Trying to update as soon as possible. Thanks again for all the reviews! Can
we try for 100 reviews total?
To Feye Morgan: No, Folken never said why he wanted Hitomi to train. Hitomi in a way decided for herself that she wanted to protect herself and learn to fight so no one would die on her part. And Folken also did say "Maybe later you will be useful to us."
To Xelena: Dilandau doesn't expect Hitomi, if she even was a spy, to just give it out that she is one. Lol... I hope a real spy wouldn't be that stupid. He knows he will have to trick her into saying something or maybe catch her doing something suspicious. Hope that's clear!
To snowykittenz: I thought about calling Hitomi's weapon a scythe... but the shapes are totally different and people would get the wrong picture of what the weapon actually looks like. Scythe looks like an upside-down L... Hitomi's blade like I said before is more of a D. Thanks for the suggestion thought!
Disclaimer: Ughh... must I repeat myself? I don't own Escaflowne. Only my characters... like Masumi.
His plan was to try and get some sort of clue that would tell him if she was a spy or not... to try and manipulate her... but now he only got more confused.
'Fate? What the hell was she talking about anyways?'
Chapter 10: Masumi's Past
A bemused Dilandau walked down the corridor. Hitomi's words still went through his mind. 'Fate? A battle was decided by the people involved... not fate.'
But he couldn't let his mind wander on just that. He had more important things to do than just think about some silly words. So pushing his thoughts away for later, he continued down the corridor... looking for something to do.
~Hitomi~
'Well... what I said was somewhat true... at least I'm pretty sure I knew what I was talking about. I was actually the one who took Van away from the battle. It was because of my pendant.'
Suddenly Hitomi's thoughts were broken when a scream was heard from just outside the door. Her adrenaline kicked in as she sprinted towards the door. She ripped it open with her glaive in the other hand. She saw a tray with spilled tea and broken glass scattered along the floor only a little ways from where she now stood. She then heard some voices from around the corner.
"Trying to run away? You might just have to pay with your life for not watching where you were going!" a masculine voice shouted.
"No! Please don't kill me! Please! I'm sorry!"
That voice... it was...
"Masumi!" Hitomi shrieked.
Her panic rose as Hitomi sprinted around the corner to where she saw Masumi. She was being held up by her shirt collar against the wall by a man who looked like a soldier. Blood ran down her lip and her cheek looked red. A huge wet stain could be seen on the front of the man's shirt. His short black hair was mussed and his clothing was wrinkled. He wasn't clad in armor but had a dagger held ready in one hand.
Instincts kicked in and without thinking, Hitomi charged the man with her blunt glaive held ready to attack. The soldier was too occupied with Masumi that he didn't notice Hitomi until he heard the running footsteps coming his way. His attention snapped her way but he was too late.
The hand that held the knife and the other hand that was holding Masumi were both struck from underneath by part of the wood pole on Hitomi's glaive. The dagger flew in the air and clattered on the ground. It spun uncontrollably and skidded down the corridor further from the man's grasp.
To get him away from Masumi, Hitomi rammed the non-blade end into his stomach. He crumpled back a few steps and fell to his knees, grasping his abdomen. Seeing he was down, Hitomi rushed over to where Masumi sat against the wall. She was crying and when Hitomi put a hand on her shoulder, she shrunk away.
"Masumi it's me... Hitomi." she said reassuringly.
Masumi looked up from her hands to see a smiling Hitomi kneeling in front of her.
"Hitomi... thank y..." but before she could finish, the soldier was once again on his feet, rushing towards both girls. Hitomi didn't have time to react and was grabbed by her hair. She held her glaive tight and swung it behind her, hoping it hit her target. The grip on her head was loosened and she quickly leapt to her right. Wasting no time, she grabbed her glaive with both hands and propelled the flat end of the blade right into the side of the guy's head.
Pain lit his features for a moment until he wobbled on his feet and fell unconscious to the floor. Hitomi felt excited for a moment but the feeling vanished once she felt Masumi run and hug her. Relief spread throughout her mind, making her relax. If she hadn't been there... she would have lost her only friend on the Vione.
Hitomi could feel Masumi start to shake as the current events just replayed in her mind.
"Masumi... let me take you back to my room. You need to pull yourself together. You need to tell me what happened. Someone is going to find that guy I knocked out and will start asking questions. I need to know what happened exactly. Will you be able to tell me?" Hitomi quietly asked.
Masumi nodded her head and followed closely by Hitomi. They arrived at Hitomi's room and walked in. Hitomi set her glaive down on her bed and sat down next to Masumi, who was already sitting on the couch.
"Take a few breaths and tell me what happened. If you can't go on at a certain point than you can stop. There is always another time when you are more composed." Hitomi advised her.
"Ok... well I was walking down the hall carrying a tray of fresh tea. Just as I rounded the corner... that soldier and I collided. The tea spilled all over the front of his shirt. The tea was still hot and I think it burned him. He got really mad and I could tell he was partly drunk. I apologized and tried to walk away as quickly as I could, but he caught me by the arm. He muttered that he was going to kill me, and I tried to free myself from his grip."
Hitomi could see tears starting to form in Masumi's eyes, but she refused to let them fall.
She continued, "I pulled my arm and I felt his grip loose hold a little so I pushed myself away from him as hard as I could, but he let go of my arm and I fell to the floor. That's when he picked me up by my collar, and threw me against the wall. He... pinned me there and forced his lips onto mine. I bit his bottom lip and he slapped me. And he just... kept on slapping me. He punched me a few times and I... I begged him to stop... but he just laughed. That's when I screamed... and before I knew it... I was sitting on the floor... and you grasped my shoulder. I thought it was him... and I thought I heard your voice... but I told myself that I was imagining things. When I opened my eyes though, you were there. And you know the rest that happened."
Hitomi listened intently the whole time. The anger built up in her. Masumi would have died... if someone hadn't been there. Masumi interrupted her thoughts.
"Hitomi... you may have been wondering about this... about my past..."
"Masumi" Hitomi started to say, "I don't want you to tell me anything that's just going to dig up bad memories."
"It's ok... I just need someone to know... I've never told anyone else this actually."
The sadness started to fill Masumi's eyes and she looked as if the resurfacing of her past events were happening right that instant.
"When I was about 8 years old, my home town was attacked by a traveling gang of bandits and murders. They took anything they could and burnt down all of the houses. Our town was so small and had no protection... everyone was helpless. My mother hid me in our house while my father went to try and fight them off. Everyone tried just using farming tools as weapons... but many members of the gang had swords and real weapons. My mother was killed when they stormed our house but they never found me. Many houses were being burned down and I climbed out of a window from my home.
"I was so scared and tried to look for a place to hide, but there were gang members everywhere. Before I knew what was happening, one of them grabbed me from behind and held a knife to my throat. But instead of killing me, he took me with them. They left the village after it was all ransacked, and continued onto another place, letting my village burn to the ground. I don't know how long I spent with the gang... but everyday I just wanted to die. To them... I was just a toy... they beat me when they were angry, and raped me when they were bored." Masumi's voice choked at this.
Seeing that Masumi would break down right there, Hitomi pulled the girl into a hug and let Masumi cry all her tears of rage and sorrow. When she was done crying, Masumi took a deep breath and carried on with her story.
"One day that all changed. We were traveling down a country road; I was locked up in a sort of wooden cage that was pulled by a horse. They saw a carriage coming toward them on the road and planned to raid it. But what they didn't know was that the carriage was one of Zaibach's. There were also men on horseback the surrounded the carriage. The gang members didn't even know what was to come.
"Soon enough they attacked the more armored and better trained soldiers of Zaibach. It wasn't a very long battle, but all the people of the gang had been killed and some ran away. They searched everything that was left behind by the bunch of criminals, and came across me. At first they were unsure of what they should do, but the person that was in the carriage stepped out. I didn't know who he was back then... but I later learned that it was Folken who saved me. He saw how young I was, and broke me out of the cage. He tried to calm me down and reassured me that I would be ok if I went with him. I didn't just want to be left there alone, so I had no choice but to trust him. I went into the carriage with him and he assured me that I could start a new life in Zaibach. And for once, that's what happened. I started a new life here... in Zaibach."
Hitomi almost felt tears spring to her eyes as she listened to all the painful things Masumi went through.
'No one should ever have to go through that.' Hitomi thought to herself.
Masumi gave a slight smile. It looked as though a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders, and that memory was no longer buried within the depths of her mind. Just as Hitomi was going to say something, the door burst open. A young boy came in and looked at Hitomi.
"Folken-sama wishes to see you in his study Lady Hitomi." the young boy announced to her. "Please follow me."
Hitomi gave an apologetic nod to Masumi and stood up. She followed the boy out with one question on her mind. 'Why would Folken need to see me?'
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sorry if this chapter was a little boring when Masumi was talking about her past... well actually I dunno... you tell me if you thought it was good or boring. I'll try to update soon again. R&R please!!
To Feye Morgan: No, Folken never said why he wanted Hitomi to train. Hitomi in a way decided for herself that she wanted to protect herself and learn to fight so no one would die on her part. And Folken also did say "Maybe later you will be useful to us."
To Xelena: Dilandau doesn't expect Hitomi, if she even was a spy, to just give it out that she is one. Lol... I hope a real spy wouldn't be that stupid. He knows he will have to trick her into saying something or maybe catch her doing something suspicious. Hope that's clear!
To snowykittenz: I thought about calling Hitomi's weapon a scythe... but the shapes are totally different and people would get the wrong picture of what the weapon actually looks like. Scythe looks like an upside-down L... Hitomi's blade like I said before is more of a D. Thanks for the suggestion thought!
Disclaimer: Ughh... must I repeat myself? I don't own Escaflowne. Only my characters... like Masumi.
His plan was to try and get some sort of clue that would tell him if she was a spy or not... to try and manipulate her... but now he only got more confused.
'Fate? What the hell was she talking about anyways?'
Chapter 10: Masumi's Past
A bemused Dilandau walked down the corridor. Hitomi's words still went through his mind. 'Fate? A battle was decided by the people involved... not fate.'
But he couldn't let his mind wander on just that. He had more important things to do than just think about some silly words. So pushing his thoughts away for later, he continued down the corridor... looking for something to do.
~Hitomi~
'Well... what I said was somewhat true... at least I'm pretty sure I knew what I was talking about. I was actually the one who took Van away from the battle. It was because of my pendant.'
Suddenly Hitomi's thoughts were broken when a scream was heard from just outside the door. Her adrenaline kicked in as she sprinted towards the door. She ripped it open with her glaive in the other hand. She saw a tray with spilled tea and broken glass scattered along the floor only a little ways from where she now stood. She then heard some voices from around the corner.
"Trying to run away? You might just have to pay with your life for not watching where you were going!" a masculine voice shouted.
"No! Please don't kill me! Please! I'm sorry!"
That voice... it was...
"Masumi!" Hitomi shrieked.
Her panic rose as Hitomi sprinted around the corner to where she saw Masumi. She was being held up by her shirt collar against the wall by a man who looked like a soldier. Blood ran down her lip and her cheek looked red. A huge wet stain could be seen on the front of the man's shirt. His short black hair was mussed and his clothing was wrinkled. He wasn't clad in armor but had a dagger held ready in one hand.
Instincts kicked in and without thinking, Hitomi charged the man with her blunt glaive held ready to attack. The soldier was too occupied with Masumi that he didn't notice Hitomi until he heard the running footsteps coming his way. His attention snapped her way but he was too late.
The hand that held the knife and the other hand that was holding Masumi were both struck from underneath by part of the wood pole on Hitomi's glaive. The dagger flew in the air and clattered on the ground. It spun uncontrollably and skidded down the corridor further from the man's grasp.
To get him away from Masumi, Hitomi rammed the non-blade end into his stomach. He crumpled back a few steps and fell to his knees, grasping his abdomen. Seeing he was down, Hitomi rushed over to where Masumi sat against the wall. She was crying and when Hitomi put a hand on her shoulder, she shrunk away.
"Masumi it's me... Hitomi." she said reassuringly.
Masumi looked up from her hands to see a smiling Hitomi kneeling in front of her.
"Hitomi... thank y..." but before she could finish, the soldier was once again on his feet, rushing towards both girls. Hitomi didn't have time to react and was grabbed by her hair. She held her glaive tight and swung it behind her, hoping it hit her target. The grip on her head was loosened and she quickly leapt to her right. Wasting no time, she grabbed her glaive with both hands and propelled the flat end of the blade right into the side of the guy's head.
Pain lit his features for a moment until he wobbled on his feet and fell unconscious to the floor. Hitomi felt excited for a moment but the feeling vanished once she felt Masumi run and hug her. Relief spread throughout her mind, making her relax. If she hadn't been there... she would have lost her only friend on the Vione.
Hitomi could feel Masumi start to shake as the current events just replayed in her mind.
"Masumi... let me take you back to my room. You need to pull yourself together. You need to tell me what happened. Someone is going to find that guy I knocked out and will start asking questions. I need to know what happened exactly. Will you be able to tell me?" Hitomi quietly asked.
Masumi nodded her head and followed closely by Hitomi. They arrived at Hitomi's room and walked in. Hitomi set her glaive down on her bed and sat down next to Masumi, who was already sitting on the couch.
"Take a few breaths and tell me what happened. If you can't go on at a certain point than you can stop. There is always another time when you are more composed." Hitomi advised her.
"Ok... well I was walking down the hall carrying a tray of fresh tea. Just as I rounded the corner... that soldier and I collided. The tea spilled all over the front of his shirt. The tea was still hot and I think it burned him. He got really mad and I could tell he was partly drunk. I apologized and tried to walk away as quickly as I could, but he caught me by the arm. He muttered that he was going to kill me, and I tried to free myself from his grip."
Hitomi could see tears starting to form in Masumi's eyes, but she refused to let them fall.
She continued, "I pulled my arm and I felt his grip loose hold a little so I pushed myself away from him as hard as I could, but he let go of my arm and I fell to the floor. That's when he picked me up by my collar, and threw me against the wall. He... pinned me there and forced his lips onto mine. I bit his bottom lip and he slapped me. And he just... kept on slapping me. He punched me a few times and I... I begged him to stop... but he just laughed. That's when I screamed... and before I knew it... I was sitting on the floor... and you grasped my shoulder. I thought it was him... and I thought I heard your voice... but I told myself that I was imagining things. When I opened my eyes though, you were there. And you know the rest that happened."
Hitomi listened intently the whole time. The anger built up in her. Masumi would have died... if someone hadn't been there. Masumi interrupted her thoughts.
"Hitomi... you may have been wondering about this... about my past..."
"Masumi" Hitomi started to say, "I don't want you to tell me anything that's just going to dig up bad memories."
"It's ok... I just need someone to know... I've never told anyone else this actually."
The sadness started to fill Masumi's eyes and she looked as if the resurfacing of her past events were happening right that instant.
"When I was about 8 years old, my home town was attacked by a traveling gang of bandits and murders. They took anything they could and burnt down all of the houses. Our town was so small and had no protection... everyone was helpless. My mother hid me in our house while my father went to try and fight them off. Everyone tried just using farming tools as weapons... but many members of the gang had swords and real weapons. My mother was killed when they stormed our house but they never found me. Many houses were being burned down and I climbed out of a window from my home.
"I was so scared and tried to look for a place to hide, but there were gang members everywhere. Before I knew what was happening, one of them grabbed me from behind and held a knife to my throat. But instead of killing me, he took me with them. They left the village after it was all ransacked, and continued onto another place, letting my village burn to the ground. I don't know how long I spent with the gang... but everyday I just wanted to die. To them... I was just a toy... they beat me when they were angry, and raped me when they were bored." Masumi's voice choked at this.
Seeing that Masumi would break down right there, Hitomi pulled the girl into a hug and let Masumi cry all her tears of rage and sorrow. When she was done crying, Masumi took a deep breath and carried on with her story.
"One day that all changed. We were traveling down a country road; I was locked up in a sort of wooden cage that was pulled by a horse. They saw a carriage coming toward them on the road and planned to raid it. But what they didn't know was that the carriage was one of Zaibach's. There were also men on horseback the surrounded the carriage. The gang members didn't even know what was to come.
"Soon enough they attacked the more armored and better trained soldiers of Zaibach. It wasn't a very long battle, but all the people of the gang had been killed and some ran away. They searched everything that was left behind by the bunch of criminals, and came across me. At first they were unsure of what they should do, but the person that was in the carriage stepped out. I didn't know who he was back then... but I later learned that it was Folken who saved me. He saw how young I was, and broke me out of the cage. He tried to calm me down and reassured me that I would be ok if I went with him. I didn't just want to be left there alone, so I had no choice but to trust him. I went into the carriage with him and he assured me that I could start a new life in Zaibach. And for once, that's what happened. I started a new life here... in Zaibach."
Hitomi almost felt tears spring to her eyes as she listened to all the painful things Masumi went through.
'No one should ever have to go through that.' Hitomi thought to herself.
Masumi gave a slight smile. It looked as though a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders, and that memory was no longer buried within the depths of her mind. Just as Hitomi was going to say something, the door burst open. A young boy came in and looked at Hitomi.
"Folken-sama wishes to see you in his study Lady Hitomi." the young boy announced to her. "Please follow me."
Hitomi gave an apologetic nod to Masumi and stood up. She followed the boy out with one question on her mind. 'Why would Folken need to see me?'
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sorry if this chapter was a little boring when Masumi was talking about her past... well actually I dunno... you tell me if you thought it was good or boring. I'll try to update soon again. R&R please!!
