They were going to descend, when Gabrielle saw something on one of the monitor screens. "Wait, I see something." She announced. "What do you see?" Dilandau asked. "I'm going to go in." She said. "There's only enough time and space for one mech to go in. I'm going. Just circle and listen for me." She said boldly, and all listened for Dilandau's reply. "Affirmative." He said calmly.
She swung away smoothly from the formation, honing in on the image she saw. Dragon shaped. And the colour appeared to be white as the snow tops. It was sitting in stasus posture, she knew it because the Libreia adopted the same stance when it was recharging. "Guys, it's the White Dragon!" She said into the radio.
She skillfully landed the Libreia as close to the White Dragon as possible, while still maintaining the element of surprise. She exited her mecha, drawing her sword and rounding the copse of trees to get to the White Dragon. She treaded softly on the earth, making not a sound. She knew the others were landing nearby.
She held the sword at the ready, stopping often to hear the slightest of sounds. She was almost up to the mech. She heard a noise behind her and whipped around. Nothing. She backed up slightly, and then the sound of something moving through the air. She turned her head upwards to see what it was, but it hit her in the back. The impact sent her to the ground, her sword bouncing off the soft earth to land point up a few feet away. It was the pilot of the white mecha! She scrambled to get to her sword, but she heard the sound of his cutting through the air to impale her in the back. She rolled onto her back just in time. He drove the sword into the earth. "Dammit!" He cursed, and she flipped back into a crouching position. Their gazes met. Her sharp blue eyes burned into his reddish brown ones.
He was tall, wearing a red lace up shirt with khaki pants, and he had black hair. Some of his hair hung over one eye. "Dilandau!" She cried out. The pilot reached out to silence her. "Dilandau!" She yelled again. "I'm defenseless! Help me! Over here!" She yelled. She heard them coming in her direction. She screamed as the white mecha's pilot got his hands around her throat.
She smacked the pilot in the face and attempted to scuttle towards her sword, but he caught her belt and pulled her back. He hit her heavily on the head, and she staggered under the blow and stood up groggily, still attempting to defend herself. She shook her head to clear it and she was hit again, the impact sending her to her knees. He took his sword and smacked her with the flat of his blade, and she finally whimpered and fell to the side unconscious.
The boy gathered her up in his arms and dashed towards the dragon. He knew that the other members of her squadron were fast approaching with Dilandau in the lead. He opened the cockpit doors and went inside, placing her near the seat.
He saw Dilandau running through the long grass, his sword withdrawn and hurtling at top speed toward him. Dilandau reached the mecha's closing doors just in time to slash at the door. He missed the pilot inside but created a shower of sparks as the metal cut into metal. It made a reverberating high pitched 'tang' noise.
The dragon shivered to life and effortlessly swatted Dilandau away like an annoying insect. He skidded across the ground, creating a dust cloud. He cursed the pilot and ran forward towards as the mecha spread it's valiant wings and started to take flight. Dilandau was rushing up to it when both Migel and Chesta grabbed Dilandau, holding him back. He tried to shake them off but couldn't. He dug his heels into the ground and tried to pull forward, but they pulled him back.
"Forgive us, my Lord, but the dragon will crush you if you run." Said Chesta over the noise of the pounding wings as the dragon lifted. Dilandau stopped struggling hesitantly. He hung his head slowly and gently pulled his arms from their restraint.
Migel sighed. "What do we do now, my Lord?" He asked. "Now we get her back." He said darkly, and he clenched his hand in a fist. He watched the dragon disappear over the mountain, and he felt his sanity go with it, fleeing from him on swift white wings with purple membranes. A familiar deep laugh started within him, eventually coming up from the very fibres of his torn soul. The one thing that had begun to heal him was gone. He had to get it back. Until then, it was revenge for what the damned White Dragon had done to him. In return for the Dragon taking Gabrielle, all the beauty from his life, he'd take all the beauty from the Dragon's. Fanelia had to die. It had to writhe in flames, arson set by none other than... Himself.
"New mission, boys. Mission perogative: Kill everything within sight that is within Fanelian borders. Guimel, 'Com the base and report Gabrielle has been captured. I will not rest until she is safe back here with me." He commanded. Safe, back within my arms. He thought, and left that unsaid. His heart had already begun to ache for her. He turned back away from that spot and ran to the Oreides, turning on the systems.
All the others returned to their mechas, ready for Dilandau's direct orders. "Time to die, you inbred, under-educated country! Die in flames of hate! Die for what your precious king did to me!" He shrieked maniacally. The tone he cried out in made all of the hairs on the backs of their necks stand up. He meant business.
He raised an arm of the Oreides to the sky. He aimed a liquid metal claw at an airship overhead and fired. The claw shot up hundreds of feet into the air, piercing the blimp-like structure of the ship, causing it to burst into flames and fall as the gas within acted as an accelerant and was consumed by the hungry fire. He laughed as if this was hysterically, riotously funny. "Gatti, head in the north and destroy everything that bears the Fanelia name. Anything foreign from Fanelia, leave untouched to the best of your ability. Dalet, go east. Guimel, take the south, and Migel, you take to the west. Chesta and I will go in the direction the Dragon has taken." He announced, and he shot up into the air inside the mecha, aiming for the peak of the mountain that he had last seen the White Dragon. Everything beyond that point was going to die.
The mechas split into the directions, and they began immediately their bloodthirsty quest for vengeance. Soon they were all out of sight, and Dilandau could already see the smoke in the distance of a newly attacked town. He laughed again, and then moved forwards in dogged persuit of the Dragon. His sensors told him a town was just over that ridge. Perfect.
The first onlookers in the doomed town saw a red shape burst over the top of the mountain, apraying snow everywhere. They cried out that the Red Avenging Angel had descended upon them to end the world. "Your town is only the first of many!" He cried. Pandemonium immediately began. Dilandau took no notice of their pain, only a hunger to numb his own. He turned violently in the mech, smashing a succession of five buildings and setting fire to more. He felt no wrong intent while doing this, only a need to stop feeling pain.
He kicked in some more buildings in his anger, and then left the town, searching for more things to destroy. He set forests ablaze, and laughed as they burned. "Will your precious saviour White Dragon help you now, Fanelia? No! You shall crumble!" He shouted to nothing. He left several timed bombs behind him, and continued to track the White Dragon, destroying anything and everything that moved in his path.
It seemed that all he could see was an image of that hateful boy with his dirty hands on his Gabrielle, taking her from him. His vision seemed red with his hate and pain, and he destroyed town after town, taking pleasure in the havoc he wreaked. He remained on the Dragon's path, killing and burning until the flame in his suit could burst forth no more.
He stood amongst a smoldering flatlands, everything around him gone. Leveled. He stopped everything and stood silent amongst the seemingly valley of death. "We have done enough, Chesta." He said. His face was flushed, and his voice broken. "We will develop a plan to get her back. I will not cease trying until she's come back to me." He said, on the verge of breaking. Gabrielle wouldn't have liked what he'd done to all these innocent people, and in her honour. She would have looked down upon it.
Chesta made sure that the base wasn't monitoring their radio lines. "I'm behind you all the way, Dilandau." He said encouragingly. "What have I done?" He asked his soul as he surveyed the wreckage. "Your orders, sir." He replied grimly with an innocent undertone.
Gabrielle awoke sharply in the cockpit. The boy was flying above, and she was contained in the chest of the dragon. "Computer, where are you taking me?" She asked it. It did not reply. She cursed and looked through the bars at the outside. It was thousands of feet below. She swallowed. The boy could simply command the cage doors to open, and then she would fall to her death.
As she looked at the calm countryside beneath her, she began to feel afraid. "Computer, is there anything you can tell me about anything? Where we're going or who you are?" She asked boldly. I am sorry. You are a hostage. That is all. The computer said in a masculine voice. "Hah! Nobody will pay for my return! You might as well drop me right out of the sky here. I am worth nothing, dead or alive." She spat. As you wish. The computer said, and the doors opened in front of her.
She screamed as she fell through the clouds, the fear ripping through her like a rabid animal. The ground seemed to reach up for her, and then-
"Ah!" She cried out. Her body jerked, and she pitched forward. She was not in the cockpit. She was on the outside of the Dragon. The boy was controlling it. She had been lashed down crudely onto the dragon's back by the saddle apparatus. She was facing up into the sky. It was now night. The stars above her glittered in the deep black of the night. Her planet, the 'Mystic Moon,' was out of her vision. She could not see it. She had been ripped away from what she'd just grown to know.
What is to become of me now? She wondered tearfully. I am going to die, more than likely. The squad won't follow me forever, and since the White Dragon is as good at evading them as he is, they'll never catch me. She gazed at the stars. Dilandau will even give up on me. As will Gatti, my only friend here. Chesta, Guimel, Dalet... They'll all turn away from me. The most painful being Dilandau will. I was just beginning to... It doesn't matter anymore. None of it does. All hope is lost. I'll die here, a prisoner of a war that isn't my own, on a planet that isn't even my own. So far away from home...
"I see you're awake." Said the pilot, gently steering the dragon through the air. She said nothing, cold as stone. "My name's Vaughn. What's yours?" He asked, turning his head to look. Her gaze could have turned hot glowing lava to a frozen river of ice in a matter of seconds. "Fox." She replied.
"So, you're the one who pilots the Red Dragon," He said casually. She was silent. "Yes." She replied finally. "Heard you came from the Mystic Moon." He said. "Did you?" He looked her square in the eye. She gave him a truthful, icy stare. "You did..." He said to himself, struck with awe. "Angels seem to be raining down this year." He said, and she only looked away from him, her cheek touching the cold metal of the dragon's back.
"It's not long until we get to the place." He said, and she didn't care. She didn't care if she rotted away here, tied to the dragon's back. She longed for Dilandau, and it surprised her that she did. She hadn't been sure if he had really liked her, or if he had only been with her because he was lonely. He was strong... And such a commander... She hadn't realized she'd shared an affection to him. Not until now. Now, when she longed to be in his arms for comfort.
She closed her eyes and prayed that she'd wake up, and she'd be in her quarters again. She was frightened of this 'Vaughn' character. He seemed familiar, like Dilandau had when she'd first come to this world. She was so cold on the dragon's back. She couldn't move, and the metal she was tied to chilled her clean through to the bones.
After a few hours of flying, Vaughn eventually brought the dragon into descent. The dragon flared it's wings as it landed, and she tried to tune out the speech, but she couldn't. Vaughn was talking to somebody named 'Allen,' and Allen was talking to Vaughn about what had happened. Vaughn explained that he had a hostage, and Gabrielle practically hissed. How dare they select her as a hostage!
"Well, well. What have we here?" Asked a tall man with long, blonde hair. He stepped over her, on the dragons back, and peered at her. She said nothing. "She says her name is 'Fox.'" Vaughn explained as he untied some of the ropes beneath her. "And so it should be!" Allen exclaimed, and Gabrielle just looked away from them.
"Ban-Sama!" A high pitched, very annoying voice called. It almost made Gabrielle's hair stand on end. "Ban-Sama!" The thing called again, and she felt the knot loosen underneath her. Allen offered her a hand. She neglected it, standing on her own instead. Allen smiled a half smile. "Feisty. I like that." He said, and it made her stomach crawl. He was very handsome indeed, but he was much older than her! She was only fifteen, and yet this man appeared to be twenty or so. She slid off the dragon and stood alone, completely silent.
Then, she was poked. "Ban-Sama! You have one of those scary soldiers here!" A thing said. She said nothing, just stared blankly ahead. It poked her again. "It's a girl!" It exclaimed. "She's weird!" It said. Gabrielle said nothing, but she could feel the rage inside. She glanced at the thing.
It was about five feet, two inches tall. It had pink hair, and a humanoid face. The eyes were green, and the flesh was very tan. It appeared to be covered in fur. It also appeared to be female. There were spiky stripes on her face, arms, and legs. She was in an orange shapeless dress that had leopard spots on the bottom right corner of it. She had poofs of white... fur? On her shoulders, wrists and ankles. She wore sandals. She also had a long, striped tail with another white tuft of fur at the end. Her ears were long and pointed, and they constantly moved, just like a cat's, though this... girl's ears were situated on the side of her head, not on the top where a normal cat's ears would be. She poked Gabrielle again.
"Merle, stop poking the girl. She might hurt you." Vaughn said. "I don't think so. She's dead in the head!" 'Merle' laughed. "Wanna bet?" Gabrielle snarled, and Merle backed off, frightened. "Ban-Sama! The soldier person girl thing! She scared me!" She said, hiding behind Allen, but poking her head out to look more at this curious oddity, being Gabrielle.
"Vaughn, where do you plan on keeping Fox on my ship? All the rooms are taken." Allen said, looking at Gabrielle. She looked away, but secretly made a face of disgust. The man was trying to be charming! "Sickbay." Vaughn replied, inspecting the slash mark Dilandau's sword had made. "No, there's already two people there." Allen replied seriously.
Oh, please don't tell me I have to sleep in the same room as this Allen man. By the looks of it, I'm going to have to beat him off with a stick. If I have to get stuck in the same room as any of these, I hope I get stuck with Vaughn. He won't do anything. Not Merle. She's creepy and childish, and I'd probably have a hole in my back by morning from where she'd be poking me all night. She thought avidly. She began inspecting the ship around her for weaknesses.
It was an airship, and she couldn't see exactly how it operated yet, but she saw the massive fishtail-like rudder fin that helped steer the ship in the air. It seemed to be primarily made of wood and metal. There were guards posted, however, so she couldn't get out of here without making a lot of noise. Unless... She could manage to sneak by the guards... But that was nearly impossible.
She had long since filtered out the speech going on about her, even managed to filter out Merle's voice. So, she was surprised when she was tapped on the shoulder. "Fox," Said Vaughn. She snapped her head around. "... You can be stuck in the brig, or sleep in either mine or Allen's room. He is a Knight of Asturia, so don't try anything. I'm the King of Fanelia, and I know how to use a sword. If you don't want to stay there, then as I said before, you can stay in the jail." He said, but he couldn't help looking at her when he said this. All of her. He did it casually, so she didn't notice. She was nice looking.
"Well?" Asked Allen, and Gabrielle walked to stand behind Vaughn in a quiet formal pose. She had an expressionless face that she'd learned to emulate well from Dilandau. But, behind the lack of expression, there was a quick and sharp mind, calculating the best escape routes and how she could pull it off with the least amount of hassle. She did not give this away by showing quick movements of her eyes as she studied the ship. She barely moved them, pretending instead to occasionally focus on one of the faces staring at her, when in reality she was looking at the background.
"Don't even think about escaping. You'll remain right here. Allen will extract information from you tomorrow, so I suggest you just relax." Vaughn said flatly. Merle made a face at Gabrielle. She blinked sadly and looked the other way. Merle stopped making the face.
Vaughn began to walk into the cabin section, and she followed him, aware that the cat-girl was also following, trying and failing miserably to be stealthy. Vaughn opened a door, and he stood back for her to enter first. She paused cautiously, and looked at him with a flicker of suspicion. She looked inside the room. It was completely normal, so she stepped inside.
He entered after. She walked to the corner of the room and sat down on the hardwood floor, facing the wall. She leaned her head on the wall and sighed, closing her eyes. She heard Vaughn walk over and sit on the bed, and she could feel his subdued curious eyes on her.
"So. You really do come from the Mystic Moon." He said. She looked over slightly to the side, tilting her head slightly to show that she was listening. "I can tell that you've been there, at least. But there's something about you that makes me think you were born here. That doesn't make sense, does it?" He asked. She didn't answer, only shifted her weight slightly so that she didn't get pins and needles in her leg.
"You might as well just tell us everything you know about the inner workings of Zaibach." He said, and in her mind she laughed bitterly. Why? She thought. "Allen knows more about torture than anyone. He can inflict more pain on you than you could ever imagine." He continued. God, what a tired old cliché. She responded in her mind. "Then, when he's done with you, I'll leave you to him." He said. In what context does he mean by that? She wondered.
"First, if you don't answer by mere suggestion, we starve you of food and water. Then, we will cut you slowly. If that doesn't work, we resort to heavier means of torture. We could cut off your achilles tendon and watch you flop around like a fish." He suggested. She was just as silent as ever. I won't tell anything. I won't disappoint Dilandau. I won't betray him, no matter how much these barbarians hurt me. The most they'll get from me is a dying scream. She thought, determined. "We have so many ways we can break you." He continued. Does he ever shut up about how much he's going to hurt me?
"Oh, come on. You must understand at least some of our language." He said, and she wanted to kill him. "I understand absolutely crystalline what you are saying. It takes more than threats to break me. You won't get a word out of me. I am one of the Dragonslayers, my codename is Fox. You can torture me as much as you want. I will not speak. In fact, I challenge you to try, you barbarian. Dilandau will come for me." She growled at him, and resumed her silence. I hope.
She swung away smoothly from the formation, honing in on the image she saw. Dragon shaped. And the colour appeared to be white as the snow tops. It was sitting in stasus posture, she knew it because the Libreia adopted the same stance when it was recharging. "Guys, it's the White Dragon!" She said into the radio.
She skillfully landed the Libreia as close to the White Dragon as possible, while still maintaining the element of surprise. She exited her mecha, drawing her sword and rounding the copse of trees to get to the White Dragon. She treaded softly on the earth, making not a sound. She knew the others were landing nearby.
She held the sword at the ready, stopping often to hear the slightest of sounds. She was almost up to the mech. She heard a noise behind her and whipped around. Nothing. She backed up slightly, and then the sound of something moving through the air. She turned her head upwards to see what it was, but it hit her in the back. The impact sent her to the ground, her sword bouncing off the soft earth to land point up a few feet away. It was the pilot of the white mecha! She scrambled to get to her sword, but she heard the sound of his cutting through the air to impale her in the back. She rolled onto her back just in time. He drove the sword into the earth. "Dammit!" He cursed, and she flipped back into a crouching position. Their gazes met. Her sharp blue eyes burned into his reddish brown ones.
He was tall, wearing a red lace up shirt with khaki pants, and he had black hair. Some of his hair hung over one eye. "Dilandau!" She cried out. The pilot reached out to silence her. "Dilandau!" She yelled again. "I'm defenseless! Help me! Over here!" She yelled. She heard them coming in her direction. She screamed as the white mecha's pilot got his hands around her throat.
She smacked the pilot in the face and attempted to scuttle towards her sword, but he caught her belt and pulled her back. He hit her heavily on the head, and she staggered under the blow and stood up groggily, still attempting to defend herself. She shook her head to clear it and she was hit again, the impact sending her to her knees. He took his sword and smacked her with the flat of his blade, and she finally whimpered and fell to the side unconscious.
The boy gathered her up in his arms and dashed towards the dragon. He knew that the other members of her squadron were fast approaching with Dilandau in the lead. He opened the cockpit doors and went inside, placing her near the seat.
He saw Dilandau running through the long grass, his sword withdrawn and hurtling at top speed toward him. Dilandau reached the mecha's closing doors just in time to slash at the door. He missed the pilot inside but created a shower of sparks as the metal cut into metal. It made a reverberating high pitched 'tang' noise.
The dragon shivered to life and effortlessly swatted Dilandau away like an annoying insect. He skidded across the ground, creating a dust cloud. He cursed the pilot and ran forward towards as the mecha spread it's valiant wings and started to take flight. Dilandau was rushing up to it when both Migel and Chesta grabbed Dilandau, holding him back. He tried to shake them off but couldn't. He dug his heels into the ground and tried to pull forward, but they pulled him back.
"Forgive us, my Lord, but the dragon will crush you if you run." Said Chesta over the noise of the pounding wings as the dragon lifted. Dilandau stopped struggling hesitantly. He hung his head slowly and gently pulled his arms from their restraint.
Migel sighed. "What do we do now, my Lord?" He asked. "Now we get her back." He said darkly, and he clenched his hand in a fist. He watched the dragon disappear over the mountain, and he felt his sanity go with it, fleeing from him on swift white wings with purple membranes. A familiar deep laugh started within him, eventually coming up from the very fibres of his torn soul. The one thing that had begun to heal him was gone. He had to get it back. Until then, it was revenge for what the damned White Dragon had done to him. In return for the Dragon taking Gabrielle, all the beauty from his life, he'd take all the beauty from the Dragon's. Fanelia had to die. It had to writhe in flames, arson set by none other than... Himself.
"New mission, boys. Mission perogative: Kill everything within sight that is within Fanelian borders. Guimel, 'Com the base and report Gabrielle has been captured. I will not rest until she is safe back here with me." He commanded. Safe, back within my arms. He thought, and left that unsaid. His heart had already begun to ache for her. He turned back away from that spot and ran to the Oreides, turning on the systems.
All the others returned to their mechas, ready for Dilandau's direct orders. "Time to die, you inbred, under-educated country! Die in flames of hate! Die for what your precious king did to me!" He shrieked maniacally. The tone he cried out in made all of the hairs on the backs of their necks stand up. He meant business.
He raised an arm of the Oreides to the sky. He aimed a liquid metal claw at an airship overhead and fired. The claw shot up hundreds of feet into the air, piercing the blimp-like structure of the ship, causing it to burst into flames and fall as the gas within acted as an accelerant and was consumed by the hungry fire. He laughed as if this was hysterically, riotously funny. "Gatti, head in the north and destroy everything that bears the Fanelia name. Anything foreign from Fanelia, leave untouched to the best of your ability. Dalet, go east. Guimel, take the south, and Migel, you take to the west. Chesta and I will go in the direction the Dragon has taken." He announced, and he shot up into the air inside the mecha, aiming for the peak of the mountain that he had last seen the White Dragon. Everything beyond that point was going to die.
The mechas split into the directions, and they began immediately their bloodthirsty quest for vengeance. Soon they were all out of sight, and Dilandau could already see the smoke in the distance of a newly attacked town. He laughed again, and then moved forwards in dogged persuit of the Dragon. His sensors told him a town was just over that ridge. Perfect.
The first onlookers in the doomed town saw a red shape burst over the top of the mountain, apraying snow everywhere. They cried out that the Red Avenging Angel had descended upon them to end the world. "Your town is only the first of many!" He cried. Pandemonium immediately began. Dilandau took no notice of their pain, only a hunger to numb his own. He turned violently in the mech, smashing a succession of five buildings and setting fire to more. He felt no wrong intent while doing this, only a need to stop feeling pain.
He kicked in some more buildings in his anger, and then left the town, searching for more things to destroy. He set forests ablaze, and laughed as they burned. "Will your precious saviour White Dragon help you now, Fanelia? No! You shall crumble!" He shouted to nothing. He left several timed bombs behind him, and continued to track the White Dragon, destroying anything and everything that moved in his path.
It seemed that all he could see was an image of that hateful boy with his dirty hands on his Gabrielle, taking her from him. His vision seemed red with his hate and pain, and he destroyed town after town, taking pleasure in the havoc he wreaked. He remained on the Dragon's path, killing and burning until the flame in his suit could burst forth no more.
He stood amongst a smoldering flatlands, everything around him gone. Leveled. He stopped everything and stood silent amongst the seemingly valley of death. "We have done enough, Chesta." He said. His face was flushed, and his voice broken. "We will develop a plan to get her back. I will not cease trying until she's come back to me." He said, on the verge of breaking. Gabrielle wouldn't have liked what he'd done to all these innocent people, and in her honour. She would have looked down upon it.
Chesta made sure that the base wasn't monitoring their radio lines. "I'm behind you all the way, Dilandau." He said encouragingly. "What have I done?" He asked his soul as he surveyed the wreckage. "Your orders, sir." He replied grimly with an innocent undertone.
Gabrielle awoke sharply in the cockpit. The boy was flying above, and she was contained in the chest of the dragon. "Computer, where are you taking me?" She asked it. It did not reply. She cursed and looked through the bars at the outside. It was thousands of feet below. She swallowed. The boy could simply command the cage doors to open, and then she would fall to her death.
As she looked at the calm countryside beneath her, she began to feel afraid. "Computer, is there anything you can tell me about anything? Where we're going or who you are?" She asked boldly. I am sorry. You are a hostage. That is all. The computer said in a masculine voice. "Hah! Nobody will pay for my return! You might as well drop me right out of the sky here. I am worth nothing, dead or alive." She spat. As you wish. The computer said, and the doors opened in front of her.
She screamed as she fell through the clouds, the fear ripping through her like a rabid animal. The ground seemed to reach up for her, and then-
"Ah!" She cried out. Her body jerked, and she pitched forward. She was not in the cockpit. She was on the outside of the Dragon. The boy was controlling it. She had been lashed down crudely onto the dragon's back by the saddle apparatus. She was facing up into the sky. It was now night. The stars above her glittered in the deep black of the night. Her planet, the 'Mystic Moon,' was out of her vision. She could not see it. She had been ripped away from what she'd just grown to know.
What is to become of me now? She wondered tearfully. I am going to die, more than likely. The squad won't follow me forever, and since the White Dragon is as good at evading them as he is, they'll never catch me. She gazed at the stars. Dilandau will even give up on me. As will Gatti, my only friend here. Chesta, Guimel, Dalet... They'll all turn away from me. The most painful being Dilandau will. I was just beginning to... It doesn't matter anymore. None of it does. All hope is lost. I'll die here, a prisoner of a war that isn't my own, on a planet that isn't even my own. So far away from home...
"I see you're awake." Said the pilot, gently steering the dragon through the air. She said nothing, cold as stone. "My name's Vaughn. What's yours?" He asked, turning his head to look. Her gaze could have turned hot glowing lava to a frozen river of ice in a matter of seconds. "Fox." She replied.
"So, you're the one who pilots the Red Dragon," He said casually. She was silent. "Yes." She replied finally. "Heard you came from the Mystic Moon." He said. "Did you?" He looked her square in the eye. She gave him a truthful, icy stare. "You did..." He said to himself, struck with awe. "Angels seem to be raining down this year." He said, and she only looked away from him, her cheek touching the cold metal of the dragon's back.
"It's not long until we get to the place." He said, and she didn't care. She didn't care if she rotted away here, tied to the dragon's back. She longed for Dilandau, and it surprised her that she did. She hadn't been sure if he had really liked her, or if he had only been with her because he was lonely. He was strong... And such a commander... She hadn't realized she'd shared an affection to him. Not until now. Now, when she longed to be in his arms for comfort.
She closed her eyes and prayed that she'd wake up, and she'd be in her quarters again. She was frightened of this 'Vaughn' character. He seemed familiar, like Dilandau had when she'd first come to this world. She was so cold on the dragon's back. She couldn't move, and the metal she was tied to chilled her clean through to the bones.
After a few hours of flying, Vaughn eventually brought the dragon into descent. The dragon flared it's wings as it landed, and she tried to tune out the speech, but she couldn't. Vaughn was talking to somebody named 'Allen,' and Allen was talking to Vaughn about what had happened. Vaughn explained that he had a hostage, and Gabrielle practically hissed. How dare they select her as a hostage!
"Well, well. What have we here?" Asked a tall man with long, blonde hair. He stepped over her, on the dragons back, and peered at her. She said nothing. "She says her name is 'Fox.'" Vaughn explained as he untied some of the ropes beneath her. "And so it should be!" Allen exclaimed, and Gabrielle just looked away from them.
"Ban-Sama!" A high pitched, very annoying voice called. It almost made Gabrielle's hair stand on end. "Ban-Sama!" The thing called again, and she felt the knot loosen underneath her. Allen offered her a hand. She neglected it, standing on her own instead. Allen smiled a half smile. "Feisty. I like that." He said, and it made her stomach crawl. He was very handsome indeed, but he was much older than her! She was only fifteen, and yet this man appeared to be twenty or so. She slid off the dragon and stood alone, completely silent.
Then, she was poked. "Ban-Sama! You have one of those scary soldiers here!" A thing said. She said nothing, just stared blankly ahead. It poked her again. "It's a girl!" It exclaimed. "She's weird!" It said. Gabrielle said nothing, but she could feel the rage inside. She glanced at the thing.
It was about five feet, two inches tall. It had pink hair, and a humanoid face. The eyes were green, and the flesh was very tan. It appeared to be covered in fur. It also appeared to be female. There were spiky stripes on her face, arms, and legs. She was in an orange shapeless dress that had leopard spots on the bottom right corner of it. She had poofs of white... fur? On her shoulders, wrists and ankles. She wore sandals. She also had a long, striped tail with another white tuft of fur at the end. Her ears were long and pointed, and they constantly moved, just like a cat's, though this... girl's ears were situated on the side of her head, not on the top where a normal cat's ears would be. She poked Gabrielle again.
"Merle, stop poking the girl. She might hurt you." Vaughn said. "I don't think so. She's dead in the head!" 'Merle' laughed. "Wanna bet?" Gabrielle snarled, and Merle backed off, frightened. "Ban-Sama! The soldier person girl thing! She scared me!" She said, hiding behind Allen, but poking her head out to look more at this curious oddity, being Gabrielle.
"Vaughn, where do you plan on keeping Fox on my ship? All the rooms are taken." Allen said, looking at Gabrielle. She looked away, but secretly made a face of disgust. The man was trying to be charming! "Sickbay." Vaughn replied, inspecting the slash mark Dilandau's sword had made. "No, there's already two people there." Allen replied seriously.
Oh, please don't tell me I have to sleep in the same room as this Allen man. By the looks of it, I'm going to have to beat him off with a stick. If I have to get stuck in the same room as any of these, I hope I get stuck with Vaughn. He won't do anything. Not Merle. She's creepy and childish, and I'd probably have a hole in my back by morning from where she'd be poking me all night. She thought avidly. She began inspecting the ship around her for weaknesses.
It was an airship, and she couldn't see exactly how it operated yet, but she saw the massive fishtail-like rudder fin that helped steer the ship in the air. It seemed to be primarily made of wood and metal. There were guards posted, however, so she couldn't get out of here without making a lot of noise. Unless... She could manage to sneak by the guards... But that was nearly impossible.
She had long since filtered out the speech going on about her, even managed to filter out Merle's voice. So, she was surprised when she was tapped on the shoulder. "Fox," Said Vaughn. She snapped her head around. "... You can be stuck in the brig, or sleep in either mine or Allen's room. He is a Knight of Asturia, so don't try anything. I'm the King of Fanelia, and I know how to use a sword. If you don't want to stay there, then as I said before, you can stay in the jail." He said, but he couldn't help looking at her when he said this. All of her. He did it casually, so she didn't notice. She was nice looking.
"Well?" Asked Allen, and Gabrielle walked to stand behind Vaughn in a quiet formal pose. She had an expressionless face that she'd learned to emulate well from Dilandau. But, behind the lack of expression, there was a quick and sharp mind, calculating the best escape routes and how she could pull it off with the least amount of hassle. She did not give this away by showing quick movements of her eyes as she studied the ship. She barely moved them, pretending instead to occasionally focus on one of the faces staring at her, when in reality she was looking at the background.
"Don't even think about escaping. You'll remain right here. Allen will extract information from you tomorrow, so I suggest you just relax." Vaughn said flatly. Merle made a face at Gabrielle. She blinked sadly and looked the other way. Merle stopped making the face.
Vaughn began to walk into the cabin section, and she followed him, aware that the cat-girl was also following, trying and failing miserably to be stealthy. Vaughn opened a door, and he stood back for her to enter first. She paused cautiously, and looked at him with a flicker of suspicion. She looked inside the room. It was completely normal, so she stepped inside.
He entered after. She walked to the corner of the room and sat down on the hardwood floor, facing the wall. She leaned her head on the wall and sighed, closing her eyes. She heard Vaughn walk over and sit on the bed, and she could feel his subdued curious eyes on her.
"So. You really do come from the Mystic Moon." He said. She looked over slightly to the side, tilting her head slightly to show that she was listening. "I can tell that you've been there, at least. But there's something about you that makes me think you were born here. That doesn't make sense, does it?" He asked. She didn't answer, only shifted her weight slightly so that she didn't get pins and needles in her leg.
"You might as well just tell us everything you know about the inner workings of Zaibach." He said, and in her mind she laughed bitterly. Why? She thought. "Allen knows more about torture than anyone. He can inflict more pain on you than you could ever imagine." He continued. God, what a tired old cliché. She responded in her mind. "Then, when he's done with you, I'll leave you to him." He said. In what context does he mean by that? She wondered.
"First, if you don't answer by mere suggestion, we starve you of food and water. Then, we will cut you slowly. If that doesn't work, we resort to heavier means of torture. We could cut off your achilles tendon and watch you flop around like a fish." He suggested. She was just as silent as ever. I won't tell anything. I won't disappoint Dilandau. I won't betray him, no matter how much these barbarians hurt me. The most they'll get from me is a dying scream. She thought, determined. "We have so many ways we can break you." He continued. Does he ever shut up about how much he's going to hurt me?
"Oh, come on. You must understand at least some of our language." He said, and she wanted to kill him. "I understand absolutely crystalline what you are saying. It takes more than threats to break me. You won't get a word out of me. I am one of the Dragonslayers, my codename is Fox. You can torture me as much as you want. I will not speak. In fact, I challenge you to try, you barbarian. Dilandau will come for me." She growled at him, and resumed her silence. I hope.