Colours Chapter 11: Blaze, an escaflowne fanfic

darn. my computer snuffed it, and i still haven't figured out what's wrong with it. the transfer rate of my modem has got so slow that i can't view websites properly, let alone upload anything at all (that's why you haven't heard from me lately). i have the option of moving my computer into my living room (never ever!), of getting an expensive isdn-account or of leaving everything as insufficient as it is now, meaning that i have to take a detour everytime i want to use the internet. oh, joy!

anyway, please heed to the warning below. what happens in this chapter is important for the specific main plot van x hitomi, but you will have no difficulties in finding your way back into the story in case you decide to leave this chapter out. but then again, i already gave this story an 'r'-rating in order to discourage those who are too young (or too prissy) to read more mature scenes, so i think there will be no harm done. to sanctus seira: this won't be all, but ain't it a good start ;-p?

my review responses are turning into what might well be an faq-corner. if you happen to have a question concerning this story, you might find the answer there. i've already spilled my heart out concerning my leading motif for this story, my reasons for writing, the perspective i chose, the names of my oc's and so on. hell, i tend to be overly verbose, so you might as well profit from it.

thanks to my thesaurus. i think i'm going to marry the editor ⌐⌐

people who are easily offended by descriptions of mature situations are strongly advised not to read this chapter. i needed a break, and that's why there will be some mushy snogging going on. if you feel uncomfortable with that, don't read. you have been warned.

i don't claim any rights concerning any of the characters introduced in this story; they belong to kawamori – sensei and co. the plot is my creation, so don't plagiarize. if you find any language mistakes, please tell me and i'll be glad to correct them.

and now as usual, on with the show! cheers, akari

Colours

Chapter 11

Blaze

I was safe.

Safe.

The truth of these words took a few moments to sink into my mind.

Seconds ago the brute had been on the brink of raping me, and now -

- all these days of torture and anguish, all this wondering whether Van would come and get me at all, and now -

- all these hours filled with the stench of sweat and blood, the gooey pulp, poisened with sleeping potion, and now -

- Abaddon threatening to cut me into ribbons, the sound of water dripping down the walls of my cell, and now -

- now it was all over.

I kept staring ahead of me, eyes trained onto the dead body of the man who had nearly raped me, without really seeing, and ears catching the excited chattering of my rescuers without really hearing their words. Everything just bounced off me.

I was safe.

"She's traumatized, of course," a voice said next to my ear and jerked me out of my daze. A faint rustling was followed by the touch of cloth on my skin as someone tucked something around me to cover my nakedness, and a warm gloved hand searched for mine.

"Hitomi? Can you see me? I'm right here."

Van's considerate gesture, his words, slid down my throat and pooled in my stomach like hot soup, comforting and nourishing.

With some difficulty I tore my eyes off their object of scrutiny, turned my head and looked into his face. He'd sunk to his knees next to me and was threading his fingers through mine. The face that was looking back at me was serious, but there wasn't any other person on both our worlds who could possibly have the same soothing effect that his presence had on me.

My poor mind had difficulties in processing that, from one second to the other, I had been swept from a state of absolute doom to absolute safety and from despicable society into the arms of my true love. The rapid pitter-patter of my heartbeat took some time to slow down, and when it finally did, the knot that tangled up my guts dissolved all at once.

My eyes were starting to burn, and I knew I was fighting a lost cause. Already tears were pooling on my lower lids. It was there in the staircase of a murky watchtower in the middle of the enemy's fortress that I allowed myself to do what I haven't done in a while. I showed my weakness. I cried.

Van said nothing; he just gathered me in his arms and let my tears wash away the previous weeks'events. Although he was dressed in full battle gear, I could still hear the rumble of his voice deep in his chest when he spoke. It lulled me into a pleasant apathy in which the disturbing memories of the last few hours drifted far away, and eventually my sobbing subsided.

"We have to get her out here, Allen. She's suffered enough as it is, and I won't risk any other incident."

"You are right, my Lord," came Allen's murmur, "can you carry her?"

"Yes. Go see if the coast is clear, I would rather return directly."

"Very well, my Lord," was Allen's curt reply before disappearing footsteps indicated his immediate departure. A heartbeat later we were alone.

After a moment of silence I felt Van touch my cheek reassuringly.

"Ready to leave this hospitable place?" he whispered into my ear, and despite my wrecked condition I had to smile. He usually wasn't that sarcastic; the fact that he obviously went out of his way in an attempt to cheer me up touched me. I nodded weakly.

"Let's go," I mumbled and reached for him to pick me up.

He didn't lift me at once, though. As soon as I looked at his face again, I could see why he was hesitating. His eyes were pointedly turned away from my bare legs and the light blush on his features was faint, but clearly distinguishable even in the dark.

"Oh," I muttered, feeling the heat rise into my cheeks, while trying to scramble back into what was left of my clothes. I wriggled into my pants, peeled the torn bra off my breast impatiently and groped around for the tunic I'd been wearing. As soon as I perceived the heap of tatters lying scattered across the stairs, however, I couldn't suppress a silent curse. The last act of a lecherous brute…

"Van," I murmured, "the hulk shredded my shirt, and I, um…can I keep this?" I pointed at the short cape he'd covered me with, and he frowned. I knew immediately what he was going to say.

"I know it's not much," I hurried to explain and pulled at the flimsy cloth, "but if I wrap it around me and if we find something to tie it shut, a belt maybe, then I could… what are you doing!"

Calloused fingers locked around the collar of the chain mail he was wearing and pulled it over his head, exposing an athletic chest which was only barely covered by some kind of flimsy undershirt. With a clinking sound the garment hit the ground and was shoved in my direction.

"Put that on," Van muttered with a lowered chin.

I inhaled to protest, but he rose his head and looked me directly into the eyes.

"Put that on," he repeated, "and never fear anything will happen to you again. You are safe now. Don't forget that."

With that, he picked up the armour and carefully lowered it onto my shoulders. The cool weight of metal pressed down on my skin, but in this moment I couldn't care less.

I kept staring at him.

His gesture stirred something inside me. Somehow I knew what he meant to say. After all the shit that had been happening to me he wanted me to feel safe above all. And really, for the first time in weeks I felt protected, cared for and secure. Absolutely so. Hunger, exhaustion, a lost finger, attempted rape; they all didn't affect me anymore. They just rolled off the glittering piece of armour I wore; they were thrown back by the shield Van's affection built around me.

This was the first time I fully realized how deep my feelings for him were. More than friendship, but I've known that already. More than a crush. More than giddiness, sweaty hands and a tingling in my tummy. More than butterfly kisses. More than what I've ever felt for Amano. Indefinitely more; it was almost scary.

Van was the man I've sworn to support and to give strength by means of my love. Now I found that he did the same for me.

The feeling this realization gave me was indescribable.

"Van," I breathed.

His gaze locked with mine, and for a moment everything else was shut out. I would have liked to stay like this for a moment, basking in his attention, but now we heard muffled shouts echoing off the walls, followed by a clanking noise and unrestrained cursing.

Van jumped to his feet and tried to peer down the staircase.

"Allen!" he asked tentatively. Another string of curses answered and I scrambled to my knees. I've never heard Allen using swear words, and I was positive that he possessed far too much self-control to even be tempted to do such a thing. That could only mean that we had unwanted visitors.

In a flash Van grabbed my wrist and pulled me behind him. Allen's voice was yelling from below.

"The exit is blocked, Mylord! Get away, and I'll make sure nobody's following you!"

Before I even knew what was happening, my whole world started tilting away from under my feet and I found myself swept up in Van's arms and hoisted up the stairs.

"Wait," I panted breathlessly, "Allen. We can't leave him like that!"

Van's voice was tense as he replied, "Yes, we can. We must, even. He is keeping those bastards away for as long as possible, and, if anything, we need a good head start."

"But…" I protested while Van took the stairs two by two.

"Shhh," he hissed, "we came to get you out of here, and that is what I am going to do, come hell or high water. Now stop wriggling or we will never get away, and then Allen's maneuvre would have been useless. You do not want that, do you?"

That shut me up at once. He was right. As much as I hated leaving Allen to his own devices, the fact remained that there was nothing we could do to help him except making good use of the advantage he'd bought us.

Van kept jumping up the stairs which didn't seem to end at all. He was already breathing heavily and I began to feel self-conscious. Not only did he have to carry me, but there was also the heavy armour I was wearing. Things would certainly have been easier if I dropped the chain-mail, but I didn't dare bring this topic up. Van was proud; he might have misunderstood my intentions.

After what seemed like an eternity we finally reached the top of the stairs and stepped out onto the crest. My companion cast a quick look around to search for a possible escape route. Two broad corridors were leading away from the tower; he broke into a trot and threw himself into the one which seemed to point away from the fortress.

For once, Lady Luck appeared to smile on us. We didn't meet a single soul for minutes and the next watchtower, and with it the next potential exit, was already in sight. Not a single soul seemed to be here.

In front of us, the gangway widened to form some sort of platform, and the second we reached it, Van gently lowered me onto the railing to take a deep breath. His face was flushed from the previous exertion, with little beads of sweat running down his temples, and those bangs which kept falling into his eyes were soaked and stuck to his skin.

How different his appearance was, compared to the cold and distant façade he had presented to Abaddon days ago! A smile crept to my lips. He looked younger, too. Somehow his harassed look gave him a much more approachable air, making it hard to resist the urge to just hug him to death.

But then again, why should I resist? I had every right to hug him; even if it was just as a 'thank you' for saving me. Maybe he'd just let me…

My glassy gaze must have spoken volumes. Before I even finished this particular train of thoughts, and as if he'd read my mind, he shifted closer, deliberately invading personal space. Both hands settled on either side of me, so that I was trapped in a kind of cage formed by his arms.

Not that I minded, though. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly as he narrowed his eyes knowingly. I could feel my cheeks heat up. Was I being that obvious?

I wound my arms around his neck and hid my blushing face in his shoulder.

My words were strangely muffled as I murmured, "So how did you find me? It's not like the position of this hideaway place is widely known, or else you would've smoked them out of their holes much earlier, wouldn't you?"

His light snort brushed the side of my neck.

"Certainly. Do you remember the man who riled up the neko tribe? He really did lead a fairly large anti-royalist group. The scouts found a small cave near the village, and we think it must have been their gathering place."

"So this probably accounted for why chieftainess Adele never found any evidence of their existence," I supposed and Van nodded.

"We raided the cave and arrested as many of them as we could. Meruru questioned them and… well, you know how she can get when she is angry."

I shuddered involuntarily. Those traitors incorporated everything that the cat-woman hated. She didn't like dishonesty, but most of all she loathed illoyalty.

"How much was left of them?" I murmured.

Van chuckled and caused my chin to bob on his shoulder.

"Not much," he admitted, "they did survive, though, but only barely. Anyway, her row intimidated a few of the humans in the group and they started talking. We figured out where their headquarters were, Allen joined us with a group of warriors and we set out immediately. Thanks to Abaddon's call we knew we were headed into the right direction to get you back. And to our relief," here he lowered his voice considerably while the tip of his nose brushed my earlobe and sent electric sparks down into my guts, "we found you."

With closed eyes I let him nuzzle first the side of my neck, then my cheek. Much of my tension had melted away during our previous talk, so that I was able to thoroughly enjoy our newfound closeness. Although his touch was innocent enough, compared to what the hulk had done to me earlier, yet the warmth and the emotions accompanying it gave the whole situation something more intimate than the brute's attempted rape ever had.

"I was worried," Van whispered, leaning his forehead against my temple, "so worried. There is something really important you need to know, and I was afraid I would not be able to tell you anymore."

From the way his voice sounded I could tell that he really had substantial matters to talk about. In these cases his light baritone always assumed a certain dark timbre which gave him away. Had Abaddon known this, he would have been able to unmask Van's act easily, but I suppose it wouldn't have mattered much, as he was hell-bent on cutting me to pieces anyway.

However, what was more important was that this timbre was directed at ME right now, and instantly all sorts of crazy hopes flared up in my mind. My breath nearly hitched in anticipation. Coming up ahead might very well be one of the most important moments in a girl's life, and this time, THIS TIME, I was not going to run away!

I gave my vis-à-vis what I thought to be an encouraging smile and curled my fingers into his shoulder blades. Just as I expected him to speak -

- our extraordinary streak of luck ended abruptly.

Yells and the sound of metal scraping against stone bounced off the walls. Through a cloud of dust stirred up by the fight, the silhouettes of several persons appeared on our right and approached quickly.

Van's reaction clearly told me that they did not belong to our party. He locked his fingers around my wrist and pulled me into the opposite direction. I stumbled after him, adrenaline surging through my system. Damn, it seemed like I hadn't done anything else today but run mindlessly!

The next watchtower was maybe two hundred metres away. Usually, this was a distance I uesd to have no problem running. Now, however, things were different. Excitement, bloodloss, physical and mental outburn tugged at my limbs and made every step appear as if I had dumb-bells tied to my feet. I fell out of breath after just a few steps, and Van had to drag me forwards. My pulse was roaring in my ears so that I didn't even understand what he was yelling. I guess it might have been something along the lines of 'hurry up', because the shadows our followers cast on the floor grew larger and larger each second.

The mad chase lasted for a few seconds until we finally arrived at the platform of the tower. I was about to throw myself into the staircase when I suddenly realized that the entrance was blocked by a very solid-looking wooden door. A huge padlock was dangling from a massive bar. The door was locked, and there was no other gangway leading away. We were trapped.

As I'd poured my last ounce of strength into our desperate dash to the watchtower, my disappointment drained me of all my remaining power. I wanted nothing more than sink to the floor. Luckily, Van's grip on my upper arm prevented me from falling. He looked around wildly and pulled me to the railing, all the while tugging at the hilt of his sword.

"Climb onto the balustrade, Hitomi," he said tersely and stepped in front of me protectively.

The pounding of heavy boots came closer and obediently I tried to scramble onto the low wall. All the muscles in my arms felt like putty, and I clawed at the rough stone, whimpering as I accidentally ripped open the wound on my pinky finger. My hands lost their grip; gravity mercilessly pulled me back to the floor and made me lose precious seconds.

Behind my back, the tinkering of colliding swords urged me on. They were here already. I ground my teeth and dug my fingers into the cold material again. C'mon, woman, I scolded myself, this is no time for weakness! Slowly, but surely, I hauled myself up and eventually succeeded in lifting one of my legs over the rim. With one last effort and a relieved sigh I finally managed to drag myself onto the rail, straightened up and got to my feet gingerly.

Turning around to face the music, I could see Van hacking away at one of our bulky pursuers. He narrowly dodged a vicious swipe from his opponent and I let out an anxious squeak, causing him as well as his adversary to swivel around in alarm. Both reacted in the same span of time, but Van, armour-less and of a much lighter build than the heavy guard, managed to whirl back faster and used the moment of distraction on his opponent's side to plunge his blade deeply into the other man's unprotected flank. The guard went limp and sagged against the wall while Van, panting heavily, pulled his sword out of the body and turned towards me.

He made a few quick steps to reach the stone barrier and began climbing up when several things were starting to happen simultaneously. Although Van was still searching for footing on the narrow stone wall, another bunch of guards hastened around the corner. They noticed us immediately (we weren't exactly hard to miss, though), and a unison cry of triumph shattered my ears. Weapons were being brandished, and with a sinking feeling I spotted at least three loaded crossbows pointing into our direction.

Seconds later the first bolt was whizzing past me. In the same instant, a tall man in golden armour arrived at the balustrade, slashing out with his sword at random. He nearly missed Van's feet; Van swayed to the side and stumbled backwards. It looked like he was tumbling right over the outer rim of the wall. I screamed again and desperately reached for his hand in an effort to snatch him away from the edge he had come dangerously close to.

To my surprise he didn't let me pull him back to safety. Instead, he gave an almighty tug at my hand, yanked me to his side and once again headed for the abyss that was opening in front of our feet, dragging me with him. My first instinct was to resist, and Van's head whipped around. Irritation caused his eyes to shine almost crimson. He looked almost demonic, and I winced.

"Come ON, Hitomi!" he bellowed and jerked me one step closer to the rim.

Only a moment later, realization hit me. I gave in.

Unfortunatly, this moment was all they needed.

The solid ground under my feet pitched away. I felt myself pressed against Van's form and turned away from the source of danger, but that didn't stop me from seeing another bolt flying at us, from feeling the impact with which it collided with Van's body and hearing his hiss of pain.

The platform quickly disappeared from my sight as we tumbled towards the ground helplessly…

to be continued…

nah! c'mon, even i know my limits ;-P!

The wind was howling around us, and if I had dared open my eyes, I would have seen our surroundings becoming a blur. In spite of that I had my eyes pinched shut, because I refused to watch the ground coming nearer each second. We were falling into the bottomless abbyss which I had viewed from my cell every day, and there was nothing I could do to prevent us from shattering on the ground. There was only one of us who could save us, and he was… he was…!

His head was lowered, lolling about in the draught of air whooshing past us, but his arms were still wrapped around my waist in a protective manner. I could feel his chest heaving with laboured breathing.

"Van?" I asked, unable to filter sheer panic out of my voice, "Van, what is it? Say something, please."

Instead of an answer I heard a ripping noise as something huge, something of blinding white erupted from his back. Our fall slowed down so abruptly that I felt myself slipping out of Van's grip. With a shriek I clawed at what was left of his shirt and held only shreds in my fist as I plummeted—

It was only a few moments of terror later that I realized I was not falling at all. Van had caught the waistband of my pants and held me tightly as he turned our free fall into a glide. Agony darkened the colour of his irises, but his jaw was set into an expression of grim determination as his gaze settled on the opposite side of the valley. Soon we were quickly approaching a peculiar-looking rock formation protruding from the wall and steered right at it as if we wanted to hit it.

In the last possible moment Van swooped around the boulder and I could see that, hidden behind it, a dent opened in the enormous precipice that framed the abyss. This was where Van was headed with powerful strokes of his wings, and this was where I finally touched the ground after he had landed. This was also where we both fell to the ground exhausted, and enjoyed a few seconds of chill-out.

I was resolved not to move for the next twenty-four hours. Adrenaline was still high in my system and the urge to just curl into a ball and go to sleep became overwhelming, when…

"Hitomi?"

"…"

„Hitomi! Come on, we need to leave!"

I groaned, but Van was really persistent. He started prodding me and grumpily I gave in and rolled around to face him. With his tousled hair standing into all directions he did look like a pirate, and he looked extremely strained as well.

"Look," I complained, "we need a rest. Can't we just stay for a nap? It's not like they can fly, so they're not likely to turn up anytime soon, aren't they?"

Van sighed.

"We were very easy to spot from the watchtower," he replied impatiently, "and they have some leviships, I'm afraid. They CAN fly, and since you have been their most important trump card, Abaddon is going to go any length to retrieve you. They are VERY likely to turn up soon. We have to hide in the woods, and the farther away we can get before it is getting dark the better."

I shuddered. The mere mention of Abaddon's name brought back uncomfortable memories. I loathed the idea of returning under his custody, so I gave in immediately and scrambled up as quickly as I could.

Van gave me a weak smile and held out his hand. As soon as I felt his fingers wrapped around mine, I felt loads better.

"All right," I murmured, "let's hit the tiles, then."

We set off in a hurried pace and soon reached the edge of the forest, but I still had no idea what kind of hell lay in front of me...

For the next hours, nothing but the next step mattered to me. I set one foot after the other without being aware where I was going.

The path we were walking on was very bad. It wasn't really a path all the times; sometimes there was nothing more than a gap in the shrubbery. We had to climb over roots and squeeze through thick clumps of bushes, and every now and then the way seemed to end, forcing us to take a detour around a tree or something else. I had already slipped a few times, and if I wanted to avoid spraining my ankle even more that I already had, I had to tread carefully, so I kept my gaze fixed to the ground.

I had to concentrate very hard to keep myself from thinking about how tired I was. If I did, I was liable to sink to the floor and fall into a comatose sleep for at least a year. I needed to keep myself from thinking about the throbbing in my ankle, the pounding in my hand - where the wound on my finger had slowly started healing again – and my burning feet. Most important of all, I had to distract myself from recurring fantasies of little old me in Abaddon's cold fingers again.

It was better to count the steps I made than stirring up memories of my last hours in the traitors' fortress. However, as the figure reached the ten thousands, I lost track of the number and gave up.

So I trotted on behind Van… and walked… and walked… and walked -

- and bumped right into Van's back. My nose had an uncomfortable encounter with one of his shoulder blades and I recoiled.

"Ouch!"

He turned around and signalled silence. I froze.

Everything remained quiet around us, and after a few seconds Van's posture relaxed.

"Dusk is going to fall soon," he whispered, "and it will be too dangerous to go on. I do not much like the idea of staying in one spot for several hours, but I reckon it will still be better than walking in the pitch dark."

I'd only heard the word 'stay' and muttered incredulously, "So are we going to stop right here!"

To my relief he shook his head and looked around as if he expected some guesthouse to appear out of thin air. "We will have to look for some kind of shelter, I guess. I have no idea where we are and where we might find something..."

He cast an almost helpless glance around, but then his gaze fixed on something and his eyes narrowed.

"Look," he pointed into a random direction and I obediently turned my eyes his way, "the vegetation seems to disperse a bit over there. It might be only a clearing, but there could also be a creek or something like that. Let us go and see, maybe we will find some fresh water."

Fresh water would be nice. After all, we didn't have anything with us but the clothes on our backs, and even those were badly torn. I nodded dumbly and followed him as he trotted away to the right towards a particularly entangled patch of shrubbery. Apathetically I watched him struggle his way through and heard him hissing as one of the ranks pricked his skin.

"You could use your sword, couldn't you? To cut the twigs?" I suggested, and Van shook his head.

"A sword isn't that sharp, Hitomi. It is dangerous because of the sheer force of the impact administered on the adversary. You would need something as a bush knife or… Hang on…" his expression became thoughtful, "This IS an idea…"

He stooped down and reached into the shaft of his boot. When his fist re-emerged, he clutched a long, peculiar-looking knife in it. I watched it curiously; the blade was made of a milky-white, translucient material and slightly curved like a scimitar. All in all the thing wasn't as long or broad as Abaddon's instrument, but in a funny way, it did look even more dangerous. Somehow, it screamed death.

As I watched Van handle the knife, I had to shudder. The blade seemed to cut though the tangled branches without the slightest effort; I had the impression that the twigs parted voluntarily before it touched them. Where did Van get this thing? And what, I shivered again at the thought, what was he planning to use it for? If this knife parted branches that easily, what more could it do against people?

A minute later, the way was clear. Hesitantly I stepped through the remainder of what had once been a nearly insurmountable barrier on my way and joined Van, who, thankfully, had already put the hideous knife back into its hiding place and was observing his surrounding with a pleased countenance.

I followed his gaze and saw that we were standing on a broad opening. The ground was covered with cobblestone and indicated that this, indeed, was an artificial construction. We were standing on a road, and although it was completely covered with moss and thus didn't appear to be in use anymore, it might still lead us towards some civilized region.

Van looked at me, smiling, and smiling back I took his hand once more and let him lead me down the alley.

"Which direction?" he asked quietly, and I closed my eyes and let my intuition decide.

"Left," I answered, and without hesitation Van followed my advice.

About ten minutes later we were standing in front of the ruins.

The main building must have been enormous; some of the cracked walls had an intimidating height. The whole complex consisted of several houses, some of which had already collapsed, while others still existed as a whole. Most of the place had been claimed back by nature. Ivy ranked on the carved frames; trees and weeds had sprouted all over the grounds and some of them even poked their heads through the gaping hole that had probably served as an entrance door.

It was a sad view, seeing the once magnificent building in such a neglected state. What disturbed me even more was the fact that the house seemed to be living. A strange presence was haunting the whole place; the windows appeared to be staring at us reproachfully, and I automatically shifted closer to my companion.

"What…" the echo of my voice boomed around us and I flinched and only dared continue in a whisper, "what is this place?"

Van didn't answer immediately. I could see a strangely vigilant look on his face. His eyes flitted into all directions, taking in details of the construction and probably searching for possible dangers. I wouldn't be surprised if he could feel it, too.

"Van?" I tried once again, "I feel uncomfortable. The whole place seems to reject us… somehow. Perhaps we should better leave."

I started to turn away when Van's grip on my hand intensified and caused me to turn to him askance.

"Wait," he breathed, an awed expression on his face. "If my assumption is correct, we will be safer here than anywhere else on Gaia!"

The prickling in my neck increased as if I was being watched by somebody. Safe? Here! I couldn't believe that Van of all people, my mistrustful Van, could be able to imagine such a thing!

"This place is creepy," I scoffed, "I can feel all sorts of vibes here, and I just can't sort out what they are. They might be dangerous."

Van interrupted me with a shake of his head and a smile which I found slightly inappropriate, considering which situation we were in.

"When I was a boy," he explained in a dreamy tone, "an adventurer came to father one day, claiming to have found a temple of unknown origin somewhere in the Forest of Adom. He even brought some artefacts to prove it and wanted to return there to go looking for gold and energists, so he asked for father's permission to explore it. Father didn't like the idea and sent him away. He told him to return the following morning, but the man never came back.

"Later we heard that he had died in the very same night he had been to see father, and that he had died in a very peculiar way, too. He seems to have told his wife about hearing strange voices, and in the middle of the night he walked out of his house, climbed onto a watchtower and jumped to death, with all the artefacts he had brought clutched in his arms."

As I frowned confusedly, he directed a meaningful look at me and continued, "Father's historians figured out that the temple must have been Atlantean. They thought that the man's intrusion had somehow been punished by the Atlantean Gods the temple had been dedicated to, and that this had been the reason why – and how – he died. Since then, every now and then rumours occurred of more Atlantean relics to be found all over Gaia, and of strange magical properties they possess."

The implications of what Van had just said were overwhelming and left me breathless. This building… of Atlantean origin? I wanted to dismiss the idea as ridiculous, but my gut instinct whispered that it might be true. The memory of our trip to the Valley of Mysteries was vividly enrolling in front of my inner eye. I'd had the same feeling there, the notion of being surrounded by invisible powers and hearing inaudible whispers.

My gaze wandered over the intricate design of the window sills, then delved into the darkness that was gaping behind the opening. So majestic, so impressive. The spirits of the ancient gods seemed to still linger here. I could feel them floating around us, jealously watching us invade a place that was genuinely theirs and readying themselves to strike us down. A chill ran down my spine.

"Hang on," I protested,"what if you are right and this IS Atlantean? The man you told me about was killed by these forces! What if we get killed as well? How can you be so sure we won't meet the same end?"

A warm laugh and a soft rustle made me turn towards him. I was greeted with the sight of his wings spread wide behind his back as if, for the first time in his life, he was actually proud of the obvious signs of his Draconian heritage protruding from his shoulder blades. The light of the sunset cast different shades of red on his feathers, varying from flaming orange to a pale pink, and also surrounded his figure with an uneartly glow as if he were ablaze. He looked demonic and at the same time inhumanely beautiful.

"Because," he said, while I was staring wide-eyed at the real-life version of the vision I'd had back in Abaddon's prison, "he was not Atlantean. But we both are, in a way."

He flashed his smile again, and my knees buckled. Slowly I sank to the floor, unable to avert my eyes and trying to burn his image into the back of my mind for ever. This vision, this dream, had not been a trick of my over-active imagination. It had been real and a hint at what was lying ahead of me.

So what if we were trespassing on foreign grounds? So what if we got killed? It didn't really matter. My future and my designated place in this life awaited me wherever Van happened to be. I only had to follow him…

Words penetrated my momentary stupor.

"Are you coming, Hitomi?"

With a finaly shake of the head I agreed weakly, scrambled to my feet and went after Van into the pitch-black emptiness that had once been the entrance hall of an ancient Atlantean temple. I still had a funny feeling about it all, but a roof over my head and a winged god in my company easily outweighed all doubts. If someone wanted to punish me, I'd let them…

About one and a half hours later we were finally settled. To Van's dismay, most of the rooms were already caved in and thus useless. He was scouring the ruins for a suitable location, rejecting many rooms as being too large, too small, too humid and so on until, just when I was beginning to despair of being sheltered before nightfall, he suddenly declared himself satisfied. The place he chose was fairly dry with some sort of platform in smack centre of the room; it even had a fireplace.

While my companion tried to light a small fire, I strolled about the whole complex to scout for anything useful. A few days in Abaddon's prison had turned me ingenious, and I triumphantly returned loaded with treasures. The platform – the only completely dry spot in the whole room – was declared our bed and equipped with some of the mouldy altar hangings and a curtain serving as a blanket. I even found a large basin which was ideal for carrying water from the spring I'd found in one of the yards.

Van was hardly able to suppress an amused face as I returned from my raid, glowing with pride.

"So," he retorted with the corners of his mouth twitching incontrollably, "you did turn this rat-hole into quite a luxury suite after all?"

Giggling, I grabbed his hand and pulled him to the centre of the room. Maybe the relief about having someplace to rest safely made me feel too giddy, but I didn't really care. When had I last had the opportunity to fool around a bit, after all?

"Yes, I did. I even got us a blanket. Come and see!"

I dragged him towards the platform and bullied him into sitting down on the heap of tatters. More pestering on my part urged him to admit that, yes, indeed, he was comfortable, and I crawled in his lap contentedly, wrapped my arms around his neck and nuzzled my nose into the crook of his neck.

"I still have to look after the fire, Hitomi," he gently admonished, but luckily for me he made no move to make use of his threat.

"Let's just stay like this for a while, please?" I begged.

Instead of an answer he sighed; his arms came up to loop around my waist and pull me close to him. After a while I could hear his breath calming down; then the rapid pattering of his heartbeat slowed and his posture finally relaxed. Everything around us grew silent. My frivolous mood drifted away just like dust in the breeze, and all that remained was us.

"Thank you," I murmured.

"Mh?" the little sound he made caused his throat to vibrate against my cheek, "what for?"

"For saving me, in more than one way. You know what Abaddon had in store for me… and you saw what the brute was about to do… and you, " I gulped, feeling my lids starting to burn, "you can probably imagine how lost I felt without you. Thank you. You don't know how much it meant to me."

I sniffled and Van immediately took my shoulders and gently pushed me a few centimetres away from his face. He brushed the pad of his thumb over my trembling lower lip, single-handedly scattering the invisible dam that held back my tears, and immediately the floodgates opened.

I never cried when bad things actually happened, but I always did it when everything was over or when someone started to console me. I don't know why I reacted in this way. Something peculiar about me, I guess, but that didn't make the situation any less compromising. I really was ashamed.

Van quietly spoke my name, and suddenly it became urgent that I stop bawling and making a fool out of myself. Almost defiantly I wiped at the moist streaks running down the side of my face and tried to form coherent words.

"I k-know it's all over," I hiccoughed, "and I was s-so happy when I saw you c-came for me. It's just that I f-fucked up big time again and I thought you decided you've h-had enough!"

Despite my blurred vision I could see Van slowly shaking his head. A tinge of discouragement hung in his voice as he spoke.

"What kind of person do you think I am, Hitomi? You should know that I would never leave you hanging like that…"

Way to go, Hitomi. How thick could I be? Of course I knew that. Of all people, Van was the most caring and loyal person I've ever met in my whole life. Not my own family, not even my once best friend Yukari's loyalty had proven to be beyond doubt. His was, and I wanted to slap myself.

The lump forming in my throat prevented speaking, so I hugged him tightly instead. After a tremulous "F-forgive me" my forehead sank against his shoulder, and thus I rather felt than heard his next words.

"Besides, it was not your fault Abaddon't minions caught you. It was mine, and mine alone. I had already figured out that something fishy was going on by then. That is why I should not have let you walk out of my sight. In the end I underestimated Abaddon's hunger for power, and I am sorry that it was you who had to pay."

"Served me right," I muttered into the last shreds of what was left of his undershirt, "that's what I got for running away."

Van's chest heaved under a long sigh.

"Do not do it again, then," he suggested half-jokingly, "at least try not to run away as long as you do not have a reason for it."

"But I did," I protested with a half-chuckle, half-sob, "I was… flustered, kind of. You kissed me senseless in front of all these people, and instead of doing it again you switched into 'jerk'-mode without warning. That's why I was mad at you and that's why I had every reason to run away and leave you standing."

Van snorted and turned away his head, but not quickly enough to hide the faint blush that started to spread over his face.

"Whatever is going on in a woman's mind," he mumbled, and a strange cockiness began to gain the upper hand in me, effectively stoppping the tears from threatening to spill over.

All queasiness forgotten, I watched him with a half-suppressed smile. His embarassment was boyish and provided an absolute contrast to the behaviour I would have found appropriate for a twenty-one-year-old in his situation. He couldn't be that experienced in the matter of love, could he?

- But then, what did I have to boast about?

While I shortly wondered how many people knew his private side, he squirmed under my scrutiny, and I found it so cute that I couldn't stop myself from whispering, "Do you know that you're blushing?" and pecking a tiny kiss on his throat.

It was a spur-of-the-moment – thing, really, but it did change everything.

Van froze. He obviously didn't know how to react to this, and the silence stretched into seconds and, at the same time, tension started to build. Judging from the continually increasing fluttering in my stomach and from the way his fingers dug into my flanks, it was not of a bad kind.

I turned my head for a fraction and could see out of the corner of my eyes that he had closed his. Our faces were so near that I could feel the heat that was radiating off his cheeks on my skin like sunbeams. Another fraction bought a corner of my lips close to his jawbone. Or was I already touching…?

All thoughts came slamming to a stop as he abruptly leaned in and tentatively nipped at my earlobe. At once an electric jolt surged through my nerves and rapidly spread down to my toes and to the last ends of my hair. Slowly his lips began moving over my skin, and every millimetre seemed to suck more strength out of my muscles until I finally slumped bonelessly against his chest.

My face was leaning against the warm, smooth skin of his neck which was practically begging me to bury my nose in the tiny dimple formed by his clavicle. Van's form twitched, and I withdrew only to press my lips softly against the same spot, thus eliciting a deep, shuddering sigh.

I nudged my way up the column of his neck until I reached his chin and he met me halfway to his mouth. So we kissed.

And kissed, and kissed…

He was working my liplock first shyly, then in a smooth, increasingly aggressive way that triggered all sorts of funny reactions in my body. Liquid heat was sloshing around in my abdomen which broke into an eruption every time our lips met or seperated. I couldn't get enough of him; mutual attraction pulling us together over and over again.

As he gently grabbed my lower lip and tugged on it, something in the region of my loins started to churn, causing me to break the kiss with a surprised gasp. Van was breathing heavily; mouth slightly agape. His lids snapped open to reveal crimson irises, and the startled expression in them told me that the sheer force of our physical reaction to the kiss had nonplussed him as much as it had me.

The situation had nearly been out of control, and neither of us would be able to tell whether it might happen again.

Oh my god.

The seconds ticked away. I'd finally found rudimental control over my raging emotions, and albeit my … 'distraction', sort of… I noticed that Van was looking every bit as silly as I was feeling. He was staring at me like a moon calf. So did I, obviously, because just as I wasn't expecting it, Van turned away with a snicker that soon turned into a soft laugh. It was contagious; I had to join him a moment later, and only eventually the giggling subsided and left us even more out of breath than we had been before.

Man, what a mess love could be…

I was thrilled to find that the exquisite tingling in my tummy didn't recede at all; on the contrary, it seemed to increase at the unique sight of Van laughing freely for the first time in my life. His mere presence was spellbinding to me and made me yearn for more at all cost.

Carefully I shuffled closer, and slid my palms over his shoulders and down his back to lock safely around his waist.

"I didn't know you were that electrifying," I tried to joke, "you better warn me next time, lover boy."

With a snort, Van pulled away slightly.

"What do you mean by 'next time'?" he wanted to know, and I wasn't surprised to detect all sorts of undertones in his voice, all of which caused a shiver to run down my neck.

I leaned back to peer at him with a calculating glance. His face was still flushed, his eyes glossy, and I figured he didn't look the least opposed to continuing exactly where we had just left. The fact that he was immediately closing distance proved me right. Wordlessly he was asking permission to go on, eagerly I consented and our lips met in a kiss, although this time it was sweet and lingering instead of ravenuous.

It was like flying and sinking into a bottomless pit at the same time. A clump of warmth which was continually emitting volleys of tiny electical shockwaves, was sinking through my body and I felt like someone was starting to coil a spring inside me as tightly as possible. It was a glorious experience; I could have carried on for ever.

The moment in which he twitched and uttered a pain-induced hiss, I knew someone had it in for me.

Of course, there was just no time for acting silly again. One moment we seperated, and in the next my eyes panically scanned his form for the cause of his affliction. I saw that my fingers were curled into what was left of his undershirt, loosened my hold and immediately noticed the sticky wetness beneath my palm.

With a flick of my wrist I tore off the last shreds of cloth which were already soaked with his blood anyway. The sight of a deep gash in his flank greeted me. Blood had caked all around the rim in an initial process of healing, but the wound had re-opened under my vice grip and now appeared to be staring at me reproachfully.

I groaned. Of course I hadn't treated it. I'd totally forgotten about it, even. He'd been shot in the moment in which he took off from the landing… and how he had managed to walk through the forest all day with me without complaining even once was beneath me.

"Why didn't you remind me of that?" I inquired with narrowed eyes and brushed the edge of the tear with my fingertips, thus eliciting another hiss.

"Careful," he demanded from between clenched teeth and added, "we needed to get away quickly. Besides, it's only superficial, like a scratch. It will probably heal off soon without any treatment at all."

"Lay down," I commanded sternly, "I'll wash it."

He inhaled to protest, but I interrupted him already.

"Please don't play the hero, Van. It's looking hideous, and it apparently hurts. YOU got it to save me, so it's MY responsibility to at least keep it from getting infectuous. Just let me wash it. Please," I added imploringly, and Van sank back reluctantly with an exasperated grunt while I went to retrieve some water.

I congratulated myself for finding the huge basin earlier, because the idea to warm up some of the water I'd brought in it now turned out to be priceless. With a small amount of the hot liquid I returned to where Van was lying sprawled on the 'bed', and used the rags that had been his shirt for dabbing around the injury. He didn't utter a sound, but I could see from the way his jaw twitched that it did hurt, and my mood grew dark. Talking about a scratch, bleh!

Luckily for us, his prediction about the cut being rather shallow turned out to be correct. Our fall must have been fairly unpredictable, accounting for why the bolt had apparently only grazed Van's flank. As soon as I sucessfully removed the grit and dried blood around it, the damage didn't seem to be too bad.

"I'm afraid I have nothing to bandage you," I admitted," but it'll most probably heal over night anyway, unless you move around too much. Try to sleep on your right side or on your back."

"Okay," Van muttered weakly, "I will try. Thank you for fixing me up."

"Nevermind," I yawned, stricken by a sudden surge of fatigue, and flumped into the heap of tatters beside him, "let's just call it a day, then?"

I earned a feeble 'mmh' and comfortable silence spread around us. Now that the frequency of my heartbeat finally returned back to normal, I could actually feel my body aching from exhaustion. I had to confess that I wasn't too sad about the unholy interruption of our little fling, although it HAD felt nice. However, we still had the next day to continue, now that we were 'official', kind of, and with this consolation I dug myself deeper into the rancid –smelling cloth and tried to get to sleep.

After god-knows-how-many futile attempts I gave up. The faint glow of the flourescent hands on my watch told me impassionately that I'd spent the last three hours tossing and turning from one side to the other without actually being able to catch a bit of sleep. Despite the fact that exhaustion lay on my senses like a heavy blanket, despite the fact that I felt like my limbs were made of lead, my conscience just wouldn't drift off.

I'd just turned to the back, but my new position already started to bother me. With a groan I tried to roll to the other side into what usually was my favourite position to sleep, but I had a hard time even lifting my shoulder. A faint tinkering noise made me want to pound the whole building into rubble from exasperation.

This goddamned chain mail… !

Accompanied by a pitiful whimper, the fingers of my right hand clenched around the rotting cloth I was lying on. I had half a mind to yell, and only the thought of Van kept me quiet.

He DID mean well when he gave it to me, and it DID serve its purpose in keeping me safe and unscathed, but sleeping in this thing had proven to be impossible. Even a small movement triggered a clinking sound, and the heavy steel was pressing on my chest and made it hard to breathe. Parts of my skin would be pinched between the joints, and my burrowing had caused some strands of my hair to become entangled with the neckline and made it impossible to turn my head without seriously pulling on my hair.

I might have taken it off if it weren't for the fact that it was the only item of clothing on my back…

In lack of a suitable solution I was looked forward to a long, rough night. I sighed again and was abount to squirm into a more promising position when the calm sound of Van's voice echoed from the low ceiling.

"What is it you are upset about?"

"Oh, no," I whined, terrified, "I woke you, didn't I? I'm so sorry!"

He turned on his back and watched me intently.

"What are you upset about?" he repeated and added, "you didn't wake me. I have been awake for the whole time, because I could not sleep."

"I'm not upset," I murmured, "I just can't sleep in this frigging chain-mail. I'm not a tough warrior like you, so I guess I'm just not used to doing it."

Van shook his head and replied drily, "Even warriors won't sleep with that thing on, no matter how tough they are. They usually take it off before laying down."

"And this is something," I quipped, "I'm in no position to do. Except you want me to, uh…" man, I wished the blush would already vanish from my face, "unless you want me to strip naked and freeze to death, that is!" I finally blurted out. There, I said it.

Van, who had already opened his mouth to answer, closed it again with a sheepish expression.

"I didn't think of that," he admitted and looked away.

For a long time none of us said anything. Finally my companion sat up abruptly. I perceived his poorly hidden grimace of pain and wondered what he was up to, but I certainly didn't expect what he did then. He peeled away his part of the 'blanket' and shoved it into my direction. All I could do was stare at him askance.

"You take that," he muttered,"and wrap it around you, so you won't be cold."

I backed off with a gesture of denial.

"No way," I renounced, "what about YOU? If you don't cover yourself, you are bound to attract pneumonia or even worse."

"No need to fuss," he answered sternly , "I'm used to that kind of life. The fire will keep me warm enough. Besides, I need to get up and check for possible intruders from time to time anyway."

"I don't think so," I bitched and shook my head to emphasize my point, "not with your wound still open. Besides, you won't be able to sleep either, and you need rest, while I've had a lot of sleep back at the fortress. I'll be all right, you know. One night without sleep won't kill me. Er… Van!"

My last words literally bounced off his back. With an exaggerated sigh he slumped down on his lair, turned around obstinately and curled into a ball in a blatant refusal to hear me out.

"Go to sleep, Hitomi," was his muffled answer, and I bristled indignantly.

Boy, what a pig-headed, over-protective bastard he could be! Silently I fumed for a few minutes, only to come up with the even more irritating result that he was probably right. I needed my rest as well as he did. By no means we were safe yet; neither of us could afford to slow us down on our escape. Abaddon could be expected to resume his search with renewed forces tomorrow, and if he found us, we were going to be doomed.

I had to sleep, and for that I had to remove the irritating item and crawl under the blanket. Half-naked, if need be (and there WAS a need to do so).

However… a more stubborn part of me absolutely spurned the idea of leaving Van unprotected. I had to share the blanket for the sake of his health, although the implications of this train of thought caused me to blush twenty shades of red.

Still… what kind of lover would I be if I let him sacrifice his well-being just for my modesty's sake? In the long run, it was either my pride or my prudery I had to sacrifice, and honestly, what was more important?

In an instant I'd pulled the heavy material over my head and resolutely dropped it to the floor. The cool night air immediately triggered goosebumps all over my skin, but this only spurred my determination not to let my lover lie uncovered.

Van didn't react to the jingling of chains on the stone floor, thus giving me free reign for my next move. Only the touch of the mouldy cloth on his shoulder immediately roused his attention.

"What the…?" he inquired and started to turn into my direction.

"Don't!" I hurried to interrupt him, cheeks ablaze,"don't even think of it!"

He flinched and whipped back, but his embarassment was audibly mixed with anger as he hissed, "Just WHAT do you think you're doing, Hitomi?"

"The question is what did YOU think, blockhead," I hissed, "did you really think that after I finally got you back, I'd let you die of hypothermia or what?"

"We cannot stay like that," he shot back, "it is higly inappropriate!"

I had to blame my short-temperedness for what happened next. Of course I'd expected a certain amount of resistance from him, but today's events had frayed my nerves such as to make me snap in a minute.

This is why I yelled heatedly,

"But it can't be inappropriate. I don't even mind, because I love you!", before I even realized what I'd just said.

Oops.

The silence was dense after my final statement. The prone figure of Van became as rigid as stone. With eyes pinched shut, I inwardly cursed my runaway tongue.

Of course I loved him. And although I'd never explicitely told him what I felt for him, he didn't need me anymore to tell him. More than once I'd given myself away, and despite what one usually says about insensitive men, he was definitely not one of them. He was always alert as far as other peoples' behaviour was concerned, and he was also very capable of drawing his own conclusions about what it meant. Yes, I was pretty sure he already knew.

However, hearing it out loud is different. I'd planned to tell him someday, but I certainly didn't mean to break it to him like that, under such undignified circumstances, and yelling in his face no less.

Unfortunately, I couldn't rewind time and take it all back. I had to see it through, whether I liked it or not, so I made up my mind to act.

With a pounding heart I slid over to his side and lowered myself onto the mattress behind him. Cautiously I slipped my arms around his chest and hugged him closely. At once his muscles tensed under my fingertips, and I forced myself to speak as distinctly and calmly as I could.

"I really love you, Van, and I have for a long time. I'm sorry that it came out like this, but now that it happened you'll have to deal with it, I'm afraid."

Van's chest heaved in a deep sigh, but that didn't stop me from feeling his heart flutter wildly. As much as he obviously wanted to keep pretending to be cool, I just knew he wasn't. A faint smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. Gotcha.

"I don't know by which standard you are judging whether something is appropriate or not," I continued softly, "but I do know that I don't mind sharing a blanket with you. I don't mind either if you see me like that or not. I don't feel embarassed if it's you, and I wish you'd see it like I do."

dodom… dodom… dodom… dodom…

By now my heart was beating as fast as Van's. Throughout my little speech he had not given any sign as to whether he'd heard me or even agreed to what I'd told him. But now warm palms slid over mine and calloused fingers gently squeezed my hands. It took me some time to understand his gesture, but as soon as I did, gratitude and mild euphoria started turning me dizzy. I resembled a castaway who, for the first time after weeks, encountered land.

Van didn't mind me loving him. He didn't repel me like he had done shortly after my suicide. Instead, I could feel cautious encouragement, warmth and affection. And maybe, only maybe, even more than that…

The terrible feeling of numbness subsided, making me capable of sensing the soft texture of his skin against my breast, the warmth that his body radiated and the realization of how fortunate I really was.

Sleeping shouldn't be a problem anymore. Apart from the fact that a huge boulder had just tumbled off my heart and let it soar into the sky, there wasn't really anything I had to fear tonight. Abaddon and his minions were far away, the chain mail was gone and I wasn't cold anymore.

A kind of drowsy contentment flooded my conscience, and I leant my forehead against Van's shoulder, cuddled up against him and closed my eyes.

Minutes later, I was fast asleep.

to be continued…

oh my god. i swore to never to use a commonplace motif, and now i did. a blanket- scenario. can i become more pathetic? forgive me, 'coz i didn't know what i was doing!

you really were pissed off last chapter, weren't you ('xept for Tsubasa, of course)?
akai chou: well, kidnappers do worse things than that, and there are an awful lot of weirdoes running about. you wouldn't believe how many freaks i've already met in my life. it's sad to see how far some people are willing to go for their political or religious beliefs. if you see it from this perspective, my plot isn't really that far-fetched. there's no need to kill the author ;-)
Strawberryz: yes, i do think that getting raped, or even getting NEARLY raped, is a nasty experience. unfortunately, it seems to be a widespread habit among men to use women in that way just because of a sick urge to control somebody. a woman i heard of had been raped by males of another family just to punish and disgrace the male members of her 'clan' ! isn't this disgusting?
xDianaMoonx: do you really think this was a cliffie? i DID save hitomi before i cut it… thank you for your offer. if you promise me that you will stay for longer than three chapters, i'd be inclined to accept it ;-). anyway, who said i got only a few chapters left! my mind is spinning with ideas … wuahahahaaaaar!
C.G Forever is Now: # bows # no kidding. posting a new chapter is really giving me stagefright…
Inda: as you can see, i prefer having van console hitomi instead of going berserk ;-). coincidentally, your 'nagging' e-mail arrived today as i was getting ready to upload the chapter. however, don't expect that to happen every time you start nagging !
Kintora Zhadowyz: kintora, you already reviewed chapter ten when you wrote something in response to this pathetic santa van i posted as a christmas joke. as for why i reckon you're younger than me: very simple. you're so enthusiastic. once you reach twenty-five plus, you'll know what i'm talking about…btw, abaddon just cut off the tip of hitomi's finger. like in the movie 'the piano', know that? er, and zhadowyz, nice to meet you. don't let kintora bully you into reading this if escaflowne is not quite your thing. i once betaed a crossover fic from a series i didn't know, and really, this sucked. i didn't know the main characters and thus didn't really care what the heck happened to them. if, by peculiar coincidence, you decide that you want to watch escaflowne nonetheless, yes, the characters do really have long noses ;-)
xSilverShadowsx: + sweatdrop + too graphic maybe? i have a bad feeling …
Hearts of Eternity: well, no need to fear i might do something drastic, because deep down i am a friendly person who would NEVER consider doing something like THAT to her characters (stop! everybody who now kicks his/her computer gets ten gummy points). btw, take a close look at my descriptions. i don't really give you many details, but i do offer enough as to spur your imagination. this is a trick i've learned from my favourite author. i said about abaddon that he's young, has pale eyes, fair hair and a rotten character. nothing more. the rest of him has been made up by your imagination…and i bet every reader has his/her very own version of how abaddon looks like. the trick is to find comparisons which everybody has something to say about, and descriptive words which don't give away too much… like 'pale' instead of grey, light blue, white or something else.
JadedTruth: as to allen's reaction, it might not be too spectacular. i reckon what he's seeing (naked woman) is not completely new to him ;-).
iwakura: hi! long time no see, it's been a while since i last visited. now that ryry abandoned me, i might as well upload the rest of the story to the files-section and screw the language mistakes. hmmmm.
Jameth: oh my god, i hate spelling mistakes! where the hell is it? as soon as someone tells me that i made a mistake i get all fussy. i need to know where it is! tell meeeeeeeeee!
egwene105: yeah, as soon as the next christmas break is up ;-). i really needed a couple of days off.
RaversAnthem: holy shit, you've got to be kidding. don't tell me you actually have a tiki statue with my ugly face?
Newfie Child: +sweatdrop+
animelo: funny, i am addicted to this story as well. go figure. ;-)
Tsubasa-No-Kami 91: the last chapter was like the most gory chapter of all … the majority of readers freaked, but you singled it out as your favourite. you do have an unusual taste, ne? (just kidding ;-)
Luraia Soul: rota fortunae was the only esca-story i'd label as a favourite of mine that actually got finished. ain't that sad? dammit, everybody, GET MOVING AND UPDATE!
KitsuneNekoYoukai: you know, death threats usually stifle my creative juices ;-p.
Chroma: no offence taken. i don't claim to be an escaflowne expert at all, since i just watched the series once. some details might have slipped my mind, and the german subs might have fucked up a few things as well. i understood that allen didn't stop having a crush on hitomi till the very end of the series. in my memory he was jealous and a bit possessive over hitomi, so i figured that either he'd really been in love with her even before the fate machine was activated OR that the effect of the machine was permanent. in order to keep my plot simple, i opted for a permanent effect. as for hitomi being a 'prawn'… my typing really sucks +; . i hope you like seafood…
anime fan: mh, let's see.
Cait: thank you. i'll never grow tired of hearing that …
Tequini: ein ösi! dein 'geht runter wie butter' hat dich entlarvt…so eine redewendung gibt es meines wissens im englischen sprachgebrauch nicht, und der hinweis auf die österreichische leber erst. danke für die hinweise. ich kann nicht gut tippen, und das merkt man leider auch. danke auch für das angebot. im grunde hast du so viel gefunden, dass du schon korrekturleser ehrenhalber bist ;-).
Saraneth the Binder: thanks. will do.
Spirit0: 'Just in time to save worthless little Hitomi's virginity. (So Van can still have the privilage of claiming THAT)' ! somehow i like the way your brain is wired. anyway, hitomi's behaviour is quite understandable, i think. when you're in love, you sometimes act as if you were seven cans short of a sixpack. i've had a lot of experience here (both on the giving and receiving end). oh, and don't mind trifles like which technological devices van has or doesn't have. i figured that since fanelia does own quite a few (ordinary) guymelefs, they had to have something like intercoms as well. otherwise, how would the guymelef pilots be able to see? let's just assume he does have something like it, because otherwise the scene wouldn't be as impressive as it is.
AyR: well, i hope i did. thank you very much!
moon: my former beta used to say that my writing style and my vocabulary are old-fashioned. i think i like your 'euphemism' better; 'mature' sounds so positive…thanks for the compliment, and yes, i do speak german. at least i hope i do. being a german, it would be difficult otherwise +;
anime-luva00: what is 'toodles'!
Bittersweet Mika: thank you. i'm fairly pleased with how the action scenes turned out. it's getting easier every time i try.
Random: +cough+ 'thrilled' might be a disputable word in a context like this (attempted rape!), but I can imagine she feels immensely relieved.
sanctus-seira: thank you. i appreciate compliments, especially when they come from really good writers like yourself. once i'll get my computer back online (in a million years or so), i'll hopefully manage to finish reading 'hemisphere'. btw, chroma found a typo mistake that had me laughing my ass off. seems like i wrote about hitomi acting as a 'prawn' in abaddon's game +;
charice: i usually don't like reading angst stories as well. they're uncomfortable, sort of. one keeps wondering whether the correct 'couple' will finally find themselves or not. to top it off, I sometimes prefer off-canon couples. that's why i'm rather writing angst, that's just as good.
Soul Eyes: thanks. there you are.
soulrio: thanks, thanks, thanks. man, some reviews just have me blushing like a maniac tomato. btw, there actually ARE people here in germany who believe in mental healing powers. they're called anthroposophs. in my view some of their beliefs are a bit creepy, but there you go. whatever floats your boat.
Chisakami Saiyuki: i was evil because i felt like it. this morning i ate a little kid for breakfast (just kidding!).
Trai Maxwell: sorry, but there is nothing heroic about me. no need to become sarcastic ;
Saiyan-legacy102: kudos. you must be a quick reader. i recently had to re-read the story and didn't make it under five hours, with my eyes popping out of their sockets afterwards!