The Aeon and the Star

-GoldenEagle

Author's Notes: Hey everybody! How's it going? Here the next part, as you can see. Please read and review. Forgive me if it stinks. I kinda had to get past a momentary writer's block to write it. Yay! Working on a new story right now with lots of romance and action and intrigue! Woopie! But I won't put it out for a while, so... Toodloo!

Chapter Five

The wagon was still dark and the two felines were fast asleep when Cassiel woke up. There was that one moment of wonderment as she tried to focus in with eyes that couldn't cut through the darkness. Why is the ground so hard? Where am I? Why do I feel like I've been hit by a sixteen wheeler? All these thoughts jumbled up in her head before another long pause of silence within her skull. And then she remembered. She remembered the fight with her boyfriend, the drive home, the wreck... Was she in a hospital? Or worse, in the care of some stranger? At those thoughts she bolted up, only to fall back to the cool metal floor. Pain etched up her sides, and yet... The accident had been a horrible thing, hadn't it? Why wasn't she dead, or at least in pieces? Another pause ensued as she lay there, sprawled on the floor.

She didn't know how long it took her to finally get up, but when she did she realized why the world seemed to shift and bounce around her. It wasn't because of her weakness, as she had thought, but because whatever she was in was moving. She reached her hands out blindly, grasping for anything-

Her hands curled around an iron bar and she recoiled. Was she in jail? She should be in a hospital, not a prison... It wasn't like she had killed anyone, had she? Oh, gods, what if she had hit that man? She felt slightly sick and stumbled forward into something very soft, furry, and warm.

"Holy shit!" It was her cry as she stumbled back into the bars, her voice hoarse and weak. Gods, gods, godsgodsgodsgods... She was in a cage with some sort of animal! There was a tired exclamation in front of her and she pulled herself into a ball, trying to get as far as she could from the unseen figure. What kind of sicko would stick her in the same cage with a wild beast?! Had she been found by some sort of lunatic-

"Can't you watch where you're going?" A voice, a deep, rumbly voice grumbled out in front of her. "And quit hyperventilating. We saved you once, I'm not helping again." Despite the human words, Cassiel still sat huddled in that corner, trembling.

Another voice spoke now, a softer, gentler voice. "Be quiet, Nodin! You've scared her enough already." And then there was a slight shuffling and Cassiel flinched away from the sound, but relaxed as something warm and gentle touched her forehead, as if checking for a temperature. Yet, still, it almost seemed as if the touch wasn't one of flesh, but of fur...

"How are you feeling, child?" The voice was undoubtedly female, and soft, like a lullaby.

"Al-alright. Where am I?" She asked, letting her body slump in exhaustion.

"On the road between Crima and Corinth. We're also a few miles west of Asturia." She replied. Cassiel's brow wrinkled in confusion.

"Where? I've never heard of those towns. I live in San Antonio, Texas." She said, more calm now.

"San and Tonio? Texas?" Nodin piped up brilliantly from behind the two.

"Yeah, you know. America. United States of America?" She said, her voice condescending. If her tone of voice hadn't suggested her thoughts, her next words did. "What kind of moron are you?"

"A very hungry moron." He growled out. The growl was purely animal, like that of a lion's, and Cassiel realized with a burst of adrenaline that this man before her may not be human.

"America. It is a Mystic Moon nation. Dornkirk had documents on it." Spoke the female, her voice quiet and thoughtful.

"You're telling me that this human is from the Mystic Moon?" The cat-boy laughed. "Yeah, right. I've only heard of two creature to ever come from that cursed place, one being the damned Zaibachian warrior and the other, the dream girl of Fanel."

"You are in quite a mood today, aren't you, Nodin? Perhaps it means something big is about to happen. Have you thought of that?" Hissed Tanara, extremely annoyed with her companion's inconsiderate and disrespectful talk.

"Yap, yap, yap. That's all you ever do." Muttered Nodin quite testily.

"Me? At least I'm not the one whining every two seconds-"

"What the hell are you two talking about? Mystic Moon? Oh, gods, it wasn't a dream, was it? The earth in the sky... Oh, gods, oh gods, where am I?" Her voice had again returned to its fearful state. Tanara smiled warmly, wishing she could comfort the girl, but not knowing how. And Nodin? Nodin rolled his eyes as he watched the human panic and let out a grunt of annoyance.

"Why did we save her again?" He questioned under his breath.

"Nodin!" Tanara snapped, giving him a punch in the arm. He chuckled a bit.

"Sorry, Tan. Just kidding around with you." He lied. He winced as he saw that she knew he had lied.

"It's all right. Here, relax." She put a reassuring hand on the girl's shoulder. "By the way, I'm Tanara. My repulsive friend over here is Nodin."

The girl collected her nerves with a hardly held grace. "I'm Cassiel."

********

"Get off me!"

"Ooowww!"

Tanara woke to the sound of the two bickering. How long had it last been since she had last been awoken by the fighting pair? Too short a while ago for her to let pass. "Would you two quit fighting?!" She growled out, her hunger and weariness melding into the snappish comment.

"He's sprawled all over me!" The new member to the group, Cassiel, exclaimed defensively.

"What did you expect?" He received a hard punch in the ribs from the human for that. "Hey, damn it! I didn't mean it that way! I meant that the cage is too small. It was hard enough for the two of us to manage in this small little box, and now that you've come along..."

"I told the two of you to shut your mouths!" Tanara hissed out, her ears laying flat on the top of her head.

"Gods, Tan, what's gotten into you?" Nodin mumbled out grumpily as he tried to readjust his position in the dark cage, rolling himself into a ball. Even when he was in this uncomfortable position he still brushed up against Cassiel and Tanara. With a final roar of frustration, Nodin was on his feet, pacing ever so slightly, avoiding the two below him. "That's it. I'm never going to get any sleep with the two of you in here."

"Tsk, tsk. Aren't we the Scrooge today..." Muttered Cassiel smugly.

"Scrooge? What the hell is that supposed to-"

Nodin felt himself suddenly skidding forward. His footing lost and he again felt himself sprawled out over the strange smelling Mystic Moon girl. She opened her mouth to make some reproachful remark, but Tanara's voice stopped either of them from opening up into bickering again. "Do you smell that, Nodin?"

The other cat-person froze, his position over the girl momentarily forgotten. "Yes. It is a girl."

"She smells of Asturia."

"She smells of burnt flesh."

Cassiel felt the fine hairs on her back stand on end. "What are you two talking about? Smell? I can't smell anything."

"If she's come for help," Nodin muttered darkly, ignoring her questions, "she's come to the wrong place."

**************

A hand, over her mouth, and she opened her lips and tried to scream. The world before her was spinning, was too bright. Her eyes darted to the side, falling onto the grimy face of some stranger. She kicked and flailed, her horse screaming out and rushing away as she was pulled from its back. Her movements were jerky and she watched as another man grabbed her horse by its halter. "Relax, child." The man chuckled into her ear, his foul breath rushing across her face. "We'll take care of you just fine." More laughter, from behind her and around her. A groups of men. Slavers. As she realized who they were, she calmed. It was much better to faced with a bunch of cowardly slave drivers than by remnants of the Zaibach army. Her brow furrowed in concentration. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she brought her right foot up with the grace and flexibility she had obtained in her dancing lessons within Palas. Yet, with that move also came the power she had grasped from the sword training taught to her by many young knights doting for her attention under Allen Schezar's command. Her leg was straight and pressed against her chest as the flat of her foot hit his face with a sickening thump. He stumbled back from her, releasing his hold on her.

She took one moment to dry heave, the world around her much too frolicky for its own good, in her opinion, before she was on her feet, running into the thick brush and forests. She would have stopped running if she had heard the leader of the group order his men to let the too troublesome girl go, but she didn't hear him. So she kept running, despite the fact that no one was after her. The light that peeked through the trees blinded her, and the ground beneath her still spun, but she was too panicked, or perhaps her concussion was too powerful, for her to think logically. All Evadne could remember was her burning town and her mother, pushing her away from... from... Something.

Her feet hit soft ground and sunk into it. She struggled through the thigh deep mud, suddenly aware that she had reached the swamp lands, about twenty miles from Palas and Asturia. She struggled forward, still in her wild panic, when she sunk into something that was more sludge than mud. She gasped as her entire body was encased in the stuff and tried to cry out, but it pulled over her head like a blanket, forcing its way into her mouth. She pulled up, barely able to, and tried the grasp the pool's edges, only to find mud that wouldn't support her. She sunk beneath the sludge again, trying to reach the surface. Air! Gods, she needed air! Her hand reached the cool atmosphere above and her mouth opened, wanting breath it could not have, and she swallowed a lung full of the muck. It was dark, the mud stung her eyes, and she felt herself begin to sink, her eyes rolling into the back of her head, her mouth agape. Only fingertips grazed the surface now, and then her hand was below the tide-

A powerful grasp hooked onto her hand, pulled her up, onto dry ground, a muddied, lifeless form.