Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ A Sylphe's Journey ❯ Of Hostages and Handkerchiefs ( Chapter 4 )

Disclaimer: "EEz no mine.

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Outside herself, Hitomi heard both Chesta and Gatti's cries as they too were attacked from behind and thrown from their horses; inside herself, the frantic urgence to do something, anything -- kick, wrestle, scream -- to escape from the sharp steel pressed to her neck and the strong arm wrapped around her waist. Yet, she sat frozen in place, her body insensible to the desperate pleas of her self preservation.

While her limbs had been shocked into unresponsiveness, Hitomi's mind danced with a merciless barrage of memories; horrid, dark monsters jumping down from the trees at her family's wagon, mother's wails as father was sliced open, the feel of Mamoru's convulsive shaking as she held him close, the putrid smell of her parent's blood hanging thick in the night air.

She was entrapped in a state that was almost akin to drowning, but instead of the ocean's roar, all Hitomi could now hear was an inner chant of, it's happening again...oh Gods they're back...it's happening again...they'll kill me now...my family...now me...oh Gods, it's happening again...

As Hitomi stayed locked within the sadistic kaleidoscope of past terrors, her attackers swiftly plunged their newly obtained horses into the forest surrounding the road, heedlessly galloping over brush and undergrowth, making hair pin turns through the trees, taking her farther and farther away from help of any sort.

The pain of rough hands hauling her from the saddle and hurling her onto the forest floor was what finally broke the crystal ball of Hitomi's nightmare, awakening her to a reality that was just as dreadful. She tried to sit up, but someone was behind her, pinning her shoulders to the ground in a way that made her flesh creep. Hitomi felt a heavy body straddle her and a face appeared before her, covered but for dark, terrifying eyes. The stench of sweat and gods know what else bruised her nostrils. Hot, disgusting fingers stripped the scarf from around her head and slowly caressed the soft skin of her neck, slipping beneath her vest's high collar, unfastening the clasp...

Oh Gods...oh no...no no no no...HELL NO!!

The panic slamming against the walls of Hitomi's body became pure, frantic motion as she thrashed at the filthy bastards, clawing, kicking, biting...anything to hurt the perverts, anything to get loose...just long enough to make it to a horse...just long enough to reach for the knife in her boot...

She was punched hard in the face and one of the beasts growled, "If you stay quiet and be a good little bitch, you may live through this."

"Hey!", shouted another unfamiliar voice, and Hitomi heard footsteps crunching rapidly over the fallen leaves.

Can I beat three of them?, she wondered hazily, Oh Gods, I can't even see straight anymore...

The third assailant, the one who had held the blade to her throat, came striding into view. His face was also hidden underneath a dark hooded cape and scarf with only his eyes showing. Hitomi blinked, confused. She had seen those deep maroon eyes before, but they hadn't looked so angry...where...?

"What the hell do you think you're doing?", yelled the stranger.

The man restraining Hitomi by her shoulders gave a nasty chuckle. "Don't worry, Draco. This is just part of the usual payment."

The other who was still straddling her middle joined in the laughter. "Hell," he added, "It's my favourite perk."

The one he'd called Draco reached down and pulled him away, tossing the larger man heavily to the ground.

"Your orders are that the girl isn't to be harmed. Now, get the hell away from her, or you won't get paid."

Such a threat seemed to be the ultimate indignity for the bandit.

"The day I let an arrogant little shit like you tell a professional like me how to--", he snarled , but was cut off by an throaty giggle. Now, that voice Hitomi recognized. Only one person could produce a sound that could be as disturbing as it was beautiful.

"Professional?", questioned Dilandau, dismounting from the horse that every one had been too panicked or outraged to hear riding up. The young lord cocked his head to the side in a very birdlike gesture "Is that what you call yourself?", he continued, his timbre oh so low and dangerous. "You attack an Imperial Caravan, you crash off into the bushes leaving a trail that a blind man could track, you don't even check to see if you've been followed, and you stop not even a mile away...You pissants are the worst bunch of bloody, fucking amateurs I've ever seen."

The Zaibach sighed and lowered his head, and shadows cast by the leaves danced across his ashen hair. His lips curled in a slight pout and his fingertips gently traced the hilt of his sword, giving Lord Albatou the air of a petulant boy who has just been deprived of a favourite treat. "Such a disappointment," he muttered, "I was hoping to have some real fun today."

Looking up again, Dilandau's crimson eyes flamed and his seraphic features twisted into an ugly sneer as he took in the pathetic scene before him. "My first chance in years to really cut loose, and you shit heads aren't even worth the bill at the sword sharpener's!"

Some sort of sub rosa signal must have passed between the two bandits, for before Hitomi even noticed that she was no longer being restrained, they were both charging towards the albino Ryuu. Their wide Cesarian scimitars sliced at the air and cries of war burst from their throats, cries that instants later were silenced forevermore.

Dilandau had been the wind, sending razor sharp gusts that blew through flesh and muscle. Hitomi reached up and touched the warm spattering on her left cheek which was still swollen where she had been struck. She gagged at the fluid's fragrance; the blood of her would be rapists carried the same scent as that of her murdered family's.

Averting her eyes from the lifeless gore that lay upon the ground, Hitomi rose painfully and made for the horses which stood a few yards away. All she wanted to do now was to forget, to get back, go to sleep and bury this day somewhere deep within her, keep it covered up and live as though it hadn't happened. She'd learned long ago that that way was easiest. Lord Dilandau, however, had other plans.

Licking his grinning lips, he readied his stained weapon once more and faced the man who'd been called Draco. "Do you want to run, little coward?", he asked, bloodlust shining in his eyes.

The hooded stranger's sword came whispering out of its sheath. The blade was slim and long, obviously not Cesarian, and he held it as though it were merely and extension of his body. "I never turn my back on my enemy," he replied.

"Lucky me," giggled his enemy, "Let's PLAY!"

Unsure of what to do, Hitomi watched the duel clash before her. She longed to some how end the combat or to simply leave. The first option was impossible; the young woman wasn't quite desperate or foolish enough to jump unarmed into the midst of that violent foray. As for the second option, crazed though he was, Hitomi somehow couldn't reconcile herself to merely abandoning Dilandau to his fate. Especially considering that this time, it seemed the Zaibach might be beaten at his own game.

As of yet, neither swordsman had drawn blood. Their weapons sang out with each skilful thrust and block of their lethal sport. While the dark eyed stranger's features remained covered and inscrutable, Hitomi could tell that Dilandau was getting frustrated; frustrated enough to make a near fatal error.

His next block was a second too slow, and Hitomi gasped as she saw Draco's blade carve a long, deep scratch down the side of the Ryuu lord's cheek. Red drips glistened against white skin, and Dilandau raised a gloved hand to them, pressing it against the cut. "M-my f-face...", he stammered, seemingly more in shock than in pain.

Hitomi felt a pang of sympathy for the young man who now looked as dazed and damaged as she had felt while being abducted. Perhaps now he had had enough, she thought, perhaps the stranger would take this chance and flee...

Unfortunately, Hitomi's hopes died with Dilandau's demented scream.

"BASTARD!!!", he hollered, hurling himself forwards. "I HATE YOU!!"

Having been caught off guard by this surge of madness, Draco only just managed keep from being run through. Surprise gave Dilandau a temporary advantage, but he was only concentrating on the attack and neglecting the defence, and his flesh soon knew the kiss of hot steel just beside the heavy shoulder plate of his uniform.

Hitomi didn't gasp this time; her knife was out of her boot and flying through the air before she even had time to think of gasping. It pierced the stranger's hand, making him cry out and drop his sword. Spinning around, he faced her, and they locked gazes for just a second before he retrieved his sword from the forest floor and absconded quickly into the trees taking the knife along with him.

Hitomi gazed after him with a shiver, I know I've seen those eyes before...

Brushing that thought aside, she hurried over to the fallen soldier. Dilandau had managed to prop himself up against a tree in a graceless sitting slouch. His head sagged and his bangs were matted to his forehead with blood. Once more he had pressed his palm to his defiled cheek, seeming to consider that injury more dire than the wound that had been dealt to his shoulder. The fire had died from his eyes, but glowing embers still lurked in their depths, and Hitomi approached the youth as one might a wounded animal; slowly, steadily, yet warily enough to run if it turns vicious.

Kneeling before him, she gently tried to pry his hand away from the cut, taking full advantage of the fact that his other arm was in no condition to strike her. "You can't keep touching it like that," she urged, "You'll get it infected."

He answered her with a defiant glare, too weak to do anything else. "What would you know about it?"

"I know that you can't keep rubbing sweat and dirt into the cut like that."

His hand didn't budge, and Hitomi sighed in frustration. "Look," she said, pulling a handkerchief out of her sleeve and holding it out to him as one would a peace offering, "If you must poke at it, use this."

Dilandau's frown was almost suspicious, but he accepted the white scrap of fabric and held it over his cheek. The material was much softer than the leather of his uniform and felt almost soothing against the wound's hot, throbbing pain. Leaning back against the rough tree trunk, he allowed his lids to slowly drift closed only to have them shoot up again when he felt Hitomi's fingers fumbling at his collar.

"What exactly do you think you're doing?"

Hitomi flushed. ...Oh Gods... "I was trying to get a look at the injury to your shoulder...I-I can't seem to get your collar unfastened...umm... how--?"

"The clasp is tucked under the lining just..."

"Here?"

"No, lower--"

"Here?"

"AHH! ...Be careful!!"

"......Sorry... Oh, hey, I found it!"

After opening the front of Dilandau's jacket, Hitomi gently eased the garment from his left shoulder, wincing at his slight hiss of pain. The wound was deep, yet the bleeding was still minimal. If she bound it now and got him to help very, very soon, Lord Albatou would most likely make a full recovery.

Hitomi took off the scarf which still hung about her neck and examined it. Finding that it was clean enough to use as a makeshift bandage, she deftly bound the injury. Surprisingly, Dilandau had made no complaint, and she worriedly glanced up to find that he was either asleep or passed out.

His pallor was ghostlier than usual, and Hitomi's heartbeat sped up in alarm. Shaking or slapping him back into consciousness was obviously not an option, so she opted to slip a hand onto his unmaimed shoulder and softly but firmly massage it while speaking urgently into his ear.

Dilandau's head slumped forwards to rest in the crook of her neck. She heard him sigh and murmur, "You...back...so glad..."

Hitomi's breath caught in her throat, and she could feel a strange tingling heat spread out from her stomach to the very tips of her fingers and toes. Dilandau's hand had dropped its vigil at his cheek, and that arm was now slowly wrapping around her waist.

"Lord Dilandau?"

He awoke with a start and across his eyes there briefly flashed bewilderment then recognition then confusion mixed strangely with sorrow.

"Kanzaki?"

His voice was hushed and took on a tone that Hitomi had never heard him use before, unsure and practically lost; Hitomi felt the insane urge to apologize for not being who he'd so blissfully been dreaming of.

Instead, she merely answered, "Please stay awake until we have Ryuuon take a look at you, my lord. Try to stand, and I'll help you over to the horse."

With that she took his arm from around her waist and placed it over her shoulders, lifting Dilandau and supporting him as they walked over to the animals. Hitomi helped him into the saddle and then mounted up behind him.

The bandits had indeed left a noticeable trail, and shifting slightly so that the Ryuu captain could lean more easily against her, Hitomi urged the horse on in that direction, all the while talking softly to Dilandau to keep him from drifting away once more.

TBC...