Comments: heh, now I've made me second one but I had ta redo some features to this one, so before I get carried away here I'll let u read.
Dragon Knight
Part One
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Heero followed the sound in the thick forest. He wasn't entirely certain what was making the noise, but he was determined to find out.
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Heero briefly calculated the chances that some kind of weapon was making the noise. He factored in the times he has been ambushed in the forest, and added in the times that carnivorous plants have tried to eat him and divided the sum by the numbers of boar traps. His conclusion prompted him to continue on. Really, this quest couldn't get any worse.
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Walking past a large oak, Heero found himself in the middle of a clearing as well as the source of the noise. For a moment, Heero just stared. It took him some time to process what he was seeing before it actually registered on his mind.
A small blond boy was standing on the back of a dragon, washing the dragon's unbelievably long manes. Heero blinked. Rubbed his eyes, and looked again.
"You were eating chokeberries again, weren't you?" The blond boy complained.
"How was I supposed to know there was a mud puddle beneath the tree?" The dragon demanded. The dragon had the voice of a human boy. A beautiful voice, actually it was a magnificent dragon. It was completely white except for its long brown manes and two large black bat-like wings. The white dragon also had purple jewel-like eyes. Heero had seen many dragons, but he had never seen a purely white dragon before, especially, one as beautiful as this one.
"You are big now, Duo! You can't fit on chokeberry trees anymore," the blond boy said with exasperation, but his voice was not unkind, "The next time you want some chokeberries just ask me, I will get you some."
"Thanks Quatre, but I didn't want to bother you. Did you find anything in her book of shadows?" Duo dragon told the boy.
"Nothing yet," Quatre's face fell slightly as he continued to scrub the dragon with a sphinx hair brush, "I hope I can come up with something soon."
The dragon gently lifted one of its front legs and patted Quatre's back, "We will save him, don't worry. If all else fails, I will go sit on her. I'm heavy enough now to smooch her."
Quatre laughed, "What would I do without you, Duo."
"You'd travel around a lot slower," the dragon told him, "Unless you can tame a phoenix of course. But they are so temperamental."
"You are only saying that because Dorothy's phoenix bit you," Quatre smiled as he continued with his task.
At sound of that name, Heero straightened and made his presence known to the odd couple.
"Do you mean Dorothy of Lanai?" Heero asked.
The dragon and the boy both turned toward Heero curiously.
"How long have you been there, stranger?" Quatre's voice was gentle, but Heero was not fooled. The boy had spellbinder written all over him.
"What do you know of her?" Heero ignored him. At long last, perhaps he would finally find the target of his quest.
The dragon leaned toward Heero and sniffed him.
"It's a knight," Duo dragon announced.
"Another one?" Quatre's eyes were tired, "Turn back, and knight. Alone you can not defeat Dorothy." Duo dragon sniffed Heero again. The dragon's muzzle uncomfortably close to Heero's face, "He smells good... like..." Duo suddenly stopped and abruptly pulled back. If Duo dragon hadn't been a dragon, Heero could have sworn by his shield that he was blushing.
"Like what?" Heero demanded.
"Nothin'." Duo dragon held up his head.
Quatre studied his companion of a moment, and smiled slightly, "Why don't you come with us? You cannot defeat Dorothy without our help." Heero considered the proposition. His instincts told him they were what they appeared to be, a boy and a dragon. Heero nodded. He had nothing to fear from a boy or a dragon. Even if the boy was a spellbinder and the dragon was beautiful...
"Get on," Duo dragon lowered his stance to the height of Heero's waist. Heero stared at the dragon for a moment and climbed on. The skin of the dragon was nothing like anything he'd ever felt before. Truth be told, he was wearing a dragon belt at the moment, but this dragon was nothing like the ones he'd encountered before. His skin felt like velvet, and it radiated pleasantly soft warmth. Heero almost wanted to wrap himself around its comfort.
"I think he likes ya!" Quatre whispered into the dragon's ear.
Heero's heightened senses caught the private exchange.
The dragon grunted.
"Hold on tight!" The dragon warned his passengers as his huge black wings stretched out. The wings begin to flap slowly and the air around them whooshed out of the way. Heero could see the dirt and the leaves dance around them like a whirlwind as they took off. Heero had never ridden a dragon before. Then again, Heero had never talked to a dragon before either. His encounter with the kind usually involved third and second degree burns and the dragon being dead by the time he was finished. Heero knew dragons did other things, but until today, he had never met a dragon that didn't try its best to make his life miserable.
Still, Heero couldn't help but be impressed by this new method of travel. His hand held on tightly to the dragon's chestnut mane as the wind howled by them. Heero's cape was looking especially impressive as it stretched out against the endless sky. Heero looked down and marveled at how small everything seemed from up here. The forest looked infinitely less menacing when one was flying on top of it.
It only took a few moments before they reached their destination. Heero didn't know where he expected to be taken, but he was quite unprepared for touchdown to be on top of an enormous tree. The tree was the size of a small castle, complete with a moat around it. The top of the tree however, resembled a nest more than anything else.
"This is our home," Quatre explained as he slid down Duo's back. Heero tried to imitate Quatre's grace, but unfortunately he did not realize just how smooth this dragon's skin was.
Losing balance somewhere on the way down, Heero fully expected to land face first into the tree, but something blocked his fall.
It took him a moment to realize that it was the dragon's tail. The large white tail steadied the young knight before slipping back to its owner's side.
"Watch out for that first step," Duo dragon grinned, showing his large teeth.
"So what are we doing here?" Heero tried his best not to blush.
"Eating dinner," Duo chimed happily, "It's almost supper time!"
"I will go make some pies," Quatre told his friend, and then turned to Heero, "Do you have a name?"
"People call me Heero," Heero answered.
"Well, Knight Heero," Quatre started to climb down a ladder, "We shall discuss the matter of Dorothy over dinner." Heero quickly followed. The ladder led to a door that opened up into the tree. The inside of the tree resembled any normal room, except Heero knew he was inside a tree. The most abnormal part of the room was a large window right next to a huge wooden table that opened to a branch of the tree. Suddenly with a loud thud, Duo dragon perched himself on that branch. The window was big enough for Duo to reach his head inside the room.
"My name is Quatre, and this is Duo," Quatre introduced themselves as several pies appeared on the table, "So what brings you on this quest for Dorothy?"
"She's evil," Heero stated simply.
Quatre and Duo exchanged glances that greatly resembled the sentiment 'not again'.
"And as a knight, it is your job to vanquish her?" Quatre asked as he handed Duo several pies.
Heero nodded.
"How boring," Duo dragon complained right before diving his face into a pie.
"It's a knight's duty!" Heero defended his kind.
"Many knights have tried to defeat Dorothy before, but none have even seen her," Quatre explained, "What makes you think you shall prevail?"
"I am the best," Heero said as if he was saying 'I am cursed'.
Duo dragon looked up from his pie, his expression unreadable (partially because Heero didn't know how to read dragons).
Quatre watched Heero from across the table for a long moment, before speaking again.
"What kind of pie would you like?" Quatre finally asked.
Heero stared blankly at Quatre for a moment before he replied, "Chocoberry."
The truth was that Heero had never been offered pies before, and he had no idea what kind of flavors there were but he heard Quatre and Duo talk earlier about chocoberries.
Quatre handed Heero his order of pie, "You will get along with great with Duo. You are the only two I know who wants chocoberries for dinner."
Heero looked at his supper. It smelled... rich... Tentatively, Heero picked up a piece of pie and stuffed it in his mouth.
The pie melted on his tongue and coated his mouth with a dark chocolate flavor.
Quatre watched Heero stuff the rest of the pie into his mouth almost as fast as Duo.
"I guess you like it," Quatre smiled weakly as Heero came up for air with chocoberries all over his face.
Duo dragon couldn't resist. He licked Heero's face.
Heero tried to slap away the tongue, but he wasn't fast enough to get anywhere near it.
"Duo!" Quatre scolded, "That's not polite!"
Before Duo could defend himself, a small red bird flew onto Duo's nose and perched herself there.
For a moment, Duo seemed to be having a conversation with the bird, and then the bird flew away.
"What's wrong? What is it?" Quatre demanded, as Duo was looking rather green for a white dragon.
"Hilde was flying by the Dorothy's castle... she saw Dorothy's spell," Duo said slowly, "It involved the ashes of a phoenix and the life blood of a master of beasts."
Quatre's arms flew to the table as if to prevent him from collapsing into it.
"She wouldn't..." Quatre whispered.
"What is it?" Heero voiced his confusion.
Duo immediately looked to Quatre.
Quatre sat himself down before he started to explain, "Trowa... my mate, was kidnapped several days ago by Dorothy. He is a beast master."
"And the bird said that Dorothy is going to use the life blood of the beast master in a spell?" Heero was incredulous.
"Yes... but the only spell I can think of that would require the ashes of a phoenix and a live sacrifice like that is the immortality spell," Quatre hid his emotions with downcast eyes.
"How long do we have?" Heero immediately asked. He knew that witches usually prepared their spells only on certain days.
"When the three moon are all full," Quatre whispered, "Tomorrow..."
"We must move quickly then," Heero checked his sword as he stood up.
"Not tonight," Quatre was firm, "The sun has already set, and her power is at its height. If we want to defeat her, we must do it during the day." Quatre raised his eyes and looked directly at Heero, "Do you wish to help us, Knight Heero?"
"It is my duty," Heero said solemnly.
"Very well then," Quatre fully steadied himself, "Try to get some rest tonight and let me plan this. Be ready at dawn tomorrow." Heero nodded. His original plan for vanquishing Dorothy involved arriving at her castle and then simply fighting his way in. He was fairly certain the spellbinder was a better strategist than he was. From the look on the young blonde's face, there was also more at stake in this than Heero could imagine.
Before Heero realized it, Duo's face was right next to him.
"Sleep with me in my nest. Quatre needs time to think," Duo whispered.
The phrase 'sleep with me' and 'nest' somehow did not compute in Heero's mind. Heero turned to Quatre. The spellbinder was absent- mindedly rearranging the decoration on his table. Heero could almost see the little blonde's mind work.
This was not his place. Heero climbed back up the ladder to the open nest.
Duo was already sitting there, his eyes skyward.
"Trowa saved me, you know," Duo did not look at the knight, "He saved me when I was still a hatchling. He would let himself go hungry just to fed me."
Heero seated himself next to the dragon. The sky was already darkening; the sun had set leaving only several red splashes of color.
"Do you really have nothing to fight for, knight?" Duo asked his eyes still focused on the sky.
"I am a knight," Heero repeated again. No one had ever asked him what he fought for before. It was always understood that it was a knight's duty as defenders of the land to fight for the good. Heero had never questioned that. Never.
"It must be nice to have conviction like that," Duo showed his teeth in a slow smile, "All I care about is my family. And Quatre and Trowa are my family."
"It must be nice to have a family," Heero said without meaning to. Knights were identified when they were born and taken away from their family to be trained. Heero had never known his parents, he did not know if he had any siblings, he didn't know if he looked more like his mother or his father...
"It is nice to have a family. I miss Trowa," Duo lowered his melodic voice, "But I know Quatre misses him more. Quatre isn't sleeping and he cries at night. He thinks I don't know, but I do. He can feel everything Trowa feels, and if Trowa dies, he will die too, and then I will be all alone again."
"I have always been alone," Heero whispered.
Duo's tail slowly wrapped around Heero, and Heero did not slap it away.
"But Quatre is going to save Trowa, he's very smart." Duo's large violet eyes were gentle, "And then you can join our family. We need a knight."
A red heart shaped bug suddenly decided it liked Heero and landed on Heero's nose. Heero stared at it, cross-eyed.
"That's Benny," Duo introduced Heero to the lovebug, "She likes you. I suggest you duck."
"Why?" Heero began to ask, but a swarm of lovebugs flocked to him until he was covered with lovebugs. Even more of them loomed about him.
"Benny is the leader," Duo explained.
"You can talk to them?" Heero asked as he tried to pull lovebugs away from his mouth.
"Of course!" Duo raised his head a little and suddenly all the lovebugs left Heero and landed on Duo. The white dragon suddenly looked as if he had grown a red fur coat, "I'm a Wing dragon! I am the king of all the animals. They all have to listen to me. Most of the time. Shenlong phoenix don't though. They are the queens. And Dorothy has one of those."
"Do you breathe fire?" Heero finally asked. He had been wondering for a while now.
"No, but I wish I did," Duo dragon stooped a little and somehow managed to form a dragon pout face, "I'm just smarter than the average dragon, but no cool powers."
For a moment they just sat there in silence when Duo suddenly sat up, "Benny invited you for a fly. Do you want to go?"
"Fly?" Heero repeated.
"If you want to go flying with them." While Duo talked, the lovebugs flew up from his back and formed a red carpet in front of Heero. Duo saw Heero's hesitation and smiled, "Get on. If you fall, I will catch you."
Yet another method of flying. Heero couldn't resist. Cautiously, he stepped on the red carpet, afraid to crush a lovebug. When he got on however, the carpet took off into the darkening night sky. Heero fell on his stomach on the lovebugs, but the live carpet cushioned his fall smoothly.
Besides him, Heero saw Duo flying. The dragon was even more beautiful when he was flying against a blanket of stars.
Together they flew toward the rising moons.
Trowa couldn't see the night sky. His internal senses told him it was night, but his jail room had no windows. All day and all night, he would have darkness. Dorothy had been cautious about not allowing any animals into Trowa's cell and then report back to Quatre.
Quatre. Trowa shook himself violently. He could feel Quatre suffering. Part of him wished that he had never mated with the beautiful spellbinder, then his angel wouldn't be hurting so much right now.
Suddenly Trowa heard soft moans from the cell next to him. Dorothy's phoenix. Trowa could not believe that Dorothy kept her phoenix in a cell instead of in open air. The thought to trapping a phoenix like that was sick. It would be less cruel to simply kill the phoenix. Trowa prayed to the gods that Dorothy would never get her hands on Duo.
"Are you all right?" Trowa asked the phoenix as he moved closer to the wall.
"None of your business, beast master," the phoenix voice was not unpleasant. It was a firm female alto.
"You are about to give birth, aren't you?" Trowa was compassionate.
"How do you know?" The phoenix hissed. Trowa could hear her ruffling around in the cell.
"I am a beast master," Trowa said simply, "How far are you along?" Despite herself, the phoenix replied, "The baby shall be ready to be born tomorrow."
Trowa silently cursed Dorothy. The phoenix needed to be in open air, not imprisoned.
"Try to take in deep breaths," Trowa counseled, "You are a Shenlong, aren't you?"
"Yes," the phoenix's voice sounded extremely strained, taking in shallow breaths.
Trowa cursed Dorothy and her ancestors.
"How long before you transform?" Trowa asked.
"Ten hours," the phoenix whispered.
"You plan to die, don't you?" Trowa realized with alarm, "You can't!"
"Who are you to tell me whether or not I can die?" The phoenix demanded.
"For the love of your child!" Trowa pleaded.
"It is for the love of my child," the phoenix exclaimed, "Dorothy swore on her life that for my ashes, she will free my child and my mate."
"Your mate? But a witch can not bind a human!" Trowa was incredulous.
"For my life, my mate agreed to serve Dorothy," the phoenix tried to keep her mind on her voice instead of her pain.
"Does he know what you plan?" Trowa asked gently.
"No. He doesn't know I am pregnant." The phoenix shrieked as she felt another wave of pain.
"How can he not?"
"He is a knight," the phoenix was quick to defend her mate, "Knights aren't taught anything about the phoenix."
"But you can't just." Trowa was cut off by the sound of footsteps toward them.
Someone opened the door in the cell next to him.
"Meiran," a tired male voice came from the phoenix' prison.
"Wufei," the phoenix kept the pain away from her voice.
"You don't look very well," Wufei's voice was heavy with concern.
"I am fine, Wufei. Just tired." Trowa could hear the small intakes of breath that Meiran made to keep away the moans.
"You haven't transformed at all lately. Is something wrong?" Wufei walked closer to the phoenix.
"I'm too tired to transform," Meiran lied. Trowa knew that if the phoenix transformed, even a knight would be able to discern her condition.
"Meiran, I..."
"Just let me rest of a while, Wufei."
"Meiran." Wufei pleaded, but gave up after a moment. The door closed again, and footsteps lead him away from them.
After a moment, when Meiran was sure Wufei had left she let out a long breath of pain.
Trowa knew it wasn't his place to interfere. All he could do was try to keep the phoenix alive through her birth.
"Don't move too much," Trowa instructed the phoenix, "Try to keep your head above your wings."
Quatre did not sleep. He knew he had one chance to make his plan work. And failure wasn't an option.
The sky was beginning to turn red again signaling dawn. Slowly Quatre stood up, and climbed up the ladder to wake up Duo.
When Quatre found Heero and Duo, the two were sound asleep on Duo's nest. Heero was wrapped around Duo's body by Duo's head and tail.
Quatre had to smile. He whistled quietly. The same song he whistled every morning to wake up Duo. Immediately the dragon raised his head.
"Do you have a plan?" Duo asked.
"Yes."
Heero knew his part of the plan well. Quatre and Duo kept on asking him to repeat it as if they were afraid he might forget.
Heero stared at the gate of the castle. At last, he was at the gate of Dorothy's castle. As far as quests go, this was a pretty short one.
"Dorothy of Lania, I, Heero, have come to vanquish you!" Heero yelled at the castle. Heero personally did not like the standard knight announcement, but it was tradition.
The gates opened, and a knight with dark hair and dark eyes came out.
"Turn back knight. I have defeated seventeen challengers this week," the knight said without pride. He looked tired.
Quatre had said to expect some kind of armed defense of the castle. Apparently, all it took was one knight.
Heero raised his sword, "You have betrayed your knighthood and your honor, so I can not expect you to understand that this is my duty."
"You know nothing about me and my honor," the dark eyes flickered, "If you insist on fighting, I shall comply." With that, he too raised his sword.
Heero lunged forward.
Quatre flew over the castle walls on Duo's back.
With a swoop, Duo landed in the courtyard. It was no surprise to either of them that Dorothy stood there waiting for them.
"Didn't anyone tell you that it is impolite to drop in on someone without being invited?" Dorothy smiled sweetly at them.
"Dorothy, I know what you are trying to do, and you can not!" Quatre implored, "No one has ever succeeded in the spell!"
"But you forget, Quatre, I'm not just any one," Dorothy's wand was already drawn. A wave of flames suddenly came hurdling towards them.
"Go, Duo!" Quatre ordered Duo as a water wall formed in front of them. As Duo took off, he saw Dorothy using another flame spell.
End Part 1
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