Hello again, everyone! It is time for an update! Now that I'm getting better, I'll get bad again when we go back to school... (sighhh)
Vampireizzy: Haha, well if you say seeing Ike would give her a nosebleed, she's obviously a fangirl! And ALL fangirls wanna...poke...wings... ANYWAY thanks for the review, as always! (haha)
XTwilightxSpiritX: It's okay! I love long reviews! Ones like yours make me feel even more inspired to put in new ideas and twist things around just to make everyone go completely "WHAT THE-?!" I'm glad that you, too, think that the plotline is really believeable! It makes me so so so so so happy! I never imagined, when I first started this, that everyone would like it so much. So, go on with your story! Let me know and I'll check it out! (gives you cookies)
knowlee: Wow. That's alotta fangirl romance squealing. (hahaha) Flames? Ashera? Connected? Nahhh! Stasik? Karoline? You hurt them? Surrreee! Hehe, enjoy this chapter and thanks for reviewing!
Iline: It's okay! Fire Emblem shall always make me find time in my...horrifying schedule! (mwahaha) Usually, I just bring my strongest people to the tower. Ranulf is my favorite character and always goes! I never have to worry about level, 'cause he just totally rocks. Tibarn is my next favorite...then...probably...Sothe. I do experiments, though, with who I bring. For example, last time I played through, I took nothing but laguz except for Soren and Ilyana, who were at the strongest I'd ever had them. This next time around, I'm hoping to bring a majority of beorc. But like you had, Nailah, Tibarn, and Naesala (and Ranulf, duh!) are obviously some of the main ones I always bring. It's my goal to get Vika strong enough to take, but I can never get her to get stronger! Argh share your secrets! ...And how do you get Stefan? I tried, but couldn't. (sobs) Well...I believe, for once, my answer to a review was longer than the review itself! Haha, thanks for the review!
How come nobody mentioned that I was forgetting to do disclaimers?! Haha, I had completely just forgotten them. Was in my own world...la, la, laaa... Well, anyway, for disclaimer, see previous chapters...that have one.
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Chapter 19
Shoen gave Mihara a look that obviously said she was crazy on his hawk features. "Mihara, she's your friend! You carry her!"
Mihara pouted. "At least take turns! I don't know how far Gallia's castle is from here!"
Shoen turned to Sylvia, a deadly gaze on his face. "How much do you weigh?"
Sylvia narrowed her eyes while Mihara tsked. "Shooo-eeen, you never ask a girl how much she weighs. That's askin' for a beating."
Shoen mumbled darkly to himself. "Fine... I'll take her when Dad says we're halfway there."
Sylvia asked Mihara, "How exactly are you going to carry me?" She glanced down at Mihara's large talons.
"If you can hang on tight enough, you can ride on my back. Otherwise, I'm going to have to carry you in my talons." Just to tease her, Mihara stood on one leg, observing her talons, as if she were deciding how she would carry her with them.
"H-how fast will we be flying?" squeaked Sylvia.
"Fast," Shoen replied, chuckling.
"III...think I'll hang on to you."
There was a bright flash of golden light, and Ike stood nearby, alone. He had just returned from taking Felicity back to the otters in the new Nylonti. He looked over at Tibarn, who was still in his half-form, leaning against a tree. "You guys didn't have to wait on me. You know I could head straight there."
I knew it, Mihara groaned in her head, ignoring the way Sylvia squealed with joy at seeing the Hero of Tellius.
Disregarding Ike's question, Tibarn stopped leaning on the tree and shifted. "Ready to head out?" he asked the other three.
His children nodded while Sylvia looked a little nervous about riding on her friend's back...hundreds of feet in the air. Wouldn't you be nervous?!
"Tibarn! Wait!" Reyson ran towards them. "I'm coming with you."
"Shouldn't you stay with Lorazieh?"
"My brother, sister, and Lady Laurel are all looking out for him. I can't do much, but I cannot just sit around. I may be able to help Ranulf." Reyson, too, turned into his full heron form. "I'm coming with you, whether you like it or not."
"Stubborn as always." Tibarn chuckled. "Alright, let's go."
Sylvia scrambled up on Mihara and grabbed hold of some of her feathers. "They...won't come out, will they?"
Instead of Mihara, Ike answered with a scoff. "No way. They aren't delicate, you know."
Sylvia squealed with joy once more, confusing all but Mihara, who said, "You better be hanging on!" before giving her wings powerful beats, which took her into the air. Sylvia squeaked with fright and decided to lay low on Mihara's back.
Once Mihara was above the treeline, she waited on the other three, then followed her father and Reyson towards Gallia.
XxXxXxX
As soon as he hit the ground, Janaff let go of his full form and collasped on his back in his half-form out of exhaustion. He caught his breath and looked over at Ulki, who, too, was obviously tired, but standing. "What the hell could have started that?"
Ulki simply said, "The rebels."
Janaff narrowed his eyes. "But they were so quiet for a long time. How could they have gotten past our patrols?"
This question caused Ulki to pause. "...Have you felt the way the air feels tense lately?"
"Hey! Don't change the subject!" Janaff snapped.
"I'm not." Ulki sat down. "Answer my question."
"...I suppose...now that you mention, it kinda feels like how it was when...Ashera and Yune were both released." Janaff became alarmed. "You aren't suggesting-?!"
"It's a real possibility." Ulki's face became grim. "That may be why the king took his children and went to the Serenes Forest."
"If that's the case..." Janaff looked back at the now-scorched field. "We should probably warn Keenan. About her, I mean."
"...You're right. We should do that once he finishes checking over everyone."
XxXxXxX
"This is so cool...!" I heard Sylvia breathe to herself. Then, louder, she said, "How much farther?!"
Again?! I called, "If you keep asking me that, I'm going to put you in my talons!"
"Well, ex-cuse me! I can only hold on so tight for so long!"
I gave a sigh. Honestly, I was surprised she had waited so long to start asking. We've been in the air...maybe just over two hours. The whole way, we saw nothing but forest, so I couldn't tell if we were in Gallia or still in Serenes. It was probably Gallia by now. I don't think Serenes is that big...
All the while we had been flying, I couldn't stop asking myself the same question over and over: Is Ranulf alright? It's done nothing but stress me out. Especially since Yune told me all that stuff about Stasik and Karoline. Thinking about those two makes me feel so pissed inside...like I'm going to explode. A part of me also wanted to simply tear them apart. At one point, that thought would've scared me, but now...I could care less. I just wanted to dig my talons into them-
"Mihara?"
I jumped a little and looked over at Shoen, who was just out of my wings' length. "Uh...yeah?"
"You look strained. Do you want me to take her?"
"No, I'm fine. She's not heavy at all. I was...just thinking."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. Thanks, though."
I was lucky to have Shoen. I mean, I still miss my sisters on Earth, but...I'd never had a brother before. Not to mention, he's younger, but really mature. But we all have our immature moments, right?
I glanced downward. Lethe, Lyre, and Lyron were still following us fine. They were heading back to Gallia with us, even though they were still in a bit of pain. Even when Tibarn asked if they wanted to stay another night in Serenes, Lethe had just said, "We heal fast. You should know that."
"Mihara?" It was Sylvia, this time. I swear, if she asks one more time if we're there yet-! "What's this line on your left wing? It's lighter-colored than your other feathers..."
I glanced over at my wing, saw what she was talking about, then winced at the hazy memory. "It's a scar," was all I said.
Thankfully, she must've heard the way I said it, for she didn't ask anymore than that. However, Reyson slowed his wingbeats a little to fall back beside me. He looked over at me and said, "You know, Mihara...I can easily make the scars from...that go away. If you want."
Aww. That was sweet. "...No, thanks. It's okay." I gave a scoff. "Just another two scars to add to my many, many ones from Earth."
"How did you get so many? Is Earth dangerous?"
"Just to me." Sylvia and I laughed. "I'm actually really clumsy. I fell a lot and there were just a lot of little accidents I had."
"Little?" I heard Sylvia murmur.
"Now that you mention it..." Shoen flew below me. "I saw this scar on your left arm, too. But it's on your underside. What happened there?"
"Well...the easiest way to put it is that my arm got scraped by a really thick, sharp wire," I explained as he rose back up beside me. Maaan, thinking about how I got that one makes my arm twitch.
Shoen's eyes widened with admiration. "That's cool! I mean, it sounds painful, but..."
Okkkaaayyy...so wolves aren't the only creatures that should be proud of their scars? Since we were on the subject, and now that I thought about it, I never saw that many on Tibarn. A few here and there, but I seemed to have more than him, and they were from stupid accidents!
I could tell Sylvia was smirking as she said, "Why don't you share the one on the bottomside of your chin?"
As Shoen flew under once again to look, I gained altitude really fast, then dropped back down to give Sylvia a nice, bumpy ride, who yelped with surprise. "I hope you aren't about to try and get me to share every scar's story! I can't remember how I got most of these!"
"We're almost there," Tibarn called over the wind. Yes! My hero!
Although, Shoen still asked, "So how did you get that one...?"
"I fell on something hot and metal. Had to get stitches..."
Shoen and Reyson frowned with confusion. Heh. Funny looks for a hawk and heron. "Stitches?"
"It's where they pretty much sew you back together," Sylvia explained.
They both winced, then fell silent. Thank...the goddess? Hmm...I guess they would still say that... Anyway!
The castle came into view about ten minutes later, and I heard Sylvia mumble, "Thank God." Well, can't blame her. That's a long time to hang on to a hawk going...really fast. No idea how fast it'd be compared to miles-per-hour. Or do they use kilometers? Or do they not use anything? Ugh, what pointless questions...
XxXxXxX
The hawks and heron landed right outside the main doors of Gallia's castle, Mihara and Sylvia awing at how majestic it was. Once Sylvia was off Mihara's back, the laguz shifted back to her half-form, as did all the others. The doors creaked open and as Skrimir came outside, the feline siblings came up behind the birds, also shifting. The three bowed before Skrimir. Lethe said, "Forgive us, Your Majesty. We failed in the mission you gave us."
"It's fine. It was my fault to send you four in so unprepared. Forgive me." Skrimir gestured to the castle. "There are healers waiting for you."
"Thank you, Your Majesty," the Lethe and Lyron said before walking into the castle. However, Lyre hung back, her head hanging.
"Something else, Lyre?" Skrimir inquired.
Lyre blushed a little, then brought her head up and asked, "H-how is General Ranulf?"
"Recovering," was the simple answer.
Somewhat satisfied, Lyre walked in after her brother and sister. Dang, that's right... Mihara grumbled in her mind. Lyre did have a major crush on Ranulf, didn't she...?
Skrimir looked at his guests. "Welcome, Hawk King, White Prince, Lady Mihara, Sir Shoen, and...?"
Sylvia flushed. "I'm...uh...Sylvia."
"And Miss Sylvia. Won't you come in?"
"Thank you, Skrimir," Tibarn said.
Man! Was Skrimir this polite and formal at the party?! Mihara resisted the urge to gap. In the game, even after he matured, he still wasn't like...this!
The group walked inside, following Skrimir. He inquired, "I can venture a guess as to why you're here, but would you care to fill me in?"
"If Ike's already here, I'm sure he filled you in." Tibarn raised an eyebrow.
Skrimir stopped walking and turned around. "Ike? He's...here?"
"I'll take it that he's not here yet, then. Yes, he's on Tellius and he's coming here...later, I guess." Not wasting any time, Tibarn quickly said, "Mihara wishes to see Ranulf."
Said laguz's face turned a little red. Sylvia obviously saw it and tried to keep from laughing. Skrimir, being oblivious to these things, merely said, "Kyza will take you to him." He turned his head and called, "Kyza!"
Only a few seconds later, the tiger was before Skrimir. "Yes, Your Majesty?"
"Take Lady Mihara to see Ranulf."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Kyza gestured to Mihara. "This way, milady."
As Mihara awkwardly following Kyza, she heard her father say, "I have some things to discuss with you, Skrimir. Reyson, Shoen, if you don't mind, please keep Sylvia company."
"Uh- sureee..." the two said, blinking with confusion.
Kyza led Mihara up a flight of stairs and down a fairly large corridor. He then stopped at a door and motioned at it. "He is inside here."
"Th-thank you..." Mihara opened the door and walked in.
There was no one else in the room but Ranulf, who was laying in his bed, sleeping somewhat soundly. His breathing was slightly loud and his face still had a red tint to it. She slowly walked over to his bedside and sat down, not realizing she'd left the door slightly cracked. Seeing him like this wrenched at her heart and left a pit in her stomach.
"I'll pull through. I always do. I promise."
Ranulf... It was worse than you were letting on. But why did you hide it?
"King Skrimir said he's been asking for you," said a female voice at the door. "I heard him say to King Tibarn."
Mihara jumped from the sudden break in silence and turned towards the door, seeing Lyre standing there, having pushed the door open. Oh, maaannn... Instead, Mihara asked, "So...he's been conscious?"
"I don't think so," she replied, glancing away. "In his sleep."
"Oh..."
Lyre's eyes snapped back up, locking with Mihara's eyes. "You know...even though I don't know you as a person...I don't like you."
Even though Mihara somewhat expected that, it still stung. She winced from her words and simply had to ask: "Why?"
Lyre stepped into the room, closing the door. "Even though I hated fighting, I joined the battalion under Ranulf's command...just so I could be near him...! I've been trying so hard to work my way up to him...to make myself worthy of him...! And just when I think I've finally made some progress...you show up! You show up and ruin everything for me!" Tears came to Lyre's eyes. "I love Ranulf! I love him with all my heart! I would die for him! What can you say?!"
"I..."
"Lyre..." came Ranulf's weak voice from the bed.
Instantly, the two girls forgot about their little squabble and looked at him. "Ranulf!" Lyre cried. "Are you okay?!"
"Lyre... You don't need to...attack Mihara like...that..." His two different colored eyes cracked open, looking up at the ceiling. "I...have always loved you...but like a little sister. You...and Lethe both."
Mihara looked up at Lyre with sympathy, whose face was completely displaying shock. Her mouth hung open and her eyes were wide with tears. Ranulf went on. "I really do...care for you, Lyre. I love you...but not in the way that you want...from me."
Not wanting to hear anymore, Lyre, sobbing, ran from the room. Mihara remained completely still. She didn't run after Lyre, since she had the feeling that the last person she wanted comfort from was her. She turned back to Ranulf, who sighed heavily and closed his eyes. "She'll be okay... Give her some time...and she'll come around."
Mihara somewhat doubted his words. If Lyre were to really warm up to her, it would take a lot of time and a lot of something other than time. Still, she inquired, "Are you okay? Feeling better?"
"Yeah... I'll be okay...after a little bit more rest." Ranulf opened his green eye to look at her. "Are you okay? And everyone else?"
"Yeah. I'm fine and so is everyone else."
Contented, Ranulf closed his eye again. "Good..." and before Mihara could count to five, as randomly as he woke up, Ranulf fell back asleep.
XxXxXxX
Ike stood, almost nervously, outside the forts of his home, the Greil Mercenaries' fort. He took a deep breath before heading towards it once more. As he approached, he heard the usual chatter that was always there.
"Boyd! You took my lunch again, didn't you?!"
"Uhh... It-it was Ilyana!"
"...Boyd. Even if you have fed me, I never knew you to be a liar like that. You have just lost points."
"...Owch. Ilyana, when did you become so devious?!"
"So you admit it, Boyd?! You owe me a lunch!"
"I can't help it if I have the appetite of a tiger laguz!"
"You two...again?"
"Titania! He's stolen my lunch for the last time!"
"Yowch! Watch where you're pointing that damn thing! You almost took out my beautiful hair!"
"'Beautiful'?"
Ike hesitated before taking another step. He would recognize that voice anywhere. His little sister. She had been so heartbroken when he'd left. But still, he promised that one day, he'd return. That day had come. After Ashera was dealt with, he would more than likely stay with the mercenaries again. He stood at the front door, continuing to listen.
"Missst! Are you saying that I'm ugly?!"
"I'm not saying anything. I'm just...thinking...out loud." She laughed. "Since when have you ever called your hair 'beautiful'?"
"Since last night!"
"Y'know, Boyd...you could use a haircut. Stay still, everyone! I got this!"
"Miaaa! Nooo!! Stay away from me!!"
While Ike's hand was hovering over the doorknob, a voice behind him coldly said, "Are you going in, or are you just going to block the doorway forever?"
Ike turned, seeing Shinon, an eyebrow raised at him, his left hand ever holding his bow. "Well?"
Ike hesitated, then moved away from the door. Shinon, with a mischievous smirk, walked in, saying really loud, "Damn, Ike. Since when were you so indecisive?"
Instantly, all chatter in the fort silenced. Mist ran at the door, seeing Ike standing there. Immediately, tears came to her eyes. "Ike...? Is this...an illusion...?"
Ike gave his sister a smile – one from his heart. "No, Mist. I'm really back. I'm home."
Mist took a moment, then lunged forward, wrapping her arms around Ike, sobbing into his chest. "Ike...! You're...really back...?!"
"I'm here to stay, Mist," Ike said, wrapping his arms around her, comforting her. "I promise."
While Mist sobbed into his chest, the others gathered around, all welcoming their commander back home.
XxXxXxX
Kyo narrowed his eyes at the teenager. "And how do I know you'll really pay me?"
Sanaki, her face hidden by a large black cloak, scoffed, rolling her eyes. Only...her eyes were red, instead of the usual beautiful golden color. She held out her hand and materialized a large sack. She offered it to Kyo. His eyes watching her with suspicion, he took it. He opened it to find it full of genuine gold. Taking a piece out and examining it, he said, "You have my attention."
Sanaki grinned evilly. "All I want you to do is go to Gallia. There, you will find the royal family of the hawks." Her grin widened. "Kill the father and the son. Bring the daughter to me. Alive, one way or another."
"Very well. I shall bring her here?"
"Yes."
Without another word, Kyo turned, still holding the sack of gold, and began walking. The child may have payed him, but he still wouldn't shift while she was watching him. He may not fear her, but he wasn't stupid.
Hehehe...soon, Mihara...you and your hidden power shall be mine! And your precious remaining family...shall be dead!
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Okay, everyone! It's time to poll again! Now, you have a few choices... The main question is: Should I drag out Ranulf and Mihara's confessions for their feelings for each other? Yes or no. If yes, should I make a love triangle? (Y or N) If yes again, should it be where some hunky male hawk comes out of mowhere and is trying to get Mihara to like him or should Lyre interfere still, even though she was shot down by Ranulf?
The pressure's on, reviewers! (evil laugh) Please place your answers in a review if you want to vote!
Also, many questions I'm sure you have are as follows: What's up with Sanaki?! Is Ike really gonna stay? What's gonna happen between Ranulf, Mihara, and Lyre? What's gonna happen with Kyo going after Tibarn, Shoen, and Mihara? Who started the fire in Altiaire? Was it really Ashera?
Well, I guess you'll just have to check out the next chapter! Please review!
