Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem or anything associated with it.
A/N: I've been tired as crap lately ...So read and enjoy!
"Hm..."=Regular talk
'Hm…'= thinking
"Hmmm…"=AncientLanguage/exaggeration/timeskip/meanwhile/etc./action/onamottapeia/I'm done…
XXXXX
Late into the night…
"Come here, my pet," a voice echoed throughout the dark chamber. Howling, Khimari struggled against the chains with everything he had, unable to get out of them. A few moments later, a figure in a dark cloak appeared in front of him, forcing him down with a spell. "Now. You are mine." The man then quickly stuck a needle in Khimari's neck.
"AHHH!" the wolf yowled, jumping up from his bed. He threw his hand on his neck to see that he broke out in a cold sweat. He felt that his heart was beating a mile a minute. He looked around as he tried to steady his heavy breathing.
"What's wrong?" Ranulf, who was scared awake by the scream, asked his son. In response, Khimari shook his head and looked down.
"Just a nightmare. That's all," he tried to divert. "It's nothing." Unfortunately for him, Ranulf knew better.
"It's about that tower they sent you to, isn't it?" he said, hitting the nail on the head. Seeing how easily he got read, Khimari looked at his father with a look that was truly frightened.
"I thought it was the end ...I don't even feel the same since then," he admitted, leading the cat to raise an eyebrow as a silent question. "Ever since the...incident, I've been on edge, like something was out to get me. I've tried to act like things were normal, but it just won't go back."
"That's because things aren't going to go back to normal," Ranulf bluntly stated. "You just have to go forward instead of looking back."
"Yeah ...I'll see what I can do," he replied, his usual peppiness gone and replaced with a hollow expression. "How much time until we start moving?"
"The next part of this phase will take a while," Ranulf answered. "From what I know, the Gallian reinforcements are due to rendezvous with us after they cross through the Marhaut mountain range. So, we're going to have to move to avoid the Daeins and get to the meeting spot."
"That sounds…..okay. Good thing we don't have to worry about extra skirmishes now," Khimari breathed out. "I seriously need a vacation."
"Don't we all?" Ranulf returned, getting up and stretching. "Well, we have some time before sunrise. You up for a quick hunt?" At the suggestion, Khimari gained a quick scowl and rolled his eyes.
"Remember what happened the last time I said anything remotely similar to that? I leave camp, Ike will just about give birth to twin crazy babies." That made Ranulf laugh, even though the cat was slightly disturbed at such a thing happening.
"Don't worry, kiddo," the blue cat assured. "I talked to Ike about everything. He told me that he'd let you go out again and he shouldn't be scared for you to look out for yourself."
"Bout da…..time," the wolf started, but stopped before a curse word slipped out. "Well, let's go hunting!" he quickly changed, transforming into his wolf form. Shaking his head, Ranulf followed him into Laguz form and outside the tent. Wandering their way out of camp, they dashed into the neighboring forests to look for game.
Perking his ears, Khimari stood still for a movement as he took in his surroundings. A few moments later, he caught a rustle to the left. Turning his head, he saw a juicy squirrel carelessly making its way through the undergrowth. Crouching down, Khimari prepared himself before pouncing.
Fast as lightning, he trapped the squirrel under his paws before biting its neck with a well-placed bite. Looking back, he saw Ranulf walking up with a mouse in his mouth. "Good job," he praised with the rodent between his jaws.
"What can I say? Let's go eat," Khimari suggested. The two blue Laguz went over to a nearby tree before they dived in. "So, where are we going next?" he asked as he took off the fur from the squirrel. Ranulf quickly gulped some of his mouse before replying.
"From what I remember from the messages, Gallia has dispatched reinforcements to meet up with us. They should be here within a week's time. Maybe less," he informed before biting into his mouth again.
"Where's the meeting point?"
"Over the mountains."
"You think the Daeins will try to pull anything?"
"...Probably," he answered after a moment of thought. "We'll definitely have to come up with a plan if that's the case. We shouldn't have to worry too much; however, considering the consistent reports of Ashnard's forces consolidating around the capital." Khimari nodded in agreement with the statement as he finished the rest of the squirrel he caught.
"That hit the spot! Nothing like fresh meat to get someone going!"
"Agreed." Just then, Khimari looked up at the moon to see a rare occurrence; the moon had taken on a rather orange-ish appearance. Drawn to it, he got up and started to walk in the opposite direction without a word. "Where are you going?" Ranulf asked in confusion.
"Follow me." Wondering what the heck got into his child's head, the blue cat simply shook his head while following the blue wolf. Walking through the trees, the two listened to the sound of chirping crickets around them while one followed the other. Before long, they arrived at a somewhat large and secluded clearing where an opening in the trees let the moon shines down onto a large rock in the center of the space. Walking onto it, Ranulf let out a sound of curiosity seeing Khimari's fur take a grayish-blue look with the moon's light shining on him.
Closing his eyes, Khimari put one paw in front of the other. Taking a deep breath, he straightened himself and kept all his pads on the stone. With another deep breath, Khimari released a piercing howl that reverberated throughout the forest. Ranulf panicked, thinking that the wolf could give them away to any coming enemies. He started to walk to his son to reprimand him before he started to take in the situation.
A soft wind blew across the clearing, creating a calm rustling of grass and trees around them. The wind shook Khimari's fur lightly, only making the event seem even more ethereal. Opting to stay silent, Ranulf simply watched as Khimari stood still, basking in the moonlight. Moments later, the wolf howled once again, to Ranulf's amazement. This time; however, it almost sounded like he wasn't alone.
Suddenly, Ranulf heard a sound behind him. Instantly on alert, he prepared to attack until he found that it was only Rikari and Tora. "What's going on?" Tora asked.
"I wish I knew," Ranulf whispered. "Khimari started to act strange when he saw the moon was orange-reddish."
"Maybe it has something to do with the wolves," Rikari suggested. "After all, Khimari would know something like this." After the young one finished talking, Khimari howled again, ending their conversation. Tora shifted uncomfortably at the howl, feeling something stir within him at the sound of the howl. Apparently, he wasn't the only one to feel it, as Rikari gave the older brother a confused look. "What ...is this?"
"The pack unites in their blood. The shining red moon unites us as one. From generation to generation, the sight of the blood moon is the call of the night to unite," Khimari chanted, walking up to them. Stopping in front of them, his green and blue eyes opened and his gaze swept over all three of them. "I was talking to Mom," he revealed, making everyone's eyes go extremely wide.
"What!?" Ranulf yowled. "How? She's nowhere near her-"
"On a full blood moon, we wolves have the power to communicate over long distances," Khimari interrupted. "There are only two conditions that must be met. First, the wolves have a special bond with each other. Second, they have to be thinking of each other at the exact same time." The other Laguz listened to the prince, amazed at what they learned.
"What ...did you guys say?"
"I told her I met Dad...and that we love her," he revealed.
"Where's Nailah?" Ranulf asked.
"She in Hatari," Khimari answered. "She tried to cross the Desert of Death which connects Daein to Hatari, but hasn't been able to make it without putting lives at risk. She says she is studying the terrain in order to make another attempt, but it's going slower due to her duties."
"Wait...all you did was howl," Rikari noted. "How did that translate into words?"
"Have you forgotten your lessons from me already?" Khimari growled. "We can communicate with more than human words. We communicated through a primal way, howling to each other like in the past." The orange wolf had the decency to look reprimanded, flattening his ears and lowering his head slightly. Walking up to him, the prince gently licked his ear. "You're a cub through and through."
"I'm growing fast!" he rejected.
"Sure, little pup," Khimari returned, using that accursed nickname for the orange wolf. Breathing loudly through his nose, Rikari turned his head away from the prince. Smiling, Khimari turned back to the now lowering moon as the blood moon began to die down. 'I'll get back to you, Mom,' he promised to himself. 'Whatever it takes, we'll see each other again.'
XXXXX
Two days later…
Rikari and Tora panted heavily, both exhaustion and irritation creeping into their systems by the second. Today, Ike along with Tanith and the others had decided to take a day without marching as to preserve more supplies and manpower. It was about the closest thing to a "free-day" that anyone would get.
That meant for Rikari, an extra training session with Khimari, although Tora had been dragged into it after a "family day" idea from Ranulf where the two of them would co-teach the wolf brothers together.
Teaching in the more torture sense of the word.
"Rikari, stop shifting too much weight on your left side!" Khimari yowled at him. "You attack like a lumbering beaver!"
"Tora, keep yourself focused and stop losing your temper after a miss," Ranulf commented. "It makes your following attacks sloppier when you forget to have precision." After a quick look at each other, Rikari and Tora nodded before turning back to the blue cat and wolf.
Renewing their assault, the two ran at the father-son duo, leading the latter to prepare for the oncoming onslaught. Rikari then pounced at Khimari.
Getting down into a crouch, the blue wolf did a quick roll to get out of the way only to get up to see Tora mid-pounce with him as the target. Growling loudly, Khimari met the pounce, crashing into the red wolf. The two went rolling down the hill in a frenzy of fur and teeth.
When they reached the bottom, Khimari shoved Tora upwards with the strength of all four of his legs. He prepared to finish the spar before something bowled him over. Getting over the initial shock, Khimari used the momentum to keep rolling, before pinning Rikari down onto his back. While that happened, Ranulf quickly put the older brother in a position where he could easily perform a lethal claw swipe. "Okay, we're done," the blue wolf said, jumping off the younger brother. "Dad, what do you think?"
"They did a good job," he remarked, ignoring the stink looks both of them were giving him and his son. "The only thing I would say is to always be prepared; I didn't even know Khimari would decide to lose his mind and ram into you like a door with a broken knob," he joked, leading said wolf to sheepishly scratch his head.
"Whatever works works," he simply said. An angry grumble from Tora followed his words.
"Training hard, eh?" a peppy voice called out. Turning around, they saw Janaff entering the small clearing where they had their session.
"Always!" Rikari replied. The two had actually managed to take a rather close relationship with each other, Khimari had noted. Janaff had become an uncle sort of figure to Rikari despite them being relatively new to each other.
"How are you all doing?" Khimari asked the hawk.
"I'm enjoying the day off!" he said out loud with no shame whatsoever. "Also, I need to warn ya about something."
"What's wrong?"
"I've been hearing that the sniper fella from the other day has been trying to find you," he revealed, nearly killing Khimari's mood. Shinon's mouth had opened fresh wounds in Khimari's mind, and came at the wrong time. "I don't know why, but I thought I'd let ya know."
"Thanks, Janaff," he returned. "That's something I am not looking forward to."
"Whatever you do, I refuse to get between you and whoever you're trying to kill again," Tora added. "It's like trying to stop a raging dragon. My arms are still sore," he said, stretching himself out a bit further.
"Get to working, then," Khimari shot back. "It shouldn't take too much work to pin down an angry wolf."
"You're not a regular angry wolf and you know it," Tora said, giving a stink-eye towards the blue-haired Laguz. "Anyways, is there any more news from Ike or the Begnion troop?" he redirected towards Janaff.
"Nope! Still not heading out until tomorrow and the Gallian forces are crossing smoothly, according to reports." Satisfied with the report, Tora stopped his line of questioning and went to relax somewhere.
"I guess that means we're done," Khimari said to himself.
"Yup," his father responded. "So, what are you planning to do now?"
"Hm….I don't feel like answering," he said, making Ranulf give an 'are you serious' expression. Khimari simply gave a toothy smile before leaving the small clearing and heading back into camp. Weaving his way through the forest of tents, he sniffed the scent of the one he was searching for. Opening the tent, he was a bit surprised not to see her there.
'Hide and seek, it is,' he decided, transforming into his wolf form. Sniffing through the camp, he wandered a little bit outside and found his target sitting at the base of the tree. Deciding to be sneaky, he silently stalked around the clearing until he got a clear shot at a pounce towards his slightly dozing target. With a quiet snarl, he pinpointed his target's location and distance and leaped.
Nephenee was completely frightened when a big mass crashed in her lap. Before she could even begin to comprehend what the heck was going on, a blue flash in front of her had revealed her laughing boyfriend rolling all over the grass right next to her. Sucking her teeth and rolling her eyes, she punched Khimari's shoulder as soon as he stopped laughing and tried to cozy up next to her.
"That was not funny," she said, trying not to crack at the wolf's infectious aura of happiness.
"Yes it was," he refuted, tickling her cheek with his tail until she swatted it away, not unlike an annoying fly. Not seeing the point in continuing, Nephenee simply huffed and leaned her head onto Khimari's strong shoulder. "How have you been?"
"Rather tired, lately. I really wish I could just go home sometimes," she admitted. Khimari grabbed her hand to comfort her, and took delight when she relaxed a little more.
"Same…." Without any other words to say, the two simply sat in comfortable silence. After an unidentifiable amount of time, Khimari perked his head up after hearing some footsteps coming towards them. Seeing that it was Ike, he straightened up a little bit, unfortunately snapping Nephenee from her daze as well. "Hey, Ike!"
"Hey," he returned. "I see you two are enjoying each other."
"It's not every day you get this much free time," the wolf returned. "So, what's up?"
"Did you prank Boyd again? He started itching uncontrollably this morning and nothing is working."
"No….I haven't pulled any pranks since my delayed reaction one yesterday," he admitted, leading Ike to raise an eyebrow. "Not important. But...uncontrollable itching...Did he get a rash along his side stopping at his second rib on the right side?"
"Uh….somewhere around there," Ike answered, not sure how the wolf was so specific in describing Boyd's rash.
"That's definitely my monkey rash prank, then," he confirmed. "But….I haven't done anything with it and I haven't made the formula for that recipe since….CRAP!" he yowled suddenly, spooking both Ike and Nephenee. "Where's Rolf?" he demanded.
"He should be with Mis-" Before Ike could even finish, a blue glow flashed in his eyes. The next thing the commander new, a blue wolf sped past him into the camp.
Rolf's scent mark led Khimari to a small tent closer to the camp outskirts. It then began to become stale, meaning that he had left the tent already. Sniffing again, he followed the trail until he found Rolf in a clearing practicing his archery. "Rolf!" he called out. The young teen looked over at the approaching wolf and lowered his bow.
"Hey, Khimari! What's going on?" he asked innocently.
"Boyd got a rash that was a side-effect of one of my pranks. Did you happen to spill that vial I gave you in his food or something?"
"Uh….no, I would never put…." Just then, Rolf's eyes bulged in fear as he gasped and flinched back. "Oh no!"
"What? Oh no doesn't sound reassuring, Rolf."
"I must put it in when I was helping Oscar make the food!"
"...The food?" Khimari asked, worried about the widespread implications Rolf had just brought on with the wording of that statement.
"After a while, we ran out of food, so Oscar asked me to help him make the last bit of stew for Boyd and a few others that ate later on," Rolf explained, putting the wolf's fears to rest. If that had been the first batch of soup, the whole army would be an itchy mass of chaos.
"Follow me," Khimari told Rolf. He led the young teenager to the mess hall, and into the kitchen area. "Get two onions, a pinch of mint, garlic root and some salt. Mix it together and throw it in water. When it's boiling, take the mixture and put some tree bark in it and then you can rub it on the afflicted area. Got it?"
"Yeah, I think so," the kid said, although he looked sort of confused.
"I'll get Mist to help you out," Khimari offered before walking out the tent. Unfortunately, as he walked out, he came face to face to a certain sniper he really wanted to kill at the moment. The bowman moved to say something, but Khimari quickly silenced it with a hard glare and a raised hand in a stop motion.
"Sorry, if you want round two, you're either gonna need the best damn medic on Tellius or a grave, because I'm not willing to hear it or even care about it," he scathingly replied, his eyes becoming slits. "One more thing out of you about any of us Laguz, and even Ike can't save you from getting split in half." Without waiting for a response, he walked away, a newfound bad attitude coming over him. Needless to say, Khimari was far from forgiving Shinon for what was said about his mother.
"Hey, you," a voice called. Looking over his shoulder, he turned to see Meizo coming towards him. "Got a second?"
"Sure, what for?" he responded, trying to get rid of his bad mood.
"A resident prisoner wants to have a word with you," he informed. "A guy with green hair." Instantly recognizing the short description, Khimari nodded and almost smiled.
"Can ya show me the way?" With a grunt as an affirmative, the two Laguz went their way to the tent where the prisoner was kept. Interestingly enough, Ike was waiting by the tent when they arrived. "What's with the face?" he asked Ike at seeing the rather….stoic expression on his adopted brother's face.
"Just thinking about what he could want…." Ike answered. "They said he wouldn't speak until both of us came at the same time."
"Well, only one way to find out," Khimari said right before walking into the prisoner tent. Coming inside, he came face to face with the Daein commander he spared all the way back in Daein when the ravens pulled out of the battle. A moment later, his head raised as Ike entered and stood beside the wolf.
"You….came."
"Yep, that's us!" Khimari said with some pep.
"What did you need us for?" Ike requested with a much more strict tone.
"I….want to join your company," he revealed, utterly shocking both of them.
"Um….Mr…."
"Homasa is my name."
"Homasa, with all due respect, what makes you think that we could trust you not to betray us? You were the leader of a Daein unit."
"In my position, I never considered the horrors of Ashnard's reign on the freedom of Daein. I only cared about being the strongest swordsman alive, in memory of my father and my dream. But now….I see I went about it the wrong way. Now, I want to see a free Daein without Ashnard sitting on her throne."
"...Ike, what do you think? It's your call, after all," Khimari said after a long moment of silence. Closing his eyes, the mercenary commander simply stood for a while, with no movement other than his rhythmic breathing. After what seemed like an eternity without pause, Ike's expression changed as he drew air from his lungs to speak.
"If we do let you in, you'll have to be under supervision at all times," Ike spoke. "And you would still have to report to the prison tent every night. Understood?"
"Yes, sir," Homasa said. "I'm grateful to you-the both of you." Not sure exactly what to say, the adopted brothers simply nodded to the other man before walking out.
"That was a little surprising, eh?" Khimari remarked when he was sure they were out of earshot.
"It was certainly something out of the ordinary…."
"Ike, what about this whole war has been in the ordinary?" the wolf bit back, making the commander stop to think about that question.
"...Guess you have a point there," he conceded, though he could come up with an answer. He didn't want to completely kill the mood, however, and left it alone. "There's probably something I should get to checking on, so I'll see you later." With that, Ike left the blue wolf to his own devices. "Huh….what to do…."
"Khimari!" a voice called, snapping the wolf out of his brainstorming. Turning around, he saw an unfamiliar cat Laguz coming towards him. "Can I ask you something?" she said.
"You just did," he responded cheekily, leading to the girl rolling her eyes. "Just kidding around. What's up…..what's your name?"
"Akiza," she answered. "And I just wanted to know if you could...help me with something private." Raising an eyebrow, Khimari had red flags going off in his head. "Captain Ranulf said it'd be best to see you."
'Okay….maybe I can take down the red flags….some of them,' he thought. "If Dad sent you, then I guess I can see what I can do. What do you need?"
"What's the name of the orange wolf that's around you a lot?"
"Rikari...Why?" he added, suspicious of her intentions.
"I just….wanted to know, that's all," she said quietly, a light blush coming onto her face. Just like that, a bright smile opened on the blue wolf's face.
"Someone's got a crush on my apprentice. Oh, this is comedy gold," he said out loud, much to the girl's horror.
"SHHHHH! Don't be so loud!" she hissed.
"How old are you?"
"What? Um...I'm 11."
"11? You're young to be a soldier, aren't you?" Khimari pressed. That was ridiculously young to be in any army.
"She's not, but she snuck in while we were preparing," a new voice elaborated. Twitching his tail to acknowledge Ranulf's presence, Khimari stayed silent to hear the Gallian cat talk. "She apparently was roped in by a bet of all things to find the "last wolf Laguz" alive. We found her sneaking around and took her with us. She doesn't fight though, she just helps with things around the camp and carrying supplies."
"Hey!" she excitedly said. "What if I train with Khimari, then you have to let me fight!"
"Absolutely not," Ranulf shot down. "You're too young, and you shouldn't even be here in the first place."
Khimari, however, had a different pattern of thought. "Hmm….should we try her out? If we throw her in with Rikari, she can get some serious training in and be ready for something, even if lower-classed missions and enemies," he reasoned. "That, and she's 11. Rikari's 12. Mist is 14. Rolf is 13. This war has already dragged youth in it, so it won't be crazy for one more, even though none of them should be involved at all…."
"Hm…" Ranulf thought, considering his son's points. "You think you can whip her into shape that quickly?"
"It'll be hell for her, but we'll see," the wolf said casually, making Ranulf suppress a snicker; he knew the wolf was being very literal with that description.
"Fine, she can train and join the troop."
"YAY!" she celebrated. "I can fight!"
"Come with me," Khimari motioned.
"Where are we going?" Akiza asked, confused.
"You thought this was fun and games? Well…it'll be fun for me. Training time!"
"Oh...okay!" the girl replied, her peppy personality returning again.
Poor soul didn't know the horrors that awaited her.
XXXXX
Two days later…
"It's time for us to meet up," Ike said. After continuing their march, the Crimean Army had arrived to the mountain range and was a simple hike away from the rendezvous with the Gallians, headed by King Caineghis himself. "Khimari, Titania, take a small unit and go ahead for recon. By the time you return, we should be well-prepared for whatever occasion we may be dealing with."
Nodding, the deputy commander and wolf both exited the tent to fulfill their duty. "Who do you suggest we bring for scouting, Khimari?" Titania asked the wolf.
"Hmm….Ulki and Janaff for sure," he started. "Volke if we can find-"
"Right here," the aforementioned assassin said, nearly making Khimari's fur jump off.
"...yeah…" he finished, done with the list after that event.
"Go get Ulki and Janaff. We'll wait for you here." Nodding, Khimari transformed and ran across camp, finding the two Phoenicians helping with Oscar and some other soldiers.
"Ulki, Janaff, come with me," the wolf directed. The two hawks shared a look at each other before they ultimately followed him back to where Titania and Volke stood, patiently waiting.
"To quickly reiterate, we have been given an assignment to go ahead of the main army and scout the terrain for enemies and the like." After that short briefing, the small group left the main army in order to complete their assigned task. For a long while, they found no trace of Daein, until they came to the foot of the mountain that they were supposed to climb. Staying out of their sight, the five of them saw many Daeins preparing for battle along the mountain path. "Janaff, Ulki, what can you gather from them?"
After a moment, the two hawks shared out. "They're readying...something. They're moving big rocks," Janaff informed.
"They only describe it as 'the traps,' Ulki continued. "They have something waiting for us."
"Understood. Let's take it back to Ike," Titania said. The group began their short hike back, quickly running into Ike at the head of the army, ready to leave at a moment's notice.
"Commander, the foes are encamped at the top of the rise," she relayed to Ike. "They have some sort of trap waiting for us…I wonder what it is…"
"Those boulders didn't get up there by themselves," the commander quickly noted as they arrived at where they did their scouting. "Are they seriously going to roll them down at us?"
"At first glance, it seems simplistic, but these narrow paths make avoiding the rocks near impossible," Soren noted. "I think it may be surprisingly effective, provided we get careless."
"So…"
"We run up the mountains as quick as possible and smash the enemy commander!" Ranulf said, imitating Ike. "Right?" Needless to say, Ike was shocked at the accuracy of what the blue cat said.
"Right…"
"When did you learn to speak 'Ike'?" Khimari asked.
"I know...Genius," the older blue Laguz responded, pointing to his head. "You've got a smart dad."
"That is the best course of action," Soren deduced. "Doing our best to avoid the boulders, we rush the enemy and defeat the general as fast as possible."
"Right. Move out!" Ike told the army. Advancing on the enemy, their welcoming committee came in the form of three feral cat Laguz accompanied by two berserkers. Taking the offensive, Khimari and Ike rushed them, the former tearing apart a cat with his claws before jumping on another, rolling along the path in a whirlwind of hisses and missing cat fur. Pinning the cat down, the wolf quickly provided a killing bite before leaping at an approaching berserker while Ike advanced to fight a sage.
Easily avoiding the Daein's axe swipe, Khimari wasted no time in embedding his claws into the man's abdomen, before ripping his midsection. Blood spewed out on the ground from the berserker, who fell to one knee before falling on the ground, dead. Running over to Ike, Khimari quickly noted a wyvern coming from higher on the mountain. "Who is that?" he asked the commander.
"We're about to see," Ike responded as the wyvern came to a flying stop in front of them.
"Heh, so you've made it this far, haven't you?" he noted obnoxiously. "Well, prepare to be sent down screaming!" To their surprise, a bolt of lightning shot at Khimari when he raised his axe.
"Oi, come down and fight like a man!" the wolf yowled.
"As you wish," the Daein said, rushing down on his wyvern to directly confront him.
Big mistake.
As soon as he was in striking distance, Khimari leaped, grabbing the enemy's leg and towing him off his wyvern. As soon as he got up on the ground, Ike and Khimari were upon him. He didn't last quickly afterwards, falling to a well-placed slash to the abdomen from Ike. With him down, the two continued their trek up the mountain, quickly getting to the top to see almost everyone else starting to come up as well.
"That was fast," the wolf muttered to himself. At the peak, Ranulf, Titania and Soren came over to them.
"This was the lot of them?" Ike asked.
"It looked like there were more soldiers from down there," the cat admitted. Just then, the father and son Laguz looked to a higher point at the sound of metal armor. A group of two Daein soldiers stood about to push down a GIANT boulder in their direction.
"EAT ROCK!" one shouted, before they moved to squash them with the rock. Before they could roll it down, however, they found themselves distracted by the screech of a hawk. The soldiers barely had time to look up before a familiar green hawk made quick work of them. Recognizing exactly who it was, Khimari broke into a happy mood.
"Need a hand?" Tibarn rhetorically asked as he descended down to where Ike and the others were.
"Tibarn! You came!" Reyson called, coming up to the Phoenician king. The Laguz gave a firm nod in response.
"Well met, Reyson. The same for all you as well, warriors of Crimea," he greeted.
"How did you come to be here?" Ike asked, knowing that he didn't send for the hawk king, not that he wasn't grateful for the extra assistance.
"I decided to help you out in wiping out Daein."
"I had petitioned Tibarn for support awhile ago," Reyson clarified. "We must defeat King Ashnard, and the more we have, the stronger we will be. Yes?" A nod from Ike confirmed his reasoning as valid.
"So that's it?" Khimari asked, having a sinking feeling that there was other information missing.
"It's true that Reyson requested aid," Tibarn started. "However, that's not the only reason I came here."
"What is it?" Reyson asked, clearly unaware of what the hawk king had to say. Khimari, on the other hand, had already suspected what had happened.
"I will tell all of you, but first, we shall meet with the king of lions. He awaits us at the foot of the mountain."
"Understood," Ike voiced, before turning to the rest of the army. "Everyone! Let's get off this peak and rest at the bottom."
XXXXX
Just as Tibarn stated, a Gallian unit headed by King Caineghis himself awaited them at the foot of the mountain. Khimari, who was at the front of the pack, saw Ike and a few others separating from the main group as they reached their destination. Looking over at Rikari and Tora, who had been next to him, he decided to walk over to where Ike and Soren had stopped.
"Are you all about to…"
"I'm about to tell them about Mom and Dad," Ike simply said, making Khimari's eyes harden. "Can you get Mist? I think this is a good time for her to hear." Nodding, he quickly found the brown-haired teen and motioned for her to join the three.
"What do you need?" she asked upon arriving.
"We're having a small meeting and you're part of it," Khimari quickly summarized in a tone that didn't invite questions. Not that they would have time anyway, since Tibarn, Elincia and Caineghis joined them almost immediately after the wolf finished speaking.
"This group contains the people who were at the heart of the last battle, correct?" the Gallian king inquired,
"Yes, it is," Elincia confirmed.
"And what of these two? They are children," Tibarn noted, looking at Soren and Mist.
"Children?" Soren echoed, trying his hardest not to return a scathing reply by what the wolf could see. Mist simply shrank back, intimidated by the hawk's commanding presence.
"This is Soren, my tactician," Ike started to explain. "And Mist is my sister. Before we begin the war council, there's a story I'd like to share with you all. It involves my parents...which is why I asked Mist to be here. I kept it from her, and now is as good as time as any for her to hear it."
"Understood," King Phoenicis nodded slowly. "Go on."
Closing his eyes momentarily, Ike took a deep breath before beginning. "It all starts when we meet Princess Elincia and escort her into the forests of Gallia. That night when we arrived, my father was murdered by the Black Knight, a rider of Daein in search of an object that turned out to be my sister's medallion. If not for King Gallia, I may have been dead as well. The medallion that Mist carried, it was special." Ike's gaze swept over everyone as he continued.
"It's affect drove whoever touched it insane. That's why one day, my father went insane when he touched it in an attempt to get it away from Ashnard. My mother stopped him by taking the medallion from his hand, as she was able to hold it without being affected. However, she...she died by my father's hand in the process." As soon as the words left his mouth, Mist gasped in horror and stumbled back. Khimari quickly embraced her, doing his best to keep her calm. "A while ago in Daein, Mist's medallion was stolen by Nasir, who turned out to be a Daein spy. And that is everything I know," he finished, stepping back.
"F-Father….H-h-how? Is tha-Mom…" Mist sobbed uncontrollably.
"Mist, do you want to leave?" Titania asked. Khimari let go of her as she started to breath slowly and wipe her face.
"No...I'm...I'm alright," she said, though mostly to herself. "Just a little confused."
"So that's the whole of it?" Caineghis muttered aloud.
"So this wasn't simply a dispute between Crimea and Daein…Something else has been at play the entire time."
"Correct. In stealing the medallion and intentionally starting a war in a way that would spread through the entire continent, Ashnard planned to release the Dark God from the medallion and destroy the world," Khimari finalized, making the Laguz royalty perk in shock.
"Hm... I fear that the world would once again be subject to catastrophic calamity, just as it was 800 years ago. All the other lands, save Tellius, drowned under the raging seas."
"That is a true story?" Elincia asked, confounded. "I thought of it as nothing more than a fairytale."
"We have living proof," Caineghis answered. "King Deghinsea of Goldoa was one of the three legendary heroes who worked to defeat the dark one."
"King Goldoa is one of the legendary three?" Elincia asked in disbelief. "But...he's still alive."
"The Black Dragon King is a living fossil, and more stubborn than anything alive," Tibarn bluntly put, making Khimari smirk as he remembered saying something similar about the king of the dragons. "He's been trying to control the rest of us for years, and is always saying the same thing. "Do not fan the flames of strife. As long as Lehran's medallion exists, never begin a war that engulfs the entire continent."
"Never begin a war…" Soren echoed. "It's possible...Maybe there is more than one way for the dark god to attain its freedom."
"There is," Khimari said, drawing all eyes to him.
"What do you speak of, wolf prince? I don't take kindly to pranks on matters this serious," Tibarn snapped. "No other way exists to our knowledge."
"Then perk those ears and keep your feathers down," Khimari bit back. "In Hatari, we learned that through a woman named Altina, the dark god could be released from its medallion. Seeing how Ashnard had planned multiple attempts at stealing the medallion, as well as how he had planned to kidnap a heron to achieve his goals, he had somehow gotten a redacted version of this information. However, without any connection to the woman Altina, then he can't achieve his goal. That wouldn't matter anyway since his fallback would be the war, which by technicality has officially drawn every nation except Goldoa into it."
"Even that is on shaky grounds, considering that Ashnard is doing everything possible in order to entice King Goldoa to war," he continued. "Both Nasir and Ena were working for Ashnard, but not willingly. That could be seen by how hesitant they were to fight, which meant that Ashnard had something over their heads. That connection, along with the fact that Daein had captured dragons and turned them into feral ones, means that he had been doing his hardest to specifically provoke Deghinsea into action while the rest of the continent had been none the wiser, drawing the continent into a war that expanded through all of Tellius. Ashnard's goal is destruction. Nothing more, nothing less."
A pregnant silence had followed the wolf's explanation. After a long while, King Caineghis let out a sigh of frustration and countenance.
"That means that our plan to attack the capital would lead right into his strategy, doesn't it? The battle would be the trigger he needed to unleash the dark god from its bonds."
"Well, it's too late to cancel our plans," Tibarn mentioned. "We're already too far in."
"Our best option is to get rid of Ashnard and bury Daein as quickly as possible," Ike said.
"Agreed," the lion conceded. "That is our best course of action."
"If only we had the medallion with us…" Reyson muttered.
"What is it, Reyson?" Tibarn caught. "Is there a way to avoid all this?"
"We, that is, the descendants of Lehran, have a gift...through our galdr, we can suppress the chaotic energies of the dark god in the medallion. Meaning, if a battle did occur, I may have been able to…"
"It's all my fault! I'm so sorry!" Mist cried out. "It's because of my carelessness the medallion was stolen in the first place."
"Mist! I told you it wasn't your fault, didn't I?" Ike said.
"But…"
"You were never careless, Mist. You always kept the medallion next to you at all times," Elincia soothed. "You said it was a keepsake of your mother, and you always took good care of it. Didn't you? That's why it's not your fault."
"Princess Elincia…"
"She's right," Ranulf chimed in. "Besides, the dark god could be released no matter where the medallion is, so it's nothing to worry about."
"Thank you…"
"Now, time for what I have to tell you...Reyson!" Tibarn said.
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry," he apologized, closing his eyes and surprising everyone.
"For what?"
"Leanne's been kidnapped. It may have been Daein's hand."
"Just as suspected…" Khimari whispered.
"But Ashnard can't open the medallion without Altina," Ike butted in.
"Ashnard doesn't know that," Reyson bluntly rejected.
"Things can't ever be clear and simple can it?" When no one gave Ranulf a response, the cat simply sighed in frustration. "What a mess…"
XXXXX
That night…
After the meeting at the foot of the mountain, everyone agreed to reconvene at a later time to finalize their next set of strategies and actions. That given, Khimari was currently in the tent he and his father shared alone. Once again, he thought of the Gritnea Tower as well as Nasir and Ena. If he had never seen any of this with his own eyes, he would never believe it. So many things were left unanswered, and the wolf was trapped in a web of confusion.
Soon enough, someone entered the tent. Khimari had expected it to be Ranulf, but was pleasantly surprised to see a petite archer in the form of Rolf. "I'm...I'm sorry for interrupting," he apologized.
"No worries, I was just sitting here," Khimari waved off. "What do you need?"
"Well...it's just…" Rolf's eyes went all over the tent as the boy seemed to do all he can to avoid the wolf's gaze.
"Rolf...what is it? Look at me," the wolf said. As the archer complied with the order, he sighed.
"Shinon...Can you please forgive him?" As soon as Rolf had finished the sentence, a small spark of anger lit up in the wolf's emotions. Quickly putting it back down, the wolf looked Rolf in the eyes, his dual-colored gaze making Rolf even more nervous.
"Why?"
"'I know he's not the nicest...but...please...I…"
"Rolf, whatever happened between us is between us. As much as it pains me to tell you this, we'll end up either fixing it or I'll finish what I started," the wolf bluntly said. "As for that….I may have been too harsh to Shinon lately...I'll try to be nicer...I guess…" After saying that, he rose to his feet and led Rolf out the tent.
"Where are you going?" the Beorc asked.
"Rikari's here, we're going out for a small lesson." Just as Rolf was about to ask where the orange wolf was, he appeared out of the mass of tents right in front of them.
"Okay, see you later."
"What happened?" Rikari asked, only to get his face slapped by a tail. "What was that for?"
"Being nosy. Now come on, it's getting late and they'll be done with the battle plans soon." The two wolves then fell into a comfortable silence as they walked out of camp, heading to a remote clearing where a small stream flowed through the small forest of trees.
"What are we doing today?"
"Nothing," the wolf said after a long period of time.
"What?" Rikari slightly yelled, surprised. "Why did you bring me all the way out here, then?"
"I had planned something, but I made a last-minute change. Go back to camp," Khimari told him.
"Wha? But...No, I wo-"
"Rikari, I am telling you to go back to camp. You have no choice but to listen," the prince growled, not inviting any argument in his tone. Stiffening, RIkari slowly nodded before turning around.
"Hn, so you would leave yourself alone again in the face of an enemy? How foolish," a voice came, making Rikari turn around to see a knight encased in all-black armor.
"I could say the same for you, Sir Knight," Khimari spat out sarcastically. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" he asked, getting ready to pounce.
"Calm, prince. I come not to fight, but to give a message to the birth son of Gawain. Do not be so hasty, your fur will yet stay on your body."
"Out with it."
"Tell him that I look forward to our contest," the knight vaguely said. "And that he-"
"Why did you kill Greil?" Khimari interrupted. "Answer me."
"...A test of strength," he answered after a somewhat brief pause.
"Then you'd know he crippled himself and wasn't at his full glory," Khimari growled. "You killed Greil for no reason."
"Is that...so?" the Knight said in what sounded like the slightest hint of surprise.
"So what now? You leaving or can I finally rip that cursed helmet off your head?" the wolf snarled, his fur expanding to about twice its size.
"You'd have your apprentice watch your death? Now is not the time. I have other matters to attend to. However, I will arrive at Castle Nados on the eve of tomorrow if you then still want to lose your life." With that, the knight suddenly glowed a bright white light before disappearing.
"Hmph," Khimari growled, before turning around to Rikari. "Rikari."
"...Yes?"
"Never tell a word of this to anyone, understand?" the blue wolf said, shocking the little wolf.
"What? But that's like...really important!"
"Hardly, that's probably a means to throw Ike off his head, even if it wasn't ordered by the king," he explained. "Just don't ever say a word of what happened, got it?" Quietly, Rikari nodded. "I will warn whoever attacks Castle Nados of the knight's arrival, but besides that, I don't want a peep of this encounter to be known to anyone. It's...better that way," Khimari sighed, feeling a lot older than he actually was. Was this why people of power got gray hair faster?
XXXXX
The next morning...
"Are you leaving now?" Ike asked Tibarn as the two with a couple others stood a little ways outside the cleaned-up campsite.
"Yup," the hawk king answered. "We're going to do some reconnaissance and tease those Daeins a little bit," he expounded with a smirk.
"Good luck," the Beorc responded. At that, the green Bird Laguz gave a hearty laugh.
"Ha! You don't need luck when you're as tough as me!" Reyson came up in that moment, looking slightly cautious as he approached everyone else.
"Tibarn...about-"
"Reyson...no," the king stopped, already aware of the topic being discussed. "I truly am sorry. Leanne's kidnapping was completely my fault."
"It's not your fault," the heron denied. "Please don't apologize. I know Leanne is alive," he revealed, making Ike raise an eyebrow in curiosity. "The battlefield is filled with chaotic energy...but I can still sense her...Even if faint, I know it's Leanne."
"All the more reason to finish this hurry," Tibarn declared. "Even if there are other ways of finishing this, crushing Daein would surely be the fastest."
"Agreed," the white-winged bird nodded.
"Reyson," Ike spoke up. "Is this mysterious power that you can sense Leanne with only accessible to heron Laguz?"
"It's not something hawks possess, I tell you!" Tibarn laughed. "That's a certainty."
"Actually, that's not true," Reyson shot down, making a certain wolf gain a smirk on his face. "The power may differ in potency between us, but all Laguz possess it to some degree."
"Ah...so mine simply isn't developed enough, is it?" At that, Reyson rolled his eyes in a good-natured way.
"The distribution...goes something like this. Among the birds, the herons possess it the strongest. In terms of beast Laguz, I've heard that it's most developed in cat clans, though I can't be for certain considering no one really knows about the extent wolves have it," he said, giving a pointed look at the wolf prince who was listening intently next to Ike with a content expression. "As for the dragon tribes...It's said they may be equal to, or even greater in strength of herons with their power."
"Do you know, Khimari?" Ike asked his adopted brother. "How much is this manifested in the wolf tribe?"
"...Trade secret," he said, closing his green eye and giving a toothy grin. Of course he knew; wolves had that on par with dragons. Unlike the scaled ones, however, the power was only fully realized on lunar events like full moons or blood moons. On a regular day though, it's still stronger than the cat tribe.
"Pah! The wolves still secretive of themselves like always," Tibarn noted. "Even when they were around, no one could get a lick out of them. Their protection of information made Goldoa seem hospitable."
"Gotta keep the legacy going," the prince jokingly prodded, his smile getting a bit wider.
"Well, enough pleasantries. It's time for my men to take wing," Tibarn declared.
"See you later, then," Ike said.
"May the fortune of war be upon you," Reyson added.
"And to you, too. Don't do anything too dangerous." With that, the hawk king went over to his group to do final sorts and depart. Unknown to most, however, a certain wolf slipped off in the hectic preparation phase and caught up with the hawk king alone.
"Hey, Tibarn," Khimari called.
"Yes?"
"If you see a knight encased in all black armor, be careful," he warned. "That's a tough cookie."
"Noted," Tibarn nodded. Khimari's expression then changed to a rather wild smile.
"Now go make hell." With a hearty laugh, the two separated, with the wolf returning with the larger force who readied themselves for likely the largest battle yet.
XXXXX
A little later…
Shortly after Tibarn's forces left, the main part of the army departed for Fort Pinell, where they were to claim the base and chase out the Daeins. Khimari found himself walking with Tora and Maurim, closely followed by the younger members of the army who they had taken upon themselves to watch. "Wonder how much longer," the prince muttered.
"Not much more, I heard from around," Tora responded. "How many Daeins do you think there'll be?"
"I heard it wasn't too many, but we never know," Khimari answered. "All we can do is be ready."
"Are you familiar with this land, Khimari?" Maurim then asked.
"Not too much...I do know that this place is rather close to the capital, though...If we capture this place, it's basically on the doorstep of our final battle."
"Hmm…" Without any more topics of discussion, the conversation quickly died down, leaving only a small silence before their arrival at the battlefield.
Soon enough, they arrived to see something a little unexpected. Across the large field awaited dozens of Daein soldiers, if not more. This clearly outsized all the expectations of the enemy numbers that they heard. "Huh...big crowd," the wolf said, honestly impressed.
"You don't say…" a voice introduced itself. Turning slightly, he saw Ranulf coming over from further along in the group. "Are you ready, Khimari?" he asked, though in a...different sort of tone.
"Of course, what kind of question is that?" the wolf scoffed. Ranulf's expression loosened a bit, allowing a smirk to find itself on the blue cat's face.
"Beautiful. We're going to go around and handle the troops there before advancing with the rest of the army to the castle proper," he explained. "Now, we just await Ike's ca-"
"Everybody, let's go!" Ike's voice boomed out among the army, giving the signal to go. Instantly, Khimari motioned for the Gallian cat to take point, which he did. The two, along with Tora, Maurim, Rikari and Tormod, went along to the west where a small unit of swordmasters first stood in their way. Slowing their pace, they let Tormod begin the attack with a strong meteor spell. A chaotic blast of fire hit all three of them, giving a large opening for the Laguz to attack. While Khimari and Ranulf each took on a swordmaster by themselves, Tora and Maurim fought the last one. Quickly finishing them off, they joined with the younger ones, who had just beaten a feral cat laguz.
"Are you alright?" Maurim asked Rikari and Tora. Both of them nodded in response.
"Good, we have more company," Khimari growled, motioning towards a batch of armored generals and halberdiers rapidly advancing on them. "Tormod, stay back for this one. Tora, stay with him just in case something goes haywire," he ordered. Nodding, the red wolf and the Beorc moved slightly back to a safer distance for the little mage. With a snarl, the prince jumped on a halberdier, tackling him to the ground and delivering a quick bite to the neck. Before he could attack another target, however, he heard a growl to the left. Turning to see a feral tiger pouncing at him, Khimari immediately rolled towards the tiger, going under it. Getting back up, he jumped on the tiger's back, slashing at its sides. Hearing another growl, he looked over to see another tiger stalking closer to him.
Narrowing eyes, Khimari struck down on the first tiger, snapping his neck with a strong bite. He instantly turned to face the tiger who had went into a full sprint towards him. Giving a piercing howl, Khimari ran forwards as well, the two colliding in a brutal brawl.
Pinning the tiger on his back, the wolf slashed his underbelly before killing the feral with a well-placed bite to the neck. Looking back, he saw his dad dealing with a bishop, and the others struggling against some wyvern lords that had came as backup. Rushing over to the four, Khimari howled, drawing their attention to him.
"Hey! That's the one who escaped from Ashnard!" one of them shouted aloud. Before any of the others could respond, however, a powerful fire spell knocked him off his wyvern, killing him before he could even hit the ground. After that, the other two wyvern riders found themselves assaulted by two hawk Laguz and were sent to a swift end like their fallen comrade.
"Good timing!" Khimari shouted to Ulki and Janaff, getting a loud caw from the latter. Looking across the gigantic battlefield, the wolf saw the Daeins getting overpowered, slowly but surely. Bolstered by the tides on their side, he made his way closer to the castle, where he could see Ike and a couple others fighting their way to the castle. Turning back, the wolf prince saw the rest of the small ragtag group behind him. "Go help out Ike!" he told them.
"Where are you going?" Rikari asked.
"To finish this." Without saying another word, he went off, stalking around the clear side of the battlefield towards the castle. Unfortunately, his path was blocked by a feral tiger who couldn't resist rushing at him. Not caring much for wasting time at the moment, Khimari crashed into the tiger and ripped his belly open from almost top to bottom with a strike of deadly precision. Although the feral tried to stand, it bled out within seconds and fell back to the ground, dead. Moving forward, Khimari eventually found himself looking at the one name Bertram. As enigmatic as the Black Knight, stories told of him being not even a real man, but a spirit possessing the armor that concealed its form-or lack of one.
Now, Khimari didn't believe that drivel, but he knew that if people said such things about him, the Rider was a pretty tough opponent. "Hey!" he barked, getting the man's attention. "I'm your opponent!" Strangely enough, the man said nothing, only releasing the sound of a...growl? He sounded like a feral if Khimari didn't know better. However, after a few moments, he lifted his sword, a runesword, up in Khimari's direction and said something in a voice that honestly creeped the blue wolf to the bone.
"I...will eat...you...soul…" he gargled, it coming out as demonic and….not human.
"You're...not...eating me…" he weakly replied, a little (lot) freaked out. Starting the battle, Bertram raised his sword again, this time a small veil of light appearing around the wolf. Thinking quickly, the wolf ducked to the side before running to the Daein elite general. Pouncing, he aimed at the man's arm, succeeding in disarming the general with a powerful bite to the arm. The Daein then gave a disembodied scream that stopped Khimari in his tracks.
His breathing started to quicken when he found himself in Gritnea Tower, held captive while all of the imprisoned Laguz howled in unspeakable agony and anguish. He could imagine everything: the screams, the smell of blood and rotting corpses, the crashing of chains against the cell bars and the dark blood-stained walls. He was paralyzed as he saw the mad scientist in front of him with a needle, getting ready to inject him. "Stay away!" he growled, slowly walking back.
"KHIMARI!" Next thing the wolf knew, someone was heavily shaking him, almost to the ground. Snapping out of his episode, he saw Ranulf in front of him with eyes of extreme concern and worry. "What happened to you?"
"The...chains...prison...blood...screams…" the wolf said incoherently, doing his best to get his head on straight. "Where's...the Daeins?"
"We've captured the base. The leftover soldiers are all fleeing and we don't have to give chase. Now, we wait for Tibarn to come back with hopefully some good news."
"Everyone else?"
"They're moving into the castle," he said, motioning to the many soldiers going inside. Looking over, Khimari saw that the cat told the truth. "Come on, you need to get some rest." Rather than protesting as he usually would, the wolf simply nodded and followed the Gallian cat into the castle, hoping that a good rest would relieve him of those memories.
….However impossible it may be.
XXXXX
A/N: AND THAT'S A WRAP! Now, not updating for almost a YEAR is just….sad...like...really sad...I really let a whole bunch of folk down...Not no more, Is say! Granted, with everything being so out of whack and hectic in my life (senior year and yadda yadda), it's less about me getting ideas about writing, but actually having ample time to do it. Literally half of this chapter has been written since April and I just finished this week basically the second half. Maybe when a school break comes, I can update more, especially since I have so many ideas for this story I need to get to!
Rants….aside, I hope all of you enjoyed it! Remember to comment, like, fave and all that fun stuff, and I'll see you later...soon….when I can.
Blizzard, out!