Disclaimer: I don't
own any of the characters or places, so don't sue me.
Author's Note: If
you're reading this I hope you've read part 1, but if not that's your choice.
All I can say is enjoy.
Together Again (Part 2)
Hitomi
watched as the men moved closer. She had a bad feeling about this. She was sure
Van could have handled himself, she had seen him defeat up to six warriors at
one time, but he had her to worry about. Hitomi felt terrible, she wasn't in
Gaea for more than an hour and she was already causing problems.
Hitomi had
learned some self-defence when she had returned home, for some reason she had
just felt it would be a good idea. She wasn't sure how good she would be up
against those thugs, if only she could let Van know so that he wouldn't have to
worry about her.
The man
would who had first spoken stepped forward; he was obviously the leader of the
group. "Well your majesty, it think it would be better for everybody if you
just came along quietly. I'm sure there are lots of very interesting people who
would love to get their hands on you. Who knows maybe your kingdom while be
willing to cough up enough money to get their king returned safely."
"I'm not
going anywhere with you, scum." Van sneered. Hitomi watched as he tensed
slightly, but before he had a chance to reach his sword the leader spoke up
again.
"Try it
and the pretty lady won't be breathing for long," Hitomi gasped as she was
grabbed from behind and pulled away from Van.
"Van!" she
cried. Van whirled around, his heart in his throat. He couldn't let any thing
happen to Hitomi. The man had Hitomi by the arms, and Van could see that Hitomi
was frightened.
Hitomi
watched as Van tried to make a decision, his shoulders slumped and Hitomi
almost cried out. He was going to let himself be captured, she couldn't let
that happen, she loved him too much. Hitomi quickly looked over the group of
bandits; Van could handle them if she was out of the way. There was only one
thing she could do.
Hitomi
raised her foot and slammed it down on the man's toe. "Owww!!" he yelled, his
hands slipped and Hitomi yanked her arms out of his grasp. She whirled around
to face her captor, his eyes were blazing, he made to lunge at her, but Hitomi
brought her knee up, and the man received the full force of the blow right in
the balls. He fell to his knees with a groan.
Hitomi
whirled to face Van, "Hurry Van!!" she yelled. In a flash Van had his sword
out. He dispatched two of the bandits quickly; he turned to face the leader who
had also drawn a sword. Van slashed downwards and the leader quickly blocked
and responded with a strike at Van's head.
Van
realized that this man was a lot more skilled then he looked and there were
still two more bandits to deal with. With an oath Van dodged a blow, ducked, and kicked at the leader's feet.
The move threw the man off and he moved back to regroup, that was all Van
needed. He spun, grabbed Hitomi's hand and took off into the forest.
Van heard
the leader swearing as he yelled at his men to get them. Van picked up the
pace; Hitomi ran easily beside him, after a fair amount of time the sounds of
pursuit died down and Van slowed. He stopped to let Hitomi and himself catch
their breath.
"Do you
think we out ran them?" Hitomi asked quietly. The forest was a lot darker now
but she couldn't hear any sounds of the bandits. Van nodded, as he listened
too.
"I think
we lost them for now. But we shouldn't stay still for long. Fanelia is in that
direction," he said pointing to the north. Hitomi nodded and they both started
walking.
It had
been quiet for a while when Hitomi spoke up, "I'm sorry for all the trouble."
Van looked surprised, but Hitomi just continued on, "If it wasn't for me you
would have been back in Fanelia already, and you wouldn't have to be worrying
about protecting me."
Van
stopped to look at Hitomi, "You haven't caused any problems Hitomi, it's my own
fault I'm out here." He could from the look on her face that she was still
blaming herself. Van reached down and grabbed her hand, "I would have crossed
deserts, if it meant the chance to see you again," he said quietly.
Hitomi
face flamed, and Van felt like kicking himself. Stupid,
he thought, she must think I'm an
idiot now. Before Van had a chance to explain, the heard the sound
of a twig snapping. They both looked up to see one of the men from the bandit's
group. The man spotted them and let out a yell, "I found them Boss!!"
Both Van
and Hitomi started running, Van felt terrible, he should have realized that the
men would figure out they would head towards Fanelia. After all, why should
they bother searching the forest if they knew where their quarry was headed.
Van could
see that the trees were thinning up ahead. But he couldn't stop, the men were
right behind them and from the sound of it, they had gotten reinforcements. The
trees came to a sudden stop and Van and Hitomi ran out onto a flat grassy area.
For a second, Van hoped that they might have a chance of getting away, but as
he looked ahead of him he stopped abruptly.
Hitomi
felt herself yanked to a stop by Van, "What??" she said. She looked behind them
to see the men gathering together. There were ten of them now, and they were
advancing towards Van and Hitomi. The leader was in front and he had a
victorious smile on his face. Hitomi turned her head to see why they had stopped
running, and was stunned to see that she was standing at the end of a very
steep cliff.
The cliff
went straight down, and from what Hitomi could see it was a long drop. Van had
turned away from the cliff and was facing the group of men, Hitomi turned to.
She felt her heart plummet into her stomach; they were now 15 men surrounded
them and none of them looked happy. Hitomi spotted the man she had kicked and
found him glaring at her. He didn't
look very happy, actually he looked like he would give any thing to get his
hands around her throat. Hitomi swallowed and moved a little closer to Van.
Van felt
Hitomi move closer, the odds weren't looking so good. The leader stepped
forward again and this time he wasn't even trying to act friendly. "That was a
nice run you lead us on, but we've got you now so give up," he said, his sword
was drawn and it looked as though he was just waiting for a chance to use it.
Van didn't
say anything. The leader sneered, "If that's the way you want it." He lunged
forward and for a second Van thought that he was the man's target. But as he
watched in what seemed to be slow motion, he realized that it was Hitomi who
was being attacked.
No!!! He
thought. Without even considering what he was doing, he whirled and grabbed
Hitomi by the waist and jumped off the edge of the cliff.
Hitomi was
terrified, she had seen the man's eyes when he had lunged at her and for a moment
she was sure she was going to die. She almost passed out when she felt Van grab
her waist and pull her off the edge of the cliff.
J I decided to leave it as a real cliffhanger
this time; the next part is going to be the real mushy part. Don't forget to
review, for every review I'll spend time finishing off the story. I hope you
enjoyed what I've got so far. J