I don't own Escaflowne in this chapter or the next or the next until this story ends or I stop writing it, whichever one comes first.

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The Solstar (the sun got it off a trilogy) is shinning over the lands of Fanelia. Fanelia is like a green emerald; lush forests thrived on the black fertile soil.

The weather is always very mild, never cold enough to have snow in the winter, or hot enough that people have to jump into the river or hid in the shades of a chestnut tree to escape the heat.

It rarely rain here Fanelia, but when it does, it pours. Thunderstorms usually last for days if not weeks. Crops are often destroyed in the storms, but the wild fruits and animals in the forest are always more than enough to support a large family for month to come.

Fanelia is a very peaceful and powerful country. The Fanelians haven't experience a single battle since the Great War, and that was at least two centuries ago.

All these things set Fanelia apart from the rest of the kingdoms on Gaea, but there's still another reason...

Dragons. Those huge monsters with razor sharp claws and teeth, with spikes that grew out of their face, spin and tails. They are hunted down too extinct because of their precious energist.

A pink stone, the size of your fist that gives off enormous amount of energy.

At first, people wear them as jewelry, but when the guymelefs are created, they are used to power the giant fighting war machines. Now almost everything is power by the energist.

Now the only places where you can find live dragons are in Fanelia. But the people of Fanelia aren't really sure, the last time that anyone has seen one is over thirty years ago.

Dragons are considered to be a sacred beast, the only animals who ever lived in Atlantis. Because of the Great War, they were forced to leave the land.

There was also a great civilization called the draconian. They were the only people who can talk to dragons. Legend says that the draconian can sprout wings from their back and fly.

"But of course they are just silly stories." A girl with pink hair said.

"Maybe, but it would be so cool to be able to fly." A black hair boy about the age of five replied.

"I much rather stay on the ground, after all a cat got to stay on her feet." She twitched her ears.

"Whatever you say Merl."

"Yes Van, what ever I say." She flicked her tail and pounce towards the castle.

By now you can probably tell that Merl is no ordinary girl, in fact she is not a girl at all. Merl is a pink haired, gold fur, brown striped cat-girl.

They have the structure of a human but they have also had a tail, fur cover every part of their body, ears that stands on top of their heads and very sharp teeth and claws.

"I am Van Fanel, prince of Fanelia! With my sword and my courage! I… WILL… DEFEAT… YOU… FEROUSIOUS… DRAGON… AND… SAVE… MY… KINGDOM!" Van waved his wooden sword this way and that trying to slay his imaginary dragon.

"Wooo." Merle stared lazily at the black hair boy. "Scary."

"Merle!" Van turned his sword over, stab the blade into the ground and leaned on the hilt. "You are supposed to attack me!"

"Mmm…" the cat-girl thought for a moment as she paced the tree she was lying on for the past hour, until she was right in front of Van. "Okay!"

"No! Merle don't." the boy waved his arms in protest while slowly backing away.

Merle just purred and waved her tail. "Meow!" she leaped of the tree…

"Uff." And tackled Van to the ground. "Merle, get off." A muffled voice comes from under the cat-girl. "You are squishing me!"

Unwillingly Merle got off Van's back and leaped back onto the tree again.

The prince of Fanelia slowly got on his hands and knees and shakes the dust from his hair.

"You really needs to loss some weight Merle." He walked to his wooden sword. "You are as heavy as an oolong (taken from dragonball, since he is pig)."

"I do not weight as heavy as an oolong!" Merle hissed. "They can weight up to twelve oxen. Compare to them I'm as light as a feather."

"Your Highness! What happened to you?" a very…shall we say 'big boned' gray hair lady came out of the castle.

Which wasn't very far away from Van and Merle but by the time she reached the two she was having hard time breathing. "What…happened…to …your…" pause. "…Clothes your Highness?"

"I was..."

"Oh, never mind." She took out a handkerchief and starts to dust off Van's clothes. "It's a good thing that there's no tear in your clothes, but we'll have to do something about your face. The people might mistake you for a peasant boy with all those mud stains on it. Now come along your highness." The big women dragged Van to the castle.

"But Mary, I washed my face four times this day already!"

"And yet, somehow you manages to get stuff on it right after I just washed it. You don't think that I do this for fun now do you, your highness?"

"Yes I do!" Van dug his heel into the ground. "Why else would you torture me like this!"

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"Merle, have you seen Van anywhere?"

"Huh?" the cat-girl turned around to see whom the melodious voice belongs to. "Um… I saw Nurse Marry taking Van to get his face washed just a while ago your highneses… your highnesese… your highnessese… your… my queen."

"Thank you Merle." Queen Varie patted Merle gently on the head and walked away.

"Rrr!" Merle stomp her feet. "Who ever invented the world 'highneess …highnesees… highnesessese. Rrr! What ever that word is, I would sure love to claw out their eyes."

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"Mary! Could you …ouch…stop…ouch…that?" Van was sitting in a chair inside his bedroom, wearing a new set of clothes.

Mary found a stain on his pants, with no time to wash it, she decides for Van to wear a completely different outfit. A blue loose-fitting sleeveless top with a pair of white pants that just covers his knees and six-size way too big.

"Your highness I do wish you'll stop this nonsense." Mary sighs. "I'm only trying to brush your hair."

"But it hurts." Van rubbed his head.

"I have sent all your clothes to the servants for washing." Mary ignored the little prince. "So I have to let you wear your brother's old clothes. He is a lot taller than you of course." Nurse Mary finally put down the hairbrush. "So I have to cut a few feet of materials off the legs. If you highness would just stand still I would have got the measurements right." She sighed and took out a brown leather belt from Van's clothet. "Of course his shirt was too big too, far too long. But if I put a belt around your waist like so… over the shirt, then it'll look a little more your size. I suppose it'll hold your pants up too."

"Mary," Van said in an annoyed voice. "Can I go now?"

" 'May I please leave the room?' is the correct way to…"

"Thanks, bye." Van dash off.

"Please don't get your clothes dirty again your highness!" Mary yelled down the corridor. "Your brother is going to get his coronation cere…"

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"What's that?" Merle asked.

"It means that he is going to go into the forest to find and sly a dragon!" Van explained.

"Why?"

"To get the dragon's energist of course, so he could be king."

"Couldn't he just buy one?" Merle licked her left paw. "Then he won't have to go through all those troubles."

"Because Merle, it just doesn't work that way."

"Um…" the cat-girl pounced on a near by toad. "Whatever…"

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Sorry if I spelled Van's name Can, since C and V are pretty close together I tend to miss-press.