Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ Dragon's Future ❯ Lost ( Chapter 5 )

Sometimes, when one is in trouble, it's hard to see beyond the trouble, and harder still to ask for help.  This is when we need to rely on our friends the most, but too often, in times of stress, we forget that.  Yukari is a little sheltered, and a bit spoiled, so she far too often thinks only of herself.  But away from the safety of home, she'll soon learn she has to change!

Note to Macky: Dilandau is not in this story, since twenty-one years have passed since we learned his secret and we are hoping that Allen has by this time restored his unfortunate sister to some semblance of sanity.

Chapter 4: Lost

Darvi burst into the dining room.  "Yukari's missing!" he shouted in panic.  "I've looked everywhere!  She's not in the castle!"

"What?!" Hitomi and Van exclaimed in the same breath.

"She always comes to get me for breakfast," Darvi exclaimed.  "When she didn't come this morning, I went to her room.  She wasn't there and her bed didn't look slept in."

"Are you sure you looked everywhere?"  Van demanded.  "She can't have gotten out of the castle unseen."

Darvi suddenly looked horribly guilty.  "She could have flown away," he admitted in a small voice.

Van stared at him.  "Yukari could not fly all the way out of the city, she's too young."

Darvi looked even more guilty.  "She's been practicing, when we went into the forest to play."

Everyone was on his or her feet by this time.  Amano was starting to cry and Vulcan put an arm around his shoulders, trying to look brave.  Hitomi had a look of panic on her face and she held Bethany close to her chest.  Even Merle looked worried.  Chief Samurai Sesston and Lord Kilbrin, the Seneschal, looked at Van expectantly. 

"We will discuss later why you didn't tell me this," Van said, his voice taut with restrained fury.  "Assemble a search party," he told Sesston, "but have them wait on my orders.  Hitomi, let's use the map in my study and see if you can find her with the pendant."

"I haven't used the pendant for years, Van!  It might not work!"

"We have to try, though.  It could take days to find her if we don't start in the right direction.  Sesston, I'll join you as soon as we know something."

Sesston hurried out with Lord Kilbrin on his heels.

Van looked at Merle.  "Merle, will you stay with the boys, please?"

"All right."  Merle moved closer and put an arm around each boy's shoulders.  "We'll finish our breakfast and go play a game.  How does that sound?"  She spoke brightly, to lesson their fear.  Amano sniffled and wiped his nose on the back of his hand, but he nodded.  Vulcan nodded too, obviously trying to put on a brave face for his little brother.

Van took Hitomi's arm and led her from the room.  Darvi trailed after them.  In his study, Van pulled out a map of Fanelia and spread it out on the desk.  Hitomi sat in front of it, handed Bethany to Van and pulled the pendant from around her neck.  She dangled it from one hand over the map and closed her eyes.  She sat completely still and in total silence, waiting for a vision to come.  Van watched her, feeling a growing impatience, but he remained silent.  He trusted her ability.  They had no other choice.

Hitomi broke before he did.  After sitting in rigid silence for what seemed an eternity, her arm slumped to the desk and she began to weep.  "Nothing!  I can't see her.  It's almost as if something's blocking me."  She looked up at Van helplessly.

Darvi, however, started sharply at her words.  "She took it," he exclaimed in disbelief.

"What?  Took what?" Van demanded.

"The drag-energist, from the dragon that attacked us."  At Van's angry glare, Darvi ducked his head apologetically.  "She told me she wanted to touch it, to see if it would respond to her.  I told her not to, but…" 

Van snatched open one of the desk drawers to get the key to the chest.  It was right where he kept it.  But when he opened the chest, his heart sank.  "It's gone."  He turned to glare at Darvi again.  "When did she take it?"

"It had to be yesterday afternoon.  We talked about it that morning.  But I swear I told her to leave it alone.  And she said she would."  He looked from Van to Hitomi, and then back to Van.  "I thought she would listen to me.  I'm so sorry."

Van slammed the chest closed and Bethany began to cry.  "I'm sorry, sweetie," he whispered, and snuggled the little bundle.  She continued to squirm, so he put her back in Hitomi's arms.  "I'll use all the samurai.  We'll divide into four groups and each take a different quadrant.  There's nothing else we can do."  He drew Hitomi to her feet and kissed her gently.  "I'll find her, my love, I promise you."

"May I go with you?" Darvi asked.  He was struggling to keep a note of pleading out of his voice, but it still came through.

Van shook his head.  "I know you care about her, but I need experienced men for this.  I need you to stay here and help Merle look after the boys." 

"But I can find her!" Darvi protested.

"I said no!" Van replied sharply.  "She was flying, Darvi, you can't track her.  I want you to stay here."  Darvi looked as if he wanted to argue, but he nodded unhappily.  Van turned back to Hitomi.  "Try not to worry, Hitomi.  She can't have gotten too far."

Sesston had all the samurai assembled in the main courtyard before the wide gates.  Two hundred and eight-five men waited on horseback for Van to join them. 

"She can't have flown far, Sesston, even if she's been practicing," Van said as he mounted his horse.  "She'll walk most of the time, which should give us time to catch up with her."

"Was Queen Hitomi able to locate her?"

"No.  We'll need to divide the men and search in four directions at once."

"Very well, sire."  Sesston issued orders and the parties set out.

- - - -

Darvi waited until the riders were out of sight before slipping out through the gates after them.  It was his fault.  He should have known that Yukari was too interested in the energist to leave it alone.  He should have kept an eye on her and kept her away from Van's study.  But why did she run away?  She should have come to him.  Did she think he wouldn't forgive her for lying to him?  He growled angrily.  He was far less likely to forgive her for running away without him!  They were supposed to do everything together.  He dropped to all fours to make better time and dashed out of the city into the open forest beyond. 

He could see two of the four search parties retreating into the distance.  The others had already disappeared into the trees.  Darvi skidded to a halt and sat down on his haunches.  Now was not the time to go racing about at random.  Yukari was too young to be wandering in the forest by herself.  He needed to locate her quickly, which meant he needed to follow in the right direction.  He closed his eyes and sat very still, listening not with his ears, but with his heart.  Awake or asleep, he had been aware of Yukari since the day she was born.  He could always find her, no matter where she was.  So now he reached out for her through the bond they shared.

Faintly, stretched and thinned by the distance, he felt her: far to the south; tired and unhappy. 

His eyes snapped open and he jumped forward into a swift, ground-eating lope; a pace he could maintain for hours.  She was far away and it would take him more than a day to catch up with her, assuming she didn't fly again.

Oh, Yukari! What were you thinking? he thought as he ran. You can always come to me; always.  I will always be there for you.

- - - - - - - -

Yukari was tired.  She'd flown nearly till dawn and now her shoulders ached from the effort.  She had slept in a tree until late morning and then continued on foot.  She figured she was about two day's ride from the city.  Not very far, really.  They had to know she was gone by now, and she wondered if they were very upset with her.  She wondered if Darvi was angry with her for leaving him.  She missed him terribly.  It felt wrong to be so far away from him.  She was not used to being alone, at least not for this long.

She trudged along under the trees with her knapsack slung over one shoulder.  She thought it better not to wear it on her back, in case she needed to make a quick getaway by air.  Not that she had ever been any good at putting her wings out in an emergency, but she liked to think she could, if she really had to.  She wished she had Darvi's nose, so she could be more aware of what was in the forest around her.  She could hear the occasional rustle of small animals and birds, but she could seldom tell where the sounds came from, or what made them.  It made her nervous.

Following a narrow game trail, she came to a small stream and stopped for a drink.  The water was cold and it tasted good.  She spooned it up in one hand to sip it, her attention focused below her.

"You must be far from home, my dear."

Yukari leaped to her feet in sudden panic.  Across the stream stood a man clad in nothing but an animal skin loin cloth, holding a long spear.  His long dark hair was braided with strips of colored leather.  He had the bronzed skin of someone who spent most of his time outdoors.  Yukari looked quickly to either side and saw more men of similar appearance standing on either side of her.  There was not enough room to put her wings out and jump into the air, even if her heart had not been pounding so hard.  Besides, the men had spears.  She had no doubt they could bring her down if they wanted to.  She clutched the strap of her knapsack and stared back at him, afraid to speak.

"There is something about her, honored chieftain," a man on her left hissed.  "I sense power."  He moved forward, the swaying motion of his body reminding her of the snake he sounded like.  There were strange symbols painted in black and red ink on his face.  Yukari cringed away from him, but he swayed close and sniffed her.  She tried to take another step backward, but bumped into another of the strange men.  His hand clasped her shoulder firmly and held her in place while the snakelike man continued to sniff her.  Finally, he reached out and clutched at the bottom of her knapsack. 

"In here," he hissed.  "There is an object of great power in this pouch."

Yukari's eyes went round with fear.  He had to be talking about the drag-energist.  How could he sense it?  She wasn't touching it.  It couldn't be active.

"Indeed?  Why don't you give me the object, child?"  The man on the other side of the stream held out his hand. 

Yukari clutched the knapsack to her chest and shook her head.  "I can't do that, sir," she replied shakily.

"She is connected to the object," the snake-voiced man said.  "It may not choose to leave her."

"Then we shall take them both," the chieftain replied.  "Bring her."  He turned and started away.  The man clutching Yukari's shoulder shoved her forward after him.  Yukari stumbled in fear and he pulled her to her feet before she could fall all the way to her knees.

The snake-voiced man sidled close to her and whispered sibilantly into her ear.  "Don't be afraid, child.  We value objects of power.  You will be well cared for."  But his closed-mouth grin did nothing to allay her fears.  Tears sprang into Yukari's eyes.  How could she have been so foolish?  What was she going to do now?