The Aeon and the Star

-GoldenEagle

Author's Notes:Writer's block strikes again! Thanks to Zibbelcoot, I felt good enough to wrap up this chapter and get it out today. Yay to Zibbelcoot! Well, again I apologize. Sorrysorrysorry... But here's the next part!

Chapter Six

Cassiel woke with a jolt as a sudden light flooded into the dark compartment she had been in. She squinted her eyes and could make out the blurry figure of a large man in the doorway to the cart. She was alone. More alone than she had ever been in her entire life. Sure, she had been left by herself, for days at a time on the Mystic Moon, but never did she feel so lost as now, staring up at the two moons that were making their appearance on the horizon. And now, here, with strangers in some world of uncontained violence... What had happened to the person who had found the traveling party? Cassiel had heard the scuffle, the other's escape... What would happen to her now? She was a prisoner and at a total loss of control.

The barred door to the cage swung open and Cassiel cringed back. Out of the corner of her eyes she could make out the sleeping forms of Nodin and Tanara, their bodies shrouded in shadow. Had she time before the man had grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out violently, she would have taken a closer look at them. She could almost swear she had seen something like tails...

"Come on, doll. No need to struggle." The man who had her arm in his grasp smirked out. A trickle of fear reverberated through her chest, rushing through her body and up to her head, pounding there. There was a knocking noise in her ears, a throbbing. What was happening, what was-

"Tanara! Nodin!" She was surprised by her own cries. She tried to turn her head back, but couldn't turn her body as well. A few strands of her dirty and blood caked hair fell into her face. She struggled against the man's strength, but she had neither the advantage of weight or strength. She could hear Tanara call out behind her, a warning to the man, a cry of alarm. Then she was out in the open, the dimming sunset pounding into her eyes, clearing her senses.

Back in the dark cage, Tanara was banging her hands against the bars. "We have to get to her Nodin! What if they... What if they hurt her?" Her voice was a frantic wailing and her eyes unconsciously moved to take in the motionless form of her sister. She might as well be lifeless. They forced food into her system, cleaned up her waist... It was no real challenge to see that they were planning to sell her as more of a hunting treasure, for her pelt and other parts, than for a slave. A broken sob escaped her as she leaned her head into the bars. This new Mystic Moon girl was supposed to make up for her mistakes. She would protect her as she had never been able to protect her sister. And now? She had failed. Failed miserably.

Warm arms pulled away from her misery as more sobs escaped her. "Shh... They will not harm her." Nodin's voice was calm, despite his own doubts. Tanara pushed her head deeper into his chest and he gave a faint kiss to her forehead. She sighed in her lover's embrace, her tail swinging from side to side lithely. She felt nothing but him, smelt nothing but him, saw nothing but him... And Nodin?

His eyes were on the opening they had taken Cassiel away through.

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

She was gasping for breath. Cold, why was it so cold? She was tired of running, but too tired to face her fears. To let go... All she wanted was to be back home, back to Palas, back home with a mother who never was home. Come on, Evadne. A voice whispered in her head that was not her own, but not the screaming, magic laced voice that had tried to draw her from her mother. This one was weary, yet warm. A woman's voice that couldn't quite filter through into the real, living world. Evadne, have strength. Worse trials are to come. Wake up now. This is only the beginning for you, though it's been going on for longer than even you can know. Do not fail me.

And she awoke.

She was trembling, a mass huddled deeply in something warm. It was a blanket, she realized, and her skin was bare beneath it. She trembled again, clenching her eyes shut tightly. So cold, it was too damn cold-

"If you'd roll over, closer to the fire, you wouldn't be so chilled." A voice called out behind her. She snapped into attention, clenching the coarse folds of the wool blanket about her chest and legs, a blush rising into her deathly pale cheeks. She bolted up, only to raise one hand to her ringing head and falling back to the ground. She turned her head to the side. Her eyes first caught on the fire that raged into the night sky. She watched the bright, licking flames dance about, flare out, like... like wings. Great, feathered wings. She scooted on her back towards the fire, letting it span out and warm her frigid body. It was then that she focused in on the boy across from her.

Yes, he did seem but a boy, perhaps her age. His maroon hair was cut roundly about his head, though his bangs were a bit longer, fell forward into a point around his eyes. She couldn't catch the color of his eyes, but they only seemed to reflect the smoke and fire and shadows. He was young, yes, but the slight tension that filled his body seemed to hint that maybe that was not so true. He sat there, staring at the flames, a horse grazing lazily by his side, his chin leaning on the handle of his sheathed sword. It didn't strike her odd that he carried a sword, most people who came in the Schezar courtyards carried swords, and so did most of her uncle's men and students. What did strike her odd was where they were and she couldn't quite figure out where exactly she was supposed to be. It seemed that the two of them were in a highly grassed field or meadow. Come to think of it, this place did look familiar. The forest thinned out only a few yards away, and she could just picture the swampy lands beyond that expanse. The sun was just over the horizon and the two moons hung gently in the sky above, like parental figures looking down on their children as protection.

"Where are my clothes?" Evadne surprised herself with the abruptness of her voice along with the cold edge to it. The boy across the fire from her jerked at her words, his eyes torn from the fire and now focused onto her. There was a long silence before she spoke again. "My clothes?" Her words were laced with a weary and cautious malice.

A smug smirk she didn't quite like filtered across his face. "They're quite dirty. I had to take them off you so you wouldn't freeze." She must have flushed horribly at this because his eyes lit up with mischief and he began moving and talking as an actor might, his movements and tone comical. "You needn't worry about my seeing you in the nude. I grew up the only boy among three siblings in a two roomed house." There was a pause and a much more teasing look crossed his face. "Besides, I've seen plenty of broads with much better figures than you."

Her jaw dropped and she flushed even deeper. "You..." She was at a loss for words which made the boy across the fire from her break into uncontrolled laughter. She pulled the coarse blanket up farther around her shoulders.

"Oh, don't be that way! I was just trying to get some kind of answer out of you. Here, I'm Evan Corsin, of the Asturian Corsins." He gave her a gleeful grin and a mocking pride shone out of his entire stature.

"You are so full of shit. There are no Corsins among the nobility of Asturia!" She growled out in malice.

"How would you know?" He asked smartly, raising a copper eyebrow.

"Because I happen to actually be part of Asturia's nobility." She said, her being holding as much dignity as it could when she was completely naked, covered in some cotton blanket that was making her itch horribly, and faced with a stranger who wouldn't quit grinning like a dog.

"Oh, yeah, of course." Replied Evan sarcastically. "I always happen to find the noble daughters of rich politicians drowning in thick mud in the swamplands."

Her face reddened and her mouth felt thick with anger and wounded pride. "Well, I-I... I happen to have a very well known family name."

"Mmhmm." He was feigning boredom now and showing more attention to the fire than to the girl in front of him.

"I am! My name's Evadne Schezar and my uncle just happens to be Sir Allen Schezar, the best swordsman in all Gaea." She snapped out. She instantly took note of her mistake when Evan's eyes flashed back into focus on her, as if he were startled. She could see their color now, a deep hazel flecked with jade.

He quickly covered the surprise on his face and gazed at her skeptically. "You don't act like any noble woman I've ever met, much less like I would imagine a Schezar to act. Are you sure you're not some bastard child who's trying to impress me?"

Evadne wasn't an overly emotional person, at least compared to other court ladies. But there were her weak, soft, tender areas of the soul and the whole "bastard child" thing hit a bad note with her. Plus, she was very tired and very alone (excluding the over talkative Evan). All of these elements added into a huge feeling of self pity and despair that even Evadne Schezar had a hard time dealing with. She turned from him abruptly, biting her lip as she felt hot tears boiling in her eyes. "I am a Schezar, damn you." She hissed out. Even quieter, in barely a whisper, she sighed, "It doesn't matter if I'm a bastard child." The tears spilt over at this. She was thinking of her mother, thinking of how much she hated her for making her what she was, abandoning her... And how much she missed her, how much she worried that she were not alive at all. She'll come after me. Thought Evadne in a falsely optimistic mental voice. Allen and Mum and Gaddeth... They'll send after me, come search for me...

"I-I'm sorry, I forgot-" Evan's voice died. He sounded extremely uncomfortable. Sorry about what? Of course you would know about the Schezar bastard. Evadne thought bitterly. Everyone knows by word of mouth of my mother's sins. "But, you really shouldn't go around telling people about your lineage." His tone had changed from one of embarrassment and pity to one of disapproval. "There are a lot of people who don't like you're uncle. You could be endangering yourself-"

"I'm perfectly fine." She snapped, her back still turned to him. "Just let me sleep and I'll be out of your hair by tomorrow afternoon."

"You really don't have to-" but he stopped and just sighed. "Goodnight, Miss I'm-so-perfect-it-must-be-a-crime." He muttered under his breath, obviously not thinking (or caring) that she had heard.

"Goodnight, Mister Let's-dig-into-a-complete-stranger's-personal-life." She growled out. A grunt of indignation was emitted by the boy across the fire from her before she could hear him rolling out his blanket (which had been leaning against the rock he had been brooding on). Then there was a little more shuffle that she imagined was him taking off unnecessary garments to sleep in, which made her blush a deep red as she shut her eyes tightly so she could try to sleep. Finally, Evan seemed to have settled down and she let out a sigh of relief. A few more seconds, and Evadne's pride had completely dissolved, leaving her with a guilty, painful pit in her stomach. It took her a few minutes to gain up the courage, but she finally sputtered out, very quietly, "By the way, thank you. For saving me, I mean."

Another long pause and then a shuffle as Evan turned on his side to glance at her stiff form beneath the blanket. "Hey, anytime." He muttered, sounding a bit out of his league and a bit embarrassed himself. With that, the two fell asleep underneath the ebony sky.

***********

Evadne woke just before dawn, shivering. Dew covered her shoulders, which she had failed to keep covered during the night. She stirred before sitting up, gripping the blanket to her chest as she glanced around, startled. The fire had burnt itself out and the sleeping form of Evan wasn't too far away. She stared at him, blinking like an owl, before she completely regained her memory of everything that had happened thus far. She shuddered again, a wave of loneliness and homesickness washing through her before she stood on her bare feet, making sure the blanket was still covering up as much skin as possible. She threw a glance at the bundle that was the boy who had saved her the day before. She fidgeted uncomfortably, the cold ground beneath her feet causing a chill to run up her heels, through her calves and thighs, before spreading out violently through her entire torso. She wiggled her toes against the crushed grass where she had slept. Beyond this little rectangle of dry ground grew other plants that were glistening with dew. Her stomach growled restlessly and she stood there, frozen, as she contemplated her options. The sun was just beyond the horizon, giving the sky a grey look with no signs of golden rays yet in sight.

He must have food in his saddle bags. Surely. She thought quite logically for someone who was shivering so violently that her teeth clattered together with a deafening clanking.

She shuffled towards the two lumps of leather, leaning against that same boulder he had sat on the night before, a few feet from him. She tiptoed towards it, almost instantly regretting it as her feet was soaked with freezing dew, but being so determined that she refused to turn back. Plus, how could she sleep when her stomach ached and her shoulders were frozen so?

She paused as she reached the sleeping boy. Over or around? She thought quite dully. The way over seemed much better, since it would take only one delicate step instead of the way around, which would take at least four. Plus, she was feeling lazy. She lifted the blanket up to her knees and took a graceful, tiptoed step over his body. A tip of the blanket that slipped from her grasp at just the wrong moment tickled his nose and he stirred as she finish her trek over him. He let out a small grunt, which made her freeze like a hunted animal, before he settled back to sleep again. She released her tense muscles when she saw all was safe before taking one more long, careful step. There she found the saddlebags and set to her search. She opened the first one, slipping the leather strap from its buckle with a moderate bit of difficulty. Inside, the first thing she found was a few strips of dried meat. But Evadne's curiosity rose and she fumbled around a bit more. Inside this bag was also some soap, a toothbrush, and a bag that, when touched, jingled as if it contained some kind of coin. She pulled out some of the dried meat, closed the bag as tightly as she could, before going on to the next one. Here she found clothes.

Slacks and faded shirts and... Her fingers stopped as they brushed against leather. She forced back giggles. She could just imagine Evan in tight leather pants, looking awkward. Of course, she had no idea what his form was like, since she had only seen him sitting in darkness the night before. But from the length of the living bundle behind her and how small his torso had been, she could imagine him being short and perhaps even stocky. Just imagine, a fat boy in tight fitted leather pants. This made her laugh more as she tugged on the leather which seemed to be under everything else-

Her smile faltered and tripped over itself, falling into a downward, sick looking line.

Leather it was, black and shiny and obviously well treasured and cared for. A new, stiff uniform, that's what it was, with armor deeper in the bag. An emblem of a great flaming phoenix was displayed via a badge on the front. Evadne began to visibly shake. Small words were on the edge... Reborn as a Whole. Oh, gods, she knew the emblem, she knew it well from some of the of duty soldiers that came to some of the Asturian fairs, as if they wore such a seal with pride. She turned slowly. Evan still slept behind her. His sword lay sheathed by his side. With weak and halting movements, she leaned over and picked the sword up. She unbuckled the clasp of it and pulled at the hilt. The same emblem lay engraved in silver on its handle, and as she pulled on it, the top of the blade displayed the beginning of the phrase, Reborn as a Whole, as well. She wanted to drop the sword, but her grip was so tight around it that her knuckles were turning white. Memories of the attack on Palas, of her mother screaming for her to run, of those strange voices, calling to her, resurfaced.

"The emblem of Zaibach... Oh, gods, I've got to get out of-"

Just as she started to fall back on her feet so she could push herself up, a swift movement was issued and a hard grasp was at her wrist, twisting it slightly. She dropped the sword then, the free arm coming up to make sure the blanket about her didn't slip lower than it should. Her eyes flashed forward, afraid and panicked, to meet the hazel gaze of Evan. He looked very serious, and almost sick himself at the sight of her obvious terror.

"You really shouldn't play with swords, Schezar. They make paranoid boys like me kinda jumpy, especially if he wakes with someone fiddling with a blade over his head."