Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ Cryptic Knives ❯ Hit Or Miss ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter 2

Hit or Miss

*****

Delphi was lying on her bed the morning. She wasn't under the covers and still had her dust-brown cloak on. She was also missing one slipper. The Sun was shining through her window and beating down in her face. Her face scrunched up and she swatted at the sun, trying to make it go away. She opened her eyes and breathed deeply through her nose.

Sitting up, she stretched and made a smacking noise with her mouth and stood up. Her back was a little sore and so was her arm. She finally realized that she was only wearing one slipper when her foot started to get a little cold and she was wearing her cloak when she was in bed. She pulled the cloak over her head and hung it up on the floor. She got dressed, putting on a sea-foam green sundress that went down to her mid-shin. Then she left the room as she did so.

`Dad?' she called. Her voice echoed throughout the halls of her house. She distorted her features into confusion and she called again. `Dad?' She knocked on her father's door. `Are you still sleeping?' she asked as she opened his door. However, there was no one in there and the sheets were twisted and falling off the bed. `That's strange.'

Delphi walked into the kitchen and she noticed that nothing was dirty in the kitchen. She went over to the door and slipped on her shoes and walked outside crossing her arms as she did so.

`Hey Delphi.' A boy said running up to her. She looked down at the boy with a slight frown.

`Hi Serge,' she said her frown turning into a small smile at the boy. He had red hair and was about an inch shorter than her and was taking his dog for a walk. `You haven't seen my dad have you?'

`Uh, he's by the barn, but don't go over there.'

`Don't be stupid, I've been around horses all my life, a little shit isn't going to scare me.'

`No, James doesn't want you over there.' He said grabbing her wrist quite roughly and yanking her backwards.

`My dad lets me go there every day.' She tugged her wrist out of the younger boy's grip and made her way to the barn.

Delphi stomped all the way to the barn and stopped when she smelt something disgusting. She could see files, which was normal, but today there were, what seemed like, billions of them. She made her way forward, swatting in front of her. She felt as if she was stepping in soft mud. She looked down and noticed the dark crimson tinge to it.

`Dad?' she yelled.

`Sweetie, go back to the house.' Her father yelled. She shot her head in the direction and made her way over towards the voice sloshing through the very wet mud underneath her feet.

`What's going-' She stopped in mid-sentence and mid-stride, gawking at the sight in front of her.

A lot of the men in the town were gathered around in the barn at various places doing various things. The back wall of the barn seemed to have been broken and the horses were all mutilated. Most of their body's were found separate from their heads and there were missing body parts. Some of their stomachs had been opened and organs were missing. Some horses legs were ripped off and there were teeth marks on a lot of them.

Delphi felt like she was choking when she came across her horse, Kylie's body, she finally found her voice and screamed. Her father came and dragged her away.

`Delphi listen to me. It's okay; look at me.' Tears were running down her face and he took her chin between his thumb and forefinger and made her look at him.

`I know. I'm sorry Delphi, but things like this happen.'

`What things happened?' she mumbled.

`It looked like a dragon attacked the horses last night, although I'm not sure why.'

`This is all my fault.' Delphi cried.

`No it's no ones fault.' He said and tired to bring her in a hug but she pushed back and yelled, `Yes it is,' and ran back towards her house.

She walked back into her room and picked up her cloak up off the floor, putting it on. Next she went to her desk and grabbed her sword, running back out of the house. She ran to the forest, not stopping once or for anyone.

Delphi collapsed beside a tree and panted, tears still streaming down her face and getting caught in her throat. She unsheathed her sword and started to swing aimlessly at thin air and sometimes trees. She hacked at smaller trees until they would fall over and then continued to fight the invisible enemy. Even though Delphi didn't notice, the chain of the pendant, once big enough to fit over her head started to get smaller. After she had gotten all her anger out she walked home. She had stopped crying a while ago and now she just had the sniffles.

Months went by and Delphi had been determined to practice everyday with her father. He was quite amazed that she was so strong-minded about the sword when she had told him to teach her every day, since it had only been the day before she had said she never wanted to do it again.

As the months went by she had been noticing that her chain was getting noticeably smaller to the point where she couldn't get it over her head. Almost a year and a half had past and the chain stopped shrinking it was tight around her neck, only big enough to put her middle and forefingers through.

Delphi had gotten quite good with handling her sword, but wasn't as powerful as her father. She came close to beating her father, but everytime, he would win. She always figured that she would beat him someday and she was going to try as hard as she could. If she could beat her father, she knew that she could protect the town and the people she loved from intrusions or attacks.

*****

`Happy Birthday sweetheart.' Delphi's father came and hugged her and kissed her on the cheek again and again.

`Dad.' She said laughing a bit.

`Seventeen. You're getting older.' Delphi smiled and looked down. `Come with me, I have your birthday gift outside.'

`Dad, I told you I was good this year, you didn't need to get me anything.' She said but her father came and grabbed her arm and dragged her outside. He had moved his hands over her eyes so she couldn't see. When they were outside he took his hand away.

Delphi's eyes were wide and she spun around and hugged her father.

`She's beautiful.' She said as she ran over to the horse. Her coat was a sleek black and looked like white paint had splattered her face.

`She's a he, Delphi.'

`Oh.' She said, kissing his velvet nose. `Does he have a name?' she inquired.

`Damien.' Her father replied. Delphi stroked the horse's nose and kissed it again.

`I figured, after four years, you might want a horse again.'

Delphi nodded, `Yes, I suppose you're right.' She winced at the memory.

`Delphi!' She heard her name being called and she spun around.

`Hi Serge.'

`Happy Birthday' he said out of breath. He looked down and a slight blush was playing on his cheeks. `I made this for you.'

`Awe. Thanks Serge.' She opened the box and took out a silver chain. The chain held a small pink stone.

`I made it for you.'

`You made this?' she asked with dearest sincere.

`Just for you.' His blush deepened. `I mean, I have to go so I'll see you around ok?' Serge turned and ran back to where he was.

`Wait,' she yelled and then turned to her father. `What's up with that kid?'

`He's liked you ever since I can remember.' Her father said thoughtfully.

`Yeah but, he's so………scared of me.'

`Come on, let's go put the horse away.'

*****

Delphi was sleeping when she heard the sound of shouting. She opened her eyes and listened as hard as she could and it didn't sound like a party. She got up and looked out her window. Coming into the town looked like to be a mob. She seemed to be the only who heard it, there was no one else rushing around. She wondered why the watchtower didn't sound off yet.

She opened her window and climbed to the roof. She crawled along it very slowly and then jumped from house to house until she reached the ladder to the watchtower and climbed to the top. She also saw why the bell wasn't rung; the two watchers had about seven arrows between them. She stood right behind it and rang it about twice then she saw about three arrows whizzing by her head. She jumped off the tower and onto the nearest roof and back to her room where her father was all ready in her room.

`Where have you been?' he said worriedly.

`Ringing the bell!' she shouted.

`What? Never mind. Listen to me. I want you to stay here and don't leave. Stay away from the windows and don't make any noise. Just stay here.' He hugged her and then left.

`Dad!' She argued.

`Stay.' He said and then rushed out of the house, partially covered in armor. Delphi rushed to the window and saw him run to the heat of the battle. She knitted her eyebrows together.

`I'll show him. I'm not staying here.' She crawled to her closet and put on the darkest dress she owned, a navy blue. Delphi took a comb and put her hair up. She then crawled into her father's room and took whatever armor he had in there. All that was left was a chest plate that was a little too big and everything else was from when she was little and was too small. She rushed and grabbed her sword and rushed to her dad's window. She climbed out of it and fell into the garden below.

She hid in the shadows as three men ran by. She didn't know who was who so she didn't say anything. Turning around the corner of her house she ran into someone.

`What the-' he shouted. Delphi started wide-eyed at the man who was wearing a light blue and black uniform.

`Uh- bye' she said quickly and turned around and ran. The man ran after her shouting stupid things like `come back here.' When she turned around the corner of another house she ran into another man.

`Hello' He said. She was about to run but he grabbed her arm and dragged her into him. `What a nice pendant you have.' He said mockingly as he grinned. Delphi screamed and tugged her arm back. When is was no use she took her sword and hit the man in the head with the hilt and ran for it again. This time, instead of running away from the battle, she managed to run right into it.

Things were starting to burn, people from both sides were falling and she was running around trying to do something. She knew she couldn't just go and kill someone.

`Delphi.' She looked around and then saw her dad looking at her. She looked behind him and saw someone charging at him.

`Dad!' She screamed in a very high-pitched voice and everything seemed to stop around her. The slayer behind him drove the sword through his stomach twice and he fell.

`NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!' She screeched and ran to his side.

`Dad. Daddy………'

`I thought I told you to stay inside.'

`Daddy. I'll help you don't worry.' Delphi said and started to drag him, but he stopped her.

`Go and hide. Don't let them find you.' She felt the hot tears sliding down her dirty face.

`No. Daddy.' An arrow found it's way though his neck and she just stared in shock. She looked up and the slayer was looking at her with dark eyes full of malice and was wearing a satisfied grin. He turned his back on her and started to walk away. She quickly kissed her fathers forehead and grabbed his sword.

In a matter of seconds she ran after the man that had just killed her father. She hadn't stopped screaming, which caused the other man to turn around. Coming from Delphi's pendant was a brilliant white light and he shielded his eyes with his hand just in time to see the sword come crashing down on him. Delphi cut off his left hand that he was using to see her and his head.

Delphi looked at her father's sword sheathed it in her own case. She ran towards the stables and mounted her new horse and headed back out. Once on the horse she unsheathed her sword, going after any target that was wearing black and blue. She guided her horse through the mess of people and stabbed two other individuals before falling off the horse with and arrow in her side.

Delphi was lying on the panting when a man wearing red and black stood over her. He bent down and lifted up her chin and looked at the chain and tried breaking it. This action caused her to gasp in pain as it dug into the skin in the back of her neck. He went to cut her head off but the light that came before didn't allow it. He stood up.

`Get her back to base. I'll deal with her later.'

A man bent down to pick her up and she punched him in the nose and threw dirt in his eyes. The man in read turned around and hit her with the hilt of his sword and she fell back onto her back; eyes slowly closing and everything turned dark for her.

`Now you idiots, get her back.' He said and stomped off.

*****

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Yours truly,

Sweet roses