OMIGOSH! I GOT THINGS EXPLAINED IN MY CHAPTER! AND IT'S, LIKE, MY SHORTEST CHAPTER YET! WHOOOO!!!
Chef Colette: As always, I love reading your reviews! I hope that the battle wasn't too boring to ready about...I'm not that great at describing fight scenes like that... Mwahahaha Petrine's children. Twist, huh? =-D
Disclaimer: I don't own anything of Fire Emblem except for this plot. However, if you're offering... 0=)
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Chapter 10
With the get-together over, the guests all began to head home, except for a few of the laguz. Nailah, Volug, the herons, Skrimir, and Ranulf stayed to speak with Tibarn. Out in the courtyard, there had been a cleanup to remove all the blood and cold bodies from the castle grounds. After the entire battle had been over and Mihara had washed the blood from her body, she began shuddering at the thought of all those people she'd just killed. Of all those people who she just watched been killed. Their screams, their pleads, their faces...
She sat on her bed, holding her knees up to her chest. There was a knock on her door. She swallowed the knot in her throat and croaked, "Who is it?"
There was a pause, then the person outside the door said, "Leanne."
"Oh...you can come in, Leanne..."
The graceful heron opened and closed the door quickly. She glided over to Mihara. She bent down, looking at Tibarn's daughter's face. "Are you okay, Mihara?"
"...Just shaken up, I guess... But I'll be fine in a little while," assured Mihara.
Leanne sat down beside Mihara, rubbing her back. "Battle is scary." Her face became sad as she thought of something. "My first time...frightened me. But you stronger than me...then."
"I don't feel like I'm strong." Mihara choked back a sob, her body quivering.
"You are," insisted Leanne. "It also Keenan and Aislyn and...Xavier and Hadrian's first battle, too."
"Yes, but they're older than me. They can take things like that!"
"You sell self short." Leanne's voice lightly scolded Mihara. "They are shaken up, too. I...can tell."
"Yeah...you can..." Mihara scoffed lightly. "But...I've never...ever killed anyone before..."
"You will be fine. You mind if...I sing?"
Mihara looked up at Leanne's assuring smile through the darkness and nodded. "It'll probably make me feel better."
Leanne inhaled and began singing a soft, sweet song. Mihara thought it sounded very similar to the galdr of release, but it wasn't exact. Either way, due to the song, it caused Mihara's feelings to spill over. She fell against Leanne's shoulder and began crying.
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"No! Tibarn, where is she?!"
"Grr...! Stay calm, Zelena. I will return – with Mihara! I swear to you."
"Please..." she broke down in sobs. "Please hurry..."
He took off into the air, following the scents towards the land of dragons. It grew strnger and stronger. His face was contorted with anger and rage. "Mihara!" he called.
The scents were swirling all around him. He spun around in cirlces. "Mihara!!"
He spotted the dragon man, holding a bundle up in the air, the infant crying hysterically. As suddenly as he spotted them, a light shone down, striking the man and baby. The baby disappeared, the man's body dissipating.
"Mihara!!!"
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"We can go out and search the land for survivors. There's no doubt that they couldn't have already flown back to the mainland. Not after that battle." Nailah crossed her arms. "We can do it quickly. We can follow the scent of their blood."
"Yes, I agree. We can set out and do that this morning. I will leave instruction to my warriors and then we may go." Tibarn walked out of the room, the remaining laguz beginning to talk out plans of where they would go to search for survivors of the previous night's battle.
Tibarn went to Vlas to leave orders, but before heading back to the others, he detoured to Mihara's room. She had not shown up at breakfast, but then again, not many had. He knocked softly on her door. "Mihara?"
There was a long pause before Tibarn's daughter opened the door, the Hawk King seeing Leanne sitting farther back in the room. "Yes?"
"I was just checking on you. I saw you didn't show at breakfast, and last night...I know that had to have shaken you up..." Tibarn trailed off.
"Umm...yeah, it did. But I talked with Leanne, and she sang... It made me feel better. Anyway, I'm fine this morning; I just wasn't very hungry." Mihara rubbed her neck.
"I see." Tibarn smiled slightly. "That's good to hear. The others and I are going out to patrol to see if we can find any survivors."
"Okay. Do you mind if I come?"
"Are you sure?"
"I feel like moving around. I feel a little sore..."
"...Sure, you can come. We're about to leave. Leanne? Do you want to come to? Reyson's accompanying us."
Leanne nodded, standing up from her spot in Mihara's room. The two female birds followed Tibarn down the halls and back to where the others were waiting. When Tibarn opened the door, all the heads turned to look at them. Skrimir informed, "We have worked out routes."
"Alright, then. Let's head out."
As Volug told Tibarn where he, Mihara, and Leanne would fly, they all walked outside. Once Volug finished explaining the route to Tibarn, he shifted, as did all the other laguz. Each of the laguz took off in a separate direction, Tibarn, Mihara, and Leanne flying towards the north. The three birds searched the ground, smelling the air. For the most part, they flew in silence. While Mihara tried to focus on the task at hand, she still couldn't get the scream from her dream to fade. It was Tibarn's scream, full of fear, anger, worry, and dispair.
"Stay calm, Zelena. I will return – with Mihara! I swear to you."
Mihara forced the thoughts from her head. What Mihara still didn't know was: how did her mother die? Or vanish? What had happened to her? All the questions weighed heavy on Mihara's chest, and while she pondered, her wingbeats grew slower. Tibarn turned to look at her. "Mihara? What's wrong?"
Mihara looked up at Tibarn, faint tears in her eyes. "Dad...what happened to...Mom?"
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Keenan and Aislyn were escorting the Griel Mercenaries back as far as Hatari, seeing as Keenan had left his people under the protection of the wolf tribe. They were going to stop by and pick them up, then keep moving. Aislyn was speaking softly with Rhys in the back of the group. "So, umm...I really do want to thank you for healing...back there."
"It was no problem, honestly. You need to take better care." Rhys gave her a soft smile.
There was silence between them for a moment, others talking ahead of them. Rhys asked after a moment, "So...what was it like...? Back in...Staltone?"
At the thought of her old home, Aislyn smiled sadly. "It was peaceful. Our kingdom was rather small, as you can tell by the size of our people. It was mostly plains, with grass and trees in the fields for shade. There were deep lakes where the young ones played and swam."
"...You must miss it. There aren't very many places like that here on Tellius."
"I do. However, if we can find one place where it stretches around us for many miles, we will attempt to settle there."
"The only real place I can think of like that – somewhat - is the dragon country – Goldoa. But the king, Kurthnaga, has taken his father's ideals. He doesn't allow much contact with the outside world. At least, not until the continent is more stable." Rhys moved some hair from his eyes as a gentle wind began blowing.
"What is it like there?"
"Well, it's rather hot... It's got a lot of plains, only a few trees, many mountains, and precious water supplies. I suppose it's more of a desert, just not as much sand."
Aislyn's ears twitched and she swished her tail back and forth. "It doesn't sound very pleasant."
At that moment, Boyd turned around and smirked evilly. "Look at Rhys flirting back there! That's good for you, bud!"
"Ah-! What-?! N-no, I wasn't-!" Rhys flushed with embarrassment.
Aislyn, though she blushed only lightly – barely visable – she narrowed her eyes dangerously at Boyd. Boyd simply laughed and threw his hands up in surrender. When he turned his back, Aislyn quickened her pace before lethally swatting him with her horse tail. Boyd winced, "Ah! That hurt!"
"Good," Aislyn grumbled, returning back to Rhys.
Oscar snorted, but coughed to cover it up. Looking at his younger brother, he said, "You know, Boyd...you had that coming."
At Boyd's pouty face and the light red maks left across his cheek from Aislyn's tail, the others fell into laughter.
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"I don't like this at all, Your Majesty," Bastian stated bluntly, momentarily ignoring his fancy speech.
"Nor do I, Bastian, but there's nothing we can do without causing a panic..." Elincia rubbed her pegasus as the four close friends walked together.
"As long as they don't threaten Crimea, we should be safe and not have to do anything," Geoffrey pointed out.
"Yes, but still, if the rebels will threaten the rest of the continent, we will have to step in and do something."
"She does have a point," Lucia murmured, trying to think of what they could do.
"Until they come knocking on Crimea's door or on – goddess forbid – war's door, Crimea will remain neutral, then?" Bastian looked at his three companions.
"Yes." Elincia nodded.
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"Arghh! You should have seen it, Stasik! I had him-! Right in front of me-! But just as I cast my rexcaliber, that damned fool went and attacked his daughter! Without even paying attention to my magic, he just whooshed down and-!"
Stasik, tired of his sister's ramblings, covered her mouth with his hand. "Sister, I understand your anger. We will have another chance."
"Another chance?!" Karoline echoed, tearing off his hand. "We're still on Altiaire! We're supposed to be back in Begnion by now, but because of that wretched wound that redheaded woman on horseback gave my pegasus..." Karoline trailed off. "Yours cannot possibly carry us for three and a half hours without rest across the sea."
"We can simply lie low. We can hide out on Altiaire and the nearby islands."
Suddenly, a hawk's screech rang out in the air. Stasik and Karoline cursed, hiding deeper in the trees. They heard the beats of three sets of wings, as well as voices, but they couldn't hear what they were saying very well.
"Did you....something...?"
"...didn't...did you?"
"I thought I...down below...woods."
The two siblings on the ground cursed in their minds, not risking anything under their breath. Even though Karoline still had her tomes and Stasik still had arrows and his bow left, they didn't want to risk being heard before they got ready. The beating of the wings slowed down, the hawks and heron hovering over the section of forest that was on Altiaire.
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"You sure you heard something?" Leanne inquired softly, looking at Mihara.
Mihara silently nodded. She had been silent for most of their flight since she'd asked her father what had happened to her mother. She said quietly, "Right around in there."
"Stay here," Tibarn ordered. "I'll go check it out."
As Tibarn flew lower, examining the forest, Leanne told Mihara, "You were right in asking. Tibarn sad, thinking about her."
"Yeah...but now...at least I know...even if I wasn't completely prepared for it..." Mihara turned her gaze away.
Down back in the forest, Karoline's hand was silently creeping towards her rexcaliber tome. Tibarn was not very far from the two hiding in the bushes, so they had to be stealthy. Karoline's fingers brushed against the tome, and she tried to grab it from its resting place in her cloak. However, it tipped out before she could grab it. As soon as the object hit the ground, Tibarn screeched and flew directly to the source of the noise. Stasik and Karoline scrambled out from their hiding place in the bush. Just as Karoline was about to run for her life, Stasik caught her arm and whispered in her ear, "Trust me, sister."
Tibarn's talons were aimed at their necks in the blink of an eye. Stasik smoothly stated, "You have caught us. We surrender."
The Hawk King's eyes narrowed. "...Drop your weapons."
Very slowly, Stasik slid off his bow and arrows. Beside him, Karoline was moving just as slow, dropping her tomes to the ground. Behind Tibarn, Mihara and Leanne flew down low, waiting on Tibarn's orders. He simply told them, "Go find the others. Tell them I found the leaders."
As Mihara and Leanne quickly took off, Tibarn snapped, "Are there any others here?"
"Sure," Stasik answered. "No idea where they'd be, though. I'm sure that your...'others' will find them, though. I know how quick laguz are at finding people."
Tibarn growled in his throat. Keeping his talons pointed at Petrine's children, he flew around behind them. "Walk."
"All the way to that damn castle?" Karoline whined.
The bird tribe lord dug his talon into part of Karoline's back and repeated, "Walk, humans."
Karoline winced and sighed. "Fine, fine."
XxXxXxX Three days later... XxXxXxX
Keenan pawed at the ground with his large hooves, snorting loudly. He had finally found the dragon land border. He was determined to go in and speak with the young dragon king about looking at his lands and, if he found satisfactory land, he would request land to stay. He led his people behind him, all looking around at the strange land. As soon as they had set a few feet inside, a voice bellowed, "You there, halt!"
Keenan turned towards the white dragon, who had dared ordered him to stop. "By whose authority have you entered the land of Goldoa?!"
Keenan was about to attack the such-feared laguz brother, but Aislyn told him, "We are the horse tribe, recently brought across the sea. We request an audience with your king."
The dragon rumbled in his throat. He said, "I will accompany you to the castle. King Kurthnaga will then decide what to do with you."
"Gee, thanks," Keenan grumbled under his breath.
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"You want to know...what happened to her?" Tibarn softly inquired.
"Yes..." Mihara choked. "I've been wondering... I've been dreaming about her. I know what happened to me and what you did..."
Leanne, backing up her friend, added, "She deserve to know."
"It's...not an evening I like to remember. But...you're right. You deserve to know." Tibarn sighed, long and heavy. Obviously, he was trying to think of where to begin. While he thought, the three all shifted back to their half forms. "Well, it all happened so fast. Once I saw you disappear and that vile human disappate, I searched for hours and hours, looking for you. It was nearing morning, and as I continued my search near Goldoa, I heard someone coming up behind me. It was your mother, Zelena. She had been worried about both of us, and decided to catch up with me.
"She had been still out in the distance when I saw her coming. I had turned to her and told her to go back to the castle. You see...I was extremely worried for her safety. Not only was she my wife and your mother, but she was...carrying your younger sibling."
Leanne sadly turned her head away once those words left Tibarn's mouth. Mihara's eyes widened with shock. "What...? Mom was... She was...pregnant?"
"She was nearing six and a half months. You see, she hadn't been in her full hawk form, for when laguz shift when they carry young, it can harm the child. So, she had only been in her half form. I was flying towards her, telling her to go back home. I was shocked that she had made it that far in a half form. I wasn't...a few feet from her, when..." Tibarn hesitated, a knot forming in his throat. "When...these...humans attacked her. They shot her with arrows and wind magic."
Tears began spilling over Mihara's eyes.
"She had...begun falling from the sky. One of the arrows had lodged in her arm...and it was deep. I caught her and dodged around the attacks. I set her down on the ground and went after the attackers. It didn't take but five minutes, perhaps. Once I had killed them all, I rushed back to Zelena. I picked her up and flew as hard as I could towards Goldoa's castle. It was the closest place, and I needed help to save her. I had tried to pull the arrow from her arm, but it caused her too much pain.
"I had applied some herbs and olivi grass on her wounds by time I had arrived at the castle. Dheginsea, of course, had been outraged. However, even though he ignored the suffering of his laguz brothers and sisters, he couldn't turn away a pregnant woman. Once his healers had taken Zelena, he stood with me, silent. He didn't ask me what happened, or anything." As though thinking about a memory, Tibarn looked downward and paused again. "He had just said, 'we'll do all we can for her.' Dragons...have always been sort of like wild wolves. They care more about the future generations, and do all they can to protect them.
"From the room that we were standing outside of, I could hear Zelena's screams as the healers tried to save her. It took all the strength I had not to go in there. Dheginsea, once or twice, even had to restrain me. It was maybe...a half hour later...when the healers had hurried me into the room. I heard a baby, crying, and although that made me happy, that meant I had to expect the worse for Zelena. She was laying on the bed...looking towards me. Her face was beyond pale...and she was shivering.
"The healers told me that they had no chance of saving her, so they had saved the baby. One of them handed me him. Zelena demanded to hold him. I leaned down beside her and offered her your brother. Zelena stared at him for only a few moments before telling me to name him Shoen. And...as she said his name...she looked at me and told...to tell you how much she loved you...how much she loved all of us. When she looked at Shoen again...she just closed her eyes and drifted away..."
When Mihara choked and began sobbing, Tibarn instantly went to her and engulfed her in a hug. Through her sobs, she asked, "Wh-what happened to-to Shoen?"
"Well...I took Zelena's body back to Pheonics and brought Shoen with me. After I buried her...Shoen was all that kept me going. In under twenty-four hours, I had lost my daughter and my wife. If it hadn't been for the dragons, I would've lost all three of you. Shoen lived and grew to be eight years old. Then...he was visiting with King Caineghis. There had been an attack in Gallia, and it reached the kindgom. Caineghis had kept watch on Shoen for the entire time except for, perhaps, a few minutes while he fought. When he finished that one small battle, Shoen was nowhere to be seen. Caineghis had no idea what happened to him. After the enemies had retreated, he had ordered the entire country to be on watch for him. They searched the castle and the entire kingdoms...but...they never found him."
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"What are you going to do with them now?" Mihara crossed her arms (Oh, no! She's been around Tibarn too much!!) at breakfast that morning.
"We're going to interrogate them. We're going to find out why they planned on attacking places on Tellius and destroying the peace that we've all worked so hard to achieve." Tibarn swallowed the last of his breakfast. "And if they tell us...we'll see what we'll do."
"Yeah... If you ask me, I think that's stupid. So many people died in the war...and it's like they've just forgotten about them."
"I agree with you. Although..." Janaff rolled his eyes. "...it wouldn't surprise me if they've gone completely crazy and say that from their point of view, this is the right thing to do and it's justified."
"Queen Nailah and all the others who had gone out only brought back a total of twelve survivors, right?"
"Yes. We put them all in separate cells so they can't plan an escape. Unless they've already thought of one ahead of time." Ulki stared out the window. "With that point, we should probably keep a tight watch on them."
Ranulf, having stayed behind with Skrimir to see how the event would play out, groaned. "I swear, if I have to chase them all the way out to the plains..."
"I doubt they'll find a way to escape," Tibarn bluntly opinioned. "None of our guards keep keys on themselves. We keep them all in a safe place. There's nothing small enough to be used to pick the locks in there. Not to mention, the locks are difficult to open by picking them."
"You've tested?" Skrimir's tone seemed amused.
"Yes. There isn't any real problems in Altiaire. An argument there, a fight there, but nothing in need of a jail. So, since we would only have real use of them, we wanted to make sure they were inescapeable. We even had Naesala come in and try it out." Tibarn smirked slightly.
"Well, if Naesala couldn't escape, I don't think anyone can." Ranulf chuckled.
"No kidding," Janaff said, scoffing.
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"Okay, so...you have no idea how you came to be here?" Tormod rubbed his neck, Muarim at his side.
"No. I'm telling you, sir, one moment, I was in a forest, then it was on fire...then I was in Crimea, near the border of Daein!" The young man massaged his temples, his black bangs hanging in his face. "I was told you help laguz...so..."
"I settle laguz-beorc debates. But I can try and help you. How long have you been wandering Tellius?"
"A few years. Maybe seven years? I've been keeping a low profile." The golden-eyed laguz looked back and forth between Tormod and Muarim.
"You don't know where you come from? You aren't a former-Pheonics resident?" Muarim inquired. "You are a hawk, correct?"
"Oh...yes, I am, but..." The young laguz paused. His light brown and black feathers russled behind him. Phoenics...somehow that name sounds familiar...
"How old are you, anyway?" Tormod eyed him strangely.
"What year is it?"
After a moment's pause of disbelief, Tormod answered, "Year 651."
The laguz's eyes shot open. "...What?! Are you sure?!"
"Yeah, I'm sure..."
"Then...I'm about...twenty-four years old."
"You look no older than a young teenager!" Tormod frowned.
"I know...that's why I'm so confused. I was born in year 627."
Muarim pondered a moment. "Well, what is your name?"
"My name? Shoen."
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ARGH! Must...not...give anything...away...!!! MUST...NOT...GIVE IN...!!!
Yes, yes, the mystery surrounding Mihara's two years on Tellius before Earth has been revealed. Zelena's cause of death has been revealed. Shoen has been introduced. However...is it really the Shoen that Tibarn and Mihara lost? (And, of course, I can picture you all going "OF COURSE IT IS! WHO NAMES THEIR KID SHOEN, ANYWAY?!")
Please review! The more I get, the faster you get your next chapter! Also, I have yet to decide who Mihara gets together with – if she gets together with anyone! So, if you have someone you simply HAVE/WANT to see Mihara get together with, please tell me! I will announce what you all voted for next chapter! Au revoir!
