Review please!

-s2-

"Ranulf… he's…" Mist sobbed and hugged Ike who was biting his lip hard enough to draw blood. "He's…" Another sob. "Dying… Rhys is… trying to save him… but… but-" She broke down completely and dropped to her knees.

"Mist." Soren knelt to her height and wrapped his arms around her. "It'll be okay, Mist. Right, Ike?" There was no answer. "Ike?" He looked up to find the warrior missing. He got up, leaving Mist for a moment, and rushed to the entrance of the tent. Just as he thought, Ike was rushing towards the medical tents.

"Don't die." Ike whispered as he ran. "Don't die. Don't die. DON'T DIE!" Tears fell down his cheeks and dripped from his chin where they dropped to his dark blue tunic. He skids on the grass as he rounded a corner and nearly ran into a Laguz hawk. He saw the medical tent and raced inside. "Ranulf?"

Rhys looked up to see Ike. He then got up and told the mercenary to sit down. Ike could hear small painful moans coming from behind the screen that Ranulf was behind. "Ike-" Rhys started.

"What's going on? Is he going to be alright? Are you able to save him?" Ike's questions didn't surprise Rhys.

"Calm down, Ike." Rhys told him. "I'm doing everything I can, but there is a slight problem and I think maybe you can help."

"What is it that I can do?" Ike stood up. Rhys huffed and pushed Ike back down on the wooden stool.

"I need you to sleep." Rhys said.

"What? Why would I sleep?" Ike got up again and shoved by Rhys. He headed towards the screen that hid Ranulf while Rhys yelled for him not to. The words "don't go over there" went unheard as Ike went around to see his lover.

Ike froze. Blood covered Ranulf from head to toe. He looked worse than before. He jerked, groaned and panted as if he was having a nightmare. All Ike could do was stare in horror until Rhys pulled him away from the sight.

"W- what… h-happened to him…?" Ike staggered to ask.

"He isn't allowing me to treat his wounds." Rhys told him. "I thought that he was unconscious when you brought him here. When I took the cloth to clean a cut he jolted away and the wound was opened further than it already was… I tried to use my staffs on him so that way I wouldn't have to risk him turning away when I touch an injury and causing more problems, but I can't."

"You can't?" Ike repeated. "Why can't you? You're the best healing sage there is!"

"Something is wrong. The spell didn't have an effect. I believe that it was the poison you said he was given." He looked at Ranulf. "Since staffs won't help I will have to do this manually, but I need your help."

"By sleeping…?" Ike's expression gave off a kind of, 'are you kidding' look.

"By calming him down through your mind bond." Rhys explained. Ike began to understand. "I need you to tell him that he's safe. If you can get him to quit resisting me from healing him then there won't be any further damage."

Ike nodded. "Okay, then." He laid in the cot next to Ranulf's not wanting to waste any time. "Use your magic."

Rhys picked up his staff and stood beside Ike. The warrior turned his head on the pillow and stared at Ranulf's still defensive form. A purple dust appeared around Ike and the man closed his eyes to quicken the progress. Soon, he was fast asleep.

-s2-

Ike looked up and around the dark shadows of his and Ranulf's mind link. He walked aimlessly trying to find Ranulf, but for some reason he wasn't anywhere to be seen. He called the cat's name and hoped for a response. Nothing came. Ike wondered if Ranulf had cut off all his senses of the outside world and all he is aware of is the torments of that evil dungeon. "Ranulf!" He called again. This time, something answered him.

It was quite and hard to hear. A soft cry. A weak cry. "…help…" The voice that said it was hoarse as if it had been screaming for hours. The sound made Ike's heart skip a beat in fear of his love's condition.

He yelled for the voice to speak again. In return he got a pain filled groan. He ran towards the noise and finally found him. Ranulf. Crawling on the ground, flinching with each move he made, trying to get away from something that wasn't there.

Ranulf yelped in surprise and lashed out his hand. "Don't… touch me…" He panted fearfully. Ike, for a long moment, could only watch at the pitiful scene. He had never seen Ranulf so frightened. The cat's naked body curled up tightly as he attempted to hide himself. Ike needed to do something.

Carefully, Ike walked forward until he reached Ranulf. He held out his hand almost afraid of touching the poor terrified Laguz. He rested a hand on his shoulder and received a gasp followed by a jolt to get away. Ranulf spun to face his attacker and saw Ike biting his lip slightly. "..Ike…" He whispered.

Ike knelt down and hugged the cat cautiously. "Its okay, Ranulf. I'm here… I'm here…"

Ranulf was too shocked to respond. Ike held him tighter, unsure that Ranulf was acknowledging his existence and not just believing him as an illusion. He pulled back and looked into Ranulf's bicoloured eyes. "Ranulf…?"

Tears overflowed the cat's eyes and they fell quickly down his pale cheeks. "You… came… for me…"

"Of course I came for you." Ike told him. "I'm not going to leave you either. I'm here to protect you."

Ranulf clung on to Ike's tunic and pressed his head against his chest. He was shaking. "Make them go away…" Ranulf pleaded. "Please… Ike-" a sob cracked his voice. "… make them go away…"

"Who, Ranulf?" Ike asked quietly. "Who is it that you want me to get rid of?" He kissed the top of Ranulf's head.

The cat jumped and tried to hide behind Ike. "Them!" Ranulf yelled. "They won't stop touching me…!"

Ike didn't like seeing Ranulf like this; it wasn't like him to act so scared. Looking around the dark space Ike searched for whom the cat was referring to. "There is no one here, Ranulf." Ike said.

"They are there…" Ranulf murmured. Ike could feel his breath on his back. "They're hiding… and no matter how many times I yell at them… they don't leave…"

Ike looked at his hand that was covered with Ranulf's blood. 'Rhys…' Ike thought. He turned to Ranulf and held him close to him. Ranulf returned the hug and followed Ike to the floor. Ike then picked Ranulf up and on to his lap with the cat's back facing him. He wrapped his arms around Ranulf's chest and abdomen and kept still for a while.

Ranulf flinched again and tried to brake out of Ike's grasp to get away from the invisible hand currently on his left arm. Ike held him firmly down. "Ranulf…" He started. "It's alright. It's just Rhys."

Ranulf's struggling seemed to slow down. "What…?"

"It's Rhys." Ike repeated himself. "Rhys is trying to help you."

Ranulf grabbed Ike's hands and began to fruitlessly pull them away. "It hurts though-"

"That's because you keep moving." Ike said. Ranulf paused to listen to his boyfriend. "Quit squirming and it won't hurt so much." Ike kissed Ranulf's cheek reassuringly. "I'm not saying it won't completely stop hurting, but that's why I'm here."

Ranulf went silent as he grabbed Ike's hands and held them tightly. He then waited for Rhys. He felt the hands again working on his arms and chest. A sharp amount of pain struck him from time to time making him yelp. "Why doesn't he use the staffs he has…" He dug his nails into Ike's hands.

"He can't." Ike answered. He wasn't bothered by Ranulf's sharp nails. "Kinya's poison that he forced you to swallow is preventing any magic to work on you."

Ranulf tried to move his leg away, but Ike held it in place. "Kinya…" Ranulf hissed. "I'm going to kill him…!"

"I told you to stop moving." Ike scolded.

"I can't help it…!" Ranulf was getting angry. Ike knew now that mentioning Kinya was not the right thing to do.

The warrior kissed the Laguz's cheek softly. "I'm sure Rhys will be done soon. Just hold out for a little while longer."

"AH!" The cat jumped violently. "No, no, no…" His face flushed and his squirming increased. Ike wondered what was wrong.

He held Ranulf's hand tighter as the Laguz continued to murmur the word 'no'. "What is it, Ranulf?" He asked calmly. He slowly rubbed small circles on the back of Ranulf's hand to sooth him. He wrapped his free hand around Ranulf's waist and held Ranulf down. No matter what his cat wanted, Ike had to keep him still.

"Rhys…" Ranulf whispered hoarsely. "Kinya… he-" Before Ranulf could finish his sentence pain caused him to hiss. Instead a square appeared in front of them and Ranulf's memories played.

"Oh, nothing important… just your body."

"Don't touch me."

"I said, get off of me…!"

Ike watched, horrified. Every distressed word or sound Ranulf made caused Ike's grip on his cat strengthen. He understood what cuts Rhys must be fixing at the moment.

"Yet even though your bread is revolting… there is something about you that turns me on."

"AH! S-stop it!"

"Moan for me."

"Never…"

"AHH!"

The visions disappeared. Ike was left in a shock because of what he heard and saw. His trance was disturbed by Ranulf who sighed. "I think he finished…" He whispered gratefully. His body relaxed in Ike's arms.

"Ranulf…" Ike murmured. Ranulf looked up slightly letting him know he had his attention. "Did Kinya do all of this to you…?" He gently stroked the healing cut on Ranulf's cheek.

"No…" Ranulf answered. "Yuuta was the one to placed all these scars…" He rubbed his had softly over the scars that were made on his torso and legs.

"What about Zarack?"

"He did nothing to me." Ranulf slowly and painfully sat up and turned to face Ike. "Zarack is the only reason I'm alive. If he hadn't found me before Kinya or Yuuta then I would have been dead by now."

Ike grabbed Ranulf's waist and sat him on his lap, this time facing him, his legs on his sides. "If he was trying to protect you then why did he take you to that place in the beginning?"

Ranulf smiled sadly. "That was the only way to keep me safe. Like I said, if it was Kinya or Yuuta I would be dead. By keeping me beside him all the time he was able to help me."

"But you were almost killed anyway and he was the reason you nearly died when we first got back!" Ike's tone was raising so Ranulf kissed him to help settle his nerves.

"I know." Ranulf leaned his head on Ike's chest. "That wasn't his fault though. Kinya played a smart move by poisoning me. There was nothing Zarack could have done. And before? He didn't mean to do that. Please… don't be mad at him." Ike didn't know what to say. Ranulf noticed this and thought it was best for him to talk instead. "Zarack… was my best friend before the Mad King's war."

Ike pulled Ranulf's shoulders back so he could look at him. "What?"

"I…" Ranulf looked down. "I thought he was dead. I thought… Kinya had killed him."

"Why didn't you mention this before?" Ike asked. "Before he had took you away."

Ranulf faced him again. "I didn't realise it was him. He had to tell me because I didn't clue in. He looked familiar but… because I thought he was dead I believed that I was just seeing things."

"You knew that Kinya was alive though. Didn't you realise that?"

Ranulf shook his head. "I didn't know that Kinya was responsible for everything until afterwards."

"Ah…" Ike held Ranulf close to him again.

For a while they stayed like that until Ike felt a tap on his shoulder. Rhys maybe. "Ranulf," Ike whispered. "I have to go."

The blue cat sighed. "Alright…" He got off Ike and sat on the ground in a way that hid his nakedness.

The warrior stood up and smiled slightly at the Laguz. "I promise you that I'll be beside you when you wake up, okay?" He leaned down to kiss Ranulf.

"Okay." Ranulf smiled.

"For now, get some rest." After that Ike vanished into the shadows of their mind link.

-s2-

Sothe was playing with his favourite knife, Kard. He believed that standing on guard was the most boring job anyone could ever get, but then again he did give himself this position. Micaiah, Skrimir, and Zihark were all going to save the Herons. So while he waited for some excitement to happen.

Tossing, flipping, spinning, the knife never stopped moving. Sothe did tricks that only a true professional knew how to do without causing himself harm. Some of the moves he was barely touching the knife. He would use his hand just to nudge the handle so it would flick around before hitting Sothe's hand again to spin the other way.

The green haired thief was forced to stop when he heard footsteps heading his way. He slid his knife back into his knife holder and stood up straight at the front of the commander's door. 'About time someone decided to amuse me…'

Two Begnion soldiers came around the corner. Both of them carried a lance in their right hand. 'This may be too easy…' Sothe mused.

He gazed up at the men who were a bit taller than himself. "We are here by the commander's orders."

Sothe ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm afraid that the commander is unavailable at the moment."

"But he sent for us…"

"Well, he's not available." Sothe sighed mentally. 'Had to send idiots, didn't he…?'

"What's he doing?" The one asked. The other wasn't talking at all.

"Unfortunately, I don't know." the thief crossed his arms. 'This is annoying…' He continued talking. "I was only ordered to stand here on guard to make sure no one disturbs him."

The guard shoved passed Sothe. "I'm not going to be sent for then ignored."

'And I thought he was an idiot…I over estimated him. Oh well, something to entertain me.' Sothe tugged on his armour. "I said he's busy, so get lost."

The soldier shrugged him off and knocked loudly on the door. "Hey, commander! You sent for us?" There was no answer.

Sothe backed up a little. "He's busy! Quit it and leave already."

"Even if he was busy he would of yell himself for me to leave." He said. "Something is wrong."

'Hm… maybe I underestimated him…'

"You still can't go in there." Sothe told him.

"I don't take orders from you." He pushed his way through the big doors.

"Commander?" He yelled as the other soldier walked pass Sothe and inside the room. He then saw the commander's dead body slumped in it's chair. "Commander!"

Sothe strolled inside the room and closed the doors behind him. The two guards looked back at him in shock. "I told you that you weren't allowed in here." Sothe repeated himself behind his green bangs that shadowed his face.

"Who are you?" The guard commanded a response.

Sothe turned his gaze up at them. His golden orbs stared deeply in their souls. "My name won't be important once you're dead." He started to walk calmly towards the two soldiers with Kard in his right hand.

"You're insane!"

Sothe examined his knife for a moment. "Maybe I am… But it was your army who began this insane war all over again. You guys just don't know when to let things go." He hummed. "I wonder what I should do to you two… kill you quickly, or slow and painfully."

The guard smirked. "I say you pick option C: let us kill you." He raised his lance, the other followed for that seemed like the only thing he knew how to do. They then charged for Sothe who was standing in one place paying more attention to his knife rather than them. The first guard was had almost stabbed Sothe through his stomach when suddenly his lance was knocked out of his hands as well as for the other guard's lance. They both looked behind them to see the two weapons land on the tile flooring with multiple clanking sounds.

The first guard was stunned by the move that he couldn't even see. He turned around to find his partner flying his way and shoved him over to the ground. He pushed his partner roughly with a yell to get off. Once he looked up he found Sothe already knelling above then with a knife for each hand. His arms were crossed in front of him as he pointed his knives at the guards' throats.

Gulping, the guards stayed perfectly still. Sothe stared at them with an emotionless expression as he nudged the knives under their chins to tilt their heads up. "For that I should just kill you here and now. However, over the years of this stupid war I have grown tired of the sight of blood so I'm going to spare you two." The soldiers seemed to relax a little from that news. "That doesn't mean I can let you free just yet." He moved his knives away, but then slammed the hilt into a soft spot between the soldiers' shoulder and neck, knocking them out cold.

The green haired thief stood up and left the room. After closing the doors he put his second knife away and continued to play with Kard. Flipping, tossing, and spinning once again.

-s2-

"How high… is this tower…" Zihark panted. He, Micaiah and Skrimir had been running up stairs for what seemed like forever. Tibarn would be arriving any moment now and the faster they could get the Herons outside the better.

"Quit whining little Beorc." Skrimir laughed. "This is just a simple warm up for us beast Laguz." The hand cuffs were now removed from his wrists.

"Look." Micaiah pointed up. "We made it."

"About time…" Zihark huffed.

They stopped just at the top of the stairs. Peeking around the corner they found three soldiers standing near a locked door. They assume it's the Herons for the locked door was the only door around.

"One of them has to have a key." Micaiah said. "Otherwise it would be pointless coming all the way up here without Sothe to open the door."

Zihark scratched his bare arm. "I'm not going back down after the whole run to get up here, thank you very much. Let's just get in and get out quickly."

"All right." Skrimir shrugged as he walked out in plain sight.

"Skrimir…!" Micaiah and Zihark exclaimed quietly.

The Loin King cracked his knuckles, the sound got the Begnion soldiers' attention. "It's a sub-human!" One of them yelled.

"Get him!" Ordered another. The three all ran towards Skrimir.

The king sighed with disappointment. "You Begnion people always rush into things you're not ready for." He transformed into his beast state and slammed his body towards one guard to crush him with the help of the wall. As the second guard came with his lance Skrimir bit the long stick and threw the soldier over his head and on the hard flooring with a thump. The strike of the ground hitting his head made him black out, some blood oozed from a small gash that was created. The third stayed back for a moment, unsure of what to do. Skrimir took a breath. "If you don't want to get hurt then I suggest you sit by the wall and keep quiet."

The soldier was shaking. Sluggishly, he moved towards the wall and sat down. Skrimir could see he would be of no further trouble and motioned for the Micaiah and Zihark to come over. He then moved to the very frightened soldier and asked him for the key to the Herons' cell. Of course he gave it to him without a word.

Skrimir passed the key to Micaiah who ran over to the Herons' cell door. After she unlocked it she rushed inside. The squeak of the door caused Raphael and Leanne to look over in the small dim light of the few candles that were lit. Their faces brightened when they saw the silver haired maiden.

No words were spoken at first. They simply just stared at each other with slowly growing smiles. Relief washing over them. Skrimir and Zihark walked inside as well and joined in on the comfortable silence.

Leanne then stood up from the bed she was sitting on. "Micaiah…" She whispered as she ran up to her and jumped into her arms. Her robes and golden hair glittered in the soft lighting.

Raphael closed his eyes for a moment before reopening them and walked over to the group. "How did you find us?" He asked calmly.

Zihark adjusted his sword at his side. "I don't think we have time to explain everything. We have to get out of here before any notices us."

"He's right." Micaiah said. She pulled Leanne slightly away from her embrace. "Tibarn may be here already; waiting for us." she paused look at Leanne's neck. Stroking the reddish collar around her neck she asked, "What is this…?"

"Like Zihark said, 'no time to explain everything'" Skrimir said "Let's hurry then and get Sothe." The loin king then turned to leave.-s2-

After getting Sothe the six of them snuck outside. Sothe lead the way to where Skrimir had broken the wall safely got through. Tibarn was indeed waiting for them sitting down and leaning on a nearby tree.

"Yo." Tibarn waved when he saw his comrades. "Ready to leave?" He transformed into his hawk state and flapped his wings gently.

Skrimir transformed as well. "I'll take Sothe and Micaiah back, you take Zihark and the herons."

"Sounds good to me." Tibarn nodded and lowered himself close to the ground. Zihark helped the herons on his back before getting on himself. "We'll meet you there then."

Just when Tibarn was going to take off a yelling was heard. Orders were being called and soldiers were told to line up. "There they are!" They were found.

"Fire!"

Arrows lit with fire were shot down from the dungeon walls. At the same time guards were charging towards them.

"Time to go!" Tibarn took off. Skrimir and Sothe watched as he flew away from the danger.

Sothe then hopped on Skrimir's back. "Micaiah!" He called. He reached out his hand for her. She took his hand Sothe assisted her as she hopped on behind him. Skrimir then started to run.

Micaiah looked back and noticed that three dragon riders were following them. She tugged on Sothe's arm to get his attention. When Sothe glanced at her he saw the riders and felt a bit of panic. "Skrimir-" A lance was thrown and it scratched Sothe's left cheek before it hit the ground in front of them. Skrimir came to a sudden halt.

Sothe jumped off Skrimir and rushed towards the one of the riders. Micaiah cried out for him to come back but Skrimir told her to leave him be.

"We can't have them following us to the camp." He said. "Let's finish this quickly before more come." With that he followed Sothe with Micaiah still on his back.

-s2-

"Is he going to be alright…"

The voice startled Ike. He turned his gaze to the right of him to find a cat Laguz standing beside him. He had green hair and golden eyes. He did look familiar to him, but where he saw him before was beyond his tired mind. "Yes. He's fine now." Ike answered him.

"Good." The cat seemed to relax. He sat down in a chair on the other side of Ranulf's cot. "I was worried it was too late…"

Ike stared at him for a moment. When he looked back at Ranulf he said, "I thought so too…"

"I'm Takashi, by the way." The cat told him.

"Takashi…" Ike thought about the name. "Oh, you're the one that was with Ranulf in the visions."

Takashi looked at him in confusion. "Visions…?"

"Yeah, uh, Ranulf and I have a kind of mind connection." Ike explained. "He was able to show me bits and pieces of events that happened in that kingdom."

The golden eye cat seemed to lighten up. "You must be Ike then!"

"Uh… yeah." Ike said awkwardly.

"Ranulf told me about you." Takashi chuckled a little. "After I told him that he was calling out to you in his sleep he had to tell me who you were."

Ike nodded. "I know. That's what I saw in the vision. Him telling you about us." He looked away from Takashi's gaze. "And I'm glad… that you except our relationship."

Takashi smiled a little. "Why wouldn't I? You and Ranulf seem to worry about your relationship quite a bit."

Ike glanced over at him for a second before returning his gaze back at Ranulf. "You can understand why though, right?"

"Well, of course." Takashi said with a shrug. "But still."

They sat in silence after that. Ranulf's steady breathing was the only sound in the room. Ike watched as his chest raised up and then down again. The white bandages were tinted pink and slowly growing into a crimson colour. As soon as Ranulf wakes up he will have to put clean bandages on.

Soon enough questions started popping up in Ike's head. "How many…?"

Takashi flinched as if Ike had woken him from a trance. "Sorry?"

"How many were killed there?" Ike repeated himself.

Takashi ran his hand through his short green hair. "I don't know exactly. But I do know that the number is high. They killed our kind in very gruesome ways too… burning, pulling out wings and then chopping off their head… Target… practice…" His voice started to brake. Ike looked over at him and saw that tears were streaming down his face. "A-and… They would cheer…" Takashi returned Ike's stare with his own tearful one. "They would cheer…! They cheered for the screams… the b-blood-" He sobbed. "… the death… of our kind…!"

Ike felt guilty for asking him the question and making him remember everything. "Takashi… I'm sorry I-" Before he could say anything else he was tackled off his chair. Takashi cried uncontrollably while clinging to his tunic.

"Wh- why did they do that…? Mothers… fathers, grandparents… even the small children and babies!" More sobs where heard. "They killed them all…! By the end of the day the arena would be covered with innocent blood! They didn't deserve to be killed! Especially not in that disgusting way…!" Ike felt Takashi shaking. Carefully Ike wrapped his arms around the young Laguz to help calm him down.

"It'll be alright now." Ike said calmly. "You and Ranulf are safe and by tomorrow so will everyone e-"

"NO!" Takashi slammed his fist down on Ike's chest. "No, not everyone… Yuki…" He looked up at Ike and shouted, "THEY KILLED YUKI!" Takashi was now crying uncontrollably. He tried to yell more information to Ike but the words just didn't form correctly.

"Takashi…" Ike said to get the young Laguz's attention. "Takashi, hold on… I can't understand you." It didn't help though. Takashi continued his rant with his words all clashing into one.

Later on Takashi stopped yelling. He panted for well needed air. Ike held him in a hug to comfort him. "I'm sorry…" Ike said. "I'm sorry we didn't come sooner…" Takashi let out a harsh breath. "I'm sorry we couldn't save Yuki. I'm sorry we couldn't protect her…"

"I'll kill Yuuta…" Takashi murmured. "I'll kill Kinya… for killing Yuki…!" He got up from the floor and walked out of the tent just as Soren walked in.

"Wait, Takashi!" Ike stood up. "Soren, where is Yuuta and Zarack being held?"

Soren looked at him. "In Tibarn's tent. Being watched over by many of our troops until Tibarn gets back. Why?"

"I think Takashi is going there to get revenge." Ike told him as he passed him. "Can you watch over Ranulf while I'm gone? I shouldn't be too long."

"Sure." Soren said as Ike ran out of the tent.

Ike caught up to Takashi just as he made it to Tibarn's tent. He followed him inside and Takashi immediately grabbed Yuuta by the collar of his shirt. "I'll KILL you for all that you did!" Takashi hissed. Ike merely stood by the tent's entrance and watched.

Yuuta, who was now awake, smirked. His arms were tied behind his back around a wooden pole and he was forced to sit on the floor. Behind him, tied to the same pole was Zarack. "Well, hello little Sup-human. I didn't expect you to be seeing me so soon."

"Shut the hell up, you!" Takashi spat. "You and Kinya are the reason that Yuki is dead!"

"Yuki died?" Yuuta looked a little surprised. "I don't remember giving that order."

"It doesn't matter who made the order…" Takashi's voice went low. "No matter who's order it was it all falls back to your's and Kinya's… and now… SHE DEAD!" Takashi punched Yuuta in the jaw as hard as he could. Yuuta would of fell over if it weren't for the strong grip that Takashi had on his shirt.

Yuuta spat out some blood before chuckling. "So violent." he said with a tone of humour in his voice.

Takashi snarled. "You haven't seen anything yet, you bastard…!" His tone was deadly. Ike had to step in now.

"Save it for later, Takashi." The warrior told the cat as he placed a hand on his shoulder. "We don't want to kill him," Ike looked at Yuuta with hate filled eyes. "Yet."

Yuuta noticed the hatred towards him. "What was that look for? I didn't do anything to you."

Ike ignored him. He pulled Takashi away from the man and started heading for the tent's exit. Yuuta shook his head and mumbled the foul name, "Sub-human" that made Takashi try to pull away from Ike and go punch him again. Ike didn't allow it though. As much as he would love to see Yuuta suffer, he had to wait for Ranulf to wake up and enjoy it too.-s2-

Ike was now back with Ranulf. He held on to his right bandaged hand with both of his. Takashi was now hanging around some of the raven Laguz that had some free time on their hands. Their job was too make sure Takashi doesn't get angry enough to go after Yuuta again. It was best for him to relax and get his mind off things.

Soren was in the medical tent with Ike, but be had left a little while ago. Soren was there to see how Ranulf was doing and get information on his condition. Ike told him that Ranulf was fine and just needed to rest for a while. After some strategy talk, Soren had excused himself.

With a sigh, Ike stared at Ranulf's scarred face. He brushed Ranulf's blue hair away from his face and gently rubbed the closed cut on his cheek. The sight of it caused him to feel upset. He covered the scar with the palm of his hand. "I'm sorry, Ranulf…"

The cat responded to his words. Ike saw him press his face against his hand. "Ranulf…?" Ranulf's ears twitched and slowly his bicolour eyes opened. Ike felt his heart race with relief. At first Ranulf looked at him with a expressionless face. He blinked a few times before smiling. "Ike…"

Ike made a noise that was between a chuckle and a sob. Quickly, he ducked his head down to Ranulf's and kissed him deeply. His tongue explored the moist cavern he had missed so much. Ranulf followed the kiss as best he could. He was ecstatic to see Ike again in flesh and bones instead of in dreams, but his body was weak and it wouldn't let him show Ike just how pleased he was. Ike's hands held Ranulf gently, but with need by the shoulders. Ranulf snaked his arms out from under the covers to hold on to Ike's tunic.

Ranulf then had to pull away for air. "Ike-"

"I missed you…" Ike murmured as he kissed along Ranulf's jaw down to his neck. He licked a spot he knew Ranulf loved. The said cat mewed a bit too loudly than he had planned. A part of him wanted Ike to continue farther down, but the a other part told him to stop and take some time for his body to heal first. As if Ike was reading his thoughts he stopped. "Ah… Sorry… It's just-"

Ranulf held his hand up to his mouth to interrupt him. "I know, it's okay. I want you too, but I just feel too exhausted…"

Ike kissed him again, this time with more control over himself. "Rhys gave you something to help treat the poison. He said he will be back later to give you another dose."

"Good…" Ranulf breathed.

Ike sat on the bed and laid his forehead on Ranulf's "You're very warm…"

"That could be your fault though." Ranulf joked.

"Maybe." Ike chuckled before pecking a small kiss on his cat's lips.

Ranulf felt Ike kiss him again. The third time was more soft. He pulled away. Ike gave him a questioning look. "Sorry… but because I'm sick with this fever, I don't want you to catch anything if its contagious."

Ike smirked. "I don't care if I catch it." Ike placed his hand behind Ranulf's head so he couldn't escape his next kiss. "I've missed you too much to care about a stupid cold."

"Whoops!"

Ike immediately stood up straight and took an unwanted step away from Ranulf's cot. The cat turned his head away from the tent entrance, not wanting to see who just walked in. "I-uh…" Ike stuttered. "I was just.. Taking his temperature."

A large bandaged hand rested on Ike's shoulder. "Sure, with your lips all over his." He laughed and Ike relaxed a little.

"Tibarn…" He breathed. "Don't scare us like that…!"

The hawk king raised his hands in surrender. "Sorry, I didn't know I would see a make out session in here."

"I-" Ike was lost for words.

Tibarn chuckled. "How are you feeling Ranulf?"

Ranulf looked at him. "So I'm assuming you know about us."

The king nodded. "Yes, I do."

The cat sighed with slight relief. "Well, you scared me."

"Heh, I mean besides that."

"I feel horrible…"

Tibarn hummed in thought. "So you really were poisoned." Ranulf nodded in response. "Is it serious?"

Ike stepped into the conversation. "No, he just needs to rest. Rhys has something to help it, but the symptoms will go away in about… I forget when…"

"Well, it's a good thing it's not serious." Tibarn smiled.

"Anyway," Tibarn continued. "The rest of the Herons are here safe and sound."

"Good." Ike said happily. "Now all that's left is the rest of the Laguz."

"Ike…" Ranulf called. Ike looked down at him in concern worried that he might be in pain. "You guys have to hurry and safe them. Kinya… he'll start shooting down all the Laguz since he now knows that you're on to them."

Tibarn smiled. "You don't need to worry about Kinya. We took them along with us as our prisoners while we were saving you."

"No…" Ike said softly. Ranulf and Tibarn gazed at him in question. "We didn't catch him… Takashi, a Laguz prisoner that came with Naesala, went to punch the living Hell out of Yuuta, one of Kinya's followers. Zarack was there too, but… they were the only two I saw. Kinya is still out there."

Ike could tell how much Ranulf was disturbed by the news. The cat looked to the other side of the room and pulled the covers closer to him. Tibarn however just made a grunt in response, but he too noticed Ranulf's reaction.

The hawk king tapped Ike on the shoulder to get his attention. Once the blue haired warrior looked his way Tibarn nudged his head to the side in a way to tell him to meet him outside. Ike nodded and told Ranulf that he would be right back before he followed the hawk out of the medical tent.

"Kinya is going to kill all of those Laguz if we don't act quickly." Tibarn said seriously.

"We still have Leonardo, Edward and Nolan at the castle looking for him." Ike told him.

Tibarn hummed in thought. His muscles then tensed up as he remembered something. "Rolf…" he whispered. "Ike, Rolf is still in that castle!"

Ike's eyes widened with disbelief. "What?"

"Janaff and Ulki are still with him, but I'm worried what may happen if they're found wandering aimlessly." Tibarn clenched his teeth together at his stupidity of forgetting them. "Did we set them a time to be back?"

"Before sundown think it was." Ike responded. There was a small silence between them.

Tibarn then sighed. "Let's not worry about it now then. There is still plenty of time before then. Ike nodded in agreement.

"I'm going to stay with Ranulf." Ike said as he walked back inside the medical tent. Tibarn watched as he walked in before turning and walked to do his own thing.

-s2-

The afternoon passed slowly. Worry was the only feeling that was in the camp. Worry for their wounded, worry for the ones still out on their missions, worry for the ones who were still held captive in Kinya's grasp. Their time was limiting with every second that passed. For all they knew everyone that is being held hostage can be forced to stand in front of a row of archers and shot until their heart stopped beating.

They prayed to the Goddesses for their safety.-s2-

"…Ike…"

'What…'

"Ike…"

'I can hear you… what do you want…?'

"Ike… please… I need you to wake up…!"

'Why…'

The warrior groaned in his sleep. He was officially exhausted from being a complete emotional wreck while Ranulf in Kinya's castle. He tried to open his eyes, but unfortunately it was easier said than done. Someone was holding his hand, but he couldn't think of who it was. The hand tensed and relaxed like a slow heart beat. Ike heard a sharp gasp of pain and the hand dug its nails in the back of his hand. With a start the warrior woke up.

"Huh…?" He said dumbly.

"Ike…!"

The said blue haired man looked to his left and saw Ranulf laying in bed and then remembered where he was. "Ah! Ranulf!" He held Ranulf's clenching hand in his. "What is it? What's wrong?" Ike asked anxiously, searching with his eyes for any visible that would make Ranulf act so pained.

The cat swallowed and placed his other hand on his mouth. "I think I-I'm…"

Ike didn't need anymore than that to understand. "H-hold on." Ike stood from the chair he was sitting on and looked around the tent. In the corner he found a bucket and dashed for it. Grabbing it, he hurried to Ranulf's side who was already throwing up in his hand. Ike gave Ranulf the bucket and went to get some wet cloths. When Ike came back he cleaned Ranulf's hand before running his fingers through his chopped light blue hair to help sooth him. He whispered sweet nothings in Ranulf's ear until the cat hand finished. Ike whipped Ranulf's mouth with the cloth and took away the dirtied piece of material along with the bucket to the other side of the tent where they would be washed later.

Ranulf held his head in his hands. He had to admit that he felt a bit better but a large headache still bothered him. When Ike sat back down on the chair beside his bed Ranulf looked at him with tired eyes. "Sorry about that…" He murmured.

Ike shook his head. "It's not your fault." He got up on to Ranulf's bed and wrapped his arms around the cat trying not to disturb his wounds. He found it rather difficult seeing that almost his whole body was covered with white and red bandages.

"Still…"

"No." Ike slipped his arms around Ranulf's waist and kissed his neck lovingly. "There is no 'still'. None of this is your fault. It's Kinya's." Ike tightened his hold on Ranulf slightly, but not to the point it would hurt him. Ranulf smiled at the way Ike was always so protective of him. "We will get him, Ranulf." Ike kissed the cat's neck again. "He won't get away with any of this."

Ranulf shivered at Ike's warm breath on his collar bone. Ike began to lick and nip at Ranulf's neck as if it was a small afternoon snake. The Laguz gladly tilted his head so his lover could get better access.

Ike soon stopped, making Ranulf curious. Ike ran his fingers over the collar he had around his neck. "We should take this off." Ike said. "But, where's the latch?"

Ranulf moved a bit. "It's on a spell. You need the spell to get it off."

"Does Zarack know the spell?" Ike asked. Ranulf could hear the hatred in his voice.

"Yeah." He answered simply. "Zarack did nothing to me Ike, he was only protecting me. The same way I use to protect him." Ike looked at him with a confused glance. "Zarack… use to be my best friend when we were young. He's Branded, Ike. He doesn't want harm to fall upon the Laguz." Ranulf paused for a moment. "I thought… he was dead…"

"Why was that?" Ike asked.

Ranulf shook his head. "It's a pretty long story. I'll tell you later, okay? Can we just get this," He pointed to the collar, "…and this," he pointed to the ear ring. "… off of me?"

Ike nodded and got off the bed. "I'll take you to Zarack." Ike grabbed a plain white shirt to cover Ranulf. "Come here." Ike sat on the edge of the bed with his back facing Ranulf. He wanted carry him piggy-back style. Ranulf understood this and crawled over and sat with his legs on either side of Ike. The warrior then slipped his arms under Ranulf like a seat and stood up.

Ranulf held onto Ike's shoulders. "I'm not too heavy, am I?"

Ike frowned, but Ranulf couldn't see it. "You're very light actually… Too light." He looked back at Ranulf. "We have to get some food in you when we get back." Ike walked out of the tent with Ranulf and headed straight for the tent Zarack and Yuuta were being kept in. The people hanging around the camp site were helping tend to the wounded and sorting out supplies.

Ranulf rested his head on Ike's. "I can't eat… not now anyways."

Ike jumped to lift Ranulf up higher on his back. "Even if you don't think you can eat, you're still going to. I'll force feed you if I have to."

"That sound like fun." Ranulf smiled at the thought.

Ike chuckled and whispered. "Don't think dirty until you're well."

"Fine, fine." a hint of amusement was still found in Ranulf's voice.

Ike stopped at the sound of thumping. It sounded as if it was coming closer; somebody running. He then saw them, Sothe's team rushing around the corner. The herons and a beaten up Zihark were on Skrimir's back, while Micaiah and Sothe ran behind them.

"Rhys!" Ike called. He started forward, with Ranulf still on his back, towards Skrimir who came to a halt when he got close. The red haired medic came soon after to find Sothe helping Zihark to stand. Ike set Ranulf on his feet and went to assist Sothe and Zihark.

"Get him to the medical tent, quickly." Rhys instructed.

Zihark weakly pushed Ike and Sothe away. "I'm fine, guys…" He pressed his arm into his side where a large gash bled through his clothes. "I can-" He started to coughed harshly. He fell to his knees as blood clogged up his air way.

"Zihark!" Ike and Sothe both said in alarm.

Ike moved in front of Zihark and lifted him up on his back. "I'll take him there." He then hurried off with Rhys leading the way.

Sothe watched as Ike ran. He then looked back at Ranulf where the Herons and Micaiah were hugging him. Sothe smirked and walked over to them. "Good to have you back, Ranulf."

Ranulf nodded to him. "Feels nice to be back…"

"You look so pale." Leanne said worryingly.

Raphael studied the Laguz cat's features. "Poison? I presume."

"How…?" Ranulf smiled. "You Herons are good."

"Maybe Leanne can fix it with her songs." He smiled back. "It would be worth the try."

Ranulf sat down on ground. "Then, please, try it."

Leanne stepped up in front of Ranulf with a smile. Closing her eyes she sang a soft tune. Ranulf's ears perked up at the sound and took a deep breath through his nose. The song soothed him. His body and mind felt relaxed, while his pain from his wounds slowly disappeared.

When Leanne's song ended, Ranulf felt refreshed. He stretched and stood up straight. Raphael asked how he felt. "Great!" Ranulf answered. His cuts a burses were still there but his pain was gone. "I feel much better. Thank you, Leanne."

The heron girl smiled brightly. "I'm glad I could be of some assistance."

"You learned our language well, haven't you." Ranulf smiled. Leanne nodded.

"Alright, alright." Skrimir said loudly. "Let's get back to our little war here." He transformed back into his human form. "Is the bastard, Kinya caught?"

Ranulf looked at the ground. "No… he escaped apparently."

Skrimir sniffed. "Then there's still work to be done. If we-" He paused when his ears twitched.

Ranulf and the Herons heard it too. Wings. They sounded to heavy to be coming from a hawk or raven. Everyone came out to see what the sound was. They then all looked up to see a red Dragon fly over the camp. Only one.

"Why would they send only one solder?" Skrimir questioned.

Takashi came running over to Ranulf. "What's… going on…?" he asked, clearly out of breath. Ranulf shook his head to tell him that he didn't know.

The dragon flew closer to the ground and dropped two bags. In a panic, everyone below go out of the way. After the two bags hit the ground, the dragon flew away, leaving everyone thinking the same thing. 'What's in the bags?'

Sothe was the first to move. He walked up the bag that was much bigger than the other and cut it open with Kard. The bag was a brownish red, like rusting copper. He looked inside and jerked away when his nose got a whiff of stench inside. He covered his nose with his hand and looked again, finding a body inside.

Standing up Sothe turned to the crowd that gathered around. "It's a body…" He told them.

Takashi and Ranulf came forward and opened the smaller bag. Once they got a peek inside they both gasped and backed away from the bag. Takashi's lunch came up and spilled all over the ground. Ranulf held a hand over his mouth to keep him from doing the same.

Inside the bag, covered in blood, was Yuki's head.

-s2-

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