Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ The Oracle Of The Phoenix ❯ The Trade ( Chapter 5 )

I do not own Escaflowne

Chapter 5

The Trade

*****

Hitomi kicked at the ground angrily, thinking bitter thoughts about Edwina.

`Who does she think she is ANYWAY!' she screamed in her head. ` I can take care of myself. I'm capable of it.' She looked around and didn't know where she was. `Feels like high school all over again.' she whispered. `Where am I anyway?'

She sat down on a random stone edge outside of a cloth store and rested her chin in her palms. She sighed. She knew without Van and the others that she could kiss getting home goodbye. She felt the tears stinging her eyes and she looked around until her eyes fell on someone. It was one of the pirates that Edwina pointed out earlier. She stood up and ran into the cloth store. She felt uncomfortable in these cloths looking around at every else in the store wearing nice dresses and suits.

`Can I be of any service?' A girl asked in a demeaning tone and looking Hitomi up and down at what she was wearing.

`Un, well uh………not just yet.' She said flustered and walked away looking at some nearby dresses. They all looked very different as to what she would wear back at home. She took a sleeve into her hand. The material was soft.

She knew it was wrong but she couldn't stay in these cloths, she felt like a freak. She walked over to a person who looked pretty wealthy and bumped into slightly, grabbing the bag that he had foolishly left sticking out of his pocket and pretended to be tripped by him. She landed with a thud on the floor. In the time it took everyone to figure out what had happened she emptied the contents of the pouch and shoved it into the pocket of the dress she chose to buy.

`I am sorry miss.' Said the man who had thought he had tripped her.

`It's ok.' She replied. She waited for a hand but none came so she stood up and continued to look around for a little more. When she saw he was talking to the man for a suit she quickly slipped the money into her pocket and went back to the dress with the small pocket near the bottom of the dress. The pocket in which held the empty bag that had contained the money she stole from the man. She grabbed it and hastily walked to the counter. The woman behind the counter took the dress and said a price.

`Six shillings.'

`Six?' Hitomi laughed, `Is that all?' the woman looked at her weird and then said, `Do ye have it or not?'

`Oh yes. Do I have six shillings.' She laughed again and shoved her hand into her pocket and pulled out some money and gave it to her. She looked at the money Hitomi gave her and noticed that there was eight instead of six.

`Uh I don't need these.' She said handing her back the two extra shillings.

`Um, keep them, as long as I can change here.'

`Indeed.' Said the woman who led Hitomi to some sort of back room where she changed and hid the pouch that had contained the money somewhere in the back room. When she came out she actually looked half decent. The dress had puffy short sleeves and was quite snug on the hips and upper part and showed a little too much cleavage for her liking. There were buttons half an inch from the top middle and down to her waist. The bottom covered just to the top of her feet and fanned out. The dress was a pale pearl in color.

`Thank you.' Hitomi said and left rapidly.

*****

`That stupid girl where did she go?' Edwina muttered to herself and walked the streets not caring that she ran into or pushed aside.

`Outta me way.' She said harshly to some small children playing on the sidewalk area. The child started to cry and the older one tried to comfort him, she just walked past.

`Why bother with that little hellion? She deserves to be lost or taken by that scallywag………well, well, well.' She trailed off.

She looked through the crowd and saw Hitomi and one of Dilandau's men following closely behind. She hurried on so that she could catch up to her before the blonde boy did.

*****

`Where could they be? This town only be so big. They can't be far.' Van said while looking around over the crowd and down the side corridors.

`I bet that girl took off with her and be sellin' her to some drunk.' Merle said.

`She would not!' Yelled Serenity. `She wouldn't. She not be like that. I promise. They probably got lost er something.' Although Serenity was sure that she would probably sell her but she was almost certain that Van's help to get her ship back was more important that money at the moment.

`Well we gotta find them. I promised I'd take her home.'

`So? What be a promise when yer a pirate?' Merle asked. Van didn't know how to answer her, it was true, he was a pirate and he didn't need rules or promises. He was supposed to be ruthless, like Dilandau was. That was what most people looked at pirates to be as. He shrugged at her question and continued walking.

*****

Hitomi looked around and suddenly felt a hand grabbed her wrist and she was tugged out of the crown and down into a corridor.

`What de ye be thinkin' yer doing girl? Do ye want to be killed?'

`Hey! I can take care of myself!' Hitomi screamed at her and tried to tug her arm away from her death grip.

`Good day ladies.' Both of the girls stopped fussing and looked up. There was Dilandau and a few of his men. `Guess I was too nice leavin' ye the boat this time wasn't I?'

`Well, better than last time when ye left us the ores and no boat.' She smiled callously. Dilandau snickered.

`What did you do ta me crew?'

`I suppose there somewhere in the ocean by now. But don't ye worry, they got the same treatment ye got.'

`Bastard.' She hissed.

`Now, why don't ye hand over the pretty little girl and I'll take `er off yer hands how about that?'

`You best be kidding.'

`No I'm not,' he smiled sadistically and reached inside his shirt and pulled out two pouches.

`I'll give you these two pouches, both containing at least eleven shillings each, for her.' He shook the bags and swung them towards Hitomi. She looked wide-eyed at the bags and a small grin played at her lips. Hitomi looked quite worried though, being in the hands of the most insane person in the whole crew, couldn't turn out too well.

`About twenty some shillings righ'?' She reached inside her pocket and pulled out her coin, Hitomi knew it couldn't end good but Dilandau knew that there was a fifty-fifty chance he wouldn't have to use force, which wouldn't draw attention. Still gripping Hitomi with her left hand she flipped the coin and caught it turned her hand around and opened it up. She looked up and smiled slightly.

`Tails.' She murmured and threw Hitomi into Dilandau's grasp in return getting the two pouches. She looked inside and sure enough there was the money.

`Always a pleasure.' He smiled viciously and left with Hitomi, wide-eyed and scared.