Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ The Trials of Time ❯ ~Part Three~ Take Nothing Lightly. ( Chapter 3 )

Vision of Escaflowne Fan-fiction:

~ Part Three ~

Take Nothing Lightly.

A young female paced silently back and forth at the bottom of a cot in a rather barren room; one of the few things that stood out was an elaborate sheathed katana with small words etched into its golden framing. It lay on the top of a table with a few feathered writing tools and some blank and scribbled on paper. She watched the floor during her paces only glancing up once or twice to her sword. She looked around the age of twelve perhaps thirteen years. Her turns or any other movements were sharp and rough as her shoulder-length dark brown hair swayed with her movements and she constantly brushed away a few dark strands from the left side of her face. She stopped for a moment as she gingerly rubbed her upper cheek in the spot she had just caught one of her fingernails with as she was pushing back her hair. Her hand moved carefully up the trail of an old but never forgotten wound; the scarred tissue smooth under the rigid and worn skin of her fingers.

Taking her hand away from her face she walked over to the table and picked up her sheathed katana, withdrawing only part of the blade. She stood there staring at the reflection of the scar that pasted through her left eye vertically and down part of her face, which had now always been much more sensitive to everything around it. She narrowed her eyes as she gazed at this ugly site that adorned her face and caused a lack of beauty to shine through for people to judge.

A young male watched silently from the doorway, his hand stationed on the open door in a fist. He had watched for a few minutes, but now broke the silence, "Lady Leigh, is everything alright?"

Her gaze abruptly broke from the blade as she thrust it back into the sheath but kept a grip on it as she turned to see the male. He was dressed in a normal soldier's outfit, but less detailed since parts of the uniform were absent suggesting that perhaps he was off duty for the time being. She narrowed her eyes on him and nodded, "Yes, I am fine. Thank you, you may go."

He nodded slowly, unsure of how true the statement was, but rather wary of her for the moment; though she was trying to be somewhat polite, her anger still showed in her eyes and her body language. She had and was still being trained under Lord Folken, which was hard enough especially at such a young age. Being one of the Lord's private soldiers and a tempered one at that, he didn't want to test her strength or really even rub her the wrong way at the moment. Her beauty was one thing that drew him to even stop and ask, but he dared not to push, no not ever. Doing one last bow, followed by the one she returned to him, he continued down the hall and to a well deserved break.

She waited a moment for him to be well gone then sighed, troubled by many things. Closing her eyes she allowed herself to fall backwards on to the cot. Everything was not alright; she was used to being one of the best on the Vione and having to fight for survival, but she had let a normal human step in her way and caused her mission to fail. Her feeling of disgrace hadn't ceased and Naria and Eriya had left on an extended mission when she herself had been out. They always knew how to comfort her after they had had their own little chuckles. The thing was this human had looked so much like a young woman who had taken care of her mother when she was really young… She tried to dispel the image created in her mind by remembering those thoughts; she sat up quickly and took a deep breath trying to calm herself though it still showed in her eyes that she was still spooked. She had stopped the images, but still knew what was coming next… Shaking her head in a vain attempt, she tried to come up with different thoughts, and stood back up restlessly; the sheathed katana still in her hand. Picking up a long band of suede material she tied it around her waist. It sat slanted a little on her, as she hitched her katana on to it. Slanting it only more with the weight as it hung loosely on her right side. She walked slowly out of her room and continued down the hall. Much to her own displeasure many thoughts still ran through her mind and the unusually quiet corridor caused for no interruptions. Placing a hand on the wall she ran her fingers over the rougher surface as she continued down the hallway. Slowing even more as she approached Folken's private quarters; she sneered lightly to herself as she found his door is open, glancing in quickly and as stealthily as she could. She smirked a bit when she didn't see him and quickening her pace, walked by. She didn't slow again afterward, but rather hurried down the hallways until she turned to the right down another corridor. A guard stood by a set of double doors; he glanced quickly to her as she approached.

She glanced to the doors, and then stopped in front of him, "Excuse me, sir. Is there anyone in there at the moment?"

He shook his head without hesitation, "No Lady Leigh there is not."

She nodded seemingly pleased, but continued, "Is there anyone booked?"

He replied quickly, "Not until the break of the next two hours."

"Alright if I'm still there tell whoever to proceed, but not to disturb me."

She stepped to the side, pulling open the closest door. Without even waiting for his reply, she entered the large room; it's atmosphere was rather tranquil, but it was rather dark. There are a few lights on the walls but mostly the brightest lights hung over the mats and a few near the equipment. She looked to a switch on the wall that would bring more light to the room, but looked away again. She didn't mind the dark so much. This room was very familiar to her, for it was where Folken had often trained her, as well as she had spent much time in here with Naria and Eriya where she had received most of her lessons on quickness and grace of battle. She sighed softly recalling that lately she only trained by her lonesome, being the youngest Naria and Eriya had been going on more missions and errands, and Folken was always busy with his work and the expansion of Zaibach. She exhaled deeply in a mask of her grief, but walked over to the far mat where she withdrew her sword and begun to swing it back and forth. Her movements graceful and still strong. She closed her eyes and worked through a few scenarios in her mind as her body and sword play them through in reality. As the time past she increased her speed as well as the force of her moves. The slices cut through the vacant air quickly and the stabs whistle into nothingness, but in her mind the scenario played through quickly and flawlessly which was one of the problems with having no partner. She continued doing this for a good amount of time, and the small sweat droplets be came to existence on her forehead before rolling down her skin. Her ignorance made her take no heed of her tiredness as the time past, but her moves started to noticeably wane. A good hour past and she came to stand motionlessly trying to catch her breath. Her eyes remained closed with her sword to her side with its blade parallel with the floor. She didn't move any except for her visibly uneven breathing, but her mind raced still with thought and things she'd love to forget, yet she still didn't know why she was so tired. Normally she was rather resilient with a great stamina to boot.

Her training had seemed to affect her more today, though. Almost two hours had past since she had entered and she had a feeling that people where soon going to come. A small clicking of the door echoed through the practically bare room. It was quiet still, but her eyes flew open as she realized it had been real, and she looked over to the door almost immediately. Darkness and shadow lied there and nothing more than that. She narrowed her eyes and looked from side to side. Tightening the grip she had on her sword's hilt. Her once calming breathing was quickly uneven again and she didn't like the feeling of fear that was growing in her gut. If someone was in here they'd have a large advantage over her at the moment and bluntly the thought of that simply angered her. There had been no call for intruders, but any normal soldier would have introduced themselves, or since she had asked not to be disturbed, still wouldn't have had any reason to hide in the shadows. Was she just imagining it? She waited silently under light, but after a few moments of sheer silence, she thought about it, and perhaps it had just been her imagination. Yes, it must have been. She relaxed her shoulders and took one last look at her katana then sheathed it, slowly taking her hand away from the hilt. At the moment it returned to her side, she could feel the cold touch of steel on the back of her neck. Her eyes widened and panic started to swell inside her.

Forcing her voice to stay clear and calm, she said, "Is there something I can help you with?" The sword withdrew from her skin and she sighed lightly before turning to see Folken replacing his katana into its sheath.

He looked back to her as he recovered his sword with his cloak, "I though you would know to never dismiss something so easily and to keep up your guard." She glanced away a bit irritated on being lectured. He waited a while for a reply, but at receiving none, inquired, "Why did you have a soldier deliver your mission's status?"

She looked further away now focusing her view on a rack of equipment and replied, "I... I failed Lord…"

"Yes, I am aware. I still don't see why you couldn't bring it yourself." She closed her eyes for a long moment and took a deep breath, "I… I was ashamed to face you, Lord Folken."

He smirked a little though it was hardly visible, and he reached over to her, placing his hand under her chin. Pushing up lightly, he directed her view back to him. "It's alright, Little one. I never expected you to be perfect. Is there something that can be done?"

She shook her head lightly as her chin rubbed in his hand. "Uh… well when are Naria and Eriya coming back?"

A strange look past through his eyes but he put on a fake smile, which was odd enough for it was rare he'd smile in the first place. "I'm not sure precisely… but I'm sure it will be soon enough."

She nodded slowly and glanced down to his hand or what she could see of it and his wrist. "Perhaps I should get back to training before there are interruptions."

He withdrew his hand and shook his head slightly, "Leigh, listen to me, you don't always need to push yourself so hard. It is fine that you take harder missions and do them rather quickly, but everyone whether they admit it or not needs time away from missions and away from training."

She thought for the moment arching her eyebrow a bit, and looked back up to him again. "Are you asking me to leave, Folken?"

Folken smirked to some extent and shook his head, "Never, Little one I'd never ask you to do that.” He slowed his pace slightly, putting in an extra effort to say the rest carefully, “I think perhaps you should take some time away from missions. With the tasks you have taken before I'm surprised you haven't come back dead." She looked down again and nodded. He continued, "Leigh you don't have much reason to do all these things for Zaibach, your alignment with this Empire is less than a thread. To help you stay busy I have a few things you could do for me, and when I'm not busy we can train together."

She looked back up to him a bit excited about the training and asked, "Really? And you'll teach me more?"

He nodded. "Yes, but Leigh you must know that overloading yourself with work will not make any problems go away. I know you miss Naria and Eriya and nor is it easy for a child to grow up here, but you have much skill it just hasn't all surfaced yet. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

She nodded slowly and looked up to his visage, "You're saying I'm young and have skill, but I'm taking on too many adult jobs, though it's not bad to work, right?"

"Yes, something along those lines."

"Alright, my Lord, I'll be in my room if you need me."

He nodded, "You are excused, but-" The sound of talking and the clinching of the doors cut him off, as a handful of soldiers walked into the training room. She bowed and then quickly walked toward the doors. He looked to her longingly like a parent would to a child as she reached the doors and nodded a thank you to a young man that had stopped and held the door open for her. She exited while the soldiers started their training and Leigh continued down the hallway back the way she had come.

Folken watched and acknowledged the soldiers as they greeted him, but something troubles him deeply… Leigh had grown up too fast while she was here and though in truth he had done the same he was not in the end that much older than her… perhaps the age of an older brother. He sighed in a bit of a troubled manner though it would have been hard to tell, and looked back to the mat she had done her training on. In everything that had happened she had forgotten to clean up the station afterwards. He narrowed his eyes a bit suspiciously, before kneeling down at the edge of the mat; he looked closely at a couple of the small pools of sweat. It was hard to see in the dim light but a couple of the puddles swirled with a crimson liquid and as he looked around he could see a few stains of a rustic red, where the blood had splattered from its fall. He stood again quickly and instructed one of the youths to clean the mat. Exiting the room he made his way to a medical storage room and took a few supplies then quickly paced continued his way to her quarters. When he reached it he knocked on the open door and peered in expecting to find her resting or perhaps writing something down, but the room was bare of any human presence. Thinking for a moment he turned and headed down another hallway. Reaching another practically bare but larger room he continued to the back of it, walking through another door to a small balcony. Leigh stood silently, leaning her arms in a supporting manor on the railing there. Her gaze directed at the oblivion of the night sky. He walked up slowly behind her and set his hand on her shoulder. Feeling this, seemingly out of nowhere, she jumped slightly, and at the feeling of her tense up he rubbed her shoulder gently.

She looked up to him, turning her head to the side, smiling softly, but her eyes glossy as though they had been tearing up a bit and she said, "My Lord is there something you?"

He shook his head almost immediately and kept hold of her shoulder, not knowing exactly what was keeping his hand there. "No..." Looking down to the railing of the banister he found a few more smudges of blood. "Leigh… are you alright?"

She knew at least one of things he meant, but for the time decided to play dumb. "What do you mean, Lord Folken?"

He wiped his fingers across the railing and showed her the blood now on them. "Where are you hurt?" He said without hesitation, a sort of command in his voice.

She looked down to her left arm and his eyes followed hers. She hesitated a bit on raising it but he took hold of her arm. Rolling it slightly she extended it further out so a small but deep gash was visible on the inner portion of her arm, "No, I'm alright… I guess I must have just set it off again when I was training."

Moving his other hand down from her shoulder he, without much warning, began to wrap her wound with the gauze and said, "When are you going to learn... You don't stress any part of your body if it's injured, if you don't need to."

She looked down a little ashamed, because she knew well enough he was disappointed in her, "I know I know I'm sorry, but it isn't really that bad…"

He narrowed his eyes. "Well I want you nonetheless to stay off using your arm. Is that clear?" though the tone of his voice made it that much less of a question.

She looked up to him longingly, she knew that he had always had this thing about her health, but this was taking away her training and…. She sighed; the fight in her head had lost, badly to say the least. Nodding she said, "Alright, sir… I'll ease up off my arm for a bit."

He nodded satisfied enough for the time and finished the final wrap on her arm. She flexed her arm twice and then crosses them on the railing, leaning there again. Lee looked back to the tedious sky. He came to rest his arms on the railing as well and leaned his pressure against it also. Watching her from the corner of his eyes appose to the sky. The stars twinkled dully in the sky, but the way she gazed at them, they seemed to twinkle brighter in her eyes. At this he felt like smiling, but didn't, because the rest of her expression was forlorn. He turned his head to her and watched closely as her displeased expression slowly shifted and became pain-filled.

He arched an eyebrow and slid a little closer to her, "Something the matter?"

Her eyes tore away from the sky and the reflection of the Mystic Moon, which he had just found lying there, disappeared from her eyes as she looks over to him. "No, I… I just suddenly feel a bit sick."

He nodded and pulled her closer with his mechanical arm. She looked back to the sky confused on this sudden ill feeling, and a bit on Folken, but she leaned against his body and closed her eyes for a moment. Take the uncommon opportunity to subtly snuggle into him as she felt his arm tighten around the back of her shoulders, and she decided to forget of any rules of professionalism that were being broken as she enjoyed this… or perhaps in truth she just no longer cared. He watched her silently, wondering what could have simply just made her feel strange, and a question lingered again in his mind from before… What drew her back constantly to a place such as this, a place where she could have met her death?

He said softly, "Little one… how did you get that wound?"

She stirred a bit and keeping her eyes shut replied tiredly, "Just from some peasant woman, with a sorry excuse for a sword."

"You mean to say the sword was old?"

"Mm-hmm, it still had dried blood on it from god knows how long…"

"Did you show it to one of the healers?"

Yawning, she nodded. "Yes they were all pretty busy but the one said that it already looked like it was scabbing. So I didn't worry about it…. though it does still sting, now that I think about it.”

He thought for a moment as she pushed back into him, then he glanced back down to her in his analytical manner. A sigh pushed past his lips before he stood up straight, much to her displeasure. "Come on Leigh I want a closer look at your arm."

She stopped resting against him and found it more difficult than first thought to stand on her own. Why did she feel so weak all of a sudden? As she was now walking with him back inside to where there was light, she staggered forward on a heavy step and caught herself by putting her hand on one of the walls. He caught her faulty step from the corner of his eyes and looked over to see her as she leaned against the wall. She had not expected this at all and now was beginning to worry. To her even bigger surprise Folken walked to her and without time for her to decline, he picked her up. Shocked by this she stared up at him blankly, but closed her eyes and leaned into his supporting body when he adjusted his arm under her knees and across her back. He took her to her quarters and set her down on the cot, as her eyes fluttered open and she tried to sit up.

He firmly pushed back down on her shoulder, "Lay back down, I'm going to care for your arm and then you can rest."

She did what he instructed and tried not to move her arm at the pain from his touch. She could feel the wrapping around her arm loosening. She opened her eyes more than the slit they had been. She looked over to her old dressing which lay next to her, but she could now see as well that Folken was holding a moist cloth to her forehead. It had been a sudden feeling but it felt soothing. Her cheeks had started to feel rather hot ever since her training. He looked over her wound silently and then shook his head in spite of his findings.

Her eyes watched him now nervously and she muttered out, "What's wrong?"

He looked up to her face and replied, "The sword that struck you cut deep, but it was not just dried blood on it… but rust as well. It wasn't scabbing either but flaking and leftover rust. Most likely other toxins were on that blade as well. "

She closed her eyes painfully, "So am I going to die from something as small as rust?"

He shook his head, "I have to do a few things to the wound, but the acidic compound has already entered your body.” He said seriously. “So you'll be in bed for a while even after the treatments to remove it."

"Pain no doubt…"

He nodded slowly, "Of course, quite a great deal."

She sighed and thought for a moment, "Alright, you know I can deal. Do what's necessary."

"Alright." He moved up the side of the cot, and touched her cheek gently, with his non-mechanical fingers feeling the heat radiating from her skin, "Do not worry."

She turned her head to look at him as a faint smile crossed her lips. He gave a faint smile back, but it was still hard to distinguish though only for the sake of her that it even existed. It was alright though… she had slowly learned off his increasingly stoic ways, and it only made her smile more. Her eyes closed though and she breathed out deeply. A short pang contorted her lips slightly, but it did not take her long to drift into an uneasy sleep.