Several seconds earlier...
"Where are we going, lion?" Gilbert moaned. His foot bashed painfully into a rock, and he hissed something unprintable. If hawks could wince, Kralle would certainly be doing so.
The lion cub glanced at Gilbert, and seemed to be thinking, seriously?
"Not my fault. I'm too awesome for that," the albino mumbled.
The big cat raised his tail and pricked his ears. Gilbert caught sight of a figure through the trees as Kralle gave a sharp cry. The figure seemed to be holding a weapon of some kind... It was getting closer: BAM!
"Arrgh!" Gilbert cried, stumbling backwards, his face bashed in from the frying pan it had just received.
"There's more where that came from, creep!" snarled a girl's voice.
"Hey!" Gilbert held up his hands. "I'm not the one who just smashed an innocent person's face in! Why are you calling me creep?"
The long-haired girl was breathing heavily. A wolf stood by her side, teeth bared. Kralle spread his wings and beat them threateningly.
Before conflict could ensue, the lion cub trotted out from the bush and stood in front of the girl. Her eyes widened. "Hey, it's the lion, Eros!" The wolf stopped growling and tilted her head curiously.
"What? You were looking for the lion too?" Gilbert asked in surprise, rubbing his forehead, where a bruise was beginning to form.
The girl had the decency to look a bit ashamed. "I'm sorry," she muttered. "I thought you were going to attack me. I just...I need to follow this lion."
"So do I!" Gilbert exclaimed. "I was told-"
"-in a dream, right?" the girl finished. "Me too."
"So, what's your name? Are you one of the chosen six? What's your clan?" Gilbert fired off.
"My name is Elizabeta; yes, I am; Bellator," the girl shot back.
"I'm Gilbert," the albino introduced himself. "Of the Fortis clan. Nice to meet you, Elizabeta."
"Likewise," she replied. Gilbert felt a something stir in his brain as they shook hands. Did this girl seem...familiar?
She shifted her feet. "Uh, I know this will sound weird, but is your hair-?"
"Real?" Gilbert finished. "Yeah, I get that a lot. I was born with this hair colour, and it never changed. Same with the red eyes. I got called a demon a lot..."
Elizabeta winced. "That's not good."
Gilbert grinned. "Nah, I think it's awesome! Anyway, let's get this journey started!"
Elizabeta smiled slightly. "Yeah!"
The lion cub regarded them with something akin to humour in his eyes. Elizabeta turned to him, crossing her arms over her chest and bowing. The cat nodded to her, and she relaxed.
"Well, I guess we keep following the lion now," Gilbert sighed. "I don't know why we have to go through the forest, though."
Kralle landed on Eros' back, dipping his head friendlily. Eros sniffed slightly scornfully, but allowed him to remain there.
Gilbert smiled at Elizabeta, who patted her frying pan in response; the Fortis gulped.
Francis Bonnefoy flopped onto his lavish bed. He winced as the bruises from the fight earlier twinged with pain. It was the Docte way to hightail it out of there when a skirmish arose, but Francis had felt a compulsion to break up the fighters. And I payed for it, too, he thought as he carefully shifted his weight. It took him a while, but he eventually fell into an uneasy sleep.
"Francis. Francis. Francis."
"Ahh!" Francis sprang to his feet, backing away from the woman that had just appeared in front of him, spouting his name like a broken record.
The woman yawned. "Geez, I'm tired. Can we get a move on, please?"
"Who are you?" Francis demanded.
"Callidum," the woman answered easily, as if she was used to saying the Goddess' name all the time.
Francis raised his eyebrow. "Mademoiselle, do you expect me to believe that you are the Goddess?"
Callidum looked outraged. "When you stopped that fight earlier, I thought you were the right choice! Was I wrong?"
"Wait, you know about that?" Francis panicked. "No one was supposed to find out!"
"I saw you, mortal. I was watching you, wondering if I should pick you for the quest." Callidum sighed heavily. "I can only send one dream," she grumbled to herself.
Francis perked up. "Quest? Je suis désolé, mon amie. Of course you are a Goddess."
He lived in a wealthy home, but there were so many rules and restrictions. It got tiring after a while, and he longed to go on an adventure.
"D'accord," he spoke in his native tongue. "I will go on this 'quest'."
Callidum brightened. "Great! Okay, I assume you've heard my legend, right?"
Francis nodded. "Of course, ma chérie."
The Goddess ignored his tone. "Well, this is the year the Shadow attacks, and you are the single Docte embarking on the quest. You must find the mysterious lion cub wandering through the forest. Follow him until you find your leader, just like the legend. Got it?"
"Oui," Francis smiled. "When will I see you again, ma-"
"Don't even think about it," Callidum sighed. "In any case, we will see each other again. When you assemble your team of heroes, you must visit each temple. When you reach mine, I will give you my blessing."
"I await that time with bated breath!" Francis cried.
Callidum rolled her eyes, but clasped her hands behind her back and bowed to Francis. He recognized the salute of the Docte and mimicked her.
"Good luck, Francis," the Goddess sighed again. "Remember my teachings."
"Bien sûr," Francis assured her. "I will."
As Callidum faded, Francis detected a strange look an her face. Was it... pity?
Francis awoke with a start, whipping his head around, confirming that he was still in his room.
"Mon dieu," he breathed. "Or should I say, ma déesse."
He packed a bag full of all the necessary components for a trip, including several day's worth of food, and opened his window. He let the cool breeze play across his face, and he sighed happily.
"Adventure at last," he murmured.
A small fox leaped onto the his bed. He nestled his russet coloured head into Francis' palm and gazed at him questioningly.
"Of course you are coming with me, Beau, mon ami spécial!" Francis whispered to the fox.
Beau barked happily, also smelling the fresh air.
Francis pulled out a rope and rappelled down the side of his house. He held out his arms once he was at the bottom, and Beau dove out of the window into them.
Francis' house was on the edge of the city bordering the forest, so he decided to go into it. The best place to look for an animal was probably a less populated place, he concluded.
After wandering around for several minutes, Francis glimpsed the signs telling him that he was leaving Docte territory. He briefly pondered whether it was wise or not to cross the border, but before he could make a decision, Beau suddenly started to bark excitedly. The little fox rushed into the trees on the Bellator side, glancing back at Francis as if he expected the Docte to follow him.
"Beau! Reviens!" he called anxiously. When the sounds of the fox crashing into the undergrowth had nearly faded, Francis abandoned all judgement and plunged into the foliage after him.
The next few minutes were a streaming blur to Francis. Twigs whipped by his face, scratching it, as he dashed through the trees; he was keeping one eye on the bushy tail of his fox, and the other on the ground, watching for obstacles.
Finally, Beau started to slow down. "Beau...what has gotten...into you?" Francis managed to scold. He leaned down and took in shuddering gasps of air, refilling his expired lungs.
Beau, on the other hand, seemed barely winded as he sniffed a rock, whining slightly.
"Who knows where we are now?" Francis groaned. Beau flattened his ears in shame.
"Mon ami, it is not your fault." The French boy leaned down to give Beau a comforting pat. The fox perked up, and seemed to gesture to the rock he was smelling earlier.
Francis bent over to examine the rock. There was nothing remarkable about it, but scattered on the ground nearby were several footprints.
"These aren't all human," Francis murmured, tracing one of them. It was shaped like a cat's paw.
"There are more over here!"
Francis and Beau were following the tracks. They had found a set of human ones next to the lion's, soon joined by another human and animal, most likely a wolf. The prints were fairly fresh, so Francis expected to run into whomever had made them soon.
Beau's whiskers twitched; he had smelled someone.
"-are we even going?" complained an unfamiliar male voice.
"Shut your trap before I shut it for you," another voice, a girl's, retorted.
"That was so unawesome," the first voice mumbled. There was a sound of impact; it sounded as if he had just been kicked. "Ow! So was that!"
Francis crouched down behind a bush, keeping an eye out for the strange people. Beau huddled next to him, ears pricked.
"Where is the lion cub leading us?" the boy tried again. "Did your Goddess tell you? I didn't get much information at all."
"The Goddess that talked to me was rude," the girl replied bluntly. "I got semmiség out of her."
Francis had heard enough to know that these two were in the same situation as him. He stepped out of the brush, declaring, "I think I can help you there, mes amis."
As expected, the two did not react kindly to a complete stranger melting out of the forest. Quite the opposite, in fact.
"Who are you!?" the girl growled, brandishing a slightly dented frying pan at him.
"That was also unawesome!" the boy whimpered, hiding behind the girl.
"Coward," the girl snorted contemptuously.
A wolf and a hawk stood defensively in front of the two, snarling at Beau.
Francis laughed. "Lower your weapon, ma chérie," he assured. "I am not your enemy."
"A random creep just eavesdropped on a private conversation and started talking to me as if he knew me! Of course I should lower my weapon!" the girl said sarcastically.
Francis rolled his eyes. "Are you always so suspicious?" he wondered. "I was looking for a lion cub in this forest. It wasn't my fault you two were talking so loudly."
The French boy hid his smirk as the two exchanged glances. He decided to use his trump card.
"A Goddess came to me in a dream. She said something about a quest."
The girl's eyes widened, then she grudgingly put down her frying pan. "I guess you are part of this, then," she admitted.
"Kesesese! I knew you were a good guy! I'm Gilbert. This is Elizabeta." Gilbert pointed to the hawk and wolf. "The hawk is my companion, named Kralle, and Elizabeta's wolf is named Eros."
"Ravi de vous rencontrer," Francis greeted.
"What's that weird language you keep speaking?" Elizabeta asked, eyeing Francis warily. "Neither of us can understand you."
"Pardon me, I did not realize! I will try to refrain from speaking French too much, ma cher." he said apologetically, ironically slipping up in the first sentence.
"What's your name?" Gilbert asked. "And your clan?"
"I am Francis, and this is Beau. It is a pleasure to meet you! I am your one and only Docte."
Francis watched the smiles on the two's faces become slightly fixed. More people who don't like the Docte, he thought sadly. Just because we aren't all 'high and mighty' like everyone else doesn't mean we should be penalized for it.
Elizabeta composed herself. "I'm the first Bellator and Gilbert is the first Fortis out of the six," she told him. "We're following the lion cub to find our leader."
The previously unnoticed lion finally stepped up. He dipped his head to Francis, who clasped his hands behind his back and bowed. The big cat finally seemed satisfied, and with a flick of his tail, he started to lead the three travellers at a jaunty pace.
"So, where are we going?" Gilbert whispered to Elizabeta.
She smacked him irritably. "Just concentrate on following the lion!"
Francis trailed behind them, smirking some more. This was going to be fun.
Still short ;-;. I had a little time to write today, so there you go. Also I don't know German or Hungarian, so do not take the lines in those languages as truth, because I honestly have no idea. I don't really have anything else to say, so... Feel free to review! Arrivaderci!
