Hey, I'm back (finally). I should start working on the final chapter, like, now. That way my hiatus time doesn't extend to crazy lengths for months. XD And if you're one of those readers that go, 'Hey, I remember this! I've been waiting, but I don't remember the storyline anymore,' I know how you feel. Sorry about that. Anyway, I hope you will review, especially since it's been so long since I last posted. I want to know how I'm doing and if the quality of writing is the same or what. Feel free to critique anything.
Read on, and enjoy the lateness of my work. XD
Chapter 5: Still Hope
This had undoubtedly grown to be the biggest fiasco Ulki had ever encountered to date. Tibarn had mysteriously vanished, leaving Phoenicis practically on its own. The run-ins with Begnion and Gallia had taxed his patience enough, but now Kilvas had decided to add to the mix.
He hated it. The hawk had been unprepared, every single time. Even the best he could do now was to order the troops on the defensive, yet he knew that Kilvas was already quickly taking control of the Hall. To top things, both his co-attendant and the White Prince were absent as well.
"Where are Janaff and Prince Reyson?" Ulki demanded coldly, giving Ranulf a hard stare. "What did you do to them?" His stance shifted threateningly.
Ranulf's eyes widened in panic as he held up his hands. "Hang on to your feathers there! You have me misconstrued! What grievous offense has my performance committed to warrant such treatment? Come, we shall talk somewhere out of any potential earshot."
"At this point, you are hardly someone I can place my trust in." Your presence is most unwelcome.
"It appears that I have arrived too late to avoid scrutiny, but you should not ignore me." I may hold the information you seek. There is no one else you can trust. The cat's eyes seemed to be downcast.
It was the truth, they both knew, which Ulki acknowledged, but it did not avert his suspicions. For a split second, the hawk idly pondered at these incidents. He wouldn't be a bit surprised if Ashera had this planned in advance.
But that was of little importance, the hawk reminded himself, because they were running out of time.
Nodding sharply in confirmation, Ulki and Ranulf ventured into the inner chambers of Phoenicis Hall, where the latter unwound his tale.
Ranulf heaved with exertion as he hauled Janaff and himself over yet another rocky slope. Janaff wasn't heavy, but the cat decided to be compassionate and consider him a precarious load, therefore making an effort to traverse the landscape with more caution. Besides, he added to himself, both of them ached all over, and he was sure that the hawk had fallen asleep as well.
As the feline took a few more plodding steps, he came to an abrupt realization, an ugly one at that. How exactly was he going to explain this sticky situation when they got back?
But no, nothing should matter, Ranulf swore. He would be there for Janaff, whatever the cost. Were it not for the cat's negligence, the hawk would not be suffering any more than he had already been. Ranulf stopped for a moment, closing his eyes and sighing deeply.
Janaff, as far as Ranulf knew, had been forced along with Ulki to answer the call to the difficult task of running a country. Phoenicis's recent mishaps were no great secret to Tellius.
The hawk clan's position appeared to be fragile and vulnerable, especially in dealing with the episode with the human, an event which Ranulf found disconcerting.
But because he now had seen for himself, he could admit that the balance of power was not something easy to maintain without wisdom and strength. Ranulf was suddenly grateful that laguz chose their rulers by those principles, unlike the beorc and their interesting but stupid tradition.
However, he had effectively pushed yet another problem into the two hawks' hands. The trauma made for an unintended side effect.
A grave and cruel sin to inflict upon a new friend, a new brother, even if involuntary.
Ranulf's breath hitched the tiniest bit. Feeling Janaff shift on his back, he was ultimately glad for the distraction and began to move forward again. "Is everything all right?"
"As well as things could be, I suppose," came the halfhearted answer. "How long was I out?"
"...For a couple of hours or so," Ranulf said, making a quick white lie. It had actually been around four hours, but no one had to know, least of all Janaff.
"I hear you turning over loose stones instead of walking the smoother paths closer to home... Did you get lost?" The cat's brow furrowed slightly at the shrewd insight.
So much for the lie. Janaff could play this game too, Ranulf realized, though this seemed to work only when Janaff's head was clear of anything else or when Janaff concentrated entirely on the issue.
Without warning, the hawk on his back found a hold of Ranulf's sensitive tail and pulled at it as he tensed. Hissing at the sudden shock and its sense of urgency, Ranulf pivoted in a complete circle twice before Janaff commanded, "Be silent and listen! Do you hear something?"
The pair of laguz remained motionless for a few minutes. Ranulf was about to open his mouth when distant, avian shrieks pierced the air.
"Funny," the feline commented. "They don't sound like hawks, and they sound really angry too." He squinted in the direction of the cries, making out a few vague silhouettes. "They don't look much like hawks either."
"You idiot!" Janaff was furious. "That's because they're ravens!"
Ranulf paled. The two bird clans did not have the best of history between them, and with King Tibarn absent, the raven clan was certain to take advantage of it. Again, Ranulf felt relieved in that at least the entire beast tribe stood united.
The shrill calls sounded once more, and it dawned upon the cat that he and Janaff had been spotted. Cursing softly, he took off at a swift pace, Janaff gasping slightly when Ranulf resorted to leaps and bounds in order to best suit the rough terrain. Within minutes, Ranulf found what he sought: a hiding place. Granted, it was...well... He could explain to Janaff later. Shoving his friend in, he ordered, "Stay put."
Quickly sprinting away to avoid protest, he discovered that the ravens were closing in. The blue laguz coerced his tired legs to keep moving; he could handle three.
After leading them on for half a mile, Ranulf suddenly made an about face, shifting forms with a defiant roar erupting from his throat. The birds had already begun a downward dive, and although they were apparently unaffected by the roar, they did, however, pull up before his claws could draw blood.
With speed that surprised the first raven, Ranulf clawed his way up the nearest tree and swiped the avian down in a series of violent scratches.
He landed beside the mutilated body, refusing to glance at it. The bird tribes' affair was no business of Gallia's, and he wasn't about to have any more to do with them than absolutely necessary.
This time, Ranulf shocked both himself and the next victim as he somehow found the strength to leap at least eight feet directly upwards and extend his claws, dragging the squawking raven to the ground. He rapidly punctured a wing with his jaw, tearing muscle and crushing several bones between his fangs, eliciting a high-pitched screech. Blood loss would do it.
To Ranulf's relief, the last raven flew off in fear and confusion. He slumped against the nearest tree as he reverted. He would have been done for were he to have kept on. But now he faced a dilemma. After a brief moment, the cat stood up and started towards Phoenicis Hall as fast as his numb legs could carry him.
The urgent potential of a raven attack and bird tribal war outweighed the need to help Janaff return home.
Forgive me, dear friend...I shall return...
Janaff knew from the moment he had been pushed in. "Oh, no, I don't think so! You are not leaving me in a cave again!"
The grating screeches drowned out his voice as he shouted obscenities at Ranulf. He tried to get up from the downward sloping tunnel to find the entrance. Of all times, Kilvas decided to attack now? But of course, Janaff chided himself. Phoenicis wasn't exactly stable. He should have been more surprised that they hadn't been invaded earlier.
These simply weren't Janaff's best moments of his life. In his haste, he slipped on the steep, uneven slope of the cave floor, tumbling ever deeper.
His destination was at the base of a large, damp cavern, and he lay there for a few minutes, catching his breath from having had the wind knocked out of him. Ignoring his renewed bruising, Janaff stiffly sat up.
He promptly yelped when something glossed softly but painfully over his one sore wing.
"Yanafu? Yanafu...here too!" a melodious voice rang through the darkness. Janaff's hunch was confirmed as his hands were grasped in another's own delicate ones.
But why?—and how?
"Your Highness, how on earth did you manage to find your way so far from the safety of the Hall?" Janaff was more than concerned. Herons were the heralds of light. They didn't belong in caves.
"Keer want me to see and play," Reyson responded, looking pleased at his use of the common language.
So the brat had returned on his own after all! Yet it must have been brief, because he certainly was not here with Reyson either. Why couldn't the stupid brat just stay in one place!? It was like in between one and zero with him. Never quite here, but never quite there.
"Where is Keer? Did he leave you here by yourself?" Janaff asked, emphasizing the words slowly.
"Keer want me to see and play," the other repeated. The hawk's lips drew into a firm line; it would appear that Reyson had only answered his first query by chance. Reyson wasn't finished speaking, however. "Yanafu, what happen?" Janaff winced as Reyson lightly poked his sore body.
"Ow!—er, I mean, it's nothing. What happened to you?"
The mostly irrelevant response was difficult to decipher. The White Prince made a small noise of frustration, and the hawk could almost hear the ancient language about to spill from his tongue. "Keer play, but then...then..." He began to poorly imitate a raven's caw. "He say go, and I not know why. Keer make me go, but he run and look. I not know way back," Reyson explained.
Well, Janaff figured, he at least now knew what had caused Keer to be absent from the Prince's side.
The hawk would have to help Reyson return now, which would be difficult given that he had lost his sight and did not have a reliable guide anymore. Praying for some kind of miracle, he resumed the tedious game of word tag. He realized that simple comprehension would require simple wording, but the range was limited. The two tongues had little in common.
Their increased level of impatience caused the situation to take a turn for the worse. Janaff didn't know what Reyson was saying, but the inflection of the heron's spite tore cleanly through the language barrier.
"I know you are the White Prince, but I can't help you if you don't try to help me understand!"
"Why you not understand? ... Vulci always understand," was the scornful reply.
"If you stop talking in your blasted ancient speech so much, I would probably get it! I don't need this from you!"
"You not know anything what I say!" Reyson finally exclaimed. Your intelligence is beneath me! This was, sadly, the first thing that had become clear between them.
Janaff clenched his fists, seething in suppressed anger. This was no good. He would have to do this on his own. Taking a haphazard guess at direction, he swiftly turned away from Reyson's voice and stepped off with surprising confidence. He took one step before colliding face first with the cavern wall and falling unceremoniously to the floor.
It was silent for several seconds as the White Prince stared, blinking slowly. When the initial shock had passed, he threw his head back in a burst of laughter. After all, Janaff wasn't particularly hurt, right? He did seem to sport a fresh mark on his temple, though. With a few nudges, Reyson attempted to assist the hawk in rising, who firmly rejected the help.
However, seeing as Janaff was about to pitifully humiliate himself again, Reyson quickly reached for his hand. All traces of dislike were replaced with genuine warmth.
"I go first, you come follow next. Yes?"
"No," Janaff retorted flatly, "you don't know the way home."
"But I know how to see, and better than you." The hawk wasn't sure whether to take that as an insult or merely as a stated fact. With a sigh, he resigned himself. There wasn't much he could say to that, anyway.
"Ulki," Strahl addressed the young hawk, "I am afraid the current outlook is grim."
Ranulf could have sworn that Ulki's eyes, which had been focused on him, had suddenly achieved the ability to drill miniscule holes through his head and into the base of his skull. He gulped. "What happened?" he dared to ask in Ulki's stead.
"The enemy has ambushed our forces. Most of our hawks have become lax while on active duty since they expect little from Janaff and you. Regardless," Strahl spoke hastily to distract Ulki from further contempt, "our soldiers have been overwhelmed. The ravens seemed to have discovered all of the locations at which the hawks hid. If there are any hawk soldiers still out there, you would be hard-pressed to find them willing to answer."
"But nobody has been hurt," the other hawk stated. "And what of the civilians and Gallians? Any change in their status?"
"Thankfully, no. However, we may possibly owe a debt to Gallia. Every Gallian has left the Hall and gone to the civilian villages. Since they are clearly neutral in this inter-tribal conflict, Kilvas would not dare do anything to jeopardize this standing. Our civilians are safe without our troops."
"It must be obvious now, though," Ranulf objected, "that Gallia has indirectly decided to take Phoenicis's side."
"No, not necessarily, but neither tribe is about to openly declare war on top of an existing one," Ulki noted. "Whether Gallia is indeed lending their aid, they are clever to stay away from the target location for their own safety."
"Correct, young hawk. Few sentries have been posted at the villages, and the main raven force is concentrated here. In fact, they have laid siege to Phoenicis Hall, and they can invade the entire Hall at a moment's notice." Ranulf's jaw dropped, but Ulki's face remained impassive.
"That means we are helpless! You have already let them win!" the cat cried in alarm. "Phoenicis Hall is taken if all the Gallians have gone. Gallia will not make the first move."
Ulki's tone was severe. "I desire to know what makes you believe that your country will support us. You might, but will Gallia?"
The room lapsed into silence. Unbidden, Ranulf recalled his self-promise to Janaff. After a moment, Ranulf answered, "Regardless, Gallians are surely permitted to roam, if only cautiously. You may be able to use me." This was just a step towards fulfilling that promise.
Ulki nodded in approval. "Get to work."