Chapter20 was a little rushed but i hope you guys get the jist of it. Here is chapter 20!

Chapter 20: The rescue

Inside the cabin: Elli's P.O.V

Elli breathed lightly through her nose. She couldn't bear to wake him up so that she would hear his plans for her future, she couldn't bear to think of what she had not sacrifice for that future. Tears began to make her blindfold rather wet and soggy, she ropes that bound her hands and feet were itchy and were scratching at wounds she had accomplished during her first day in the cabin, she had tried to rub her hands free but she could no stand the pain so she gave in and accepted her fate. She sat upright or leaned against a wall but she had no other position she could accomplish; bound as she was. She could feel the tears that were being soaked up by the blindfold, she could hear herself sob but she dared not scream, near as she could tell she was far away from any other humans and screaming would only wake Dan up.

During her stay she had been informed that Dan was actually Dante's brother; it was easy to believe looking at the man, but Dan was cold blooded, he only wanted to hurt his younger brother. Why Dan wanted to hurt her fiancé she could not imagine, they were brothers, but she knew very well that Dante had woken in a forest with no brother, she did not know what the man wanted with Dante but she would give him anything so that he left Dante alone, anything.

Elli had lost all hope of being found, who would be able to find her all the way out here? She hoped beyond hope that Dante had followed them, but she knew very well that he would have got home roughly two hours after she had been taken, he would have no idea where to search, the world was too big to guess, but she could hope.

Elli began to doze of thinking about her fiancé when suddenly there was a sound like a door bursting open. Elli could not see through the blindfold but she heard the sound of two men struggling, by the sound of things falling over she guessed they were fighting with each other. Elli wanted desperately to see; she could hear vases and other things falling on the floor around her, if she could not see, she would be hit by something. Elli tried desperately to wring her hands free of the ropes but it only caused her hands pain, she decided to sit and hope that she wasn't hit. Hope wasn't enough. She was clipped over the head with something that had fallen from a shelf above her, she was knocked unconscious, and she was helpless now.

Meanwhile: Dante's P.O.V

Dante had seen the vase that had hit Elli on the head, he thanked the Goddess it was only small, but by the way her head hung limp he guessed she was unconscious. He was struggling with Dan though; Dan was a bit more muscular than Dante and a bit taller, but Dan faltered often and Dante was swift. Dante concentrated on his surroundings rather than his opponent, Dan concentrated fully on him. If Dante held too much of Dan's concentration he could probably trick the man into stepping under a falling object, it was simple enough. Dante and Dan were coming to blows, Dan was punching often while Dante focused on dodging until he saw an opening in which to come down on his opponent.

Dante saw the grandfather clock first and dived backwards, he watched as Dan went to chase after him and got hit over the head by the clock. The man was definitely out for the count. Dante untied Elli's hands and feet and tied Dan up, the police Aqua were getting would arrive and find the crook. Dante had seen wanted posters for Dan in the city, apparently he had almost killed someone and he had almost sold a teenager to a mob to use as a sacrifice. The city had no idea whether the teenager survived or not, they never saw him again, rumor floated that he died, but that was rumor for you.

Dante took the blindfold from Elli and tied it around Dan's head; he gagged him also and took Elli out to where Night was waiting to take them back to the city. Dante let out a sigh of relief when he had himself, Bold and Elli on Night's back. Dante estimated Aqua would have the police up here at the end of the day, it was the 26th today, and it was time to go home.

At Dusk the same day

Dante met the police at the hut and pointed out Dan. The police gave him a congratulatory slap on the back and a lot of them remarked on how he looked enough like the fellow to be his younger brother. Dante laughed and said he had no idea how similar they did look until now. The police told him how the man had had a brother, a younger one about his age, the teenager from the rumors that he almost sold to a mob was his brother. They said they had never seen the brother again but Dan had suffered from the mob by not giving them the sacrifice they had been promised.

As Dante understood it the story was that Dan lost all his money to a mob in a game of poker then he bet money that he didn't have, a lot of it too. The mob won the gamble and so Dan had pleaded that they accept something else instead of the money, this mob said that if he could find for them a sacrifice then they would accept that instead, the 'if not' was not mentioned. The lair of this mob was close to these very woods and Dan had tried to bring his younger brother there, beyond that they did not know whether the brother was given to the mob or not but they did know that Dan paid the price for not having the money. The police pulled back Dan's sleeve and showed Dante three very deep scars that looked like some kind of symbol, the police said it was the symbol of the mob that Dan had been running from. The cuts would still hurt this very day and leave Dan incapable of some of the things he used to be able to do. Dan could no longer work due to the pain that jolted through him that was caused by the cuts. The police took Dan after they had finished their story.

Dante went outside and hoped onto Night's back. Elli was still unconscious but as Dante understood it; she hadn't slept at all since being taken by Dan, that was a long time, she would have had dozes here and there he was sure, but this was probably her first deep sleep since she became conscious after she had been taken, and that wasn't of her own accord.

Without Elli filling his mind he let Dan's story marinate into his own memories. Dante set Night at a pace and persisted at that pace, he let his mind wander, search more like, for his own memories before Mineral Town. Suddenly it hit him, all of it, all Dante could do was sit and gasp like a fish while memories filled his head.

My mother and fathered died when I was only young. I was born in Mineral town and then taken to the city to be raised. Every holiday I was sent back to Mineral Town where I spent my days on my Grandfather's farm; he taught me to be a farmer. When I wasn't being taught how to be a good farmer I was playing with a little girl from the village, I can't remember her, I forgot her after the last holidays I was there which was when I was ten, six years before I lost my memory completely. Mother and father died in a car accident that same year; when I was ten and my older brother, Dan, was almost 16. Dan got a job after that but it didn't pay very well. We survived on that job for three years and that Dan realized that there was no way we could live like that any longer.

Dan became a gambler and brought home lots of money, he built us a cabin up in the woods so that we would not have to pay rent and all our money could be used to buy food and to attend school. Dan taught me too hunt for rabbits and squirrels to eat when there wasn't any food. He taught me first aid and he also taught me to ride a horse. Dan loved me very much and gambled so that he could care for me.

Another three years later Dan became a big drinker and lost all the money we had, he spent it all on booze. I went and hunted food before he came back from the club every night. I ate without him and went to bed before he returned otherwise he would beat me and blame me for mum and dad's death, he blamed me for his life going to crap. He even blamed me for his drinking and gambling.

One night I got sick of waiting for him to come home, I was scared he wasn't going to. I snuck into the club in the village nearby; I was allowed in but if Dan caught me I would get a beating. I saw my brother gambling with the White Fang Mob, they had a lot of money but they were also very dangerous, even I knew that. Dan saw this as his opportunity to get on top of things again. Dan bet the last of our money on the match. I thought he would stop playing, but Dan saw the money the mob was placing on this game, he stayed and said he had more money than he really did, he said he had more so as to keep their interest.

Dan lost the game and pleaded with them that they accept something other than money. The White Fang Mob told him that if he brought a human sacrifice to them the next night they would let him off, they did not get a chance to tell my brother what would happen if he did not. Dan promised he would bring them his naive little brother, he described me to them and they accepted it. Dan smiled as he walked off, I was almost crying, he was going let them kill me. I bolted back home via a shortcut Dan didn't know about. I got into bed and pretended to be asleep so that he did not beat me up.

The next morning he told me we were going to improve my hunting ability, he had found a great place where we could hunt at night. He thought I didn't know what he actually intended to do with me, I played along because I knew I couldn't escape until night, if I tried in broad daylight he would find me easily and take me to this mob early, if I left it until dark I could run off and hide.

That night Dan took me into these very woods north of 'Valley City'. He told me yet again that we were going hunting at this spot we knew, but I knew better. I told him I had to relieve myself before we went or I would have to do it there and I would ruin the hunting on us. Dan accepted the story and I went into the woods, he kept a close eye on me though, I could feel those once loving eyes on my back, now all those eyes held was contempt and hatred.

When he turned away I bolted into the woods and ran as fast as I could in any direction I could find. I could feel him behind me, those eyes of hate on my back, I could feel those eyes following me, those eyes that were contending with me in the Horseracing Festival, those eyes that wanted to hurt me somehow. I keep running and lost Dan, I was somewhere close to the city but I still had a little walk from where I was. I kept running hard; I wanted to reach the safety of the city that very night. I watched the trees as I ran trying not to run into them but I didn't watch my feet, it was too dark to see anyway. I tripped over a branch root that was sticking out of the ground. My guess was I hit a mound a dirt hard, that or another root. I awoke the next morning with no memory other than that of my holidays at Mineral town and a little girl I knew there. I only remembered the bits of my life that weren't miserable; I remembered the carefree bits, nothing else, until now.

Since then I went to Mineral Town. In Mineral town I took over my Grandfather's abandoned farm, I brought it back to what it once was; now I'm making it better. I made new friends and gained the loyalty of a wolf and my strong stallion. I also fell in love a few times, I loved a girl that left me, never to return, and while she was gone I fell in love with the real love of my life, Elli. A lot has happened since that night and a lot more is yet to come, I can feel it, I have only half completed my mission.

Dante pulled himself from his thoughts to find that a few hours had past, the moon was shinning and Night was still at a gallop going through the woods; Dante was glad he had done a lot of riding at night to train the stallion to be able to see pretty well in the dark. Dante had no idea where they were, but one look around, and with his newfound memory, he realized they were a short way from the town. Another hour and they would be there, Elli was still sound asleep in the saddle, she was sitting in front of him laying back into his chest. They would be home in a day; he would send Cliff a letter when he got to the town. They were finally going home.

The next day: Cliff's P.O.V

Ann was still jumping for joy that Elli was all right and she was with Dante. Cliff was glad they were both all right and on their way home, that was what the letter had said at least, they could be only an hour away by now. He had waited for this day since the cooking festival, now he had his own duty to fulfill before Dante got back. Cliff slipped into the room and searched through the drawers where he had been keeping all of his things. Cliff found the blue feather and took it out and held it in his hands, he was ready, he wanted this more than anything else in the world, he wanted Ann to say yes. He walked up to Ann and knelt down in front of her, she looked confused at first, then surprised, and then excited.

"Ann, will you marry me, I know I don't have a lot to my name, I don't have much money, but soon I will have a steady job here at the farm and I'll be able to support you and a family" He sounded rushed but he knew he was still managing charming.

"Of course I will!" She said as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. His heart slowed and got faster at the same time. He wanted to hear her say that more than anything else in the world, but what she was about to say next was more shocking and even more exciting.

"We have to get married soon though, before Fall" She was smiling, he didn't understand though.

"Why?" He looked puzzled, he knew that, but she seemed to light up even more.

"I'm pregnant!"

Alrighty then, 20 is done, onto 21 but don't forget to review.