What Might Have Been (A Songs of War Fanfiction)

Part Five, Promises. Chapter Two.

Okay, I think I did pretty good with this. I love writing for Niika and Lucan, so I enjoyed it, but this chapter was kind of difficult as there's a bit of foreshadowing for a character I'm going to add in a couple chapter's time.

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Lucan wakes that morning to the smell of smoke. He immediately leaps to his feet, alert for danger, and peers out of the treehouse balcony. The forest is covered by a choking blanket of smoke and flickers of fire can be seen. A bolt of terror strikes him.

"Hey!" he yells. "Hey, you, Felina girl! Whatever your name is, wake up!"

"What's going on?" The Felina stumbles to his side and gasps as she sees the burning woods. "How did this- ah!" An arrow flies from the opposite tree, where ominous shadows lurk, and Lucan tackles the Felina to prevent her from being hit. The arrow lands with a thunk on the planked floor, driving hard into the wood. It would have killed her.

The Felina struggles away from him. "Don't do that!"

"Oh, well, I'm sorry," Lucan retorts. "You would have died!"

The Felina ignores him, runs back inside the treehouse to a chest and starts stuffing supplies into a canvas bag. "There's no time for that!" Lucan exclaims in exasperation. "The forest is burning!"

"Okay, let's go!" she says, and jumps out of the treehouse window. Lucan blinks. He runs to the edge and looks over. The Felina is standing on the forest floor, looking up at him like, Do you want to burn to death up there?

Lucan sighs, climbs up onto the ledge, thinks, I'm a lunatic, and jumps.

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"All right, so what are we going to do now?" Lucan asks, tossing another twig onto the makeshift fire he and the Felina had set up. At his side, Tulisa growls in agreement. Lucan had been so relieved to find his dog was okay. He doesn't think he would be able to handle it if she died.

The Felina glares at him.

"There's no 'we' about it," she snaps. "As soon as I get word from my father, I'm leaving." Lucan sighs.

"Look, I know you lost your treehouse and all your supplies, but please don't take it out on me. It wasn't my fault."

"Yeah, sure," the Felina says sarcastically. "You drawing the Necromancers out of the woods last night had nothing to do with it."

Lucan frowns. Despite the Felina's cold, don't-care exterior, he can tell that she's afraid by the way her ears are laid flat against her head. He sighs.

"Look, I know we're both more of the lone-wolf type," he starts, standing and walking to her side. "But right now we have a common goal, so we might as well use that and work together." The Felina scowls and stands, crossing her arms and fixing her gaze on the floor.

"You'll mess up my plans." she objects stubbornly.

"You don't have any plans and, if you once did, they're piles of ash in a burning treehouse," Lucan points out. "We're both alone. We can help each other." The Felina sighs and looks up at him, conflicted emotions bubbling in her jade-green eyes.

"Look, I appreciate it, but-"

Suddenly, a messenger bird flies down from the sky and lands on the Felina's shoulder. She takes the scroll of paper from its' beak and unrolls it, beginning to read, but almost immediately passes it to Lucan. "It's for you." she explains.