Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem or anything associated with it.
A/N: Hmmm….I can't do math anymore.
XXXXX
Last time on Blue Wolf…
"I hope you don't mind if we take you in for questioning," the soldier said, making Khimari get even more irritated.
"Questioning about what?" the wolf echoed, irritation clearly showing in his voice.
"You're under arrest. We're going to have to send you to prison to see the general. Then he'll decide if you're truly random travelers or those renegade freedom fighters we've been searching for."
XXXXX
That night…
After getting rounded up like a bunch of criminals, Khimari and Kurthnaga had both been taken under Begnion custody. Currently, they had been in the back of a transport horse to a prison. "How in the heck does this even happen? We come to find some people and get thrown in prison? I mean...Ugh…" Khimari ranted.
"How...will we get out?" Kurthnaga said, clearly not comfortable with the rope around his hands. "This doesn't feel that good."
"They tied it pretty tight," the wolf noted. "Any tighter and your hands may have gone numb...Welp, I guess we'll just have to act nice for now. Not like we have much of a choice." Just then, the horse stopped, meaning that they must have arrived at their location.
"Get out!" a Begnion soldier yelled. Ignoring the urge to rip his head off and potentially cause an international incident, Khimari quietly complied with the demand, letting Kurthnaga walk in first. "Follow us." Without much of a choice in the matter, the two let the soldiers walk them into the prison, stopping at a cell with some people already in there. Taking out the keys, he unlocked the door. "Get in."
"Sure, Your Majesty," Khimari said sarcastically. As a reward for his comment, he was pushed when he was walking into the cell. "Hey, watch it!" he warned.
"Please. What can you do?" he rebutted condescendingly as he locked the cell door back. He then left them alone, with their hands still roped up.
Huffing loudly, Khimari quickly turned to the others in the cell for help with the rope. "Hey, can you help get these off…" His eyes widened when he realized who was sharing a cell with them. "...Aimee? Ilyana? Are all of you here?"
"Khimari!?" Aimee quietly/not so quietly screamed. "What are you doing here?" she asked as she and Muston helped with the ropes.
"That's something I'd like to know myself," he bitterly responded. "We'd been simply traveling through, and those dumb soldiers thought we were freaking criminals or something. They just told us we were arrested and brought us here...What's your story?"
"We had been traveling again, like we had always been. We were on our way to the market a few towns over and we were stopped by Begnion officials. They threw us in here and told us we had to wait on the "General's worlds," whatever that means," the merchant woman revealed, before noticing Kurthnaga in the corner. "Who's your friend?"
"Oh, this is Kurth…" he said, stopping himself before he accidentally said the dragon prince's full name. "He's an old friend of mine. He doesn't really talk much." Now that all eyes were on him, he nervously waved his hand as a greeting. Seeing how uncomfortable he was, they left him alone. "Where's the rest of your group?"
"We were separated," Ilyana replied this time. "We were...taken away…"
"Are you alright? You look like you haven't eaten much," Khimari commented, knowing that the girl had to eat constantly to stay healthy. It looks like her appetite hasn't diminished in the slightest bit.
"No...I haven't...They only serve one serving of food per meal...and the food is...horrible."
"It's something I wouldn't even throw out for the wolves to eat!" Aimee added, before Khimari cleared his throat and gave her a sideways look. Realizing what she said, she gave a quick "whoops" and adopted an embarrassed look on her face.
"How long have you all been here?" he asked, already past the comment just made.
"Almost a week, I'd guess. Some of the other people have been here for months though, or shipped off to a labor camp to work until their backs break."
"Labor camps? Begnion is doing all this to Daeins?" Khimari said in shock. He would imagine that the losing country in a war wouldn't exactly be sunshine and rainbows, but he would have never in his life imagined people basically getting picked off the street like they were and thrown in jail. Even worse, some people had been put to work against their will...basically enslaved to the Begnion nation.
"Does Apostle Sanaki know nothing about this?" he said, narrowing his eyes. "I doubt she would let anything like this go without lifting a finger."
"I doubt she is even aware of the situation," Aimee sighed. "Begnion is being supervised by one of Begnion's senators. As long as they keep things quiet on this end, she wouldn't have a suspicion in the world about their actions or what atrocities they've committed here." In response, Khimari growled in disgust, his eyes turning into slits. Those twice damned senators had always managed to make something go from bad to worse.
Recognizing that he really couldn't do anything at the moment, he just sighed and sat down inside of the cell. "This mess better fix itself up quick…"
"I hope so…" Aimee agreed. They passed the rest of the night in the silence of their prison cell.
XXXXX
Two days later…
Oh yeah, Khimari was pissed. And whenever he got out, there would be hell to pay.
As Ilyana said the night he and Kurthnaga got there, the food was downright crap they picked up from some garbage can. Not only that, they barely had any time outside of their cell and treated all of them like rats that needed to be exterminated. Their best option for using a bathroom was to go during their 'outside hours' or deal with the smell of urine in their cell.
As much as it pained the wolf to admit it, he had better treatment as being Ashnard's prisoner. These people were just downright abusing human rights here! And this had been going on for how long, now? 'This is a mess,' Khimari thought to himself as he just got awarded a giant helping of slop for lunch. Sitting with Kurthnaga, Ilyana and Aimee, the four started to shove the horrible food down their throat.
"I'd kill for real food right now…" the wolf commented.
"Who are you telling?" Aimee returned, talking low so the Begnion soldiers wouldn't overhear their conversation. Khimari sighed again before seeing Ilyana already finished with her food and shivering, most likely from lack of food. Taking his fork out of the...invention, he gave his plate to the thunder mage.
"Even if it is horrible, you need to eat." Following the wolf's example, both Kurthnaga and Aimee gave Ilyana the rest of their food so she could keep her strength up. Before long, it was already the end of lunch.
"Back to your cells, maggots!" one of the wardens called. Huffing loudly, the wolf begrudgingly followed the order, walking with the others back to their cell.
When they arrived, Ilyana went straight to sleep. "Wow, that was faster than Ike could ever fall asleep," Khimari noted, before he started to get a little antsy from all this time inside a prison cell. It was bringing back memories he would much rather never have to go back through again. 'Maybe I should try to go to sleep like Ilyana…' he pondered.
Eventually coming to a consensus that a nap couldn't hurt, Khimari tried to get a nap in before the jingle of keys caught his attention, as well as everyone else. After a few moments, a Begnion soldier ended up in front of their cell, with two more girls bound by ropes. One was a fair-skinned girl with silver hair and a red outfit with black pants, while the other was black-haired with a rather plain dress on. "Enjoy your stay, girly," he said as he put them in and locked the cell behind them. He then left to go terrorize someone else, Khimari supposed.
He really didn't have any intention of talking to them at the moment, but a strong smell hit his nose after a few moments. Looking over, he noticed the silver-haired girl had blood on her arm. "Um, you see that you're bleeding, right?" he said. "Not a medic, but ya might want to do something about that."
"What? Oh...I...never noticed it. I was so distracted, I didn't see it," she said, looking down.
"Hmm...Unfortunately, we don't have any sort of healing materials or vulneraries here in this trash heap," Aime put in. "Here...try putting this cloth around it," she said, holding it out. The girl took it and quickly wrapped it around after Khimari got the ropes off of the two girls.
"Thank you...I don't think we introduced each other, yet. My name is Micaiah," she said to the group.
"I'm Aimee," the merchant girl replied. "I've been the lucky guest here for a little while. On behalf of me and my sleeping friend Ilyana," she said, motioning over to the sleeping mage, "it's nice to meet you."
"I'm Khimari, and this is Kurth," the wolf introduced, since it couldn't hurt for the girl to know who they were. "How'd you get in here?"
"We were...dragged in here," she said simply. "They didn't really give us much of a choice...How about you four?"
"Those two had it about just as rough as you, but I wish I knew why they threw us in here!" Aimee said, finally glad she had someone else that she could complain to. "We're a part of a merchant caravan that was passing through en route to a market for the next day, and then these soldiers decided to bring us here against our will. Now, we're just stuck here waiting for whatever the "General" has in store for us."
"Hm...That has to be very unfortunate," the black-haired girl said.
Just then, Kurthnaga decided to talk openly. "Um...Here," he offered, pulling some olivi grass out of his cloak that he kept for emergencies. "You can use this...to heal your wound. It's an olivi grass infusion."
"Olivi Grass?" Aimee echoed as Micaiah walked over to take it. "I've never heard of it. Are you sure it's safe?"
"Yup, it'll fix her right up," Khimari responded.
"Thank you," the bleeding girl said to Kurthnaga. "I'll try it."
"Aren't you a trusting one," the pink-garbed woman said. "Trusting medicine a stranger gave you?" In response, Michaiah nodded as she put the infusion onto her wounds.
"I am. I'm sure it will work," she said confidently, before Khimari's ear twitched.
"Someone's coming," he said, getting up. Interested, everyone else rose to their feet as Aimee woke Ilyana up. A few seconds later, a piece of the ceiling fell onto the ground and someone jumped down. When the person turned around, Khimari would be lying if he said he wasn't shocked.
It was a very familiar someone; a green haired boy who had gotten a VERY big growth spurt over the last three years. He wore a white scarf with a brown sleeveless shirt and some off-white pants. "There you are," he said as he quickly picked the prison lock.
"Sothe!" Micaiah called in glee, basically confirming what the wolf already knew. It was Sothe from the Mad King's War...That kid wasn't so little anymore. Right behind the teenage thief was a little red-orange bird. "Yune! You're alright, too! I'm so glad." For a split second, Khimari almost shouted in surprise when he heard the name of that bird. That was DEFINITELY something that he would look into when he got out of this hellish prison.
Deciding to be anonymous for now, he pulled his cloak up even further so the boy couldn't clearly see his face. He did, see Aimee, however, and gave her a quick wave.
"You've certainly grown up," she returned. "You've really became quite a sight for the eyes. And to think I'd end up being the one smitten."
"You two know each other?" Micaiah asked, making Khimari grin with mirth when he heard a tone of jealousy enter her voice.
"Somewhat, we crossed paths during the war," he answered, though the wolf knew it was more than a 'somewhat.' "Anyways, let's get out before the guards come. I'll open the door so we can get out."
"Let us come with you," Khimari said quickly and quietly to the silver-haired girl. She looked at him for a moment, before nodding and running with Sothe. Looking back to Kurthnaga, he motioned for the dragon to come with him. Following Sothe and Micaiah, they were pleased to quickly find sunlight once again.
As soon as they exited the prison walls, two other people, a boy with brown hair and a red shirt, and an older man with brown hair, met up with them. Judging by Micaiah's expression of happiness, they were also aiding their escape. "Sothe! This way!" the man said. As he said it, another boy who seemed to be watching from the rear came up to the rest of the group. He was a blonde archer.
"Nolan! Edward! Leonardo! It's so good to see you all."
"How did you get back here without my help?" Sothe questioned, his eyes narrowed.
"Strangely, one of the Begnion soldiers led us through the backway," the man replied.
"A Begnion soldier?" the silver-haired girl echoed.
"Yeah," the young brown-haired kid said. "He said 'If you're here to save Laura, follow me.'"
Just then, Khimari heard something that he didn't like. "There are soldiers coming. We need to get ready to fight." Everyone else looked at him crazy until someone in Begnion in armor started to yell.
"The prisoners are escaping! Surround them!" one of them said. Before they knew it, what looked like the entire prison detail came out around them.
"Huh, surprise, surprise. We got found out," Micaiah commented bitterly.
"Here, I got this for you," Sothe said, handing her a light tome.
"My tome! How'd you get this?"
"I borrowed a few things from the armory," he said. In that moment, Khimari knew that his teachings were remembered after all this time and had a great feeling of pride in his chest. "Here's a staff for you, Sister," the green-head continued, quickly handing the other girl a Heal staff.
"Can you...give me that tome?" Ilyana asked, pointing to a Thunder tome still in Sothe's hand. "I can fight with it."
"I didn't know you used light magic, too, Ilyana," the teen remarked as he passed her the tome. Looking around, he found that the brown-haired kid had an extra sword on him.
"Hey, can I use one of your swords? I'll give it back after we bust free," he asked.
"Hm? Oh, yeah...Here ya go!" he said, throwing him one of the swords. Quickly opening it up, he found it to be a Steel Sword.
"Perfect," the wolf whispered as he put the sheathe around his cloak. Turning back to the conversation at hand, it seemed like Micaiah and Ilyana were having a moment.
"Are you...sure you can fight like this? You look a little...woozy," the silver-haired girl said. In response, Ilyana looked at her with a fiery rage in her eyes.
"Yes, I will fight...The food was horrible there….And they barely gave us any at all...I will have vengeance…" she declared, making Khimari want to laugh his tail off at the moment.
"Wow. She takes her food really seriously...Interesting…"
"It's nice to see that Ilyana is still as hungry as ever."
"Hm, the boy and I will stay back," Aimee announced. "We can't fight, so we'll tiptoe around the battlefield while you're all clearing it out!"
"Let's get to it, then!" the little brown-haired kid said excitedly before rushing head-first towards the soldiers. Amazed by the lack of brains on this kid, Khimari took it on himself to make sure that he didn't get himself killed. Seeing him start a fight with an enemy myrmidon, Khimari decided to handle the two soldiers and the archer trying to tip the scales in their favor.
Running up to them, he parried one of the lance strikes and killed the soldier with a slash on his neck, before jumping back to avoid an arrow. Deciding that the archer was more important to get rid of, he ran forward, stabbing him in the stomach before he could shoot another arrow at him. Turning back around, he quickly sidestepped another thrust and cut the final soldier's arm. While he was busy hissing in pain, Khimari moved in to finish him with another slash across his throat. Looking back towards the brown-haired kid, his expression turned to alarm when he noticed that a second myrmidon was sneaking up on him as he just finished the first one off.
"Watch your back!" the wolf yelled as he rushed past the boy, quickly disarming the Begnion soldier and killing him with a diagonal slash from his shoulder to his waist. Turning back, he slapped the young kid on the head. "Kid...Always pay attention to your surroundings, or you'll end up dead."
"My name's Edward!" he said indignantly before sighing in defeat at Khimari's unchanging expression. "And okay…"
"Come on, we should regroup with the others," the wolf said, taking point. With Edward, they quickly caught up with Sothe and the others, already near the exit into the forest. The only thing that seemed to be left blocking their path was the commander of the prison guards, a sword horseman.
"Before the might of the Begnion Empire, I will crush you like the dirty lowlifes you are!" he howled, before swiping with his sword. A gust of wind shot out of it, pushing Micaiah back quite a bit. In response, the girl simply chanted before throwing her hand in his direction. Out of seemingly nowhere, a giant ball of light formed above the horseman, before crashing into him and quite literally exploding. When the light died down, he found the man quickly dying.
"Even...if you run...There is no...place for you to go…" he said before he croaked on top of his horse. That level of magic seriously impressed the wolf. It may even compare to Soren's level…
...Nah, maybe another day.
"Let's go!" Micaiah yelled. Without needing to be told twice, Khimari made sure that Kurth was close before joining the others in full sprint away from the prison. After a short while, they stopped to catch their breath when they deemed it a safe distance away. "We...made it," she said, breathing a little heavily.
"Thankfully...Now we just have to get back to our caravan…" Aimee noted.
"Hey...What was your name again?" Khimari said, pointing to Micaiah. He already knew her name, but he just felt like the situation needed a bit less drama.
"Me? I'm Micaiah," she repeated.
"Hm...That's where I remember the name!" he continued, pretending as if he had an "ah-ha" moment. "I'm supposed to kill you." After he said those words, the entire atmosphere changed. Micaiah and everyone around her tensed, and Aimee, Kurthnaga and Ilyana looked at him in disbelief.
"Micaiah! Get back!" Sothe said, coming in front of her.
"Be careful!" Edward warned. "He's really good with a sword!"
"Come and show me how much you know, kiddo," the wolf challenged. Thankfully, Sothe took the bait and rushed him. Smiling, he jumped back, avoiding the first swipe of Sothe's knife before swinging his sword horizontally. The rogue mirrored his action from before, jumping back to avoid the attack before jumping forward to attack. This time, though, things would be a little different.
Throwing the sword to the side, Khimari jumped straight in, grabbing Sothe's arm. Without giving the teenager any time to react, he twisted it, making him drop his dagger. He then kicked Sothe's feet out from under him, sending him to the ground. He got up as quickly as he fell, with the other group members surrounding him, ready to attack.
"Wow, you've grown a lot, Sothe. You've gotten way better since I last saw you. Bigger, too."
"I don't know you...But you aren't getting to Micaiah," he resolved, pulling out another knife.
"Oh, please, I'm not killing that girl," Khimari revealed off-handedly, going up to his cloak. "But I'm definitely thinking about killing you for not remembering me!" he finished as he took it off.
Under the cloak revealed a blue-haired young adult with a blue tail and two different colored eyes, one blue and the other green. He wore a dark green shirt with blue pants, as well as an orange handkerchief on his left arm.
"Wha- You!? What are you doing here!?" Sothe said in complete shock.
"Sothe...You know him?" Micaiah asked.
"Yes, he does, but that conversation can wait until they reunite with the caravan," the wolf answered, before transforming. "We should find them before the sun sets all the way. I still remember their scent. Just follow me!" he said, a gruffer voice coming out. While some listened, Micaiah and most of her group were still in a stupor over what just happened.
"Sothe, tell those funny-looking kids you're looking after to get a move on!" the wolf snapped.
"Uh...Yeah, come on, everyone! We can trust him." After Sothe's vote of confidence, the rest of them fell in line. Going further through the forest, Khimari went to the right, picking up a little bit of speed as he recognized Muston's scent more and more.
"We're close," he said. After a few more minutes, they all made it to a clearing and a campfire where Muston, as well as two men who looked very closely alike were waiting.
"Well, look here! Aimee and Ilyana are back!" Muston shouted. As the caravan reunited, the group now turned back to the matter on hand, that being Khimari.
"Okay, I'm confused...So you're not an enemy?" Edward asked.
"No, he's not," Sothe answered. "We served together in the war. He's also a hopeless prankster…"
"Hold on," Micaiah interrupted. "So threatening to kill me and attacking Sothe was all a prank?"
"Yup, it surely was!" the wolf confirmed. "If it was real, all of you would be dead right now."
"He...can't be serious," the blonde archer, Leonardo, commented dryly.
"Unfortunately, he's telling the truth. He was a great part of our victory along with Ike and the others."
"Oh, there you go on about him again," Micaiah groaned, making Khimari smirk a little bit.
"You don't like Ike?"
"I can't say I'm as fond of him as Sothe is," she said, rolling her eyes. "Are you going to start praising the ground he walks on as well, Khimari?" At that question, the Laguz let out a laugh.
"Oh, stop! That was hilarious!" he said. "Ike is a complete knucklehead. Granted, I'm his brother, so I can say that." For the second time today, everyone who didn't know Khimari looked at him like he was crazy. "Not biologically, of course. If you haven't noticed, Ike does not have a tail."
"Wait...How do you know how to use a sword? I thought sub-humans didn't use weapons," Edward commented. Before Sothe could warn him about what he just said, Khimari beat him to it.
"What did you just call me?" he asked calmly, walking up to the sword user. He gave a small smile before flicking the kid on the forehead.
"Ow!"
"A Laguz is what I'm called. A wolf, to be specific. We are divided into beasts, birds and dragons. We live, breathe, eat meat, die and have souls, just like you. Call me sub-human again and you'll regret it," he said.
"O-Okay…" Edward said, not exactly trusting himself to speak. Fortunately for the brown-haired boy, Aimee came back over to the rest of the group to tell them something.
"Thank you all so much!" she exclaimed, drawing all attention to her. "Because of your bravery, I've been able to rejoin with my merchant caravan...Even still," she continued, taking on a much more somber tone, "coming back to Nevassa, I was stunned at seeing the current state of things. Who would have thought that Begnion would rule with such an iron fist? They run the place with such cruelty, taking everything from your citizens and sending men to prison-labor camps. It breaks my heart."
"They make me MISS Ashnard, as insane as he was!" Jorge, the blonde twins, said. "I never thought I would say that...At least he never tried to destroy Crimea as a country!" Although that statement slightly unnerved Khimari, the wolf decided to stay quiet for now.
"What makes you say that?" Micaiah asked, not fully understanding what the twin said.
"People make a country," the brown-haired twin, Daniel, responded this time. A single person-even a noble or a king-doesn't make an entire country. And a strong country exists only when it's people are strong."
"That means, when you destroy the will of the citizens, you slowly kill the nation," the wolf finished, breaking his silence.
"Well...What should we do, then!?" the silver-haired girl asked, getting a little flustered. "How can we save Daein?"
"Well…" Jorge started, hesitant to say something. "There is a rumor...If it turns out to be true, there could be some hope."
"Jorge, don't go off spouting rumors about anything!" Muston scold.
"No, I want to know!" Micaiah insisted. Khimari wanted to know, as well, so he kept his ears especially open. "If it's only a tiny shred of hope, tell me." Seeing how she wanted to know so badly, Jorge sighed.
"The rumor...is that King Ashnard left behind a son." The entire group, minus Kurthnaga, gave a cry of surprise at the news.
"Really!?"
"King Ashnard had a son!?" Sothe echoed. "How come I have never heard of this?"
"It's just a rumor, nothing more," Daniel defended, trying to diffuse the information. "But...if it were true, it would be a great strike of luck for Daein."
"In the last war, Crimea used a royal figure to unify her people and drive a liberation army to free itself. So could Daein," Jorge argued.
"Where would this...orphan be?" the older man, Nolan, questioned as he rubbed his goatee.
"According to rumor, he's to the east, by the Desert of Death," Jorge responded. As soon as the location left his mouth, Khimari and Kurthnaga shared a look with each other. "They say he's trying to raise up an army to lay claim to the throne. Shall we go with you?" A long silence followed his question.
"Micaiah...What do you think?" Sothe asked her. Breathing deeply, she closed her eyes as she looked to be preparing a response.
"...In the desert...an important encounter awaits us. It will be the one that changes the shape of our future," she said in a very fortune-teller like way.
"Well, that's it, then. We must go to the desert to meet our destiny."
"Khimari," Sothe called, turning the attention to the wolf. "Are you coming with us?"
"...It seems that way," the wolf affirmed. "It just so happens I was headed that way to begin with."
"It seems like the Dawn Brigade ever expands," Nolan said, confusing the Laguz.
"Dawn Brigade? Is that what all of you are?"
"Yeah, we're a little group that fights Begnion on every front to try and give the citizens some sort of protection," Edward answered.
"A little group fighting against a whole nation of forces…" the wolf murmured, a small smirk coming to his face as he reminisced about three years ago. "You sound a lot like Ike and the rest of the Greil Mercenaries," he noted.
"How so?" Micaiah pressed, not pleased with being compared with Ike.
"Well, before the Crimean Liberation Army was even a thing, it was just us, a small mercenary group tasked with protecting Princess Elincia, against all of Daein's forces. We were really by ourselves until Gallia decided to help out. It really just snowballed from there," he explained.
"Greil...Mercenaries? I thought this Ike person was a Crimean noble," Leonardo said. Not believing what he just heard, he turned to the green-haired teen with whom he fought in the war.
"Did you not teach these people anything, Sothe?" Khimari scolded, before rolling his eyes. "Ike wasn't a noble at all...Even when he was named a noble, he hated the name. He was a mercenary commander...Still is."
"Still don't like him," Edward muttered, looking towards the ground. "He didn't have to invade Daein."
"Actually, we did," the wolf rebutted, inviting the Dawn Brigade to come to the campfire. "From what we knew at the time, Ashnard was still in Nevassa, the capital. Our plan was to kill him and the war as soon as possible. It wasn't until Ike and the rest of the army arrived that they knew he was still in Crimea."
"But all of the people...Daein was devastated by the war in our country!" Micaiah said, putting a hand over her chest. "Crimean soldiers were harming the people as well."
"Once again, your history is a little off," the wolf countered. "A lot of the damage inflicted on Daein in the war was committed by the orders of officials in the Daein Army itself." Edward and Leonardo looked ready to explode, but Nolan held out a hand as if telling them to stay quiet and listen. "Take Talrega, for instance. From what Ike told me, one of the Four Riders gave the order to open the floodgates to stop Crimean progress, putting their own people in jeopardy. I will never say that one side is always innocent, but there are clearly holes missing in what you know from the war."
"..." A deep silence followed his words. Sighing loudly, the wolf just stared at the fire for a moment. "It'd be better if you all rested before heading out," he said. Nodding quietly, everyone prepared for their trip into the Desert of Death.
XXXXX
A/N: And that's another one done! I still have nothing to say, so see y'all soon!
Blizzard, out!