Title: Promise Me Anyway
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Escaflowne is NOT my property, nor can I take any payment for this story -sorry, everyone, but your reviews are payment enough ;)
Summary: Future fic, multi-part WIP. Hitomi is a student of international politics, determined to bring peace to Earth too, and already making a difference. Van is king of a happy, prosperous, peaceful rebuilt Gaea. They're still in love and still in touch. So what's the problem?
Developing subplot: Allen's student, a young woman with fierce blue eyes, is determined to become her teacher's equal. Devoted and serious, Arashi is certain to make her presence known in the fight to save King Van- whatever the cost.
Dedication: To Sarah, who is at times more into this story than I am. Also to Kyle, who years ago cried while watching the parts about the tragic Fanel family.
A/N: This is a warning to all the fangirls to please leave Arashi alone. I don't care how much you love Allen, you have no idea what this girl has been through. Besides, if you decide to tangle with her, I am SO not paying your medical bills.
Chapter Eight
There is no safety in numbers, or in anything else.
-- James Thurber
.
.
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In time she had no longer even noticed the briars that scratched her skin, and when she paused to check her compass, she was surprised to realize that they no longer surrounded her. Her clothes were frayed and dirty, her forearms looked like they'd been used by several dozen kittens to sharpen their claws, and her face was not unscathed either. Her feet ached, her short black hair stuck to her neck, and her dark blue eyes burned with fatigue. She was thirsty and nearly out of water, and the cloudless sky suggested another hot day, but the young woman would not stop moving forward for even a brief rest. Her goal was to reach the kingdom of Guaren, a small rural village that was little more than an outpost, but one where she would find what she was looking for. It was anger that was foremost in her mind, anger that drove her relentlessly toward Guaren, and anger that had brought her close enough so that now she could see morning smoke curling from the chimneys of the town. She quickened her step until she could smell faint traces of cooking breakfast, and ran when she began to hear the citizens' voices drifting from the mud-and-thatch homes.
Drawing bewildered stares as she ran down the wheel-rutted main avenue, she pushed herself towards the center of the tiny town. There, by itself, stood a windowless building of smooth gray stone. The silo was 3 stories high, towering over its neighbors. She reached it and pounded on the door, nearly falling in when it was opened suddenly.
Hesitating briefly when the building's occupant appeared, she brushed herself off and looked the elderly woman in the eye. "I need a favor."
Her battered intensity was completely ruined when a blur of color and energy flew from out of nowhere and collided with her, knocking her into a very sudden sitting position.
"Rashi!" the child squealed delightedly, snaking his arms around her neck.
"Ty- ow," she managed to gasp.
"Tyler! Get off your poor cousin," the pepper-haired woman, Arashi's aunt Beilu, scolded.
"Sorry Rashi. Wow, what happened to your arms? Did you get in a fight? Was it a dragon?"
The tiniest of grins forced its way to the surface against her will. "You bet it was," she said with a wink at the maternal figure towering above them with crossed arms. Arashi was still burning inside with resentment, fear, and a dozen other emotions she simply grouped together under the term "ANGER," but for the moment she would let her young cousin grant her some reprieve. She stood and dusted off her bottom, frowning. Her great-aunt motioned for her to follow, and she did so, wondering vaguely if there would be any food in Beilu's house.
"Wow! Did you kill it?"
"Nope."
Tyler's eyes grew bigger. "Then how did you escape?" he asked, taking her hand and running to keep up with her long strides.
"He threw me into a briar patch," she said. "And I told him he'd better not do it again. He tried to get at me but I was too quick for him. Then…" she paused for dramatic effect, struck a combat stance, and made a few motions with her sword which would be highly ineffectual in a real fight but looked impressive. "I was too much for him. I cut him a few times and he ran away with his tail between his legs."
"Like a puppy?"
"Exactly."
Beilu shook her head without saying a word, and Arashi bit her smile. She loved the blind adoration given to her by her young cousin, even if it was completely based on fantasy. But Beilu disapproved of the lifestyle Arashi had taken up, and it was only her unconditional love for the little family she had left that allowed her to tolerate her grandniece. Arashi understood this, and even though she didn't plan on changing to please Beilu, she respected the matriarch too much not to behave as she was expected to while in the older woman's company.
They had reached Beilu's home, and Arashi followed her inside.
"Tyler, go play outside. You can talk to Arashi when she is done talking to me."
With downcast eyes and a little sigh as the only protest he dared demonstrate, Beilu's grandson obeyed and left the two alone. Eyes as sharp and full of latent energy as flint turned to Arashi, who had the good grace to lower her own gaze.
"You know I love you. But you look like trouble this time. So no lies. What is this favor you need so much?" Beilu asked.
Arashi tried to look humble, not knowing that her attempts made her look more sullen than anything else, especially given the bedraggled shape she was in at that moment. Beilu's arms crossed over her great chest and she frowned down at her niece with that blend of sarcasm and cynicism that only a grandparent can muster.
"Aunt Beilu, I would request… that… I might, maybe…"
"Spit it out, Arashi. I do not have all day."
"Pleaseletmeusetheskyraft."
"No." Her answer was given lightly but firmly, and she began walking toward the building she'd emerged from.
"But Beilu! um, I mean Aunt Beilu!"
"No. You are too young and too wild to fly it. It was your grandfather's. I will not have it wrecked like garbage."
Every expletive in Arashi's vast vocabulary fought to be expressed, but she kept them back with a wall of clenched teeth. She took a step in one direction, and then spun and took a step the opposite way as her brain frantically worked to generate a response that would get the young woman her way.
"Aunt Beilu, I'll- I'll grow my hair long again! And wear dresses!"
Inwardly Arashi cringed as the words escaped her lips. Dresses she could live with, as long as it wasn't during training. But she could just feel her long, wavy hair sticking to her neck in the summer, and see it flying all over in the winter, always getting in her way. But her breath caught in her throat as Beilu paused for a moment.
"I said no!"
"PLEASE Aunt Beilu!" she cried then, with angry, frustrated tears springing to her eyes and staying there.
It must have been the pain and desperation in Arashi's voice that struck her aunt, and Beilu turned around.
"The young warrior woman has watery eyes?" she asked, her voice curious and testing.
Arashi turned her head to one side, hiding her face. She said nothing.
"What is it that makes you so upset, Arashi?" Beilu asked, softly.
She couldn't reply at first. Her teeth were clenched again, as well as her fists at her sides, but her reasons were different this time. I will NOT… this is ridiculous… I'm not a child!…but Arashi was dangerously close to actually crying, and one more gentle word from Beilu might be the fatal blow.
"What is it, Arashi?" she asked, more kindly than before.
I will NOT show weakness. She took a deep breath and let it out, slowly. She closed her eyes once, and opened them, staring at the small window from where the morning sun was flowing in.
"I've told you about my teacher, Allen Schezar. He… came to my aid, in Zaibach?"
"Yes. You told me."
Arashi drew another deep breath. "Well. He's in trouble. And Aunt Beilu, I know that you disapprove of my learning… to be a warrior, but I know that I can help him."
"Arashi, you are not-" Beilu began angrily, but the younger woman would have herself be heard.
"He's gone in his airship to rescue the king of Fanelia! Lord Van Fanel, whose people my labor helped to kill and his kingdom to burn, and who destroyed the Empire that ruined my life!" Arashi's fist hit the table, and she was standing.
The silence that followed was very long, and Beilu was regarding Arashi with a shrewd light in her eyes. Arashi trembled inwardly at the scrutiny, but stood still and slowed her breathing. The worst she could do was to say no again, and if that happened, she'd decided she would steal the skycraft anyway.
"You are in love," Beilu informed her at last.
"I… care for my teacher very much, because of all he's done for me," Arashi replied. "But-"
"But nothing."
"Well-"
"You may have the raft. But only to catch up with the airship, if you can. It will have to stop to refuel, maybe? I don't know, Arashi. I think you are a foolish girl."
"I… Aunt Beilu… I won't even scratch it, you have my word!"
"Puh. We will see," she smirked. "Here is the key to the silo. You go make it ready. I will prepare food for you."
Overwhelmed with surprise and gratitude, Arashi nodded. She stepped backwards, bowed formally, then turned and sprinted outside.
…
When Hitomi's eyelids began to droop, Millerna noticed and suggested she go to bed. After all she had been up all night. Besides, the princess persuaded, they would need Hitomi to be calm, alert, and healthy. Hitomi didn't put up much of a resistance to these very good arguments and was soon escorted below deck by Gaddes, where she found "her" old room.
The conversation with Allen had brought her back to some semblance of normalcy. Feeling somewhat comforted, Hitomi lied down on the bunk that hung from the wall and cushioned her head with both hands. She closed her eyes and was slipping away from consciousness when a jolt threw her out of the bed and onto her hands and knees on the deck.
"We're under attack!" she heard a male voice cry. Scrambling to her feet, Hitomi dashed up the steps and was met at the door by Gaddes, who grabbed her arm and began pulling her along with him towards the stern.
"They're after you," he said as they ran, "Allen asked me to protect you."
"But-"
"There's nothing you can do to help right now," he cut her off. They had reached the back of the ship and turned around; Hitomi's eyes grew wide. A group of very large men with broadswords and rifles were boarding the Crusade from above. They must have been cloaked, invisible to the crew until they were close enough to collide and shake the entire ship. There must have been more than a dozen of them, all clad in black armor, but after they had descended onto the decks of the Crusade she couldn't see. It didn't matter. Only one horrified thought was clear in her mind.
When had guns appeared on Gaea?
…
The airship Arashi flew was small and simple. It was steered by a wheel and a lever, the lever controlling the altitude and the wheel the direction. Because of its small size it was difficult to control the vessel in heavy winds, but Arashi had the physical strength and the knowledge to fly it well enough. The levistone that weighed easily twice as much as the rest of the small craft was nearly powerful enough to power a ship the size of Allen's. Somehow, the engineers that had designed it had channeled the levistone's energy into the skycraft's propulsion system, making the Limerick one of the fastest moving objects in the sky.
Still, after a few hours in the air, Arashi could only think that the vessel was painfully slow. She had hoped to see the Crusade in the distance by dusk, but the sun was making its descent more hastily than seemed fair, and she was beginning to wonder if the wind had changed and she was following a different current. If she had to, she would stop in a town and ask if Allen had passed through. Eventually he would have to refuel, and even if he didn't, a few people at least were bound to notice a ship of that size passing overhead.
…
"Gaddes! Who are those people?" Hitomi asked of the man who stood in front of her, sword drawn and held at the ready.
"I don't know," he shook his head.
"But they have guns!" she cried.
Gaddes shook his head. He didn't know what guns were, and Hitomi's words didn't even register.
"Allen Schezar, - command - surrender Hitomi Kanzaki – by force if necessary-" the words came broken through the wind.
"You won't- past me- my ship!" they heard Allen reply.
The heard the crack of one of the rifles.
"No!" she screamed, coming forward, but Gaddes stopped her with his outthrown arm. Then she saw that the rifle had been fired into the air, a warning, when the bullet ricocheted off a bulkhead.
"Allen!" she cried, but her voice was carried in the opposite direction by the wind.
"Gaddes," she tried again, "those weapons they're carrying are called guns. Swords can't fight them. I have to tell Allen, let me go!"
But before Gaddes could react, there was a clash of metal, followed by several more rifle shots. These were not warnings. Cries of surprise and pain rang out from the bow.
No. Hitomi's stomach sank with dread. Suddenly she knew that Allen had been shot, and one or two of his men as well. She wondered in a panic where Merle, Osha and Millerna were, realizing she hadn't seen them since the ship had been boarded… but it must have only been minutes. The attackers had come upon them quickly, sliding more than climbing down the ropes, and it could not have been more than five minutes ago. Hitomi shook her head slowly and began walking forward, a lump rising up in her throat, as the invaders charged over ropes and equipment. Two of them knocked Gaddes aside with a blow to the head and to the stomach- Hitomi was grateful they didn't shoot him- and three surrounded Hitomi. She allowed her wrists to be tied at her back, seeing nothing, only knowing that by going with them she could stop the attack. She had done this before and had been alright in the end, and maybe they were from Zaibach and would bring her there, and maybe she could still help Van.
Van, her mind sobbed the word once. She wished he were here.
"Hitomi!" she heard Gaddes gasp. The wind had been knocked out of him. She turned her head as her captors urged her forward and met his gaze steadily. He was on the ground on his stomach, held in place by two men's rifles. His eyes were wide and his hand outstretched toward the young woman, but when he saw her face, understanding reached him. It was only then that his body fell limp and his eyes closed.
She was led to the front of the Crusade.
The remaining 5 men surrounded Allen and his crew in a half circle against the side of the ship. The sleeve of Allen's right arm was slick and bright red with blood. With his left hand he held his sword out steadily, flanked by two men with their swords likewise drawn. One Asturian knight lie prone on the deck, blood in a pool around him, and another lifeless man whose injuries Hitomi could not see was propped on a coil of rope. Millerna stood with her back against the door of the main cabin, weaponless, but glowering and shaking with anger and never taking her eyes off the men. Osha and Merle were nowhere to be seen, and Hitomi's heart beat faster in fear for them.
All there was to be said was communicated through the menacing and relentless glare of Allen and the stoic glares of his men; the attackers only smirked, knowing they had won.
Not a word was spoken as Hitomi was led at gunpoint to a rope ladder hanging from the attackers' ship. The man behind her nudged her and she climbed up, not looking down at the crew. Hitomi turned half way up and tried to meet Allen's eyes as she had with Gaddes. But Allen's anguished expression did not change. He glanced up at her and returned his glare to the invader who appeared to be the leader.
Once Hitomi was on the enemy ship, the men surrounding the knights backed up, keeping their rifles trained on Allen's crew. They did not turn until they reached the ropes and climbed up until there was one man standing. As he turned to climb, the man on Allen's left charged forward to attack.
"Stop," Allen ordered him, quietly but clearly. The man froze, and easy laughter drifted down to them from above. His arm slowly came down to his side.
Hitomi's face appeared briefly over the side of the enemy ship, and then she was pulled away out of sight.