Gavina wandered across the border port of Phoenicis. Well… port was a misnomer she always hated. 'Port' implied boats could get here. Phoenicis, country of birds, was inaccessible without the gift of flight. The one time a beorc had entered this land, it was with the aid of Hawk King Tibarn the Tenacious. She looked up into the air, to see a small array of black spots. She recognised the shape almost immediately. The crows of Kilvas took that formation before an act of piracy.

"Hawk brothers! Hawk brothers! One o'clock! An A-12 at one o'clock!" Gavina called out, pointing into the sky.

"Don't be silly, miss. It's ten o'clock!" a hawk said. His companion looked up into the sky, and slapped the first across the face.

"Direction, not time!" he hissed, before transforming. The first hawk took the hint, and transformed as well. The pair, plus a small formation of other hawks, took to the skies, and formed up to face the Kilvan pirates. Gavina flew into the air, looking to watch the hawks in action.

The first few Kilvan pirates charged at the hawks, and the first few Phoenician knights took the blows. Their brethren behind them charged forward, and slashed at their wings, looking for the critical feathers. Gavina chuckled. Most Phoenicians didn't know where the critical feathers were. They'd be there forever at that rate. She charged forward, transforming and ignoring the calls of her hawk brothers, to find the pirate leader in the back.

"Well, lookie what we have here… a hawk who flew a bit far from the nest. You'd make a killing in some circles," the pirate said. Gavina ignored his taunts, and flew over him, pulling on his critical feathers. Some other feathers began moulting, and the Kilvan found it hard to remain airborne.

"Like these circles?" Gavina asked.

"RETREAT!" the pirate leader called, before dropping to the ground. The rest of the crows spread out and around, abandoning the position. A pair of hawks descended onto the leader, while another pair approached Gavina.

"What were you thinking, civilian?" he asked.

"What were you thinking, private?" another hawk asked. Gavina looked around, to see Janaff make his approach. A bit of a boyish charm for someone over a hundred years old, and the keenest eye in Tellius.

"This civilian charged right into combat and jeopardised our chance to catch these pirates!" the hawk said.

"That ain't what I saw. I saw a hawk charge into the pirate leader, find the critical feathers almost immediately, and allowed you to catch him. I guarantee Tibarn is much more proud of catching a leader than a few grunts," Janaff said.

"…But… she has no combat training! She is a female! Girls are weaker than men!" the hawk said.

"When you see Dame Mia on the field of combat, you lose that misguided approach. Miss… if you could follow me," Janaff said.

Janaff led Gavina to Phoenicis Hall. Gavina was starting to shiver nervously: was she wrong after all? Janaff opened the door to King Tibarn's Room, and ushered Gavina inside. The two herons, Reyson and Leanne, were sitting in one corner, with Reyson teaching Leanne some galdr. From their expressions, Leanne seemed to be deviating from the lessons quite a bit. Tibarn was stretching in the room, Ulki sitting a short distance away. Gavina started to blush. She'd never been this close to the King Tibarn before…

"Janaff, who's this girl?" Tibarn asked.

"This is the girl who caught the Kilvan pirates that attacked us just now. From what I saw, she looked pretty good," Janaff said.

"Kilvan pirates? Janaff, you're impatient as always. I've heard of no such thing. I don't know how I can help you," Tibarn said. As he spoke, the pair of hawks came in with the Kilvan pirate in question, throwing him to the floor. The pirate looked up, and on seeing Gavina with Tibarn, started stepping back into the other hawks' arms.

"She's yours, hawk king? I swears, I didn't means no harm to her, honest!" the pirate said.

"Despicable filth… I haven't said a word, and he's already gone and outed himself. So you were here on a raid, huh? Tell me… what does King Naesala know of your actions?" Tibarn asked.

"Naesala? Never heard of the man!" the Kilvan pirate said, to the confusion of the hawks and Reyson, and to the anger of Leanne.

"How could you not know of Naesala?" Leanne said.

"Hm… so Naesala did pay you off?" Gavina asked.

"Nup. Nope. Nuh-uh. He wouldn't pay us one thousand gold to wreck your landing port and isolate Phoenicis, or anything like that!" the pirate said.

"The good thing about stupidity is that it's predictable," Gavina said.

"NAESALA! I'll be having words with him about this…" Tibarn said.

"Cool your temper, Tibarn! This might not be Naesala's fault… I don't know why he'd ever do such a thing," Leanne said.

"I can't let this go uninvestigated… stay here. I'm on my way. Janaff, go do something about this scum. Ulki… see what you can do about this girl," Tibarn said. Janaff and Ulki nodded, as Tibarn soared off.

When Tibarn returned, he found Gavina seated, shivering nervously. Janaff, Ulki, Reyson and Leanne had left her alone in here, waiting.

"Listen… Gavina, was it?" Tibarn asked. Gavina nodded, swallowing.

"I… Thanks to you, we found out what was going on with Kilvas. It was a slight misunderstanding on all our parts, but Naesala has promised to throw away the scum responsible for this mess and forget where to find the key. You did good out there, hawk sister," Tibarn said. Gavina smiled, but was still shivering too much to respond.

"…I know this is a big job, but would you like to be the Hawk King's brains? Janaff's my scout and Ulki's my spy… I think I'm going to need a good tactician to round out this merry little band, don't you?" Tibarn asked.

"Me? Serving you? I… I'm flattered, truly I am…" Gavina said.

"Then it's settled. I hope you'll serve Phoenicis well, Gavina," Tibarn said, heading out of the room. Gavina let herself drop. The hawk king's own tactician? Being so close to Tibarn the Tenacious? She wasn't sure if she could handle this one.

Despite her initial doubts, the Hawk King's Brains served Tibarn well the next two years. Admittedly, the tactician had less to do in a time of peace than the other two, but Gavina was glad to simply be assimilating with Tibarn and his aides and companions. She laughed at Janaff's jokes, got to understand Ulki's solitude and work with it, and have long discussions with Reyson. Leanne swore up a storm, but she was with Naesala a lot, too, so she didn't have to deal with it all the time. And Tibarn… Gavina could stand in the same room as him to give him reports for hours at a time without descending into a nervous wreck.

However, all of that changed when Begnion and the Laguz Alliance waged war. Gallia began its march on Begnion, accompanied by the Greil Mercenaries. Gavina had organised an attack on the Central Army to aid the Gallians- striking their supply train. Tibarn led his hawk force towards the train carefully.

"Remember, we don't want to attract the attention of-" Gavina started reminding her troops.

"The Central Army?" Zelgius said, removing his protective tarp. The rest of the tarps vanished, and the rest of the Central Army revealed itself as the supply train.

"General Zelgius!" Tibarn called out.

"Ingenious tactic…" Gavina commented. Zelgius pushed forward, his sword descending in a murderous arc. Tibarn grabbed the sword, and pushed it away. He let out a war call, and struck Zelgius. Zelgius barely noticed.

"A little bird told us your battle strategy… or should I say big bird?" Zelgius said.

"Naesala?" Tibarn asked.

"…We have delayed you long enough. If you cherish the lives of your people, hawk king, you will return to Phoenicis immediately," Zelgius said.

"…You don't mean…" Gavina said, horror setting in.

Tibarn, Janaff, Ulki and Gavina were the swiftest in their rush to Phoenicis. However, the other hawks were not far behind. Tibarn quickly ascended to the port, and reverted, Janaff, Ulki and Gavina reverting behind him. Tibarn looked around. There were corpses everywhere: corpses of women, corpses of the elderly, corpses of children. Tibarn kept a stoic façade, but Gavina could tell he was suffering at the sight.

"Janaff… do you see anything other than death?" Tibarn asked. Janaff was silent.

"Ulki… do you hear anything?" Tibarn asked. Ulki had his eyes closed, averted from the catastrophe. Tibarn didn't need anything else to know what had happened.

"Tibarn… I should've stayed behind… I should've been there to evacuate everyone…" Gavina said.

"You didn't know," Tibarn said.

"But I should've suspected, and prepared," Gavina said.

"You can't prepare for everything, Gavina. We should have expected Naesala to turn traitor and prepared for that, yes. We had no reason to expect that he'd cause this," Tibarn said.

"Besides, no offence, but do you think you could've stopped this?" Janaff asked.

"Gavina. Now, more than ever, you are one of the most important hawks," Tibarn said.

"But what am I going to do to…" Gavina started, before the realisation hit her like the wind.

"…No… no way," Gavina said.

"I know, Gavina. This is a heavy responsibility. I'll… I'll need to go check on Reyson. Naesala wouldn't have killed him… Gavina, you need to sit down. This is the most important strategy to the hawks you could conceive," Tibarn said.

"Tibarn… I…" Gavina said, before falling to the seat by herself, exhausted.

"Janaff, Ulki, take care of her," Tibarn said.

"Tibarn… we'll go get Reyson. You watch Gavina," Janaff said.

"…All right," Tibarn said, gesturing for Janaff and Ulki to fly to Phoenicis Hall. Tibarn was left looking at the exhausted Gavina, wondering how to go about comforting her. He started by picking her up, and setting her on his lap, allowing her head to sink onto his shoulder.

"Tibarn… whatever happens… I want our child to be the first," Gavina murmured. Tibarn gave her a pat on the back, and allowed her time to concentrate. Many of the soldiers had begun landing by this point, and had gone in search of their own homes, their own families.

Gavina followed Tibarn faithfully through the Great War, and then the Divine War following. However, near the war's end, Gavina learned the scent of Izuka… somewhere out there were fifteen female hawks. Her burden would be lightened… she hoped. After all… she did need their consent, first. Hopefully, the threat of extinction would be sufficient… the hawks really were dying, weren't they…

"Hey," Tibarn said gruffly. Gavina turned, to see him walking up. Gavina smiled nervously, looking around. It was just her and Tibarn out.

"We're about to siege the Tower of Guidance… we'll be there sometime tomorrow. Any strategy?" Tibarn asked.

"Scan the outside of the tower, but don't enter it until we hear from Micaiah and Ike," Gavina said.

"…Gavina, you all right?" Tibarn asked.

"…I guess so… it's just…" Gavina started.

"You're worried about the hawks Izuka mentioned?" Tibarn asked.

"Yeah…" Gavina said.

"He was just trying to save his hide. Do you really think he'd have left hawks like that?" Tibarn asked.

"…Tibarn…" Gavina said.

"…Oh… well, I'm sure if he was telling the truth, they'll be fine. Ranulf and Lyre have their scent, and they can help you track 'em down. I know you'll do that job well," Tibarn said.

"Tibarn… what if they can't… what if they won't breed?" Gavina said.

"Gavina…" Tibarn said.

"The hawks are all dead… it's just us and the army we left in Daein as stone. Once we revive them, though… I'm still the only girl… I can't revive a dead race…" Gavina said.

"Gavina… do you want to fly about with me?" Tibarn asked. Gavina nodded nervously, and felt Tibarn's hand around hers. Tibarn shot into the sky, and Gavina started following behind. Tibarn transformed into hawk form, and Gavina followed suit. Tibarn started flying about in an impressive circle, which Gavina copied, blushing. She didn't want to add the cries, for fear of disturbing the others, but she had to admit: the wind in her face, and the whooshes of Tibarn, had a therapeutic effect. Tibarn eventually called for her to land, to which she did, a little reluctantly.

"So, was that helpful?" Tibarn asked.

"Yeah…" Gavina said. Tibarn reached for the end of his wing.

"No!" Gavina cried out.

"Gavina…" Tibarn said appeasingly.

"I know what you want… and I'm a little grateful for it. But could you at least not go for one of your critical feathers?" Gavina asked. Tibarn let out a surprised noise, and pulled out a feather closer to his body. He leaned forward, and tucked the feather behind Gavina's right ear. Gavina reached up to it, feeling it under her fingers.

"Gavina, you're a great strategist… I assure you. I will make sure you can make it through this darkest hour regardless of what happens," Tibarn said.

"Thank you… Tibarn…" Gavina said.

"It was the least I could do. Now don't go dying on me! We want some hope for restoring our race, at least!" Tibarn said.

"Will do!" Gavina said.

It was very shortly after the Divine War. The Phoenician and Gallian forces hadn't even parted ways, accompanying each other until Tibarn reached Serenes, from which Gallia would continue on. Lyre caught the faintest whiff of Izuka's scent, caught from a favourable gust of wind. She awoke, and woke up Ranulf.

"I can smell him… Izuka," Lyre said.

"Lyre, really?" Ranulf asked, sniffing. "I don't smell a thing."

"You're always saying I have the better nose for this. Besides, you know Queen Gavina will want to follow this as soon as we can!" Lyre said.

"Queen Gavina?" Ranulf asked.

"…Granted, she and Tibarn haven't officially married, but isn't the feather-behind-the-ear their equivalent of an engagement or something?" Lyre asked.

"I dunno, maybe? Lyre, I've only been up five minutes…" Ranulf asked.

"Hmph. I'll go tell Gavina myself, then," Lyre said, turning and leaving Ranulf. Ranulf watched her go, vaguely confused.

It didn't take much convincing to inspire Gavina into action. Lyre just had to let the word 'Izuka' out of her mouth for Gavina to jump out of bed and into a more proper attire before Lyre could manage the word 'scent'. She was on the move before Lyre could figure out what her current thought was, and Lyre was sent running just to catch up and offer directions. Ranulf, who was only slightly better off, had caught up by then.

Lyre directed them, not to Gritnea Tower, but through Begnion. Admittedly, considering Izuka's (probable) allegiance, this made some iota of sense. The group found themselves standing outside a small, ramshackle place that was almost definitely hiding something- because it sure as hell wasn't doing anything else.

"Are you sure you'll be all right, Gavina?" Lyre asked.

"Izuka's gone… I don't think there'll be many ferals…" Gavina said.

"By that same logic, the girls'll be gone, too…" Ranulf said.

"Oh…" Gavina said.

"We can't lose hope… we'll have to press on," Ranulf said.

Gail checked outside the door again. No sign of Feral Ones, but the looming stench was on the air. She didn't want to fight anything, not by herself. She looked back at the other hawks, all of whom were hunched against the wall. Several still had the chains of Izuka's imprisonment on them. Izuka could still potentially come back, but to be honest, none of the hawks had mustered up the energy to break those chains. Maybe after the next meal, there'd be enough for one more…

"Gail…" Vivaci cried. She was the youngest, still around her twenties, and was the first to be completely freed, after Gail herself. She was mostly crying in a corner. Gail didn't blame her.

"It'll all be all right… someone will find us, eventually… honestly, I'll be fine if Izuka shows up. It's the waiting that's killing me," Gail said. Vivaci cried out.

"But it'll all be fine," Gail quickly said. Nevertheless, Vivaci's cry did seem to attract attention, and there was a gentle knock at the door. Vivaci started hiding, and the various hawks began making themselves small. Gail looked at the table, the one thing in the room with them, for something that could be a weapon. It was empty, and there was no way Gail was lifting it. There was a knife in the larder… but that was too far. She could transform… but she couldn't hold it. A head peered around the door… a female laguz head.

"Friend?" Gail asked.

"Yes…" the other girl said, before being swamped by the six completely unchained girls. Gavina gave them all a hug, before rushing to the others and loosening their chains, doing what would've taken them weeks (if the contents of the larder lasted that long) in a few minutes.

"Are we… are we free to go?" Hilde asked.

"Yes, just as soon as Ranulf and Lyre make sure the coast is clear," Gavina said.

"Thank Ashera! I'll see my beloved and children again!" Isabelle said.

"Yeah… about that…" Gavina said nervously. Everyone looked up.

"What?" Gail asked.

"There's been... a genocide. The army was mobilised and attacking Begnion at the time… apart from them, there wasn't a feather that wasn't harmed. Parents, children, loved ones, friends…" Gavina said. Several girls started shedding tears, feeling for their Lover's Feathers. Quite a few had lost theirs. One of the girls was really crying because of this- must've been the wife of someone who wouldn't have survived the massacre.

"…Girls… I hate to thrust this on such a time…" Gavina said.

"Then don't," Gail said.

"…It's something important to the hawks' continuation… It's a burden… that'll be tough to bear…" Gavina said. She felt a hand on hers. Vivaci had reached out a hand to hold her in comfort.

"…Girls… we need to repopulate. The only female hawks in existence are all in this room," Gavina said. She got more than a few shocked cries out of that.

"You're right… that is a tough burden…" Gail said.

"Is that why you went looking for us?" Paula asked.

"…Admittedly, yes… Izuka used you as a bargaining chip while he was pleading for his life. He knew that I was the only known female hawk… by revealing you all, he had hoped his life would be spared," Gavina said.

"Where is he? I'm going to kill him!" Gail said.

"He's… dead. In little pieces on the floor of a marsh. Some of them might've been eaten, some of them might've decomposed into the earth… according to Janaff, I made at least one person a little squeamish there," Gavina said. A few of the other girls were turning a little green.

"Gavina, coast is clear," Ranulf said.

"Anyway, we'll head to Castle Phoenicis. Those of you who still have your husbands, fiancés, boyfriends… any friends, they'll be there for you to find," Gavina said. The girls nodded, and Gavina started leading them out.

With the help of the fertile Serenes Forest, Gavina could get everyone the energy they needed to transform and make the flight to Phoenicis Hall. There, she quickly organised a massive banquet with the few hundred Phoenicians, a small smattering of Kilvans led by Naesala, as well as all three herons. Gavina invited Gail, the 'leader' of the girls, to come up to the head table to share her story. The other girls found their family, and sat by them for comfort.

"So, Gail… what happened to you?" Tibarn asked.

"Well… I was out on a flight with my husband when Izuka found us. He had archers… Begnion insignia, I think. Maybe Daein. He took us and captured us. I only got to see poor Wynand a few times, when he threw him to my side. Eventually, I got to see him turn Feral… and then I never saw him again. He must've died at your hand…" Gail said.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Ulki said.

"Don't worry, he was dead anyway. Gave me this, though…" Gail said, showing a scar across her left shoulder. Everyone shuddered.

"Izuka didn't do much with me. He had one or two odd experiments to run, but I seemed to be getting off easily. After a while, he threw me in a room with all the other girls… we were having a nice chat while Izuka was out. The poor girls… but when Izuka stopped showing up, I saw my chance. I smashed out of the locks on my chains. Sprained my wrists, but I was out. I knew I couldn't make my escape and look for help, but my scouting around did find the larder, and a safe route to get to it. By keeping everyone fed, I could slowly help everyone get out… but that larder wasn't exactly full. It was taking more and more energy to break cuffs… and I was almost entirely convinced we'd run out of food, first," Gail said.

"And that's how I found you…" Gavina said.

"Yes… thanks, Gavina. We girls owe you one," Gail said.

"Well… by 'owe'…" Tibarn said.

"I heard about your little repopulation problem… me and the girls discussed it, and we think it's fair. Gavina did save our lives… we should save the hawk race," Gail said.

"Thank you!" Gavina said, shooting around to give Gail a tight hug.

"You're welcome…" Gail said. "But you're in this with us."

"I know… but I know it'll be possible just with more of us," Gavina said.

"Besides… Gavina here earned my trust during those wars you lot missed," Tibarn said, throwing his arm around her. Gail noticed, for the first time, that Gavina's Lover's Feather was green… like Tibarn…

"You're Tibarn's…" Gail said.

"Exactly. And while I understand that your job is a big duty… I don't think everyone will be lining up to try their hand with Gavina," Tibarn said.

"Really? But…" Gail said.

"Tibarn's discussed it with me. Janaff, Ulki and Reyson. Four should be plenty from me, since our children will all have the blood of heroes and such, and they'll all be vying for the crown… probably for the better I don't oversaturate our race," Gavina said.

"Right…" Gail said.

"Anyway, tactically speaking, three to five husbands, with at least two children apiece and one girl in there for each, should be plenty to compromise between modern standards and the needs of our race… it might take generations to return the hawks to the majesty they once claimed," Gavina said.

"Oh. Well, that makes sense…" Gail said.

"We also need to make sure the breeding pool is diverse. Wasn't sure what I was planning, being the mother of the entire next generation of hawks… they'd all be siblings, and I've only got so many years to birth them all. Though, considering they're not all that bad-" Gavina said, pointing to Naesala and the ravens. "I might've borrowed some raven girls to try and ease the burden."

"Yeah, don't see that working long. Or at all," Gail said.

"You never know… depending on how Leanne and Naesala conceive, it might've," Gavina said.

"I wasn't talking genetically," Gail said.

"Oh…" Gavina said. Gail turned and headed in Vivaci's direction. She was with her father, and looked the most scared of the girls. Tibarn gave Gavina another pat on the back.

"This'll cut it fine… but I think you might've saved our race!" Tibarn said.

"Thanks, Ha- I mean, Tibarn," Gavina said.