This chapter is relatively transitional...
Note- Whenever Shanti's in the presence of someone other that just Gatti, he'll be referred to as he/him/etc..
Tenkuu no Ryuugekitai - Kodomo no Yakusoku
It took Shanti only a second to realize just how suggestive he and Gatti
looked. They were both casually seated on the ground, close together; Shanti
with his head resting on Gatti's chest, who in turn had been running his
fingers through the other's red hair.
Not exactly how two soldiers should be. Flicking his bangs out of his eyes,
Shanti squinted as the bright sun hit his face and sensed Gatti move away from
him. The fiery-haired Dragon Slayer brought his hand to shield his eyes, and
managed to make out a distinct outline. He paled as he recognized the
silhouette. Dragon Slayer uniform, arms crossed... arrogant, indignant pose...
Shanti heard Gatti sharply inhale as they simultaneously realized who it was.
From beside him, the Highlander heard Gatti voice the name with an edge of
fear.
'Dalet.'
*****
Migel stood, staring into Mikyla's dark eyes. She was looking up at him with a
smile, holding his hands.
'What did you want to tell me, Migel?' she asked him. The boy opened his mouth
to speak, but was interrupted by a delighted cry from Mikyla at something
behind him. Turning around, Migel could see Dante coming towards them. Mikyla
brushed past the chestnut-haired boy and embraced the other. Migel reached out
to the girl, to tell her what he had to say...but she and Dante started to walk
away.
'No, Mikyla! Wait!' he cried, but she couldn't hear him. 'Mikyla! Come back,
please!' Migel tried to run after her, but was frozen in his spot.
'Goodbye, Migel...' She was moving further away... away from him...
'Don't leave me, Mikyla! Don't leave me alone! MIKYLA!!'
Migel's eyes shot open with a start. His throat ached like he had been trying
to scream.
It was only a dream. The boy ran his fingers through his hair and took a
deep, somewhat pained breath. Lightly tanned hands reached up to rub grey-green
eyes. Migel looked around his room. Nothing. He listened for the familiar sound
of Mikyla's quiet singing of some inane song. Nothing. Suddenly, he remembered.
She had been arrested and brought to a Freid prison. Arrested for harbouring a
Zaibach 'spy'. His fingers clenched in a tight fist as he thought angrily about
Dante.
If he hadn't come, this wouldn't have happened. If he hadn't shown, she
would still be here. Migel immediately felt guilty. How could he think that
about his fellow Dragon Slayer like that? Dante, with whom he had fought
alongside with... who would at last take him home.
If he wanted to go home. Shaking his head, Migel wondered where that thought
had come from. Of course he wanted to go home!
Didn't he?
You don't want to leave.
What?
You don't want to be healed. You want to stay here.
The Dragon Slayer shook his head. He didn't!
You do. You wish Dante hadn't come so you could stay here with Mikyla.
No! No, it's not like that!
You hope that he dies. If he dies, you'll have Mikyla, and you'll stay.
Migel clutched his head, silently screaming. That's not true! THAT'S NOT
TRUE! he cried at the voice in his head. He didn't feel anything for the girl;
she was just his caretaker. The Slayer calmed down, brooding on that one
thought.
A soldier of Zaibach does not feel. he reassured himself. A soldier
does not love.
Migel shook his head. He was thinking too much. As he sat himself up, Mikyla's
mother came into the room.
'Oh, so you are awake. Do you know where Mikyla is?' she asked. The Slayer
reached for his pen and wrote on a scrap piece of paper. The woman's eyes
widened as she read his scribbled message.
'Arrested? She was taken to the Freid prison?' He nodded. With a worried look,
the mother grabbed her cloak with the obvious intent of giving the Freidan
soldiers a piece of her mind. Migel watched bemusedly as she stomped off, a
woman on a mission. He settled back down against the soft pillows and stared up
at the ceiling.
The white kitten mewed at him, appearing at his bedside. Migel reached down and
picked it up, setting it down beside him where it snuggled against the warm
body and purred. As he stroked its fur, he prayed Mikyla would return safely.
Please be alright.
*****
Rubbing her eyes, Mikyla sighed. She was still in the cold, dark cell. She
flicked a deep violet strand out of her face and looked down at the sleeping
form on her lap. Dante had stirred only twice since he had been thrown into her
cell. Mikyla had taken off her white coat and ripped it up to bandage the poor
boy's thrashed body. Blood had soaked through the makeshift bandages - she
would have to get some fresh ones very soon. She shivered.
I wish I had a fire. Mikyla blinked as she felt Dante twitch, and looked
down at him. His eyes fluttered open and he looked up at her with a weak smile.
''Morning, 'Ky...' His voice sounded pain-filled. The doctor-in-training
returned his smile.
'Did you have a nice sleep?' The Slayer nodded, and winced. He looked down at
his bandaged torso and arms. Bright red lines seeped through the white strips
where the whip had bit into his skin. Mikyla had done her best to clean up the
wounds and bandage them, but the bleeding was starting again.
'It hurts, 'Ky,' The dark-eyed girl forced a reassuring smile as she noticed
the tears starting to form in the boy's eyes.
'Don't worry. We'll get out of here soon.'
'What if... I don't make it...?' he asked quietly. Mikyla frowned and put her
finger on his lips.
'Don't talk like that. You'll be fine.'
''Ky...you have to tell Master Dilandau...Migel's alive...' He sounded so
weak... the girl poked his nose.
'Silly. Stop
trying to be so brave. You can tell Dilandau when we get out of here.' Dante
nodded slightly, then his eyes rolled back as he lost consciousness. With a
sigh, Mikyla rocked him very gently. 'Just hang on, love...we'll get out of
here soon.'
The girl hummed a nonsensical song to cheer herself up, trying to ignore the
dread growing in the deepest part of her heart.
Dante might not live to see their freedom.
*****
'I see you slept well.' Dalet's voice cut through the silence like a blade.
Gatti struggled lethargically to his feet.
'It's not what you think, Dalet...you don't know the whole story.' From the
deadly glint in those lilac eyes, Gatti knew Dalet would be impossible to
reason with. 'It was cold last night, you know that.' He didn't understand...
Dalet was over-reacting. They were just sleeping close together.
'Since when did you care I do?' Shanti had stood up and had narrowed one eye at
Dalet. The Slayer tossed his dark brown hair arrogantly and fixed a glare on
the shorter boy.
'I think everyone has a right to know if there's a raging queer amongst us.' He
narrowed his eyes with a sneer. 'Especially if you start necking in the hall.
Who knows who'll be next on your list, stick.' he spat with a look of disgust.
Shanti's narrowed eye went even smaller. Gatti suddenly realized why Dalet was
acting like that.
'You saw him kissing me, didn't you?' From Dalet's jaw twitching, he knew that
was it. 'Dalet, you don't know everything. I'm not like that.'
'Oh, I know Gatti. You were just pulled in by this... this freak.' In a flash,
Shanti's gloved hand connected with Dalet's cheek with a resounding smack. The
dark-haired Slayer touched his face with a look of surprise, then with a snarl
unsheathed his sword and brought it to Shanti's throat. The Slayer tried to
look uncaring, but having a blade against his neck... like that night...
'Dalet...put it down,' Gatti saw the hysterical fear in his friend's eyes, and
the glee in Dalet's, who pressed the blade closer against the Highlander's
flesh. Shanti let out a small, terrified whimper.
'DALET! What in hell are you doing?!' Dalet spun around to see Dilandau
glaring at him, his magenta eyes ablaze. With one last seething glare at
Shanti, Dalet sheathed his sword and turned to his commander, bowing his head.
'Forgive me, sir. We were just fooling around.' Dilandau struck him across the
face and turned to glare at Gatti and a slightly neurotic Shanti.
'Where have you been?'
'We were at the lake here when it started to rain. I told Shanti to stay here
until it stopped, and we fell asleep.' Clearly not in a good mood, the pale
commander backhanded Gatti.
'Return to the camp now, and do not leave again.' The three Dragon Slayers
muttered a 'yes sir' and Dilandau stalked away. As they started to follow him,
Dalet turned to Shanti and mockingly ran a finger across his neck, hissing,
'This isn't over, stick.'
*****
There was a sound of keys jingling together, then a door opening. Mikyla woke
up from her dozing to see a guard looking at her. Behind him was her mother.
'Mama!'
'Come, Mikyla, we're leaving.' Mikyla looked down at Dante, who was still unconscious.
Her mother noticed and entered the cell to help her carry the boy out. Putting
his arms around their shoulders, the two women half-carried, half-dragged the
wounded boy out of the cell.
'If you ever set foot in my hospice again, I will personally see you flogged.'
Mikyla's mother gave the soldier a glare that made him flinch. Her nose in the
air, she continued walking with her daughter, the boy supported between them.
Soon, they had left the prison. As they walked home, Mikyla noticed her mother
seething.
'Mama, are you angry with me?'
'No, Mikyla. I'm angry at what has happened to this city. They had no right to
punish him, even if he was from Zaibach.' The two continued their journey in
silence until they reached their home. They brought the Dragon Slayer inside
and rested him down on a bed.
'Let's take a look now,' the mother looked over Dante, and started to take the
bandages off him. 'Fetch me bandages and the green bottle off the top shelf,
and heat some water. Quickly, now!' As Mikyla scampered off, the woman removed
the red, sticky strips of fabric from Dante and looked over his cuts.
He must have been whipped at least thirteen times, maybe even twenty. It's a
miracle he's survived this long,
Mikyla returned with a bowl of hot water and a cloth, as well as a few rolls of
bandages and a green bottle.
'Good, now sit him up so I can clean the cuts.' her mother instructed. Mikyla
nodded, and gently pushed Dante into a sitting position, holding his limp body
by under his arms. The older woman dipped the cloth in the water and began to
clean the seeping cuts. By the time she had finished, the bowl was filled with
water almost as thick and bright as blood. As she got a clean cloth, Dante let
out a groan and opened his eyes.
'Where...?'
'We're home. I told you, didn't I?' Mikyla grinned at him, and he returned it
weakly. Her mother opened the green bottle and poured some horrible-smelling,
dark liquid onto the cloth.
'Now hold him tight, Mikyla. This will sting a bit.' she added, looking at
Dante. The Dragon Slayer nodded and tensed as she put the cloth on a cut.
'DAAAH!! That HURTS!!' He writhed in Mikyla's arms as the stinging
sensation shot through him like lightning. The girl held onto him gently, but
firmly as her mother started to disinfect the whip marks. Dante moaned and
cried as the pain seemed to keep on building until he could stand it no more
and fainted. Finished a couple minutes later, the mother wrapped the clean
cloth around his torso and arms and they carried him to a bed.
'Is he going to be alright, Mama? The truth.' The deep violet-haired girl asked
the doctor. Her mother forced a smile for her.
'We'll see, Mikyla.' She gave her daughter a hug. 'You did everything right
when you cleaned him up and bandaged his wounds. However, he's lost a lot of
blood. I put some antibiotics on the cuts, but there's still a chance they
might get infected. I'll make a medicine tea for him to take, but you'll have
to watch him very carefully.' Mikyla nodded and, with one last glance at the
unconscious Dante, left the room.
***
'Migel...?' Those grey-green eyes shot open as the boy sat up and stared at
her. His face broke into a happy grin.
Mikyla! Migel's grin faded as he saw the look in her eyes. Seeing his
expression clearly asking what was wrong, Mikyla walked over and sat down
beside him.
'They took us to prison - they didn't talk to me, but they questioned Dante,'
She suddenly broke into tears. 'They. ..they whipped him, Migel... and... Mama
said that he...he might,' She put her face in her hands and started to sob. The
boy, unused to such a display of emotion, awkwardly put a hand on her shoulder.
Mikyla fell against him, crying onto his shoulder. Migel blinked, and stiffly
put his arms around her. Feeling a pang of sympathy, he relaxed his arms and
held the girl against him.
This is what you wanted, isn't it Migel? He might die. The voice
in his head appeared again, jeering at him. Migel calmly told the voice to shut
up, and rubbed Mikyla's back reassuringly.
It's alright, Mikyla... I'm here.
*****
As soon as he saw them, Shesta broke into a grin and ran over to Shanti and
Gatti.
'Where have you been? We were so worried about you!' Guimel followed, and stood
beside the short blond boy.
'Yeah, you should have seen Shesta here. I thought we were going to have to gag
him. 'Where are they? Did you see where they went?'' he said, mimicking the
boy. However, Gatti could see the relief in Guimel's eyes, and wondered if the
fluffy-haired Slayer had been doing the same. Shesta turned to say something to
Dalet, who had been in front of them, but he was stalking off.
'What's wrong with Dalet?' he asked. Shanti's features darkened, and Gatti gave
him a secretive look before turning to Shesta.
'Oh, he probably didn't get much sleep last night. Did you hear the thunder?'
the ash-blond boy replied, smoothly changing the subject. Shesta's eyes widened
as he nodded enthusiastically.
'Oh, yes! It kept me up so late! And the lightning, too! I bet it was only
about 10 costa away!' As Guimel argued the exact distance of the lightning with
Shesta, Gatti snuck a glance at Shanti and finally noticed how white he had
gone. He reached out and put his hand on the other's shoulder with a smile,
trying to calm his friend. The Slayer stiffened under his touch and moved away.
Gatti looked at Shanti with a hurt expression in his grey eyes, but the
Highlander had retreated into his own world.
'What?'
'I asked what you did last night, Gatti. You don't look that wet.' Shesta's
innocent blue eyes were staring into his own.
'Ah... we took shelter under a tree,' he replied absently, wishing he could have
a moment alone with Shanti. He wanted to know what was wrong with the
red-haired 'boy'. Suddenly, Viole came running up and tapped Guimel on the
shoulder. Shesta and Guimel both turning their attention to the extremely tall,
dark-curled boy, Gatti grabbed Shanti and pulled him away from the group. He
dragged the spaced-out Slayer towards a group of trees, far from the prying
eyes of his fellow Dragon Slayers.
'Tell me what's wrong.'
'I don't know what you mean,' Shanti said in a distant voice. Gatti grabbed her
by the shoulders and shook her gently.
'Don't be difficult. I know that you're scared of what Dalet might do,' The
Highlander's eyes narrowed, her jaw setting. She was going into stubborn-mode.
The boy sighed and continued.
'Look, no matter what happens, you can always trust me. I'll protect you.'
Shanti blinked, went to say something, stopped, went to say something else, and
stopped again. Gatti smiled inwardly; for once she didn't know what to say. She
looked kind of pretty with her mouth gaping open like that...
'Hey! Gatti!' Guimel's fluffy head appeared from around a tree, followed by
Shesta's and Viole's. They looked fearful.
'What's wrong?'
'Is Dante!' Viole tugged one of his dark curls worriedly. 'People is sayin' he
never came back this mornin'!'
'What?'
'He's gone!'