Disclaimer: I don't own NGE, so fuck the pieces of shit trying to sue my ass. If I ever made any money off this I wouldn't tell you, but I don't! So there you have it! May the ungodly penguin legions of CUJO eat your ass and may you forever be forced to remain standing if you even consider hostile actions taken against this author! HA! ^_^ Have a nice day!

And a great big THANX to my beta-readers who have grown so numerous that I have to check the beta-reader's list in my mailbox every time I have to give thanks, because I'm such a ditz who couldn't remember where his well- shaped ass was if he had both his hands on it... -_-;;;;

Author's Preface: Well… it's been fuckin' ages, but now I'm back. Not that anyone's left who can remember who the fuck I am, but whatever… Been all too long since I posted anything, but most of the people know the difficulties of school and work combined with the inadequacy of the human body and the puny 24-hour timetable we exist by. But now, I present a new fic at LONG last! ^____^V

*…* is mental communications.

… is thoughts.

The Swords of Evangelion, chapter 5.



Misato sighed and looked up from under the bamboo hat Touji had bought her for this part of the trip.

Asuka had refused to take any kind of help and had also remained in her heavy clothes as a sign of defiance. Shinji had tried to convince her that the trip through the great desert would kill her, but the grumpy elf had countered with a tirade of vile oaths towards poor Shinji. She seemed to hold herself in very high opinion regarding male attention. Apparently she seemed to think that any male looking at her was imagining her naked and wanted to ravage her young, innocent body.

Misato had grown so tired of Asuka's yelling at everything, especially Shinji, that she had ordered Touji and Shinji not to talk to her to avoid any further disturbances. Shinji was very calm about Asuka's riling him; if Misato did not know better, she would have taken him for a floor-mat or a verbal punching bag. Touji, on the other hand, was not so passive and was every bit as volatile as the redheaded elf. But Misato had to admit that Touji's hand-to-hand skills were quite useful, the boy knew how to fight. He would not need much training to become a very skilled warrior.

The day before they had entered the great desert that clearly defined the ultimate border between east and west, Asuka had offended an orc she thought had been looking at her in a lecherous manner. The orc talked back to Asuka, who then launched a full-scale assault upon the orc's integrity and family, thus angering the beast beyond any possibility of talking sense into it. Touji had then calmly interjected with a drop-kick to the orc's head. The kick had cracked the skull of the orc, who died quickly. It later turned out that the orc was wanted dead or alive for murder so the day ended with Touji getting one hundred gold pieces from the local magistrate. He had bought Misato a bamboo hat to protect her from the sun. Misato smiled at that; under that gruff facade, the kid had a heart of gold and the guts to defend it. He would make a worthy knight or paladin. She turned her head towards him to find him staring at her.

"My pardons, Katsuragi-san." He blushed and hurriedly looked another way, seeming to find great interest in a cactus a mile away or something. Misato chuckled to herself. It was funny, he seemed like a ladies man, but he was as shy as Shinji around women he liked. She just hoped he would find a nice girl when they reached the capitol. It would do him good to get rid of the obvious infatuation he had for her.

The day passed as the sun grew ever more merciless. Asuka sweated bullets, but never once complained. She never took a sip from her bottle unless it had been five minutes or longer than Misato took a sip from hers. Asuka perceived this as a struggle of wills. Misato did not seem to care.

Night then fell as the little party set their camp. Touji prepared the shelter while Shinji tried to make a fire.

Asuka seemed fine. Her clothes, which had been a cause for great grief for her, were now, from her point of view, an advantage over the others. Misato was standing by the wagon, enjoying some mead and the great night.

"It's cold. Isn't it?" The snide remark took Misato out of her reverie. She had been looking at the moon rising over the dunes in the desert. It had looked just like moonlight on the snow back home. Misato found that amusing. No matter where she went, the way snow and sand reflected the moonlight was always the same.

"I asked you if you were cold." The redhead was getting annoyed. How dare that human ignore her, the great Asuka Sohryu Langley?!

"No, I'm fine. I've been riding all day in that heat, so this's just perfect." She looked at Asuka. "What about you? You still look like you could need a bath." Misato looked at Asuka who, although proud and haughty, looked like something a warm-spring penguin had dragged in. Asuka admitted silently to herself that she was sticky and that the dust from the sands had settled itself way too snugly in her thick, lustrous, red mane.

"What would be the benefit for you in this deal, human?" Asuka asked suspicously.

"I won't have to smell the stinking of a sweaty elf for tonight and the rest of the day." Misato gave Asuka a disarming smile. "And don't worry about the boys looking. I'll guard you." Asuka looked at Misato for a moment more, waiting for her mask to slip and reveal her bluff, but she seemed sincere enough and since the redhead also agreed that it would be better for her to take a short shower she nodded her consent.

"So be it, human. But beware of any treachery. I shall slay you if you trick me in any way." Asuka moved over behind the wagon, out of sight from the camp, and began to slip off her clammy clothes. Misato just grinned at the ever suspicious elf.

Asuka took her canteen, it was half full, but that would have to do. She let the cool water pour down over her body and savoured the feel of the water cleansing her skin and hair.

Misato handed her a casket she had taken from the wagon.

"We got this for washing off. But don't drink it." Asuka looked at the human with suspicion in her eyes once more and then hesitantly took the casket and removed the cork. She splashed some into a cup and poured it onto her hair, another cup went down her back.

"Oh, by the gods it is pleasant to be cooled off like this." Asuka revelled in the way it seemed to reach her soul and cool everything in her body. Misato grinned at the elf's antics.

"I never expected that you would be gracious over something like this, elf." She said jokingly.

"Well, it is the small things in life that provide the greatest amount of pleasure." Asuka smiled at Misato as they finally seemed to come to a cease- fire.

"Well, not always the small things." Misato winked at the elf, who blushed, a furious red colour.

"What do you mean by that?!" The elf sputtered, not believeing what she heard.

"Oh, nothing… Just trying to make conversation, you know; woman to woman." Misato grinned as it all clicked into place in Asuka's mind.

"Mein Gott! Are you talking about THAT?!" Misato just smiled at the elf.

"I AM human after all. What about you? You mean to tell me that you have never been touched by a man?" Misato winked at the elf who was busy dressing, helping herself to something fresh from Misato's spare clothing.

"Touched, yes... But I have never slept with a male, let alone committed the act of love." Asuka blushed a deep, dusky rose. "I've dreamt, but I've never tried. I'm waiting for the right male." She looked at Misato.

"Have you ever found the right male?" Misato smiled at the elf's question.

"Yes, I found the right man-- for a span of years or so. But now he's gone. He never told me where." Misato's voice grew a little sad. "But I still love him..." Asuka looked at Misato with stars in her eyes.

"That's just SO romantic." She went over to Misato and patted her on her shoulder. "Don't worry. If he doesn't show up, I'm sure another'll come along. I know how humans work. You do have an obligation as a female to procreate the species." With that Asuka took her blankets and went to sleep next to the fire. Then Misato realized what the elf had said to her.

"HEY, I'M NO BREEDING MACHINE YOU POINTY-EARED HUSSY!!" Misato huffed and stomped over to the wagon for her sleeping accesories. She lay down next to the fire and soon began to sleep, dreaming of setting the redhead's hair ablaze so as to make the fire complement the colour of the elf's hair.

Touji woke up that next morning as the sun gazed over the top of a dune. He yawned and stretched. He stood up and enjoyed the first pleasant rays of sun that shone upon his face. He grinned as he turned to look upon Shinji, who had come to lie in an extremely awkward position that seemed almost humanly unattainable, his breath coming in squeaky little snores. Touji went over to wake up Captain Katsuragi. She was lying on her side, pillowing her head with her hands. She breathed in slow measured intakes and outlets of air, sometimes making a little cooing sound of comfort and stirring. Touji smiled. She was really a magnificent woman. He looked to where the redheaded devil would be lying and found much to his surprise that she was not there. He heard humming sounds and decided to follow them. He found the red-haired elf, doing morning exercises. More precisely an elven sword-dance, it looked just like a Tai-chi kata. She went through the sequence of moves ever so slowly, her eyes closed. She hummed an eerie tune to herself. It was not eerie in a bad way, it was just very strange in some of the intonations. Although seemingly discordant, they fitted the overall sense of the melody. Touji decided that he might as well wake up Misato, but before he did that he thought that it would be a good idea to get her sword back to her. He cleared his throat noisily. And in a span of very short time, he was at sword-point. He instinctively slapped away the sword, getting a deep gash in his palm.

"OW! WHAT ARE YOU, STUPID?!" He yelled at the red-head, who blushed in shame, but quickly regained her senses.

"You're the stupid one, Suzahara. You shouldn't disturb people when they practice with sharp weapons!" Asuka defended herself.

"But you were the one to put ME at sword-point!" The mad human growled at Asuka.

"Listen, we can discuss all this for ages, but it isn't going to heal that cut. Come here and I'll dress it for you." Asuka reached out her hand and took Touji by the forearm. He quickly pulled his arm back, though.

"No, thanks, I'm not going risk you doing something even worse to my hand than cutting it." He snapped bitterly. Asuka sighed and looked at the angry human in front of her.

"Listen," she said sternly. "If I don't dress this wound, it could very well be infected. You could have to cut the hand or even the arm off, provided the infection doesn't get into your bloodstream and kill you right off. And what good will you be to your sister then?" The elf assumed a stubborn stance with her hands balled into fists and put upon her hips, her legs wide apart. Touji smiled in resignation.

"All right, I guess if you put it that way you should dress the wound. And who better to help the healing than an elven woman, right?" He winked at her. She blushed.

"Don't get too cocky, human." The haughty elfin snapped. "I'm only doing this out of consideration for the group. Another load of dead weight is not going to do us any good if we head into trouble.

She took Touji's hand delicately and led him towards the back of the wagon where she tore off some pieces of cloth from a blouse in Misato's baggage.

"I don't think Katsuragi-san is going to appreciate your mauling her spare clothes." Touji remarked nervously. Asuka just looked at the human with a grin plastered on her face.

"What is more important? Some stuck-up wench's luggage or your hand and health?" Touji looked at his hand, grimaced and then nodded.

"Continue then." Asuka took out a little bowl and some water, pouring a small amount of water and some of Misato's alcohol into the bowl, she then moistened the torn cloth in it.

"This might hurt a bit." Asuka said gently as she held up the cloth. Touji gritted his teeth

Asuka noticed how cold the hand was because of the blood gushing out. She took it ever-so-gently and dabbed at the wound, she looked up at Touji through her bangs and noticed that he was a little paler than before. The wound was probably more painful than he let on to. He was brave. She looked at the hand again and noticed that the wound was actually deeper than she had thought. She cleansed the cloth in the water once more and continued the process of dabbing at the wound with the wet cloth until she was satisfied with its state.

Touji looked at Asuka, he tried not to show her how much pain the wound was. Especially with her handling it, although she was as delicate as a butterfly's touch. But every time she dabbed that cloth onto his wound, a searing pain shot up through his arm from the wound. But it was probably because of more than just Misato's brandywine mixed with the cold water.

Touji suddenly caught himself thinking how warm and soft her hands were and how delicately she touched his hand. He looked at the elf-maid, she was concentracing extremely much on the hand. Even an elven healer would not grant it that much attention. She was fair, he had to admit that. Although at times, she was a haughty elven devil as well. Then she looked at him once more. Their breath caught in their throats as their gazes locked.

Asuka dropped Touji's hand and moved the hand than had been holding it up to caress his face, tracing her fingers softly from his eyebrow to his jawline and cupping his cheek. Touji took her by the chin and lifted her head gently as their faces moved closer and their lips met... then something even more extraordinary happened. Touji felt a force move within his being. Asuka felt the same force to, but in a different manner. It was as if something was flowing out of her and into Touji, they both deepened the kiss and Touji felt a tingling in his hand. The pain in it ceased and suddenly he felt fine, a warm feeling spreading throughout his body.

After a moment more they ceased the kiss as the force within them dissipated.

"You perverted BEAST! Filthy human scum! You dare touch my virgin body?!" Asuka was amazed at first, but then she served Touji a roundhouse punch that turned his head to the side with a snap that almost broke his neck. He calmly turned his head and raised his hand. Asuka almost cowered in anticipation of the slap the strong human male would deliver, but instead he just took her by the chin once more and kissed her on the forehead. He held up his now healed hand, a white line tracing the tanned skin where the deep gash had been.

"Thank you, Asuka-san. I don't know why you just hit me, but you healed my hand and for that I owe you my gratitude." Touji cupped her cheek gently and caressed it with his thumb for a moment or so. Then he turned and left, picking up Misato's sword on the way.

Asuka sank to her knees, now on the verge of crying and muttering bitterly in elvish.

"Why mother, why? Is this another gift, or another curse, why have you made me to suffer such a fate... why mother? I'm no healer, I'm a warrior; I'm only good at hurting people..." Asuka got up and steeled her jaw and composure. She took several deep breaths to calm herself and then went to join the others, assuming her usual grumpy mask.

"What do you mean you 'sensed a magical emanation not of this world'?" Ikari Gendo, the high priest of Adam asked his chief magical advisor and lover, Akagi Ritsuko.

"I mean that I felt something within our territory which I have never felt before." The blonde sorceress stated, her voice laced with irritation.

"Excuse me, but I don't think we should be worried about the emanation." A quiet voice broke through the discussion. Gendo's head snapped about to look at the cautious little brunette, clutching her spell-book nervously to her chest.

"Why is that, and who are you?" The priest grumbled. Ritsuko stepped over to side protectively with her apprentice.

"This is Ibuki Maya, my apprentice. She will soon become a sorceress herself. She is skilled in the reading of emanations and it was originally her that led my attention towards the event." Ritsuko put an arm around Maya's shoulder and smiled comfortingly at her. "Go ahead. Speak your thoughts freely with his holiness." Maya gulped and stammered out her explanation.

"Well, your holiness and mistress." She nodded to Gendo and Ritsuko respectively with their titles. "The emanation I sensed was actually somewhat akin to a healing spell, but none of the aura readings I used indicated an aggressive spell. I also sensed that it was slightly similar to the elven healing spells that we are familiar with and as such should pose no threat. It was most likely a band of elves moving through the great desert and one got injured or something akin to that." The apprentice concluded with a gentle smile towards Gendo, who surprisingly smiled back.

"So you were even able to pin-point the location of the spell-casting?" Gendo asked.

"Yes." Maya Answered.

Ritsuko looked at her lover and then at her apprentice. The situation seemed interesting, but she shrugged her urge off. The barrier that sundered the undisciplined witches from the true sorceresses was the fact that the true sorceresses had the discipline necessary to quench their urges. Maya was too innocent to think beyond a smile and a kind word yet, but she'd learn. And before she got started Ritsuko might as well talk to her apprentice about discipline.

Now Maya was helping Gendo perform a divination by helping him towards the location from where the spell was cast. Then Gendo looked sternly at the sorceress and the sorceress-to-be and spoke.

"Leave me be now. I shall commune with my magic to find the travellers and define if they are a threat or not." Ritsuko and Maya bowed and left the chamber

Once the two sorceresses had left Gendo sat himself down in the chair once more and concentrated on the location indicated by the young apprentice.

"Come, show thyself to me. Appear." The high priest commanded. Then he almost lost his composure as he tracked the source of the spell. It was his son's party. He saw the always angry red-headed elf. The tall, strong human and the beautiful paladin he had entrusted with his son. He saw his son, a strong, young man and was glad that he had not chosen wrong in entrusting the paladin with his son.

The child would prove his mettle in combat.

Gendo gave the spell no more thought. It was more than likely that the clumsy human boy had cut himself or dropped something on his foot and then the elf had deigned to heal him. Gendo grinned. He looked forward to receiving the next members of the group he was gathering. They where expected to arrive at the same date as his son's group. Gendo folded his hands in front of him and smiled to himself. He would soon have the best fighters in the world at his disposal, and with the items he would provide them, they would be almost invincible. And against the threat that lurked beyond the sky, they would need to be almost invincible, if not completely. Even then they would be lucky to succeed…

Shinji and Asuka looked around.

"Do you have a sense of being watched, Asuka?" Shinji asked the elf.

"Yes, but I just think that it's the desert that's getting to us. Open land inspires paranoia in most people used to more enclosed settings." Asuka shrugged and continued to pack her belongings.

"I'd just guess that my having grown up in the great forests and your having grown up inside a temple is what's affecting us." She turned around and started to walk towards the wagon and jumped up into it. Shinji sighed as he picked up his meagre belongings as well and headed towards the wagon, getting into the driver's seat next to Touji.

"Don't you think that she's calmer today than she usually is?" The half-elf asked the human. Touji just nodded, his mind miles away.

"Uh-huh." Was all he said.

Shinji picked up on the distant tone in his companion's voice and decided to play a little prank.

"And there's a group of dwarves, shaving off their beards and doing the tea- ritual in pink kimonos over there." Shinji said and indicated a direction.

"Likely so..." Touji replied, not hearing what Shinji was saying.

"And your little sister is drinking of Misato's brandy-wine." Shinji was very amused himself.

"Mm-hmm..." Touji said, Shinji pulled out his ace.

"And Misato-san is over there taking off all her clothes." Shinji whispered slyly to Touji who immediately snapped out of his trance.

"Where? Where? Where is she, I have GOT to see that!" Touji was looking in seven different directions almost at once to catch a glimpse of what he thought was heaven. Shinji snorted in disgust.

"Here I am, making deep and profound conversation and all you care about is seeing Misato-san naked. You're disgusting." Touji looked at his fellow and grinned.

"Maybe so, but at least I'm not a hypocrite." Shinji folded at once.

"... Gomen..." he muttered.

"But you're right." Touji said. "The elf is more silent today than usual." He looked over his shoulder down into the back of the wagon and found himself staring back at Asuka. They both turned their eyes away, blushing furiously. Shinji was too busy looking at a rock formation to notice the exchange between Touji and Asuka. And that was probably for the best.

Ayanami Rei sat outside the place where Ikari-Sama held his meetings. He had asked of her to attend and she had arrived precisely at the designated hour, not a minute before and not a second later. She had sat herself down and had waited for thirty seconds straight.

"Rei." At the sound of Gendo's voice, the young, blue-haired maid turned her head.

"Yes, my liege." She stood up and bowed, Gendo held up his hand and smiled at her.

"Please, Rei; respect is acceptable, submission unneccesary. You don't need to bow unless I do so." He laid a hand on her shoulder as he reached her fully and led her into his chambers.

"As you wish, your holiness." Rei nodded and smiled briefly, her little, slight smile was like the sun breaking through a cloud, but then she resumed her usual impassive mask as Gendo closed the door.

"What did you wish to talk to me about, milord?" She looked into Gendo's eyes as she said that. He looked at her for a moment as he found himself amazed at the depth of her red, red eyes then he remembered why he had asked for her to come.

"The others shall arrive within three days or a week and I want you to remember what I have told you. Especially concerning the elf. She is very unstable and could prove to be jeopardous to our cause, but none the less she is as vital as you, if not more. Understood?" Gendo gave Rei a stern look. Rei inclined her head, in respect.

"I understand, milord. Will the test proceed as planned?"

Gendo smiled as he patted the shoulder his hand was on.

"Yes, Rei. We will give you the sword and your armor this afternoon. Go rest, you shall need your strength as a priestess to be at its fullest." Rei nodded once more and left queitly.

Gendo sighed and seemed to age as he beheld the leaving figure.

"So like her, and yet so unlike her is she..." He muttered under his breath.

"Having second thoughts?" Fuyutski Kozo asked sarcastically as he stepped out from the shadows. Gendo looked at his second-in-command and shook his head.

"I cannot afford to have second thoughts. The time for us to retain a clear conscience is long past. You know that as well as I." Gendo snapped a vicious stare over the elder man, who just nodded and said.

"Yes, I knew from the start what this would likely mean to us-- yet I still stand here today." Kozo began to walk away. "To this hour I still question my wisdom in following you, Gendo..." Gendo sunk into the chair at the big oakwood desk and held his head in his hand sighing and muttered to himself.

"Sometimes, I myself question the wisdom in following me..."

Asuka sighed as they reached the first signs of real vegetation, trees. The sand was beginning to turn into dirt and the maki bushes began to turn into shrubbery and bushes.

"Oh, mein Gott! It's gonna be SO good just to travel under the cool shade of a leaf forest, not to mention a lot safer. At least you have a chance of hiding from beasts in here." Asuka's relieved mutterings soon turned into a grumbling tirade as she always did. Touji just shook his head and muttered to himself.

"Does she never run out of energy in her pursuit of things to complain about?!" Shinji's fine hearing picked up the muttered comment and he grinned.

"It wouldn't seem like it. She has an incredible imagination and an impressive stamina." Touji groaned at that statement and Asuka continued her complaining as they slowly reached civilization.

Misato had ordered a tub and boiling water to be taken to her room when the group had reached the inn. She had also ordered ale and a big meal. Misato leaned back in her bath and let out her breath in a long, heartfelt sigh. She smiled to herself and took a long sip of her beer, letting the cool, spicy fluid clean her throat as the bath cleaned her body. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the warm water, ducked her head under the water and held her breath. After a minute or so, she raised her head above water and began to breathe calmly, the humid air, dissolving the dust from her lungs.

Then she began to wash her hair and face. After that, she just soaked and enjoyed her beer, deciding she was going to try and imitate a prune as much as humanly possible.

Shinji was glad he had taken Misato's advice and ordered a tub and some boiling water as well. He remembered her words as she had spoken them, with her finger raised in a sisterly gesture of indicating her higher status.

"A bath will clean your mind as well as your soul. You'll feel worlds better after a bath and a meal. And with a full belly and a clean body, you'll sleep much better." Misato had grinned and ruffled her young charge's hair as she had walked off to her room.

"But the thing is," Shinji muttered as he looked into the ceiling. "Unpleasant memories always find me in the bath." And true enough, they did.

Shinji revisited the day of his first battle, as he always did. He still tried to analyze what had happened and what he had done wrong or what he could have done better.

Shinji, and the contingent he was in, had been in charge of defending the Washiba township. They had done a good job. Shinji had tried to stay out of harm's way and the way of the more experienced warriors. Then he had spotted a group of westerner knights who had tried to sneak up on the defenders holding the key position. Shinji had hoped to distract the knights, but all he accomplished was setting a house on fire. At the time he had given it little thought, but then he had heard the cry of a child inside the building he had accidentally set ablaze. He had fought his way through the throng of fighting people out on the town square, taking his first lives and thinking nothing of it as he made his way towards the building. Then a beam fell and the crying silenced. Time stopped for Shinji as he went into the hellish inferno. He saw the little girl trapped under the beam and quickly discarded his sword to go help her. The flames licked at him and the heat was unbearable, but he made his way to where the little girl lay. He took the beam in his hands, but no matter how much he lifted the burning beam, he could not move it and his hands were grievously wounded. Then a dark shadow stepped in and easily hoisted the beam off. Shinji looked up and saw-- one of the westerner knights, the one who had been in the lead. He looked like an elf with his angular features and almond-shaped, almost easterner-like eyes. He said something in the tongue of the west, Shinji did not need a translation to define what the man meant, he dragged the girl from underneath where the beam had lain and made his way outside.

They exited and then Shinji expected the man to kill him, any sensible soldier would have slain Shinji and left the girl inside the house. Or at least killed Shinji after getting the innocent child out, but the armoured man just ruffled Shinji's hair and smiled warmly at him, he turned around to leave and was run through by a grim-faced Captain Misato. The man just gasped and froze as Misato tore out her sword deftly and brutally.

"NOOO!!" Shinji screamed, how could she do that?! The man had not only spared Shinji, but he had also helped Shinji save the girl. Shinji looked at Misato, tears streaming down his face and making stripes in the soot that had gathered there from Shinji's trip into the burning house.

"Why, Misato? Why?" He asked with a choked voice. Misato just looked coldly at Shinji.

"He was an enemy. Any threat perceived is to be eliminated. I thought that he would harm you, Shinji. I killed him to protect you." Misato snapped at her young charge and turned around.

"Take this..." The man gasped. Shinji started, he had thought the man dead by now.

"Take... this...talisman... for... for pro... tection..." The man took off his helm with great difficulty and held out the said talisman. Shinji could see his pointed ears, he was an elf. Shinji kneeled and took the man's hand.

"Thank you. Thank you very much for helping me and-- and her... I-- I'm very sorry... please forgive me!" Shinji said, tears now dripping on the dying elf's face. The elf nodded and held Shinji's hand firmly, then he closed his eyes, sighed softly and was dead. Shinji picked up the amulet, put it around his neck and then hefted the young girl in his arms and started the trek towards town square.

Shinji lay in his bed now. He still tried to go over what had happened. The elf had died because of him... Shinji took out the necklace he usually kept hidden from everyone, even Misato. He studied it for a moment. It was a cross, a religious symbol the westerners used. It seemed to be made from adamantine, with an onyx set in the middle as a sun of sorts that had rays streaming out. Shinji looked at it and held it up towards the lamp on his bedside table. A halo of amethyst appeared, it was just at the tip of the points of the onyx rays of sun that shot out between the bars of the cross. Symbols were also traced on the cross, either silver or mithril, but they gleamed furiously in the fire. He could recognize them as elvish, but a dialect he did not know, most likely the language of the western elves.

Shinji sighed as he slipped the cross inside his tunic once more and blew out the lamp, throwing the room into darkness.

Rei was not sure if she should be amused or annoyed at the fact that even though she enjoyed the smooth feel of the cold metal as she let it touch her bare skin, she got goose bumps from it. She decided to be amused and smiled a little, studying her arm, turning it over so that she could see on the other side that, verily, she had goose bumps there as well, but then again it could be attributed to the cold in her room as she stood undressed and took on her armour.

"Strange..." The blue-haired priestess muttered to herself as she slipped the padded leather tunic that would protect her from arrows over her head and down over her body, she tightened the straps that sat in front and felt it hug her close as the comfortable embrace of a friend. After that came the ring mail to further protect her, then she took her chest-plate and place it over the front part of her torso, she motioned for the servant, who was busy wiping his nosebleed off, to clip the back piece on as she spoke the first command sentence for the armour.

"Torso plate, assembly..." And the two pieces of armour seemed to meld and form one seamless plate that fitted her form perfectly, like a heavy sweater. Rei smiled with satisfaction and took the shoulder-plates, setting them in place she said, "Shoulder, attach."

She proceeded to put on her armour in that way, first taking a piece of armour on, and then ordering it to join the already assembled pieces.

When she was done, her armour was like a second skin, hugging her curves tightly, complementing her shapely body like a tight dress. The armour was a silvery blue with beautiful adamantine runes fused onto the odd metal. She caressed it tenderly, her fingers tingling from the awesome magic contained in the armour. She clipped on her sword-belt, the slender katana hanging from a chain in its sheath.

Rei found her helm. It fit her head snugly, with a nose-guard and small holes so that her hearing would not be impaired. She was ready.

Rei looked at the different people present in the audience-chamber. She felt the power within her sword fight against her control as she drew it. She then felt her being, her mind, being set aside as the force within the sword and her armour took control of her. She could feel her body taking action, but her role seemed that of a bystander.

Gendo was mildly surprised as Rei raised her sword with a cry, gritted her teeth and charged.

"Watch out, sire!" Ritsuko yelled as she tried to find a spell that would stop Rei without killing her-- or at least a spell that would kill her and leave the armor intact.

Rei slammed against the barrier-spell that Gendo had raised. It was similar to an A.T. Field, but not quite as strong, Rei slashed and hacked away at it as Gendo raised his hand and began to chant the words of a spell that would surely stop Rei.

Meanwhile Rei had hacked and bashed at the barrier, she had wounds from several darts with numbing poisons shot at her, but still she persisted, she shifted between head-butting, ramming the barrier with her shoulder and hacking away at it savagely to get to Gendo, her sword throwing sparks when it came into contact with the barrier.

Ritsuko suddenly lost her breath as a vacuum formed within the room and the temperature lowered itself several degrees. Gendo had cast a magic of dispell, deactivating all magic within the room but still allowing him to cast spells, he centered the dispell on Rei and her armor, then he had cast an ice-spell to pacify the young priestess. He then ran to her with almost impossible speed. He tore off the now easily removed armour pieces to get her out, but when he touched the first armour plate he felt a searing sensation on his hands, the spell had cooled the metal so much that Gendo burned his hands from touching it.

As soon as the armour was removed, the shivering young woman was carried to her chambers. Rei was bleeding from several gashes, one of her arms hung at a wierd angle indicating a broken bone. She probably had several cracked ribs and hypothermia from Gendo's spell was not out of the question. One of her eyes was swollen shut and the poison in the darts shot at her was beginning to work. Rei was, literally, in a world of pain as her husband and superior carried her to her room and, with the aid of other clerics, tended to her.

Rei barely pulled it through the night.

Aida Kensuke shouldered his knap-sack as he stood up from his little nap and began to walk down the dirt road that led to the capitol of the east and the grand temple. He turned as he heard the pounding of hooves behind him and hurried to hide in some nearby bushes. He then saw a wagon with two men coming down the road. Riding next to the wagon was a beautiful woman with hair so dark that it went beyond the normal black-blue hue of eastern people, it seemed purple. Kensuke grinned, judging from her armour, she was also a paladin of Eva. He would probably be able to hitch a ride with these people. He stepped out on the way and waited for them to come near him.

"Hi there, I'm Aida Kensuke. I'm headed towards the great temple and the capitol, could you possibly be going the same way?" He smiled his most charming smile at the female paladin and did his best not to wink. He might as well be on the safe side since she was probably the one who decided things in that group.

"Aida Kensuke?" The paladin asked in a strange tone of voice and reached into a satchel in her horse to take out a document. She seemed to scan the parchment for a while and then looked at him.

"Yes, we're headed towards the temple ourselves, just jump into the back of the wagon." Kensuke smiled gratefully at her and bowed deeply.

"Thank you, honorably lady of Eva. It shall be a pleasure to be in thy presence." He quickly went around to the back and got into the wagon.

The first thing he saw was a red-haired western elf giving him a death- glare.

"Good day to you, fair maid, Aida Kensuke at your service." He inclined his head, but she just snorted haughtily and looked away.

What a bitch… She's beautiful, but with that kind of an attitude she'll never find someone who'll be with her all his life. Elven or not, even if it were an arranged marriage. Kensuke grinned to himself as the wagon began to rumble on.

The day strode on and the sun began to set. The group, now one man more, had traveled through the great forests all day and would soon reach the place where the mountains took over. There the rice-farmers grew their crop and tended the fields that provided the sustenance for most of the nation.

But as the evening turned into night, it seemed unlikely that the party would reach the mountains right away. And so they set their camp.

"So, are you a temple guard or what?" Kensuke asked the half-elf who snapped his head up as if he had been interrupted in a trance or something.

"Huh?" He looked at Kensuke with a stupefied expression on his face.

"I asked you if you were a temple guard." Kensuke repeated his question.

"Mm-hmm..." Shinji nodded and began to stare into the fire once again.

"Don't worry about him," Misato said as she sat herself down besides Kensuke. "He's always nervous around strangers. Aren't you, Shin-kun?" Shinji just stared into the fire, ignoring the world around him. Misato just smiled and shook her head.

"Is he an-- um..." Kensuke searched for the right word, "Half-wit?" He awaited the response nervously and hoped that he had not offended anyone. Misato just gave Kensuke a strange look.

"No," she said, "he's a half-elf. You know how they tend to recluse themselves." Kensuke nodded at that, he had known several people of varying elven heritage and the one trait they all shared was their tendency to shut themselves out from the world at times.

"He's probably just tired. He and Touji have been driving all day in shifts and they weren't exactly used to traveling in long stretches prior to this, Shinji maybe, but not Touji." She looked at the young man next to her. He had a compact, muscular build and wore the longsword he had strapped around his waist with the ease of one who was used to handling such weapons.

"Are you a former soldier?" asked Misato, studying the young man's face intently.

"No, I'm self-taught." The young man said quietly, Misato pondered that for a moment.

"Mercenary?" She asked, the young man nodded and averted his gaze.

"Yes, I hope you don't think any less of me, Katsuragi-sama." Misato chuckled.

"No, I don't think any less of you… I have known mercenaries who were people of great valour and heart. I have also known knights who were petty people not worthy of their station and vice versa. It's not the profession that defines the man it's what he chooses to do with it." She looked at the young man, giving him a warm smile and a pat on the back.

"Now just go to sleep, I shall stand guard." Kensuke looked at Misato as she got up and stretched, walking to the edge of the clearing in which they had made camp.

What a woman... He thought as he closed his eyes and laid himself down to sleep.

The next day they reached the mountains.

"Wonderful! This is the first proper sign of civilization for weeks!" Asuka was actually in a bright mood for the first time in a long period. Misato took a deep breath of the fresh mountain air and enjoyed the wind's toying with her hair.

"Yes, and that means that we have to be extra careful." Misato looked at the young people in the wagon.

"She's right," Kensuke interjected. "Because of the housings and farmsteads it's more than likely that bands of orcs and other scum will be roaming the countryside." Asuka gave Kensuke a withering stare.

"And what makes you such an expert on this, human?" She snapped, Kensuke just snorted and cooly replied.

"Five years of experience in 'the trade'." He turned away to enjoy the beautiful view over the lowlands.

"A mercenary?! You scum!" Asuka voiced her opinion loudly. "You kill people for money, you're no better than an assassin or a murderer!" Kensuke turned his head around to face the elf once more and leveled a threatening look at her.

"You have no right to judge me, you loathsome, pointy-eared, female dog!" Asuka was baffled at the stinging verbal reiteration from the human and gaped for a second or two before aiming a punch at Kensuke. He deftly grabbed her arm and twisted.

"Stop that. I won't hurt you, but leave me be!" Kensuke growled and released Asuka's arm with a jerk, causing her to bump back against the side of the wagon she had had her back propped against.

Misato shook her head. It was going to a long ride to the capitol...



Author's note: So, this was a long one, hope you liked it. The next one will not be long in its coming. (Hopefully ^_^;;; )

And what happened to Rei? Will this mean anything? And how will Kensuke fit into the group? Can the friggin' trip take much longer? This and more will be answered in the next episode of 'The Swords of Evangelion.' NOW BOW YOUR HEAD AND PRAISE CUJO!!!!