(A/N: 7 Reviews in the first 24 hours!!!!!!! ::sobs:: I feel so loved!!!!!
Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!! Thank you for the input, I'm really
not sure at this point whether it's a V/H fic of a F/H fic, so bear with me
whilst I decide. Pardon the spelling, punctiuation, and spacing errors in
the first chapter: I wrote most of it at 11 pm O.o ::gets sleepy and goofy
at 11 pm:: Anyways, because I feel so loved, here's the next chapter!! Yay!
P.S.- This might be a bit weird as the functions of the *Vione* are never
fully explored, and I plan to follow the footsteps of the series in my own
odd way by continuing to write about Allen, Van, Millerna, and Meruru [aka
Merle]. I like the way "Meruru" sounds when shouted much better than the
way "Merle" sounds when shouted. I'm odd, what can I say? . . . . Shutting
up now^_^)
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Hitomi was now walking on the *Vione*, following Folken. There was bustling as men from 15 to 50 walked hurriedly to their destinations. "Why are there so many people here?" Hitomi asked herself absentmindedly.
"This is basically a floating barracks, complete with a thousand or so soldiers, kitchen drudges, and everything else it takes to keep this thing floating. There's a lot that goes on here that even *I* don't know about, and I'm assuming that those jobs take people too." He was walking at full stride, making Hitomi follow at a hop-run.
"I see," Hitomi said, not *really* seeing but trying to. She shook her head and slowed down, taking in more of the ship. It was blue metal, polished and streamline. It was utilitarian, making the most use of the available space for the necessities. As she walked, slightly dazed and considering how to get out when she ran into someone. "I'm sorry," she said out of reflex as she looked up.
"YOU!?" They shouted at each other, one angry, one frightened. "What are *you* doing here, girl? Shouldn't you be off saving the boy-king's life or something?"
Her face fell (A/N: Exactly the way it does in ep. #2 when she says "Great, first a wolf-man, and now a little cat-girl.") and she stood stock still. "Listen, I just defected, and I let my attention wander as I was following Folken-sama. I'm sorry I ran into you, and I don't belive I've ever heard your name."
"I'm Dilandau Albatou, leader of the DragonSlayers. I'm aware of your reputation, so kindly never *touch* me again," he told her with a sneer.
She snorted. "*Please*! Schezar? Ew! He's six years older than I am. Besides that, I only thought he was handsome because he reminded me of someone I knew. He initiated that kiss, and I've *never* touched him except for when he carried me away from fights and what-not. It's a pleasure to meet you on friendlier grounds, Dilandau-sama, I am Hitomi Kanzaki." She bowed to him and looked up the hall toward Folken, who was standing, waiting for her.
"Pleasure to meet you, I'm sure. If you'll excuse me, I have *soldiers* to train." He stalked off after a final distasteful look in her direction. She watched him walk away and wondered how they managed to make or get vinyl on Gaea. She shook her head and walked towards Folken.
"I'm hoping he's the only one who has a predisposition to hate me. Am I wrong?" She asked as she walked beside Folken, noting that he had slowed his pace.
"As far as I'm aware no one else here has that much of a grudge against you." Folken informed her calmly, looking blankly ahead.
"May I ask why?" She inquired as she looked at the various styles of armor on the men they passed. "And why haven't I seen any other women on this ship?"
He smirked lightly again, and looked out of the corner of his eye at her. "You haven't seen any women here because there aren't many to be seen. As to Dilandau, well, he's very narcissitic, and blames *you* for the scar on his cheek. You *did* after all warn Van that someone was diving towards him." He chuckled almost unnoticably again.
"I see." She sighed. ~I don't know *what* I'm supposed to be doing. Not that I knew what I was supposed to be doing *before* I switched sides.~ "Are you sure I won't just get in the way? You all seem to be a well-oiled machine, so to speak, and I don't know if I could fit in with the other cogs and gearsprings. Too many cogs can be just as bad as not enough, sometimes."
(A/N: At this point, start playing "Shadow of Doubt" aka Folken's theme in your head or on a disc/music program if you can: it adds to the mood.) "We need everyone's help in our quest. If more people would be like you and join us, this whole war would be much easier. In fact, it might stop entirely. Our purpose is to rid the world of conflict, therfor if, say, ninety percent of the population were to join us, this war would end much more quickly and with far less pain and bloodshed." He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, scanning her face to see if he was convincing her.
"Pain and bloodshed are most defenately things I want to avoid." She looked sadly at the floor, remembering the tragedy of Fanelia. "Maybe I could help you by telling you my visions and how I think they can be avoided or encouraged, depending on the positive and negative aspects of the vision." She looked hopefully up at Folken, who smirked lightly.
"That was the general idea. I was more worried about the minute details of your position with us. Things like clothing, who your direct superiors would be, where your quarters will be, your adjustment to our lifestyle and customs. I'm lso worried for your safety, what with Dilandau being so extremely against you and his Ryuugekitai being so absolutely devoted to him." (A/N: Ryuugekitai is the approximate Japanese word for Dragonslayers. And it sounds really cool^_^) He turned his head to look her squarely in the eyes as he continued to walk forward. "I fear for your safety now more than ever. Dilandau and the Ryuu' will most likely expect you to prove your loyalty, and that will be no easy task." He stopped, turning to face her. "They may try kill you, or make you kill yourself. Be careful around them," he told her quietly, a slight hin of emotion, worry, leaking into his eyes. He blinked, it was gone, and he went back to his placid calm.
"I'll be careful around them, Folken-sama," Hitomi told him, very confused. He started walking again and she followed, watching his cloak billow as he moved.
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They were all aboard the "Crusade" again. Millerna had gotten Allen, Van, Meruru, and the ship's crew out of prison and had successfully gotten aboard the ship herself. Allen was standing in his usual place on the bridge, with Gaddes behind him as he looked out the main window. His face was set with a frown and his gloved hands were firmly on his hips.
Van was sitting to the side of the main deck, leaning against the window and absently petting Meruru's ears as she lay curled at his feet. ~I've lost her,~ he thought as he watched the trees pass by beneath them. ~So what do I do now? Should I try to find her? It'd be impossible, I don't know where she is and she's the only one who could help me find out.~ "Dammit," he whispered out loud, running his gloved hand through his hair and grabbing a fistfull at the top of his head. ~Maybe I should've thanked her. But what for? I know I was in the clear when I was fighting that dragon, there's no way it would have killed me. The invisible enemy? . . . . I guess she did save me during that fight in Fanelia.~ He sighed and lay own flat on the floor, staring blankly at the ceiling.
Meruru looked up at Van and scooted across the floor so she could curl around his side, laying her hed on his shoulder and wrapping her tail around his ankle. "Don't worry Van-sama, things will work out," she comforted as she played with one of the strings on his vest.
"But what if they don't? I think I lost us our best chance at winning the war against Zaibach." He stroked her pink hair, taking off the glove on that hand so he could feel its familiar softness and sighed. He blinked back tears as he remembered a similar scene from his childhood when things were good and peaceful. He had broken one of Varie's hand mirrors when he was five and thought it was the end of the world. He'd been laying on her bedroom floor for an hour, all the while being cuddled by Meruru until Varie came in.
She'd ignored the shards of mirror and gathered the small pair in her arms. She wiped the tears from Van's cheeks and kissed them. "What happened my little oji? Why are you crying so?"
"I broke your hand mirror, mama," he answered tearfully. "I didn't mean it! Gomen nasai, mama. . ." he sniffled as he put his face against her neck.
"It's alright, my little oji. I'll pick up the pieces and give them to a servant, I'm sure they know of someone who can melt down the glass so it can be used for something else." She kissed his forehead and set him and the silent Meruru on her bed to watch while she carefully put the pieces in a wastebasket and called a servant in to take it away. "All better little oji. Go outside and play with our little neko-ojo and don't worry about it anymore."
She kissed them each on the forehead and shooed them out the door. They played tag in the lawn for a while and he had almost forgotten the mirror entirely.
Now he was fifteen, and Varie wasn't there to pick up the pieces and make it "all better". So he lay, running his fingers through neko-ojo's hair and trying to be rational about the situation. ~Hitomi would want me to be calm and rational, so calm and rational I'll be,~ he thought firmly. "Do we have a destination," he asked, startling Allen and Gaddes considerably.
"Why the sudden intrest highness," Allen asked as he looked at the boy sprawled out on the floor. "You haven't spoken to anyone but Meruru in almost wo days."
"I've thought the same thoughts enough times to be sick of them, and now I want to take action. I want to know where we're going, why, and whether or not there's anyone there who can help me find Hitomi. Something about her not being here makes this all seem so futile." Van grimaced as he realized how stupid that sounded out loud.
Allen snorted. "Looks like we have a lovesick king on our hands, Gaddes." He sighed and shook his head as he looked down at Van. "I miss her too, and you're right. There's something wrong about her not being here to guide us. All we know for certain at the moment is that Zaibach's headed for Freid. We'll find someone there, one of the monks maybe, and they will lead us to Hitomi hopefully. Do you plan on getting off the floor any time soon?"
"No, not really. I plan on staying here until it's essentail to my survival to move," he answered sarcastically. "I'll get up in a while, I suppose."
"Van-sama can stay here as long as he likes. Fanelia may be burned, but he *is* still a king, knight caeli," Meruru pitched in, not moving her head from Van's shoulder.
Van and Gaddes snickered and Allen frowned deeply. "Fine then," he said tersley. "I'll speak when spoken to, catgirl." He muttered under his breath to himself, "She's lucky she's attached herself to royalty."
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(A/N: Whaddaya think!? Allen's gotten a bit bitter, ne? And Van's gotten a bit less hot-headed ^_^ A few notes on nicknames - "oji" means "prince", "neko-ojo" means, according to me ['cause I'm the all-powerful author ^_^], "cat-princess". "Gomen nasai" means "I'm very sorry" [for those of you who don't already know] and I think that's it. If you have any questions, email me at the posted addy or at dilandaufangirl@hotmail.com Arigatou!! Ja ne until later!)
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Hitomi was now walking on the *Vione*, following Folken. There was bustling as men from 15 to 50 walked hurriedly to their destinations. "Why are there so many people here?" Hitomi asked herself absentmindedly.
"This is basically a floating barracks, complete with a thousand or so soldiers, kitchen drudges, and everything else it takes to keep this thing floating. There's a lot that goes on here that even *I* don't know about, and I'm assuming that those jobs take people too." He was walking at full stride, making Hitomi follow at a hop-run.
"I see," Hitomi said, not *really* seeing but trying to. She shook her head and slowed down, taking in more of the ship. It was blue metal, polished and streamline. It was utilitarian, making the most use of the available space for the necessities. As she walked, slightly dazed and considering how to get out when she ran into someone. "I'm sorry," she said out of reflex as she looked up.
"YOU!?" They shouted at each other, one angry, one frightened. "What are *you* doing here, girl? Shouldn't you be off saving the boy-king's life or something?"
Her face fell (A/N: Exactly the way it does in ep. #2 when she says "Great, first a wolf-man, and now a little cat-girl.") and she stood stock still. "Listen, I just defected, and I let my attention wander as I was following Folken-sama. I'm sorry I ran into you, and I don't belive I've ever heard your name."
"I'm Dilandau Albatou, leader of the DragonSlayers. I'm aware of your reputation, so kindly never *touch* me again," he told her with a sneer.
She snorted. "*Please*! Schezar? Ew! He's six years older than I am. Besides that, I only thought he was handsome because he reminded me of someone I knew. He initiated that kiss, and I've *never* touched him except for when he carried me away from fights and what-not. It's a pleasure to meet you on friendlier grounds, Dilandau-sama, I am Hitomi Kanzaki." She bowed to him and looked up the hall toward Folken, who was standing, waiting for her.
"Pleasure to meet you, I'm sure. If you'll excuse me, I have *soldiers* to train." He stalked off after a final distasteful look in her direction. She watched him walk away and wondered how they managed to make or get vinyl on Gaea. She shook her head and walked towards Folken.
"I'm hoping he's the only one who has a predisposition to hate me. Am I wrong?" She asked as she walked beside Folken, noting that he had slowed his pace.
"As far as I'm aware no one else here has that much of a grudge against you." Folken informed her calmly, looking blankly ahead.
"May I ask why?" She inquired as she looked at the various styles of armor on the men they passed. "And why haven't I seen any other women on this ship?"
He smirked lightly again, and looked out of the corner of his eye at her. "You haven't seen any women here because there aren't many to be seen. As to Dilandau, well, he's very narcissitic, and blames *you* for the scar on his cheek. You *did* after all warn Van that someone was diving towards him." He chuckled almost unnoticably again.
"I see." She sighed. ~I don't know *what* I'm supposed to be doing. Not that I knew what I was supposed to be doing *before* I switched sides.~ "Are you sure I won't just get in the way? You all seem to be a well-oiled machine, so to speak, and I don't know if I could fit in with the other cogs and gearsprings. Too many cogs can be just as bad as not enough, sometimes."
(A/N: At this point, start playing "Shadow of Doubt" aka Folken's theme in your head or on a disc/music program if you can: it adds to the mood.) "We need everyone's help in our quest. If more people would be like you and join us, this whole war would be much easier. In fact, it might stop entirely. Our purpose is to rid the world of conflict, therfor if, say, ninety percent of the population were to join us, this war would end much more quickly and with far less pain and bloodshed." He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, scanning her face to see if he was convincing her.
"Pain and bloodshed are most defenately things I want to avoid." She looked sadly at the floor, remembering the tragedy of Fanelia. "Maybe I could help you by telling you my visions and how I think they can be avoided or encouraged, depending on the positive and negative aspects of the vision." She looked hopefully up at Folken, who smirked lightly.
"That was the general idea. I was more worried about the minute details of your position with us. Things like clothing, who your direct superiors would be, where your quarters will be, your adjustment to our lifestyle and customs. I'm lso worried for your safety, what with Dilandau being so extremely against you and his Ryuugekitai being so absolutely devoted to him." (A/N: Ryuugekitai is the approximate Japanese word for Dragonslayers. And it sounds really cool^_^) He turned his head to look her squarely in the eyes as he continued to walk forward. "I fear for your safety now more than ever. Dilandau and the Ryuu' will most likely expect you to prove your loyalty, and that will be no easy task." He stopped, turning to face her. "They may try kill you, or make you kill yourself. Be careful around them," he told her quietly, a slight hin of emotion, worry, leaking into his eyes. He blinked, it was gone, and he went back to his placid calm.
"I'll be careful around them, Folken-sama," Hitomi told him, very confused. He started walking again and she followed, watching his cloak billow as he moved.
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They were all aboard the "Crusade" again. Millerna had gotten Allen, Van, Meruru, and the ship's crew out of prison and had successfully gotten aboard the ship herself. Allen was standing in his usual place on the bridge, with Gaddes behind him as he looked out the main window. His face was set with a frown and his gloved hands were firmly on his hips.
Van was sitting to the side of the main deck, leaning against the window and absently petting Meruru's ears as she lay curled at his feet. ~I've lost her,~ he thought as he watched the trees pass by beneath them. ~So what do I do now? Should I try to find her? It'd be impossible, I don't know where she is and she's the only one who could help me find out.~ "Dammit," he whispered out loud, running his gloved hand through his hair and grabbing a fistfull at the top of his head. ~Maybe I should've thanked her. But what for? I know I was in the clear when I was fighting that dragon, there's no way it would have killed me. The invisible enemy? . . . . I guess she did save me during that fight in Fanelia.~ He sighed and lay own flat on the floor, staring blankly at the ceiling.
Meruru looked up at Van and scooted across the floor so she could curl around his side, laying her hed on his shoulder and wrapping her tail around his ankle. "Don't worry Van-sama, things will work out," she comforted as she played with one of the strings on his vest.
"But what if they don't? I think I lost us our best chance at winning the war against Zaibach." He stroked her pink hair, taking off the glove on that hand so he could feel its familiar softness and sighed. He blinked back tears as he remembered a similar scene from his childhood when things were good and peaceful. He had broken one of Varie's hand mirrors when he was five and thought it was the end of the world. He'd been laying on her bedroom floor for an hour, all the while being cuddled by Meruru until Varie came in.
She'd ignored the shards of mirror and gathered the small pair in her arms. She wiped the tears from Van's cheeks and kissed them. "What happened my little oji? Why are you crying so?"
"I broke your hand mirror, mama," he answered tearfully. "I didn't mean it! Gomen nasai, mama. . ." he sniffled as he put his face against her neck.
"It's alright, my little oji. I'll pick up the pieces and give them to a servant, I'm sure they know of someone who can melt down the glass so it can be used for something else." She kissed his forehead and set him and the silent Meruru on her bed to watch while she carefully put the pieces in a wastebasket and called a servant in to take it away. "All better little oji. Go outside and play with our little neko-ojo and don't worry about it anymore."
She kissed them each on the forehead and shooed them out the door. They played tag in the lawn for a while and he had almost forgotten the mirror entirely.
Now he was fifteen, and Varie wasn't there to pick up the pieces and make it "all better". So he lay, running his fingers through neko-ojo's hair and trying to be rational about the situation. ~Hitomi would want me to be calm and rational, so calm and rational I'll be,~ he thought firmly. "Do we have a destination," he asked, startling Allen and Gaddes considerably.
"Why the sudden intrest highness," Allen asked as he looked at the boy sprawled out on the floor. "You haven't spoken to anyone but Meruru in almost wo days."
"I've thought the same thoughts enough times to be sick of them, and now I want to take action. I want to know where we're going, why, and whether or not there's anyone there who can help me find Hitomi. Something about her not being here makes this all seem so futile." Van grimaced as he realized how stupid that sounded out loud.
Allen snorted. "Looks like we have a lovesick king on our hands, Gaddes." He sighed and shook his head as he looked down at Van. "I miss her too, and you're right. There's something wrong about her not being here to guide us. All we know for certain at the moment is that Zaibach's headed for Freid. We'll find someone there, one of the monks maybe, and they will lead us to Hitomi hopefully. Do you plan on getting off the floor any time soon?"
"No, not really. I plan on staying here until it's essentail to my survival to move," he answered sarcastically. "I'll get up in a while, I suppose."
"Van-sama can stay here as long as he likes. Fanelia may be burned, but he *is* still a king, knight caeli," Meruru pitched in, not moving her head from Van's shoulder.
Van and Gaddes snickered and Allen frowned deeply. "Fine then," he said tersley. "I'll speak when spoken to, catgirl." He muttered under his breath to himself, "She's lucky she's attached herself to royalty."
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(A/N: Whaddaya think!? Allen's gotten a bit bitter, ne? And Van's gotten a bit less hot-headed ^_^ A few notes on nicknames - "oji" means "prince", "neko-ojo" means, according to me ['cause I'm the all-powerful author ^_^], "cat-princess". "Gomen nasai" means "I'm very sorry" [for those of you who don't already know] and I think that's it. If you have any questions, email me at the posted addy or at dilandaufangirl@hotmail.com Arigatou!! Ja ne until later!)