So, I had a whole rant written up here for you. And then I accidentally deleted the whole thing. -is shot-

Anyway... So, cdpict mentioned the sage thing last chapter... and guess what makes a re-appearance later in the story, now? Yep. You guys inspire me, sometimes. (Okay, a lot of the time.) Also, if anyone knows any method for getting two excessively-sarcastic...erm... not finishing this, because it's a bit of a spoiler. I'll rant a bit on it later, though.

Enjoy!

"I told you, you weren't going to like it." –Dark

Chapter 1.4 – A (False) Peace
Part 4

Dark's POV

"Mieu, mieu mieu mieu, mieu!"

"So, that's a cheagle?" Luke asked. I crossed my arms as Tear's eyes started sparkling.

"It looks like it's still a child," Ion said. Tear took a couple cautious steps, forward, and I growled softly when I saw the cheagle's eyes widen.

"She won't hurt you."

It squeaked, eyes locked on me. Tear, too, froze, and I stepped forward a little and crouched. "Mieu, mieu?"

I sighed. "Sorry. I can't speak cheagle," I told the baby. It looked at me with wide eyes, then looked at Tear, who, like me, had knelt. I gently took her shoulder and pulled her back a little. "Don't lean forward so much. You look more like a predator to it doing that."

She looked at me with one big blue eye before nodding and adjusting herself to accept my little correction. The cheagle kept looking back and forth between me and the girl closer to it.

"So cute..." I heard Tear whisper. I smiled.

"She thinks you're cute," I told the baby. It blinked its big, starry eyes and looked up at Tear, taking a cautious step forward. Tear gasped quietly, and the baby froze. I chuckled. "You just startled her," I said when Tear glanced back to me. Then I turned back to the cheagle. "It's alright. She was just surprised."

The cheagle relaxed a little, slowly inching toward Tear, who lowered one of her hands near the ground slowly. It was wary of the hand, and took a moment to creep forward and sniff at it for a moment. Once it relaxed again, Tear carefully moved her hand and lowered it to the baby's head. It tensed up again, but as Tear slowly and gently stroked it, the baby calmed down—completely.

I smiled, slowly standing up and then bending down again, putting my hands on my knees. "See? Not so bad, huh?"

The cheagle mewed a few times, obviously happy, and I couldn't help but chuckle at the sight. "So, do you think you could help us out? We're trying to figure out what's going on with Engeve. Is there an older cheagle I could speak to?" I asked. The baby looked up at me and nodded, and I smiled. "Can she pick you up? You can point us in the right direction without getting too tired," I suggested.

The baby looked a bit more hesitant about this, but then turned away from Tear, nodding back toward me. I smiled, and Tear looked up at me in confusion. "You can pick it up, gently. It's going to help us find an older cheagle to talk to about the situation in Engeve," I told her. She looked worried, but picked the baby up anyway.

It's front right paw immediately pointed forward, once it was safely tucked in Tear's arms, and I smiled at the cute sight. I didn't usually do cute, since I'd grown up learning that practical was better. However, in this case, it went hand in hand.

"Wow... It's kinda fun seeing someone talking to a monster like that," Ion said. I shrugged.

"Meh. I can only understand ligers, and I use their system of growls to communicate with monsters. Most monsters can understand between their different species, but they can't understand the human language. Some monsters understand their own language and the human language, but not the language of other monsters. And some are lucky enough to be able to understand most monster languages and the human language. Older cheagles can do this, so it should be easier to speak with the one this little one is going to introduce us to," I explained. I had been absently following Tear, who was carefully following the directions of the little one in her arms.

"Wow... That is one big tree," Luke said. I looked up and nodded.

"Yup. Sylph tree. They do tend to get really big," I agreed. Luke frowned.

"Sylph tree?"

Ion smiled. "Oh, I know this one! There's a legend about a young woman who loved dancing to the sound of the wind in the leaves, and Sylph, the congregate sentience of the third fonon, was so entranced by the way the woman danced that she would fly through the trees of the forest near the girl's village every day in the hopes of seeing her dance!" he started cheerfully. I laughed.

"Oh, wow. I haven't heard that one since I was a little kid!"

Tear paused and looked back at us. "Um... I've never heard it..." she stated. I smiled and looked at Luke, who shook his head, and I sighed.

"We don't exactly have time for a story, but basically, the forest gets cut down, Sylph goes on a small rampage and has to be calmed down by her siblings, the woman finds a single seed that survived all the trees being chopped down, and Sylph blesses the seed so that it grows into a really big tree with leaves that whisper in even the slightest wind," I said, trying to keep the summary short.

Luke sighed. "So, happy ending for everyone?" he guessed. I chuckled.

"It looks like it at first, but it isn't exactly. Sylph knocked down a lot of their houses while she was upset, and the villagers don't dare cut down her tree to make the repairs, and they've already cut down the nearby trees..." I said. Ion cringed.

"I never thought about that..." he admitted. I shrugged.

"Most people don't."

"Mieu! Mieu mieu!"

I stopped and looked up, spotting the hole in the base of the trunk of, yes, the Sylph tree. I sighed. "Well, cheagles do like living inside tree trunks..."

Ion smiled, walking forward, hopping to a rock and then to a root, and stepping through the opening, the baby cheagle wriggling out of Tear's arms to follow just a moment later.

"Fon Master! Wait!" she called. I chuckled and exchanged a look with Luke.

"This kid is hopeless..." he muttered. I shrugged.

The two of us followed Ion, the cheagle, and Tear through into the trunk, and I couldn't help but nod approvingly. As monster homes went, this was one of the better ones.

Unfortunately, the cheagles didn't seem to like us much, as they were all gathered in a ring around the entrance. The little pink baby was pulled away by a yellow cheagle, probably a parent, and it mewed sadly as it was drawn away.

"Mieu mieu, mieu mieu mieu!"

I rolled my eyes and growled. "None of us can understand your language," I announced. "But we're here peacefully."

A cheagle in the back mewed a few times, and the crowd of cheagles parted reluctantly.

"Peacefully, you say. Yet you speak the language of our tormentors, and more than likely also that of our probable exterminators," the cheagle farthest from us said. I raised an eyebrow in surprise. A cheagle speaking a human language?

"You can speak our language?" Luke asked before any of the rest of us could.

Ion frowned. "The Order's founder Yulia Jue made a pact with the cheagles and gained their aid... I highly doubt she spoke a monster language, however. It's a very rare gift," he said. The cheagle came forward a little.

"It is the power of the ring we were given as part of our pact with Yulia. Are you of relation to Yulia?" it... no, she asked. Ion nodded, walking forward to meet the cheagle halfway, and being sure not to step on any of the colorful fluff-balls at his feet.

"I'm Ion, Fon Master of the Order of Lorelei. Am I correct in assuming that you are the cheagle elder?" he asked. I sighed. Well, give the kid points. He's way more diplomatic than Sync would ever have been.

'Damn it...' I thought, realizing that I had just compared Ion to Sync, again. 'I need to stop that. It doesn't matter anymore anyway...'

"What did you mean, about tormentors and exterminators?" Tear asked. I sighed.

"It's the ligers, isn't it?" I guessed. "That fire I heard about was in liger territory, correct? A pack moved down here and is threatening to prey on you if you don't provide them with food." This was all a theory, but I figured it was a likely one.

The cheagle elder nodded. "Indeed. One of our tribe's members was playing around and caused a fire in the Northern region, and while it was technically within our woods, we had agreed with that pack of ligers generations ago that they could live just this side of the river, where the wolves and easier prey were more plentiful. They have moved further south now, and their queen is very angry with us," she explained. I nodded.

"And since you've been feeding them by stealing from Engeve, you were expecting hunters to come and kill the pests taking their food."

"Yes, again. But if we don't send food periodically, the cheagles of the tribe are captured and eaten," she said.

"That's terrible..." Ion whimpered. Luke sighed.

"And not exactly our problem..." he added. I scowled, elbowing the redhead in the side, hard. "What?! It's not!" he cried defensively. Tear sighed.

"Food from Engeve is shipped throughout the entire world, not just Malkuth," she said. "We have to do something..."

"Like what? The ligers are pissed because one of the cheagles burned down their home, right? What are we supposed to do about that?" Luke asked. I sighed.

"And it's worse than just that, Tear. If this pack was in northern Cheagle Woods, that means it has to be a southern clan pack," I said.

Ion blinked. "Um... I hate to sound completely ignorant, because one of my former Fon Master Guardians was raised by ligers, but... What are you talking about, exactly?"

I sighed. "Arietta was raised by southern clan ligers. They are stubborn, testy, and will attack first and ask questions later, if they ask questions at all. They hate outsiders, and if they think for even a moment that we have a chance of fighting back, they will attack us," I said. Luke's eyes widened.

"Koran was never like that though!" he cried. I shrugged.

"Koran was eastern clan. Minimized contact with humans, fairly easy pickings... They're the most docile of the three clans, but don't mistake docile for complacent. Their queens are usually the most skilled fighters," I said. Ion sighed.

"So, we probably wouldn't be able to negotiate with them?" he asked. I blinked, then sighed, shaking my head.

"It'd be difficult. We'd definitely have to take a cheagle ambassador with us, since they currently have a... I'll call it a truce... with the pack," I said. "But it would probably be best if we left the translating to me."

The cheagle elder looked around a bit before mewing, and a small blue cheagle bounced out of the crowd a moment later. This one was only slightly bigger than the baby Tear had carried here earlier.

"This is Mieu," the elder said. I raised an eyebrow.

"I take it his name can't be translated between the two languages?"

The elder chuckled a bit. "Indeed. He is also the one responsible for the fire in the north. I want you to take him with you as the ambassador," she said. Then she turned around and lifted the ring she'd been carrying, bringing it down on Mieu's head only for it to knock both cheagles to the ground. The elder got to her feet again and pointed at the ring on the ground, mewing a few times. Mieu stepped into the ring and pulled it up around his belly before looking up at us.

"Hi! I'm Mieu! Pleased to meet you!" he said in such a high-pitched voice that I was almost certain he should have been a girl.

"Something about this guy is really annoying..." Luke grumbled. I couldn't help but smile a little. Couldn't disagree there. Mieu's voice did grate on the ears a little. I shook my head.

"Let's just get going," I suggested. Luke nodded, turning around and heading out of the tree. Tear followed him, and I gestured for Mieu and Ion to go next. I paused before I left, though, and turned to look at the elder.

"I know you can't reply now, but while we're gone, do me a favor and look for two things. The first is a small box, the second is... a carved wooden pendant. They were in with some of the things you took."

The cheagle elder nodded once and started mewing, probably ordering the cheagles to get to work. I'd growled to make sure all of them would understand.

I caught up to the others just outside.

"That's cool!"

I stopped and raised an eyebrow. "What did I miss?"

Luke turned around and grinned. "Mieu can breathe fire!"

I shrugged. "Yeah. All adult cheagles can, and that ring is probably a capacity core of some type, which means that even though Mieu's fire isn't nearly as potent as an adult's without it, he can likely outlast an adult with it."

Luke's mood deflated, and he stuck his tongue out at me.

"Luke, was that really necessary?" Tear asked. I shrugged.

"Better that than what happened last time something like this occurred," I said. Ion's wide eyes looked up at me as we finally started moving.

"What happened?"

I sighed. "Luke went off on a rant about how he didn't remember everything, I ignored him, he started ranting about being ignored, and... Well, if Luke's father hadn't heard the entire thing from start to finish, I'd have lost my job two months ago, since it involved me shooting at him to get his attention and then a long tongue-lashing that was not polite at all."

Luke cringed, obviously enjoying the trip down memory lane as much as I was.

I zoned out for a little bit, until I realized there was a small river right in front of me and stopped. I took a moment to gauge distance and speed, and sighed.

"Luke, you're not going to like this," I said in warning. His eyes widened.

"Why...?"

Tear crossed her arms. "No bridge, and it's too wide to jump... we'll have to wade across."

Luke groaned. "Everything'll get wet!" he complained. I sighed.

"I told you, you weren't going to like it. Wet shoes and pants now means mud caked all over our legs later, but we have to get across somehow. I'd tell you to stay here, but I'd rather not leave you in the middle of the forest, and if it does come to a fight with the ligers, we'll need your sword," I said.

Luke bit his lip, eyes scanning the opposite side. He put a hand on my shoulder before I could step into the water. Then he looked down at Mieu. "Hey, Mieu? See that tree over there?" he asked, pointing. I looked up at the tree, noting that it was mostly dead. "Breathe fire on its roots," he ordered.

The cheagle bounced over to do so, and I smiled.

"You're learning to observe things properly, Luke. I'm proud of you. I actually missed that one," I told him.

And if it swelled his ego a little bit, I'd allow it for now.

Fun Fact: When I started rewriting A Ripple in the Abyss, I kept checking back to the second version and copying a lot of scenes from it. However, because I've changed so much in Re:ARitA, the only reason I looked through A Spatial Tear when I started rewriting it was to make sure my outline was still following the original story. One such discrepancy is in the fact that in ARitA, Kairi makes it back to Grand Chokmah before Jade leaves with Ion and Anise. As most of you probably know from reading the CR chapter 'Purple - Moving Forward', Kairi's in St. Binah when Luke and Tear get blasted to Tataroo Valley. (There are plenty of others, but they'll be addressed later.)