Disclaimer: The same as in the other 2 chapters

The first arc of my story, Travelling Tales

A Laguz story part 1...Travelling Tales…

This place... although I never went outside the village before... at least that I know... I feel like I know this place... This is giving me the creeps... Maybe I'm imagining things... Still, I still feel uneasy for some reason... Agh! Someone is chocking me... I can't breathe... It feels soft and smooth...?

"Kolly, Snap out of it!" Nina is the one chocking me... Agh, she is chocking harder... I feel she is gonna break my neck...

"S-stop... ack...! It-it hurts!" Her grasp on my neck is so hard that I'm barely able to spit that... but eventually she let me go...

"Wh-why... did you do... that?" I said between gasps...

"I dunno" She said taking her finger to her mouth. "You were really distraught so I though I should try to snap you out of it" She said, giving me a cute smile... I couldn't argue with her I got trapped in her eyes, hope she doesn't notice...

"C'mon, you're falling behind!" Mina shouted, still walking forward, all of the sudden she tripped with a rock falling face-first... Nina is just laughing her ass off, as we caught up with Mina and Lethe... Where's Lethe...?

"Mina, where's Lethe?" Mina was a bit dazed after the fall, she just looked at me, with a worried face... "S-she was with me until a few seconds ago" Those words were enough to shut Nina's mouth, her face then changed to fury

"WHAT?!" Nina is really angry... "You were supposed to look after her!" Nina shouted, reaching Mina's collar with her hand

"I swear Lethe was with me the whole time" Mina said, but it was of no use...

"Stop! You two can argue as much as you want after we find Lethe" Nina stopped bulling Mina and looked back at me... Her eyes were tearing up; she is really worried about Lethe...

"Alright, let's start looking for her; she can't have gone too far" Nina nodded silently... we started to walk, looking into every spot where Lethe could have hid in... After a few minutes of searching, a loud scream came the far part of some bushes

"It's Lethe!" Nina murmured after sniffing the air a bit... All of the sudden, Lethe just jumped out of the bushes and ran toward me as fast as she could...

Lethe is crying, something must've scared her a lot... "Hey, look over there..." Mina stuttered, "I saw the bushes moving a bit" Mina pointed directly the bushes of which Lethe jumped out... I unsheathed my knife, preparing for anything that came out of there, looking to the right I see Mina reaching her short bow... Suddenly, a rabid animal appears from the bushes, growling toward us... is a... is a small dog?!?

"Don't let it get near of me!" Lethe shrieked, trying desperately to climb my leg... I heard a long sigh of relief coming from Mina as she put her bow on her back again...

"Nina... I think Lethe is overdoing it" I took a look over the shoulder, looking toward Nina, she had a worried look, as some sweat drops rolled from her forehead... Then she looked at me, after noticing my glance she tried to regain composure... Oh that's right, the dog... what is this dog doing here?

"It's so cute!" Mina cried, she certainly likes small dogs, as her hand approached the dog, he shot himself toward Mina's hand leaving her no time to get her hand away, the dog reached her and sunk his small fangs as deep as he could on Mina's hand, she just gnashed her teeth from the pain...

"Oww!" Mina said under her breath, there's a bit of blood dripping from the dog's fangs, Mina tried to get the dog to release her hand... With a bit of strength, Mina pushed the dog away and held her hand in pain... The dog turned toward us again and growled again... "LOCKY!!! WHERE ARE YOU?" A kid's voice echoed through the forest, and with that the dog turned around and started barking, in no time a kid of about 10 years old jumped out of the bushes

"Locky! I'm so happy!" The boy said, and hugged the dog... he is looking at us

"Thank you for finding my dog!" The kid immediately said with a big smile in his face... Mina was about to say something but the kid then gave an icy glare towards Lethe and Nina... Damn, this kid as a very piercing stare!

"What are you half-breed doing here?" Whoa, his voice as changed, I'm guessing he has a grudge against Laguz... maybe

"Watch your mouth you dammed human!" Nina shouted back, returning the stare toward the kid... I've never heard Nina say something like that before... The kid just kneeled up and stared at us for a second before... "HELP, THERE'S A LAGUZ TRYING TO KILL ME!!!" The kid shouted, Nina's eyes widened... the four of us knew what was going to happen, we looked at each other before whirling and dashing away faster than a bullet... I took Lethe from Nina so we all could escape easily from the forest... After that long run it was natural that the three of us were trying to catch up with our breath... Dammit, I can hear footsteps behind us

"C'mon, we need to hurry!" I muttered, still gasping for air... and sweating like a pig... But just when I though we were going to escape for sure, an arrow stabbed my leg... I pulled it out painfully but then again another arrow sliced through my arm...

"Koel!!!" Mina shrieked, an arrow cut her left side and was bleeding a little, I could see how she gritted her teeth to avoid screaming...

"You three need to escape now! If they find me alone, I'm sure they won't harm me... Now hurry!" I hope that's true... (gulp)...

"But..."-"Go now!!!" Nina nodded silently and took Mina by the wrist, Lethe changed form and followed, after a minute I lost sight of them, but I was surrounded by a bunch of villagers

"So it was true; this guy was with the Laguz" Oh no... They saw me with Lethe and Nina...!

"Alright lads, show this bastard what we do with a Half-breeds lover" A bunch of fighters grinned at me, they couldn't wait more, and their lust for blood can be seen on their faces already... Before I knew, I had a deep gash where a knife was sticking out a few moments ago... He stabbed me so hard on the stomach that the grip didn't entered just because it couldn't, the hit took the air out of me too, it was very painful by now but it wasn't even near of what came after that... I kneeled down; I know the next guy is going to attack me... I grit my teeth, I can barely hold myself, the blood is gushing out... All of the sudden, a small gust of wind hit my back, seconds later a sharp pain shot all over my back... did they hit me with an axe...!? The pain is unbearable now... that last slash made me scream from sheer pain... I can feel the back of my robes drenching in blood... it hurts a lot...! I need to defend myself! If not... I'll be letting down Reguriar!

The next executioner is weary to impale me with his long spear; I clumsily unsheathe my dagger, still carefully so they can't notice... His coming to get me! It's now or never, with a high jump I landed behind the spearman, who is still confused, and forcefully stab him right where his heart should be, with a sole yelp the guy fell to the ground, wriggling and squirming from the pain...

"Get him!" The first attacker shouted, now infuriated after seeing how I took the life of his fellow comrade, the two of them are now charging at me... What the...? My vision is getting foggy... With a quick glance over my shoulder I see the trail of my own blood... I can't continue like this, my body is starting to shiver from exhaustion and pain... I'm struggling just to keep on my feet... I'll hold have to my ground, the sword fighter is now before me waving recklessly his sword... he clumsily shots the sword forward, slowly enough for me to move aside... With fast move, my knife ended up in back of the neck of the sword guy... No, I totally forgot about the other one... Agh! He sent me flying with a body bash... Shit, my body... it won't move...! What am I going to do...? Dammit, his footsteps are getting closer... his right behind me now

"You bastard!" H-he is strong; he lifted me from the collar with just one hand...! Ack, he hit my body against a tree... My body is very sensitive now; my wounds are starting to hurt more

"You killed my brothers! I'm not going to forgive you, fucking half-breed lover!" Oww! He punched my right on the wound in my stomach... It hurts really bad... Oof! He hit me again... I can taste the taste of blood in my mouth... Dammit, I can't hold it any longer... Each punch is hurting me more and more... I coughed a lot of blood right after he punched me a last time... I am barely awake... what is he going to do with me now?

"You're going to die here and now, and I'll be the one who takes your life with just one swing of my axe; the "Renegade Claw"!" he shouted reaching his so called axe from his back and readying it to rip down my neck... Someone, help me... Rats, if at least I could move... and the taste of blood in my mouth; is just... gruesome... he is moving his axe backwards; he is taking impulse to hit me with all of his strength... It's my end; I can't bear to die like this... I don't want to leave Mina, Lethe and Nina alone... Not after I gave my word to Reguriar that I'd stay with them always...

"AAAAARGH!!!" Oww! What happened? He just let me go... What the hell!!! The guy has been set aflame, what happened...? Agh, my hand... is burning... too hot...! A-at least I'm saved... but I can't heal myself, at least not without the staves... I'll have to find Nina and the others... I can't move... FUCK!!!

"Koel! Are you alright?" That's Mina's voice...

"Mina... I can't... move" Even if I tried... That's the largest sentence I could say in my actual shape

"W-what happened here?" I saw her wincing after spotting the charred black carcase of the man who was about to kill me... It was only natural for her to react this way...

"Koel..." She just looked at me for a few seconds, with a sorry look in her eyes... then she looked up for one of the staves she was carrying in her bag... She held the stave before my eyes and started mumbling some words in a low tone... some white sparks started to appear from the mend and then flowed into my body... The gash in my stomach slowly closed... although I still was a bloody mess...

"There..." Mina muttered in a low voice, looking worried over her shoulder... She was staring directly at the 3 bodies that were lying on the ground... her worried look was startling me...

"Let's get outta here, shall we?" I said, taking Mina by the arm... I hastily got up and pulled Mina, who was still focused on the death carcasses...

"You told me they wouldn't do anything to you" I glanced over the shoulder, seeing Mina who was softly biting the tip or her thumb... "Why did they attack you?"

"They were repeating that I was a "half-breed lover"... but I've got no idea what that means" Mina stopped and her eyes widened for a second... she had a puzzled look all over her face

"Koel..." She said under her breathe, although barely audible... She had a sorry look in her eyes...

"We... we should get moving" Mina said, still a bit sad... She took the lead as we left that cursed place and moved through the edge of the forest... We quickly found Nina and Lethe; they were hiding in a small cave not too far away from where I was attacked... Nina was sitting on a corner of the cave with her legs clutched, Lethe was at her side, she had already nodded off... Nina didn't notice when we entered, she looked so helpless and grieved...

"Kolly..." She whispered to herself... A single tear rolled from her eye...

"Nina... what's going on?" The sudden interruption took her off-guard... After spotting me, Nina bit her lip and looked to the side...

"Kolly, you heard what I said to that kid, didn't you?" She said without looking at me, her voice was shaking too...

"I did, but I'm not sure what it means..." When I said that, she just gave me a faint smile, still looking toward the wall...

"It means the hate toward the Beorc race... and... vice versa..." Her smile vanished with those words, and frowned –"The word 'human', and the word 'Sub-human' or the word the kid said 'Half-breed'"

"But what does that have to do with our races?"

"I don't quite get it either, but I know why my race hates yours" - "I want to know" I just want to know... Although I have the feeling this is somehow hurting Nina

"For many years the Laguz were slaved by the Beorc race... and is still happening... Do you remember the scars I have on my back?" The scars she is talking about were very serious... they were all over her back...

"Yes, I do" – "Those scars are the proof of my story, along with my mother's death... When I was 7 years old a band of mercenaries were hunting my parents down... My father was able to hide Lethe, Likon and Seid, but he was surrounded and couldn't do anything to help my mother... It was only 3 days the time we were captives, but it was enough for me to receive such bad wounds and for my mother to..." Nina sobbed; she whipped another tear that was rolling from her eye –"It was horrible, those soldiers, they wore ebon armor, as black as the night... They killed my mother and tortured me... If it hadn't been for one person, I wouldn't be alive... Takeichi Gravelock..." That name... my father!

"He found the camp where I was held prisoner and helped me to escape..."

"And it was in that prison were you lost your ability to transform... right?" After saying that, Nina's eyes widened, I shouldn't have said that... Nina tried to get a hold of herself, she was about to break into tears... she managed to calm and nodded weakly...

"You're right... Those soldiers did something horrible to my body, they expected me to change into a cat... but there was a mistake... and I couldn't transform in my complete for anymore..." She lifted up her hand and suddenly her nails transformed into claws, and her skin changed colour to red... but the rest of her hand remained unchanged... Nina yelped in pain... and her hand transformed back to normal... she did say to me that when she tried to transform a sharp pain shot all over her chest...

"But... I'm sure you want to hear it all, don't you?" Nina asked very seriously... I nodded and sat on the ground, besides Mina, who was also there... Nina prepared to tell us her story...