*An~Unexpected~Ally*
~Chapter 4~
Dilandau turned slowly, barely breathing, and waited to see who was coming through the woods. The form soon came through the woods, and Dilandau felt relief pour through him.
"It's just Alex's horse." He sighed as the black horse walked over towards them,
looking throughly spooked. He noticed that the saddle and bridle were still on the horse and he
took it as a sign. He managed to swing up into the saddle with Alex in his arms. The horse pinned
it's ears back, but Dilandau managed to calm him down and headed out of the woods. He brought
the horse out of the gallop and stopped as he looked up to look for the Vione and frustration built
up as he saw it quite a distance away. "Even if I ride at a full gallop for 2 days, it'll still be too far away." He muttered, swinging down out of the saddle and laying Alex down. He lead the tired
horse down to a stream and let him drink. He looked around at the clearing they were in and
sighed. He heard rustling and turned to see Alex sitting up slowly and looking around, the turned
back to look up at the sky. She stood up and walked over to them, a look of surprise on her
face when she saw Dilandau holding her horse's reins. He hadn't noticed she was standing behind
him yet, so she walked over and ran her hands over the horses back, which made him instantly
lift his head and rub it against her shoulder.
"Where did you find Black Diamond?" She asked as she stroked her horse's neck.
"Actually, he found me." He said quietly as he handed her the reins. She pulled off the bridle and saddle and let the horse wander around.
"So, what are we going to do now?" She asked as she looked up at the sky, where
the Vione used to be, but had now disappeared from sight.
"I guess we'll have to stay here tonight. We're far enough away from the place
where the dragons-" He stopped quickly. "It's too dark to carry on, so we'll head for Zaibach's
capital tomorrow." She looked over at him as she kneeled over her saddle and pulled her back
pack off.
"Why should we head there?" She demanded.
"Because it's closest and I said we are." He snapped. She sighed and turned
back to her bag. "I'll go track down something to eat." Dilandau muttered, walking away.
She watched him leave then turned and started a fire.
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When Dilandau returned with their dinner, he couldn't find Alex anywhere.
He set down the kill by the fire she had roaring and looked around. "Her horse is still
here, so she didn't leave." He started to walk through the woods, looking for her. "Then
where is she?" He pushed some branches of a large drooping tree out of the way and
found a small lake with a beautiful waterfall. He looked down at the sand on the edge
of the lake and was shocked to find Alex's clothes neatly folded on a rock and her
sword still clipped onto her belt with the belt draped over a nearby tree branch.
"I-if her clothes are right here..." *anime sweatdrop* "Then that means that she's..."
He slowly looked out into the middle of the lake and saw...
Dilandau pulled back quickly, blushing furiously. He shook his head and
walked back to the clearing.
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Soon Alex came back, drying her wet hair. She entered the clearing and saw
Dilandau had already cooked the meat. He looked up at the sound of her coming in and quickly looked away, a deep blush spreading across his face. She sat down on the other side of the fire
across from him and took a piece of meat.
"There's a nice lake a little distance away from here. It's perfect for washing up in.
I just did." She said, shaking her hair back. This caused Dilandau's blush to increase even more.
He then looked at her suspiciously.
"Why are you in such a good mood all of a sudden? Why aren't you tossing insults
at me like usual?" She looked over at him.
"Why are you blushing?" Alex retaliated. He jumped, then nervously bit his lower
lip tightly.
"What are you talking about?" She pointed to him.
"You're blushing." He looked away.
"N-no I'm not. What do I have to blush about?"
"Well, you blush everytime I mention the lake." His face went redder then his
eyes. "See?! You're doing it again!" She frowned for a moment, then shrugged. "Oh well. I'm
sure I don't even want to know." Alex then turned back to the fire and Dilandau sighed with
relief. *If she found out that I saw her, she'd have my head on a platinum platter.*
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*4~hours~later*
Alex stirred and sat up, stretching. She looked over to where Dilandau had been
sitting when she fell asleep and saw he wasn't there anymore. Looking up at the sky, she saw
that it was the middle of the night. Alex couldn't see Dilandau anywhere, so she stood up. She
walked over to the lake and climbed up the cliff beside the waterfall. She sat down on the
edge and hung her legs over the edge, looking over the woods.
"Couldn't sleep either?" A voice said behind her. She turned and saw Dilandau
standing behind her. She quickly stood up and brushed herself off.
"No. I take it you went exploring as well?"
"Yeah. Your horse has taken off somewhere, you know."
"He stays in earshot at all times and all I have to do to call him is whistle. He's
fine by himself." Dilandau looked down at her.
"You seem nervous about something." She rubbed her arm, looking down at the
ground.
"I-I had a strange dream." She explained quietly, sounding almost ashamed
about it.
"What do you mean strange?"
"Well..." She trailed off and looked away. "It's the same dream that I've been
having since I was first taken from my home by Zaibach. There's this boy, about 15, standing
in front of me, half turned and looking over his shoulder at me. He looks like the boy you
were battling on the Vione in the last battle, with his slightly tousled raven black hair. The
only difference is he has these piercing ice blue eyes. He also has a crossbow over his
shoulder. The entire time he just, stands there, staring at me. His eyes, they, they seem so, I
don't know, it's just something about them. It gives me a chill. They seem powerful, yet
pained, as if they are in need of help, but have too much pride to ask for it." She shuddered
and rubbed her arms as if she were trying to warm them up. Suddenly they heard a shrill
whinny and an answering roar. "Oh no!! Black Diamond!!" Alex gasped, and slid down the
side of the cliff, then took off into the woods. She looked back and saw that Dilandau was
right behind her. Turning back, she saw Diamond in a clearing backing up quickly and rearing
at something every few minutes. At a closer distance, she saw it was a dragon nine feet taller
then her. It would snap it's jaws and strike out at Diamond, who was backing up quickly. She
drew her sword and ran at the dragon. It turned and saw her as she jumped up and pointed the
sword straight down towards it's back. But she had forgotten about the tail and Dilandau
watched in shock as the quickly twisted it's tail around her, holding her there tightly. She
struggled to getloose but failed. Alex gasped as her sword slipped from her hand and clattered
to the ground. She then looked behind her and gasped again, then looked over at Dilandau. "Dilandau!! This dragon's got two tails!!" Dilandau was surprised.
"Two tails?" He hissed. "Well, I don't care if he has two tails or four." Dilandau slowly pulled out his sword so as not to attract the dragon's attention.
"Black Diamond! Get out of here!!" The horse couldn't move from where the dragon had cornered it. Alex shut her eyes tightly. "Black Diamond, come on!! Get out of here!!" She heard Dilandau charge and the dragon's other tail whipped out. She opened her eyes to see Dilandau beside her. "I told you these dragons wern't normal." She said with annoyance in her voice. She gasped and turned back to Diamond. "Black Diamond, we have no choice. We'll have to have you transform and beat the dragon on your own!" Dilandau looked over at her.
"What do you mean transform?!" She didn't respond to him, just kept on staring at the horse. Dilandau looked at Black Diamond in time to see an amazing sight. Black Diamond tossed his magificent head and Dilandau watched in shock as an elegant horn appeared just below his forlock and ebony wings unfurled from his back. "What in the Gods creation?!" Black Diamond faced the dragon and took to the air so he was above the dragon. The huge reptile watched him, tightening his grip on Dilandau and Alex, causing her to gasp in pain as her lungs were aching like mad. Dilandau had his arms free and struck at the tail with his sword, but couldn't cut through the steel-like scales. He looked up at Black Diamond and watched as a large glow started to shine on his horn, the dragon hissed loudly, and a large, white-hot beam of light came out of his horn and shot down to the dragon, hitting him in the head. Alex closed her eyes and Dilandau watched as the dragon started to twist in pain, then exploded. Dilandau fell to the ground, quickly stood up and caught Alex in his arms. They were both covered in the dragon's blood, Alex spit out some of the blue-green blood and Dilandau shook his head, sending the blood in his hair flying. Alex stood and whistled loudly, calling down Diamond. He landed beside her and looked over at Dilandau. Dilandau stared at him in shock, then looked at Alex.
"Back in my village, when we discovered the dragons, we also found some of these unicorns. They are the only living things that can beat these dragons." Alex explained. Dilandau studied Diamond and ran his hand down the mystical horse's neck. He then noticed a blood-red jewel hanging on a thin chain draped over his horn. A few minutes later, his wings and horn disappeared. Alex looked herself over and shuddered. "I'm gonna go wash this stuff off." She muttered. Dilandau watched her leave, then sat down by the fire, watched Diamond wander off, and stared into the fire while waiting for Alex to return.
A/N: i got the idea of what she should dream from a dream i had myself. the only difference between her dream and my dream was in my dream, the guy was bare-chested!!
~Wild~Angel~
