Disclaimer: Escaflowne isn't mine, but Juniper is.
A/N: um, I'm kind of grounded until school gets out for excessive use of the internet, and school gets out in like a week. I'm posting chapter three today because I may not get the chance on Monday. I am not quite sure when my next update will be after that… but it'll come, don't worry! ^_^ This chapter is mostly one big flashback, but it will help the story out considerably.
character thinking to themselves flashbacks (not visions) in italic
3. Earlier
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Have you found Lady Hitomi yet?"
"No Sir. At this moment in time we have yet to locate her." The soldier speaking swallowed nervously, unsure of how Allen would react. Some days it seemed he was madly in love with the girl from the Mystic Moon. Other days he was pure venom towards the simple idea of her.
"Very well. Expand the search to encompass another band of forest. We have no idea where she is. The light was south of us when we were attacked, but we don't want to pass her by. Now GO!" Allen barked this last command and sent his soldiers scrambling over one another in an effort to please their commander.
Hitomi… Where did you land? If I could find you we could clear this whole mess with Van up… He lifted his gaze skyward. They had about four hours of daylight left. Lowering his eyes, he watched some men attempt to fix the battered air ship. Allen tensed as he relived the fight.
Allen was jarred from his peaceful nap. What was that odd smell? Something was burning. Some one had set fire to the ship itself. Allen dashed up the steps to find the deck alive with combat and fire. He pulled out his sword and quickly looked around. Not Zaibach again. Hadn't Dilandau learned his lesson last time? Isn't this war over? As if reading his thoughts, Allen heard a childish voice scream over the melee.
"Win or lose, this war's never over 'til I say it is!"
Something was oddly familiar about it, so Allen rushed to find the owner of the voice. He dodged two fights and a smoldering pile of rubble as he hurried over to the side of the ship. Van was fighting him. Dilandau. They were fighting head to head, and from the looks of things, Van was winning. It looked like this wasn't Van's first fight. He was beginning to tire and was covered in dusty blood.
Allen had no time to react as an explosion rocked the air ship. He tumbled to the ground and looked up in time to see Van trip over Dilandau's limp body. Van was thrown overboard. Pank it all! Van is one of our best swordsmen! Knowing his friend's heritage, Allen was confident that Van would survive the fall.
He picked himself up and crossed the gap between his position and Dilandau. On his way down, Dilandau must have hit his head on the rail of the air ship, for a trickle of blood dripped down his forehead and over the scar on his cheek. Allen raised his sword preparing for the kill, when Dilandau cringed. Allen sighed and brought his sword back down.
"Muah ha ha ha ha ha!!!" Dilandau cackled. "You can't kill a man when he's down, there's no honor in it."
"No," Allen shot back, "but as soon as he stands, he's fair game." A sly smile crossed his face. "Where's your sword anyway?"
"Huh?" Dilandau opened his hands and found them empty. "Grrrr…Next time Allen Schezar…"
"I suggest you call off your men and crawl off my ship or I swear, the second you stand up on this ship, you'll be a dead man."
Dilandau swallowed. He didn't like his options. "Very well. You win this bout knight, next time though… DRAGON SLAYERS! RETREAT!"
A few of Allen's men looked up from their individual battles with a questioning looks on their faces. Allen motioned for them to stop and "kindly" escort the Slayers off the ship. A few guymelefs decloaked on the starboard side and Dilandau crawled towards one of them, muttering all the way…
Allen chuckled at this lasting image, but he knew that it would just add to Dilandau's insanity. He had barely turned around in time to see the galloping horse coming towards him. Allen grabbed the reins as the rider slowed.
"What is the word?"
"Sir, you had better come with me. We found something, er, rather, someone…"
(A/N)- Please, if you have read this far, I want you to review so I know if you like it or not. At this point I would accept a few nasty flames too, just so I might know what I was doing wrong, but one kind reviewer may fuel the fire so to speak. Sasha
A/N: um, I'm kind of grounded until school gets out for excessive use of the internet, and school gets out in like a week. I'm posting chapter three today because I may not get the chance on Monday. I am not quite sure when my next update will be after that… but it'll come, don't worry! ^_^ This chapter is mostly one big flashback, but it will help the story out considerably.
character thinking to themselves flashbacks (not visions) in italic
3. Earlier
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Have you found Lady Hitomi yet?"
"No Sir. At this moment in time we have yet to locate her." The soldier speaking swallowed nervously, unsure of how Allen would react. Some days it seemed he was madly in love with the girl from the Mystic Moon. Other days he was pure venom towards the simple idea of her.
"Very well. Expand the search to encompass another band of forest. We have no idea where she is. The light was south of us when we were attacked, but we don't want to pass her by. Now GO!" Allen barked this last command and sent his soldiers scrambling over one another in an effort to please their commander.
Hitomi… Where did you land? If I could find you we could clear this whole mess with Van up… He lifted his gaze skyward. They had about four hours of daylight left. Lowering his eyes, he watched some men attempt to fix the battered air ship. Allen tensed as he relived the fight.
Allen was jarred from his peaceful nap. What was that odd smell? Something was burning. Some one had set fire to the ship itself. Allen dashed up the steps to find the deck alive with combat and fire. He pulled out his sword and quickly looked around. Not Zaibach again. Hadn't Dilandau learned his lesson last time? Isn't this war over? As if reading his thoughts, Allen heard a childish voice scream over the melee.
"Win or lose, this war's never over 'til I say it is!"
Something was oddly familiar about it, so Allen rushed to find the owner of the voice. He dodged two fights and a smoldering pile of rubble as he hurried over to the side of the ship. Van was fighting him. Dilandau. They were fighting head to head, and from the looks of things, Van was winning. It looked like this wasn't Van's first fight. He was beginning to tire and was covered in dusty blood.
Allen had no time to react as an explosion rocked the air ship. He tumbled to the ground and looked up in time to see Van trip over Dilandau's limp body. Van was thrown overboard. Pank it all! Van is one of our best swordsmen! Knowing his friend's heritage, Allen was confident that Van would survive the fall.
He picked himself up and crossed the gap between his position and Dilandau. On his way down, Dilandau must have hit his head on the rail of the air ship, for a trickle of blood dripped down his forehead and over the scar on his cheek. Allen raised his sword preparing for the kill, when Dilandau cringed. Allen sighed and brought his sword back down.
"Muah ha ha ha ha ha!!!" Dilandau cackled. "You can't kill a man when he's down, there's no honor in it."
"No," Allen shot back, "but as soon as he stands, he's fair game." A sly smile crossed his face. "Where's your sword anyway?"
"Huh?" Dilandau opened his hands and found them empty. "Grrrr…Next time Allen Schezar…"
"I suggest you call off your men and crawl off my ship or I swear, the second you stand up on this ship, you'll be a dead man."
Dilandau swallowed. He didn't like his options. "Very well. You win this bout knight, next time though… DRAGON SLAYERS! RETREAT!"
A few of Allen's men looked up from their individual battles with a questioning looks on their faces. Allen motioned for them to stop and "kindly" escort the Slayers off the ship. A few guymelefs decloaked on the starboard side and Dilandau crawled towards one of them, muttering all the way…
Allen chuckled at this lasting image, but he knew that it would just add to Dilandau's insanity. He had barely turned around in time to see the galloping horse coming towards him. Allen grabbed the reins as the rider slowed.
"What is the word?"
"Sir, you had better come with me. We found something, er, rather, someone…"
(A/N)- Please, if you have read this far, I want you to review so I know if you like it or not. At this point I would accept a few nasty flames too, just so I might know what I was doing wrong, but one kind reviewer may fuel the fire so to speak. Sasha