Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem or anything associated with it.
A/N: I'm a little sad...I'm going to have to cancel the story...It's not that I want to, but there's just too much going on in life. As of this update, the story is suspended, and I'll even put it up for adoption. Just pm me if you want to carry on the legacy of Khimari. I'll see you all later :(...
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APRIL FOOLS! Now that I'm done spouting that nonsense, come on and enjoy this not canceled chapter!
P.S: I know full well it isn't April anymore, but I'm too lazy to delete that message. Enjoy! :)
Last time on Blue Wolf,
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
The next morning…
The morning started to make itself apparent when Ike began to awake from his uneasy slumber. Yesterday evening, he along with Soren and Titania discussed battle plans as well as the action of who would go into the battle at Talrega.
To say the least, picking who should go proved to be a challenge without having any information about their enemy. At the most, they found out that a strong battalion of wyvern riders lived there. The rest of the intel remained relatively unknown.
The road to Talrega hadn't been anything near easy, either. After crossing the Daein border, a skirmish between them and the Crimean army occurred almost every other day. No matter what precaution they took in order to avoid detection, the Daeins seemed to know their every move.
To say the least, the mere thought of an insider irked Ike on the inside. He knew that it would probably be someone that he knows. He sighed at the suggestion while someone made their way to his tent.
"May I enter?" they asked.
"Come in," Ike permitted, stifling a yawn as Soren made his entrance. "Good morning," he greeted.
"Likewise," the mage returned, before heading into business. "Continuing from last evening's conversation, we agreed to leaving Jill Fizzart at base camp along with Nephenee, Gatrie, and Mordecai, as well as having Kieran, Danved, Tormod and Rikari to protect princess Elincia along with base camp. I will also start a small search for any potential spies in camp."
Ike nodded his agreement to the mage's recount of the previous night. "That's about right. Did we get any more information about the enemy?"
"Nothing major," Soren rejected. "At the most, we only know that the commander's unit are expert dracoknights." Ike simply nodded, expecting that answer from the mage.
"Hello?" another voice came from outside.
"Come in," Ike permitted. A few seconds later, Titania entered the tent as well. "You two already discussed Talrega?"
"Yes," Soren confirmed. "We've already decided our plan of action."
"And your conclusion?"
"We will follow what we decided the previous night," Soren reminded. "We still leave in a few hours, so until then, we can do further planning if necessary." With that, the mage left the commander and deputy alone in the tent.
"...How have you been, Ike?" the paladin asked, breaking the silence between the two. "You've been looking really tired lately."
"I know, I've just been...thinking," he admitted. "There's just been so much on my mind lately."
"Wow…" Titania muttered, before uttering a small snort of laughter. "Ike didn't sleep because he was thinking...What an amazing world we live in. I wonder if Soren will start to be nice," she joked, attempting to lighten up the mood.
"Titania…" Ike said. "Now's not a good time."
"What's going on with you?" she prodded, now even more concerned.
"It's just...I can't talk about it," he decided, closing his eyes.
"And what happened between you and Khimari?" she started, prompting a sigh from the commander.
"Something...I have a hard time dealing with," he admitted. "How did you know?"
"You two barely talk anymore, and I know it's not because of workload," she revealed, making him swing his eyes back to her. "Did you two have a fight?"
"...Kinda," he confessed. "I was just...hurt."
"Did he tell you something?"
"No...yes?" he said, going back and forth in confusion. "I...don't know."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know what to do about it," he honestly said, shaking his head.
"Did you try to talk to Khimari about it?" she prodded.
"No…But if we're going to get past all this, maybe I should," he resolved.
"Alright then. In the meantime, I'll find Soren and prepare to-"
"Ike!" a voice shrieked only seconds before Mist came crashing into the tent. "Ike!" she yelled again, clearly hysterical.
"What's wrong?" he said, trying to figure out what's going on.
"My medallion's gone!" she splattered, spitting out her words.
"What's gone?" Titania asked, not understanding what the girl said.
"My medallion!" she yowled again, much clearer.
"What!?" Ike shouted, completely taken by surprise. "It's gone?"
"What am I going to do!?" Mist cried, sobbing uncontrollably. "It's all I have left of mother and, and, and-" she sputtered.
"Mist, calm down!" Ike commanded. The teen stopped her uncontrolled crying, but still sobbed silently as Ike tried to decipher the situation. "Now, did you drop it?" he asked. "Or maybe, you just misplaced it?"
"No!" she rejected. "I always carry it with me! And I'd never lose it!" she yelled, before trying to calm herself down. "I had before I went to bed last night. It disappeared while I was sleeping," she explained, before breaking out into tears again.
"Don't cry," Ike soothed. "It wasn't your fault."
"But…"
"Shhh... I'll find it, all right?"
"...Okay...Sorry," Mist said, returning to a more stable state.
"Mist?" Titania gently called, making the siblings look over at the paladin. "Did Khimari have it last night?" she asked, an idea coming to her head.
"Khimari?" Mist repeated, tipping her head in wonder. "...Nope," she replied, shaking her head. "He always asked or told me when he would take it, and he always knows where to put it back."
"Oh…"
"Speaking of Khimari...Ike?" Mist called. "Do you know where he is? He hasn't been talking to anyone much lately."
"...I haven't seen him since last night," he admitted. "Is he alright?" Ike asked, wondering how much this actually affected the wolf.
"I don't know," Mist said, getting worried all over again. "It's like he's shut off from the world sometimes…He won't talk out like he used to, and he's only saying one-word responses most of the time. Even Nephenee can barely get anything out of him," she revealed. Shock registered in the heads of the older Beorc in the room.
"Maybe we should go find him…" Titania said.
"...I'll do it," Ike volunteered, sighing. "I have to talk to him anyways."
"Alright, I'll oversee the transition," the redhead reassured. Nodding his thanks, Ike grabbed his sword and left the tent. As he exited, he saw that the only other people awake were sentries and guards from Begnion's ranks. Thankful for the lack of attention, he calmly walked over to Khimari's usual hangout, on the edge of the forest slightly outside the camp. When he reached the forest's entrance, he didn't find Khimari there, but instead, a frantic Rikari.
"Rikari? What's going on?" he asked.
"Khimari's gone!" the young wolf yelled.
"What do you mean, gone?"
"He said that he was going to show me something this morning before we march," Rikari told.
"But when I came here, he was gone, and now I can't find him!"
Getting a headache, Ike started to rub one of his temples before an idea came to his head. "Can you scent him?" he asked.
"...Yeah, I should," the wolf agreed. Transforming, Rikari sniffed around the area for any traces of the wolf, and Khimari's scent lead through the woods. "It goes into the woods," he reported to the commander.
"Let's look for him there, then." With that the two ventured into the mass of trees, intent on finding the blue wolf. They walked for quite a while before Ike actually started to get anxious. "Is this where the scent's leading?"
"Yes," Rikari replied. "But it's starting to disappear as it gets stronger. I know we're getting close." Just then, Ike saw some pawprints in the snow, and went over to them. The orange wolf followed Ike, and sniffed them before Khimari's scent overloaded his nose.
"We're getting close," Ike noted. The wolf nodded in agreement before he noticed something that Khimari taught him.
"Wait a second…" he muttered, putting his paw next to the print. When he raised it, the hole in the snow wasn't nearly as deep as Khimari's footprint. Trying again, Rikari slammed his paw in the snow, this time, leaving a dent just as deep as Khimari's.
"Rikari, are you alright?" Ike asked.
"We have to hurry!" Rikari said, before breaking into a slow run. Dashing along with the wolf, Ike and Rikari came upon a small clearing.
They could tell that a battle occurred simply by looking at the scene. Trees were down, branches littered the ground, and blood was splattered on some trees. Looking around, Ike saw that two of the trees were completely sawed in half. Looking at them, he noticed that they had a burnt look to them, as if it were fire. Worried, he started to breathe hard before Rikari's scream filled his ears.
"IKE!" the wolf yelled at the top of his lungs.
"What?" he responded, running over to the wolf who was about to break into tears. "What's wrong?"
Rikari didn't even try to answer, he just raised a blue necklace in his hand. The commander instantly recognized it as the one that Khimari always wore around his neck. Ike breathe caught in his throat as a dark feeling started to invade his stomach. Emotion overwhelmed him, a feeling of despair that hadn't truly taken root of him since the death of his father, Greil.
The two stood there; Rikari broke into tears and Ike and while Ike tried not to, some escaped from his eyes every now and then. "...Let's return to camp," Ike croaked, his head hanging low. Without any word, the two traveled back to base to find Mist, Titania and some others waiting patiently for their arrival.
"Where...is he?" Mist asked, not seeing the blue wolf anywhere in sight. Ike couldn't say anything, but Rikari's crying only worsened. Hearing footsteps in the snow, Ike looked up to see Tora coming up to Rikari. Struck by grief, the orange wolf jumped into his big brother's arms.
"H-he's gone...he's gone!" he cried, weeping on Tora's shoulder. At the news, gasps broke out throughout the mercenary company. No one moved, and sobs filled the forest's edge as they mourned the life of the blue wolf. A little after, more of the mercenary company came and started to cry as well when they heard the news. Even some Begnion soldiers came to pay their respects, Tanith included.
"Ike…" Titania called after a while. "I'll go with Soren and take care of the camp for you. Make sure that you and Mist take your time." The Palin left, leaving the two siblings alone as the others already left.
"This...is just a bad dream, right brother?" Mist asked, her voice quivering.
"I wish it was…" Just then, something crossed Mist's mind.
"Ike! Did you bury him already?"
"We didn't find a body," he revealed, lighting a hope in the going young girl
"Then...he could still be alive!" she said, although the commander was skeptical.
"Mist…"
"No!" she rejected. "I know he's out there, and I am going to find him no matter what!" she declared, a burning fury and passion in her eyes.
"..." Ike only stared at his sister as he realized that she had the right way of thinking. "You're right," he agreed, hope welling from within him. "Mist, tell everyone that now one can go by themselves into unknown territory. We leave for Talrega at noon." With that, he left to return to his tent, only to see Nasir there.
"Ike, I've been meaning to talk to you," the Laguz said.
"About?"
"I think I may know Khimari's situation," he revealed, making Ike's eyes nearly pop out of his head.
"Come inside," Ike ordered, opening the tent as he and Nasir entered. "What do you mean?" he interrogated after the two got settled.
"There is a rumor about Daeins and Laguz," the man began, "that says that Laguz are kidnapped and transformed."
"Transformed?" Ike echoed, caught unaware.
"Yes," Nasir confirmed again. "They are given medicine and are morphed into killing machines. They become bloodthirsty monsters, although it isn't without effects."
"Like what?" Ike pressed.
"It severely shortens their lifespans, and the medicine kills their sense of reason."
"Are you saying...Khimari was kidnapped by Daein?"
"Yes, I believe that it is the most logical conclusion," the man said. "He's too valuable to kill. The Daeins may use him as a bargaining chip...or a weapon."
"I see…" he mumbled, troubled by the new information. "Thank you for telling me," he thanked.
"It is of no concern," Nasir returned. "I only wish to see him safe…" The Laguz then turned around to leave when Ike noticed bandages across his hand and leg.
"Nasir?" he called, stopping the man who was on his way out. "What happened to your hand and leg?"
"Err….It was an accident," Nasir revealed, keeping an even tone. "I accidently cut myself, and then I got my leg caught on a tree branch earlier."
"That's quite a clumsy streak," the commander noted.
"Indeed it is," Nasir agreed, before exiting the tent. Ike wasn't given a break because as soon as the Laguz left, Titania came inside.
"Are you doing alright?" the redhead asked him.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. Are we ready for Talrega?"
"Yes," the deputy confirmed. "In fact, we depart in about a half-hour.
"Good, let's finish getting ready." With that, the two left together to finish the oversight of the pack-up phase.
XXXXX
The next day…
The sun had nearly reached its peak when the army found itself on the outskirts of Talrega, quickening their pace upon hearing from the hawk Laguz about the open floodgates.
"Alright, mercenaries, come!" Ike commanded, leading his group away from the Begnion section for further direction. "We still know little about our foe, so we will have to plan this carefully," he started. "Oscar, Titania, Boyd, you three should be our main line. We will advance to their commander but the important thing is that no one breaks through the ranks. Mages will fall behind them, and the rest will make up our rear. Janaff, Ulki, Rolf, Shinon, you need to keep a sharp eye for the dracoknights, especially if they're as tough as we've heard. Move out!" he then said, raising his sword.
The mercenaries then charged into the town, but they could find no person around. "Look out!" Ulki then yowled, motioning the others to an army of arrows piercing the sky.
"Take cover!" Ike yowled, getting down himself as others either did the same, or used their magic or shield to protect them. At the end of the small onslaught, Daein soldiers and swordsmen started to grace them with their presence. Getting into position, the group formed into the appropriate ranks as discussed by Ike. In formation, the vanguard of the army started to push back against the Daeins, Boyd and Ike teaming head-on against the troops.
Boyd took care of the lance men, while Ike and eventually Mia took on the fighters of the group. All seemed to be going well until a howl split the air. Quickly dispatching the last fighter, Ike looked up to see a group of wyvern knights approaching the group. "Someone get those dracoknights occupied!" he ordered, as having ground units fighting them would be a major disadvantage.
Those orders soon became fulfilled in the form of Janaff, Ulki, and Ilyana, who quickly started the assault on the knights, giving the main army a chance to advance. Looking ahead, Ike noticed that Titania and Oscar had a ferocious fight happening between them and 3 other paladins. Running to their aid, Ike joined Oscar in getting rid of one of the Daeins. Slicing the paladin's leg, the man winced in pain while the oldest of the three brothers rushed forward to give the finishing blow.
"Thank you," Oscar quickly said, before galloping away on his horse in order to assist Titania in her battle. Advancing forward, Ike charged deeper into the town. His progression quickly ended when he saw fire spells headed straight for him.
Ducking for cover, Ike barely avoided the burning balls of flame. Taking the offensive, he rushed the mages. He quickly dispatched the first one with a horizontal strike, and turned to see the other mage downed by an arrow.
Just a few seconds after, Oscar, with a bow, and Titania joined him in the middle of the town. "Is everything alright?" Titania asked.
"It's fine," Ike responded. "How are the others?"
"Managing," Oscar answered. "Most enemy troops are under control, and the dracoknights aren't causing that much trouble."
Ike nodded his approval and looked ahead to see waiting knights and a sniper no the watch for their approach. Going back a bit further, the commander also saw the faint outline at the entrance of their target guarded by a seemingly big man with a dragon, probably the enemy leader.
"Are any of the others coming this way?" Ike asked, wanting some backup for the last few soldiers on their path to the floodgates.
"There should be," Titania replied. "Mist and Lethe should be here soo-oh, here they are now," she amended when she saw the aforementioned two running up to them.
"Lethe, can you handle that small group over there with Titania and Oscar? Mist, you go with them too, and stay out of harm's way," he ordered.
"Okay," Mist agreed, running after the other three towards the small conglomerate of Daein soldiers. With those three occupied, Ike traveled directly to the enemy leader, a man by the name of Shiharam, his sources confirmed..
Getting a closer look, Ike saw a red-haired man with a tomahawk on top of his purple wyvern. "Are you the enemy commander?" Ike asked, adjusting his sword.
"I am," he confirmed, putting an idea into Ike's head.
"I'm Ike, leader of the Crimean Liberation Army. This may be sudden, but can we stop the fighting?" He asked, completely catching Shiharam off guard.
"What?"
"I would hope to shut off the floodgates. There's no need to put the civilians into our conflict," he explained. The request seemed to catch the wyvern fighter off-guard, as he lowered his weapon ever so slightly. For a moment, it seemed that he would comply with Ike and close the floodgates before the people suffered the consequences of war.
Unfortunately, the opportunity seemed to be lost as Shiharam raised his battle axe once more. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "But I can't do that. Until one of us have bested the other, the floodgates will remain open," he responded in an emotionless voice.
"If that's how you want it to be, then so be it," Ike said, settling into a combat stance. "Prepare yourself."
"So this is the enemy general, eh?" Shiharam said to himself, letting off a hearty laugh as his thoughts led him in a different direction. 'If this man is who he appears to be, I can die knowing Jill will be safe.'
The wyvern lord raised into the sky, signaling the beginning of the fight. Immediately, he threw his tomahawk at Ike. He barely avoided the axe that went back to its owner, who entered into a dive-bomb straight towards him.
Catching the axe, Shiharam raised for a swipe as he quickly approached Ike. Thrown off by the maneuver, the commander barely managed to deflect the axe. Thinking quickly, Ike grabbed Shiharam's arm and successfully dragged the man off his wyvern, both of them falling into the snow. Separating, the two wasted no time in starting a ground battle in which Shiharam did surprisingly well.
Ike started to gain the upper hand in the battle when a roar nearly shook him off his feet. Looking back, the daein commander's wyvern decided to intervene on its trainer's behalf, charging Ike. In response, the teen stumbled back while Shiharam got on his wyvern once again. Preparing another dive-bomb, the Daein set his sights on Ike as the two locked gazes.
When Shiharam entered attacking range, Ike swung his sword directly at the man's shoulder, cutting it deeply and forcing Shiharam to drop his weapon. Not giving any reprieve, Ike struck again, stabbing him in his abdomen before the wyvern could make distance between them.
The dying man fell from his wyvern, crashing into the snow as his mount descended towards his master. 'Harr…' the man thought as he closed his eyes for the final time.
Ike looked over at the dead body while the wyvern made mourning sounds of his master. The leader of the Greil Mercenaries only stared at the wyvern until it raised his head, gazing straight at him. For a while, it continued to stare until Oscar, Titania, and Soren appeared onto the scene, ready to fight. The wyvern looked at all three for a moment longer before turning away and flying back to the skies. The group of mercenaries watched the mount disappear into the skyline before turning back amongst themselves.
"Status?"
"All of the enemy troops have been defeated and the Begnion soldiers are closing the floodgates as we speak," Soren reported. "Tanith informed us that she would send a soldier when they stop the water."
"Good. Any casualties?"
"None to my knowledge," Titania answered this time.
Ike nodded his approval as a Begnion soldier approached them. "General Ike, sir! The floodgates have been closed!"
"Thank you," he said, letting the soldier return to his troop. "Soren, what's the damage to the area like?"
"Horrible," he said simply. "Many fields and homes are completely destroyed."
"I see…" Ike replied, realizing that they didn't stop the gates in time to prevent the destruction that occurred.
"...I don't think that the enemy general wanted this destruction either," Titania mentioned after a pause of silence. Without saying a word, Ike nodded his agreement with his deputy commander. He seemed to be an honorable man, and did seem like he wanted to follow through with Ike's request to shut the floodgates.
"This is heartless," a voice said. They all turned to see Princess Elincia standing there with her hands over her chest. "What will happen to the people that have lost their homes?" she asked, before looking to Ike specifically. "Is there any way that we can help them?"
"You want to aid the people of our enemy?" Soren scoffed. "That is a waste of time and energy that we cannot aff-"
"Soren," Ike cut off. "Take a portion of our supplies and give it to the townsfolk."
"What?" the mage said. "Are you serious?"
"Our opponents are the Daein people. The civilians have done nothing to us," Ike responded.
"Ike, I see how you feel for these people," Soren started, "But this is war! We can't afford-"
"Whatever effect it will have, Soren, I don't know," the commander cut off. "However, moving on without lifting a finger to help is something I cannot do." Done with talking for now, he turned around and went back to check on Mist and the other Mercenaries. He didn't have to walk far before seeing them standing around the clearing of the small town.
"How are you all?" Ike asked.
"We're fine," Boyd responded. "But I think Jill's taking it hard. She walked away a little while ago."
"Where'd she go?" he asked, knowing that he had to talk to her.
"Over there," Rolf answered, pointing to a small patch of woods leading to the river banks. Following the archer's direction, Ike slowly walked among the trees until he heard a small sniffling sound. Walking towards the sound, he found Jill looking at the snow, sobbing quietly.
"Oh, Father…" she said, making a dark feeling fall in Ike's stomach. He remembered his own father's death, and the pain that came with it. Taking a deep breath, Ike walked forward, stopping next to Jill.
"Jill...No matter whatever the reason, I'm the one who took your father from you. I won't...I can't use this war as an excuse." When Jill remained silence, Ike started to wonder what it would take for her to forgive him. "If you want revenge on me for your father, then I understand. You have...that right."
Silence once again followed his words. "I'll let you stay here and figure out what you want to do. We really want you to keep traveling with us….That's all I have to say," he finished, turning around and leaving the red-headed girl by herself. Upon returning, Ike saw the Mercenaries giving out small quantities of supplies among the common folk that lived there.
"Here you go," Rolf said, giving a woman and a small child a box filled with food.
"You're not...gonna hurt us?" the girl asked, a painfully worried look on her face.
"Never. You don't deserve to be hurt," the teenager replied gently, before becoming confused when the girl started crying.
"B-but...Daddy got hurt," she said. "Daddy won't even move anymore...Did he...deserve it?"
"No...He didn't…" Before Rolf could continue, the mother took the food and pushed her daughter behind her.
"Others won't be so kind to you," she warned, turning around. She then froze for a moment before turning her head back and looking Rolf straight in the eyes. "Thank you," she finished, before walking away with the heartbroken child. Staring at the broken family, Ike couldn't help but feel ashamed of what they had done;this war was against the terrible King Ashnard, not against all of the families of Daein. Even the soldiers were regular people with families and separate lives outside of warfare.
Sighing, he turned away to talk to General Tanith about their next move on their expedition to Daein's capital, Nevassa, where they would take on King Ashnard once and for all.
XXXXX
Later that day…
Going into the food tent at their new campground site, Ike entered the line on his way to eat. When he arrived at the front, Oscar gave him the meal, the horseman's famous beef stew. This time, however, Ike didn't have much for an appetite. After finishing his only bowl, he took it up and left it with the pile of other dirty dishes before heading outside.
Nighttime would only be a few moments away, and everyone started to retreat into their tents for the night, barring the recon units. Ike went back to his tent too, deciding to go over the plan that he and Tanith came up with, along with Soren and Titania.
Once they arrived into the capital, all bets would be off. King Ashnard would use every tool at his disposal to defeat them, and they had to be ready for every possible scenario. After doing some planning with the Begnion Pegasus knight, they decided that they would merge units once in the capital and would use a full-frontal assault on the Keep to seize it. That was the gist of the plan, but the intricate details had yet to be made; Soren told him that they would be better known by tomorrow.
Laying down in his tent, Ike tried to get a little shuteye, but found it nearly impossible. Every time that he'd close his eyes, images of the poor Daeins in Talrega flooded his mind and made him open his eyes only to realize that the moment had already passed. The commander continued this cycle for what seemed like forever until he sat up and took a deep breath. Seeing that the problem wasn't going to fix itself, he decided to leave his tent and go for a little walk. Heading toward the nearby woods, Ike started a small hike before he heard a faint whisper behind him.
"Ike!" a voice whispered, making him turn to Mist quietly running towards him.
"Mist? What are you doing here?" he interrogated. "You should be sleeping."
"I could ask you the same thing," she rebutted. "So what's wrong?"
"Nothing," Ike said. "You should go back to b-"
"No!" she interrupted. "I'm not going anywhere."
Huffing annoyedly, Ike saw that the feisty girl would stand her ground and saw it as pointless to argue with her. "Come walk with me," he offered, Mist coming to his side as the two siblings went through the forest.
"So what's been bugging you?" Mist asked quietly, looking at the surrounding trees and snow as they went through the forest.
"...Remember the people in Talrega?" Ike asked.
"Yeah...Those poor people…" Mist left off. "They needed help so bad, and almost everything they had got ruined in the flooding…" A look of realization fell upon her face when she understood what her brother meant. "You're having trouble with seeing the people in Talrega?"
"Yeah," he confirmed. "It's just...they were all devastated, families got torn apart and their crops were destroyed. And the worst part about it is that we had a part in it. I can only wonder how many families have been torn apart by the war…"
"Well…" Mist tried to respond, before stopping. She couldn't come up with a response with that. Whoever's fault the war was for starting it, they both participated in tearing lives apart, whether they wanted it or not. The two stopped at a riverbank where the moon's reflection sparkled from the calm flowing stream. "I can understand it, but…"
"I just think that...Are we doing the right thing?" Ike asked.
"We're fighting for Crimea!" Mist said. "No matter what we may have done, we did this not to hurt people, but to help them. Ashnard is bad for everyone!"
"Yeah…" Ike halfheartedly agreed, not completely satisfied with that answer. Looking up, he saw the shining moon in the bright sky and thought of his surrogate brother, who often enjoyed stargazing. "...What do you think Khimari would say to us right now?" he questioned after a long bout of silence between the two.
"...What do you think he'd say?" Mist shot back, although she honestly didn't know what Khimari's response would be to this situation.
"Probably something like 'Get your head out the pity party and stuff it with stew'," the commander guessed, getting a laugh out of Mist.
"That sounds about right," she agreed, giggling. After a few seconds, she stopped giggling and followed Ike's eyes to the moon. "Do you think he's alright?"
"...I think so," Ike answered. "However tough the odds may be, Khimari's a survivor."
XXXXX
Meanwhile…
Head throbbing, Khimari started to wake after what seemed like ages. Looking around him, he saw nothing but gray walls. Hearing metal on him, he looked down to see his legs in chains. Wondering where he was, he was snapped out of his curiosity when the memory of what happened to him returned to the forefront of his mind.
"Nasir!" he yowled, feeling angry at the man's betrayal. After seeing Nasir with that pink-haired girl, he assumed that she was his granddaughter that he talked about. It also meant that he was a spy for the Daeins and would still be among Ike and the others!
"No!" he thought, getting on all his legs and trying to break free from the chains. As hard as he struggled, however, he couldn't break free from the metal bondeges.
"Well, well," a slippery smooth voice said. Looking up, he saw a woman in black clad armor opening the cell door and approaching him. As she approached, Khimari growled fiercely at her. "Don't remember me?" she said, feigning hurt. "Maybe this will help you!" she finished, brandishing a lance that summoned a fireball that hit Khimari directly. He howled in pain and tried to withstand it as much as possible before getting rid of the small burns still left on his fur.
"Now…" the woman said again, a sadistic look on her face. "Do you remember me, you pathetic sub-human life form?"
Looking up at her begrudgingly, Khimari did start to get a recollection about her identity. She reminded him...that's who it was!
"You're...Petrine….from the Four Riders…" Khimari answered, somewhat weak from the fireball attack. He seemed to be correct, as Petrine let out a cackling laugh that made him feel even more uncomfortable.
"I'm glad you remember me now," she commented. "Men!" she suddenly barked. "Get our prisoner ready for transport." Almost instantly after she gave her order, about a dozen soldiers came into the cell and crowded around Khimari, who growled and snapped at any of them that got close.
Another fireball soon lit him ablaze, sending more waves of pain throughout his body. "What...are you doing?" he panted as he tried to fight back against the soldiers that restrained him.
"We can't have an untrained pet, can we now?" Petrine mocked, almost sending the blue wolf into a frenzy. "But that'll be solved when you get to Gritnea Tower."
"Gritnea Tower?" the wolf repeated.
"Ah yes, you've never heard of it, I assume." As the soldiers put more mobile chains on him, Petrine gave a small laugh. "See, in Gritnea tower, sub-humans like you are given special medicine. It warps their minds, gives them extra strength, and turns them into the killing monsters they were meant to be!" she exclaimed. "And the best part...It locks away their control to such a point where they listen to everything we say," she finished with an evil look on her face.
Khimari was horrified and angry when he heard the new information. With a new burst of vigor, he started to struggle again and started to attack the soldiers, biting one on the arm. Foregoing the fire, Petrine put her lance right on Khimari's throat, a few inches away from puncturing his skin.
"Now, you need to learn how to behave," she said, no longer amused with Khimari's struggling. "You should be thankful I have to keep you alive."
"For what?" he spat in her face. Luckily, she took the lance away from his throat and turned around.
"Well, King Ashnard wants to have a private meeting with you," she said. "Consider it an invitation." With that, she sent one more fireball at Khimari, setting him on fire once again. "Men!" she barked once again, putting them at attention. "Bound him up quick and toss him in the caravan. His Majesty wants the beast before the end of the week, so we don't have much time."
Leaving the room, Petrine pulled out a small brown bag with a cloth inside it. Looking inside, the cloth had a blue aura around it, but significantly duller than when near the wolf. "Hmm...Whatever this thing is, that sub-human must be important to His Majesty's winning the war. I must bring this to him at any cost."
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A/N: HOOOLLYY CRAP! I've been gone a while, and while I do have many actual reasons that make a lot of sense when explained in context, I don't feel like typing them. But excuse me for being late, and I can hopefully say that this should never happen much, bc as it's summer I should be able to get an update at least every two weeks before school starts back.
But on to the chapter, this was a plot twist that hopefully threw ALL Y'ALL of your rockers! Honestly, this is one of the few things I've planned out since the pirate chapters, hence the talking about Nasir's granddaughter on the way to Duke Tanis' place and stuff like that. Now that I look back, the foreshadowing of the event is WAY better than I give it credit for. That was actually some crafty stuff I pulled off (not to be braggy or anything, it just came out really good)
But remember what always WILL be the same: Review, Like, Favorite, and I'll catch y'all later!
Blizzard, out!