(Disclaimer : I DO NOT OWN "Escaflowne", much as I'd like to. It belongs to Bandai and Sunrise and other corporate geniuses.
Claimer : I DO OWN this plot line. I also own RaiFen, steal her and YOU DIE!!!! I think this is an original idea, but I really don't know for certain. If I've stolen your story accidentally, let me know and I will burn it and eat the ashes. Enjoy your read )

She ran. She focused all her energies on the running. She counted her footsteps in the rain-soaked and potholed scum-street she had been living in for her entire eight years. She was running from an old "friend" of hers, hoping he wouldn't catch up to her.

She flipped her purple-ish bangs out of her eyes and looked over her shoulder as she ran into someone. "Gomen, but I must hurry," she apologized half-heartedly, getting her balance back. She didn't look at he person she hit, and he didn't appreciate that. He grabbed her wrists.

"What way is that to talk to someone of importance?" He shook her so that she was forced to look him in the eye. His strange, demanding, garnet eyes.

"Gomen nasai, important sir, but my life is in danger and I must go." She looked up at him, the rain blurring all things around her and plastering the hair that fell below her shoulder blades to her back. She wanted to look away, but she couldn't. Something about his eyes made her know that she would always be weak if she had to look away.

He smirked. "What are you called, impudent girl?" He finished his sentence with a sneer that she didn't appreciate. Something told her that he didn't quite mean it . . .

She shrugged. "I haven't got a name. I'm usually just 'Hey you! girl with the purple hair!'," she told him, imitating so many of the men in gutter slums where she lived.

"No family?" He asked incredulous. She shook her head. "No friends?" She laughed out loud and shook her head. He frowned and walked away briskly. After a moment or two, he sharply motioned her to follow him.

She shrugged, having no better place to go. She came up close behind him, then looked back through the rain to check for her "friend". As she looked around, she noticed that she was in the part of town slightly better than her usual habitat. She followed the strange boy with garnet eyes and silver hair.

"I am Dilandau," he told her offhandedly. "I don't have any family either. If you follow me absolutely, do exactly as I say and learn to fight with ferocity as I do, I will be your family."

"Oh, Dilandau-san, really? I can fight hand-to-hand very well, you learn such things living back there," she motioned to the slums they were quickly leaving. "I will do everything exactly as you say," she told him firmly, still following close.

"Good. I will be your brother, and I have thought of a name for you." Her face brightened as she came to his side. "RaiFen Albatou, sister of the great Dilandau Albatou. Would that be younger or older sister?" he glanced at her sidelong.

"I think I'm about ten years old, Dilandau-san." she told him happily.

"That's alright. I turned eleven on Red, 9th moon. And," he added, stopping and spinning on her quickly, "call me Dilandau-sama, especially around other people. Understood?" He raised his right fist and held it by his left cheek in warning.

She nodded hurriedly, afraid that he might injure her in some way. She'd had enough of being injured, and would immediately back out of the deal if he did her harm. "You fear me," he said smugly. "Wise girl, RaiFen-san." He petted her wet hair gently. Then he leaned in close to her ear, whispering "You need not truly fear me, little sister, but as long as you act like you do, my name will always be feared by others. Understood?"

"Yes, Dilandau-sama. Only, may I call you "-kun" when we are to ourselves? I've wished for a family that I could love and that would love me." She looked pleadingly up at him with her large blue eyes. "And may I call you big brother? Only sometimes, Dilandau-sama."

"Very well. Do not get too overtly attached to me, though. If Zaibach knew I cared about anything, I may not be able to be General in the years to come," he told her as he stood up, looking at the clearing sky. "Come on, we'll find Damen and he'll take us back to the Vione."

"The Vione," she asked, questioning him with her eyes as he looked up and down the street. "Is that a pub here or something?"

He laughed at her ignorance. "It's your new home in Zaibach. Actually, it's your new home where ever it's anchored." She thought on this for a moment, then was suddenly jolted by hearing shouts of "DAMEN!!! DAMEN!!!" from Dilandau. "He ought to be here soon," he told her calmly, folding his arms over his chest.

She finally looked over his attire. A loose-fitting lavender vest, slightly plastered to him because of the rain, covered by a black, plain leather jacket and black leather pants. She was also entranced by his alabaster skin. Her own was rather tan, between the sun and rain on the streets.

A padding run could be heard coming from up the right hand side of the street. She turned to see a brown haired, kind-faced dog-man. "Dilandau! I told you not to leave my side! If or when Folken finds out I won't be allowed to care for you any longer. Who's your little friend," he asked as he looked at the small purple haired girl hiding just behind his shoulder.

"My younger sister RaiFen," he said with a fierce glance at his guardian. "I am so pleased to have found her so that she can come home with me."

Damen gave Dilandau a stern look, which apparently never worked. He dropped his shoulders in a signal of defeat. He started walking the direction he had come, leading RaiFen and Dilandau to the 'melef waiting to take them back to the Vione.

"So, that was a Guymelef, and someday I might learn how to work one?" RaiFen asked for the third time, starting to annoy Dilandau. She caught a look verging on rage and decided to act like she could comprehend such a thing. "What an interesting task that will be." She shrunk behind Dilandau's quickly walking form.

He had told her that they were on their way to see General Adelphos about letting her in as a soldier on Dilandau's level so he could keep an eye on her. Dilandau had told her that one day he would outrank the old geezer, but until then procedure was procedure. This seemed to irk Dilandau-sama, so she decided not to ask too much on the subject.

When he reached a specific (what looked like a) door in the endless walls of blue metal, Dilandau signaled her to wait right there. He knocked, and the door swooshed open. Much as she would've liked to peek in, RaiFen didn't because of their agreement. He strode in looking smug, which made RaiFen smile.

She stood in the hallway, not daring to lean on the wall or sit on the floor for fear of looking . . . whatever she was afraid of looking like when Dilandau came back, with or without Adelphos was beside the point. She looked down at the once white, brown dirt-speckled, tattered, torn, and moth-eaten rags she had called clothes for most of her life. She looked beyond that to her bare, dirt-and-soot stained feet. Damen had cleaned them a little on the way over, but only enough that they wouldn't leave wet spots on the Vione.She sighed and stood at attention as she had seen the soldiers walking through the streets do when a superior comes by.

About five minutes went by before Dilandau returned with a less elegant man whom she assumed was Adelphos. She stayed at attention while he circled her. He quietly led Dilandau back into the room.

A few minutes went by before Dilandau strode out with a happy smirk. "Follow me to your room. You will soon receive new clothes, a sword scale to yourself, and armor that will be adjustable for your inevitable growth spurt."

"I can stay," she asked with childlike glee. He looked at her over his shoulder and smiled.

"You may indeed stay." He chuckled as she jumped with joy, still managing to keep up with him. "I will train you in the ways of the sword personally, as a member of my unit, the DragonSlayers. We'll define you a rank when we test your fighting skills." He stood at a tall, rather narrow doorway and it swooshed open. "Welcome to your room," he said as he led her in.

It was a 6' by 8' room with a table and candlestick, a bed, a wardrobe, and a footlocker. The smooth, blue-metal walls gleamed at RaiFen, entrancing her. "This is mine to keep? Really mine?" her large blue eyes rounded with wonder at the room and joy at Dilandau's nod. "Oh Dilandau-kun, thank you!" She hugged him fiercely, as they were by themselves and the door had shut.

He hugged her back a bit gingerly. "You're welcome, little sister," he told her gently. He cupped the back of her head, his pale white hand contrasting beautifully with her vibrant purple-lavender hair. Suddenly, he pulled her hair, just hard enough to make her wince. "Now let go of me," he snarled. She did hurriedly, hoping he would let go. He looked into her eyes, fear and worry barely present. "Good little sister," he said with a half sneer. "Look at me that way more often than anything, understood?"

"Y-yes, Dilandau-sama," she said in a bit of a whisper. He let go hurriedly, almost throwing her into her bed.

"Training starts tomorrow at 5:30 am. Sharp," he told her fiercely. "There is an automatic alarm in the wall by your pillow which will go off at 4:30, giving you an hour to prepare. Severe punishment if you are more than one minute late, understood?" His red eyes danced with fire, a malicious glee that could be described no better way.

"Yes, Dilandau-sama," she answered, her cool water eyes meeting his hot fire eyes. She did not break eye contact, and he smirked. That delicious, Dilandau smirk. She didn't say anything, knowing that it might bring his fiery wrath to her aquatic personage, despite his promise.

"Good. I shall see you promptly at 5:30 for your first sword lesson." With that, he saluted, watching her repeat the movement before letting the smirk drop. He spun on his leather-shod heel and strode out.

The door swooshed shut, and she was left alone in her personal room in the barracks of the Vione. "What have I just gotten myself into," she asked quietly as she raided the wardrobe for something to sleep in. She crawled into the stiff bed with its thick woolly blanket. She quickly fell asleep, still worried about whatever was going to happen to her.

Dilandau had been right about the automatic alarm system. There was a horrible, shrill, beeping noise coming from somewhere, making RaiFen spring out of the bed.

It took her a few moments to remember where she was and that this was not, despite the sound, a police alarm telling her that she had one minute to remove herself from the window sill before being arrested. She looked around the room before finding a small control panel on the wall to the right of the bed. She swatted and hit the buttons until the horrible beeping stopped, and she leaned against the bed. Unfortunately, one of the buttons she had hit summoned Dilandau, and he wasn't very pleased at her "needing" him so soon.

Her door slid open, and she stood at attention as Dilandau stalked in, looking very ruffled from having just woken up. "What do you want, you sorry excuse for a girl?!" He asked her hotly, rubbing his eyes and then running his fingers through his hair in an effort to comb it.

"I don't know what you mean, Dilandau-sama," she replied swiftly.

"What do you mean you 'don't know'? You hit my call button, so you must want something." He walked over to the control panel and indicated a fiery red button with a label written beneath it.

"Forgive me, Dilandau-sama. I can't read, and I didn't know which button made the alarm stop, so I hit most of the buttons until it quit." She bowed, folding herself nearly in half after she had finished apologizing.

"Baka!" He whispered harshly, slapping her hard enough to knock onto the floor. He found that a much more suitable place to make apologies from. "Bow lower next time, and whether you can read or not, red always means me, no matter where that patch of red happens to be, understood?"

"Yes, Dilandau-sama," she answered from her bow on the floor. "May I know what time it is, sir?"

"Four thirty," he answered irritably, picking up his shoes from outside the door and putting them on. "Half hour to get dressed, half hour for breakfast. You have to get to training on your own time. When I've finished getting dressed, I'll come and lead you to the mess hall. Do try and remember where it is in relation to your room, because I will expect you to be able to find it tomorrow."

"Hai, Dilandau-sama," she nodded her head, her hands tightly folded over her knees. RaiFen (she turned the name over in her head,) must be out of her mind to make such an agreement... To be the sister of someone like this, RaiFen would need to learn to become like him.

"Good. You're already doing well with your obedience." His voice softened toward the end of his sentence, and he dropped to a crouch, brushing his fingers ever so softly along her chin to raise her eyes to his. His voice stayed soft as he told her, "This will get easier." He stroked her cheek with his thumb, and her eyes searched his. He read her like an open book: the desperation, the willpower, the desire to become more.

To her, his eyes were a dancing fire... a mischievous curtain over something far greater than she could recognize. "Just fear me," he continued in the same, sweet tone. "Love me... do as I say," he ran his fingers through her hair, letting the silence settle before going on. "And I will make sure... that you get everything you want." A dangerous smirk played at the corner of his mouth, and made his eyes a dazzling blaze. Dilandau's voice and words, eyes and attitude, had hypnotized the poor girl... No one had ever promised her kindness on any grounds, and since kindness and safety were her main desires, that was what she chose his words to mean.

RaiFen nodded, "As you wish, Dilandau-kun." she answered meekly, a single tear making a salty trail down her cheek until Dilandau brushed it away. This time, a full smile passed over his lips for a moment or two.

"Good girl," he whispered, kissing her forehead before standing. "Now get dressed!" He barked in his military tone. "See you in a few minutes for breakfast," he added just before the door swooshed closed.

Rai pressed her fingertips to her forehead where he had kissed her, and stood up gingerly, moving to the wardrobe and opening the doors wide. In it, on a mannequin torso (which Rai knew no name for, only having seen them in rich shop windows,) was an orange suit of armor. It was oddly shaped, with overly large shoulder plates, no chest-plate, and gloves with large armored squares. The leg pieces seemed strange to her also, being very large and solid boots.

Hurriedly, she moved to the footlocker to find underclothes, and she pulled on the ensemble as quickly as she possibly could. She left the room, still arranging the shoulder plates, and was pleased to see Dilandau striding down the hall similarly dressed. His suit was the same high-polish leather, but the armored plates were a bright red. It was an impressive contrast... She wondered for a moment, as she fell in step behind him, what she would have done had he been dressed that way yesterday.

The way to the mess hall was fairly simple, especially since she was used to crumbling alley-ways. A turn to the right, left, right, right, and a final left. This place had no door, just a large doorway that led to a massive mess hall. Tables and benches lined the walls and were arranged in the center in a very space-efficient way. This was not a place for waste or carelessness, she noted as she followed behind Dilandau closely in the already switchbacking line.

Breakfast consisted of brown rice, dried fruits, and some sort of pan-fried meat. She was unfamiliar with most foods, so she wasn't exactly sure what she was eating when she sat down. That didn't stop her from enjoying every bite. She ate like the half-starved wild thing she was, and Dilandau watched her with bemusement as she never lifted her eyes from the relative feast. Being as familiar as he was with the menu, he toyed with the rubberized fruit for a while before giving in and having some of the food himself.

"You're a hungry little one, aren't you?"He quipped, joking for a moment that he would take one of her dried fruits. He laughed at the mix of emotions on her face, seeing plainly that she didn't want to tell him no or let him have her food. "It'll soon lose it's appeal, don't worry," he added softly, making faces at his own plate. Unsure of how to respond, Rai finished her breakfast slower and in silence.