Niakal- thanks for telling me! I really appreciate it!
hitomi21- Here we go! You'll get to see how the crew acts around Van!
Eliminating The Shadows
Disclaimer: I don't own escaflowne
Chapter Four: Battle Positions Everyone!
Hitomi was double-checking her armaments in her room in the castle. Luckily, King Goau had provided them all their own rooms. She stood up and looked outside the window.
"About one hour till dawn. Better go wake them up."
Hitomi went out and entered the room across hers. Inside she saw Mamouro sleeping on the bed. The pillows were all on the floor and the blanket wrapped around his small frame. His face had peace written all over it. Seeing him like this made her not want to wake him. However, they had a job to do and it would be a bad impression if they were late.
So, she slowly made her way towards the bed. She looked at the little angel and smiled. No matter what, seeing her little brother like this always made her smile. She slowly shook him.
His eyes slowly opened. At first, his vision was blurry but soon, it became normal. He saw his big sister's face. Mamouro sat up and rubbed his eyes. He looked at his big sister again.
"Get ready. We leave in an hour."
Mamouro nodded and tried to unwrap himself from the clutches of his blanket. Hitomi chuckled as she watched Mamouro struggle. She shook her head and decided to wake Luc and Castor.
She walked out of the room and passed three doors to the right. She knocked. When there was no answer, she knocked for a second time. Yet, again, there was no answer. Sighing in frustration, she banged on the door.
"Luc! Wake up! We're leaving in an hour! If you're late, you know what your punishment will be and I swear it will be ten times worse than that!"
Inside the room, ocean blue eyes suddenly revealed themselves in the darkness. He had heard his leader. He quickly sat up and did some stretching to wipe away the sleep he had left. As he did his stretching, he remembered the day when he was last late.
"Your late," Hitomi growled.
"I was only five minutes late," Luc tried to reason.
"Five minutes? Did you ever think that within five minutes, a helpless civilian was being attacked by a shadow?"
"No ma'am. "
He knew better than to argue with Hitomi.
" Did you ever think that within five minutes, a whole village would be packed with dead bodies because of an attack?"
"No. ma'am "
" Did you ever think that within the five minutes that you were late, your comrades would be fighting a losing battle because they didn't have your support?"
". No, ma'am."
"Think about that the next time you are late. When we get back, I want you to do five hundred push-ups and sit-ups. After that, you will run around the castle ten times. You are not allowed to have dinner. Is that understood?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Good. Let's move people!"
Luc shuddered at the memory. He didn't want to go through that again.
Hitomi is a good leader however; she is just strict when it comes to training and their missions.
Luc sighed. Guess it can't be helped. She is going to be the next chief so she should show authority. He could tell that she is going to be a great chief.
After he was done stretching, he stood up and went to the bathroom.
Outside, Hitomi listened to the small amount of noise coming from Luc's room. She figured that he was already awake and was stretching. She paused for a while, deciding whether she should wake up Castor.
Unlike the other two, when there is a mission, Castor wakes up early. Not as early as Hitomi though.
"Just in case."
Hitomi walked back seven doors to the left of Luc's room. She knocked. There was a brief pause but eventually, Castor opened it.
"Oh! Good morning Hitomi! What do you want?"
"We're leaving in an hour. Could you tell Luc and Mamouro that I'll be waiting in the castle gates? I forgot to tell them. I assume that you already know that you are to prepare your own steeds."
"Yes, of course."
"Also, could you order a page to tell the prince that- "
"We'll be assembling at the castle gates. I've got it."
"Thanks."
"No problem."
With that, Hitomi went back to her room and started to pack all the necessities she needed in order to survive. She slung the bag on her shoulder and walked towards the stable.
After a while of walking in silence, she arrived at the stable. She entered and she looked for her horse. She spotted her white steed. She approached it and it immediately recognized its master.
Hitomi took some sort of green vegetable and fed her horse.
"Good morning to you too, Luna." Hitomi greeted.
After Luna was done eating, Hitomi started saddling her. When she was through, she mounted her white stallion and went toward the gate.
After a while of riding, she spotted the castle gates. There she saw the outline of the guards. She also saw the silhouettes of two figures on horses. They seemed to be engrossed in a conversation.
"Look. There's one of them now," A man with black brown hair spoke.
"Is that a girl?" The other one asked as he squinted his eyes at the approaching guest.
"Hmmm.. I've heard that the leader of the Seven Shadow Warriors was a female."
"I can't believe they'd let a girl be the leader, much less a warrior."
"Don't underestimate her, Lord Van. She became a leader for a reason."
"I know, I know. I'm just not used to girls being able to fight."
"Lord Van-"
"I know, I know! I'll treat her with reverence."
The female leader was approaching the gates when her comrades caught up with her. Soon, they too took notice of the two men on horses.
Luc looked at his leader and was about to ask her a question when Castor spoke.
" Those two must be the prince and his bodyguard."
" Great. Just what we need, a prince who only thinks of himself," Luc spoke.
"Let's not jump into conclusions. Maybe he's not bad," Hitomi encouraged.
"Yeah right! Remember the last one?" Luc snorted.
"You mean the Princess Fiona from Kirok?" Mamouro asked.
"That's the one," Luc answered.
"Luc!" Castor warned.
"What?"
Castor just looked at Hitomi. Hitomi cringed. Oh, she remembered all right. She remembered Fiona's nagging voice. She remembered Fiona's scream when she saw a shadow. She remembered how Fiona almost killed them all because of that scream. She remembered all the shadows coming towards them to stop the source of the noise. She remembered the pain when she got injured because she tried to save the princess.
Hitomi looked at her shoulder. The injury still had not healed. She touched it.
"AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!"
"Watch out!!!" Hitomi shouted.
Seeing that the princess didn't move, Hitomi just pushed the princess out of the way. She looked at the direction at which the shadow was going to attack. She saw it. She had little time to prepare for defense.
The shadow aimed for Hitomi's stomach but she miraculously blocked it. Hitomi was about to finish the abominable thing when she felt searing pain coming from her shoulder.
She cursed. She had forgotten about the opponents' other hand. Removing the excruciating pain from her mind, she cut the shadows' head off. The enemy dropped onto her and they both fell on the ground.
" Ellie!!! Help Me!!!" Hitomi screamed.
Ellie looked at where the scream for help came from. She saw Hitomi under a dead shadow. She immediately went to her fallen comrade. Ellie tried to remove the corpse but every time she moved it, Hitomi always doubled in pain.
She looked at Hitomi. What she saw made her heart beat faster.
Hitomi's face was pale and her blood was everywhere. She quickly scanned her friend for any injury.
Her eyes wandered to Hitomi's shoulder. She saw that the shadow's huge claw had pierced her leader's right shoulder.
"Tomi, I won't be able to get that claw out of your shoulder by myself. I need you to hang till I get some help."
Hitomi shook her head no.
"Get. the princess. out of here first. "
"No! You're injured! Remember our rule? No one gets left behind! So I'm not leaving you for someone who doesn't need my help!"
"Ellie. you. should get. the princess. to safety. That's your. main . priority."
"Hang on Tomi! I'll get help. Hang . "
That was all that Hitomi remembered before she fell unconscious. When she woke up, she was back at the palace in Kirok. Ellie was watching over her.
Ellie had explained everything that had happened after she had blacked out. They had won.
"Why did I lose consciousness? I handled pain worse than that."
"Well, you see, you were also poisoned. Don't worry though, you're fine now."
She sighed. She still remembered that. She still remembered the horror on the princess face when she saw her.
The Princess Fiona had been traumatized and seeing Hitomi only made her remember the fear.
She could still remember the princess's face when she looked at her. It was pure terror.
"Hitomi, it wasn't your fault," Tio tried to reason.
"No, it was my fault. If I hadn't accepted that order then this wouldn't have happened to her."
"You had no choice. We had to take this mission and I'm sure you know why," Hayden spoke.
She didn't say anything. She knew the price if she had declined. The lives of the civilians would be endangered if she had said no. Still, there was the guilt at the back of her mind. Knowing that she had caused the princess's trauma was enough for her to hate herself.
That incident happened about two weeks ago. Up until now, she still cannot forgive herself.
"Hitomi?"
Hitomi was pulled back to reality by Mamouro's voice. She looked at her little brother. He had a concerned look on his face. She smiled.
"I'm fine, Mamouro."
Mamouro nodded and continued toward the castle gates.
Finally, after about five minutes of silence, they arrived at the castle gates. The group stopped in front of the two men on the horses.
The one on the left had armor on and black boots. On the left side of his hip, lay a long broad sword in its sheath. He had brown black hair and he had a scar on his right eye. The way he was looking at Hitomi made her a little uneasy but of course, she didn't show it. Despite that, she was getting a nice vibration from him (a feeling). He reminded her of her father. He always looked at her that way when they were in a meeting.
" Good morning, Lady Hitomi. I am Balgus, a general, and the Prince Van's guardian. I am here to make sure that he gets home safely."
Hitomi nodded. Her facial expression was unreadable. She looked at the other one. He had unruly raven hair and crimson eyes. He was wearing a red sleeveless top, tan pants, and brown boots. Hitomi pretended not to notice the irritation in his eyes.
"I am Van Slanzar de Fanel, the second son of King Goau Fanel. I will be assisting you through this mission."
Hitomi once again nodded.
Luc looked at Van. He could already tell that he was a person who thinks he is superior. He shook his head.
'This is going to be a long day . '
How was that? Okay, Vanny's here now. You'll get to see more of him in the next chapter.
hitomi21- Here we go! You'll get to see how the crew acts around Van!
Eliminating The Shadows
Disclaimer: I don't own escaflowne
Chapter Four: Battle Positions Everyone!
Hitomi was double-checking her armaments in her room in the castle. Luckily, King Goau had provided them all their own rooms. She stood up and looked outside the window.
"About one hour till dawn. Better go wake them up."
Hitomi went out and entered the room across hers. Inside she saw Mamouro sleeping on the bed. The pillows were all on the floor and the blanket wrapped around his small frame. His face had peace written all over it. Seeing him like this made her not want to wake him. However, they had a job to do and it would be a bad impression if they were late.
So, she slowly made her way towards the bed. She looked at the little angel and smiled. No matter what, seeing her little brother like this always made her smile. She slowly shook him.
His eyes slowly opened. At first, his vision was blurry but soon, it became normal. He saw his big sister's face. Mamouro sat up and rubbed his eyes. He looked at his big sister again.
"Get ready. We leave in an hour."
Mamouro nodded and tried to unwrap himself from the clutches of his blanket. Hitomi chuckled as she watched Mamouro struggle. She shook her head and decided to wake Luc and Castor.
She walked out of the room and passed three doors to the right. She knocked. When there was no answer, she knocked for a second time. Yet, again, there was no answer. Sighing in frustration, she banged on the door.
"Luc! Wake up! We're leaving in an hour! If you're late, you know what your punishment will be and I swear it will be ten times worse than that!"
Inside the room, ocean blue eyes suddenly revealed themselves in the darkness. He had heard his leader. He quickly sat up and did some stretching to wipe away the sleep he had left. As he did his stretching, he remembered the day when he was last late.
"Your late," Hitomi growled.
"I was only five minutes late," Luc tried to reason.
"Five minutes? Did you ever think that within five minutes, a helpless civilian was being attacked by a shadow?"
"No ma'am. "
He knew better than to argue with Hitomi.
" Did you ever think that within five minutes, a whole village would be packed with dead bodies because of an attack?"
"No. ma'am "
" Did you ever think that within the five minutes that you were late, your comrades would be fighting a losing battle because they didn't have your support?"
". No, ma'am."
"Think about that the next time you are late. When we get back, I want you to do five hundred push-ups and sit-ups. After that, you will run around the castle ten times. You are not allowed to have dinner. Is that understood?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Good. Let's move people!"
Luc shuddered at the memory. He didn't want to go through that again.
Hitomi is a good leader however; she is just strict when it comes to training and their missions.
Luc sighed. Guess it can't be helped. She is going to be the next chief so she should show authority. He could tell that she is going to be a great chief.
After he was done stretching, he stood up and went to the bathroom.
Outside, Hitomi listened to the small amount of noise coming from Luc's room. She figured that he was already awake and was stretching. She paused for a while, deciding whether she should wake up Castor.
Unlike the other two, when there is a mission, Castor wakes up early. Not as early as Hitomi though.
"Just in case."
Hitomi walked back seven doors to the left of Luc's room. She knocked. There was a brief pause but eventually, Castor opened it.
"Oh! Good morning Hitomi! What do you want?"
"We're leaving in an hour. Could you tell Luc and Mamouro that I'll be waiting in the castle gates? I forgot to tell them. I assume that you already know that you are to prepare your own steeds."
"Yes, of course."
"Also, could you order a page to tell the prince that- "
"We'll be assembling at the castle gates. I've got it."
"Thanks."
"No problem."
With that, Hitomi went back to her room and started to pack all the necessities she needed in order to survive. She slung the bag on her shoulder and walked towards the stable.
After a while of walking in silence, she arrived at the stable. She entered and she looked for her horse. She spotted her white steed. She approached it and it immediately recognized its master.
Hitomi took some sort of green vegetable and fed her horse.
"Good morning to you too, Luna." Hitomi greeted.
After Luna was done eating, Hitomi started saddling her. When she was through, she mounted her white stallion and went toward the gate.
After a while of riding, she spotted the castle gates. There she saw the outline of the guards. She also saw the silhouettes of two figures on horses. They seemed to be engrossed in a conversation.
"Look. There's one of them now," A man with black brown hair spoke.
"Is that a girl?" The other one asked as he squinted his eyes at the approaching guest.
"Hmmm.. I've heard that the leader of the Seven Shadow Warriors was a female."
"I can't believe they'd let a girl be the leader, much less a warrior."
"Don't underestimate her, Lord Van. She became a leader for a reason."
"I know, I know. I'm just not used to girls being able to fight."
"Lord Van-"
"I know, I know! I'll treat her with reverence."
The female leader was approaching the gates when her comrades caught up with her. Soon, they too took notice of the two men on horses.
Luc looked at his leader and was about to ask her a question when Castor spoke.
" Those two must be the prince and his bodyguard."
" Great. Just what we need, a prince who only thinks of himself," Luc spoke.
"Let's not jump into conclusions. Maybe he's not bad," Hitomi encouraged.
"Yeah right! Remember the last one?" Luc snorted.
"You mean the Princess Fiona from Kirok?" Mamouro asked.
"That's the one," Luc answered.
"Luc!" Castor warned.
"What?"
Castor just looked at Hitomi. Hitomi cringed. Oh, she remembered all right. She remembered Fiona's nagging voice. She remembered Fiona's scream when she saw a shadow. She remembered how Fiona almost killed them all because of that scream. She remembered all the shadows coming towards them to stop the source of the noise. She remembered the pain when she got injured because she tried to save the princess.
Hitomi looked at her shoulder. The injury still had not healed. She touched it.
"AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!"
"Watch out!!!" Hitomi shouted.
Seeing that the princess didn't move, Hitomi just pushed the princess out of the way. She looked at the direction at which the shadow was going to attack. She saw it. She had little time to prepare for defense.
The shadow aimed for Hitomi's stomach but she miraculously blocked it. Hitomi was about to finish the abominable thing when she felt searing pain coming from her shoulder.
She cursed. She had forgotten about the opponents' other hand. Removing the excruciating pain from her mind, she cut the shadows' head off. The enemy dropped onto her and they both fell on the ground.
" Ellie!!! Help Me!!!" Hitomi screamed.
Ellie looked at where the scream for help came from. She saw Hitomi under a dead shadow. She immediately went to her fallen comrade. Ellie tried to remove the corpse but every time she moved it, Hitomi always doubled in pain.
She looked at Hitomi. What she saw made her heart beat faster.
Hitomi's face was pale and her blood was everywhere. She quickly scanned her friend for any injury.
Her eyes wandered to Hitomi's shoulder. She saw that the shadow's huge claw had pierced her leader's right shoulder.
"Tomi, I won't be able to get that claw out of your shoulder by myself. I need you to hang till I get some help."
Hitomi shook her head no.
"Get. the princess. out of here first. "
"No! You're injured! Remember our rule? No one gets left behind! So I'm not leaving you for someone who doesn't need my help!"
"Ellie. you. should get. the princess. to safety. That's your. main . priority."
"Hang on Tomi! I'll get help. Hang . "
That was all that Hitomi remembered before she fell unconscious. When she woke up, she was back at the palace in Kirok. Ellie was watching over her.
Ellie had explained everything that had happened after she had blacked out. They had won.
"Why did I lose consciousness? I handled pain worse than that."
"Well, you see, you were also poisoned. Don't worry though, you're fine now."
She sighed. She still remembered that. She still remembered the horror on the princess face when she saw her.
The Princess Fiona had been traumatized and seeing Hitomi only made her remember the fear.
She could still remember the princess's face when she looked at her. It was pure terror.
"Hitomi, it wasn't your fault," Tio tried to reason.
"No, it was my fault. If I hadn't accepted that order then this wouldn't have happened to her."
"You had no choice. We had to take this mission and I'm sure you know why," Hayden spoke.
She didn't say anything. She knew the price if she had declined. The lives of the civilians would be endangered if she had said no. Still, there was the guilt at the back of her mind. Knowing that she had caused the princess's trauma was enough for her to hate herself.
That incident happened about two weeks ago. Up until now, she still cannot forgive herself.
"Hitomi?"
Hitomi was pulled back to reality by Mamouro's voice. She looked at her little brother. He had a concerned look on his face. She smiled.
"I'm fine, Mamouro."
Mamouro nodded and continued toward the castle gates.
Finally, after about five minutes of silence, they arrived at the castle gates. The group stopped in front of the two men on the horses.
The one on the left had armor on and black boots. On the left side of his hip, lay a long broad sword in its sheath. He had brown black hair and he had a scar on his right eye. The way he was looking at Hitomi made her a little uneasy but of course, she didn't show it. Despite that, she was getting a nice vibration from him (a feeling). He reminded her of her father. He always looked at her that way when they were in a meeting.
" Good morning, Lady Hitomi. I am Balgus, a general, and the Prince Van's guardian. I am here to make sure that he gets home safely."
Hitomi nodded. Her facial expression was unreadable. She looked at the other one. He had unruly raven hair and crimson eyes. He was wearing a red sleeveless top, tan pants, and brown boots. Hitomi pretended not to notice the irritation in his eyes.
"I am Van Slanzar de Fanel, the second son of King Goau Fanel. I will be assisting you through this mission."
Hitomi once again nodded.
Luc looked at Van. He could already tell that he was a person who thinks he is superior. He shook his head.
'This is going to be a long day . '
How was that? Okay, Vanny's here now. You'll get to see more of him in the next chapter.