Chapter Three

A/N:

Tori: Hey guys. Sorry this chapter is so late. Basically, I was in a play, which pretty much drained my time. Also, Neon has been really busy as of late, so I might be writing the author's note for the next chapter as well. Anyhow, we've written about forty chapters and are about a quarter of the way through the fic. As usual, I am the one responsible for this chapter, as it is odd-numbered, so enjoy!

Jeanne and Francis traversed the forest quickly, coming across a settlement within two days of walking. As they started to enter the settlement, Francis noticed his companion humming something. He glared at her, eyes narrowed nearly into slits.

"What? I tried to come up with a tune for our anthem." She started her humming over again, allowing Francis to hear the whole thing. "What do you think?"

The tune itself was upbeat and catchy, short, but not annoying upon repetition. Francis found himself actually enjoying it. By the time she finished, he smiled at her.

"I like it. Can you come up with lyrics?" He asked.

"It's an old song my parents used to sing to me," Jeanne explained. "We'd have to change the lyrics, though."

"Why?"

"The song is about a bird." Jeanne cleared her throat, she sung the same tune again, this time with words to it.

"Underneath the willow tree

Nestled 'tween the boughs

I saw a little chickadee

Who had a broken wing

I called her 'Liberty'

And I nursed her back to health

But I know she truly can't belong to me"

Francis thought for a moment. "Are you sure it's from the same province? I used to live not far from Sona-ler and I've never heard it before. It's also kind of strange. You'd think a song about a bird would be pretty and melodious like a bird. That song is harsh, like soldiers tramping. Kind of strange if you think about it, almost like the lyrics were thrown in there quickly. Or maybe I'm just overthinking it," he considered with a shrug.

"That's kind of a strange way to react. Most people would just say 'weird' and be done." Jeanne narrowed her brown eyes and looked at him coldly. "Who are you, Français, really?"

The Sona-leran girl was right. He didn't react like most people would have. Most people from his province were peasants with little more than a grammar school education, if any. They wouldn't have had the brain power to deduce something like that from a simple song. He couldn't let these slip ups get to Jeanne, otherwise she might start figuring out who he was. This was a part and he had to constantly be action like Français, the rebel on the run, rather than Francis, the young, scholarly man fascinated with Elvish Zemlya. Knowledge and understanding of such advanced history would surely lead people to investigate his past. He couldn't let that happen. In order to receive the sympathy of the poor, he'd have to pretend to be poor.

"No one you should worry yourself with. Just a little longer and we'll be in this village. Now make yourself useful and scope out for the revolutionaries, if there are any. See if we have any allies or if we need to make them," Francis instructed.

Jeanne nodded. "Alright, Monsieur, I'll be off. I'll be back soon."

He watched the woman walk off into the town before him. He hopped into a tree, with the hope that it would provide some cover against wandering eyes. Chances were, people knew what the revolutionary looked like and would recognise him in an instant. There weren't many humans with shoulder-length blond hair and stubble that never seemed to want to grow into a full beard. He looked out from the leaves, surveying the village for himself.

Jeanne walked through the village, keeping a weary eye on the inhabitants. It wasn't that different from Sona-ler in that most of the population was human and low fae. This was a promising sign for Francis, since she couldn't see any blue bloods. She went around asking people all the necessary questions: where the police stations were, how close they were to the Provincial Capital, Kala. The village (apparently Se'alla to it's inhabitants), didn't have it's own group of revolutionaries. It didn't seem any immediate threat to introduce Français into the town square. She smiled slightly. It felt good to finally sew the seeds of revolution into a new town. Rebels in Sona-ler were a pretty ordinary experience. She was friends with most of them, as her parents were before her. But talks of revolution here seemed only in hushed tones, weary that the wrong ear will hear. She went back to report everything she observed to Français.

"Monsieur!" she called out to the forest where she last saw the mysterious young rebel. "It seems safe. Any high fae is nearly an hour away, which is long enough to get away on foot. There's no talk of change, but from what I've seen, the people are mostly human."

The blond man climbed down from a nearby tree. "Merci. This village is more of a gamble than any one I've ever been in, but it doesn't hurt to take a chance, oui?"

Jeanne nodded. "Oui."

A/N:

Tori: Sorry the song lyrics are so terrible. I am just unable to write lyrics. Or melodies. Or, well, anything music-related. And the name for this village, Se'alla, comes from the name Tethe'alla, one of the worlds from Bandai-Namco's RPG Tales of Symphonia. I am the proud owner of it, yet I still have to beat the game. It's really good, though, and I'd highly recommend it ^_^ Also, if you're a Tales fan like I am, is Tales of the Abyss 3D any good? I'm getting a 3DS soon (for Kid Icarus Uprising and Pokemon X and Y in October), and I'm thinking of buying it. And what about the new Fire Emblem game? Sorry, this A/N is long and off-topic. Hope you liked the chapter and expect updates to be a tad more frequent.

And yes, it's chapter 3 and one of the characters has already killed someone. I told you this was going to be a Dark Fic.