Hello allihopa everybody!

Disclaimer: Do you want me to own Fire Emblem? I don't think so.

Muarim´s PoV

The next day came too quickly and Muarim woke up later than usual.

"Little one? Why didn't you wake me up?" The tiger said as he gazed around. The sunlight filtered through the window and illuminated the rooms, but Tormod was no where to be found.

That's strange. He always wake me up or wait for me to wake up on my own.´ Muarim thought as he got out of bed.

Now, let's see. How far did we get yesterday? Oh, right. We started digging a tunnel to the cave... Maybe I should help them before breakfast...´ (A/N Never do that. Work before breakfast, I mean. A classmate of mine fainted when she did that.)Muarim pondered as he headed outside, eyes still gazing around for the young mage.

He walked out from the bedroom and walked towards the tunnel which was more of a hole in the ground at the moment. When the other laguz saw him they started smiling and waving towards him. He smiled in return.

"Let's see if I gotten the names right. Leo, the male cat and doctor. Jerme, the crow. Eyaya, the hawk. Mariska, the female cat; Mark, the brunette tiger; and Alex, the albino tiger. That's all of them…But...where's Tormod?"

When Muarim asked if he could help out with something the other laguz just told him to get some food before working. (A/N At least they know that it's important to eat.) After breakfast (which wasn't much considering that they bought food for two people that should last for about a week and now they had to split that into enough for eight people and it was going to last for a while) Muarim started to get worried. He had still not seen Tormod anywhere. He sometimes thought that he felt Tormod´s scent, but it was too weak to be less than a few hours old. After a while he decided to ask someone.

"Mariska, have you seen Tormod? I've looked for him all morning and I can't find him anywhere…" Muarim said.

Mariska gazed intently at the worried tiger before responding.

"No, not today. Has he been missing all day?" She asked as she tilted her head a bit.

"Yes, I haven't seen him at all." Muarim said, frowning as his worry grew and grew.

"... Well, did you hear something last night? I'm a light sleeper and I woke up because someone made some noise last night. Someone tripped or something like that." Mariska said only serving to greater the tiger's woe. That didn't put Muarim´s mind at ease.

What if he's hurt? Maybe someone came for him and--´ Muarim panicked.

Thinking of what Tormod could possibly have done in the middle of the night he nodded towards Mariska as a 'thank you' and decided to search the ruins one more time. When he came to the bedroom he noticed something that his sleep drunken brain didn't pay attention to before. Tormod´s blanket and his tomes were missing! Muarim´s eyes widened as he put two and two together and hurried towards the entrance of the ruins. When he got there he started to search for footprints and tried to track any of Tormod's scent. He was just about to scream for the boy when someone interrupted him.

"You're looking for him, aren't you?" A playful voiced inquired. Turning around, he faced the black-winged bird Jerme.

"Jerme! Have you seen Tormod! I can't find him anywhere! I think he might be gone!" Muarim shouted anxiety in his voice. Jerme took a few steps back from the far-to-loud-at-the-moment laguz.

"Hey hey, take it easy! Otherwise you'll kill my eardrums." Jerme said while putting one finger in each ear. Muarim took a few deep breaths and tried to calm down. When Jerme removed his fingers from his ears Muarim continued. In a much lower tone.

"Well, have you seen Tormod?" Muarim asked again. Jerme gave him a blank stare.

"He left."

Muarim was silent for a while. He wouldn't, no COULDN'T believe what he had just heard.

"...What did you say?" Muarim asked unsure if he wanted to hear the answer again. Jerme just shrugged.

"He's gone. He didn't belong here so it's for the best anyways."

Jerme smirked a bit, but the smirk quickly faded when he saw Muarim´s face.

"You knew! And you didn't tell me! Didn't you stop him! And what do you means with that he 'didn't belong here'! Without him I wouldn't be a free laguz today! I wouldn't even be alive! He doesn't belong anywhere else other than here!" The Tiger screamed himself hoarse.

Jerme looked at him as if he were crazy. Muarim looked down at the ground and shook his head.

"Jerme, I know what happened to your son. I know you hate beorc because or that, but..." Muarim looked up into Jerme´s eyes as if he was trying to see his soul deep in them.

"... Tormod...Tormod isn't like that. He's a good beorc and he's like...no, he IS my son...I can't imagine my life without him." Said Muarim.

Jerme was silent. A small sound made Muarim´s head turn.

"Is the beorc boy gone?"

"Did he run away?"

"That's stupid! Hardly anyone can survive in the desert and certainly not a beorc child!"

Everyone started to discuss this matter but Muarim didn't notice. He focused at the horizon. A ferocious sandstorm was coming.

Tormod´s PoV

"Aww, no! It's a sandstorm!" Tormod looked at the sandstorm that was coming towards him.

Great, now how am I going to do? He knew that sandstorms where not to be taken lightly. Looking around, he tried to see if he could hide in his surroundings and with a well-trained eye he managed to spot a place not to far away. He started walking quite quickly towards it and took his blanket that where tied to his neck and warped it around his head so that only his eyes where visible. That way his face would be protected from sand and such. When Tormod reached the safe haven that was surrounded by rocks, he noticed the sandstorm was closing in.

"Ah, I see I've got company. What a pleasure." A voice said. Tormod startled and turned around to see who it was.

Standing to the left was an old man with a cloak that covered his face, much like the one Tormod had.

"Do you seek for a place to hide from the storm, my child? If yes, then welcome. If no, then you should." The man said humorously.

Tormod nodded and sat down next to a rock and pulled the blanket tighter around him. After quite a long while the sandstorm finally subsided. Both Tormod and the man got up and brushed the sand off them when Tormod dropped one of his tomes.

"Ack, I really must fix this belt..." Tormod mumbled aloud as he picked up the book and looked at his quite torn belt.

"Are you a mage, child?" The man asked. Tormod looked at him and nodded slowly.

"I thought so. Are you skilled?" The man said and looked at Tormod which, as Tormod now saw, emerald green eyes.

"Yes, I'm quite skilled. I won a battle just a few days ago." Tormod said not bothering to hide the proudness in his voice.

"Demonstrate your skills, child." The man said as he removed the hood from his head reveling his dark gray shoulder-length hair and goatee beard. Tormod nodded and casted Fire at a rock that turned red from the heat.

"Well? Not bad, eh? I'm a first class mage!" Tormod said, clearly proud of himself. The man looked slightly amused.

"Well…you know how to use your power." He said as Tormod jumped and cheered. Sighing the man continued, "But you lack respect for the magic and thus you lack the talent you need." He said watching as Tormod stopped jumping and pouted. Tormod couldn't help but feel disappointed.

"What? You sayin' I'm bad at magic?" Tormod shouted, not being able to hide that he was truly upset. The elder gave off a laugh.

"I did not say that you are a bad mage. However, I did not say that you were skilled either. My name is Leif. Pleasure to make your acquaintance." Leif said and stretched out his arm in order to shake hands with Tormod. Tormod followed suit and shook.

"My name is Tormod. You wouldn't happen to know how I can improve my skills, do you." Tormod said thinking that he could gain some useful information here. Smiling, Leif pulled some tomes out of his satchel.

"You've probably seen these books before, right?" He asked.

Tormod nodded. It was a Wind tome, a Thunder tome and the one he was the most familiar with, a Fire tome.

"Now, if you've got some time to spare then I could teach you a thing or two about magic. Where are you headed?" Leif asked, smiling like a grandfather towards his grandchild.

"I'm going...away." Tormod said as if he wasn't completely sure about it.

"Anyways, I'd love to learn more magic! I really really want to become stronger!" Tormod said happily as Leif laughed at the young boy's enthusiasm.

"Okay then, watch me and observe every movement child!" Leif said and demonstrated a Wind spell.

Muarim´s PoV

"The sandstorm's over, I need help to find Tormod!" Muarim yelled, he seemed to be desperate.

"I know you're worried Muarim, but its one beorc boy in a big desert. We haven't the chance nor time to find him." Eyaya said gently.

Muarim turned towards her and said, "Great, you said 'we'! Anyone else volunteer?" Eyaya rolled her eyes as Muarim looked around when three other laguz raised their hands.

"Alex, Mariska and Leo. Good." Muarim said and turned towards Jerme. It was clear that he didn't want to look for Tormod. Mark looked around and when he noticed that he would be alone with Jerme if he didn't come, he raised his hand as well.

"Okay, I'll go get my first aid kit." Leo said as he walked away.

"Someone should protect Leo; he can't fight as you know." Muarim said and Alex followed Leo. Muarim smiled for the first time since the morning.

"Right! Let's go! If anyone would doze off, think about something else or just not go looking for Tormod, you're in for it!" Muarim said before everyone ran off in different directions leaving Jerme all alone.

"...aw, what the hell..." Jerme groaned before taking air and joining the hunt.

Okay, that´s it. Ask me if you wonder anything. Please review, you might be able to give me some tips about how I´m supposed to write and such. And if you flame me, I don´t really kno what I´ll do. I think I´ll laugh, and then yell at you...

Maidenmonster