I don't own Gundam Wing or Escaflowne. These are my interpretations of their characters. I don't want to make any money. Etc........
I updated this chapter to make it longer. So there is new stuff here. I'll post something at the beginning of the next chapter so that if you don't check this you can go back and catch up.
~C.C.Tom~
"Are you ready, Master Quatre?" Rashid called out from the cockpit. It was the second time in the last few minutes he had asked the question.
"I think so," the blonde replied, checking over his pack. Inside was equipment, food, clothing and various other items that he thought might be useful. Next to him, Trowa was following suit. Satisfied, the other boy looked up and gave him a slight nod.
"I'm ready when you are," he said, his voice betraying no sign of the eagerness that Quatre himself couldn't hide.
"All right then!" the young Emperor exclaimed. Quatre straitened and reached out a hand towards the closed door that led to the outside of the airship. With a heave, he pulled the sliding hatch open and sunlight streamed into the ship. With air whistling by them, Quatre's agitation jumped as he looked down at the countryside far below.
"Are you sure you don't want us to go with you?" Abdul asked loudly, the concern for his young master evident in his voice.
"I'm sure," Quatre replied, forced to yell over the sound of the wind, "This is something Trowa and I have to do alone!"
"If we're going to do this in one run, we need to go now," Trowa informed him, taking a step so that he was standing next to the doorway.
"Goodbye everyone!" Quatre said his farewells, "See you in a couple of weeks!"
With a curt nod to the crew, Trowa turned to face the outside world and, with only a moments hesitation, jumped off the ship. Quatre quickly stepped forward, taking a moment to glance downward. From the airship's height, the city seemed like the blocks he had been so fond of as a child. The cliffs and surrounding forests stretched out in the distance, coloring the landscape with every shade of brown and green imaginable.
Quatre took a deep breathe and, seizing his courage, leapt from the safety of the airship into the unknown.
Van ran across the marketplace, dodging pedestrians, caravans, and carts alike, yelling out a hurried apology to his citizens. Behind him, Hitomi and Merle struggled to keep up. In the sky he could see the shape of the unknown airship. The ship was almost directly in front of the sun causing Van to squint as he tried to get a better look. Suddenly, Van caught a glimpse of a small dark shape dropping out of the side of the transport. "Look there!" he called out, pointing a gloved hand at the dark silhouette, "I think it's a person."
As he spoke, Van spotted a second figure appear out of the side and begin its plummet towards the ground. As the young king forced his legs to move faster, he could begin to see the figures in more detail. The first one he recognized as Trowa, though he had abandoned the casual wear in favor of a more official looking garment. To his surprise, Van found he felt no aggression towards the deceitful character. Instead he only felt a drive to learn more about the strange boy's origins and mission. The second character was a younger looking blonde. He also was wearing a formal looking outfit, though it was billowing out in the winds created during the fall. Both were carrying bundles which Van assumed to be packs of supplies.
By now they were nearing the ground and Van realized that unless something happened both would crash into the earth. The youthful ruler suddenly realized he was outside the city and near the base of the hill on which the main road ran up. Behind him, Hitomi and Merle finally caught up and had stopped shortly behind him. "Any second now they were going to plummet into the ground," Van thought. As he watched, however, something he had been waiting for, though he did not know it, happened. From on Trowa's back, something began to unfurl. At first it was hard to tell what it was, but soon it was quite apparent.
Trowa's wings shot from his back and spread out, partially obscuring Van's view of the sun. The gray appendages slowed his descent, causing him to fly forward. With a few flaps, the Draconian's decent had all but stopped as he soared less than ten feet above the ground. To his joy, Van saw that the other boy had followed Trowa's example and his white wings were already slowing his fall.
Van could feel his back itching and without thinking about it, allowed his own wings to jut outwards, ripping his shirt. It was the second one to be destroyed in the last few weeks but Van was too transfixed by the sight of other members of his race to notice.
With a slight breeze, first Trowa, then the new character landed smoothly only a few feet in front of him. Van realized that they had both landed on one knee and both had lowered their heads. For a moment they just stood there, the three Draconians, their wings glistening in the slight. The blonde was the first to speak, "As a representative of the Dragon Clan I greet you Lord Van of Fanelia. I am Quatre Raberba Winner and this is my companion, Trowa Barton. We respectfully ask for permission to enter your city so that we may discuss the relationship of our two kingdoms. And," Quatre added, his face breaking out into a small smile, "so that we might become better aquatinted with one another."
Van found himself grinning like a child, "Then come, Quatre Raberba Winner and Trowa Barton. I welcome you to my country and hope that I can make your stay as pleasant as possible."
Trowa and Quatre straitened and Van stepped towards them to offer to take their gear when he noticed that their clothing was intact. Noticing his gaze, Quatre explained, "We have all our clothing custom made to prevent unnecessary damage."
"I see," Van replied wondering why he'd never thought of that. He was king after all. Despite himself, Van felt his cheeks going red.
As if sensing his discomfort, Quatre quickly changed subjects, "You have a beautiful country, Van Fanel."
Van smiled proudly, "Thank you. Yes, we've worked very hard to make it what it is today. And please, Van will be fine."
Quatre nodded and gave a friendly smile in return, "All right, Van. Feel free to call me Quatre."
As Trowa gathered the pair's equipment, Van allowed his wings to shrink back into his back. As the other two Draconians followed suit, the young king remembered that Hitomi and Merle were still waiting behind him. Turning, Van cleared his throat and began introductions. It appeared as though there would be a lot to talk about. Maybe soon he would finally learn more about his mother's side of the family.
Hitomi watched warily as Van spoke to the two boys. Though she trusted his judgment, she was suspicious of the two strangers. After all, Trowa had tried to kill her less than two weeks before. However, Hitomi knew how much learning about his past meant to Van. If he was willing to take the risk of inviting these outsiders into his city, then so was she.
Hitomi became aware of Merle tugging on her sleeve, "What is it?" she asked, looking down at the cat-girl.
"Who are those people talking to Master Van?" she asked impatiently, "Why do they have wings? Are they going to be staying with us?"
Hitomi shook her head and replied honestly, "I don't know, Merle. I don't know how this is going to all work out."
The teenage girl looked up and saw the Van was beckoning her with one hand. Hitomi saw that he was smiling. "Hitomi, Merle," he said, "I'd like to introduce you to Quatre Raberba Winner. Quatre, this is my girlfriend Hitomi Kanzaki and my friend since childhood, Merle."
Quatre smiled friendly and took her hand, bending over to kiss it. "Hello, Hitomi. It's a pleasure to meet you." Beside her, Merle made a slight noise and the blonde looked over with a slightly amused expression on his face. "And this must be Merle," he proceeded, getting down on one knee to look her straight in the eye.
Merle put her hands on her hips, looking at the two strangers with a distrustful expression, "What do you want with Master Van?" she demanded.
Quatre laughed and opened his mouth to answer but before he could, Trowa responded, the first time he had said anything since their arrival, "We want to discuss a possible alliance with him between Fanelia and the Dragon Clan."
Merle looked over at the other boy and glared, "Why did you attack Hitomi and I in the forest?" she asked angrily. Hitomi looked over at Van who had stopped smiling now and was looking over at Trowa with a hard look on his face.
"Why did you launch that ambush?" he asked, some of the old anger coming back into his voice.
Trowa lowered his gaze slightly but replied without faltering, "I was under orders to assess Van Fanel's threat to my clan. Hitomi was getting suspicious so I had no choice but to try and get rid of her. I'm truly sorry for that incident. I didn't know that Van was one of our people."
"So if he had just been a normal person you wouldn't even care?" Hitomi asked angrily, surprising herself as well as Van with her aggression.
"I was just following orders," Trowa repeated looking up and locking eyes with her. To Hitomi's surprise there was no anger there, not even annoyance. They was just a lack of feeling, either cruelty or kindness. She found herself taking a step backwards involuntarily.
Quatre tried to salvage the situation, "Let's try to move on," he said, "I'm sure none of us have any intent of doing any harm. I am sorry about that unfortunate accident, Hitomi. Please believe me," the blonde begged.
To her surprise, Hitomi found that she did. Maybe it was the earnest expression that bought her over, but she found herself believing the Draconian's honest words. Hitomi searched her heart and found that she had no feelings of hate towards her past aggressor. That didn't mean, however, that she trusted him. "It is all right," she replied, and then added lamely, "but don't let it happen again."
Ignoring the poor wording, Quatre quickly responded, "It won't!" he reassured her passionately.
Van took a step towards her and took her hand in his. "Why don't we go ahead and go to the palace?"
"That's an excellent idea," Quatre beamed, "I hope that we aren't too much of a bother."
"Not at all," Van shook his head, "In fact I am glad to have finally met more members of my race. My mother disappeared when I was very young and my father died not long after."
"I'm sorry," Quatre apologized, his face showing genuine sorrow.
Van nodded, accepting the condolences, "Thank you. It was a tough time. The point is that I never found out very much about my heritage."
"Then we will have a lot to talk about," Trowa said quietly from behind them. By now, they had reached the great gates to Fanelia. They were still open from when Van had ran through and several guards were waiting for him.
"Lord Van!" one of them saluted.
"The situation is under control, Captain," Van informed, "We have two new guests who will be staying with us for a while. I want you to treat them with the utmost respect. They are representatives from the 'Dragon Clan' and are here to discuss a possible alliance."
"I understand!" the loyal soldier saluted as the small company walked through the entrance and into the city.
"This is the heart of Fanelia," Van explained as they walked through the bustling marketplace, attracting the attention of many of the locals. Hitomi watched as several elderly women began murmuring amongst each other. Rumors were already beginning to blossom.
"Master Van! Master Van!" Merle jumped up and down, having just returned from where she had ran ahead of the group. Hitomi saw that in her hand she was waving a letter. Looking more closely, Hitomi saw that the wax seal bore the emblem of Asturia.
"What is it?" Van asked as Merle leapt into his arms, causing him to briefly let go of Hitomi's hand.
"It's a letter from Allen!" Merle declared, waving the message excitedly. Hitomi perked up on hearing Allen's name. A bubble of confused, unintelligible emotions burst to the surface of Hitomi's heart. A friend, that was what Allen was to her now. She and Van had confessed their feelings for each other and were a couple. "Besides," Hitomi thought, "I'm sure Allen has found someone by now. Maybe he and Millerna have finally sorted through their feelings."
By now Van had taken the letter and pulled out a knife to open it. With a flick of his wrist, the young king cut the seal and pulled out the paper. Lifting it up, Van began reading. Hitomi saw various expressions flicker across his face. When he was finished, Van put the parchment away.
"What's it say?" Merle asked, voicing the general question everyone had been thinking.
"Allen wants me to go to Asturia to discuss a possible threat to the peace. He didn't say what it was, only that it could destroy all that we've worked so hard to achieve. He's sending the Crusade in one week to transport me to Asturia."
Suddenly, Hitomi remembered her dreams and fear gripped her heart. "Van," she exclaimed softly. The young Draconian's face was filled with cold determination. Then, abruptly his face lifted.
"Come," he said, putting a smile on his face, "I'll show you to your rooms."
"Thank you," Quatre replied, following Van up the steps of the castle. Hitomi knew that Van's smile was forced and he was already thinking about what kind of threat would cause Allen to ask for his return to Asturia. Whatever it was, Hitomi knew that it had something to do with her strange dreams and the figure she saw in them. Whatever the threat was though, she was confident that she and Van could face it together. They would have to, or all of Gaea would suffer.
I updated this chapter to make it longer. So there is new stuff here. I'll post something at the beginning of the next chapter so that if you don't check this you can go back and catch up.
~C.C.Tom~
"Are you ready, Master Quatre?" Rashid called out from the cockpit. It was the second time in the last few minutes he had asked the question.
"I think so," the blonde replied, checking over his pack. Inside was equipment, food, clothing and various other items that he thought might be useful. Next to him, Trowa was following suit. Satisfied, the other boy looked up and gave him a slight nod.
"I'm ready when you are," he said, his voice betraying no sign of the eagerness that Quatre himself couldn't hide.
"All right then!" the young Emperor exclaimed. Quatre straitened and reached out a hand towards the closed door that led to the outside of the airship. With a heave, he pulled the sliding hatch open and sunlight streamed into the ship. With air whistling by them, Quatre's agitation jumped as he looked down at the countryside far below.
"Are you sure you don't want us to go with you?" Abdul asked loudly, the concern for his young master evident in his voice.
"I'm sure," Quatre replied, forced to yell over the sound of the wind, "This is something Trowa and I have to do alone!"
"If we're going to do this in one run, we need to go now," Trowa informed him, taking a step so that he was standing next to the doorway.
"Goodbye everyone!" Quatre said his farewells, "See you in a couple of weeks!"
With a curt nod to the crew, Trowa turned to face the outside world and, with only a moments hesitation, jumped off the ship. Quatre quickly stepped forward, taking a moment to glance downward. From the airship's height, the city seemed like the blocks he had been so fond of as a child. The cliffs and surrounding forests stretched out in the distance, coloring the landscape with every shade of brown and green imaginable.
Quatre took a deep breathe and, seizing his courage, leapt from the safety of the airship into the unknown.
Van ran across the marketplace, dodging pedestrians, caravans, and carts alike, yelling out a hurried apology to his citizens. Behind him, Hitomi and Merle struggled to keep up. In the sky he could see the shape of the unknown airship. The ship was almost directly in front of the sun causing Van to squint as he tried to get a better look. Suddenly, Van caught a glimpse of a small dark shape dropping out of the side of the transport. "Look there!" he called out, pointing a gloved hand at the dark silhouette, "I think it's a person."
As he spoke, Van spotted a second figure appear out of the side and begin its plummet towards the ground. As the young king forced his legs to move faster, he could begin to see the figures in more detail. The first one he recognized as Trowa, though he had abandoned the casual wear in favor of a more official looking garment. To his surprise, Van found he felt no aggression towards the deceitful character. Instead he only felt a drive to learn more about the strange boy's origins and mission. The second character was a younger looking blonde. He also was wearing a formal looking outfit, though it was billowing out in the winds created during the fall. Both were carrying bundles which Van assumed to be packs of supplies.
By now they were nearing the ground and Van realized that unless something happened both would crash into the earth. The youthful ruler suddenly realized he was outside the city and near the base of the hill on which the main road ran up. Behind him, Hitomi and Merle finally caught up and had stopped shortly behind him. "Any second now they were going to plummet into the ground," Van thought. As he watched, however, something he had been waiting for, though he did not know it, happened. From on Trowa's back, something began to unfurl. At first it was hard to tell what it was, but soon it was quite apparent.
Trowa's wings shot from his back and spread out, partially obscuring Van's view of the sun. The gray appendages slowed his descent, causing him to fly forward. With a few flaps, the Draconian's decent had all but stopped as he soared less than ten feet above the ground. To his joy, Van saw that the other boy had followed Trowa's example and his white wings were already slowing his fall.
Van could feel his back itching and without thinking about it, allowed his own wings to jut outwards, ripping his shirt. It was the second one to be destroyed in the last few weeks but Van was too transfixed by the sight of other members of his race to notice.
With a slight breeze, first Trowa, then the new character landed smoothly only a few feet in front of him. Van realized that they had both landed on one knee and both had lowered their heads. For a moment they just stood there, the three Draconians, their wings glistening in the slight. The blonde was the first to speak, "As a representative of the Dragon Clan I greet you Lord Van of Fanelia. I am Quatre Raberba Winner and this is my companion, Trowa Barton. We respectfully ask for permission to enter your city so that we may discuss the relationship of our two kingdoms. And," Quatre added, his face breaking out into a small smile, "so that we might become better aquatinted with one another."
Van found himself grinning like a child, "Then come, Quatre Raberba Winner and Trowa Barton. I welcome you to my country and hope that I can make your stay as pleasant as possible."
Trowa and Quatre straitened and Van stepped towards them to offer to take their gear when he noticed that their clothing was intact. Noticing his gaze, Quatre explained, "We have all our clothing custom made to prevent unnecessary damage."
"I see," Van replied wondering why he'd never thought of that. He was king after all. Despite himself, Van felt his cheeks going red.
As if sensing his discomfort, Quatre quickly changed subjects, "You have a beautiful country, Van Fanel."
Van smiled proudly, "Thank you. Yes, we've worked very hard to make it what it is today. And please, Van will be fine."
Quatre nodded and gave a friendly smile in return, "All right, Van. Feel free to call me Quatre."
As Trowa gathered the pair's equipment, Van allowed his wings to shrink back into his back. As the other two Draconians followed suit, the young king remembered that Hitomi and Merle were still waiting behind him. Turning, Van cleared his throat and began introductions. It appeared as though there would be a lot to talk about. Maybe soon he would finally learn more about his mother's side of the family.
Hitomi watched warily as Van spoke to the two boys. Though she trusted his judgment, she was suspicious of the two strangers. After all, Trowa had tried to kill her less than two weeks before. However, Hitomi knew how much learning about his past meant to Van. If he was willing to take the risk of inviting these outsiders into his city, then so was she.
Hitomi became aware of Merle tugging on her sleeve, "What is it?" she asked, looking down at the cat-girl.
"Who are those people talking to Master Van?" she asked impatiently, "Why do they have wings? Are they going to be staying with us?"
Hitomi shook her head and replied honestly, "I don't know, Merle. I don't know how this is going to all work out."
The teenage girl looked up and saw the Van was beckoning her with one hand. Hitomi saw that he was smiling. "Hitomi, Merle," he said, "I'd like to introduce you to Quatre Raberba Winner. Quatre, this is my girlfriend Hitomi Kanzaki and my friend since childhood, Merle."
Quatre smiled friendly and took her hand, bending over to kiss it. "Hello, Hitomi. It's a pleasure to meet you." Beside her, Merle made a slight noise and the blonde looked over with a slightly amused expression on his face. "And this must be Merle," he proceeded, getting down on one knee to look her straight in the eye.
Merle put her hands on her hips, looking at the two strangers with a distrustful expression, "What do you want with Master Van?" she demanded.
Quatre laughed and opened his mouth to answer but before he could, Trowa responded, the first time he had said anything since their arrival, "We want to discuss a possible alliance with him between Fanelia and the Dragon Clan."
Merle looked over at the other boy and glared, "Why did you attack Hitomi and I in the forest?" she asked angrily. Hitomi looked over at Van who had stopped smiling now and was looking over at Trowa with a hard look on his face.
"Why did you launch that ambush?" he asked, some of the old anger coming back into his voice.
Trowa lowered his gaze slightly but replied without faltering, "I was under orders to assess Van Fanel's threat to my clan. Hitomi was getting suspicious so I had no choice but to try and get rid of her. I'm truly sorry for that incident. I didn't know that Van was one of our people."
"So if he had just been a normal person you wouldn't even care?" Hitomi asked angrily, surprising herself as well as Van with her aggression.
"I was just following orders," Trowa repeated looking up and locking eyes with her. To Hitomi's surprise there was no anger there, not even annoyance. They was just a lack of feeling, either cruelty or kindness. She found herself taking a step backwards involuntarily.
Quatre tried to salvage the situation, "Let's try to move on," he said, "I'm sure none of us have any intent of doing any harm. I am sorry about that unfortunate accident, Hitomi. Please believe me," the blonde begged.
To her surprise, Hitomi found that she did. Maybe it was the earnest expression that bought her over, but she found herself believing the Draconian's honest words. Hitomi searched her heart and found that she had no feelings of hate towards her past aggressor. That didn't mean, however, that she trusted him. "It is all right," she replied, and then added lamely, "but don't let it happen again."
Ignoring the poor wording, Quatre quickly responded, "It won't!" he reassured her passionately.
Van took a step towards her and took her hand in his. "Why don't we go ahead and go to the palace?"
"That's an excellent idea," Quatre beamed, "I hope that we aren't too much of a bother."
"Not at all," Van shook his head, "In fact I am glad to have finally met more members of my race. My mother disappeared when I was very young and my father died not long after."
"I'm sorry," Quatre apologized, his face showing genuine sorrow.
Van nodded, accepting the condolences, "Thank you. It was a tough time. The point is that I never found out very much about my heritage."
"Then we will have a lot to talk about," Trowa said quietly from behind them. By now, they had reached the great gates to Fanelia. They were still open from when Van had ran through and several guards were waiting for him.
"Lord Van!" one of them saluted.
"The situation is under control, Captain," Van informed, "We have two new guests who will be staying with us for a while. I want you to treat them with the utmost respect. They are representatives from the 'Dragon Clan' and are here to discuss a possible alliance."
"I understand!" the loyal soldier saluted as the small company walked through the entrance and into the city.
"This is the heart of Fanelia," Van explained as they walked through the bustling marketplace, attracting the attention of many of the locals. Hitomi watched as several elderly women began murmuring amongst each other. Rumors were already beginning to blossom.
"Master Van! Master Van!" Merle jumped up and down, having just returned from where she had ran ahead of the group. Hitomi saw that in her hand she was waving a letter. Looking more closely, Hitomi saw that the wax seal bore the emblem of Asturia.
"What is it?" Van asked as Merle leapt into his arms, causing him to briefly let go of Hitomi's hand.
"It's a letter from Allen!" Merle declared, waving the message excitedly. Hitomi perked up on hearing Allen's name. A bubble of confused, unintelligible emotions burst to the surface of Hitomi's heart. A friend, that was what Allen was to her now. She and Van had confessed their feelings for each other and were a couple. "Besides," Hitomi thought, "I'm sure Allen has found someone by now. Maybe he and Millerna have finally sorted through their feelings."
By now Van had taken the letter and pulled out a knife to open it. With a flick of his wrist, the young king cut the seal and pulled out the paper. Lifting it up, Van began reading. Hitomi saw various expressions flicker across his face. When he was finished, Van put the parchment away.
"What's it say?" Merle asked, voicing the general question everyone had been thinking.
"Allen wants me to go to Asturia to discuss a possible threat to the peace. He didn't say what it was, only that it could destroy all that we've worked so hard to achieve. He's sending the Crusade in one week to transport me to Asturia."
Suddenly, Hitomi remembered her dreams and fear gripped her heart. "Van," she exclaimed softly. The young Draconian's face was filled with cold determination. Then, abruptly his face lifted.
"Come," he said, putting a smile on his face, "I'll show you to your rooms."
"Thank you," Quatre replied, following Van up the steps of the castle. Hitomi knew that Van's smile was forced and he was already thinking about what kind of threat would cause Allen to ask for his return to Asturia. Whatever it was, Hitomi knew that it had something to do with her strange dreams and the figure she saw in them. Whatever the threat was though, she was confident that she and Van could face it together. They would have to, or all of Gaea would suffer.