As The Sun Rises (Marichat) Miraculous story

Chapter sixteen of As the Sun Rises

Chat wiped the sweat from his brow as he took one last look at his surroundings, turning in a circle to make sure the treeline was entirely clear. He saw no more arrows pointed at him, or soldiers running at him with their swords. Chat sighed in relief as he stuck the dull end of his spear into the ground and leaned up against it.

Kagami seemed to drop out of nowhere, landing deftly on her feet. She shook the dirt off of her clothes as she stood up to her full height, and sheathed her sword once more. "We sent them off running?"

"Yes," Chat said, nodding and trying to regain his breath. "If my brother is going to send people to kill me, I wish he at least made it more of a challenge."

"What kind of brothers try to have the other one killed?" Kagami asked, tilting her head to the side.

"I hope you never have to meet my family," Chat said. He hooked his spear underneath his arm, taking one last deep breath. "You good to run all that way to the cave?"

"You're the one who looks like they need a break." Kagami had already started running by the time she finished her sentence and Chat was left to try and catch up with her. She shouted back at him, "I'll race you there!"

The woods seemed empty and quiet as they made their way toward the stream that Alya had mentioned. Normally, Chat liked quiet. He liked being able to hear himself think, to have the calm to mediate on his thoughts. It helped him come to quick decisions. But now, the only thing he could think was how stupid he had been to not notice that palace soldiers had been tracking them. The thought was incredibly loud, practically screaming at him in his head. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Chat Noir had been nothing but stupid this entire time.

Felix wasn't one to let things go. He should know. His brother had once filled his bed with spiders after he had accidentally torn one of his books. Sending palace soldiers after them wasn't surprising in the least. It should have been expected.

Kagami stopped near the stream to bend down and wipe her face with the water, but Chat kept moving to where Alya had said the hidden cave would be. When he came to the entrance, the pounding of his feet must have alerted them of his presence and he found Marinette sitting on the crowd with Alya crouching over Her protectively. Nino stood at the back of the cave, knife in hand, but all of them visibly relaxed when they recognized who he was.

The Princess was on Her feet quickly and making Her way toward him. She threw Her arms around his neck, sighing with relief. Chat's spear fell to the cave floor as he let go of it completely. He returned the embrace, wrapping his arms around Her waist and pulling Her close to him till Her feet weren't even touching the floor anymore. "You're all safe," he said in a whisper. Setting the Princess back down, he turned to Alya next, nodding firmly. "Thank you for all your help. I'm sorry if we've inconvenienced you-"

"Chat," the Princess said, placing an arm on his shoulder. "Alya has decided to come with us."

His eyes widened in surprise. "Oh," he said, unsure of what else he could say at that moment. He wondered how the Princess had managed to convince her, but he also knew very well that She was capable of sweet-talking anyone into anything. Chat offered Alya a smile. "It'll be nice to have you join us."

"Have who join us?" Kagami asked as she entered the cave, hair slightly damp from when she was washing her face. Her eyes immediately turned to Alya's, lighting up with excitement. "You've agreed then?"

Alya nodded wordlessly.

Kagami retained her composure for all of five seconds before practically flinging herself next to Alya and throwing her arms around her shoulders. The abrupt awkwardness seemed to set in quickly as Kagami's expression blanked and she ended up patting her fellow Dragon on the back with stiff movements. Alya was flustered, but quickly recovered and event slightly returned the embrace by gently laying her hand on the small of Kagami's back.