Standard disclaimer applies. I don't own Escaflowne, though I wish I did. I'm just borrowing the characters to satisfy my own petty fantasies.
I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who wrote to me with your suggestions and support. You make it all worthwhile.
AlteringFate: Chapter1___________________________________________________________
"Really, Van. Are you always this hot-headed, or did spending last week in a swamp make you irritable?" The boy in front of her didn't reply. Hitomi sighed deeply and took the small pot off the cooking fire. She settled down behind her 'patient' and focused on the task at hand. It was a little difficult. Van wasn't fidgeting, but he himself was…distracting.
Dipping a scrap of cloth into the steaming water beside her, she began to dab at the gash on his shoulders. "This might sting a little."
"Ouch. You can this a little?" Well, she'd gotten a reaction out of him. Not necessarily one she would have wished for, but it was a start.
"Men are such babies. It's only a little hot water." Van grumbled something inaudible under his breath and the two lapsed into silence for a moment. Ringing the cloth out and returning it to the water Hitomi started again. "You know, I didn't ask for your help back there at the inn."
"I wouldn't have been much of a man to make you deal with him yourself," he responded.
"What is it with you and this machoism stuff?" Hitomi admonished. "The guy that was hitting on me was so drunk I could've pushed him over with a finger. You didn't need to start a brawl." His features hardened a little under her ridicule. "You're lucky that his buddy only got a glancing blow with that bottle he hit you with." She hesitated a moment before continuing. "I was worried."
"You don't have to worry about me." He sounded confident, but his answer only made her more anxious.
* * * * *
"What's taking you so long? You should have found it by now!" There was a resounding smack as a gloved hand found the cheek of a young man.
"Forgive me, Lord." He sunk to the deck in a humbling bow. "There is still no word of a strange guymelef anywhere our spies are located." His superior glowered at him with burning red eyes.
"Then we'll just have to expand our network," he ordered. "Leave, and send a request to General Adelphis for more men."
"As you desire, sir."
"Well," the man said when he was alone. "You're certainly proving hard to find. I only hope you'll be as challenging in combat." A smile, ugly on his handsome features, tugged at his lips. "It would be such a shame to waist all this time and energy and kill you too easily."
To be Continued…_____________________________________________________________
Well, it's the end of another addition of my story. We still don't know who the shadowed figure is, and I've stuck another character into the mix. Three guesses to who it is. I'm also going to need five reviews to make Van and Hitomi kiss by the end of the next chapter.