Disclaimer:  I do not own anything Escaflowne for someone out bided me on Ebay for the right.  Any characters that are not from the original plot line are MINE! 

Author's Note:  Yes!  The next chapter!  Read!

The Lost Protector

This story is dedicated to Chichirui for she is the reason for most of my inspiration and without her these stories wouldn't be half as fun!  So this one is for you my hyper active friend!  Keep the hyperness alive!

Chapter 2: History and a Mission

"All Slayers met in the hanger in five minutes!"  Dilandau's voice yelled over the Communications system.  Kat shook her head and put down the sword she was cleaning.  "What could it be now?  Folken have another little job for us to do for him?" She muttered sarcastically as she stood up and started towards the hanger.

Leaving the Training Room, she started down the empty metal corridors.  On her way she encountered Nicole, Miguel, a 5'11" with wild brown hair, brown eyes, and a slim face with a strong slim build, and Gatti, 5'10" with light brown hair that came close to blonde, blue eyes, with a well defined build and a round face that lighted up when he saw her.

They were walking in sync with each other abreast when Kat joined them.  "So, who wants to bet that we do another little "job" for Lord Folken?"  Gatti asked, glancing at Kat.  He and her got along well because of their shared sense of humor and attitude towards Folken.

Kat laughed.  "I'm not getting involved in this.  I have a feeling that this might be different.  If I'm wrong, then you can hit me," she said.

"Is that because last time you said something you got maid duty for two weeks?"  Pressed Nicole, a joking tone in her voice.

Miguel shook his head.  "I'm not saying anything until I get orders," he said non-chantingly.  Being Second in Command he took his duty very seriously.

"Nicole, can you hit him for me?" Kat asked sweetly.

Nicole snorted in response.

"What?  You're the closest and he'd see me!" Kat protested.

Nicole shook her head.  "It doesn't help that you just told him what you're going to do."

"Hey, I'm First in Command and that's an order!"

"In the Dragon Slayers.  I'm not a Dragon Slayer."

Kat glared at Nicole, sulking.  "What good is being First if you can't use your power on anyone?"  She whined.

Instead, Gatti reached over and hit Miguel in the arm.  "Thank you, Gatti," Kat said, lightly kissing his cheek.

By now they had entered the hanger and Gatti blushed slightly making Kat laugh.  They saw Dilandau was all ready there along with the other assembled Slayers.  They quickly got into formation and joined Guimel, 6 foot with fluffy pale blonde hair, green eyes, with a school-boy face and slim build, Dalet, 5'11" with shoulder length brown hair, brown eyes and playfully face.  Serenity, standing 5'7" with shoulder blade jet-black hair, amber eyes, athletic build and small face, along with James, 6'2" with shoulder length black hair, golden brown eyes, serious face and very strong build, in line.

"I feel so short," Kat muttered, looking around.  Everyone knew that she was defensive about her height and snorted with laughter.  Just then Chesta, 5'6" with blonde hair in a haircut that looked like someone put a bowl over his head and cut around it, bluish-green eyes and a short build, and Viole, 5'11" with long dark brown hair that almost looked black, blue eyes, and a gawky build entered.  Dean, 5'10" with short blonde hair, purple eyes, followed them shortly and a stocky build, Steven, 5'10" with wild dark red hair, dark brown eyes with a build much like Miguel's.  Last was Tyler and Trent, twins and both 5'9" with chin length golden hair, Tyler having blue eyes and Trent having brown eyes but both having a bulky build.

When they were all assembled, they looked at Dilandau, standing before them.  Kat, Alex and Nicole all knew that they didn't have to be in line, but they insisted; they hated feeling apart from the group, which made them stand out.  "We have a mission; yes a real mission," Dilandau started, stopping Kat before she could ask her infamous, "What mission?"

Dilandau began to pace, keeping his eyes on Kat.  It was something he did often, not being able to pry his eyes off her, as if there was something he was trying to decide and looking at her made the decision easier.  Probably wants to see if I have plans for us before the wedding or something, she thought.

"Folken reports that a powerful woman was transported here.  Yes, transported.  She was somehow able to get through the net that now protects Gaea.  We were tracking her for a while but we've lost track of her and it's our job to find her then bring her back here, alive.

"Kat, Nicole, Alex, be warned.  She is more powerful then all of your powers put together and we're not sure if she knows how to use her powers.  She might lash out suddenly," he finished.

Everyone nodded.

Dilandau then split them up into three teams to cover more ground, a Protector in each team; Dean, Trent, Nicole, Serenity, Guimel and Tyler were Group One.  Alex, Miguel, Chesta, Steven and Dalet were Group Two.  Dilandau, Gatti, James, Viole and Kat were Group Three.  Kat wondered why Dilandau had paired himself with her.  Usually he paired her with someone else and she was never in the same group with him.  She seriously doubted it was to protect the others since she noticed he put some of the stronger battlers in his group.  As they mounted into their horses and rode off, each taking a part of the forests by the Vione, she had a bad feeling.

Willow had awoken in a forest, surrounded by trees and bushes and creatures that made odd noises in the dead of the night.  She had been frightened at first but something inside her told her to be calm that she had been there before.  Sometime told her that the creatures would not harm her and that she needed to head west.  As strange as that had been, she hadn't fought with the voice, figuring that it was better to have some direction then nothing at all.

Walking through the forest, stumbling over up rooted roots or bushes that snatched at her clothes as she walked by, she wondered where she was.  By the taste of the air she knew she wasn't anywhere on the earth.  The air had a strange taste about it instead of the dull metallic taste Earth's air had-it tasted almost… fresh.  The wind was gentle and caring instead of harsh and bitter, the light glowing and luminous not grudging and stiff.

She had just gotten into a part of the forest where the canopy of the trees weren't so thick and she had glanced at the deep night sky, curious as to if she could see the stars.  Not only did she see the burning gems in the deep velvet sky but the sight of the earth hanging next to the moon also greeted her, glowing as if an eternal light was burning inside of it. 

Practically falling on her butt, she had stared up at the sky, dumfounded.  How could the earth be in the sky?  The question bothered her but something told her that she shouldn't concern herself with such stupid things.  It was a trivial fact.  So what if the Earth was in the sky? 

Uhm, I sort of care, she had told it.  Where the hell am I?  That was when the sounds of feminine voices caught her attention.  Prying her eyes away from the sky, she glanced towards some shrubs.  The voices subsided and she turned onto her stomach and crawled into the safety of the bushes, peering through them to find their source. 

She had watched as three girls, apparent destroyers, do their dirty work as they torched a building's supplies.  The building was tall with towers on four sides and worn gray stones for walls.  Flags waved in the air, now on fire, their markings illegible, on top the towers.  She had watched the girl's work, using powers of energy and elements to destroy with lust filled eyes.  Now, if only she had that kind of power...

Willow shook her head coming back into the present.  She had followed the girls, apparently on a team of soldiers, dressed in armor that knights had worn back in the day, as they traveled in large mechanic monstrosities that towered higher then any building that she had seen on earth.  Glad that they traveled slowly since they were carrying large crates of things, she had followed them to a huge floating… thing.  Words had escaped her as she gaped at the large thing.  It appeared to be a castle made out of a small mountain and given the power to hover stories above the forest where she had taken shelter; it was an amazing sight.

But she had still remained in the forest behind it.  She had neither the energy nor the will to go and figure out who the people on board the fortress or the people who piloted the mechas were.  She had remained in the forest, listening to the voice as it recalled past details of her childhood before her eyes.  Unwillingly, she listened and watched replay-by-replay and listened as words were whispered in her ear. 

When I woke up, I remember a dream I had when I was little.  A man came to me telling me that I was the missing link and that I was to return to a planet called Gaea one day.  He told me that I now held the planet's future, it's fate lay in my hands, and that if I wanted I could easily destroy it.  Then, before he left me, he told me that I had the powers of Destiny that bended to my will… Her thoughts trailed off. 

There was someone searching for her and they had just entered the forest in teams of three, each team roughly containing five members.  She wasn't sure how she had known; it just popped into her head.  Each team had one of the girl's that she had seen nights before destroying the castle.

She stood and looked at her camp.  It was near the border of the forest; they would find her in a matter of minutes.  Without another thought she waved her hand at her small and pathetic camp.  Instantly her fire went out, her supplies were sent flying into nearby trees by an invisible force, hidden, and all traces that she had been there disappeared-footprints, scent, and even presence all disappeared from ground and air alike.

She smiled to herself.  I'm glad I took that dream seriously, she thought.  I awoke my power and now I am in control of my Fate.  She had been using her powers ever since she had had that dream.  Now that she was able to do many powerful things with her powers, making her camp disappear was nothing. 

Back on Earth she had been the most powerful thing.  On this new planet, this place where she was destined to control, she wasn't sure-she knew that those three girls she had seen were more powerful then her by just the looks on their faces as they destroyed that castle, but how powerful was the question.

She ran into the forest hoping that they didn't have any tricks up their sleeves for tracking people.  Even if they did I'd know.  I'm the best tracker there is, she thought swiftly making her way through the many weeds and bushes, making any sign that she didn't cover disappear into thin air.

Kat stopped dead in her tracks. She had never felt this way before.  It was strange, like something was tugging at the back of her mind, something strong.  Like a sense of foreboding or a warning; a premature premonition of danger.  "What's wrong?" Dilandau asked from behind her.  He had seen her stop suddenly, her body gone rigid, as if she was pained by something.

This concerned him.  Kat never stopped for anything unless it was very important.  They were tracking a possible threat to Zaibach, a girl more powerful then the Protectors put together, and anything that any of the Protectors did could lead them right to her since Folken had thought that this girl was supposed to be a part of the Protectors.  She had been leading, telling the others that she sensed something while they scanned the nearby foliage.

Dilandau had commented that she usually never sensed anything other then Nicole and Alex's auras.  How was she to know when they came across this girl?  Kat had replied that this was some sort of magical force, much like her own.  That's how she could sense it sort of it was very vague.  Not as strong as hers, Nicole or even Alex's auras.  "I'm… I-I-I think…." Kat stuttered.

Something was definitely wrong.  She couldn't find the words to explain but the sense kept tugging at the back of her mind.  She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples, silently urging the sense to bring forth some hidden piece of information.  "There's something we're missing… I can feel it…" she muttered.  Nicole, Alex, do you feel that tugging in the back of your minds?  She asked telepathically.  All the girls shared a link to one another's minds. 

Yeah.  I can't place it, thought Nicole. 

She opened her eyes and looked around.  Dilandau was all ready at work, nearby her, but still working searching for tracks or other signs that would point them in the right direction.  She noticed how he was constantly by her side, always within a couple feet of her.  That worried her because he knew that she could take care of herself. 

Suddenly the thing in her mind came to her.  Someone was here… or had been.  She could see it in the back of her mind, the figure standing near where she was, recently too.  "Someone was here very recently," Dilandau announced, standing up.

Kat nodded.   "I know… I sort of sensed it.  She fled, towards the north," she said, pointing out their target's escape route.

Dilandau nodded, impressed by her ability.  Shows you that she's changing before your eyes everyday, he thought.  Before she could only sense where Nicole and Alex were and now she can sense the past actions of others… or maybe our target wanted us to find her.  "Let's go," he said, motioning for the rest of his group to follow.

Again Kat took the led this time she was a little father ahead of him.  Dilandau didn't like this; he was getting a bad feeling from this whole mission.

Willow stopped running and looked around her.  She was now deeper into the heart of the forest then she had first thought.  Damn, she thought.  I'm lost and now I need a place to hide.  Ugh, no knowing what those people will do.

She quickly scanned the area around her.  Dense trees and masses of tangled vines and weeds blocked the floor of the forest and shadows flickered across the ground.  Finding a nice thick tree that she could hide up in she quickly scaled up it.

Collapsing her body into a tight ball she leaned against the trunk of the tree and stabilized herself with the branches jutting out from its home and out towards the sky, the thick foliage hiding her form very well.  She closed her eyes and sighed; they wouldn't be able to find her… not yet.
FLASHBACK

A young Willow ran through the playground of her school.  She ran as fast as the wind, her form a blur to the other students as she passed the jungle gym and the groups playing "Ring Around the Rosie".  While others wanted to play stupid games of falling and shouting, she'd rather be running or climbing, silent in her games but having the time of her life.  At first no one had been there to play with her, no one wanting to spend day after day chasing after her, forced to climb heights that made even her dizzy, that was, until her best friend, a girl named Kat, had arrived.

The very first day they had started a forever-running game of chase, one which never ended and only stopped when they were in school or apart from the other.  It was a game to test their speed and agility, their cunning minds and how fast they could interpret the other's actions.  Both knew that there was much more to the game then what the normal eye saw.  To them, this game was preparing them for a world where you had to be fast or die.

Kat was chasing her, trying her hardest to catch the speedy demon.  "Ha hah hah!  You're slow!" Willow called over her shoulder.  It was true; she was faster then Kat.

Determined not to fall behind as normal Kat easily caught up.  She tagged Willow and quickly reversed her direction.  "Now you're the slow one!" She called as she easily moved through the crowds of people.

Willow, steaming with anger that she had let her friend get the best of her, raced after her.  They ran until they were at the skirts of the playground, a place forbidden to them.  Not noticing where they were or how the ground had suddenly become filled with rocks, Willow, caught up to Kat, tackled her from the back and sent both of them flying to the ground.

"Ha hah ha!  Now you're it!" Willow said, very pleased with herself, from atop Kat.

The only reply was a moan from Kat.

Willow, frowning, got up and rolled her friend onto her back. Kat's eyes were closed with a massive cut on her forehead, which was oozing blood.  Willow's eyes widened as they traveled from Kat to the stone implanted firmly in the ground where her friend's head had been.

The stone was large, large enough for her friend to hit her head on, and was covered in blood.  Willow stood up and backed away quickly.  Her tears were flowing from her eyes like a river as she stared at the lifeless body of Kat.  Without thinking she turned and ran from the playground.  She had killed the only friends she had…

No one noticed her leave, or Kat's body, until a first grader found her body on the ground, innocently chasing after a stray ball.  By then Kat had lost a lot of blood, inches from death, a pool of blood around her and her face hidden from beneath a mask of red.  At the same time, Willow was still running, tears flowing from her eyes, fear written in her face, afraid of what she had done.

Later that night after the whirl of action from the school a friend had found Willow's collapsed body in their backyard and had brought the girl to the hospital thinking her sick.  At the same time Willow had been admitted Kat had come out of surgery, part of the rock had embedded itself into her skull.  In the dead of the night both lay in hospital beds, in different rooms, one with the chance of remembering and one in pain from remembering.

Willow stared up at the tiled ceiling of her hospital room ceiling.  She had just finished crying and was trying to distract herself from the pain beneath her skin, searing and twisting inside of her veins like a parasite bent on destroying her.  So boring, she thought with a hint of pain.

Again the image of Kat lying on the ground with blood streaming from her cut flashed through her mind.  She winced as if someone had actually hit her.  No!  I don't want to see it!  She cried in her mind.

She shut her eyes and let the tears stream from them.  She had killed her only friend.  There was nothing she could do to save her friend; Kat was gone and it was her fault.  She continued to cry until she thought a sea of her own tears enveloped her.

Willow didn't notice the strange man that entered her room-not through a door or the window across the empty room.  He slowly took form from the air, appearing before her, not that Willow noticed, with an aura that somehow brought her out of her silent pain.  She looked up to see him standing in front of her, tall like a tree his face hiding behind the hood of a long black cloak that covered his body.  "Shh, little girl.  Tell me, why do you cry?" He asked her in a soft voice.

She sniffed and wiped her eyes.  Fear didn't take her and neither did anger.  She was silent for a minute, looking at him before speaking.  "Are you the Grim Reaper?"  She asked in a small whisper.  "Have you come to torture me in hell for killing my best friend?  If you have, I swear it was an accident!  I didn't mean for Kat to get hurt!  I didn't mean to!"

The figure shushed the girl by putting a cold metal-gloved finger to her lips and wiped away the remainder of her tears.  "No, my dear girl, I am not the Grim Reaper.  I have not come here to torture you," he said softly.

"Then… does this mean that Kat isn't dead?"

"I am afraid your friend is dead."

"No…" 

"If you come with me now you can escape this world and live with me in a world filled with happiness.  Willow, don't you want to see your friend again?  She's alive in my world."

"She is?"

"Yes, she is."

"Is she mad at me for killing her?"

"No, she isn't.  She wants you to come and play with her.  Now, wouldn't that be nice?" The figure asked.

Willow looked at the figure.  Kat was alive in another world?  She wasn't dead in this man's world and she still wanted to play with her?  She blinked and thought.  Could she leave her family?  "What about mommy and daddy?  Will they be there also?" She asked hopefully.

The figure seemed to smile.  "Yes, they are there too.  If you come with me, they'd be very happy to see you," he said.

"And we'll all be happy?"

"Very happy."

Willow smiled; her parents had died barely five months ago but she did not know that they were dead.  Her grandparents had told her they were in a good place and that everyone who left went there.  So wherever they were, with Kat, must be good.  She missed them so much and wanted to see them so bad.  "Ok, I'll go!"  She said happily.

The figure nodded and suddenly blue dust flew into Willow's face.  She didn't know where it had come from but she sneezed and then darkness took her as she fell into a blissful sleep.  The figure seemed to smile again and picked up the sleeping girl and cradled her in his powerful arms.

"You'll be very happy where we're going," he told her softly.

Then he disappeared into the air without a trace but not before he left his mark-a small piece of parchment with a single teardrop drawn on it.  As he disappeared it fluttered onto the still warm bed of Willow and settled there.

Willow awoke in a very large bed, very comfy, and she liked it a lot.  Curious as to where she was, she looked around her room.  It was big, filled with all the toys she had ever wanted.  The walls were light pink, her favorite color, with lots of windows looking outside.  On the ceiling there were pictures of unicorns and rainbows and flowers.

There was a closet and a bathroom to her right and a door to her left.  Willow jumped out of bed and opened up the door to the left wondering where it went.  She gasped at what she saw.

Outside was a field full of flowers and a clear blue sky with a bright sun shinning overhead.  The wind was blowing gently making the flowers dance in the field.  A smile came to her face and her eyes lit up as she saw the three figures standing in the distance, waving at her.  There was her mother, father and Kat, all smiling and looking happy.

She began to run towards them, shouting and waving back.  She didn't notice as she ran that she was becoming older.  With each step she grew a month older without noticing, her body changing and her mind learning everything in an instant.  Her hair became longer, her body taller, her muscles more defined, her head filled with more neurons, so when she finally reached her mother and threw her arms around her, hugging her, she was officially 15.

Tears of happiness sprung to her eyes as she released her mother and moved to hug her father and then Kat, who looked the same and was the same height.  Taking a step back to look at them with sparkling emerald eyes she didn't have time to say anything to them, to let them know how happy she was to see them again.  Suddenly the clear blue sky darkened as gray clouds appeared and lightning streaked across the black sky and thunder rolled from the angry heavens.  Willow covered her ears and closed her eyes, fear springing up in her.

Yet as soon as the storm had come it was gone and when she opened her eyes Kat, her mother and father were gone and the sky was clear again.  Willow's eyes widened as she reached out to where her family had been.  Then without warning she was violently pulled back into her body like being pulled up a straw. 

Her eyes few open and she sat up soaked in sweat, looking around with wild eyes.  Why had they disappeared?  Where were they?  Were they ok?  Why was she in a different room?  Where was she?

The room was dark and the only light came from a single candle that sat on a small nightstand that stood by a door.  Nothing else stood in the room and darkness satin the corners steadily growing.  The cloaked man that had taken her when she was young was standing next to the small flame, the dim light flickering across his cloak light a twisted shadow puppet story.  She stood up and glared at the man, anger enveloping her.  "Who are you?  Where are my parents and my friend?" She demanded.

That was when she noticed the changes in her body.  She was taller then she had been minutes earlier.  Her thoughts were more complex, her vocabulary more intimidating, her emotions more radically, and her conscious more aware of everything.  Her voice was older deepened mysteriously.  She looked down and noticed her body had changed; she had defined muscles, a flat stomach, longer arms and fingers with a wider hand, her feet a little larger and her legs longer with the swell of breasts underneath her shirt.  There was no doubt in her mind that she was fifteen.  She gasped and looked at the man.  "What the hell have you done to me?"  She yelled.

The man had then calmly told her that he had done nothing and that she was just grown up.  She had been running through time to a mirage-her parents were dead and Kat was dead.  She was alone in this world, once again, but if she wanted she could have a family.

She could stay with them, his troops, train and learn how to use her mind in a way that no other could ever know.  She would be happy again and this time around nothing would go wrong.  So she had agreed.  What else did she have?  Her parents had left her a long time ago and so had her friend. 

Willow sat on her cot in her room.  She was now 24 and Commander of the Star Angels, her own elite force made up of assassins back on earth.  She had turned from the sweet, innocent girl to a bitter, commanding and hate filled woman.  Years of hard training had forced all emotion out of her so she would excel in her destiny.  Once that the cloaked man felt that she was ready he had sent her back to room, underground, on Earth. 

Now the time had come for her to get revenge.  She hated the people of earth for leaving her and not caring about her.  She was along and they didn't give a damn.  She would take over the Earth and show everyone not to mess with Willow Akimo.  Never again would she be alone in this world.
END FLASHBACK

Author's Note:  Wow!  The second chapter is out!  Willow isn't who she appears huh?  Well be prepared for more twists!  Hope you enjoyed!  Please review!

~The Shadow That Takes Form as a Kat~

~~ShadowKat~~