Weather & Haul Wind: Wind of the Mystic Island
AU Fan Fiction / Gundam Wing Fan Fiction by White Wings
Rated for language and violence
Chapter One
The breeze that whispered across the surface of the sea was cool and it tugged at the unruly locks of Heero Yuy were he stood on the Quarter Deck of the Wings. That same breeze twisted around the body of the ship and wound its way down the stairs to gently kiss the nape of Trowa Bartons' neck as he bent over a text. It sent the many small metallic adornments of Duo Maxwell tinkling merrily as if they were some sort of unconventional wind chime were he leaned in the crow's nest high above the deck. The waft ruffled the loose shirt of Wufei Chang as he checked the rigging and teased the delicate feathers of Quatre's wings while he perched on the Bow sprit.
The endless eyes of the Lunar Guardian stayed focused on the horizon from which the cool breeze had originated. Farther off than any mortal eye could see Quatre saw the building energy of a violent storm that was the great grandmother of the wisp that had tickled his cheeks. The milky and nearly translucent form of Ira, the Lunar Guardian who had taken the place of the Wings figure head, wrapped her misty form around her younger brother. She chirped and trilled quietly into his ear and he responded in kind with whispered chirps of his own.
Quatre had grown into a thin, well muscled creature that look similar in age to a eighteen or twenty year old human and in his true form greatly resembled a younger version of his father whose body still stood sentinel over the island city of Daphar. His platinum gold hair shimmered like the pale light of the morning and his great white wings stretched easily twice his own height when unfurled. Currently he had hidden his great dolphin-like tail and instead crouched on two long legs tanned olive by the sun though he left his arms and hands in their natural state of tiger-like appearance in order to more effectively balance himself on the tip Bow sprit.
Three years of sailing had changed the physical appearance of all of the Wings crew. All of them had aged into lean masculine figures and were handsome as well as commanding in presence. Duo, who was probably the most easily recognized member of the crew, still sported his long braid of brown hair and when paired with his startling blue/lavender eyes and eccentric way of dressing he drew no small amount of attention when they docked.
Wufei, who as a Lou Island native already had high cheekbones and other well-defined facial features, as well as ever so slightly slanted eyes, stood out now with his broad shoulders and thick black hair to match his equally dark eyes pulled into a short tail at the base of his neck. He kept his hair trimmed so that it fell at shoulders length when free of its leather bond.
Trowa let his hair grow out with every voyage and had it trimmed each time they returned to Redenge, which had become a regular stop during their various exploits within the Nation of Stars, by his sister Kathy. His green eyes still sparked at the sight of old books but he had grown even taller and now had to stoop to get though the doors of most establishments, including his own quarters on the Wing. Around his neck he wore the amulet that he had received from Eduard Blackwater on Daphar. The brilliant emerald color had not faded and the gold that held the large jewel in place was not tarnished. The pair of hands, one soft and almost human the other jagged with claws at its finger tips, still held fast and dangled from a thick iron chain.
Heero, though now a lean young man with well muscled shoulders, had not grown much in height but though he was not nearly as tall as wispy Duo or towering Trowa he had a presence that commanded the respect and adoration of a man twice his height or age. His deep blue eyes were still shadowed my messy bangs and though he had cut his hair short numerous times it always grew back quickly. He had yet to manage even a little bit of stubble on his chin but did not worry about such things especially when Quatre turned such a grave face towards him.
"Gale will be bad He-ro. Would be bes' a find a cozy cove or bay." The Lunar Guardian said as he touched down lightly next to his captain and his friend. He was still learning to speak the human language and had a terrible time pronouncing the hard "T" sound but his broken speech was easily translated.
"Allright... Ira, would you call Trowa up for me?" Heero replied to Quatre and then addressed the empty air.
"Of course..."whispered a faint voice that may have been gone unheard if one had not known what to listen for. A few moments later Trowa emerged from below deck with a map in his hands.
"How much time do we have?" the tall scholar asked as he joined his crew-mates on the Quarter Deck. Already mentally running though the Islands that were within their immediate area and compiling a list for nearest to furthest.
"No more an ree hours a mos' 'Rowa." It would have been almost comical to hear such a fine looking young man speak in such a broken and toddlerish way if it wasn't known that despite his looks Quatre was only about five years old. The other reason that Quatre was learning so slowly was...
"W'AS GOIN' ON DOWN DERR!" Came a shout from the crow's nest where Duo leaned over the side, more than half his body dangling out in to free air. Despite many attempted lessons and lectures from Wufei, who found Duo's manner of speech horrific, the retired thief had only just a touch more refinement in his sentence structure but his grammar and pronunciation had gotten worse!
Trowa had unrolled his map page and studied it a moment before replying while Heero and Quatre knew better than to respond.
"South southwest, can you see land mass?" Trowa boomed out in his rich baritone voice
Duo swung back up into the crow's nest and stood up, leaning on the railing while he spied though the lens of a looking glass that he had pulled from one of his many pouches and pockets.
"AYE!" he bellowed back in a much higher tenor. "YE BE SEEIN' TIT WICH YER EYES SOON."
"Then I suggest we make waves." Heero said and then nodded to both Trowa and Quatre who nodded back. Quatre took flight with one powerful surge from his wings and hurtled upward the give Duo the news and they two made the necessary adjustments to the upper Yard. Trowa went below to store his map safely within its locking cubby in his room and the returned to assist Wufei and Heero in the adjustments of the Booms and Jibs. With this accomplished Trowa and Wufei retreated into the hold to make sure that the cargo crates were secure below deck so that if the ride did get bumpy they wouldn't find their food stores spoiled. Heero returned to the Quarter Deck and took up the wheel to make sure they stayed on course. Duo climbed down from the crow's nest and went below to make sure all of the personal belongings of the crew were secured in their proper places. He may not have absorbed much of Wufeis literary lessons but he had learned that it was important to keep his messes small or have the wrath of an angry dragon descend on him.
Shin and Scythe, the ships two large sea-cats, appeared from where they had been hunting mice and rats in the hold to follow Quatre into Heeros quarters where they watched the young Guardian check all of the cabinets and drawers to make sure they would hold.
The Wing was nearly upon the island when the edge of the storm began making the waves rougher. They found a cove that gave them a little shelter and dropped anchor as the softer clouds at the edge of the storm began to empty their loads on the world below. Heero shook water droplets out of his hair as he descended the steps on his way to the galley using his arms to steady himself when the ship rocked back and forth as the sea tried its hardest to dislodge the vessel from its back as the storm grew worse. The rest of the crew was already waiting in the Galley when he pushed through the door.
"Thought for a min ya got awashed overboard!" Duo laughed from his customary seat on the end of the far bench. Heero ignored the comment.
"Everything is tied down good and tight, would you like some coffee?" Wufei offered from the kitchen, holding up a wooden mug, only half full, for Heeros inspection. The Captain accepted it with a nod of thanks and took a long sip of the rich dark liquid. They had picked up a crate of Coffee beans on an island called Berbeere that when ground had a very bright, sharp, taste that quickly woke the sense on mornings where one might otherwise drag and the slight berry-like aftertaste made it perfect for most other occasions as well.
Heero sat down next to Trowa, the scholar was mulling over a few faded texts and maps, and waited for Wufei to join them before he interrupted the much taller man.
"What are you looking at Trowa?" Heero asked after taking a sip of his Berbeereian coffee
It took the young man a few minutes to collect his thoughts but after he glanced at his maps and notes a few times he seemed to gain a bit more confidence and turned to his Captain.
"The island we are currently sheltered by is called Satarr, but as far as I can tell from the records it is uninhabited. There are fresh water sources on the island but the terrain, though heavily peppered with plant life, is very rocky. I don't think we'll have a hard time re-supplying of fresh fruits if we can find them but we should be careful, once the storm lets up and we can get to shore, because there is not information on local animals that I can find." He concluded by snapping his leather bound notebook shut.
The crew members then took the chance to ask a few questions: Wufei wanted to know what kinds of fruit might be available. Quatre wanted to know if the island was full of fire, I other words he wanted to know if it was volcanically active. Heero wanted to know if there were any outstanding records of people who had landed here before, which there weren't. Duo wanted to know if there was a possibly of finding anything worth scavenging and the ship cats , Shin and Scythe, were only contemplating the best places to catch any possible boarding rodents, at least to the best of the rest of the crews knowledge.
With a violent lurch that sent Heero's mug of coffee dangerously close to the edge of the far end of the table the full front of the storm hit them. The next few hours promised to be unpleasant.
The climb up from the thin beach of gravel, polished smooth by the ocean, to were the scant reports of previous investigation told of fresh water sources was not easy. The scrub brush that covered most of the slick, slate covered slope not only hid treacherous footing but also scraped at skin and tore clothing with thorns and rough bark. Duo complained the whole way to a rare clearing inhabited not by brush but by hardy grasses toward the middle of which was a natural spring. Each of the crew members, excluding Quatre who was flitting from one wind twisted tree to the next gathering what fruit he could find into a specially made pack, took turns filling large containers with water and then transporting them back down the treacherous slope in two man teams.
They loaded this water and the fruit that Quatre found into the hold and then prepared to set sail. Their destination was an island called Ocerr. Currently they were transporting a load of goods from a researcher in Redenge to a team working on a project for him on Ocerr. Not for free of course, they were being paid quite well, the Wing had to take odd jobs from time to time in order to finance the real reason they were still traveling together: The Myth Encyclopedia.
Over the last 3 years they had added to and updated eighteen of the creatures described in the original volume published by Trowas father. They had also added seven new mythical creatures, most complete with illustration and a detailed description of their typical habitat. Thought they never listed specifically were each of the creatures could be found they did list the island on which they had fist heard a myth pertaining to the creatures in an attempt to prevent anything like the events on Daphar from ever happening again.
Heero stretched his shoulders and flexed his fingers at the helm as the anchor was brought up ready to adjust the rudder if the natural flow didn't want to assist the Wing in her escape from the cove. What had not been ready for was nearly crashing into another ship just outside of the protected inlet, either that the other ship for that matter. After a good amount of hollering from crew member to crew member on both ships they narrowly avoided scraping hulls and everyone breathed a sigh of relief… until Wufei recognized the ship.
"Heero! It is Edmar!" Wufei hollered as he sprinted toward the stairs that led from the Main deck to the Quarter deck where Heero stood at the helm.
Heero wheeled the ship away from the Black Boon, the ship on which pirate Edmar Yalgave stood Captain. As they began to pull away the crew of the Black Boon recognized the Wind and shout of "load the cannons!" could be heard over the ocean waves and calling gulls. The crew of the Wing was already prepared to this scenario however and before Edmar's crew had a chance to open fire Quatre had summoned a strong up-draft from the higher sky and filled only the Wings sails, sending the much smaller, lighter ship hurtling well out of reach of the angry pirates' cannons.
One of the things that Ira had taught Quatre early on after "joining" the crew was how to summon and calm strong winds. This was one of the many weather related powers to which a Lunar Guardian could lay clam. In addition to their race naturally being able to see the flow and movement of weather patterns, or more accurately, the energy that created those weather patterns they could also, to some extent, change the weather. This is why sailors for centuries had found the Lunar Guardians to be charms of excellent fortune against bad weather. If one happened see on these noble creatures before or during a voyage then your ship would be blessed with fair sailing, or at least that was the myth. The Wing had its own personal Guardian and his skills, ever improving, had now enabled them to escape the clutches of Edmar for the fifth time.
The good news and bad news of this situation was that yes, they had gotten away from Edmar yet again, but now they were well and off course. It would take some time to get back to their original route. Using so much power so fast also had a tendency to tire Quatre.
Once the wind had subsided Trowa escorted Quatre below deck to put the young thing to bed. The blond teetered slightly with each step as he leaned heavily on the scholars shoulder.
'In about five more cycles he will be able to do that without batting an eye.' Whispered Ira's translucent form where she had appeared at Heero's shoulder.
"That's a fine thing but I wish I felt better about how much it affects him now." Heero sighed as he locked down the rudder.
"E 'ill jus tell ye he's fine if yer ta ask im." Duo said as he landed on the balls of his feet on the railing the deck.
"Aye, he is such a sweet spirit." Wufei added from the stair.
They all shook their heads.
"I could do with some coffee." Wufei muttered and began to retreat down the stairs toward the set that lead below deck.
"Me too!" Duo piped in, hopping down the stairs in set of two or three after the dragon-clansmen
"You do not require any more energy that you already possess, Maxwell." Wufei replied with a jab of his finger.
"OI! Hows 'at fer fair, eh!" Duo jabbed back... they argued that way until they were below deck and out of earshot.
Heero check their course once more, sighed again, and then followed. They day had started off so promising and now they were once again set back by Edmars grudge. Feeling confident with the current way that the ship was drifting he left the helm to join those in the Galley for a cup of coffee and a bit of food. Two hours later he would regret that decision for his break had allowed the Wing to drift into the clutches of a storm more violent than the one they had taken shelter from the night before.
With so little warning and their only chance of relief abed Heero, Duo, Wufei, and Trowa all had to do the best they could to keep the ship from being torn apart by the wind and waves or being washed overboard. They battled with the sea until their last ounce of collective strength gave out and then scuffled some more. Duo was thrown rather harshly into the railing and cracked at least two of his ribs while Wufei narrowly avoided being crushed by a loose cargo box in the hold when he went blow to check on their stuffs.
After seven grueling hours the Wing was thrown into the calmest waters Heero had ever seen. After a breath of relief he realized that they had not only drifted into the path of a storm but they had drifted into the path of a hurricane and now they panted warily in the eye of it while a huge mountain island loomed over them.
::Note from the Author::
"Thank you every one who was so patient in waiting for the next installment of Weather and Haul Wind. It's just starting but I hope you will all enjoy this new adventure the way you enjoyed the first one. As an added bonus for those of you who have read Weather and Haul Wind and Lonely Flame and the end of each chapter I am going to be putting an interesting fact that pertains to one of the two previous stories! "
:: Interesting Fact ::
At the end of 'Chapter 4' of the original Weather and Haul Wind Heero asks Wufei where he burned the dress that Edmar had forced Duo to wear. Some of you may have guess that it was on Edmars' ship! And that some of you would be right. To be precise, he lit it ablaze in Edmars' sleeping quarters!
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