© February 2003
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Escaflowne. Bandai does, and since Bandai is owned by Disney, Escaflowne belongs to Disney…DOES THAT SOUND WRONG TO ANYONE ELSE???????? *sigh* oh well. Read on.
All I Need
By Youjibaracuda
~*~ELEVEN~*~
A few hours after sunrise the next day, the vessel Zephyr docked in the port of Ezgardia.
All of them knew what to do, and quickly went about their business; Ivan and Ero disappeared into the busy bazaar, Pye taking Van along with him to hunt down the necessary supplies, and Irishiko made her way over to the local tavern. She would need some information.
She entered the dingy place making sure that her mask and cloak securely covered her features. It was true that she hadn't been in Ezgardia in a long time, but she still couldn't risk anyone being able to quickly identify her.
She quietly walked over to the bar, making sure not to draw unnecessary attention to herself. It was just past noon, so the crowd in the tavern was considerably small, which was to her advantage. The only bartender was cleaning out some glasses with a rag at the other end of the bar from her. (B/N: every time you see a bartender, they are always doing that! *laugh*)
"Vino," she said gruffly, dropping a few coins on the counter to draw the attention of the old man. He sighed heavily, not even looking up at her while pulling out a bottle of vino and a glass. He moved to her and placed the glass in front of her, moving to open the bottle. Just as he was about to pour the liquid, he found a small white flower in the glass. His eyes flew up to the form before him, his mouth twitching in a barely noticeable smirk.
"I'm sorry," he said putting away the glass and bottle. "I don't have the heart to sell you this garbage."
"Well then," she coolly replied, "I'll just have to find somewhere else where they will attend my business."
With that, she walked out the door and disappeared the way she had come.
The old man pocketed the money he had been given and made his way over to a little room just behind the back wall.
"I'll be out for a while, so take over," he told a younger man that was inside snoozing, "I'll be back soon."
With that, he grabbed one of his best bottles of gabrion* and went upstairs to him private apartment.
The old man was of an age sixty five, round pot belly taking up the majority of his stout figure. He had an easy going but quiet manner that made him easily ignored, which came in handy more often than not. He entered his small flat, and locked the door behind him. He moved to open the nearby window that looked out to the oddly placed small grove of fruit trees kept by the local grocer.
With a rustle of leaves, Irishiko appeared on the nearest branch, and with the ease that comes with familiarity, gracefully slipped into the room through the open window.
"Still running around in trees like you were a little girl," the old bartender commented with a sigh and a shake of his head.
"I find them to be more convenient, especially in my line of work," she responded to him, brushing herself off. "And what you said before was the most absurd thing I've heard in my life, Joni. We both know you've got the best vino this side of Asturia."
The old Joni chuckled as he brought two glasses to the table were he had left the bottle of gabrion and poured out the aqua liquid. "You didn't exactly give me prior warning to your arrival. You caught me off guard."
"You can't ever be caught off guard, Joni," Irishiko said, removing her cloak and mask, "You were the one who taught me that."
"That's very true, child, but it happens, none the less," he responded, handing her a glass.
Irishiko smiled kindly at him. "It's always great to see you Joni."
"And you know how much it relieves me to see you in one piece, Shiko," the old man replied, using an old nickname for the woman before him. "Tell me, what brings you back to Ezgardia so suddenly? I wasn't expecting to see you around here for at least another season or so."
"Unexpected business," she responded carefully, taking a sip of the gabrion in her hand. "Have you heard much about the CeJalii lately?"
Joni snorted, "That's a ridiculous question, Shiko, and you know it. CeJalii are always in the tavern. And once they get drunk, they don't keep much of anything a secret." He sat down in a chair and motioned for her to sit in the one opposite him.
He looked at her while taking a sip of his own blue liquid.
"What do you want to know?"
~*~
Van looked at the large vessel before him, the name Malaises proudly displayed along its hull. It was a much larger ship than the Zephyr on which they had arrived in, since it was taking large quantities of fine goods including fabrics, vino and gabrion.
He just hoped that he wouldn't feel so sick on the ship this time. He had just gotten used to dry land again.
He looked toward the setting sun and marveled at how this day had been nothing but a blur to him. Just then, a hand clapped his back and Van turned to find Ero standing behind him.
"How was your day?" he asked in his ever playful mood.
"Can't really say," Van responded honestly. "Don't remember most of it."
Ero gave a short laugh, "I understand. I don't think I ever remember all I do in a day, it's so busy. Sometimes it's hard for me to notice when one day ends and another begins."
"Sounds like you could use a vacation," Van commented.
They were silent for a while before Ero spoke again.
"What's that?" he asked.
Van looked to him with a questioning glance. "What?"
"That's an unusual trinket. It almost looks like an energist," Ero said pointing at Van's hand.
Van looked down to find that he had been playing with the pendant around his neck, as he often did while he was thinking.
"Yeah, I guess it is," Van said softly, staring at the small jewel as if it were the first time he had stopped to examine it. It hung from his fingers, the pink stone catching the last rays of the sun as it set over the horizon. This small little object was the source of much of Van's grief since it was a constant reminder of what he had given up. Yet he could never bring himself to be rid of it, having the constant need to wear it all the time because even though the object was his bane, it was also the only thing that could keep him close to the woman he so loved.
Ero watched as Van got a sort of desperate look of sorrow in his features, but his eyes held a certain fondness for unusual jewel around his neck. Ero knew that Van had been through a lot in the past, especially with the War of Fate. Whatever it was, the object obviously meant something to Van, and Ero got the impression the king was not about to tell him about it.
Ero sighed and looked around at the large ship before them.
"So, where's Pye?" he asked.
"He went to find Irishiko since we assumed she's on the ship already," Van told him, breaking out of his trance.
"Also to find out what to do with this," he looked down at the large brown sack at his feet.
Ero frowned. "Just what did you buy? We didn't need that much…"
He began to dig around inside the bag, muttering to himself at how Pye was a compulsive spender and there was no way in hell that anyone could possibly use three different sizes of twine, and why on in heaven's name he had bought pastries, it was like he was going to a party and not a mission, etc, etc.
At that moment, Ivan materialized next to them, "What are you two doing? We don't have a lot of time you know."
Ero glanced up at the dark haired man. "Keep your shirt on. Is everyone on board?"
"Just come on," Ivan said, disappearing from their sight once more.
Ero looked to Van and shrugged before moving to board the ship. Ivan was waiting to take them down to the lower decks where Irishiko and Pye were already getting ready.
Irishiko glanced up at them as they entered a small, nearly impossible to find room on the third deck of the ship.
"It's about time you got here," she said tying her sword at her hip. "I don't know what Dryden wrote in those letters, but it seems we have most of the lower decks pretty much to ourselves."
Ero placed the bag he was carrying on the floor and began to empty its contents. "That's Dryden for you."
Pye finished sharpening the last of his daggers and threw one of them at the back wall. With a satisfied smile he pried it out of the dark wood and tucked it into his boot. "I love rescues," he said to Van.
"Stop showing off, Pye and just get the rest of the stuff," Ivan told him as he carefully arranged his darts in different parts of his person.
Van watched them all prepare, all of them hiding different weapons within the folds of their clothing in addition to other things. Irishiko had a small dagger inside her boot and what looked like fuse line tied to her belt. Ero was loading his cross bow as well as wrapping glass vials of oil in cloth and placing them inside a dark bag. "So they won't make any noise," he explained.
"So I take it you know where he is," Van stated.
"In an abandoned stable a couple of blocks from the docks," Ivan informed him.
"Seems too easy if you ask me," Pye mumbled.
"It could be a trap," Van inputted.
"Of course," Irishiko said tying her cloak around her shoulders. "And though Korin has nothing to do with this, we're prepared for anything."
"Damn straight," Ero piped up with a wiry smirk.
"All right," Irishiko said, moving to the door. "We have to be back here at least an hour before midnight, since that's when the boat leaves. If for any reason we were to get separated, or something should happen to myself or Ero, Ivan, you do what you can to get Lancen and His Majesty back to Fanelia and wait for us there."
She pulled the hood of her cloak over her head as the rest of them put their masks and cloaks on as well. Van securely fastened his own cloak thankful for his foresight in sharpening his sword last night. He was eager to get on with this since it had been so long since he had seen any real fighting. For the last peaceful years all he'd done was spar so he hoped his combat skills had not worsened any.
Ero was the first to walk out the door followed by Pye and then Van.
"Just where the hell do you think you're going?" Irishiko's voice stopped him at the doorway.
He turned to find the woman with her arms crossed over her chest, her stony face showing her irritation with him.
"I'm going with you," he said simply.
"I thought this had been discussed in detail earlier," she replied icily. "You are staying here for your own safety."
"Don't pretend that you can tell me what to do," Van shot back at her, his temper flaring. "You are in no position to dictate what is safe or not, nor can you presume to have some sort of authority over me."
"This is not Fanelia, Van!" she yelled back at him, her patience snapping. "Right now we are playing by my rules, not yours! I have the responsibility to bring you back home alive and preferably in one piece. I'm considering your family and I'm not letting you do this!"
"I'm doing this for my family!" he raised his voice, advancing towards her. "The whole point of all of this was that. I'm not about to—"
"HEY! WHOA!" Ero, having come back, stepped between them before any of this got any uglier. "Both of you stop it right now. This isn't getting us anywhere. Van, I know that you have good intentions, but you're going to have to try to trust Iri-sama on this."
"Why should I?" Van asked crossly, glaring directly at the woman, "I've never even seen her face. How do you expect me to trust someone I haven't ever truly seen?"
"There are reasons for that, Your Majesty," Irishiko countered, "My identity is part of my past and my past is absolutely none of your concern."
"Do you really expect me to buy that?" Van retorted.
"HEY!" Ero yelled again. "We're wasting time."
"Yes, just let them fight it out," Ivan's voice rang out. Everyone else turned to look at the amber eyed man.
He looked evenly at Van then Irishiko. "You're both good with the sword. Have a match right now. Whoever wins decides what happens."
Ero looked to Ivan with an incredulous look that matched Irishiko's but the ring of steel brought their attention back to Van.
"I accept," he said, his anger gone, instead replaced with a slightly cocky smile. His sword was unsheathed and he removed his cloak and tossed it over to the side. He had been trained by the best sword masters on Gaea with first Balgus and later Allen. He was completely confident that this would be over quickly.
Ero was about to protest this, knowing full well that Fanelia had been known for generations for its military might and training and though Irishiko was very good, he doubted she could win against Van. But he was cut short when Irishiko gave a low growl, but also removed her cloak and unsheathed her own sword.
"Let's get one thing straight right now. If you win, you get to do whatever you want. If I win, you stay here. Agreed?" she asked flatly.
"Agreed," Van responded.
The others moved gave them as much space as they could in the small room and watched as they faced off.
TBC…
*gabrion is an alcoholic beverage common throughout greater Gaea and its taverns. It's pretty strong, a blueish-green tint to it with a tangy/bitter taste to it. It's a bit of a hardcore drink but it's consumed as often as vino, though the latter is considered to be more sophisticated. Oh, and FYI, I just made it up. ^_~
Baracuda here. How's everyone doing?
::drops down on her knees:: I'm SO sorry for not updating like I promised!!!!!!!!!! I know I said I would finish this quick but it's becoming a lot longer than I had anticipated……and I'm having problems with my muse….my angst writing muse (named Daphne) my romance muse (named Soriah…which coincidently is the name of a classmate of mine but there's no relation) and my drawing/creative muse (named Jonas) are all arguing with each other about this fic…..and since I can't get them to agree about how to express the version of this story that is in my head, the updates are going a little slow. Add to the mix the absurdity of school and we have a fairly large problem.
Yep yep…kinda like when Cece doesn't have her rice krispy treats…..not good. (I'll send you some soon, Cecil).
SO in light of that, I've given you this cliffhanger chapter. Hope you liked it.
THANKIES TO MY EVER FAITHFUL REVIEWERS! I LOVE YOU GUYS! THIS IS FOR YOU!!!
Tootles.
---Youjibaracuda
"We're safe! SEE?! ::points:: THE CLIFFS OF INSANITY!!!"
---The Princess Bride