Meh, meh, meh.

So… howsabout that World Cup, hmm? Yeah, that's what I thought.

… I never have anything to say in these things. Summer hath begun, however, so… yeah, as promised, I shall be updating more often. Seeing as, for work, all I do is sit around at a front desk for 5 hours with absolutely nothing to do, I'll have plenty of time to write up chapters.

…Even though this chapter took forever. I didn't have a drop of writingness in my blood for a while. Sorry 'bout that…

In any case, I've been planning this fic out… kinda. I mean, I don't know what's going to happen later, but I know what to write for the next few chapters. I'm good!

Plus, I got to get to workin' on Hitomi's fluffyness with VAN! Eh, that won't come for a while, but I still can't wait.

Don't forget to review! I love reviews! Lots of 'em! Like ramen! I love ramen!

Echelon

Chapter 6 – "Kidnapping of the Thief"

The crimson guymelef, which had just stepped out of what seemed like a cloak of invisibility, extended a hand slowly. Hitomi's instincts were screaming to run, hide, duck, anything, but the fever dulled her senses and all she could do was stare dumbly as the metal fingers closed around her waist.

"Well, well, well… if it isn't the Eyes. Where's your Dragon, witch?" A sneering voice sounded from inside the cockpit.

Shivering, Hitomi raised her green eyes to meet red ones and she knew that perhaps this time, she wouldn't be able to sneak her way out of this one.

Van's Escaflowne shuddered to a halt. The forest nightlife was silent and the trees deathly still. Narrowing his eyes, Van listened intently for any sounds, but there were none.

"All the animals are scared off…" He murmured under his breath before raising his voice a bit to talk to Hitomi. "You ok there?"

No reply came. Van assumed that the girl was still sulking over leaving the fort. She was probably not replying simply out of stubbornness, or to annoy him.

Well, it's working. He thought, turning in his seat to peer out at the Thief, fully expecting her to be sitting on Escaflowne's shoulder, glaring at him.

The reprimand caught in his throat as soon as he looked over. The girl was gone.

He cursed and turned Escaflowne around. How the hell was she gone? She had just been there! And why did she run? To escape from him? Or perhaps to go back to Allen?

Or maybe she fell… No, that was impossible. Nimble con artists like her didn't just disappear for innocent reasons. Hitomi's disappearance had to be connected to her escaping; there was no doubt about it. Whatever the cause was, Van was certain that it wasn't above suspicion at all.

Thinking about Hitomi only made him angrier. Like he didn't have enough problems. The silence around him was deafening and he was getting a headache from that ever present thorn, Hitomi.

"Fine! I'll just go on my own; she can go wherever she wants." He grumbled, turning back to head farther along the path.

Whatever that girl's fate was wasn't his concern. It was irking that he had lost the Thief once more and that the chance to get revenge was lost, but he could deal with it. Right now, the only option was to return to Fanelia and regroup the citizens; perhaps start them on rebuilding. After that, Van would be free to seek revenge on whoever had attacked his previous homeland.

In any case, the King had a gut feeling that he would meet Hitomi again. People like her were like cockroaches, you could never get rid of them.

There was a sudden woosh sound above his head. Van's eyes jerked upwards, but there was nothing there.

"What the…" Accompanying the odd nothingness were flecks of black, being carried along by the light wind that was picking up.

Van's eyes narrowed for the second time as he recognized the mysterious flecks. Ash. And a smell reached him, as well. A smell he knew all too well. Fire. It was coming from behind him. What was behind him? A great span of forest… and Allen's fort.

Almost cautiously, Escaflowne was turned back around once more. Off in the distance was an orange-yellow glow. That was the fort, alright. Had it been attacked, just as Fanelia had? And, even more frustrating, why the hell was everything getting attacked while Van was there?

The return to Fanelia and the disappearance of the Thief was forgotten. Van began the journey back to Allen's home, wondering what was going on.

.:.-.:.-.:.-.:.-.:.-.:.-.:.

Everything before Hitomi was unraveling before her like in a slideshow mechanism her father had shown her once. Even worse was that Hitomi couldn't help but feel like she was suffering from a case of déjà vu. Besides the fact that she knew that she had seen the now very real images before… in her dreams.

Held tightly in the red melef's hand, Hitomi was scared out of her wits. The terrifying red-eyed man lifted into the air and had then proceeded to soar high above the trees, giving Hitomi a clear view of Allen's fort. She wished he hadn't.

At the sight of the flame-ravaged area, her stomach plummeted to new depths and her heart felt the tug of loss for the second time in two days. Once more, she was given the curse of gazing upon the invisible giants as they wrought destruction mercilessly. Again, she felt helpless.

The melef-pilot laughed under his breath, but Hitomi heard him. He sounded almost crazed, which was even more frightening than the crimson eyes of his.

Forcing herself to turn away from burning building, Hitomi looked forward, instead, to where she was being taken, but there was nothing ahead.

Then a huge hulking thing visualized before her. She held in her surprised gasp as dread filled her up. There was no way she could escape that… that.

It was a floating fortress. Huge, bulky, and managing to do the impossible feat of flying, the castle had been implanted on an enormous chunk of rock and was doing it's very best to look as menacing as possible. With the backdrop of the two moons in the dark sky and the ash-filled wind swirling around it, the fortress was succeeding.

Oh no…. Hitomi's heart fell to what felt like her feet. How would she get away this time?

A nagging voice told her she wouldn't.

Taking in a shaky breath as the red guymelef maneuvered onto a landing dock, Hitomi had to admit that the circumstances were against her. A flying fortress, hundreds of miles above-ground; captured by a crazy, red-eyed man's melef; no hope of anyone coming to rescue her (not that that was new); and she had the flu to boot.

A small smile perked up the corner of her mouth. She loved a challenge.

Dear donuts, that was SHORT. Probably my shortest chapter ever, not counting the prologue. I was a bit tied up on what to write or how to update, but I really like this chapter, as short as it is. Actually, I just like Hitomi's POV. I don't know why. But next update will be longer.

I was planning on making this longer, about how Hitomi is treated at the fortress, along with her meeting Folken and Dilandau, and what happens with Van once he reached Allen. But… that'll be next chapter.

I just felt horrible that I hadn't updated, so I decided to give you all at least something to do. Gahhhh.

Anyway, a review for this poor soul would be nice, anyway. You know you want to.

Kyle- RAWR! I'm glad you liked the chapters, I try. The name's not Valerah, it's Ler-hah. I don't even know where you got that from….

Inda- GOING GOING GOING! WEE!

f-zelda- Van, jealous? Not for a while, but we'll get there -grin-

rina- I've always loved the whole Van/Hitomi relationship, which explains why I can't stop writing them. xD Thank you for reviewing!

Macky- Yup, yup, thanks for the review.

abbys- I'm glad you like my characters, I'm trying to keep them in character, while adding my own style to them. Van is a stubborn poo, while Hitomi is still her emotional, albeit clever, thiefy person. The story's gonna start branching from the anime story line soon enough, though. Or, at least, I'm gonna try. Thank you for your review!

AmethystWings- Unique relationship, indeed. A hate/hate one xD

ZanyQuipser- New reviewer! Yay! Thanks your reviewwww!