Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem or anything associated with it.
A/N: Happy New Year! Here is another chapter and as a nosy person, I would want anyone who can review to post their new year's revolution about ANYTHING along with what they thought of the chapter! It's like a fun ice-breaker to get to know who reads my story, which you will do right…now! (Note, Blue Wolf's 1 year anniversary was on December 26! Happy Birthday!)
"Hm..."=Regular talk
'Hm…'= thinking
"Hmmm…"=AncientLanguage/exaggeration/timeskip/meanwhile/etc./action/onamottapeia/I'm done…
In the Begnion camp, Rikari groggily began to wake up. Even though he wanted to sleep longer, he couldn't make Khimari wait too long. Getting onto his feet, the orange wolf started to stretch the sleepy out of him. After about a minute of stretches, he decided that it was good enough before going outside.
"Where are you going?" a voice asked, startling the young Laguz. The owner of the voice turned out to be Tora.
"I'm going training with Khimari," he answered, and the response was a simple snort from his big brother.
"At this time?" he interrogated. "Are you going to wake him up?"
"N-No…"
"…Alright, go on. If I don't hear anything I'm coming to get you," the red wolf permitted, before returning to his slumber. Releasing an inaudible sigh of relief, Rikari left the tent and made his way over to the clearing where Khimari told him to go earlier. The soldiers from Begnion stood at the camp's entrance, looking for any sort of possible attack towards the hostile Daein forces.
Passing by all of the Beorc, Rikari eventually reached the tree where Khimari said that they would meet, although the prince was nowhere in sight. Confused, Rikari looked around, although he couldn't spot the wolf anywhere.
"You're late," a voice reprimanded, startling the young wolf into jumping back and raising his hackles. The figure of Khimari appeared a second later, shaking his body to release all of the snow from his fur. "It's at least ten minutes past moonhigh," he continued.
"I'm sorry. It won't happen again," he quickly responded, quickly finding out in training that the Laguz standing in front of him didn't take excuses lightly.
"That's the spirit," Khimari said, before turning around. "Transform and follow me," he told Rikari as he slowly padded into the forest. Doing as his teacher instructed, a soft orange glow surrounded Rikari for a few seconds, dissipating to reveal an orange wolf. Trailing behind Khimari, the young wolf could only wonder what the prince would teach him next. The blue wolf's training included things that were extremely outside of a sane person's realm of thinking: climbing a tree with claws only, running against the current in a small tributary, getting hunted by a purple-haired girl with thunder magic; it was endless.
The methods weren't in vain; however, as he could definitely tell a difference with himself now than when he was in the desert. He shocked himself when he found out that he could go toe to toe with Sothe, the thief kid who Tormod introduced him to. He even gave Maurim a hard time, and that was something in his books.
"We're here," Khimari said, stopping and turning around. Looking at where they were, Rikari couldn't help but be skeptical, because they were in a mass of trees in the middle of the surrounding forest. "Now, why couldn't you tell where I was when you came?" he asked, his dual-colored eyes seemingly glittering in the darkness of the night.
"I…couldn't see you. I didn't look hard enough," he admitted.
"You didn't use all of your senses," Khimari corrected. "The only thing you used was your sight. If you used your hearing, you could have heard me quietly scooping snow behind the tree, or if you used your nose, you would know at least know that I did some business on the tree in front of me," he informed, making the young cub's nose wrinkle in slight disgust.
"…I was really supposed to smell your…business?"
"No, not really. I just wanted to see your reaction," Khimari admitted, a hint of laughter in his voice. "On a serious note, sight is not the only thing available to you. Even in snow, you can smell. Don't limit yourself to what you're used to doing. That being said, you're going to have to hunt me down," he introduced.
"Hunt you?" Rikari echoed. Khimari nodded an affirmative, before throwing something at Rikari, which he caught.
"There's a Demi Band so you can stay transformed for a lot longer than usual. You have until sunrise, and you have to wait here for at least 2 minutes. You can use anything you need, and remember, you're a wolf." With the rules of the hunt established, Khimari turned around and broke off into a sprint in the opposite direction. The wolf prince's footsteps eventually faded into the distance, leading Rikari to believe that he went somewhere far. Waiting the two minutes, Rikari started his hunt by sniffing around, like his mentor told him to. Going in a straight path, he followed the wolf's scent until he was lead to a river. The scent quickly dissipated, throwing Rikari off once again.
Looking for any clues, he started to get discouraged until he came across a footprint in the snow. Lowering his nose to the print, Rikari started to sniff it. Unfortunately, he couldn't find any remnants of the wolf prince's scent. Looking up, he saw that there were more footprints, making a path! Excited, Rikari walked with extra pep in his step, walking along Khimari's tracks. At the entrance into the forest once again, he looked up to see that the moon was starting to set. He hastened his pace, hoping to catch up to his teacher.
His hope turned out to be false as the tracks stopped in the middle of the forest. Grunting in frustration, he decided to trace his steps back to where he found the first footprint. Slowly trekking to the place, something rustled in the bushes, catching his attention. Cautious, Rikari got into a stalking position as the shrub continued to shake. After a few seconds, he decided that he couldn't wait for whatever was there to run away and pounced. A hiss met his attack as Rikari and some other figure started tumbling through the powdery snow.
Jumping apart from whatever he had encountered, Rikari squinted at the animal to see what it was. Astonishingly, it turned out to be another wolf, gray but a great deal larger than he was. Rikari let his fur flatten to signal to the other wolf that he wasn't a threat. Fortunately, the gray canine saw the sign of peace and relaxed visibly, although it still seemed tense from being attacked.
"You, little pup," it angrily growled, shocked Rikari even further. "What's wrong with you?"
"You…You can understand me?" he asked.
"You're a wolf, aren't you?" he snorted. "Your color is a little funny though. Never seen a sunrise-colored pelt before."
"Y-yeah," Rikari agreed, still feeling as though in a dream. "Are you the only wolf Laguz here?"
"Laguz? You mean those transforming animals?" he questioned, genuinely curious as to what he was asked.
"Yes. That's who I am."
"Why are you here?" he continued, a hostile edge entering his voice.
"I'm looking for someone. I wish that you could-"
"A wolf never leaves their pack. Where are your parents?"
"They're dead…" he said quietly. "They were killed in the desert."
"The desert? Then why are you here?"
"Look, I don't have time for this," Rikari snapped, knowing that he needed to look for Khimari before sunrise came.
"Hm, you're just like all of those Laguz, thinking that you're above natural animals. Human hybrids are all I see. A disgrace to all wolves, your kind are," the wolf snarled.
"What? That's not true! I didn't-"
"Quiet you doppelganger! Don't tarnish the wolf name any more than you already have!" he hissed, raising his hackles and slowly advancing on Rikari.
"I don't mean to insult any of you!" the orange wolf yelled, stopping the wolf in his tracks. "I just need to find my teacher. I'm in the middle of training with him, and I'm supposed to track him down."
"So what?"
"Look, I'm sorry for offending you," Rikari apologized, attempting to derail the violence as fast as possible. "I…I'm probably not a real wolf, like you or Khimari, but that's why I'm trying now! I want to be better…"
"…Just a little cub," the gray wolf snorted, before turning around. "Follow me," he said before breaking off into a sprint. Snapped out of his daze, Rikari started to run after the fellow wolf, ducking and turning through the sleeping forest in a somewhat strenuous attempt to keep the other animal in sight.
Running, Rikari continued on until he saw the other wolf stop, prompting him to do the same. "Why…did you stop?" he asked, panting only slightly.
"Because, we're here," he answered vaguely, before disappearing into a patch of shrubs right next to the two. Following him, he followed the wolf once again. A few seconds passed before the undergrowth gave way to light, and the sight before Rikari simply stunned him.
A whole pack of wolves occupied the area, some awake and others sleeping. All of them surrounded the hidden grotto, either conversing with each other or doing something else until they noticed Rikari's presence. Almost instantly, all of the wolves turned to him, their gazes making him uncomfortable as they piled on his orange pelt.
"Who is this, Zaroff?" one wolf asked, jumping from the top of a small cliff.
"It's a wolf cub I found," Zaroff, his now revealed name, answered. "I think he's with the other one."
"Ah, so that was his test," the presumptive leader muttered, before padding to what seemed like a nursery of mothers with their cubs. Peeking in, Rikari could see all of the mothers calmly laying there with their children as a very strong-looking blue wolf told them stories. Looking back over to the left, he could also see-
'Wait a second…' Rikari thought, snapping his head back over to the blue wolf, now embroiled in a conversation with the supposed pack leader. 'That's Khimari!' he realized, before carefully walking over there.
"So, ya think they enjoyed me?" Khimari asked the leader.
"I think that they did. I'm impressed; it's like you're a mother wolf yourself."
"I don't think that should happen!" the blue wolf joked with a small purr of laughter. A second later, he turned to Rikari. "Welp, you found me. Good job, by the way."
"You were…" the orange wolf started, before leaving off. "At a wolf colony?"
"Yep!" Khimari answered, before he got a small twitch of his tail. "But I'll fill you in on the way back. It's almost dawn and I don't want search parties getting lost in the middle of the woods like some bad horror story." Turning to the leader, Khimari got up to his full height, which was actually a great deal larger than the leader himself, and lowered his head in respect. "We'll have to be leaving. The rest will be waiting for us."
"I wish you a safe journey, brother. May the moon protect you," he responded.
"And to you as well. Come on, Rikari," Khimari told the younger wolf, the two going back through the entrance that the orange wolf entered through.
"Khimari?" Rikari called about a minute after they left the wolf pack. "How come that guy didn't bow back to you? He knows that you're a prince, right?"
"No, and it wouldn't matter if he did know," the older wolf replied, beclouding Rikari. "This is something very important to know, Rikari. Imagine that both the lion king Caineghis and the raven King whoever that is switched places," he started. "Now, they're both kings, but would the people honestly listen to the opposite king as much as they would the ruler that is truly their king?"
"…I guess not," the orange wolf admitted, thinking very hard about this.
"It's the same principle applying here. I may be the prince of the wolf tribe of Laguz, but these are a completely separate pack of wolves in the Daein countryside. Not a word I say would be taken with any real seriousness as opposed to if I told you or Tora to do something, for example," the wolf explained. "Not to mention, they don't really care about anything that has nothing to do with them. What would be the use of telling them I'm a prince of a tribe they don't have any real connections with? Absolutely nothing, but a couple of weird looks and a 'so what' from someone. It's just not worth the breath."
"I…understand," Rikari replied, now aware of many things now. "Wait…so I was supposed to run into that wolf? And how could I understand him? Does he even speak our language? Why did you-"
"One at a time, please! You're gonna make me choke if you ask anymore," Khimari joked. "Now, to answer your questions," he started, putting much emphasis on the plurality of question. "Yes, that was a part of your test that I thought of after meeting with the wolves, which was before we got started, by the way. As for the second question, we may be Laguz, but we still have the ability to speak the tongue of our animal families. That being said, we can understand pretty much all canines and maybe felines, even though they don't speak our language."
"So, we can be like translators?" he asked curiously.
"If you want to be," the blue wolf shrugged. "I don't know who wants to hear a dog fantasizing about that large piece of chicken on the table, but it could work. Following off number two, he doesn't speak our language, but we all can communicate through growls and other sounds, like people."
"People growl?" Rikari skeptically asked.
"Oh believe me, when someone makes fun of Mist's color choices regarding flowers, she roars louder than me!"
"Mist? But, she's the nice brown-haired one right? She gave me a fish, and asked me if all wolves like seafood," the orange wolf revealed, getting a snort out of Khimari.
"Not ALL wolves like seafood…it's just the mass majority." When he finished speaking, he looked at the sky for the first time since they left the wolf den, and was shocked to see that the sun already had risen over the horizon. Ike and everyone else would start looking for the two, and that would certainly cause some trouble. "Rikari, we need to go!" he shouted, pushing the younger wolf in front of him before breaking off into a run.
"What? What's going on?" Rikari asked, panting as he struggled to keep up with the wolf.
"They're getting ready to pack up camp and leave! We have to get there before they send any people to search!" he hastily responded. Without another word, the two quickened their pace, a blur of white surrounding their vision as they sped through the snow-covered forest.
Running as fast as possible, they managed to reach the base in a matter of minutes, arriving to the sight of the Laguz and some of the other Greil Mercenaries around Ike.
"Does anyone know where-"
"We're right here!" Khimari yowled, running into the camp. He tried to stop immediately, but tripped over a tree branch, rolling across the snow for a couple feet before stopping and almost instantly getting to his feet. "Don't worry," he said, transforming into his Beorc form. "We're here," he reaffirmed, slightly panting.
"Khimari?" Tora asked, noticing that Rikari hadn't entered the clearing yet, despite the prince being there. "Where's-" A loud thump in the snow interrupted the red wolf's question, prompting the group to look over. In the snow, Rikari laid, panting extremely hard and transforming back into his Beorc form as well. Slowly working his way out of the snow, the youngest of the wolves walked over to his brother and his teacher, while giving the latter a dirty look.
"Why…did you…take off…like that!?" he hissed, trying straighten his breathing pattern.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to leave you off like that," Khimari apologized. "If you want, I'll carry you for a while when we leave," he offered, knowing that the wolf loved piggyback rides.
"You better," he panted.
"Now that that problem has resolved itself, I believe that we can leave for the Daein border in about fifteen minutes," Soren interjected, clearly irritated with Khimari's antics. "We should be able to reach the official Daein border by noon the day after tomorrow, where we will no doubt come across some resistance from their troops."
"That sounds good," Ike agreed, before looking at all of the other mercenaries. "Okay, everyone, today and tomorrow are travel days, from what it seems like. Don't overdo it on the march, so you can keep your strength up for when we fight," he added, looking at the two wolves in particular.
"Okay, commander. We got it," the blue wolf reassured, putting his surrogate brother's fears to rest.
"Good." Before the conversation could continue, Tanith came over with the usual serious look on her face.
"Commander, the Begnion platoon has mobilized and is ready to depart," the Pegasus knight reported.
"Good, I'll sound the leave. Mercenaries, come on, too," he ordered, all of them coming to the front of the army.
"Oh, I forgot," Khimari said aloud, before transforming into his wolf form. "Rikari, hop on," he said, which the tired orange wolf had no qualms doing.
"Finally!" he said in glee, hopping onto the wolf's back. Rolling his eyes, Khimari took a quick yawn before catching up with the rest of the group at the front lines. "Are you sleepy?" Rikari asked.
"A little bit, but I'll be fine," he responded, giving another small yawn.
"So, what were you two up to the whole night?" Titania asked. "I can't help but be curious after what happened earlier."
"Well, it wasn't the whole night; it was just from midnight. But it was just some night training," Khimari summarized. "But don't worry, we both got a really nice amount of sleep last night."
"What did you guys do?"
"Well, Rikari had to try and find me in the middle of a dense forest as a part of tracking," he explained.
"How'd that go?" Tora asked.
"It was…different," his little brother replied. "He left me clues on purpose, but after a while, everything clue vanished. I got lost after a while, before-"
"You got lost?" Tora cut in, narrowing his eyes at the older wolf. "Don't tell me that…"
"No, he would have been fine," the blue wolf reassured. "I made sure that there wasn't anything in the forest that he couldn't handle. Or else, we would have done something different."
"Hmmm…" Tora simply let that one slide, although not without giving the wolf a look. Noticing the stare, Khimari pretended not to notice even though his tail started wagging in a way that symbolized laughter. The red wolf simply let out a huff at the childish display and simply kept walking along with the rest of the army.
"So, what are we going to do today later?" Rikari asked, looking at the one who was carrying him.
"Probably nothing much," Khimari replied. "Treat it like an off-day, and try to relax, I guess." Feeling the orange wolf slouch above him, probably in disappointment, the blue wolf thought of something else to do that wouldn't tire Rikari out to the point that he couldn't function properly. "Don't bum yourself out, we'll probably find something."
"If you say so," he agreed, before seeing Tormod and Sothe talking to each other. "Hey, Tormod!" Rikari shouted, raising his hand in the air. The two looked over, and the young mage said something to the thief before the two came over.
"Hey, Rico!" Tormod returned, using the red wolf's nickname. He then noticed that Rikari was taller than usual. "Um…Why are you on top of Khimari?" he asked, putting the whole picture together.
"He worked me to death, so at the present I'm forcing him to carry me," Rikari replied, much like a little kid. "Onward, my steed! Rush your king to his next battle!" he joked, putting his arm in the air as if he were wielding a sword.
"Hey, let's remember who's who, alright?" Khimari snapped back, though in good nature.
"I know, I know…but can I be royalty now?"
"…Okay, fine," the blue wolf snorted, before giving the best impersonation of a horse's neigh as he could.
"Now, onward!" he commanded.
"Hold on tight," Khimari warned, before quickly settling into a crouch, startling some of the other mercenaries and soldiers alike. Before anyone could get a word from their mouth, Khimari pulsed out into the snow, running as fast as he can. Unfortunately for Rikari, that meant that he had to hold on for dear life, hanging on to the prince's thick fur as much as humanly possible.
"Okay, okaaayyyy!" Rikari yowled, trying to stop the playful rampage. "Stop, please! PLEASE!" he pleaded, before and abrupt stop from the wolf threw him head-first into the snow. As he got up and dusted himself off, he gave a dirty look at the mirthful wolf, whose eyes gleamed with laughter and youth. Looking off, Rikari saw that some of the Begnion soldiers smiled at the two wolves, a complete change from the cautious people that eyed them warily the day before.
"Rikari, come on!" called the blue wolf. "You don't want to be late, do you? We have battles to get to!"
"Are you kidding me!?" he returned as he ran over. "You're the one who flipped me into the snow!?"
"Blasphemy!" Khimari retorted. "I told you explicitly to hold on, and you clearly didn't listen, therefore, that whole fiasco was a result of you not keeping the fish in sight."
"...What does a fish have to do with this? Why are so you random!?"the orange wolf asked loudly.
"Why aren't you so random?" Khimari quietly shot back, gaining a smile at the sight of Rikari's mind going blank in confusion. "I thought so. Now let's go." Without any sort of rebuttal whatsoever, the orange wolf had no choice but to huff and continue walking along the prince.
XXXXX
"This is a sufficient amount of distance for today," Soren concluded. "We can stop here, and be on course for tomorrow."
"That would probably be the best form of action at the moment," Ike agreed. "Titania, can you get Tanith and inform her and the Begnion wing, please?"
"Yes, commander," she replied, before heading off on her horse. A little farther backwards in the army, Khimari and the rest of the Laguz laughed as they exchanged different stories about themselves.
"Hah! That's what happened!?" Tora asked incredulously, unable to keep his stolid face as he became embroiled in laughter at the blue wolf's expense. "You had to pretend to be a pet dog!? What I wouldn't give to see that!"
"Hey...Now I regret telling that story…" Khimari muttered, embarrassed at the reaction of when he told them about him staying transformed for years to pose as the family's pet dog, becoming subject to many laughs as his fur gradually warmed up, conflicting with the semi-frigid air they traveled in.
"Why, that's about the most hilarious AND the most embarrassing thing a Laguz could say!" Janaff quipped in between his bursts. "Poor thing, I couldn't imagine being someone's pet, even for a second, without losing my mind!"
"Jeez, thanks for the support, Janaff…" he dryly responded.
"Anytime, young prince!" the hawk chirped, raising more than a few eye twitches from the wolf. Before the wolf could be further used as a tool of laughter, Ike and Soren came to the group of Laguz.
"Okay, guys, it's time to set up camp," the commander said.
"Gotcha, and do you want to meet at the whojimama for the roll call?" Khimari responded.
"...I'm assuming that he means talking to you about who fights and who defends the princess," Soren deciphered, seeing the blank look on the face of Khimari's surrogate brother.
"Oh….Alright, then," he said slowly, before shaking his head a little bit. "You're still a little off your rocker."
"You're still a little on your rocker," Khimari baited.
"What does that even mean!?" Ike asked, exasperated at the backwards but loveable wolf.
"You decide. It's the opposite of what you said."
"...Please, help get the camp ready. If you need me, I'll be getting firewood." With that, he left the Laguz to their own devices.
"All right, guys. Let's get these tents set up," the wolf yawned, reverting to his Beorc form as the others followed suit. Grabbing tents and the other materials, they got to work, two people together for every tent. Before long, they set up all the tents that needed to be done, and were on their way to the mess hall. Walking in, there was a usual mass of soldiers that looked at the group warily, although they at least tried to be discreet.
"Why are all of them looking at us?" Rikari whispered after a short while. "It's kinda stalkerish."
"They don't know who we are, and they only care about what we are," Khimari replied back, foregoing any sort of whispering to the point where some soldiers could hear him. "They're just...nervous."
"What? nervous?"
"Yep!" he exclaimed. "Don't give it any time of day though. They'll either warm up to you-rather slowly, probably-or try to kill you after we're done with this," he bluntly put, all the while standing next to a table of Begnion soldiers that silently listened to the prince while continuing their meals.
",,,What?" Rikari replied, now just being the two of them as the other Laguz went into the line for food. "That's pretty...extreme, isn't it?"
"I can't say for sure…" the blue wolf replied, with a shrug. "After all, who wouldn't want to get revenge by killing wolves born after the assassination? Hate is a strong thing," he sighed. "Some will just see us as potential backstabbers, and try to rip the dagger in our necks first, and that's what worries me most, sometimes."
"You're...worried about that?" Rikari asked incredulously. "But...you're like...you! You can beat anyone!"
"No, I can't, trust me," the older wolf laughed, recalling his fights with both the dragon king and the Black Knight, before he had to suppress a small shudder at the outcome of both of those fights...Being beat within an inch of his life and spared on a whim, in BOTH cases. Just then, Khimari's stomach gave him a wake-up call in the form of a growl, eliciting a laugh from the two. "On that note, let's get some food!" he said, the two walking over in the rapidly decreasing line. Within a few minutes, they were already at the head of the line. "Serve's up!"
"Just a second!" Mist's voice came through, the young girl coming through with a plate of three large steaks along with a couple of veggies on the side. "Here you go!" she smiled, putting the food on Khimari's tray, before going back and getting more food for Rikari. When the both of them were served, they went over to sit down by the other Laguz, Zihark, and Ilyana among the section where the Greil Mercenaries ate.
Not giving another moment, Khimari dived into the food, devouring it, although not too sloppily. Reyson couldn't help but feel a little...confused at the wolf's eating manners. "You might want to slow down…" Reyson advised, making Khimari's head perk up with a look of surprise and a piece of meat in his mouth. Quickly, the wolf swallowed his food before speaking.
"True...I don't want to choke...But I think I wasn't too fast, was I?" he finally replied.
"..." Reyson gave the wolf a blank look before breaking into a smirk and taking a bite from an apple. "Whatever floats your boat," he said.
"Speaking of boats, did I ever tell you little babies about the time I-"
"Babies!?" Rikari yowled. "I'm not a baby!"
"...Why, yes you are," Janaff chuckled. "You look a little hatchling to me!"
"Hey! I'm almost thirteen!" he said, crossing his arms.
",,,That's it?" Janaff cackled. "Why, little young one, I'm about a hundred and ten years strong!" he boasted, making Rikari's jaw drop.
"Woah! You're like...ancient!" he mesmerized, striking a nerve in Janaff's head at being called "old."
"Hey, you watch it! I'm just as young as your prince!" he remarked, causing a laugh as the mass majority of them took a look at the wolf, who was wolfing down another steak that he mysteriously got, considering no one saw him get up and ask for another one…
"What?" he obliviously asked when he noticed everyone staring at him, tipping his head as the rest burst into laughter at the clueless wolf. Khimari, not having any idea of what was happening, shrugged it off and returned to his food.
"You guys are ridiculous," Lethe put in, although she had allowed a rare smirk to appear on her face. Just then, she noticed a startling revelation. She looked at Khimari, then she looked at the one sitting right across from him, who just so happened to be the eating machine Ilyana. They were both stuffing food down their throats, but the most amazing part seemed to be that they did it in perfect sync.
"Do you see that?" she asked Mordecai, pointing her finger at the mage and Laguz.
"That...is impressive," the blue tiger commented, drawing looks to the eaters.
"They eat like crazed wolves!" Janaff said, putting his two cents in.
"Well...One of them is a crazed wolf…" Tora added, giving the rest a fresh round of laughter as the brown hawk adopted a sheepish expression.
"Whoops…" Janaff muttered, making a mental note to avoid saying wolf idioms from now on. By that time, the two food monsters finished their food, and engaged in a conversation.
"That was some good food!" Khimari said, Ilyana nodding in agreement.
"It was...Some lamb shanks would hit the spot, though…" she muttered.
"Lamb shanks? Haven't had those in a while...If Oscar were to make it, then I'd probably have to hunt lambs," he joked. Just then, Shinon walked into the hall, passing by as a large number of Begnion soldiers left, leaving a few along with the Mercenaries and Nasir, who was discussing something with Ike.
Khimari did his best to ignore the smug sniper, but it proved to be a nearly impossible mission, especially when the red-haired nuisance stopped RIGHT next to him that usual ugly mug. "Heh, did you kill enough vermin for yourself, diseased sub-human?" he taunted.
"..." Khimari stayed silent, trying not to cause any scene in order to keep the promise that he made to Ike.
"What? Cat got your tongue? Or did you go chicken?" he continued. "Well, I guess you are what you eat, and you did love chicke-"
"Why do you taunt Khimari?" Mordecai interrupted, coming to the rescue of his fellow Laguz. "Why does Beorc archer upset Khimari? Is there reason for trying to start fight? We all eat in peace."
"Hah, peace?" Shinon laughed. "You can't eat in peace when there are sub-humans like the family mutt here." Khimari's head, along with the everyone else in the mess hall, diverted their action toward the archer and the tiger Laguz.
"Sub...human?" Mordecai growled, crouching down as if he were in tiger form.
"Shinon, stop it!" Khimari yowled, getting up and creating a safe distance between Mordecai and the bowman. "Mordecai, don't listen to a word that he says. He's just a hater, that's all." The blue tiger quickly calmed down, however that wouldn't be able to stop the rest of the Laguz from being angry at the use of that derogatory term.
"Hey, what right do you have to call us sub-human!?" Rikari said, standing up. Scoffing, Shinon narrowed his eyes at the orange wolf.
"Because that's what you are. Are all you wolf hybrids this dumb?"
"What did you say?" the youngest wolf growled, slitting his eyes at Shinon as he looked about to fight.
"Khimari! What's going on?" Ike questioned, making his way over from the kitchen area.
"Your reinstated bow-nut has a stick in his behind," Khimari said with a dirty look in his eye.
"Shinon! What are you doing?" Ike interrogated, swinging his attention back to the cocky sniper.
"What? I'm just making sure that the circus animals remember what they really are."
"Why did you let him back here again?" the blue wolf asked Ike angrily, his arms crossed.
"Not to do this, for starters," Ike replied. "Shinon, you need to stay in your place."
"I am, it's not my fault the pets don't know where to heel," he retorted, before turning his heel and exiting as quick as he entered. Without a word, the two blue-haired brothers gave each other a look.
"...Who was...that?" Reyson asked, disgust evident in his voice. All of the Laguz had "a human" in their heads, but they didn't dare say it out loud.
As the scene calmed down, everyone else left, leaving the Laguz and a few others in the tent by themselves in silence. "Rikari…" Tora started, breaking the tense silence. "It's time for bed."
"...Alright," the young wolf agreed, uncharacteristically quiet as the two walked out to their tent.
"We should follow those two…" Khimari after they left, and no one tried to start any argument with that statement. A long….long sleep would be needed before any of them, especially Khimari, would even start to forget that.
XXXXX
"Can you believe what that guy said last night?" a Begnion soldier walking behind Khimari and Mist said to three other soldiers. "He just called them out, just like that!"
"Took someone long enough," another replied. "They need to know their place," he continued, making Khimari's hands ball into fists. Mist noticed and put her hand on his arm. He let go of his fists in a silent reply, but the anger was far from gone.
"...Maybe...We shouldn't say that," one soldier on the far left spoke up. Both Mist and Khimari started to listen to the conversation again, although they kept walking normally.
"What do you mean?" the soldier from before asked.
"I heard the two wolves talking last night," he confessed, getting a few gasps in reply. "They think that we're going to try and kill them. They're...nervous around us."
"They're nervous!?" the first soldier shouted in a whisper. "What about us? They killed our leader!"
"And we drove them to their death," the fourth soldier retorted, speaking in defense of the wolves as well. "It doesn't do good to put a wrong on top of a wrong. If they're nervous around us, I wouldn't have to wonder why."
"Yeah," the last soldier agreed. "They're also younger, way too young to have anything to do with the Apostle's demise. The least we can do is try to make them feel safe around us, or at least, not make them nervous every time we pick up some steel."
"I can't believe this...You all are some animal lovers!" the second soldier accused.
"You're on the wrong side, then," the soldier on the left scathingly replied. Having heard enough of the conversation, Khimari and his surrogate sister walked a little faster, and they both gained much more hope in the Begnion soldiers.
"See? There are some great people out there," Mist said.
"I always knew," Khimari replied, rolling his eyes. "I just didn't know if they would say it. You know, Laguz hating is a pretty popular thing outside of Laguz countries."
"Hopefully, that'll change soon…" Mist muttered, looking down at the snow-covered ground as she clasped her hands together. Khimari patted her head with a smile on his face.
"Don't worry, kiddo." Suddenly, Mist jumped down into a frog position, startling everyone around her. "Uhhh...Mist? Are you-" He couldn't even finish his question before his face got covered in snow.
"Whhoooppeeee!" the cleric cheered. "I finally pranked you!"
'She may have won this battle, but the war has just begun,' Khimari thought, smiling at Mist's victory moment while plotting a comeback prank for the brown-haired girl. Looking at Mist, the wolf didn't notice Nasir in front of him and accidently walked into him.
"Ugh...Oh, I'm sorry, Nasir!" Khimari apologized upon realizing what happened.
"Think nothing of it," the man excused. "How have you been? I witnessed that...moment between you and the archer."
"He just has issues. I'll have to make sure he doesn't provoke anyone else, though. Rikari looked ready for a fight," he admitted, sighing at the dumb sniper that Ike just HAD to let back...Stupid, always-deserves-another-chance Ike…
"Ah, the young wolf, yes? You seemed to have rubbed off on him. He's much more bull-headed than he used to be," Nasir joked.
"Hey!" Khimari cried. "I'm not bull-headed...all the time." Seeing that he lost this verbal battle of words, he lashed his tail out in annoyance. "How's your adventure with us going so far?" he asked, changing the topic.
"It's very interesting. I hear that you're heading into battle tomorrow."
"Yeah, we're going to cross the official border tomorrow, and it's gonna be one heck of a tussle," Khimari admitted. "But we'll be ready for those Daeins! Count on it!" he proclaimed.
"That's what I like to hear!" a voice shouted from seemingly nowhere, making the two Laguz look over to see Janaff and Ulki by their side. "I like your spunk, kid! I wish you could teach that to some of those featherheads back in Phoenicis!" Janaff complimented.
"What's wrong with them? Aren't you all spunky in your own way?" Khimari asked, prompting a "hmph" from the brown hawk.
"Aw, please! Some of these hawks are like chickens who want to crawl back into their eggs!" he retorted.
"Well, we don't hatch from eggs anymore," Ulki interjected, speaking for the first time that Khimari remembered.
"Of course we don't hatch from eggs!" Janaff balked. "We're way past that! I mean, wolves don't have to hibernate, still, right?"
"Um...Wolves never hibernated…" Khimari explained.
"WHAT!?" Janaff yowled, his eyes going wide. "But you guys would always retreat into those mountains and no one could find you guys...We just assumed you stayed dormant."
"No, we hide in the mountains and set up new ways of food from just getting fish, especially when the river freezes. But just being curious," Khimari started, "How did you know about the mountain?"
"Aw, please! Who wouldn't know about that mountain?" Janaff said, rolling his eyes. "We've seen that thing many times, and some hawks even wanted to see if anything was there."
"Why?"
"Because, we heard that the wolves had an entire underground kingdom under there! Now, we weren't enemies or anything, but it was more spectacle than anything."
"Did you ever find it?" Khimari asked, now wondering how much the hawk knew.
"No," Ulki answered this time. "The king banned all of us from searching there due to the mountain's proximity to Goldoa." Nasir seemed to move uncomfortably at the mention of the land of the dragons, but the three didn't notice the subtle shift in posture by the blue-haired man.
"Khimari!" Ike called, making the wolf turn to see his brother motion for him to come over there.
"Welp, I gotta go!" Going over to the commander, he waited patiently for what Ike would say. When nothing came out, Khimari was a little worried. "...Ike?" he said.
"...Never mind," the swordsman replied, something clearly on his mind.
"I see you're busy with something," the wolf noticed. "Did you need help with something?"
"No...I'll just call you back later," the Beorc decided.
"Alrighty, then." Taking his leave of the commander, Khimari wondered what in the world got into Ike to make him space out like that. Then out of nowhere, a weird chill made its way up his spine, making him shiver involuntarily. Khimari immediately got a bad feeling about whatever was approaching.
"These next days are gonna be crappy…" he muttered to himself.
XXXXX
Today was the day. The army had officially reached the Daein border, and they were in basically an hour or so away from fighting the Daein army. "Has Janaff returned from recon yet?" Ike asked Khimari.
"He's on his way, and should be here...about now." No later than that, a large flap showed said hawk coming down to tell the news.
"So, General…" he started, looking a little troubled. "It looks like there are a lot of enemy soldiers ahead. Now, they're mostly Daein soldiers, but I saw that there were some Kilvas ravens mixed in as well," he reported.
"More than last time?" Ike pressed, thinking about Tor Garen when the ravens took the group by surprise.
"Yeah, there's quite a few more, but the more worrying issue is that King Kilvas is among them." That seemed to wake up all of the Mercenaries.
"The crow king himself is cooperating with Daein?"
"Yep," Janaff grimly confirmed. "And compared with other crows, the king is in a class by himself. Of course, he wouldn't hold a candle against our king, but...Well, you know, you might want to be careful."
"A whole unit under King Kilvas? This bodes ill…" Nasir commented ominously.
"Our victory will be determined by how we deal with them," Soren concluded in an overbearingly obvious way, but now wasn't the time to call him out on it.
"As bird Laguz, can you tell us more about the Kilvas soldiers?" Titania requested to Ulki and Janaff. In response, they both gained a rather indignant, but polite face.
"Please don't put us together with those birds."
"We don't have special relations...with the crows," Ulki elaborated, showing even further the divide between the two bird Laguz tribes. The next person to look to was Reyson, and he didn't even have to say a word; his face explained his opinion of the ravens.
"Well...Is there any way that we can get the ravens to withdraw?" Ike asked the group amassed around him. "There has to be something we can do…" None of the Laguz had good relations with the ravens, but if they fought the raven king as it was, there were bound to be major casualties.
"I...suppose I can talk to King Kilvas, if I really have to..." Janaff reluctantly offered. "I don't think me talking to him is going to make any difference in the long run, however." Ulki nodded his agreement to his kinsman's statement, while Reyson wasn't as relenting on the subject matter.
"I will never speak to a crow again, under any circumstances," Reyson said.
"Stubborn bird," Khimari whispered under his breath.
"Whatever the course of action is, we're giving the enemy more time to prepare," Soren interjected.
"You're right," Ike agreed, before turning back to the rest of the group. "Let's get going!" With the order, the group did the final charge to the border, which was mere minutes. Everyone's minds filled with anticipation at the meeting of the king of the Kilvas ravens, and the air was so thick with tension that one could cut the air with a knife. The tense air soon replaced itself with an air of determination. The Greil Mercenaries marched to the battlefield with a serious air around them. This was a defining moment in their effort; a failure to break through the Daein ranks would almost certainly result in a failure for everything they're fighting for.
As they reached the snowy plains, they were met almost instantly by resistance. The Daeins came within sight, prepared and ready to fight. As the mercenaries approached, the enemy started to mobilize, some soldiers shouting all over the battlefield.
"Looks like we've been spotted," Nasir pointed out.
"Well, it makes sense with a group this big," Ike replied.
"So, how are we doing this?" Khimari asked.
"The old fashioned way. Go in from the front-fast and hard."
"What are we gonna do about the raven boss?"
"...We'll have to hope that something good comes out of that conversation, or else we're gonna be like chicken feed." As soon as Ike said that, Khimari heard something and looked up at the sky to see a ballista arrow sailing through the air.
"Ballista! Scatter!" he yowled, pushing Ike out of the way as the others found cover as well. When the arrow landed in the ground, the Daein soldiers wasted no time in advancing and were almost completely upon the mercenaries.
"Mercenaries, move out!" Ike commanded, marking the real beginning of the battle. Going with Gatrie and Astrid, Khimari found himself being flocked by three swordsman while the knights dealt with ravens. Growling in contempt, the wolf crouched menacingly at the soldiers before striking at the nearest one. Claws outstretched, he slashed at the man's hands, effectively making him drop his sword.
Suddenly, a wind spell came from nowhere, cutting the myrmidon and ending his life. There wasn't any time to see who did it, but Khimari made a mental note to thank them later. Teaming up with Mist, the two separated the remaining swordsmen, Khimari taking the swordmaster and Mist taking on the remaining myrmidon.
"This is for my family, beast!" the nameless swordmaster yowled, rushing at Khimari with extreme hate. The wolf had no difficulty with avoiding his sloppy blows, but something nagged at the wolf's mind. Biting the swordsman's hand, Khimari twisted his body and forced him to release his blade. Before the Daein could get up, Khimari jumped on top of him, pinning him by his shoulders.
"Tell me. What did I do to your family?" he asked, thinking that this could help him understand why Daeins have a predisposed anger towards Laguz.
"You were born, demon." Those were his last words before he found his neck snapped, Khimari hearing no more as it became more apparent that the hatred against Laguz was a baseless thing without any sufficient reason, in most cases. Looking over, he saw that Mist overwhelmed the myrmidon and pierced him in the stomach.
"Mist, are you done?" the wolf asked her. A nod met his question, and he beckoned her over with his tail. "Stay close," he commanded, before looking at a large raven approaching the battlefield…
"Wait...Oh, that's the raven king!" Khimari yowled after looking at the Laguz in better detail. It was a large black crow, much larger than the others, and had a little bit of dark blue on his head. "Mist, hurry up and get Janaff or Ulki," he hastily told the girl, who nodded in confirmation before running away to the hawks' location. With him gone, he took a deep breath as the raven descended closer and closer to him.
"Hmmm…" the raven hummed. "So are you this prince I've heard so much about?"
"Are you this king I know nothing about?" Khimari retorted, trying to stall for as long as possible.
"Hmph. It's delightful to see that you cunning wolves haven't lost your trickery," he hissed through his beak. "Khimari is your name, unless I'm mistaken."
"True, but who are you? It's only polite to tell someone your name," Khimari returned, trying to keep this engagement as civil for as long as possible.
"I'm Naesala, King Kilvas. Would you try to come to our side?" he then offered, catching the wolf off guard.
"What?"
"Daeins may be on the losing side, but they are very rich. They'll pay a large fine for your services, and-"
"We wolves aren't for sale, crow," Khimari growled. "I don't know how things work with Kilvas, but you're on the wrong side of the deal."
"Hm, suit yourself," he said indifferently. "But I must fulfill my contract, and that means that my fellow Laguz tribe is going to be extinct today." Without another word, Naesala cawed before flapping his wings. Khimari let off a warning howl in response, and crouched in a hunter's position while the raven king prepared to do a dive-bomb attack. Bracing himself, the wolf crouched even lower, before rolling to the side when Naesala was close enough.
Surprisingly, a gust of wind shot from the raven's wings when he flew by, catching Khimari off guard and littering him with cuts. "What was that?" he said to himself.
"I hope you're more of a fight than that," Naesala taunted, before attempting another dive-bomb. Now armed with the knowledge of Naesala's apparent magical abilities, Khimari made it a point to stay away from his wings. That made a strategy much harder, however.
Getting an idea, Khimari entered a hunter's crouch, and awaited the raven king's attack. The wolf focused his eyes on Naesala, and everything seemed to slow down around him. When the raven's beak was not but a few tail-lengths in front of him, Khimari sprung.
His claws scratched Naesala's left wing, and without thinking, he sank his claws on the king's neck, placing himself on the raven king's back. "Get off me!" Naesala shrieked, going higher and higher in the air. A few seconds later, Khimari made the mistake of looking down to see that he would certainly die if he fells from the raven's back.
"Sorry, but you have to land first before I go anywhere," Khimari hissed as he raised one of his paws to scratch the bird Laguz again. Feeling the weight leave his body, Naesala started to spin in the air, throwing Khimari off balance. Nearly falling off, he managed to catch himself by biting Naesala's wing.
"You're a nuisance," Naesala hissed in the wolf's ear. "But now, the wolves really will be extinct," he finished menacingly, before a gale of wind energy came and blew Khimari off of the raven. Twirling through the air, Khimari gave a howl of fear as he started a collision course with the ground.
"Someone, get him!" he heard a voice call, but to him it looked like everyone was too far to do anything. Closing his eyes, Khimari prepared for the worst until he felt a pair of talons grab him. Opening his eyes once again, the sight of Janaff greeted him.
"Huh, the king was right! You're a gutsy one for sure!" he eased, slowly getting away from enemy fire to let the wolf on the ground. Khimari normally would have give a response, but instead he shivered in fright of his near death experience at the hands of Naesala. When Janaff lowered Khimari to the ground, the wolf felt like his heart was going to burst.
"Khimari! Are you alright?" Ike asked, running up to his surrogate brother.
"I'll...be fine," he responded, trying to subdue the anxiety as much as possible. "How's the battle going?"
"We've broken through, and the ground units are mostly gone, but the main problem are the dragon knights," Ike relayed, before Naesala's caw pierced the air once again.
"Reyson is HERE!? Why?" he demanded. Looking over, the two brothers saw Janaff talking to Ulki.
"He supports the Crimean Army!" Janaff responded. "The Beorc who rescued him commands this troop."
"A human...came to the aid of Reyson?" Naesala asked, genuinely surprised at what he heard.
"Yes!" the hawk confirmed. "And he rescued Leanne, too!"
"What's going on?" another voice said, making Ike and Khimari turn to see Reyson and Oscar.
"Janaff's talking to the raven king," Ike answered. "And it seems to be doing something." Just then, Naesala saw Reyson flying in the sky and immediately started to come over. Khimari once again got ready to fight, but King Kilvas simply flew past him.
"Reyson!" he called, reverting to his Beorc form. No response met his greet, as Reyson simply stayed in the same place with his arms crossed. "Hey, Reyson!" Naesala called again. "You look sharp, kid!"
"Go...away…" Reyson finally said, still angry about being sold by his "friend."
"Oh, so you can talk," Naesala jokingly commented, in a vain attempt to lighten the mood.
"You...How dare you show yourself to me!?" the heron howled in fury.
"I've been called brazen before," Naesala shrugged. "Some have gone so far as to say even shameless. Come on, let me at least give you a reason," he pleaded.
"Leave! My ears are closed to you," Reyson denied, turning around.
"Reyson, we're friends, are we not?" the raven king asked, making the heron prince's head whip around, looking at Naesala in the eye.
"Yes, friends! Such great friends that you sold me to a wretched fat talking meatball!" he retorted, switching from sarcastic to bitter as he continued to rant.
"I didn't really sell you!" Naesala tried to defend. "Besides, I planned on rescuing you right away. You just got really impatient and flew away on your own befo-"
"Are you blaming ME?" Reyson interrupted, almost exploding.
"No, no!" Naesala quickly denied. "Okay, maybe a little," he relented, before sighing in defeat. "Well...Maybe it was I who was wrong...on all accounts." In response, Reyson looked at the king with shock.
"No one was hurt in the end," Naesala continued.
"Tell that to my burnt fur," Khimari scathingly muttered. King Kilvas and Reyson both looked at him.
"You looked just fine to-" Naesala's remark got stopped in his tracks when Khimari showed the bottom of his tail, which had a long mark of pink, like a scar.
"Yeah, you're not getting any higher in my books for a long time."
"Anyways…" Naesala started again. "No one died or suffered any permanent injury," he amended. "Why don't you smooth your ruffled feathers, hm?"
"...Leanne is alive," Reyson said, opening up the slightest bit.
"Yes, Tibarn's eyes told me," the raven revealed. "That gladdens my heart," commented genuinely. "I'm sure that King Lorazieh will feel much better when he sees her face. Things are taking a turn for the better, aren't they, Reyson?"
"I suppose...if you hadn't fooled me and taken me to the forest, we never would have discovered Leanne…" he admitted, before he took a deep breath. "Alright, I will forgive you. But just this once!" he quickly warned.
"Oh, Rey-"
"WITH conditions," the heron interrupted, capturing Naesala's undivided attention.
"What are they?"
"Pull your troops out of battle, and never go against your fellow Laguz in combat," Reyson demanded, making the raven's eyes nearly pop out.
"Reyson, that's far too much!" he objected, thinking of any alternative agreement that the two could make.
"What will you do then? Continue to fight the Crimean Army, to which I am in service?" Reyson provoked, refusing to budge an inch on the matter at hand.
"Very well, you win, Reyson," Naesala conceded. "I'll leave and take my soldiers with me. However," he paused. "I cannot guarantee what the future will allow. I still have the fate of my nation to consider, after all."
"So we're...friends again? Please, come down for a visit to Kilvas every once in a while," he offered. "Nealuchi would be delighted to see you."
"I'll do that," Reyson promised with a smile, remembering the kind elderly raven. "When the war is over, both Leanne and I will come," he resolved.
"Oh, and as for Tibarn…"
"I'll speak to him," Reyson eased, though he still kept an inward smirk from seeing Naesala's little fear of the hawk king. "There's no need for you to worry."
"Thank you. Farewell!" he said. "Watch yourself. This IS war, you know?" Just then, something dawned on the raven and he reached into his pocket before taking out some sort of bracelet and tossing it to Reyson. "I almost forgot. I got something for you. An "I'm sorry" present, if you will."
"What is this supposed to be?" he asked, curiously looking at it.
"It's a little human trinket," Naesala explained. "It's called a knight ring."
"Made by...Beorc?" Reyson asked, skeptical of the accessory.
"Don't make that that face. It proved quite useful when I tested it," Naesala eased.
"I get it," Reyson caved, thinking that it must be good for something. "I'll take it for now, then."
"Don't get killed, Reyson," the raven warned, sounding oddly concerned. "If anything were to happen to you...Nealuchi would never let me hear the end of it." With those words, Naesala transformed as he took to the skies and gave a caw.
"Listen to me, darkwings!" he called. "We are leaving. Turn immediately and let's go home." Almost instantly, the ravens disengaged and followed their leader away from the battlefield, drastically shortening the Daeins' advantage.
"Charge!" Ike commanded, heading into battle against the last few Daeins. Khimari joined him, running over to see a few swordsmen and a swordmaster with green hair. "Khimari, you take the leader, Titania and I will take care of the rest," he said as the paladin came next to them.
"I got it," the wolf confirmed, bounding up to the man. He stopped a few feet from the Daein, and stared him in the eye.
"A wolf Laguz…" the commander muttered. "I never thought that I would see one with my eyes."
"Yes, here I am," Khimari snarkily said.
"Before we fight, I wish to tell you that I harbor no prejudice against your kind," the Beorc said, catching Khimari off-guard. "My father taught me that all beings were created equal, and I apologize for ever uttering the phrase 'sub-human'."
"...Thank you," the wolf thanked, amazed to see a Daein so opened to Laguz. "I wish we could've talked more...We might've been friends…"
"Well, my name is Homasa," he revealed, unsheathing his sword. "May the best win."
With that, both of them rushed at each other, claw meeting sword. Shifting slightly, Homasa allowed a gust of wind to leave his sword, pushing the wolf back a few feet. Gaining momentum, he charged with his sword and readied a thrust. In retaliation, Khimari jumped on the sword and brought it to the ground momentarily before scratching the Daein on his arm.
Reeling back in pain, Homasa swung his sword, sending another blast flying at the wolf. Khimari dodged the blow by rolling to the side, and snapped back on all fours before jumping at him again. Open, Homasa had no choice but to raise his left arm as Khimari bit it ferociously. Yelling in pain, the swordsman didn't have any opportunity to counter before the wolf slammed his paw against his head, knocking him on on the frosty ground.
Khimari after seeing the daze and confusion in Homasa's eyes decided that he didn't deserve to die, and jumped off him.
"Do you...spare me?" the green-haired man asked, struggling to get up once again.
"You are worth sparing," Khimari returned in a warm purr.
"Khimari!" Ike called as he and a few others came to the wolf. "We routed the rest of the Daeins," he continued, before catching Homasa in his eyes. "That's the commander?"
"Yeah…"
"He's still breathing," Soren noted. "You didn't…"
"No," Khimari said. "He's not like the others. He needs to live longer."
"This is a battle, a war, Khimari," Soren retorted. "There is no time to show mercy towards the enemy."
"Ike, please," the wolf asked, ignoring the mage. "Can we patch him up a little bit?"
"...We'll have to keep him as a prisoner for a while, and we'll have to question him, but yes," Ike agreed.
"...Thank you," Khimari said graciously. In response, Soren scoffed and started to walk away until Titania came over with Elincia.
"Ike! Would you come with us to that building please?" she called.
"Yes," the commander responded, walking with the two over to the cabin. Curious, Khimari came along with them and Soren to a lone cabin on the edge of the forest. Taking the front, Titania opened the door, and let everyone see was stored inside. Needless to say, the contents stunned everyone.
It was filled with gold, gold, and then some more gold on top of that. No one could utter a single word as they stared at the massive hill of money that Daein hid in the shack.
"...Where in…" Khimari started, but couldn't even finish as he stood there, mesmerized by the gold.
"It's incredible, is it not?" Titania sarcastically asked. "All of it's gold." Walking over, Ike picked up a little gold, letting it fall through his fingers back into the large pile.
"With all this, Daein must be stinking rich!" he noted. "It doesn't even look real…What should we do with it?"
"As a spoil of war, it's naturally ours," Soren matter-of-factly stated.
"Can I borrow fifty thousand, then?" Ike requested, effectively boggling every one's mind to an extent.
"That's...quite a sum of money. What are you going to do with all of that?" Titania asked.
"It's...a private matter," he answered vaguely, until Titania shook her head.
"I apologize, commander," she spoke out. "You're not a child anymore, I shouldn't be prying like this."
"My Lord Ike," Elincia cut in. "Please, use these funds for the mercenary company. Considering that until now, I haven't had the resources to adequately pay anyone. Please…" she said, almost begging for Ike to take the money.
"If I may have just the fifty thousand, then that will be more than-"
"You won't borrow it," Titania interrupted. "You'll accept it! In good faith, as well. The remainder would go to Soren for the company maintenance. Would that be all right, Princess Elincia?" she asked. The princess gave her agreement in the form of a head nod.
"Yes, of course," she verbalized while Ike started scraping together the fifty thousand in a satchel. When he finished, he and Khimari left the cabin together and went back to camp.
"Khimari," the commander called. "Can you find Volke for me and tell him to meet me in my tent?"
"That explains the money part," the wolf responded, now understanding why his surrogate brother collected that ridiculous sum of money. "If I can ask, what are you paying Volke for?"
"Do you remember back at the castle in Crimea, when Ranulf was with us?" Ike started. Khimari nodded in confirmation. "Well, I'm going to pay for the report that Volke was going to give to Father."
"That makes sense. I'll get him fast," Khimari concluded. "In that case, do you want to be alone when he gives it?"
"...Yes, but I'll come tell you about it later," Ike decided. The wolf seemed to be perfectly fine with that decision, as he bounded away to the camping site that they had decided earlier before the battle.
"Volke, Ike wants to see you in his tent," Khimari said aloud to seemingly nobody in a secluded part of the campgrounds, knowing that the thief didn't like people.
"One hun-"
"Ike has much more money, tell him," Khimari interrupted, getting a glare from the man before he disappeared to go to the tent. Snickering, he turned around to see Soren and Titania walking over to him.
"Khimari, we have the commander," Titania reported.
"Is he all right?" Khimari asked.
"Yes he is," Titania reassured. "But I have to ask; What made you spare him?"
"He's...different," the wolf answered. "He apologized to me for ever saying sub-human in his lifetime, and told me that all of us are equal," he explained.
"That's...rather odd for a Daein soldier, especially a commander," Titania noted.
"So you spared him on a whim? A commander of the enemy forces?" Soren repeated rhetorically, with a sort of a piercing tone to it.
"Yes. I did," Khimari shot back just as sharp as Soren. In response, the mage sighed in frustration.
"You know that this is a war. Unless they are of the utmost importance, there would be nothing but a waste of supplies and men to keep any prisoners," Soren chastised.
"But Soren, he's different from the others."
"That's always how it begins until you're betrayed by someone. Being driven by your emotions won't bring anything but your own death."
"And being a cold stone won't bring you anything but misery," Khimari rebbutled. "What's your point?"
"You of all people should know that war ends when one side or the other is decimated. Emotions don't mean a thing," the mage stoically admonished.
"To you, they don't," Khimari shot back, turning around. "Soren, you're acting like a monster. No one will ever learn to love you if you don't show them that you're worth it." Without another word, he walked away, leaving Soren to ponder on the wolf's words.
Meanwhile, the wolf went away to the edge of the camp, and silently thought about the small tussle with Soren. 'Was it fair to tell Soren off like that?' he thought, feeling slightly guilty about his harshness. 'Maybe I should apologize later…' he wondered, so deep in his thoughts that he didn't notice that there was a Begnion soldier standing near him.
"H-Hello?" the soldier called, snapping Khimari from his thoughts.
"Oh, hi, there!" he replied, a little shocked about a soldier coming up to him. "How are you doing?"
"Um...fine," he nervously responded. "And you?"
"I could be better, but hey! Everyone has their ups and downs."
"True…" the soldier agreed, before Tanith saw him near the wolf.
"No slacking!" she commanded, startling and scaring him.
"Gotta go!" he quickly said, before running back over to do whatever duty he had. The wolf could only shake his head at the extent of Tanith's bossiness within the Begnion ranks.
"Well, at least he tried to be nice," Khimari said to himself, before yawning. "Mmm, I'm sleepy...Maybe I'll nap outside tonight...Nah, the sun doesn't set for another few minutes," he decided, looking at the sun which slowly disappeared below the horizon. He thought that there was no harm in waiting.
"Hey, Khimari!" Mist called, snapping the wolf out of his next little daydream. "Have you seen Ike anywhere? He hasn't came for dinner yet."
"He's talking with Volke about something...Wait, dinner's ready?" he asked, the rest of Mist's words registering in his head.
"Um, yes!" she said exasperatedly. "You have one of the best noses here, and you couldn't tell!?"
"I was thinking about something!" he tried to defend, getting up and walking with Mist to the food tent. "It's not my fault I think a lot."
"Yes it is," Mist snorted. "You always have to think about everything! 'Was this right', or maybe 'I should've this, or 'was I too harsh with this!' It's like a play in one person's body!" she ranted.
"Well…" Khimari started, before realizing that everything Mist said had a truth in it.
"See, there you go again!" Mist joked, noticing that the wolf began to space out once again. "Are you alright? You weren't nearly this spacey a while ago," she observed.
"Yeah...I'll be fine...I just want some fish," he twisted when his stomach started to growl.
"Too bad!" the brown-haired girl denied. "We have stew today!"
"Oscar's stew works as well," Khimari agreed, walking a little faster for his food. A little bit unnerved, Mist stayed closely behind the wolf the whole way there so he didn't hog half of all the food to himself.
Unfortunately for Khimari, the line extended outside of the tent, meaning that he would have to wait awhile. "Welp, I guess I'll sit and wait," he sighed, taking a much slower pace as he and Mist joined Nephenee and Brom at the table. "Hey there," he greeted, wrapping his tail around Nephenee's stomach. In response, she leaned over and gave him a small kiss on the cheek.
"Is there something I'm missing here?" Mist asked, leaning in on the two. "You two have gotten even MORE lovey-dovey than before!"
"Well...we just haven't had much time together lately, that's all," Khimari quickly excused, trying as hard as possible to hide his embarrassment.
"Y-yeah…" Nephenee agreed.
"Alright, if you say so," Mist shrugged, inwardly smirking to herself now that she had something to tease Khimari about.
"Those two young'uns are more in love than mah stomach and ham hocks!" Brom joked, adding his own two cents in.
"...Is that line shorter yet?" Khimari diverted, looking over to see that the line had greatly deteriorated. "I'll be right back," he told Nephenee, before she grabbed his arm.
"I-I'll go with ya," she said.
"Okay," he agreed, the two walking over to the back of the line. "How have you been lately? I'm sorry we haven't been together so much," he apologized.
"Don't worry 'bout it. I'm fit as a fiddle, by the way," she answered. "How 'bout you? Ya nearly scared me ta' death when I saw ya falling out of da sky," she turned, talking about the wolf's fight with Naesala.
"That's something I'd rather not want to experience again," Khimari admitted, making the country girl giggle. "But maybe I'll take you to a mountain or something and we'll just stand there for a while!"
'Umm...no," she rejected. "A mountain's a bit too cold."
"Please! I'll let you sleep on my fur," he offered, knowing that his fur had the perfect softness to make anyone feel better.
"...Maybe after this whole mess, I'll try it," she reluctantly agreed. "But cha better not try nothin'."
"I won't. Honest!" he swore as they continued to be ahead in the line. "You know...you never told me when your birthday was," he mentioned out of the blue, catching Nephenee's attention. "Would you mind telling me?"
"It's…July the second," she informed him.
"Thanks, and I promise you that I'll remember!" By the time that he made his promise they had reached the front of the line where Oscar had big bowls of stew in his hands with their name on it.
"Order up! Khimari, I already have an extra three bowls for you in the back, just come when you're done," the oldest brother added.
"Thanks! You're the best!" the wolf praised, before going back to the table with his girlfriend. Gulping his food down, Khimari had no problem going through the four bowls of stew that Oscar made. When he finished, he stayed with Nephenee and Brom at the table and talked about various topics.
"I wish I could try farming one time!" Khimari sighed after hearing Brom's enlightening explanation about pulling weeds out. "My claws would have something productive to do for once."
"Well, shucks! We'll take any help we can get on da' farm!" Brom invited. Just then, Khimari got another chill up his spine, making him shiver involuntarily for a second.
"Are ya alright?" Nephenee asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine, Nephee. I just have...a bad feeling about something," he revealed.
"Don't worry 'bout it!" Brom cheered. "With time, all o' yer' bad feelins' are gonna disappear like clouds!"
"Yeah…" the wolf halfheartedly agreed before yawning. "Well, time to hit the hay," he decided, standing up. "You want to show me your tent?" he asked Nephenee, who gave a shy little smile at the ground.
"As long as you don't stay too long," she responded. With that, the two left for Nephenee's tent that she shared with Brom, so enwrapped in each other that they didn't remember the man still sat in the lunch tent.
"So, uh...I guess, good night?" Khimari said when they reached the tent, sheepishly shaking his head.
"Night," Nephenee returned. "Do ya still 'member the night on the ship?" she suddenly asked.
"Of course I do, you fell asleep on my belly," he reminded her, making the girl blush.
"I wanna do that again. Just you n' me, outside," she admitted.
"So, you're one for nature? Alright," he agreed. "We'll have to find a good night, though."
"That's fine wit' me," she said. "I guess ya gotta go to your tent, too."
"Yep, but first, a little going away present." Before Nephenee could ask, Khimari gave her a kiss on her lips. Despite her initial shock, she eased into it and eventually got lost in his arms. A few seconds later, the two separated and quite frankly, they were a little embarrassed.
"Good night," Nephenee farewelled one last time with a smile on her face before going in her tent and closing it. Satisfied as well, Khimari got ready to return to his own sleeping place before a voice in the night called him.
"Khimari," Ike called, making the wolf turn around. "We have to talk. Come to my tent."
XXXXX
"And that's what Volke told me," Ike finished.
"..." Khimari stayed silent through the entire ordeal, knowing that what Ike had told Khimari was exactly the story that Greil told the wolf.
"You're not surprised?" Ike asked, wondering why the wolf didn't have any outbursts during the talk.
"No," he sighed, prompting a curious look from Ike. "Greil...he already told me everything."
"What!?" Ike yowled, loud but not too much so as to attract guards here. "How...Why...Why didn't you tell me?" Ike questioned, feeling betrayed.
"He told me never to tell you unless you already knew," Khimari revealed.
"And if I never found out?" Ike shot back.
"...To the grave, I guess."
"But...but…" To say that Ike was at a loss of words was an understatement; his own brother hid a secret from him about something that eluded him for most of his life. "I had a right to know!" he said in anger.
"I know, but…"
"But what!?" the commander seethed.
"Greil said it'd be best if you didn't know. You were still young and…"
"...Damn it all," Ike cursed. "You shouldn't have kept this from me. They were my parents!"
"...I know…" Khimari croaked, his emotions reaching a breaking point at lying to his surrogate brother for so long.
"What else was there...Why...didn't I remember?" Ike muttered, staring off into the tent wall.
"...Because someone made you forget," the wolf said, drawing Ike's gaze on him once again.
"What...do you mean?"
"On the day your mother died...a weird monk came with a knight and used some spell on you. You started yelling and then you went unconscious. After I touched the medallion for the first time, I picked you up and carried you in the house," the wolf told, closing his eyes as he remembered the scene of the day.
"Did Father tell you that as well?" Ike said, still angry at Khimari.
"No," he denied, bringing surprise to the Beorc's face. "He didn't have to tell me. I saw it with my own eyes."
"..."
"After I woke up being separated from my own mother," Khimari began. "I went outside the room where you found me. You gave me a fish and we played a while until a horrible scent hit my nose. We both followed the smell to see Greil stick his sword through someone's stomach. Afterwards...a woman with blue hair just like yours ran through and snatched the medallion from his hand."
"And she died for it," Ike bitterly finished.
"..." the wolf remained silent as Ike started to comprehend that day between his parents. "If it means anything to you anymore...I'm sorry," he said. Getting no response, the wolf excused himself from the commander's tent, and opted to spend the night outside where no one else could see him.
XXXXX
Two Weeks Later…
A week, then another week had passed since Ike's uncovering of the truth. As a result of the event, his and Khimari's relationship remained extremely strained. The Beorc would hardly talk to the wolf barring orders or something company related. While Ike seemed to have gotten better, he still had a hard time dealing with so much being kept from him.
The wolf didn't fair much better, either. He felt terrible, but he couldn't tell Ike. Every single night, he would go outside his tent and look at the moon as usual wondering how everything could go back to it used to be.
He did this tonight as well, as Khimari laid in the snow looking at the night sky, riddled with stars.
"Oh, Ashera. Please, I never wanted this to happen," he said, praying to Ashera to help him and Ike trust each other again. Deciding to take a walk through the neighboring forest, Khimari stretched his legs and shook the snow from his fur before going out to walk. The sounds of the creatures of the night brought comfort to the wolf, who was able to get away from the camp of the Crimean Army.
A long while later, when the peak of night had already passed, Khimari found himself looking at a tree, thinking about hunting prey. At that moment, he heard something walking through the woods. The sound however, didn't make sense. Instead of another animal, what the wolf heard registered more as...footsteps?
"Who is that?" he muttered quietly to himself. Determined to find out, Khimari started to quietly stalk that person. Slowly advancing upon the individual, Khimari started to recognize a familiar scent, although the snow made it harder to identify it. His suspicion also increased when he saw the familiar flames of the medallion that he and Mist took care of. Encroaching further, the figure surprised Khimari when he started to look around before running, showing that he knew someone was on to him.
Refusing to give up the chase, Khimari kept hot on this person's tail, foregoing silence as it became clear his cover had been blown. Getting closer and closer, Khimari pounced on the runner, dragging both of them into the ground. Jumping away from the person, the prince growled at him until he noticed another person there.
It was a girl, with pink hair and orange skin, wearing a traditional blue outfit. She wore a look of surprise as she helped the one Khimari attacked to his feet, but his hood fell from his head in the process. To the wolf's surprise; however, the one who apparently stole the medallion turned out to be one who he thought that he could trust the most.
"...Nasir?"
XXXXX
A/N: And the plot gets...crazier? I don't know to be honest, I wrote a mass majority of this on the fly! As usual, let me apologize for procrastination, because this honestly should've been out...Monday? But, I got absorbed into other things (Music, Studying, Pokemon, etc.) But hey, it's good to be back! Remember to follow, fave, and review to keep the world spinning! (I know it's February, but I really want to know about the New Year's stuff. Heck, tell me in your native language if it's not english; I'll just figure it out!)
Blizzard, Out!