The Dragon Priestess

AvalonReeseFanFics

A/N: Well hello my wonderful readers. It has been a while and I honestly have no excuse except Life. Life got in the way. But we have an update and I hope you guys enjoy it. If we have any readers left please let me know1

Chapter 23: The Day the Angel Flew pt. 1

Van had tried to sleep, had managed to sleep a little bit, but honestly, something had woken him up.

At first he wasn't certain what it was, but then he realized he knew exactly what it was.

It was Brooke.

She was singing.

He had no idea why she felt the need to be singing that loud—practically on the very top of her lungs—but there she was, just below his window, in the middle of a crowd singing as loudly as she could.

It was mortifying.

Especially when he realized that she had Merle passing around a bowl. Dear god, she was singing for money like a damn commoner.

Van had been determined to sleep away his anger, but after that he had just lay in that lumpy bed the inn had given him seething. Yes, they were precariously low on money but that didn't mean she had to beg for it. Though, to be fair, he wasn't used to worrying about this. He was a king and kings were rich, but he was a king without a country. Which meant he was a king without money.

This wouldn't be happening if she were with Allen. Who she had the most annoyingly obvious crush on. He wasn't sure what was worse, the fact that she continued to have feelings for a man who had no interest in her, or that she was so obvious about it. There was no way she'd embarrass him in this way.

At that moment though, he was mostly annoyed that she was singing.

Eventually the singing stopped and Van refused to get back up again. He'd wait. He'd wait for Brooke and Merle to come back and then he'd accost her for being so stupid.

But then the girls took forever to come back. It made him worry, he came up with a million life-or-death scenarios they could be in, but it also gave him the time to think of what he'd say when they came back.

He knew he couldn't just come at Brooke with a: You embarrassed me. No, the girl wouldn't let him, she'd shoot him down completely or tell him off. Another annoying trait of hers. So he came up with another reason to be mad, one that Brooke couldn't get mad at him for.

They were supposed to be staying out of the lime light, trying to not attract attention to themselves. It was the whole reason that they left Escaflowne in the woods. Having Brooke singing her Gaia songs to a crowd of people for money, was not being covert. It very much put her and her weirdness right back into the lime light.

And it would be that he argued with her, whenever her and Merle came back.

Seriously what had happened? He figured if they got into some altercation he would have heard it by now. Both Brooke and Merle were very, very loud people. There was no way they'd go down without some sort of fight… or screaming.

It was a small town, he'd have heard them.

Unless they left town.

By the gods, they hadn't left town, had they?

He wasn't going to worry yet… okay, that was a lie, he was worrying. He just wasn't going to go looking until he was certain something was wrong.

He did, however, pace to the window a couple of times, alright fine, way too many times, to see if they were on the street or heading back but they weren't under the window anymore. After a while of lying down and trying to sleep, failing and getting back up to go to the window again he decided to just stand by the window and watch the street. Sooner or later he'd see them, if not he'd leave the room and go looking.

But best believe when he found them they were going to be in trouble. Worrying him like this, embarrassing him like Brooke did, keeping him from sleeping. How inconsiderate of them.

When he did spot them they were heading back to the inn, something was in Brooke's hands and the two girls looked rather pleased with themselves. It was sort of nice that they were behaving in this sense, and he would have totally been more supportive if they hadn't basically kept him from sleeping and resting like he wanted to.

He moved away from the window right away and then just sat on the bed, arms crossed, his more intense disapproving face and then waited for them. Balgus would have proud, it was the kind of move he would have pulled on Van when he was being uncooperative. It was the kind of look that made Van feel guilty.

But when Brooke opened up that door and Merle came in skipping up to hug him with a happy cry of his name, it seemed like neither had noticed that he was mad. Brooke, however, noticed once she turned around.

Merle, was still hugging him, purring happily into his neck so his disapproving glare must have looked ridiculous.

Her head tilted to the side as she took him in.

She then offered him something wrapped in leaves. He took it right away knowing it was a meat bun. Merle must have told her that they were his favourite.

"How was your rest? Did you get enough sleep?"

Van tore open the leaves to get he steamed bun inside and took a quick bite. "Wow thank you for asking Brooke, actually no I did not get enough sleep."

"You didn't? What happened we were gone for hours!"

Yes they had been, hadn't they? "I'll have you know that I woke up when someone started singing. Couldn't fall asleep after that."

Brooke winced. "Oooh… yeah… that was me. Sorry."

"Any particular reason why you felt like you needed to humiliate me like that?"

"Humiliate you? Van… I wasn't trying too…"

"No you just made it abundantly clear that the King of Fanelia can't take care of his travel companions."

Now that seemed to surprise her and right away she had a hand in his face. "Alright. One. We are here under an alias, trying keep on the down-low here. No one knows who we really are or who you are. Two. It is not your job to take care of me. While I appreciated, it's not necessary and quite frankly sexist. Three. The whole reason I did any of that was because we only had enough for small meals for me and Merle and nothing for you. That wasn't fair, and if you remember point two of this lecture, I wasn't going to sit back and expect you to provide for me. Now enjoy your bun and lay back or something. Me and Merle can find somewhere else to hang out until…"

"No. I'd rather we all stay together. I'm not sure I trust you off on your own."

Brooke blew a raspberry at him. "Sheesh, if it's gonna bother you so much, fine, I won't sing for money anymore, even though it would be a pretty sweet way to get easy cash. Just saying."

Van scowled at her and was about to tell her that it wasn't necessary, not the singing for money, or her stopping for him, especially if she enjoyed it like she seemed to, when he was interrupted by a knock on the door. Brooke jumped right away and turned to it. Van had jumped to his feet.

The two stood, shoulder to shoulder staring at the door, both hoping that if they stayed quiet whoever was on the other side would just go away.

But they didn't. They knocked again.

That time Brooke turned to Van and clearly it was up to him, as the man in this situation, to answer it. He took a step away from her and she grabbed onto his hand.

"What if it's a trap?" she whispered. "You don't even have your sword."

Oh how nice of her to care.

"It's fine, just… stay back, okay?" he whispered back to her and she nodded.

He opened up the door and found the inn keeper's wife standing there.

"Oh good, you're not sleeping!" she cried and Van flinched. "I wanted to talk to your wife."

Right, he had told these people that him and Brooke were married so it wasn't weird or inappropriate for them to be in a single bed room.

Van turned around to find Brooke standing there, his sword in her hands. His eyes were asking: What the hell are you doing? but he couldn't say it to her.

Instead she stepped forward, put his sword into his hands and then smiled up to the innkeeper's wife.

"Hello, is there a problem?"

"No, none. I simply have a proposition for you."

"Oh?"

"We would love to have some entertainment during the dinner rush tonight. Would you like to be our entertainment for the evening?"

Wow, they had liked her singing so much that they wanted her to perform for them? That was… that was actually pretty cool.

Brooke glanced first to Van and then to Merle who was sitting on the bed a big grin on her face.

"I might be interested. What would be in it for me?"

The innkeeper's wife was surprised by the phrase, no doubt uncommon to her. Van was really going to have to continue Brooke's elocution lessons, cause she really couldn't keep talking like that. It was an obvious sign that she wasn't from there… or the planet in her case.

"I uh… I suppose dinner for you and your husband…"

"And Merle?"

The innkeeper's wife glanced back to the cat girl and then to Brooke. "Your servant can help with the rush, or maybe the dishes…"

On the bed Merle bristled, her tail puffing up in her anger.

"No, only one of us will be working. Me or her. So if you want entertainment, it'll be me singing, and her and Van get to have dinner."

"And dinner for my wife, though she can eat later or earlier as to not interrupt her performance."

"You're also only going to get three songs. That's it," Brooke said. "Three songs for three meals. OH! And I get to keep my tips."

The innkeeper's wife blinked her eyes in surprise. Clearly she didn't think Brooke would be a master negotiator.

"I suppose…"

"Take it or leave it. Cause to be honest, I'm tired and I'd rather…"

"Fine. Fine. It's fine. Just be down in three hours to prepare," the innkeeper's wife said and Brooke clapped happily before offering her a hand to shake.

The innkeeper's wife took it, shook it, and then Brooke shut the door in her face.

She shot a smile at Van and then to Merle. "Well, that works out. Now we don't have to pay for dinner!"

"You don't have to do that…" Van said softly but he was eternally grateful.

Brooke handed him the little pouch he had given her that morning. "Don't get me wrong I made money today, but not enough for three plates for dinner. This way we don't have to spend what we have left to eat."

That was actually really nice of her.

"I… uh… it should be…"

"What? You?" she asked. "Van, come on. You've done enough, it's my turn now. And it's easy, I've been singing since I was little. Don't get me wrong, it's been a while since I've really done performances, but I seems to be just like riding a bike, you never really forget."

"What's a bike?" Merle asked and Brooke sighed.

"I guess you guys don't have that here," she said with a shrug. She then glanced to Van. "I am actually super tired, do you think I could nap until it's time to go downstairs?"

"Sure," he said with a bit of a shrug. "Of course."

"Are you still tired?"

Van wasn't sure what she was getting at but he was.

"Would you like to nap with me. I wouldn't mind sharing," she said and then turned to Merle. "You too Merle, if you're tired that is."

Merle was already stretching and clearly getting herself ready to nap on the bed. It was a small bed, they'd be pretty packed in, but it was clear that Brooke didn't care.

Van was sure he was blushing just at the thought of getting into a bed with her. They had done it before, of course, but that was back in Fanelia, his bed had been massive. They could sleep separate from one another. Not that that was what happened but still the option was there.

"It'll be a tight fit, you sure you won't mind."

"Naw," Brooke said. "In the girl's home I always had one or two little girls in my bed. I was the Head Girl for 4-to-6-year-old floor. They were always having nightmares. I feel better when there's someone in my bed."

She had told him that before, and it still made him sad. That she was in an orphanage feeling unwanted. At least he had felt unwanted in a palace, it took the sting out of the whole situation.

Van moved away from the door, put his sword back by the bed, within arm's reach of him and then they all got into that bed together. And that time, with both girls in that bed with him, Van actually slept.

Brooke started with the song she had been singing in the market place. Van and Merle had already sat down to dinner, Brooke had eaten earlier, while she spoke to the musicians that usually played the inn's dining area. She showed them the main notes and basically told them to follow their hearts for everything else.

Van wasn't sure that would work but it had.

The second song she had sung was the same one from the dinner in Palas. With reference to Fanelia and everything. Though she didn't personalize it that time. He would have to ask why she had sang it that way in Palas, he assumed there was a reason.

She was getting ready for the third song when the Innkeeper came to ask Merle if she'd like to help in the kitchen now that they were done eating.

"Leave her alone!" Brooke snapped quite loudly from her place at the head of the dining room and the woman literally jumped away.

Van couldn't help but snort, Brooke really was good at bossing people around. And she had a good authoritative tone that was hard to argue with.

Van was actually kind of enjoying this. Brooke really did have very good stage presence. It was like she was in her element while she was signing.

And for someone who said she wasn't very good with her instrument, she sure was doing well with it.

She was well into the third song when which was all about girls just wanting to have fun that everyone seemed to really like, where her eyes suddenly went wide.

She missed a whole line, he could tell, because she had stopped singing. Just stopped short out of no where, which was not like her at all.

Her green eyes were darting from him to the back of the room. But she put a crooked smile on her face and began to sing again, her voice decidedly less powerful than before.

She was nervous.

Out of nowhere?

She wouldn't get stage fright at the end of the show, not when she had been doing so well. That meant that she was nervous about something.

And judging by the way her eyes were darting behind him, the problem was at the door.

"Geeze, what's wrong with her?" Merle asked just as Van turned.

He could tell right away what was wrong with her. It was Zaibach soldiers, he could tell by the armour they were wearing. There wasn't any sign of any of the soldiers that would know him or Brooke on sight, but the fact that they were there was not good.

Merle immediately started to whine. "What do we do, Lord Van?"

"You get upstairs and get our stuff. I'll get Brooke," he ordered. "Meet us outside."

Merle jumped away, scurrying through the people to get past the soldiers unnoticed. Van got up as calmly as he could, keeping his back to the door. He walked towards Brooke who had finished up her song and was in the process of picking up the earthenware bowl she had on a stool in front of her.

"Thank you so much for all your tips. I hope you enjoyed the show, and uh… be nice to your innkeepers!" she called.

"Come on!" Van hissed. He noted that as soon as he got closer she reached out for him, taking his hand without him having to offer it to her. He dragged her towards the service entrance. Hoping to get out of there while everyone was still cheering, hoping it would keep the soldiers distracted.

"Hey… you two!" came a cry, but Van didn't wait to see if they meant them. "Halt!"

But that was not what they did. Van dragged her through the back servant quarters and out into the night. He took her around the side to the front. He figured the soldiers would follow them through the back, instead of going out the front, so this would give them a bit of a head's up.

He wanted to keep running, but Brooke came to a sudden stop only a few feet away from the inn.

"Wait, wait… Merle! Where's Merle?" Brooke cried.

Van pointed up and she followed his finger to where Merle was climbing out of the window. She had Brooke's bag and Van's sword and she was making her way off the roof and to the ground.

"Well hurry up!" she cried to her, and then she finally, finally let Van drag her away. The quicker they got to his Escaflowne the better he'd feel.

They had decided it was safer for them to stay in the woods that night. No point flying off in the dark, after all. Especially since Ziabach soldiers were still looking for them, no doubt.

Brooke had originally just been sitting with Merle as Van went looking for some more food for them, she had tried to stay awake but, apparently, she was tired and she had fallen asleep.

When she woke up again there was a fire burning and Brooke and Merle seemed to be roasting things on sticks. Van wouldn't look at her, but Merle was smirking. That was never a good sign.

"Oh! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep."

"That's fine. If you're tired go ahead and sleep."

"No, I'm okay."

She stifled back the urge to yawn. She didn't know why she was so tired, she had napped rather well in that small bed with Van. Something about feeling his arm against her back had soothed her. Like she was safe so long as she had Merle pressed into her front and Van behind her.

Merle shot her a glance and then giggled: "Allen, help me! she says," she cried in a mocking tone and Brooke went bright red. "You still haven't given up on that guy?"

"I was talking in my sleep again… wasn't I?" she asked while Merle just smirked at her. So yes, clearly she had.

Brooke had been dreaming of fire again. Of everyone she cared about burning, not just Allen. Why she had only gotten vocal for him was beyond her. She also dreamed of falling again, and that figure with the angel wings rescuing her. She was certain that was Allen, she had been calling out to him to get him to save her. So maybe that's what that was.

"I've been dreaming of death and fire," Brooke snapped. "So not a romantic dream, thank you very much."

Merle just stuck her tongue out at her, which prompted Brooke to do it back.

"You better take this seriously! We barely made it out in one piece, you know!"

"The soldiers didn't even get us," Brooke said which prompted a glare from Merle.

"I mean Palas!" the cat girl snapped. "Don't forget you were almost sold off by that Meiden guy!"

"Why yes, thank you for reminding me about that. Again. Is there a point in time where you think you might stop harping on that?"

"I unno, whenever you do something equally or even more stupid?"

"Stop it, Merle," Van said. "We agreed you'd be nice." Merle slouched into a pout and beside her Van sighed. "The truth is, if Allen hadn't show up when he did, we wouldn't have made it out."

They all took that in quietly. Van sounded so distraught about it and Brooke couldn't help but feel bad. But she wasn't very good at stroking the male ego. She was kind of afraid to try.

After a moment of silence, Merle picked up a skewer and shoved it into Brooke's face.

"Here. Give them a try. Though they're actually a lot better raw."

Brooke wasn't sure how much she believed that, because they were bugs. Those pill bug type things you could get back on earth, except much, much larger. Like the size of a very small dog kind of large.

She took the skewer a little creeped out that they smelt like chicken. She glanced to Van who was at least now looking in her direction.

"Go on, they're not too bad."

Brooke took a deep breath and figured when in Rome. She took a big bite, eyes firmly closed so she wouldn't freak out, chewed quickly and swallowed.

"Huh… they really aren't that bad, thanks," she said after she got through the first bite.

"These are pretty good too!" Merle suddenly said. When Brooke looked over she saw the cat girl double fisting two power bars. Those had been sitting in the bottom of her bag, long before this trip.

"Oh! No! Merle! Those have probably gone bad!" she said, but Merle ate each and every bite. Brooke then glanced to Van. "She's probably going to throw those up later."

"Wait, there's more!" Merle cried fishing into it her dress to pull out more things.

"That's my lipstick, please don't eat that," Brooke said dryly as Merle sniffed it. When she wasn't interested she tossed it back. Then she pulled out a wrist watch. "That is a watch, it's supposed to tell time but the battery is dead. Please don't try to eat that either."

Merle tossed that one at her too. As soon as Brooke had them she turned to Van. "Any chance you can keep her out of my stuff?"

Before Van could say anything Merle asked: "Why, what else are you hiding in there?"

Brooke dove for her bag. "No! Stay away you dumb cat!" she cried. Merle pounced on top of her, trying to get to the bag, and Brooke had to howl for Van to rescue her.

Eventually he did, picking Merle up with ease and tossing her towards Escaflowne. "Any louder and you two will attract all Ziabach's forces," he chided and with that the two eventually quieted down, long enough to at least eat the rest of the meal.

The earth and the moon were high in the sky and Merle was deep asleep by the time Brooke got her second wind.

She was suddenly super awake, and she didn't know why, but she guessed it had something to do with her two power naps today. She must have messed with her sleep schedule.

Van had wandered off. He hadn't gone too far, he was just in the clearing over, practicing his sword technique. Not that Brooke knew much but it looked like he was improving. He was definitely more confident in himself.

Merle was sleeping somewhere on Escaflowne's head, and Brooke was staring up at his energist. It was like the heart of the guymelef and the on key all at the same time.

She held up her pendant, the last thing she had of her mothers. It looked an awful lot like the energist in Escaflowne's chest.

"Hey Van," she called interrupting his practice. "Don't you think these two look a like?"

Van glanced at her, she could feel his eyes on her, but he didn't come over to her. He didn't answer her question either. "Where did you get that stone?"

"From my mother," she said softly as she put it back on. She turned around to face him and saw that there was something akin to pity on his face. "It was one of the only things I got from her when… when she died. She used to say that… that… with this necklace I'd always find the right way, that it was like a compass… except instead of showing me due North, it would show me the way to go. My dad used to joke that it was more accurate than a map."

"How old were you when you lost them?"

"About six," she whispered. "I've been alone since then. It was supposed to make me stronger… but uhm… I don't think it did…"

"I think you're strong," Van said and Brooke smiled at him and then slowly sat down in the grass. After a moment of him just silently watching her he said: "My father and mother both died when I was little. My mother when I was around six too. My father was a year or so before that. With Fanelia burned to the ground and Balgus dead, about the only one I can count on is her."

He nodded his head up to where Merle was still sleeping soundly, and snoring deeply. The fact that she hadn't vomited up any of those stale or likely gone-bad power bars was a miracle.

"And… how old were you when… uhm… when your brother died? Supposedly…"

It was a sore subject and right away it made Van frown.

"He's no brother of mine!" he snapped and Brooke jumped. He didn't need to shout at her, she knew how he felt. "He… Folken… is a traitor!"

Brooke took a good long look at him and then reached a hand out to his shaking form. "Come on, sit with me," she whispered. As soon as her hand touched his, she swore she could feel the anger radiating off of him. She just wanted him to calm down.

The second her hand touched his, Van felt all the anger leave him. Like her touch soothed the pain and rage he felt directed at his brother.

He slowly lowered himself to the grass beside her, wondering how she had managed to calm him so easily.

"Now, you don't have to tell me, but clearly this is hurting you. It's better to get it off of your chest. So… why don't you tell me about it hmm?"

Van had never wanted to talk about his brother or his family much, and now that he knew who Folken was, what he had done, he wanted to talk about him even less. But Brooke just asking him for the story suddenly made the words heavy on his tongue, demanding to be told.

Like somehow, he knew, no matter what he said, she would understand. And she wouldn't judge him.

"Ten years ago, he was sent to fight a dragon as part of the ceremony to become king… but he ran away. He Joined Zaibach! And my so called brother even tried to kill me!" He turned to her, just to see how she was taking this and… well she looked concerned. Van winced right away. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't carry on like that…"

Brooke reached a hand out in between them and dropped it to his knee. "No, don't be. You gotta get this stuff out, it's a like a poison you know? The longer you hold onto it the more it'll affect you." Van smiled, he liked that she just understood him, that she could describe how those words were making him feel bottling them up and not telling anyone about it.

"Can I ask what the plan is now?"

"I'm not too sure," he admitted. "But all this has taught me how much I need to grow. First, I think I'll train and it all begins from here." They were quite for a moment and then he turned back to her. "What about you?"

"Me? What about me?" she asked.

"Well… what are you going to do?"

Brooke blinked her eyes. "I thought… uhm… I thought the plan was I stay with you? Unless… unless you don't…"

"No, no of course you can come with me. I just thought… you know… that you might want to go back… to Allen, since I'm basically a wanted fugitive."

He said it without looking at her but a blush had fanned across his cheeks. "Van," she whispered. "Allen… Allen wasn't the one who saved me from a dragon. Or… from Dilandau… or… or… or from those geckos. That was you. Allen, yeah sure, he might be cute, but he's a knight and he has a princess he's in love with and I don't stand a chance. And… that sounds bad. I'm trying to say that if I had to I'd pick you, all the time, hands down, cause I know when the chips are down you'll have my back, I'm just not saying it right…"

"I'm actually not entirely sure what you said."

At that Brooke laughed, and Van found himself chuckling with her. Eventually Brooke collapsed back into the grass, staring up at the twinkling stars and the planet that used to be hers.

"What I meant was fugitive or not, I want to go with you. You've always had my back Van, and I want to help you… anyway I can."

Van smiled down at her before he too lowered himself into the grass.

"Well there's one thing I know for sure. I'm going to make sure you find your way back there… one day," he said as he stared at the earth and the moon hanging above them. "Or… that you find a place you want to call home at the very least."

Brooke smiled at him, and then reached across the grass to hold his hand. "Thank you, Van."

It was a soft moment, and it was completely and utterly shattered by the sound of a certain cat girl vomiting off of Escaflowne. Brooke snorted as Van quickly got to his feet to make sure she didn't throw up on his guymelef.

There was never a dull moment with those two.