Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne!!!!!
A/N Hey!!! I'm here with another chapter! Sorry it took me a while this last week was just a bleh with a lots of work and such but yea you all understand. So hope you enjoy and have a great day peoples!!!
Sailor Hope
Van let the shreds of his shirt fall down around him.
Well, what he thought were the shreds of his shirt, he reminded himself bitterly. The cool night air of the imaginary world bit into his skin. Feathers slid across his arms and flew up in front of him dancing and spinning.
Van stretched his wings and stepped off the roof. According to what Jason said, this was just his mind. He was just making himself up. So could his imaginary self fly through air that didn't exist? It all gave him a headache.
He felt the wind beat against his wings and soared out over the night sky. So he could fly. He didn't really want to think of the messy details or engage Jason in a conversation on how exactly this world worked again. He was still reeling from the last try.
Van let his arms and legs fall towards the ground and beat his wings shooting up into the sky. The scenery was getting smaller and smaller. The wind beat against him furiously, his hair was plastered to his head and he could feel his pants melting with his skin.
But he still couldn't fly fast enough. The problems. The horrors. The truth still stayed with him.
Panting heavily he stopped high up in the sky and let his wings push down gently to keep him hovering where he was.
He had asked Hitomi a long time ago why she liked to run. He had often found her running around the castle, speeding through the gardens, matching the wind around her. Hitomi had just smiled at him and said:
"To outrun my problems. I thought maybe if I went fast enough I could leave all the anger and sadness behind. It's never happened but I never quit."
Van had just stood in awe that his young friend had had a real meaning behind it. He had expected something like "It's just fun" or "I get a rush from it."
Van looked out over the land and sighed. He couldn't fly fast enough to leave his problems behind. And he should feel ashamed that he had even tried. He clenched his teeth and closed his eyes taking in a deep breath. He had to face his problems head on, he wouldn't run anymore. He had been running for far too long.
It was time to hit Surlina head on.
How this was going to be accomplished, well he wasn't quite sure but he'd figure it out. Dipping forward he dived for the land to head back to their temporary lodge. Because that's all it was to him. Jason, Michael, and Soren may call it their home, but Van would never call it his home. He was getting out of here with his love and her friends if it was the last thing he ever did.
*~~~*
Allen bit back a cry of shock and pain. He had been caught off guard by a marauder coming from the back. Kicking the current marauder he ran his blade through the sword arm and pulled it out just in time to turn around and block another blow from behind.
Steel crashed with steel and a horrendous screech filled the battlefield as the swords slid down their edges. Allen grit his teeth, the pain in his back screaming at the stretch. He could feel the blood rolling down his skin and growled in frustration.
Glancing around he was relieved that his men were standing. Merle was periodically jumping out of no where and taking down a marauder with each appearance.
Turning back to his opponent he pushed up with all his might and sent the man flying backwards. Now he was angry. All the pent up anger he had been holding in was coming to surface. Two of his best friends were lost, probably already dead or dying at someone's hands. The marauders had killed Millerna. They had made Hitomi run. They had attacked innocent people.
They had kept that girl as a slave.
For some reason that seemed to be his boiling point. The marauders had tortured people long enough, he was sick of it. The marauder didn't have time to push himself up. Allen kicked the sword away and pushed his blade down. The marauder's eyes grew wide with shock at first, but that slowly melted away and pain took over. Twisting his sword Allen pulled his weapon back out.
At first he couldn't believe he had just killed the marauder with so much hatred. Then he felt almost disgusted with himself at having done that. Sure he had killed before but never with so much anger flowing through his veins. Somehow it just felt wrong-
There was a large thump behind him and Allen spun around. There lying on the ground groaning in pain as the life drained from him was a bulky marauder his sword still in hand.
Allen had let himself get so distracted that he had almost lost his head. Then something registered. There was an arrow sticking out of his chest and another in his stomach. Jerking his head to the right Allen caught sight of a shadow leaning against a tree trunk.
The figure stepped out of the shadows and Shara winked at him. Slipping another arrow into place she took aim and hit another marauder coming up from the side. Allen realized his second mistake and felt embarrassed heat rush to his cheeks.
Shara smiled at him again and disappeared into the brush. Another arrow flew out of the trees and Allen shook his head to clear it. He would talk to her later, besides she seemed to be on their side so he didn't need to worry about an arrow finding its way to his heart.
Refocusing, he headed back into the fray his sword held high. The sooner this was over the sooner he could find his friends.
And the sooner he could find out just who this enchanting archeress was.
*~~~*
Hitomi let the wind beat against her skin as she raced through the fields. It was an old hope of hers. Maybe if she could just run fast enough then all the bad would fade away. She knew that it would never happen but running still seemed a comfort. Now it seemed more of a way to keep up with the troubles. It was her way of letting the problems know she wasn't going to leave. She was going to keep pace with them, and then someday she would pass them up.
And then, whenever this day came, she would be able to stop and turn around and face all the darkness head on.
All she had to do was get ahead of them. Just an inch, just enough to jump in front and bring the troubles to a stop.
Hitomi felt the fire crawl up her legs, but she ignored the pain and kept on pushing. Just an inch that was all she needed.
*~~~*
Van squinted at the person racing across the grass. Swooping down he pushed his wings faster so he could catch up with whoever was out running along the hills. Although he was pretty sure he already knew who it was running.
Folding his wings down to his body a little closer he dropped towards the ground. Spreading them back out he beat wildly to catch up to his love. Swerving to the left and right he pushed harder and harder but Hitomi seemed to be speeding up.
Pressing his arms against his sides and completely straightening his legs, he shot forward.
*~~~*
Hitomi felt someone coming up behind her. At first she had been scared that Surlina had sent something else into this sick little doll house of hers to come and kill their minds. For if they died here their brains would cease to exist and then they would truly be dead.
But as she calmed down and sped up she began to realize there was only one person she knew of who could keep up with her. And that was only when he used his wings.
She watched a feather spin madly and smack her in the face. Wincing at the sting she looked up and smiled when Van's muscular chest came into view. Keeping her speed she waited for his arms to reach her. Within seconds she felt his strong calloused hands slip under her arms and the ground abruptly disappeared. The speed her legs had been moving at combined with the speed of the wind beating against them sent her legs back colliding viciously with Van's.
She heard a quick muffled grunt and twisted around in his arms smiling up at him.
"Sorry," she yelled out over the wind.
He looked down at her and smiled. Pulling her tight against his chest he did a 360 and headed back for the cabin.
Hitomi just buried her face into his chest and let him fly them back to Jason's cabin. She could feel the cold night air brushing up against her skin and shivered before she could stop herself. Van bent down quickly and kissed the top of her head. Hitomi felt a sudden rush of heat flush through her. Van gave her a light squeeze and turned his attention back to flying.
Hitomi was amazed at first at how fast Van was going. She almost couldn't see his wings or the land around them. And he seemed to be going faster and faster with every passing second. Hitomi closed her eyes and relished the wonderful rush of moving so fast.
Then she realized something.
Van was going much faster than she could ever go on foot.
Pulling her head away from his warm chest she twisted in his arms so her back was to his chest now. Smiling she looked around at the blurs and streaks of what must be trees and hills that flew by them. Hitomi snapped her head around to look up at Van. His reddish orbs were clouded with concentration; he seemed to be thinking.
Hitomi felt her heart speed up as they continued to dodge past trees and fly over blurs of water. And then Van pulled to a complete stop. Hitomi's eyes grew wide as her legs swung down towards the ground. Van twisted however and soon they were both shooting upwards.
Hitomi's legs swung back and hit Van's again but she relaxed this time when she felt his legs wrap around hers. She let the tension drain away and closed her eyes. She couldn't keep her eyes open at this speed, the wind was to strong.
Hitomi took a deep breath and smiled as the wind whipped past her and her clothes melted with her skin due to the speed they were traveling at. She couldn't get enough of the speed, it was like a drug. And then she felt it.
She was finally going fast enough. Maybe if she couldn't do it on her feet then she could do it with wings. No matter if they weren't hers right now. Van was getting them ahead. They were going so fast now that everything outside of Van was nothing but a big black mass with tiny flashes of white here and there.
She was finally going fast enough. Completely relaxing in Van's arm's she let the speed take over.
She was finally in front, she watched the barrier break and felt like she could turn around and kick the darkness in the face. She was in front now.
*~~~*
Van slowed down and Hitomi opened her eyes to look around. She gasped at the beautiful night sky. They were high up in the sky surrounded by stars, with the pearl moon hanging in the sky off to their right.
Twisting in his arms again she slipped her arms up around his neck and just smiled at him. Van gave her a knee buckling lazy smile that made her glad he was holding her up. She was sure she would have crumbled on her feet.
"Thank you," she whispered
Van tilted his head slightly and then moved his eyes off her to the sky around them.
"I've never been able to go that fast Hitomi."
Hitomi smiled even bigger, "Have you been practicing?"
Van shook his head no. Hitomi blinked in confusion as she stared up at her king. A light breeze was teasing his patch of raven locks, pulling them right and then left.
She knew he was figuring something out but she couldn't find what it was. Van slowly turned his head back towards hers a small smile plastered to his lips.
"Van?"
"Hitomi I've never been able to fly that fast, that was," he stopped as if in awe of the speed, "Impossible. It was impossible Hitomi. We were going too fast for any draconian to go."
Hitomi was really confused now.
"Well then how did you do it?"
Van's smile grew a little wider and his eyes were sparkling.
"Because in this world we live by our thoughts. It's like a dream, anything is possible. All we have to do is know that it is fake and with that believe we can do whatever we want to. I knew I could fly that fast because there weren't any physical bars on it. So I did it. My muscles are aching like I just ran a two hour marathon but that's because I'm in shock. Remember what Jason said? We can get hurt but that's because this is our mind, if we see ourselves get hurt here and believe that we are hurt. Our brain will believe we are hurt and respond like it normally would."
Hitomi let his words float over to her ears. And what he was getting at started to sink in.
"We can bend the rules, all we have to do is know that this is not real. If our brain doesn't think it's real then we have nothing to worry about."
Hitomi blinked there in his arms listening to his deep voice roll around in her head. He was right!!! She had been caught up in the hopelessness of the situation, she had never bothered to try and sort out any of the details. Smiling, she locked gazes with Van.
"So are you saying we can use this to our advantage?"
"I don't really know"
Hitomi leaned up pushing her nose against his. This wasn't like Van. She didn't want to call him stupid and close minded, he wasn't! It's just that he usually wasn't this good at working out the equations.
"Since when did you put aside brawn for brain?" she asked teasingly
Van didn't laugh with her however, he gave her a sad little smile and continued to stare at her.
"When too much was put on the line."
Hitomi's smile faded and she realized what he was saying. She felt a sudden surge of happiness swell up in her heart. Van loved her so much he was willing to admit that he couldn't fix this problem with just his sword. Hitomi knew that had to be a sting to his pride but he didn't seem to care.
"I'm not going to lose you," he whispered, " And I'll get us out of here, I promise."
Hitomi covered the remaining distance and closed her eyes as she pressed her lips up against Van's. He hugged her tighter -if possible- and Hitomi shivered when his tongue slid across her lips. She opened up to him and melted in the sweet heat his tongue sent through entire body.
The two kissed each other in the darkness, the stars and moon their only light. They were each other's hope, they were each other's courage. And they wouldn't give up, not to Surlina. Love conquered all and they were going to knock Surlina down flat.
Van wrapped his wings around Hitomi and she shivered as the feathers tickled her skin. But Hitomi definitely didn't notice the obvious problem that his wings should have created. She was too lost in the kiss to care; Van just smiled against her lips.
The two stayed wrapped in their embrace, floating in the air, with Van's wings wrapped around his love.
Van was right, if he believed it -because he knew this world was fake- then it could happen. They should have started plummeting to the ground as soon as his wings moved around Hitomi. But they hadn't because Van had believed he would stay. His body wasn't really there, he had accepted that, he was more like a spirit. He could do whatever he wanted. And with no physical boundaries, why not?
Surlina was definitely going down.
*~~~*
Surlina twisted in her throne as she watched the couple. Cursing under breath she waved away the ring of smoke. Sliding to her feet Surlina pushed her hair off her shoulders. Turning to her right another small circle ringed with smoke floated into view.
It was the marauder's camp.
It was leveled. Soldiers were everywhere cheering and smiling, dead or squirming marauders writhing in pain at their feet.
Growling she waved away the window and turned to the empty stairway.
"VAN!!! HITOMI!!!"
Soft steps began to echo off the cavern walls as the two walked up the stairs. Before long two shadows darkened the floor and Surlina smiled as her slaves appeared.
"We're going to make a debut today"
The two bowed and walked completely into the room. Surlina had given them a change of wardrobe. She knew it wasn't necessary but watching them walk around in those stupid clothes of theirs had almost made her sick. She too had changed into something more appropriate for her first step outside, in quite a long time now.
Van was wearing a silk black shirt and dark satin pants tied around his waist. Hitomi was wearing a skin tight black shirt with an extremely revealing V-neck and tight leather pants. Surlina smiled as they seemed to fade away in the black clothes. Which was exactly what she wanted.
They were hers and she didn't need any emotions, or people getting in the way.
Smoothing down a few crinkles on the front of her pitch black dress she smiled up at her two servants. It should have sent shivers up their spines.
Surlina's dress had a not so modest V-neck and two slits reaching ¾ of the way up her thighs. It didn't leave much to the imagination.
Marching past her slaves she started down the stairs. The harsh sound of Van and Hitomi's boots echoed off the stone and Surlina couldn't help but smile even bigger. Her revenge was so close she could taste it.
The door at the end of the stairs opened and Surlina walked into her entrance room. Stopping to admire the new decorations she couldn't help but laugh. Van and Hitomi kept their eyes forward, looking at the her back.
Hitomi and Van had been halfway down the stairs to head off through another door and dump off their prisoners when Surlina had gotten a better idea. So after Michael, and the three others had been healed she had sealed them away in the precious walls with Jason. Surlina grinned to herself, she was so very proud she had thought of that.
Soren was currently tending to Folken. He was her most precious piece, if the others failed Folken would most certainly have any runaways crawling back to her. She had kept Soren out and under her control. She had always been fond of Soren, he had been easily broken with fake images of his tortured sister. She had even brought near by travelers in and had watched the man snap as she had killed one after another.
The man truly did love the humans, even if his blood drove to tell him otherwise.
She would likely keep him around a little longer, he wasn't going to turn. She had him under her thumb. If anyone was going to fail to leave her imaginary world, it would be him.
Taking a deep breath the door to the temple slid open and in front of it was the crackling portal.
"Come you two, I have some people I want you to meet."
The two nodded and followed her through the thundering purple circle.
*~~~*
"VAN!!!"
Van fell out of his bed in a heap of sheets and blankets. Pulling out his dagger he cut through and jumped up throwing open his bedroom door.
"HITOMI!!!"
Leaning back in he snatched up his sword and slipped the dagger back into his belt. Rushing down the hall in a panic Van jerked the front door open. He thought he had heard Hitomi's voice come from outside.
Running out he pulled up to his love's side.
"Hitomi? What's wrong?!" he asked frantically pulling her into his arms.
He had been in too much of a panic to bother looking at the surroundings before rushing to Hitomi.
Hitomi pushed back, "I didn't mean to scare you Van, sorry"
She didn't look worried, scared or angry. She looked sad and on the verge of tears. Van turned to where she had been looking.
Off in the distance three figures could be seen walking towards the cabin. Their faces couldn't be seen because of the light of the rising sun flowing over them but Van already knew who they were. Pushing Hitomi's face back towards his bare chest he kissed the top of her head.
"We won't be here long, don't worry," he whispered
She nodded against his chest and wrapped her arms around him.
"We should go get the others"
Van nodded and turned around giving his love's hand a squeeze, "I'll get the guys, you try to explain to these three exactly what Surlina has been doing to all of us."
Hitomi nodded, smiled, and started to jog towards the three coming up over the hill.
Van opened the door and almost fell backwards. There piled in the hallway were Jason, Michael, and Soren.
"Was that Hitomi screaming?" Jason asked yawning
Van had an insane urge to roll his eyes, boy they were fast.
"Yes."
Walking in he shut the door and leaned against the heavy wood.
"Well is she okay? What's going on?" Soren questioned as he rubbed his eyes trying to stay awake.
"She's fine," Van stood there for a few minutes, his mouth slightly open, the words never coming out.
How was he supposed to tell them this?
"We have visitors," he said bluntly
The three men were immediately standing up and wide awake.
"Visitors?" Michael rasped
Van nodded, "Yea, visitors"
"Who?" Jason ventured already fearing the answer.
"Hitomi is explaining the situation to them right now so they won't freak out when they see you."
"That bitch!!!" Michael roared spinning and slamming his fist into the wall.
"Calm down Michael," Jason choked on his words, "At least they're alive"
"Jason has a point," Soren sighed running a hand through his hair.
No one wanted to state the obvious reason they should all be cheering, it seemed selfish to be happy that they would now have their company.
"Well Hitomi and I want to talk to all of you about something as soon as this is over."
All three turned to the young king, "What?" Michael questioned
"A way out of here," Van stated
Twisting the knob he turned around and peeked out. Hitomi was out front with Caleb, Darice and Trisha. She looked like she was finishing up so Van opened the door and walked out.
All four heads snapped up and he smiled.
"Van!" Trisha called out waving happily.
He walked up and was about halfway there when he realized there weren't any following footsteps. Glancing over his shoulder he could see the tall broad shadows darkening the doorway but they didn't seem to be moving. Shaking his head he jogged up to the four.
Trisha gave him a big hug before Hitomi pulled him away giving her friend a mock glare. Trisha just stuck her tongue out and leaned on Caleb's shoulder. Van blinked, they seemed altogether too happy to have just received news that should have knocked them off their feet.
Van tilted his head towards Hitomi and she shrugged her shoulders helplessly. Van elbowed her sides gently and her smile faded.
"I gave them half of it"
Van shook his head at the sandy haired angel and turned to the group. Caleb was frozen to his spot, his body tight with shock. Van glanced over his shoulders but the three hadn't come out yet.
So Caleb must have figured it out.
Hitomi finally cleared her throat nervously, "So you see, Surlina can trap our minds here and we have no idea what's going on outside, in our real bodies."
"Convenient," Darice mumbled
Hitomi tried again, "We could be here for years and never know what our bodies are doing out in the real world. We're puppets."
Darice's eyes slowly lost their glint and she started breathing a little faster. She quickly glanced at the large cabin behind the couple.
"You didn't make that did you?" she finally managed in a whisper
Hitomi shook her head.
Darice's eyes slowly began to water as a tiny smile crept up on her lips.
"Jason?" she whispered happily
Hitomi nodded her head and grinned. Trisha's eyes rounded out.
"They've been here? This entire time?"
Hitomi nodded again.
Darice pushed Hitomi aside and scrambled between the raven haired king and his angel.
"Jason!" she called out eagerly, "JASON!!!"
Everyone turned around towards the woman now running towards the cabin.
The doorway slowly opened a little more and a tall blonde haired man stepped into view, his crystal blue eyes sparkling and glassy.
"JASON!!!!" Darice grinned bursting out into tears.
Jason made a dash for his wife and laughed as she flung herself against him. Jason wrapped his arms around her waist a little tighter and picked her up. Everyone watched as Jason spun Darice around, the two laughing for all they were worth.
Jason eventually put his wife down and pushed her head back. And before Darice knew it her husbands lips were smothering hers in a joy too many years missed.
Caleb leaned his head back and chuckled, his hands on his hips. His best friends had finally found each other. Grinning from ear to ear he ran past Hitomi and pulled Darice away from his brother.
Darice was blinking with a blank look. She hadn't come out of the spell Jason had weaved over her yet. Caleb took advantage of that and pulled his brother into his arms.
Jason came out of his stupor but missed his brother too much to punch him for interrupting him. So squeezing his brother he laughed again.
"I missed you Caleb"
"Missed you t-"
Snickers filled the little area as Darice smacked Caleb upside the head. Jason burst out laughing as Darice pulled Caleb away and snaked her arms around Jason again.
"Wait your turn!" she scolded
Caleb just rubbed his head and laughed.
Trisha was laughing herself silly until she caught sight of the two men standing in front of the house. Her heart wrenched and twisted in pain as she stared at the two men that meant the world to her. The two men who had hurt her the most.
'No, that's not fair,' she scolded herself, 'That was Surlina, they have no idea what happened'
Taking in a deep breath Trisha fiddled with the edge of her shirt. Hitomi must have felt her nervousness for she turned around and gave her friend an encouraging smile.
Trisha ignored the sting that hit her just behind the eyes. Taking a shaky step forward seemed to break the damn and Trisha broke into a run only to find that Michael had started running before she had. And before she knew it his face was buried in her neck his warm breath tickling her skin.
"Hey Michael," she said simultaneously letting out a large breath she hadn't known she'd been holding.
"Hey Trish," he whispered back squeezing her a little tighter, "How've ya been?"
Trisha giggled into his shoulder and just shook her head, "I'll tell you about it later"
"I love you Trish, I'm so sorry"
Trisha just held onto Michael for a while before she blinked through happy tears and waved towards Soren. Soren smiled sadly and walked up to his sister. Trisha pushed away a little and then brought all of them into a group hug.
Hitomi smiled as she watched the families reunite and laugh as all their stress just seemed to float away. Van ran his hands down her arms and snaked his fingers around hers.
And they just stood there and watched. The moment was just too fragile; too special to be ruined with unnecessary heavy words.
It was just, nice.
*~~~*
Allen shoved his sword into the dirt and knelt down resting his hands on the hilt smiling. All around, his men were cheering and tightening ropes around wounded marauder ankles and wrists. Merle bounced out of the trees for the last time and ran up to him.
"We did it Allen!!!"
Allen pushed himself up and jerked his sword out of the ground sheathing it.
"We did," he agreed still trying to catch his breath
Merle wrapped herself around him in an excited hug and Allen laughed as her tail dashed back and forth.
"Come on Merle lets go find Van and Hitomi"
Merle jumped away immediately, "I'll question while you organize"
Allen thought to feel a little sorry for the remaining marauders -as Merle stalked off to her first victim her claws already bare- but quickly squashed the idea, Merle was just what these cretins needed.
He turned around and his breath caught in the back of his throat. It was that girl again.
She was stepping out of the trees pushing her hair out of her entrancing sea colored eyes. Allen couldn't help but suck in a quick breath as he watched her hair fall over her shoulders, it was a brown, with streaks of blonde scattered here and there. He pushed away the sudden urge to run his fingers through it.
Shaking his head he ran a hand through his own hair and straightened himself up a little. Finally when he found himself presentable, well as presentable as he could be just walking away from bloodshed, he walked up to the mystery woman.
"My thanks," he said bowing a little, "You've done me a great service today. But I fear I need to ask you for one more thing."
Shara slipped her bow over her shoulder and mentally yelled at herself for the current heat flooding to her face.
"And that would be?"
"Your name, lady."
Allen grinned; that was definitely blushing he was seeing.
Shara cleared her throat and shifted the bow a little.
"Shara," she whispered, "My name's Shara."
Allen wrapped his fingers around Shara's hand and brought it to his mouth. Giving her hand a kiss he smiled and let it swing away.
Shara stood there gaping for a few seconds. Quickly regaining composure she clenched her hands at her side to keep from fanning herself.
Allen just smiled and held out his arm. Shara looked at it for a minute.
She could always go with him and risk someone recognizing her as a marauder shooter. Or she could run away and head into town before she fell in love with a knight. Though she could tell it was probably already too late to stop that one. So slipping her arm around his Shara let Allen lead her over to the cheering soldiers.
*~~~*
Surlina stood on the blood stained grass and glared at all the cheering. It was disgusting.
The portal snapped close with a bang as Van and Hitomi stepped through. The field went silent and all eyes turned towards the three not too far ahead of them.
"VAN!!! HITOMI!!!"
Surlina sighed in frustration as a cat girl popped out of the crowd and made a mad dash for her slaves. Throwing up a force field Surlina stood and patiently waited for the cat to come.
The pink haired cat hit the wall and went flying backwards, the electricity still clinging to her. Surlina laughed as she hit the ground with a thud. Something moved behind her and Surlina immediately frowned, turning around she caught sight of Van's fingers curled up into a fist. His knuckles were white.
Crossing her arms and turning back around she screamed in rage. These stupid humans and their emotions! There had to be some way to control their heart, some way she could get rid of every last trace of their feelings!!!
No matter, they could flinch or cry all they wanted. They were under her control now and she would never give them up.
"Hitomi! Van!"
Surlina looked up and rolled her eyes in disbelief. The cat girl was pushing away help and struggling to stand. The little kitty obviously had more endurance than she had suspected.
Glancing over her shoulder Surlina bent her finger at Hitomi, Hitomi was immediately at her side.
"Say hello," she ordered
Hitomi nodded and took a few steps forward smiling wickedly.
Allen burst from the crowd and pushed Shara behind him. Something was wrong, terribly wrong.
"Hitomi!? What are you doing?!"
Hitomi tilted her head slightly and smirked at him, and then her hands started to crackle. Allen blinked as the group took a few steps backwards. Allen blinked again trying to clear his vision but it was still there. Black electricity was snaking up her arms and curling around her body.
"Hello"
Allen took a step back, that was not Hitomi's voice. It was hollow, mocking, it was dark. Before anyone knew what was going on the ground began to shake. Grass ripped and dirt went flying. Clouds flew into view and the sun disappeared. Allen watched in confusion as the sky turned gray and dangerous clouds formed overhead.
Hitomi kissed her fingers and bent over, as soon as her fingers met with the grass the ground shook so forcefully that Allen went flying backwards. Allen shook his head and pushed himself up into a sitting position.
What was going on?!
The shaking stopped and everyone held their breath as silence swept over the group. Then it started, deep in the earth. At first Allen thought he was hearing things but it was growing louder.
It was a ripping.
Allen felt his arms begin to shake with the ground and he looked down as the earth split. Cracks slithered everywhere and he felt his heart stop.
"EVERYONE MOVE!!!"
Allen jumped to his feet and hauled Shara up into his arms. The soldiers were unresponsive at first but as they saw Allen frantically running the crowd began to scatter. Gaddes picked up the injured Merle and followed his captain. But it was too late for many.
Hitomi snapped her fingers and spikes of rock and earth burst from the ground. Allen pushed his legs faster as he heard the sickening crunch of bone's cracking. Many were rooted to the ground in shock, unable to get their limbs to move as the spikes started sprouting everywhere.
"Captain!!! Where do we go?!"
Where indeed, they were in an open field! Allen growled in frustration and spun around towards Hitomi. She was smiling as the spikes erupted from the grass impaling the soldiers.
But just as quickly as the spikes had started coming, they stopped. Gaddes skidded to a halt and turned around with Allen. The spikes had formed a rectangle. Allen's crew and a few soldiers had made it out of the rectangle along with himself, Shara, Gaddes and Merle. But on the most part many soldiers were inside the rectangle of spikes. Van walked up to Hitomi's side and waved goodbye to the soldiers.
Allen jerked his gaze back to the spikes.
"RUN!!!" he bellowed out but the soldiers wouldn't move.
Hitomi lifted her arms and the electricity flooded to her hands. Allen watched in horror as the black bolts slid off her hands and raced across the air. Screams filled the air as the electricity crawled up the spikes and jumped from one to the other, catching the soldiers in their web. Allen and Gaddes turned away blocking Merle and Shara's view. They knew the women wouldn't want to be pushed away like that but if truth be told they were blocking their own view.
Surlina clapped her hands, "Hello indeed"
A/N Okay hello everyone!!! Sorry but I don't know when I'll be able to get the next chapter out because we're moving. The internet will be gone for a while and stuff will be packed. But I will be back don't worry. Thank you all so much for all the reviews, the encouragement is appreciated!!! Oh also if anyone would like me to email them when I update please tell me and leave your email. Have a great day and I hope you enjoyed!!!
Sailor Hope
A/N Hey!!! I'm here with another chapter! Sorry it took me a while this last week was just a bleh with a lots of work and such but yea you all understand. So hope you enjoy and have a great day peoples!!!
Sailor Hope
Van let the shreds of his shirt fall down around him.
Well, what he thought were the shreds of his shirt, he reminded himself bitterly. The cool night air of the imaginary world bit into his skin. Feathers slid across his arms and flew up in front of him dancing and spinning.
Van stretched his wings and stepped off the roof. According to what Jason said, this was just his mind. He was just making himself up. So could his imaginary self fly through air that didn't exist? It all gave him a headache.
He felt the wind beat against his wings and soared out over the night sky. So he could fly. He didn't really want to think of the messy details or engage Jason in a conversation on how exactly this world worked again. He was still reeling from the last try.
Van let his arms and legs fall towards the ground and beat his wings shooting up into the sky. The scenery was getting smaller and smaller. The wind beat against him furiously, his hair was plastered to his head and he could feel his pants melting with his skin.
But he still couldn't fly fast enough. The problems. The horrors. The truth still stayed with him.
Panting heavily he stopped high up in the sky and let his wings push down gently to keep him hovering where he was.
He had asked Hitomi a long time ago why she liked to run. He had often found her running around the castle, speeding through the gardens, matching the wind around her. Hitomi had just smiled at him and said:
"To outrun my problems. I thought maybe if I went fast enough I could leave all the anger and sadness behind. It's never happened but I never quit."
Van had just stood in awe that his young friend had had a real meaning behind it. He had expected something like "It's just fun" or "I get a rush from it."
Van looked out over the land and sighed. He couldn't fly fast enough to leave his problems behind. And he should feel ashamed that he had even tried. He clenched his teeth and closed his eyes taking in a deep breath. He had to face his problems head on, he wouldn't run anymore. He had been running for far too long.
It was time to hit Surlina head on.
How this was going to be accomplished, well he wasn't quite sure but he'd figure it out. Dipping forward he dived for the land to head back to their temporary lodge. Because that's all it was to him. Jason, Michael, and Soren may call it their home, but Van would never call it his home. He was getting out of here with his love and her friends if it was the last thing he ever did.
*~~~*
Allen bit back a cry of shock and pain. He had been caught off guard by a marauder coming from the back. Kicking the current marauder he ran his blade through the sword arm and pulled it out just in time to turn around and block another blow from behind.
Steel crashed with steel and a horrendous screech filled the battlefield as the swords slid down their edges. Allen grit his teeth, the pain in his back screaming at the stretch. He could feel the blood rolling down his skin and growled in frustration.
Glancing around he was relieved that his men were standing. Merle was periodically jumping out of no where and taking down a marauder with each appearance.
Turning back to his opponent he pushed up with all his might and sent the man flying backwards. Now he was angry. All the pent up anger he had been holding in was coming to surface. Two of his best friends were lost, probably already dead or dying at someone's hands. The marauders had killed Millerna. They had made Hitomi run. They had attacked innocent people.
They had kept that girl as a slave.
For some reason that seemed to be his boiling point. The marauders had tortured people long enough, he was sick of it. The marauder didn't have time to push himself up. Allen kicked the sword away and pushed his blade down. The marauder's eyes grew wide with shock at first, but that slowly melted away and pain took over. Twisting his sword Allen pulled his weapon back out.
At first he couldn't believe he had just killed the marauder with so much hatred. Then he felt almost disgusted with himself at having done that. Sure he had killed before but never with so much anger flowing through his veins. Somehow it just felt wrong-
There was a large thump behind him and Allen spun around. There lying on the ground groaning in pain as the life drained from him was a bulky marauder his sword still in hand.
Allen had let himself get so distracted that he had almost lost his head. Then something registered. There was an arrow sticking out of his chest and another in his stomach. Jerking his head to the right Allen caught sight of a shadow leaning against a tree trunk.
The figure stepped out of the shadows and Shara winked at him. Slipping another arrow into place she took aim and hit another marauder coming up from the side. Allen realized his second mistake and felt embarrassed heat rush to his cheeks.
Shara smiled at him again and disappeared into the brush. Another arrow flew out of the trees and Allen shook his head to clear it. He would talk to her later, besides she seemed to be on their side so he didn't need to worry about an arrow finding its way to his heart.
Refocusing, he headed back into the fray his sword held high. The sooner this was over the sooner he could find his friends.
And the sooner he could find out just who this enchanting archeress was.
*~~~*
Hitomi let the wind beat against her skin as she raced through the fields. It was an old hope of hers. Maybe if she could just run fast enough then all the bad would fade away. She knew that it would never happen but running still seemed a comfort. Now it seemed more of a way to keep up with the troubles. It was her way of letting the problems know she wasn't going to leave. She was going to keep pace with them, and then someday she would pass them up.
And then, whenever this day came, she would be able to stop and turn around and face all the darkness head on.
All she had to do was get ahead of them. Just an inch, just enough to jump in front and bring the troubles to a stop.
Hitomi felt the fire crawl up her legs, but she ignored the pain and kept on pushing. Just an inch that was all she needed.
*~~~*
Van squinted at the person racing across the grass. Swooping down he pushed his wings faster so he could catch up with whoever was out running along the hills. Although he was pretty sure he already knew who it was running.
Folding his wings down to his body a little closer he dropped towards the ground. Spreading them back out he beat wildly to catch up to his love. Swerving to the left and right he pushed harder and harder but Hitomi seemed to be speeding up.
Pressing his arms against his sides and completely straightening his legs, he shot forward.
*~~~*
Hitomi felt someone coming up behind her. At first she had been scared that Surlina had sent something else into this sick little doll house of hers to come and kill their minds. For if they died here their brains would cease to exist and then they would truly be dead.
But as she calmed down and sped up she began to realize there was only one person she knew of who could keep up with her. And that was only when he used his wings.
She watched a feather spin madly and smack her in the face. Wincing at the sting she looked up and smiled when Van's muscular chest came into view. Keeping her speed she waited for his arms to reach her. Within seconds she felt his strong calloused hands slip under her arms and the ground abruptly disappeared. The speed her legs had been moving at combined with the speed of the wind beating against them sent her legs back colliding viciously with Van's.
She heard a quick muffled grunt and twisted around in his arms smiling up at him.
"Sorry," she yelled out over the wind.
He looked down at her and smiled. Pulling her tight against his chest he did a 360 and headed back for the cabin.
Hitomi just buried her face into his chest and let him fly them back to Jason's cabin. She could feel the cold night air brushing up against her skin and shivered before she could stop herself. Van bent down quickly and kissed the top of her head. Hitomi felt a sudden rush of heat flush through her. Van gave her a light squeeze and turned his attention back to flying.
Hitomi was amazed at first at how fast Van was going. She almost couldn't see his wings or the land around them. And he seemed to be going faster and faster with every passing second. Hitomi closed her eyes and relished the wonderful rush of moving so fast.
Then she realized something.
Van was going much faster than she could ever go on foot.
Pulling her head away from his warm chest she twisted in his arms so her back was to his chest now. Smiling she looked around at the blurs and streaks of what must be trees and hills that flew by them. Hitomi snapped her head around to look up at Van. His reddish orbs were clouded with concentration; he seemed to be thinking.
Hitomi felt her heart speed up as they continued to dodge past trees and fly over blurs of water. And then Van pulled to a complete stop. Hitomi's eyes grew wide as her legs swung down towards the ground. Van twisted however and soon they were both shooting upwards.
Hitomi's legs swung back and hit Van's again but she relaxed this time when she felt his legs wrap around hers. She let the tension drain away and closed her eyes. She couldn't keep her eyes open at this speed, the wind was to strong.
Hitomi took a deep breath and smiled as the wind whipped past her and her clothes melted with her skin due to the speed they were traveling at. She couldn't get enough of the speed, it was like a drug. And then she felt it.
She was finally going fast enough. Maybe if she couldn't do it on her feet then she could do it with wings. No matter if they weren't hers right now. Van was getting them ahead. They were going so fast now that everything outside of Van was nothing but a big black mass with tiny flashes of white here and there.
She was finally going fast enough. Completely relaxing in Van's arm's she let the speed take over.
She was finally in front, she watched the barrier break and felt like she could turn around and kick the darkness in the face. She was in front now.
*~~~*
Van slowed down and Hitomi opened her eyes to look around. She gasped at the beautiful night sky. They were high up in the sky surrounded by stars, with the pearl moon hanging in the sky off to their right.
Twisting in his arms again she slipped her arms up around his neck and just smiled at him. Van gave her a knee buckling lazy smile that made her glad he was holding her up. She was sure she would have crumbled on her feet.
"Thank you," she whispered
Van tilted his head slightly and then moved his eyes off her to the sky around them.
"I've never been able to go that fast Hitomi."
Hitomi smiled even bigger, "Have you been practicing?"
Van shook his head no. Hitomi blinked in confusion as she stared up at her king. A light breeze was teasing his patch of raven locks, pulling them right and then left.
She knew he was figuring something out but she couldn't find what it was. Van slowly turned his head back towards hers a small smile plastered to his lips.
"Van?"
"Hitomi I've never been able to fly that fast, that was," he stopped as if in awe of the speed, "Impossible. It was impossible Hitomi. We were going too fast for any draconian to go."
Hitomi was really confused now.
"Well then how did you do it?"
Van's smile grew a little wider and his eyes were sparkling.
"Because in this world we live by our thoughts. It's like a dream, anything is possible. All we have to do is know that it is fake and with that believe we can do whatever we want to. I knew I could fly that fast because there weren't any physical bars on it. So I did it. My muscles are aching like I just ran a two hour marathon but that's because I'm in shock. Remember what Jason said? We can get hurt but that's because this is our mind, if we see ourselves get hurt here and believe that we are hurt. Our brain will believe we are hurt and respond like it normally would."
Hitomi let his words float over to her ears. And what he was getting at started to sink in.
"We can bend the rules, all we have to do is know that this is not real. If our brain doesn't think it's real then we have nothing to worry about."
Hitomi blinked there in his arms listening to his deep voice roll around in her head. He was right!!! She had been caught up in the hopelessness of the situation, she had never bothered to try and sort out any of the details. Smiling, she locked gazes with Van.
"So are you saying we can use this to our advantage?"
"I don't really know"
Hitomi leaned up pushing her nose against his. This wasn't like Van. She didn't want to call him stupid and close minded, he wasn't! It's just that he usually wasn't this good at working out the equations.
"Since when did you put aside brawn for brain?" she asked teasingly
Van didn't laugh with her however, he gave her a sad little smile and continued to stare at her.
"When too much was put on the line."
Hitomi's smile faded and she realized what he was saying. She felt a sudden surge of happiness swell up in her heart. Van loved her so much he was willing to admit that he couldn't fix this problem with just his sword. Hitomi knew that had to be a sting to his pride but he didn't seem to care.
"I'm not going to lose you," he whispered, " And I'll get us out of here, I promise."
Hitomi covered the remaining distance and closed her eyes as she pressed her lips up against Van's. He hugged her tighter -if possible- and Hitomi shivered when his tongue slid across her lips. She opened up to him and melted in the sweet heat his tongue sent through entire body.
The two kissed each other in the darkness, the stars and moon their only light. They were each other's hope, they were each other's courage. And they wouldn't give up, not to Surlina. Love conquered all and they were going to knock Surlina down flat.
Van wrapped his wings around Hitomi and she shivered as the feathers tickled her skin. But Hitomi definitely didn't notice the obvious problem that his wings should have created. She was too lost in the kiss to care; Van just smiled against her lips.
The two stayed wrapped in their embrace, floating in the air, with Van's wings wrapped around his love.
Van was right, if he believed it -because he knew this world was fake- then it could happen. They should have started plummeting to the ground as soon as his wings moved around Hitomi. But they hadn't because Van had believed he would stay. His body wasn't really there, he had accepted that, he was more like a spirit. He could do whatever he wanted. And with no physical boundaries, why not?
Surlina was definitely going down.
*~~~*
Surlina twisted in her throne as she watched the couple. Cursing under breath she waved away the ring of smoke. Sliding to her feet Surlina pushed her hair off her shoulders. Turning to her right another small circle ringed with smoke floated into view.
It was the marauder's camp.
It was leveled. Soldiers were everywhere cheering and smiling, dead or squirming marauders writhing in pain at their feet.
Growling she waved away the window and turned to the empty stairway.
"VAN!!! HITOMI!!!"
Soft steps began to echo off the cavern walls as the two walked up the stairs. Before long two shadows darkened the floor and Surlina smiled as her slaves appeared.
"We're going to make a debut today"
The two bowed and walked completely into the room. Surlina had given them a change of wardrobe. She knew it wasn't necessary but watching them walk around in those stupid clothes of theirs had almost made her sick. She too had changed into something more appropriate for her first step outside, in quite a long time now.
Van was wearing a silk black shirt and dark satin pants tied around his waist. Hitomi was wearing a skin tight black shirt with an extremely revealing V-neck and tight leather pants. Surlina smiled as they seemed to fade away in the black clothes. Which was exactly what she wanted.
They were hers and she didn't need any emotions, or people getting in the way.
Smoothing down a few crinkles on the front of her pitch black dress she smiled up at her two servants. It should have sent shivers up their spines.
Surlina's dress had a not so modest V-neck and two slits reaching ¾ of the way up her thighs. It didn't leave much to the imagination.
Marching past her slaves she started down the stairs. The harsh sound of Van and Hitomi's boots echoed off the stone and Surlina couldn't help but smile even bigger. Her revenge was so close she could taste it.
The door at the end of the stairs opened and Surlina walked into her entrance room. Stopping to admire the new decorations she couldn't help but laugh. Van and Hitomi kept their eyes forward, looking at the her back.
Hitomi and Van had been halfway down the stairs to head off through another door and dump off their prisoners when Surlina had gotten a better idea. So after Michael, and the three others had been healed she had sealed them away in the precious walls with Jason. Surlina grinned to herself, she was so very proud she had thought of that.
Soren was currently tending to Folken. He was her most precious piece, if the others failed Folken would most certainly have any runaways crawling back to her. She had kept Soren out and under her control. She had always been fond of Soren, he had been easily broken with fake images of his tortured sister. She had even brought near by travelers in and had watched the man snap as she had killed one after another.
The man truly did love the humans, even if his blood drove to tell him otherwise.
She would likely keep him around a little longer, he wasn't going to turn. She had him under her thumb. If anyone was going to fail to leave her imaginary world, it would be him.
Taking a deep breath the door to the temple slid open and in front of it was the crackling portal.
"Come you two, I have some people I want you to meet."
The two nodded and followed her through the thundering purple circle.
*~~~*
"VAN!!!"
Van fell out of his bed in a heap of sheets and blankets. Pulling out his dagger he cut through and jumped up throwing open his bedroom door.
"HITOMI!!!"
Leaning back in he snatched up his sword and slipped the dagger back into his belt. Rushing down the hall in a panic Van jerked the front door open. He thought he had heard Hitomi's voice come from outside.
Running out he pulled up to his love's side.
"Hitomi? What's wrong?!" he asked frantically pulling her into his arms.
He had been in too much of a panic to bother looking at the surroundings before rushing to Hitomi.
Hitomi pushed back, "I didn't mean to scare you Van, sorry"
She didn't look worried, scared or angry. She looked sad and on the verge of tears. Van turned to where she had been looking.
Off in the distance three figures could be seen walking towards the cabin. Their faces couldn't be seen because of the light of the rising sun flowing over them but Van already knew who they were. Pushing Hitomi's face back towards his bare chest he kissed the top of her head.
"We won't be here long, don't worry," he whispered
She nodded against his chest and wrapped her arms around him.
"We should go get the others"
Van nodded and turned around giving his love's hand a squeeze, "I'll get the guys, you try to explain to these three exactly what Surlina has been doing to all of us."
Hitomi nodded, smiled, and started to jog towards the three coming up over the hill.
Van opened the door and almost fell backwards. There piled in the hallway were Jason, Michael, and Soren.
"Was that Hitomi screaming?" Jason asked yawning
Van had an insane urge to roll his eyes, boy they were fast.
"Yes."
Walking in he shut the door and leaned against the heavy wood.
"Well is she okay? What's going on?" Soren questioned as he rubbed his eyes trying to stay awake.
"She's fine," Van stood there for a few minutes, his mouth slightly open, the words never coming out.
How was he supposed to tell them this?
"We have visitors," he said bluntly
The three men were immediately standing up and wide awake.
"Visitors?" Michael rasped
Van nodded, "Yea, visitors"
"Who?" Jason ventured already fearing the answer.
"Hitomi is explaining the situation to them right now so they won't freak out when they see you."
"That bitch!!!" Michael roared spinning and slamming his fist into the wall.
"Calm down Michael," Jason choked on his words, "At least they're alive"
"Jason has a point," Soren sighed running a hand through his hair.
No one wanted to state the obvious reason they should all be cheering, it seemed selfish to be happy that they would now have their company.
"Well Hitomi and I want to talk to all of you about something as soon as this is over."
All three turned to the young king, "What?" Michael questioned
"A way out of here," Van stated
Twisting the knob he turned around and peeked out. Hitomi was out front with Caleb, Darice and Trisha. She looked like she was finishing up so Van opened the door and walked out.
All four heads snapped up and he smiled.
"Van!" Trisha called out waving happily.
He walked up and was about halfway there when he realized there weren't any following footsteps. Glancing over his shoulder he could see the tall broad shadows darkening the doorway but they didn't seem to be moving. Shaking his head he jogged up to the four.
Trisha gave him a big hug before Hitomi pulled him away giving her friend a mock glare. Trisha just stuck her tongue out and leaned on Caleb's shoulder. Van blinked, they seemed altogether too happy to have just received news that should have knocked them off their feet.
Van tilted his head towards Hitomi and she shrugged her shoulders helplessly. Van elbowed her sides gently and her smile faded.
"I gave them half of it"
Van shook his head at the sandy haired angel and turned to the group. Caleb was frozen to his spot, his body tight with shock. Van glanced over his shoulders but the three hadn't come out yet.
So Caleb must have figured it out.
Hitomi finally cleared her throat nervously, "So you see, Surlina can trap our minds here and we have no idea what's going on outside, in our real bodies."
"Convenient," Darice mumbled
Hitomi tried again, "We could be here for years and never know what our bodies are doing out in the real world. We're puppets."
Darice's eyes slowly lost their glint and she started breathing a little faster. She quickly glanced at the large cabin behind the couple.
"You didn't make that did you?" she finally managed in a whisper
Hitomi shook her head.
Darice's eyes slowly began to water as a tiny smile crept up on her lips.
"Jason?" she whispered happily
Hitomi nodded her head and grinned. Trisha's eyes rounded out.
"They've been here? This entire time?"
Hitomi nodded again.
Darice pushed Hitomi aside and scrambled between the raven haired king and his angel.
"Jason!" she called out eagerly, "JASON!!!"
Everyone turned around towards the woman now running towards the cabin.
The doorway slowly opened a little more and a tall blonde haired man stepped into view, his crystal blue eyes sparkling and glassy.
"JASON!!!!" Darice grinned bursting out into tears.
Jason made a dash for his wife and laughed as she flung herself against him. Jason wrapped his arms around her waist a little tighter and picked her up. Everyone watched as Jason spun Darice around, the two laughing for all they were worth.
Jason eventually put his wife down and pushed her head back. And before Darice knew it her husbands lips were smothering hers in a joy too many years missed.
Caleb leaned his head back and chuckled, his hands on his hips. His best friends had finally found each other. Grinning from ear to ear he ran past Hitomi and pulled Darice away from his brother.
Darice was blinking with a blank look. She hadn't come out of the spell Jason had weaved over her yet. Caleb took advantage of that and pulled his brother into his arms.
Jason came out of his stupor but missed his brother too much to punch him for interrupting him. So squeezing his brother he laughed again.
"I missed you Caleb"
"Missed you t-"
Snickers filled the little area as Darice smacked Caleb upside the head. Jason burst out laughing as Darice pulled Caleb away and snaked her arms around Jason again.
"Wait your turn!" she scolded
Caleb just rubbed his head and laughed.
Trisha was laughing herself silly until she caught sight of the two men standing in front of the house. Her heart wrenched and twisted in pain as she stared at the two men that meant the world to her. The two men who had hurt her the most.
'No, that's not fair,' she scolded herself, 'That was Surlina, they have no idea what happened'
Taking in a deep breath Trisha fiddled with the edge of her shirt. Hitomi must have felt her nervousness for she turned around and gave her friend an encouraging smile.
Trisha ignored the sting that hit her just behind the eyes. Taking a shaky step forward seemed to break the damn and Trisha broke into a run only to find that Michael had started running before she had. And before she knew it his face was buried in her neck his warm breath tickling her skin.
"Hey Michael," she said simultaneously letting out a large breath she hadn't known she'd been holding.
"Hey Trish," he whispered back squeezing her a little tighter, "How've ya been?"
Trisha giggled into his shoulder and just shook her head, "I'll tell you about it later"
"I love you Trish, I'm so sorry"
Trisha just held onto Michael for a while before she blinked through happy tears and waved towards Soren. Soren smiled sadly and walked up to his sister. Trisha pushed away a little and then brought all of them into a group hug.
Hitomi smiled as she watched the families reunite and laugh as all their stress just seemed to float away. Van ran his hands down her arms and snaked his fingers around hers.
And they just stood there and watched. The moment was just too fragile; too special to be ruined with unnecessary heavy words.
It was just, nice.
*~~~*
Allen shoved his sword into the dirt and knelt down resting his hands on the hilt smiling. All around, his men were cheering and tightening ropes around wounded marauder ankles and wrists. Merle bounced out of the trees for the last time and ran up to him.
"We did it Allen!!!"
Allen pushed himself up and jerked his sword out of the ground sheathing it.
"We did," he agreed still trying to catch his breath
Merle wrapped herself around him in an excited hug and Allen laughed as her tail dashed back and forth.
"Come on Merle lets go find Van and Hitomi"
Merle jumped away immediately, "I'll question while you organize"
Allen thought to feel a little sorry for the remaining marauders -as Merle stalked off to her first victim her claws already bare- but quickly squashed the idea, Merle was just what these cretins needed.
He turned around and his breath caught in the back of his throat. It was that girl again.
She was stepping out of the trees pushing her hair out of her entrancing sea colored eyes. Allen couldn't help but suck in a quick breath as he watched her hair fall over her shoulders, it was a brown, with streaks of blonde scattered here and there. He pushed away the sudden urge to run his fingers through it.
Shaking his head he ran a hand through his own hair and straightened himself up a little. Finally when he found himself presentable, well as presentable as he could be just walking away from bloodshed, he walked up to the mystery woman.
"My thanks," he said bowing a little, "You've done me a great service today. But I fear I need to ask you for one more thing."
Shara slipped her bow over her shoulder and mentally yelled at herself for the current heat flooding to her face.
"And that would be?"
"Your name, lady."
Allen grinned; that was definitely blushing he was seeing.
Shara cleared her throat and shifted the bow a little.
"Shara," she whispered, "My name's Shara."
Allen wrapped his fingers around Shara's hand and brought it to his mouth. Giving her hand a kiss he smiled and let it swing away.
Shara stood there gaping for a few seconds. Quickly regaining composure she clenched her hands at her side to keep from fanning herself.
Allen just smiled and held out his arm. Shara looked at it for a minute.
She could always go with him and risk someone recognizing her as a marauder shooter. Or she could run away and head into town before she fell in love with a knight. Though she could tell it was probably already too late to stop that one. So slipping her arm around his Shara let Allen lead her over to the cheering soldiers.
*~~~*
Surlina stood on the blood stained grass and glared at all the cheering. It was disgusting.
The portal snapped close with a bang as Van and Hitomi stepped through. The field went silent and all eyes turned towards the three not too far ahead of them.
"VAN!!! HITOMI!!!"
Surlina sighed in frustration as a cat girl popped out of the crowd and made a mad dash for her slaves. Throwing up a force field Surlina stood and patiently waited for the cat to come.
The pink haired cat hit the wall and went flying backwards, the electricity still clinging to her. Surlina laughed as she hit the ground with a thud. Something moved behind her and Surlina immediately frowned, turning around she caught sight of Van's fingers curled up into a fist. His knuckles were white.
Crossing her arms and turning back around she screamed in rage. These stupid humans and their emotions! There had to be some way to control their heart, some way she could get rid of every last trace of their feelings!!!
No matter, they could flinch or cry all they wanted. They were under her control now and she would never give them up.
"Hitomi! Van!"
Surlina looked up and rolled her eyes in disbelief. The cat girl was pushing away help and struggling to stand. The little kitty obviously had more endurance than she had suspected.
Glancing over her shoulder Surlina bent her finger at Hitomi, Hitomi was immediately at her side.
"Say hello," she ordered
Hitomi nodded and took a few steps forward smiling wickedly.
Allen burst from the crowd and pushed Shara behind him. Something was wrong, terribly wrong.
"Hitomi!? What are you doing?!"
Hitomi tilted her head slightly and smirked at him, and then her hands started to crackle. Allen blinked as the group took a few steps backwards. Allen blinked again trying to clear his vision but it was still there. Black electricity was snaking up her arms and curling around her body.
"Hello"
Allen took a step back, that was not Hitomi's voice. It was hollow, mocking, it was dark. Before anyone knew what was going on the ground began to shake. Grass ripped and dirt went flying. Clouds flew into view and the sun disappeared. Allen watched in confusion as the sky turned gray and dangerous clouds formed overhead.
Hitomi kissed her fingers and bent over, as soon as her fingers met with the grass the ground shook so forcefully that Allen went flying backwards. Allen shook his head and pushed himself up into a sitting position.
What was going on?!
The shaking stopped and everyone held their breath as silence swept over the group. Then it started, deep in the earth. At first Allen thought he was hearing things but it was growing louder.
It was a ripping.
Allen felt his arms begin to shake with the ground and he looked down as the earth split. Cracks slithered everywhere and he felt his heart stop.
"EVERYONE MOVE!!!"
Allen jumped to his feet and hauled Shara up into his arms. The soldiers were unresponsive at first but as they saw Allen frantically running the crowd began to scatter. Gaddes picked up the injured Merle and followed his captain. But it was too late for many.
Hitomi snapped her fingers and spikes of rock and earth burst from the ground. Allen pushed his legs faster as he heard the sickening crunch of bone's cracking. Many were rooted to the ground in shock, unable to get their limbs to move as the spikes started sprouting everywhere.
"Captain!!! Where do we go?!"
Where indeed, they were in an open field! Allen growled in frustration and spun around towards Hitomi. She was smiling as the spikes erupted from the grass impaling the soldiers.
But just as quickly as the spikes had started coming, they stopped. Gaddes skidded to a halt and turned around with Allen. The spikes had formed a rectangle. Allen's crew and a few soldiers had made it out of the rectangle along with himself, Shara, Gaddes and Merle. But on the most part many soldiers were inside the rectangle of spikes. Van walked up to Hitomi's side and waved goodbye to the soldiers.
Allen jerked his gaze back to the spikes.
"RUN!!!" he bellowed out but the soldiers wouldn't move.
Hitomi lifted her arms and the electricity flooded to her hands. Allen watched in horror as the black bolts slid off her hands and raced across the air. Screams filled the air as the electricity crawled up the spikes and jumped from one to the other, catching the soldiers in their web. Allen and Gaddes turned away blocking Merle and Shara's view. They knew the women wouldn't want to be pushed away like that but if truth be told they were blocking their own view.
Surlina clapped her hands, "Hello indeed"
A/N Okay hello everyone!!! Sorry but I don't know when I'll be able to get the next chapter out because we're moving. The internet will be gone for a while and stuff will be packed. But I will be back don't worry. Thank you all so much for all the reviews, the encouragement is appreciated!!! Oh also if anyone would like me to email them when I update please tell me and leave your email. Have a great day and I hope you enjoyed!!!
Sailor Hope