THE VISION OF ESCAFLOWNE: A CALL TO ARMS
Chapter 2
by Asher Cross
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASTURIAN SKIFF CRUSADE II
RALENIA-ASTURIA BORDER
GAEA
30 people.
Allen stared out the Crusade II's viewport at Asturia Castle, which lay in ruins, as they flew away. Only 30 people lived through the attack, only 4 of them--Van, Gaddes, the mysterious soldier Fjal Trawen, and himself--were actually present in the battle. The others--Millerna, Hitomi, Chid, Lord Raylen, the boy Theran, Merle, and Hitomi's mysterious friend from the Mystic Moon, along with 19 servants and residents of Asturia Castle--were grateful for their survival, but saddened by the loss of their comrades.
Allen was especially remorseful. *My entire squad, except for Gaddes and Fjal...gone...*
"It wasn't your fault, y'know."
Allen, surprised, turned to see Hitomi standing behind him, looking at him with concern. Allen smiled. She'd grown in that year she was absent from his world, and grew beautifully. He gave a small smile as he thought back to the time when he thought he was in love with her. "I know, however...I can't help thinking what would've happened back there, had Scherazade been working properly. One or two lives might've been spared."
Hitomi placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry...I think that soon, you'll be able to avenge their deaths."
Allen smiled. "I hope...thank you."
Hitomi returned the smile, and backed away. "I'd better get my friend up to speed with this new world."
"I was meaning to ask you about that. Who is he?"
"My boyf--" her voice caught in her throat. *Oh my God...what about Van? I can't just forget about him...* "My friend. When the light came, it swallowed him up too, and now we're both here."
"All right, go. I'll see you in a while on the bridge. I'm calling everybody up to hold a council of war."
Hitomi nodded, and ran off to find Koichi.
-----
Theran's eyes fluttered open, and he looked around him. He wasn't at Asturia Castle anymore. He was laying on a bed. Behind him was a window. He leaned back to look through it, and he saw the ground far below him. *I must be on a flying ship.*
He sat up, wiping his eyes, and suddenly people rushed toward him, asking if he was all right, to each he answered in the affirmative.
All of them backed away, except for a man, a woman, and a child, who introduced themselves as Lord Raylen, Princess Millerna, and Prince Chid.
"Where are we?" he asked weakly.
Chid answered, "We're on the Crusade II, leaving Asturia."
"Where are we going?"
"To Ralenia, our homeland," answered Raylen.
Theran began to stand up, but Millerna stopped him. "You have to rest for awhile, little one. You were hurt pretty badly."
Come to think of it, Theran did notice a small pain coming from his back. Compliant, he laid back down on the bed.
Raylen spoke up. "I have to ask you--how did you survive the attack on the village?"
Theran closed his eyes as he spoke, recalling every moment. "My best friend Jinh and I saw the dragons landing in the village square and start breaking buildings. We followed everyone, and ran."
He started to choke up as he continued. "But another dragon blocked us, and started killing everyone. Once everyone started falling backwards, I was covered by the falling bodies. I heard Jinh scream, then I must've passed out. When I woke up, I couldn't hear anything. I wrestled my way out of the pit of dead people, and I saw the village torn apart. I looked to my side, and-and Jinh was dead..." Millerna cradled him in her arms as he sobbed into her shoulder. "My mommy and daddy are dead, too, aren't they?"
Millerna nodded sadly. "I'm afraid they are, child."
Theran wrapped his short arms around Millerna's neck and cried until he fell asleep in her arms.
She set him back on the bed, his tear-streaked face a mix of sadness and tranquility. "Poor child."
"We'll be at the Ralenian capital soon," Raylen said to her. "Maybe we can find some relatives, someone who can take care of him."
Chid, who was silent for the longest time, said, "If we get there. Escaflowne didn't dispatch all of the dragons that attacked Asturia Castle, they could attack us at any time."
Raylen sighed. "And I fear that maybe every dragon in Gaea is into the plot."
-----
Hitomi finally found Koichi's room, and when she entered, she stopped and gasped.
Koichi was balled up in the corner of a room, staring fearfully at Merle, who was ready to pounce a few feet away from him.
"Merle!" Hitomi yelled. "What are you doing? Back away from him!"
Merle turned around, and her face lit up at the sight of her friend. "Hitomi!" She shouted, and barreled into her, squeezing her friend with a tight hug.
"Er..ah, glad to see you too, Merle..." Hitomi gasped for air as Merle squeezed the life out of her. "Merle..."
"Yeah?"
"AIR!!!"
"Oh, sorry," Merle shrugged innocently as she released Hitomi, who gasped fresh air into her lungs.
After taking a few seconds to catch her breath, Hitomi sat up. Koichi was still shaking in the corner of the room, the same position he was in when she entered. "Whaaa.....?" he squeaked.
"Koichi, calm down, she's a friend...now," Hitomi said softly, approaching Koichi.
Merle backed out of the door. "Well, so much for that. I think I'll go now. Bye, Hitomi!"
Once Merle left, Koichi sat up and rubbed his forehead. "Where are we?"
Hitomi pointed to the bed, and the two sat on the bed facing each other. "That's what I was going to tell you about. Y'know how I was bothered by something for the past couple days?"
Koichi nodded.
"I was having visions...of this place, of Gaea..."
"Gaea? That's the name of this place?" asked Koichi.
"Yes. And the thing is that...I've been here before."
"What?!" Koichi's surprise was most evident.
"A year ago, before you moved to our school and before you knew me, I was swept away to Gaea. I had this...fantastic adventure that was exciting and frightening at the same time. I know most of the people that are here, I'm close friends with them. I helped end a war, Koichi. And for some reason I've been called back."
"Why did I get dragged along for the ride?"
Hitomi looked at him incredulously. "You grabbed onto me and wouldn't let go! That's how you got here!"
"Yeah...but I didn't want to be apart from you."
"Oh, Koichi, that's so sweet." Hitomi smiled and embraced him. Koichi returned the hug, as they fell back onto the bed.
"So what now?" Koichi asked.
"We find out what's going on. Allen said that they were going to have a meeting in a while, you can come with me."
"Okay, sure." Koichi said, and stretched. A few seconds later, Allen's voice bellowed over the intercom. "May the following report to the bridge--Van, Fjal, Millerna, Raylen, Hitomi--"
Hitomi mouthed, "Let's go," and grabbed his hand, dragging him out the door, as Allen continued.
-----
At the bridge, the war council consisted of Van, Chid, Theran, Fjal, Allen, Gaddes, Raylen, Millerna, Merle, Hitomi, and Koichi.
Allen, leader of the council, spoke up first. "All right, everyone. We need to analyze what happened at Asturia Castle. Why did the dragons attack as a group? And furthermore, why weren't our Guymelefs working properly? I'm open to suggestions."
Fjal Trawen, the Guymelef pilot who, along with Gaddes and Allen, was one of the sole survivors of the Asturia Guymelef squad, stepped forward. "I have a theory. I doubt all of our Guymelefs breaking down would be a coincidence. My best guess would be that some sort of energy field was tampering with our Guymelefs at that time, thereby causing the malfunctions."
Raylen spoke up. "If that's so, then why did Escaflowne manage to dispatch the dragons without malfunction?"
Hitomi answered, "Escaflowne wasn't using a drag-energist. I managed to will it to life at Fanelia."
Allen snapped his fingers. "If Fjal's theory is correct, that would explain why our Guymelefs malfunctioned, save for Escaflowne."
Koichi sighed. "Great...so, what do we do about it?"
Van shrugged. "What CAN we do?"
A low whining directed their attention to the viewport. There, they saw a large skiff and several small escorts navigating the tall mountains and cliffs ahead of them.
They all stood gaping at it, before Gaddes ran to the controls. Allen shouted orders to the others. "Battle stations! Gaddes, find out if it's friend or foe!"
Gaddes scanned the ship, and tapped his finger on the panel impatiently as he waited for the scan to finish. "Come on, come on..."
A short beep followed, and Gaddes read the screen. "Hold on. One cargo skiff, 3 light combat skiffs...owned by Lord Dryden?!"
Millerna exclaimed, "Dryden?!"
-----
Later...
The hissing of sealed air as both Dryden's and Allen's skiffs docked was in the air as Hitomi, Koichi, Allen, Millerna, and Fjal awaited the other crew at the docking bay.
The metal door finally opened, and three figures stepped onto the deck of the Crusade II, figures which lit up Hitomi's, Millerna's and Allen's face simultaneously.
Lord Dryden, his rugged nobility still holding together after one year, met them with a broad smile.
Celena, her smile beaming with innocence (a sharp contrast to her alter ego, Dilandau), embraced her brother Allen.
And to their combined dismay and delight, the ugly, scheming roll of fat known only as the Mole Man waddled out, raised his arms in a gesture of friendship, and bellowed, "Hello everyone, I'm back!"
Allen said to Celena, "So this is where you've been this past year! I was so worried about you..."
"I was worried about you as well, brother. I still had some things to work out within myself--I am still both Dilandau and your sister Celena."
"You can explain later, dear sister. We have somewhat of a crisis on our hands, and I'll explain on the way. Dryden, would you care to join us on our bridge? It's of the utmost importance."
"Of course, Allen."
"Good. Follow me." Allen left the bay, Dryden and the others following.
------
"...And I decided to take my kingdom mobile, packing as much of it as I could into a skiff, and set out, without any real direction...along the way, I met up with Celena and Mole, and they decided to join me. And we had the lucky fortune to bump into you," Dryden said as he summarized his activities over the past year in the Crusade II's bridge, the others listening. "Now, what's this 'important' business that requires my attention?"
"Dryden, the dragons are revolting. They're attacking villages without provocation. Asturia Castle fell recently, of which we are the only survivors," Allen said solemnly.
"Wait," Dryden said, with a scoff. "You're saying that the dragons have developed some sort of...consciousness?"
"It seems like it," Van replied, from behind. "Also, the Guymelefs malfunction for some reason around the dragons...except for Escaflowne."
Allen continued for Van. "We think that there's some kind of energy field that could be tampering with the drag-energists inside. Because Escaflowne isn't using an energist, it's not affected."
"No energist? Intriguing...What is it powered by then?"
Hitomi stepped forward. "Well...I don't really know. I used my will to bring it back to life at Fanelia."
Dryden chuckled in disbelief. "Well, this certainly *is* intriguing!"
Before he could add another comment, however, a large violent shaking rocked the ship back and forth, the crew falling to the ground.
Gaddes yelled, "What the HELL was that?!"
Fjal said grimly, "Dragons."
Allen stood, bracing himself against the wall, and shouted, "Everyone, battle stations! Try and outrun them; zigzag pattern." He looked to the boy behind him. "Van..."
Van nodded, and ran out of the bridge. Hitomi caught their exchange, and her eyes widened. *No, Van! Not Escaflowne!*
Hitomi ran after him, Koichi calling after her, but doing nothing to stop her.
Once Hitomi reached the hangar, Van was preparing to enter Escaflowne, getting ready to step up into the massive metal beast. "Van!"
Van looked down to see Hitomi running towards him. "Leave, Hitomi, before you get in the way!"
"I can't let you go out there! You can't fight them in Escaflowne--it'll kill you!"
"Not if I don't get hurt," Van said calmly, and without another word, jumped into Escaflowne.
Hitomi, angry and frustrated, ran and leapt onto the Guymelefs, leg, scrambling up onto its shoulder, and holding onto Escaflowne's head for dear life.
"Hitomi! What are you doing?!" Van shouted.
"I'm not letting you go alone!"
Van sighed, and leapt onto the Crusade's hull. Keeping a firm foothold, Escaflowne's sword was unsheathed, and Van was ready for battle.
The dragons swarmed around the Crusade and Dryden's ships, which were being mutilated by the scaled creatures. As he observed, he noticed patterns in the dragons' attacks. *They seem to be moving in formations...this attack seems planned...what's going on?*
His thought was interrupted by Hitomi's shout of "In front!" which came too late, for a dragon landed directly in front of Escaflowne.
Van, yelping in surprise, reflexes controlling his movement, stabbed his sword forward, catching the dragon in the left eye, impaling the entire head, blue-green blood spouting from the wound of the screaming dragon.
Van withdrew the sword, Hitomi yelling, "Left!", to which Van swung his sword to the left, catching a passing dragon in the stomach, making a gigantic gash in the monster. The dragon wailed as he plummeted to the sharp, mountainous ground below.
Hitomi watched, feeling pity for the wounded dragon for a moment...
...failing to warn Van about the dragon behind him, which began a nose dive toward Escaflowne.
Hitomi forced herself to look away from the falling dragon, and suddenly sensed the dragon behind them. "Van, behind us!!"
Escaflowne turned just in time--
To watch the dragon ram into him, knocking him off Crusade's hull, beginning to slide off the edge--
When Van reached out Escaflowne's hand, barely catching a ridge in a levistone.
Van sighed, and looked over his shoulder for Hitomi--
Who had disappeared.
"HITOMI!!" Van screamed, as he saw Hitomi...falling toward the ground, her eyes frozen with fear.
Suddenly, a dragon swooped up below her, the girl landing on the dragon's back.
The dragon began flying swiftly away from the fray, and the other dragons seemed to be retreating as well.
Van released his left hand on the controls, preparing to turn into Dragon Mode--
--But Escaflowne did not respond.
He was frozen to the side of the Crusade, while the dragons flew off with Hitomi. Desperately, he moved the controls to get Escaflowne to move, sobbing with frustration. *N-no...I can't shed tears...but Hitomi!"
He finally lay still, defeated, tears silently running down his face.
------
"Hitomi!" Koichi wailed, as he watched her being swept away by the dragons. His hands pressed up against the viewport, and he fell to his knees. *What'll I do now? Hitomi's gone...I'm lost in this strange land...*
------
Hitomi opened her eyes to find herself clutching the scaly back of a dragon, as it flew with the other dragons toward a large, mountainous cluster ahead of them. *Where am I? Why didn't they kill me?...Van...what about Van? Koichi?*
Her thoughts wandered toward her friends as she awaited whatever was on the other side of the mountain...
TO BE CONTINUED...
Chapter 2
by Asher Cross
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASTURIAN SKIFF CRUSADE II
RALENIA-ASTURIA BORDER
GAEA
30 people.
Allen stared out the Crusade II's viewport at Asturia Castle, which lay in ruins, as they flew away. Only 30 people lived through the attack, only 4 of them--Van, Gaddes, the mysterious soldier Fjal Trawen, and himself--were actually present in the battle. The others--Millerna, Hitomi, Chid, Lord Raylen, the boy Theran, Merle, and Hitomi's mysterious friend from the Mystic Moon, along with 19 servants and residents of Asturia Castle--were grateful for their survival, but saddened by the loss of their comrades.
Allen was especially remorseful. *My entire squad, except for Gaddes and Fjal...gone...*
"It wasn't your fault, y'know."
Allen, surprised, turned to see Hitomi standing behind him, looking at him with concern. Allen smiled. She'd grown in that year she was absent from his world, and grew beautifully. He gave a small smile as he thought back to the time when he thought he was in love with her. "I know, however...I can't help thinking what would've happened back there, had Scherazade been working properly. One or two lives might've been spared."
Hitomi placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry...I think that soon, you'll be able to avenge their deaths."
Allen smiled. "I hope...thank you."
Hitomi returned the smile, and backed away. "I'd better get my friend up to speed with this new world."
"I was meaning to ask you about that. Who is he?"
"My boyf--" her voice caught in her throat. *Oh my God...what about Van? I can't just forget about him...* "My friend. When the light came, it swallowed him up too, and now we're both here."
"All right, go. I'll see you in a while on the bridge. I'm calling everybody up to hold a council of war."
Hitomi nodded, and ran off to find Koichi.
-----
Theran's eyes fluttered open, and he looked around him. He wasn't at Asturia Castle anymore. He was laying on a bed. Behind him was a window. He leaned back to look through it, and he saw the ground far below him. *I must be on a flying ship.*
He sat up, wiping his eyes, and suddenly people rushed toward him, asking if he was all right, to each he answered in the affirmative.
All of them backed away, except for a man, a woman, and a child, who introduced themselves as Lord Raylen, Princess Millerna, and Prince Chid.
"Where are we?" he asked weakly.
Chid answered, "We're on the Crusade II, leaving Asturia."
"Where are we going?"
"To Ralenia, our homeland," answered Raylen.
Theran began to stand up, but Millerna stopped him. "You have to rest for awhile, little one. You were hurt pretty badly."
Come to think of it, Theran did notice a small pain coming from his back. Compliant, he laid back down on the bed.
Raylen spoke up. "I have to ask you--how did you survive the attack on the village?"
Theran closed his eyes as he spoke, recalling every moment. "My best friend Jinh and I saw the dragons landing in the village square and start breaking buildings. We followed everyone, and ran."
He started to choke up as he continued. "But another dragon blocked us, and started killing everyone. Once everyone started falling backwards, I was covered by the falling bodies. I heard Jinh scream, then I must've passed out. When I woke up, I couldn't hear anything. I wrestled my way out of the pit of dead people, and I saw the village torn apart. I looked to my side, and-and Jinh was dead..." Millerna cradled him in her arms as he sobbed into her shoulder. "My mommy and daddy are dead, too, aren't they?"
Millerna nodded sadly. "I'm afraid they are, child."
Theran wrapped his short arms around Millerna's neck and cried until he fell asleep in her arms.
She set him back on the bed, his tear-streaked face a mix of sadness and tranquility. "Poor child."
"We'll be at the Ralenian capital soon," Raylen said to her. "Maybe we can find some relatives, someone who can take care of him."
Chid, who was silent for the longest time, said, "If we get there. Escaflowne didn't dispatch all of the dragons that attacked Asturia Castle, they could attack us at any time."
Raylen sighed. "And I fear that maybe every dragon in Gaea is into the plot."
-----
Hitomi finally found Koichi's room, and when she entered, she stopped and gasped.
Koichi was balled up in the corner of a room, staring fearfully at Merle, who was ready to pounce a few feet away from him.
"Merle!" Hitomi yelled. "What are you doing? Back away from him!"
Merle turned around, and her face lit up at the sight of her friend. "Hitomi!" She shouted, and barreled into her, squeezing her friend with a tight hug.
"Er..ah, glad to see you too, Merle..." Hitomi gasped for air as Merle squeezed the life out of her. "Merle..."
"Yeah?"
"AIR!!!"
"Oh, sorry," Merle shrugged innocently as she released Hitomi, who gasped fresh air into her lungs.
After taking a few seconds to catch her breath, Hitomi sat up. Koichi was still shaking in the corner of the room, the same position he was in when she entered. "Whaaa.....?" he squeaked.
"Koichi, calm down, she's a friend...now," Hitomi said softly, approaching Koichi.
Merle backed out of the door. "Well, so much for that. I think I'll go now. Bye, Hitomi!"
Once Merle left, Koichi sat up and rubbed his forehead. "Where are we?"
Hitomi pointed to the bed, and the two sat on the bed facing each other. "That's what I was going to tell you about. Y'know how I was bothered by something for the past couple days?"
Koichi nodded.
"I was having visions...of this place, of Gaea..."
"Gaea? That's the name of this place?" asked Koichi.
"Yes. And the thing is that...I've been here before."
"What?!" Koichi's surprise was most evident.
"A year ago, before you moved to our school and before you knew me, I was swept away to Gaea. I had this...fantastic adventure that was exciting and frightening at the same time. I know most of the people that are here, I'm close friends with them. I helped end a war, Koichi. And for some reason I've been called back."
"Why did I get dragged along for the ride?"
Hitomi looked at him incredulously. "You grabbed onto me and wouldn't let go! That's how you got here!"
"Yeah...but I didn't want to be apart from you."
"Oh, Koichi, that's so sweet." Hitomi smiled and embraced him. Koichi returned the hug, as they fell back onto the bed.
"So what now?" Koichi asked.
"We find out what's going on. Allen said that they were going to have a meeting in a while, you can come with me."
"Okay, sure." Koichi said, and stretched. A few seconds later, Allen's voice bellowed over the intercom. "May the following report to the bridge--Van, Fjal, Millerna, Raylen, Hitomi--"
Hitomi mouthed, "Let's go," and grabbed his hand, dragging him out the door, as Allen continued.
-----
At the bridge, the war council consisted of Van, Chid, Theran, Fjal, Allen, Gaddes, Raylen, Millerna, Merle, Hitomi, and Koichi.
Allen, leader of the council, spoke up first. "All right, everyone. We need to analyze what happened at Asturia Castle. Why did the dragons attack as a group? And furthermore, why weren't our Guymelefs working properly? I'm open to suggestions."
Fjal Trawen, the Guymelef pilot who, along with Gaddes and Allen, was one of the sole survivors of the Asturia Guymelef squad, stepped forward. "I have a theory. I doubt all of our Guymelefs breaking down would be a coincidence. My best guess would be that some sort of energy field was tampering with our Guymelefs at that time, thereby causing the malfunctions."
Raylen spoke up. "If that's so, then why did Escaflowne manage to dispatch the dragons without malfunction?"
Hitomi answered, "Escaflowne wasn't using a drag-energist. I managed to will it to life at Fanelia."
Allen snapped his fingers. "If Fjal's theory is correct, that would explain why our Guymelefs malfunctioned, save for Escaflowne."
Koichi sighed. "Great...so, what do we do about it?"
Van shrugged. "What CAN we do?"
A low whining directed their attention to the viewport. There, they saw a large skiff and several small escorts navigating the tall mountains and cliffs ahead of them.
They all stood gaping at it, before Gaddes ran to the controls. Allen shouted orders to the others. "Battle stations! Gaddes, find out if it's friend or foe!"
Gaddes scanned the ship, and tapped his finger on the panel impatiently as he waited for the scan to finish. "Come on, come on..."
A short beep followed, and Gaddes read the screen. "Hold on. One cargo skiff, 3 light combat skiffs...owned by Lord Dryden?!"
Millerna exclaimed, "Dryden?!"
-----
Later...
The hissing of sealed air as both Dryden's and Allen's skiffs docked was in the air as Hitomi, Koichi, Allen, Millerna, and Fjal awaited the other crew at the docking bay.
The metal door finally opened, and three figures stepped onto the deck of the Crusade II, figures which lit up Hitomi's, Millerna's and Allen's face simultaneously.
Lord Dryden, his rugged nobility still holding together after one year, met them with a broad smile.
Celena, her smile beaming with innocence (a sharp contrast to her alter ego, Dilandau), embraced her brother Allen.
And to their combined dismay and delight, the ugly, scheming roll of fat known only as the Mole Man waddled out, raised his arms in a gesture of friendship, and bellowed, "Hello everyone, I'm back!"
Allen said to Celena, "So this is where you've been this past year! I was so worried about you..."
"I was worried about you as well, brother. I still had some things to work out within myself--I am still both Dilandau and your sister Celena."
"You can explain later, dear sister. We have somewhat of a crisis on our hands, and I'll explain on the way. Dryden, would you care to join us on our bridge? It's of the utmost importance."
"Of course, Allen."
"Good. Follow me." Allen left the bay, Dryden and the others following.
------
"...And I decided to take my kingdom mobile, packing as much of it as I could into a skiff, and set out, without any real direction...along the way, I met up with Celena and Mole, and they decided to join me. And we had the lucky fortune to bump into you," Dryden said as he summarized his activities over the past year in the Crusade II's bridge, the others listening. "Now, what's this 'important' business that requires my attention?"
"Dryden, the dragons are revolting. They're attacking villages without provocation. Asturia Castle fell recently, of which we are the only survivors," Allen said solemnly.
"Wait," Dryden said, with a scoff. "You're saying that the dragons have developed some sort of...consciousness?"
"It seems like it," Van replied, from behind. "Also, the Guymelefs malfunction for some reason around the dragons...except for Escaflowne."
Allen continued for Van. "We think that there's some kind of energy field that could be tampering with the drag-energists inside. Because Escaflowne isn't using an energist, it's not affected."
"No energist? Intriguing...What is it powered by then?"
Hitomi stepped forward. "Well...I don't really know. I used my will to bring it back to life at Fanelia."
Dryden chuckled in disbelief. "Well, this certainly *is* intriguing!"
Before he could add another comment, however, a large violent shaking rocked the ship back and forth, the crew falling to the ground.
Gaddes yelled, "What the HELL was that?!"
Fjal said grimly, "Dragons."
Allen stood, bracing himself against the wall, and shouted, "Everyone, battle stations! Try and outrun them; zigzag pattern." He looked to the boy behind him. "Van..."
Van nodded, and ran out of the bridge. Hitomi caught their exchange, and her eyes widened. *No, Van! Not Escaflowne!*
Hitomi ran after him, Koichi calling after her, but doing nothing to stop her.
Once Hitomi reached the hangar, Van was preparing to enter Escaflowne, getting ready to step up into the massive metal beast. "Van!"
Van looked down to see Hitomi running towards him. "Leave, Hitomi, before you get in the way!"
"I can't let you go out there! You can't fight them in Escaflowne--it'll kill you!"
"Not if I don't get hurt," Van said calmly, and without another word, jumped into Escaflowne.
Hitomi, angry and frustrated, ran and leapt onto the Guymelefs, leg, scrambling up onto its shoulder, and holding onto Escaflowne's head for dear life.
"Hitomi! What are you doing?!" Van shouted.
"I'm not letting you go alone!"
Van sighed, and leapt onto the Crusade's hull. Keeping a firm foothold, Escaflowne's sword was unsheathed, and Van was ready for battle.
The dragons swarmed around the Crusade and Dryden's ships, which were being mutilated by the scaled creatures. As he observed, he noticed patterns in the dragons' attacks. *They seem to be moving in formations...this attack seems planned...what's going on?*
His thought was interrupted by Hitomi's shout of "In front!" which came too late, for a dragon landed directly in front of Escaflowne.
Van, yelping in surprise, reflexes controlling his movement, stabbed his sword forward, catching the dragon in the left eye, impaling the entire head, blue-green blood spouting from the wound of the screaming dragon.
Van withdrew the sword, Hitomi yelling, "Left!", to which Van swung his sword to the left, catching a passing dragon in the stomach, making a gigantic gash in the monster. The dragon wailed as he plummeted to the sharp, mountainous ground below.
Hitomi watched, feeling pity for the wounded dragon for a moment...
...failing to warn Van about the dragon behind him, which began a nose dive toward Escaflowne.
Hitomi forced herself to look away from the falling dragon, and suddenly sensed the dragon behind them. "Van, behind us!!"
Escaflowne turned just in time--
To watch the dragon ram into him, knocking him off Crusade's hull, beginning to slide off the edge--
When Van reached out Escaflowne's hand, barely catching a ridge in a levistone.
Van sighed, and looked over his shoulder for Hitomi--
Who had disappeared.
"HITOMI!!" Van screamed, as he saw Hitomi...falling toward the ground, her eyes frozen with fear.
Suddenly, a dragon swooped up below her, the girl landing on the dragon's back.
The dragon began flying swiftly away from the fray, and the other dragons seemed to be retreating as well.
Van released his left hand on the controls, preparing to turn into Dragon Mode--
--But Escaflowne did not respond.
He was frozen to the side of the Crusade, while the dragons flew off with Hitomi. Desperately, he moved the controls to get Escaflowne to move, sobbing with frustration. *N-no...I can't shed tears...but Hitomi!"
He finally lay still, defeated, tears silently running down his face.
------
"Hitomi!" Koichi wailed, as he watched her being swept away by the dragons. His hands pressed up against the viewport, and he fell to his knees. *What'll I do now? Hitomi's gone...I'm lost in this strange land...*
------
Hitomi opened her eyes to find herself clutching the scaly back of a dragon, as it flew with the other dragons toward a large, mountainous cluster ahead of them. *Where am I? Why didn't they kill me?...Van...what about Van? Koichi?*
Her thoughts wandered toward her friends as she awaited whatever was on the other side of the mountain...
TO BE CONTINUED...