-"You are safe now, child." Lyra answered with a gentle smile, as she knelt down to get into level with the young female. Cute cat ears sat atop the young girl's head, and she hugged a white stuffed bunny toy. Then, a woman also came up to the door, and quickly took the child further back inside.
Lyra was not surprised. She had known since day 1 that there were 2 lifeforms inside the stagecoach. And yet, they had never even once left the stagecoach this entire time, and they were already nearly a month into the journey. She peeked inside, and saw there were plenty of boxes filled with rations, as well as blankets and waterskins, and even sealed bags, no doubt what they had to relieve themselves in.
-"Reina, interrogate the guards who are still alive." Lyra said, nodding towards the red-haired woman, before Lyra herself stepped into the stagecoach.
"You shouldn't be in here..." the adult cat-woman said, hugging the small child to her form.
-"It is safer with me in here." Lyra said as she sat down on a bench opposite them, tossing one leg over the other and clasping her hands together in her lap. She could spot the child peeking out towards her, with big curious yellow eyes, and so Lyra waved gently her way.
"We were told to remain hidden..." the adult woman said.
-"Well that is no longer possible." Lyra answered. She elaborated:
-"They clearly knew you were in here to begin with."
The adult woman sat in silence, while the child squirmed and settled properly in her lap. She looked to be maybe 6 or 7 years old.
-"You don't need to worry, we'll get you safely to your destination." Lyra said confidently.
"I... don't doubt that..." the adult woman said, sighing gently. They may have been isolated inside the stagecoach, but they could still hear everything going on outside. They knew very well what had happened to the bandits earlier during the trip.
"Are you an elf, lady?" the young girl said, tilting her head sideways.
-"That's right. My name is Lyra, what is your name?" Lyra answered, smiling and dipping her head.
"Kira." said the child, before she wiggled out of the caretakers arms and trodded on over towards Lyra.
"I have never seen an elf like you before." Kira said, as she stopped in front of Lyra.
-"Oh?" Lyra said, leaning forward a bit.
"Yeah. The ones I have seen had a lot more muscle." Kira answered.
-"I guess that's because they were men. You like muscles?" Lyra answered, entertained.
"Mmm, I think so. But you are alright too. But, can we leave this box now?" Kira asked, looking at the adult cat-woman.
"I... don't think that's a good idea..." she began, but Lyra raised a hand.
-"You can, so long as you stay by my side at all times, okay?" Lyra said.
"OKAY!" Kira said, her tail swaying behind her happily.
Internally, Lyra was crying from the absolute cuteness that was Kira. She wanted to just scoop her up and hug her and squeeze her cheeks! She felt extremely blessed to have been able to come to this world, if only for this! But she had to play it cool, she couldn't scare the child.
Rest of the night, Lyra kept watch over the sleeping Kira, while chatting away with Reina and the caretaker, who was named Mara. Turns out these "Guards" had been bribed by enemies of Kira's father. Also very likely the same people who had hired the bandits. Mara explained that Kira was the daughter of a very wealthy business mogul of the cat-tribe, and that his company had a very long-standing rivalry with another company. Kira had been sent to live with some relatives amongst the humans during a very dangerous time, but was now coming back. Sadly, attempts on her life were nothing unusual, which Mara deeply regretted.
"No child should have to grow up like that..." she had remarked, a few tears running down her cheeks. Mara had been the wetnurse for the child, and was very much a stand-in-mother who always accompanied the child where ever she went.
The following morning, the Bright Sun company and all the wagon drivers woke up to the stagecoach being open, and all the guards were gone. Lyra explained the situation and said they'd proceed ahead regardless. Kira was allowed to sit up on the stagecoach together with Mara, and Reina and Lyra on either side. The child seemed very excited to be able to travel properly without being trapped inside, and greatly enjoyed herself which made Lyra's heart flutter. The next day, Kira was back up sitting with Lyra and Reina, but this time she was sitting in Lyra's lap, playing with her long blue hair, while chatting away happily about this and that.
Every now and then, they'd be attacked by bandits or mercenaries, but any arrows and other projectiles fired towards Kira and Lyra just bounced of the barrier Lyra had projected around them. Eventually, Kira began finding the attacks funny and even taunted the criminals, before Reina and the Bright Sun party dealt with them mercilessly. On the third day, Kira began calling Lyra "Big sis" and it was also the day Kira realized that Reina was getting jealous over all the attention Lyra was giving her, and so the playful taunts began.
"Hey, hey Reina, look at me!" Kira would say, waving as she cuddled up a bit extra against Lyra, smirking deviously.
"M-master! You're spoiling her way too much! WHAT ABOUT ME!?" Reina shouted, clearly far from immune to these childish taunts.
"....What about us..." Ray, Fred and Daniel would mutter. They hadn't been able to spend any time at all with Lyra lately, especially not now that Kira was in the mix.
Kira however only laughed mischievously, but Mara smiled, clutching a hand over her chest, as she whispered gently to Lyra while watching Kira.
"Thank you, for humoring Kira. She hasn't laughed like this in months." Mara whispered.
-"Oh it is my absolute pleasure." Lyra said, gently running her fingers through Kira's hair, as the young child sat domineeringly in her lap, as if it were a throne. Lyra knew the child was most astute, and had quickly figured out who was the boss, and then worked her charm on Lyra. She clearly liked being pampered, but also felt the need to be protected. It must be hard, always having to work for your survival like that, always having to please.
She tried to explain this to Reina, but the dragon was still less than pleased. Lyra promised, once the mission was done, she'd spoil Reina a bit too, so eventually Reina relented and let Kira "Have" Lyra, for now.
That same night, they were ambushed again. Lyra quickly rushed into the stagecoach where Kira and Mara were sleeping, to ensure their safety but also to comfort them, letting them know they were safe. She could see the fear on Kira's face for a few short moments, before the child tried to play it off, making jokes, shouting taunts at the assassins as Reina brutally murdered them outside the stagecoach. Lyra breathed out in frustration, before she took Kira's hand, to have a heart to heart.
-"Kira, dear... it is alright to be afraid, and to be sad." Lyra said. But Kira just burrowed her face down into Mara's chest, shaking her head.
"I'm NOT afraid... I'm my father's daughter... we don't get scared..." she mumbled.
-"I know it is unfair, that you have to live like this, Kira..." Lyra said, and the child peeked out from within Mara's embrace.
"You do?" she asked, her voice low.
-"Yes, I do." Lyra just responded.
"Everyone else... always tells me how nice it must be... to come from such a rich family. To have no worries in the world... but I HATE it. I don't want daddy to be rich... I want him to be with me..." she said weakly, and Mara clutches the child even tighter against her, a few tears rolling down her cheeks. Lyra melted, feeling a pang of sadness hit her too. She saw her past self in this child, raging against an unfair world, just wanting to be happy.
-"If you want, Kira, I can promise to always be your big sister. I'll help you, when you need it, okay?" Lyra said, reaching a hand out to pat her head.
"You mean that?" Kira asked.
"Absolutely. Pinky promise." Lyra said, holding out her pinky. Tentatively, Kira held hers out, and they pulled on each other's pinky. Lyra spent the rest of the night inside the stagecoach, keeping an eye on things. Whoever wanted Kira dead clearly had a lot of money, to be able to send this many people after her. Lyra however felt no remorse about killing these assassins, although she didn't actually do much of the killing herself, since Reina and the Bright Sun handled that. She did watch the party of human from inside as they fought, and realized they were actually extremely competent, to the point they instinctively knew what the others would do, and could thus communicate without even talking. Then again, they were an A-rank party after all, so would be strange if they were incompetent.
When Dawn broke, they began riding again, with Lyra staying inside the Stagecoach the entire time. The closer they had gotten to the capital, the more desperate the assassins had become after all. But on the final day, there were no attacks at all. Around noon, a group of knightly looking cat-folk rode up to the caravan, except they were not mounted on horses but on large feline creatures, looking like massive black panthers. Seems they were the private security of the Etherum Merchant Company, which Kira's father owned.
The Captain, a muscular man named Gara, offered his quick greetings and thanks, and explained they had been expecting the caravan any day now, and thus been patrolling back and forth along this road. Kira was ecstatic to see Gara again and leapt out from the stagecoach to give him a hug, before returning to Lyra's side. Together with this new security detail, they started moving again, and when even began to fall, they finally reached it, Helos, the capital of the Cat-tribe.