*Untamed~Angel~10*

She was startled.
"I-I don't know." She said quietly. Dilandau bit his lip, then shrugged.
"Oh well." She looked at him in shock.
"What do you mean, 'oh well'? You'll be what people consider a demon!!!" He looked at her with a skeptic look on his face.
"They already consider me a bloodthirsty monster, how will being a demon be any different?" She paused.
"I suppose you have a point." She muttered.
"We'd better get going." He said, standing up.
"Why?" She asked, getting up as well.
"Folken's not pleased with me for staying out here so long, plus it's getting dark."
When they entered the hanger of the Vione, Dilandau saw Folken standing by the door, an annoyed look on his face. Dilandau shot him an evil look. "Not. One. Word." He hissed as he passed. Folken was startled. *O......K......Someone's in a bad mood. I wonder what happened.*
Dilandau stopped in front of Hitomi's door. "You'd better get some sleep. We're invading Fraid in the morning."
"Why?" She asked. He shrugged.
"Folken's orders. Something about a power spot." He pressed his lips to her forhead. "Go to sleep"
"Perfect." She muttered as she layed down on her bed after changing. "I'm 17 and I have a curfew." Closing her eyes, she sighed. "But he's right. I've got a battle tomorrow."
*Arzaz~battlefield*
Dilandau watched in shock as Hitomi seemed to transform before his eyes. It was like she didn't care about the people she was killing, as long as they were dead. She drove her sword into the back and swung down at the Duke, but her sword was stopped in mid air by someone else. She looked up. "Who the h*ll are you?!" She heard Dilandau come up behind her.
"Not YOU again, Allen Shezar!" He growled. Hitomi watched as Dilandau started to fight with Allen.
"A-Allen? But that means..." She looked around. "There he is." She hissed as she saw Van battling with two Dragon Slayers. She turned back to the Duke and saw that he had gotten out of his guymelef and was going on about his son or something. She got out of her guymelef and crept up behind him. She looked over and saw that Dilandau had moved on to Van, since Allen couldn't with both of his 'melef's arms damaged. *God, please Dilandau, don't kill Van. But don't get killed either.* Suddenly Allen noticed what she was doing as she pulled back her sword.
"DUKE FRAID!!!" The duke looked over, but Allen wasn't quick enough as Hitomi drove her sword into him. She then ran off out of view as Allen collapsed to his knees. Another soldier ran at her and she killed him quickly. As he fell to the ground and she looked back at the duke, she realized what she just did.
"I just slaghtered 20 men." She looked down at her bloodied hands. "I was not raised like this." She looked up as she saw 5 men from Fraid's army approaching her. "No, please. Get away from me." She swung her sword over and over in various directions, crying out every time. "STOP IT!!!!!!!!!!" Dilandau jumped at the sudden scream and looked over at her. Van took this chance and ran off. Dilandau felt something on his guymelef vibrating and looked down to see his energists were reacting to something.
"What the h*ll?!" He looked over at Hitomi again. She had dropped her sword, and collapsed. He got out of his guymelef and ran over. "Hitomi? Hitomi!!" He gently shook her, but she didn't wake up. Dilandau pressed his ear to her chest, but couldn't hear a heartbeat. "No, no I won't let you die Hitomi!" He pulled off her jacket and pressed his hands on her chest. Remembering what Folken had taught him, he began to push down on her chest. "Folken, I may have complained about you teaching me before, but I'm very thankful now." He focused back on Hitomi. Dilandau heard approaching footsteps, but didn't look up. He recognized the clicking of the Dragon Slayers boots. "Come on, Hitomi, come on!!!" Miguel fell to his knees beside Dilandau, saying a silent prayer. Viole felt his hands trembling so he folded his arms. "Hitomi, there are too many people who care about you for you to just die!" Dilandau gasped. Miguel wanted so badly to do something, but Dilandau would get mad and slap him, and Miguel couldn't let him stop. Dilandau felt himself on the verge of tears. *No, I won't cry. Crying is a sign of weakness, and I need all my strength for Hitomi.* "Come, on Hitomi, snap out of it!!* Suddenly Hitomi gasped and started coughing. Dilandau wrapped his arms around her and started rocking back and forth. "Thank god." He kept repeating. He stood with her in his arms. "Miguel and Viole, you came here on foot, so Viole, you take my guymelef, and Miguel, you take Hitomi's back." He then started towards the Vione. Hitomi stopped coughing and buried her head into his chest. Dilandau sighed with relief.
*15~minutes~later*
Dilandau sat by her bed, watching her toss in her sleep. *That battle must have been too much for her* Hitomi's face was damp with sweat, and Dilandau felt the knife edge of guilt. *I wonder what she's dreaming about.* Hitomi opened her eyes and looked over at Dilandau. "Welcome back. Sleep well?" He said sarcastically. She sat up.
"Nice to know you were worried about me." She said quietly, hurt in her voice. This insult hit home better then Hitomi thought. She shook her head and gripped her forehead. "I'll never shake that feeling from the battlefield out of my head." He sighed.
"You think you can get up?" She nodded and stood up.
"I'll be fine." She said, heading for the door.
"Good, it's time for our practice session." He said quietly, following her. He passed her, not noticing the nervous look on her face. He pounded on the Dragon Slayer's dorm door as he passed. "Practice!" He snapped. Hitomi heard muttering and complaining as she passed the door.
Dilandau beat his 4th opponent with a look of annoyance. "I know you're not putting all your effort into it, and I'm going to start getting more violent with my attacks if you guys don't start trying!!!" Biore charged at him with all the power he had and knocked Dilandau back several feet. "WELL!!! THAT'S MORE LIKE IT!!!!" He said excitedly. He still pinned him easily. "But you're still not trying hard enough!" He called Hitomi over. "I trust you will be a better opponent?" She swallowed and nodded.
"I will try, Dilandau-sama." She said quietly. Hr charged at her and she stood her ground. He ran into her sword and she pushed him backwards so hard that he stumbled.
He gained his balance and looked at her in amusment.
"Well done, Hitomi." He said cleverly. He charged at her again, and when he was almost infront of her, she got to her knees and tripped him. He landed on his back, then pushed out of the way as she drove the back of her sword at him. She tackeled him and pressed her sword against his chest. Suddenly, images of the battle at Fraid flashed across her mind and she froze. Dilandau took this chance and pushed her onto her back, then backed away and faced her. He then took a closer look at her and realized in shock that she was trembling. She was shaking badly enough that her sword was vibrating. She was breathing in quickly as if she was hyperventalating. He looked at her in confusion. "H-hitomi?"





I am NOT copying Lost Paradise with this chapter. She is NOT going into the
Land Of The Dead, or where ever Van went. Also, I have been forgetting the disclaimer so, regretfully, I do not own Escaflowne.

Dark Angel ^_~