Chapter 3: What a Bother
The sapphire feline's paws were now positioned almost directly over the old hawk's head. Janaff gave a cry, which immediately alerted the retired teacher. His head shot up in confusion, connecting cleanly with the cat's jaw. The cat clutched his jaw with an injured hiss as he hastily scrambled backwards out of sight.
Ulki, for his part, paid no attention to the old hawk shaking his fist at them, instead concentrating on tracking the cat's movement patterns. With a satisfied grunt, the hawk fell into a steep dive and slammed his entire body hard against a tree trunk.
Janaff winced. The pressure had been so forceful that he could visibly perceive the tree vibrate.
A strangled yell was heard as the cat tumbled through the branches, desperately trying to regain balance by sinking his claws into the bark. The bark, however, continued to peel off each time he made an attempt.
Hovering beside Janaff, Keer couldn't help next but gasp, partly awed and partly disappointed. The Gallian had given up halfway down, managed to land on his feet as if it were perfectly normal, and escaped in a wing beat.
"Keer," Ulki ordered, "return home. Janaff, you and I will meet with the council at once."
"But what about that cat then?" Janaff asked.
"Would that be a wise decision if the council is unaware of a Gallian intruder?—Keer, don't you dare go looking, or I will know!" The young hawk flew off in a huff with a giant pout on his lips. "Let us go at once. If the council does indeed know, then we had best wait for their say on the matter."
Upon their entrance, Strahl hurriedly accosted them at once without a word, accompanying them straight to the audience hall. Whatever either Ulki or Janaff had been expecting, this was the least of them.
Seated before the two hawks, at the other end of the hall, was none other than the great Gallian King Caineghis himself.
"I believe that I formally requested for King Tibarn most assuredly numerous times." The red lion raised a thick eyebrow, a strange glint in his eye. "Is the new, young hawk lord so incompetent as to employ even younger and more incompetent servants in his stead?"
Janaff could only stare as Strahl flushed scarlet both from embarrassment and from anger.
"Word was officially sent to all laguz territories that our new lord would have personal attendants." Unsurprisingly, it was Ulki had spoken.
"That may be true, but this is not something that can be discussed with subordinate rookies," Caineghis said. "Where is Tibarn?"
"Our utmost apologies for your displeasure," Ulki returned smoothly, "but although our status ranks second to none, Janaff and I are not permitted to inform anyone of King Tibarn's whereabouts. Even his general location is quite confidential."
Janaff found himself staring again; Ulki had just managed to lie straight between his teeth. They could only hope that this lie coincided with any outside information.
"If you are indeed his personal attendants, then I would surely expect you to know that this meeting was prescheduled." Irresponsibility hit Janaff in the gut. Blast... That was what the document on his desk had been for! "Obviously, you have given me no choice but to remain here until this nation's juvenile delinquent returns. My subordinates will stay as well." At this point, Caineghis seemed to be more amused than anything else.
Alarms went off in young hawks' minds. During the last two months, due to Tibarn's untimely absence, the ravens had been anxious to wage war against them. To try and prepare against an invasion and to house the king of Gallia all at once was simply overwhelming.
Strahl reluctantly beckoned for the king to follow him, but as the lion rose, the doors suddenly burst open.
And it was none other than the elusive blue laguz from earlier, keeled over and panting in a rather suspicious manner, as if... As if he had just skirted trouble by the mere fringe.
"Your honorable kingship, I humbly beg for your mercy! My orders were to conceal myself, yet I strayed from my task! If you would only—" The cat finally raised his head. His bruised jaw went slack with shock.
"Y-You!!" he cried with an accusatory finger. He turned to Caineghis, spluttering, "Your kingship, I—they—those two—scoundrels, they are! We must inform King Phoenicis so that he might—"
"Ranulf, calm yourself. Even if they are scoundrels, I am certain that Tibarn is aware enough of his own two attendants." Ranulf, suddenly silenced, blinked owlishly.
"Oh," was all he said. He seemed ready to protest more, but the Gallian king was already following a rather ruffled-looking Strahl. Ranulf settled for childishly sticking out his tongue, causing Janaff's fingers to twitch violently.
As soon as the room was void of any other occupants, Janaff exploded. "Would you believe it!? Phoenicis is not obligated to indulge King Gallia just because her king is on leave! I say we pull rank and kick him out! We have the authority!"
"That's the absolute last thing we need right now!—strife with Gallia!" the older hawk reminded him harshly. "We can hardly handle Kilvas as it is."
"But we'll be held responsible for any Gallian casualty should Kilvas attack. This tension is not exactly news."
"That is exactly why King Caineghis should be well aware of it. You are of no use to King Tibarn if you cannot see with those eyes of yours. King Caineghis is testing us." Janaff said nothing, but the following week served to be extremely awkward for the two of them.
Ulki's diplomacy was as infallible as ever, but behind his facade, his simple aura clearly presented his growing irritation. Janaff, strangely enough, began to participate more often and take his role more seriously, if only for the sake of his country and pride. His inexperience very nearly defeated that purpose, but he was undeterred.
Phoenicians were wise to keep their tongues rigid. Phoenicians were wise to check their physical actions.
In fact, Phoenicians were most wise to be continuously conscious, because the Gallians had at least some leeway.
However, regarding Ranulf with disdain was the one thing that united the two hawks. Within that one week, Ranulf had made it known that he could get under anyone's skin, ever so subtly. Unfortunately, Janaff was his easiest target, frequently subjected to the sapphire cat's 'predatory' sounds, as if he were stalking prey. Ulki wasn't nearly as fun; Ranulf gave up after his first attempt when the hawk snapped his head around at hearing him over twenty meters away.
Along the way, Ranulf had also somehow managed to befriend the White Prince. The feline's utter tact seemed to symbolize Caineghis's deliberate mockery of them.
Things finally took a turn for the worst when one of the academy teachers showed up, worried that Keer had gone missing. When Janaff volunteered to conduct a search, he had expected Ulki's scorn for evading duty once again.
"Most excellent. I shall be able to focus completely on this ridiculous task," was the answer he got instead. Janaff felt his heart clench slightly. It wasn't as if he was useless. He could learn.
"Now, for the brat..." He set out for the far rocky shores first. Keer was only nineteen. He couldn't have discovered every nook and cranny in Phoenicis yet.
With a start, the hawk turned around. He could have sworn he just saw... But Ranulf surely wouldn't leave King Caineghis, though he wasn't sure whether Ulki had the authority to order another's subordinate of Ranulf's rank.
Janaff quickly became frustrated when this sequence continued for several minutes, and as they were on a rock-strewn path, his stalker had resorted to throwing small pebbles. All the hawk could do was to skillfully avoid them since he couldn't seem to catch the laguz in the act.
"Gah!!" Something had suddenly yanked sharply at his hair. He lashed out, missing his stalker's head by a mere hairsbreadth. Ranulf's grin was only ever devious.
"Blast it, you bloody, whiskered fur bag!"
"Some king's eyes you are." Ranulf laughingly gave the hair another playful tug before leaping a few stones ahead. "Come on. I'll help you find the kid. And before you ask, Prince Reyson sent me, not Ulki. He's taken quite a liking to you, and I just couldn't say no to this grand little adventure. We would make the best of partners!"
The hawk snorted derisively. "I'm afraid I don't quite share your sentiment. Furthermore, I couldn't possibly accept the generous gift you left on my pillow."
"Oh? But I thought mice were a major part of predatory birds' standard diet. Consider it rent for staying here and eating your food."
"Yes, well...rotting carcasses? Those ones must have been at least five days old! I had to burn my pillow after that! How did—no, forget it, never mind."
"Your balcony was wide op—hey, where are you going?"
Janaff, in a rare moment, had kept calm and was now rapidly walking along the top of a narrow cliff toward the ledge. If he could fly away before his unwelcome guest could stick around...
"Wait up!" Just as Janaff shape shifted and took off from the edge, his wings almost gave out from Ranulf's suddenly added weight. The hawk let out an indignant squawk, sorely tempted to shake the stupid cat off right then and there. Dark, ominous waters were welcoming him from below.
Fortunately for Ranulf, his weight would sooner drag Janaff down with him than be shaken off first. Janaff reluctantly set the cat back down on the edge.
"Look, I don't want you getting into danger on the brat's behalf. That's my job. I might seem selfish, but I already have enough things to worry about," Janaff said.
"I know," Ranulf said quietly. "I can't imagine what I would do if I were in your position, but I can understand that you would want to get away from it all by taking such a mediocre request as this."
"You can't imagine my position, yet you imagine that you understand anyway? Just...just leave."
Ranulf's tail twitched languidly. "That's a sharp tongue bound for trouble, you know, though I'm slightly guilty of hypocrisy by saying that."
"Will you go away already?" The hawk was getting impatient.
"No," Ranulf said abruptly, causing the other to glare. "There's another reason I came, and I didn't say it earlier because I wasn't sure how to. It wasn't only Prince Reyson, but I actually wanted to apologize for the past week... I'm sorry."
"I had hoped that my feeling on edge the entire time was just the situation, but then again, I've never been stalked like so before."
"I'm sorry," Ranulf said once more. "This is the first time I've been in such close contact with the bird tribe, and as a cat laguz, my dominant primordial beast temporarily took over. But even after I realized what was happening, I couldn't seem to stop myself. Would you grant me your forgiveness and permit me to accompany you? It would be the first step to an enduring alliance between our tribes!"
What...the heck? Who begs like that? "Be that as it may," Janaff reasoned, "I can only fulfill half of your request. I'll forgive you if you leave."
"As expected," Ranulf grinned. "And that is why King Caineghis has allowed me to assist you. Would you deny his generosity?"
"Then you must be well aware that I bear no responsibility for you, most especially since you are lying."
"Naturally."
Janaff proceeded to swear something terrible in his mind. The hawk had actually been bluffing, but with the way Ranulf had responded, he was now uncertain about whether Ranulf was really telling the truth. Blast it all.
"Do what you wish. As I said, I am not liable for anything." There wasn't much more Janaff could argue. However, from the look on Ranulf's face, the cat had clearly not thought him so easy to cave in.
"You'll not regret this!"
The hawk doubted it, but Ranulf held to his word as they journeyed across the rest of the shores. Now that Janaff's 'predator' senses weren't constantly heightened, Ranulf suddenly seemed to be quite affable.
Truth be told, by the time the two just about finished searching the outskirts, Janaff felt more relaxed than he had since this whole affair.
Yet night had fallen fairly quickly without either of them noticing it, and they had still not found Keer. Ranulf suggested that the little hawk might have returned while they were gone. Janaff simply shook his head and continued on, saying that the canyons were the last place to look and leaving Ranulf to ascertain their mutual level of trust that was based on motive.
The darkness proved to be too thick for their eyes to penetrate, even Ranulf's. The two instead settled for spending the night under a sparse outcropping of rock. Waking before dawn, they spent most of the early morning in a futile attempt to locate the little hawk.
As the laguz made to return to Phoenicis Hall, Ranulf commented out of the blue. "You're shedding."
"...Yes, thank you for your perception," came the wary answer. "No need to worry. Shedding feathers is a common phenomenon."
"May I have one?"
Janaff temporarily lost his footing and floundered about for a good few feet as he tried to compose himself. This cat was strange, as strange as a human could be. "Why would you want one?"
"The better question is why would I not want one? We have founded the beginnings of a tentative Gallian-Phoenician friendship. I would most certainly want such a memento! And come now, don't tell me you keep your discarded feathers?" The hawk belatedly realized the other's playful humor, and he decided to take part in the banter.
"Well, then nothing for nothing." Janaff gave a small but genuine smile, which earned him a hearty laugh in return.
"I suppose that's fair enough. ...Wait, what am I saying? Those feathers are of no worth to you!"
"That's why I'm offering those still attached to my wings."
"But isn't it the same thing? Besides, one can hardly mistake you as someone who is modest." Their conversation was rapidly turning into a witty spar of words; neither wanted to give up.
"I'm being modest enough for you to take feathers still attached, and wing feathers, mind you. As long as you don't try to pluck my tail feathers, I think we can make this work," Janaff said almost too seriously. He belied himself, however, when he tripped and fell and started to chuckle.
"Well said indeed!" Ranulf stepped forward to help Janaff up, but he coincidentally tripped as well, falling on the hawk and sending them perilously close to the edge of the canyon precipice.
Without warning and before either of them had time to react, the poor soil eroded. The dry fjord awaited them.