[FIC] Point of No Retun 5/8

[Nightheart]

Hitomi brushed the dried leaves from her sweat suit that she had donned over her clothes to protect herself from the cold as the sun had gone down the previous day. Her travels during part of the night as she had dismounted and started walking her bike on the rough roads through Fanelia in the twilight that faded to a starry darkness lit by the light of her home had taken her to the edge of a forest with mountains that loomed a trifle intimidatingly in a distance that was drawing steadily closer. She?d had only her sweats and a jacket to keep herself warm through the night, and they had been a bit on the insufficient side; the night had been cool and as time progressed into early morning it had turned damp and chill. The clammy moisture had dampened her clothes gradually as she shivered in a pile of leaves, halfway between sleeping and waking. The leaves had helped a little, they had cushioned her from the hard ground that likely would have sucked the heat right from her body through the thin protection of cloth, but they had also made noise with every movement she?d made thus allowing her to attain only a very light sleep and she?d worried that all of the noise she made would attract something she didn?t want attracted. The forest had been filled with disturbing sounds that night, animal calls and the sounds of something large (probably a Fanelian Land Dragon) moving about through the trees or swooping overhead. Needless to say, she hadn?t slept well when she finally did settle in for sleep.

In the chilly dampness of early morning with the sun about to rise over the horizon through the trees, Hitomi found it a relief to be getting up and moving; once she got some vigorous exercise started her body would heat itself and banish the chill that had settled in past her air-cooled skin and into her bones and extremities. As she stretched out, her body complained bitterly about her recent treatment of it; she was not accustomed to riding all day at a grueling pace with little food and then sleeping on the forest floor with only her sweats to attempt to keep her warm. She hadn?t wanted to risk a fire the previous night even though she could easily have made one using her lucky zippo and a sheet of note paper; fire might attract attention and Hitomi would just as soon not have attention attracted to herself when she was traveling alone at night and unprotected. She hadn?t had dinner and her stomach was making loud noises that made her partially glad of the solitude. She was still cold and stiff from the cool morning air that spread dew over the grass as well as Hitomi. She was still tired from a day of hard riding over rough terrain and a night spent curled up uncomfortably and shivering in a pile of leaves. She was sore and aching and had spent most of the night when she had at last achieved a true sleep being plagued by the vision again. Like she needed any prodding!

<I?m sore, cold, tired, hungry and very cranky,> she thought grouchily. She found that one good way to try to banish a bad mood when she felt like this was to confront precisely what?s wrong with her, then try to see the good side or at least find a way to make the discomfort seem worthwhile. <I can look forward to another full day of riding from a body that?s still painfully sore from the day before. I have no money, only a little food in the form of snacks, and just a little water left in my water bottle. I?m cold. I haven?t slept well at all. It?s predawn and I know I traveled well into the night last night. I had almost no real sleep when I did bed down for the night? if you can call a pile of leaves on the ground ?bedding,?> she continued. Then she pitilessly conjured up the horrid image of Van?s death into her mind and forced herself to confront it.

<But if there?s just the slimmest chance that I can make it in time to prevent this from happening, I have to try my hardest.>

The hunger she could at least assuage a little. She had a brand new box of granola bars in her pack as well as those disgusting energy bars that Yukari swore by, some pocky and a ramen packet. She?d save the ramen for later in the day a granola bar would make a fine breakfast.

<Apple-cinnamon or honey and oat?> she mused holding up her choices of plastic-wrapped bounty of the earth.

* * *

As the date for the opening ceremony of the festival drew nearer Van had less and less time. The previous night he had burned and entire candle down to the nub trying to deal with the problems that had sprung up just that afternoon. The night had been spent in his office, which he had long since given up on. There was just no dealing with the mess, just like there was just no dealing with his nobles. The minute he tried to stab at one pile of papers was the moment when something came up to bite him on the nose. He didn?t even know where to start!

The other half of the night had been spent in a very discouraging attempt to contact Hitomi. The link between them had always been so much a part of them that he rarely even thought about it until it had been cut off. He couldn?t sense her on the other end, not even the vaguest whisper of her thoughts. No matter how he had pushed at the link, there had been no response from the other end. He wasn?t very good at the psychic stuff (that was more Hitomi?s area of expertise,) but Van knew that something was wrong.

<Why can?t I even sense her? Why does the link feel dead or blocked? Could she have severed it?> That last thought was the one that worried Van the most. If she had severed their connection that meant that she had given up. While the thought that they both would have to move on with their lives without each other had been something he?d tried to prepare himself for in theory, in reality he wasn?t ready to let her go. His heart still loved her and needed to know that she felt the same way.

<If she didn?t sever it then something else is wrong,> he thought. Could something have happened to her? If it was bad, he was certain she would have reached out to him. Or at least he hoped she would have reached out to him. Hitomi was introverted, he knew that, but in recent years she?d gained more confidence. Interacting with others in the variety of club activites she was involved in at that ?university? place she had told Van was such a big deal in her world had given her more of the sociability she?d been lacking. Working with other people toward a common goal or trying to work out problems between people, while it hadn?t made her precisely an extrovert, had rid her of her tendency to shy away into the shadows when people took notice of her.

Despite her new confidence in dealing with others, Hitomi was more likely to keep things to herself if something was bothering her. Even Van wasn?t always completely certain that everything was just fine, despite her assurances. If there was something troubling her, she might not tell him just to keep it from burdening him. What she never quite seemed to realize was that he never found her cares to be a burden; the opposite in fact. Even if he couldn?t help her with them, he liked to know that she was comfortable enough with him to share what was on her mind. She didn?t realize that discussions were a two way street all the time. She was always willing to listen to him when he needed to talk or just plain blow off steam but she didn?t always seem to understand that he wanted to hear about her life and troubles too.

Van had a lot of life troubles right then. He?d just had a rather troublesome and problematic request from a country along his eastern border? actually it had once belonged to the Empire of Zaibach as one of their conquered territories. The request had been at the behest of its nominal leader, Baron-Lord Kaladrin; they wanted to joint their smaller and weaker nation with that of his own country of Fanelia.

After the end of the Destiny War the Empire of Zaibach had fallen apart. Most of the countries that were conquered the form the Empire first were the ones that had been right along the borders of the old Kingdom of Zaibach. After those had been conquered and integrated into Imperial Law they moved on to weakening the defenses of the next few countries outside of the conquered nation?s borders. Fanelia and Asturia had been on the outer edges of the countries conquered by Zaibach. Asturia had treated with Zaibach to avoid their armies attacking the wealthy trade-nation; and Fanelia was so out of the way that no one thought the Empire would consider it worth conquering. Dilandau had voiced once what a lot of people had thought about the country of Fanelia before the Destiny War, ?Who knows what happened to that backwater little country, perhaps everyone had been eaten by the dragons or something.?

Fanelia?s status after the Destiny War was significantly different because Van had been a war hero of some significance; he was well known by a lot of countries and their rulers respected him. He had been looked up to on the battlefield. At the Alliance Conventions, dignitaries and representatives remembered his name (usually as having saved their asses at one battle or another) and were kindly inclined toward him (or if not kindly inclined, at least not inclined to treat him disrespectfully). They listened to what he said and gave his words due consideration and weight, probably because Van lived up to the Fanelian clich? of straightforwardness. ?Blunt as a Fanelian? the old saying went. When he had something to say he said it and he generally didn?t waste time or words to get his point across. ?He who is wisest says least,? his old mentor, Balgus, had once told him. Van tended to listen more than he spoke but he made certain that when he did speak he had something worthwhile to contribute. Either way, Van personally was well known and well liked for the most part by almost all of the rulers he had known of or interacted with, and his personal influence among the elite of the Alliance member nations had translated into lucrative trade contracts with meant greater prosperity.

While Fanelia wasn?t the gem of foreign trade that Asturia was, it wasn?t considered a backwoods anymore either (or as Hitomi jokingly called it ?The Alabama of Gaea? whatever that meant). When asked a lot of foreigners no longer said ?Fanelia? Oh! That?s that stodgy little country way out in the middle of nowhere right?? The country and its capital had seen far more foreign traffic and trade caravans in the last few trading seasons than they had ever historically seen. Fanelia had remained pretty much untouched and unchanged for generations before the war had come through its gates, now trade and growth was bringing a few changes with it.

Van felt that his country was flourishing in the restoration after the war despite the need for manual labor for the rebuilding taking away from the usual amount of the populace that spent their lives chasing profits; they had prospered in the last harvest, new trade taking an interest in furs, crafts, and some of the precious and semi-precious stones from the mountains that ringed Fanelia brought additional wealth. He had a general idea that Fanelia had made more in coin than it had spent making it, his people weren?t starving and the city was doing well, but as far as an actual number went there was no hope. It might be on a sheet of paper in that office of his but there was no way he?d ever be able to find it. His father hadn?t been very big on keeping accounts, Van recalled. King Gaou Dalanar de Fanel had thought that book-keeping ruined a good king; soon he only saw numbers on a page and not the people behind them. A true king had to bear in mind the welfare and happiness of his people as well as the state of affairs of the kingdom as a whole; a king who could not see the hearts of his people was not a true king. As long as things were going well, and he had enough grain stored to feed his people through a harsh few years and enough equipment and soldiers to repel an invasion, why need he worry about accounts?

<I also recall that it was one point that he and my mother never really agreed on,> Van recollected from the hazy and indistinct memories of a time when his father had still been alive. His parents had been well suited to one another? his elder brother had once told him a story passed down from their mother about how she and his father had been destined to meet. She had been given a vision that when the mystic moon rose between the eastern mountains she would meet her soulmate at a lake. She waited, and he appeared. Hitomi had once mentioned in passing that his parents had loved each other very much, though it seemed odd to him that she would know? but perhaps it shouldn?t, there wasn?t a whole lot Hitomi didn?t See if given enough time.

<Hitomi? what?s wrong? Why can?t I feel your heart anymore?> he wondered in concern. Despite all of the pressing affairs of state that were crowding around begging for his attention, he still worried about her.

* * *

Allesin seethed alone in his darkened study. Someone? someone had tapped into the power of Atlantis. Some contemptible, disreputable, dirty outworlder had defiled the sacred purity of the device that his ancestors had built. The power had been tapped into by someone on the Mystic moon. Some lowly, dirty, disgusting human from that world had besmirched the power that rightfully belonged to him by virtue of his noble draconian blood with their vile presence. Their filthy, nauseating essence had sullied the perfection and glory that was the Atlantis device, the power and birthright that belonged to the draconians. It was his race that were the caretakers to the great machine, his race alone had access to its wonders and mysteries and now some revolting Human had dared to tap into the sacred power. The very notion turned his stomach.

He would find the Human and see to it that they were made to pay for their heinous act of defilement. He clutched the stem of his goblet as his vision clouded over into a red haze. He would see that whoever it was paid dearly, just like he?d see that miserable halfbreed dead.

His dark brooding was interrupted by a soft hesitant knock at the door to his study.

?What is it?? he growled.

?I apologize for interrupting your rest milord,? one of the Zaibach sorcerers said after he had been granted entrance into the quarters of Allesin, the draconian lord of Asgard. The well built noble gestured off handedly that his visitor was to be silent unless given leave to speak.

?I assume you have news,? he said uncaringly. After all, what could the lowly worm of a human have to say that could possibly be of any importance?

?I do,? the young sorcerer said. His voice was laced with nervousness, he had never had any dealings with the Draconians before, a race said to be descended from demons. If times weren?t so desperate for the sorcerers he wouldn?t have ever come into contact with the winged man Allesin; but desperate times meant desperate measures. He had taken the contract and the gold offered by the draconian because there really weren?t that many options open to him and his struggling band of sorcerers. Half of Gaea wanted to see his entire group hanged, the other half wanted them dissected to see what made them tick.

?Well?? the draconian demanded impatiently, the sorcerer had been standing there staring at him.

?The attempts by the young woman from the Mystic Moon to contact the dragon have ceased,? the sorcerer reported. ?He is still attempting to contact her, but her life force has stopped probing the barrier we?ve erected.?

?She has given up then?? the draconian inquired sharply.

?Not as such, no,? the sorcerer said nervously.

?Well? Out with it,? ordered the draconian sharply.

?She is here? on Gaea,? the sorcerer said at last.

?What?!? Allesin hissed. He turned his full attention to the miserable human who stood cowering in his doorway. ?How?? he demanded.

?We?re not certain,? the sorcerer said, his voice cracking a little. ?She must have had the assistance of a higher power than what she herself could muster of her own resources.?

?Leave me,? the draconian growled dangerously. The sorcerer fled, glad to escape the room intact.

<So that?s it,> Allesin thought darkly. <The one who debased and violated the purity of the Atlantis Device was none other than that bitch from the Mystic Moon. She will die. I?ll have to take care of it quickly, before she can unite with the halfbreed princeling. Once the two of them are together they become Ashu-krestona; a force of destiny.>

It was an old and cherished belief among his people. Every few generations, not often, but enough to ensure the permanence of the old myth there are two people who are joined by a special bond that transcends the physical and is believed by their people to be a sacred and holy joining. It is also believed by his people that the ones who are joined by that holy bond are destined become a nexus, a great focal point for change. Often they themselves do not chose to become this focal point it simply happens that way; event just seem to unfold around them whether they will it or not. Some of the draconians said that this bond formed by the Great Force (of destiny) was meant as a reward for enduring the great trials that would inevitably be laid in their path. Others of his people though that the universe meant for the bond to be a way to keep the Ashu-krestona in check, keep them from becoming weak or corrupt; if they had someone who loved them with all of their souls and whom they loved as much in return that strength would give them the will to persevere no matter how bad things got.

He had seen for himself how unstoppable they were when they were together. They were a force of destiny.

<The halfbreed is too well-guarded right now and my plan to kill him has already been set into motion. I?ll have to kill the girl before she can reunite with the halfbeed.>

* * *

The road through the forest was shady, even pleasant. The sun dappled the forest floor through the leaves of the canopy when it peeked out from behind the clouds. The sky had been perfectly clear through most of yesterday, but the wind appeared to have changed direction and brought some large white puffy clouds with it. Hitomi tried to remember her lessons about the weather in general science but it had been a little over four years ago and the details were lost in a murmur of ?high pressure? and ?low pressure areas? that didn?t really tell her much.

Hitomi had thought herself to be in very good shape? until now. Her legs and thighs burned and ached with every movement she made that was precisely like the ones she had spent most of the day before making. Even now, only halfway through the day she was having trouble continuing. Her light tank-top was soaked down the back and front with sweat for she refused to slow her pace even a little driven on by the sense of urgency that had forced her into crossing the void between two worlds. Hurry hurry hurry a little voice in her head urged her, compelling her to keep pushing down hard on the pedals to keep up the pace. She couldn?t delay an hour longer, even a minute, or she?d be too late! The trail through the woods was winding and unpredictable with roots sticking up along the sides and traveling out into the middle of the path which forced her to keep a whether eye on the trail in front of her even though she wanted little more than to simply shut her eyes for just a little while. The first thing she was doing after she got to the capitol and saved Van?s life was to go to bed! She reconsidered, first she?d eat something (her stomach was nagging her constantly with it?s aching empty-pit-feeling) then she?d go to bed. And she reconsidered again, a nice hot bath would definitely not be amiss, she hated being sweaty and dirty and she knew she had to be right then. A hot bath to soothe away the aches in her legs and hocks as well as wash away the grime of this nightmare journey wouls have to come first, then she?d want as much food as she could stomach, then a soft warm bed to curl up in and the chance to sleep uninterrupted for as long as she wanted. Just the thought of a good nights sleep was making her head nod forward on her neck again. She tried to distract herself from her sense of weariness by gazing at her surroundings again.

Hitomi had traveled through to the better part of late morning without meeting a single soul on the road; she had heard some small sounds of something large and heavy moving out among the leaves of the forest and had seen the shadows as the Fanelian Dragons swooped by overhead, but thus far had continued unmolested. Folken had once told her that dragons wouldn?t attack unless they had been provoked, the same was true for wolves on Earth but there had been occasions when they had been hungry or desperate enough to take on a human. What was to say that one of those dragons might or might not be hungry enough to try and eat her?

She glanced over at the darkened shadows of the thick vegetation on either side of the road, if a dragon were to approach from the land she?d certainly hear it coming. An early warning system was good, she could pedal harder? but then she recalled something about the time she had seen Van fight a dragon and recalled it shooting flame. Well perhaps they didn?t eat meat? Yes! Most large animals on earth were grazers?Large carnivores were rare simply because it took so much energy and effort to hunt down other animals. Grazers could eat two or three times the weight of their bodies in a single day if they found a good place to graze, the fire might be nothing more than a handy defense mechanism. Hitomi knew she was being too hopeful, if the dragons were grazers, then why did they glide on wings? The hopeful part of her replied that they wanted to be able to escape quickly and easily, or perhaps they made their homes in the edges of cliffs or something, there were certainly enough mountains about. What did they eat anyway?

As if following her train of thought, Hitomi suddenly got that all-over-body-hair-standing-on-end tingly-feeling that presaged a vision. Oh, not again! She braced herself for another repeat of the same horrid vision of Van being assassinated again, but instead she Saw something completely different for a change.

She could See large flock of them, or was it a gaggle? Or a pod? Or a pack? Perhaps a pride, or a herd? What did one call a group of dragons?

<Trouble,> she answered herself, eying their massive tough-hided forms. One of their slitted lizard-like eyes was almost as big as her whole head. She wouldn?t be much more than a snack to one of them.

They were pawing at the earth in a spot, and Hitomi could sense some strange fluctuations in the energy there. It was like the slight pressure of wind on her skin, or the feeling of sunlight on her face, the air was just a little more tightened there. It felt odd, but not threatening.

<What is it that they?re digging for I wonder,> she thought. Maybe it was true, the old Earth legends about dragons hoarding treasure like magpies. Then she was quickly switched into another view.

She looked out from the dragons perspective, as if she were dreaming of herself as a dragon, she scratched at the ground searching for something. She could sense the vague feeling of power and energy along her skin in the ground. Her dream-self-dragon was searching for the source of that energy. At last, her foreclaw closed around a lump of earth that sent a zing of energy through the tough hide of her claws. It was a lump of ore! It swirled with colors like oil over water and glowed in some spots. The dragon in her vision swallowed the lump of ore and Hitomi sensed it diffuse into the dragon. The ore was purified inside of the dragons and that was where the energists came from inside of the dragons.

<Like a fly on sugar,> she thought as the vision faded and she continued on her way. <The flies always look for the energy that is easiest to break down, which is why they?re attracted to sweet things. The Dragons break down and purify the lumps of ore. That?s where their energists come from. Strange.>

She could see a break in the trees ahead! After having traveled for nearly half of the day she was at last going to see the end of the forest and be out under the open sky again! She pedaled a little faster. The old saying ?we?re not out of the woods yet? had never made sense up until now; the forest was very pretty and all and nicely shaded for traveling but not being able to see very far in front of you and not knowing if there was someone hiding and lying in wait on either side of the path was certainly not pleasant, especially because she was traveling alone. Hitomi was relieved when she at last broke out into the open scenery in front of her and she paused in her pedaling to take a good look at the road that lay ahead (as well as a nice long pull from her water bottle).

The landscape had also changed subtly from what it had been before she?d entered the forest in the valley. The countryside, which had been grassy fields and gentle hills when she had started out, had turned rockier. The grass which had been fine and verdant alongside the paths a few hours before had thinned out; the blades of grass had grown wider, thicker and more? scruffy looking; tougher to cling to more pebbly soil. There were also more grey stones with tiny quartz crystals sparkling in them? granite for sure. If she recalled her geology classes from three years ago (a long time in a life like hers) granite was an igneous stone that could be found mostly in and near the mountains. The mountains themselves were certainly a lot closer than they had been before she?d enetered the forest. Instead of just being a mist mass of peaks and valleys, she could make out individual details, what color some of the different kinds of trees were, where the mountains were bare and where some water had flowed down winter after winter and carved out deep rivulets in the rock over time.

<I wish I knew how much farther I had to go,> she thought. The old saying that her grandmother had passed onto her suddenly popped into her head with that thought. ?If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.? When she?d said it to one of her friends they?d given her an odd look, not understanding it and she?d had to explain that it meant that merely wishing for something had never solved anything.

<Until now?> she thought humorously. If she didn?t indeed know better Hitomi would almost have thought her grandmother hadn?t even been to Gaea; how her grandmother could maintain a philosophy like that while still knowing the things she knew about wishes was a bit of a mystery to Hitomi. Her wishes had already gotten her as close to her destination as they were going to get her, and there was no Escaflowne around to give her a lift, so the rest was up to her and the power of her own will.

She absolutely wasn?t going to give in, no matter what!

* * *

Allesin spread his mighty pristine white wings with no small amount of pride in their beauty and dropped gracefully into the sky. The currents were with him that day, and while the event he intended to manufacture would ruin the easy flying conditions he now enjoyed he considered it a sign from Fate that his choice of action was the correct one to take. The power of Atlantis would make it easy for him to merely affect the weather patterns of this realm for a short while. A storm while the girl traveled through the mountains would be easy to create. With the flash flooding that took place in early spring she was sure to get washed out and hopefully killed during her travels. If she was foolish enough to attempt to travel at night, so much the better. Allesin beat the air with his precious wings to increase his pace as he soared towards the mountains of Fanelia that the girl from the Mystic moon was about to cross.

The power answered sluggishly to his call at first, but like a slumbering beast awakening soon moved with more fluidity. He began weaving the ephemeral threads of power and light that lay visible to the edge of his senses into a net. The innate patterns of energy that weaved throughout the world wrapped around the threads he wove and slowly obeyed his commands. Clouds began to gather, darkening gradually as the air high above cooled and condensed more water. The ions in the air rubbed against one another as the storm continued to answer his call. Clouds borne in on the winds that he summoned blew about the earth below him and he whipped them into a frenzy by pouring more power and chaos into the patern; this would be a masterpiece of nature. There would be lightening, rain and thunder. If the girl was not overtaken by the storm itself, then Allesin would attend to her removal personally. The wench had to die.

* * *

She looked at the path that led through a small spate of mountains. They were nothing like the mountains she could see in the distance, really more like foothills. She was sure this was the right way. Despite the complete and utter lack of travelers on the road to Fanelia during the biggest festival the country had held since the tme it had been attacked she was certain she was headed in the right direction. She had tried dowsing with her mental pendant earlier and it had confirmed once more once more that this road was the correct one to take to get to reach the capitol of Fanelia, aside of her creepy powers, Hitomi knew it was the right way? she could almost always sense the right way to get to Van.

The path that led up through the mountains looked awfully steep and very treacherous, it was rocky and uneven and clung to the side of the mountain dangerously. Add to that the fact that the sun was nearing the horizon and turning to the weaker gold of sunset, and the sky which had been mostly clear as she journeyed had at last clouded over completely and the gentle wind which had been growing only a little stronger was now quite stiff; it had grown colder as well as stronger, that might mean that there was bad weather ahead. If she doubted such flimsy evidence all she had to do was look ahead of her at the sky over the mountains. The clouds she could see on the horizon had turned dark, not with the fading light but with rain, large looming thunderheads that had blown in out of nowhere. A lot of times in the place she?d lived one didn?t see the impressive thunderstorms, the sky just gradually got overcast for a few days then it rained in a steady drizzle with the occasional half hour spurt of true rain before settling back down into a drizzle again. She hadn?t had many opportunities to observe a storm blow in suddenly as she had heard they could? and she was riding straight for it. Her pendant indicated (when she asked it) that the clouds were indeed going to storm. Great. Just what she didn?t need.

<Okay let?s take stock,> she thought to herself. <I have no money. There?s no shelter nearby even if I did have some kind of cash they?d accept. I?m headed toward a narrow, winding mountain path when it?s getting dark; and apparently straight into the heart of a storm.> She looked at the clouds again and amended her opinion. <A big one? with lightning.>

If there was ever a recipe for disaster.

Hitomi studied the thick black clouds that soaked up the weak sunlight and created a murky twilight as she mentally reviewed her options. She could turn away from this road right now and go look for another way around the treacherous paths and dangerous storm. She could stop traveling and look for a place to wait out the storm. She could push on through the mountains on foot risking the storm but likely making better time on her journey. Of them all, she liked the last one the best. She wanted to make as much distance as she could before she rested, and she wasn?t certain she?d get any kind of rest at all shivering under a tree during a rainstorm, so it would be best to just keep moving if she couldn?t sleep anyway. She didn?t even need the light of the moon to see by because she?d brought her flashlight with her. But still, she?d always been told not to travel when there was a bad storm, especially a lightning storm, and what about the mountain trail? Even if she was walking carefully on foot and pushing her bike alongside her there was no telling what dangers lurked on it at night. There might be a spot where the path had washed out, or there might be nocturnal predators or even bandits! That wasn?t mentioning the often-heard admonition ?you?ll get struck by lightning.? Her innate sense of caution and her desire to reach Van and make certain he was safe warred inside her. Go or not go? In the end, her desire to save Van?s life won out over caution. She body ached so badly from a day of hard riding on her bike she didn?t think there was any way she?d be able to take trying to pedal uphill; an excersize that was tiring even when she was fresh. Besides, in the fading light she could just make out the sharp turns of the trail winding around the sides of the mountain up near the top. Unless she wanted to roll down the side of the mountain and break her neck, she?d better get off an walk.

She dismounted from her bike and began climbing the narrow winding trail up the steep slope as the first chill drops of water pattered the dusty road beside her.


End chapter 5...

This one took a lot of revising as well, going back and adding or deleting bits and peices of it. I had to take out an entire section that had nothing whatsoever to do with furthering the plot, it was just mildly interesting; it was hard to do it, but it had become a pacing issue. I hope this chapter meets satistafacton. Don't forget to leave a little note to tell me what you think please.

Disclaimer: I don't own it.

[Kaili Charmer]

Well, whatever you had to do to this chapter, I liked it a lot!! I haven't checked the esca forum in a long long time because i've been too caught up in inuyasha, gundam wing, silly shorts.... Yeah, i haven't been here. But I'm here now and am anxiously waiting for the rest of this story! It's exciting! Get it out soon please!

[Lara Winner]

Oooh!

This keeps getting better and better! Oh I don't know if I can wait. *bites nails in antcipation* There's so much at stake and now Hitomi is in danger...

I hope nothing dreadful happens! I'll be hoping for the best!

[Kaili Charmer]

Oooh!

I hope nothing dreadful happens! I'll be hoping for the best!

Lara Winner! You're not supposed to think of the bad that may happen and hope against it while thinking of the worst! Haven't you read the series? lol!
Sorry, just had to mess with ya. :razz:

[athena]

*gasps* Well, there goes the happy scenes for awhile!

Run, Hitomi, RUN!

Nightheart, you're amazing. You've kept us on the edge for such a long time! Hurry up! The anitcipation is driving me insane..

Good work, again, though. *sigh* Wish I could write like that

[WaterGoddessX]

this chapter was great cant what to read the next