Disclaimer; Haplo, Solara, Shiana, Destiny, Jacob, belongs to Blade R, Fanilia, and Black Vixen; and all the Esca characters aren't mine but anything else is. Most of the story is taken from our RPG called The Labyrinth, and I've decided to turn it into a fanfic featuring Escaflowne and the characters. So I don't give too much away, The Labyrinth is a prison where all the good guys are trapped and have escaped into another world, having fought their way out but the leader of this prison is also out, tracking them down and trying to kill them. But there's plenty of angst and drama along the way, so I hope you read this and enjoy it. ^_^
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Walking across the baking heat of the desert, a strong wind blew the tops of the sand dunes, sweeping it away. Miles upon miles of rolling beige hills stretched around, with no water, and no obvious signs of life to be seen. A trail of footsteps began on the horizon, snaking their way to a vulnerable traveller. The savage sun beared down on anything exposed to it. All there was to hear was the howling wind. All there was to see where dunes. There was nothing here.
Suddenly, the traveller saw a long line of minute dots on the horizon, and wondered what it was. Insects? But surely they would die in this heat? Looking again, the traveller realised they were actually people with kamels; the desert creatures. They were called nomads, people who travel from place to place, always on the move. Wanderers. Before long, they had stopped moving and a few of them broke off from the rest, heading straight for the traveller. They sat on their animals a few feet apart from the traveller, wearing cautious masks on their faces.
"Who are you? And why are out here alone?" One of them said, who was the tallest. He must be the leader.
"What does it matter?" And turned their back on them to walk on. Being in this abyss seemed strange, but somehow felt like home. Home. I've been away for so long, is it still the same?
"Hey! We're talking to you! Don't ignore our leader!!" Shouted another.
"Please forgive him, he's just a little rash that's all."
"No I'm-" But the others just gave him a look to make him stay quiet, which he did reluctantly.
"Can you tell us you're name? And would you like to stay with us? You won't find anything for miles here." He sounded like a kind man, but if they knew better, they would have seized the opportunity to escape with their lives. Now. Turning to face them, the lone traveller answered:
"Takara." Looking high up to meet the nomad's gazes on the kamels, a sharp nose poked out from underneath a big hood. But the eyes and rest of the head was still in shadow.
"Leave me" She said with strength. Her hood had fallen off revealing part of her identity to them; blood ran down one side of her face, completely covering the left eye. Takara's long dark hair shone in the sun, and those dark eyes sparkled with power. Her appearance startled the nomads, who had dark hair and tanned skin, but with green eyes. They've never seen anyone like her with such fair skin. So they continued to stare, dumbstruck, until the leader spoke again:
"Is it your wish to die here? Let us help you; a woman cannot survive alone in a place like this."
"Then you obviously don't know me, because if you did, you'd stay away from me."
He was intrigued by Takara, who wasn't easy like other women, not that he was that sort of man, but he got the impression there was more to this woman than meets the eye. For one thing, she was quite tall, and he estimated she'd nearly be the same height as him; and he is the tallest in the tribe. He wasn't sure if he could let such a find get away.
Takara…I'll find a way back to you…I promise… echoed a male voice. She knew who it belonged to; Sapphire. Everyone heard it, but was bewildered at not being able to find the owner. They'll never find him, he's not even there with them, that's only a part of his powers…
"Please, come back with us, and you can have whatever you want. We have gold and we have jewels, silks and silver. Everything a woman can want. I'll treat you like a queen." His men just stared at him in disbelief of what he'd just said, and all for a woman he barely knows.
"This is the end, I can feel it!" One whispered to another, who whispered back,
"Yes, but look at her! Have you ever seen someone like her before!? As much as she is his, being our leader and all, he doesn't deserve to have her all to himself now, does he? Hmm?" They grinned from ear to ear, secretly planning their dirty deed. But then their leader said to them in a serious tone:
"Oh really? I don't think so. If there was another tribe I would throw you out to them and if they won't have you, then the desert can claim you."
Fear overtook the scheming two, who immediately turned into cowards begging for forgiveness. Takara had heard what they said, even though they were whispering, or so they thought.
"Fools. All of you."
The leader dismounted his kamel and walked towards Takara, placing a hand on her shoulder. At once she flinched. Fearing he'd hurt her he went to comfort her, but Takara stepped back, and losing some of her balance. It was clear she was injured. He took away his hand seeing black blood on it, and grew suspicious as to who she was. Takara noticed this, and prepared for a fight. She could only pity such a waste of life. Maybe he would have made an excellent 3rd commander. Who knows? Takara cupped her hands together, and began to chant. She made a point with her first fingers, and a spark grew from it, getting bigger all the while. The man was confused.
"Are you a w-witch?"
"Sorceress, actually." She replied smugly.
"SORCERESS!?"
The light from her fingers shot at him, and devoured him whole leaving behind a pile of ashes. His men charged at her seeing what she did, but she just chanted again, and released a glittering blue creature that glowed as it moved. It was the vague shape of a tiger but more agile, and skirted through all the nomads who tried to pitifully kill it or run away. But there were many of them, and only one creature. It didn't matter, Takara thought, and staggered off leaving the thing to it's own device. After killing all the nomads, it evaporated into thin air. What it didn't realise, being a creation, was that there were two survivors, who hid deep under the sand pretending to be dead so to be spared. They got up, checked for either the woman or the creature, and ran towards the East. Towards Fanelia. It was their only hope.
Takara continued to wonder the desert, with no set destination or help. When her tiger was killing the nomads, she stole a thin hooded cloak, which was also beige coloured, same as the sand. The perfect camouflage. But it was the desert, after all, and the desert sun was harsh and cruel, trying to drain her already decreasing energy with it' scorching heat. It was working though. Takara started feeling a little dizzy, and thought it might be because she used some of her energy for magic. And because she was critically injured. Somehow, she moment she found herself in this barren land, her shoulder felt like it had been stabbed by a lance. Blade… And it must had something to do with that damn Paria…
Curse you…curse you all… Was all she remembered thinking before collapsing from exhaustion.
A while later, when the day was cooler, the inhabitants of a nearby camp were stirring from their siesta. One soldier yawned and when he stretched, accidentally hit his friend on the head, waking him up too.
"Oi! What did you do that for!? I am getting up you know! (yawns) I just need more sleep…" (snuggles under his blanket) "Ouuuuuuuuuuch!! Alright! I'm up! Stop hitting me on the head! At this rate I won't even have a brain left at the end of the day!"
"You don't have one anyway." Said Miguel.
"Why you!"
"Gatti, just get up yeah? We've got work to do."
"Too right you have." Dilandau enters the tent, and Gatti only makes it out of bed, saved from another night of no dinner.
"I want you and Gatti to go and the nomads in this area, because we need more supplies to complete the mission. I don't want the Dragon to find us and stop us. Understood?"
Both Miguel and Gatti stood and answered, "Yes!" In military fashion. And off they went. Riding kamels, the slowest things to ever walk the face of Gaea (if you've ever ridden a horse anyway) took forever. Dilandau told them the nomads were last located in the heart of the desert, in between Freid and Liliun. Fanelia is some good distance from there, so if news of Dilandau got through that he was there, it would take at least a few days travel to get there. Gatti was complaining to Miguel that he was still very sleepy and weak because he hadn't had any dinner the day before; only to be reminded by Miguel it was his own fault for being late for new orders. Still he said it wasn't fair. His stomach growled, so Miguel took pity on him and gave him some bread he snuck from the dinner table. Gatti was grateful but got warned not to hug him. The two travelled miles by the time their camp was out of sight, and saw a thing lying in the middle of the desert. Curiosity won over, and they edged closer to it, but still couldn't make out what it was.
"Stay here, I'm going to have a look."
"I'm coming too! What if it kills you?"
"You're just chicken." Gatti gave a sheepish grin at being found out. "Come on."
They went closer, and saw it was a woman with dark hair tumbling out of the hood, contrasting with the light coloured sand. She was lucky the wind had stopped, otherwise she would have died…
"She's beautiful… I wonder who she is?" Miguel's thoughts became words, and Gatti was speechless. "Let's take her back with us, she looks hurt." He said as he lifted her into his arms and saw the blood on her shoulder.
"But what about those nomads? Lord Dilandau's NOT going to be happy!" As usual, Gatti was constantly scared for his life.
"True. I've got an idea; I'll take her back to the camp where the healers can help her, and YOU go find them. Hen he can't get mad can he?"
"But-"
"Go." And Miguel whacked Gatti's horse to make it run, forcing him to search for them, while he gently laid the unconscious woman on his horse, and climbed on behind her, so that she was leaning against him safe and secure. When he got back, he knew Gatti wasn't there yet, so he went to an empty tent, and laid her down on the bed. Watching her sleep, he thought she might be a goddess lost on Gaea, but knew better. He went to tell Dilandau as he was bound to find out sooner or later, who flipped as soon as he saw the woman lying there. Huffing and puffing, he marched straight upto her, and there was nothing Miguel could do but watch…