Author's note: Thanks to the advice of two readers/reviewers, I have made edits to almost every chapter. There are some areas where I'm pretty sure I need improvement but I can't seem to find out how to improve them. This fic does seem a little mediocre to me, but I lack the sophistication, I suppose, to truly understand what is wrong with it... But I hope that you enjoy the fic, dear reader.

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Chapter 9: Men Don't Talk

Zihark left Ike's tent with mixed emotions. General Ike was the same hero he remembered, yet, he witnessed firsthand Ike's transformation from a brave boy to a glorious man. Time itself seemed to pass by so quickly, yet little had changed when it came to Zihark's own life. His dream of helping all laguz live in peace and harmony seemed to fail when he himself was forced to join one army of laguz against another.

Yet Ike had changed so much, and he had accomplished great things in such a short time. Zihark felt rather outclassed by the younger swordsman, and though he respected Ike greatly, he also was a little jealous of him, to be honest.

Muarim noticed Zihark's somber expression as the lavender haired swordsmaster walked by, and decided to speak up. "Zihark, are you doing well?"

Zihark seemed to snap awake, as though he were in a trance: "Muarim! I'm sorry I didn't greet you earlier. How's it been?"

Muarim was concerned for Zihark. Though his friend did phase out and say strange things every once in a while, it was apparent that something was really bothering him. "I'm fine, Zihark, but are you fine? You seem lost, as though you were traveling a path and took a wrong turn long ago."

Zihark turned to the burly tiger. Muarim was rather observant, as he usually was. The beorc warrior sighed and mumbled: "Muarim, do you ever wonder why you've embarked on this mission?"

"Well, not really. I came here to see the land of my brethren, to meet fellow beast laguz. Yet, I stand here today to defend the stability of that very land. These rebels threaten to tear Gallia apart, and though I am not a Gallian citizen, I cannot let that happen."

"Well, I... See it differently."

"What do you mean?"

"Muarim, there are still many things I do not know about you, and I'm sure the situation is likewise. I am a Daein citizen, and..."

"You come from Daein, yet you are so adamantly supportive of the laguz. Furthermore, you fell in love with one. That's surprisingly tolerant."

"Thank you... But, since I grew up watching laguz get butchered, I always believed that it was my duty to make up for my sins and stand beside the laguz no matter what. Yet, now I'm taking sides in a laguz civil war, slaying them without rea..."

"Zihark, the Daein warriors who stick to their hatred of laguz slay them without reason. Compared to Skimir, you killed very few laguz lives. Besides, each of the people we kill died for a reason. They died supporting their dream: a dream where all beorc are forever banished from Gallian territory, and are slaughtered as mercilessly as other beorc once killed laguz in the past. Are they not acting just like those Daeins, only that they are laguz instead of beorc? You know very well why you joined this faction instead of the other, and you should not trouble yourself any further with such negative thoughts. We may be killing laguz, that much is true, but both of us and many of our comrades have done what we can to keep enemy casualties to a minimum."

"And how does that change the fact that by standing by your sides, I'm helping in the slaughter of laguz?"

"Look at it this way, would you rather let thousands die to save hundreds, or hundreds perish to save thousands?"

"I'd... I see your point."

"Better we kill some of these rebels and end the bloodshed, than let thousands of Gallians perish from this pathetic civil war."

"I... See... Thank you, Muarim." Zihark nodded and walked away.

Muarim stared after his friend until Zihark slowly went out of sight. The green tiger shook his head and trudged back to his own quarters.

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Soren slammed his head against the desk. Lucia's eyes widened as the messenger continued to inform them of the enemy's movements: "You have got to be kidding me..." She stammered, twitching a little in shock.

"These are the reports given by our scouts, they are as accurate as can be." The Crimean messenger nodded.

Soren glanced at Lucia, who was scrutinizing the war map laid out in front of them. "If that is the case, well..." She returned the stare he was giving her. "Well, we're back to square one. If we were to continue our previous plan, our supply lines would be quickly raided and our main force would probably get cut off from this base. That would mean that they'd take the capital, and Gallia would be either finished or extremely demoralized. We must make a new plan."

Bastian looked amused: "Thou hast assumed thy foe's moves, and thy assumptions have all proved wrong..." Soren and Lucia both gave him glares, and the blond sage realized that his amusement was probably in very bad taste.

"I would understand if they'd used a westerly route, as that would bring them closer to their base at Kalak, but to move in an easterly fashion... It's... It's suicide, unless..." Soren stopped his muttering to address the messenger directly: "Did our scouts report seeing pegasi or ravens in the enemy ranks?"

The messenger stood for a second, and blinked: "No. They did not."

Soren shook his head: "Something's fishy... Either they have reinforcements who are more familiar with the borders near Begnion or... Or they're trying to lure us to their position..."

Lucia saw that look of worry in Soren's eyes, and knew that the situation couldn't possibly be pleasant. "Bastian, please tell General Ike, Lord Skimir, Sirs Ranulf and Muarim, and the Ladies Lethe and Lyre to report to this tent immediately. It seems that we've a greater problem than we thought..."

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Endnote: If you're wondering why I chose that particular title, well, it's an old saying that "Men don't talk." However, in this particular character study / attempt by me at characterization, they did talk, quite a bit. But they really didn't go into some truly deep conversation (at least, to me.) So, yeah, please stay tuned!