Chapter Four

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Opening her eyes, Tara looked around to see the edge of a cliff just up ahead. She looked around disconcerted; wasn't she asleep in the cave with Storm and the dragons? Shaking her head, she walked closer to the cliff edge and sat down, gazing at the endless stretches of sea before her; she must have fallen asleep and forgotten that she had come out. Swinging her feet nonchalantly, she started humming a tune, feeling the sense of anxiety dissipate from inside her; she did have plenty to deal with now, being stranded from home and making sure that Storm didn't run off and get herself killed somehow. With a heavy sigh, she leaned back, staring up at the sky. It always seemed to bring her closer to home, seeing the bright blue white swirled orb hanging there in the sky, night or day.

"What did we do to end up here?" she whispered as she sat up suddenly.

The nervous feeling had returned almost immediately, making her rub her arms. She didn't feel safe there anymore; time to leave. Rising she dusted her pants off and started back down the road towards the forest. With last minute hesitancy, she turned to see the cliff one more time; only now it was masked by the dark looming figure of some sort of flying castle, strange red machines flying down from it, fire blazing from cannons mounted on their arms. She started immediately for the forest, only to have her route cut off by a sudden sweep of flames. She whipped around to suddenly find herself encircled by fire, the flames dancing closer and closer as she stayed in the middle the best she could. She didn't dare draw her wings; the flames were too close and they would catch fire.

"What do you want?!" she yelled over the roar of the fire.

Jeering laughs responded as a line of red machines surrounded the fire, their cannons aimed dead at her. One laugh rose above all others with a slightly maniacal ring to it as one suit stepped forward from the rest. Tara flinched back as the flames rose higher than before; there was no way she was escaping from this at all.

"Take aim; if you miss, you don't have the right to call yourselves Dragonslayers!" the voice yelled.

Tara steeled herself as the arms sighted onto her, all pointing dead blank; there was no chance they'd miss now. Orange and red danced around her as she shielded her face from the scorching blaze then she suddenly felt the ground go from beneath her legs, the wind whipping through her hair. Moving her arms she looked to see the circle of fire behind her. Reflexively her arms went around the neck that was present; this had totally caught her off guard. She drew back slightly to find herself looking into the face of a man she had never seen before; a man with wings.

He gave her a faint smile, as if to tell her that everything would be all right. She blinked startled before looking down to see that they were high off the ground, higher than she had ever went before. Her arms tightened around him; even though she knew that it was impossible, she couldn't stop the feeling that she could fall and plummet to her death.

"They're coming Tara."

She looked at him, startled that he would know her name at all. Looking over his shoulder, she aw the same red flying suits come hurtling towards them. Pushing away from him, she let herself fall for a nit before she spread her wings and fell into flight beside the man beside her. The forest below them had gone from peaceful greens to angry and blistering red, oranges and yellows. She darted close to the fire before pulling back up in an effort to lose them in the fierce heat of the flames.

"Tara, watch out!"

Suddenly she felt herself being enveloped in a hug of comforting warmth and chilling cold, the man's face buried in her neck. Surprised she held onto him thinking he needed help. It was when the sharp metal drove through her midsection that she understood; he had tried to protect her. She gave a gasp, bright red blood staining her lips as she looked at the man. Sharp jerking sadness and regret swan in those strange coloured depths as they started to plummet to the ground, still joined by the piece of metal that had detached somehow.

They landed in the middle of a small fire ringed clearing, the heat making everything shimmer and waver, like it had no substance in a strange dream. She closed her eyes as a name spilt past her lips.

The man managed a smile, as he raised a hand and wiped away the blood that ran from the corner of her mouth. "Tara…"

Tears came to her eyes only to be evaporated away from the intense heat. As she cried when his hand went limp against her cheek, calling his name over and over again, weeping for the loss of something great. "Tara? Tara? Tara…"

She couldn't be bothered to answer the voice that called rather insistently, choosing to ignore it and give in instead to the sad darkness that was encroaching upon her few, final and miserable seconds of life.

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Tara sat up like a shot, her entire body suddenly cold and clammy. She breathed hard as she ran a hand through her hair. 'That was the sixth time this week…' With a heavy sigh, she stuck her feet out from the pile of furs she called a bed, staring at her bare toes. She sat there breathing hard, trying to forget the dream when she felt an insistent nudge. Looking over she saw Cork looking at her with a worried light in his blue eyes. Managing a smile, she rubbed his muzzle affectionately.

"I'm up you big lump." she said.

"He's worried about you Tara; we all are. Why don't you just tell me what's bothering you?"

She looked up to see Storm patiently turning the spit, roasting something over the fire. Glide was looking on a bit hungrily. Whatever it was, it looked almost done and the mouthwatering smell was making her hungry as hell.

"Why don't you shut up and feed Glide; he looks hungry." she snapped irritably as she slid out and headed for the lake.

Seating herself by the water's edge, she picked up her frayed twig and brushed her teeth vigorously. She quickly washed her face and stood. As she picked up the old cloth to wipe her face dry, she noticed the water was an orange red today. She shook off her involuntary shiver and looked up to see the point of the same colour in the sky. 'Sunset…'

"Just because you woke up in a bad mood doesn't mean you take it out on me like that." Storm said as Tara came and sat by the fire with Cork lumbering after her. "But it's all right. Glide hunted already so he's fine. After dinner, I plan on going out somewhere; wanna come with?"

"I want to go to the beach today; the one by the sheer cliff." Tara said as she stared into the fire brooding; she needed to prove to herself that the dream was simply a figment of her imagination; her over active imagination.

"The beach?" a flash of apprehension crossed Storm's face before she nodded her head in agreement. "All right, we can go there."

Tara didn't say anything more as she waited for dinner to finish off. This worry was constantly nagging at her and she wanted some respite from it at least. Cork stretched out beside her, his head resting by her legs. With a genuine smile she hugged his head and scratched him in the spot between his neck and jawbone eliciting a happy growl. Even now, she remembered when they had gone out flying for the first time and he had nearly made her fall off when he started to pull crazy maneuvers. She had yelled at him when they had landed and promptly named him for the corkscrews that had nearly made her fall off. Storm had watched the whole thing with amusement before conferring the name of Glide on the more sedate flyer.

"Nice to see you're enjoying yourself. And try to not dismount me all right?"

"Dinner's done." Storm announced quietly as she banked the fire slightly and took out her dagger.

Quiet descended as they sliced off bits and pieces and ate leisurely, giving Cork and Glide tidbits half the time to finish off the entire meal. Every once in awhile, Tara looked down fondly at the dagger in her hand; Xeno had insisted that they take them for their own sakes with the order that hey had to visit him when they were back in the area. The gruff old farmer had become like a father to her here in this mainly hostile word.

"Tara! Are we going or what?"

She looked up, jarred from her thoughts to see Storm's slightly annoyed face. "Yeah, we're going to the beach. Did you want to leave now?"

Storm nodded before she mounted onto Glide's neck. "Shall we take the air exit or the water exit?"

Tara paused; the water exit was through the lake and she didn't feel like getting wet at the moment. "Air please." she replied as she mounted Cork now.

The dragon's lumbered to the water's edge and beat their wings, rising into the air and flying to the hidden tunnel behind a small outcropping. Tara sighed as the wind whistled through her hair as they burst out over the sea, the bright light of the sun striking them full on as it sank into the water. They circled around once before, flying westward at a steady speed. By the time they reached the beach, it would be dark and they would be free to move about as they pleased.

"So how are you doing over there Tara?" Storm asked.

"Fine." she said, ignoring the slight gnawing in her stomach.

"Look Tara, you have to talk about it at some point. You were talking in your sleep earlier today when you took your nap."

"I don't have to talk about anything." she said curtly; she really didn't want to discuss something like this.

"I think it would help you. You have been getting no sleep since we arrived here on the coast almost a month and a half ago. When we first arrived on Gaea, you were fine and then ever since we moved into that cave back in the Fanalian forests, you have been acting all wonky. You want the truth? You act like you're an impregnable fortress. Just like Wufei."

"Just like Wufei? Storm…do you realize what you just said?"

"No."

"Wufei is a character from our favorite TV show. You know…Gundam Wing…TV. How did you remember that?"

"I dunno. It just popped into my head. But you are really starting to piss me off." Storm said. "You actually talked in your sleep and you never do that."

"So? I fail to see how that makes any sort of- hey, I said don't try to kill me!" she said as Cork swerved sharply.

"Over there!" Storm said as she pointed, swerving to avoid the brown rock that had been flung at them.

Tara looked around rather lost until she saw the rows of large towering catapults lined against the edge of the cliff, the buildings of a city in the distance visible; they had come out too far too early. She pressed herself closer to Cork's neck as the next volley came again, leaving them to twist and turn to escape the crushing projectiles. Out of the corner of her ye, she saw Storm and Glide managed to slip out, leaving them free to rise out of range before Glide swept back down, a gout of bright flames coming from his jaws, igniting the wooden structures. The men scrambled back as Tara came in for a sweep now, completely setting fire to the wood and for once she was content to let it burn. Then the men took off to their horses, the mountless ones racing for the forest and clearing the general vicinity, chased down by Storm and Glide.

"Where the hell are they going?" Tara asked as Storm came back to the sky.

"I don't know. They yelled something about a floating fortress." Storm said. "It's right behind us but I honestly don't see what the big deal is."

Tara whipped around to see the looming visage only this time, it was real and before her very eyes. A tremble started to take hold of her hands. "Go! We're getting out of here now!!"

Tara didn't even wait to hear what Storm had to say, bolting towards the town; at no cost would she give away where they had been living for the past month and a half. Storm fell in right beside her, both dragons skimming past the town so fast it was nothing more than a blur. When Tara looked back, she saw the same red machines flying after them, making a sense of panic rise up wildly in her the pit of her stomach.

"Lose them and then circle back to the cave!" Storm yelled as she broke away, heading for the mountains behind the city.

Tara didn't reply as she sent Cork into a deep gully that had a river racing along its bed; it was almost like the one back in Fanalia. Cork maneuvered through easily, settling into a large shadowed crack, his eyes glowing a luminescent sapphire with anger. Tara stroked his neck in an effort to calm him down, her heart catching as she saw the machines go flying past; all four of them. Then it all went perfectly quiet and still. Unmoving, Tara and Cork remained in their hiding place, not wishing to have to run again. After a while, Tara got down and peered around carefully; she couldn't even hear the noise of their machines zipping around. Looking back at Cork, she flashed a smile, went back and mounted quickly.

"Let's go home." she whispered as Cork, flew down and out.

Tara didn't say anything as she saw the town coming back up into full view. The houses looked peaceful enough but there by the water's edge were more flames, chasing each other around the sky. Coming up, Tara saw Storm fighting off the few machines that taunted her and made close passes. Anger blazing fully now, she charged right into the fray, Cork breathing fire and clearing an aerial path.

"Get the hell out of here Tara! It's a trap!!" Storm yelled at her.

"What?!" she looked around suddenly as more machines seemed to materialize out of thin air, hammering home the foolishness of her hasty rush in. "Storm? Storm?!"

She looked around as her dragon slashed at one suit that dared to come too close and left it to tumble to the sea. Storm had vanished again and- Suddenly a sharp bump came from below, knocking her and Cork up higher than the suits. She craned to the side to see Storm look at her before she took off again, back towards the mountains. Most of the machines followed after her and it wasn't before long that Storm was pitched from Glide's back in a complicated and twisting maneuver.

"Storm!" Tara dug her heels into Cork's thick hide, making him start down into a dead fall to catch up.

Then a suit materialized in front of her, making Cork back draft sharply. Tara held on but her grip wasn't enough for the first time. She found herself meeting air and then the water as it rushed up to greet her like a ton of bricks.

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Van ran to the thick crowd that blocked off the fringe of the beach, pushing his way through. A feeling of impatience grew causing him to elbow people rather sharply. The crowd parted reluctantly and soon enough, he found himself looking at a girl who was half lying in the water and starting to stir. So someone had fallen…

"Are you all right?" he asked as he crouched down beside her, trying to see her face.

The girl recoiled like a snake, her hand going to her side for a weapon with the ease of a natural. When it came up empty, he breathed a sigh of relief; fighting now with this many spectators wasn't an appealing idea.

"I'm not going to hurt you. Can you speak?"

"Of course I can speak you idiot; I'm not some child." she snarled as she looked around anxiously. "I have to get out of here." she lunged forward suddenly, her hand closing around something that lay in the water.

Van watched as she drew the blade out of the water, wiped it dry and sheathed it back again. She started to struggle to her feet, making him take her arm and help her up. She looked at him gratefully before she took a step forward and nearly fell again. Van caught her before she hit and lifted her up.

"You can't go anywhere; your leg is broken."

"Van! There you are. Did you find what happened?"

Van looked up as the crowd parted once more and Allen appeared. He glanced at the girl; her mouth was hanging open slightly. With a heavy sigh, he took a step forward. "No. Let's get her to the palace. We can ask her there. Just clear the way Allen."

They started through the crowd slowly, the girl taking hopping steps on her good leg. When a collective gasp rose, she turned to look. Van turned also to see a guymelef rise from the water and head back to the fortress while the others fought off the enraged dragons. Once they all made it back in, the dragons roared, the sound echoing out over the bay, before one started attacking the fortress and the other came towards the ground. The crowd took off in a panic, swirling around Allen, Van and the girl. Van helped her to the ground as he drew his sword and took his stance. He hadn't figure on having to kill another dragon yet. The ground shook as it landed and bellowed before Allen and Van, murder in its eyes. Just as Van turned the edge of his sword to charge a voice made him stop.

"Stop!" the girl commanded with a bark. "If you lay a hand on that dragon, I will see to you personally."

Van turned to face her with surprise as she looked between him and Allen, daring them to contradict her. He let his sword tip drop slightly, motioning for Allen to do the same; maybe there was something this girl knew that they didn't. Nothing was said as she finally stopped looking at them and shifted her attention to the dragon now, maintaining contact with its eyes. Finally after what seemed like endless minutes, the dragon gave a discontent growl before taking to the sky and disappearing with the other one in tow.

"How did you do that?" Allen asked as he sheathed his sword back.

The girl didn't respond, simply sitting there on the ground like a statue. Allen started to open his mouth but Van laid a hand on his arm, shaking his head. Going back to the girl he picked her up and carried her to his horse, seating her in the saddle and taking the reins.

"I'll take care of things down here." Allen said before mounting his horse and taking off down toward the road where the catapults had been set up for practice.

Silently, Van started towards the palace, the clip clop of hooves barely heard as the people started to come back and crowd around the horse, eager to see this girl who had fallen from the sky. Irritated by the now constant press, he mounted behind the girl and pushed his way to a side street before picking up the pace and leaving the crowd behind. The girl looked around wildly before looking back at him.

"Where are you taking me? I don't want to be sold." she said in a desperate sounding voice.

"Sold?" he looked at her with true puzzlement. "I'm taking you to the palace so your leg can be fixed." obviously she had a brush with the slave trade somehow.

"Oh." that was all she said before she fell silent but her eyes were always looking around, taking in her surroundings with a cautious wariness.

Van sighed mentally as he tried to imagine what faced him at the palace; today certainly wasn't his day. First he had managed to offend Millerna somehow and Merle seemed to be on her side and meanwhile, Allen was giving him that tone that said he was speaking to a mere child.

"Arrogant ass," he said as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I do know how to do things."

The girl half turned around to look at him before she turned her attention back to looking around, her head shaking slightly. Van didn't say anything more as he clucked to the horse and made it veer to the left and up a path to the guarded gates. Leaving the horse with the palace grooms, he picked her up and walked into the side door, walking down long and curving hallways. Finally coming to the right one, he banged on it with his foot,

"I have a patient for you Millerna!" he called before he started to wait patiently.

The sound of a lock sliding open reached his ears before the metal door swung open slowly, a pair of blue eyes visible in the dim corridor. Nothing was said as the eyes swept over the girl in Van's arms with an analytical gleam.

"Bring her in Van and place her on the table." Millerna moved aside and allowed Van to come in.

"Thanks Millerna." he said as he set the girl down on the operating table. "Where's Merle? She said she was staying with you."

"She went down to dinner." Millerna said absently as she started checking over the girl. She gave a small gasp when she saw the leg. "How did this happen?"

"She-"

"I fell really far." the girl said quietly. "On to something fairly hard."

Van nodded his head as Millerna looked at him for confirmation. "She did hit pretty hard. That's why her leg is like that. Just how bad is it?"

"It's broken in two places but the skin is still intact so it's not so bad. But I don't have any anesthesia and this has to be taken care of immediately." Millerna said as she looked at the girl. "Do you want to drink wine or have nothing at all?"

"You're going to let her get drunk?" Van asked with a slight note of disbelief in his voice.

"Not completely. At this point this and nothing are the only options she has." Millerna said in a firm tone.

"Whatever you have in the way of strong liquor. I don't really drink much so less is better." she said softly. "And someone's hand."

"Someone's hand?" Van came back from the cabinet that Millerna sent him to and gave the girl the bottle.

"I'm not superwoman you know." she muttered darkly as she took a small pull. "Everyone has their kryptonite."

"Kryptonite?" he muttered to himself completely lost. "Here, have my hand." he said, brushing aside her previous words.

"Should I sit up or lay down?" she asked as Millerna came back to the table.

"Lay down and I can set it right." Millerna said as she busied herself with the final preparations. "When you feel that you need a break just let me know all right."

The girl gave a snort before taking another drink. "I need a break from you talking; get to it already."

Van stood beside the table now, covering up his laughter from the comment that had Millerna slightly flushed with anger. The girl lay down and gritted her teeth. He watched as Millerna steeled herself and took hold of the upper leg and started pulling slowly. The girl's forehead broke out with a thin sheen of sweat, her hand gripping Van's in a death grip. It seemed to take forever to move that one piece back into place. And by the time Millerna finally paused for the first break, he was sure that his hand had been reduced to a mass of pulp; if he hadn't been holding on with all he had, he would need a splint for the hand. He bent down and looked at her pasty sweat drenched face, the black hair a sharp contrast.

"I realize what I look like." she muttered before taking a long drink.

"It's almost over; halfway there." he said softly as he flexed his hand and got a better grip in hers.

"Let's finish this up please." she said, looking at Millerna.

With a heavy sigh, Millerna wiped away the last bit of sweat remained on her forehead before she took hold of the lower part of her leg and did the same thing once more. This part went by much faster and in ten minutes Millerna was done and splinting up the leg and bandaging it. Once Millerna finished, the girl sat up and polished off the bottle, slamming it down beside her as she breathed with little pants.

"I could use some more of that stuff; lingering pain isn't very nice."

Millerna looked up sharply from her last minute check. "You finished it completely?!"

The girl nodded. "If you wanted me to leave some, you should have said so."

"I think she's more surprised because the stuff you finished off usually floors a grown man." Van said. "And you're still up."

"Well then I can hold my liquor. Do I get crutches or what?" she asked as she swayed slightly.

Millerna walked to a spot beside her desk and drew out a pair. "Now I want you to stay off that leg for the next three weeks before you try to walk around on it freely. And could you watch out for her during that time Van? She most likely could use the supervision."

Van paused; stay on Millerna's bad side or play babysitter for three weeks. This girl couldn't be any worse than Millerna. "All right; three weeks you said?"

"Yes," Millerna said. "And make sure that she gets plenty of rest and good meals."

Van nodded as he ushered the girl out. "Thank you Millerna." he said as he closed the door with a relieved sigh.

"What was that for? You sound glad to out of there."

Van looked up at the girl; she was standing perfectly straight but now her voice was slurred slightly. "I am in a way. Can you walk or are you completely drunk?"

"I'm not drunk you fool." the girl said. "I am no where close to drunk. Do you see me kissing the floor? I don't think so. So long as I am standing, I am not drunk."

"All right, whatever you say." he said as they started to walk down the hall.

"Heeey, did I ever tell you my name Van?" she looked at him, her eyes not quite focusing. "I should shouldn't I?"

"If you want to. Maybe you should sleep and then we'll talk in the morning." he said gently.

"Bah! You should know my name. I'll tell you it. It's Storm. Stormy Stormy!!"

Van shook his head as she descended into a fit of mad giggles. "All right then Storm. Let's get you to sleep."

"Oh fine then." she said with a pout as she started down the hall shakily.

Van took her crutches and picked her up. "You really could use the sleep at the moment. We don't want you getting hurt again. And I'd rather not have Millerna mad at me again."

Storm mumbled something but her response was lost into his shirt. Finding an empty room close to his, Van opened the door and went in, placing her in the bed and pulling the covers up; already she was fast asleep. Making sure she was tucked in, he went to the door. He paused for a moment before he looked back at her. 'Why would she be riding a dragon?' Shaking his head he closed the door and went to find Allen; some things were better left until the morning.

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