Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem or anything associated with it.
A/N: F is for friends who do stuff together, U is for U read now! (N means NOW!)
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The next morning…
Before the dawn had even begun, Khimari, Kurthnaga, the merchant caravan and the Dawn Brigade had already awakened and put out the campfire to begin their trek to the Desert of Death. "We should be able to get to the outskirts before noon," Nolan said. "That way, we won't have to bear the full brunt of whatever heat may lie in the desert." Everyone nodded in agreement, before starting their walk. After about thirty minutes later, Khimari had remembered that he was still carrying the sword that Edward had loaned to him.
"Hey, Edward," the wolf called. When the swordsman of the Dawn Brigade turned around, he threw the Steel Sword back to him. "Thanks for the loan."
"No problem," he returned.
"How did you learn how to use a sword, Khimari? Don't Laguz usually look down upon such things?" Nolan asked.
"Yes, they do. Once upon a time, the thought of even holding a sword made me want to throw up. However; since I was the only Laguz in our area of Crimea for a long time, I had to blend in with the rest of Beorc. That meant that outside the mercenary base, I was a hooded swordsman," he explained. "I actually learned swordplay alongside Ike."
"Isn't Crimea a lot more friendly towards Laguz than Daein is?" Leonardo asked. "They did fight together during the war."
"That was just because the Kings of Gallia and Crimea both wanted better relations between their countries. Around that time, the common folk of Crimea were as hateful of Laguz as Daeins are. 'Sub-human, monster, beast,' I've been called that in Crimea since I got there by people."
"Wow…How could you...stand it?" Micaiah asked, feeling sorry for the wolf. "It must have gotten lonely to be the only one of your own kind."
"Looking for advice, huh?" Khimari said, making the amber-eyed girl stop in her tracks for a second. Thankfully, no one besides the wolf paid attention to her drastic change in composure and fixed herself before it became noticeable. "Well, at first, I would just stay to myself and avoid seeing any people aside from the Greil Mercenaries, since we lived together. When Ike and I were getting older and had to be trained before getting to be an active part of the group, I would get angry whenever something happened and have a miniature rampage in the nearby forests."
"Rampage?" she echoed.
"Attack anything in sight," he clarified, making some eyes widen.
"Even people?" Sothe asked, unaware of this.
"Especially people. I used to hate Beorc with a passion," the wolf revealed as they kept walking. "The feeling was only worse when it looked like Greil wanted me to basically neglect me being a Laguz and blend in with them, using their weapons and what not. All of it made me miserable."
"That's not a healthy way to express oneself. Killing innocent people just because you didn't like your situation?" Leonard harshly criticized. The silver-haired leader moved to chastise him for saying it, but was stopped by Khimari himself, who held up a hand.
"It's fine," he reassured. "No, it wasn't healthy, but it was all I knew. That's the most I can say regarding that." Leonardo looked like he was about to say more, but Nolan spoke up before he could.
"That is very brave of you, speaking about yourself from such an unfavorable set of actions," he set. "Even more so to admit your flaws so openly to strangers."
"If Sothe trusts you all, then I honestly don't care," the wolf shrugged. "Besides, people have been judging me for longer than I could remember. A few more people I don't know at all wouldn't really affect me that much," he added, giving a pointed look towards Leonardo, who looked away to avoid the Laguz's burning stare. "So it's my turn to ask questions, now. What're your stories?"
"Well, Micaiah and I are like family," Sothe started. "During the Mad King's War, I had went looking for her and-"
"Jumped on our boat and got caught, yeah, yeah," Khimari interrupted. "Get to the part I don't know."
"...In Daein, she's known as a fortune-teller, the Silver-Haired Maiden," Sothe continued, knowing better than to argue with the wolf.
"She has these wicked cool predictions that always come true!" Edward added in awe. Rolling his eyes, Khimari stored this information away as he stayed quiet to listen more.
"Not...predictions...More like, instincts, really," she finally cut in. "It's like I can feel impending danger when it's nearby."
"Hm, that explains how you can be so good at avoiding Begnion," Khimari summed up.
"It's not just me, it's everyone helping that allows us to be able to survive as long as we have," she said. "The Dawn Brigade is not just me, it's all of us." In response, the wolf started to snicker a little bit.
"I must say, for someone who doesn't like Ike, you sure do sound a lot like him sometimes," he commented, knowing that would get under her skin.
"I wish he would stop saying that…"
"Hey, I just call it how I see it," he continued. Without any comeback to that, the group continued in silence, save for the occasional talk between each other or a question directed at the wolf about Crimea or the war. Before long, the group had arrived at a small village on the outskirts of the desert. Fortunately, they had been faster than predicted and had arrived before noon.
"Looks like we arrived earlier than predicted," Sothe said. "That means we can prepare a bit more before going out into the desert."
"Alright! We'll go get ready," Aran, the new recruit from yesterday, said. While the Dawn Brigade dispersed, Khimari went with Kurthnaga to a different part of the town.
"Are you alright, Kurthnaga?" the wolf asked quietly, so that others wouldn't hear the full name of the Goldoan prince. "Sorry to have dragged you out here."
"Do not fret, I am still well," he waved off. "This has certainly been a turn of events…"
"That much, we can say is true," Khimari agreed. "At least this way, we can stay with a group when we enter the Desert of Death…" Just then, an idea came to his head. "Do you want to go see the desert?"
"Really?" he replied with a childlike wonder in his tone. "I would be most honored to see it."
"You're gonna love it!" Khimari said as they began their walk outside the small village. "Although it's not much to look at, the sand is as beautiful as the ocean. It's its own ocean, if I had to say so myself."
"You said Hatari itself was a desert kingdom, did you not?" the dragon asked as they set foot in the village outskirts. "Do you miss it at all?"
"Of course I do," the wolf responded as he picked up some sand from his hand. "Hatari will always be my true home...but I'm here on Tellius, now. It'd be better to make the most of the life I still have than to waste it missing the life I once had," he explained, letting the sand in his hand blow away on the wind. "Well, I'll be heading back to the village. Do you want to stand here a little while longer?"
"...Yes, please. I'll be back in a timely manner," Kurthnaga promised, still mesmerized by the view of the desert. Satisfied with the answer, Khimari started to walk back towards the village. To his surprise, he found Micaiah alone walking in the direction that he and Kurthnaga took. Laying eyes on her, he promptly stopped when they were only a few feet away from each other.
"Khimari...What were you out here for?" she asked. Although her voice was sincere, the wolf could still detect a suspicion.
"I was showing Kurth the desert. He's never quite seen one before."
"You're...showing him the desert? Have you been here before?"
"Apparently so," he affirmed, looking towards the sky. "This is how I arrived on Tellius."
"Arrived? You weren't born on this continent?" the girl asked, not aware of this at all. "I had assumed…"
"I was from Gallia? Not a good assumption to make. Then again, I wouldn't expect Daein to have the most information on my people." Before Micaiah could apologize, Khimari put his hand up to stop her. "It's alright...I come from a land far away from here. I guess it's still a part of the continent, but no one from Tellius knew it existed before I came." Without saying anything else, he started to walk back to the village.
"But wait...Where did you come from? How did you get to Tellius?"
"...All in due time, Micky," the wolf smirked, before walking away. He could have told her everything, but it would have proved irrelevant at the moment. 'Everything in its own time,' he determined as he reached the village. Going a little further, he found the rest of the Dawn Brigade ready to leave. "Oh wow, you're all done? That was quick."
"Yup, we're all ready to go," Sothe confirmed. "And we even got a new member," he added, showing a little girl with two buns on her head wearing heavy pink armor. Seeing who it was, the wolf tipped his head to the side in surprise.
"Meg? What the heck are you doing here?"
"Uncle Khimari!" the girl yelled in surprise, running over to him. "I'm so glad to see you."
"Same to you. What the heck are you doing here?" he repeated, wanting to get his question answered.
"I'm looking for my fiance," she answered. "I heard he was somewhere in the desert. So I left home to find him."
"That was really dangerous to do. You should have made sure to be well supplied. And what have I told you about the buddy system?" he reprimanded.
"Sorry, Uncle Khimari...But I'm a big girl now! I'll show you!"
"...Alright, Meg. Whatever ya say," he accepted, patting her on the head.
"Uncle?" Sothe echoed, extremely lost. "How do you know her, Khimari?"
"This is one of Brom's daughters," Khimari revealed. "Remember we were cabinmates for a long time along with Nephee and Mia. After the war, I'd come by to visit them and Nephenee anytime I could."
"Learn something new every day," the green-haired rogue muttered as Micaiah and Kurthnaga joined the rest of the group.
"Is everyone ready?" the silver-haired girl asked. After a nod of affirmation from the rest of the group, they started towards the northern extremes of Daein, into the Desert of Death.
"Remember everyone, conserve your water, even if you start to get thirsty," the wolf told everyone before transforming into his Laguz form.
"Why did you transform? Wouldn't the fur make it hotter for you?"
"Don't bother," Sothe intervened before Khimari could answer. "His transformed state is more comfortable for him. As for the desert...He's the last one we need to worry about."
"You learn so well, Sothe!" the wolf complimented, leading to a few snickers from the younger members of the Dawn Brigade. "I'm impressed."
"Sure, whatever," Sothe muttered, getting a little embarrassed like when he was in the Mad King's War all over again. He was basically grown, for goodness' sake!
Continuing on, their journey north hadn't yielded much of anything beneficial. The hottest part of the day was approaching, and that was what they wanted to avoid. Khimari was walking besides Meg when a chill came down his spine. Making a full stop, he got the attention of the whole group.
"I have a feeling that something's that way," he said, pointing his paw to the northeast.
"...There is...something calling me over in that direction as well," Micaiah added.
"Okay, we'll go," Sothe said. "Everyone else, stay on guard." With everyone else going off in groups to survey the surrounding area, Micaiah, Khimari and Sothe went alone to the northeast. Not very far off, they found a large building in the middle of the wasteland. Sniffing it, Khimari beckoned the other two with his tail before walking down the stairs.
On the inside, a vast place welcomed them. It was an ancient ruin, one of gigantic proportion. Khimari couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed by the giant structure. Only one place by Hatari could even come close to the size of this place. "Well...maybe that place could be as large," he said to himself, thinking of the home of the Goddess Ashera, the Tower of Guidance. 'On second that, the other place is way bigger than this,' he backtracked in his head.
"Amazing…" Sothe commented as the two walked in from behind him. "I can't believe ruins like these are still standing."
"They seem to be very old, indeed…" Micaiah agreed. "I wonder who built them."
"Judging by the size of this place, I'd say it was the Laguz."
"Really? How did you come to that thought?" Khimari asked, wondering where the Beorc would take his train of thought.
"What do you think it would be like, to be able to change into a bird or a dragon just like Laguz can?"
"It feels awesome, if I do say so myself," the wolf interrupted, giving a toothy smile. Rolling his eyes, Sothe returned his attention to Micaiah as he resumed talking.
"Being part beast is one thing, but having the ability to transform into a beast, with unimaginable strength...They could've built a place like this before breakfast." A small bout of silence followed as the silver-haired girl considered her partner's comments.
"I suppose you're right…" she conceded. "But what surprises me most aren't these ruins, Sothe. It's you," she said, surprising him. "You've changed, haven't you?"
"Me? How so?" Sothe returned, clearly confused.
"I remember when you used to refer to Laguz as 'sub-humans.' Such an ugly word...Look at you now."
"Well...come on. Beorc are called the "Children of Wisdom" and Laguz "Children of Strength" for their own specific reasons. Although the two races differ, I know that it doesn't mean that one is particularly better than the other. As crazy as it may sound, Khimari over there beat that lesson into me. Quite literally," he dryly added, to which Khimari snorted with laughter. "Any Beorc bias against Laguz is nothing short of pure ignorance...Fighting in the war with Khimari and Commander Ike made me realize all of this." A scoff followed his last words courtesy of the "Silver-haired Maiden" herself.
"And here I was thinking you were actually saying something enlightened. Now you go off talking about him again."
"What do you mean, 'again'?" His question got a very quick breath of frustration in response.
"Sothe, sometimes, it's like every other thing you say is an homage to Ike. I know you fought beside him. I know you owe him your life. I know your biggest dream is to be just like him," she said, almost to the point of mocking him. "But to the people of Daein, he's the man who crushed us three years ago. Some would call him our mortal enemy. If we hadn't lost to that man, Daein wouldn't be in the mess it's in now."
"If we didn't defeat Daein and Ashnard on that day, then Daein would be nothing more than a lifeless pot of rubble, little girl," Khimari put in, admittedly irritated by the continuous digs from the girl. "Complain all you want, I can guarantee you that Daein's loss was the best outcome of the war that existed."
"How dare you minimize the suffering of our people!?" Micaiah shouted back. "You have no idea how horribly Begnion has treated the Daein populace! You've never had to deal with something like this!"
A deathly silence followed her words. Khimari looked up at the ceiling in thought, walking forward a little bit. He then paced to the left, confusing the two of them. Then, in a flash, he bared his fangs at Micaiah, making the girl take a few steps back in fright. Not knowing what would happen, Sothe kept to the side, trusting that Khimari wouldn't attack her.
"You're right, I never had to deal with Begnion per se. That was everyone before me," the wolf started. "My tribe was pushed to the brink of near genocide by Begnion twenty-two years ago, before I was born. My people were driven away from our home, and eventually into the history books because of a murder we had nothing to do with. I will never know the terror my people dealt with, but look at it this way, Micky," he said, slitting his eyes. "Be grateful that you can stand here and complain about losing a war your people started," he snarled, before going ahead by himself. Going to an individual staircase, he traveled even further into the ruins to another floor.
The first thing that came into the wolf's sight was mounds of gold everywhere. Precious jewels and other gems embedded themselves around the hills of money. The room itself radiated a great shade of gold that made the ruins look like they were made of the precious metal. "Wow…" the wolf muttered, shocked that all of this could be in a place like this. He went over to sniff some of the coins. A mix of tiger and cat scents had mixed onto the money, putting the wolf on edge. Were there other Laguz around here? Instantly getting into a cautious position, the wolf didn't move when Yune, Micaiah's bird, entered the room, followed by her owner and Sothe.
"Wow, look at this gold…" Sothe whispered in wonder, amazed by the look of the room.
"Look, Khimari...I'm sorry about what I-"
"Call everyone now," the wolf cut off, his fur starting to rise. "We're about to get attacked by Laguz."
"What!?" Micaiah said, before a gruff growl proved the wolf prince's point.
"What is this? It looks like a tasty snack turned up while we were out!" a voice called. Moments later, a purple tiger appeared out of the left staircase. At the same time, a pink tiger came from the right side.
"Who! Our first prey in a long time!" the pink tiger commented. "Leave it to me, my fang brothers!"
"Now!" Khimari hissed. Nodding, Micaiah let a giant flash of light show, the sound of it spreading around for miles. Unfortunately, it only served to excite the Laguz bandits even more, with a miniature horde of cat and tiger Laguz coming outside to greet them. At first, some cat Laguz began to advance on them, before a growl from Khimari made them shrink back a little.
Finally, the rest of the Dawn Brigade showed up, ready for battle. "Micaiah, we're here!" Leonardo announced.
"Good, then get to fighting!" Khimari yowled before jumping at a crowd of two cats and two tigers. Swatting away one of the cats like a fly, he used the momentum to jump to the right, killing the second cat with a swipe to the throat. Growling, he pounced on the approaching tiger, pinning it down and giving a killing bite. He repeated the same action on the last tiger, before rolling to the right to avoid the cat's pounce.
Narrowing his eyes at the cat bandit, he slithered on the golden floors, slicing the cat's underbelly while it was exposed. Looking up, he saw Sothe fighting the purple tiger by himself. Throwing a knife at it, the rogue managed to deeply scratch its side, but also made him angry in the process.
Pouncing, the tiger succeeded in giving Sothe a nasty gash on his arm, causing the green-haired Beorc to shout in pain. Jumping in on his behalf, Khimari ruthlessly slashed the purple tiger's side wound, making it worse. Without giving the tiger a chance to counter, the wolf bit his front leg before snapping it with a powerful roll. Ignoring the cries of pain that followed, Khimari put the tiger out of its misery with a bite to the neck.
Shaking off his fur, he turned back to see the rest of the bandits either defeated or fleeing. The two tiger bosses were both dead, the pink one killed by Ilyana and Edward. "That was...harsh, wasn't it?" Micaiah commented as she helped Sothe up and called Laura to help him. Everyone other than Khimari had sustained some kind of wound, but none were as severe as Sothe's, which continued to bleed out.
"Anyone who attacks my pack can consider themselves dead," the wolf said. "Isn't that right, Sothe?"
"It sure is," the rogue answered, a small grin on his face as Laura healed the last of his wound. "We should take some of this gold with us...It's only natural, after all," he said to Micaiah.
"...Fine, but not too much," she said. With her approval, the Dawn Brigade scattered to gather up an ample amount of gold and whatever else they could find. Just then, the sound of singing reached Khimari's ears.
"Do you hear that?" he asked Sothe and Micaiah.
"No, I don't," Sothe answered, but Micaiah strained her ears to listen.
"...I do!" It's from back there!" she said, before walking back there by herself.
"Hey Micaiah, wait!" Sothe called, running up to him. Shaking his head at the two of them, Khimari calmly padded after the two down the corridor. As he walked down the corridor, a familiar scent had hit his nose. It was a scent that he hadn't smelt since…
"It can't be…" Khimari muttered before breaking into a full sprint. Without anything else on his mind, he ran as fast as he could, nearly knocking Micaiah and Sothe over in the process.
"Wha-Khimari! Where are you-" He ignored Sothe's sputtering as he continued to run down the corridor. When the corridor reached its end, Khimari found a beautiful room. Just like the room they had fought the bandits in, the end of it reached a beautiful mound of gold and treasures...But that wasn't all.
In a chair sat a man with brilliant white wings, a telltale sign of the Heron royal family. His hair was a bright yellow, seemingly sparkling. His skin was smoother than pearl, and his white clothes seemed more pure than the holiest cloud. Even more important, were the two by his side.
On his left, a brown wolf sat. His underbelly was a lighter brown, like a blended coffee with cream. To the heron's right, a wolf with a fur coat whiter than snow. She had a piece of cloth over her right eye, and some tattoo markings around her front legs.
"Khimari! What in the world…" Sothe stopped his yelling as he took notice of the other three individuals in the room. Feeling a conflict of emotions well within him, Khimari slowly padded up to the three, before stopping a few steps away. Reverting to his Beorc form, he felt the tears welling up in his eyes as the two wolves got onto their feet.
"...Mom...Volug...Is it really…" The wolf prince felt his throat begin to tighten to the point where he couldn't even finish his sentence. Instead, the two wolves reverted to their own Beorc form. The one on the left turned out to be a shirtless Laguz with brown-skin, and a simple pair of pants with a torn garb over it. The white wolf, a brown-skinned woman, had multiple tattoos across her body. She had on a simple black shirt, with a cape worn like a skirt and some other adornments.
"Khimari…" the woman said, before the blue wolf hugged her. Unable to hold it together, Khimari completely broke down into a mess of tears. "My cub...it's alright," she soothed as her long-lost baby cried all over her.
"You have no idea...how much...I missed you," he said in the ancient language. "Finally...I can't believe…"
"Don't say anything," Nailah cut-off, giving him some rubs on the back. "We're together again...and that's all that matters." For a great deal of time, the two stood in each other's embrace, with the other occupants in the room looking on in silence of the reunited mother and son. Eventually parting, Khimari smiled happily as his mother wiped his tears away as if he were a little boy. "Will you introduce me to these people?"
"Oh, this is Micaiah, and the green-haired boy is Sothe," Khimari answered, pointing at the two as he called them. "And as for you, this is my mom, Nailah, and Volug, my...uncle?" he introduced, looking over to his mom for confirmation.
"Whatever word works best for you." Volug stayed silent, although his tail wagged very discreetly in pleasure at being considered an uncle.
"Uncle it is. And that is...Who are you?" the wolf bluntly asked as he took note of the heron once again.
"I'm Rafiel," he responded, putting a hand over his chest in greeting. "I was...guided over here by a voice. Was it from any of you?"
"No...But I heard a voice call me here, as well," Micaiah intervened. "Someone...or something...may have wanted us to meet here."
"Two of the wolf tribe...and one of the herons...Your white wings mean that you're of the royal family, right?" Sothe questions. At Rafiel's nod, he continued his line of questioning. "Are you related to Prince Reyson, by any chance?" At that question, a look of shock crossed the heron's face.
"...Reyson? My younger brother? You know of him?" he asked, his voice full of hope and felicity.
"Yup! We were together with that nut for the war," Khimari answered, a smile on his face.
"What...Are you suggesting that my brother is still alive?"
"I'm telling you that, ya dumb bird," Khimari retorted, before getting a small clip on the ear courtesy of his mother. Sheepishly scratching his head, he muttered a quick "whoops" before continuing to speak. "Anyways...I just saw them a few days...or a week ago. He, King Lore...that guy, and Leanne, your sister I guess, lived with me in Gallia's royal palace."
"My father and sister, too?" Rafiel near shouted with pure glee. "They're still with me! Oh! Thank the goddess…I'm not alone…" The wolf queen gave them comfort until one of her son's comments ran through her head once again.
"Royal palace?" Nailah echoed, surprised. "Does that mean…"
"Yup...Mom, I found Dad. He took me in after the war and I've been with him and the others for the last three years...I have a lot to tell you."
"That's certainly what it seems like." Finished with that, she turned to Sothe and Micaiah. "Nonetheless, a proper introduction is still needed on account of your confused faces. My name is Nailah, queen of Hatari. Our kingdom lies far to the east of here, through the Desert of Death."
"So there's a whole country on the other side of the desert?" Micaiah echoed.
"As I just said, we traveled from there," the wolf queen cheekily remarked, making Sothe take a quick look at her son. Noticing the gesture, Khimari simply grinned. "As a part of the Serenes Massacre, the wolf tribe was driven out of our home between the herons' forest and Gallia. When we arrived at Hatari, it was but a small settlement, but still a city nonetheless. After we had settled there, I gave birth to Khimari."
"When he was seven years old, he was dragged into the desert and we were separated by a sandstorm...Everyone had believed him dead but Volug and I never stopped searching. Eventually, we came across Rafiel in our search, on the brink of death. Even then, his direction led us to survive."
"Similarly, my clan was blamed and hunted for the assassination of the Begnion apostle," Rafiel started. "Begnion mobs gathered and massacred us. I had to watch as my clan, my people...my race, were wiped out. Nailah and Volug found me in the desert and took me back to Hatari. There, I promised to help her however I could with my life," he said. "Then...for the last three years, a voice has called out to me...Stronger by the day, telling me to come here. And now, I finally have news that my family still lives! Reyson...Father...Leanne...Ah…" he said, relieved, sounding like he was ready to pass out in a theatre play or something.
"He's...really dramatic, Mom," Khimari said bluntly.
"It's a habit, Khimari...You, Beorc," she then redirected, pointing to Sothe. "What's the best way to get to Gallia? My memory of Tellius isn't the same as when we lived there."
"For Laguz, traveling through the Daein countryside would be well...suicide," Sothe summarized. "We could probably take you to Crimea, though it may take a bit longer."
"Any help would be greatly appreciated," the queen said. "By all means, let's travel together...Though, why can't we go directly to Gallia?"
"Well, for one, I have a friend with me who I need to stay with, Mom," Khimari interrupted. "Second, we probably could go directly to Gallia."
"Really? Wouldn't entering Gallia be nearly impossible? Ike, in Crimea, is the only one I can think of that can get you there. He's in contact with King Caineghis and his advisors, and definitely the one I recommend to get you through there."
"Riiiiight," Micaiah drawled. "Lord Ike, hero of the Crimean Liberation Army, leader of the Greil Mercenaries and father of Sothe's children." She then walked away in irritation, making Sothe have to run to catch her. That only left the four Laguz left in the chamber.
"Okay...Well, ignore all that," Khimari bluntly said to his mother. "As for getting to Gallia, Ike's fine and all, but I can get you in just as well. And we don't have to deal with advisors and crap."
"Who is this...Ike person?" Nailah asked, reverting back to the ancient tongue since it was just them.
"Oh, he's my brother," Khimari answered with much of a thought, before he actually conceptualized what he just said.
He just told his long-lost mother that he had a brother…
"Eh...adopted brother," he quickly mended. "After we were separated, I was taken in by Beorc mercenaries in Crimea. They helped raise me."
"Is that so?" she said simply. "I must thank them...I know you can be a handful sometimes…"
"Hey, I'm not that bad!" he retorted as he led them back to where the rest of the Dawn Brigade were waiting.
"Worse," Volug quickly said, leading the mother to have a small laugh at her son's expense.
"Volug? You too?" Khimari said in fake hurt as they arrived to the rest of the group. "No matter...You guys will all see! I'm way better now!"
"I see...I'm so glad you're alive," Nailah said, leading Khimari to wrap an arm around her. Even as powerful a wolf as she was, she was still a mother at heart worried sick about her baby.
"I didn't mean to make you worry, Mom," he apologized.
"Okay, we gathered...enough gold," Sothe announced, though he really looked like he wanted to take about every piece of the gold out of the ruins. "Let's head back to the village before the sun goes down."
With that, the group started their return journey back to the outskirts of the Desert of Death. Khimari stayed behind, trying to catch his mother and Volug up on what had been going on since their separation.
"Before you start from the beginning, who is this friend you're traveling with?" Nailah asked quietly, as not to attract attention from the rest of the Dawn Brigade.
"You probably know him, but it's Kurthnaga. He's the Goldoan Prince." At Khimari's answer, Nailah's eyes widened.
"Goldoa? Did they finally end their little fear of outside communication?" she asked plainly.
"Not really. His father doesn't know that he left," the blue wolf explained. "The two of us left a few days ago. He had someone that he had to go see, but I'm afraid I can't say anymore than that."
"And how has your journey been?"
"Well, finding you has made it the best journey I could ask for," the wolf answered, getting a little closer to his mother. "Besides that, it's mostly Kurthnaga being amazed at sights he had never seen before. Oh, and we got thrown in...how do you say jail in ancient?" the wolf asked, sidetracked by his forgetting of the word in his native tongue.
"You were thrown into a jail?" Nailah echoed, clearly not pleased with hearing that news.
"It wasn't the first time," Khimari nonchalantly retorted. "During the war, I was taken prisoner for a couple of weeks before breaking out."
"Hm…You'll tell me more about this war when we get to our destination, yes?"
"Of course, mom!" Khimari yowled. "It'd probably be better to do it with Rafiel, too." Nodding in agreement, the white wolf stopped her line of questioning for the time being. As they were done with the questioning, Khimari took it upon himself to transform into a wolf, just as Volug was.
"I see Volug's influence rubbed off on you," Nailah dryly noted. Even when he was a little boy, Khimari would stay a wolf for as long as he could. During time off from school, he would even attempt to do it for days at a time, which was possible thanks to his Laguz Gem that he had since shortly after his birth.
"It feels better," her son responded.
"Yes, indeed, young Khimari," Volug added, making the wolf queen roll her eyes at the two male wolves.
Some things never change…
Before long, the group arrived back at the village on the desert outskirts to be greeted by the rest of the merchant caravan. "Hey, we're back!" Edward called out.
"We see," Aimee responded. "How was the search?" Micaiah shook her head in response to the question.
"We didn't find the prince, so we'll have to go another direction tomorrow."
"But, we did find my mom!" Khimari jumped in, putting the caravan into a state of surprise.
"Your...mom?" Muston said slowly. "How in the world...You know, it'd probably be best not to ask questions," he determined aloud, to which the rest of the merchant group agreed.
"Would you be willing to tell me about all your stories, Khimari?" the wolf queen asked now that they reached their destination.
"Would...it be alright if we heard as well?" Micaiah asked. "It...never hurts to know more about others, since we're traveling together."
"Alright, campfire story it is," the blue wolf simplified. "But first, let's get some rations ready." Following the wolf, everyone gathered remaining food and water for dinner before the sun went down. Fortunately, the many twigs and dead tumbleweeds combined with Ilyana's thunder magic helped to make a great fire for heating the food that was saved.
"Alright, so here's the start," Khimari began as everyone had settled down. The sun had already gone down and the stars had taken their positions in the sky. "After we were separated, I only remember waking up in a bed. That's when I met Ike and his family. Like I said earlier, I grew up with the Greil Mercenaries, with Ike's dad as the leader. Everything was relatively calm until Daein attacked," he said, before giving a small pause. "From what I was told, Princess...Queen Elincia was found in some bushes after a skirmish with the Daein army. After taking her in, Ike and everyone else had to escape since Daein attacked the mercenary base."
"From what you heard? Where were you, if I may ask?" Nolan put in.
"I was in Gallia at the time," he answered. "I was tasked by Greil to deliver a message to King Caineghis, which is where I first met Dad," he added, shifting his gaze over to his mother. "After almost getting killed by the Black Knight, I-"
"You fought the Black Knight!?" Edward exclaimed, completely throwing the wolf off for a second.
"Three times, actually," Khimari specified. "So shut up and listen." Slightly embarrassed by the outburst, Edward complied with the order.
"After that fight, I reunited with the Greil Mercenaries in Gallia. The king then sent Dad along with us to reach a boat in Crimea that would take us to Begnion, a place where the Princess would be safe."
"But by that time, Daein occupied almost all of Crimea," Leonardo added, to which the wolf nodded.
"And we had to fight them every step of the way. Thankfully, everyone made it safely on the boat, myself included after my second fight with the Black Knight," Khimari explained, giving a pointed look at Edward. "After a couple of months at sea, getting attacked by Naesala's ravens, meeting Goldoan dragons and everything in between, we had found a Begnion vessel, which by chance had the apostle on board."
"Those pesky birds…" Nailah murmured.
"You don't like ravens?" Khimari asked his mother.
"He always was a...trying individual," she explained. "I dare say the Goddess would have trouble pushing down his ego."
"Sounds about right," the wolf prince agreed. "Moving on, we had gotten in contact with the Apostle, who agreed to aid Princess Elincia provided we, the Greil Mercenaries, did a couple of favors. Our first escapade brought us into the Grann Desert in Begnion, where I found two more wolves. One challenged me for the throne of Hatari, and he didn't win," the wolf flatly said.
"Challenged you? What reason would he have to challenge someone to a throne of a place he didn't know existed?" she growled, clearly unhappy.
"Well...his parents hated your very guts. He said many things about you being the devil incarnate and a murderous queen or whatever."
"What did this wolf look like?" she said.
"He is a red wolf. He also has a brother who was born after they separated from the rest of the migrating wolves with an orange coat," Khimari described, wondering how Tora and Rikari were doing.
"Kataro and Nala…" she said quietly, before putting her head back up. "We'll discuss this later. Back to your story," Nailah dictated.
Nodding quickly, the wolf resumed his story. "After being beat, the two wolves joined us and we were sent to a Begnion Senator's mansion to investigate whether or not he still had Laguz in captivity, seeing as Begnion's former Empress decreed Laguz slavery illegal many years prior. That's where we found Reyson," he said, now moving over to look at Rafiel. "He, another heron, was betrayed and sold to the senator and the two of us had to hide in the destroyed Serenes Forest from their search parties."
"Ah...Reyson," Rafiel called, closing his eyes as if he felt his brother's pain. Although he definitely sympathized with the heron, Khimari couldn't help but roll his eyes at the dramatic display.
"While hiding, I took a personal field trip and found the old home of my tribe-we'll get to it later, I promise," he said as both Volug and Nailah perked up in interest. " But, Reyson had decided to try to do the Dirge of Ruin to-"
"WHAT!?" Rafiel yelled. "Reyson tried to attempt that spell?"
"He thankfully was talked out of it," Khimari eased. "But seeing as he and his father were the only survivors that he knew of before we found Leanne in the forest, I could see how he could get so angry. The fact that Tibarn rubbed off on him is another story," he dismissed, slightly smirking at the thought of the headstrong hawk king. "After that whole mess, the Crimean Liberation Army, with Ike as its general, came into existence. We marched our way up to Daein, working our way to Nevassa." The wolf took notice when the Daeins started to perk up, as if they were waiting for this part. "Until I was taken, everything to me looked smooth. We had beaten Daein at every step of the way and were doing just fine."
"Until you were...taken?" Aran echoed, not understanding.
"Oh yeah, when I was in the woods in the middle of the night, I discovered that we had a traitor in our midst who was close to a very highly ranked Daein general. I tracked them down, but was defeated and captured."
"Who defeated you?" Sothe asked, never hearing the names of the two that conquered the wolf prince in battle.
"Ena and Nasir," he answered. While most of the people present were completely unaware of who the Goldoan dragons were, Sothe's eyes widened greatly at the news. Kurthnaga, who was on the outer band of the listening group, shifted uncomfortably at hearing the two names. "Don't ask about them if you don't know. Moving on, I was taken to Crimea directly to King Ashnard.
"You were a prisoner of Daein's King?" Jorge asked in surprise.
"You didn't know?" Khimari returned with an equal amount of surprise.
"Most people had assumed you were dead after one of your fellow wolves showed your pendant," Daniel explained.
"Speaking of which...Where is your gem?" Nailah asked, noticing its disappearance from her son's neck.
"I gave it to Dad so he would remember us," Khimari answered. "It's in Gallia." She relaxed visibly after hearing the answer. "But yes, I had a personal talk with the King, where we talked about...many things."
"Like?" Leonardo pressed.
"Why he started the war." If anyone was tuned out now, every person present now gave Khimari their full attention.
"What...did he say?" Laura, the healer, asked. The way she gave the question made it seem as if she was terrified at the answer that would be given. Honestly, the wolf couldn't blame her if she did feel that way.
"He wanted to destroy the world by causing a war that would engulf every nation into it."
"What!?" Edward yowled, not expecting that at all. "But...how? Where in-"
"Ashnard was one of the most vile humans that I've ever had the misfortune of meeting," Khimari started again. "He hated this current world with its systems and whatnot, and wanted it all wiped away. His grand vision was a world where the strong thrive and the weak either serve or die. Using the Lehran's Medallion, he would release the Dark God and effectively reduce the world to ashes." At that, Yune, Micaiah's bird flew away from her and landed by Khimari.
"So that means…" Micaiah said.
"This war was more than a simple spat between Crimea and Daein. If Ashnard had his way, there would be no world," Khimari finished. Silence followed his words as everyone contemplated the new point of view of the world that none of them had ever known. Sighing, Khimari decided to continue his tale of the war. "After talking to Ashnard, I was kept prisoner for a few more weeks before being transferred to a place in Crimea called Gritnea Tower...I was to be turned into a Feral One."
"WHAT!?" Sothe burst, drawing all attention to him. "They went that far?" Khimari could only nod as he recounted the painful memories. Oddly enough, Yune flew up to the wolf's shoulder and began to rub his neck with its body, as if trying to comfort him. Feeling a familiar connection, the blue wolf closed his eyes as he scratched the bird's body in return.
"A...Feral One? What is that?" Edward asked, completely clueless.
"In the war…" Khimari began, before he got a little chill. "In the war, Ashnard kidnapped Laguz and experimented on them. He effectively turned them into living weapons to be used at the Daein Army's disposal. They were drugged with a special medicine that shortens their lifespan and restricts them to only be in their transformed state. All the while, the drug ate away at their conscience until nothing was left and they were mindless monsters. Ashnard's master plan was to turn me into one, and set me to Ike and everyone else I was close to that made up the heart of the army. He was counting on me, as a Feral, to kill all of them and destroy Crimea's last hope along with it." After the wolf finished his explanation, everyone exploded in outrage.
"How cruel!" Micaiah said.
"Heartless," Nailah growled along with Volug.
"By the Goddess…" Rafiel gasped.
"I had...no idea…" Leonardo said, his eyes staring at the ground full of guilt.
"Did you escape before you were...drugged?" Nolan asked quietly, finding the concept of Feral Ones a hard one to swallow.
"Nope, I was drugged as well," Khimari answered, effectively reducing the entire group to silence in anticipation for what he had to say. "It was horrible. After short bursts of anger, I would find myself involuntarily transforming between forms. Each burst would leave me both physically and mentally drained, getting worse by the minute. I could feel my very being slipping away from me as the only things that went through my mind was killing anything in sight. There was nothing I could do while that...hell was going on."
"...How did…Nobody knew?" Sothe asked, completely shocked.
"Hardly anyone," Khimari confirmed. "Since it was wartime and all and I had an unfortunately large role between being close to Ike and my dad Ranulf, who led the Crimean and Gallian forces, respectively, news like that getting out would have made everything worse. Laguz who knew of my...experiences would've inevitably gone rabid, causing a whole race riot in the middle of the Crimean Liberation Army and bringing everything to a halt," the wolf explained. "Ike and Ranulf tried their hardest to keep my condition out of the spotlight. I was basically delusional, hallucinating and attacking anything that even resembled something from that tower. If it weren't for Leanne and Reyson, I would probably have been dead, or worse."
"Who...did this to you?" Nailah calmly asked, though her expression was anything but. Everyone swore that they saw the flames of hell in her eyes, promising eternal torment to whoever did this to her child.
"It was...a Daein scientist named...Izuka? Something of that sort. He was a mad nutcase who needed to be tied to a cactus," Khimari siad. "He was the entire architect of the Feral One plan….He escaped when we rescued Leanne from Gritnea Tower, but I have no idea of his whereabouts."
"Hopefully we never meet anyone like that," Micaiah said in pure disgust. Around the fire, everyone nodded their heads.
"Off of that depressing topic...When Ike and I defeated the Black Knight-"
"You and Ike? It wasn't Ike by himself?" Edward asked.
"No, it wasn't," the wolf answered. "Another little white lie. Since I was in my messed up moods because of being drugged like a guinea pig, Ike and Ranulf invented a fake mission in order to keep me away from the battlefield. Long story short, they failed and I ran to Ike's fight with the Black Knight. Initially, Ike was winning the fight, but Daein reinforcements had shown up and had attacked our sister, Mist, who was also in the room at Castle Nados that day."
"Ike lost his edge because he was worried about Mist being attacked by the other soldiers, and his advantage slipped minute by minute. That's when I showed up and defeated the Black Knight while Ike kept the soldiers away from Mist."
"Wow...I never would've known…" Sothe murmured in wonder.
"You defeated the Black Knight!?" Edward shouted, completely taken aback. "But he was...impenetrable!" At that, the wolf smirked.
"See, I'm a tough wolf, you see. Even though Ike did soften him up for me, I can fight for myself."
"Even then...They said Ike's unique style was so impressive that he was basically unbeatable by anyone," Nolan recounted.
"That's true...Unless it was me!"
"Oh, you two are on the same level?" Nailah asked, the statement piquing her interest.
"Please, Ike has never won against my Laguz form yet," Khimari boldly stated, giving another small shock to the group. The "Great Crimean Savior" Ike was utterly helpless against this wolf?
"As far as I know...it's true," Sothe supported. By then, Nailah had risen from where she was sitting to hear the story.
"Let's find out what you've picked up, then," the wolf queen challenged with a battle-hungry smile on her face. "It's been a while since I've seen you fight, my cub."
"Against you?" Khimari said, blinking. He hadn't seen his mother fight in years, but concerning stories from Ranulf, who had never beaten her once, he couldn't help but be excited at the prospect of fighting her.
"But...Isn't the sun down? How would you fight like this?" Micaiah asked.
"We beast Laguz have basically perfect night vision," Khimari answered. "And as for you, mom, I'm ready."
XXXXX
A/N: AAAAAND that's it because I'm very evil! I must say, the last few days have been hectic, though I'm happy to announce that planning for Blue Wolf is going VERY well! Since I'm more focused on this story at the moment, I've already got many big things for Part 3 planned, though I'm admittedly still fleshing out exactly the direction I want to take Part 2 since it's wiiiiild.
As for where we are now though, after THIRTY-FOUR CHAPTERS, Khimari and Nailah are finally reunited! What in the world will happen in their battle?
Find out next time, On Blue Wolf!
Blizzard, out!