~Author's notes~
~linay
Ancient Visions
chapter 3
Van gasped. He felt it, he felt her falling. He clutched the pendant and wished.The train roared forward, not noticing the short-haired girl falling backward onto the track. THe girl, Hitomi, fell backward, as if struck by some invisible force. Suddenly, her eyes snapped open and she realized that she was falling--too late. She cried out as her other foot lost its hold on the platform and she tumbled down.
The train conducter squinted into the night in front of him. Suddenly he pulled the lever for an emergency braking -- a girl was falling onto the track. He prayed that the train would stop in time but he knew that he had seen her too late. He closed his eyes tightly and braced himself. A sudden light forced him to snap his eyes open. His mouth dropped open in shock. A blinding blue light was surrounding Hitomi and lifting her up. She closed her eyes and perpared for the rush that the column would bring. It shot up into the sky, leaving behind a very shocked train conducter.
Van stood in the glade, waiting. She should be here by now, he worried where is the column of light?. He clenched his teeth.
"Damn!" he muttered. He lept up onto escaflowne's shoulder and scanned the countryside. He had indeed wished to bring Hitomi to Gaea. He had just assumed it would bring her to where he was. Now Van was beginning to worry that she might end up somewhere else. A thin blue column caught his eye. He turned to look just in time to see it disappear.
"She's somewhere in the west," he said outloud.
He jumped down ro escflowne's knee. should I use escflowne? , he thought, No I don't want to awaken it and scare the country again. i don't need escaflowne for this He jumped down and raced for the stables.
Hitomi moaned and rolled over. Her head pounded. She felt wet grass underneath her and before she even opened her eyes, she knew she would see the earth and the moon in the sky. I must be back on Gaea she thought, but how?. She opened her eyes. But she did not see the sky. All Hitomi saw was a sword being pointed down at her and a ring of cold faces above. Before she could even cry out, strange hands covered her mouth.
Van raced westward on his white horse, Riyu. His face was determined and set. He would find her. He reached a glade and slowed Riyu almost uncounsciously. He looked around him. There was really nothing odd about his place. There were signs of human movement here, but that was nothing out of the ordinary. Then he paused. He dismounted and crouched to the ground. He cursed aloud. In his hand he held a small piece of cloth. It was red and it looked like it had once been tied in a ribbon. He stood up, examining the cloth. He knew that it was a piece of Hitomi's school uniform. Swiftly and angrily he remounted, envisioning hitomi in his mind. He sensed her prescence and headed off at a gallop, revenge and determination filling him.
Hitomi was being pulled along. Her hands were bound in front of her. One of the armed men was pulling her forward by the rope. She was worn and weak and she trudged forward, occasionally receiving a rough tug from the front or a sharp push from behind. Her assailants, forewarned by their leader that the strange girl would try to reason with them, had wisely gagged her with a piece of cloth. There were about five men, each armed with a long curved sword. Hitomi looked at the one in front of her. He, like the others, was wearing a dark-red uniform that she had never seen before. He had a metal protector on one shoulder and metal arm bands, also dark red. She wondered why they had captured her. A soft rhythmic poudning sound caught her attention. It sounded like something familiar but she couldn't place it. The soldiers also seemed to hear it because the turned to eachother and stopped. They pushed Hitomi down to the ground and drew their swords, talking amongst themselves. Hitomi was listening closely to the sound. What was it? It sounded like...Hitomi stopped thinking for a moment because the soldiers seemed to have come to a descision.
"Yes, we'd better take care of her now before it's too late," one said. He walked over to her and raised his sword above her. Realizing what he was about to do, she tried to back away but another soldier grabbed her arms and pinned her down. She screamed into her gag but only a muffled grunt came out. And still that soft pounding continued to grow louder. The sound of hoofbeats, she suddenly realized before the man began to bring down his sword. She cringed, closing her eyes and only heard the familiar battle cry and the terrifying swish of sword, instantly killing the man above her. She opened her eyes to see a white horse run by and a young familiar figure land in front of her, right in front of the ugly twisted bodies of the soldier that was about to kill her and the one who was holding her. Hitomi's eyes widened in shock.
"Could he be...?" she asked herself
The young raven-haired man didn't stop to look at her though. Simply, with a look of pure rage and hate, he attacked the other three men. Yelling, he sliced his sword through one man, then ran it through the other. The last man stood panting, obviously frightened. He had not seen anyone attack with such ruthlessness before. But the other fighter didn't attack right away. He paced, circling the soldier.
Laughing a little wildly the soldier said, "You won't get any information from me...I will die first!" And then he rushed at Van with his sword. Van sword clashed with the soldier's and they both wheeled and struck again, but van's royal sword found the soldier's stomach. The soldier sank to the ground. Van breathed heavily then stooped to wipe his sword on the grass. Sheathing it, he turned to face hitomi. She was staring at him with wide eyes. His heart leapt into his throat when he saw how she had been gagged and bound. Van rushed and knelt in front of her, gingerly removing the gag. Then, being careful not to rub the rope into her raw wrists too much, he undid the knots that tied her hands. Then he cupped her face in his hands and stared at her, letting her know how much he cared for her. Hitomi sighed with relief, rubbing her wrists cautiously. She looked up at Van, wondering how she should act. She wanted to throw her arms around him but the feeling that he had been rejecting her for the past month held her back. Van, on the other hand, was suddenly overcome by the feeling of shame that he had before. He retreated a bit from Hitomi and sat opposite her.
"She must be angry at me, " he thought. He sat trying to think of something to say to ease the uncomfortable silence.
"How are you?" he ventured. The superficial question sounded hollow and insincere. Hitomi looked away, obviously hurt by his uncomfortable attitude.
"I mean," Van tried again, "how have you been?"
Hitomi looked back at him, and he saw a reproach in her tearfilled eyes. He knew the question she was asking him. He was struggling to avoid the topic.
"I haven't contacted you because....", he began "because I...well, there is a....it's just that"
Hitomi looked away wistfully. The young king knew that he was just making things worse. He stopped talking and sat for a few minutes. Slowly he stood and called for his horse. Deciding that there would be time for explanation later, he walked over to Hitomi and lifted her up without a word. Hitomi looked up at him quickly, surprised by the unexpected affection. Van looked back at her briefly with a shy smile then away again, embarassed slightly. With a light struggle that he tried to cover up, Van managed to mount the horse while holding Hitomi in his arms. He let her sit sideways in front of him so that she could rest against him.
"Are you comfortable?" he asked , trying not to blush.
"Yes," she answered softly, allowing herself to lean on his chest.
Taking the reins, he started the horse into a light trot, headed back for the newly rebuilt castle of Fanelia. Hitomi, even though the ride was far from smooth, began to drift into a light sleep. In the warmth of her position in front of Van, she had forgotton all about her anger towards him for ignoring her on Earth. Little did she know what would greet her at the castle.
Van rode on. He loved the feeling of having Hitomi so close to him. He didn't want to reach the castle. Van just wanted to be with her, casually and without the restraints that his duty as king would bring. He started to worry about how she would react to the situation at the castle. Shaking his head and glancing at the girl in his arms, he decided to just enjoy the moment while it lasted.
to be continued....
