that?" Shinon asked incredulously, preparing an arrow regardless.
Ike nodded, "You head toward the gates; I'll watch your back and hold off anyone that spots us." Despite being put second to his commander again Shinon nodded, not in any mood to be cut in half at that point in time – he had survived through far worse, right?
Shinon leaped toward the wall where a flag was hanging, gripping onto it tightly for a swift ride down to the ground. Before Shinon could be noticed Ike had made his way for the stairs, storming down them loudly to draw the attention of the guards. As they readied their lances and advanced on Ike, Shinon rushed toward the gates in the far distance, pausing briefly to lodge arrows in the skulls of the few guards that hadn't responded to or hadn't noticed Ike's arrival. Those that had noticed Ike vastly outnumbered those that had not, and the mercenary was forced to dig his feet into the ground, swinging repeatedly to beat off the guards as they surrounded him. It was no easy task but he managed all the same, either breaking lances or outright killing anything that came in range of his senseless swinging. An effective method indeed, albeit being a risky one in its own right.
As Shinon reached the gates he quickly dispatched the three guards on duty before running up the battlements and pulling on the lever that opened the gates, throwing a thumbs up over the wall to his allies below. Titania and Oscar rode in first, taking off in opposite direction with weapons swinging. Mia and Boyd followed on foot, taking off toward the stairs that led downward into the lower levels of the tiered prison. Gatrie had Rhys following close behind as he held onto what seemed to be a map of the prison, nodding to himself as he took off in the same direction as Oscar – most likely to reach a different section of the lower levels. Mist stuck close to Soren as he entered with Rolf, the two children acting as bodyguards as he strode in with a commanding air, eyes fixed ahead.
"Shinon!" he called harshly toward the battlements, not turning around. "Where is Ike?"
"He's being held up by the guards near where we infiltrated," Shinon replied swiftly, making his way down to Soren's level casually.
"Go lend him a hand. I'll stay here – the two of you come back here when you've cleared out the guards over there."
Ike's situation was nothing short of desperate as his swinging grew slower, bicep aching from the relentless movement. The soldiers continued to pour forth consistently, replacing any that were rendered weaponless or killed within seconds. The corpses were beginning to pile up as were the broken pieces of weapons – hadn't Begnion given their low ranking soldiers anything sturdy? - but with each new addition to the growing piles, there was more proof of Ike's growing exhaustion. He grunted as he continued to force as much strength as he could muster into his swings, his arm burning with pain as it was forced. Even then he didn't complain – this was nothing compared to the kind of effort that went into some of the more difficult battles during the war, such as against the Black Knight or against Ashnard, but even so the discomfort was evident.
"Not growing soft are you, Ike?" an arrow lodged itself in the side of a soldier's head and Shinon rushed by Ike, taking a defensive spot on the stairs as he readied a second arrow. "Stand there and be a good guard, will you?" Shinon continued mockingly. Ike nodded and readied himself, taking a more methodical approach of blocking and then attacking, Shinon's arrows providing relief every few seconds as they found a new target.
"How long do we have?" Ike asked as he got his second wind, taking a step forward and swinging his large sword diagonally from left to right, forcing the entire crowd of soldiers back as they were struck hard by the powerful swing. His initial attack was followed up by a second step and another swing coming back down to where his sword had started, this time taking out several soldiers and wounding others.
As he backed off and took a defensive stance Shinon smirked and fired an arrow into another soldier – this time striking the neck – as he said, "Getting tired? You really have grown soft."
Ike smirked, "Not tired at all." He emphasized his poing with a powerful horizontal swing that immediately killed every soldier caught by it, cleaving through their midsections with frightening effectiveness. "Sure your arm can take much more abuse? You're getting a little sluggish there, Shinon."
The archer scowled at Ike as he sped up the process of readying another arrow, firing them within three seconds of each other – far faster than Ike had ever seen. "I'm not the best for nothing – this arm has remained strong through much worse than this."
"And these muscles didn't come from nowhere," Ike shot back as his sword hooked into a soldier's hip, sending the soldier flipping backwards and into the ground as the sword was pulled upward and out of its confines.
"Well then," Shinon started, pausing to launch an arrow into a soldier's forehead. "We'll have to find out which of us is stronger, won't we."
Ike's sword similarly found another foe, sending the corpse flying into a couple other soldiers, knocking them down. "You're on." The sheer numbers forgotten, the two set out to see who was truly the stronger between the two – Ike abandoned his defensive post in favor of an all out onslaught while Shinon rushed to and fro, taking safe places as they became available and unleashing his arrows on the spreading out crowd of soldiers. Bodies fell one after the other to the two in amounts that quickly grew beyond their ability to count, but that got no more than a passing notice in their minds. They were far too focused on their own success to pay any mind for the bodies of helpless and fear stricken soldiers falling all around them.
Nearly ten minutes later the two regrouped by the stairs where they had started, both panting with grins on their faces. Shinon's grin looked horribly misplaced – a scowl was far more befitting of his features, Ike absently noted, and his eyes were shimmering with a delight Ike didn't know existed in the stoic archer. His disdain toward his commander momentarily forgotten, Shinon held out a hand that Ike graciously took, both saying at once, "Draw?"
Titania broke the silence that followed as she rode up to them, "Gatrie and Rhys have secured the prison's lower levels and Oscar has cleared the road to allow them to make their escape. We should get going before they catch wind of our attack and send somebody to retake the prison."
Ike nodded, "We're done here too. Tell Soren to take the others and pack up. We don't have time for more rest right now --"
"-- After a fight like this?" Shinon cut in, irritated. Ike gave him a smirk and flexed, taunting the archer. "Rolf may be tired, after all," Shinon added quickly, smirking back.
"How... thoughtful?" Titania tried, clueless. "Anyway, Ike, I'll go and send the word." At Ike's nod she took off toward the gates where Soren was sure to be waiting still. Ike and Shinon shared one last smug grin before they set off in the same direction.
"Soren!" Ike shouted as the short sage came into his sights, pointing out the gates as he shared a few words with Titania. As she rode off Soren looked over toward Ike, irritation written all over his face. "... What?"
"Where were you?" Soren asked impatiently, tapping his foot. The look he gave Ike was heavily reminiscent of a scolding look a mother would give her child – a feeling Ike was hardly familiar with, indeed.
"Fighting?" Ike tried, childishly timid under Soren's gaze. It was unusual for Ike to be anything short of the confidant, brash commander he usually was, and the very idea of Ike being anything but that was absurd to most.
"He was in deeper than I thought," Shinon added over Ike's shoulder, smirking smugly at Ike has he retreated into silence once again. Soren sighed and rubbed at the bridge of his nose, his irritation fading into a sour look consisting of narrowed eyes and slightly parted lips.
"Even so," he started, sighing again. "The plan was to break in, get the prisoners and get out. Clearly, you didn't have such a thought in mind."
Ike shook his head, "They would have noticed eventually no matter how careful we were. Being pursued by Begnion guards isn't something we want."
"Even so," Soren groaned, glaring at Ike, eyes ablaze with fury. "You risked the rest of us with your impulsive decision. You need to remember that you are the commander and that these are not the simple mercenary jobs we've been taking for the last half a year. This is a war we're fighting here, whether you realize it or not."
Ike had to admit, Soren had a point. With a sigh, he said, "Its not like we've declared war on them or anything, though --"
"-- To them, we might as well have, Ike." When Ike said nothing, avoiding Soren's gaze, he continued, "We've attacked them twice now. We may be no more than pests to them, but we are still carrying out acts of aggression against Begnion here. We are still their enemies in this scenario. And that means you aren't a mercenary leader here – you are our general, our leader, and that means you cannot afford to be running off impulsively like you did tonight."
The reality of the situation was a harsh blow indeed to Ike. They had declared war on Begnion – the same nation that they had essentially led to victory over the very country they now sought to resurrect. It could be said that they fought in Crimea's name, but the liberation army was largely composed of Begnion soldiers. In fact, the only divergence from that fact was in the fact that the leaders of the army were loyal to Crimea, and that the Gallians that later joined the army were fighting in Crimea's name. Even so, Ike owed much to the country he was now fighting – as a mercenary he cared not for their past agreements, but as a military general he held much regard for the nation.
Ike kept his eyes on the map Tormod had given him as the group packed up, plotting out their next destination. He handed the map off to Soren as he approached, and the sage said immediately, "We should start heading toward Talrega. Even if any of the liberation groups rising up have any success, the time of year makes an attack on the place impossible. We're at least familiar with the area. And if we rescue the prisoners, we can increase our own strength --"
Ike shook his head, "Our job is to protect the civilians. We'll head toward Talrega because its position is advantageous, but our targets along the way will be the civilian camps at Taria and Helda. Attacking the labor camp there does nothing for us."
The cold wasteland that the Daein countryside often was had been long forgotten in the past few days of travel for the Dawn Brigade. The Desert of Death was a hollowed wasteland of nothing but scorching sands with a perpetual dusk painting the sky a dark red obscured by the unending sandstorms raging around them. In a sense the shift from countryside to desert wasn't a difficult transition – there were several instances of the countryside being little more than a barren wasteland – but the noticeable change in temperature was a telltale sign of their new environment. Compared to the colder temperatures in Daein it was a welcome change, but the novelty of the desert's heat was a quick one to wear off. And so, they were eternally grateful to have found some form of refuge through the endless sea of sand.
No matter how questionable its living conditions appeared to be. And that was from an outside glance.
Aimee looked especially relieved to have found refuge, collapsing into the sand where she stood and all but squealing with glee, careless of the sand now dirtying her dress-like robe. Ilyana similarly collapsed although for an entirely different reason – on top of Sothe's foot, the green haired thief noted bemusedly – and Edward soon followed suit, leaning against Sothe's leg in a similar fashion to Ilyana. Sothe raised an eyebrow but was much too focused on the matter at hand to bother himself with saving his leg from them, instead occupying himself with looking over at Micaiah, noting, "You don't look very pleased with this place. Is something wrong?"
Micaiah didn't answer, her eyes taking on a distant look as she gazed at the large arched entrance to the castle. When Sothe poked at her cheek and repeated the statement – it hadn't sounded like a question to begin with – she jumped, looking at Sothe as though she'd just seen a ghost. When her breathing evened out she said, "The place is fine... It..."
"What is going on, Micaiah?" Sothe raised an eyebrow and Micaiah inwardly cursed Sothe's ability to read her like a book.
"I'm not sure," she replied honestly, shrugging indifferently. "This place... There is something strange about it. Something here... is calling out to me, I think. I'm not sure, but..."
"We'll check it out; we should look into this, at the very least. Everyone else, check the surroundings of this place."
Nolan nodded, immediately adopting the role of overseeing those outside the castle-esque structure, "Will do. Everyone be on you guard. And Sothe, be careful – we can't be sure what may be in there. If something comes up, light the signal. We'll head in once we're done out here."
Sothe flashed him a thumbs up as he said, "You got it."
The interior was something out of a storybook and most certainly not the sand filled cavern they had been expecting: rubble covering much of the ground in a manner that clearly showed that time had not been kind to the place, stone walls surprisingly devoid of moss – Sothe figured it was due to the environment – all came together to say the one thing both Micaiah and Sothe were hesitant to say. Dreadful. In a word, the place was absolutely dreadful, albeit amazing in its own way. Despite not being a picky person by default, Micaiah found herself wondering whether or not it was safe for their health to be making a temporary home out of such a place. Sothe was no more picky than Micaiah, though he found himself looking at the matter in a slightly better light than Micaiah – they had managed to avoid a night camped in the sand so far, and had they not found this place that would have been what they'd have been doing in a matter of hours. It was certainly an improvement.
Sothe found the amazing quality far stronger than Micaiah did, finding himself in awe as he said, "I can't believe ruins like these are still standing... its amazing."
Snorting in disapproval Micaiah said, "They do seem quite old, indeed..." Shrugging off her disapproval she added, curiously, "I wonder who built them?"
Looking toward the ceiling, Sothe noted as he observed the sheer size, "It must have been Laguz, given the size."
Not grasping exactly how the sheer size mattered, Micaiah asked, "What makes you say that?"
"Their comparably larger bodies aside, what do you think it would be like to be able to transform into a bird, a dragon, or even a beast as the Laguz can?" At Micaiah's raised eyebrow he continued, "Being part beast is one thing, but being able to transform into a beast – with all of the strength that comes with it... It wouldn't be a stretch to imagine they could build something like this before breakfast."
Micaiah nodded animatedly, momentarily stunned by his words. Once they had managed to register themselves in her mind fully, she said, "I suppose that is true... but even so, you surprised me more than these Laguz ruins..."
"How so?"
"You've changed, Sothe, whether you realize it or not." She placed her arms around his waist and snuggled against his chest briefly, chin resting on his chest as she gazed up at his face, "I remember a time when Laguz were nothing more than "filthy Sub-Humans" to you. Such an ugly word, really... now look at you though," as she pulled away from him again, she poked a finger at his heart and grinned.
Sothe scratched at the back of his head, clueless as to how much e'd really changed, "Well, come on Micaiah. Beorc are called the Children of Wisdom and Laguz the Children of Strength for a reason. Many people are still naive, but I've realized that just because our two races differ, neither is better than the other. Bias between our two races is no more than ignorance, unfortunately." He went into a state of reminiscence for a moment before he continued, "When I met Ike during the war, three years ago... and when I fought beneath him... he made me realize this. He's come leaps and bounds in racial acceptance alone."
Micaiah placed her hands on her hips and groaned, frowning, "Here I thought you were saying something witty! But no, its just another excuse to talk about him."
"What are you talking about, Micaiah?"
"Don't give me that, Sothe! Sometimes, its as if every other thing you say is an ode to the Great General Ike," she adopted a mocking tone as she spat out Ike's name, glaring at Sothe to give her displeasure the extra emphasis. "I know you owe him your life, and that you want to be like him! But in case you've forgotten, he's also the man who crushed us. Had he not attacked three years ago, we wouldn't be in the position we are now!"
"I know that!" Sothe snapped, glaring back. "Everyone does! But looking at it only from our side is selfish, Micaiah – he was doing the same thing we're trying to do now, thats all."
"And suddenly he's a saint?! Grow up, Sothe!"
"I didn't say that! And also, Micaiah, theres a good chance he's making amends for that!"
Micaiah narrowed her eyes, "What are you talking about, Sothe?"
"You saw all those troops retreating to Nevassa as we were on our way here! They weren't retreating for no reason – particularly when we are their number one enemy. Somebody did something."
"And you're saying your General Ike is responsible?" Micaiah spat skeptically.
"This is within days of the rumors regarding the Greil Mercenaries' flight to our country. The odds are high, Micaiah. And if anyone is capable of doing something like that, it is General Ike."
"You're just having trouble grasping the fact that your hero may actually be dead. He isn't invincible, Sothe. He's human," Micaiah growled, finding her temper regarding the subject at hand growing thin.
Sothe growled so deeply in the back of his throat that it made Micaiah jump, "You're speaking about him as if he's some insult to humanity that is trying to take me away from you – which is completely absurd, I might add! And General Ike is every bit as hard to kill as I've made him out to be; Geoffrey wouldn't do him in so easily, I know that much."
Micaiah opened her mouth to argue further, but was promptly cut off by Yune flying out from under her robes, chirping happily as it flew further into the room. Micaiah raised an eyebrow and called, "Yune?" after her bird before turning and running after it, Sothe close on her heels, their disagreement momentarily forgotten.
As the tiny bird led them on a goose chase through the ruins, they finally came to a stop at the top of a set of stairs, in a rather peculiar room. The room's general appeal wasn't a whole lot better, but there were certain key differences. Namely, the sand that covered the ground lightly and the piles of hold and other treasures that littered the room to the point of an almost blinding light bouncing off them and around the room. Micaiah had to squint her eyes as she walked into the room, muttering, "Incredible..."
Sothe gazed around in equal awe, "Mounds of treasure...?" Now, he wasn't a selfish person in the least. Much less did he desire riches of any sort. But remaining indifferent in the face of such treasure was a rather hard job, he reasoned. Noticing a similar awed look now on Micaiah's face he uncharacteristically smirked, saying, "Perhaps it was the gold that called out to you, Micaiah?"
A deafening roar had them rushing toward the center of the room and watching. Several people with distinctly animalistic features sauntered in from two sets of stairs on opposite sides of the large room with two much larger people in tow. They spread out in a way that quickly told the two unlucky prey that attempting escape was as suicidal as standing there was.
The two larger men – presumably the leaders – walked in front of the rest, glowering at Micaiah and Sothe. The two were nearly identical in appearance, discernible only by the differing colors of the claw-like designs on their heads; one had purple designs while the other had blue. The latter of the two laughed haughtily, saying, "Well look here, my Fang Brothers! Looks like a tasty snack arrived while we were gone!"
The other chuckled in kind as he added, "Our first prey in a long time indeed. Brothers, leave them to me!"
Sothe cursed their luck audibly, saying, "Laguz bandits!" he couldn't say much else before one of the Laguz turned into a cat and rushed at them, claws poised to strike. As it leaped at Sothe he ducked, grabbing one of his knives and thrusting it upward into the stomach of the cat. It got up and prepared to lunge again, only to be cut short as a sword came down upon its back, causing it to cry out and slump to its side, lifeless. A knight covered from head to toe in pink armor came out from around a wall, helmet in her free hand to reveal a face belonging to someone of no more than sixteen or seventeen, her auburn hair pulled into two pigtails.
"Ah, thank you..." Sothe started, raising an eyebrow. The thought briefly crossed his mind how she'd escaped their notice so far, but he didn't allow the thought to linger.
"You guys looked like you needed help!" the girl chirped with a grin, pulling her helmet over her head and pulling the visor up to leave her eyes visible. "Mind if I lend a hand?"
Micaiah smiled, "Not at all... Um..."
"Meg!" the girl finished gleefully.
"Well, Meg," Sothe started, smiling slightly. "We're not exactly the safest group around. But if you're sure..." At Meg's enthusiastic nod of assurance, he nodded in kind, "Micaiah, give the signal."
"Take this!" Meg cried excitedly as she swung down at another tiger, only to yelp in surprise as it jumped to its feet almost immediately and lunged, digging one of its long nails into the armor covering her chest, narrowly missing penetrating her skin.
The yelp Meg gave off drew Leonardo's attention and he abandoned providing support for Nolan in favor of investigating – raising an eyebrow at the sight of Meg now on her back with her sword held in front of her holding back two large tiger paws, he notched an arrow and lodged it in the tiger's head, throwing a tiny smile at Meg when her head whipped over to look at him in surprise. He didn't see much more than that as he turned back to Nolan as she pried herself out from under the corpse, but he could have sword he heard something along the lines of an adoring, "My hero."
Yes, they were a desperate bunch indeed to enlist the aid of such a person.
Not too far away Sothe was fending off two cats at once. As one went in for another tackle he kicked it aside, grabbing a dagger from his side and throwing it at the cat's exposed belly. The other cat leaped at him as well, but before it got near a bolt of lightning stuck down on it, stunning it as it tried to shake off the pain the coursing electricity provided. The opening was more than enough for Sothe to finish it off too. Ilyana came up beside him and handed him a cloth with which he wiped off his knives, smiling timidly at him, "Are you okay, Sothe? You're not... tired?"
Sothe chuckled, "We all are. But we will die if we don't fight, right?"
"You are right," Ilyana replied dreamily. "Why are you not with Micaiah?"
Sothe didn't answer at first, more than a little preoccupied by the roar that marked the arrival of another tiger. As he swiftly dug one knife into its throat and another into the soft area just below the back of its neck, he answered solemnly, "She said I was of more use out here than babying her and that she could take care of herself."
"Ah," was all Ilyana said in response, waving her hand in the direction of the tiger and sending a bolt of lightning down upon its writhing body, finishing it off immediately. "But I thought she was... your..." she trailed off, but the embarrassed blush that crossed her face told Sothe what she meant.
Shaking his head, his expression grew more serious as he said, "No... I just owe my life to her, as she does me. We are family, I guess, but nothing more. We love eachother, but... its not how you are thinking."
Ilyana looked up into his eyes, saying softly, "You don't sound happy about that."
Sothe stared at her for a long moment before speaking, "... We have a battle to fight. Stay with me."
Elsewhere, Aran was being far less talkative as he exchanged between holding his shield out and thrusting his lance forward regularly, ignoring Laura as she ranted off about how he should be more careful and how, "The Goddess frowns upon such recklessness," or something or the sort. He didn't even bother trying to remember that one.
And so he was both eternally grateful and slightly worried when a deafening roar that certainly sounded like more than one tiger silenced her immediately. Laura reverted to clinging to his back and making herself as small as possible – most likely in the hopes that she wouldn't be noticed – and watched closely as two tigers charged at Aran at once. He swiftly dispatched the first by thrusting his lance through its mouth as it leaped, but the other ended up being more than a little bothersome as it chomped down on his shield, determined not to lose its grip.
But for all of its determination, in the face of a pending lance thrust to its completely exposed side it hardly put up a fight. The Laguz immediately detached itself from Aran's sheild and put some distance between the two before starting into a slow circling motion like any good animal did before hunting its prey. Aran followed it both with his eyes and with his movements, casually pushing Laura further back to protect her. "Stay... back," he whispered, barely registering her nod from the corner of his eye.
The tiger suddenly lunged, growling menacingly as its claws scratched along the stone ground, kicking up sand when it leaped into the air. When its fangs were right in his face Aran threw his lance up, placing it just in front of the threatening teeth and holding its mouth open. Using the lance as leverage he leaped up and onto the tiger's back, pulling the lance from its mouth and stabbing it down into its neck repeatedly. Once it had gone limp he leaped off of it again, panting for air as he tried to regain his strength. He barely registered Laura's enthusiastic call of, "Aran!" as she rushed to his side, eyes scanning him carefully for anything she could do to help.
"I'm fine," Aran said, more than a little uncomfortable at that moment.
"I-I just..."
"I appreciate the sentiment," Aran smiled very faintly – so faintly it was barely noticed - as he placed a hand on her shoulder, triggering the appearance of a much larger smile on her face. "But Sothe is up ahead. We should go."
Edward beheaded another tiger while Micaiah's light magic tore through a cat, sending them both plummeting to the ground atop one another. Micaiah wiped the growing amounts of sand from her clothes as Edward cleaned off his sword to spare it from the thick scent of blood. With a nod to eachother they continued forward, passing by a particularly large mound of gold – which was more than enough to draw Edward's attention away from the task at hand for several moments – as they went. Both kept their eyes scanning from side to side out of habit, unable to shake the worry that someone was waiting to leap out from around a corner and do them in before they knew what was happening.
"Where is Sothe?" Edward asked absently for what seemed the sixth time. Were it intended as anything but a reminder of his shock that Sothe wasn't watching over Micaiah like a hawk, she would have pondered the possibility of Edward being obsessed – despite the lack of substantial evidence.
And for the sixth time as well, Micaiah answered, "He's taking everyone else and going around to attack the other side of the chamber – it was more occupied."
Rather than making another remark about how he was shocked Sothe hadn't left everything to Nolan and come running to Micaiah like a knight in shining armor, Edward grunted in displeasure, "We're not getting reinforcements, are we?"
"Oh, don't be so negative! We are doing fine!" Micaiah chirped, giving her biggest smile for assurance's sake.
The effect that reassuring smile normally had on people fell short this time as a loud growl directed their attention toward the far corner of the room. While they were expecting to see a tiger they were surprised – and slightly worried – to find out that the noise had come from a Laguz in human form. Noticing their expressions the Laguz laughed maniacally, saying, "Come here! Come here so I can taste you – Beorc make good meals, after all!"
Micaiah glowered as threateningly as she could, shouting in return, "We didn't purposely intrude on your territory! Please listen!"
"Oh, I'll listen..." The large man took a step forward, laughing loudly as he said, "As I'm gnawing on those delicious bones!" Edward stepped in front of Micaiah and braced himself as the man changed into a large tiger and attacked, tearing up sand beneath him as he ran. He leaped at Edward and snapped at the air a few times tauntingly, only to end up chomping down on Edward's sword as he threw it out in defense. Holding him in place Edward grabbed his other sword and slashed down, catching the tiger where his shoulder would have been but was instead the top of one of his legs. The tiger let out a more humanoid hiss and backed off, releasing Edward's sword in the process.
Edward closed the distance and swung at the momentarily unmoving tiger, hooking his sword into the tiger's underside and pushing, tossing him aside and leaving a very large cut in his underside. He hissed as he tried to pull himself up – a difficult task given the wound pouring blood beneath him – and replaced that hiss with an enraged growl as he narrowed his eyes at Edward, silently marking him as his next pray. Noticing this immediately Edward grew uncharacteristically serious, throwing his arm out and saying, Micaiah, leave this to me." Micaiah immediately nodded and stepped to the side, keeping a tight grip on her tome regardless.
As weird as a duel of claw and jaw versus steel sounded, they managed to make it seem almost no different than a duel between two weapons. Edward ducked under the tiger's lunge and spun around, swinging his sword horizontally and the tiger would duck in kind before kicking his back legs out, narrowly dodging Edward as he jumped away from the threatening legs. Their movements were swift and hard to follow – and to Micaiah's surprise the tiger was more than capable of defending itself despite his lack of any real armor – but there was a certainty in the fact that they were well matched. And Micaiah found the engagement enthralling to watch, despite her personal feelings on the matter.
It wasn't until after another few rounds of clawing and slicing at eachother – to very little effect, Micaiah added with a raised eyebrow – that the tiger reverted to his human form, panting but grinning. "You are strong, Beorc! I am going to enjoy this!" he ran forward, transforming just in time to dodge a swing from Edward's sword and tackled the swordsman to the ground, and even as an animal his eager grin wasn't missed. Edward was helpless save for the sword he had pressed against the tiger's stomach to keep it from crushing him, and his other arm was pinned beneath a large paw, leaving him at the mercy of the bloodthirsty tiger.
Twisting his head away from the snapping jaw in front of him Edward mustered every ounce of strength he had – which wasn't much – Edward pushed against the stomach hovering over him, finally managing to toss him aside. Grabbing his other sword he pounced, slicing at the tiger that lay helpless on the ground furiously, leaving him little more than a blood-spewing mess, writhing on the ground. Paying him no further mind Edward sheathed his swords, turning to face Micaiah with a small smile, "Shall we go?"
"Sothe is probably done now, as well."
As the group gathered together at the far end of the chamber ankle deep in sand, Micaiah's thoughts were hardly on the growing amount of sand inside her footwear. "Yune? ...Yune! You can come out now!"
Sothe sighed as he tucked away his now clean knives, shaking his head, "You and that bird, Micaiah... Its a little strange, really."
"Totally," Aimee added with a grin.
Micaiah huffed indignantly, crossing her arms over her chest and looking away defiantly, "You both are just jealous. Yune is..." She paused as a strange sound – strange, but eerily familiar at the same time – filled her ears. "Shh. I... I hear something. ...Singing?"
"I don't hear anything," Sothe muttered, raising an eyebrow.
"Shush!" Micaiah hissed, looking around. At last she pointed down a narrow hallway not ten feet away from them, saying, "Its coming from that way," and taking off without another word. Muttering something under his breath about Micaiah not thinking before she acted Sothe took off after her, motioning with his hand for everyone else to wait where they were.
The singing continued to grow louder as they grew closer to the room at the far end of the hallway, finally coming to another room where a blond man sat, Yune on his shoulder and white wings flowing out from his back. On either side of him were two wolves that had Sothe bug-eyed in wonder – one bore a shimmering white coat of fur that screamed royalty even on an animal, while the other was a grey that marked that wolf as a servant in much the same way. Both looked almost too calm as the blond sang softly, his hand reaching up and gently scratching the top of Yune's head, smiling gently at the bird perched on him.
"Thats..." Micaiah started, struck with awe.
"...Beautiful," Sothe finished for her, nodding eagerly. "I've only heard singing like this once before."
Nodding absently, Micaiah began to walk forward, saying, "Hey! Who... are you?"
The two wolves stood up and stepped in front of the blond, transforming to reveal human forms similar in their elegance to their wolf forms. The white wolf changed into a woman befitting the beauty of her wolf form despite how horribly underdressed she was, wearing only a small black sleeveless top that reached only halfway up her bust, a transparent white shawl covering her left arm and a golden sash crossing from her left shoulder to her right hip. A mahogany cloth wrapped around her entire lower body and leaving much revealed, covered only by the purple leg guards that stretched down to her knees. Her long gray hair with wolfish white ears, piercing emerald eye – a golden cloth covered her right eye – and the dark designs covering her arms and legs acted as a well suited addition to her look, showing the more wild side of the wolf she just happened to be.
Unlike the white wolf, the grey wolf – a male – was dressed far more simply. He wore nothing on his upper body, leaving his toned muscles and the dark designs covering his arms revealed to all. Simple white pants covered his legs down to the shins where black shinguards take over the duty, stretching down to sandals that poorly covered his equally poorly cared for toenails. A red cloth went over the pants with black metal plates holding it in place at the waist, black cloth extending down the back of his legs in such a way that made them look like wings. His more wild side came in the form of his raven black, unkempt hair with black ears poking out from their depths, the long strands falling on either side of his stoic face. Both looked overly protective of the blond behind them, glowering at Micaiah until the blond stood, waving a hand for them to step back.
"Child, I am Rafael." The blond waved a hand toward the room around them, continuing, "A voice called me here. Was it your's?"
Micaiah shook her head no, saying, "But I heard a voice that guided me here as well. Someone – or something – must want us here. Why, I cannot say."
Sothe spoke up by adding, "You're both Laguz, I can tell. You are of the Heron clan, and... two of the Beast tribe?" The last bit was added with a questioningly raised eyebrow.
"That is correct, Beorc," Rafael answered. Realization dawning on him, shock settled in as he stuttered to ask, "How did you know I was... I thought..."
"Your white wings you are of the royal family. Are you, perhaps, related to Prince Reyson?"
Rafael nodded meekly, "Reyson is my brother. Do you know of him?"
"Something like that," Sothe shrugged. "We served in the same company for a while."
"Are you... are you suggesting my brother lives still?" Rafael asked softly. Mentally, he willed himself not to get his hopes up, but his heart was in no mood to listen to reason.
Sothe nodded, "Yeah, he's alive. And Princess Leanne and your father are as well. Unless something has happened, they are living in the royal palace of Gallia with King Caineghis and the beast tribe."
Rafael's mouth was wide open as tears of joy began streaming down his cheeks relentlessly. It took him several minutes to get his emotions under control, and even then the task of speaking became no easier, "I-I... Unbelievable," he choked out finally. "My father... Leanne... Oh, sweet Leanne... you're still with me! I'm... I'm not alone..." the female of the two wolves tentatively stepped toward Rafael, slowly wrapping her arms around him and allowing him to collapse against her. "I'm not alone... not anymore..."
"Rafael..." was all she could manage out in reply, struck silent by the emotional moment. She shared a look with the other wolf who looked equally touched, though he remained completely silent.
Unintentionally bringing the moment to an abrupt end, Micaiah looked at the female wolf and asked, "Who are you?"
Pulling away from Rafael and allowing him to slump back into his seat, the wolf replied, "I am Nailah, Queen of Hatari." Micaiah and Sothe shared a bewildered look and Nailah answered their unasked question as she went on, "Our kingdom lies far to the east, on the other side of the desert. And this," she pointed to the other wolf. "He is Volug, my loyal servant."
Ignoring the last of her statement Sothe asked, "There is land on the other side of the desert?"
"That is what I just said." Nailah shook her head and chuckled before continuing, "Before we met Rafael, you were just as nonexistent to us. Save for us, nobody has dared to cross the desert and live to tell of it. And even then, we have only made it this far because of Rafael."
Rafael looked at Sothe as he took over, "My people – the herons – were blamed for the murder of Begnion's Empress, as you know. Begnion mobs rose up in rage and despair and massacred them all --"
"-- The Serenes Massacre," Sothe clarified.
"Correct," Rafael nodded. "I managed to survive the massacre and after many years finally found myself in this desert, where I wandered in despair for many a day. I was found by the queen, and were it not for her I would have surely died. She brought me to Hatari, where I vowed to dedicate my life to her. I did so gladly and without question, but each and every night for those three long years a voice called out to me. It grew stronger with each night until it finally led me here, to you two. And what joy it brings me to hear the news you brought! Leanne, Reyson... father..." As he began tearing up again he muttered, "O Goddess, I thank thee..."
"Rafael..." Nailah started softly. She glared suddenly as she added, "You talk too much. Control yourself." Leaving Rafael to his happiness-induced stupor she pointed authoratively at Micaiah as she said, "Beorc, what would be the fastest route to Gallia?"
Sothe spoke up for her, "For a group of Laguz, travelling through the Daein countryside would be nothing short of suicide. It would take you much longer, but we could escort you as far as Crimea."
Nailah nodded, "If that is the case, we would be grateful. But why Crimea? Wouldn't it be faster to go straight to Gallia?"
Sothe quickly shook his head, "Impossible – there is no way you would be getting into Gallia on your own. But there is a man in Crimea who can get you into Gallia without incident; you'd be best off seeking his aid. That man – Ike – is in contact with Gallia's advisors and is close friends with King Caineghis. He can get you in."
Rafael stood up and slowly began walking, and as one everyone began the return trip to the rest of the brigade. Tilting his head to the side, Rafael couldn't help asking, "Why is he so close to the king? Beorc, I thought..."
Sothe knew exactly what he meant, "Racism is strong still. But Ike is a stepping stone in equality – for the past four years he has built friendships with many Laguz from the king and his advisors to Prince Reyson and Princess Leanne, as well as King Tibarn of Phoenicis."
Rafael was awestruck to say the least, "There is such a man in Tellius these days? Oh, so much has changed..."
Micaiah couldn't stand staying out of yet another bout of Ike-worship any longer, and with great disdain said, "Yes, there is such a man. Lord Ike, 'hero' of the Crimean Liberation, leader of the Greil Mercenaries..." And then, with even more hatred she spat out, "And father of Sothe's children. Truly a great man."
Nailah raised an eyebrow as she asked, "What is her problem?"
To Micaiah's great displeasure Sothe chuckled slightly before explaining, "We are from Daein ourselves. Ike led an army to restore Crimea three years ago, and destroyed Daein in the process. She is adamant in her belief that he is our greatest enemy and an insult to humanity."
"I am not!" Micaiah replied almost too hastily. "But he is our enemy. Is disliking your enemy wrong?"
Sothe shook his head as he muttered almost inaudibly, "Disliking them as much as you do is."
"I heard that." As they suddenly returned to the ankle deep sand Nolan walked forward with Edward and Ilyana, with the rest of them trailing behind. Micaiah looked at the whole group intently – something seemed out of place, though she couldn't place it – before shrugging and waving to Nolan eagerly, "We're ready to go," she informed him, laughing slightly at the delighted expression that crossed his face. She was about to comment when something clicked and she asked, "Where is Kurth?"
The castle overlooking the rest of the Talrega region was every bit as luxurious as it had been when he had last seen it, Ike noted. In fact it must have been uninhabited save for the Begnion soldiers at the labor camp in the area, because there were even Daein flags still standing strong in the throne room. With the raising of an eyebrow Ike stared at the flags for a moment before coming to the conclusion that they should stay, turning on his heel to face Soren who had entered trailing behind him, asking, "What place should we attack from here?"
Soren looked at the map gripped tightly in his hand for a minute before answering, "There isn't much we can do from here. Begnion's defenses are still strong in and around the Daein Keep, and breaking through them would be necessary to reach some of the more serious labor camps and prisons. We have gotten lucky so far, but breaking through the bulk of the Begnion Occupation Army is simply beyond our capabilities."
Ike nodded, "Picking a fight with their entire army is something we can leave to the liberation groups."
Titania walked into the room with Shinon and Rolf in tow, shrugging, "How about Tor Garen? If the senators are as united as we can assume they are, it wouldn't surprise me that there are fresh soldiers on their way here. If we can fortify Tor Garen, we can hold out there until we decide on a course of action."
Soren seemed pleased with the suggestion, "Tor Garen has only ever been breached once, and it was by us. Its reputation alone would offer us some protection..."
"Again, that is involving ourselves with the war to retake Daein. Our contract to Tormod has nothing to do with Daein's resurrection," Ike countered with a shake of his head.
"Is that so?" Ike raised an eyebrow toward the doorway where a boy of seemingly no older than seventeen or eighteen stood, donning a brown cloak with a hood laying loosely behind his head. Green hair framed his face and fell to the back of his neck, complimenting deep red eyes and a mark on his forehead of the same color.
"Kurthnaga!" Ike cried, rushing over to his friend and holding a hand out that Kurthnaga eagerly took, smiling gently. "What brings you here?"
"I'm travelling with a group – that green haired stowaway you had with you when we last met is with them – that is currently in the desert in search of the supposed son of King Ashnard. Rumors of a small group's exploits have reached all corners of Daein. Many are suspecting it is you guys, and I felt I should confirm the rumor."
"So we are that famous again..." Ike sighed and shook his head before looking at Kurthnaga again, "So Sothe is with them? Their leader is that friend he was looking for, then..."
"They are rather close."
"I see," Ike nodded, ending the discussion.
Soren jumped in at that moment, asking irritably, "Why do you seem to think that our actions have anything to do with this country's resurrection?"
"Why do you think otherwise?" Kurthnaga countered with a shake of his head. "Begnion is more concerned with the group I am with than they are you, but they would be dead now were it not for you. You are doing far more than you seem to realize."
"Even if that were so, our job is only to help the people here. More than that is not our concern," Soren shot back quickly, scowling.
"And if I were to offer you more money to make that your duty?" Kurthnaga smiled.
"Twenty thousand," Soren replied, his scowl replaced by an indifferent look that showed he was about as happy as he ever would be.
"And you shall be resurrecting Daein from the sidelines," Kurthnaga finished, nodding. "Make sure you are not found out though. Sothe's friend hates you, Ike, and I'm sure your aid isn't something she'd be accepting of."
Ike chuckled darkly, "I'll keep that in mind."
And that is the end of chapter five – and far longer than previous chapters, to boot! If anyone is wondering why I left everything almost identical to the game script while seeing fit to expand on anything that bashed Ike, well... I felt a little expansion on Micaiah's dislike of him would help for later on. Highly unnecessary, true, but I didn't see any reason not to.
Now, I have been having a lot of motivation for Timeless Imprisonment as of late, and so that may or may not get more focus until I'm satisfied – I have been going back and forth so far, but we'll see depending on how much I suddenly feel like writing.