Disclaimer: I do not own Vision of Escaflowne.

The End of the Dream

Chapter I- LA TORRE:

Summer. The last day of school has come and gone. No more studies, no more assignments, and no more varsity until the next year. To start her whole summer experience right, Hitomi positioned herself on the end of the track and breathed deeply.

Amano's words echoed in her head. "Focus everything you've got and launch yourself forward." She shook her head wildly, put herself in running position and waited for Yukari to give her the signal.

"Three..." Yukari started counting.

"Two..." Amano got ready to swing Hitomi's pendant.

"One!" The pair shouted, as Hitomi dashed towards the finish line, which was 100-meters from the point from where she started.

She passed the 25 meter mark... 50... 75... then...

BLAG!

Hitomi collided with somebody. It was a boy who was probably her age, with raven hair and piercing brown eyes.

"Hey watch it!" screamed the newcomer.

"Excuse me!" shouted Hitomi. "But I wasn't the one who wasn't looking at where I'm going!"

"Hitomi! Are you alright!" called Yukari. She and Amano ran towards her and helped her up.

"Hey, you!" Amano said as he approached the boy. "You shouldn't be around here when it's not your PE class. This is the varsity's practice area!"

"Oh yeah!" the boy shouted. 'Well, you shouldn't be here this late at night either!" He faced Hitomi and glared. "And you," he said "Why don't you watch where you're going!"

Hitomi stared at the boy, wondering why he was so angry. Yukari hid behind Amano.

"What are you staring at, weirdo!" the boy shouted. "You should get away from here if you know what's good for you!"

Hitomi was angry at the boy's rudeness, especially since he called her a weirdo. She put one hand on her hips and pouted. "Well... excuse me," she said sarcastically. "But from the way I see it, you were the one who was crossing the track field without looking!"

She had expected the boy to make another rude comment so she was surprised to see the boy so still. He fixed his hands on the stick that he was carrying and was warily looking around the area. "Stay back," he said calmly. "Run away, now."

"Why?" Hitomi asked. "What's wrong?"

"They're coming..." the boy whispered. "Go! Run now!" he commanded to Hitomi and her friends.

They heard a lot of heavy footsteps running towards their direction. Soon they found themselves face to face with one of the toughest high school gangs in the district, The Dragons. They were a really mean bunch, made up of burly beer-bellied teenagers who each had a weapon at hand: chains, metal poles, baseball bats, etc. The leader of the group was a brown haired young man who had only one eye. He leered at the boy with his good eye and asked his men, "So, should we let fine Prince Van get away from us?"

"NO!" the other Dragons shouted in unison. This was followed by a cheer that to Hitomi seemed like a barbaric war cry.

The leader laughed so hard that his beer belly gave one the impression of a 6.5 degree earthquake. Then his eye shifted from the boy, to the track field and then to Hitomi. "Ah," he said as he saw her. "Who can this fine young lady be?"

Hitomi gripped her duffel bag and moved one step back. "Come now," the leader said. "Don't be afraid of me..." He licked his lips deviously.

"Leave her out of this!" screamed the raven-haired boy whose name is Van, positioning himself on a standard kendo stance. "You were fighting me, remember!"

"Hmmm, I wonder what is more fun?" the leader asked calculatingly. "Chasing after a war freak little prince or chasing after two gorgeous young women and a pretty boy?"

The gang cheered. "The girls! The girls!" one of them shouted. "Oh, give the pretty boy to me, we'll have so much fun!" another one said.

Amano met the Van's glare and took both Hitomi's and Yukari's hands. "Let's run," he said. They ran across the streets and towards the mountain temple that was in the woods in front of the school.

Van ran towards the leader's back, ready to strike with his sturdy wooden stick. But the leader was anticipating this move, as he suddenly turned back and punched the boy in the stomach. The leader then motioned for his gang to run after Hitomi and the others.

"I'm sorry, sweet prince," he said mockingly at Van. "But the Middle Ages are over and it's time for us to go." He kicked Van and ran after his men, laughing.

"I'm not letting you get away..." Van said as he picked himself up from the ground, picked up his trusty stick and chased after the thugs.

"They're after us," Yukari screamed as she tightened her grip on Amano. She twisted her ankle earlier so Amano offered to carry her on his back.

"Shit!" Amano swore as he ran faster. He looked back at Hitomi and shouted, "Faster Hitomi! Faster!"

But they already reached the temple and now there was nowhere else to run. The path ended there and they were already surrounded by the Dragons.

Just when they were about to lose their hope they a loud scream. Van came and had just knocked a thug unconscious. He then continued attacking the group. But he couldn't break through a group of thugs so easily, especially since they were all big, fat and ugly thugs!

"Such spirit!" the leader laughed. "Very well then, boys," he said to his men. "Leave the little prince to me!" He stripped off his leather jacket and exposed his naked fat stomach to all that were in the area.

"Oh, eww..." Yukari commented. The beads of greasy sweat falling from boss Dragon and his wonderful pig-like aroma was enough to make a really squeamish person vomit.

Van faced the leader fearlessly, looking straight at the eyes. The leader smirked and motioned for him to come closer.

"I'll give you one last chance," Van threatened. "Give me back what you stole from me and nobody gets hurt."

"What?" the leader asked, feigning innocence. "You mean this?" He pulled out an intricately carved gold necklace with a rare pink stone on its center from his pocket. "You want your Mama's little trinket back?"

"GIVE IT BACK!" an enraged Van screamed as he charged towards the leader. But with one mighty swipe from the fat guy's enormous arm sent Van flying, hitting the nearest tree. This did not discourage Van. He stood up quickly and jumped in the air, attacking from above. He hit the leader on his thick skull.

"Owww..." the leader said. "Kid's got more spirit than I thought..." He laughed and grabbed Van by the neck. "How about this, kid? Join us and I'll give you your trinket back... whaddya say?"

"Go to hell," Van said. He spat at the leader's good eye, which caused the leader to let go of him. Van ran a few steps away from the leader and positioned himself for attack. "I'll send you to hell, fatso!" he screamed as he charged again.

As Van was again repelled by the leader, Hitomi saw one of the thugs take out a knife and sneak behind Van. "Van, watch out!" she screamed. Van heard this, saw the man behind him, grabbed his wrist and hurled him towards the leader, knocking them both down.

The leader pushed his heavy man off him and staggered as he got up. Taking this opportunity, Van again charged at the leader. The leader blocked his chest with his flabby arms, but this wasn't where Van attacked. Van bent down and kicked the sensitive body part that boys have but girls don't. The leader wasn't able to bear the pain of this probably fatal blow to his manhood and fainted. Van fished the necklace from the leader's pocket, wiped it with his handkerchief and then put it around his own neck.

Now, the thugs, noticing that their leader had already passed out, were shivering like little naked kittens in the cold. "The leader's defeated..." one said. "The kid's a monster!" said the other. One of them said the most intelligent thing that could possibly come from their mouths. "Let's run for it!" this tiny soul suggested. So the thugs picked up their weapons, two of them carrying their leader, and ran away.

Hitomi ran down from the temple to check on Van. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm not that bad off that I need a woman to worry about me," Van said snobbishly. He put one hand on his waist and added, "Let me guess, now you want a reward. Fine then, you can come with me. But don't get too cocky. It's your fault for involving yourself in my battles. It's not like you helped anyway."

Hitomi slapped Van on the cheek. "What's with you!" she screamed. "I thought you were going to die! I was worried! The least you could have done was to say thank you!"

"Oh, shut up!" Van said. "You people are all the same! You find out that I'm rich and then you start sponging off my money!" He grabbed Hitomi by the wrist and dragged her down the mountain. "You're getting your reward whether you want it or not!"

Amano couldn't chase after Van because he was already tired and he couldn't put Yukari down. So all he could do was shout, "Hey, you! Where do you think you're taking Hitomi!"

"Yeah, you brute!" Yukari screamed. "Let go of my best friend!" But it was no use. Van's grip was tight and Hitomi had no choice but to be dragged along by the jerk who couldn't say a simple thank you.

End of Chapter I

Author's Notes: I posted it because I've been lazy in creating this fic. And substituting stuff from our world for Gaian stuff is hard. So I need your help! Please review me. Constructive criticism is good. (Note: constructive, meaning no "You suck!" reviews.) Domo arigato gozaimasu.