40 Because I Care

"Errrrr… Hey guys, you don't have to do this every time ya know?" Alicia says in an uncertain voice.

Since Alicia had told them that she was a Dragon, word had spread round the entire tribe with an excited buzz. Though this also leads to the Lizardmen getting down on their knees every time they spot her and start bowing. That is the current situation.

Alicia is troubled. It had been around an hour since she had told them, yet she had already told them multiple times not to do this.

"OKAY EVERYONE! OUR QUEEN HAS SAID NOT TO BOW EVERY TIME WE SEE HER! AS HER NEW CITIZENS WE NEED TO PROVE WE CAN BE USEFUL AND DO AS SHE ASKS!" A loud voice booms over the small temporary settlement.

This voice belongs to Kaal, who has been following Alicia and helping her make sure all the Lizard people are ready to move out.

And his help is invaluable. Alicia could see why he has been the leader as he inspires such trust in his people. Whenever he spoke to them, you can see his words are taken to heart and he seems to know each of his people by name, which is rather impressive as there is a fair amount of them.

Kaal also stops the other Lizard people from making Alicia feel awkward by constantly bowing or trying to offer things to her, as was shown by his earlier shouting. Alicia hopes that at some point she can have a normal conversation with them, but that doesn't seem possible at the moment.

"I am sorry, my Queen. Give them some time, they have grown up being told stories of true Dragons. I believe they are a bit overwhelmed." Kaal says as they carry on walking around the tribes temp settlement.

"Meh, don't worry about it. Let's just make sure everyone is ready and get heading home!" Alicia says, her mood rapidly changing as always.

Kaal is yet to get used to her sudden change of moods and was about to carry on his apology for his people. He stood still for a moment, wondering if he should still apologise or not…

"Don't worry about it Kaal, Lady Alicia isn't someone to get angry over things like this." Vera says patting him on the back as if knowing what he was thinking.

"I see… She is quite forgiving then." Kaal asks, turning to face the three girls who follow Alicia.

"Hmmm… She is forgiving, but I think it is in part to a lack of interest. If it doesn't have much to do with stuff she finds fun or interesting then I think her focus can wander. BUT there is some stuff you might want to avoid… As you have seen, her bad moods can be quite severe... You might want to keep that one Lizard guy away from her for a little while." Ignis says, trying to give Kaal as much info to stop anymore incidents like before.

Osha meanwhile, seeing the other two helping out Kaal, tries to think of a way to help like Ignis and Vera are…

"OH! I know! Kaal! Watch, watch! This is what you shouldn't do when talking to big sis!" Osha shouts and begins running ahead towards Alicia.

"Eh? Wait… No Osha!" Ignis, realising what Osha was about to do, tries to stop her… But it was already to late. Osha has reached Alicia and…

Osha shouts of Alicia gleefully, getting her attention and whispers something in her ear. Not long after, Alicia begins to shake and then…

"rrrrrrrrrraAAAAHHHH! Come here you lil brat!" She dives at Osha, putting her in a headlock and grinding her fist against her head.

"Waaaah! I'm sowwwwy!" (Osha)

Ignis and Vera look on as they pitied Osha and her lack of foresight, as well as slightly admiring her bravery. Kaal on the other hand has actually learned from this experience, Osha achieved what she was going for in showing what not to do…

---

A couple of hours later they begin to set off.

In the hours before they left, Vera had been put to work adjusting their clothes with a few of the others who helped. This was because a lot of them became a bit smaller when they evolved so their rags, which covered their bodies, became loose and started falling off.

They were more self-conscious about being naked then the other species that Alicia had met so far, as they wore clothes before they evolved as well, so this needed to be done. Due to their clothes being nothing more than rags, it was easy for others to help with it.

Once that had been done they begin their journey back to Drakonia.

At the front of everyone, leading the way, is Alicia and Osha… Being guided by Ignis of course.

Osha is still trying to get Alicia to forgive her fully, by clinging on to her and apologising. Though Alicia continues to pout and walk forward, dragging Osha with her.

Kaal and Vera meanwhile walk not far from the three, discussing their fighting techniques as they are both dual wielders. Alicia would have liked to join their conversation, only she was to busy stewing over what Osha said still, to hear what conversations were going on around her.

"Alicia… you should just forgive Osha now. We know you are going to do it eventually, so why not save some time?" Ignis suggests to her Queen, giving Osha some hope that she will stop being ignored.

"Pleaseeeeee big sis! I said I'm sorry…" Osha says, looking up at Alicia trying to garner some sympathy.

"Hmph, Fine! next time you say it though the punishment will be even worse!" Alicia says, as she finally meets Osha's gaze for the first time in a few hours.

"YAY! Love you sis!" Osha's face lights up as she is granted forgiveness and jumps up on Alicia's back to hug her.

"Yeah, yeah…" Alicia says, reaching back to pat Osha on the head while the slightly smaller girl rubs her cheek against hers.

Seeing this, the three observers give a happy smile, knowing that it is finally over.

"Hehe big sis' skin is super soft…" (Osha)

"Okayyy, time to get off me- Hmmm?" Alicia begins to crack a smile as Osha continues to rub her equally soft cheeks against Alicia's, but then she notices something…

"What's wrong Alicia?" Ignis asks, noticing that Alicia has stopped walking and is looking around for something.

"… I smell something… Something that smells really bad." Alicia says, as she walks off the path they were walking.

Ignis asks Kaal to wait where they were with the rest of his tribe while herself, Vera and Osha follow Alicia.

"Heeeey, big sis. Where we goin'?" Osha asks after a little bit of walking, but Alicia just keeps following the scent and does not reply.

Osha, Ignis and Vera shrug and follow her.

Eventually, Alicia stops at a clearing. But as they look around, they notice that it is not a natural clearing. There are fallen tree's all around them that look like they had been bulldozed down. As they take a closer look, they see it is not a clearing at all… But a large path made by something very large. Judging from the way the trees have fallen, it looks like whatever made the pathway was headed up towards the mountain range.

The area is eerie and silent, as though nothing living is nearby at all.

"… Looks like we need to head back now. As fast as we can." Ignis says while scanning the area.

"My Lady, look at this. Footprints…" (Vera)

They all take a closer look at what Vera pointed out, and she is right. There are tons footprints of various sizes and shapes mixed in with huge ones.

"Your right… All the footprints smell really bad." Alicia says once again, and now they are closer everyone can understand what Alicia means.

Bad smells were not uncommon for creatures that did not wash, like the feral creatures who only worked on fulfilling their basic urges. However, this smell is different and even more foul then that of feral creatures. None of them could place the smell though.

"… There is no use in standing around here. Let's head back to Kaal and tell everyone we need to move a bit faster." Alicia says and turns to head back towards where the Lizard people were waiting.

The other three follow closely behind as they leave the area, feeling slightly unnerved.

They were not worried about the Valen being taken by whatever is making its way up to the mountain range, after all Petra and Terra are there. However, if they are strong enough to launch a surprise attack then it may lead to some casualties and if it takes longer then they thought to defeat them, it could lead to more casualties and damage in the meantime.

---

Not long later, Alicia's group re-join Kaal.

When they return, they explain what had been found to Kaal and tell him that everyone needs to increase their speed. Kaal understands and talks to the tribe. They then proceed with haste and more wariness. Knowing something else is in the forest, heading in the same general direction as they are.

Ignis, Vera and Osha walk out in front this time, while Kaal asks Alicia some questions about what they saw.

"Do you have any idea of what it could be my Queen?" (Kaal)

"Hmmm… No idea. I've never smelled something that bad before. Though there were lots of different footprints back there, paws, claws, feet… Seems like lots of different creatures." Alicia says as she looks up at the now slightly cloudy sky.

She then turns to look at Kaal…

"What about you? I mean you've been in this area longer then we have, right?" (Alicia)

"I'm afraid we were not in the area long enough to know to much about what else lurks in this forest. We only recently moved from a different area when the humans attacked us, so I'm afraid that I can't help you there." Kaal says, regret on his face as he answered.

Alicia smiles brightly in response to his negative tone…

"Haha don't worry about it. It's not your fault silly." Alicia says with a happy tone, trying to cheer him up.

Shocked that his new Queen is trying to cheer him up, his mouth goes slack for a moment. But he quickly corrects himself and smiles…

"Thank you, my Queen." Kaal says, then he excuses himself and goes to talk to his someone from his tribe.

Alicia looks back, and sees him talking to a female Lizard person. They seem quite close, so Alicia begins to wonder if they are in a relationship. Or at least it looks like it is heading that way if they are not, judging by their body language.

[Kukuku… I will have to tease him about it later.] Alicia thinks to herself, then re-joins Ignis, Vera and Osha at the front.

---

They travel for the rest of the day. Luckily Lizard people are rather sturdy, even as children, so sre able to keep up with the fast pace.

Eventually night approaches. They decide it is unwise to tire everyone out completely if there is something dangerous in the forest.

They set up a large camp, close together, and make sure there is a number of warriors watching out for enemies, on rotation.

Alicia and Ignis also volunteer to be on the first watch, while Vera, Kaal and Osha would take over later in the night.

And so, the three went to sleep while Alicia and Ignis sat nearby around a campfire.

They both chat about random things for a little while, before Ignis goes quiet. Alicia looks over towards Ignis, to see her staring into the fire with a concerned look on her face.

"Hey… Alicia?" Ignis says without looking up from the fire.

"Hmm? What's up?" Alicia asks, shuffling closer to her.

"… Everything will be okay, right?" Ignis asks with a nervous voice, the question confusing Alicia at first.

"I mean I was really sure before that nothing bad would ever happen to me and my family. But then…" Ignis continues, her shaky voice breaking in parts.

[Ah… So that's what she is thinking] Alicia thought, remembering how she met Ignis…

Ignis had looked up to her Father, thinking nothing could beat him and that he would always be there to protect her and the rest of their skulk. But she turned out to be wrong... and now he's gone.

Despite knowing how strong Petra and Terra were, as well as how strong her Mother, Aura, had gotten since she began training with Terra. Ignis still had these anxious thoughts in the back of her head, telling and showing her the worst-case scenarios.

"… I mean what if it happens again and this time we can't run away from it all…" Ignis rapidly starts to get increasingly upset, her breathing beginning to get erratic and her body is shaking. Making Alicia panic also.

[Damn it, what do I do! Maya was always better at this sort of thing then I was! Wait, what did she use to do when I had moments like this… Ah yes!] (Alicia)

"What if… What if- Huh?" As Ignis begins to spiral further, Alicia appears knelt in front of her.

She feels a hand place itself on the back of her head gently. Alicia then pulls Ignis towards her and into her chest, stroking her head gently as she hugs her.

"Alicia? What are you-" (Ignis)

"Shhhh… It's okay, we can talk about this stuff… But first let's calm down" Alicia says, trying her best to imitate both her former sister's, Maya's, voice as well as her Mothers gentle, soothing voice.

After a little while, it works. Ignis's breathing slows back down to normal again and she stops shaking…

"…Thank you… Alicia." Ignis says with a still slightly shaky voice as she looks up at Alicia.

"Not a problem, I am always here if you need me. So I am happy to do this whenever you want me too." Alicia says with a gentle smile.

That smile had never looked so dazzling, as it did right now to Ignis. The moonlight shining down on Alicia enhancing her charm further and making her bright golden eyes stand out even more in the darkness.

"Yeah…well... Thanks again." Ignis replies, hiding her face in Alicia's chest once again to hide her furiously blushing face.

Alicia tilts her head to the side in confusion, wondering why she's hiding her face. But she decides to leave it, she did not seem to be upset anymore.

"… You want to talk?" Alicia asks still stroking the back of Ignis' head.

In response, Ignis just slides down Alicia and rests her head on Alicia's thighs, using her lap as a pillow…

"Maybe later… For now, I want to stay like this." Ignis says, her usual calmness returning to her voice.

Alicia nods in acceptance. As they both stay like that for a while, in silence, with Ignis enjoying the stroking she was receiving.

Eventually they begin to talk again. Ignis pushes back and ignores her bad thoughts, as they talk about lighter subjects while laughing and giggling, losing track of time.

Eventually, when they realise how long they have been talking, the two switch with Vera, Osha and Kaal and head off to sleep, themselves.

Alicia nods off fairly quickly while snuggling up with Ignis and her fluffy tails. Though, Ignis sits up when she notices Alicia has fallen asleep and stares down lovingly at her...

"… Alicia... *chu*" Ignis gives Alicia a kiss on the cheek, and cuddles into her delicate looking arm.

They sleep the rest of the night away.