Okay, welcome to chapter six! Now, in this one, my sister and I sorta had a random moment...which I think is easy to spot. Well...two random moments. My sister came up with the first and I came up with the second. (evil laugh)
Sylvera: I got a good bit of info and suggestions from reading your review. I suppose that in the beginning, Mihara was supposed to be me, but then as I went on, I decided against actually making me. It seemed a bit to cliched that way. Xp I'm working on her personality best I can. It'll get better when it actually starts to focus more on her and Altiaire than everyone at once. Haha, I think that this is almost as my Pretear story (mentioned in disclaimer) where my sister and I had to make an entire chart to keep track of so many original characters.
Also, in the beginning, I was just mainly going to have Ike have a part in the story because hardly anyone I know agrees with the ending of Fire Emblem (laugh). But...MWAHAHAHAHAAA!!! (which means they have a real part) I'm really glad you like it so far! And I made a long answer to match your long review. :P
Chef Colette: I randomly came up with the Lethe and children part. I thought it was pretty funny. :P The otter tribe shall kick booty. Mwahahaha. OMG EPIC SCENES AWESOME. Thanks! (hands cookies out to reviewers)
Disclaimer: IT'S FREAKING HOT OUTSIDE! HOTHOTHOT! I WANT RICH A/C! I WANNA BE RICH!!! (no) (please read my Pretear: Elemental Melody story to get that. Read Christmas chapter)
XxXxXxX
Chapter 6
"AAAIIISSSLLLYYYNNN!!!"
"Oh, crap! We've been found out! Run, Hadrian!!" Aislyn cried.
"You don't have to tell me twice!" The male otter took off at top speed out of the fort as fast as possible, the horse right beside him.
Keenan's roars woke up everyone in the fort (and out in the forest) in the early hours of the morning. This caused the otter king to bellow, "WHAT THE HELL, KEENAN?!"
"AAAIIISSSLLLYYYNNN!!!" he repeated.
The two escapees sped up, now fearing the wrath of the Horse Lord, who was running out of the fort after the two. Once he caught sight of Hadrian, he bellowed, "YOU TOO, HADRIAN?!"
Hadrian cackled to Aislyn, "Gotta admit, it was totally worth it!"
Aislyn looked back at her completely pissed off king. "I suppose it was!" she agreed, seeing her king's face, red with anger. However, as he began to catch up, the two yelped and shifted into their full forms. Spotting a deep lake nearby (which was conviently there), Hadrian leapt in.
"You're on your own, Aislyn! See ya later!" Hadrian went underwater.
"Wha-?! This was your idea, traitor!!" Aislyn snapped, running as fast as she could on four legs. However, when she heard two running feet turn into four galloping hooves, Aislyn cursed and pushed faster. Damn otter, damn otter, she muttered darkly in her mind.
Back at the fort, Tibarn glared after Keenan, Aislyn, and Hadrian. "Those bastards. What the hell is so important in this early in the morning for them to be playing games...?"
Upstairs, Xavier fell into a roar of laughter, despite all the grumbling going around from everyone, who had been woken up before the sun was even completely visable yet. "They didn't!" he cackled.
Tibarn, Ranulf, Mihara, and Titania went upstairs to see what had sent the Otter King into balistics. They saw Keenan's room's door open, Xavier leaning against the doorway for support as he laughed. Ranulf peeked into the room and blinked. "It's...ummm..."
"Full of carrots!!" Xavier choked out. "Carrots! C-c...wahahahahahaaa! I...I can't be-believe the-they-! Hahahahahaaaa!!!"
"Carrots? Why carrots?" Titania inquired.
"A horse...that hates carrots...!" Xavier tried to say between his cackles.
"Say...what?" Mihara stared at the Otter King, thinking that there must be a hidden joke behind this.
Xavier managed to calm himself down. "See...even though Keenan is a Horse Lord...he...hates..." He snorted. "...carrots..."
"So...it's a horse that hates carrots?" Tibarn smirked with amusement.
Xavier nodded his head hysterically, falling into another round of laughter. Ranulf snorted loudly, but swallowed his laughs. Mihara, on the other hand, laughed with Xavier. Titania winced. "I feel so sorry for Aislyn and Hadrian..."
Tibarn walked into the room, picked up something, and walked towards Xavier. "Carrot!!" he said as he threw a stuffed carrot doll.
That sent everyone into hysterics.
XxXxXxX
"So, Lady Laurel," Xavier said with a completely serious face on, "are you and your people going to stay here? Or would you like to go back to Ailon?"
"We have been offered a place to stay with our heron brothers and sister. It is apparantly a very peaceful place. Beautiful, too. I am thinking very much of staying." Laurel smiled (evilly?!). "However, after this morning...I do not think Keenan wishes to show his face around here again..."
Then, she and Xavier laughed once more at the morning's events. However, they soon heard a set of very angry footsteps. They leaned over from their spot outside and saw Keenan (with a very pissed off face) holding Aislyn and Hadrian by the collars of their shirts, their feet not touching the ground. The laughing instantly stopped. Laurel looked at Xavier with uncertainty. "Umm...shouldn't you save Hadrian, at least?"
"Are you kidding me?" Xavier looked at Laurel as if she just said she wanted him to kill his subject. "He is on his own. Have you seen Keenan that mad before? I would not want to be the one in the path of his hooves and snapping teeth."
"Point taken..." Laurel paused. "Well then, are you going to be staying here?"
"I believe I am..." Xavier said with a smirk.
As Keenan carried the two inside, the others inside jumped out of the Horse Lord's path, not wanting to face his wrath, like the two would soon be doing. Keenan then arrived at his room and threw the two in, Aislyn and Xavier landing on their feet. Keenan slammed his door and glowered down at the two, who cowered in his shadow. However, once Keenan grinned with triumph, the other two did as well.
"That was great. No one suspects anything now," Hadrian chuckled.
"Although, I was serious about your punishment..." Keenan reminded.
"Are you kidding? I'd take that punishment any day!"
"Agreed," Aislyn said cheerfully.
"When do you want us to do it?" Hadrian inquired.
"...Tonight."
"Yes, sir."
XxXxXxX
Sothe kissed Micaiah on her forehead as her eyes opened. "Good morning, Micaiah," Sothe whispered.
Micaiah smiled. "Good morning, Sothe."
"What shall we do today?"
"Rule a country?" Micaiah teased.
"Crap. I was hoping to get around that for once." Sothe snapped his fingers playfully.
Micaiah sat up in bed, Sothe rubbing her back. "I wonder where Yune went...I haven't seen her since she went to go see Kurth."
"I'm sure she's just flying around, checking on everyone. She's fine. She's stubborn, if anything."
"I know...you're right, but I still worry about her. I've not seen anything for a long time with my farsight, but I've started seeing something...something dark. Something clouded."
Sothe sat up beside her, alarmed. "You've not seen anything clear?"
"Not really. All I see...is Lehran's Medallion. And not a blue flame, but a red. I'm not sure what it means. I wanted to ask Yune, but I've not heard her voice since she last came here. I know it's only been a few days, but..."
"I understand. Hopefully, she'll be back soon for you to find out."
Micaiah then smiled and changed the subject. "I bet Nailah is settling into her new lands well by now. And Rafiel is probably with Lord Lorazieh, too."
Sothe sighed, then said, "Yeah, they probably are."
Micaiah jumped out of bed and took Sothe's hands. "Come on. Let's do something today."
"Even though you just had your birthday party?" Sothe smirked.
"I'm feeling spoiled." Micaiah laughed. "Come on! Just the two of us."
"Okay," Sothe agreed, smiling, letting Micaiah pull him from bed.
XxXxXxX
Yune, in her fire child form, stared with horror at the bronze object. "No...this can't be..."
"What is the matter, Lady Yune?" Zihark inquired. "Is something wrong?"
"This medallion...where did you find it?"
"It was in the outskirts of Sienne, so I picked it up on my way here. Is...something the matter with it?"
"Please, Zihark! You must do me a favor!"
"Anything."
"Either take this medallion to the herons or destroy it! Please!" Yune's voice grew desperate.
Zihark stared suspiciously at the goddess, unable to see the red flame that Yune saw, burning brightly. "I will."
XxXxXxX
For the majority of the day at the Griel Mercenary Fort, no one did much of anything but walks. Tibarn spoke with Mihara about perhaps giving her fighting lessons, even in this time of peace. There were many horses, otters, and swans staying outside, since it was cramped in the tiny fort. The day crawled by, no one having seen Aislyn, Hadrian, or Keenan since the Horse Lord had dragged the two back to the fort. However, now it was nighttime...
Xavier sighed and stretched. He just couldn't relax. He had a...feeling. That something was about to happen. He felt antsy, so the Otter King stood and walked outside. He walked silently to the outside of the fort's walls and leaned against it to stare up at the moon. It just seems so peaceful tonight...maybe I'm just stressed about this whole thing, so I'm starting to imagine things.
He closed his eyes and slid to the ground, curling his tail around so that he wouldn't sit on it. Although, his peace was quickly disturbed.
While he sat on the ground, minding his own business, two certain laguz were on top of the wall, their presence undetected by Xavier. Aislyn held a small bag, three objects inside. Hadrian reached inside the bag and pulled out one snake...
Inside, Keenan was seen walking to a window overlooking the general direction where Xavier had gone. Oscar looked at Keenan with uncertainty. "Umm...what did you do to Aislyn and Hadrian?"
Keenan glared at Oscar with daggers, his ears pinned back with anger. Oscar held up his hands in surrender. "Just wondering...merely wondering."
Suddenly, a high-pitched, feminine scream filled the air. "SNAKES! SNAKES! AHHH!!!"
Everyone stared out windows with confusion as Keenan roared with triumph.
"AAAIIISSSLLLYYYNNN!!! HHHAAADDDRRRIIIAAANNN!!! YOU BASTARDS!! THAT WAS A DIRTY TRICK! DIRTY! I DON'T KNOW WHAT KEENAN PUT YOU UP TO, BUT I AM GOING TO KILL YOU BOTH!!!"
"And he's usually so sweet," Mia tsked, once she realized who was screaming.
Ranulf, Mihara, Nasir, Boyd, Gatrie, and Rolf all clutched their stomachs as Aislyn and Hadrian ran for their lives for the second time that day, only now, they were fleeing from the Otter King instead of the Horse Lord.
"DIEEE, YOU TRAITORS!!"
Keenan snorted. "He may be a king, but he's never taken anyone's life before! I doubt he's going to start with them."
"I dunno...he sounds pretty capable at the moment..." Mihara protested.
Everyone stared as Aislyn and Hadrian fled, Xavier right on their tails. "I doubt we'll see any more of them tonight," Gareth commented.
XxXxXxX
There were shouts coming from outside, following by roaring laughter downstairs. Soren looked back to the shadows of Mist's room, where the ill girl was sleeping. "How long will you stay?" he asked.
Ike stepped into the moonlight, looking at Mist's face. "Not long. I just...wanted to make sure she would be okay."
"Aren't you still injured? From that storm?"
"I'm fine. The other with me healed me. But right now...I just had to see Mist." Ike leaned down to gently stroke Mist's cheek. "I know how much pain I've caused her."
"Why don't you just stay? You've helped enough across the seas." Soren stared hard at his friend.
"I've not done enough. Felicity is with me, and she can heal. I'll be fine. I've just worried about Mist since I left."
Downstairs, some distinct voices grew louder, including some random voices saying, "You two got yourselves into that! I'm not saving you!"
"So you'd rather have us die?!"
"He won't kill you, Hadrian!"
"Oh?! How do you know, Mihara-?! Nooo! Please! Keenan put us up to it-!"
Ike frowned. "Who is Mihara?"
"Tibarn's daughter."
"...He had a daughter?"
"It's a long story. And you've not the time," Soren reminded harshly.
"...I see..." Ike's face grew sad as he heard the voices of his friends downstairs, who didn't know whether he was alive or dead. He turned back to Mist. He whispered, "I'll come back...I promise."
He stood, said a farewell to Soren, and vanished with a flash of gold light. Soren momentarily turned to Mist, but as he left her room, he heard her murmur, "Bro...ther..."
XxXxXxX
"She is precious, my husband."
"Of course she is. She's just like her mother."
A woman giggled softly. "But she looks so much like her father!"
"Come now," a man scolded lightly. "Let's not wake her."
"Indeed. Shall we go to bed?"
"Well, I'm rather tired. Let's go, Zelena."
"Alright, Tibarn. Let's leave our little Mihara so she can go to sleep."
The two walked away. A shadow crept in before her, arms snatching at her, followed by a baby's cries-
XxXxXxX
Mihara felt hands tapping her gently, but she could still see her dream. It terrified her, yet she didn't want to wake up. However, she forced her eyes open and saw Leanne. She quietly said, "Tibarn needs us."
"...Okay," Mihara said in a sigh. She forced herself out of her bed and got dressed, joining Leanne in the hall.
Leanne stared at Mihara for a moment with concern before saying, "Mihara have bad dreams... You...are confused."
The daughter of Tibarn stared at Leanne with wonder. She recalled something she'd remembered Naesala say from the game.
I do wish you'd stop looking into my soul, Leanne. It's very rude.
So herons could read people's hearts. Knowing she couldn't hide anything from Leanne, she shrugged her shoulders. "A little. I mean, I accept that Tibarn is my father, but I've been having strange dreams lately. This dream I just had...I think, was me...when I was a baby, and Tibarn and...my...mother were there..."
Leanne looked at her with sympathy. However, she sensed Mihara had more to say.
"Leanne, do you...know anything...about my mother?"
The heron princess smiled gently. "Not my place to tell."
"But did you know her? Personally?"
Leanne shook her head. "Tibarn with her before we meet."
"Oh..." Well, duh! Leanne was asleep for twenty years in the Serenes Forest. She knew Tibarn, but hadn't seen him in so long...
"Ask Tibarn."
"I suppose I will...once we see what he needs us for."
The two found Tibarn, Reyson, Laurel, Keenan, and Xavier talking softly. Mihara couldn't help but giggle, seeing that Keenan and Xavier were standing as far away as possible from each other. Reyson looked at his sister and Mihara. "Lady Laurel has decided to stay, along with Xavier."
"What about you, Lord Keenan?" Tibarn inquired, as though never having been interrupted from their conversation.
Keenan's tail swished before he sighed. "I suppose I shall. It seems my people like it here just fine. We will adjust, but I believe we'll do okay here."
"That is nice to hear," Laurel said, smiling. "I know where my people and I shall stay. Master Reyson and Lady Leanne have offered their home to us, along with their older brother and father."
"I would like to meet with this King of Beasts before I make my decision on where to stay," Xavier reported.
All eyes turned to Keenan. He said, "I would much prefer to see if this...Lion King would combine our tribes. I understand from Volug and Mira that their tribe has settled on the other side of this heron forest. It is a fair amount of land. If the Lion King objects, I shall speak with the Wolf Queen."
The others nodded. Tibarn offered, "We can escort you all to Gallia. I suppose we can stop in the Serenes Forest first. We can drop Lorazieh off when we return to Altiaire," he added to Reyson and Leanne.
"That sounds good. I would like for these mercenaries to have their little fort back. I feel bad that they must share this much space with us," Xavier muttered. "I believe once I tell my people, we will be ready to leave by midday."
"Same for mine," Keenan stated, Laurel nodding beside them.
"Okay, then. We'll head out a little after midday."
When they split their own ways, Mihara accompanied Tibarn, Reyson, and Leanne for a short fly. As they headed out, Mihara spotted Ranulf and Lethe on the ground, speaking with Ginia and Vlas, his face serious. She wondered what in the world they could be talking about. Either way, she pushed it from her mind and shifted, flying beside the herons and hawk.
Soon, she thought happily, I'll be heading home.
XxXxXxX
"There's absolutely no way to stop it?!" Sanaki demanded.
"No, Empress! Tanith only just found their hideout, but now, they've left. They must be on the move. Should we send a messanger to warn Queen Micaiah and Sir Sothe?" Sigrun inquired, holding the reins of her pegasus.
"My sister nor Sothe are ignorant. Surely they've heard of these rumors of rebellion. But still...I can't even imagine who'd they'd be going after... Can we send a message to Tanith to split up some of the Holy Guard to see if they can track down the rebels?"
"Of course, Empress Sanaki. I will do so right away." Sigrun ran off, leaving her pegasus.
Sanaki sighed with worry. A rebellion had happened three years ago when the senators threw her out of the country. People, ever since then, have slightly questioned the apostle, but they followed her. True, she could not hear Yune's voice, but she was still of birthright. She walked up to the pegasus, patting it gently.
"I just hope all of the others are safe," she whispered to it. "I don't want another war. I've seen more than enough bloodshed."
The pegasus snorted, as if in disapproval. Sanaki took it that way.
"I know...I know I took a few lives, too, in the last war...but...I didn't want to..."
Sigrun's steed looked Sanaki in the eye, it's blue eyes comforting to the young apostle.
"Apostle..."
Sanaki looked around with confusion. "Who said that?!"
"Apostle Sanaki..."
"...Yune?! Is that you?!"
"I am not Yune."
Sanaki's eyes widened with shock when she realized that the voice was not coming from around her, but from inside her head. "Who are you?"
"I am the voice of the Goddess your people have been waiting on. I apologize for making your people doubt you. I found that it would have made you stronger...if you had overcome these past obsticles on your own."
XxXxXxX
Tanith cursed. The sun was already passing its peak in the sky. She had only one other Holy Guard flying with her, scouting Begnion for the Begnion and/or Daein rebels. So far, they were having no luck. Not only that, but the two Holy Guards had been flying for so long that they were nearing the Begnion-Serenes border. The commander looked at the other accompanying her, "Perhaps we should turn back. No fool would dare enter the Serenes Forest and face the wrath of all who protect the herons."
"You're right, Captain. Should we go along the new Hatari-Begnion borderline?"
"...That's a good idea. Let's go."
The two tapped the sides of their pegasi, urging them towards the new border of the new country. They scanned the ground, looking for smoke, a flash of light off armor, the tip of a lance – anything! There was nothing in sight. "Blast, they can't move that fast on foot," Tanith growled.
"Captain Tanith! What is that over there?" The woman pointed off in a direction towards Crimea's skies.
Tanith readied her lance, but what the large specks in the distance were, were hawks, ravens, herons, and swans. Tanith recognized the lead bird as Tibarn, but what shocked her was the amount of dust below them from something running. Just as she was about to command for her and the other rider to go speak with them, arrows flew up from the forest down below. There was a warning screech, and immediately, the herons and swans descended quickly to the ground. Tanith's pegasus snorted feircely with fear, but she kept it under control, glaring down to where the arrows were being released.
"Damn it, they moved fast. Come on, Kyria! Get down low! They may not have spotted us yet."
"Yes, ma'am!"
The two seraph knights practically dropped down low. Tibarn, a hawk beside him, and two ravens on the other side, dodged the arrows, Tibarn yelling something down to whoever was on the ground.
She narrowed her eyes and held her lance tighter. She landed her pegasus, as did Kyria beside her. "Let's see if we can help them out a little."
XxXxXxX
Tibarn snapped, "Mihara, fly down to Keenan and Xavier! You haven't learned how to properly fight yet!"
Hesitating a moment, Mihara, still making sure to watch for arrows, flew to the Horse Lord and Otter King. She didn't shift back to her half form, but still landed on the ground behind them. Tibarn, Vlas, and Ginia flew down lower, keeping their eyes trained on where the arrows were being released. Then, Mihara turned away as Tibarn shrieked and aimed his talons at someone. There were faint screams, but then no more. She shuddered at what he had just done.
She and the other laguz on the ground looked around, trying to make sure that no one else would sneak up on them. They sensed no one, nor heard anything. Vlas and Ginia hovered in the air a moment before landing on the ground beside Mihara.
"Are you okay?" Ginia asked.
"Of course, I'm fine. But is anyone hurt?"
Ranulf turned to them. "It seems that only one swan was grazed, but it's nothing serious."
"Here comes Tibarn," Hadrian informed.
Indeed, the Hawk King, with Tanith and Kyria beside him with their pegasi, approached them in half form. He was listening to what Tanith was telling him as well as saying some things back to her. Once Tanith caught sight of the large group of new laguz, she blinked, freezing in her tracks. However, she quickly recovered, Mihara not helping but notice that there was fresh blood on her silver lance in her hand. "So, I will tell the apostle."
"Thank you, Tanith. I will be sure to send word if I spot anyone else associated with this."
"Thank you, Lord Tibarn."
Tanith and Kyria mounted their pegasi and tapped their sides. The flying horses pushed themselves off the ground and flew up into the air, the two Holy Guards leaving as soon as they arrived. Aislyn inquired, "What was that all about?"
"Those were the rebels we've heard about from the mercenaries. It looks like the rumors about them are true. They're only in small groups...at the moment. However, we are practically at the Serenes border, so we shouldn't have any more problems. Right beside Serenes is Gallia." Tibarn crossed his arms.
"Let's be on our way," Lethe urged.
"Actually, Gareth and I are going to part ways with you here. Since we are practically in Serenes, we shall head on straight to Goldoa," Nasir explained.
"Mira and I will go to Hatari," said Volug.
"Alright then. We'll see you guys later," Tibarn said in farewell. "Take care."
"You, too," Gareth replied.
They watched for a few moments as the dragons and wolves left. Then, Tibarn transformed and called, "Okay, let's keep going! We are almost there."
XxXxXxX
Yes, everyone, Keenan is a HORSE and is scared of CARROTS and Xavier is an Otter and is afraid of SNAKES. ...On a very high level. MWAHAHAHAHA for random moments!
Oh, wait...someone's trying to kill everyone? Oops. I guess we should pay more attention to that. (grabs bullhorn) WHO IS THE MYSTERIOUS VOICE THAT SANAKI HEARS? WHAT IS YUNE'S PROBLEM WITH THE MEDALLION ZIHARK FOUND?! WHY ARE THE REBELS TRYING TO KILL THE BIRDS?!
...I don't know, read the dang story!!!
Please review!
