Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ Under The Same Stars ❯ 1.8 A Walk? ( Chapter 8 )

A/N: Welcome to the surprising eighth chapter, in which I have the feeling that people are way OOC. I also have an important question to you, my readers. Do you think the story is going too slow? Would it be better if I quickened the pace a bit? This is something that has been bothering me lately... Anyway, I dedicate this chapter to lifluvanime - for prompting me back to writing and reminding me at a very opportune time that (chock gasp awe) there is a world beyond linear transformations, nors, nands and every little spawn of the dark side of maths (think Star Wars) that has been keeping me much too busy lately. Thanks! I hope everyone enjoys!

 

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Part 1 : Innocence
Chapter VIII : A Walk?

 

Dilandau. The name softly rolled from her tongue as her heart-rate quieted down and her she ran a double-check over everything that had happened in the past afternoon. Shock was just stepping out of scene and full recognition of her surroundings sinking in.

 

She had spent the afternoon in town with Millerna, but her thoughts had never strayed from the fear of the encounter that would take place between Allen and Van later. She'd been as enthusiastic as ever when the Princess dragged through every store she could think of - and since she was never that enthusiast, Millerna failed to notice how distraught Celena had actually been.

 

Then the Princess had found some friends she didn't know along the way, and Celena made a decision. She quickly excused herself, saying she was too tired to stay and would go back to the castle. Her real intentions, though, consisted of tracking down her brother and Van, however unsuccessful that venture was destined to be.

 

She had never realised just how many pubs and café's there were until now, but her naïveté kept whispering to her that no matter the number, she was bound to come upon the pair sooner or later. She searched and looked, and soon forgot to keep track of which part of town she was wandering at the moment. There was no visible mark separating the “walk with caution” streets from the general ones, just a different, colder, feel to the air that Celena would have taken notice of, had she not been so focused in imagining all the scenarios that could spring from this meeting.

 

Retreating with some measure of discomfort from an alcohol-reeking pub that could seriously gain from a cleaning, Celena bumped her back into a massive form. Immediately turning to apologise to the man that was steadily cursing her clumsiness, her words died before birth. She knew the man all too well, and could tell that he had recognised her as well when he broke into a grin.

 

From there on, there wasn't much she could tell about what had happened. Run, her brain commanded. Her memories were clouded by horror, but she remembered finding her saviour - the very same who had saved her from this very thief before -, then blood and now... the castle.

 

Dilandau had all but vanished into the trees around the castle entrance, going off as mysteriously as he had the first time they had met. And as Celena's brain caught up and settled back into the real world, she realised how - yet again - she had let him go without properly talking to him. She had asked his name like it was something she had mentally scheduled to do when she found him next, but that was it.

 

She looked up at the sky. The small moon shone a sickly yellow tonight, and the Mystic Moon hid behind it, shrouded in the dark. It wasn't awfully late yet, and her gaze dropped back to the path Dilandau had taken. He had saved her twice now, would it be a bother to him if she went after him to talk? A tendril of something she couldn't identify warmed her inside, and for the second time on that day, she ran.

 

The earthen road Dilandau had taken went around the castle and she knew that it connected the gardens to the wild forests behind the royal grounds, passing by the stables. Why the adventurer would come to these parts when it was evening, she did not know, but she followed the trail, expecting to find him somewhere after the next bend.

 

Much to Celena's surprise, though, he wasn't anywhere in sight. Her running broke down with uncertainty and she looked all around for places where he could have gone. Fortunately, that bend on the path signalled the end of the private gardens and the following stretch of land was quite plain. It wasn't like there was anywhere to hide here. Unless...

 

The stables? He's staying at the palace? - she thought with some wonder. That certainly explained how he knew she was staying there, but she found the idea of both of them staying at the same place somewhat unsettling. Up until now, she had come to accept that she probably never would see him again or find out who he was, and yet, here he was, living in the very same building as her.

 

She slid into the stables, not sure if what she was doing was right - what would happen in a guard suddenly spotted her? -, but true to her guess, the red-eyed was just a couple of meters away from the entrance, crouched behind a pile of hay and studying something she couldn't see. She made her way over to him, an unexpected jolt of mischievousness nearly making her chuckle out loud.

 

“What are you doing”, she whispered next to his ear. She could barely hear the question herself, but he turned so fast that she might as well have shouted. His face was ashen with surprise, and Celena quickly out her hands over her mouth to shush a new wave of laughter.

 

“I should ask you the same. Go away”, and he turned back to his inspection of, Celena could now see, the ostler's patrol of the corridors. She was somewhat disappointed that he had nothing else to say to her being there.

 

“I wanted to talk to you...” she started, but then he took off round the hay on a crouched run, leaving her staring at empty air. She took up his position to spy where he was going. He had just disappeared through the servants' halls, and she sat with a sigh. Didn't he really care that little about her that he would leave when she'd been talking? Now that she thought about it, he hadn't exactly been talkative before. But he could at least be curious as to what she wanted!

 

The minutes ticked by, Celena felt just about to doze off, the ostler kept up his routine surveys, and Dilandau had yet to give any signs that he would be back. Something like half an hour later, a small movement caught Celena's eye. Dilandau had just come back out of the halls and seeing Celena, he waved at her to go outside, then disappeared into a corridor parallel to the one the ostler was checking.

 

He wanted her to leave! Well, she would leave all right, and she would go straight to her room too. He could have at least told her to go before sprinting away and save her the trouble of all that waiting... oh, wait, he had. But by now, her mind had completely changed and she put all thoughts of getting to know Dilandau behind her back, surely whatever conversation the two of them might have had would have been thoroughly uninteresting. Throwing a `humpf' in his general direction, she walked out to the open air.

 

Her pace brisk, she only got the chance to walk some meters before all hell broke loose in the building behind her. First a crash, then a horse neighing to the sound of some very loud encouragements from Dilandau, multiple cracks from the horse's hooves, and finally the guards' shouting after them.

 

Celena stared in awe, as a grey stallion burst forth from the commotion. Atop it, Dilandau regarded her with a semi puzzled, semi exasperated look and lowered his hand to pull her up behind him. Then he dashed in a gallop towards the woods before the others could catch up.

 

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All in all, it was the most uncomfortable - and summarily awkward - ride Celena had ever had. She had the strong impression that Dilandau wasn't exactly having the time of his life either. Simply because pulling up dress wearing girls while galloping was something that required technique.

 

Celena sat precariously with both legs to one side, with the stallion's powerful muscles constantly flexing beneath her. She could feel herself slipping off millimetre by millimetre, and the only thing she could do was curl herself around the side of the horse: a fruitless hold. That, and cling with all her might to the man sitting in front of her.

 

She took the fact that he hadn't turned purple yet as a good sign. On one hand, she had a vice-like grip on the arm that had started the whole predicament, so much that Dilandau had to ride with one hand. As for her other arm, it was wrapped in a manner she wasn't exactly aware of around his shoulders and neck, finishing with her hand pulling at his hair.

 

It wasn't comfortable or secure, but the thing that really nagged at Celena was that she wasn't altogether sure of what she was doing in the back of that horse.

 

Dilandau had made no complaints so far, but as soon as they entered the cover of the forests and were far enough that the guards' clamours were lost, he halted and shrugged her off him. Celena ungracefully fell on the ground with a small yelp.

 

“Dammit, woman!” He swore, taking a large gulp of air, then turned irritably towards Celena, who was rubbing her sore backside. “Couldn't you have found something else to hold on to!”

 

“Like what? I don't even want to think of all the times I could have fallen off while you sped your way here! Besides, you were the one who brought me along without asking if I wanted to come - which I didn't! - so, can you please take me back?” The words could have probably sounded intimidating or reproachful, if only they had come from someone else's mouth. With Celena, though, they came out as a sort of pleading moan. She was exhausted and disgruntled with everything that had already happened. This was turning out to be the official worst day of her life so far.

 

Dilandau dismounted purposefully and held her shoulders to steady her. “Go back, when every soldier in the castle is searching for the maker of that ruckus? Not a chance!” Tears came to Celena's eyes in disbelief and rage. Again, if it were anyone else in her position, a slap would have been heard echoing off the trees at this point. Celena made a quick note to become `someone else' as soon as possible and spoke with quiet strength to her red-eyed `rescuer'.

 

“Look... I just went after you to the stables because I wanted to talk to you and get to know the person who has saved me twice now. But then you left me there waiting without saying a word, and when I was going back, you... Are you even listening?”

 

Somewhere along the way, Dilandau had turned back to the horse and had busied himself strapping a pack to the saddle. His movements were measured and casual, which only unnerved Celena further. She gave up.

 

“So... what have you planned next, Dilandau? It better involve sneaking back around the guards somehow, because I'm tired and I want to sleep.”

 

“Not today. We can't go back and we can't be caught. So come on, we have to go a bit further till we find somewhere safe to stay for the night”, he said while hoisting himself back up the saddle.

 

“«Somewhere safe»? Jichia, you make it sound like we are criminals or something!” He extended a hand to help her climb behind him. Holding the overly long skirts with one hand, she gladly accepted and this time settled in a decent riding position.

 

“You're not, but I am. I stole a horse, remember?”

 

“You mean this horse is not... yours?” She concluded, suddenly feeling very stupid for ever thinking it could be, then hung her head. “Why did you have to bring me along?”

 

“I couldn't have left you in the middle of the fray. You'd be in trouble.”

 

“I wish you were selfish”, she stated mutely. He laughed.

 

“I usually am.” Then silence fell and the grey horse started in a slow walk.

 

Celena found out that trees and woods were very beautiful sceneries and everything, but only in the daytime and when you were not tired, aching or otherwise unwell. In the dark, the twisting limbs and eerie shadows alone were enough to keep anyone on edge, and after looking behind her back for the hundredth time, Celena decided that she had let the fear escalate far enough. She closed her eyes, hugged Dilandau to keep from falling and leaned on to his back, implicitly trusting him to look out for both of them. He'd already done it twice, so she found it wasn't something at all hard to do.

 

Dilandau was indeed keeping a sharp ear on their surroundings, however the forms around them weren't nearly as disturbing to him as they were to Celena. He'd travelled often in the night and besides, his home village was completely cut off from the world by the same type of thick woods. On normal circumstances, he would have been completely cool, but he had something to slightly disturb him as well. He wasn't used to having company.

 

He'd originally gone to the stables to get his things, take a horse and leave for Freid. A simple plan. In his short stay, he felt he had already had enough of Asturia to last a lifetime, but then the girl had come and refused to go. He thought that maybe if he ignored her she would disappear, but she had stayed. And so he'd been forced to bring her along.

 

When he'd felt her weight on his back and her arms around his midsection, he'd unconsciously sat a bit straighter. Then he realised her scared breathing was slowly becoming deeper and steadier - she was relaxing, falling asleep perhaps? This was a completely new situation to him: this trust, this interest in him. When they had paused earlier and she had said that she wanted to get to know him, his first instinct was to say that she didn't have to. Then he realised that it was something that had come from her and he had felt severely... out of place. `Getting to know' and `Dilandau' were not two concepts that people would usually string together, and yet Celena had done so.

 

He already knew the girl was naïve, idealising a world that simply didn't exist, but that was because she was so sheltered from reality. Dilandau knew so, because he remembered the conversation he'd overheard between her and the princess Millerna. He also remembered relating to her issues near the end of it, much to his dismay.

 

He knew all these things. Therefore, the question that remained was: what should he do about them?

 

“Celena?” he barely whispered over his shoulder. No response, she was either asleep or very nearly so. He would have to find a place to stop, they were far enough from Pallas already.

 

Following his instincts and what he remembered of the lay of the land, he directed the tiring horse to climb up a small hill. From what he remembered, there was a clearing there, where they could see everything around them down to the sea shore without being easily seen.

 

By the time they got there, the events had caught up with Celena, for she was deeply asleep. Dilandau carried her down and did his best to make her a bed out of his spare clothing. Then he sat down next to her and waited the night away, keeping watch and hoping that none of the Asturians below knew about his hideout.