BWS Bloody Nightmare – Rath Vogart

Rath’s turn! ❤ This young wolf is supposed to be the main guy of the game, but since Bloody Nightmare is focusing on the cats… Let’s just say his route here is quite short and empty, just like some of you have mentioned in the comments.

Rath is a young man from the wolf race, which is believed to be an endangered species in Weblin. He has beautiful silver hair that glows like the moon, a pair of wolf ears and a tail. One of his ice blue eyes is covered with an eyepatch, and he wields dual main gauche in battle. He’s not used to interacting with people, and he rarely talks as well — thinking most people would only reject him for being a wolf. Instead, Rath tends to show his feelings through his actions.

For the main plot, please refer to Mejojo and Arles‘ routes. This post only covers the individual events.

After Arles bit Fiona’s shoulder, Mejojo completely loses his mind and strangles her out of rage. She loses her consciousness and falls into a dream of the forest. Soon she hears the sound of rustling bushes, and she wonders what’s hiding there. The image that comes to Fiona’s mind is the young man she saw during the wolf hunt. The young man with sadness in his eye. They told her that he’s being held in custody in the royal palace, but she wonders if he managed to run away. The forest in front of her eyes closely resembles the one she saw during the wolf hunt. Fiona calls out and asks if someone is there. The sound slowly goes further away from her, but then she catches a glimpse of the young man — Rath — beyond the bushes.

Fiona asks Rath to wait and goes to chase after him, making her way through the bushes. She doesn’t have anything to say to him, and she doesn’t have any objective for chasing him either. It’s just she feels that she shouldn’t lose sight of him. When he turns around, Fiona finds Rath’s ice blue eye looking back at her. It’s a beautiful color, and yet it also brings pain to her heart. Why does he look so sad? Rath remains silent as he turns away from Fiona, and then he disappears into the forest — only leaving the sound of rustling bushes behind. Once again, she chases after him. She desperately moves her legs, but she can’t catch up to him at all. He doesn’t reply when she begs him to wait, but from time to time, he stops and turns around. Then he looks at her with that sad eye, as if he wants to say something. Fiona wonders what Rath is trying to say and why he looks so sad. She continues chasing after him in the deep forest.

After running for a while, Fiona has to stop and catch her breath. Suddenly, she hears a voice asking what does she want from him. When she lifts her head, she finds Rath standing not too far away from her. Fiona comments about how he’s standing there right now, but she knows that if she tries to approach him, Rath will disappear again. Just like an illusion. Or rather, a dream. This is a dream. Rath answers that wolves and humans can no longer be friends. The saga can no longer be changed. Fiona doesn’t know his voice. She doesn’t know what he’s expecting either. The only thing she knows is his beautiful, deep and clear ice blue eye. She feels that she can hear voices from that eye. Rath tells Fiona not to approach him, warning her that she might die. In her mind, she asks him to tell her what he’s trying to convey.

At the same time, Rath slowly blurs and fades away — starting from his feet. Fiona wonders if her dream is supposed to end here, or is it ending because she has realized that it’s only a dream. Either way, the dream is ending. Out of the desire to call and stop him, Fiona stretches out her hands to hold Rath’s. If it’s really a dream, he surely wouldn’t give her any answer. She knows, and that’s why she doesn’t want to keep him in her dream. Now that she has realized that it’s a dream, she can’t stay in this forest forever. She has to wake up. Fiona glances at the forest before the dream ends, but Rath is no longer there. When Fiona wakes up in the garden, the first thing she recalls is Rath’s eye. She wonders why she’s so curious about him — did she fall in love with him? It feels like love at the first sight, even though she doesn’t know if they can meet again.

Beside her bed, Fiona finds Nesso and Zara along with Julian. They’re suggesting the idea of escaping from the royal palace through the underground sewers, and she decides to go along with it. They get ambushed by Auger along the way, but they manage to make it out to the forest. Fiona is down with a fever that night, so they let her rest in a mountain hut — where Zara explains more about Zodiva and the wolves. Since she wants to talk to the wolves before giving up on the kingdom, they travel into the wolves’ territory after that. Arles invites them to their hideout in Zanan, and they learn about what actually happened between Mejojo, Elvira and Arles 10 years ago. Fiona has to make a decision before they leave Zanan, and she decides to live together with the wolves. In order to force her family into agreeing, Arles then asks Fiona to marry into their family. She can choose to take Rath or Guillan as her husband, as both are around her age.

Fiona decides to marry Rath, which clearly surprises him. When he asks why she chose him, she reluctantly admits that she just can’t seem to leave him alone. However, Rath then replies that he has no intentions of getting married — pointing out that he doesn’t even know Fiona. In fact, he just learned about her name a moment ago. Why does he have to marry her? Rath starts muttering if his brother is a fool, and Fiona notes that he tends to mumble to himself sometimes. She sadly wonders if he hates the idea of marrying her that much, and the rejection obviously shocks her quite a lot. When she directly asks him about this, he answers with: “Hate? I don’t care. If you don’t want to be torn to pieces… you should pick someone other than me.” Fiona smiles saying despite what Rath just said, she wants him as her husband if they give her a choice. He simply answers that she’s foolish. He won’t accept this idea. His delicate blue eye is piercing into her.

Since Nesso and Zara are completely against the idea, Arles says they can do whatever they want. However, Fiona has become a part of the wolves. She belongs to them, and she’s going with them. Arles tells Rath to take care of Fiona, and Rath accepts the task with a single nod. Before Nesso and Zara can reach her, Rath transforms into his wolf form and hurls Fiona onto his back. After asking her to hold on tight, he takes a big leap and lands in the forest outside. She can hear the wolves howling behind them, and she turns around to see a lot of wolves running out of the castle. The largest one is Arles, who lets out a loud roar to control them. Rath tells Fiona that it’s useless for her family to remain in the castle. Despite his rejection earlier, she has become the wife of a wolf… and now they’re kidnapping her.

Fiona’s eyes widen in surprise. When she turns around, she can see shadows near the castle entrance. She apologizes to Nesso and Zara in her heart, knowing that her selfishness is hurting them. She starts sobbing upon realizing that she won’t see them anymore, and she feels pathetic because it’s her own decision. She turns to see the castle for the last time, but she can’t see the shadows anymore. Fiona’s tears roll down her cheeks and fall onto Rath’s fur. He surely notices, but he pretends that he doesn’t hear her cry. He remains silent as they continue running deep into the forest. From there, Fiona lives with the wolves in a clearing for several days. They return to Zanan after making sure that her family has left and crossed the border. Fiona mourns over the separation for a while, but she’s comforted by Rath and Guillan — who keep assuring her that she has them. They’re her new family.

After recovering from the sorrow, Fiona decides to start giving her blood to the wolves. It’d be dangerous if the wolves lose control in the process, so Arles tells her to take Rath, Guillan or him whenever she wants to give her blood. Fiona decides to ask for Rath’s help. At first it was hard to read his expressions, but recently he’s starting to show more expressions in front of her. She wants to see his smile again. She wants to grow closer to him. Fiona immediately goes to look for Rath, but he doesn’t seem to be in the castle. Even though she has checked a lot of places. he’s nowhere to be found. Zanan used to be a castle, and so it has a lot of rooms. Most of them are rotting though. The only ones with proper usage are just Fiona’s room and Arles’ study. It seems that Rath and Guillan aren’t using any rooms, and they spend most of their time in the hall instead. Whenever they go to sleep at night, she often sees them curling up in the hall. She was afraid that they’d catch a cold, but Arles told her to let them be.

Fiona then wonders if Rath went out, and she goes to look for him in the forest. They told her the forest is dangerous, and so she’s not allowed to walk too deep into the forest alone. She can only look for him near the entrance of the castle, and she wonders where he went. Rath is truly a lone wolf. He doesn’t like staying in a group. While the other wolves tend to gather in the hall, he spends most of his time alone. He vanishes and returns before Fiona could even realize. Since she can’t find him anywhere, Fiona glances at the deep areas of the forest. She reminds herself that she’s not allowed to go there. It’s dangerous, but even so, she wants to know where Rath has disappeared to. Fiona convinces herself that it’s just for a little bit, and she’ll immediately return upon sensing any signs of danger. Just when she’s about to set her foot onto the forest path, someone suddenly pulls her arm. She gasps and nearly screams, but then Rath appears asking what she’s doing. She shouldn’t enter the forest.

Upon seeing the person she’s been searching for, Fiona sighs with relief. She tells him that it surprised her and asks where he went, but he only frowns and takes a distance away from her. It’s pretty obvious that he has no intentions of telling her. However, Rath then asks if Fiona was looking for him. She nods saying she wants to give her blood to everyone, and he apologizes for the trouble. Rath asks if his brother and Guillan were away, but Fiona says that’s not the reason. She thought it’d be nice to have him with her, so she went to look for him. Rath answers with a short “I see…” and Fiona nods. Then silence falls between them. Fiona feels so awkward inside. She thought she’s starting to get along better with Rath, but apparently it was just a misunderstanding on her part. Guillan is lively and Arles gets them involved in conversations, so they can talk properly when those two are around… but when it’s just the two of them, it’s incredibly quiet.

Fiona tries to think up of a topic, but it doesn’t seem like she can share any with Rath. They don’t really have much in common to begin with. However, Fiona soon remembers something. She knows it’s extremely late, but she asks if Rath’s wounds are okay. He looks confused upon hearing this, so she points out that he was heavily wounded when they first met. Back then Mejojo took Fiona on a wolf hunt, and she witnessed how they cornered Rath towards a cliff, shoot him with arrows and captured him. Rath nods saying the incident was way back in the past, and Fiona apologizes to him. Even if she can see that he’s healthy enough to walk and run around in the forest, she can’t help but feel concerned. When Rath asks why she apologized, Fiona says it’s for asking about something that happened in the past. She smiles and points out that he’s healthy now, so it should be clear that his wounds have healed.

Rath nods and explains that the wolves excel in combat. They recover from injuries in no time. Fiona admits that she’s jealous of their amazing recovery rate, and she asks if they can recover from illnesses at the same speed. He replies that it’s also hard for the wolves to get sick, though they’re infected with Zodiva right now. Upon hearing this, Fiona’s eyes subconsciously moves to Rath’s eyepatch. Her expression turns serious as she calls his name, and she asks if he wants to try drinking her blood. Rath is surprised, and he quietly asks for the reason — because there should be other wolves who need higher priorities. Fiona admits that he’s right, as they have decided to prioritize those who can’t take their human forms… but she wants to heal his left eye. Rath has a beautiful ice blue eye, and Fiona was fascinated at the first sight. Deep in that pupil, she can see an indescribable sadness. She’s always been curious about him.

Rath informs Fiona that his left eye has been completely seized by Zodiva. Even if they cure the disease, his eye probably wouldn’t recover. When she asks if even the blood of Lobeira won’t work, he gives her silence as the answer. It means that her blood probably won’t be able to heal it, and she quietly admits that it feels frustrating. Rath asks her which part, and Fiona says it’s the fact that she can’t heal his eye. She thought she can be useful to them as a Lobeira. He assures her that she is useful to them. Even Arles said that thanks to her, everyone’s hunger has reduced. However, Fiona says that she can’t cure the person she wants to heal the most. She slowly raises her hand, and since Rath doesn’t run away… she lightly slides her fingertips on top of his eyepatch. A grey eye is hidden underneath, and she wished she can heal it.

Then suddenly, Rath asks if Fiona wants to give it a try — to see if her blood can heal him or not. She asks if he’s okay with that, and he says he doesn’t mind. When Fiona smiles and answers with “Well then, please?” Rath chuckles saying he’s the one who should be saying that line. He comments that she’s a weird girl, but she feels so happy to see him smiling. This is the first time Rath has ever smiled when he’s alone with Fiona, though he has smiled before when they’re having fun with everyone. Fiona also chuckles as she holds out her hand for Rath. It’s easy for the wolves to go out of control if they bite her directly, so she always uses a knife to give them her blood. She makes small cuts on her fingers or arms, places which will be okay even if they receive wounds. Rath warns Fiona that it’s going to hurt a little. When she nods, he takes out a dagger from his waist and pokes it at her fingertip — sending a small pain through her finger. The next moment, a single drop of red blood appears on her fingertip. Rath silently lifts Fiona’s hand towards his face, licks the blood and brings her finger into his mouth.

Fiona is surprised. When Rath sucks her finger, she feels her heart jumping instead of the pain… and then she starts panicking in her mind. Normally whenever she gives her blood, everyone takes their wolf forms. Having someone licking her finger in their human form like this is just… bad for her heart! Each time Rath’s hot tongue twines around her finger, Fiona feels chills running up her spine. Soon a moan slips out of her lips, and she gets really embarrassed as it was subconscious. At the same time, Rath’s body suddenly starts trembling — as if he can’t hold back anymore. When Fiona calls his name, he groans out: “It’s… useless, my head is spinning… Stay… Stay away…” Rath desperately tries to move away, but driven by instincts, his blue eye remains fixed on Fiona. That eye has completely turned into a beast’s.

However, Fiona asks Rath not to hold back — telling him that it’s okay. Surprisingly she doesn’t feel scared, though her voice is shaking. As the response, Rath suddenly pushes Fiona down. Fiona lets out a surprised squeal, and Rath is panting heavily as he bites her neck and sucks her blood… but she allows him to do as he likes and gives him her blood. For a long, long time, he continues sucking and licking her neck. He keeps on licking the wound until it loses the taste of blood. After regaining his reason, Rath apologizes saying he didn’t mean to do that. He blushes saying he’s so weak, but Fiona smiles saying it can’t be helped. She does admit that it hurts a bit though, and he leans in to kiss the wound — once again apologizing for doing that to her beautiful skin. He gives her neck another kiss and looks up, but somehow she can’t look at him in the face. After thanking her, Rath realizes that Fiona’s face is rather red. When he asks if she’s okay, she stutters out that she’s fine. He doesn’t think he drank too much, but is she feeling unwell? She quickly tells him that he didn’t take too much. Normally getting your blood drawn out would cause you to turn pale, but her face is as red as a boiled octopus right now.

To change the subject, Fiona nervously asks about Rath’s eye. He asks if she wants to check the result, and he takes off his eyepatch for her… but the eye underneath remains grey. It doesn’t work after all. She sadly apologizes, but he says it’s not her fault — she doesn’t need to apologize. He adds that they should return now, so she can only nod quietly. Rath quickly puts on his eyepatch and holds out his hand for Fiona, and she thanks him in her heart. He knew her blood wouldn’t be able to heal his eye. He knew, and yet he went along with it just to satisfy her. Rath’s kindness makes her heart feel warm, and Fiona firmly holds his hand. The two of them walk back to the castle together after that.

Unfortunately, Fiona’s peaceful days with the wolves didn’t last for long. Some of the wolves who went on patrol never came back, and they soon learn that the royal army is coming to attack them — led directly by Mejojo and Auger. Despite her wish to stay with them, Arles orders Fiona to run away with the wolves who haven’t recovered enough to fight. She needs to live on and pass down the truth about the wolves, and so she has no choice but to accept. Right after she’s done packing, Fiona hears a knock on her door. She asks if it’s Rath, and the door opens to reveal that it is indeed him. Rath walks in asking if she has time, and Fiona nods saying she does — which he thanks her for. When she asks him what’s wrong, he says that he wants to ask her something. That, and he also has something to tell her.

Fiona feels scared upon hearing Rath’s words. She’s going to leave Zanan in just a little while. She needs to be ready to hear what he has to say, since this will also become their farewell. Fiona invites Rath to sit down first, and she takes a seat in front of him… then silence flows between them. He has something he wants to ask and something he wants to say, but he remains in silence. Fiona thinks about how Rath has never been a talkative person to begin with. His words also tend to falter when he speaks, and it’s pretty clear that he’s not too good at talking to people. She wonders if she should initiate the conversation, but this causes them to start talking at the same time. Fiona quickly apologizes for the failure and asks Rath to begin, and he also apologizes to her before moving on. He starts by mentioning about what he wants to ask, but then he falls into another silence… and she wonders if it’s something that’s hard to say. Fiona patiently waits for Rath to continue, and he opens his mouth to add: “If. This battle. Ends.”

Fiona notices that Rath seems to be nervous, and so his sentences turn even shorter than usual. He stops for a while, but then he continues: “…can I. Pick you up. Again?” Fiona is really surprised, since she’d never expect to hear those words from Rath. He asks if she doesn’t want him to, so she quickly replies that she’d be happy if he comes to pick her up. Rath bashfully closes his eyes upon seeing Fiona’s happiness, and the sight causes her heart to pound so hard it hurts. Fiona then admits that Rath has always been on her mind. When he gives her a confused look, she reminds him of their first meeting during the wolf hunt. Ever since their eyes met back then, he’s always been on her mind. For all her life, she’s been told that the wolves are frightening creatures, enemies of Weblin who are spreading disasters and Zodiva… but his eye looks really sad. She wanted to know why he has such a sad expression.

After a short silence, Rath tells Fiona that he truly hated the people of Weblin. He hated those who hunted, discriminated and persecuted the wolves. He decided not to trust anyone. After hearing these words, Fiona finally understands the deep sadness in Rath’s eye. He said he decided not to trust anyone, but that might also mean that without his decision, he’d grow to trust people. If he didn’t decide not to trust anyone, he’d only get deceived. He’s in that kind of situation. He wants to believe, but he’s not allowed to. That’s why his eye is filled with such a sad color. Fiona then asks if he still hates them. She noticed that Rath was speaking in past tense, which means that he has a different opinion now. He points out that it’s the thing he wanted to tell her about. He hated the people of Weblin. He couldn’t trust them, and he thought it’s impossible for them to understand each other. But even though she’s a human, she came up to them and compromised with them. She tried to understand them, and she grew to understand them. He’s happy that he can come to believe in her.

Rath’s eye is looking straight at Fiona. The color of sadness in that ice blue eye won’t disappear that easily, but now she can also see the strong color of determination there. Fiona says she’s happy that he believes in her, and Rath nods when she thanks him. When this battle ends. Those words are reciting hope for the future. Fiona and Rath talk about a lot of things after that, until someone informs them that all preparations are complete. Before her departure, the wolves give Fiona a new set of clothes to change into. They put her old dress onto the corpse of a young girl to fake her death, hoping Mejojo will give up on her. Fiona knows she has to run before the royal army reaches Zanan, and so she finally leaves the castle — taking 10 wolves along with her. Her mission is to live on and pass down the truth about the wolves.

Since the wolves know their destination, all Fiona needs to do is to follow their lead. As they walk in silence, she can’t stop thinking about everyone’s safety in the castle. She should be able to distract her mind if only she has someone to talk to, but the wolves around her haven’t recovered enough. Even if they’ve regained their reason, they still can’t speak in human words yet. She needs to heal them too as soon as possible. It’s okay even if it takes time. She wants to give her blood and cure them from Zodiva. Fiona continues walking as she thinks about this, until the wolf in front of her suddenly stops walking. Even though she doesn’t get what they’re saying, the wolves can understand her just fine… and so she asks if there’s something wrong. As the response, the wolf glares at something behind her back and begins growling. It’s not just him either, because all the wolves around her start growling as well. Something wrong is going on.

Fiona wonders if something is approaching, and the first thing she hears is the sound of tiny footsteps. She knows these footsteps. They’re too small to be a human’s, but also different from an animal’s. They belong to a group of tiny knights she knew, and soon the owner reveals himself. Leonidas appears before them as he calls out to Auger, reporting that they’ve found the enemies. Vincent sharply adds that they won’t let the wolves get away, while Fiona stares at them in shock. They have been surrounded by the Chu-Chu Knights, and to her ultimate horror, their entrance is directly followed by Auger’s. The royal knights are guarding his back. Auger grins and cheerfully thanks Fiona for the hard work. He only came here to do a boring hunt for the remnants, but he finds a surprising encounter instead. Auger’s lips form an evil smile as he admits that he thought Fiona has fled with Nesso and the others. He didn’t expect her to find her here with the wolves.

Okay, Auger. Whatever you say. (･_･ )ﾉ~･ ﾎﾟｲ

Auger then asks what she’s doing, but Fiona doesn’t answer and slowly steps back. The grin doesn’t leave his face as he points out that they’ve been reunited after a long time, so they should chat more and deepen their friendship. Then he admits that he’s extremely curious about how she’s doing now. Since Fiona keeps silent, Auger hums saying it doesn’t seem like she wants to talk to him… but he doesn’t mind. He’ll just drag the truth out of her after wiping out the filthy wolves around her. Auger orders the knights to kill them, and Fiona watches in horror as the knights lunge to attack them one after another. At the same time, the wolves also leap forward to counter-attack. However, these wolves are running away with her because they don’t have enough power to fight. There’s no way they can take on the royal knights.

Fiona yells at them to stop, but the knights starts slashing the wolves without mercy. The CCK are swarming the fallen wolves, delivering the killing blow. Once again she begs them to stop, but Auger replies that she’s saying such a strange thing. He’s only cleaning up the filthy trash… or did she actually join the trash? Auger wonders if he should get rid of Fiona too. He smirks as he draws his rapier and slowly approaches her, but just before its sharp tip stabs her throat, she suddenly hears Rath’s voice yelling “this way!” Before she can figure out what’s happening, Rath quickly pulls Fiona’s arm and drags her into a bush — where he tells her that they’re leaving. She nods and runs with him, allowing him to lead her by the arm. Meanwhile, Auger is still grinning with his rapier in hand. He asks if they’re inviting him to play chase, and he doesn’t mind at all. Because it’s fun. (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

Fiona can tell that Auger is chasing them from behind, while Rath leads her to take random turns in order to throw him off. They cut through the thicket of trees as they run, and soon she can feel her heart hurting — though she doesn’t know if it’s due to the fear or because she’s running too much. Her pounding heart is being pierced by a sharp pain, but she knows she can’t stop running. They will be killed if she stops, and she won’t be able to feel this pain anymore if she dies. That’s why she can’t stop. Rath is shocked when he sees Fiona panting harshly, while Auger is laughing behind them. Auger wants to see how far they can run, and he asks Fiona to entertain him. They can hear his nasty laughter behind them. Rath encourages Fiona to do her best, and she nods as they keep running… until they’re forced to stop in front of a cliff. There are no places for them to hide.

Rath grits his teeth and quickly turns back towards the forest, but the knights have them surrounded. They can’t run back into the forest anymore. Fiona wonders what they should do, but he has no idea either. The knights are coming out of the forest to corner them, and eventually Auger appears as well. Auger mentions that this situation is giving him a massive déjà vu, since it’s exactly the same as what happened during their wolf hunt. A smirk comes to his face as he mockingly tells Rath to learn from experience. Fiona realizes that Auger is right. The situation is identical to when Mejojo took her out on a wolf hunt. On the day when Fiona first met Rath. He was cornered too back then. The only difference is that Mejojo isn’t here, and she’s being hunted instead of hunting.

As she tries to control her breath, Fiona asks why Rath is here to begin with. He replies that the wolves were trapped, and Arles told him to run upon realizing this. Just like how the wolves split up into two groups, the royal army also splits into two. The first group is attacking Zanan, and the other group is chasing after those who are escaping. That’s why Arles sent Rath here, but Fiona knows they’re not in a position to be relieved. They’ve been cornered to the edge of a cliff, and there’s nowhere to run. Auger is laughing in front of them, and the cliff is hanging behind them. Auger then orders the knights to prepare their bows. They’re going to capture both Rath and Fiona once they can no longer move. Following Auger’s order, the knights take their stance. Fiona gasps as she reflexively squeezes Rath’s hand, and he firmly returns her grip. In this situation, the only thing she finds encouraging is the strength of his arms.

In her mind, Fiona desperately wonders what to do. She recalls the image of Rath during the wolf hunt. He was shot with many arrows, drenched in blood as he collapsed. Fiona closes her eyes in fear, and Rath can only grit his teeth. Right after the knights attach arrows to their bowstrings, Auger orders them to fire. Then suddenly, Rath tells Fiona that they should go. Countless arrows are released towards them, but before the arrows can reach them, Rath pulls Fiona’s hand and leaps off the cliff. Auger is surprised and asks if they’re committing double suicide, but then he grins saying he doesn’t mind that either. The impact of their free fall is attacking Fiona and Rath. The wind is howling in their ears. They keep holding hands as they fall towards the bottom of the deep valley. A vivid green forest with lush trees lies below them.

Fiona wonders if they’re going to survive. She firmly holds onto their joined hands, and when she glances to the side… Rath smiles at her. It’s a brilliant smile that she’s never seen before. She’s instantly charmed by that smile. They continue falling, falling and falling down. Their fall feels endless, and they will surely land in paradise. Fiona calls Rath’s name, and then everything fades to black.

The next thing Fiona hears is Rath’s distant voice, asking her to get a grip and wake up. When Fiona opens her eyes, the first thing that enters her vision is the vivid blue color of the sky… followed by an eye that has the same color. Rath is relieved that she’s alive, and he smiles as he gives her some water to drink — which she drinks in one go. They miraculously survived, probably because the trees became a cushion when they landed. After that, Rath tells Fiona that Auger and the knights will come here to chase after them. They have to run away before then. When she asks about Arles and Guillan, he says he doesn’t know what’s going to happen to them. They have to face a large army, and so it’s going to be a battle of life and death. Then in a voice filled with determination, Rath tells Fiona: “Let’s run.”

Fiona is shocked and asks about the other wolves, but Rath only says that it’s useless. She can’t accept this and clings to him. She wants to tell him not to give up so easily. She’s about to ask him to help the others… but she swallows those words. Tears are silently flowing out of his blue eye. The remaining eye he has after getting attacked by Zodiva. That’s when Fiona realizes that it must be even more painful for Rath. Arles is his brother. He fought a lot with Guillan, but they’ve been together for a long time. Rath then tells Fiona that for the last 10 years, he’s been running away from Weblin. He was abused by cats and humans, he was almost killed, he got separated from his friends… but he survived. The wolves were continuously hunted. All of his friends died before he met Arles. He suffered from Zodiva, and he could barely find food… but he survived. Rath breaks into tears as he keeps wondering why. He confesses that he was truly happy upon meeting his brother, but he can’t forget the time he spent alone. He repeatedly mutters these words, though it feels like he’s saying it to himself instead of to Fiona.

Upon seeing Rath in such a state, Fiona’s tears start flowing out as well. Then he tells her: “That’s why… my brother and the others must be alive. Because my brother is… strong. That’s why, it’s okay for us to live on.” Fiona nods. Driven by his emotions, Rath’s words are even more broken than usual. He’s been wounded for a long, long time, because he spent all those painful days alone. After taking a deep breath, Rath looks at Fiona and says: “That’s why, we have to spread the truth about my brother… and the wolves. The saga of the wolves — the unfabricated truth. If there’s a meaning for us to live in this world, it must be… to spread history… to live. That’s why, let’s live… Fiona.”

They have to survive. In order to protect the remaining wolves. In order to pass down the truth. In order to spread the saga that’s been painted in black. Fiona roughly rubs her eyes to stop her tears. When she takes the hand he’s holding out for her and stands up, Rath tells her: “Let’s go.” To where? To tomorrow. To the future of them passing down the truth. Joining their hands and working together.

BAD END

After leaving Zanan, Fiona loses track of time. The wolves take her to a small cave hidden deep in the forest, where they build a settlement and lead a self-sufficient life. The wolves have recovered from Zodiva thanks to Fiona’s blood. While they hunt for food and cultivate fields, Fiona helps them by weaving and taking care of the kids. They’re living together as a family, and Fiona believes this must be the scenery Arles was wishing for… but something unexpected happens. When she starts coughing, the kids ask Fiona to get some rest — they’re going to play outside instead. Fiona only nods and apologizes to them. That’s right. After curing the wolves with her blood, Fiona developed Zodiva. She’s been drinking the medicine Zara left for her, but her condition worsens each day. The medicine can’t suppress the disease any longer. Black speckles appeared in her arms, and they’re gradually spreading. She knows she doesn’t have much longer to live.

The wolves tried doing a lot of things to cure Fiona from Zodiva. Since they all recovered after receiving her blood, she already tried drinking her own blood. They also tried giving her the blood of the wolves who are healthy now, but none of them worked. Of course it’s hard for the wolves to accept. Fiona was the one who saved them from Zodiva, and yet she has fallen ill to the same disease. Upon recalling how the wolves cried and begged her to hold on, Fiona’s heart is filled with warmth. This must be fate. She’s really glad she could save them. She’s really glad she caught Zodiva after healing theirs. Fiona genuinely feels that way from the bottom of her heart, but if she’s allowed to be selfish… she wanted to wait until Rath returns. He promised to pick her up, and she believes that he must be alive somewhere out there. If he comes back and finds her gone, he’ll be sad. That ice blue eye will reflect the color of sadness again. That’s why Fiona doesn’t want to lose to Zodiva until Rath comes to pick her up. Until Rath returns. Until he can live here. Fiona believes that his sadness will be healed one day, and she will definitely live until that time comes.

Suddenly, Fiona’s eyes are starting to turn heavy. Her whole body feels terribly hot. One of the kids asks if she’s alright, and a wolf woman realizes that she’s burning up with a high fever. When the woman asks her to lie down and not to force herself, another woman runs out to inform the others about Fiona’s condition. Fiona wonders why her surroundings are noisy. Did someone come to visit them? She turns to look at the cave’s entrance, and she can see someone standing there — it’s Rath. When he tells her “Fiona, I’m home.” she smiles and repeatedly calls his name in her mind. Rath has returned home. She’s been waiting for him. If she’s gone he won’t be able to live right? His eye will turn sad and he’ll mumble to himself again right? He never tells her anything, but she doesn’t mind because he has returned to her side. In her mind, Fiona tells Rath that she properly waited for him — because she wanted to know more about him. Fiona then stands up and walks up to Rath. She welcomes him home, telling him that she has a lot of things she wants to talk about. He smiles and answers that he does too.

In an instant, the world is swallowed by a dazzling golden light and bursts beautifully.

As you can see, both of Rath’s endings are quite gloomy and depressing. They leave his good end hanging, and compared to the other characters, Rath doesn’t have that much interaction with Fiona. It doesn’t help that he’s incredibly quiet too, so their conversation always feels super short — even the one at the last part of his good end. While we don’t get to know much about him in Bloody Nightmare, I actually like Rath a lot. He’s just so adorable whenever he blushes or tries to comfort Fiona, and similarly to her, I was drawn in by the sorrow in him. We only get to see bits and pieces, but it feels so… mysteriously enchanting? (*´・×・`*) I hope they give him a good story in Last Hope. Let me cry with you, Rath! ヽ(；∀；)ﾉ