*Untamed Angel*
~2~




*Vione*
Hitomi looked around at her new surroundings. She was now on the Vione
and had 15 pairs of surprised eyes trained on her as she followed Folken
down the hall. He opened a door and she walked into a fancy room. The bed
had silk sheets and blankets, which were blood-red, there was a door on the
opposite wall that she guessed led to her bathroom, there were 2 dressers and
a desk. The huge window turned out to be two clear doors that led to her
balcony, and when she went out onto it, she could see Dilandau's balcony
around 15 feet away from hers. She walked back into the room when Folken called out to her.
"This is the room you will be staying in until Dilandau decides what to do
with you." She watched him leave, then walked back out to the balcony.
Leaning against the railing, she watched as the forest below her give way to
an ice-blue lake. She felt tension on her back, but shook her head. *Not here.
I can't let them out here.* After a while the tension faded. She noticed
movement to her left and watched as Dilandau walked out onto his balcony.
She studied his face. He seemed to be concentrating on something. He looked
at her and she quickly looked back down to the lake. She could feel his gaze looking her over. For the longest time he stood there, staring at her. Finally
he turned his gaze to the ground for a moment, then walked back into his
room. She sighed in relief and stared at the sky for a while. After 10 minutes
or so, she turned to go back into the room and ran into Dilandau, who
smirked and wrapped his arms around her back before she could pull away.
She looked at him startled and he grinned again, causing her to blush
and turn away.
"You wouldn't happen to know where Folken is, would you?" He said, laughing silently.
"N-no." she said quietly. He pulled away and walked towards the door, but stopped in the doorway and looked at her. Her back was to him and she was looking at the sky. A strange feeling came over him, but he quickly shook it off and left her alone.
For the next 4 days, Dilandau was starting to like this strange girl more
and more. She would obey, but if you pushed her too far, she would turn on
you instantly and start to tell you off.
That night, Hitomi had trouble falling to sleep. She was too nervous.
Dilandau had decided that in order to tell if she should join or not, she would battle him. If she won, she got to stay. If not, she didn't want to think about the consequences. She got off her bed and walked over to her balcony. What if she
didn't win? Standing on the balcony, she watched the moon slip in and out
from behind clouds. Hitomi heard her door open and turned to see Dilandau
walk in, then turned back to the balcony. She listened as he walked over to the balcony and leaned against the door, watching her. She could once again
feel his gaze studying her, and it was making her edgy. Finally she lost her control and turned around.
"What is it?!" she snapped. He raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.
This angered her even more and she walked up to him until she was directly in
front of him. "Are you going to answer me or just stand there?" Finally he responded quietly,
"You have some nerve to talk to me like that." She sighed.
"At least you're speaking." She turned away and walked over to the railing. Crossing her arms and leaning them against the railing, she listened to Dilandau's footsteps as he approached her. He leaned on the railing beside
her and looked at her. She ignored him and watched the land below them. Dilandau looked up at the midnight black sky above them. Hitomi finally
looked at him and noticed him studying the sky. She looked up as well in time
to see a falling star streak by. She looked at the fading lake and said quietly,"They say that every time a falling star passes, that means that 2
people have fallen in love without even knowing it." Dilandau looked at
her in surprise and she laughed. "Don't ask why I said that. I truly don't
know myself." She looked up at the sky again, this time unaware of Dilandau's eyes streaking over her body again. He straightened up, walked over to her
and put a hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump
"I look forward to battling you tomorrow. You seem like a worthy opponant."
"Is that all you came out here for?" She questioned quietly. He smirked and said quietly,
"No, I'd also like to see you go back inside. You can't battle if you're half asleep." She studied him, laughed and said,
"Alright, SIR, I'll go to bed." He bit his lip to hold back a laugh and left.

The next morning, Dilandau caught sight of Hitomi practicing on her
balcony. He was pleased to see she was better then he thought. She noticed
him and swung around to face him, sword resting on his heart.
"Something you want?" she asked.
"No, I was just watching." He answered. "Why? You don't like people watching you?"
"It's not that. Usually when people stare at me, they have a reason. But I guess YOU'ER special." He smirked.
"Very funny. Actually I did want to ask you something."
"And what is that?"
"Exactly why do you want to join Zaibach?" He asked as he entered her
room. She shut the door behind him and sat on the bed.
"I don't know, I guess partly because I wanted to and because I have no
where else to go, what with my parents both dead." Dilandau noticed her fingering a small, blood-red charm that was hanging off her neck.
"What's this?" He asked, brushing his fingers against the pendant.
"This? I've had this for a long time. My mother gave it to me."
"Your battle with me will be starting soon. I will see you then." He then left her to continue practicing.
The moment he entered his room and sat down, Gaddi entered.
"Sir? 1/2 an hour until your battle."
"If there's another half hour until it starts, then how come you're telling me NOW?!"
"Sorry sir." He bowed and left. Dilandau raked his fingers through his hair, muttering about "useless Dragon Slayers". He stood up and walked over to
his bed, pulled off his shirt and fell on top of his bed. Staring at the canopy,
he thought about his upcoming battle with Hitomi. Why was he doing
this? She was a woman, why did he want her on his team of Slayers?
Dilandau rolled over onto his stomach and layed his head on his arms. After a moment, he stood up again and walked out onto his balcony. He looked over
to Hitomi's balcony and saw her sitting on the railing. Dilandau jumped and looked at her again. He could have sworn she had titanium-white wings
coming out of her back and feathers floating to the floor. He shook his head
and looked at her again. She seemed normal, and there weren't any feathers
on the ground. Dilandau shook his head and walked back into his room.
"Why in the name of Gaea did I just imagine Hitomi with wings?" he
muttered to himself. His door opened and Gaddi entered again.
"Lord Dilandau? It's time for your battle."
"I'll be down in a minute." He muttered. Gaddi left and Dilandau pulled
his shirt on, grabbed his sword, then left.
When he entered the battling room, he could see Folken in the room as well. *Oh great. He's going to pick apart my battle after we're done, I just know
it!* Dilandau glared at Folken that clearly said what he thought of his being here, but Folken ignored him. Hitomi was leaning back against the wall, her
eyes closed, with her sword across both of her shoulders and her arms draped over her sword. She looked up as she heard Dilandau approaching and
walked over so they were both in the middle of the room.
"Well Lord Dilandau, I only have one request." She said as she pulled her sword out of it's casing and tossed the case aside.
"And what would that be?"
"Don't go easy on me!" With that she drove so fast at him that he almost
didn't have time to block it. She hit his sword with such amazing strength
that he was knocked off balance and almost fell back. He was shocked at her strength. He looked into her eyes and saw a burning fire of excitement in them.
He ignored it and pushed her back. She recovered and charged at him again. Once again he blocked it then swung at her. She ducked under the blade
and struck him in the stomach with her foot. Dilandau stumbled back and
gripped his stomach. He saw her swing at him out of the corner of his eye
and barely got his sword up in time. She swung her sword over and over, crashing into his sword every time. Everytime she hit his sword, he stepped
back. Soon she had him up against the wall and her sword was against his
neck. "Looks like there's a female on your team now, right Lord Dilandau?"
He was too out of breath to answer and his stomach still hurt quite alot. Dilandau was shocked at how she had changed so much during the battle.
He sank down to the floor, still breathing hard. "I'm sorry I had to be so hard
on you but it was the only way I could win. You alright?" She asked as she
held out a hand to help him up. He stared at her hand, then sighed, grabbed
her hand and stood up. She put her sword away, fastened it around her waist, then walked away. Dilandau watched her leave, then looked at Folken. He
seemed just as surprised. Folken turned to Dilandau.
"She seems to be as close to your equal as we'll get. She might be even
better then she has revealed."
"What does that mean?" Dilandau demanded.
"I'm saying she might be more powerful then you. She even seems to have a larger attitude then you. I suggest you take caution. It isn't very often that
a commandar has a soldier more powerful then himself." He left Dilandau
alone to think abaout what just happened.