disclaimer-nothing mine, no sue.
note-It's been a while since I've written a lot-much longer since I've actually posted anything. For anyone who actually takes the time to read my work, I apologize. I've got my own place now; a full time job and no internet access. Thus I am slow with posting. Gomen-I'll try to get this out before my vacation ends. I would also like to mention in the year or so that I've been absent from this website my flair for names has not improved. If anyone should think of a better name for this story (preferably AFTER the entire thing is posted) please e-mail me at akki_chairudo@yahoo.com I'd greatly appreciate it. ^_^ harmony
Another Part of the War
Nataku pranced nervously, his hooves heavy and uncofortable no matter how he placed them. There was tension all around him-the air was laced with anticipation, excitement and dread. His nostrals flared, filling with the almost tangible scent of sweat and fear.
A small hand found Nataku's side, sending silent waves of warmth and reassurance through the larger creature's coat. With a high pitched winnie, the tall war horse shook his mane in a gesture of defiance, but then fell quite silent while his riding companion leisurely tied his white sword sash on.
"I know you're excited," Chang Wufei said at last, gracefully vaulting onto the war horse's back in a singal fluid movement. "I, like you, would be better suited on the front line, staring down Trieze's throat...I do not find this subterfuge honorable."
"Luckily for us, you find disobeying orders to be even less honorable." The dry comment came from behind him. Twisting in his saddle, the dark haired warrior turned to greet his friend and lord general who was approaching at a stately pace. Coming up beside him, the other man gently tugged on his mare's reigns, and she stopped, wild eyes darting about the small clearing.
"My lord Zechs," Wufei greeted his General with a smile that touched his eyes but not his lips. "We are pleased to see you-how goes the battle? ...we occasionally hear a muted shout..."
"The battle goes," The blond man shrugged, his long hair falling from his shoulders as he did, his expression unreadable behind his mask. "Our forces are retreating nicely. Unfortuantly, Trieze is not so stupid as we would like and has, miraculously, convinced his intelligance impaired generals that blindly following our escape route would be an act of painful suicide."
A small smile touched Wufei's lips as his masked friend sighed dramatically. "Methinks," he began, his voice dark and sadistic. "That you are perhaps here to relieve me of some boredom..."
"Something like that," Zechs responded, staring absently through the thin veil of trees that seperated them from the trail of trampled underbrush. "Ms. Dorothy has sent for reinforcments-should they reach here before we have an opportunity to take care of Dorothy's troops, we will be annhialated."
Sitting up streight in his saddle, Wufei wanted to grin. "I think I can whet my appetite with Dorothy's bones," Wufei practically snarled, excitement running like lightning through his veins. Sensing his rider's excitement, Nataku whinned and pawed at the ground with one hoof. "Are you joining me?" The black aired commander asked, his hands tightening around the reigns slightly.
Zechs shook his head, his platnum hair swinging in a distracting way that Wufei had long ago learned to ignore. "I wish to speak to our lord about retreat-or at least to the captain of his knights." A wan smile flit across the general's hidden face. "Trowa at least can think like a soldier." With a sharp twist of his wrist Zechs turned his horse around, throwing one last phraze of enticemen over his shoulder. "You should get a move on, Commander-I'm sure Yuy has already scattered Dorothy's undisciplined little troop-we cannot have them alive to regroup when their reinfrocements arrive."
As Zechs steered his silver steed out of the hidden clearing, Wufei turned his dark eyes briefly towards the empty trail not a hundred yards away from him. Though nothing had changed,the air around him seemed heavier and he could almost smell blood when he inhaled. The black haired warrior took a moment to settle himself more comfortably in his saddle before he turned to the small legion of foot soldiers that stared up at him with expectant eyes. "We will sweep around through the hidden pass and attack Dorothy's unit from the side-when trieze's main units arrive, pull back through the center-perhaps this trap can still work." As he spoke, the young commander reached ino his quiver and brought his bow out to string with nimble fingers. for a moment he paused to survey the men under his command, their faces set with grim determination. For a moment, the dark haired warrior wanted to smile-but his features instead schooled themselves into a mask nearly as blank as Zech's. On his master's light flick of the reigns, Nataku turned and left the clearing, picking up speed as he headed towards the narrow, almost unnoticable path that led back towards enemy troops.
Wufei bent low as he urged his war horse to pick up speed, speaking softly to him even as they passed the startled troops that waited to pounce on Dorothy's little legion. Nataku was fast and it did not take long for the shouts and screams of battle to reach both horse and riders' ears. Nataku gave a high pitched whinny, almost a scream in it's own right, and his hooves beat the turf even harder while Wufei straightened in the saddle, his bottomless eyes narrowing with determination. Absently he released the reigns, his knees tightening around Nataku's middle. The forrest was speeding by-the soldiers carefully concealed within the trees tensing up as Nataku pounded past them.
With his dark eyes focused entirely on the thin trail ahead of him, Wufei absently pulled an arrow from his quiver on Nataku's saddle. He twisted carefully and nocked the arrow.
For a moment that seemed like an eternity, he sat frozen, arrow nocked, Nataku's heavy hooves bringing them ever closer to the battle. Slowly, he drew the arrow back, his ears straining to hear indevidual voices over the soft roar of the fight.
The deceptivly tranquil moment was shattered as the first red uniform found Chang Wufei's eyes. Without conscious thought, Wufei let the arrow fly, his hand dipping back into the quiver before he saw if the first had even found it's mark.
The trees were rapidly thinning, the battle growing more and more visable with every moment. Three more arrows flew in rapid sucession, one very obviously hitting an Oz soldier in the head, the other two quickly lost in the skirmish. Wufei started reaching back into the quiver, even as the last of the trees thinned out, leaving the horse and rider relativly unprotected at the edge of a large, trampled clearing.
Taking a moment to survey the violence and carnage before him, Wufei skillfully hooked his still-strung bow to Nataku's saddle. His darting eyes quickly found Heero Yuy, surrounded by red uniformed Oz soldiers, his thin sword methodically finding each one. Confindent that his comrade was in no trouble, Wufei turned his eyes away, seeking the blonde enemy commander this time.
It didn't take long to find her. Ms. Dorothy stood in a sloppy protective circle of gaurds, each crouched nervously, their eyes wide as they stared around and deftly knocked aside any stray Allied troop that should find them.
A grin flit across Wufei's lips as he raised his heavy sword over his head. A war cry flung itself from his lips even as his knees tightened futher around Nataku. The large horse surged forward with a scream of his own-his nostrels flaring, smelling blood and death that hung in the air.
The first of Dorothy's troop to reach horse and rider was quickly trampled beneath nataku's heavy step. After that, however, nothing was quite so easy.
Wufei found himself swinging his sword on the left and kicking soldiers away on the right, while Nataku's charge was all but stopped by the sudden sea of red that the horse suddenly found himself in.
Wufei cursed, his wild slashes quickly reduced to more calculated stabs as the first of the hands reached up to pull him from his mount. The agonized scream of a soldier run through hit his ears with one particularly vicious downward stab-but the battle had already turned for the young commander. Even as the dying Oz soldier fell away, two more came in to take his place, grabbing ahold of Wufei's thick pants and pulling him brutefully from Nataku's back.
Grunting, Wufei slashed at them, sucessfully drawing blood from one soldier's arm-but he was already falling. As his weight slipped from Nataku's back, the warrior concentrated on not falling directly on one of the bloody swords that the red uniformed men skillessly held. But as his weight slipped, so did his concentration. With a wrenching pain in his leg and a breath-stopping thud, the young man found himself in the very dangerous position of on his back, a dozen blood thirsty soldiers around him, his ankle twisted painfully and still caught in Nataku's saddle.
Curses tore themselves from Wufei's lips as it dawned on him that perhaps the Oz had planted a little trap as well. Growling, he painfully yanked his foot from the sturrup, ignoring the blinding pain and deafening pop as he did so. Nataku reared, knocking one of Wufei's attackers down, breaking the attention of the other's and nearly trampling his rider in one move. His breath still caught in his chest from the fall, Wufei took advantage of slight chaos Nataku had caused in the only way he could think of-he rolled onto his stomach and, putting as much stregnth as he could behind it, ungracefully swung his sword at the sea of legs. He was rewarded by a sharp yell and the briefest of moments to try and stand.
With his foot and ankle throbbing in pain, Wufei grabbed a hold of Nataku's saddle and struggled to pull himself to his feet, dropping his sword as he did so.
Unfortuantly for the young officer, his opponants did not remain idle-just as he was twisting his body, reaching desperatly for the shorter, lightweight dagger that he had stashed on the saddle, his side was engulfed in flame.
Unable to restrain the cry of anguish that ripped itself from his lips, Wufei pulled the dagger free desperatly stabbing his attacker in the ribs. Except that the attacker wasn't there. In fact, all his attackers had vanished-or, rather, stopped paying attention to him.
Through the pain Wufei glared at Heero Yuy who was nimbly eliminating the unfortunate soldiers, blood dripping down his face all the while.
Wufei clutched at Nataku's saddle tighter, twisting further to see the rest of the battle. his troops had made it, as had those of several other commanders-the ambushes that his lords and generals had planned, were apparently forgotten and utter chaos ruled. Strangly, though, it was completely silent in the clearing.
Gritting his teeth against the pain and the sickening wet spot beneath his ribs, Wufei reached for his lost sword. The ground came up to meet him as his precarious grip on Nataku was lost. The air left his lungs as he fell, his eyes blurred. And as darkness and sleep overcame the defeated warrior, it occured to him that the battle was indeed very loud-he could just hear none of it.
~*~
Light woke Wufei from his warm slumber. Light and then the soft tones of voices. And then the stinging pain in his side. Wufei winced and the voices went away. For a moment he floated in the warm light, his mind swiftly sailing back to the realm of sleep.
"Chang." The voice was loud, disruptive, insistant. "Chang, can you hear me?"
Wufei cracked his eyes open without a sound, trying to ignore how painfully bright the light seemed when he did and how agrivating his ribs felt. A face stared down at his-the face of a middle aged woman with her dirty blond hair pulled into two braids. An unbidden scowl found it's way to Wufei's lips and the woman's face broke into a grin.
"Good to have you back soldier," she said straightening, her voice overly cheery.
"Onna." Wufei rasped, still glaring at the female doctor with something very near hatred in his eyes.
Sally smiled at her patient as she crossed the room to open a window. "Yes, still a woman," she said in an annoyingly patronizing voice. "Now be still-i had to stitch up your side and if you rip those stitches you;ll be awake when I put them back in."
Wufei scowled, but stopped inching into a sitting position. "The battle?" He asked in a stilted voice, knowing that if he didn't change the subject quickly he would only get scolded.
"Over." Sally answered with infuriating simplicity. "You survived, much to the general relief of the camp. There are a few people who will want to speak with you when they hear you've woken," she glanced back over her sholdier at her patient, one eyebrow raised, then nimbly finished tying the curtain back.
Wufei grunted, a sick feeling growing in his stomach as he remembered the frightening skill that the enemy soldiers had suddenly displayed when he reached them-especially comapired to the clumsy swings that he had taken note of before charging into battle. "Did we win?" He croaked after a moment of absently glaring at the doctor.
Sally shrugged. "Whose to say who the winner is in any war-or battle even. We lost soldiers, they lost soldiers. We had to retreat, they lost more soldiers." A slightly sardonic grin found the doctor's face. "You decide who won."
"Onna." Wufei grumbled again, starting to turn over but stopping at the shooting pain in his ribs. He grunted angrily and once again relaxed on his back. "Did we lose anyone important?" Wufei asked, ignoring the smug look sally wore from his attempt to roll aside.
"Of course." Sally answered immediatly. "We lost nearly fifty good soldiers."
Annoyance was starting to grow in Wufei and he gritted his teeth together in an effort to supress it. "Did we lose anyone of rank?" He rephrazed in a stilted voice.
"No." Sally's grin dropped and her whole demeaner became slightly more patient and accepting. "We almost lost you, but Heero saw to that. Lord Winner, his body guards and Lord Barton escaped shortly after you entered the battle. The moment it became clear that Oz had something up their sleeves, we pulled a calculated retreat. I don't need to tell you that we didn't have the men to fight off three generals and their troops."
Involentarily, Wufei's eyes widened. A trap indeed! "Did we kill any of their officers?" He asked, hoping that the picture he had concocted in his head of Dorothy being slain had become a reality.
Sally shrugged, flipping one of her twisted braids behind her. "whose to say-we've lost all contact with our spied within the Oz encampment." Though his mouth was open, another question hovering at his lips, the young woman turned away from Wufei, her eyes seeking the closed door to the chamber. "I'm sure that you'd like to speak with one of your commanders-I'll go tell Zechs that you've awaken." She turned her head back to her patient, fire once again finding her eyes. "Don't try to do anything," she warned, a threat hiding in the depths of her voice. "Just rest."
Though he wouldn't ever relveal it to the agrivating woman, Wufei was fairly certain that he could do little else. His side was awash with pain at the slightest movement, and when he tried to ignore that all he could focus on was the throbbing of his left ankle.
His dark eyes were starting to slide closed, unanswered questions dancing on the lids, when the door to Wufei's room was very loudly opened and heavy footsteps approached the bed.
With some excitment-because those footsteps couldn't possibly belong to Sally-Wufei opened his eyes and fought of the brief wave of dizziness that washed over him.
"You're awake." Heero Yuy said in his usual monotone.
"Yuy." Wufei greeted his fellow commander without much enthusiasm. For a moment there was an awful, awkward silence (or perhaps it was just Wufei who felt this) before the dark haired man remembered that Heero had saved his life at the battle. "Thank you." Wufei said in an attempt to pass the moment. the words sounded flat and uncomfortable coming from his throat, but Heero just nodded.
Wufei glared at the other commander for a moment, wishing that the brown haired man would speak if had planned to. But Heero just stood there, colbalt eyes fixed unnervingly on Wufei.
Wufei shut his eyes, trying to ignore the stare of his comrade. When he opened them again-only a moment later by his reconing-heero was gone and had been replaced by Zechs.
"My Lord Zechs," Wufei said in a startled voice, automatically trying to push himself into a sitting position. A sharp pain in the side discouraged that, and he settled back down with a hiss of annoyance.
Zechs smiled down at his prone officer. "Millardo." He reminded the injured soldier, touching his face in a gesture to indicate the lack of a mask. His smile faded quickly. "How are you feeling?" The General asked, moving around Wufei's bed in order to reach the hard chair on the other side of it.
"I'll live." Wufei said in a vague voice, uncertain of how well he was and unwilling to take the time to think about it. "I'll be ready to battle in a few days,"
Millardo glanced at the cieling for a moment. "Maybe," he said in an unconvinced voice. "I've been speaking to Quatre, though...he feels horribly about you getting hurt in such a stupid and wasteful battle."
Wufei nearly snorted-he didn't really care what his king thought-not about fighting anyhow. While Quatre Winner was a sweet and gentle man, he had no knowledge of strategy or war. It was a poorly gaurded secret amungst the ranks that General Trowa Barton-the king's almost constant companion and advisor-was the one to really give the orders in the war.
Millardo grinned sardonically at the expression that manifested itself on Wufei's face. "Mm. yes exactly," he murmered as though he could read the other man's thoughts. "One good thing has come from this little tiff, though," the nobly dressed general crossed his legs and leaned back in the uncomfortable chair. "Quatre has opened his eyes to the need for more reliable information about our enemies. He is ordering a few of our men into Oz occupied cities to pick up rumors and anything else they might be able to."
Wufei's expression darkened as he noticed the intense look his friend was giving him. "And?" he asked, his voice low.
Millardo sighed, breaking his gaze. "I think you may have guessed it," he said without meeting Wufei's eyes. "Our Lord has decided to send you to Arhitao. Until you're fully recovered anyway," Millardo added quickly.
Wufei scowled. "I'm a soldier, Millardo, not a spy. I don't know the first thing about spying. My job is straightforward and I rather like it that way."
Millardo nodded knowingly. "Yes, I'm aware," he said, still refusing to meet Wufei's gaze. "I told both Quatre and Barton as much. Quatre wants you somewhere safe to heal and Barton...Trowa wants whatever Quatre does." Millardo's smile was wan and humorless. "There isn't much more I can do except suggest that you drink any concotion Sally may present you with and heal quickly."
"But I don't know-" Wufei started to protest once again, feeling the hope of returning quickly to the battlefield slipping away through his fingers.
Millardo nodded, cutting him off and standing at the same time. "We know that-you'll be staying with someone we've had planted and established in Arhitao for a number of years. You'll perform some mild espionage, heal and take a little break." Millardo started quietly towards the door, glancing back again at the frustrated patient lying on his back in bed. "I'm sorry Wufei, but you'll do as our lord asks."
Wufei opened his mouth. He wanted to say more, there was so much he wanted to protest...but no words came out and Millardo quietly left the room.
note-It's been a while since I've written a lot-much longer since I've actually posted anything. For anyone who actually takes the time to read my work, I apologize. I've got my own place now; a full time job and no internet access. Thus I am slow with posting. Gomen-I'll try to get this out before my vacation ends. I would also like to mention in the year or so that I've been absent from this website my flair for names has not improved. If anyone should think of a better name for this story (preferably AFTER the entire thing is posted) please e-mail me at akki_chairudo@yahoo.com I'd greatly appreciate it. ^_^ harmony
Another Part of the War
Nataku pranced nervously, his hooves heavy and uncofortable no matter how he placed them. There was tension all around him-the air was laced with anticipation, excitement and dread. His nostrals flared, filling with the almost tangible scent of sweat and fear.
A small hand found Nataku's side, sending silent waves of warmth and reassurance through the larger creature's coat. With a high pitched winnie, the tall war horse shook his mane in a gesture of defiance, but then fell quite silent while his riding companion leisurely tied his white sword sash on.
"I know you're excited," Chang Wufei said at last, gracefully vaulting onto the war horse's back in a singal fluid movement. "I, like you, would be better suited on the front line, staring down Trieze's throat...I do not find this subterfuge honorable."
"Luckily for us, you find disobeying orders to be even less honorable." The dry comment came from behind him. Twisting in his saddle, the dark haired warrior turned to greet his friend and lord general who was approaching at a stately pace. Coming up beside him, the other man gently tugged on his mare's reigns, and she stopped, wild eyes darting about the small clearing.
"My lord Zechs," Wufei greeted his General with a smile that touched his eyes but not his lips. "We are pleased to see you-how goes the battle? ...we occasionally hear a muted shout..."
"The battle goes," The blond man shrugged, his long hair falling from his shoulders as he did, his expression unreadable behind his mask. "Our forces are retreating nicely. Unfortuantly, Trieze is not so stupid as we would like and has, miraculously, convinced his intelligance impaired generals that blindly following our escape route would be an act of painful suicide."
A small smile touched Wufei's lips as his masked friend sighed dramatically. "Methinks," he began, his voice dark and sadistic. "That you are perhaps here to relieve me of some boredom..."
"Something like that," Zechs responded, staring absently through the thin veil of trees that seperated them from the trail of trampled underbrush. "Ms. Dorothy has sent for reinforcments-should they reach here before we have an opportunity to take care of Dorothy's troops, we will be annhialated."
Sitting up streight in his saddle, Wufei wanted to grin. "I think I can whet my appetite with Dorothy's bones," Wufei practically snarled, excitement running like lightning through his veins. Sensing his rider's excitement, Nataku whinned and pawed at the ground with one hoof. "Are you joining me?" The black aired commander asked, his hands tightening around the reigns slightly.
Zechs shook his head, his platnum hair swinging in a distracting way that Wufei had long ago learned to ignore. "I wish to speak to our lord about retreat-or at least to the captain of his knights." A wan smile flit across the general's hidden face. "Trowa at least can think like a soldier." With a sharp twist of his wrist Zechs turned his horse around, throwing one last phraze of enticemen over his shoulder. "You should get a move on, Commander-I'm sure Yuy has already scattered Dorothy's undisciplined little troop-we cannot have them alive to regroup when their reinfrocements arrive."
As Zechs steered his silver steed out of the hidden clearing, Wufei turned his dark eyes briefly towards the empty trail not a hundred yards away from him. Though nothing had changed,the air around him seemed heavier and he could almost smell blood when he inhaled. The black haired warrior took a moment to settle himself more comfortably in his saddle before he turned to the small legion of foot soldiers that stared up at him with expectant eyes. "We will sweep around through the hidden pass and attack Dorothy's unit from the side-when trieze's main units arrive, pull back through the center-perhaps this trap can still work." As he spoke, the young commander reached ino his quiver and brought his bow out to string with nimble fingers. for a moment he paused to survey the men under his command, their faces set with grim determination. For a moment, the dark haired warrior wanted to smile-but his features instead schooled themselves into a mask nearly as blank as Zech's. On his master's light flick of the reigns, Nataku turned and left the clearing, picking up speed as he headed towards the narrow, almost unnoticable path that led back towards enemy troops.
Wufei bent low as he urged his war horse to pick up speed, speaking softly to him even as they passed the startled troops that waited to pounce on Dorothy's little legion. Nataku was fast and it did not take long for the shouts and screams of battle to reach both horse and riders' ears. Nataku gave a high pitched whinny, almost a scream in it's own right, and his hooves beat the turf even harder while Wufei straightened in the saddle, his bottomless eyes narrowing with determination. Absently he released the reigns, his knees tightening around Nataku's middle. The forrest was speeding by-the soldiers carefully concealed within the trees tensing up as Nataku pounded past them.
With his dark eyes focused entirely on the thin trail ahead of him, Wufei absently pulled an arrow from his quiver on Nataku's saddle. He twisted carefully and nocked the arrow.
For a moment that seemed like an eternity, he sat frozen, arrow nocked, Nataku's heavy hooves bringing them ever closer to the battle. Slowly, he drew the arrow back, his ears straining to hear indevidual voices over the soft roar of the fight.
The deceptivly tranquil moment was shattered as the first red uniform found Chang Wufei's eyes. Without conscious thought, Wufei let the arrow fly, his hand dipping back into the quiver before he saw if the first had even found it's mark.
The trees were rapidly thinning, the battle growing more and more visable with every moment. Three more arrows flew in rapid sucession, one very obviously hitting an Oz soldier in the head, the other two quickly lost in the skirmish. Wufei started reaching back into the quiver, even as the last of the trees thinned out, leaving the horse and rider relativly unprotected at the edge of a large, trampled clearing.
Taking a moment to survey the violence and carnage before him, Wufei skillfully hooked his still-strung bow to Nataku's saddle. His darting eyes quickly found Heero Yuy, surrounded by red uniformed Oz soldiers, his thin sword methodically finding each one. Confindent that his comrade was in no trouble, Wufei turned his eyes away, seeking the blonde enemy commander this time.
It didn't take long to find her. Ms. Dorothy stood in a sloppy protective circle of gaurds, each crouched nervously, their eyes wide as they stared around and deftly knocked aside any stray Allied troop that should find them.
A grin flit across Wufei's lips as he raised his heavy sword over his head. A war cry flung itself from his lips even as his knees tightened futher around Nataku. The large horse surged forward with a scream of his own-his nostrels flaring, smelling blood and death that hung in the air.
The first of Dorothy's troop to reach horse and rider was quickly trampled beneath nataku's heavy step. After that, however, nothing was quite so easy.
Wufei found himself swinging his sword on the left and kicking soldiers away on the right, while Nataku's charge was all but stopped by the sudden sea of red that the horse suddenly found himself in.
Wufei cursed, his wild slashes quickly reduced to more calculated stabs as the first of the hands reached up to pull him from his mount. The agonized scream of a soldier run through hit his ears with one particularly vicious downward stab-but the battle had already turned for the young commander. Even as the dying Oz soldier fell away, two more came in to take his place, grabbing ahold of Wufei's thick pants and pulling him brutefully from Nataku's back.
Grunting, Wufei slashed at them, sucessfully drawing blood from one soldier's arm-but he was already falling. As his weight slipped from Nataku's back, the warrior concentrated on not falling directly on one of the bloody swords that the red uniformed men skillessly held. But as his weight slipped, so did his concentration. With a wrenching pain in his leg and a breath-stopping thud, the young man found himself in the very dangerous position of on his back, a dozen blood thirsty soldiers around him, his ankle twisted painfully and still caught in Nataku's saddle.
Curses tore themselves from Wufei's lips as it dawned on him that perhaps the Oz had planted a little trap as well. Growling, he painfully yanked his foot from the sturrup, ignoring the blinding pain and deafening pop as he did so. Nataku reared, knocking one of Wufei's attackers down, breaking the attention of the other's and nearly trampling his rider in one move. His breath still caught in his chest from the fall, Wufei took advantage of slight chaos Nataku had caused in the only way he could think of-he rolled onto his stomach and, putting as much stregnth as he could behind it, ungracefully swung his sword at the sea of legs. He was rewarded by a sharp yell and the briefest of moments to try and stand.
With his foot and ankle throbbing in pain, Wufei grabbed a hold of Nataku's saddle and struggled to pull himself to his feet, dropping his sword as he did so.
Unfortuantly for the young officer, his opponants did not remain idle-just as he was twisting his body, reaching desperatly for the shorter, lightweight dagger that he had stashed on the saddle, his side was engulfed in flame.
Unable to restrain the cry of anguish that ripped itself from his lips, Wufei pulled the dagger free desperatly stabbing his attacker in the ribs. Except that the attacker wasn't there. In fact, all his attackers had vanished-or, rather, stopped paying attention to him.
Through the pain Wufei glared at Heero Yuy who was nimbly eliminating the unfortunate soldiers, blood dripping down his face all the while.
Wufei clutched at Nataku's saddle tighter, twisting further to see the rest of the battle. his troops had made it, as had those of several other commanders-the ambushes that his lords and generals had planned, were apparently forgotten and utter chaos ruled. Strangly, though, it was completely silent in the clearing.
Gritting his teeth against the pain and the sickening wet spot beneath his ribs, Wufei reached for his lost sword. The ground came up to meet him as his precarious grip on Nataku was lost. The air left his lungs as he fell, his eyes blurred. And as darkness and sleep overcame the defeated warrior, it occured to him that the battle was indeed very loud-he could just hear none of it.
~*~
Light woke Wufei from his warm slumber. Light and then the soft tones of voices. And then the stinging pain in his side. Wufei winced and the voices went away. For a moment he floated in the warm light, his mind swiftly sailing back to the realm of sleep.
"Chang." The voice was loud, disruptive, insistant. "Chang, can you hear me?"
Wufei cracked his eyes open without a sound, trying to ignore how painfully bright the light seemed when he did and how agrivating his ribs felt. A face stared down at his-the face of a middle aged woman with her dirty blond hair pulled into two braids. An unbidden scowl found it's way to Wufei's lips and the woman's face broke into a grin.
"Good to have you back soldier," she said straightening, her voice overly cheery.
"Onna." Wufei rasped, still glaring at the female doctor with something very near hatred in his eyes.
Sally smiled at her patient as she crossed the room to open a window. "Yes, still a woman," she said in an annoyingly patronizing voice. "Now be still-i had to stitch up your side and if you rip those stitches you;ll be awake when I put them back in."
Wufei scowled, but stopped inching into a sitting position. "The battle?" He asked in a stilted voice, knowing that if he didn't change the subject quickly he would only get scolded.
"Over." Sally answered with infuriating simplicity. "You survived, much to the general relief of the camp. There are a few people who will want to speak with you when they hear you've woken," she glanced back over her sholdier at her patient, one eyebrow raised, then nimbly finished tying the curtain back.
Wufei grunted, a sick feeling growing in his stomach as he remembered the frightening skill that the enemy soldiers had suddenly displayed when he reached them-especially comapired to the clumsy swings that he had taken note of before charging into battle. "Did we win?" He croaked after a moment of absently glaring at the doctor.
Sally shrugged. "Whose to say who the winner is in any war-or battle even. We lost soldiers, they lost soldiers. We had to retreat, they lost more soldiers." A slightly sardonic grin found the doctor's face. "You decide who won."
"Onna." Wufei grumbled again, starting to turn over but stopping at the shooting pain in his ribs. He grunted angrily and once again relaxed on his back. "Did we lose anyone important?" Wufei asked, ignoring the smug look sally wore from his attempt to roll aside.
"Of course." Sally answered immediatly. "We lost nearly fifty good soldiers."
Annoyance was starting to grow in Wufei and he gritted his teeth together in an effort to supress it. "Did we lose anyone of rank?" He rephrazed in a stilted voice.
"No." Sally's grin dropped and her whole demeaner became slightly more patient and accepting. "We almost lost you, but Heero saw to that. Lord Winner, his body guards and Lord Barton escaped shortly after you entered the battle. The moment it became clear that Oz had something up their sleeves, we pulled a calculated retreat. I don't need to tell you that we didn't have the men to fight off three generals and their troops."
Involentarily, Wufei's eyes widened. A trap indeed! "Did we kill any of their officers?" He asked, hoping that the picture he had concocted in his head of Dorothy being slain had become a reality.
Sally shrugged, flipping one of her twisted braids behind her. "whose to say-we've lost all contact with our spied within the Oz encampment." Though his mouth was open, another question hovering at his lips, the young woman turned away from Wufei, her eyes seeking the closed door to the chamber. "I'm sure that you'd like to speak with one of your commanders-I'll go tell Zechs that you've awaken." She turned her head back to her patient, fire once again finding her eyes. "Don't try to do anything," she warned, a threat hiding in the depths of her voice. "Just rest."
Though he wouldn't ever relveal it to the agrivating woman, Wufei was fairly certain that he could do little else. His side was awash with pain at the slightest movement, and when he tried to ignore that all he could focus on was the throbbing of his left ankle.
His dark eyes were starting to slide closed, unanswered questions dancing on the lids, when the door to Wufei's room was very loudly opened and heavy footsteps approached the bed.
With some excitment-because those footsteps couldn't possibly belong to Sally-Wufei opened his eyes and fought of the brief wave of dizziness that washed over him.
"You're awake." Heero Yuy said in his usual monotone.
"Yuy." Wufei greeted his fellow commander without much enthusiasm. For a moment there was an awful, awkward silence (or perhaps it was just Wufei who felt this) before the dark haired man remembered that Heero had saved his life at the battle. "Thank you." Wufei said in an attempt to pass the moment. the words sounded flat and uncomfortable coming from his throat, but Heero just nodded.
Wufei glared at the other commander for a moment, wishing that the brown haired man would speak if had planned to. But Heero just stood there, colbalt eyes fixed unnervingly on Wufei.
Wufei shut his eyes, trying to ignore the stare of his comrade. When he opened them again-only a moment later by his reconing-heero was gone and had been replaced by Zechs.
"My Lord Zechs," Wufei said in a startled voice, automatically trying to push himself into a sitting position. A sharp pain in the side discouraged that, and he settled back down with a hiss of annoyance.
Zechs smiled down at his prone officer. "Millardo." He reminded the injured soldier, touching his face in a gesture to indicate the lack of a mask. His smile faded quickly. "How are you feeling?" The General asked, moving around Wufei's bed in order to reach the hard chair on the other side of it.
"I'll live." Wufei said in a vague voice, uncertain of how well he was and unwilling to take the time to think about it. "I'll be ready to battle in a few days,"
Millardo glanced at the cieling for a moment. "Maybe," he said in an unconvinced voice. "I've been speaking to Quatre, though...he feels horribly about you getting hurt in such a stupid and wasteful battle."
Wufei nearly snorted-he didn't really care what his king thought-not about fighting anyhow. While Quatre Winner was a sweet and gentle man, he had no knowledge of strategy or war. It was a poorly gaurded secret amungst the ranks that General Trowa Barton-the king's almost constant companion and advisor-was the one to really give the orders in the war.
Millardo grinned sardonically at the expression that manifested itself on Wufei's face. "Mm. yes exactly," he murmered as though he could read the other man's thoughts. "One good thing has come from this little tiff, though," the nobly dressed general crossed his legs and leaned back in the uncomfortable chair. "Quatre has opened his eyes to the need for more reliable information about our enemies. He is ordering a few of our men into Oz occupied cities to pick up rumors and anything else they might be able to."
Wufei's expression darkened as he noticed the intense look his friend was giving him. "And?" he asked, his voice low.
Millardo sighed, breaking his gaze. "I think you may have guessed it," he said without meeting Wufei's eyes. "Our Lord has decided to send you to Arhitao. Until you're fully recovered anyway," Millardo added quickly.
Wufei scowled. "I'm a soldier, Millardo, not a spy. I don't know the first thing about spying. My job is straightforward and I rather like it that way."
Millardo nodded knowingly. "Yes, I'm aware," he said, still refusing to meet Wufei's gaze. "I told both Quatre and Barton as much. Quatre wants you somewhere safe to heal and Barton...Trowa wants whatever Quatre does." Millardo's smile was wan and humorless. "There isn't much more I can do except suggest that you drink any concotion Sally may present you with and heal quickly."
"But I don't know-" Wufei started to protest once again, feeling the hope of returning quickly to the battlefield slipping away through his fingers.
Millardo nodded, cutting him off and standing at the same time. "We know that-you'll be staying with someone we've had planted and established in Arhitao for a number of years. You'll perform some mild espionage, heal and take a little break." Millardo started quietly towards the door, glancing back again at the frustrated patient lying on his back in bed. "I'm sorry Wufei, but you'll do as our lord asks."
Wufei opened his mouth. He wanted to say more, there was so much he wanted to protest...but no words came out and Millardo quietly left the room.