Hello, I think the last time I posted this story was from a port call. Been home a month now. I know I put up a chapter to Strong Memories a couple weeks before heading home, but it's been more like two months for this story. Sorry for the delay, you know how things go. Then again I generally have a unique problem… not deployment. Plenty of other people have that. No, I tend to go through bursts of inspiration and always run into a block when I work on more than three things at a time. You got that right. I can work on two stories with little issue. It's three that get my muse to put up a brick wall.
There's this story Blades and Bellflowers. My M rated continuation Stronger Memories. Those started around the same time. The third story that caused my productivity to come to a grinding halt… a super sweet one-shot or possibly a short story called Temperatures Rising. It's not done yet, but soon I hope.
Last note; not edited. I'll try to do a quick correction later, but I was just impatient to post. Please forgive the grammar errors.
Chapter 5- Almost Enough
We rode in silence, my mind working overtime to try and make sense of this new direction my life had taken. Pretending to be a boy to stay close to the king of Fanelia had been pretty crazy, but now I'd directly ignored an order to return home. We were in this together Van and I. He would have gone off on his own and I couldn't let that happen.
After all this was my fault. Running around carelessly as I did caused Sir Allen to find out about the runaway lady hiding in his troops. He was set to send me home, tarnished by my overfamiliarity with the young king of Fanelia. So, I'd done the only thing possible and told him the truth, my truth that is. The visions and danger that lay ahead of us. He believed me in the end, which was almost worse than the alternative. I saw it clearly in his honest blue eyes, pity.
Austuria wouldn't hang me for an unwanted skill, this wasn't the dark ages, but they would ostracize me. Rumors and isolation far worse than before. Above all the speculation that would fuel every wild story completely humiliating my family, who didn't deserve such a public fall. The truth getting out was like words carved into a tombstone, a final end to any future match.
In reality Fanelia was far more dangerous for someone like me. Seers don't just become public spectacle there, they die. I hadn't been able to ask Van about it, if I was walking into a death sentence or would he continue to protect me. Maybe I'd stay alive for as long as I was useful, but I had to believe in him. Stubborn and reckless, but deeply thoughtful, he was my best chance out of this mess and I his.
It was because the knight believed me that he ordered us to return to safety. Seeing the silver-haired fighter made everything real. His vow to keep the king in his charge from danger outweighing any chance of returning him home. A decision Van couldn't live with.
For his part the wild haired boy had been gone for too long as it was. He's been away from his country and people for more than a moon now, and half of it they'd been occupied. The people that relied on him told that he had died, and it was all because stubborn pride. Even without visions, I could see how the weight of responsibility weighed on those thin shoulders.
Nothing I could say would change the terrible facts. Still I was here with him, and that had to count for something. Van had given me his trust and with that came a freedom I'd never experienced before. So, I could handle a little embarrassment at the closeness of our bodies. The distracting heat warming my back. Even the feel of his arms on either side of me.
I was glad he couldn't see my face, burning as it was, from the sensations and memories from being held last night. It was silly to think that Van saw me as a girl. At most I hoped he viewed me as a friend. What would happen if I started wanting more from him than that? If we survived this journey would I even see him again? We lived such different lives after all, right?
My mind started thinking about the way he stood between me and Allen. The older man had every right to be mad at our deceit, but could Van really have meant it? To take responsibility for me?
"I think this is a good place," The smooth tenor right by my ear almost made me jump. I hadn't even noticed Van bringing the yorkle to a stop by a thin stream.
"Okay," I muttered taking the first chance I could to slip under his arms and slide from the over packed beast. Guilty for thinking about the raven haired boy and not my poor animal that dutifully carried us both out of range of Allen's troupe and clear of Zaibach scouts so far.
We'd been moving at a reasonable pace the remainder of the morning and through the early part of the afternoon without stopping. Before I could move on my stiff limbs to unpack the bags Van had already started. Untying the straps with deft fingers. Trying not to watch him I set about the narrow bank looking for a good spot to set our things, and then moving them wordlessly.
It was nice, the easy way we worked together. This was a temporary rest, so a fire was unnecessary, still we needed to eat and rest. As did our yorkle, who'd had the rougher job so far. From here on we'd walk while leading her behind us. I dug out some rations aiming for the food that wouldn't keep as well with an extended journey. Bread would dry out soon and slightly smashed cheese. I could have been a little gentler with my packing, but it would still taste the same.
Once the animal was tied near enough to the stream to drink her fill Van sat down next to me and held out a cup still dripping from where he'd filled it. I took it gratefully, the water cold and sweet on my tongue. I hadn't realized how thirsty I was, my mind occupied by other thoughts. One dealing less on thirst than on my companion.
"What is the plan now?" I ask handing the empty cup back to the boy in question.
He looked at the rim for a moment to long before turning away and refilling it the stream for himself. "We walk westward."
His statement so broad I scoffed "No really, I thought we were just going to fly the rest of the way to the capital." Once the snarky response was out of my mouth, I realized what I'd just said, to a draconian. Hand flying to my mouth as though I could shove the thoughtless words back in.
Instead of retorting with anger as me might have done in the past Van's reation was calm. One eyebrow shooting up in amusement maybe, I couldn't tell because his face remained neutral. "Not exactly the plan." His voice was smooth and pushed past my discomfort quickly. "We'll have to stay south of the city to head due west. Escaflowne is hidden in a cave I know of in the cliffs a day's walk past the city."
"You just left a priceless Guymelif unguarded in a cave that close to the capital?" What went without saying was who was camped out near by and searching for the armor.
"Zaibach is still actively searching for it, so they aren't looking in the right place." There was an amused, confident sounding tone that I wanted to trust. "I seriously doubt any other person knows where this cave is."
In my opinion, if the invading army was willing to hold a city by force, they had to be combing every inch of the countryside. Hidden caves included. If they haven't found the Escaflowne it was only a matter of time. Unless Van had some secret magic to keep the thing safely hidden, because calling on visions seems to turn out badly for me. We might not know if Zaibach succeeded until it was too late.
It was impossible to know the reason for their desperate need of the ancient Mielf. Still it had to be worth risking war with Austuria, and even Daedalus, Fanelia's closest allies. Even a reclusive country was tied to the others around it. The land I've only seen in visions had to be worth a lot for it's neibors to willing to risk war with Zaibach. I wanted Van to be right that it was a place only he knew, but the reason for this surety was not something he seemed ready to tell me. The boy still had many secrets, what was one more?
The thought made me want to ask, but instead I handed him some food and dusted off a rock before sitting down to eat my portion. He watched me with a small lopsided smile that did funny things to my stomach, though I called it simple hunger pains in my head.
We ate as we'd ridden before, in slightly awkward silence. Now that it was just the two of us something in our relationship seemed to have changed. I could tell Van was glad to have me along. Then again, he needed my abilities. On the other side of things, it was suddenly very real that I was a girl. Stories have been made up over less. I just had to do my best not to become too comfortable around him, again. It wasn't like this could last forever.
Days more of walking were ahead of us, recovering the Escaflowne, and making it known that the king was alive. Zaibach would have to leave or risk angering the allies into an all-out war. There was still something we were missing. I hated not knowing what it was. If everything worked out as planned than in less than a fortnight Van and I would go our separate ways. I thought of what it will be like to say goodbye as we packed up to continue on, and the idea settled a weight in my core. Sadness or maybe worry, but still I couldn't drag my feet and let his people continue under forced occupation.
For what little I knew about Fanelia, I knew even less about Zaibach. It's not as though the larger country with its massive industrial capital was shut off from the world, but the people that traveled there had a habit of not coming back. I remembered back to the tournament where everything changed, but thinking past my first disastrous meeting with Van I tried to recall something from earlier in the day.
Yukari my now distant friend chatted away trying to distract me from the field. Her conversation not annoying exactly, but steady. I caught something she said about me being lucky to live outside the city. "Just last week the strangest group of foreigners visited the palace, a delegation of sorts." We lived in a port that saw people from all over so her taking notice at all seemed odd. "They wore long black cloaks even in the middle of the day. In the front of the party was a tall man with a face that would have been handsome if it hadn't looked like he was carved from stone."
Now it seemed obvious that the friendly girl had been speaking about Zaibach. Just the thought of them visiting the palace a handful of days before attacking an ally. Maybe they were asking permission to invade the small quiet country or looking for Van. The second thought made my blood go cold. What would they have done if he'd been found inside the palace walls not sleeping on the ground like a commoner?
We'd been going along at a good pace, the yorkle grateful to plod on carrying only our belongings and supplies. Van was leading the animal gently by her reins when he spoke again.
"Hitomi, why is your face as sour as an old piscus?" I blanched at his choice of words, it meant I wasn't hiding things as well as I thought.
"Just thinking." I responded blandly. Hoping that he'd let the conversation drop. Like with most things as far as Van was concerned, I was wrong.
"And a dragon shoots soap bubbles." He scoffed unconvinced.
"It wasn't a lie." I snapped temper flaring I spun on him, only to look into those deep mahogany eyes. I let out a long sigh, and the truth or at least part of it came spilling out. "Part of it is worry, but not all. I feel like this will all be over soon one way or another."
"That makes you sad?" Van asked, something in his voice almost sounded like hope.
"Of course, I will be sad," I rushed on pushing thoughts I couldn't prove into the back of my mind before they could come tumbling out. "My life just won't go back to the way it was before. Not that I'd want it to, but everything is different now."
His expression seemed to droop visibly a moment before turning his face away from me and towards the yorkle, one hand smoothing gently the animal's flank. "Because Allen knows you're a seer now?"
I don't know what surprised me more the turn in conversation, or the bitterness in his voice. "Being a social outcast is one thing," I started but Van cut me off quickly.
"He won't tell," The words held more than I understood, a grudging respect he had for the knight. "Neither I nor him will spread and rumors about your abilities."
I blinked again trying to regain my thoughts. "As noble as the two of you are, an entire camp now knows your page was really a runaway Lord's daughter." Rushing on before he could interrupt and offer to marry me again. "Aside from my reputation I don't even know if I want to go back at all. I've never felt like I could be myself before this, and once it's all over I'll lose more than just my freedom."
Saying he was the best friend I've ever had seemed strange, maybe even an understatement. As though confirming it out loud will make going our separate ways all the harder. I couldn't even think about the times where my heart felt like a trapped animal around him. When he held me in his arms while I was weak with unnatural cold, the gentle way he corrected my form during archery practice, and how he always seemed to see the real me.
"Let me protect you then." His voice was softer than normal. As though he was half afraid, I'd hear at all. There it was his offer, gentler this time than before. It warmed me that he didn't assume that I'd marry him, even though this was probably the only offer I'd ever get.
"That very sweet Van, but don't you want a chance to be with someone you love?" I didn't outright say no, because I couldn't prove the feelings, I had for him weren't more than friendship. Still I couldn't trap him into a commitment he'd grow to regret.
"This would be the closest I'd ever have to a choice," He admitted, those deep mahogany eyes meeting mine again. I saw the truth there, he was a King, not a boy answering only to himself like he seemed during our short time together. Some princess would travel to Fanelia just to be his bride. I could imagine her long hair so different than my cropped boyish cut. The way she would smile softly at him, but not understand the headstrong fighter below his title.
It wasn't a vision, but the idea of him with another girl at his side made me almost stumble with the force at which my insides seemed to clench. I pushed it away taking a deep breath.
"It seems like a long time ago, but I used to think I wouldn't ever get married." I admitted trying to think to the girl I was before our eyes first met. Of course, I had his full attention now, it made me quicken my steps forging forward. "What respectable man wants someone like me? Still I hoped one day to fall in love hard enough that none of it mattered."
Van was silent and the air was thick with the truth. It wasn't that I was saying he didn't love me, because I couldn't know another person's heart, but so far this wasn't any romance I'd ever hear of. He had to think about the kind of queen his people deserved, and that wasn't me. A stubborn seer with a knack for over-reacting. He didn't have a responsibility to protect me, as he did his people, and we both knew it.
We were quiet the rest of our walk that day, setting up a small makeshift camp in contemplative silence. Checking the area carefully, it was decided that we could risk a small campfire. I set about gathering kindling and clearing a space to built it. Van on the other hand moved off into the woods with his bow, coming back a short while later with a couple pheasants, the kind of wild game bird nobles pretend is fine dining. He set about plucking and cleaning without asking my help. No that it would be within my skill set.
Before a I set off on this adventure, I hadn't ever started a fire or boiled water on my own. If someone had told the me from before that I would be comfortable camping under the two moons and working with my hands, which were no longer lady soft, I'd probably call them crazy. It wasn't until the birds sat roasting over the fire that Van spoke again.
"You talk about not wanting to go back, but won't you miss your family?" His eyes remained on the knife he was now thoroughly cleaning, but I felt his attention fully on my reaction.
"Of course," I stated quickly, but continued to neatly stack the small pile of wood to feed the fire with. "I love and miss them, it's not them I don't want to return to. Even saying it makes me feel a little guilty, but that doesn't make it any less true."
"How so?" He prompted me to continue talking.
"Well," I paused wondering how much I wanted to talk about. Not that I didn't trust him fully, but this conversation was rather personal. "They don't really need me. My younger brother is the heir anyway. Mostly I felt bad not to have left a note behind. I didn't want them to worry about me, but I also feared they would put a stop to my plans. At least now they know I'm safe."
He blinked for a moment the rest of what I hadn't said out loud falling into place. "Allen sent word back to your family that you were with his troupe before we left."
"Exactly, and knowing I was in his care will put them at ease." I nodded, watching him over the fire's glow now. "My mother has a little power, but a fraction of what I have, so she can only feel emotions of people near her. She thinks its best for me to stay safely away from society, and my father wanted to arrange a marriage to some openminded lesser noble. Here I don't have to hide, so even though I love them this is the happiest I've ever been."
He glanced away under the excuse of turning the birds over the flames. "Did they hope you'd end up with someone like the knight."
"That was never going to happen." I laughed lightly, slightly surprised at the truth in my own words. It didn't hurt though not like I thought it should. "Daydreams of romance with a gallant knight. It didn't even have to be Sir Allen, he just fit the fantasy half the girls in the kingdom share. Someone strong and kind to sweep me away from all my problems and swear loyalty only to me. As I said silly right."
"Nothing silly about wanting something better for yourself." Van's eyes met mine again and I felt that soft fluttering. It seemed as if he wanted to ask me a question, but instead declared the meat cooked and set about carving up portions for the both of us.
It wasn't until we were rolled up in blankets for the night, that I realized I'd pretty much told him everything. Yet I knew next to nothing about Van that I didn't learn from a vision. It seemed intrusive to hope to see into his life to get to know him more.
It seemed like a lifetime ago and not a single night that I rolled over calling out to him across the tent. That one choice seemed to lead us here. Into the woods of Fanelia with Van as my guide and only companion. Now I lay on the hard ground thinking longingly of my cot in a camp that moved in the opposite direction without us. Unable to get comfortable I tossed again nearly flinging my blankets in frustration.
"You alright over there or has something crawled in with you?" I could hear the teasing note in Van's voice and a childish side wanted to tell him yes, that the critter was a better bedmate than him. Still I couldn't bring myself to say something so bold. Maybe before it was just the two of us I would have taunted him back, but now it seemed like there was an invisible line I wasn't sure I was crossing or not.
"Can't get comfortable," I grumbled instead.
I silence stretched between us, the way his arms felt coming to mind. How he cradled me against his chest, gently as though I were something precious to be protected. I wondered if he remember the way our bodies seemed to fit together, like pieces of a puzzle. Thinking such things would be bad for both of us, so I shook other the memory with a violent tug on my twisted blankets.
"Distract me from the root in my back," I pleaded trying to break the tension hanging in the dark night air like a third moon.
"With what?" Van's smooth voice seemed slightly amused, and I reached for a thread of conversation we hadn't already worn thin.
"I've told you all about my family and what life was like for me before all this." I started, shifting into a more comfortable position on my side facing the place where he lay on the other side of the banked fire. "What is your family like?"
I now knew he had a sister, but she was a neko and he, well, being blood siblings wasn't possible.
"I don't really have one," Van admitted I could hear the tension there that wasn't a moment before my question. Before I could apologize, he continued. "Most people don't count Merle, but I do."
"Merle?" I asked, the way he said the name had a warmth he'd never used around me before. It wasn't jelousy I felt, but there was a tightness in my chest that hadn't been there before.
"Yes, you saw her in the vision of Fanelia." I didn't really need the reminder of my own dream as I never forgot anything I'd ever seen, even if it didn't make sense at the time. "She was orphaned really young and my mother brought her to be raised with me. It wasn't a legal adoption so much as a playmate that became more."
This was probably the most Van had ever talked about himself and the people he cared for, so I held in any questions and just waited for him to continue.
"My father was the previous king of Fanelia, but he died when I was three, so I don't have any solid memories of the man." The subject as sad, but he spoke it evenly like fact without emotion. Of course, his father couldn't be alive otherwise I'd be here with the Prince not the King of the small country. "I had a brother ten years older who trained to rule in his place. When I was five, he reached fifteen, the age a boy becomes a man. He left one day to pass the final challenge before coronation. The rite or dragon-slaying, but he never came back."
Before I decided not to comment, now I had no appropriate words. His father died as did his brother and at the age of five he became the next king. Terrible and tragic as it was this sad story seemed to show me a side I the boy I hadn't been able to understand. I may never really be able to fully know his mind or heart, but I wanted to try.
"Mother never truly recovered from the loss of my father, and when brother too was gone, she became inconsolable fading away shortly after. So, Merle was and still is my only family left."
It meant more than I could say that he shared this with me. Moved and unable to put my thought into words I untangled myself from my covers. Before I could think better of it I'd gathered the knotted blankets into my arms and walked the half circle around the extinguished fire.
Van sat up at my movement, watching as I neared him. As I reached his side I dropped the fabric in my arms, kneeling instead to gather him into my arms. It was an awkward position for a hug, but after a moment he relaxed into the embrace.
"I didn't tell you because I wanted pity," He mumbled into my shoulder.
I pulled away enough to look into his face, even in the darkness of full night. "It's not pity I have for you, but respect." It was the truth after all. My problems seemed so small in comparison, but life wasn't about who had it worse, but how each person dealt with their issues. Van was the first to break eye contact.
"You might as well sleep on this side," Before I could say anything he rushed on unnecessarily. "There are less roots, I think." It was kind of cute the way we could have a serious conversation one minute, while the next is embarrassed and awkward.
"Okay," Was all I said, attempting to sort out my jumbled mess of blankets. I moved them a little away from where Van was placing a space between our makeshift beds on the ground. Laying down near him, but not close enough to touch, I instantly felt better, more comfortable and relaxed than before. Maybe it was the chance to understand Van a little better, or I could have been how used to his presence I had become. The why didn't matter, just that it made me feel better.
My eyelids began to droop with the tempting call of sleep, but something caught my attention just before I was swept under. Van had rolled onto his side so that we were facing each other across the small gap of space we'd left. His hand half outstreached into the space there, and before I fell asleep I had enough brainpower left to move my own arm, dropping my hand into his.
That night I slept and saw flickers in faded blue. The past Van had told me about. Things maybe even he didn't remember well. Joy showing clearly on his father's face at his birth. The way his brother would read stories to him at night. A small pink haired cat girl trailing after him. Then there were sadder memories; ones full of tears shed by a beautiful woman with extremely long dark hair, his mother.
The one that pierced right to my heart was of a young Van, maybe five years old trying to comfort her. Swearing to be strong like his father. Promising to take his brother's place. Choosing a path for other's sake at such a young age. I saw the boy I knew in the face still round with baby fat and innocence.
I woke the next morning with tears pooled in the corners of my eyes, and fingers still intertwined with Van's. His breathing remained deep and even, for the first time I could see the dark fan of his lashes resting on tanned cheeks as he slept. Looking peaceful and somehow younger. It looked like he too had unshed tears clinging as I did, and I wondered if the two of us had the same dream. Memories shared through the connection of our clasped hands.
After that the days moved smoothly from one into the next. The easy way we seemed to work together growing if anything stronger. We didn't really have long deep conversations about our pasts or family, but it wasn't necessary. I felt like I finally knew the real Van, and the distance passed below our feet in an almost a routine sort of way.
I did most of the talking, except when Van pointed out a landmark or feature of his homeland. It was nice the see the passionate way he tried to share his love of Fanelia. It was working too. When did I become so used to traveling like this? How could this place feel like home after such a short time? Could there be a place here for me after all this was over?
Zaibach's presence was greater the deeper we journeyed. It was growing more difficult to avoid the sentries combing the countryside. At one point our path intersected with the main road, and I saw the struggle inside Van where he fought the instinct to turn towards home. It was then our luck and my visions came up short for the first time.
"Halt!" A stern voice called at us. I didn't need to be a seer to know it was a soldier in the enemy's colors, and we were in trouble.
It's not like I could claim to be a lady and Van my escort, with my short hair and boy's clothes I didn't look the part. The last thing we needed was questions, or for someone to see the crest on Van's sword. I knew now that it was his royal crest and proof that he was the rightful king.
I stepped towards the armored man, attempting to block the wild haired boy from view. Not forever, but enough to give him a chance to stuff the sword into one of the bed rolls tied to the yorkel's tack.
"Is something wrong, Sir?" I asked trying to sound equal parts confused and respectful.
"State your business." He demanded eyes unforgiving, but thankfully focused on me.
My mind spun and I blurted out the first plausible story I could think of. "My companion and I are part of a merchant convoy but became separated when our animal threw a shoe a while back. We are on our way to meet back up with them now." I wanted to sound like people were waiting on us, and our continued absence would be missed. Which was far from the truth. No one would even know if we died right here on the Fanelian road in broad daylight.
"Where are you headed?" He questioned, looking closer at me, maybe just then noticing I wasn't a boy after all.
"Arzas," Van supplied smoothly stepping up beside me, sword missing from sight. "Then on north to Daedalus."
"Names and convoy?" The man asked, still he seemed ready to believe us. It's not like we looked like a king and a Lady. Just two youths wearing simple clothes covered in road dust.
"I'm Allen and this is my cousin Merle," Van supplied appearing to all the world as though this was the truth and we had nothing to hide. "We were with one of the smaller Fassa groups traveling through the market towns before the weather starts to turn."
It was clear to see his lie worked. The Fassa name was well know as was their extended reach, as Asturian merchants that sold just about everything there was in this or any world, the ran both large fleets of leviships and tiny little bands of almost nomadic traders. Of all the things hardest to believe was the names Van borrowed for us. Cousins was also a stretch, but we had to claim blood relation somehow otherwise our traveling alone together instantly becomes suspect.
Losing interest, the soldier waved us off on our way, with a warning to head straight to Arzas because the city was closed to travelers at this time. He didn't see the tension in Van's shoulders like a rope pulled so tight it almost sang with the strain, but I did. Thanking him for his warning we promised to meet back up with our group and leave Fanelia quickly.
Since the road was being patrolled and he's seen the direction we came from Van lead us north and a bit out of our way. It was best he saw us heading towards the village we clamed was our next but not final destination. Though we fooled one man this time we might not be able to pull it off a second time. Not all people from Zaibach would be clueless about what the missing king looks like, or that he could be traveling like a commoner.
Something told me that if it had been that silver haired commander, he wouldn't have been fooled for a second. The fine hair on the back of my neck stood up uneasily, just at the thought of him. Ruthless blood red eyes and cold almost manic laughter.
The rest of the day Van was silent, and not the normal thoughtful ease at which he normally held himself, but in a sullen almost restless way. Nothing I said seemed to make a dent in his bad mood. Being so close to the city and having to walk away looked like a physical wound. Damage to his already injured pride. I wanted to cheer him up, but I also knew there was nothing I could possibly do.
Two more days of walking brought us into along the edge of a cliff, it seemed to be carved there by the river that lay far below like a simmering ribbon. I remembered that we were looking for a cave. One Van swore no one else had ever found. The only thing around us was trees though. This plateau was forested, but perfectly flat. Before I could question my guide his eyes seemed to find something only he could, lighting up for the first time since we were questioned by the Zaibach soldier.
A rope wound tightly around a thick tree trunk, moss and thin vines camouflaging the place where it was tied. Van tugged on it knocking some of the plant life off; but seemed happy with the way it still appeared strong even left in the weather for months. As it turned out the raven-haired boy was the one to put it there months ago when he was sent out to hunt a dragon.
It didn't really ease my worry to find out that we were looking for a monster's cave, even with his word that the beast was long dead. Since leaving home; I'd chopped off my hair, dressed as a boy, traveled through mountains and forests by foot, learned archery, told my secret, and stolen supplies. I wasn't the same girl that sat there letting other people chose my life, but still climbing down a weather worn rope over a sheer drop seemed crazy even to me.
"You can stay here," Van offered already sitting on the edge of the straight drop down to sure death with confidence.
"No," I responded quickly, taking a deep breath. "If you can do it I can too."
He blinked at me with those same eyes that made my stomach feel like I was standing on the ledge of a cliff even on solid ground. "I won't think less of you for staying with the yorkle."
He was wrong though, it wasn't pride pushing me to follow him, but something else. The shadow looming over him had seemed to fade into dark wisps while we were together, now it was back at full strength. Swelling around the boy as if a foreshadowing of danger. No, I had to stay with him or something bad was going to happen and I wouldn't be close enough to help.
With that realization I tied the reins of my yorkle around a branch of the same tree that would keep us from dropping down to our deaths. I expected Van to question my sudden willingness to climb a thin rope into above the steep drop, but he simply quirked one dark brow and started down the line. On second thought I grabbed my bow and quiver before following my companion's lead.
Sitting on the edge I grasped the rope tightly enough to feel the fibers dig into the palms of my hands, which were no longer the softness of a lady's. I risked a glance down at the ground that looked even farther away from this vantage point. My vision wavered, but it wasn't from anything more otherworldly than fear.
"Don't look down," Van's voice called up at me.
"Easy for you to say," I grumbled back, but turned to face the rock wall and stubbornly watched my own feet as they sought dips in the cliff-side to place each slow step downward.
"Good," The encouragement from below me on the rope filled my chest, and my movements became a little surer.
The going was slow, and my hands hurt, but I could tell when Van had reached his goal, because the tension on the rope changed. I risked a glance down to see him standing on a small ledge I would never have seen from farther away. His gloved hands still holding the line in place, steadying me wordlessly.
With a relieved sigh my left foot found the ledge. Just as I released my death grip on the rope I felt my right foot slipped on loose rocks, and I lost what little balance I had. Before I could scream a hand grabbed my wrist, and with a sharp tug I was pulled forward. My unexpected weight and the uneven ground caused Van to land on his rear, with me practically in his lap. We sat there far too close breathing heavily, our hearts racing from the narrowly avoided disaster. He saved me, and for a moment I wondered what his lips would feel like if I moved the last couple inches between us. Then my mind caught up with the rest of me and scrambled off him, cheeks burning.
"Sorry," I apologized quickly, not sure if it was because of the way I'd landed on him or how close I'd been to kissing him.
"It's okay," Van's response seemed strained, but I couldn't bring myself to look at him as I dusted myself off. What had I been thinking? Was he mad at me for nearly killing us both?
Using the excuses of checking myself over I found as I'd fallen backward my quiver had tipped spilling all but two of my arrows out to drop towards the river in my place. We were halfway between the shinning water and the top of the cliff where we'd started. The fall might not have killed me if I'd hit inside and not the rocky bank, but I wasn't sure of my luck or aim at this point.
"Come on," Van urged on his feet once more, turned towards the dark opening of the cave we'd come all this way for. Escaflowne was so close, but still something didn't seem right.
I looked down at my raw hands, they were coated in black ash, as was the back of Van's tan pants. If he'd killed the dragon living here then wind and rain should have washed some of the soot away, this seemed recent.
"Van," I called pointing to the blackness of my hands and knees when he turned. "Are you sure this is safe? Another dragon could have moved in after the other died."
"Ridiculous," He shook his head sending messy hair flying, "They are scavengers but would stay away from here after the other's death. Land dragons are solitary unless they are mated."
The hair stood up on the back of my neck, but I didn't need the extra sense to show me that he was wrong. Large yellow eyes blinked out of the darkness behind him. I wasn't an expert on dragons, but something told me this one's mate was dead and we were about to walk into unwelcome into it's home. A monster of fire and death stood between us and the Escaflowne, and there was no other way forward.
To Be Continued…
A/N- This chapter was always supposed to come to this point, but I almost stopped it when the Zaibach Solider found them near the city. I decided to continue to this part. Some action in this chapter, but a lot of Van and Hitomi moments. I'm glad people seem to like what I'm doing with their relationship. Now that the two are alone they have all these thoughts and feelings they aren't sure the other one would understand so they hold them in or second guess them.
Hitomi is over her crush on Allen and voiced out-loud that it was a fantasy from the start, and it wasn't ever Allen she had feelings for, but the idea of him. Remember how he acted around her when she was Hiro and when he found out she was the Lord's missing daughter. It wasn't much different. Maybe more disaponted than anything at being fooled.
I wanted to make a few things clear in this chapter that might have confused a few people before. Hitomi was never at risk for anything but a social death if her powers were found out about in Austuria. Fanelia is the place where Seers were killed, but Van has no issue with her abilities, he even seems more comfortable with them than a normal person should. That will be cleared up later.
I wanted them to have the campfire talk similar than the series, and also a version of the vision Hitomi had about his family and past. This one came not from touching his feather but holding his hand while sleeping.
One last note, someone asked me how long this story would be. To be honest I don't know. My best guess is we are about halfway now. Somewhere around ten chapters is my average. I don't really like keeping stories running much farther than that. Things start feeling repetitive also it all depends on the path things take from here I have two possible story lines.
Stay tuned. I can't wait to hear what you think!