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Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem.
Chapter 4: Enemies?
Alice saw that angry light again behind the lion's honey-gold eyes. She gasped and clasped her hand over her mouth, understanding her blunder. The huge creature growled lowly at her, his claws extending, stopping just as they starting to dig into the soft flesh of her chest. Alice paniced and removed her hands from her mouth, grabbing again at the great lion's paw.
"Who are you?" He asked again, demanding and urgent. Again, the brunette gaped at him like a fish, unable to come up with any words in her fright.
"Enough please." Came a soft, beautiful, female's voice to Alice's right. Alice, along with the lion, both looked in the direction of the voice. A woman dressed in white decended softly down from the trees, her pure white wings beating lightly to keep her aloft. Alice's eyes widened and jaw her dropped open in awe at the woman who now stood a few feet next to her and the lion. Her long blonde-green hair fluttered back against her dress as she settled back down on her feet.
"Leanne." The lion growled. The winged woman's eyes flickered to the lion for a moment before focusing on Alice. The brunette's heart thumped loudly in her chest as felt butterflies beat against the walls of her stomach. The nervousness she felt now was far different than the nervousness she felt while staring at the lion, who still remained above her. Honestly, Alice wasn't quite sure which feeling she preferred.
The woman spoke to the lion in a language that was foreign to Alice. She couldn't even begin to understand the words. The lion looked down at her a moment, unnerving the poor girl with his piercing and fiery gaze. While he stared at her, he retracted his claws, earning a relieved sigh from the girl under him. The lion ignored her and looked back up at the winged woman.
The woman spoke again to the lion, who relaxed slightly,though he kept his battle ready pose above her. Alice made the mistake of squirming under the lion's great paw, earning a growl from him as he looked back down at her and pressed more firmly on her chest.
"Skrimir!" The woman called, this time in a language Alice could understand. . . she thought. The lion looked up at the woman. The winged lady gave him a stare that was far beyond the stubbornness Alice would have thought possible. The lion grumbled low in his throat before looking down at the brunette youth below him and removing his paw from her chest, taking a step back from the girl.
Alice didn't know what she was suppose to do so she just stared at the lion. The lion stared back, growing annoyed.
"Do n-not hurt." The woman said, stumbling over her words. Alice jumped and looked up, startled, at the woman, who now stood only a foot or two in front of her. Alice attempted to back away from her, as well as the lion, but stopped when pain shot through her leg. She'd forgotten about the claw marks across her calf.
"Ouch." She hissed, fisting the dirt. She didn't notice as the woman and lion looked at each other, or the worry etched on the blonde's face. She did, however, notice as the winged girl approached her again.
"P-Please. I-I didn't know you w-were up there." Alice said, referring to the tree she'd been trying to climb. She glanced at the lion fearfully. "H-honest! I-I was just trying to find somewhere to sleep away off the ground!" Alice was growing frantic. She backed up again, wincing in pain at her injury caused. Again, the lion and winged woman looked at each other, though, this time, she did notice. She gave them a confused look, which neither of them paid attention to.
"I see your point." The lion grumbled in response to the winged woman's words, which Alice still didn't understand. The lion looked back at her, his golden-honey eyes fixed on her, now trembling, form. The brunette shrank back as the large beast approached her.
The brunette's body froze in fear and awe as the lion before her shimmered and his fur dissolved to skin. His bushy mane shifted to a shaggy mess of red hair. A pair of sandals seemed to strap themselves to his feet as he stood on his hind legs. He slowed his walked to a stop in front of Alice as the rest of his cloths settled into place on him.
H-human? He j-just transformed into a human? Alice's eyes grew ever the wider as she stared at the man before her, a good half a foot taller than her if she were standing. Her mouth dropped open in awe.
"W-what-?" Alice was cut off by a rustling in the bushes behind the lion. Alice jumped as she stared nervously at the offending foliage.
"I didn't find any others, Skrimir." Came a soft male's voice. Alice's eyes widened as she watched a, very large, very blue, cat walking out from behind the shrub. As with the lion, the cat shimmered and his fur began to dissolve to skin.
"This is not the one that attacked Leanne." The lion said as he looked at the, now, man who stood next to him. The lion didn't seemed fazed by the blue cat's transformation to a man-which made sense. Well, a man, excluding the cat ears and tail that remained. Other than his ears and tail, the only other points of blue were his messy hair-which was held away from his face by a strange looking orange cap-, his loose fitting blue pants, the markings on his cheeks and nose, and one of his multi-colored eyes-the other being purple. The rest of the man's wardrobe was orange, green and brown. He was a bit pale, but lean and well muscled.
If Alice wasn't scared stiff, she would think him particularly hansom.
". . . She's just a little beoric girl." The blue-cat-man said, now staring at Alice. A hint of a smile tugged at the blue-cat-man's lips as he looked down at her. For some reason, this both unnerved and comforted Alice.
Of course, this all went out the window when the man took a small step towards her.
Tensing, Alice watched the blue-cat-man carefully, shifting her weight back on her hands. When blue-cat-man took another step towards her, the teenage girl, alright frightened beyond reason, squeaked and crawled backwards, away from him. This time, she payed no attention to her leg's throbbing protest. The man, frowning, stopped mid step, settling back on his feet.
However, despite his efforts, Alice did not calm.
She continued backing till she felt something bump into her back. Alice jumped and spun around abruptly. Before she could see what it was, her leg, unable to take the force of the spin, twisted under her and forced her to fall on her face. She cried out in pain as red hot needles embedded in her leg.
"Are you alright?" Came a soft voice next to her. Alice stiffened and slowly lifted her head up to see the blue-cat-man crouching right next to her. Shrieking, the brunett jumped to her feet.
Unfortunately, she put too much weight on her leg.
Gasping, Alice fell forward, squeezing her eyes shut as she expected to come in contact with the ground. Instead, she felt something wrap around her torso and take most of her weight.
Unable to look up and see the blue-cat-man who she knew had grabbed her, Alice just froze all movements, trying her best not to tremble in the man's arms.
Sniff sniff.
Alice jumped again at the sound and clung tightly to the blue-cat-man's arm.
"I smell blood." The blue-cat-man said, addressing the lion-man. Alice flinched, guessing exactly what they were talking about.
"I smell it too." The lion man's rumbling voice stated. Alice's body started trembling again as she heard the soft 'shft' of the man's approach. She could feel his presence behind her as she tried to will her trembling to stop. Though it was obvious that these guys, at the moment, meant her no harm, Alice could keep her body from trembling or her heart from pounding.
"It's hers." The lion-man's voice came from behind her now, not even two feet away if her ears were not deceiving her. Alice jumped when she felt something touch her leg, just missing her wound. She turned her head abruptly to look over her shoulder. Seeing the lion-man kneeling in front of her injured leg. Again, her body froze up, locking her in that position.
"That's not from those men from earlier." The lion-man said, looking up at the blue-cat-man. Alice couldn't help but lean back a little in an attempt to look at her own wound. From what she could see with the dim light and awkward angle, her wound had reopened and was dripping down her throbbing leg.
"What then?" The blue-cat-man asked as Alice felt him lean over to get a bit of a better look. Alice watched as the lion-man straightened and his honey-gold eyes focused on her.
"Ask her." He stated. It seemed by his attitude, as well as his tone, that he had an idea what had happened to her. However, it was just as obvious that he wanted her to say it. From the corner of her eye, Alice saw the blue-cat-man look at her.
"What happened?" He asked softly. Alice's trembling began again as she thought of the first night she awoke in the forest.
"W-W-. . . W-wolves." She managed, chewing her lip as she looked away from all of them. She wasn't sure how things would turn out, but didn't feel like lie to them was a good idea. Still, now that they knew that she had nothing to do with whomever they were after, Alice wondered what they would do.
"She doesn't have anything to do with those guy hunting Leanne." The blue-cat-man reasoned. Alice tensed as she felt her fears starting to come to life. Still, she was unable to move. Be it the pain, or the fear, Alice was rooted to the spot. The only movement she made-other than her trembling-was to look forward again.
"Who are you, beoric girl? And what are you doing in Gallia's forest?" The lion-man's voice wasn't all that angry, but to Alice's frightened ears, he may as well be growling. She cringed and tightened her grip on the blue-cat-man's arm.
"P-please leave girl be." The woman stumbled. All three of them looked up at the white winged woman. The woman slowly approached Alice, her movements slow and graceful. Suddenly, Alice felt very dirty. She shrank back an inch for every one of the woman's steps forward.
The woman spoke again in her own language. Though Alice had no idea what she said, her tone calmed the frightened teen, if only a little.
"Leanne?" The blue-cat-man asked. The woman glanced up at the man then settled back on the frightened girl before her. Alice stared, wide eyed, at the white winged woman. She reached out slowly, watching the brunette's eyes dart between her hand and her face fearfully.
"Shhh." The woman laid her hand on the teenaged girl's ruffle and dirty brown hair, stroking it softly. At first, Alice flinched at the touch, but soon, Alice's fear-crazed mind calmed. She felt like slapping herself for being so stupid. Obviously, these guys meant her no harm.
Again, the woman spoke to her in her own language, but Alice still could not understand her. The blue-cat-man translated.
"She's asking you why you are alone in the forest." His voice was soft, like the woman's was. Alice felt strong sadness bubble up in her chest.
"I-I don't know." She said. Behind her, the lion-man snorted, obviously not believing her. Alice ignored him for the moment, just trying to keep her mind off the thoughts of her parents and of her home. The winged woman smiled softly and moved her free hand to slide it under one of Alice's, freeing the blue-cat-man from her obviously painful grip.
"Come." She said, a clear and, apparently, easy word. Alice's nervousness returned but her rational mind was able to fight the fears and she straighted slowly, releasing the blue-cat-man's arm. She took one step forward on her good leg. She wobbled slightly, her legs feeling like jello. The winged woman-who had taken a step back so Alice could take one forward-stilled her movements and waited for Alice to regain her balance.
The woman spoke again, clearly talking to Alice though they both knew that she could not understand. Before the blue-cat-man could translate, the lion-man cut him off.
"Leanne? Are you sure about that?" The man asked. Alice looked over her shoulder to see the man staring at her, his arms folded and suspicion written all over his face. She looked back at Leanne as she responded in her language.
"She-" Was the beginning of the lion-man's response but Leanne cut him off again. The woman continued speaking for a minute or two, her tone stubborn and willful. When she finished the lion huffed and shook his shaggy head.
"Alright. But if she one of them, we're getting rid of her." Again, he looked at her suspiciously. Alice cringed back a little, confused and, once again, frightened. Alice felt her hand squeezed and looked at Leanne. She spoke to Alice again then looked to the blue-cat-man for a translation.
"She wants you to come with us, kiddo." He said, smiling brightly. Alice twitched at the sugestion. One part of her brain told her 'run away before they can react!'. Another, more rational, part of her brain told her 'you need food and a way home and they are offering to help. Go.'
The more rational part of her brain won.
Alice was unsure of what to say, so she just nodded. Leanne squeezed her hand tightly, making the teenaged girl look at her. She smiled brightly and tugged her along in the direction she'd first seen the lion-man. Alice limped along, careful on her leg.
"Hurt?" Leanne asked, stopping and turning again to Alice. Alice shook her head.
"I can keep walking." She said. Now that she felt a little safer, she felt her usually stubbornness returning. Leanne thought about it for a moment before smiling softly and turning back in the direction she was headed before. She kept her pace a little slower than before, but didn't asked Alice again as they walked.
A/N: Finally! I've been trying to update for a while! And , it just kept keeping me out! . Well, I hoped you enjoyed this one. Please review!