Disclaimer: I do not own The Vision of Escaflowne; it is the sole property of Studio Sunrise and anyone else who participated in its creation. I own the Nya'torians. That is all. Anyone stupid enough to sue me shall find themselves dashing away with their tail end smoking.

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Chapter 4: Intruders

Hitomi stared in awe at the palace. She had not noticed it last night it—it had been too dark—but now that the sun was high in the sky, she was able to take in its beauty. She was so entranced that she forgot, for a brief moment, that she was not on the ground, but up in the air, in Van's arms; when she had asked to see the palace from afar, he had immediately unfurled his wings and, with Hitomi in his arms, had flown right out a window, much to the horror of the maids.

White feathers scatted in an unannounced rush of air, as Van flapped his great wings. He bounced a little in midair, breaking Hitomi's reverie. She gasped and tightened the hold her legs had around his waist. If she was not already in danger of cutting on Van's air supply, she would have tightneed her grip around his neck, as well. Van chuckled at her fear and shifted her more comfortably in his arms.

"I'm not going to drop you," he said, his breath tickling her ear. He smiled warmly. "Do you like it?" He jerked his head towards the castle. "They worked so hard these past months…" He looked below them, at the city. Even from this height, they could hear the machinery working as people hustled to rebuild the kingdom.

"I can't blame them," Hitomi said, daring to look down. "If my home had burnt to the ground, and I had spent many months hiding in the mountains, I'd want to rebuild it as fast as possible, too." She looked back at the palace, her gaze distant. "I don't remember it looking that nice last time I saw it," she murmured.

"Last time you saw it, Hitomi, it was in ruins," Van reminded her, trying to ignore the dull ache in his heart. It had hurt to see his country burn to the ground on his coronation day….and it had hurt even more to witness the death of one of the only people he had ever cared for. He swallowed hard, and shook his head. Bother me when I'm in the mood to be miserable, not when I'm trying to enjoy my life, he commanded the memories, shoving them ruthlessly into the back of his mind.

Hitomi nuzzled her head into the crook of his neck, sighing with content as a refreshing mountain breeze rushed past them, playing with their hair and scattering more stray feathers. Daring to release one arm from around his neck, Hitomi caught a feather as it floated past her, and twirled it between her forefinger and thumb. A soft smile played on her lips.

"Is there anything else you would like to see?" Van asked, twisting his head so he could see her face. His heart nearly stopped at the sight of her rosy cheeks and the sparkle of contentment in her eyes. If that were not enough, her smile was like a flamethrower on his heart, melting the beating organ to a mere pool of hot, bloody liquid.

"Mmm…what else is there to see?" was the mumbled reply. "You've already shown me the palace, and the city…" She trailed off. Her fingers lightly brushed the base of his wings. An icy chill of pleasure shot up the boy's spine, and he shivered lightly.

"I don't think you've seen the mountainside," he said.

Hitomi mumbled something incoherent, before lifting her head slightly to smile wearily at him. "No, I haven't," she said, her voice like a whisper on the wind. Her head returned to its place in the crook of his neck. "I wouldn't mind soaring over the treetops, seeing what the birds see," she added softly, then her smile widened. "You're lucky; you can do this whenever you want. The closest I can get to a birdseye view is by going to the roof of a skyscraper."

"'Skyscraper'?" Van stumbled over the foreign word.

Hitomi giggled softly. "Never mind," she whispered.

Shifting her slightly in his arms, he flapped his great wings and soared towards the forests of the mountain.

~*~

Muniya leaned back against the rough bark of the tree, her legs curled to her chest. Her amber eyes were focused on her traveling companions, who were currently sprawled out on the ground, unconscious. Adibah had told them that the teleportation process would leave them feeling weak, and they might possibly loose consciousness. What she had neglected to tell them was that there was a stomach-hurling spin through the air involved before they landed on the ground. Muniya, who was more than used to hurtling through the air—every bird-person went through that when leaning how to fly—had been the first to regain consciousness after they had landed. But the others were still out cold.

With an inaudible sigh, Muniya turned her eyes to the skies above. Every planet had the same sky: bright blue and cloudless when the sun was shining brightly, and heavy, thick, and gray when it threatened precipitation. Right now the sky, at least in this part of Gaea, was bright blue with a few clouds floating leisurely by. A gentle mountain breeze whizzed by, tugging on her long hair. She brushed the straying strands out of her eyes and allowed one of her rare smiles to curl her lips. She spread her wings and let the wind seep through the feathers. Her eyes fluttered shut; it was such a joyous feeling.

"You don't have to watch over us," a deep, spitty voice said. Muniya's eyes snapped open, and her eyes riveted to focus on the reptile-boy. Propped up on one elbow, Nyoka stared calmly back at her, his hair draping over his striped face. A tiny smile curled one side of his mouth. He sat up straight, stretching his legs. His tail brushed across the grass, kicking up bits of dirts as it raked the tip across the earth. His gaze never left Muniya's face.

"Who says I was watching over you?" Muniya countered, narrowing her eyes. For some reason, she felt she had to be cautious around this boy; perhaps it was old animal instincts taking over. Reptiles sometimes ate birds, and birds sometimes ate reptiles; so the two classes had always been wary of each other.

Nyoka raised himself to his hands and knees and covered the few yards between them at a crawl. He plopped down next to her, his tail wrapping around his waist. She's rather a study, he thought to himself. Tearing his eyes away from her white face, he gazed up at the sky, studying the position of the sun with thin, dilated pupils. He looked back at the ground, blinking away the brightly colored dots that clouded his vision.

"It's almost noontime," he stated, rubbing his eyes with one scaly fist. He pushed his thick forelock away from his face and glanced at the three unconscious mammals. "Do you think we should wake them up?" he asked the bird-girl, in a spitty whisper that sounded like he was hissing—something only a reptile could accomplish. "It shall take at least an hour, hopefully not more, to reach Fanelia, and that is just the gate; we do not know how deep into the kingdom we shall have to travel to reach the palace."

Muniya glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "Are you thinking of the royal guards?" she asked, turning to face him completely. "It won't be very easy to bypass them."

Nyoka closed his eyes briefly, raising one claw to his temple. "Yes, I am," he sighed. "I'm not sure the others have considered this quite yet, but I don't think the royal guards will let five unfamiliar creatures pass by their gates with a simple greeting."

Muniya nodded but said nothing. She crossed her legs, placed her hands on her taloned feet, and stared down at her lap, her shoulders hunched. Her hair cascaded over her shoulders to pool in her lap.

"I am frightened," she whispered, her voice trembling. "I am afraid of what is going to happen to us, Nyoka." She ducked her head in shame. "But this fear…it's shameful. This is my destiny, and I cannot back away from it, even if I wish to." Tears formed at the corners of her eyes. "But what if…what if…" She could not bring herself to complete the sentence. She squinched her eyes shut and swallowed her tears. No, I cannot cry. What would Mama and Papa say if they saw me like this?

She gasped as she felt a claw lightly touch her shoulder, then brush her hair back. She turned her head and found herself staring into Nyoka's golden orbs.

"You're not the only one," he said, sounding ashamed of himself, as well. "I, too, am afraid of what might happen. But look at it this way: At least you're not alone." He smiled, and she smiled in return.

~*~

It was with exhausted eyes that the five Nya'torians caught glimpse of the splendor of Fanelia's construction. They had been traveling all day—it had taken more than the hour they had predicted, due to a wrong turn they took when they tried to bypass a river too wide for the mammals to cross—and were now ready to collapse; only their aching bellies, long since empty, pressed them forward, in hopes of finding food.

Kirra mentally cursed their stupidity. Why had they not thought of packing food earlier?

"Why didn't we pack food earlier?" Aurelia complained, voicing Kirra's thoughts. She had one hand pressed to her forehead; she had awakened with a splitting headache that had only worsened as their journey lengthened. She whimpered and closed her eyes, halting in her tracks. "And why did I have to hit such a hard rock upon landing?"

"Oh shut up and quit complaining," Kirra snapped; her string of patience was about to break, and she was in no mood to listen to anyone whine about their misfortunes. "The more you complain, the worse you feel. Come on." She led the way, shoving past Muniya and Nyoka, the only two members of their party who had yet to say a word, though they had to be as hungry as the other three.

"No shoving her around, it only makes her headache worse," Urufu snarled, his ears flattening on his head. He wrapped one arm protectively around the dog-girl, who let out a tiny whimper and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Keep it down, all of you!" Nyoka hissed, a forked tongue flicking out of his mouth. His eyes narrowed as he searched the surrounding forest. "I ssssenssse ssssomething…" He drew out each word with a low, snake-like hiss, his tongue continuously flicking between his lips. It took Kirra a few seconds to remember that lizards 'tasted' the air with their tongues.

Suddenly, the group found themselves surrounded by weapons: bows and arrows, swords, staves, knives. Her ears folding back on her head, Kirra unsheathed her claws and prepared to defend herself; but she was stopped by a tap on the shoulder by Muniya. She hissed at the bird-girl. What does she think she's doing? she thought. We're under attack!

"Stop in the name of Fanelia!" a deep, human voice rumbled. An armored man stepped out from behind the trees, a sword raised. He eyed the group warily, and Kirra could not blame him. For a brief moment she felt a surge of hatred towards Muniya and Nyoka; the bird-girl and lizard-boy were the reasons the warriors were looking at their party so strangely.

"What do you want?" the soldier demanded, pointing his sword at them. At his gesture, the clink of metal was heard, and about twenty more swords and knives brandished themselves from between the leaves high in the trees. Kirra cursed under her breath; they were completely surrounded. Muniya could not even hope to escape by flying. Charming…

"We are here under orders from our leader to see the king," Urufu said, putting authority in his voice and hiding his starvation. He looked around at each and every piece of metal aimed at them with a calmness that fitted a dignitary, not a young boy.

The soldier barked out his laughter. "You? See the king? What leader would send young beast-people as ambassadors?" He laughed heartily, and his men joined him. Kirra felt a surge of anger, and only by placing a hand on her shoulder did Aurelia keep her from flying at the men with her claws brandished like tiny knives. However, even the dog-girl's firm grip on the cat's shoulder could not stop Kirra's fur from bristling, or her ears from flattening. The soldiers took one look at the obviously ready-to-fight cat-girl, and their laughter deadened.

"What do you think you're doing? How dare you!" their leader roared. "Men, seize them!" With roars of anger and satisfaction, the warriors surrounded the five youths. They tied them with ropes, then trotted them towards the palace, their leader bouncing alongside them.

"You shall rue the day you set foot in Fanelia!" he declared.

~*~

To Be Continued…

~*~

I apologize for taking sooo long to update. I don't know what has gotten into me! *smacks forehead* (BAD dragon!) Anyway, hopefully, from now on, the updates shall be sooner, and I may start elongating the chapters, as well. In any case, I hope you all enjoyed this.

SabineballZ: One of them falling in love with Merle? *taps chin in thought* Hmmm…I never thought of that… Maybe I could work that in somehow… (Thank you! ^_^) And yes, that kiss was beautiful. (If there's one thing I'm really good at writing, it's fluff. Maybe that's because I read and watch so much of it! ^_^)

darkcherry: One of the best writers on fanfiction.net? *blushes furiously* I wouldn't really say that but…thank you. (Ack! Why can't I stop blushing?!) As for how they're going to stop the Kalryn's Devil… Well, isn't that one of the mysteries of this story? Telling you now would spoil it… (Besides, I'm still working on that part…) But I'll remember your warning. I never want to incure the wrath of my readers! *shakes head furiously* That's NOT a good thing!

fallen-dark-angel: Well, it would hurt me to see a reviewer so upset because I didn't include a character she really wanted…I don't know if I'll include Dilandau or not. I'll probably include Celena, since she's Allen's sister, and I'm undoubtly going to be forced to include the knight-in-shining-armor. (What's Escaflowne without Allen, eh? Is he not one of the main characters?) This is, after all, somewhat of a "sequel" to the anime—and remember what happened to Dildandau in the anime? I may include Dildandau, but I can't guarantee it… (You may want to cross your fingers? ^_~)

Again, thank you very much to everyone who reviewed. And for the rest of you…I'm not going to say it—I don't think I need to. (Nor do I need to remind you that I am a fire-breathing dragon…do I?) In any case, I must ask all of you for patience: Things may slow down a tiny bit, due to this mortal thing called "school" starting soon, and my muses claiming that they must attend if they want to get into "college." (I shall never understand mortals…) So I request everyone's patience, if that's not too much to ask.