Wh… What happened…? It… It hurts…! It hurts just to breathe… My whole body is killing me…
"This one is a complete failure…" What… What have they done into me? Ouch…
"We'll have to sacrifice this Laguz as well" No… Wha…? Stop!! Where are you taking me to…? …I can't… breathe… My lungs are burning… I… everything is… going black…
A Laguz Story part 3… Travelling Tales…
The time passes slowly, as I lie there, rain drops dripping from the ceiling, mixing with the blood, I'm covered now in this disgusting mixture… next to my mother… Very few of the tribe still lives, many others are being taken to that room, I can hear them scream and cry in fear and agony… Sometimes, it makes me shivers… It's way too much for the ones that remain in this cell… Why us…? What did we do to deserve this…?
"Bring the next subject!!"
"Watch out!!" Huh…? –"It went berserk!!" Another one has escaped, huh? Serves them right… The soldiers are hopelessly entering that room… I'd like to hide my smile… But with all of those screams…
"YEEAARGH!!" A final scream comes from the room, is it already over…? She is coming out… It's… Kishina…?! She is not acting like herself… "Kishina, over here…!" She isn't listening… Why is she looking around frantically…? Is she hurt…? "Kishina, answer me!" Ahhh, she is finally turning back… W-What… What happened to her eyes…? "GRAAHH!!" Kishina… What have they done to her…? Agh…! Her claws are ready to kill… What am I going to do…? She is closing in…–"Kishina! Stop, what are you doing??" I shriek as she swings her claws at me, missing only by inches… Kishina is… trying to kill me…? She is wheezing and snorting like a wild animal… that viciousness in her eyes… She's lost it… I need to move, before she kills me! I leap back, trying to escape from Kishina's claws… She almost gets me… I can't keep up like this forever… Kishina suddenly bolts at me, and swings her blood-stained claws at me…!! I feel a powerful shock in my body as I fall right into the ground in a daze… My leg… it's… bleeding… I can only wince as Kishina bashes me toward the wall… Ouch, I… feel dizzy… Kishina… Aaaaaahh!! She has me cornered… Someone… help… "KISHINA!!" A slender figure darts at Kishina… Filisteo…! It's a hit! Filisteo walks right before me and stands there as Kishina staggers shaking her head… Filisteo creeps carefully at her… but a glance at Kishina's eyes makes him stop…"Kishina, please… stop it…!" Kishina has lost it… "Filisteo, Watch out!!" I try to warn him but, it's too late… Kishina's claws met Filisteo's face, he is hurt, I can see blood drops dripping from his face… In a hurry, Filisteo leaps back and shots himself at Kishina again, grunting as they both fell on the ground… "Sis… Stop it!!" She won't answer… She is struggling to get Filisteo off of her… She is nothing more than a… a monster, now…
Countless footsteps rocks through the corridor, soldiers are coming… Oh no… and that Petrine… She is coming too, I would recognize her footsteps anywhere…
The footsteps are getting louder… if they see me with Filisteo… They'll kill me… I can only curl into a corner or else… Uh oh… The first soldier came in… Looks like he is in a daze… His nervousness is evidenced as he clumsily unsheathes his sword… Is he biting his lip…? Suddenly, more soldiers enter the room followed closely by Petrine… "Out of my way, you useless piece of junk!" Petrine's crude words gave way for a forceful push that made the nervous soldier fall on his butt… Petrine's continues walking at the Laguz which were locked in fight… Suddenly coming to a stop, her eyes close, as she reaches for her weapon… Both brothers launch a howl, both impaled by black spear… their dying breathe make me shudder; only Petrine could be as cold-blooded as to kill both of them without any remorse…
"That sub-human; over there" Petrine's icy glare fixes on me… "Send it to the alchemists… Now" I… I can't believe it… It sent me chills down my spine… I was petrified by her gaze…
"Takeichi, you heard the commander grab it and go with the alchemists" The soldier who was on the ground jumped back up and with nods weakly… I ready my claws… I'll feel better if I kill at least one of them before they do something to me… His gaze is fixed on me… creeping closer with caution… his eyes are tearing up… what is with him? "Sorry…" Huh…? His lips just moved… but I couldn't hear anything… I just lie there… startled… his hand getting closer and closer to my face… If I were stronger I'd think of biting him now… but he'd just stab me back and it would be all over… "Oh fore the love of… I'll do it" The soldier's hand jumps, startled… The other soldier walks near… with a grin on his face… I scream as a kick takes the air out my lungs, I try to get up… I can't help but to stagger… he hit me pretty hard… Suddenly, the soldier pins me to the ground with his hand, my wincing face bring twice of a grin to his face… I grunt as the soldier chokes me to death with one hand and violently fists my body with the other…
After a minute or two, the soldier finally releases his tight grip on my neck… Getting up, the soldier kicks me one more time… "There, now take it to the alchemists" The soldier says to the first one… kicking my already battered body before the feet of the first soldier…
"Everything after that is a blur…" Nina says abruptly, "I can't remember what happened there, I was… too scared…" Nina's eyes are lost in her thoughts, something tells me she doesn't want to remember what happened with those alchemists… poor Nina…
I can't breathe… my body is burning… what's happening to me…? It hurts so bad… "Hey…" Who's that…? "Keep quiet… I'm going to get you out of here" His eyes… he seems familiar… "Don't worry; you are in good hands… Hold on a little longer" Somehow… I believe in him…
The soldier keeps running through the dark passages, his footsteps are like thunders in the silence of the night… All of the sudden, the soldier stops… I try to look what's going on, but my body still hurts… The soldier suddenly hushes me, "Don't move…"
He's started moving; fear has clearly taken over the situation… A bead of sweat rolls from his brow… "Hey, you" Someone says abruptly from behind us, making the soldier tremble, "You idiot, where are you taking that thing?" Shudders come down my spine, as I realize… That's Petrine's voice… Without moving a muscle, I try to look at the soldier who's carrying me… He's completely petrified…
"You worm, look at me when I talk to you" Suddenly, the soldier whips around… no, Petrine's hand made he turn around… "I'm just following orders" The soldier exclaims, "I'm going to dispose of this Laguz outside… The alchemists didn't want the rooms to get dirty with… her blood" The soldier grits his teeth… hoping for Petrine to buy it… A few seconds pass, and no answer, I'm feeling uneasy… "Hmph, fine… whatever, just get that sub-human out of my sight" Petrine finally says and turns back, "If I ever find you lied… I'll make sure you die like a dog…" She… She is gone… I wonder… she didn't make any sound… what a relief… ahh… My body … It convulses as the pain increases…
"We're almost at the exit… just hold on a bit more" The soldier stammers, now breathing heavily as he runs… I can feel it now… the cool wind of the outside night… Feels very good…
… Uhh… Where… where am I…? The floor is wet… What's going on…? I can hear metal clash and quick footsteps as though there was a fight happening just before me… My body… it still hurts like hell, but I overcome the pain and look around… The soldier, who saved me, is now lying on the ground, an enormous feral tiger is pinning him on the ground… Wait… that skin color… It's Likon!!
"L-Likon…" Likon immediately reacted to my voice… His eyes widened, suddenly, the soldier kicks Likon away and leaps back, however, he trips with a rock and crashes against the wall of this cave…
"Sister… What did he do to you…?" Likon asks, walking at my said, I groggily get up, my footing is still too unsteady, because of the pain shooting true my body in this moment, suddenly, I feel like if my feet were being stabbed and I fell automatically on the ground…
"N-nothing brother… he helped me…" Likon's face was of disbelief, as he looked over his shoulder to take a good look to the soldier who was still knocked out cold… when he turns back to me he is wearing his expressionless face, "I'll believe you because you're my sister… but don't think I'm gonna let my guard down with that human…" he suddenly adds, helping me to stand up… My feet are throbbing… After that, he kneels up and closes his eyes, as his body starts changing form, after some seconds, he is now standing on 2 feet; he is now a human…
"Hey you…" Likon exclaims, stretching his hand toward the soldier who is still sitting on the ground…
"Aren't you going to finish me…?"
"Not now… by my sister's request…" The soldier remains unfazed, just letting a small sigh out… "So then, you are going to take her away… isn't it?" Likon nods silently, and reaches me with his hand, surprisingly, I'm small enough for Likon to hold me with one hand… "Thank you…" Likon added, and with a swift jump, we head right into the darkness…
"I fell asleep on my brother's arms, eventually, my body changed slowly and very painfully, those soldiers played with my transformation, and broke it…" A faint smile is drawn in Nina's face, her eyes shimmer in the dim light of the cave… I knew next to nothing about Nina's past, but now… "My father felt he was in debt with the man who saved me from a certain death, and tried by all means to find him, as you might guess, we eventually found him, and my father did everything in his grasp to go and live near the man and his family… and bowed…" Nina just stopped mid-sentence… She seems to be racking her brain for some reason… "Bowed on the principle of protection" Nina says, her voice sounded a bit sad, I can tell, but she is smiling as well, and her cheeks have reddened…
"What's that?" I ask, ignorant of what that bow or principle of whatever is that thing…
"Bowing on that principle means that the one who made the bow and all of his bloodline successors will serve and protect to their new masters until the master's bloodline relatives and himself disappear or die" Mina's words echo through the cave and in my head… Nobody ever told me… I don't want to be Nina and Lethe's 'master', they are my family…
"That's right… and up until now; my brothers and I served you… and now that you are looking after us, Lethe and I are now officially your 'slaves'…"
"'But I don't want to be your master, I don't like that, you are my family… I cannot accept that" My hands are clenched… I don't want to drag Nina and Lethe into anything they don't like…
"Don't worry" Nina says, giving me a warm smile… "Lethe and I didn't have any objection… Lethe liked you, she always looked up to you like a big brother, the idea of being at your side and serving you was wonderful for her… even if she didn't fully understand the idea… and you look just like… that… person… I mean… I like you as well Koel…Please Koel… don't get upset by this… Lethe and I want to serve you, it's our wish…" She says that… but I can't agree; I don't like that…
"Well… that's about what happened…" Nina suddenly adds, her smile only brings a feeling of guilt…
Nina endured such dark events… I can't really know how she feels; I know her faith in humans hasn't been fully restored… as for Mina… She is perplexed; the story is a bit too much to swallow it whole right now… I myself can't believe what Nina had to undergo…
It's getting late… we better stay in here for the time being… I just wonder… what was my father doing with Daein's army? Maybe I'll never know…
"We'll be staying here, isn't it?" Nina asks from behind, I wipe some drops of sweat from my forehead… I still haven't caught up with my thoughts… I only nod weakly… and then my head quickly floods with these thoughts again… I don't see me getting any sleep tonight…
"Good night everyone!!" Nina's voice echo in the darkness… Sure, it will be a "nice" night… I'll stand guard near the entrance… Slaves… Dammit, this will be a long night… 'Now that you are taking care of us'… I'd like to know what Nina really thinks about this bow… Well… For now… I must take care of all of them… Good night… Heh…
End of "A Laguz story"…