Whoo! I wrote chapters 3 and 4 in the same day! EXCITING!!!

Well, to me, anyways...

Chef Colette: OH NO ANOTHER SOREN FAN! (shields self) BEWARE DIS CHAPTER... Haha, you'll see. Ragnell and Alondite can both change. Mwahaha. Horse laguz equal OMG BIG HOOVES-! (is knocked out)

Disclaimer: Me no own Fire Emblem- OOOO! FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT-!

XxXxXxX

Chapter 4

"And you kept this all a secret from the others?!" Tibarn roared, towering over Soren.

"I did," Soren replied, cool as ever.

Mihara's insides turned to ice at the ferocity of Tibarn's bellows and anger. She was also worried that Tibarn would become infuriated and punch the crap out of Soren. Then again, he may deserve it, but still...

"For what reason?! Haven't you seen how Mist has been falling apart?!"

"Ike asked me to."

"What kind of answer is that?!" Tibarn glowered at the tactical genius, his voice growing quieter. "You pathetic human. All you think about is yourself..."

Mihara winced. This wouldn't end well. Something burned inside her when Tibarn called him a human instead of a beorc – or even a Branded, as they both knew he was.

"..and no one else. For one, how about you consider others? You need to tell Mist about Ike."

"You may be the king of hawks and ravens, but you are not my king. I do not have to answer to you."

Tibarn snapped. His eyes flashed dangerously, and he raised a very lethal fist, Mihara bracing herself for his fist to contact Soren's cheek.

Okay, I can picture the look on your face/faces as you just read that. How's about we back up a little. YES, I know you want to see Tibarn punch Soren out, but you'll just have to wait.

XxXxXxX A Day and A Half Ago... XxXxXxX

A long while ago, the group passed into the Crimea lands. It was now not too long until they arrived at the fort. Mihara knew that they had been flying for at a minimum of eleven hours. The sun was beginning to sink in the west. She remembered something that Tibarn had said – that birds couldn't see well in the dark. She really hoped that they would reach before it became black outside.

Luckily, not a half hour after that silent prayer from Mihara, Tibarn called over the wind, "There's the fort!"

Mihara sighed with relief. She was starting to tire. She had begun to at the beginning of the eighth hour. And indeed, when she fell a little in altitude, she could see the fort, the lights emitting from the building. She listened, and could hear many chattering voices, but there were so many, she couldn't tell any of the conversations apart. Except for someone saying, "Mist, I see them coming!"

Within two minutes, the birds landed in the woods surrounding the fort, becoming half-beorc, as well as the cats. Mihara used what light was left to glance at Lethe. She was rather tall – only a little shorter than Ranulf. Her hair was around the same length as the game had shown three years ago. Ranulf approached Mihara. "Well, I see you're getting used to this."

Mihara gave him a smug look. "Perhaps."

"I'm taking it Skrimir sent you two?" Tibarn looked at the cats, beginning to walk towards the fort.

"Indeed, he did."

"How is he?"

"Doing fine."

Lethe muttered under her breath, "Not sure about our ears...they may never be the same again."

As if remembering that Lethe were there, Tibarn inquired, "And how are you doing, Lethe?"

As she seemed to glare at him, Ranulf assured, "Don't worry, she's mad at me. Because I caused Skrimir to permanently damage everyone in Gallia."

"Did you get in trouble?" Mihara asked, not seeing that Lethe was examining her (Ranulf explained about her on the way).

"Kinda; nothing major."

Reyson stared at Ranulf with confusion. The cat noticed this. "What's up, Reyson?"

"You aren't wearing your headband...?"

As if just remembering he wasn't, Ranulf glared at the bangs in his face. "No."

Leanne laughed softly at Ranulf's expression. Then, a woman with long braided hair approached the group. Titania. She smiled at her old friends and the guests whom she had not met before. "Hello, everyone."

"Ah, Titania. We are here on Yune's request."

"Yes, the wolves and dragons just arrived before you. Please, come on in. It may be a little crowded, but I think we can find room." She began to lead the laguz inside when her eyes turned to Mihara. "Umm...Lord Tibarn? Who is this? She looks an awful lot like you..."

Mihara resisted the urge to sigh. Here they go again...

XxXxXxX

"No, Tormod! Not there!"

"Well, where, then?!"

"More back! If you leave it there, it'll fall over!"

"Why are you yelling at only me?!"

"Because Muarim has it in the right place!!"

Muarim rumbled with laughter as Tormod and Sothe argued. Tormod held the other end of the large sign attached to two poles. They were attempting to stick in the ground and make it stay, but Tormod insisted on trying to stake it into a hill. Behind them, Laura, Aran, Nolan, Edward, Leonardo, and many volunteers from town were setting out picnic baskets on top of blankets. Edward beamed enthusiastically. "I can't wait until Micaiah sees this! She'll be so surprised!"

"I hope so," Laura said, arranging the baskets and blankets.

"I'm sure she'll love it," Nolan insisted.

"Laura!!" A townsperson cried, "Where does this go?!"

As Laura ran to aid the woman, Sothe had at last, grabbed the pole from Tormod and staked it into the ground, causing Tormod to threaten his friend to burn him to a crisp, only sparing his life because, 'Micaiah wouldn't like that too much.'

And so, when they were all set up, Sothe ran back to the castle, eager to get his wife. He found her, standing on the balcony outside their room. He took her hand after he snuck up behind her. "Hey, Micaiah."

"Oh, Sothe." Micaiah smiled warmly and turned around, kissing her husband passionately. Sothe realized something was off, instantly. But he knew why. She thought that her own husband had forgotten one of the most important days to him. He smirked inwardly.

"Micaiah, will you accompany me on a walk?"

"Of course. Where shall we walk to?"

"How about up on the big hill outside the castle. I know you hardly ever get out that much."

"Okay, sure."

Sothe led her outside, where a horse had been prepared for them. Sothe jumped up and offered a hand to Micaiah, his wife getting on behind him, staying on sidesaddle. She wrapped her arms around his waist to stay on the horse as he urged it to go. They rode swiftly out to the hill, Micaiah seeing something large stand out to her. She squinted to read it before she smiled happily, surprise coming across her face.

Sothe smiled at her before slowing the horse to a halt. He caught Micaiah as she slid off, staring at the large sign.

'Happy Birthday, Queen Micaiah!' it read.

Micaiah almost got teary. She hugged Sothe, her back turning to the sign. "Oh, thank you, Sothe."

Then, she was even more startled when she heard a large crowd of people shout 'happy birthday!' to her. She jumped slightly and turned, seeing her old friends from the original Dawn Brigade and many townspeople. As Micaiah walked towards them, she saw all the picnic baskets and blankets set out. She beamed with happiness. "Thank you so much, everyone!"

XxXxXxX

"Okay, well now that we have that cleared up, shouldn't we go and meet with the leaders of the laguz tribes?" Tibarn inquired.

"Umm, yes, I do suppose. I'll get them for you," Mist offered, standing.

Tibarn had repeated the story for about the third or fourth time of his relation to Mihara, the others listening intently, all of the Greil Mercenaries gathered in the room. "Thank you," the Altiaire King said as Mist left the room.

Once he was sure Mist was gone, Ranulf asked softly, "How's she been doing?"

Boyd answered, "She's putting on a smile and a tough face, but she's not doing too good."

"I had to go and talk with her, and she cried for a long time," Rolf added.

"She misses the boss," Mia stated the obvious. Then, she added to break the silence, "...We all do."

Soren twitched, but it went by unnoticed. Oscar (who had been summoned away from the Royal Knights for this event), on a lighter note, said, "I bet you guys are hungry. I'll go make some dinner for you." He smirked as he left. "A lot of food."

"I'll help you," Titania demanded, leaving the room with Oscar.

The others stared after them as they left. "That was a little random," Mihara murmured under her breath. Suddenly, Shinon stood (making Mihara feel quite intimidated by his vibe) and left the room. Gatrie sighed.

"He's still not liking the idea of so many laguz staying here for a while," he informed.

Only a few minutes later after Shinon left, Mist returned with Xavier and Keenan, Hadrian and Aislyn at their sides. They sat themselves down and Tibarn began the conversation. "I am Tibarn, king of the bird tribes. This is my daughter, Mihara. This is Ginia and Vlas to speak on the ravens' part, and Ranulf and Lethe of the cat, tiger, and lion tribe." Then, he gestured to the others beside him. "This is Volug and Mira of the wolf tribe, and Gareth and Nasir of the dragons."

"...I am Keenan, the Horse Lord. This is Aislyn, my most trusted and loyal subject."

"And I am Xavier, King of the Otters. This is Hadrian."

Getting right down to business, Keenan narrowed his eyes and inquired, "Why has the blue-haired beorc sent us here?"

"Ike was a very close friend...and brother to all of us here," Tibarn said. "There have been many wars that have taken place on Tellius, one of which caused the goddesses, Ashera and Yune, to awaken. Ashera turned everyone to stone. We all, not turned to stone, fought against Ashera to restore balance to the world."

Xavier nodded understandingly. "Something like that happened in our kingdom, Nylonti. Only a few of us were not turned to stone."

"In mine, as well," Keenan confirmed.

"We finally defeated Ashera, and she died. However, the goddess, Yune, is still present on Tellius with us. It was because of her unchecked emotions when she was young that caused most of the world to be submerged," Nasir said.

Gareth added, "Ike was a very kind beorc. He bridged the gap between laguz and beorc on our continent. He fought and commanded in both wars of his time."

"What was the cause of these wars? Wars are foolish," Keenan harshly stated.

"They were caused by a corrupted human," Ranulf spat. "He was called Ashnard. He had gone insane and wanted the medallion which held Yune, goddess of chaos. He believed that by causing so much chaos and destruction in the world would awaken Yune, who would grant him unbelieveable powers. So, he created a massacre," Ranulf gestured towards Reyson and Leanne, "that almost wiped out the entire heron clan. All that is left are these two, their older brother, and their father."

"After our people were wiped out," Reyson continued quietly, yet with anger in his voice, "Ashnard blamed it on our neighboring country. After that, much happened, and Crimea, where we are now, went to war with Daein - the country that Ashnard ruled. Ashnard wiped out Crimea's royal family except for two – the princess, Elincia, and her uncle, Duke Renning."

"However, Renning was captured and tortured for years until we managed to cure him," Titania informed. "We, the Greil Mercenaries, drew up a contract with Elincia and aided her in the fight. We eventually defeated Ashnard and the countries went to peace. For a few years. But then, there was a dispute between all the laguz and Begnion, the biggest country on Tellius."

Tibarn picked up, "We went through many little things, but we then had to go to war with Begnion. Most of us were lucky to make it out alive, but the ones who were causing the war were the senators in Begnion, overpowering the Empress. By then, most people had been turned to stone. We all joined forces and fought, killing the senators, and restoring the world to peace."

Keenan, Aislyn, Xavier, and Hadrian were listening closely to their tale. Xavier pointed out, "But none of that tells us why we're here."

Nasir said, "Ike believed, after the war, that Tellius had had more than enough of him, so he decided to go and see if any other living people were out there, and if there was, he wanted to show them that they weren't alone."

Mihara noticed that for a moment, Keenan's ears pinned back – a sign of anger. But they quickly flicked forward again. "...Thank you. He had not completely explained everything to us."

"Aren't there supposed to be swans here?" Mihara inquired.

Xavier nodded. "But they haven't shown up yet. They would more than likely appear where we had. I've got a few scouts out there, and so does Keenan. If they show up, we will know."

Mist suddenly stood. She said quietly, "Please excuse me," and she left the room quickly.

The others all stared after her. Titania apologized softly. "Please excuse her. Ever since Ike left, she's not been the same."

Tibarn leaned towards Mihara, "Go make sure she's alright."

Mihara blinked, making sure that he said that to her, but once she saw that he was, she stood up, excusing herself. Once she was outside the room, she listened for Mist. She heard her outside, sobbing softly. She slowly walked outside and saw the brunette sitting on the ground, right at the fort's wall, hugging her knees to her chest. Mihara hesitated. She wasn't good in situations like this. Nevertheless, she walked towards Mist.

"Hey, Mist...you okay?" Mihara leaned down towards her.

Mist jumped slightly, not even having heard Mihara's footsteps go towards her. Her face was wet with tears, and her cheeks were flushed. Mist seemed ashamed and turned her head away. "I'm s-sorry. It's...it's just been ha-hard..."

Mihara sat beside Mist, tucking her wings. She rubbed Mist's back. "I'm sorry. I would say I understand...but I don't really. Ever since I was brought here, I can't remember much about my beorc life. It's not even been two weeks..."

Mist choked a pathetic laugh out. "I wish I could heal like that..."

"Mist, he's your only blood family left – it's natural that you'd miss him this much."

"But why...why can't I be stronger?!"

"You're only beorc. Even laguz break down every once in a while."

"But it wasn't too long ago that I went and cried to Rolf. Now I feel like I'm crying all the time."

Mihara paused, not sure of what to say next. "...But you really are strong, Mist. You could've gone into a complete distressed state. You could've closed up, but you at least try and cope with your feelings. If you need an ear, I'm right here. I'll listen."

Mist smiled weakly. "Thank you, Mihara."

"No problem."

XxXxXxX

"Ah! Haar! You-you didn't!" Jill sputtered.

Haar looked up lazily. "Nn?"

"Argh!" Jill smacked her face with her hand. On Haar's way back to Talrega, he had stopped (as usual) and reached into one of the cargo boxes (as usual) and began eating slowly as he flew back (as usual).

"You'd better be lucky you're still up on your wyvern! Otherwise, I'd walk all up and down you! Haaaaar, I can't believe you did it again!"

"What am I supposed to do when I get hungry? Honestly, Jill, calm down. Actually...I'm a little surprised you aren't at Micaiah's birthday party."

"I wanted to finish things here first," Jill explained as Haar tossed small cargo boxes down at her. "But I'll go fly to the castle and wish her a happy birthday. And stop trying to change the subject!"

Haar cracked a grin. "Can't blame me for trying."

Ever since the war ended three years ago, Jill and Haar had returned to Talrega to live in peace. The two restored the town and a few old dracoknights moved in to help defend the town – just in case of little things. They had been visited by Yune, who usually tried to see them at least once a month, and she told them of the new laguz species and how Ike was still alive.

"It makes me happy...to know that he's still okay," Jill said.

"Now who's changing subject?" Haar accused lightly.

"Oh, c'mon! You know that you're happy about it, too, Haar!"

"I admit it. It's not like I want the kid to die. Seriously."

"I'm surprised you managed to stay awake while Yune explained things."

Fittingly, Haar yawned. "Nnn...now that you mention it..."

"Ha-ar!"

XxXxXxX

Brom and Meg were working out in the fields, talking and laughing. Nephenee, who'd been patrolling around Ohma, stopped by. "How's it goin', guys?"

"Going mighty fine, Nephenee! How about on your end? Anythin'?" Brom inquired.

"Nah. Nothin' for months now. An' months an' months..."

Meg's eyes widened. "B-but that's a good thing! Innit, Dad?!"

"Of course it is. But you see, Meg, for us former soldiers, it's real hard to adjust back to peace. But, since we're farmers, it's easy for us to take our mind off things."

"Yeah. I'm not a farmer," Nephenee reminded the child. "I guess you could call me Ohma's one-person town guard."

Meg smiled. "Yeah, I see what you mean."

Out of nowhere, the three heard a strange, yet familiar noise. It was a high-pitched sound...unlike anything anyone who hadn't been at the last war had ever heard. Nephenee's eyes widened with fear. "Ain't that the noise we heard before everyone became stone?!"

"It is!" Brom confirmed.

A bright light flashed, and Brom grabbed his daughter, covering her body with his. But no one turned to stone when the light faded. Nothing was out of the ordinary. Except...

"Uhh...Brom...?"

Brom turned around. He frowned. "Umm..."

XxXxXxX

It was late in the night – nearing morning, yet Mihara couldn't sleep and hadn't slept. She had sat with Mist a while, talking with her and listening to her woes. At last, they joined the others, just to learn that the horse laguz and otter laguz had gone to rejoin their people and think of what to do next. So, after the old war allies talking for a while, everyone had gone to overcrowded rooms to sleep. Mihara was sharing with Mist, Titania, Mia, Ginia, Lethe, and Mira – the female light brown-headed wolf laguz that had accompanied Volug.

She sat up from her spot on the floor. She looked around, seeing that everyone else was deep alseep. She stood up, as quietly as she could, so she wouldn't wake anyone. She saw, faintly, that Mira and Lethe's ears twitched as she crept from the room. She opened the door and closed it, grateful that it didn't creak. She heard faint snores behind most of the other doors on the floor. So, it wasn't hard to sneak out of the fort without being heard. She knew that a few laguz were patrolling, but they were farther out in the woods.

She walked out to the edge of the wall – near where she had sat with Mist for so long. She saw a shadowed figure near there – sitting on the top of the wall. It was Tibarn. He heard her coming and turned his head around with curiosity. "Mihara? What are you doing up?"

"I...couldn't sleep. I don't know why." Mihara left the ground and flew up beside the Lord of the Skies. She sat down beside him, her legs dangling over the side. "Can you not sleep, either?"

"I'm mostly used to not getting much sleep. I go a few days before I really need to sleep. Because of the war – it majorly changed my sleeping pattern."

Saying 'sleeping pattern' reminded Mihara of Jill, talking about Haar and the war messing up his sleeping schedule. She smirked slightly at that, but she asked, "So...how did it go after I left to go talk with Mist?"

"A little strange, actually. We told Keenan and Xavier more about the history of Tellius, seeing as, apparantly, they were sent from much farther than the ocean drawn on the map. After that, we asked them what they planned on doing – since they're probably stuck here now. I doubt that there's any way to contact Ike. He has Ragnell and Alondite, and those two swords can allow him to teleport."

Mihara's eyebrows raised a little at that last sentence. She had known that the Black Knight – or Zelgius – could teleport, but she thought that was his own power. "Can they really?"

"Yes."

"That's cool! Well...inconvient for us, but..."

Tibarn smirked. "I know what you mean."

The two sat in silence for a little while, staring up at the almost full moon. The light it gave off was intense, but at the same time, it was so beautiful. However, Mihara winced and shut her eyes when a bright golden light flashed from somewhere in front of them. Tibarn frowned, narrowing his eyes towards where the light had flashed. He stood up, spreading his wings. "Are you going to see what that was?" Mihara asked.

"Yeah. You going to come, too?"

"...I suppose..."

Mihara stood up beside him (almost cowering under his shadowed figure due to major height difference) and waited on him to take off first. Once he did, Mihara was right behind him. They flew just above the treeline, looking for the source of the light. Tibarn suddenly came to a halt, Mihara learning how to stop flying forward very fast. She saw Tibarn looking downward, and she did, too. All she could see was a dim golden glow and a shadow beside it. Tibarn quietly descended to the ground, Mihara trying to be silent as well. When their feet touched the ground, they moved forward silently. They hid behind a large tree and peeked out from behind it. Mihara could see that the glow was actually in the form of a dog. It sat patiently, its eyes trained on the shadow. Mihara's face came over with confusion. The shadow was Soren? What was Soren doing?

She looked harder towards him, and she could see a small piece of paper in one hand, and his other hand was moving across it. She turned towards Tibarn to see if he knew what he was really up to, but Tibarn wasn't there. Mihara frantically turned her head, looking for Tibarn. While her back was turned, she heard a low growl of warning come from the dog. She turned back around, thinking it was growling at her, but it was growling at Tibarn! Soren flung around, keeping the piece of paper behind his back, narrowing his eyes at the mighty hawk.

"A little late for writing in your diary, isn't it, Soren?" Tibarn taunted, his arms crossed.

Soren said nothing. He turned back around and rolled the paper up, handed it to the dog, and with another bright flash of light, the dog vanished. How this wasn't attracting the attention of the patrol was beyond Mihara. Instead, she felt like Soren was up to something very secret. He obviously didn't want to tell Tibarn anything. That didn't faze Tibarn, though.

"What were you doing, Soren?"

"None of your business, I believe. I have a right to privacy, don't I?"

"By the goddess, why must you be so stubborn? I'm not stupid, tactician. That was no ordinary dog, and that was a letter."

Yeah. Mihara decided to stay behind the tree.

"And what if it was? What does it matter to you?"

"Maybe it's not any of my business. I'm simply curious. It's not every day you get to see a glowing mutt."

Soren shrugged. "Too bad for you, then."

Tibarn sighed heavily. "Soren, tell me what that was."

The Branded man glared at Tibarn. "Fine. It was a letter to Ike, who is currently majorly wounded and weary, and was almost killed in a storm last night."

Mihara gaped. Tibarn twitched, but remained cool. "...You've...been talking to Ike?"

"All three years."

"And you let Mist go on, not knowing if he's alive or dead? Can't you see that she's being eaten up from the inside by this?!"

"It was Ike's wish that she didn't know anything. Nor any of the others. The others talk too much."

"And you kept this all a secret from the others?!" Tibarn roared, towering over Soren.

"I did," Soren replied, cool as ever.

Mihara's insides turned to ice at the ferocity of Tibarn's bellows and anger. She was also worried that Tibarn would become infuriated and punch the crap out of Soren. Then again, he may deserve it, but still...

"For what reason?! Haven't you seen how Mist has been falling apart?!"

"Ike asked me to."

"What kind of answer is that?!" Tibarn glowered at the tactical genius, his voice growing quieter. "You pathetic human. All you think about is yourself..."

Mihara winced. This wouldn't end well. Something burned inside her when Tibarn called him a human instead of a beorc – or even a Branded, as they both knew he was.

"..and no one else. For one, how about you consider others? You need to tell Mist about Ike."

"You may be the king of hawks and ravens, but you are not my king. I do not have to answer to you."

Tibarn snapped. His eyes flashed dangerously, and he raised a very lethal fist, Mihara bracing herself for his fist to contact Soren's cheek. There was a long pause, but Mihara heard nothing. She looked back at the two, Tibarn's fist not being five inches away from Soren's face. It was frozen there. Tibarn breathed heavily, a growl coming out from his throat. Instead, he swung his arm backwards, slamming it into a tree. He stared down at Soren, who hadn't moved. "I suppose I shouldn't expect any less from you. No heart, as always. You disgust me."

He turned around, walking away from Soren. He passed by the tree where Mihara was, and he snapped, "Come on."

Shivering at her father's order, mixed with ire, she obeyed, following close behind him. She glanced back at Soren, who seemed to just start becoming angry. Mihara noticed how Tibarn's hands were still balled up into fists. She also noticed that there was blood on the side of his hand, where he'd swung at the tree. Mihara whispered, "Umm...you're bleeding..."

As if Tibarn snapped out of his angered state, his hands relaxed. He brought his hand up for a glance. "That's nothing," he assured, his voice much softer.

They at last came to view of the fort's walls when Tibarn stopped. He hesitated, then said, "I'm...sorry for snapping at you. None of that was your fault."

"It's-it's okay. But...are you going to tell the others?"

"I'll think about it. Let me see if my heartless jabs at Soren made something click, first."

Mihara could sense the faint smirk and joke behind that. "Alright."

Tibarn lifted off the ground and sat back up on the wall. "I'm going to stay out here and think. You can go on to bed."

"I'm still not sleepy," Mihara insisted, flying back up beside him.

Tibarn turned to say something, but he saw that Mihara was thinking about something and was uncertain whether or not she should say it. "...What is it?" he inquired softly.

"Umm...I've been thinking about this...for a while. Would it...be okay if...I called you...'Dad'?"

Tibarn's eyes widened at the question. But his gaze softened. "Of course."

Mihara flushed and smiled at Tibarn. She slowly leaned against her long-lost father and he wrapped an assuring arm around her. Mihara closed her eyes and somehow, found sleep.

XxXxXxX

Aww, father-daughter bonding! (looks away)

Okie-dokie...I'm going to start on the next chapter for minna-san(everyone)!

Please review! -Sylph