Van slipped silently through the bushes, he paused as he brought a hand up to wipe his sweat stain brow

Tada, the forth part! This part is actually fairly long J Thanks for all the reviews, they had me dancing around the house, so lets keep them coming. J I want to apologize for taking so long but I started another fic and kind of got side tracked. Opps! So here's the fic, enjoy!

Separation (Part 4)

Van slipped silently through the bushes, he paused as he brought a hand up to wipe his sweat-stained brow. His eyes glittered as he watched the rowdy men around the campfire. The shadows hid him well, and his eyes slid from the men to the towering wall that enclosed the city.

That was where Hitomi was, but the city did not look like a friendly place. A loud cry brought his attention back to the sentries, a brawl had broken out between two men and bets were being placed on who would win. A flicker of disgust spread across Van's face, his soldiers had never acted like that when they were supposed to be working.

Knowing he was fairly safe, he closed his eyes and reached outwards. Hitomi was defiantly in that city and she was scared. He had to get into the city but when he had arrived earlier he had noticed that the gates were watched closely. That by itself wouldn't have stopped him but he had stumbled across the sentries and had over heard that they were on the look out for any suspicious characters.

And he had to admit that he was pretty suspicious looking. He only had his lighter under robe on, and the fact that it was part of some type of formal wear was obvious, plus the run though the forest hadn't exactly improved his appearance. But the sentries had given him an idea, they had every thing he needed right there. Weapons, armour, non-suspicious clothing, all he needed to do was get his hands on it.

Movement in the group caught his eye as he noticed one of the men, one of the extremely drunk men, was moving away from the group. Van ran a quick glance over him; he had armour, a half decent sword and a uniform. The man stumbled into the bushes and Van followed him. The man eventually stopped a fair distance from the group and Van was getting a little curious why the man was so far out in the forest.

However Van soon received his answer when the man tossed his sword and armour aside and pulled down his pants. The man was going for a crap! Van face turned a bright red as he turned away, a second later however a devious grin spread across his face. He had a great plan for getting the things he needed.

The man was still concentrating on doing his business when Van stepped out of the bushes. The man looked up with blurry eyes, Van had removed his over shirt and was glaring at the man. He raised his arms up and began to speak in a deep voice.

"You have offended the cursed Draconians, now you shall pay the price." With a burst Van's wings exploded forth, feathers fluttered around. The men let out a startled 'eep', his eyes rolled back in his head and his very fuddled senses abandoned him as he passed out.

Van looked down in surprise at the unconscious man, stunned at how well his planned had worked. Although his original plan was to just stun the man so he could knock him out. A small grin slid across his face at the picture before him. He ruffled his feathers before pulling them back in and a small laugh escaped his lips. What a story that man would have to tell when he woke up, Van wondered if he would mention the fact that he had been in the middle of taking a dump when it happened. He glanced at the man again and grimaced, okay the uniform was out of the question, he would have to make do with just the armour, and sword.

He grabbed the man's sword and armour, pausing a second to grab his own over shirt, where he had put it so that it wouldn't be ripped by his wings. Once he had every thing he needed he quickly moved back into the bushes to find a safe place to get his disguise ready.

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Hitomi stirred, the bed creaked as she slowly rolled onto her side and opened her eyes. She let out a stifled scream as she found herself staring into a pair of cold green eyes. She rolled and almost tumbled of the edge of the small hard cot, stopping at the very end of the bed.

"Jumpy little thing aren't you?" the women said, she was seated in a chair in the corner, dressed in a pair of light blue pants with light green shirt, covered in a darker green vest. Hitomi stared, for some reason she felt an urge to trust this women.

"Who are you? And what I'm I doing here?" Hitomi inched her way back onto the bed, never taking her eyes of the woman. The women sighed softly, her golden hair rustled as she leaned forward so her elbows could rest on her knees.

"I'm the Sorceress, but I would really like it if you called me Tsani. And you are in the glorious kingdom of his majesty King Cryton." Tsani said the name like it was a foul word, her lips curled slightly as if the mere mention of that name was a task to say.

"But why I'm I here?" Hitomi said, feeling that she was skirting that particular question. The woman shifted then slowly shook her head.

"That's not for me to answer, I'm sorry." She stood up and reached into a bag at her side and placed some clothes on the bed, "Here, put these on, you have to meet the king and I'm sure you don't want to do it in you wedding dress." For some reason the mention of Hitomi's wedding dress seemed to sadden Tsani, and she quickly turned to walk out of the room.

"Wait!" Hitomi cried, she reached out and grabbed Tsani's wrist. Emotions blew over her and she rocked back from the force. Pain, sadness, anger, hate and buried under all these other emotions, at the very core was love, overwhelming love, very much like what Hitomi felt for Van. Tsani's wrist slipped out of Hitomi's hand, she paused for only a second to stare at the stunned Hitomi before she quickly fled the room.

Hitomi moaned as her brain franticly tried to sort through the intense emotions, she stared at the door the woman had fled out. There was definitely more going on here, and Hitomi had a feeling that she was about to be thrown in the middle.

She climbed off the cot and reached down to grab the clothing left behind. A pair of pants and a long sleeve shirt rested on the bed, the grey cloth matched the colour of the sheet covering the cot. A pair of leather boots was also part of the ensemble, which pleased Hitomi immensely since the shoes she was currently wearing weren't exactly comfortable.

She dressed quickly, peeling off the tattered gown, and slipping into the clothes, which were surprisingly comfortable, Hitomi thought that maybe Tsani had had a hand in the choice of clothing. Now that she was dressed she let her eyes roam across the room, it looked like a cell but one for somebody who was too important for the dungeons. All it contained was a cot and a chair, the door was closed and Hitomi was positive that it was locked.

She sighed, "Guess there's nothing left to do but wait," she plopped down on the cot, and closed her eyes. She wondered where Van was, if he was okay. She missed him terribly, once again her mind yelled out against the unfairness of it all.

The cell door banged open and Hitomi jumped to her feet, finding herself facing the man who had punched her when she had been captured. This man was definitely not somebody she could trust; he had the look of a heartless drone, just following orders.

"Come with me," he said, turned and walked out the door, Hitomi followed simply because she knew if she didn't she would find herself being dragged along. She soon found her self flanked by two more soldiers, cutting off all escapes. The walk was a short one, the corridors were dark and Hitomi figured that this was a little used section of the castle. From what little of the castle Hitomi did see it looked as thought it was once a beautiful place full of alabaster pillars and works of art, however they seemed to have fallen into disuse. Van had once told Hitomi that a castle's appearance depended on the person living in it, from the looks of this castle the person owning it wasn't concerned with art or beauty, Hitomi had caught sight of a few gruesome objects that she really didn't want to know about. The whole appearance of the castle really didn't make her want to meet this King. But it seemed she didn't have a choice.

The doorway they reached was huge, it was oak and had a gold handle with delicate design inscribed on it. The dark haired man who seemed to be in charge grabbed her wrist and opened the door, leaving the two other soldiers standing guard outside. The room was gigantic, yet it wasn't beautiful; some of the objects in the room made Hitomi shy away, her imagination supplying her with many uses for some of the implements.

A man was seated in a large velvet chair, his black hair was shoulder length and gleamed in the candle light, but it was his eyes that captured Hitomi, they were so dark the could have been called black, and they shone as he ran his eyes over Hitomi. She shivered, the gaze giving her a cold feeling deep in the pit of her stomach. She felt gaudily dressed next to his jewel-incrusted clothes, but she was extremely glad for the fact that she was no longer wearing her wedding dress, as he looked her over from head to toe. His eyes swept back upwards to search her face and a smirk slowly formed.

"Ah my little pet, I'm so glad I found you, I was most upset when you didn't show up at the appointed place, but my Sorceress was quite sure that you were nearby." He gestured to a curtain behind him, "You have met my Sorceress haven't you, she's the one responsible for bringing you here. Tsani, why don't you come out?"

The curtains rustled and Tsani stepped out, Hitomi, for some reason, felt betrayed and the feeling bothered her. Why should she trust this woman, or even expect her to be nice. Yet she did, and the knowledge that her separation from Van was Tsani's fault hurt. Tsani would not meet Hitomi eyes, yet as Hitomi watched she noticed how the woman reacted to Cryton, she tried to stay as far from him as possible and her whole stance indicated dislike. It made Hitomi wonder if perhaps there was a lot more going on here than there appeared.

Cryton seemed to dislike the silence that followed, he had expected Hitomi to react to his announcement, but instead she just stood there. He pushed himself out of the chair and walked towards Hitomi, smirking when she stiffened slightly. He walked in a slow circle around her, when he had walked in a complete circle in leaned in, Hitomi's fists clenched. But all he did was whisper in her ear, "Don't trust her, she is just as evil as I am, perhaps more so. She's just better at hiding it." He stepped back to see her reaction.

Hitomi's eyes shot towards Tsani, seeking to conform or deny what he had said, the two women's eyes met and clashed. Hitomi's mind flooded with images, the most prominent was the image of a young man with brown hair, and a friendly face. For a second the images stopped and focused one memory. A young girl was playing with a boy in a field, laughing with childish glee as the chased each other around. Hitomi realized that she was seeing a young Tsani, and a younger version of the brown haired man. Yet even as she watched this memory play she felt a shiver run threw he body and her eyes were drawn to a small hill where a young Cryton was standing. Even then his eyes were dark and he watched the boy and girl play, a sneer raced across his face before he turned and walked away, his shoulders tense, his fists clenched, hate radiating out of every pore.

The vision ended and Hitomi gasped, the backlash leaving her breathless. It had been many years since she had last had a vision, and she was having trouble adjusting to the feeling. Brothers, she thought. They're brothers. The two boys had looked too similar to be anything but brothers, but the expression on the young Cryton's face was horrible, no child should feel that way towards his own brother.

Cryton was watching with narrowed eyes, "What did you see?" he hissed. He wanted that power, the power to see what will come, and most especially to power to change fate itself. But this little twist was unexpected, the girl had obviously seen something when she had looked at Tsani and he wanted to know what it was. He hated it when things didn't work out the way he wanted, he most assuredly didn't want Tsani and Hitomi to become friends, that would ruin everything. His hold over Tsani was frail, and he couldn't have it broken, he still needed her, at least for a while.

Hitomi was disorientated, the question threw her off guard and she answered without thinking. " Two boys and girl, but one boy, you…" her words trailed off for a moment. "So much hate. And young love," her eyes looked towards Tsani, "What happened to your love, the brown haired boy?"

Tsani's hand rose to cover her mouth, shock written across her face. Cryton's face clouded over, "Enough! Tsani, go prepare the necessary equipment." Tsani stood still, her eyes meeting his, denial written clearly in them. Cryton's fist clenched, he couldn't let her rebel now; he still needed her to complete the transfer.

"Do it or I'll make sure he suffers worse then he ever has before. They'll hear his screams on the Mystic Moon," Cryton said venomously, once again Tsani would not meet his eyes as she stood trembling before slowly turning and walking through the curtain.

Cryton whirled to face Hitomi, "You are almost more trouble then you are worth," he faced the soldier who had entered the room with Hitomi. "Captain Garad, take her back to her room." The captain stepped forward to grab Hitomi but she jumped of his way.

"You jerk, who the hell do you think you are?" she yelled, Cryton simply smirked in response. Then rocked back on his heels as the full force of Hitomi's fist met with his face. Hitomi screamed suddenly as she felt her hair get grabbed as she was tugged back and her wrists forcibly grabbed.

The captain stared in shock as he grasped tightly to the girl's wrists. She had hit the king, punched him right in the face, he wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't seen it. Even now she was struggling, her fists still clenched looking like she'd love to get another hit in. The king slowly stood up straight, rubbing his bright red cheek. His eyes glittered spitefully as he stared at the struggling Hitomi.

"Take her to the deepest darkest dungeon," he commanded Garad. "You are lucky that I still need you, or you would be in some much pain you would wish you had never been born," he growled, Hitomi stilled her struggles as she felt the rage directed at her.

"You are a bastard," she spat as Garad dragged her from the room. Cryton watched the door close, his fists clenching and unclenching. He needed to vent his frustrations, he stormed through a small door on the left, and soon the castle resounded with the sounds of some poor soul screaming as Cryton laughed.

Done, not bad I think. Not much Van but I guess it couldn't be helped. I can't believe how supportive everybody has been, I'm so glad you are enjoying my fic. I was actually surprised at how this chapter turned out, I hope it wasn't to confusing with the vision, but it will all be explained very soon. Any feedback would be appreciated, and I'd love to hear any ideas you guys might have. I was having a bit of a writer's block on how to write this chapter but it looks like it's gone now so maybe I'll be able to get the next chapter out soon.