I just wrote this, so it's rough. Please R&R so I know if I should continue it. I think I know where this fic is going…
In Search of the Unicorn
Fog rode over the beaches, creeping through the usually dry city, stirring dust and sand into something more akin to soil. The fog was what gave away the secret. So they weren't surprised that night, when Heero Yuy's ship came to port, an irregular beat in the rhythm that was South Africa. That was when it had begun, that was when they had come, in search of the unicorn.
* * *
Heero leaned back in his chair, listening to the drumbeats of the natives echoing outside. An oil lamp lit the interior of his tent, casting everything in a soft, yellow glow, and Wufei thought he looked gentler that way, not as sharp and cold as usual.
"It's their way of communicating," he answered the question Heero hadn't asked, and probably didn't care about. "Primal, but it works for them."
"Hn." And that was all the acknowledgment he got.
"So why are you here, Heero? Come to hunt ivory, or maybe just vacationing? Though the heart of Africa would be a dangerous place for relaxation, and from what I hear, that's where you're heading."
Heero nodded, tapping his fingers on the table in rhythm with the drums. "I'm in search of bigger game than elephants, Chang."
Wufei raised an eyebrow. "So you believe the legends?"
Heero was quiet a long time, as if debating the issue with himself. "I don't think I do."
"Then why bother?"
"Immortality isn't something a man just passes up."
Wufei laughed. "I suppose not. It's too bad it doesn't exist."
"What exactly do the natives have to say about it?"
"You can speak to one of them yourself, in the morning."
"And what do you think about it?"
Wufei looked surprised. "Do you really care about what I think of the matter?"
"You've lived here in Africa longer than any one I know; if any one's opinion is more valid, it's yours."
"Thank you for the compliment."
"It wasn't meant to be a compliment."
"For you, Heero, it's a compliment." Wufei sat back for a moment, studying Heero, who was casually draped against his chair. The open flap of the tent was behind him, forming a backdrop of the jungle and the night, and for a moment Wufei swore they were reaching out to claim the handsome man. It was as if he belonged there, in Africa, in the darkness. "I think there are no such thing as unicorns. And even if there were, I don't think their horns would grant you immortality; even the stars aren't forever, Heero. They've burned out thousands of years ago, you must know that from your studies in science. What I do think is that the natives are superstitious, that stories carry from mouth to mouth until they approach the grandeur of faery tales. But then, that's just my opinion. Others have come here before you, determined to take the chase on themselves. And no doubt others will come after you have failed."
"I'm not going to fail in this, Chang."
"That's what they usually say."
Heero paused a moment, as if hesitant. "Will you come with me?"
"Into the jungle? My work is here."
"You can have some one else take over the ivory shipments while you're away." Here Heero leaned forward, so that Wufei could feel his breath against his cheek. "And you can't say you haven't missed our little trysts, since you've left Europe."
"Is that what this is about? Fine, I'll go with you, Heero. At any rate, I'd like a chance to prove you wrong for a change."
Heero nodded and sat back. "We leave in the morning, then, after we gather more information."
* * *
The man was dark, the color of the night. Thin, precise lines were carved into his face, white tribal scars that stood out from the velvet texture of his skin. He was muscular, you had to be, if you led the life he did, and he claimed he had seen the unicorn.
Wufei´s second-in-command, Trowa Barton, translated the man's crisp words for Heero.
"It was white, and massive, moving faster than any beast that size should. A huge, gnarled horn, colored like the moon, growing out of its head. He saw it at about a two months walk from here, in the middle of the jungle. He says there's no sun there, even during the day, because the trees are so tall and dense. That's where the unicorn lives. " Trowa turned to Heero. The man had stopped talking. "He says he'll take us to where he saw it, but he won't take part in the hunt, and he leaves as soon as we get to the site. We'll have to find our own way out."
"That's fine. But tell him there's good money in it if he'll help us hunt it down."
Trowa translated, then shook his head. "He said that it's evil. He doesn't want to be there when the voodoo comes down."
Heero snorted. "Fine."
He walked back to his tent, finding his assistant Quatre already there, supervising the workers who were packing everything up. Quatre turned, sensing Heero walking towards him, and smiled. "So how did talks with the natives go?"
"We found a man who knows where the site is."
"What if he doesn't? What if he's lying?"
Heero shrugged. "Than we'll be following a liar. There are no other options open to us."
The opulence of the European tents were packed by noon, along with supplies they might need, within the bowels of Heero´s ship. They would take the river as far as they could, then walk the trek from there.
Soon all preparations were done, and the ship had sat sail. Shortly after Heero retired to his chambers for the day, claiming he was exhausted from all the work they had done that morning. That's when Wufei went to search for Quatre. He found him on the dock, staring at the river's shore.
"Once in a while," Quatre started, "some natives come out of the jungle, to get water or what not. They just appear out of nowhere. And it's funny, they don't even look shocked to see us, though I imagine not many ships come up this way."
Wufei nodded in agreement. "Pygmies. It seems as though they always expect us."
Quatre turned and smiled at Wufei. "I'm guessing you'd like to talk to me about something."
"Yes, actually. I'd like to ask you about Heero. Why is he taking on this hunt? He told me himself he doesn't believe the stories."
"Well, when you're dying, I imagine you'd become somewhat desperate."
"Dying?" Wufei looked up in shock. "You mean Heero´s dying?"
Quatre only nodded his head.
A pause, followed by a barely audible whisper. "I didn't know."
* * *
They made there way up the river for a month, and then had to stop sooner than they had expected. The river was starting to taper, and the ship wouldn't be able to fit in it any further. So they made their way by foot through the jungle, camping out at dusk just to wake again at dawn. Soon the flora grew too dense for them to set up their massive tents and equipment, so they left most of those behind. And after several weeks, they stopped.
"He says this is it," Trowa translated. "This is where he saw it, eating some vegetation by the rocks over there."
Heero looked over to where the man was pointing and nodded. "Is he sure he won't stay? We lost a few men to malaria, and could use another able hunter."
At Trowa´s translation the man vehemently shook his head. Then he turned around and left, fading into the darkness.
"I guess we're on our own now," Trowa stated.
Heero went to inspect the plants the man had seen the unicorn eating; it was a type of moss, and this part of the jungle seemed to be overflowing with it. The men had already taken out their spears and rifles, prepared for the hunt.
"What do you suggest we do now, Heero?"
"We find the closest source of water, and wait."
The men spread out and covered the area, until Quatre found a watering hole a few meters away, hidden by the thick foliage of the trees. They surrounded it, waiting in the dark. The native man was right; there was never any sunlight here, and Heero had to check his watch just to see how much time was passing. They waited there, patiently, for days, listening to the sounds of the jungle. They would hear snakes, slipping over leaves that covered the ground, and animals lightly treading around them. At one point, Heero thought he saw a family of okra, moving through the underbrush.
It was Heero´s shift to get some sleep, and he was just about to doze off, when one of his men gave a loud shout. Suddenly everyone was moving, even the jungle seemed to be thrown into frenzy. Heero saw it then; a flash of white, moving away from them, and he yelled at his camp to run after it. They dashed after the beast, some times following the ripples of movements it made as it ran through the flora, sometimes following the briefest flashes of color. At one point Heero could feel it, its life stream pulsing alongside him, could hear its grunts and noises, but could see nothing but the dark green of jungle growth. After what must have been an hour the beast decided to stop running and turned around, Heero instinctively knowing somehow that it was about to charge. He felt, more than heard, one of his men screaming, felt the ground ripple out as the man fell. He raised his spear, feeling the beast turn to come after him. It was as if it had singled Heero out; as if it knew who he was, and was raising to the challenge. And then Heero found himself staring into the face of darkness: an ugly, twisted silver horn, jutting out between two eyes the color of space, overfilling with blood that ran down the beast's white skin, dripping onto the floor. Heero raised his spear, gave out some kind of primal war cry, and gave one, clean thrust into the beast, one thing going through his mind. This was his last chance. And then it was done, the beast lay at his feet, eyes frozen in its last expression of surprise. Heero´s men came running up to the sight, gazing at the creature before picking it up and carrying it back to the closest clearing.
* * *
"An albino rhinoceros." Wufei stepped up to the beast, nudging the heavy body with his foot. "This was your unicorn, Heero?"
Heero looked up from where he was sawing off the horn. "It's not just any rhino."
Wufei didn't voice it, but he agreed. He had never seen a rhino like this, with skin that shone even in the absence of light, with a horn like that. And he had certainly never seen a rhinoceros, or any creature for that matter, that cried blood. Heero held up the horn for Wufei´s inspection. It was certainly not ivory; it wasn't any material that he had seen before.
"The color of the moon," Heero said. Wufei could only nod, as Heero handed it to Trowa to grind into powder.
"Do you believe it will cure you?"
Heero stood up and wiped the blood off of his hands. "How did you know?"
"Quatre told me."
"I see." Heero looked back at the beast. They had placed it away from where they were camping, in small, makeshift tents made of leaves. And even dead and disgraced, it was a majestic creature. "Honestly, I don't know if it will cure me."
Wufei nodded as they made their way back to the campsite. They had kept one of the tents, a large purple piece of fabric they draped over the trees. Heero and Wufei went to rest within it, on the many pillows their crew had carried for their comfort.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Wufei asked.
"I didn't think it was important for you to know."
"This isn't just some casual piece of information, Heero, this is your life. And I am your friend, at least I hope I am."
"It doesn't matter, any way. You got to see me one last time before I left, didn't you?"
"That's not the point, and you know it."
There was an awkward silence before Quatre and Trowa walked in, sitting down on the pillows. Quatre got out a bottle of wine, pouring a glass for every one in celebration of the victorious hunt, while Heero eyed the vial Trowa was holding. Trowa held it out to him, and he took it within a gentle grip. The powder was finely ground, silver and metallic, sending out sparkles within the tent's dim lighting. It looked soft, and light, stirring within the glass casing at the slightest movement.
"What now?" asked Quatre.
"I don't know," said Heero, placing the vial down in front of him. They all stared at it, until Wufei broke the silence.
"I'd like to try it."
"But Wu-"
"You'll get your chance, Heero. I'm sure there's enough for both of us."
Heero nodded as Wufei took the vial and uncorked it. He poured some of the powder into his wine, shaking his glass to make sure it was fully dissolved.
It all happened so quickly after that. As soon as Wufei had swallowed that liquid, his eyes widened and dilated, and he sat shock still. The glass tumbled from his hands and we went into a violent convulsions for a minute, until Heero realized what was happening and held him down. When he was finished, there were twin trails of blood running down his cheeks. Heero frantically grabbed his wrist, shouting his name, hoping for some kind of revival.
Finally, he dropped Wufei´s hand onto the pillows, and looked up to Trowa and Quatre's shocked expressions.
"There's no pulse."
After some moments of silence, Trowa suggested they bury his body. It was impractical to take it back to South Africa. And Heero had nodded mutely, still in shock from the death of his best friend. They found a plot some distance away from the site, and left Wufei´s body there. Then they went back to camp, where Heero ordered that every one remain in their tents for the rest of the night, while he had some time alone. Quatre and Trowa assumed it was because he wanted to mourn for his fallen comrade, and did as they were told.
Heero sat down in front of the rhinoceros, waiting. There was a more concrete reason for his coming to Africa, for his partaking of the hunt. And he knew that reason would find him now, beside the corpse of this unicorn. He waited until midnight, and there it was, a black figure against the perpetual night of the jungle.
"I was expecting you," he called out calmly, "Duo."
~tbc~